At Large 1048 days


Wednesday, WEDNESDAY‼ My keyboard no longer has a functional exclamation key. I have to use the keypad for the number 1 and "insert symbol" for the exclamation point. Bummer, I wonder how much a new keyboard is? Well, they are cheap as dirt. I bid on 2 standard PS/2 keyboards on Ebay with $1 bids for each.

Last entry I was whining about loosing several of the finished Mesquite votive candle holder slabs. I have spent the last 3 days, actually only part of the time, sanding another batch of the slabs. Once again my sleep cycle has shifted to a night owl style. I have been going to bed between 4 and 5 am and sleeping until about 2 pm. For the last 3 days I haven't really done much other than reading the comics and reading emails until about 7 pm. Consequently I have only prepped 6 slabs to the stage before boring the depressions for the glass candle holders. This afternoon I came into the house to get a roll of paper towels to use in finishing the Boer Bean Bowl and stumbled across my hiding place for the lost Mesquite slabs. I had put them in a box filled with bubble wrap I was saving to use to ship a chess men set to South Africa. I need to make the rooks for the set and it will be finished. I'll bet Peiter would have been surprised if I had shipped without checking the box. So now I will have 9 more slabs to photograph and list in my store when OI get my lazy butt around to it.

I finally finished, to my satisfaction, the Boer Bean Bowl. It is 5 and a half inches tall with a mouth opening of 4 and a quarter inches. Roomie took one look and decreed "it's too thick and clunky". She won't be happy with any of my bowls until the damned things are paper thin. This Boer Bean blank has so many cracks and crossed grains that I am unable to remove any more wood. As thick as the sides are they deform when I put a turning tool against them to shave off more wood. The bowl looks like a pregnant woman's stomach when the baby kicks when it is spinning and I have the scraper against the inside wall.


I was disgusted Monday in the wee hours when I woke and found I had missed the "Battle at Kruger" on the National Geographic Channel. When I came in to eat dinner (home made chilli) I discovered that it was on again. Awesome! The video is on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM. I cannot believe some of the people watching the video were pulling for the croc or the lions. After reading a lot of the comments on various videos I am convinced that a large part of the human race could disappear and thus raise the average IQ of the human race.

I am determined to stay up until tomorrow at 0 pm and then go to bed in a effort to shift my sleep cycle back to normal.



Junior grandson is so desperate to earn money for a cell phone that I promised him all money from sales of the wind chimes from now on belong to him. Please buy all you can. Not for me but for a future MLB shortstop.

A tough old cowboy from Dillon, Montana, counseled his grandson that if he wanted to live a long life, the secret was to sprinkle a pinch of gun powder on his oatmeal every morning. The grandson did this religiously to the age of 103.

When he died he left 14 children, 30 grandchildren, 45 great grandchildren, 25 great-great grandchildren, and a 15-foot hole where the crematorium used to be.

 

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At Large 1044 days


I have discovered a mystery here at "shattered manor". I took pictures of my cowboy weiner holders and the mesquite candle holder slabs to put on my on-line store. I know I made 8 of the Mesquite slabs and only found 3. Somewhere in this pile of rubble are 5 more. I have searched high and low. I have a butt load of the battery powered candles and the glass containers (35 each) so I obviously need to make more. I am considering changing the style of the candle holders by boring the holes on the perimeter of a piece of Mesquite. That means I need to cut slabs at least three inches thick. Time to get out the chain saw again.

Instead of preparing the pictures and pricing for my on-line store I decided to trim the grass in the back yard. What with one distraction after another it took me almost 3 hours to get started. I only fell in the pool twice.

Tomorrow I have to drive all the way to I45 and Jackrabbit road to buy more super glue. I use the stuff in large quantities because the green wood I am turning cracks while it dries on the lathe. I am turning a bowl from Boer Bean Wood and it is cracking worse than any other wood I have turned. The Woodcraft store that was so convenient has moved way to hell and gone. I am considering buying a cutter so I can get small bowl from large blanks and still end up with a large bowl. Of course that depends on the price. While I am out I plan to drive down to Alvin to look at 4.3 acres of Day Lillies at the Shimek farm. They were featured in the Chronicle today. I am going to cut this short again because I am tired and want to watch the rest of the baseball game before I go to bed.



Junior grandson is so desperate to earn money for a cell phone that I promised him all money from sales of the wind chimes from now on belong to him. Please buy all you can. Not for me but for a future MLB shortstop.

Butterscotch Treat Sandwiches

1-6 oz pkg butterscotch chips, divided
1-6 oz pkg chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter, divided
4 cup Rice Krispies cereal, divided
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tblsp butter or margarine
1 Tblsp water

Melt 1/2 the pkg of butterscotch chips and 1/4 cup of the peanut butter in microwave. Stir in 2 cups of the cereal and mix well. Press the mixture into an 8" buttered dish. Chill.

Heat chocolate chips, sugar, butter and water in microwave. Spread over cereal and chill.

Melt and mix together the remaining butterscotch and peanut butter, then add the remaining cereal. Press onto top of chocolate mixture. Chill 1 hour, cut into 1 1/2" squares.

 

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At Large 1041 days




My brother in law emailed me about my work on the servant team. I told him that I would work with him on any walk he chooses. This brother in law is very highly regarded by all who know him. The servant team people on walk #1435 only had good words about him even when they did not know our relationship. I am honored to have such kin folk. Friday I am going to book passage on Greyhound to Oregon in July. I must do it soon before they raise the rates again.

I am still exhausted from the work on the walk so I am going to bed.

I have a favor to ask. Please visit Carolyn's birthday gift which is about our trip to the Rose Bowl Parade. The trip was a gift from our senior daughter. I noticed some address errors for pictures and would like help to find them all. Plus my wife is perturbed because so few people have visited the pages. Thanks in advance.



Junior grandson is so desperate to earn money for a cell phone that I promised him all money from sales of the wind chimes from now on belong to him. Please buy all you can. Not for me but for a future MLB shortstop.

A distinguished young woman on a flight from Ireland asked the Priest beside her, "Father, may I ask a favour?"

"Of course child what may I do for you?"

"Well, I bought an expensive woman's electronic hair dryer for my Mother's birthday that is unopened and well over the Customs limits, and I'm afraid they'll confiscate it. Is there any way you could carry it through customs for me? Under your robes perhaps?"

"I would love to help you, dear, but I must warn you: I will not lie."

"With your honest face, Father, no one will question you."

When they got to Customs, she let the priest go ahead of her. The official asked, "Father, do you have anything to declare?"

"From the top of my head down to my waist, I have nothing to declare."

The official thought this answer strange, so asked, "And what do you have to declare from your waist to the floor?"

"I have a marvelous instrument designed to be used on a woman, but which is, to date, unused."

Roaring with laughter, the official said, "Go ahead, Father. Next!"

 

 

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At Large 1040 days


I cannot understand where the time is going. It cannot be over a week since my last entry. The pecan I was turning for a baseball bat for Case cracked while I was turning it. The cracking is caused by the different rates of moisture leaving across the grain as opposed with the grain. I super glued the cracks and hung the roughly formed bat to hang and dry in the shed. I then mounted a piece of Sycamore cut from the crotch of a tree at the Laviolette's home in Santa Fe. I shaped the blank into my favorite form, recurved at the top, but left it with thick walls and base so it could warp while drying and leave enough wood to turn back into round.

Tuesday I shut down my computer and locked up all my tools and shed and packed prior to going to Austin to work on a servant team for a women's "Walk to Emmaus". I rode Greyhound to Austin and back to Houston for $39.25. When I drove to Winedale April 26 to see a "Midsummer Night's Dream" the gasoline cost $55. Going to Austin there were only 4 other passengers. One was a woman dressed for a party. She looked like "she had been rode hard and put up wet" many times. She told the driver she never misses a chance to party. She said her husband never partied and only worked and died at 48. My Son-in-law picked me up from the bus station and took me out to their home. The grandkids in Austin are growing so fast I need to install a video cam so that I can watch them grow. Our senior grand daughter turned 14 on May 3. Fourteen! I remember coaching her mother in softball when she was 14. I hope our daughter makes it through her daughters' teenage years without going mad. I brought a recorded audio birthday card from "Gammie" and a Mesquite slab candle holder for her birthday present. I spent the night with them and my daughter took me out to Springhill Restaurant outside Austin for lunch with the Servant team for walk #1435.

This was a Women's Walk to Emmaus. I felt I got so much from my Walk that I needed to give some back. I worked like a sled dog from Wednesday night to Sunday night. And paid for the privilege of working so hard. I met a remarkable woman on the Servant team. Linda Broddeck taught me so much about organizing snack food for such a function. I think that if I ever do this again I will be more valuable. After the end of the Walk Sunday afternoon Son-in-law took me back to their house. I was so tired and my hips and back hurt so badly that I ate a light dinner with them and went to bed at about 9pm. Daughter took me to the bus Monday morning and I arrived in Houston at about 3 pm. My wife gathered me up and brought me home. I spent the remainder of the day in a small daze waiting for bed. My bed has never felt so good. Today I have done a few small tasks around "shattered manor". I did process some pictures of wild flowers I found at Spicewood during my service on the team. One is a milkweed.

Look closely at one of the petal clusters on the lower left. There is a tiny bug that pollinates the plant. Click the picture for a larger view.

I am cutting this short so I can go to bed early and watch the rest of the Astros ball game.



Junior grandson is so desperate to earn money for a cell phone that I promised him all money from sales of the wind chimes from now on belong to him. Please buy all you can. Not for me but for a future MLB shortstop.

The Navy found they had too many officers and decided to offer an early retirement bonus. They promised any officer who volunteered for retirement a bonus of $1,000 for every inch measured in a straight line between any two points on his body.The officer got to choose what those two points would be.

The first officer who accepted asked that he be measured from the top of his head to the tip of his toes. He was measured at six feet and walked out with a bonus of $72,000.

The second officer who accepted was a little smarter and asked to be measured from the tip of his outstretched hands to his toes. He walked out with $96,000.

The third one was a non-commissioned officer, a grizzly old Chief who, when asked where he would like to be measured replied, "From the tip of my weenie to my testicles."

It was suggested by the pension man that he might want to reconsider; explaining about the nice big checks the previous two officers had received. But the old Chief insisted and they decided to go along with him providing the measurement was taken by a medical officer. The medical officer arrived and instructed the Chief to "drop 'em," which he did. The medical officer placed the tape measure on the tip of the Chief's weenie and began to work back.

"Dear Lord!" he suddenly exclaimed, "Where are your testicles?" The old Chief calmly replied, "Vietnam. "

 

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At Large 1032 days


I have quit reading newspapers, watching TV news, and listening to news on the radio. I am convinced we are on a rapid trip to hell in a hand basket. I am also equally convinced that the US Congress has almost full blame for all of the economic troubles. No Energy Bill. No immigration reform. No oversight or control of the wild ass greedy bastards in the mortgage business. No true national insurance. Congress for the last 20 years has been nothing but a money tree for the politicians. I am amazed at the people who lay all the blame on the President. He certainly deserves his share of the blame. Unfortunately I hear nothing in the crop of thieves that promises real change. In fact I hear things that convince me that they polis are likely to cut the programs that generate real wealth. A POX on them all.

I have been busy since the last entry but I cannot remember any important accomplishment. Last Thursday I spent the day prepping the pictures I took on my wildflower expedition through Chappell Hill and Burton over the back roads. I finished about 3am and uploaded them to Photobucket at http://s140.photobucket.com/albums/r23/wayner41/Chappell%20Hill%20to%20Burton%20Loop/ and Google at http://picasaweb.google.com/vwr1941/ChappellHillBurtonLoop and also Webshots at http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/563224314auqxko. I have a set of pictures taken on a trip to Navasota, Burton, and Brenham and I will be finished with this year. Next year I am going to just visit the hot spots from the last two years. Note that I have included coordinates in many of the pictures. I bought a GPS ($40 plus free shipping) Friday so I will be able to locate the sites next year.

Friday I mowed the front yard and pruned some of the bushes and trees. Friday night I went to Winedale to another play by Shakespeare. The play was a graduation play for the spring class. The play was "A Midsummer's Night's Dream". I had a seat right against the stage. We sponsors get prime reserved seating. I got home about 11:30 pm. Mowing and play going wore me out so badly that I spent most of Saturday and Sunday in bed. I only got up to feed the fish and orange kitty and to treat water to bring the level of the Koi pond up to the correct level.

Today I started making a baseball bat for my grandson Case from a piece of pecan cut at his other grandfather's home.

I spent a couple hours shaping the wood with breaks since I cannot use my stool while turning cylinders. The whole time I was turning and making bushels of wood shavings "Orange Kitty" was right at my feet. Several times he had to shake the shavings off but he stayed with me the whole time.

Click either picture for larger views. When I started shaping the knob on the handle the knob split and a piece went flying across the shed. The wood has a flaw called "pith" that weakens the wood. For sure the bat will only be decorative.

Wednesday I take the bus back to Austin. I volunteered for the Woman's Walk to Emmaus from May 1 through 4 at the same site I took my walk. I will be on the servant team and I am looking forward to the experience. I hope I am physically fit. I will return to Houston May 5 by Greyhound.




Junior grandson is so desperate to earn money for a cell phone that I promised him all money from sales of the wind chimes from now on belong to him. Please buy all you can. Not for me but for a future MLB shortstop.

A priest and a rabbi were sitting next to each other on an airplane. After a while, the priest turned to the rabbi and asked, "Is it still a requirement of your faith that you not eat pork?"

The rabbi responded, "Yes, that is still one of our laws." The priest then asked, "Have you ever eaten pork?"

To which the rabbi replied, "Yes, on one occasion I did succumb to temptation and tasted a ham sandwich"

The priest nodded in understanding and went on with his reading. A while later, the rabbi spoke up and asked the priest, "Father, is it still a requirement of your church that you remain celibate?"

The priest replied, "Yes, that is still very much a part of our faith."

The rabbi then asked him, "Father, have you ever fallen to the temptations of the flesh?" The priest replied, "Yes, rabbi, on one occasion I was weak and broke with my faith."

The rabbi nodded understandingly and remained silent, thinking, for about five minutes. Finally, the rabbi said, "Beats the thunder out of a ham sandwich, doesn't it?"

 

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