Orlando, FL

This morning on our walk I noticed that the devil strip was mowed on North Robert Trent Jones and the watermelons were all mowed under. It's kinda funny that the grass was un-mowed long enough for watermelon to grow and the vines to spread all over the place!

It was yet another busy busy day for us. I completed a complicated quote with custom equipment on it and Fay was even pleased that I did such a good job on it.

At lunch I came home and ate a Healthy Choice frozen meal. It briefly rained while I was home and then rained harder later in the afternoon. I hear that it is snowing in Dallas today and the weather is supposed to turn cooler here this weekend.

We got our paystubs today and we will be paid at midnight. Can you believe we got another Christmas bonus? ! Most of that money will go into my savings account (I am trying to save a down payment on a house).

I had to phone Dawn and ask her to email some of the barbecue pics to me since I forgot to take pics of the pig cooking. I promised one of the girls at Darden Restaurants Facilities Department that I would take a picture. Craig told me that our barbecue was the topic of conversation in Facilities yesterday when Kelly Hill was out. So I sent a pic of the pic on the grill to show them that we did not dig a hole in the front yard to cook the pig.

This evening I made chicken flavored stuffing, a bowl of spinach, and two chicken breasts on the grill. It was a good meal and Buddy got pieces of chicken in his feed bowl.

Orlando, FL

Yesterday morning after Buddy's walk, I went to the local Quest Diagnostics to give some blood for routine medical tests. Then I came home and scheduled my follow up visit at the doctor's office for December 15.

Next I called Commercial Appliance Service to ensure that one of my service calls was taken care of and then sent an email message to the dealer to let you know it had. I checked my work email several times during the day.

Before I went out I filled out my Christmas cards and then dropped them into the blue mail drop box across the street. Most of you will have your 2006 Christmas card by Monday.

I went to the Harbor Freight Tools store on OBT and shopped. Imagine the Homier Tool Show, but in a permanent store. That's what this was - lots of cheap, Chinese-made tools. But, hey, hey! They're cheap! I picked up a package of accesories for the Dremel rotary tool, a couple of 90° corner clamps, and a magnetic parts tray. There were lots more interesting things there, so I will be going back.

On the way home I stopped at Fairvilla Adult Megastore to see if they got anything new in. I haven't been there in months. Everything in there is soooo expensive. I think I will continue to get my "novelties" from Internet suppliers.

In the afternoon I made a batch of peanut butter cookies from a recipe I found on the Internet, but they tasted like crap and I had to toss the batch out. So much for that recipe.

Stopped by the rental office and made sure the leasing manager signed my 2007 lease and that I got a copy of it. I signed it Nov. 17, and as of yesterday she had not signed it! I gave her benefit of the doubt because of the holidays.

I considered vacuuming the truck cab out and cleaning the glass, but then I remembered that when I take the truck for its oil change at Sonny's they will do that.

I was in bed by 8 pm reading more of Persian Fire. I think I fell asleep before 9 pm.

This morning I was up at 5 am. Walked Buddy first thing. Then I immediately began to get ready for work. I needed to be in there early to handle all of the orders and other issues that I was sure came up yesterday while I was out.

I got to the office at 6:30 am. Craig Hodges was pulling into his parking space 30 seconds before I got there. He was in for a few minutes and then back out. I took orders off of the fax and added them to the pile on my desk and then put a pot of coffee on. I had most of the orders logged, copied, and faxed to the factories by the time Fay arrived at 8:10 am.

Today was very hectic. Fay said that as busy as yesterday was for her, she is glad that I took yesterday and not today! Everyone is just so demanding... they want their quote "NOW" or "ASAP". It is hard to prioritize and know which people really need their quotation first.

Anyhow, we made it through another one and tomorrow night we get paid!! Yay!! I need to make a list of things to buy with my paycheck -- groceries, rent, car insurance, parts for brake job on truck, oil change on truck. I can't count on it, but from the way Craig was talking today with us, it sounds like there might be another bonus check too.

Orlando, FL

I was in bed around 7:30 pm reading my book. Fell asleep shortly after 8. The morning came too quickly.

Breakfast was Winn-Dixie-brand "rice squares", the store brand of Rice Chex. Took Buddy for his walk, showered, dressed, and left him in the crate for the morning. I played with the idea of leaving him loose in the house, but thought better of it.

Work was busy today. Phones were busy. Processed $90k in new orders. I told Fay that I was going to take tomorrow off so that I can get blood work done, do laundry, and attend to a few other day-off tasks. I need to vacuum out the truck cab and clean the glass inside of it. Shoot, Buddy might even get a trip to the dog park.

It rained for a little while this morning, but it was mostly clear today.

At lunch I got a sandwich at Subway and then came home to get Buddy out. I walked him and fed him. When I left, I left him out of the crate, but confined to the living room and kitchen for the afternoon. When I got home he was head-down and tail-down like he'd done something wrong, but I couldn't find anything out of place.

I have a big pile of laundry to fold this evening. My neck still hurts, but I keep rubbing Tiger Balm on it. In the shower lastnight under hot water it popped really loudly when I twisted it!

We get paid on Thursday night. I need groceries, there will be a car insurance bill this month, and the truck is due for an oil change. The nice thing about taking it to Sonny's is that it gets a car wash right before the oil change.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Wednesday morning was very slow at the office. Aside from Craig phoning in, I think we took three calls. Craig let us go at 1:00 pm. Before he went out for the afternoon, he dropped $100 on my desk and told me it was money for gas on my trip!

Because I had to come back to the house, load the truck, load up Buddy, and then head out, I did not get started until 2:00 pm. The trip up there took about 10 hours. I stopped on the way and picked up a couple of 1/2 bushel bags of oranges and a bag of grapefruit. We arrived after 11 pm.

I walked Buddy as soon as we got there, then we walked up to the front window and knocked. This scared Mom and made her jump because she was focussed on what she had been doing on the computer! We sat up and talked for a couple of hours.

On Thanksgiving Day Kevin and Marrissia came over for the traditional dinner. Bill, Becky, Pat, Marrissia, Kevin, and me. We had turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn casserole, green bean caserole, cranberry/pineapple fluff salad, dinner rolls, cottage cheese, green and black olives, gravy, cranberry sauce, Brussels sprouts, and a couple of pies.

I saw Grandma Pat for the first time in 20 years. She made it a priority to point that out too. After all of these years, she hasn't changed at all. She still seems to take joy in putting people down, pointing out things they are not doing right, offerring her unwanted opinion, and being generally negative. I do not care to see her again and I think I am going to stop calling her on her birthday too.

With the holiday meal, George, Dawn and the boys visiting and then the pig picking on Saturday, I know this must have been a stressful time for Mom. She will be glad to have her house back! I think Bill passed that point weeks ago -- he was sequestering himself from the crowd in his garage or in the office at the computer. Pat bitched about that too.

Friday night we went to J Michaels Philly Deli. There were 10 of us. After our meal we went to Marri and Kevin's house to see all of the Christmas lights and decorations Kevin put up. He said his light bill last year was almost $500! We exchanged gifts that night too.

On Saturday Becky and Bill had a pork barbecue with a 95-pound hog on the grill. The entire neighborhood was invited. 45 people showed up for an afternoon picnic.

Each day was tiring for Buddy. He had lots of people to play with him! Unfortunately, everyone kept feeding him food from the table. This caused him to have loose movements. On Saturday night he had a wet accident on Mom's living room carpet! We got it cleaned up, but the dog was shaking - he knew he was going to get it - he knows he doesn't do that inside the house! We gave him Pepto-Bismol tablets in his snacks to settle his stomach.

We started back at 5:00 am this morning. It was clear and very cold up there. The trip back took about 10 hours. Traffic was very heavy. Traffic slowed to a crawl between Jacksonville and Daytona Beach. Buddy was panting because it warmed up in the afternoon.

Now I have everything put away and I am trying to get laundry done. I don't think I will get around to folding it until tomorrow. I dread going back to work tomorrow. It hardly seems like I got any time off!

WTF ?

The brand-new Gr8 Tat2 Kit is one of the new products this Christmas season...

"Open up your very own pretend play tattoo parlor. This easy-to-use tattoo maker kit includes an electronic tattoo pen and funky stencils. Using soft, safe pulsating action, the tattoo pen creates realistic, washable designs with dramatic effects. Requires two AA batteries (not included). "

I don't know. I just think that tats aren't quite as cool when 7-year-olds have them. But, I guess some toy manufacturers have finally realized that not every kid will grow up to be a doctor or business leader. Not every child wants to practice reading comprehension and math. Some kids just want to be like their Mommy, and/or if he is lucky enough to know who he is, his Daddy.

What's next? "Lil' Thugz Likr" malt beverage brewing kit? Ahh, the innocence of youth!

Monday

I think it got down to 47°F lastnight. I left the balcony doors about a hand-width open to let in some of the cool air. It is going down to 43°F tonight!

Finished reading Big Coal this weekend and started reading Persian Fire - a history of the Persian empire.

Lastnight I watched Desperate Crossing - the untold story of the pilgrims and the Mayflower on The History Channel. It was kind of depressing to see how unprepared those people were, how many died, and the little bit of support they got from England.

It was not a bad day at work today. I processed almost $100k in new orders. There was even some time to goof off and surf the Internet.

At lunch I came home and ate a can of soup and walked Buddy. I shut my bedroom door and opened the balcony door wide enough for him to go in and out as he pleased and left him out of his crate for the afternoon.

I forgot to put my old tennis shoes in the bedroom before I left. When I got home I found them chewed up in pieces on the living room floor. Buddy got his ass beat good for that one. I am sure I got more than my money's worth out of them, but they still had a lot of use in them.

During our walk this evening I noticed watermelons growing on the side of the road near the bus stop! I thought that plant was just a vine-like weed, but now I see small watermelons on the vines!

Weekend!

It was a cooler beautiful day here. We stayed very busy all day today.

At lunch today I came home and let Buddy out. Since it was still cool outside, I turned the AC off, opened the sliding door to the balcony, closed my bedroom door, and left Buddy out of his crate all afternoon. He was good. When I came home nothing was out of place and I couldn't even tell if he'd been on the furniture.

During lunch I got my old 35mm SLR camera out with hopes of photographing some of the Leonids tonight. But when I was attaching the tripod, the handle on the tripod cracked and broke and it broke completely. Maybe I can find an inexpensive tripod at Walmart?

Someday I will get the film in that camera developed.

This evening I stopped at the rental office to sign the new lease. I was relieved to see that the rent is really only increasing by $50 - the garage is not having an increase. I noticed as I was reviewing the fourteen-page-long rental document that they lowered the threshold for dogs from 35 pounds to 25 pounds. Damn, they only want lap dogs here.

After walking Buddy I folded my laundry from yesterday and then cleaned the kitchen and bathroom floors. Fun evening here.

I still need to go to Walmart for that tripod... if not there, the Ritz camera in the mall will have one. I hate it that you have to stay up so late to see them. Plus, here you have to drive 30 miles into the country to get a dark enough sky to see the stars.

Orlando, FL

It was raining hard when I woke up yesterday. I knew Buddy would not like walking in the rain. It rained hard most of the morning. In the news I read that a tornado hit a trailer park in Columbus County, NC and killed 9 people. Buddy and me will be driving past that trailer park next week!

Yesterday evening when we were out walking there was a squirrel on the sidewalk. He just sat there not moving. We almost stepped on it before it ran into the bushes! Buddy was going crazy trying to go after it.

I brought the knob from Fay's Rolodex home last night. The plastic parts inside of it sheared off. I cut a thin piece of metal from the sliding door on a floppy disk and bent it to fit inside and then JB Welded it down. Hopefully that will work. If not, it might just be time for a new Rolodex.

Lastnight at the gym I was amused to look over at the treadmill next to me. The guy was running on the treadmill at 3.5 MPH and I was walking at 3.6 MPH. Strange.

The temperature dropped into the 50's again last night. It was almost cold this morning! Still, it manages to get hot in the office infront of that big glass window. Even if I pull the blinds.

Laundry was done last night. Now I have a pile of it on my bed to fold. After that I need to clean floors.

Don't forget - Leonid meteor shower tonight!

Orlando, FL

After another cool night it was kinda warm today - 85°F. Only going down to 70°F tonight, but tomorrow morning there will be showers and then a low in the low 50's tomorrow night. Remember, Leonid meteor shower this weekend!

Today at lunch I stopped at Chik-Fil-A to get lunch. I used coupons and money Craig gave us to get the 2007 calendar for Jordan and Tyler. The calendar is goofy, but the coupons on it are nice to have!

I brought the cover for Fay's fax machine home with me at lunch too. The repairman broke it and couldn't even superglue the hinge back onto it. I spread JB Weld on it and clamped it down. I told her that if JB Weld doesn't fix it, nothing probably will. We are letting it cure overnight and will try to put it back on the machine tomorrow.

It was a very very busy afternoon, but only a few orders. I think we will be lucky to eek out an average week.

Orlando, FL

This morning Buddy and I walked north along Robert Trent Jones Drive. At the end of the street we found a small car up in the field, its front wheels were deep in the sand. We walked up to the end of the street and the lady inside opened the door and politely asked us where she was. I pointed out Valencia Community College to her and she was giving directions to someone on her cellphone.

Since we had nothing to pull her out with, we turned and walked back home.

Work was very busy all day. So many problem orders, returns, service calls, and assorted other bullshit. It gets to be exhausting after awhile. It was sunny and warm today. Now that the sun is lower in the sky, I have to pull the blinds on my office window to keep from going blind or overheating!

I read today that the annual Leonid meteor shower is this weekend. Late Friday night and early Saturday morning should be rewarding if you can drive to a place with a dark sky. Maybe I will do exactly that and take my Pentax SLR, point it at the sky, open the shutter on infinity, and see what it shoots. Film has been in that camera for four years - before I left Norfolk. Someday I will have it developed.

This evening Buddy saw a cat on his walk. He tried really hard to get to it, but Vince was holding the leash and wouldn't let him. The rest of the evening Vince would make "meow" sounds and Buddy would go crazy trying to find that cat in the apartment!

Orlando, FL

As promised, here are some pictures of the benchtop with its shiny coats of polyurethane and vice mounted on it. I am pleased with the way the bench turned out. Now I have a place to work on my projects. Also attached is a picture of my benchtop jointer mounted on a stand.

Incase you did not know this, new jointer blades are very sharp! Do not 'test' them by running your finger down their edge! I sliced my middle finger on the left hand open on the blade. Hurt like hell and bled pretty good. Bill's jointer blades were never that sharp!

I really feel that the only piece of equipment I need to complete my shop now is the compound mitre saw. That way I could do all of my crosscutting on the compound mitre chop saw and all of my ripping and dado grooves on the table saw. Course, having some wood to work on wouldn't be bad either.

This morning I was reading news at the computer and a truck drove by. I still had the balcony door open for the cool air. The guy driving the truck was screaming like an Indian or a maniac. Buddy started barking! LOL! This evening we were walking up the street and he began to shake his coat. He managed to shake the leash off of himself! Well, I squatted down and told him, "You come see me!" He came back and I was able to get the leash re-attached.

Today was okay for a Monday. Fay was out all morning tending to social security business with her husband. While she was out the phones were not that bad. It's kinda funny, when she came back, almost every call was asking for her. It's as if they knew she was out!

It was a pretty day. Very bright sunny sky and with a high of 80°F.

I had to laugh as I read a story today about Levy County and the City Of Gainesville doing mandatory drug testing on all of the county volunteers. I guess they are having a hard time keeping volunteers to man the libraries now. These 65 to 85 year-old ladies think the urinalysis is degrading! LOL!! I mean, even if they were stoned, which I think is unlikely, what is the worst they could do in a library? Shelve the fiction with the non-fiction? It kinda serves them right though, because these girls were only 45 to 65-year-olds when Nancy Reagan started the "Just Say No" program. It was fine when drug testing was about someone else. Now this particular bird has come home to roost and it's shitting all over them! Good luck getting any of them to pass too -- everyone knows old people are all hopped up on drugs.

This is the last complete week of the month for me. Next week will be a short week for Thanksgiving and the week after that we get paid again! Yay!

Weekend

I walked Buddy, cleaned the kitchen and bathroom floors, spot cleaned the carpet, mounted the vice on my workbench, assembled a stand for the 6-inch jointer, put the jointer together and mounted it on the stand, made and ate lunch, walked Buddy again, drove to the WoodCraft store in Casselberry and shopped, walked Buddy, vacuumed out the truck, showered, and slept soundly. A very full Saturday.

The WoodCraft store was interesting. They have lots of equipment, accessories, stains, varnish, hand tools, books and magazines, and even wood. The wood was fairly expensive. I need to find a good supply of not-to-expensive hardwood.

On the way home I ran into heavy traffic on the 408 -- they had it reduced to one lane for roadwork! So everyone was getting off on Old Winter Garden Road. While driving west on Old Winter Garden I saw the Sanyo blimp and pulled over to take a picture of it. This blimp is based in San Diego, so it is obviously a long way from home.

This morning I took Buddy to the West Orange Dog Park and let him run and play for two hours. Then we came home and Buddy took a bath. After his bath I cleaned his ears and trimmed his claws. He went and took a nap while I went out to the garage to cut, drill, and paint a plywood base for my drill press and clean the vinyl in the truck with Armor All dressing sheets.

For lunch we made hamburgers on the grill. Now I feel like taking a nap or maybe catching up on my reading.

Orlando, FL

I made it to the gym lastnight, but was just too lazy beat to go this evening. It was a busy day at the office and Fay left at 2:45 to go to the doctor. So, I was by myself, and it got a little hectic. Atleast tomorrow is Friday.

Temperatures have been cooler -- I think it got up to 78°F today. It was sunny and dry. It was 55°F when I got up this morning. I slept with the doors to the balcony open and the AC turned off.

This morning I began sanding the workbench top with 220 grit paper and adding more coats of polyurethane. It has about 5 coats on now and it is very shiny! You can see your reflection in it. Anyway, that should keep dirt and grease out of the wood.

I am going to put some wax on the surface tomorrow evening and buff it up with my orbital buffer. Then I will put the stuff back on it. This weekend I will bolt the vice down on one corner and it will be finished. I think it's a fine workbench. I will post a picture soon.

Buddy is due for a trip to the dog park, so we will probably do that this weekend. I want to check out the WoodCraft store in Casselberry too. I think I want to find a book about programming in Ruby too. I could really dig it if I could easily make a graphical interface for it or have it move xml information to and from webpage forms.

Election Day 2006

It was very overcast this morning. I took Buddy for his usual walk and then I showered and dressed for the day. It was a short drive over to Metrowest Country Club to visit the 138th Precinct polls.

After a short wait I was shown to the elderly ladies managing the polling place and ballots. This little old white-haired girl goes, "Vincent. You must be a good man because my father was named 'Vincent'." I said, "Well, you know what? My father was named 'Vincent' too!" I pointed out the "Jr" suffix on my name to her. "Well, so he is! So he is!"

The ballot was three pages long! Two pages of candidates for Governor, House, Senate, State Supreme Court, Attorney General, State Comptroller, etc and then a page of amendments to the Florida constitution. I was done around 7:45 and fed my ballots into the optical scanner. They gave me a little "I Voted" sticker to put on my shirt.

It began to drizzle on the way down to the office. It was gray, cool, and wet all day. At lunch I came home and ate a sandwich with a can of split pea soup. After walking Buddy I went to the garage and started sanding my workbench top. When the weather becomes dry again I want to put a couple of coats of polyurethane on it to seal it from dirt and grease.

Things were a little slower at work today. I actually had time to read some political commentary and browse a few websites. I looked at the Delta Machinery website to see what accessories were available for my wood working equipment. I discovered that we have a WoodCraft store in Casselberry and saw their website. Then I followed a Ruby tutorial, putting the code into the Ruby console on the Google SketchUp.

This evening it began to rain very hard. The roof started to leak in Craig's office again. Buddy's walk did not last very long because of the wet weather. That is a shame too because he is sooo hyper now, he needs a long walk.

Orlando, FL

Sunday morning I put the drill press together and then I sorted out my tools and paints and got them organized so that I could get rid of the boxes on the left side in the garage. I can park in the garage comfortably. I want to set the jointer up too, but I am going to wait until I can afford the $60 Delta universal stand for it.
While reorganizing my stuff I found a pint of polyurethane. I will sand the workbench top lightly and then put two coats of that on the top to protect it from dirt. Hopefully, I will get two coats out of that little can!

I have the labels printed out for my Christmas cards. Cards are bought too. I bought the cheapest Walmart brand this year. I think I spent $9.00 for cards.

Talked to Mom last night. They have Pat visiting from Ohio. I think Pat is bored because she commented on how quiet it is at Becky's.

This morning Fay called in right after 8 am to say that she would not be in until 12:30. I informed her that there were men from a service agency waiting for her in the parking lot because they needed her to proctor their test. She made a phone call and got that rescheduled. It was steadily busy in the office all day.

I read that Rev. Haggard's mega-church excommunicated fired him. So much for Christian forgiveness.

I have chicken drumsticks on the grill right now. After dinner I have to shower real quick and then get to the gym. Another day gone so fast!

Saturday

What a day. I got a lot done.

Out of bed at 6:30 am. Dressed, harnessed the dog up and walked him, then came home. I opened up the sliding glass door and left him out of the crate to go in and out as he pleased while I went to buy groceries.

Down to Walmart before 8 am. I spent about $213 and got bunch of groceries, but I did not get everything on my list. I drove all of this home and carried upstairs to put away. Then I went back out. Next stop: Pet Supermarket.

Here I got a 20-pound bag of Lamb and Rice ScienceDiet, a food bin with lid to store the dog food, some rawhide bones, a big plastic container of treats, two boxes of the BilJac Liver Treats that he likes, and a four-month supply of Frontline for 45 to 88 pound dogs. They did not have HeartGuard, so I had to go to the vet. Over $100 spent here.

I stopped at Pep Boys on the way back. Here I got WD-40, wheel bearing grease, brake pads and an estimate for the front wheel bearings, bearing grease seals, and rotors. I was happy to discover that the rest of the parts needed will not cost as much as I feared. I am going to buy the bearings, but if it turns out after inspection that the ones on there are in good shape, I will re-pack them and re-install them, and take the new ones back to the store.

At Hiawassee Veterinary I got the HeartGuard for Buddy. This cost about $35 for a six-month supply. I asked about boarding too. It is $17 per night and they seem to want to accomodate anything Buddy needs.

Now I took this stuff back home and put it away. Time for the discount warehouse - BJ's. Here I got six cases of bottled sparkling water, a giant bottle of Pine Sol, big jug of laundry detergent, two big sliced blocks of cheese, pound of butter, a bulk box of the yogurt that I like, and a large bottle of Listerine. About $148 spent.

After this I went to SuperCuts and get my haircut. I had the sand blast cabinet loaded in the bed of the truck. After my haircut I took the cabinet to Salvation Army to donate. They are giving me receipts for this stuff so I am going to take a charitable deduction on my taxable income.

After Salvation Army I begin an hour-long search for a working ATM. I stopped at four different convenience stores and all of the ATM's were out-of-order. Finally I got some cash. I needed cash because The Octopus car wash does not take credit cards. Got the truck exterior cleaned (the interior needs it too!) and then I drove home.

I want to keep about $750 to $800 of the bonus to put into savings.

At home I began to unpack the table saw in the garage. I had to repack all of my wrapped, framed art work and put that into the big table saw box when it was out, then I had to re-stack all of my stuff at the end of the garage. Before I started to put the saw together, I went into the house and got Buddy, put his leash on him, and brought him out to the garage.

I looped the leash around my workbench leg and let him watch me working. Well, as I was sweeping leaves out the door, the broom spooked him and he began desperately backing away... he was able to pull himself out of the harness by going backwards!! He ran down the hall. I called for him to come back, but he turned around, ran right past me, up the little hill, into the street, across the street, going full-speed, down the sidewalk, across busy Metrowest Boulevard without stopping!! I was sooo afraid he was going to be hit by a car or truck. He just kept going. There was no way I was going to catch up with him on foot, so I ran back to the garage and got into the truck.

I found him not very far away. A stranger stopped and got him to come to him. This man held him until I got there. I thanked him and he said I was very welcome. He sounded German. I was soooo relieved!

We went back to the garage to keep working, but I kept the doors shut while I worked. This kinda sucked because it became stifling hot inside. It took me about an hour to get the stand assembled and the saw mounted on it. At that point we took a break and took a walk.

After his walk, Buddy went back into the house and I took styrofoam saw packing materials to the dumpster, then I drove next door to The Madison to ask about the "Rent-To-Own" program.

A six-foot-tall, auburn-haired, blue-eyed hunky guy named John explained to me that the two-bedroom units are selling for $248,000. At that point I almost laughed in his face, but I kept a straight face and kept asking questions. He said that the developer is offering $24,000 in incentives for buyers (I think this amounts to a price cut). The garages are another $10,000. Association dues are $180 per month. All together it looks very impractical, and really, to me personally, it looks like a rip-off.

Went back to the garage and kept working on the saw. It took me about two more hours to finish it. I will have to test run it today and do some test cuts too. I was concerned about the condition that I would find these machines in after four years of sitting in storage, but everything has come out looking like new! The table saw was covered in cosmoline and the directions said, "Do not use gasoline or acetone to remove, use kerosene." Well, I did not have kerosene, but I did have WD-40, and you know what? It worked!

Now it is even more important for me to finish unpacking those two big movers boxes full of miscellaneous tools, put the tools into tool boxes or onto the shelves, and get rid of the boxes so I have enough room to park the truck safely.

Around 9 pm I went to Full Moon Saloon for a few beers. It was almost a full moon too! The crowd was very weak. It was not very exciting. I was back home around midnight.

All-in-all it was a very busy and very productive day!

Orlando, FL

I am exhausted. I got to the office 10 minutes early, but the phone started ringing at 8:05 and it took me forever just to finish my email.

At 11:15 the phone rang and it was Dave Turner, a Facilities manager at Darden Restaurants, asking questions about one of the Red Lobsters that has had extensive steamer maintenance problems going back over a year. He started asking difficult questions about the service agencies that I was not prepared to answer. Despite telephone problems with Cleveland Range this morning, I was able to conference call Frank Gorman in with Dave. One hour and fifteen minutes later I think everyone was happy.

So many phone calls for service issues and order issues, but we can't seem to make any money. $190k for the week. Lots of orders, but the average order was around $1,950.

I was going to get my haircut at lunch, but eating took too long. Then I was going to get it cut after work, but there was a long wait. So, my haircut will have to wait.

Came home and walked Buddy. Then I folded laundry and watered plants. I need to make a decision about the gym very soon. I am so tired. Still sore from Wednesday too.

Will buy mega-groceries tomorrow morning. That includes a trip to BJ's and a trip to the pet supply store. I need to get Buddy's Frontline and heartworm medicine. He needs more rawhide and treats too. Also, want to stop at AutoZone to start getting the brake parts put aside for my big break job that I figure I will do in January.

Orlando, FL

This morning it was very foggy when Buddy and I went out for our walk. As we were walking back to the apartment, Buddy kept jumping up on his hind legs. "What is it boy? I don't see another dog or a cat." He just kept jumping, "boing, boing, boing"... and finally "thud" as he ran into a tree!

Before I left for the office I started a big load of towels. Got them washed and into the dryer. Because I did not make it home at lunch, they were still damp when I got home in the evening.

It was another extremely busy day in the office. Lots of service calls and issues. There were seven orders from Darden right off the bat. I was especially busy in the morning.

At lunch I went to Tires Plus on Kirkman Road. I got two new tires for the back wheels and I got the new tire on the right front wheel patched. Altogether it was $156.81. I shelled out an extra $12 for road hazard because you can take it to any Firestone outlet in the US for the repairs.I walked down to Boston Market for lunch and by the time I returned it was finished.

At the Boston Market there was this guy, musta been in his twenties. Blonde hair, gap-toothed. In line. Said he'd never been to a Boston Market before and didn't know how the meals worked. I am like, "What?" He was telling me that he was training to be a manager at Flipper's Pizza and that he was on the city bus for 6 hours today - 3 hours out to Disney and 3 hours back. He got to the training late and they sent him home! I am thinking to myself, "Dear God, you really have to have a car to do anything in this town." He was kinda cute, but didn't really strike me as being an over-achiever or anything. It's funny how strangers will just start talking to you.

Not sure whether I will go to the gym tonight or not. My pecs are sore from the lifting yesterday. Need some recuperation!

Tomorrow I will get my haircut during lunch. Then I just need to get pet supplies and groceries. I know this will be a short weekend.

Orlando, FL

It was cloudy and humid this morning when I took Buddy outside. By the time I got to the office it was raining. It was cool, cloudy, and drizzling most of the day. It continued raining when I went to lunch.

Lunch was difficult. I went to the Metrowest Wendy's. I got inline behind a little hispanic family... grandpa, grandma, daughter, grandchild (abuelo, abuela, hija, niña), and that would not be so bad, but the only one who spoke English was the little girl. They did not know what they wanted, they kept looking back at the menu and then telling the girl what they wanted so she could pass that to the cashier. It took forever.

We stayed steadily busy, but I found snatches of time to draw in SketchUp. I drew a sliding drawer similar to the ones I built on the chest three years ago.

My last phonecall of the day was to Frymaster, in Shreveport, LA. Susan Frost wanted to know when I was coming to one of the Fry Master Courses. I told her, "Now Susan, if I go to Louisiana, who is going to watch my dog?" LOL! Anyway, Craig told me to sign up for the spring course... he said FER would pay to kennel Buddy. So, I guess I am going to Shreveport this spring.

Subway sandwich for dinner, got the dog walked, ran the vacuum cleaner. Now I need to shower and get my butt to the gym.