I'm hot

No really, it's like a whole lotta degrees here and I'm sitting here topless sipping a beer. I think I'll do some physical labor and then go for a swim. I love the end of Summer.

(That's not me, it's Jewel the singer. I thought you might like her picture better than mine. It's better this way. Trust me on this one.)

What the fuck is Bela Karolyi saying?

So I'm trying to listen to what Bela Karolyi is saying. It is a complete mystery.

Something something something score. Something something something Shawn Johnson. Something something something judges. Crap, I simply can't follow it.

NBC - How about some mother loving SUBTITLES for fuck's sake.

Hey there, it's been a while. Not much. How 'bout you?

It's been such a long time, and I really do miss your smile.
(yeah I know, cheesy 1976 lyrics)

Well since last time we talked not much on the radar, except we had a bad movie night and Netflix didn't send Lobster Man From Mars on time. We watched Cannonball Run instead. It was really too good for a bad movie.

I started work on the front doors. In a fit of practicality I selected two 24" wide, 10 light doors at the Home Despot. I had planned on making two doors from scratch. As son as I saw those doors that were pretty close to what I was going to build anyway, I caved. I probably saved money and cut at least three weeks off the project timeline. I WOULD post a picture but at the moment it just looks like some lumber and two unfinished doors.

After that, we plan to...
Remodel the kitchen (100% DIY)
Paint the exterior of the house (0-50% DIY???)
Re-roof (we may DIY a lot of this, first estimate was north of $18,000.)
Find a way to get an in-law unit built here ($18,000 year income) (big problem here - sewer hookup)
Remodel Sharon's mom's place (totally un-planned project at this point, no scope, funding source, budget, or schedule.)
Etc....

Plus Renaissance Faires and Dickens Fair and all that other stuff too.

So we are planning on selling that nifty truck that we got for Andy. (wanna buy it?) Though, with the list above... maybe I'll just keep it.

The mermaid is there just for visual interest.

Saying goodbye

We spent last night with Aunt Mary and her family. Mary, you see, was dying. She had stage 4 breast cancer. The chemo had wrecked her immune system, and she got an infection. She walked into the hospital in the morning. At 11:20 PM, she was gone.

My cousins and their girls and husbands were all there. My sister was there. Sharon, Andy and Jessamy were there. We all had time to say goodbye and tell Mary that we loved her. She could tell we were there, but with a ventilator and sedation she, for once, had nothing to say.

When I got there her pastor was giving her communion. She had on her mother's cross. It was clear that she was in her very last day. Her color was pale, but OK. In a couple of more hours, she was getting mottled blue in her legs. Things happened pretty fast after that.

Once it was clear that Mary was falling very fast, even on a 100% oxygen ventilator and maxed out on four blood pressure support drugs, we met with the doctors and made the very hard decision to let her go on her own time. From the time they took her off the ventilator until she died was less than five minutes.


Mary meant a lot to me. She was my dad's little sister and her daughters and we three kids were very close when we were young - even when they moved back east. Their home was a very memorable getaway week for me when I had just hit my peak of rebellion as a teen. Mary was so much cooler than my parents (or so it seemed at the time). I adored my cousins, first because they were beautiful and ultimately because they accepted me like no one else had before. I remember the week as if it were just a few months ago - even though at least 30 years have gone by. I can still see and smell the house.

Mary remembered all the family stories, many of which went with her. Mary always laughed a lot, and in a moment would tell you precisely what was wrong. Mary gave me a perspective on what was important, and more often than not her insight illuminated something that I hadn't thought of.

I'll miss Mary for a long time to come.

PS - go get a mammogram if it's time. If you find a lump - don't wait to go see the doctor, especially if you are 70 or more and smoked for decades. Seriously.

New toy

Suddenly - after a week or so - we have an almost brand new bathroom. It's green.Room with a view.
Details make it look perfect.
Having to re-mount the shower curtain mount was a big motivator.
I even re-finished the cubby holder. It still smells of Minwax.

Again! Again!

We are painting the other bathroom this time -cause as Sharon says, "We've had the paint for two years." I suppose it's been about ten years since the remodel (wow) and that's when it was painted the first time. Again! Again! as the Teletubbies say.

Working at a startup you have to ready for lots of change. In all the other departments there has been lots of it. In Operations (instrument and consumables manufacturing & materials) every thing is pretty smooth. Elsewhere - people coming and going... blah blah blah.

In that vein - do you know any software or electrical engineers? (not listed yet), or biochemist types, or sales people with strong biotech backgrounds? We got some openings.

If you write it, they will come

Is it still a blog if I go more than a week between posts? Less a web log and more a stale web site I suppose. I was busy is the excuse I'm going with this time.

So at work there are two fellows who report to me and they build the gear we sell. One of them is on vacation for two weeks, and one of them is on restricted duty cause he hurt his hand. And it was the end of the fiscal quarter and we were trying to make sure we had enough gear to meet the projected demand. Then a testing instrument (that I am responsible for maintaining) broke and we needed it to work again. So last week I put in a lot of hours.

And last Saturday was a big wedding and I needed to fish up the white silk vest I was making to wear with my morning coat. All that got done, button holes and buttons Saturday morning, and the wedding was lovely. You can see the vest in the picture.