Focus

Hi Y'all.  I was going to write about Furbys today.  I bought two furbys at a garage sale last week end.  They are interesting toys.  They have several sensors, transmitters and receivers.  People like to hack them and make youtube videos of them calling them "bent furbys".  I thought it would make an interesting combination to have a furby equipped with a taser.  That would violate Asimov's first law of robotics.

I decided not to pursue the furby line of procrastination.  "I've got your Furby right here."
I need to focus.  The job at hand is touching up the house.  I've done this a few times and no matter how expensive the treatment,  the paint still peels and looks bad after about two years.  I have a tool called a paint shaver that makes the paint removal very easy.  It hooks up to a vacuum which cleans up 95% of the paint chips as you go.  It's kinda like the Flowbee which cuts your hair and cleans up virtually all of the hair clippings. 

I had insulation put in the house a few years ago.  They drill holes in your clapboards and put plugs in afterward.  I've tried to fix those twice now but they still look terrible.  I think the only permanent solution would be to replace the boards.  Maybe some vinyl siding strips could be put on just those boards?  I've also thought of using fiberglass since I've used some on the boat.  I might try a test patch with that.

  One good thing about touching up a house,  the job doesn't have to be concise.  I noticed many years ago how rough the paint job was on one of our historic landmarks in Boston. It's the naval station where Old Ironside is docked.  If it's good enough for that landmark it's good enough for The Benjamin Bangs House.

Now I'm ready to go out and conquer the sides of the house.  I might take Furby along just for company.

More Boat News

We went north for a week-end vacation last week-end.  We (my wife and I) drove the VW camper van so we could possibly sleep in it and get some use out of it.  First we visited my twin sister Kay who lives in Gaylord.  We went to a nice restaurant there and then saw Kay's place for the first time.  It is a very cute and comfortable place built as a separate structure from her daughter's house.  It would be nice for any single retiree.  She has it decorated very well.  After our visit we headed out to Crystal Lake.  Shortly after we turned on our headlights, we discovered the van was not producing enough electricity to keep us on the road.

A wonderful adventure ensued in which we met some very nice and helpful people, stayed at a motel that was as bad as they get while still being acceptable and eventually got the alternator replaced.  We were late by about a half a day and that was remarkable.  Brooke's brother Matt came and picked her up, as we didn't know how long things would take and everyone at the lake were antsy to go sailing and the sail was in the camper van.

Eventually we all assembled at the lake.  The cabins were great, the sailing was great and we had a nice time.  Gabe was there and really enjoyed the family experience.  The next-door-neighbor, was a sailor.  He identified my boat as a Chrysler manufactured boat.  I always had wanted to ID the boat because it has no numbers or writing on it.  I've since looked it up and it is a c-15 Man-o-war.  There is a lot of great information on it on the web.  I'm glad the boat worked out so well.  We did manage to tip it over but no harm was done and nothing lost but a little pride. 

Boating season

About 30 years ago I bought a sail boat at a garage sale.  As with most hoarders, I still have it.  We have sailed it a few times over the years but the usual scenario is, other things take precedence, the boat needs repair, late in summer I think,"Can I get the boat ready before it's too cold?", summer is over.  Well, since it's a rainy day, I thought I'd get in the boating mood and write about it.

The wave sounds are turned on in the sidebedroom so this is what happened.  My Sister-in-law Robin put some pressure on me to have the boat ready this year for a vacation week on Crystal Lake.  Robin likes sailing and when I first got the boat she gave me my only sailing lesson on Tipsico Lake.  She is my sailing mentor.  I decided to accept the challenge to get the boat ready again.  Jake is back and he likes to sail.  Suhitha would like to sail.  I would like to sail.  My SM (sailing mentor) wants to sail.  Plenty of motivation. 

I like boats.  Just as I like planes, cars, motorcycles etc.  I think it's the idea of a somewhat self sufficient unit able to carry you someplace.  With a boat, there is no roadway.  With a sailboat only the wind propels you.  I think I could live on a nice boat that is docked in a nice harbor somewhere.  If I ever come up missing, I may be on a boat.

Well, last year I had done some patching to the boat.  So Jake and I got her out and turned her upside down on the picnic table.  A rat came running out from under her.  Boats are referred to as females.  The patches that I had done looked pretty good so I sanded them down and I think with one more layer of fiberglass cloth, they will be very good.  The other boat items I am working on are an improvement on the catch for the tiller,  same for the baler and whatever odds and ends that pop up.  The boat trailer needs rewiring and what I call the nose piece needs work.  The wood is rotted and I need to change the ball on the trailer hitch.  

It sure will be nice to be out on Crystal Lake though sailing along in the breeze.  "Prepare to jibe!.......Jibe Ho!"    "Man overboard!"