Archives February 2017

So I went over to the Coastland Center mall after work.  I literally NEVER go to malls anymore.  I bet the last time I stepped foot in the place was 2-3 years ago.  It felt sort of weird to be honest which is strange since going to the Berkshire Mall as I was growing up was a staple of my youth.  The mall felt like it reflected the slow death of conventional retail in the country.  Most stores had more employees mulling about than customers.

So anyway the reason I was there was to get my beloved Casio G-shock fixed.  After I broke the main pin attaching the metal band to the body I tried unsuccessfully to replace the pin myself.  I knew there was a jewelry repair place at the mall so I figured I could drop it off and they would have it fixed in a day.

Well when I walked into the repair shop, just like the rest of the mall, no one was there but the man that owns the place.  He was reading a magazine.  I showed him my watch and he said he could fix it no problem for $20 and it would take 15 minutes.  I was pleasantly surprised that he could do it immediately, saving me a second trip to the mall.  I sat in a central area and people watched for a few minutes before returning.  By the time I got there the man was back to reading his magazine.  I bet it took him all of 30 seconds.  Knowing what you are doing makes all the difference.  I happily took possession of my now complete watch and have it on my right wrist once again today, just like it has been the majority of the last 13 or 14 years.

Late last week I got an email from Chase saying they were sending me a new credit card.  Based on my recent track record of credit fraud I was concerned as I did not make a request for a new card.  I called them to see what was up. The rep told me the new improved cards were being sent out automatically.  I wasn’t quite sure what would be improved about them but thanked the guy for the info.

Well the card arrived yesterday and when I pulled it out I did a double take.  Where are the numbers???  This is the first credit card I ever saw that has no account information on the front of the card.  Instead the account info is imprinted on the back, a simple solution to cut down on the exposure of your CC number to the world.  The card itself also weighs noticeably more than other cards, I am not sure what the added heft is about but if it helps keep the card more secure I’m all for it.

The best part of the new card is it coincides with a HUGE improvement in the Amazon rewards I get.  Up until this point if I used the card to buy items on Amazon, which we do all the time, we got a 3% spiff in the form of Amazon points that can be used as cash to spend on their site.  Well that kickback has now gotten a huge bump up to 5%, making what was already a good deal, great.

So many people don’t realize everything that is involved with trying to build a successful channel on YouTube.  Of course it involves capturing footage, hopefully quality footage, and then the normally lengthy process of editing it into a package suitable for consumption.  Once the video is uploaded, video titles are very important.  A common term on YT is “click bait”, which means giving a video a short title that sparks curiosity in the viewer that gets them to click the video.  The problem is sometimes YouTube creators will use intentionally misleading video titles just to get that click, hence the term.

Adding the description and meta tags is also very important as it helps your video catch hits when viewers are searching for certain keywords.  Again there is an opportunity for shadiness in this as sometimes creators will add meta tags that have absolutely nothing to do with their video in the hopes it will still snag a click.  You also want to try to encourage people to hit the LIKE button on every video you produce as it helps in getting that video shown in other’s Suggested Video lists.  Of course encouraging people to SUBSCRIBE to the channel is important as well as they will automatically get notified whenever you produce something new, making it more likely they will view it.

When it comes to actually making money on YouTube a creator has to establish an AdSense account that will pay you each time your account balance crosses the $100 mark.  The pay is based on a complex formula of video views, length of time viewers watch your video and interaction with the ads that play with your videos.  I have been doing pretty well lately and have gotten a check each of the last 7 or 8 months.

However there are other ways to monetize your YouTube channel.  Some people will do sponsored videos where they are paid to review or talk about a product.  Of course this is something that only happens once your channel grows to a decent size.  Mine is much too small at this point for that to happen.  My channel however is not too small to take advantage of the Amazon Affiliates program.

The AA program is cool, Amazon basically gives you a spiff for directing people to their site.  What most YouTubers will do is create AA links (amzn.to) to specific products that they are either using in the video or use otherwise.  These links are included in the video descriptions.  Normally if your video includes use of some product you mention that a link to the product is in the video description.  If a viewer clicks the link and subsequently buys the product on Amazon, bang, you get a spiff.  I signed up for the program last week and started adding some affiliate links to my old videos and I will add them to anything coming out subsequently.

It is sort of a fun side challenge trying to turn my YouTube channel into a legitimate part time job in terms of revenue.  I’ll keep working at it.

So Saturday I had another back breaking session of labor.  I loaded up the back of the Tacoma with 10 bags of mulch 10, bags of top soil, and 25 pieces of sod.  I was a bit annoyed and a little more amazed by the Hispanic family that was parked in front of both the mulch and sod, making my loading process more of a hassle.

They jammed an INCREDIBLE amount of things into their Ford Expedition SUV.  I saw at least 6 patio chairs, a table, a bunch of mulch, at least 20 pieces of sod, and at least a dozen medium sized potted variegated plants.  The vehicle had to be stuffed from ceiling to floor.  Oh, and the couple had to jam their three children in there as well somehow.

After they were done I was commenting to another customer about how amazing it was they managed to get all of that stuff inside the Ford.  The sod went on the back seat, that must have been neat and tidy.

So once I got home I got busy.  I parked the truck right outside the front gate of the new chicken grounds and used our little pull behind wagon to cart stuff into the fenced area.  I spread the mulch first.  A bunch of it went into the center of the chicken play area we created.  My thinking was I knew they loved digging through mulch around the yard so I wanted them to have their own collection of it.

The rest of the mulch was used around the pond and the small area that has the birds of paradise.  In the past couple years it had become pretty pointless to add mulch to landscaped beds because the chickens would destroy it with their endless scratching shortly thereafter.  It felt sort of strange to place mulch down and realize it would actually stay put, making those areas look nicer than they have in quite awhile.

I then worked on getting the top soil and sod down.  A lot of the grass went around the perimeter of the coop.  When the chickens dig, quite often they like to do it against some sort of structure.  Putting a thick sod border around the coop is one way to encourage the chickens to excavate elsewhere.  Even though the temperatures were nice and cool to start the day it quickly got warm.  I was out there a good five hours plodding away.  Even though I certainly did not enjoy it, having the chickens mulling around me wondering what I was doing most of the time made it less annoying.

I picked up Sadie Saturday morning so she had a bunch of crazy play time with Bowser and Elsa.  It seemed most of the time Bowser and Elsa would tag team Sadie which for the most part Sadie was ok with.  A couple times it got a little out of hand and Sadie let out a quick warning snarl that let the other dogs know a boundary had been reached.

I have had an issue with the connection to the outlet of the pool pump leaking for awhile.  I have tried to fix it by applying fresh pvc cement to the outside of the joint but it accomplished nothing.  The only way to fix it correctly is to rip that section out and replumb it to the input of the filter.  If pressed I could probably do it but with something like this my preference is to just pay a professional to do it to minimize the potential for future leaks.

So when I got more chlorine at Pinch-a-Penny I made arrangements to have someone come out to do the work.  In addition to fixing that section I am also going to have them pull out the pool heater that has been broken for at least five years.  Once it is pulled out they will have to replumb the lines some more.  Even when the pool is warm in the summer we hardly use it, putting in a new pool heater would be a huge waste of money not only in up front costs but also the ridiculous impact it has on my electric bill.

On Saturday night Cindy and I went on our Valentines Day dinner early to Stir Crazy.  We invited Katie along as well as we didn’t want her sitting home being bummed out.  The food was good but our waitress, Nicole was pretty awful.  From the first word out of her mouth you could tell she hated being a waitress.  Although the entrees came out lightning fast, things that seemingly did not require much preparation like draft beer and desert had these inexplicable delays.  She brought out plates and forks for desert 10 minutes before the desert actually arrived.  We actually got the check before we got desert.  It was bizarre.  Nicole did not clean up in the tip department as a result.

Sunday morning I was up pretty early.  I gave Cindy a break from chicken duties since she does it pretty much every other day.  Katie had said she was interested in riding EUCs Sunday morning but was still asleep so I kept myself busy for awhile.  First I put my Mavic up to get some more updated aerial video of the additional improvements we made to the chicken area.  I am still fumbling around trying to figure out everything the drone can do.  I have only grazed the surface thus far.

I then sat down and paid my bills for the week which took extra long since it was credit card reconciliation time which is tedious and annoying.  Katie was still asleep so I grew tired of waiting, I didn’t want to have half the day pass before getting out.  I was just loading the truck up to head out on my own when she came out of the room.  She said she still wanted to go so instead of a solo trek, Cindy and her piled in the truck for a ride at the Greenway.

The weather was really nice for riding and we were having a great time.  When people see us on the wheels it is very common to get comments like “Wow, that’s cool!”, “What is that??” and other statements of intrigue or interest.  Well as I was exiting one of the boardwalk areas I passed an older couple whom were obviously not born in the US based on their accent.  As I was passing them the old man says, “the sign (at entrance of the boardwalk) says no motor vehicles”  I at first thought the guy was just being funny as universally, we have never had anyone be negative about our EUC riding.  I told him in a friendly voice, “well this is basically like an electric bicycle” (bikes are allowed).

Well the old prick continued “well that thing still has a motor doesn’t it???”  Instantly I lost all patience with this guy.  I now used my overtly sarcastic, fake friendly voice as I told him.  “well why don’t you go ahead and report us then.  Have a great day!”  as I rode away from him.   They walked by me again when I was stopped by Cindy who was practicing on Katie’s EUC.  The guy had no additional commentary for me, good for him.

Like I said, Cindy who rode the MiniPro for most of the ride got more practice in on the boardwalk on Katie’s wheel.  Cindy likes the height of the rail as a support if needed.  She did well, riding without support for 50-75 feet a couple times.  She stepped off it a bit awkwardly during her last roll and called it quits.  When I was learning I always made sure the last ride I did was not a fail.  I think it helps a lot to get right back on and have one more small success before stopping.  It just helps build confidence going forward.

After the ride we stopped and grabbed lunch at a pizza place.  The main pizza maker used to work with Katie at her old waitress job, his name was Tommy.  I could immediately tell he was from NYC.  I don’t know if you could find a more stereotypical pizza guy.  He looked and talked exactly as you would imagine.  He was very funny and had all of us laughing throughout the meal.  The pizza was very good.

We didn’t get home until after two.  Cindy was shocked when she discovered Kristen, our white chicken outside the fence.  She was able to quickly grab her and put her back before Bowser could react.  When reviewing the security dvr she saw the escape on video.  Kristin was able to simply fly up to the cross post and jump over.

Well obviously we can’t have that and chickens have a lemming mentality, when they see one do something they are apt to try it as well.  We had to do some wing clipping.  We only trimmed the wings of four of the ten chickens, Pumpkin, Peaches, Stephie, and of course Kristin.  They are the smaller birds with good flying/jumping ability.  The process only takes 30 seconds per bird so it wasn’t bad.  Early on when the chickens became adults we had issues with a few of them flying over the main fence but they eventually stopped trying.  We are hoping they come to the same conclusion with the new fence as well.

I got some WoW time in the rest of the day as well as some backyard EUC riding just for fun.  Tonight I need to go to a jewelry repair place to get my beloved Casio G-shock watch repaired.  I broke the main pin that connects the band to the watch body when I was chasing down Bowser a couple weeks ago.  The attempts I made to replace the pin myself have been utter fails.

Last night before dinner I wanted to get a quick ride in before dinner so I hopped on my Msuper and headed to the first cross street.  I quietly carved back and forth as I traveled both ends of the street under the bright full moon.  It always feels good to just get out and ride.  Even brief 10-15 minute sessions like last night helps clear the mind and dull some of the sharp things jabbing me in my daily grind.

I was surprised and happy to hear that Cindy was actually out on her wheel in the backyard yesterday practicing, using the new chicken fence as a support.  She said she actually launched herself away from the safety of the fence a few times and free wheeled it.  She said she feels less danger when the potential for falling is on grass instead of asphalt or concrete.

So today on my way to work I had two annoying things happen with my Tacoma.  Shortly after pulling out of the driveway the RPMs on the truck jumped way up, it almost felt like the truck was in neutral.  I immediately backed off the gas.  After doing so when I reapplied the gas the truck felt normal but it concerns me because of the widespread transmission issues that have been reported with the new Tacomas.  I already had mine at the dealer once to have a reprogramming done to the transmission controller to address shifting problems.

Then about five minutes later my information center lights up with alternating ABS/BSM warning lights, the same problem the truck spent 3-4 days at the dealer for a couple months ago.  At that time they replaced the driver side wheel sensor and the problem had not reappeared, until today.

I have to say my new Tacoma ownership experience has not been as smooth as I had hoped it would be.  These various electronic gremlins, transmission issues, and dealing with a shitty dealer have been the source of a lot of frustration, the sort of frustration you hope to avoid by buying a new vehicle.  I turned the truck off and on which made the error disappear but I am pretty sure it will be back.

This weekend I hope to do one more big load of sod and topsoil to raise certain areas in the new chicken run and patch up areas that are bare.  It is always dirty, unfun work but I am hoping it will be the last of it for a little while.  I’d like to take the wheels down to Marco this weekend to try riding around the hilly areas.  We will see how that works out.

It is one of those days where I am fighting the urge to throw a bunch of  memes here that sometimes express thoughts and feelings in a far quicker and funnier way than a paragraph of words can.

Yesterday Cindy continued the work in the new chicken area, laying a bunch of sod along the fence line where the ground was low.  Of course new sod needs consistent water so we have been dragging a hose out there to try to do the work.  I am considering relocating the one sprinkler we have near one front corner of the fence to the middle of the new fenced area to make that job more automatic.  The idea of doing more excavation work at the moment doesn’t sound appealing as I am still trying to heal up form the fence work.

One of the weirdest injuries I incurred during the work was to the big toe on my left foot.  Being in my rubber boots all day on Saturday somehow managed to push the toenail back and up, leaving the toe in a very tender state.  The area around the nail is all red and I am assuming the nail is going to fall off eventually.  I have to be very careful putting on socks and any sort of footwear that compresses the toes in any manner are off limits.  My dreams of being a foot model are over.

I officially listed one of my electric unicycles for sale the other day, the MCM4.  This is the wheel I originally bought for Cindy for Christmas but it turned out she liked the style of wheel that Katie has better. The wheel is practically new and I went ahead and put larger pedals on it several weeks ago.  It’s a much smaller wheel than the Msuper and has the coolest LED light configuration of any of my wheels.

The reason it is for sale is I am interested in a new 84V model of a Gotway wheel and although I could outright just buy it but I am forcing myself to get rid of a wheel before getting another.  You know sort of like Trump’s brilliant executive order that if you add a regulation you need to get rid of two.  I like to follow his lead wherever possible.

I listed the wheel on the electric unicycle forum and our local FB yard sale group but have not gotten any bites yet.  It is a unique item that is not going to have mass appeal so I am prepared to be patient.

Yesterday was the last day of my four day weekend, the first three of which had been almost entirely consumed by fence construction.   So although the chickens are now secured within their smaller confines there is still more to do.

Cindy and I wanted to do some things to the area to offer the chickens some more protection, shade and entertainment.  Cindy and I did a run to Home Depot in the morning to get a few palms, top soil, and sod.  Unfortunately they had absolutely no sod so that part had to be put on hold.

When we got home we went right to work.  I spread the top soil along the portion of the fence line that was a little off the ground because of low spots.  We will then drop sod on top which will eventually grow through the fencing to lock it to the ground.  We also used a combination of left over fence posts and left over lumber scraps to make a “chicken deck”.  I did not spend much time leveling or squaring corners, I sort of wanted the structure to be haphazard looking.  Cindy had the idea of putting some of our old tires down a rail in the middle to give the chickens something to go under and/or through.  We planted palms around all four sides which will hopefully provide a nice shady hang out spot as they grow. I took the other three tires we had and buried them halfway in the ground to give the birds something else to hide in on jump onto.

Early in the morning I put my Mavic up in the air to get some aerial shots of the end result of our three days of fencing labor.

Mid-afternoon, despite still having a very sore back and other fence building ailments I got the idea to go take my Msuper to the swamp to ride around.  Cindy, Katie and I had talked about doing it at some point and I thought it would be cool if I went and scouted it out ahead of time to see how suitable the path is for one wheel riding.

I drove the Tacoma there instead of riding to the swamp. Very early on I ran into obstacles on the boardwalk.  Someone strung some pink caution tape across marking a huge foot or more section of decking that had fallen out.  That boardwalk is in very, very bad shape.  I won’t be surprised if they close it down for awhile so they can replace all of the decking sometime soon.

So as I exited the boardwalk and onto the walking path for the first time ever on an EUC.  I was VERY cautious at the onset and it was necessary as the compacted trail had a ton of exposed roots, waiting to knock me off.

My original idea was to maybe go a couple miles into the swamp, just as a test.  However I was enjoying the ride, despite the additional complexity of the terrain.  I found myself at the portion where the trail becomes one big loop.  Once you head in it’s a long time until you come back out.  I decided to go for it.

So up until that point I had really not seen any wildlife outside of birds.  About 10 minutes into the loop that changed.  I saw a long black obstacle half on the path.  Of course I knew it was a gator.  I have experienced this before when I rode the trail on mountain bike with Randall.  At that time we just gave the gator as much room as possible and rode by as quickly as we could.  I decided to use the same strategy although I felt more vulnerable being on a single wheel instead of two.  I accelerated past the large gator without it flinching.

Within another few minutes I encountered another large gator and this one had me more concerned because there was a much smaller gator next to it.  I theorized this could possible be a mother gator with one of it’s kids.  This scenario held more danger in my eyes because I have heard how female gators can get very aggressive if they feel their kids are endangered.  I stood there for a minute or two weighing my options.  Even though the gators had their heads facing the water, I was imagining a scene where one or both of them suddenly flailed, knocking me off the wheel.  I was genuinely scared when I took a deep breath and launched myself in their direction.  I zipped by them without either moving a fraction of an inch, whew…..

What followed from that point was pretty surreal.  I rode by at least a couple dozen gators on the path and saw many more in the trenches and water by the path.  The ride around the loop seemed to go on forever.  It went from exciting to ridiculous eventually.  Not only did I have to deal with the gators, I was dealing with terrain that was beating the hell out of me.  The ruts and roots were taking a toll on my already sore back.  At one point a hidden rut threw me off the wheel right by another large gator.  Luckily the sound of the crash scared the reptile into the water.

As I was deep into the swamp I did think repeatedly how it was not the smartest of things to make this trek solo.  If I hurt myself or the wheel died for some reason I was on my own and depending on spotty phone service in the area, out of reach of help.  I knew at that point my only option was to keep moving forward.  There were a couple areas of the trail that were washed out.  One point was really treacherous with the only path across the water being a couple small logs haphazardly thrown across the ditch.  I carefully walked across the logs while trying to balance the 45 pound wheel in my left hand, freaking out about the possibility of me falling into the muddy water with my expensive electronic unicycle.

Finally I found my way back to the feeder path that lead back to the parking lot.  I was very relieved to return to the truck and resolute that I don’t need to ever do that entire loop again on a single wheel.  Once was enough.  I highly recommend you set a half hour aside to watch the video of the ride.  You get a good sense of just how nuts it was at certain points.

It has been another one of those “vacations” that I am glad to get back to work from.  My body feels like it was thrown into a grinder.

So as soon as I woke up yesterday the first thing I did was pop two Advil.  I knew the only way I was going to be able to get through a third day of fence labor was medicated.  My back, knees, arms, and hands were all killing me. Cindy had two classes to teach in the morning so that left me in the back yard solo to attach the 100 foot rolls of 4 foot welded wire fencing to the posts we spent two days erecting.

So once again my prior experience with doing a fence helped me out as I did a lot of the backyard fence myself as well.  I basically would roll out the spool of wire along the fence line and then haphazardly stand it up against the posts.  I then would hammer in a shitload of fence staples into the far end corner post.

I then position my Tacoma off the other end which I used as my pulling point.  I attached my fence stretcher to the tow hitch on the truck and the other end to a pipe I threaded through the fence.  I had a steel cable that was attached to either end of the pipe to give me a more or less even pull from the top and bottom.  I then started to ratchet the fence stretcher which would slowly take the slack out of the fence and get it nice and tight.  I then would go back to the far end and start hammering in staples in each post while the fence is still stretched to maintain as much tension as possible.  When I finally got back to opposite corner post I again sunk a ton of fence staples and then cut the spool of wire.

Even though I had not done this work in a long time things went pretty smoothly.  Cindy was amazed that by the time she got home I was just finishing up the third side.  She helped me do the front of the fence line which was split in two halves by the gate.  We actually had to splice together the one side because I did not have a long enough piece left over.  I was really happy how we managed to make the seam pretty much invisible unless you were looking for it.

Finally the last small section was stretched and attached.  It felt great to have my three days of intense labor at an end.  I spent close to an hour cleaning up all of the tools, parts, and left over materials that were scattered around the yard.  Of course there is more labor to come to “furnish” the backyard to offer the chickens more protection, shade, high ground and fun.

So after clean up we were able to lure the chickens into their new area.  They seemed a bit confused and sad to not have access to the entire back yard as they have their entire lives.  I couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty but I knew in the big picture this was going to be a good thing.  Not only do we have to work on the chickens new area but we also have to work on cleaning up and repairing the rest of the yard that they have systematically ripped apart in their chicken sort of way.

Last night I was so tired and sore I just wanted to veg out.  Today I hope to do at least something fun although I know a trip to Home Depot in the morning is on the schedule to at least get a few basic things to get the chickens rolling in their new yard.

I was up and outside early Saturday morning ready to begin hopefully my last fencing project in my lifetime.  Things got off to a slow start as Cindy and I had some confusion about the layout I had outlined with rebar and mason line.  Even though to the eye it looked like a pretty even rectangle the measuring tape showed otherwise.  It was showing such a difference that I went back and measured twice to make sure I didn’t misread it the first time.  Even after we were done tweaking the numbers didn’t totally match up but it looked good to the eye which is all I cared about.  We weren’t fencing the Taj Majal, just our 10 chickens.

So finally I broke ground on the first corner post.  I decided I would start in the rear of the fenced in area.  I figured I would rather “practice” my technique in the back and have all the rust knocked off by the time I got to the front which we will see everyday.  My plan was to do all of the corner posts first as they are the most important and most grueling to dig since each one requires a three and a half feet hole to be dug.

The posts I got from Jack and Ann’s were far from straight. Most of them had bends in them which made leveling a pain in the ass.  We would just do our best compensating for the curves.  I guess it makes the fence look more “rustic”.  Cindy and Katie helped me some as well, digging some of the smaller holes for the line posts as well as back filling them.

We took a break during the afternoon to run to Rural King for a couple things I needed, most importantly two 8 foot posts to frame the front gate.  We brought Bowser and Elsa with and took Katie’s Dodge Ram, the only vehicle in the house that would hold three people, two dogs, and have room to carry fence posts.  I drove, my first time behind the wheel of a Ram, it is a very big vehicle.  This was Bowsers first time in RK, he was VERY excited.

When we got home I was ready to go full tilt back into fencing.  We all worked until the sun was setting.  I had all corner posts in the ground as well as having all of the line posts in except for one side.  I felt good about what we accomplished.  I took Katie and Cindy out to dinner Saturday night to thank them for their hard work.

I awoke Sunday morning sore but popped a couple Advil to mask the pain.  The fog kept the temps nice and cool early on which I took advantage of to get the rest of the line posts in.  It felt good to know I at least had dug my last hole.

I then started on the next phase of the corner posts, installing cross members and using brace wire to lock it all together.  If you have ever installed wood post fencing you will know this is not a very fun job.  I again started in the back since it had been probably close to 10 years since I last did post work.  The technique came back to me quickly.  I had the left rear corner done before we took a mid-morning EUC ride break.  We went down to North Collier Park to ride around.  It definitely felt good to do something fun amidst all of the unfun work the weekend had been filled with.

Once again when we returned I was full fence mode.  I was so focused I forgot to take another dose of Advil which really hurt me later. It took me the rest of the day to get the cross posts and brace wire installed everywhere it needed to be.  I thought I was going to run out of brace wire and actually had Cindy and Katie run to Rural King to get me more.  It turned out I just had enough with a couple feet to spare.

My body was absolutely destroyed by the end of the day.  My left big toe felt like the nail was coming off, my hands and forearms were paralyzed from all the gripping and twisting and my back  had jolts of pain radiating through it if I tried to do anything beside sit still.  My body just can not hold up to this type of work anymore.

I took a shower before sitting down to watch the Super Bowl, the first year I have not had an official Super Bowl party in a long time.  Ali and I used to have them as well.  This year the circumstances just didn’t seem conducive to holding a party and by the time we even took a breath to think about it, it was a week ago, too short of a notice.  Of course the fencing project would have made being a party host even more of an impossibility.

It was different being able to just sit and enjoy the game instead of dealing with all of the ancillary party host things.  It turns out that if there was ever a year to be able to pay full attention to a game this was it, probably the most amazing game in Super Bowl history.  Early on it was crazy because the Falcons were dominating, something nobody would have expected.  At one point they were up 28-3.  I believe I saw a stat that no team has ever come back from more than 10 point deficit in Super Bowl history.  I, like most others assumed the Patriots were done.

Well the comeback was nothing short of miraculous.  There were so many things that went the Patriots way, penalties against the Falcons to keep a drive alive, Matt Ryan taking a stupid, massive sack to knock the Falcons out of game icing field goal range and of course THE CATCH, where Edelman gets his fingers under a ball that was bouncing off three Atlanta defenders, a fraction of an inch from the ground.  The Patriots had to convert on two two point conversions just to force the game to overtime.  It was just an unbelievable series of events.

After driving the team down the field in overtime to score the Patriots their 31st unanswered point to win Super Bowl 51, Tom Brady pretty much locked up his title as the greatest quarterback in NFL history.  Love him or hate him, the guy delivers in the clutch like no other QB I have seen in my lifetime.  To put on that sort of performance in those conditions was just insane and something I doubt will ever be replicated again.

It wasn’t like Atlanta went into some soft prevent either, they were still applying pressure throughout the entire comeback, Brady just made plays anyway.  Falcon fans must feel like they were told they had a winning lottery ticket only to have it blow out a window in the middle of a hurricane.

So today I begin day three of the fencing project.  To be honest going in I thought I possibly would have been able to get it all wrapped up in two days.  As is often the case, my estimate was not accurate.  I am just hoping my body, heavily supplemented by Advil is up to the task.

So I left work about an hour early in order to head out to Jack & Ann’s in Immokalee, the place I planned on buying my fence supplies from.  When I installed the fence around the entire back yard years ago I went there as well.  The store is extremely old school.  The back of it looks it has literally been untouched since it was built 40 or 50 years ago looking downright dilapidated in some parts.

So I had a list of things I should need.  It added up to a lot of stuff, more than I thought my Tacoma could hold.  I asked the guy about delivery as before they did deliver the supplies to the house.  He said they could deliver it but he was pretty sure I could get it all in my truck.  I trusted his judgement so I pulled over to the fencing area and started loading up along with one of their lot guys.

The 45 posts, 300 feet of welded wire fencing, brace wire, and four foot gate did indeed fit.  I just used one of my ratchet straps to hold the gate securely on top like a fencing material sandwich.  When I got home Cindy helped me dump the materials around the chicken coop.  The chickens were quite curious about what all the items were.  If they knew they would be used to reduce their free ranging territory they probably wouldn’t be very happy.

Speaking of chickens, Peaches made me laugh out loud the other day.  I was trying to bribe the chickens to go into the coop early so the dogs could run free.  I was in their run refilling a container with dried meal worms.  As I poured the bag into the container a few meal worms dropped to the ground which the chickens ate quickly, except for Peaches.  Instead of waiting on the ground like your normal chicken she quickly ascended the four levels of the center perch in the run so she was up to my shoulder level.  She then helped herself, grabbing worms directly from the bag as I poured them out.  She is fearless and relentless in her pursuit of her fair share.

So for many, many years I have been battling toenail funk on some of my toes.  I have tried endless remedies without success and instead have just tried to keep the problem nails trimmed back hard.  A week or so ago I found something on Amazon that supposedly worked very well based on the reviews others had left.  It was an oregano oil extract.  I was surprised when it arrived yesterday to see it shipped directly from Greece. You are supposed to apply the stuff to the affected nails twice a day and let it dry.  Before I even opened the bottle I could smell it, the papers in the box had already absorbed the scent.  Although oregano on food is normally a good addition, the smell of the oil is not pleasant.

So after my shower I opened the bottle and applied the oil generously to the funked toes.  The smell was even stronger of course but I figured in 10-15 minutes once it dried it would dissipate.  Well it never really went away.  Cindy was more bothered by the smell than I was.  She brought in her oil vaporizer to try to counteract the smell.  I could still smell the oregano this morning when I got up.  Hell I smell it right now while the foot is in a sock and sneaker.   I can only hope the smell is worth the end result.

I have a four day weekend lined up thanks to burning two vacation days to complete this fencing project.  I will be going at it non-stop until it’s finished which will hopefully leave some time during those four days to do something other than fencing.

Last night after dinner Cindy, Katie and I drove out to Ave Maria to ride around for a bit.  We had hoped to grab some desert but the place we targeted had already closed.  Ave Maria is a pretty sleepy town, almost everything is shut down by 7PM.  Cindy and Katie wound up going into Publix to grab us something that we enjoyed in their outdoor seating.

Both Katie and Cindy were feeling quite cold riding despite being bundled up significantly more than I was.  Katie was actually riding one of the Minipros instead of her wheel to mix things up.  It didn’t take long for her to miss the extra speed and agility her EUC has.  She was very lucky to not faceplant at one point when she accidentally went down some steps on the Minipro.  She was able to bail without hitting the ground.  The self balancing magic in the Segway kept it upright as it crashed down the steps. Because of the girls feeling cold we didn’t stay all that long but it was better than nothing.

Earlier in the night I took one of the side panels off the Msuper to check some connectors used in the motor wiring.  There have been some reports of these connectors in some cases not being soldered correctly, causing them to come apart.  If they would happen to come apart while riding the end result would be the wheel shutting down and sending whomever was riding it flying in some direction.  You have to love Chinese quality control.  Luckily my motor connections appeared to be intact and secure.

Tonight I am hoping to pick up some of the fencing supplies I will be needing this weekend.  I would not be able to get it all in one load anyway so I figured I may as well get the first load out of the way so on Saturday we can use my truck and possibly Katie’s Ram to get whatever else is left.

Last night was not a fun one in the dog household.  When Katie and Daniel split the original thought regarding their two dogs was an on and off thing where the dogs would stay at the two households on alternating weeks, hence why Tank and Bowser  have been living with us for the last week.

Well since that initial agreement there was more discussion how long term it makes more sense that one dog permanently lives with each of the “parents”.  Trying to shuffle dogs back and forth between two people no longer in a relationship is normally not a great idea despite me doing it since I was separated. I can attest that it complicates things. If neither person is agreeable to letting the other keep both dogs then this is really the only option.

Of course there are a lot of sad consequences as a result.  After some oscillation back and forth it was decided Bowser would be staying with us while Tank would live with Daniel and his family.  Cindy was especially sad.  She loves both dog’s but is very fond of Tank whom was the first dog Katie adopted.  We had Tank in the house for two weeks last year while he recovered from surgery which gave Cindy more time to bond with him.

Then there is the impact on both dogs whom have been side by side most of their lives.  Splitting them up is going to be difficult on both of them.  Luckily for Bowser he has Elsa to help keep him company.  I have a feeling Tank is going to have a much rougher road.  In general our household is going to be a healthier environment for either dog to be in long term.

Of course the impact on Katie is extreme, it’s almost like having to decide which kid you want to get rid of.  Katie loves both dogs obviously.  This is just the latest of a series of hard decisions she has had to make and come to terms with in the last few weeks.  I’m proud of her for making them. In spite of the impact on the household, I would actually prefer if the dogs were able to stay together under our roof.  So we loaded up Tank’s stuff in Katie’s truck last night before she drove him to Daniel’s place.  Cindy was teary eyed through most of it and although I was not quite so emotional, I understood it’s origin.

I wish this week was over.  When I have a large project on the horizon like building a fence I just want to get started on it so I can get it done.  I have been running through mental checklists of all that I will need to make it happen.  It’s a big list.