So here is the work on the back patio
The original flagstone patio had rotten timbers
on the retaining wall and had badly sunk.
In addition to reconstructing the original
we decided to add a lower level to make
an octagonal sitting area
and a rectangular place to put the grill

Initial rough layout ... proof of concept.:






Start.... of replacement





That corners finished




Now the other side.




Well,.. back to work lets finish this puppy up.

Spent pretty much the entire day working on
the back patio re-construction.
Too tired for pictures.
Taking off tomorrow to make sure my hands
are OK for the monthly gig.

This old desk-jockey body
just ain't in shape
for 8 hours of physical work
Even at the rate I was going.

Gotta change strings and put together a set list.

Remember Fri has surgery tomorrow.

So,..
I was watching the opening thing for the Olympics
Some of it any way,
My football team, (Eagles)
had their first pre-season game last night.
Yeah,.. I know they are meaningless
but,.. I get to sit down and do nothing
without feeling too guilty.
Anyway, during commercials
I would flick on over to the Olympics gig.
I caught the drummers,..
Very cool.
I actually missed some football watching it.

At he end they pointed out that
there were two thousand and eight drummers.
Seemed odd to me ,.. and a problem for arrangeing
patterns I thought. Oh well,...

This morning Mrs DD
(who had gone to walk dogs with her sister)
Watched most of the olympics with her.
This morning she was just wild 
on telling me a story about my brother-in-law
Starting off with things like...
We can't ever let him live this down
Sandi and I laughed till we cried.
Blah,.. Blah,.. Blah,...

Apparently there were two thousand and eight participants
in most everything that the show put on...
and brother-in-law didn't catch on. 
Isn't that hillarious.....

I said Erm,...
"I only really saw the drummers,
but I thought two thousand and eight of them
was pretty odd also"
"Oh,.. crap,... 2008 Olympics"

It must be a guy thing

OK It's Friday.

Finished up some stuff
on the church PA,..
Cleaned some drains.
Worked a bit on the back prch renovation project.
(pictures soon honest)

The whole family went over to Planet Fitness.
And I have pork in the oven
and sour kraut and potatoes on the stove.
I need to make gravy yet and Voila.
(which is french for Wa Lah)
one of my favorite meals.

Toodles

While I am enjoying certain aspects
of being off work,..
I can't get past the problem
that I am not getting paid.

Maybe next week when I know
that I am at least
collecting my unemployment insurance.

Who knows.

You can go check out.....
Our Stage

I just heard about it.
been listening and picking.

yes,.. threw one of our tunes up.
Uploaded that is.

It is amazing how much music there is out there.
Some of it is really pretty good.

Sundays are often just sit around days.
I have been trying pretty hard to
at least rest on Sundays.

Not sure what I resting from today,...
but I'd better get back at it.

I was 19 and living with my father and stepmother. I was working at a local foundry. I had just dropped out of college (the first time). This was my first full-time job. It was third shift and consisted mostly of shoveling black sand (from the molds that the iron was poured into) from places it didn’t belong (mostly under the pouring floor) back into the recovery system. This was not a very desirable job. It was a ten man crew and I was second in seniority in less than 6 months. Every night as I was leaving for work my father would say “Make sure you earn your pay”. That simple advice has served me well my entire life. I have fallen on hard times (mostly during transitions) many times over the years. During those periods, I found myself working at temp places to support myself. Digging ditches, or unloading container trucks in the dead of August for minimum wage was not exactly what I would have chosen to be doing. But,.. Everyday I earned the pay that I got. I was always amused by many of my temp co-workers who would do as little as possible. Their conversations contained much derision directed at me for working so hard for so little pay. Another common topic was the fact that the temp agency couldn’t find work for them everyday. I didn’t even bother pointing out that I had work everyday. By the time I found some better full time gig, I was always able to get a reference from the temp folks.

One of the Joys on my new (just lost) job
has been that I could listen to Whole Wheat Radio again
One of things that is there is a "Daily Topic"
The topic the other day was...
If you knew you only one day left in your life
what would you do?

I couldn't answer at work because by the time I finish
My face will be covered with tears...

But here is the answer....

We have had two Labrador Retrievers.
Poppy and Java.
They are both gone now,

Poppy (the first) was discovered to had a tumor
at the base of his brain.
It was pressing on his spinal cord
We started drug treatments.
But is short order he was loosing his sight,
his balance, and the drugs made him constantly thisty.
We knew we had to put him down,..
We took him to a local park.
A really large open space,..
It didn't matter if he could see,
It didn't matter if he listed to one side or the other.
For the afternoon, he was as happy as he had ever been.
What a gift for us all.

Java got a bath one saturday.
I put him in his crate do dry off.
When I open the crate door,..
He barely hobbled out.
The vet said he had some large growth
that had ruptured and he was bleeding internally.
We took him home cause the vet said he wasn't going to suffer
and my daughter wasn't with us to say good by.
No day at the park for Java.

so,.. even if somehow I only have a couple hours.
Please,.. let me have a day in the park.

Pretty funny actually...

After yesterdays question...

Turns out maybe I will get a chance to find out
how to appreciate things by not having them.

I got laid off today.
Effective the end of the month.
Yes,.. that IS thursday.