Scrap wood project 08/26/2020

            I have started another scrap wood project and have a photo, which I will share with you.

                                               

            It is a cross and it is on a wood base. As I see this cross, it can be used on the wood base as seen, or off the base in a flower bed, using a piece of rebar to make it stand up.

            I have a photo of me with a Cuban cigar in hand. If I was rich, I would have one of these cigars every week. I would not want one every day, but once in a while would be nice.

                                               

            I had informed the reading public that we had purchased a bike and it was defective, so we returned it. I had not heard anything from the vendor so I sent a note. They replied yesterday morning saying, “The bike should be delivered Tuesday, 08/25/2020”. I checked the tracking number and supposedly the bike was out for delivery at 9:59am, Tuesday morning.

            I waited all day, prepared to get started putting it together. Finally, I decided to give up and get a shower. As I was drying off, my favorite wife alerted me to the fact that the UPS truck just went down the street. I jumped into some clothes as UPS delivered to the neighbor. The driver enters the vehicle as I walked out the front door. The vehicle started and I pointed at our driveway, then I walked to the driveway.

            He unloaded the carton, which in my opinion looked as if it had been kicked around. He set the carton near the garage door and asked what my name was. He then wrote my name on his device, in other words, I did not sign for this bike and I did not sign for the first bike.

            I guess I will need to attempt to put it together today, that is after I check the seral number, making sure it is not the bike I returned to them.

            My plan is to take several photos as I open and unpack the bike. Then, if I need to repack it and send it back, I will have photos showing me how it should be packed. 

            Well I need to get started.

 

Be nice to someone, you will feel good!

 

Senior bike assembly person and silly grandpa, Don the Ford

 

Red light 08/25/2020

            In the olden days, in this setting, olden days means when I was a puppy, or possibly 60 plus years ago. Wow, how can I remember things from the olden days, and can’t remember what I had for supper last night (it was spaghetti and it was good).

            As Tres was taking me for our pre sunrise morning walk, we saw a school bus. School is open for business, but that is not what I wanted to comment on.

            Down the street a little further I observed a house with the light over the garage door on. Not unusual you say. That is correct, it is not unusual. What seems a little odd is the color of the light, it is red! I should also point out; this home also has a red light over the front door!

            Now, in days past, a red light at a door meant prostitution. Hopefully you know what a prostitute is, I can’t explain everything.

            I did not google what a red light means now days, you can google it if you want to, I am sticking with the olden day’s definition.

            Now, kind of following the same subject, there is another house on this same street that has a green light over their front door. What would the green light mean? It might mean, go on by, we are full up right now.

            Wow, I just thought what if some one has a yellow light over their door, could it mean wait a minute some one is leaving?

            Oh no, I just thought, what does it mean if you have a white light over your door?

            Wow, I should not have brought this subject up! 

 

Topic change; I started a different scrap wood project yesterday. If it turns out to be something that someone other than me might like I will post a photo at a later date. If it turns out less than desirable, you will never see a photo.

 

Subject change; as I sit here entering these words into the ole computer, I have the TV next to me on. Every morning they run the same commercials, and these commercials in total last 4 to 5 minutes. As soon as I hear the first commercial, I turn the sound off. In a 30-minute TV program almost half the time is commercials!

 

What light is over your door?

Senior dog walker and light observer, Don the Ford

Jump start or 08/24/2020

            As the Tres and I were walking this morning we saw some interesting things, two of which I shall report on. First, as we neared the intersection that divided 200 and 300 block of the street, we, meaning Tres and I, both saw a person with a hooded sweat shirt on. Now the sun was not yet at sunrise, and there is a subject with a winter looking hooded sweat shirt on. Do you think these people who wear hoodie sweatshirts ever sweat?

            I had a flash light in one hand, a large dog on a lead, and a club, I mean a walking stick in the other hand. The hooded person walked out of sight as we approached the intersection. Arriving at the intersection I looked down the street in the direction that the Hood was walking, but he was not in sight! He either was hiding, or he may have run down the street. I began to look all around and had the walking stick at the ready.

            We walked two blocks, turned around and walked back. We did not see the hoodie again until, we returned to the same intersection. There he was with the winter hoodie on, and he had shorts on, good combination. Hot and sweaty on top, cool and refreshed on bottom. He quickly disappeared in a drive way behind a house.

            This hoodie wearer may not have been a hoodlum but…

 

            Second, there is a neighbor who parks a large service truck in front of his house each night. This morning, the vehicle’s battery was dead. He was attempting to jumpstart the vehicle as we walked by. I said, if it is a standard transmission you could start it by rolling down the street. He said, I wish it was standard, this one is automatic, the old truck was standard.

            Now that most vehicles are automatic, many people have no idea how to use a standard transmission. Heck, in the olden days you paid more to get a vehicle with an automatic transmission, now days, you pay more for standard!

 

            I need to find something to do today. I mowed the front yard yesterday (Sunday). I know one of the sprinkler heads needs to be repaired, not fun work. Maybe if I try, I can come up with a new scrap wood project. Yes, I have an idea, but I just need to get the desire to stop sitting and doing nothing.

 

May your chores be interesting!

 

Senior non-workaholic but wanting to do something, Don the Ford

Saturday is here 08/22/2020

            Yes, Saturday is here. I lay in bed this morning thinking to myself, what day is it? For us senior people, it is sometimes difficult to determine what day it is. My outstanding cognizance told me it is Saturday.

            Back in the olden days (pre-March 2020) waking up and thinking it is Saturday would be a positive situation. We would get up and after sitting around watching the so-called news on TV, drinking a few cups of coffee and watching some old black and white movies, maybe Tarzan, we would get dressed and leave the homestead.

            Most Saturdays, a little before noon, we would head into the big city (Waco) and we usually went to the same restaurant for the noon meal. As we enjoyed each other’s company, my favorite wife and I would often evaluate the other dining public as they arrived. One of my favorite appraisals was the female subjects who wore the pants with holes in them. I do not like those pants even when they are on a young good-looking female, but they are even more degrading on an older female subject. 

            We would enjoy our food and at that time we did not know it, but we were enjoying being out of the homestead being close to others.

            When we would leave the restaurant, we would often have some where to stop before heading for home. Possibly my favorite wife would need to go somewhere, or rarely; I would need to go to the Harbor store. Again, we would be near others even though we did not know them. You do not need to know the people you are around; it is just the social feeling one receives in a herd situation.

            After eating and visiting a store or two we would head for home. Heading for home did not, at that time, make one feel as if they were being kept separated from real people. Heck, in the olden days on a Saturday (pre-March 2020) we would occasionally get visitors from family or friends.

            We didn’t even know how good we had it in the olden days (pre-March 2020)!

 

            Yep, it is Saturday, August 22, 2020 and we have no plans to leave the homestead for food. A sandwich and a can of soup here at the Homestead will be ok, at least one can survive on soup and sandwich. We are not expecting to have a visit from anyone.           So Sad!

            Did I make you feel sorry for me and my present spouse? That wasn’t the original thought behind this short summary, the original idea was just to say, “Things have changed!”

 

            I have actually made plans to get in the Ford’s ole Chevy, and drive out to Clifton Texas. My plan is to get a sandwich and an order of tooth picks, along with a tea, at the Bunkhouse. The tooth picks are not sticks that you pick your teeth with, they are small pieces of peppers and onions that are deep fried and you eat them with some good ole ranch dressing. I will either stop at a park or eat on the way home. I do like their food, but the real reason for going is to get out of the Homestead for an hour or so. Heck, I might even take a different route home just to have different scenery. 

            My spouse of 5 decades had suggested that we might want to go to our son David’s house to see the work Claire has done. Wow, a possible visitation of the Fords from the Fords!

            Well I guess that is it for now, hope you have a good day!

 

May staying home not seem like confinement!

 

Senior planner of Saturday events, and eater of food, Don the Ford

Friday is here 08/21/2020

            Friday is here, he thought, as he tried to drag his ole body out of the bed. Will I be able to make it to the toilet without help? It is rough when one gets old.

            Actually, it happened like this. It was 4:00am and I knew that because the clock in the front room had just chimed four times. The Tres had been moving around in the bath room, that is where he normally sleeps. Then it happened, the door to the bed room opened and Tres went into the front room. Yes, he can open the door. I assumed he wanted a drink of water, but I was wrong. He came back and begin bumping his nose against my back, I knew that meant he wanted or needed to go outside. So, at 4:00am I crawled out of bed and went to the back door with Tres. As I opened the door, I could hear other dogs barking. Now I knew, he didn’t need to go, he wanted to see what was all the barking about. 

            I let him stay outside for a few minutes and then called him back in. I returned to the Ford’s ole bed as I usually get up at 5:00. Charlie was on the bed, my favorite wife was on the bed, and now Tres was on the bed. Tres was laying on the covers, so I had to lay there uncovered.

            To make a short story longer, I got up, made coffee, let the cats out, put food in the cats bowl, got Tres meds ready and gave them to him, went into the front room and acted as if I was watching the so-called news!

            After an appropriate amount of time passed, Tres convinced me to put some clothes on, and he would take me for a walk. Don’t ask, yes, we did get the news paper before we went for a walk.

            It was dark enough that I carried a flash light this morning. We have a new neighbor and I did get to talk with him for a few minutes and welcome him to the neighborhood. He was outside watering the lawn.

            As the Tres and I walked we observed a man open the door to his pickup. I knew he had seen us so when we got close, I said, “Good Morning”, to which he did not respond. He appeared to be putting something in the seat as he had not yet entered the vehicle. We were now even with him, but we were on the opposite side of the street, so I again offered a Good Morning, to which he kind of looked an us and said, “YA”, to which I laughed. He must have been in a bad mood.

            We walked on with out further incident and no other greetings.

 

            Change of topic: I noticed that our neighbor’s wife had been driving their pickup, she usually drove the van, and their van had not been seen by me for a couple days. I had also noticed Thursday morning when the Tres and I were walking, that there were packages on their front porch. I decided if I did not see them by Thursday afternoon, I would call them to see if they were out of town.

            I called the wife of the neighbor, as I do not have his phone number, and she said her and the kids were in Arkansas visiting friends. She went on to say, her husband was in Alaska fishing. She said she had sent a text message to my wife, we never got it, I assume she sent it to the house phone and not a cell phone.

            Anyway, I have procured the 5 packages from their front porch, and I have obtained their mail from the mail box. I must be a good neighbor!

           

            Subject change; I did get out back and water the blackberries this morning before the sun was baring down on them, and I was able to pull a bunch of grass out of the patch. Less grass, more water will reach the black berries.

            Having done all that work, I allowed myself to leave the Ford Homestead and go to the teller machine to get a couple dollars for this week’s expenses. Then I traveled on to the star coffee place for a cup. When I place my order, they ask for my name. If I say Don, they never get it right. I have started saying names that they can understand, such as today my name is Fred.

 

            Well that is it for today, I hope your day is safe and productive.

 

Don’t let your mask down, stay safe!

 

Senior, name maker upper, weed puller, and all-round good neighbor, Don the Ford

Nice unexpected day 08/20/2020

            As the Tres got me dressed to go for his morning walk, I was assuming we would be sweating upon return to the homestead. Tres put his lead on my hand an pulled me out of the house, and that is when it hit me. The temp was a freezing cool 64 degrees! When I use to ride motor cycles, if it was below 70 degrees, I thought it was jacket weather, no jacket needed while walking today. How could this be? Can it be this nice in Texas mid-summer? Yes, it can!

            Tres said he really enjoyed taking me for a walk this morning, and we both arrived at home not sweating!             What a day for a stroll.

            That all being said, the fact is, that social distancing is not being followed here in the Ford’s ole homestead. Last night as I was sleeping our cat Charlie snuck into our bed. I had no idea that he was there when I rolled over. Heck, he was only 2 feet away from me, and that isn’t social distancing. I turned my back on Charlie and went back to sleep. I woke up again as the clock struck 4:00am, and I started to roll over when I learned that Charlie had changed position, he was now laying against me, not social distancing. If I were to have moved, he would have fell off the side of the bed. Why can’t I get some respect and space in my own Homestead?

 

            A friend commented on my last posting noting; it seemed as if I had cleaned and straightened up the work bench area recently, and now I am doing it again. He was correct. I have a tendency to put my tools away but leave scrap pieces of wood, notes, and things I have made just laying around. The work bench area looks better, again!

            Change in topic; My favorite spouse is going to lunch with some friends to celebrate a birthday, I don’t get to go. I guess I will be social distancing today, as I stay home by myself. We do have some leftovers for my poor ole lunch.

            It is difficult for poor ole lonely retired people to have a good time at home alone. Possibly I will take a nap and forget the tears that are flowing like a river from my eyes.

            In truth, my favorite wife said I could go along. I declined the offer, knowing I would not enjoy listening to the lady’s discussions (aka gossip).

 

May all gossip be interesting!

 

Senior retired person who gets no respect from Charlie, Don the Ford  

Clean up organize 08/19/2020

            With nothing to do, I have decided to “try” to clean and organize the work bench area in the Ford’s ole garage. I did say try as it is very difficult for me to toss out things that might be needed at some point in the future. You know what I mean, there is a piece of wire 2 feet long and you roll it up and save it just in case.

            I will attempt to toss some of the scrap wood pieces that are in a box. Wish me good luck!

 

            Tres and I went for a walk this morning and made it back home by 7:00am. The weather outside is actually nice this morning with temps in the lo 70s, and a slight breeze. Walking before the sun rises is nice.

 

            I got to get going, have a good day!

 

Don’t let up, stay defensive, mask up!

 

Senior dog defecation picker-upper and scrap tosser, Don the Ford

Going back 08/18/2020

            I received a return label for the bike and I attached it to the carton. The note that came with it stated, when we see the tracking number of the carton indicating it is on its way back to us, we will send you a new bike.

            I attached the label to the carton and tried to find UPS phone number. All I could find was the UPS stores in our area. I tried two of them and was put on hold by both stores several times. I then decided to call my ex-employer to see if they could give me a phone number. When I explained that I have the return label on the carton I was told I could bring it out there and UPS would pick it up from there. Problem solved.

            I also learned that a fork lift operator had hit a 4-inch water pipe. These pipes have water for the fire sprinkler system, and are under pressure. That happened a couple times during my years at the center and it is a big mess.

            First, someone had to turn the water to that system off, to keep it from pouring water onto the floor.

            Second, you need a bunch of staff members to clean up the water including buckets and wet dry vacuums. 

            Third, the water in those pipes has been sitting in the pipes for a long time, and it stinks.

            Ninth, merchandise gets damaged and or has to be moved out to clean up and then moved back, time consuming effort.

            Fifteenth, all the staff you are using to clean up and move merchandise are not doing their normal work! Probably means OT!

            Well we had a nice day yesterday; the temp was high 80s and low 90s. There was a bunch of clouds which help keep it cool. One of the neighbors mowed their yard today, and today is my normal mow day. I did not mow. It is so dry and the grass doesn’t need me mowing it until it begins to get healthy and grow. I haven’t mowed the back 40 for two weeks now.

            My favorite spouse and I went to the big city (Waco) today, to get some dog food.

            I need to go out in the garage and toss out a bunch of scrap wood I have been keeping. I look at some of the smaller pieces and think, there should be something I can do with them, but they for the most part just sit there in the way. I can create more scrap wood pieces.

            Last short note: I lit my last cigar from Cuba the other day, I puffed on about half of it. I liked it and thought I would go on line to see about purchasing more. A box of 25 was on sale for $499.00. Being on a fixed income, I will not be partaking in those cigars!

Thank you for being a friend!

Senior retired person with out a bike and no cigars, Don the Ford