in Summary

Yesterday, hot but I drove around w/out A/C. Sunroof open and back slider window open too !

B/c it never got as humid as they say to-day and tomorrow will be.

We shall see said the Zen Master

the Warning Continues

" HEAT ALERT "

The skinny : a week of hot and sticky

Our summer curse, is at lest 2 - 3 episodes of humid cloying heat.

Last summer was an anomaly, b/c we had short periods of ick.

We shall see said the Zen Master

still Dreary out there

and 30 % chance of rain

and 100 % chance of building humidity.

Thus, second coat of stain on the deck job is on hold. Maybe, this aft. as rain chance falls off, there may be a chance on certain parts of the deck.

Smallmouth bass, 

overnight Rain

stays for the morning
Temperatures are lower than normal seasonal.

A slightly dreary start but hot and humid conditions are on the way.
Summer is coming on, gang-busters style.

Marvelloso

or some such

A fishing day

High sky and winds that kicked up a bit. Windy on the lake but way less so in the River. On exploring, we found an island that yielded 3 bass - one, a honking big smallmouth bass. Photo proof to follow.

Starting the Work

week

W/ sun and blue sky. The sun stays and the winds will begin to build through the week. Rather blustery on Wed / Thur plus rain chance increases. The long range calls for H/H settling in by Thur.

raining on Sunday

and a quiet , quiet time it is

The day is slow and I'm slow. Watched footie on the box as England thrashed Panama.
Its noon ish and things are maybe getting into gear

The day never really kicked into drive
A lay around type day

The rain broke off late in the afternoon

The highlight : England scored 6 goals in a World Cup group affair vs Panama.
I'm not sure England scored 6 goals total the last World Cup that they qualified for.

I saw them all. The plan was to take a quick peek. I watched goal 1 go in and kept watching. This fact may account for the slow day.

Cool Day

rain imminent

The clouds rolled in and stayed. Gray out there, as of 7 AM

To finish, the entry for the fishing trip. That afternoon, F went to raise the trolling motor and ' pop ' the control cord for the trolling motor snapped.
I'm going to say ' we fixed it ' but the truth was that F figured out how to jury rig a replacement cord. Very colourful but not the proper cord. Out on the water and bobbing around. We could have made it home easily but it seemed do-able and was.

We spent the night in the X - QMH, sort of an extended trip.

The morning was bagels and PB& J for brekkies.

One bass got brave or stupid and hit my jig. And that was it for bass, despite an all day effort. No walleye, even in the ' place ' came to bite.

BTW, I froze the walleye after filleting and rubbed the meat down w/ soya sauce. I clean my fish w/in hours of catching - and freeze unless I'm eating that night. Fresh fish !

I disagree w/ the others who < bag and refrigerate and take home to clean > , no way !

A day of firsts

for me

My reputation as a guide takes quite a beating. 

To wit, this week the trio went fishing at the X - QMH. Wed. AM was change out the gas filter. The week before on a couple of occasions the engine coughed to life and needed revving to stay idling. Once, the engine quit.
This series of poor starts, likely indicated a fuel supply difficulty. And since I failed to change the gas filter last year.... well, we figured why not. I had the spare filter and clamps. After much fiddling, F got the clamps off and the new filter on easily.
Cranked over like a trooper.
Some bass got feisty and co-operated. In the afternoon, as per usual - the big question ' where do we go now ? '
I'm the ' expert ' and they ask ' can we get walleye ? '
I went to a favourite spot, w/ trepidation < we hadn't seen a walleye all year >. 

Trolling motor down ( apparently, I'm a ' trolling motor down ' kind of guy ) -- it means that I concentrate on spots and don't spend time running from place to place, I flipped a plastic jig over the side. 
And set the hook, on a walleye. The ' eye ' wasn't over the minimum, and was released. 

A short while later, and my rod tip bent quickly and yes, another ' eye '. Bigger by lots. After a desperate struggle, D netted the walleye. On measuring, we were pretty sure the fish was under the maximum length but we were praying nobody official measured the fish.
D was next w/ a walleye but his was a tiny bit under or too close to take a chance. another release.
A good day.

last of the Sticky

weather

The humidity breaks this afternoon. Some days of warm ish and relatively dry air.

Good. We caught a flash rain, yesterday.

The afternoon was glorioso. Humidity broke somewhere around noon. the donald is a dick.

The conversation at the Korner Pub - my local for now

MW:                right after this tuna sandwich, I'm going for a                                    pedicure.
Me:                 I've never done that
MW:                what ? Do yourself a favour
Everyone :      of course ( well , almost everyone )

A took a swig and finished the bloody Caesar and went next door
Forty minutes later, she was done w/ me
Felt great

now, I'm in trouble at home. M goes ' I tell you to try a pedicure but the guys get you to go ????? '
Oops !

Swelter Swelter

in the not-yet-summertime

Still days away from official summer

but we are getting a dose of H/H
and some hints from Environment Cda, saying more to come

Eek !!

Our bass season opened and we are going on an 'overnighter ' to prove we are real fisherman

or as close as we can come ( we did catch some 5 or 6 bass out of season ). We were using small jigs.

Out comes the heavier line and bigger plastic. We will target weedbeds and weedlines.
Some people in conversation will say that they look for open water.
we'll be going for structure - logs and weeds etc. We would go for rocky places but the river and lake are sand or mud bottom overwhelmingly.
I got to practice at a friends retirement. About 2 hrs N of here, near a town called Feversham. He owns a farm. But grows grass and kids, it seems. Six outbuildings, motorized everything BBQ, tractor, lawnmowers, quads and bikes.
No bass came out to play

KABOOM !! and the skies opened up
rain in torrents, gutter filling

They are Called ' Life Hacks '

sort of jerry rigged solutions

or in my parlance
Re- inventing the wheel
The story of my life

The latest
I have a fan blowing across the top of the stairwell. In our house, open stairwell plan, I figure the hot air freely rises from the basement but more importantly, the cool air sinks down the stairwell.
While in Las Vegas, I noted that the entrances to many casinos have an air curtain to separate the cold air inside the casino from the hot air outside.
I'm hoping that the moving air caused by the fan will do the same job of ' curtaining ' the stairwell.

A life hack

The day will be hot and humid, the humidex will be 112 F
or so.

In real life, accidents happen. I watched a segment on a reality show when a dryer catches fire in a mobile home. I did a YouTube search and found ' clean your dryer '. The guy in the video had a dryer that was leaving clothes damp after a full cycle. He takes the back cover off the dryer. He basically finds a diaper made of lint inside the the blower cavity.
I thought OK better safe then sorry. We vacuum the lint trap after every cycle.
Well, I found 1/2 a diaper of lint in the blower cavity.
Really ! Our dryer was a blink away from causing a fire or lousy drying.

CLEAN YOUR BLOWER assembly !!

the worn Out Feeling

woke up and

still half asleep

Coffee and toast 
Let's see what happens

Later

big Sun

I'm not awake

Later

a fishing Day

at the Q

3 of us went out in the bassboat. The wind was N-NW or some such and blowing w/ purpose. Purposefully, to keep us cool to cold all morning and soaking wet trying for home ( the channel out in the lake )

Cloudy and grim looking - everything bad held off, and then sun and warm starting in the afternoon.
We caught mostly, little stuff. Bonus was the 6 or so small largemouth and 1 smallmouth that got hungry.
The boat went up and down the rails w/out a hitch.
The outboard developed a cough and rough start to-day, the guess is a new gas filter is needed.
Well, its been a while since the last filter change.

Hi to D ( who wanted the address of the blog )

Clouds

hung around from last night

Dim and cool looking

the sun'll come out to-morrow

but its out to-day

The day beckons

P.S. sanded down the deck - getting ready for staining. And this time will be the last for these boards - new boards or new deck.
The deck is 20  yrs old. Parts are still solid but I've replaced or recycled 4 - 5 boards ( b/c I'm cheap ) already and 3 pieces of rail.

Stable and Beuti

full sun and warm ish

All week !

The day in review:
Trimmed the hedge unblocking the # sign on the pole.
Cut branches off the front tree that obscures the street as you pull out of the drive
Pulled out the old grass trimmer and thought ' YouTube on how to get a disused whipper going '  great video
Visited the pub and claimed my Belmont tix from behind the counter.
Yes, bet the 11 th race. Two $5 place bets - Vino Rosso ( 6 : 1 ) and you got it #1 Justify ( not much ).
The ticket paid 8.50 on #1 and they gave me back the cancelled ticket.
Overall, down a $1.50

reView

occasionally I look back and check a post

From yesterday, I want to add that ' we and us ' refer to my neighbour.
For years, I maintained the bassboat by myself.
In spring or early summer.
1. clean and vacuum the boat. Removing debris and mouse debris
2. re-equip the boat : lifejackets, buckets, ropes, safety kit etc
    both batteries ( that were charged and readied )
3. this year, the trailer ( unused for 5 years ) needed to be serviced.
4. The rails in the water, need scrubbing for mussels and algae. As      well, often the ice will bend or distort the rail.

Then we can fish. However, the last 2 years, D. has come up and helped w/ all the chores. Yes, many hands help but this help goes way beyond half the work. To wit, D carries the batteries up and down the hill for me. He is younger and stronger.

In fact, I sometimes wonder how I did all the work alone.
I know how ! It took way longer.

And re-greasing the trolley wheels needed about 5 minutes. And I can assure you, alone, you can triple the time required.
Alone, I make sure the trolley won't move while I'm working. W/ another pair of hands, someone is watching the trolley.
D. says ' Wow, that was easy ! '
Right, I came back w/ ' yes, if I get help, alone ??????? '

Weather is gorgeous, overall. 

on the Water

all is well

However, getting there
is the adventure

To be fair, the skirt of land around the boathouse needs attention. The rails sit atop paving stones ( 2 ft x 2 ft ) slumped in to the middle ---- more or less representing what is going on underneath them.
At every launch, we re - level the rails as best we can
Pray
prayer didn't work Friday. The launch was an effort, pushing the boat and trolley approx 2/3 of the way down ( yes, down and pushing )
As you could guess recovery was more adventure.
W/ help ( meaning us pulling ) 3/ 4 up happened but no more. A complete stop.
Re-balance, look around as if we knew what we were doing.
Try once more
Nope.
Then I examine the rail and notice - a supporting brick is lifting one side of a joint but not the other. The upside rail is 1/8 in higher.
Re-brick, bingo success.
BTW, there is supporting wood as well as brick.

We greased the wheels before recovering the boat at night. And encountered no difficulty.

Next week, the same performance plays out - different problem, different solution.
An adventure in boat life

Travails amd

success

Well, the cost is $7 000 but no sump pump needed. The crew ( 2 guys ) found intact weepers w/ lots of crushed stone on top. Mostly meaning, the weepers weren't mangled

the Sump - slump

couldn't sleep - thinking about the weepers

enough to make you cry
tee hee 

Thus, up at 6
and make the coffee

The thought process
why are there no weepers down there ?
if they put in a sump pump
a) where does the power come from   ( the breaker box is 40 ft away )
b) where does the water go ( assuming there are no weepers and no easy place to run the outflow

Coffee and worry some more

Whoa ! checked the CBC News feed under Science and Technology
Headline : swimmer prepares to cross the Pacific, its only 9 000 mi

And 1 guy shows up ! Digging by himself. going home now b/c I called and its not safe for him to work alone.
Of course not

...and the World's Your Oyster

The bars are temples but the pearls aren't free "

One Night in Bangkok and ...  from the writers of ABBA songs

The Big Dig

30 ft across and 8 down, dug by hand.
They found a boulder equal to the weight of half a car

They are down 7 ft something and found the footing but no weepers - and
 we wonder where the water came from in the basement  ????????????
Right !

Cool for the dig but overcast

" you'll find a god in every golden cloister
and if you're lucky then the god's a she "

I'm tired b/c I watched 2 guys dig and fill a hole 22' x 2.5 ' x 7.5'
Cowabunga ! did they work

Kudos

great gums and excellent home care for teeth

I blame my dentist
Well, if things go wrong its his fault
Thus, things go good -------- his fault

Cool and slightly humid
a beutii day

online - the neighbours daughter is helping sell stuff out of my garage

We really don't know what we're doing
A 1980 s womans bike was listed for $70
A guy emails, we talk on the phone
he comes
looks at the bike and says
' 70 right '
and paid

Oops ! there was a hundred dollar bill in there, maybe

The big dig goes to-morrow. The front of our house 8 ft down and 28 ft across and over is exposed.
Waterproof stuff and weepers
Fill in the sucker
Wait for 6 months and re-grade and finish

Cool ish

again, rain is due

Mayflowers get June water

My on again, off again relationship w/ online ordering hit a speed bump. The process was to order 2 spare trailer tires. Sorry not in stock. Last night, ' do you want to order '
Yes. Got an invoice - all is hunky doree
This morning, your order is cancelled
Called ' Help ', out of stock - a computer foul up

Well, did the old reliable
on line Walmart.ca
More than Princess but I'll get a tire on time

Did You Know

that this blog started out

As a 2 sentence premise about life

Thus, if the entries seem short
thank your lucky stars that I've gone back to the beginnings

or / just assume that
I was tired
or tired of posting
or/ lazy as all get out

Weather report :
Hazy but much cooler, say 6 or so degrees

Or so you thought

Facebook. Readers will know that I have a dismal history w/ FB. Not that FB did anything wrong. I'm not good at FB - ology or whatever its called.
some people of course have knowingly de-listed themselves and erased FB from all their dealings for reasons of privacy or fear of a too broad exposure to corporate enterprises
or just snooping

In my little way, I've tried the same process. To wit, if given a chance to use FB as a sign in tool / I've opted for creating a separate ID at that site.
The result : FB seems to have lost me.
I was used to seeing email reminders daily from FB, stating ' your friends miss you or you've missed a lot since last signing in ' etc

To-day, NADA and its been that way way for weeks now.
Of course, FB is monitoring this post and getting set to bombard me w/ ' please come back or we missed you '
Don't say I'm paranoid, am I ?

News. The couple that bought the cottage ( QuarterMileHouse ) w/ friends are expecting a baby.
We dined last night at Remezzo ( Italian themed venue ). I was very impressed. I'm not impressed much lately about anything ( time of live crisis??? ).
 The food was passable, service close to very good and the staff let us gab away for hours ( and we did ). M was an excellent listener as always and learned a remarkable amount of information.
Basically, everything that I was supposed to tell her or know.

The couple, gifted us w/ 2 presents - a bottle of Cottage Block white wine and for me, the ' WonderWoman gift set '.
Now, this set is the BluRay, DVD and downloadable version --- plus the WW doll. Yep, a figurine of her.
They announced that they saw the box and said ' he'll love it '
They were right
and I'm scared
' they knew ' !!!!!

Big oops , here

As well, I m selling a float tube, collapsible bike, woman's 6 speed and a ball rebounder. The neighbour said that it was easy. So, I said ' help me and I'll give you 1/2 the proceeds. He said that he'd help but not for the money. We'll list on Kijiji Canada

Humid but tolerable

heat backed off a smidgen