Weekend update, manic Monday

The weekend had nothing major on the schedule but somehow turned into a very busy one anyway.  On Saturday I told Ali I wanted to finally get the extra computer desk and chair out of the spare bedroom and take it to the women’s shelter store to donate it.  I tried selling the stuff twice in the paper and got no action.  So I loaded the desk, the chair and a few other things we didn’t need anymore in the back of the truck.  I put a few things that weren’t worthy of donation out by the road which were snapped up by the end of the day.

After we unloaded the stuff Ali asked if we could stop by the sneaker shop so she could get new running sneakers.  We had Nicki with so while Ali went in while I stayed outside with the pooch, waiting.  As I sat there on the bench I saw 5 or 6 other people go into the store.  It’s a one man business so I knew I would be waiting awhile.  After maybe 30-45 minutes of just sitting around I get up and walk Nicki around.  I figure the walk would help me work off some of the frustration of waiting so long.  Ali has never been very good at doing things fast, ya know, get in, accomplish goal, get out.  Well as we came back from the walk Ali finally emerged from the store.

I still had two more stops to make, Home Depot and then Subway to grab some sandwiches for lunch.  What I thought would wind up being a couple hour trip doubled in length and we didn’t get home till after 2 in the afternoon. 

It was hellishly hot Saturday, the thermometer topped out just below 97 degrees.  I really think I know what it would feel like to be in a broiler somedays.  Well it was too hot and late in the day to have Ali mow so instead I dug into other outside work.  I weeded, treated some brown spots in the lawn in Nicki’s area and then decided to try to skin one of the cabbage palms. 

Skinning a cabbage palm is when you remove the cross pattern remains of dead fronds and “skin” it down to the smooth wood underneath.  Doing this cuts down on the maintenance of the tree as those little fern things can’t grow on them and vines won’t climb them when they are skinned.  I’ve heard time and again that mexicans skin these trees using nothing more than a machete so I figured I could do the same.  I bought an 18″ machete at Home Depot, it will double as a home security device.

So I first start just pulling at the dead wood to remove the pieces that were already loose.  Immediately the first pull reveals a huge nest of carpenter ants that are living inside the decaying wood.  The ants are scrambling everywhere, picking up ant eggs and running for it.  I feel bad ripping into the ants home but iit doesn’t stop me.  I keep ripping away and soon wield my mighty machete and start hacking away.  After only a few seconds I realize this is not as easy as I envisioned.  The machete does not rip right through the wood and requires a lot of chopping.  After a few minutes I already opened up a blister on my hand from the barrage of blows I was administering to the dead fronds.  I quickly dismissed the idea of skinning a tree using only a machete as lunacy.  I got out the electric chainsaw.

I dug into the tree with vigor, sending armies of ants flying.  The chainsaw worked better but I had a hard time determining where the dead wood ended and the inner bark began.  I also discovered that the bar oil resevoir was practically empty so I had to stop before I burned up the saw.  I called it quits and left the tree in a half shaved state.  I picked up all the wood I removed that was covered with ants and dumped it in the ditch.  With the heat I was covered in sweat, rotting tree fibers and other assorted organic material, lovely.

I hopped in the pool to cool off and then went inside to find Ali involved in another project, cleaning out the spare bedroom/hobby room.  This was the room that had the extra desk and chair in it so now that they were removed we had some room to move.  Ali had complained before about how there were some dead bugs in there.  I dismissed it as some dead gnats or whatever.  However once she started digging into the stuff in there she found that whatever it was reproduced.  We found dead bugs everywhere, in bags, in drawers, all over the place.  It was f’in gross. We threw a bunch of stuff out and did a lot of sweeping. 

Sunday we had to mow and do some more inside chores.  Plus for fun we washed the dog, Ali gave me a haircut and did some more miscellaneous stuff.  Bottomline was our weekend became much more busy than either of us had hoped.

One of the things we did for fun was I taught Ali how to play chess.  Over the 2 days we played 4 or 5 games.  Ali did well for a beginner however I don’t think she likes it all that much because it requires some substantial thinking which she doesn’t like to do when she is not working.  It’s too bad, she is very smart and I’m sure she would make a formidable chess player.

Well that brings us to this morning.   I had an 8:30 dermatology appointment so the plan was to drop Ali off at work and then go to the appointment.  It didn’t take long for things to take a turn.  As we were waiting to make a left turn I glance to my right and see a smaller brown dog come trotting into the road.  I glance behind me and see a wall of traffic approaching.  I say to Ali, “Oh my God that dog is going to get hit.”  The dog was oblivious to the danger it was facing and kept trotting out.  Luckily the one car saw it last second and slowed just enough to miss it.  Ali said “What should we do?”  Not knowing of any other options since I didn’t want to see it become roadkill, I said “Go get it…”

So all Ali had to do is open her door and call the dog.  It comes running over and leaps into the car.  It appeared to be a pit bull, less than a year old.  He was very friendly and immediately planted himself across both of us, half on me, half on Ali.  The first thing I noticed was the stink coming off this dog.  It was horrible, he smelled like he took a roll in a dead animal and then finished off by jumping in shit.  I immediately turned the fan speed up a couple notches to have a steady stream of air hitting my nostrils.

I asked Ali what we were going to do with this dog and she said we would just drop him off at domestic animal service where he can be claimed or adopted back out.  The dog had no tags, a shabby collar and a bunch of scars on his head and back from fights with other dogs we assumed.  We also discovered he had fleas as Ali picked off at least a half a dozen of them. Surprisingly Nicki made very little fuss about our canine hitchhiker.

Despite the stink the dog was cute as hell.  He just snuggled up on Ali and then later came over and sat on my lap as I drove.  Whenever you interacted with him his tail would wag wildly with excitement.  I felt so bad for him and couldn’t believe someone would leave a dog with such a loving personality tied outside.  There was a guy there when we arrived and he loaded the pooch up in the van and caged him up.  The little guy sat there at attention just looking at us as the door slid shut.  I felt bad and wished for a moment we could adopt him ourself.  Well at least he will get cleaned up and have a shot at a better life with another owner.

So I look down at my paints that have dirt all over them from the dog and the smell that surely is embedded into them and comment to Ali how it is an exciting way to start a Monday.  I dropped her off at work and headed for my appointment.

I stopped on the way to vacuum out the car in hope of removing and fleas that may have jumped ship.  So I hop out, turn off the car and vacuum it thoroughly.  I hop back in, turn the key, and get the dreaded CLICK CLICK CLICK.  NO.  I calmly turn off all things that pulled power in the car and tried several more times, no luck. Son of a bitch.

After my last attempt a guy pulled up to the gas pump in a pickup truck.  I asked him if he happened to have jumper cables which luckily he did.  Once I connected the cables it fired right up, awesome.  I thanked the guy and headed up the road.  I had a new problem, I knew I had no time to get a new battery before the appointment and I didn’t want to cancel it.  So I quickly devised a plan.  On the way to the doctor I stopped at a CVS and picked up a pair of work gloves and a pliers to do the swap. Then when I arrived at the doctor’s office I locked the car and just left it running. Brilliant huh?

Well of course my 8:30 appointment didn’t start until 9:05.  This appointment was supposed to be a follow up screening just to make sure I don’t have anything else popping up on my skin.  I was a bit put out when the nurse came in and asked what I was there for.  I explained it to her.  Then the doctor and another nurse came in.  He wasn’t sure what he did to me before and what I was there for either so I explained to him that I had 2 things cut out of my head and this was supposed to be a followup screening.

So he looked at the 2 areas and said they looked ok.  Then he asked if I had boxers on and I said yes.  He told me to take off my pants and shirt so he could do the screening.  The nurse was standing there in the corner the entire time.  I’m not shy to disrobe so I quickly did it and stood, sat, and turned as instructed.  When he turned me towards her to examine my back I didn’t look at her, I didn’t want to exchange any awkward glances. 

The exam took all of a couple minutes and I was done.  I went back out to my still running car and called work to tell them I had to go get a battery.  I roll into the Walmart right next to work and begin the battery removal process.  Even though it was only 9:30, it was already hot as hell.  The sweat soon started soaking my shirt as I awkwardly used the pliers to loosen the tie down bracket and bolts that attached the wires to the battery.  Thank goodness for the gloves, I would have been even more of a mess without them.

I scoot inside and get Walmart’s best battery for 65 bucks, and throw the new battery back in.  The car fires up like a champ, mission accomplished.  It was quite the start to my week.  Hopefully things settle down from here.

Instead of playing a lot of WoW during my downtime this weekend I did some more video work. I uploaded a bunch more up to YouTube including the classic clip where I get six packed. I even created some brand new content. It is something different from my typical volleyball videos that have over the top transisition and video effects. This one is very simplistic yet might be one of the most entertaining. Click it and check it out.