Powell, WY

On Saturday we hopped into the truck and drove north out of Powell on Absaroka Street (WY 295), and followed it north up onto Polecat Bench. We drove the length of the bench to Elk Basin oil field, and then turned onto Park County Road 1NG. We followed this road until the pavement ended and kept on going!

After we passed into Montana, 1NG became Silvertip Creek Road. It was all gravel, for about 20 miles. Nothing back there except hills, rocks, and oil wells.

We came to Dutch Road and turned left. We ran down this road about two miles until we came to Montana Route 72. Here we turned left again and drove into Belfry, MT.

We paid a visit to the Belfry Country Store to get drinks and chips. We browsed the selection in this store since this will likely be the closest store to our house when we move to Clark.

Continuing on MT 72, we drove south into Wyoming and stopped to inspect our property at Clark. We drove all the way back and parked the truck inside the eastern property line facing the incredible views of the Beartooth Mountains.

I called Mom and proved that we got very good cell phone reception out there. They had just received the small package I sent to them and they were looking at the photos and sniffing the wild sage I had clipped and sent to them.

The weather was nice while I was on the phone with Mom - the winds were out of the southeast. Try as I might, could not end my phone call with her. Finally, I was off the phone. Bob took this picture of Buddy and me, but then I noticed that the wind had shifted and was coming from the northeast. Things were a lot colder now!

We piled back into the truck and munched the rest of our chips. Then my cell phone rang again! This call was from Gail at Diamond Truss asking me if I could come in for an interview!

We drove down Brushland Drive to WY120, and turned left. We went down to WY294 (County Road 18), and drove to Ralston, WY. We stopped at a convenience to get some breath mints because I had not expected to be called to interview on a Saturday!

Then we went another mile down the road and parked at Diamond Truss. I stepped inside to meet Gail and Dick Fennel. Gail conducted the interview and gave me a short tour of the plant (it's a very small plant). My interview was over in 30 minutes, but I am not sure how well I did. There are definitely things that she liked about my resume, but I think she is still uncertain about my manual skills (with a hammer)! She said she would make a decision this week.

With that we went back home and relaxed for the rest of the day.

On Monday I mailed a cover letter, resume, and references off in response to a classified ad seeking a construction manager. I picked up another skein of black yarn for Bobby (the scarf is 41 inches long now!), and I got some replacement hacksaw blades at the hardware store. I spent the afternoon cutting up my scrap lawn mower engine castings into smaller pieces suitable for melting.

Today we got some snow. About 3 or 4 inches. It is still lightly snowing now. I shoveled the sidewalk off at 4 PM, but Mother Nature has almost undone all of my work!

For dinner we had baked chicken drumsticks with cut green beans and wild rice.

Powell, WY

Marrissia and Kevin finally got some pictures of their offspring onto Facebook. Pictured here are Gavin and Gabriella Batson. Their Mommy and Daddy thought the pregnancy was tough, but the next 18 years are going to be tougher! Ha!

This morning I took Buddy out for his walk at 7:00 AM. When we got back, Bob had a breakfast of scrambled eggs and turkey sausage links ready.

After breakfast I mixed up a batch of Grandma Florence's Bishop Bread and put it into the oven to bake. I cut back on the baking powder, but the dough doubled in height, almost overflowing the casserole dish! This high altitude baking will take some getting used to!

I was preparing to go to Cody today to follow up on my application with the Board Of Elections, but my phone rang this morning and it was the Board Of Elections asking me to come in for an interview! I made an appointment for 1:00 PM.

The drive down to Cody was gorgeous - just a few fluffy white clouds in a huge bright blue sky. On three sides you could see snow-capped peaks. A picture postcard day.

As it turns out, I was the first person called in to interview. They have seven applicants that they wish to interview. I feel that the interview went well. "Now, how do you pronounce your name?" To break the ice I said, "That's Thigpen. Yes, it means 'illegitimate son of Pen." This brought chuckling and laughter from Molly, the interviewer, and Eric, the Election Clerk who was standing by.

Molly said that she would let me know sometime next week what their decision will be.

The drive back to Powell was just as beautiful as the trip to Cody. I was treated to sun-lit mountains and bright snow-covered Big Horn Mountains in the east.

After I changed my clothes, Bob and went back out. We paid our utility bill at City Hall, and then went across the street to the Powell Library. Here I wrote a "thank you" email to Molly at Park County Board of Elections, and I sent a follow-up note to Gail Fennel at Diamond Truss.

We each checked out a couple of books and then came home.

I took Buddy for his walk before the sun went down and the temperatures started to drop. Bob made a dinner of boiled hot dogs and sauerkraut.

No big plans for this weekend.

Powell, WY

Yesterday morning I finished lacing up the leather wallet project. I think it turned out quite nice. Would you believe that wallet took 16 feet of lace to sew it together?!! Bob is using this as his wallet now.

I wouldn't mind doing another wallet or a checkbook cover project.

The day was cloudy and there was a chance of rain showers.

In the afternoon I went to visit Ilene at Work Force so that she could review a cover letter I was sending in the mail in response to a help wanted ad for a construction office manager.

We had potato soup for lunch and again for dinner. I took some little chicken steaks out of the freezer to thaw for the next day.

After visiting Ilene I went to the library and turned in my books and cancelled the hold I had placed on the Fred Lee book from the Sheridan VA Hospital library. Then I went to the post office and mailed a couple of small packages.

In the evening I took Buddy for his walk, and he had a first-time experience! We walked up to Bank Of The West and went inside to the lobby. He had never been inside a bank before! He had a great time with the tellers and the branch manager, Debbie.

Everyone was grateful that he didn't make a deposit!

We hurried home because the skies in the north were getting really dark and it looked like it might start raining any minute.

After dark the wind really began to howl and whistle. Then it began to rain. Wind-driven rain. Later it turned into sleet. The streets, the sidewalks, everything was getting covered in ice! The winds continued to howl. It was like a bad thunderstorm. Then the power went out. The lights were out for two and a half hours. Power was restored before we went to bed though.

This morning I found everything glazed with ice, and snow blowing out of the sky! A couple of inches fell.

I made fried potatoes and Canadian bacon with hot tea for breakfast. Then I took Buddy for his morning walk. Bob made the bed and put the dishes into the dishwasher while we walked.

When I got back with Buddy I swept the front walk off, but there was that layer of ice under it. So I found the snow shovel in the shed and used it to clear off the sidewalk as good as I could. Mary, our neighbor, saw me doing this and asked me to stop, "That ice is as slick as shit, and I think the snow will keep someone from slipping." I told her that I was going to scatter salt on top of it when I finished.

The salt did some good, but temperatures rose to almost 50F today, and most of the snow and all of the ice on the sidewalk melted away! It is really amazing how quickly everything can change here!

The power went out again for two hours this morning. The radio said that we lost power because a major power line south of Cody went down.

This evening Bob fried up the chicken steaks and steamed some Brussels sprouts for dinner while Buddy and I took the evening walk. Temps were almost pleasant during the afternoon, but once the sun got low in the sky, the temps started to drop. It is supposed to go down to 21F tonight.

We got our first electric, water, sewer, and trash bill today. It came to $141.42 all together. I could be better, but we are used to much worse! Ilene also told me that I can expect my car insurance premiums to plummet once I get the truck registered in Wyoming.

Powell, WY

We had a nice long weekend due to President's Day. The only time we went out was on Sunday afternoon when we went to the grocery store to get milk, heavy cream, sandwich meat, bread, mayo, soup mix, and soft drinks.

Bob continued to work on his knitting. He has knitted over 25 linear inches of his 8-1/2 inch-wide black panel. This item is destined to become a scarf. He now realizes that a garter stitch should have been knitted into each end to keep it from curling up. Oh well, this is how we learn.

I worked on my leather wallet project off and on during the weekend. I transferred the floral design to the leather, cut out the major lines, stamped the textures into it, cut additional hi-lites into it, and then stained the background. The picture posted to the right shows how it looked this morning.

Last night Bob made a pot of vanilla pudding from scratch using ingredients we had on hand in the house. He used a recipe he found online.

Today we had oatmeal for breakfast, and then Bob and I drove down to Cody to the Cody Feed Store. Just before we turned into the store we hit something on the road and it sounded like a piece of gravel, but it could have been a screw or a nail. After this we heard a hissing sound. I thought to myself, "Great, I have just punctured a tire." Well, after we parked we didn't hear the sound anymore. I got out and investigated and found that we had run over a tumbleweed and the hissing we heard was the plant being dragged!

We bought a 45-pound bag of Dog Fuel dog food for Buddy at Cody Feed. We browsed the rest of the store, and then we hefted the big bag of dog food into the bed of the truck and headed down to Highway 120.

We drove north out of Cody on 120 up to Clark. The drive is very beautiful and we were surrounded by heavily contrasting skies. To the south and east it was clear and bright, but to the north and west it was dark gray, cloudy, and appeared to be snowing.

When we reached the Edelweiss convenience store, we turned off 120 onto 1AB and drove through the village of Clark, WY. We drove past the fish hatchery and through all of the farms. We got back onto 120 north of our Western Heartlands property, and turned left to drive north into Montana. At Belfry we made another left and drove up to Red Lodge for lunch.

On the way to Red Lodge we stopped that the site of the Smith Mine Disaster (1943). Bob got out of the truck and posed next to the sign in front of the mine site. Here is the picture we took.

We ate lunch at the Red Lodge Kitchen. We both had the Pizza Burger and fries which was on special. The burger was very juicy, and our bill came to $15, which is about what we would have paid if we went to Subway.

While we were in the restaurant, it began to snow. A nice light flurry came down, but it all melted as soon as it touched the ground.

After lunch we drove back out of Red Lodge and went to our Western Heartlands property to walk around and check it out. It was cold and breezy when we first arrived, but later it calmed down. Without the wind blowing it was almost comfortable. Again, we were so impressed with the silence and quiet out here on our property!

We drove home, got a tank of gasoline in the truck, put the dog food away, and started a load of laundry. I worked on stitching my wallet project together and Bob continued knitting. He knits about 3 inches per day.

After walking the dog we fed him some Dog Fuel and we had ham and turkey sandwiches for dinner.

Mom called this evening and left a message saying that Marrissia was taken to the hospital, and it looks like she will be delivering her twins this evening! It's been a long pregnancy, and now it is long at last over!

Powell, WY

Yesterday Bob rode down to Cody with me. We drove to the Park County Courthouse and I went inside to the Board Of Elections. Here I registered to vote in Park County, then I turned in my job application with resume and references.

Next I went next door to the County Treasurer to put in a change of address for the tax bill on my property in Clark.

After this we drove to the Cody office of the Wyoming Work Force office to check on open jobs. I talked with Christine and she had me fill out an application for Sysco Foodservice which she had to fax to the hiring manager.

Then we drove to Powell, ate some lunch at home, and went to the library. Here I completed an online application for a satellite technician position at Starwest. I also completed an application for a teller position at Wells Fargo.

After that we came home and I started working on my resume because I needed to change it from Chronological to Skills-based. I needed this to apply for the Sawyer and Truss Builder positions at Diamond Truss in Ralston.

This morning I walked Buddy, ate my scrambled eggs, and then showered and dressed to visit Diamond Truss. I put on my old Wolverine steel-toed boots from my block plant days and discovered that the cold made the soles crack and separate from the bottom of the boot! Well, if I need steel-toed boots, I still have my Navy flight deck boots, and I can always get another pair of Wolverines.

I drove the 5 miles to Ralston and turned in the cover letter, resume, and references to the truss designer. As it turns out, Dick and Gail Fennell, the owners, were both out. Gail was making a truss delivery, and Dick was making a sales call. Even Indy, the office dog was gone!

After this I came home, put my stuff away, went to the basement and laced up the little coin purse leather project I had been working on. The left half of the stitching looks terrible, but by the time I got to the bottom and right side it started to look pretty good! I then glued the wallet project leather to a piece of cardboard and traced a floral pattern onto some tracing paper. This is a long weekend, so I might get it done.

Later I went to the garage, re-aired the left front tire, and then brought in one of the three plastic bins that I keep my "archive" in. Stuff in the archive goes way back, but I needed to get in and look at everything because I knew that a good percentage of it could be tossed into the trash.

We spent over four hours sorting through this stuff. I had a big pile of pictures that were either duplicated or not missed that I was able to sent to the trash. This was about 25% of the bin. Now I just have two more bins to sort through!

While going through this stuff I found some long-lost stuff that was nice to see. I also made small piles for some of these things to mail to Mom, Jason, Dawndee, and others. I also scanned some of the pictures.

Bob made a casserole with red beans, ground beef, potatoes, rice, and tomato soup. It was tasty.

Now I am just updating this blog, catching up on Facebook, and getting ready for a restful night.

Powell, WY

I continued working on the spirit level on Sunday and Monday. We went to the hardware store and got some reddish "Cabernet" wood stain for the wooden part of the level, some brass screws, wood glue and a pint can of shellac.

It was very cold outside in the garage and the shellac would not dry quite right outside in the cold - the lines that appear when you brush it on would not smooth out. I had to bring the work and the can of shellac inside and work in the basement where it was warmer.

Using a piece of plywood and two pieces of scrap wood, I built a bench hook to use at my work bench. I glued and screwed the scrap pieces to the plywood. I applied the glue and clamped it up. This had to dry in the basement.

Because all of my old glue had frozen, those bottles had to be thrown away, and I had to buy a new bottle of wood glue from the hardware store.

The bench hook is useful when you are working on small parts that are too small for clamps. The hook holds on to the front of the bench, and the strip of hardwood holds on to your work.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day. I surprised Bob with a big heart-shaped box of chocolates in the morning.

I finished reading both of my library books. I think Bob is done with his too. We need to drop those off.

In today's mail there was a letter from Powell Valley Health Care. The HR assistant said that the VA Office position was filled by another candidate who had the exact work history they were looking for. "We will keep your application on file for six months, yadda, yadda, yadda...." Ugghhh

While I walked over to the local Wyoming Work Force office to visit Ilene Cauffman, the career services lady, Bob made beef stew with our last jar of soup base, some stew beef, a can of red beans, and a few diced potatoes.

Ilene was surprised that I was still looking for a job, but she said it wasn't my fault - it's just the economy. She encouraged me to apply for the Park County Board Of Elections opening. It's a temp job, but it lasts until 12/31/2012. I am going to go down to Cody and apply at the courthouse tomorrow morning. While I am there I will get my voter registration updated, and post a change-of-address with the tax assessor's office.

I walked home, and I immediately took Buddy for his evening walk, and then we enjoyed a hot supper of beef stew and hot bread.

After dinner I went to the basement to work on my leather change purse project. I applied stain to the carved and tooled surfaces. Tomorrow afternoon I will stitch it together.

Weekend

On Friday morning I got up, walked the dog, ate breakfast, showered, and dressed for my job interview at Powell Valley Health Care. I left at 9:00 AM and drove over to the hospital. I walked in 10 minutes early.

My interview was with Casey, a nurse and an HR person, and Lisa, the VA Office director.

We went to a small room, and they sat me down in the center. We started with a description of the job, which is basically someone who calls insurance companies to get pre-approval before a medical procedure is started. Filing and answering phones would also be a part of this job. "Would you have a problem with filing?" I replied, "No, I would think that filing would be a part of this job. And, if something isn't put back properly, it might never be found again." They heartily agreed with that statement.

They said that this would be a new position and that the job requirements might be in a state of flux for awhile. Also, the department is transitioning to a new paperless system of record keeping.

"Would you have a problem phoning an insurance company to request authorization for a vaginal ultrasound?" Perfectly unphased, I responded, "Uh, no. That is one of the services we provide and that is the name for that procedure. So, no, I would not have a problem with that. We are all grown-ups here, and besides, it's not like I am the person who will be performing the procedure." They seemed satisfied with that answer.

Lisa seemed particularly happy to see that I worked at Disney. Apparently the hospital is quite taken with the Fred Lee book called If Disney Ran Your Hospital. As luck would have it, this was one of the books we gave to Connie at The Book Rack in Oviedo, FL. But I located a copy in the Sheridan WY VA Center Library, and the inter-library loan system is going to forward that copy to me later next week for a $3 charge.

This led to a discussion of the Disney Children's Hospital at Florida Hospital and children's hospitals in general.

During the discussion, Casey had an accident with her drink cup - the cap came off and spilled water and ice all down the front of herself and she jumped up and ran out of the interview.

I think Lisa will be calling Craig Hodges and Betsy Hummel to discuss my work history and recommendations.

The interview lasted about an hour, and I left feeling that it went very well. Casey said that they will have made their decision by Monday or Tuesday.

When I went out to the parking lot I found it lightly snowing.

My next stop was Eastman's Publishing to drop off my resume and recommendations. I spoke with Heather Olsen, Operational Sales Manager, and she was very friendly. She went to the back and brought out two recent issues of their magazine and told me that they have a bow hunting show on the Outdoor Channel. They also sell a DVD about bow hunting and they appear at shows and conventions for bow hunters. I had no idea that such a thing even existed! Their magazine is really slick and has some beautiful photography.

After this I came right home and put the truck into the garage. The snow just kept coming down. I swept the front stoop, and sidewalks, but two hours later, you could not tell that I had done anything.

Certainteed phoned in the afternoon to tell me that other job applicants were selected for the two openings at the Cody plant, but that my application would be kept on file for year... yadda, yadda, yadda...

I puttered around in the garage working on one of the spirit levels Dad gave to me. I am sanding down and cleaning up an old Stanley level now.

We went to bed with the snow still coming down out of the sky. It was still lightly snowing when I got up. About three or four inches had fallen.

I took Buddy for his morning walk. He really likes to play in the snow, but I think his feet get really cold. When we get back to the house, he knows which house is his and when I tell him to go into his house, he runs up to the front door!

Today we went to the library to have the Fred Lee book ordered. Bob got a book about knitting and another book about climate change and it's effect on shopping. I got a biography of Jedediah Smith, and another book called Montana Camp Fire Tales.

Our next stop was True Value Hardware where we got some smaller knitting needles, a crochet needle, and some large-eyed needles for stitching knit panels together. I got a small can of "cabernet" wood stain, a brass wire brush, and a pint can of clear shellac.

We stopped at Subway to get some lunch. I got a foot long sandwich and Bob got a salad. We brought these home. The streets were still a big mess, it was afternoon and the streets had not been salted or sanded yet!

I continued to work on the level - applying stain to the wood, cleaning and shining the brass metal parts. Bob kept his hands busy with knitting a scarf out of black yarn.

This evening I took Buddy for his evening walk while Bobby boiled some potatoes and fried a couple of cubed steaks for dinner. It really starts to get cold when that sun gets down low in the sky! We were both ready to come in when we got back home.

Powell, WY

I found out a little more about the saw that says "Nicholson" on the medallion. It turns out to be a Keystone K-6 saw made sometime between 1933 and 1953. This saw was only $2.25 when it was new!

The last saw I am cleaning up says "Columbian" on the medallion. The etch on the blade cannot be read, and I am not able to find out anything else about it online. This saw is in very poor shape. The handle appears to be burnt, and the area of the grip between the horns is charred.

I cleaned up the handle as best as I could and then I filled the charred grip area with wood filler. I let this cure overnight and then sanded it smooth this morning. Later I got a can of black enamel trim and floor paint and began to paint the handle black. Because it is so cold outside, it will take two days for each coat to dry.

The nuts and medallion were painted black too, but I put the brass wire brush into my Dremel tool and easily removed the black paint from these. Never Dull cleaned the brass up nicely.

Earl, the maintenance man, came to our house yesterday to fix our hot water. He cut out the section of galvanized pipe that we suspected was clogged. When I held the pipe up to a light and looked through it I couldn't see any light. He installed a section of white PEX tubing at this point and turned the water back on. We ran the water in all of the sinks and the tub for about 10 minutes. We got a bunch of sediment and rusty water, but then it cleared up.

Last night, I had the best shower I've had since I came to Powell three weeks ago. I wrote to Karen at The Real Estate Connection to thank her for helping to make this happen.

Today I had an interview at Certainteed Gypsum in Cody. My interview was at 1:30 PM. The Human Resources man led me to a conference room with three guys seated at a table. Each person got to ask me five questions each. It went very quickly and I don't feel like I did very well in this interview. The HR guy said they would make a decision before tomorrow and let us know.

I stopped at Wyoming Employment Security Agency and spoke with Christine Housz. She said that I am doing much better than most of her job seekers. At least I am getting interviews! She said that it will not happen as quickly as I want it, but she thinks that I will have a job before the end of the month.

As a by-the-way, she said that a magazine publisher in Powell had just called in that morning seeking to renew their online registration. She said the only reason they would be doing that is if they are about the post a job opening. She wrote their name and address down and encouraged me to Google them when I get home and find out all about them. They are Eastman's Publishing Inc. They publish a hunting magazine here in Powell. I am going to drop by their office tomorrow morning after my interview at Powell Valley Health Care.

Bob made red chili and cornbread for dinner this evening. The corn bread was a surprise! He had it cooling on a plate when I returned from Buddy's evening walk.

Temps are supposed to drop into the low 20's tonight and reach a high of 36F tomorrow. Snow is forecast for tomorrow and Saturday.

Powell, WY

On Monday I continued working on the saws. The Disston No. 11 cleaned up really nice! This saw has 10 teeth per inch and was made sometime between 1928 and 1955. I began work on the Nicholson saw next.

The Nicholson has 8 teeth per inch. As I was cleaning it up an etch came into view on the left side of the blade. I could make out the word "Keystone", and then later I saw "Made by Disston USA". Most of the etch is too faint to read. I can't find very much information online about this saw.

While I was cleaning the saws my cellphone rang. I thought it might be Michelle calling from Powell Valley Health Care, and sure enough, the incoming call had a 307 area code. No, this call was from "Casey" asking me to come in for an interview on Friday at 9:30 AM for a Secretary/Receptionist position.

Later in the day my phone rang again and it was Lori at Certainteed Gypsum calling to ask me to come for an interview on Thursday at 1:30 PM. I am glad that I am getting interviews!

Monday afternoon the skies clouded up. During the night the temperatures dropped and it snowed lightly. There was a dusting of snow on the street, cars, and sidewalk outside in the morning, but it all quickly melted away.

Michelle called me on Tuesday afternoon to say that she really enjoyed our interview, but unfortunately she selected someone else with recent medical coding experience. She said, "If it makes you feel any better, you were my second choice!" I told her that I was disappointed, but glad that she found someone who had the skills her department needed.

She also said that she saw that the Secretary/Receptionist position was open and she told the director of that department that I would be an excellent fit for that job, so she said that she hoped they would be calling me soon for an interview.

Bob mastered purling on his knitting project. He is able to produce a nice tight, flat panel by alternating rows of knitting and purling. He is ready to start working on Project Scarf.

Last night I oiled my clippers and trimmed my hair down to the scalp so I can look nice for my interviews. My fingers are dirty from cleaning rusty saws and I need to try to clean some of the rust from my nail beds. Certainteed might not care, but the hospital probably would.

I have started on the last saw - a Columbian. This saw was in the worst shape of all three. There are 8 teeth broken/missing, it is covered in heavy rust, and the handle is in very poor shape. I started scraping rust off with a razor blade, then started using 320 sand paper wet with mineral spirits. A partially readable etch presented itself. I will clean this one up, but I do not think it's going to be a keeper. Perhaps I will take this one to the sharpener first to see how well he does. If nothing else, the saw blade can be cut up into scrapers.

Today is cloudy and overcast. If it's just cloudy here, someone is really getting some snow somewhere else!

Weekend

Last night we watched Kingdom Of Heaven on WDTV. This kept us up until after 10 PM.

This morning I got up around 6:30 and walked Buddy. When I got back, Bob had egg omelets, cottage cheese, and half a pork chop ready with coffee for breakfast.

After breakfast I went to the garage, opened the roll-up door, started the truck and let it warm up while I gathered the supplies to change the oil.

I changed the oil and added 5W-30 to the engine to use until temperatures warm up a little.

The air pressure in the left front tire remains steady at 29 psi.

I transferred the spent oil back to the Pennzoil jug that the fresh oil came in and tried to return it to O'Reilly's, but they do not accept used motor oil. They referred me to a couple of other auto parts stores that can take it back. We went to Car Quest, but they were closed, so I left the jug of oil by the front door.

On the way back to the house I stopped and got six hard shell tacos at Taco Johns, and brought them home for lunch.

Later, Bob and I went out in the truck. We took my library books with us since I finished them both as of this morning. We dropped those into the drop-off box, and then took a short scenic drive. It was a very clear, bright, sunny day.

On our way home we stopped at the Aldrich Do-It Center, another hardware store. We browsed the entire store and we got a steel cable, aluminum crimp connectors for the cable, and some price labels for our spring yard sale.

We drove home and I uncovered the drill press, put in a 3/32" drill bit, and drilled a hole into the thumb handle of my drill chuck key. Then I threaded some of the thin steel cable into this and connected it to itself with the crimp connector. Because I could not get this compressed enough with pliers, I put it on the floor and bashed it with a hammer. I made a loop in the other end, and hung the chuck key from the drill press. It hangs down about 24 inches, and will not become easily lost now.

Bob went back inside since it was chilly in the garage. I continued working. I opened up the package of saws on my work bench that I got from Dad in Ohio and started work on cleaning one of them up. I removed the rivets, medallion, and handle from an old Disston saw and using a wire brush, Naval jelly, and a razor blade, began cleaning rust and dirt from the blade. Soon a faint etch could be seen on the left side of the blade. Later, I noticed cursive writing come into view with the words, "For Beauty, Finish, and Utility", "This saw cannot be Excelled", and the name "Henry Disston" underneath that in cursive script. I also noticed the number "10" engraved in the heel of the left side of the blade.

Back in the house I cleaned the bathroom sinks, the vanity, and the outside of the toilet. Bob scrubbed out the toilet bowl. We still need to run the vacuum cleaner.

It looks like Bob has knitting down pat. Now he is starting to become curious about other stitches. Between the library book that has pictures of the steps to take for additional knots, and the instructional videos he watches for this on the Internet, he will likely learn how to purl and make the other knots too.

For dinner we had split pea soup with warm French bread.

We are probably going to lay down and read in bed in a little while. Even the dog has already gone to bed!

Powell, WY

On Thursday night we watched The Help on the computer screen. We really enjoyed that movie.

Yesterday I went to the garage and noticed that the front left tire was almost flat while all of the others were about fully inflated. I checked the air pressure and found the front drivers side tire had 15 psi in it. The other tires were around 29 psi. I got the little air compressor out and began airing the tires up to about 34 psi.

I couldn't find a screw/nail/splinter or anything in the tire that was deflated, and I decided that I would just watch this tire closely over the next few days.

We drove up to The Real Estate Connection and handed Karen our $600 rent check. Then we came home.

I worked in the garage on my table saw. I removed the old oak board from the fence and prepared a white board of UHMW (ultra high molecular weight) plastic for use on the fence. This material has much lower friction, so it should make cutting on the saw safer.

Next I worked on re-attaching the saw to its base. As we were moving the saw, I had to have Bob pick up on the saw while I lifted the base because only one or two screws were still holding them together. I put large washers on the bolts on both sides and used lock washers on the nut side. Hopefully this will hold for a long time now.

When I got back inside from the garage, I was pleasantly surprised to find Bob knitting away. He changed over to the ball of orange yarn and had figured out how to do the knit stitch! So far he's knitted about 20 rows!

It was chilly last night. The skies were clear and when I took the dog outside this morning all of the cars had frost on the windows and roofs. I think it was 16F, and my face was frozen before we got back from the walk.

Today we went to the Super Wal*Mart in Cody to buy groceries. I checked the left front tire and found the pressure at 29 psi. The other tires were around 32 psi.

I called Dad and asked him about this. He said that it sounds like that wheel has a "rim leak". He said it might clear up on its own, but if it doesn't, I will need to take it to a tire garage to have the tire de-mounted and the rim cleaned up good.

We stopped at O'Reilly Auto Parts first to get an oil filter and some 5W30 motor oil - the truck is due for an oil change.

The day was really clear and our drive down to Cody was really beautiful. We could see for 30 miles in each direction. We could see snow capped mountains around us on three sides and we could even see up into Montana!

At Super Wal*Mart we bought a bunch of groceries with an emphasis on things that are easy to prepare. We also got a few non-food items - a cheap 88 cent turner, wide mouth and regular mouth canning lids, and some quilted flannel shirts for both of us. Our total came to $253. Bob put $150 on EBT, and I paid the $103. That way we still have $50 on EBT for stuff we might run out of before the end of the month.

When we got home we were greeted with an unpleasant surprise. I guess Buddy got bored and figured that "if Mister Bob can play with the yarn, then I can too!" The orange yarn was in a huge tangle all over the living room! I was angry and spanked his ass for it. He knows what I was mad about too!

It took me over an hour to get the yarn all straightened out and then wound back up into a ball. Bob put groceries away and made me a sandwich for lunch while I worked on this.

For dinner we had pork chops with Oven Fry breading on them, canned sliced carrots, and a peach cobbler I baked. The peach cobbler could have baked for another 15 minutes or so, but it turned out very tasty!

Now we've walked the dog and we are going to get ready for the evening.

If you are curious about what our rental house looks like, you can click on this link to see 19 photos of the house and its real estate listing.

Groundhog Day

Today was a good day.

I got up at 6:30, dressed, and took Buddy for a chilly morning walk around the neighborhood. When I got back Bobby had an egg sandwich and a bowl of Cheerios ready for breakfast.

After breakfast I brushed and flossed teeth, showered, shaved, dressed in a yellow shirt, wool slacks with braces, and a wool jacket. I left for my interview at the hospital at 10:30.

At the hospital, in Building B, I met Michelle, the acting director for hospice. She took me back to her office and we sat down and had a discussion about the job and my qualifications. I am very optimistic that I can do this job even though I have not taken a medical terminology course or been involved in billing up to this point. She seemed to feel that I could do this too, and she was almost making sentences that sounded like, "when you are here with us, you will be on the only male in the department...".

She had another person to interview in the afternoon and a third person to interview tomorrow. She will let me know whether I made in as soon as possible. I have a good feeling about the interview.

For lunch, I took Bobby to Subway and we each got $5 footlongs. Then we came home, harnessed Buddy, tossed a shovel in to the bed of the truck, filled the gas tank, and drove to Clark.

The views from 294 on the way out there are really spectacular. You could see clouds spilling over the tops of the Beartooths, and you could see a snow storm up in Montana. Of course it was breezy and cold up there.

We drove to our property and walked around it. Then I started to dig a hole. The first few inches were loose and easy. As we went down farther it became harder and harder. We encountered hard clay mixed with gravel. We went down about 20 inches before we stopped. I don't know how far down the bedrock is, so we might have to consider a crawl space foundation, or a slab-on-grade foundation. The soil composition might make a septic system challenging too.

There were snow flurries in the air while we worked digging and then filling in the hole.

We had a pleasant drive back to Powell and came home. I wrote Michelle at PVHC a nice thank-you note and attached recommendations from Craig Hodges and Betsy Hummel. Then I paid the minimums on my bills.

Bob made a nice red chili for dinner. We each ate a bowl of this after taking Buddy for his evening walk.

We are slowly going through our boxes and pulling out clothes to wear. We are also checking the other items for any damages.

The weather forecast calls for a low of 27F tonight with a 30% chance of snow. I don't think it will snow, but I am certain it will be cold!