Howdy, Dudies.

Jackl here.

Well, another day shot. What did we do today? Bought wood to build out the trailer we bought to make it enclosed. Cleaned in the garage, organized and sorted some stuff to go to the Bahamas. What did we do yesterday? Drove here, unpacked, plowed, tried to keep warm. What are we doing tomorrow? Same shit. Trying to get the garage to warm up, if I'm going to be in there for lengths of time. Trying to get vehicles dug out after getting them stuck. Hauling water from the grocery store. Trying not to freeze your butt off literally when you go crap out in the snow.

It's fun though, in a way. There's a lot to do, and no real deadline exactly, but we're trying to be ready to go to Florida/New Orleans the same time Phyllis and Burt go. We want to make sure we're thorough, and don't miss anything, because once we get down there and things are REALLY hard to get, and we're working we'll be saying "man, I should have brought earplugs for when I'm working around these tools" or
an extra tape measure
a trowel
should have packed the bearings on the trailer again
brought a better dog line
a boat
more nails
a jack to lift something heavy
a whatever
etc. etc. etc.


I like to plan though, and anticipate. I think I'm pretty decent at it. (By the way, know anybody else who announced Barack Obama's winning presidential bid in 2004? Yup, I said that, the first time I heard him speak, before he was done. I'm very proud of that. I said I've never heard of him before, but that man WILL be president, mark my words. I don't make predictions often, but I did say that- it seemed inevitable, inevitable because of how he is, and inevitable based on what George Bush was doing wrong- kind of a "game-theory" concept, I guess. Anyway, enough bragging. I was proud of that though, like I said...)


But getting ready is a lot like preparing for the trip in the boat, trying to anticipate needs you won't have for several months, and trying to imagine every eventuality, but at least with this, we know somewhat what we're getting into.

The main unknowns at this point are things like how expensive concrete will be to pour there, and if we should switch to a wood story. So that affects what tools we can bring. And should we bring the hot tub? Is there room? Well, that depends on how high the trailer is allowed to be for shipping. And what about those tools? Everything new toolwise is taxed at 45%, so what are they going to tax me on an old tool? One that looks new but isn't? Should I spray paint all my stuff to make it look old? Scratch it up a bit? It's a big issue, because we're taking a few grand worth of tools. We're going to try to snag this extra rowboat outta here. It was given to my Mom by my Aunt, and it's incredibly unstable as a rowboat, due to a round bottom. (correlation with round bottoms indicating instability? This should be explored...) I figure if we throw the mercury 25 on it, it won't tip anywhere, sideways anyway. I just hope that's not too much weight for the thing on the back end. I had a dream about that last night. Am I the most boring guy in the world or what? Wow, how dull. Not as good as the one I had the other day when I woke up talking about "Jawbone Concentrate."

So we have to fix the truck again. The NEW radiator leaks now (this is #3), and so the "bought a bad radiator" theory for #2 is out, and leaves "the dumb mechanic that put in the second one took out the rubber footing that it sits on, and the metal ends up making a hole in the radiators" as a second theory. I just got done putting in the third one. That sucks, but I'll do it when we come back.

I have two more windows to put in the pumphouse before we go. One is glass block, so that will be some doing, especially in this weather. Maybe I'll do that when we come back too. Like the bank in front of the boathouse. There's some thought that maybe I should fly back in the spring and work on that. We'll see.

Before we leave though, I have to winterize the pumphouse, build the trailer into an enclosed trailer, figure out what to do about the bumper on the new truck (the trailer stuck in the snow and then the tongue pulled the ball around 90 degrees until it broke free. Hmmmm...

Then winterize the truck, put it up on blocks, cover the boat, and get a bunch of stuff ready.

Anyway, boring blog, I know. Sorry about that. It's just what's on the old brain these days. Planning for landing at the new crib, and getting started.

Clearing the lot
Pitching the tent
Building a tool shed (where all good construction projects start, a la Shady Rest)
Getting the water and electric hooked up
Digging a septic field
Grading the lot
Pouring a foundation
Building concrete walls on top of that, or wood?
We'll see how far we get.

So bored people, this is the latest. Trying to plan to pack for a place where bringing stuff in is really difficult.

Stay tuned
Jack