PensionersRants

Friday, June 25, 2010

Back From The Mini Vacation

Got back from P.E.I. on Sunday evening. The weather for the weekend was great. Surprised to see hundred of bikers. Turned out to be an R.C.M.P. get together. They came from all across Canada. Those fast food restaurants were packed. A wall of bikes. Another surprise was that there was an old car rally in Summerside. It was great to see. There were a lot parked at my motel. I was wondering what they would say if I parked an old Pinto next to them. Would they say "Nice job old guy." or would they say " get that piece of junk behind the building. Out Classics are embarrased."

Prince Edward Island is one neat and tidy place. They have large lawns and all were trimmed. Must be good business in ride on mowers over there. It was a good trip. Betty and Natasha thought it was great. I will add a picture of the bridge. Took about fourteen min. to cross it.

A couple of days ago, I decided to tar the driveway. All three of did it and it took about three hrs. Looks like new pavement. People come around spraying driveways for about $60.00. To me it looks like they use old oil. You see some driveways where oil has leaked out. The sprayed driveways look the same.
Two hrs. after we finished the driveway, it started to rain. And it rained yesterday. So much for it getting dried soon. Today the temp is 28C/84F. Problem solved.

Have th mow the lawn out front today. Guess I better do my neighbours too. Her's looks like a hay field.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

June Moving Along

Over halfway thru June. Time does move along fast. Mowed the lawn. Have to do that once a week.
Betty and John painted the patio. I painted the part of the shed I added on last summer. Trim, door etc. Shed has siding, so will never have to worry about that.
Yesterday, I cleaned out along the paved driveway. Going to reseal it next week. Supposed to be hot all week.
Repaired the shelves in the shed yesterday. Getting a bit droopy in the front, so I put braces in. Threw some stuff in the garbage too. Seems I can always do that. Have to look for electrical parts since I still plan to put electricity in.
Tomorrow I plan to take my wife and daughter to P.E.I. They don't get to go anywhere very often. Natasha is very excited to stay in a motel, etc. Betty wants to see Anne of Green Gables house. Going to stay away two nights.
Built another compose bin behind the shed. made it from wire mesh. Needed that for grass clippings and plants. Betty fills the others too fast.
Today it is light rain. It has been nice weather fot the last number of days.
I am home with Natasha. Betty and John gone to the store. Guess we need junk food for the trip.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Lost And Found

That title refers to an old frend of mine, John. We were stationed together for a number of years and after hrs. we worked at a bar on the Base. But when people get transferred, they get lost. I found his name on Facebook, so contacted him. Turned out to be his son. So he was lost and now he is found. We had some great times together. He really is a character. If they had reality shows then, he would have been a perfect match. I'm going to give him this address and then like everyone else he will know how dumb I am. Of course he might already know that.

Yesterday was very unusual. It was sunny. Gave me the oportunity to mow the backyard. When my wife was free yardsaleing the other day, she brought me home an electric lawn mower. Sign on it said it didn't work. Checked it out and saw that it dimmed the lights when turned on. Took it all apart and checked the wiring. All good. Put some oil on the shaft, which I think was the problem. Now it works great and runs so quiet. Looked it up and found out that new they are $300. My wife wants to sell it on Kijiji. I think that was the original plan. I'll try it out today on my neighbours back yard. Before it rains.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Rain And More Rain

Since the last time I wrote, there hasn't been too many days without rain. Last friday was a sunny day, so I took that opportunity to cut the front lawn for myself and my neighbour. As soon as I finished, it started to rain. Never got a chance to do the back of the yard.
This weekend was free yardsale weekend. Drove my wife around to see if she could find anything. Put my daughter in the van also, so she has an outing. She doesn't see much but it is something different for her. The yard saleing didn't last long as it started to rain after lunch. And of course it rained Sunday. Heavy rain last night and it is raining off and on today. Not much of a chance to do anything outside the house.
I have a Doctors this afternoon. A Planters Wart on my foot has to be removed. Don't know where that came from.

Back from the Doctor. I think I was there for a total of 5 min. Told me it was just a callous. Shaved it off and that was that.

Cut The Grass

May 29, 2010

I said that last Sat. I would cut the grass. But I didn’t. I waited till Monday. That was a mistake. The grass was wet and heavy. Filled up my green bin and the neighbours. Also half a garbage can. Garbage pick-up was in the afternoon. Guess what? He wouldn’t pick up the half-full garbage can. If it was in a plastic bag, he would have taken it. The bag would have been a lot heavier. It all depends on the person. A feeling of importance.

Haven’t done anything all week. Cold, windy and rain most of the time. Today is supposed to be nice and sunny. Time to cut the grass again. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain again. For sure I am not waiting till Monday.

Betty has to go for an eye appointment at 11:00, so that ties the morning up. Very windy again today.

Yard Sales

May 22, 2010
I did cut the lawn on Tues. and I did paint the fence. Actually my wife and I did it together. She is not afraid of work. My wife work ethic is I did it yesterday, my son did it two days ago and me, well I’ll do it today or tomorrow.

After that it rained for a couple of days. Yesterday, we went and got 10 more bags of soil. I thought I was done with that. Also bought flower transplants. She needed soil for the flower pots. Every time I see it on sale when I am at one of those stores, I’ll get ten and store it behind the shed. Then I’ll have a start for the spring.

In the afternoon I cut the sick neighbours grass. One of my neighbours asked me if I wanted a grass catcher for my lawn mower. Said he had three. One did fit and it was the newest one. Betty is happy about that. She doesn’t like grass on the driveway or walkway.

Today will be a nice day. We probably carry our daughter to the van and go yard sailing. She has to lay in the van and can’t see much but better than sitting in a wheelchair all day.

Have to paint a lattice today and maybe cut the grass. All that rain sure made the grass sprout.

Need That Soil

May 18, 2010
The plan for Friday was to get bags of soil at Wal-Mart for a $1.00. So we drove out there, which takes about 20 min. Guess what? No soil. Tried Home Depot and Canadian Tire with the same result. I also couldn’t get those fuses I was looking for. On the way home I thought the truck in front of me was making a lot of noise. So I turned off to take a different and found out it was my van that was making all the noise. Thought it was the alternator even though I had a new one 8 months ago. Called my private mechanic and got an appointment for Mon. morninMy wife saw an ad in a flyer for Canadian Tire and they had soil on sale for $1.00, Sat morning only. This store is right behind my house. So the next morning, my son John went and got 10 bags in his car. Later I went with the van and got 20. I was nervous about getting any more because of the noisy van. Spent the rest of the day distributing the soil. I think that job is done for the year.

On Sunday evening, dropped my van at the garage so he could have it first thing Mon. morning. I was glad I made it. John picked me up. He figured it was the steering. That’s what it was. And $740.00 later, I got my van back.

Today is Tuesday and its warm out. The plan is to cut the lawn. My wife would rather I paint the fence. But it is supposed to rain tomorrow. Then I would have to wait for the grass to dry. I may be able to paint some also.

Those Bricks Again

May 13, 2010

Another day. Up n’ at em. Make a to do list for today. I sound bold. Better check with my wife first.

Montreal won last night. Nice to see them beat the Penguins, even though Sidney Crosby lives a few streets away.

So off we went yesterday to the Brick Store. Have to get those decorative bricks. Didn’t like that place. They also didn’t have my bricks. Said that they were discontinuing that colour and they were all sent out to the stores we had already tried. On the way home I suggested we try the hardware store just around the corner from our house. And what did I find there? All the bricks I needed, right size and right colour. On top of that I got a 10% off for seniors. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Anyway, I made a few trips and bought all I needed. And that is the end of the brick saga.

Then it was on to cutting the lawn. Of course my wife wanted me hauling bricks every which way. Did that and back to the lawn. Now it starts to rain. It held back enough though so I could finish.

What’s on tap for today? First to the drug store. My second home. Have to pick up stuff for my daughter. When you are bedridden, you need a lot of stuff. Glad I have my health insurance from the military. I used to have to pay for a lot of this but insurance changed over the years. Thank God.

We donated a picture to the church and told them to get an appropriate frame. Have to go pay for that. After that it will be looking for paint for the fence. Then its wipper snipper time or mow my ill neighbours lawn. Maybe both.

Those Bricks

May 12, 2010
So the plans from last week didn’t work out too well. Got one of my fuses at Canadian Tire, only because it fell down among some other stuff. That’s all they had. Kent’s Hardware didn’t sell them. I certainly thought that it would be a lot easier to get them. Guess this will have to be an ongoing thing.

Not allowed to sell Weed n’ Feed anymore. Against the law in the city. Only lawn maintenance companies are allowed to use it. I guess we can’t be trusted to use it sparingly. Should be able to get it outside the city. And be careful when and where I use it.

We also didn’t get the decorative bricks my wife wanted. But she saw that there was a sale on bricks on Sat. morning. So my son took her there at 8:00 on Sat. morning. Guess what? Wrong colour. Those elusive bricks. Today I’m taking her to the place where they make the bricks. And if we don’t have success there, I’m giving up.

I found another bad fence post, so I’ve prepared another post and I’ll put that in today. Digging out some dandelions is another chore for today. And it is time to cut the grass again. So thats my plans at this point. We’ll see how that works out.

Yardworks

May 5, 2010
I picked up a small kids bike from someone’s trash the other day. Just what I needed. Took off the two wheels and was able to put them on my lawnmower. Took a little effort and extra parts, but it turned out well. Last year when I used my neighbour’s lawnmower, I found it easier to push when the back two wheels were large. After that I did my lawn, front and back.

My wife’s garden plot is 24″ x 4″, with wood all around. She wanted the wood 4″ higher. I had some old planks behind the shed, so I got out my table saw and cut them to the right size. Two hrs. later, job done. Now I need some dirt to fill it up. Was going to do that today. But now it is raining. If your plan goes down the storm drain, make a new plan.

So now the plans are, go to church, then Canadian Tire. Need something for the lawn and I want to buy a couple of fuses. The new ones that you just reset. We rarely blow a fuse but when we do, these will be the replacements. Then its off to building supplies for some bricks. Ornamental use. You can pick up bricks in the rain.

From Doctor To Taxes

April 29, 2010


Visit to the doctor turned out as expected. Going to get a prostrate operation in the fall. Or they may phone early and ask if I am free. That way , I don’t have time to think about it. The worse pain after the operation will be the first time I go to the washroom. Then it slowly decreases. Can’t do anything or travel for two months. But that’s not today, so onward.

I was nagging my wife to make tea biscuits for me. She said that I was the baker so I had to help. So we did it yesterday. Made two marble cakes, one cheesecake and tea biscuits. Notices my weight this morning was two lbs. more than the day before.

That was an interruption to doing my taxes, but I still did them. Now I’ll wait to see if I have some extra money in my account. Then I’ll know all went well.

A Doctor Day

April 27, 2010

Sliced off those fence posts yesterday. I was going to paint them but had no paint of the right colour. Have to look for a similar colour at a recycling place. After all its only a fence.

We had a holdup in the “Subway” behind my house last week. They say the robber got away thru the houses behind the mall. And that house would be me. There is a high metal fence behind all the houses. But I am the only one that has a large tree up against the fence on the other side. The bottom branches resemble “steps” to the top of my fence. I can see where he climbed my fence because of the mess on my side. So yesterday, got the chainsaw, walked all around that fence and cut off those branches. That’s the end of that.

Have a doctor’s appointment at noon. About prostate. I don’t think it’s any different than any guy my age. It’s just that I’m on the radar. I had a different problem last year and the doctor is also a specialist for prostates. So I ended up as a project. He is trying to decide whether I can use pills or have an operation. Once you’ve been made a project, that’s it. It has to go the route.

Sitting here yesterday, I could see out the window that a squirrel was making trips to my shed. Was getting in thru the vent. So I had to fix that. Always something.

Light rain today. Looks like it is going to be that way all week.
Darn That Twitter


April 26, 2010

It’s almost a month since I put something on this Blog. And I’m putting all the blame on Twitter. I put something on there every day because it is easier to make a fast blurb.

We had two weeks of good weather and then it rained for two weeks. My wife cleaned out the basement. This year, it was more cleaning out than moving around. Took all the old electronics to the recycling place. Have to find out if they take old vcr tapes. I think they do and I sure have a bundle. Looked like a good idea at the time. Now I can put 12 movies on a small memory stick.

Got two working lawn mowers and I have cut the lawn once. We are not allowed to use Weed n’ Feed here, so everyone has a dandelion problem. Got some stuff the other day that you mix with water. See how that works.

My neighbour gave me her woodpile. She has never used any since I cut down her trees and piled it for her. Not all was still good. Split what was needed, packed it away and will use it this winter. Think I have about five years of firewood packed around the yard.

Put in three fence posts the other day. There are a few every spring. Best time to do it. Ground is wet. Pull out one and stick the new one in. Have to get the chain saw out and cut them down to the same size. Might do that today.