Worth the wait, ETA ok, Surprise Day Off, Tree pain
Saturday was on the light side as far as outdoor chores go. I only weeded and mowed the new bahia grass areas that seem to grow faster than everything else. I did have things to do inside that helped fill the day as well. During the day the headlines had both good and bad news. The bad news was tropical storm ETA which is ridiculously late in the year and has had a crazy zig zag path so far was going to definitely impact south Florida. The good news was the election was officially called for Joe Biden, an outcome that was expected for days. The networks were very careful to make sure it was a certainty before making the declaration, because of the lunatic sitting in the White House. Well, technically he was on the golf course, again, when the news broke.
Cindy and I, along with millions of other Americans were thrilled with the election officially being called. With it dragging on all week I almost felt like I do when the Eagles have a two touchdown lead going into the fourth quarter and drop into a prevent defense. I just did not trust a win could really happen until it finally did. Trump’s reaction was what you would expect, pestilent, childish, and defiant. The irony of him being proven to be what he loves calling countless others, a loser, was precious. Cindy and I watched Biden’s speech Saturday night and I thought it came off well, focusing on non-partisanship, addressing issues head on, and moving away from divisive speech and actions that only fosters conflict instead of resolution. For the first time in a long time, I actually feel hopeful about the future.
On Saturday night we picked up food from another local restaurant. When I went inside there was not a mask to be seen except on the face of waitresses. There was no attempt to socially distance the tables either. I guess since the governor declared “Phase 3” it basically opened the doors to restaurants not giving a fck about covid preventative measures, which is a mistake IMO, just look at the steady rise in the spread. We enjoyed our food while watching the new Borat movie. It had the same raunchy humor as the original which was cringe worthy at times but I still lol’d quite a bit. I’d give it a B.
On Sunday ETA’s forecast path remained threatening to our area as it was forecast to cross just south of the Keys before hooking back towards Florida later in the week. The main impact for us looked to be rain but they were talking about the winds touching hurricane cat 1 force potentially so we wanted to take some precautions. We moved a lot of plants out of the landscape and lanai. We also pulled down the solar sail off the pergola and secured stuff in the chicken area as well. It wasn’t a huge task, only taking maybe 90 minutes or so. As we got later into the day the winds picked up as did the rain squalls but it wasn’t anything eclipsing some of strong storms we get routinely during the summer.
Later in the afternoon I shot a video inside since riding was out of the question. In it I talked about how I just sold another one of my wheels to make room for the Veteran Sherman which is supposed to arrive late this month. I also talked about the approaching storm and a recurring issue that people are seeing with their new “hollow motor” type wheels.
So before bed I glanced at my phone and saw a number of missed text messages. Surprisingly to me, they decided to close our office today. I don’t think it was because it would have been that difficult to get to work. It more likely was because Collier decided to close school today so that would have became a baby sitting nightmare for a number of staff. I welcome the day off of course, even if I think it wasn’t really necessary. Hell we are off on Wednesday for Veterans Day as well so this will be a light week of work for sure.
So I got my estimate from the tree guy. When I first talked to him he quoted me $26 to trim each cabbage palm tree. When he was out looking at the work we also talked about him cleaning up the two oak trees in the front of the house. We did not talk about the cost of doing so but in my mind I assumed it would be a similar cost to trim the oaks as well. I got an email with the estimate and had some sticker shock with a quote of $185 to trim up the big oak and $135 to do the smaller one. My reflex reaction was to email him back and say that we can drop the oak trees from the scope of work. However after sleeping on it I decided to have them do the oaks as well. The oak trimming will be much more involved where they will be lifting and shaping the tree which takes time. The oaks have never been professionally trimmed so I feel ok laying out the chunk of money to have it done right.
Today once the rain slows down I plan to take advantage of the mostly clear pool deck by getting out the pressure washer and give it a quick descuzz cleaning. Did you think I was going to sit around and eat bon bons all day?