Although I got the major PITA project I’ve been putting off partly done Saturday, the real satisfaction came from wiring up the BBQ outlet this week. However, it was a fine study in how “little projects” can turn into Big ones on the clock. The idea sounded simple enough. We had run an extension cord from … Read More
Retail Sales are just out, so let’s depart from drama, disdain delay, and dispense duration… “Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for March 2023, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $691.7 billion, down 1.0 percent (±0.5 percent) from the previous month, but up … Read More
Prepping note: The battery on the old Kubota is on its last legs. It’s a 51-R series, and they ain’t cheap. So, I was trying to get the maximum possible service life out of it. Put it on an 8-amp charger and then got into some pulse charging on top of that… Even after 2 … Read More
Our usual Sunday commentary on the non-news, non-financial aspects of Life nearly didn’t happen this morning. Due to a chance encounter with the Marquis de Yard. Unlike the Marquis de Sade, whose works are horny, sketchy, and mean at some levels, the Marquis de Yard was supposed to provide a good time. A few hours with … Read More
Ah, the Country Life. Yessir, if you live in the Big City, it’s a dream. Why, just imagine! Eating fresh food out of your own garden. Pure country air. No traffic noises. Low stress. Ultimately relaxing and rewarding…. Well, no. Not exactly. During our ShopTalk Sunday adventures will tell you the upside – and the downsides … Read More
Although I got a lot done this week, including some long-winded columns both here and on the Peoplenomics site, the two greatest accomplishments in making for a better spring were getting our income taxes done and repairing the lawnmower. “Wait? The NEW Mower?“ Yeah, buddy. The NEW mower. Which we bought from Lowes, and which … Read More
Someone stole an hour of our lives overnight. Running the clock forward with Daylight time which is so scammy… We don’t have a “measure, cut, join, finish” project to revel in today. Because the weather was perfect Saturday to take on the greenhouse rework. See, over the winter it grew and grew and turned into … Read More
…and ceiling,, too…. The (never-ending) project of getting the guest quarters up to snuff saw the “bulk, underlying” mud go on this week: Some discussion of old construction sheetrock repairs is warranted by this (ugly, but only for now) view. When “dealing with ceiling” and a repair of this type, I like to put a … Read More
The ShopTalk Sunday column is about making things to eat. But not just any things. There’s the whole aspect of doing of things to perfection woven into the mix, too. Which leads directly to Tuesday’s disaster which rippled to within inches of becoming a $249 Chocolate Chip Cookie. However, many “Foodie” things are “cooking” here. 1- We will … Read More
Actual progress around the Ure joint, even with the house guest this week. Elaine’s son is an extremely useful fellow. Having run something of a Home Handyman Service before going to work for the post office. Hard to explain to people sometimes, how useful (and valuable!) that wide range of “hands-on” work can be. Seems … Read More
Sheesh. Not a fun week for Ure. Turning 74 this month, I thought the Sun was supposed to come out, not go falling apart on us. And golden years? Pah-leeze! Got up at 3 AM (*brain on fire, couldn’t sleep) Friday morning. Wrote column, futzed around, ate and then my neighbor showed up and in … Read More
Old Ure is tired and sore today – because knocking on the door of 74 (in mid-February) it’s not part of God’s Plan to be riding roughshod on a tractor moving wood. The wood, of course, came from removing two 100-foot plus trees with a diameter of over 40-inches. Two additional 90-footers, too. While sliced … Read More
I keep looking for Educators to get sick of re-dividing America. Rather than tell us how we are “All different” and “All special” it would be refreshing – as we see it – to bring back at least some baseline “Not a Victim” hands-on skills. I looked over the last month of two of Amazon … Read More