The Manic Mechanic

You might've noticed a bit of quiet around here. This is mostly because I've still being Mr. Crankypants due to an ongoing cold-like thing that both Jeff and I have shared in. Jeff got it first (he probably got it as a free gift from the hospital) and I got the BOGO deal a bit later. Needless to say, days since last week have been a coughy, phlegmy, hacky joyfest, and the absolutely bipolar Maryland weather isn't helping either. Last weekend was nice, practically t-shirt 'n' jeans-like. Monday I awoke to a foot of snow. I grumbled out of bed, opened the door to let By-Tor and the Snow Dog outside to make yellow snow, snapped a couple front door glamor shots of the snow (it was very pretty), then slammed the door on the outside world once the dogs returned. I was in no mood to go and deal with the stuff, and I knew it would be short-lived anyway. With no help from me, by Wednesday afternoon the snow had practically vanished and the more typical March weather had returned. Me and the pooches enjoyed a nice long walk that we hadn't had in a few days and were better off because of it. Today Jeff had come home early due to rejiggering his schedules and we took the time to do some shopping and get some lunch at the Columbia Mall ("Mass-murder free for 53 days!") and run some needed errands. He has to work for some time on Saturday, and possibly next weekend as well, but we can deal with that for the most part. We are moving ahead with wedding plans and prep as well, and both of us are getting excited as the day approaches.

I am almost finished with the computer/network overhaul here, only a few hundred more feet of cable needs to be run as I am able to wrangle my assistant into visiting. The most difficult parts, running cat-6 cabling from the Mayhem Bunker into the attic (two runs) and several runs along with some RG6 and wiring for the security/home automation through the underground conduits to the garage remain, and I hope to get these done sooner rather than later. The garage wiring runs were put off since my initial back issues and surgery in 2010. I have all the supplies, the switch and other sundries needed for the job, I just need a bit of warmer weather and an extra pair of hands. I am hoping the conduit is not broken or flooded. It currently has old phone lines which are still in use and the remains of the original thin-net LAN I set up about 25 years ago that were abandoned once I switched to Fast Ethernet in the house. I just want to finally finish this project so I can completely forget about it for about the next ten or fifteen years. Only some hardware needs to be changed over to upgrade the mess to 10GBEthernet, and beyond that I don't see too much of a need for much more bandwidth in the foreseeable future. I laid enough cabling from various points in the house to be able to trunk them together for higher bandwidth, and the big Synology NAS is already using four cables to hook into the backbone, with four for the main server, two for the small server, and two each for two workstations so far, with more planned. La Casa has intranet bandwidth that rivals what I had when I worked for Northrop Grumman by far.

Another reason I want this computer crap over and done with is because spring is when I turn my attention outdoors. I have a shit-tonne of work to do in the yard as well as some house repairs I need to finish before the wedding. I got sidelined and didn't do a damn lick of any work needed outside since last September, and that includes cleaning up a huge toppled tree taken down during Sandy, lots of general cleaning, and finally erecting the greenhouse in the garden that has otherwise been hogging up space in the garage with all its parts. La Casa will have a new entryway and lots of other goodies. I need to pressure-wash the gazebo as well as apply some stain/sealer to make it look spiffy, since that's where the actual ceremony will be taking place. I hope I can get all of this done. In the middle of all of this, I still have unfinished work on the vehicle fleet, serious cleaning up of the garage, yard beautification, the veggie garden, etc, etc. I sincerely hope I don't have any more health/physical troubles in the meantime, or I will be seriously fucked and moody, not the sort that anyone would want to marry.

Finally, the wedding. If you are reading this and want to be a part of the festivities, which are shaping up to be totes awesomesauce, btw, drop me a line with your mailing addy, and I will send out one of the truly neat invitations we had made up. I want to share my happiness with all my friends.

It's been a while, not a whole lot of note to report.

I've been doing some minor mods to the MINI in prep for the Tail Of The Dragon run next month. New SSR Type C-RS wheels, the previous tires, some adjusting and tuning, new Optima battery and an armrest so far. Still awaiting a replacement rim for the Strat, which has been on back order since early last month. Seeing my luck with rims and tires havent been that great, I will be buying a spare rim for each car to have on hand. Sure, this will make it such that I'll never use the wheels and they will only cost me a bunch of money, but that's what insurance is like, no?

I've been pretty busy. With the (sluggish) arrival of Spring, my attention has to turn now to outdoor projects, house fixing and yardwark. The yardwork, though, is heartbreaking. Tulips, daffodils, narcissus and a bunch of other spring flowers are popping up all over. It's a beautiful sight, but this time I stare at it all and start crying. All these flowers, mostly planted by Mom over the years have marked that time over and over where Mom would get out in the yard with the excitement of doing that which she loved. All the plants seemingly responded accordingly. Cheerful colors, intoxicating scents, beauty everywhere. This year the flowers have come up in anticipation of their keeper's care only to find nothing. I feel like whatever green thumb I had is now amputated and I dont know what to do. The stuff is not rocket science. It's like I am intruding in a place that I dont belong. I'm becoming overwhelmed with feeling lost and alone once again and there is no escaping it.

I will have to try my best at carrying on the horticultural traditions around here.

The house and garage need new roofs this year come Cthulhu or high water. The sunroom gets finished, new downstairs door gets put in, and a new water heater. And LOTS of cleaning and purging of 'stuff' and junk.

This year is one for some fun stuff too. On tap are three weekends at Hillside, Bear Week in Provincetown and Rush at the Nissan Pavilion on June 29. Hopefully there will be more such things. These happenings are key to getting on with my life. Mom was insistent in that respect.

Well, I've rambled on enough for one night. Cheers.