Man, I’ll be sleeping good tonight!: Sunday, April 11, 2010
We had a really enjoyable weekend, I can’t say I got a lot of work related things done but it was the variety of things that made it exciting. For one Alberic was here this weekend and as always we did our typical fun stuff.
One project I’d been working on for awhile is the restoration of a beautiful utility trailer that I had begun last year but never gotten to finish. At five foot wide and eight and a half feet long, this trailer is sort of like a small rack truck. All four sides, or and combination of can be removed for hauling just about any size or type of load from a stack of hay bales to a small tractor. I also have a pair of ramps for it in the event you have to drive something up on it, to load it.
Last year I had completed stripped the frame down, sandblasted the frame, painted it, and then re-wired all the electrical stuff, new tires, greased all the bearing and axles … the whole nine yards. I also replaced the old floor deck with all new three-quarter inch outdoor plywood flooring. Then I hooked up my spray guns and paint that with the toughest outdoor enamels money could buy. All that was painted in black.
The last thing to be done was to refinish the actual racks that go around the trailer. I took one rack at a time, dis-assembled it, painted the slats John Deere green, wire-wheeled all the carriage bolts of rust and painted those black. There were four of these racks and I had finished two of them, so I had two more to go.
Al and I started on one of them this weekend. He did most of the painting and I did most of the dis-assembling. When we’re all finished (maybe two weeks from now), I’ll probably put it up for sale. I don’t think I’ll be using like I had once planned too. The only other thing I want to do, is some pin stripping on it, again, probably in John Deere green and yellow. It’s the strongest and sharpest looking utility trailer you’ve ever seen! … and felt so good getting it to the point where it’s finally getting back together again.
I have this great workshop that I haven’t used much in the past year and felt so good to be back out in the shop doing something physical like that … especially with this great weather we’ve been having. I’d been thinking of turning it into a wheelchair repair and rebuilding shop. I love to work on things like that … always gives back a sense of accomplishment. I have great spray painting and sand blasting equipment … so it makes the whole job do-able right from within my shop.
I got carried away with that story … anyway, while we were waiting for some of the paints to dry, Alberic spotted our “RS Salamander”! That’s the small dingy that we use to go out in our ponds and maintain them. When Al was younger those ponds were like lakes to him, but now that he’s older, I let him out by himself. He usually takes a hook with him and sort of dredges the bottom for branches and stuff that have fallen in over the winter.
These small ponds are loaded with frogs and salamanders every summer and have provided lots of fun and learning for him over the years … what a great thing for a kid to have in his back yard. Anyway, he was ready to have Two-thousand and Ten launch day! So we loaded the “RS Salamander” up with it’s oars, flotation devices, anchor and dredging hook and away he went.
Watching him out on the pond, rowing accurately and dredging the bottom by himself made he seem so much older then he is … I swear, … I saw him as an older teenager, like having a vision of the future. I was so proud of him. He was on mission to help Dad maintain the ponds, and having a blast while he did it! At just less then twelve years old he did an unbelievable job and I could he was just as proud of himself, as I was of him.
We made plans to re-build the RS Salamander later this summer towards the end of the season just like we did the trailer.
Just then, Sher came out with the dog and was ready to go for a walk. Al leaped from the dingy was ready for that. He loves taking the dog (a beagle) through the woods for a stroll. I haven’t been going for many of these walks lately because I haven’t been able to make the distance and keep up with him and Sher … but I decided it was so nice out that I’d give another go. I grabbed a walking stick and away we went.
Alberic was a lot younger when we moved into this house, and at the time I was full of energy of course, and had cut trails through and around all our property that were all circles … the idea was that the paths would always lead back to the house. This way I could let him run ahead and I knew he couldn’t get lost. As with many small kids they won’t go off the path, and there-fore always would end up back at the house no matter how far ahead of me he’d get. Well, it still works today 
. Off they went and I could take my time.
Surprisingly, I did rather well, and I believe that it has something to do with walking in the woods rather then a parking lot or the road. I can walk five times the distance in the woods. Each step you take is different and there-fore not so repetitive and not causing the wearing down of the same muscles or something … I can definitely do much better walking in the woods. I haven’t walked that far in a year or more … yeah, I was tired when I got back … but man, that was fun!
Al did a fabulous job with the dog too … he always has though. It’s a beagle and doesn’t really do well on a walk … every time she gets a scent of something she’s off to investigate and very difficult to control at times … but somehow he manages to keep it under his control … yet another thing to be proud of him for.
That’s the way we spent to whole weekend, lot’s of small little, fun things, that we haven’t done in awhile… and it was exhausting, but a lot fun at the same time. So while I didn’t get a lot of work that I should’ve gotten done, done. We had a hell of a lot of fun doing what we did.
Dingy sailing, journeying through the woods, and other Tom Sawyer-ish adventures have all been played out here at this house and I know they been a big part of Al’s life here. Not counting working in the shop and many other projects we’ve done over the last few years. Here’s another example:
One year, when I asked Al what he wanted for his upcoming birthday, he answered immediately that he knew what he wanted. This was sort of unusual for Al, he often waited till a day or two before his birthday or even Christmas to start deciding what he wanted … but this year (I think he was going to be five that year), he already knew. He said he wanted a corn field for his birthday! Yikes, I thought to myself, how and where the hell do I get a field of corn?
After a few days I decided that I’d have one of the small fields plowed up and plant some corn with him … so I told I’d do it … it he’d help planting the corn. Sure enough, we planted enough corn to feed an army (well, more then we’d ever use at our house by far) … but what he really was to run through the corn growing in the field … and he did, and that was great fun for him!
We’ve had a hell of lot of fun together to say the least, and of course Sher has been through it all with us, supporting us and putting up with all our stupid and fun ideas … I’ve got to say, I’ve been a lucky man these last few years, to have such a funny and loving family here.
Now they’re helping me to keep my “act together” while I deal with this cancer and try to support them in the best way I still can. It’s amazing how life can change so quickly … but you know, your loved ones and friends can do a lot for you in the sense of keeping those spirits up and continuing down the path your blazing down.
All this stuff are some of the reasons I wanted to stop the radio shows too. There’s just so much to do and so little time to do it all … these are important things for me to do and it’s where I want to focus more of my energy and time.
This week is DRS Daves final Prog Show, luckily we have all 22 of his shows archived on SPOXTalk and they’ll remain online for quite awhile for folks to listen to. Dave is a Canadian friend that owned DRS Records in London, Ontario for years and not only has he been a great friend, he’s done a fabulous show on a music that, at the time, never got the attention it should have … he’s a revivalist in keeping great music alive.
My friend Ray has expressed an interest in picking up the live shows kind of where and when we’re leaving off … and that would be great! Let’s talk about that Ray! Of course those of you that know Ray, know that he’s an old pro at this stuff … unlike me. Ray is the owner of StreamingOldies.com and a true music affectionato to say the least.
I owe a lot to Ray, by watching him at work, I started to understand something that I’d never known or done before … he was a great teacher without even knowing it. I can tell him that know! Actually, we traded a lot of knowledge back then and in some ways we still do. He taught me a lot about dealing with live radio and I taught him a lot about programming and running websites. Truth is, we both benefited for our experiences together, and I guess that’s what it’s all about. He has become a true life-time friend through thick and thin times, and I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d rather see do this more then Ray.
In other stuff, quickly … I added a new page to Personal Cancer Tracker site that lists all the Proton Centers currently in the United States, both those in operation and those under construction. Quite impressive really, at approximately half a billion dollars a piece, there are now four centers open, three about to open and four more under construction, that will soon be serving just the United States. Globally (which I’m working on the list too), there will be about twenty-two centers … this is exciting news. It means that more money and research is being done in the field and that benefits everyone … even me!
There still hasn’t been much done for my kind of cancer, but it won’t be long. There will be others after me. Which reminds me, I have to email my buddy Bill in Florida and see how he’s doing. He was treated before I was, and about the same age …
Well, there’s school tomorrow for Alberic, work for me, and Sher’s got a full day of home and business to take care of, besides that … Alberic and I have a date at “Cavern Club” to play some Beatles music and then we’re off to the swim club for some exercise.
Man, I’ll be sleeping good tonight!
