Black Jack 06.30.18

            I am sitting here watching an old black and white cowboy show, where the star is named Black Jack. Blackie, as he is also known, is supposed to be a bad guy but in reality he is a Texas Ranger. These ole cowboy movies are so corny they are fun to watch. When the horses are running they always speed up the film to make then seem to run faster. There is singing round the camp fire. When they get shot there is no blood or guts.

            Anyway, after this exciting cowboy movie is over, there is usually a very old Popeye cartoon. Then following that there will likely be a Tarzan movie, but not with Johnny Weissmuller.

            Could this Saturday morning be any more exciting? If you add a cup of coffee, the morning may not be exciting, but it is relaxing.

            There is also something that is known as Jack Black. I believe it comes in a bottle and has a tendency to cause people to relax.

            This is the last day of the month, tomorrow will be July and you know what that means, it will be hot and dry. Oh wait a minute, it is already hot and dry, maybe July will be cool and wet!

            My present wife and I tried a different Mexican Restaurant in a small town just south of here last evening. We had heard a lot of good comments about it, and it was good, but not great. We both ordered ice tea for our drinks, we didn’t know that we could have had a frozen Margarita for the same price, it was happy hour. Maybe that is why it was just good and not great.

            I have gone out into the back yard this morning with a chain saw, and cut up some logs. I have a photo of the results of today’s work or play, depending on how you look at it. The results are not surprising and I am not sure how they will be used.

            There are seven logs and three discs. The disks are the smaller cuts of the logs. No I did not cut this from the tree in the photo, even though it has been cut on in the past. Why are you looking at the orange cone and not my logs? Now you’re looking at the trailer, can’t you pay detention, I mean attention? Now you are looking at the lawnmower wondering if I ever use it. Well, for your information, I used it before I took this photo. I mowed the back yard even though only about 30% needed to be mowed. In the far back where it gets no water, there are big cracks in the yard.

            Cracks in the yard reminds me of something that happened a few years ago when I use to play golf. Yes I played golf, I didn’t say I was good, I just played! Any way, if you have heard this stop me. I had a tendency to slice when I hit the ball, and I most often played in the other person’s fairway. One day we were playing and I actually hit the ball in the middle of my own fairway. It may have been the best shot of my golfing history! We drove up to where the ball landed and we could not find it. The weather had been dry like this year, and there were cracks in the fairway. We never found the ball, we assume it went into one of the cracks. No, I did not take a penalty stroke. Get off my case!

A slice is ok, when it is pecan pie!

Don Ford

Virus-free. www.avg.com

Helicopter 06.29.18

            It has been one of those days, you know the type, where it is too hot to go outside, but you can’t stand to sit inside. It was 101 again today, and I was inside for most of the day.

            Earlier in the morning I had been outside looking at the lawn, considering whether I want to try and mow the front yard or not. The neighbor lady came over and wanted to know if I could put an air nozzle on the air hose at her garage, she wanted to blow up a small swimming pool. She showed me the nozzle and said it may be broken. I looked at it and said it isn’t broken, I will show you how to put it on. We walked back to her garage and she picked up the air hose and said this gold fitting may be broken. The fitting was brass, I guess it looks like gold, so I showed her how to pull down on the brass fitting ring, while inserting the air nozzle. It worked.

            She noted that they were going to have a bunch of kids over this morning. I started back to the house and the fact that they were going to have a bunch of kids over cause me to decide to get the lawn mowed quickly. When there are kids in the neighbor’s yard, I don’t mow, as I am always concerned that the mower might toss a rock at them. 

            I quickly mowed the lawn. After mowing the lawn I turned the sprinklers on over the grass area, just to refresh the grass.

            I also installed a hanging thing. I don’t know what it is called but I attached a rope to the tree limb and then attached this hanging thing to the rope. The hanging thing is made of rope and a wood bottom. I also put a vase on the wood bottom and took a photo. Click to enhance.

            Don’t worry, my present wife will put a flower in the pot, soon.

            I did sit outside enjoying a beverage this afternoon. I had a fan blowing on me and it wasn’t too bad in the shade. There was several planes that flew over during my time in the Ford’s Ole Rocker. I got a photo of a military helicopter as it passed over the house. Seeing one military helicopter is nothing unusual, as Fort Hood is only 50 or so miles away. I like to see the helicopters go over when they are flying in a formation of 3 or more! They can be noisy.

            I have decided to check with the nursery tomorrow after my doctor’s appointment, and if they have a pallet of sod I will purchase it. I am going to try and fill in the trench marks (bare ground) with the St. Augustine. If they don’t have it, then I wasn’t supposed to have any.

            That is it for this Thursday afternoon, Ford signing off!

            It’s an annual physical, you could have asked why I was going to the doctor, you ask about everything else!

Be safe, it is a weekend!

Don Ford

Virus-free. www.avg.com

How do I know 06.27.18

            I don’t even need the weather people to tell me it is hot, all I need to do is look around.

            Allow me to start with a comment about the back 40 here at the Ford’s Homestead. I have a two gallon water bucket for the Tres, and I have a small plastic pool that I put about one inch of water in. Tres will not get into the pool, but the birds use it as a place to get a drink or a bird bath. Drinking where they take a bath, that don’t sound good to me.

            The other day I had left the climate controlled security of the Ford’s House and meandered (for that one reader, meandered = roamed) in the back 40. To say it was hot outside would be an understatement. Yep, it was another 100 degree day. As I walked past the small pool I observed one of the residents in the pool staying cool, or should I say trying to stay cool. I will post a photo of the resident, let me say this resident is totally nude! If you look, don’t complain!

            Click to reveal the totally nude resident!

            I did ask the resident to leave the pool, and then I drained the water from the pool and refilled it, as I am sure the birds would not want to take a bath in the same water as the resident.

            The so-called weather people are saying it will be 101 today. Even though 101 isn’t the hottest day we have had in Texas, that heat along with the lack of rain is causing most people to stay inside a climate controlled environment. One of the weather people suggested that everyone do a rain dance, saying it might help. He sounds as odd as me.

Stay in the climate controlled averment, you pay for it, use it!

Don Ford 

Virus-free. www.avg.com

Ask, and you will receive 06.25.18

            I have taken a small amount of liberty with the above statement. As I remember the comment in church being, “Ask and ye shall receive”. No, I am not preaching today, I am ministering this morning, and there is a difference. Let us not get into that at this time, let us consider the title line and how it applies to this Monday, June 25, 2018.

            The morning started as most Mondays do, up about 5:00, a cup of coffee, TV news and weather. The weather person stated, “We will not have rain this morning, we do have a 20% chance this afternoon”!

            What he did not understand was, there had been a prayer request, which went something like this. Please send us an area wide rain, a blessed rain where no one gets hurt, where there is no flooding, and the rain is a blessing to all! Obviously the weather guy could not know the prayer had been presented and that there was going to be an answer. The answer is, “It has rained!”

            One should understand that, a blessed rain, as this one is, does not have to be large in depth. In other words it does not need to be 1 to 2 inches of rain, goodness knows, a blessed rain can be any amount. The amount is not important, it is the blessing which is important.

            You don’t have to believe me, although you should, if you live in this area of the blessed rain, you will see the results.

 

Thank You for the Blessed Rain!

 

Believer:         Don Ford

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Various points of view 06.25.18

            It was a Saturday, my present wife and I decided to go out to Clifton Texas for lunch at the Bunk House. The lady that takes the order was her usual self, asking my present wife, “Did you have to bring him along?” This lady and I enjoy aggravating each other during my visits.

            I can’t go anywhere with my present wife that she doesn’t run into someone she knows. The lady at the table next to us was a friend of Donna’s. We are more than 30 miles from home and she is still running into friends.

            Lunch was good, smoked turkey for me and brisket for my wife. After the meal I asked if she wanted to go to any of the junk shops, I mean antique shops. She didn’t, so I said I was going to take a different route home. The route I was going to take is one we would ride if we were on the bike. As I started through town my first wife said she wouldn’t mind going to that shop that she had went to during our last visit. I knew which one she meant, as I had sit out front for a while as she reviewed all the antiques inside.

            Driving to the shop on the corner, I stopped, she went in, and I sat on the bench out front. I had a cold drink, I was sitting in the shade and there was a good breeze. I was surprised at how comfortable I was in this 96 degree temp. I should note that everyone who walked past me said hello. The people there were all very nice. The drive home was pleasant, and I should note, Donna did not purchase anything, yep I know that is hard to believe!

Different subject:

            I was sitting outside on the Ford’s ole rocker having a beverage and I noticed that the neighborhood was very quiet. I assume everyone was either gone, or inside out of the heat, it was 98 degrees. I decided to get the hose out and water an area of the yard. This spot gets a lot more sun than the rest of the yard, and the grass was looking kind of sickly.

            As I stood there watering the grass, I noticed a sound as if someone was coming down the street. There was no one! There is a gusty breeze and occasionally a dried leaf would be blown down the street. Interesting how much noise that comes from one leaf, bouncing down the street. At one time there was two leaves being blown down the street, and it really sounded as if a person was walking. OK, you did not find leaf noise interesting, how about the following?

            As I am watering a neighbor lady walked over to talk with me. This female neighbor walks at least 10,000 steps every day. With a smile on her face she asked, “What are you doing? You had a sprinkler system put in, so why are you watering!”

            This is the second person who has asked, why I was using the hose to water an area of the yard now that we have a sprinkler system.

            I explained to the neighbor lady that this area gets more sun and is especially dry, so I am trying to get it back to normal. She had other questions such as, when the sprinklers worked, as she had not seen them spraying. I explained the timing of the system.

New subject:

I have a photo that I want you to review.

            Taken with the Ford’s ole semi-smart phone, from the Ford’s ole rocker. I found it interesting, not so much that the moon was out during daylight hours, but the location of the moon. Yes there was a cloud or two in the sky also. Click to engage!

May your day be filled with friends!

Lecturer:    Don Ford

Virus-free. www.avg.com

Parish or perish 06.22.18

               A good friend and avid follower of the wonderful writings provided by, “The Ford”, actually noticed an error in one of my interesting and informative postings. I, unknowingly used the wrong word and he pointed it out. I have never been able to spell worth a flip, and I occasionally use a word that sounds like the right word but is not. There are times that I do this detentionally, I mean intentionally, but in truth I just used the wrong spelling of Perish.

            One would think that spell check in “Word”, would have seen the error and alerted me prior to posting.

 

            That’s all, I just needed to point out that one person was willing to help a retired senior person correct an error.

 

May your day be error free!

 

Ole retired person J            Don Ford

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To mow or not to mow 06.22.18

            That was the question of the day, as I stood there looking at the sadly mistreated yard. It has been mutilated and I feel sorry for it.  I decided to get the Ford’s old rake and see if I could move any of the excess dirt off the places where grass was cover or partly covered. I finish the raking and then decided to mow. Yes there was tears in my eyes as I walked behind the mower looking at the mutilated yard. OK, they may not have been tears in my eyes, they could have been sweat, either way it was not a pleasant situation.

            After mowing I took a photo but decided not to use it. There was grass clippings in the street and if I am going to continue complaining, I mean commenting on others who do not clean the street after they mow I should clean the street and then take another photo. Click to see a clean street and a mowed lawn!

            The yard looks a little better now that it is mowed. LKJ

         I decided to go to town looking for three items which were, St. Augustine Grass, a 10 foot piece of one inch PVC, two one inch 90 ells. As I drove through the neighborhoods on my way to town I was observing the yards. Heck, even with the scars on our yard, it still looks better than many other yards! Brag only if you are right, I am right!

            I went to the two big box stores first. They didn’t have the grass, the pipe was $12.50 for one piece, and the ells were $1.41 each, a total of $15.31 before tax. I decided, if I am going to pay that much, I should spend my money at a Do it Best Store.

            The service was nice at Circle Hardware, the price was even better. The 10 foot pipe and the two ells were $5.01 total, tax included. I think I received a discount having been a DIB employee in the past. Circle Hardware have good people, and it’s a good store.

            I plan to use the pipe to make a barrier to try and keep people from running over the meter box and the sprinkler boxes which are next to the drive way. The meter box has been run over in the past breaking the water line. I will attempt to get a photo if I am able to manufacture a barrier.

The plastic pipe will not keep a vehicle off the meter box but it will provide a warning, I hope!

            It is supposed to be 101 here today! When it’s that hot, I feel as if I am 101 years old!

It’s Friday, enjoy the day!

Don Ford

Virus-free. www.avg.com

Barking or wining 06.21.18

               Tres, the Fords 100 pound Germen Sheppard, has a tendency to bark and or wine for many reasons. Each of his vocal renditions are dissimilar, and seem to have specific meanings. For example, his outside bark is loud, can be heard up to a half mile away, and tells us there is someone or something with in his viewing area. Bad guys hear him and assume he will eat them alive. We like that, the neighbors do not.

               Tres has another bark which is used inside the house. This bark is a ^{higher pitch} and used mostly when he is attacking the vacuum cleaner, as Donna is vacuuming. We have Tres and two cats, they all three leave their, fair share of hair, on the carpets. Fair share of hair sounds like a good start to a poem. He will bark at the vacuum relentlessly in this high pitched voice. It is the sound of an excited and happy dog.

               He has a ^{high pitched} wine, which he uses in the mornings. Each morning when I sit on the side of the bed and put my socks on, he lays there beside me making that sound. If I stop and pet him, he stops, but when I again start to put the socks on, he starts again.

               There is another sound he makes when he is outside in the yard, rolling back and forth on his back. This happens when he needs to scratch his back, or when he gets wet and he wants to get the wetness off his back. The sound is something between a growl, a bark, and a wine. It is a happy, I feel good sound!

 

               Today is Thursday June 21, 2018. I state that fact in an effort to alert you that this is the longest day of the year. Before that one person asks, there are two reasons I want to provide at this time. First, summer starts for most people today, although it started a month ago here in the lone star state. Second, this being the longest day of the year means the days will now be getting shorter and that means winter is on its way. Great, something else to complain about comment on!

              

               The weather people are all saying the rain is over. Great, we got almost 1/16 inch in two days! For the year, we are almost 9 inches of rain behind! Maybe we did the right thing by having the lawn sprinkler system installed. The water bill is going to be much higher, and other than my present spouse putting in more time picking up aluminum cans, we have another option to save on the water bill. Yep, you guessed it, we will take our showers in the yard when the sprinklers are running. We have checked, and the soap will not hurt the grass.

 

Enjoy the longest day while it lasts, winter is coming!

 

Don Ford

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Chicken 06.20.18

               Is the question are you a chicken? Who’s a chicken, or maybe a better question would be, what a chicken is. This will all be addressed in the following dissertation.

               Before I elaborate on this subject I want to advise you of a conversation with a neighbor. I was doing the work of our grounds manager in the front yard of the Ford homestead, (yes the grounds manager was again on vacation), when a neighbor was driving by. This neighbor and a friend were in their vehicle and they stop to speak to me. I suggested that they could have arrived earlier, and helped me with my work. The neighbor stated, “It took longer than expected ordering my new boat”. I commented that he already had a boat, and he said, it wasn’t as safe as he wanted it to be, now that he is older. I noted I wish I was rich like all my retired neighbors, I could have some of those nice things too.    

               About an hour later this same neighbor pulled up in front of my house, as I was sitting on the Fords old rocker, he asked, “Is that your chicken in the road?” I did not understand what he asked so I walked out to his vehicle and he again asked, “Is that your chicken in the road?” I looked up the street and said, “That is a buzzard, not a chicken”! We both laughed and he drove on.

               Returning to the rocker, I tried to get the phone’s camera turned on and get a photo of said buzzard. Just as the camera came on the buzzard flew away.

               I should note, earlier as I was doing the grounds manager’s work raking rocks, twigs and other debris from the yard, I did observe the shadow of a large bird such as a buzzard, pass over me. I thought, have I over worked, is this buzzard waiting on me to parish? I am sure the odor from my body as I worked in that hot sun, was attractive to the buzzards nose. We now know he was circling in preparation to eat the dead squirrel in the street.

               Our rain yesterday totaled almost 1/16^th of an inch. We may get the same today. Yes the sprinkler was ran this morning.

               For much of the country, summer starts tomorrow, here in Texas it started a month early. We are already tired of the heat and lack of rain. I have been complaining about the summer heat, but if it were cold, I would complain about the cold. Complaining, I mean commenting on everything is a part of my daily life!

Complain or comment now, you may not be able to tomorrow! 

Master critic   Don Ford

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Rain, rain go away 06.19.18

               In the olden days, I would sing, “Rain, rain, go away, little Donnie what’s to play!” I am not singing that anymore. I am now singing, “Rain, rain, come to stay, big Donnie don’t want to pay!” For the one person who doesn’t understand the new verse, I will splain (for that one non-cool person, who never watched I Love Lucy, you may use the word explain in the place of splain). Why do I need to splain everything to that one person?

               Now that I have been distracted, let’s see if we can get back to my little verse, “Rain, rain, come to stay, big Donnie don’t want to pay!” As you well know, we here at the Ford Homestead are on a fixed income, and if we were to use the, “New lawn sprinkler system”, we would have a water bill that people on a fixed income should never be faced with! The weather people keep saying we may get some rain, it hasn’t happened yet. Do we water and be face with a water bill, or do we let the flowers and grass die? 

               What? Yes they have completed the system. I went over several items with the owner, although I don’t think it meant anything to him. I should say, they did come back after my presentation and clean up a few items I had pointed out. I have not yet received my written 3 year warrantee. If I don’t receive the written warrantee soon, I will use my ace in the hole, nope I am not stating what that ace is, at this time. J

               With the unit complete, we still have ugly streaks in the yard where they dug the trenches. We are considering purchasing and placing some St. Augustine sod in the streaks. Basically we would take a single piece of sod and cut it in three pieces length wise, then place those pieces end to end in the trench streaks.

               I purchased three pieces of the sod yesterday, to test the theory. Now I will determine how much sod I need to purchase. As you can see this will be another expense for senior retired persons! Does anyone want to donate a pallet of sod to the Ford Foundation?

               What the heck! It is raining at this moment in time. It is a light refreshing rain, our temp is in the low 70s, with a light breeze, the kind of morning one could enjoy if, they were sitting on the front porch with a cup of coffee. As usual, you are correct. That cup of coffee would be an extra expense that we do not need at this time! “Rain, rain, come to stay, big Donnie don’t want to pay!”

               Speaking of rain, they have installed a device that is supposed to shut the sprinkler system off, if we receive a decent amount of rain. The word, “If”, should be emphasized as we haven’t received a decent amount of rain in a long time.

               Now that everything is wet outside, and you know I can’t work in these wet conditions, maybe I will go to the freight hardware store and shop. Everyone needs to relax occasionally.

May your day be filled with cool wet rain!

Unless you are in one of those flooded areas!

Then we hope you don’t get rain!            

 

Rev. Don Ford  

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Monday June 18, 2018

               I have gone to the doctor so they could draw blood this morning. The female person who drew the blood was a talker.

               I went to bucks for a coffee and a breakfast sandwich, as I had not eaten since the evening meal the night before (fasting for the blood test).

               It rained Sunday, just enough to get the drive way mostly wet. The rain was non-stop for almost a full minute, almost!

               The sprinkler people are supposed to finish our project today. They are not here yet and it is 9:00am.

               The grandees are here today, Alex is bored.

               One neighbor just got back from a week long boat vacation, and the other neighbor is leaving Wednesday on a week-long vacation. Must be nice to be rich.

               I tried to watch the TV news this morning but they are saying the same thing over and over again. No, I don’t have an answer other than not watching. I could go on and on about this, but I am trying to be in a mellow mood today.

              

May your day have low to moderate stress!

Dr. Don Ford

              

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Salt and Pepper 06.17.18

               Today, I hope to provide you, the avid reader, with a few short comments, and maybe one photo.

               First I would like to comment on, “Buyer’s remorse”! I am not going to explain that buyer’s remorse means you have regret after you purchase something, everyone knows what buyer’s remorse is and I will not attempt to explain, keeping these notes short and sweet. I have buyer’s remorse for getting the sprinkler system which is still not totally installed. My remorse is due to the devastation of the Ford’s Yard! I do have a couple items to cover with the person in charge.

               (They are supposed to be here Monday to finish installing, and hopefully clean up.)

               Second, I have written about the female colors that are dominant here at the Ford Homestead, and now I have a photo of the dominated male color here at the Ford Homestead. This morning as I was surveilling the back 40 I noticed one small flower that was growing from a crack in the cement at the fords back patio. This may be the only male colored flower on the property. Click to understand.

               Now to the title subject, “Salt and Pepper”. I have a question that possibly one of my more intellectual followers may answer. “Why are there salt and pepper shakers, but not sugar shakers”? I have contemplated this question for several months and the only feasible answer I can define would be, “If someone was talking about the sugar shaker, everyone would think they were talking about me, shaking my posterior!” Notice I did not say shaking my butt as that would seem rather childish for a senior person to say. 

My stories are short and sweet, but not in a shaker!

Don Ford

Virus-free. www.avg.com

Sprinkler verses rain 06.16.18

               Today is Saturday and the sprinkler system is not installed, at least it is not installed completely. Two of the installers arrived at the Ford Homestead this morning about 7:00am. Finally they are working on a hot weather schedule, you know, arriving early to beat the heat. I asked what their goal for the day was and they replied, “Get all the heads installed, all the trenches covered, clean the yard before it rains”.

               Yes, you heard me, it’s going to rain, and I will not need a sprinkler system!

               As I sat outside on the Ford’s ole rocker last afternoon, attempting to enjoy an adult beverage, I couldn’t help but see a couple things that are hard to understand. At my feet there is a pipe in the drive way. What the heck does that go to, there is already a sprinkler head in that location. Foto presented below.

               Maybe this pipe is there to spray water on my feet during the afternoon meditation periods (aka adult happy time). How did they know my feet are dirty?

               In the above photo, we see another pipe that is on top the drive way. There will be a pipe that goes under the drive way connecting to the water meter (hopefully), and the pipe we see will connect to that pipe.

Some of the trenching has been covered over and there are a few piles of dirt around. Supposedly they will clean up at some point.

               The last photo in this series is the two fellows who arrived this morning, and they are covering up the evidence, as seen from a security camera.

May your projects go as expected!

Don Ford

              

Virus-free. www.avg.com

What the Well, continued 06.15.18

               Before we get started, I want to tell you how silly I am. I have an appointment to get blood drawn this morning for my annual physical in two weeks. I should not eat or drink anything before the bleed fest. I ate and drank coffee. Then it dawned on me, DUMMY, you should not have done that. I guess we will reschedule!

               Thursday, was for this retired senior citizen, who is on a fixed income, and did not pay for the sprinkler system in advance, “A boring day”. I did watch the sprinkler crew work on the neighbors system until I finally got tired and realized that they would be lucky if they were able to get the neighbors system completed. About 3:30 they packed up and left the scene. Note; with the heat as bad as it is, (it only hit 99 yesterday) I would have thought they would have started at 7:00am, but it was a little after 8:00am when they started. 

               I did not see any water squirt up out of the ground. Is it done or not, no one knows.  OK, someone knows, but I didn’t know. I sent a text message to the neighbor to see if his system is completed, it was not! He did not elaborate. That is why they are at his house today, Friday, once again leaving me without. L They may start on my system today, if not I think I will begin covering the trenches in the yard.

               Tres has been pulling up the red flags they placed in the yard to mark the sprinkler head locations. He does bring them to the back door so I don’t need to go through the back yard looking for them. I did get a photo of the back yard. You may look if you want, Tres has been getting in the ditch and walking with his nose down as if he is looking for something. Maybe he will find GOLD!

               At least the back yard can’t be seen from the street, and it looks better than the front as there will be less sprinkler heads installed, which means less trenches.

               I plan on keeping a close eye on these people today, and may offer a few suggestions. One suggestion, if they don’t do it on their own will be, to place a tarp on the vining Jasmine so when they dig, the dirt from the digging can be placed on the tarp. If they just put the dirt on the Jasmine it will go down through the vines, and not be recoverable to replace in the trench. I was told, they will dig the trench in the Jasmine by hand.

Let’s see how this Friday goes!

Don Ford

Virus-free. www.avg.com

What the well 06.14.18

               I have a friend who use to be unwilling to leave his home on Friday 13^th, he, by the way, has improved and is not as worried about the number 13 when it happens to occur on a Friday, way to go Dalton!

               I have developed an attitude about the 13^th, and it does not need to be a Friday. Yesterday was the 13^th, and it was a Wednesday. Do you know what happened on the 13^th, no, how could you, I have not yet informed you of the evil that has befallen the Ford Homestead.

               No I am not talking about the fact that the temp hit 100 yesterday, although that may have contributed to my disgust.

               Wednesday started off like so many other week days, the usual coffee while complaining about the so-called TV news. There was the usual trip to the boy’s room, and then getting dressed ready to face the day. How could one know the day would turn into such a disaster?

               I was anticipating the lawn sprinkler people to come to our homes (the neighbor across the street and ours) to install sprinklers so our lawns would flourish and be prettyful (it’s a word I just made it up)! As the day passed I began to assume that they were not coming as expected. Was I getting mad, yes, Madder than a mashed cat!

               It was in the afternoon when these people finally arrived at the neighbor’s home. They went to work digging holes and ditches in his yard. Seeing what they were doing to his yard caused me to become slightly worried. My yard looks fair and if they do to mine what they are doing to his, well I will not be a happy camper.

               They worked at his house for a couple hours then packed up and left. I thought they might be taking a supper break and then returning later when the sun was not bearing down so hot. Nope, they were done for the day, and I don’t blame them as it was 100 degrees.

               At this point in time I am beginning to wonder, are they going to do the neighbor’s yard only, leaving me for a later date? I am making myself more upset thinking, they would not work on my yard until next week.

               It was about 6:00pm when one of the crew returned and began to place little flags in my yard. These flags showed where the sprinkler heads would be placed. I went out to talk to the fellow and I found that he spoke very little English and it was hard to understand the words he did use. My Spanish was worse than his English so our communications were difficult.

               After placing the flags he then started the trencher and began to defile my yard! There will be a photo to follow, and I want to prepare you now, if you have a weak heart, or if ugly situations upset you, please to not view the photo!

               After he trenched the front yard he went to the back yard. Communications were again a problem. The best I could tell, he wanted me to tell him where I want the heads, and I kept telling him he knew more about sprinklers than me. What I did not understand completely was, he wanted to know what I wanted watered, not where to place the heads. After some communications and better understanding from me, I pointed out a couple areas that I want to be watered that he may not have covered.

               How will this turn out? I have the feeling I may be either very happy, or not! Ready for the photo, I have decided to start with a before photo to ease you into yesterday Wednesday 13^th! Click to enjoy.

               That is the way it was, and the way I would like it to be! Now get ready! Don’t click, as it will upset you!

               I told you it was awful. One would think the machine operator could at least gut a straight line in the yard. How will I ever get the yard back to kind of pretty?

               With tears in my eyes I close this presentation. I didn’t even show you the back yard and the fact that Tres has been removing the flags that were used to mark the sprinkler head positions.

Be wary of the number 13, regardless of which day it happens on!

Don Ford

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