All in a Day's Work - or 2 or 3

So, like most of the country, I had a nice long weekend this last weekend. It was the big EASTER weekend, and I had even planned for an extra day giving me a nice long FOUR day weekend.  But, as the saying goes "The best laid plans of mice and men, do oft times go awry*." or, even better, the old Hebrew saying  "Man Plans, God Laughs."  Yeah, it was that kind of weekend.  

Friday morning I decided to go out to my shed and "putter' around.  No, it's not a golf term, it means to  occupy oneself in a desultory but pleasant manner, doing a number of small tasks.  (Why, yes, I do have a good vocabulary, thank you for noticing...)  Unfortunately, the shed didn't care for my vocabulary nor for my 'puttering' about and I discovered a huge leak in the roof.  Water damage, tears and anguish abounds.  

So, my weekend was now turned into 'fix the roof of the shed.'  First, remove the old leaky wood and shingles.  

Here is the roof gone...viewed from inside the messy shed. 

Same view from outside the messy shed.  

Now a lot of guys, especially in the South, would call their buddies and everyone with a set of overalls or low rider pants would show up to help fix the roof of the shed. Nope, not me.  First, I like doing this stuff, but more importantly, I don't know that many guys to give a call.  Most of my friends are off working, located in far flung areas of the south, and well, it's got to be done, so there I am, I'm up on the roof, putting wood in by myself.  

Saturday, shingles, shingles and more shingles.  Then on Sunday, more shingles.  Amazing how such a small shed can take me so long to put in shingles.  BUT, with perseverance...and a lot of ice cold water, and not a few pain killers...

Finished.  So Sunday night there I am sitting and trying to keep my aching calves and screaming back from keeping me awake.  The end of day 3 of a 4 day weekend.  That can mean only one thing for my day off on Monday. 

Mow the lawn.  

Sigh......

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Edit to add:  My brother Bubba, the retired English Teacher tells me that the real phrase is "The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men Gang aft agley"  I'm serious. Bubba knows these things.  Someone get me a beer...

Mason Jars as Travel Mugs

Last June, I wrote about using a mason jar as a drinking glass.  I have always found that they are inexpensive and easy to find as well as big enough for the largest of thirsts - usually mine. Now, along comes a nifty little doodad that turns your Mason/Drinking Glass into a Mason/Travel Mug!  It's amazing, it's real and it's available on the internet.  Wait, that's not enough excitement.

It's AMAZING!!  It's REAL! and it's AVAILABLE on the INTERNET!! OH EM GEEE!!  Is that better?  Are you sufficiently excited now? I know I am.

You can find the nifty little doodad (don't ya love that word?) on its own site, cuppow.com.  (No, Bubba, I am not getting any kind of kickback, though with this kind of advertising, I should! ) I won't get into the whole 'cuppow' name, just stick to the fact that this is a great invention. Now you can take your favorite beverage on the road!  The top sort of resembles the standard cup tops you get at the many coffee places that serve coffee to go and the opening is so small that most bees and wasps won't be crawling in while you're walking to work. Of course the Cuppow is also good for those of us to like to sit around in the yard and drink a nice cold beverage, too.

Cold beverage?  A lot of my Suthun Brethren are now contemplating this handy container for that most treasured of beverages - BEER! That lid would keep the bugs out of it while I"m off doing battle in the Yard Wars, too!

The Cuppow is designed to replace the disk that the Mason Jar uses to seal the jar during canning.  Use the old screw-on ring, slip in the Cuppow and in no time, you're off in the car..or bus or train or horse drawn carriage.  Heck, you could even take it on a walk, if you're of a mind. 

A thought, however comes to mind.  We're talking a standard glass jar here. The resemblance to the take-away coffee container means that people (like me) are thinking of using this combo for that most exalted of morning beverages - COFFEE!  (Actually coffee is an anytime beverage in my world.)  BUT-  If you put HOT coffee into a glass jar you had better be sure you have an insulated way of carrying said Hot Glass Mason/Travel Mug or you're going to end up with first degree burns on your fingers if not just a lot of discomfort in carrying your Mason/Travel Mug.    I suppose the next thing that this site will offer is an insulated holder made of silicon to prevent said burns. That would be a good add-on sale and I'm sure that at least I am going to need it.

Wait...let me call my lawyer and see about a copyright first.

The Silver Savior - The GPS Remount

When a friend first showed me his new car, my eyes went right to the built in GPS unit just above his super brand name radio (you know, with the Ipod jacks and gold plated connectors..all the stuff to make a driver drool.)  Of all the gadgets they put in cars now, GPS is one of the few add-ons that I can actually see a reason for.  I am one of the few male drivers out there who will stop for directions if I even think I've gone off course.

However that may be, getting it done right is important. Above you can see how one Suthunah seemed to have completed the installation process with the use of Good ol' Duck Tape.  (Duck Tape is the savior of the universe, or of most Suthun Inventions, just in case you didnt' know that either.)

I condone this installation, as it allows you to remove the GPS and take it to another vehicle, or take into the house at night.  Though I'm a little unsure as to why so MUCH Duck tape was used, at least it is a replaceable installation... Suthun Style.

I Didn't See You There! (#2)

The other day I was, as I usually am, wandering through Walmart.  There in the back, I find this.  A camouflaged wallet.  At first I merely look at it but then the brain starts to wonder.  Why?  Why do you need to camouflage your money?  So I envision some guy out in the forest, and he's carrying a handful of cash, credit cards and valuable pictures of his kids, and/or grandkids. 

"Well, huh..." he thinks.  "I sure don't want any one finding my stash, especially the deer.  I had better keep it safe by putting it here in my camouflaged wallet.  Now...where did I put it....."

Not to be left out, it's important to note that even women can find their own camouflaged wallet.  Gotta keep those valuables from being seen out there.  

Out there in the South. 

Suthern Occupation

A few weeks ago, there were stories all over the web and the TV that told of the Occupy Movement. Most of those stories told of a large number of brave souls who occupied Wall Street in New York as well as outdoor areas in Washington DC and points west, amid cold weather and even being arrested for their passive protests. The movement has been lost from the headlines, no more truly evident than what happened to me recently.

For no particular reason, I ended up driving to work the other day.  When I drive, I walk about a mile from the parking lot to the building and pass through Legislative Plaza here in Downtown Nashville. As I turned the corner to enter the plaza, I was struck by a number of tents sprinkled about the plaza.  In truth, I had forgotten that these soles were carrying the torch, as it were, for the Occupy Movement here in Nashville.  I took the time to capture the sleeping protesters' tents there in the predawn light (that's why it's so dark) and went on my way to work, renewed by their tenacity and my own brief brush with their place in history.

You might think that would have been the end of it.  I write a bit about the 1% versus the 99%, post my photo and eat some donuts.  My little blog fades much like the memory of the Occupy movement and we all go back to our jobs.  But, as luck would have it, no such luck.

Today I headed out to take a new picture of the protest with the bright sun shining high overhead. I wanted to add a bit more to this blog entry about the movement and a fresh photo seemed appropriate.   I caught this shot as I first entered the plaza during lunch

Then I moved to take a couple of other photos, and made a rather shocking discovery.  What I discovered showed a side of the movement that tainted it.   I was disappointed in the way in which the protesters took care of, or rather DIDN'T  care for the area in which they pitched their tents. Take a look.

As you can see, the protesters left things a bit...uh...messy.  These two shots were taken without moving any more than turning in place, and these were not the only evidence of such trashy treatement. Styrofoam take out containers, wrappers from junk food, even forgotten clothing and such were tossed about like leaves in a fall windstorm. I was shocked and somewhat taken aback.  Do these protesters think that being a part of  a protest gives them the power to allow litter like this?  Is it part of the protest to leave litter about in such a fashion?  What gives them the right to treat our public areas like this?

It may not be a very Suthun thing, and counter to the usual low key humor I usually write, but it got to me, and I would hope that it gets to you too.  I'd like to print this out and post it on each of those tents.  Sure, the 1% controls 99% of the world money, but we each control 100% of  our own litter.  That came out a bit odd, but you catch the drift.  

I care about the movement, I care about the protest. I also care about litter.

I just want them to clean it up.  

A Three Day Weekend in the South

Thanks to some great politicians, we have a three day weekend this weekend. It's President's Day.  The day (Monday) that we celebrate both Washington's and Lincoln's Birthdays.  As a matter of fact, according to the literature, we're taking the Day (or in reality: DAYS) to celebrate the birthdays of ALL of the Presidents of these United States.

Here in the south, President's day is no big deal, though there are those who feel that it's more Washington's birthday than Lincoln's.  There is still a thread of ill will toward the man for not allowing the South to break off from the Union.  I suppose, had that been allowed to happen, we'd now have to get a passport to travel to Disney World. Or Mardi Gras.  But as ever, I digress.

In my opinion, every month should have at least one official three day holiday. We, as kids, looked forward to February.  Sure there was Valentine's day when you had to make up about 30 Valentines card for everyone in your class including that one kid who picked his nose and ate it.  (Ewww!)  But truthfully, we looked forward to having TWO days off in February, one to celebrate Washington's birthday and another to celebrate Lincoln's birthday.  We had the exact days, not necessarily a three day weekend, too. Lincoln's birthday February 12, and then Washington's birthday on Feb 22.  Then we had the big change in 1968 where the holiday was switched to just the third Monday in Feb.  Not nearly close enough for the 12th, and not late enough for the 22nd.  Never officially recognized as  "President's Day", the name sort of stuck as the public really wanted to celebrate both of these great leaders.

Me? I'm just glad for a day off.

Invention Intervention - Vehicle Divison

This is another one of those invention kind of things that makes you wonder.  I wonder why the wood on the side, why the electric red thing, and why the jack-o-lantern with the electric cable coming out of it.  I also wonder why this thing isn't surrounded by people taking pictures.  I'm amazed that it actually runs.  

When you consider it, I guess it had to be running, cuz it somehow got into this parking lot.  And it will take no big guess at all to know which parking lot this is.  Take a look at that building in the background.  We all recognize that, now don't we.  Yep, it's a Walmart parking lot.  

When I first saw this, I tried to figure it all out.  At first guess, it would seem that the wood merely replaces the fender.  Easier to attach things to wood than to a metal fender, that's for sure.   But my eye keeps going to that red thing.  What IS that red thing?  Some sort of generator or motor perhaps taken off of an electric weed whacker...and why is that cord going up to the purple jack-o-lantern?   If I got it up to 88 miles per hour, would it go back in time?  

I love the south for things like this.  I'm just happy to note that it's not in my driveway.