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Something like that. Just sat down last night and sketched the layout. Not sure about the dimensions but pretty close. Learned quite a bit rebuilding the old one, structural mods pretty basic. More material but simple. Good rain Wednesday night, started too late to burn the big pile of lumber, probably gonna wait until spring now. Or have it scooped up and hauled off. Don't want a skid-steer trompin' all over the place, just about got the damage from the deliveries cleaned up. Hafta think on that. Kitty cat happy, about four months old now. Catchin' voles, got tons of them things. She plays with'em and the squeak a little and eventually get eaten. Chasin' rabbits but they bigger than her still, she got a ways to go before rabbit on the menu. Guess I could set some traps, see if the feller that does the chickens butcher and freeze. Dunno if them acres of growed up stuff got a lot of rabbits or not, the cleaner areas got plenty. Ever get the pond figured out put some edible fish in there, some crawdads. Crawdads come up outta the ground when you flood it, so that good. Thirty days left in the year, figure out a way to miss most of the parties and I'll be good. Could go over to Jam's place but no real good excuse, her mom passed away last year and don't have any other close family in that region. Nice region, sparser than here. Don't wanna winter there though.
14' walls on the main house, bigger attic. Old shop I remodeled had 10' walls, put 9' ceilings so attic still a little tight. Check on the dimensions the trusses to see how that works out. Should be just about able to walk down the middle up there. Could go 12' on the wings, make them attics a little roomier. Nothin' up there but HVAC ducts and a little wiring, and some other stuff. Dunno about covered parking, but got some ideas. More a matter of where.
Gettin' interesting again. Gold runnin' over 2k a while now, silver tracking it more or less. We all keep a lot of silver to use for cash at whatever point that becomes necessary. I look at every dollar in banks as a potential loss. Some of us uneasy anyhow, not knowing the distribution. Gotta be a ton of it in small caches like ours, people got anywhere from a few ounces of gold and a few hundred silver to them with thousands of both. How much that adds up to relative to the big stashes in the hands of them as wants to manipulate prices. And how much of that is in the hands of the BRICSIA* and how much in the hands of the bad guys. For sure each day that passes puts more in the hands of the little folks out here. Presumably they can't really depress it, make it worthless as the fiat money. Anyway we got other stuff, comes to it. As Hank Jr. said a country boy can survive. Dunno about the city folks and don't care.
Year about over, made a calendar for the end of winter. Back in my military days we'd doin' time in a place we'd rather not be, specially overseas, had a date set to go back to the states, or somewhere else. Called it a DEROS, Date Estimated Return From Overseas or something like that. Get down to a couple of months you'd make a short calendar, for short-timer, and count the days 'til you could get gone. Not that it was always that bad, but mostovus been away from home couple of years ready to get back. Winter time for gettin' ready for spring and summer. Most of the trees planted, whole bunch this year, even with bein' busy buildin' a house and other stuff. Probably have time for one or two projects I thinkin' on, if it happens to be a mild winter. Mild and wet, just like summer needs to be mild and wet without bein too wet too often at the right times, so the farmers get the crops in. This the last year for any serious planting, trees I'll never see grow up. Figure the folks keep this place in the family after I gone, it bein' so nice and so much history. My best girl outlives me, statistically quite probable, not interested in livin' here but might like to visit now and then, she on good terms with allof'em and besides she and I own the place next door.
One of them songs I heard on the radio a lot back in the day. Still in high school and livin' with the folks and Mom had the country radio on all day. Something I always wondered about, even back the, why they called Elvis the King of Rock and Roll, or however they spelled rock'n'roll in the newspapers or tabloids. Only place I ever heard'em was on the country radio. Guess he part of the rockandroll thing, devil's music our parents called it, 'cause the preachers called it that. Some of'em anyway. The Year That Clayton Delaney Died was released in 1971, few years after Harper Valley PTA made Jeannie C. Riley famous. Guess it wasn't too bad for radio, some of them songs I's pretty sure Mama wasn't paying attention too close. Anyhow, I a kid, didn't have the Interweb back then (bunch of guys, none of whom were named Al Gore, had created it a couple years earlier but it didn't get everywhere for a long time) so didn't know much about the songs cept who the singers was. So I figgered Clayton was an older feller when little Tom was followin' him around, but he actually pretty young when he died, just in is twenties or so, some sorta disease they didn't know about or maybe found it too late. Funny how time is though, seems like a long time from me a kid at home with Mom and Dad hearing 'bout Clayton in 1971 and in 1974 Ronnie and the boys was recording a song about another guitar picker, and by then I'm listening to Skynyrd on the radio hearin' about Curtis Loew.
I remember pickin' up soda bottles - coke bottles in Arkansaw no matter what kinda soda was in'em - pretty good pocket money for a kid them days. Two cents apiece I reckon, went up some as time went on. Don't remember how much, worked in a Kroger store couple years in high school, bout then some sodamakers made big bottles, maybe a quart. Or a liter, dunno if we'd gone to that candy-ass pansy Eurometrics on everthing yet. Didn't hardly need metric wrenches in them days, still don't for some reason. Anyhow people pick up bottles and bring'em in for the money. Anyhow the big bottles was more. Lotta people bring their empties in when they was buying, so we didn't charge the deposit if the had the same number of bottles. I wouldn't drink coke from a can if I could get in a bottle. Nowdays if it in a bottle it's a plastic one, sucks. Anyhow, Ronnie about a few years older'n me, so I guess if he wasn't born rich or at least moderate well off he'd pick up bottles for money. People throw'em out he window on the roads, two cents nothing to a lot, especially compared to having bottles rollin' around in the car. Them was 12-cent comic book days. He had the same kinda Alpha Hotel gym teachers we did. The feller they named the band for said he wasn't one, but I knew damn few high school coaches that weren't. Among other things that'd get'em in prison these days. Okey-dokey. Unlike Clayton Delaney Curtis was an older feller. Said to been inspired by some blues players of an earlier time, famous or not. Anyhow, one of them great old Skynyrd songs, that one and "Simple Man" couple of my favorites, didn't hear'em on the radio until the plane crash, they played lot of stuff I hadn't heard (didn't buy the albums) on the radio the next few days. Ain't never played a Dobro. Not sure if I heard one. Can't play an acoustic guitar anyway, arms a little short and shoulders and chest too big. Can't hold it right, always banging on some part of it or bangin' it into something. Ain't really got the fingers for it either. 'lectric you can fool around and when you screw up just say it was intentional. Ferdy plays one, believe he's recorded some with it. Maybe check it out. OK, it about buenos noches time. And I didn't even cuss, 'cept callin' somebody an Alpha Hotel.
Lake don't change much, don't get up there a lot lately but try to get up some in the winter, snakes gone to bed. Cottonmouths aplenty down there, where there water. Their cousins up on the dry ground, don't want to tangle with either. Heard tell of people dyin' from copperhead bites, but last I remember was a city feller picked one up, and when it bit'em he didn't go to the hospital. Can't fix stupid. Course if you get bit gonna have a helluva hospital bill. So I try not to be where they are. Only seen one coral snake around here, and it forty years ago or more. Don't wanna see any more. Had plenty of brown recluse bites but never a black widder, figgered I's gettin used to the brownies, last few just made the sore spot and little hole where the dead tissue fell out eventually. One of the first ones thought it was gonna take my leg off, didn't go to the doc then either, just had my leg turn every kind of red and purple here and there, bottom of my foot to about the knee, here and there now and then, finally quit after a month or so. Good thing I ain't allergic to wasps way some people are. Personal best is near two dozen at one time, quit countin' a twenty. Roll bar on the tractor I's mowing with, snagged some low limbs on them poplars over on the east side, had a nest of them bit yeller and brown ones, they mean anyway, see you comin' and come to meet you. Reds you dang near gotta stick your hand in the nest to get'em to sting. Did have to stay home that one time though, three around the left eye and I couldn't see for over a day. Don't like wasps, and go looking for the mean ones so I don't bump into them later. Day before yesterday, yesterday actually, it after midnight. Went out for the midnight smoke, set the phone on the Rockville tower and streaming 600 outa Memphis. Old speaker nicer, had a subwoofer on the side, it was in the screen room at the old house when the tornado took it. Nice looking too, went to Amazon to get another, couldn't find it. Had a little slot to put the phone in, nice. Problem with nice stuff, they quit makin' it. Anyhow Coast to Coast had some feller sittin' in for George, said Mark Farner comin' on for a couple hours. Normally I just listen for the first hour, but Mark was on for two hours so I stuck around. Didn't know that much about GFR other than the 8-tracks/LPs/CDs I bought. Before everything on the Interweb, Mark talkin' about growin' up in Flint Michigan, same as me. Dad WWII vet, same as mine. Went there to work for GM, dad worked at Buick, same as mine did. We about the same age, he just a few years older than me, lotta people from down south goin' to Michigan them days, work in the car factories and make a lot of money. Dad tryin' to get back on his feet after the war, pay for the little farm he bought with his brother before, brother died, Dad paid off the farm after a few years in Michigan and moved back down south. I's born in Flint though, wonder if that what made me autistic. Up north they more advanced, probably improved vaccines and more of'em. Older siblings born down south more normal. Anyhow a lot of them people from the south stayed, Dad come back home and farmed. Did pretty good, by the time farmin' got so convoluted he well enough off to retire and rent out all his land. He didn't like the way the government hooked farmers on welfare and all the rigamraole that went with it. Some of them farmers stayed in and got bigger, some of them died with less than him. Younger too, Dad be a hunnerd and six yesterday if he lived. Made it to ninety-seven anyways, most of the guys round here from his time didn't get near that far. Anyhow, Mark talked to the dude, forget his name, he from Canada. Knows lot about music and movies and stuff, pretty good host. Not as much UFOs and ETs and psychic and other stuff when George is out. Except some of his subs are into that, so you get it then, but this feller had some interesting reglar people. GFR had an interesting history, got screwed around some like a lot of those groups did, came out all right. Only seen'em once, they could lay it down. Course it after WAAB was released, and it a helluva show opener. They in good company, music people from Michigan. Okey-dokey, gotta check on some stuff before midnight. Catchalater. Fri 22 Dec 2023 01:06:53 AM CST
Back in the day, Nissan lookin' for some cred, bought some racing championships, IMSA prototypes, whatever they call'em now. Paid a company in California to build'em, million or so a copy, like Indycars. Put a hopped-up Nissan engine in it and won about everthing for a few years. Fifty mil or so. Still make crap cars, finally got so bad they merged with Renault. Seems it was a 50/50 back then, on account of Japanese companies can't be over 50% owned by foreigners. The US should have a law like that. Anyhow, as Click and Clack used to say back in the day, after you're owned a French car nothing worse will ever happen to you, something like that. Figure it humiliating for them to have to resort to that. Anyhow pretty much everything automotive is fucked these days, glad I got that fleet of old Ford Rangers. Probably start a business reconditioning them things and sellin'em to folks as don't want to put up with not bein' able to just buy some transportation. Toyota got a truck sells about 10K elsewhere in the world, but not here. Double the price to make legal. Dropped 6500 on an 09 Ranger while back, just like my daily driver. 154K and like new, old one got 260+ and little ragged here and there but gets you there and usually back. Buy late model ones for 4-8K, put 2-4K in fixing stuff, sell a pretty decent vehicle for 15K and make some money and save the customer a ton. Too sensible for some folks, and I'm too old and lazy to do it. Anyhow, speakin' of solsticen and equinoxen, GM made a Chevy Equinox, looks like a minivan except no sliding door. Some feller lives out here got Pontiac version called a Torrent, had it forever it seems, see'em drivin it around all the time, looks good. Dunno why a solstice gets to be a sports car and an equinox has to be a four-door whatever that is. They decent-lookin though, even if the new ones got that semi-squashed bug look. Speaking of equinoxes. Styx was starting to get pretty good about that time, last album before Tommy joined up. They was real good after that, until Dennis started gettin' weird with Kilroy. Anyhow the solstice done there a little more daylight each day, just gotta make it through Jan/Feb. Figure sixty days of bein' a hermit, 'cept Jess probably stay in town all winter. Probably stay at her place as much as mine unless the weather mild enough to do some outdoor stuff out here. And that's about it. Tue 26 Dec 2023 07:26:50 PM CST
My original one got somewhere over 30MPG on highway, had a manual tranny. And it got the Pinto engine, you let'em go too long without replacing the timing belt it'll break and you dead in the water. Happened once, on a Pinto, so at 50K they gettin' a new belt like they get a battery every other year. No sense takin' chances over something don't cost any more than that. Not that there's any excuse for usin' a belt anyway. My Rangers got the Mazda engine they started puttin' in some years eariler. Chain-driven dual cams and 16V to boot. Wonder how one of them would fit in an early 90s Mustang. Hafta put a newer tranny in as well, if you gonna do all that. Mebbe the ones from the mid-90s mustangs? Dunno. Hope it stays not real cold and pretty wet a few more days. Gotta get some trees in the ground. Had any kids they could watch'em grow up. Sun 31 Dec 2023 08:36:11 PM CST
End of the year, turned pretty cold finally. Normally bundle up and go out for the midnight smoke anyway, but my girl got kinda sentimental about the midnight song for New Year's eve. No not that one, this one. She wasn't an ABBA fan 'til she met me, funny ABBA not as big in the US for some reason as they are everywhere else in the world. I know why, but no point in discussing it. Things is what the is, and wantin'em to be somethin' else ain't gonna mak'em somethin' else. Told her when we got together my favorite bands was ABBA and Priest, she said that weird but somehow it works. She like priest too, bein' on the geeky side some. The cerebral thing. So we watch the video together at midnight. Interesting watching, they two formerly married couples still friends and working together. This the video with them around a piano, time or two one of the gals can't help a side glance at her ex, where the song make some reference to their past. A little sad sounding in places but still optimistic. ABBA songs wasn't always as happy as they sounded, the performance and production was to flawless it sounded good no matter what it was about. Anyhow it's gettin' close, seems the wind died a bit. Hope a lot, but I got one of them patio heaters in the screen room so it should be comfy. Seeya next year. Text in images "The Year That Clayton Delaney Died" I remember the year that Clayton Delaney died They said for the last two weeks that he suffered and cried It made a big impression on me, although I was a barefoot kid They said he got religion at the end and I'm glad that he did Clayton was the best guitar picker in our town I thought he was a hero and I used to follow Clayton around I often wondered why Clayton, who seemed so good to me Never took his guitar and made it down in tenn-o-see Well, daddy said he drank a lot, but I could never understand I knew he used to pick up in Ohio with a five-piece band Clayton used to tell me, "son you better put that old guitar away, There ain't no money in it, it'll lead you to an early grave." I guess if I'd admit it, Clayton taught me how to drink booze I can see him half-stoned a-pickin' out the lovesick blues When Clayton died I made him a promise, I was gonna carry on somehow I'd give a hundred dollars if he could only see me now I remember the year that Clayton Delaney died Nobody ever knew it but I went out in the woods and I cried Well, I know there's a lotta big preachers that know a lot more than I do But it could be that the good lord likes a little pickin' too Yeah, I remember the year that Clayton Delaney died  Well I used to wake the mornin' Before the rooster crowed Searchin' for soda bottles To get myself some dough Brought 'em down to the corner Down to the country store Cash 'em in and give my money To a man named Curtis Loew Old Curt was a black man With white, curly hair When he had a fifth of wine He did not have a care He used to own an old dobro Used to play it 'cross his knee I'd give old Curt my money He'd play all day for me Play me a song Curtis Loew, Curtis Loew Well I got your drinkin' money Tune up your dobro People said he was useless Them people all were fools 'Cause Curtis Loew was the finest picker To ever play the blues He looked to be sixty And maybe I was ten Mama used to whoop me But I'd go see him again I'd clap my hands, stomp my feets Try to stay in time He'd play me a song or two Then take another drink of wine Play me a song Curtis Loew, Curtis Loew Well I got your drinkin' money Tune up your dobro People said he was useless Them people all were fools 'Cause Curtis Loew was the finest picker To ever play the blues Yes, sir On the day old Curtis died Nobody came to pray Ol' preacher said some words And they chucked him in the clay Well he lived a lifetime Playin' the black man's blues And on the day he lost his life That's all he had to lose The Ballad of Curtis Lowe (Lynyrd Skynyrd - 1974) Sun 31 Dec 2023 09:47:03 PM CST : 1704080823 |
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