Category: Bad things

Will this be the year?

Ruh-roh.

I love my car – though it has been showing signs of wear and tear for the last few years.  I bought it new in 1997, which means it’s 15 years old this year, with about 85K miles.  My plan has been to drive it til it falls apart.   Question is, will this year be the year it falls apart?

The engine light came on yesterday and has stayed on, which freaked me out a bit since it has not done that before the manual says to stop the car and not drive it anymore when that light comes on.

I called the dealer, where I usually take it.  But given that it’s in its golden years, that may be a little bit of overkill.   They said they could take a look at it, but it would cost 1 hour of labor to just do that.  The nice guy on the phone did say that 99% of the reasons the light comes on are not catastrophic, probably emissions related.

Monte suggested taking it to AutoZone, as they will come out to the parking lot and read the code off the car’s computer for free.   What a concept!  Keep that in mind next time this happens to you.  I drove over today and in about 10 seconds they told me it was a code indicating that the exhaust mix is out of whack.

Whew.  Ok, so I just need to get that fixed up to pass my next emissions inspection.  I guess this is not the end of the road yet.   Though, i must say it is a bit annoying when my sunroof opens on its own when it’s raining  🙂  so maybe the end of the road is not too far away….  Stay tuned.

629′ and dropping.

Hurst Cove.

We’re back home.  We had a nice time in the Pacific NW, but it’s nice to be home again.  We flew in over Lake Travis and got these pics.  The lake is at 629.07′ today, according to LCRA.  We are lower now than we were in 2009, and only about 15′ more to go to hit the all time low.  The shot above is of Hurst Cove and our marina.  You can see the docks all stacked up.  The marina sent a notice saying they’ll be moving some of the docks out to the middle of the cove.  Not much water left in there.

This is a shot of Arkansas Bend.  Arky North and South are slowly disappearing.

Arkansas Bend.

Below is a shot of Cow Creek. It’s hard to believe we were up in there for the March birthday raftup.

Cow Creek.

Pray for rain.

Never Forget.

Hurst Harbor "marina."

We spent this day, the 10 year anniversary of the bombing of the World Trade Center, together with fellow B-dockers at the marina.  We were all mindful of what day it was, but really enjoyed spending time away from the painful reminders and just enjoyed talking, fishing, floating and trading stories with friends.

The lake is at 632 and change – 3 feet from the low of 2 years ago, which will surely be surpassed.  It’s sad to see the pasture out back that Hurst Cove south has become.  This (poorly stitched together) panorama shows the view off the back of the marina looking towards Lakeway Park.  Across the way you can see Hurst Harbor Marina (on land).  All their boats have been moved across the lake long ago.  Also missing is Johnny Finn’s floating restaurant that has been moved again to the mouth of the cove.

The shot below is Sail & Ski marina on the other side of the marina, looking out towards the main body of the lake.  All the docks have been stacked to make 3 long docks.  Johnny Finn’s is in the distance, right in the mouth of the cove.   On the far right you can see the private docks stacked up on land in the dry finger of the cove.

Hurst Cove @ 632.40'.

Too close for comfort.

Fire down the road.

As you may be aware, Central Texas is ablaze with wildfires.  The drought has made conditions extreme for fire danger, and the high winds we got (instead of rain) from Tropical Storm Lee over the weekend fanned the flames far and wide.

Today I was working from home and had the windows open, because the “cold front” that blew through over the weekend left the temperatures in the (relatively) pleasant 80-90 degree range.  The winds have been blowing out of the north, so much of the smoke has not blown into Austin, as the fires are mostly east and west of the city.

Around noon I smelled smoke and figured the wind had shifted and we were smelling smoke from the Bastrop fire east of us, or maybe the Spicewood fire west of us.  I went outside and it was snowing fine, white ash.  I walked out front and saw a plume of dark smoke high over the greenbelt/park at the end of our street.  Then I heard the sirens.

They evacuated our street from the park to just one house away from us.  We spent the afternoon watering down the roof and packing the car with stuff that seemed important at the time.

Apparently there were 4 or 5 different fires in the park.  They think these were started by someone intentionally – unimaginable.  There were 3 engines down the street for most of the afternoon.  Two were fighting the fire in the park, and one was standing by to protect homes, if the situation turned.  This is a shot of one of the engines just a few houses away.

Thankfully the latest status is that the fire is contained and the evacuation has been lifted.   Power came back on about an hour ago.  Everyone in the neighborhood is on edge.

I pray that all the current fires are soon contained, and that no new ones are started.

One for the record books.

Weather weary.

Sadly, today marked the 70th day of 100+ degree temperatures this year in Austin.  That breaks the old record of 69 days that stood since 1925.  We came close to breaking it 2 years ago.

The current forecast shows another 7-10 days or so of similar weather ahead, so stay tuned.

I really hope we don’t have to experience this again in our lifetimes.  Whooo-wee!

Bleh! - more of the same.

It’s a jungle out there.

The crime.
The culprit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The heat is taking a toll on the animals.  I mean, they’re acting crazy.  The other day I woke up and walked to the patio door to take a look out as I was drinking my coffee, and a squirrel was about a foot from the door.  He looked directly at me, froze, and then flattened himself out on the pavement with all fours (and tail) spread out.  He kept staring at me and kind of making a hissing noise.  I opened the door to shoo him away and he just laid there.  Finally he ran up into the trees.  What was that about?   Note to self:  make sure rabies shot is current.

Well, the next day that same deranged squirrel (i assume) was standing on one of the catboats on my beautiful wind vane and was tearing up the sail!   I had to get a stick to push him off it.   Damn varmits.  Those sails were a pain to make.  For now I’ll have to store it in the garage til I have time to fix it – which might be around the end of 2015….

We also have had some more armadillo excitement.    I mentioned a couple days ago that we’re down one armadillo.  Well, last night monte saw another one digging in the front yard in the daylight.  They are supposed to be nocturnal.  I guess they are driven out during the day to look for water or food.

I’m seeing lots of facebook statuses that complain about the rain people are getting in their part of the country.   All I can say is:  You’ll miss it when it’s gone!

I’m so ready

Get it?

o·ver·whelmed    /ˌōvərˈ(h)welmd/      

past participle of o·ver·whelm, verb

1. Bury or drown beneath a huge mass
2. Defeat completely
3. Give too much of a thing to (someone); inundate
4. Have a strong emotional effect on
5. Be too strong for; overpower

Today is the last work day before taking several days off for a well earned vacation.  A vacation we’ve had on the calendar for over a year.  No matter how well I plan, or how hard I try, there’s no way to painlessly go on vacation, much less come back from vacation, where work is concerned.

This week has been crazy.   But come hell or high water (yes, those are my mother’s words coming out of my mouth) I will set my “out of office” notice on my mail server tonight, shake it off, and happily trudge forward into several days spent with family.   I’m so looking forward to it!  🙂

 

Jun 19, 2011

I’ve been in a bit of a funk the last few days.  I’ve taken no photos.  It’s not that we haven’t been busy, or that I haven’t had my camera with me.

Maybe it’s the incredible heat that has been with us for the last month or so (as of June 18 we’ve had 14 100+ degree days in Austin!).  And it’s still spring!  We are back on the lake, though, thank goodness.

Maybe it’s the work thing dragging me down… there’s sooo much to juggle, struggling with how to make progress by  the end of each day.

Maybe it’s all the things on my todo-list in my head that aren’t getting done.  We have so few commitments outside of ourselves and work, compared to other families.  But why is it I can’t seem to get all the stuff done that I want done?

Maybe it’s that my mind has been on my mom.  But the good news is that she is now back at home (her home), with drains/staples from the surgery removed.  And she has not needed a transfusion since the day before the surgery, which was about 6 weeks ago.  Which is amazing and fantastic and the best that we could have expected.

Well, for whatever reason, I don’t have any moments captured to post here from the last few days.   So I thought I’d post something to let you know I’m still here.  And even though I don’t have photos to post, I can post an update of what we’ve been up to.

On Friday, Monte put the sail on, which meant he had to lace the sail onto the new mast hoops  (that would have been a great picture).  He took Cupholder out for a sail in strong winds and she did great.

On Saturday, we headed out for the June Full Moon Raftup, in Cypress Creek Cove – Cupholder, Marty & Sue on Caribbean Hug, Robert & Robert on Voodoo, Jim & Teri on Island Time, and Kurt, Wally, Kevin on Dancer.   We got all settled in by about 7pm or so.  But the motor boats and their wakeboarders were buzzing around until after sunset.  So it was pretty churned up for a while.  We were able to finally cook dinner at about 9 or 10, when the wake died down.  We celebrated Teri’s birthday eve with a cake, Buckeye vodka, and iPod wars.  (That would have been a great picture)  A good time was had by all 🙂

On Sunday, the wakeboarders returned before 7AM, so we decided to head back very early.  We had a great sail in strong winds back to the marina, and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging on B-dock and floating.   Joe showed up.  Wiz was on Allegro.  We helped Lori rig her new main sheet block.  (That would have been a great picture)  Seems like all the other boats made it back from the raftup by 2 or so.  Monte and I were very tired when we got back home and didn’t get much of anything done so we gave in to the sleepiness and turned in.

Here’s to Monday and the start of a new week.  Let’s see if the funk lifts…

Apr 22, 2011

Yikes!

Yesterday afternoon a truck stopped at the house, a guy rang the door bell and gave Monte a flyer for lawn maintenance services.  The guy then got back into his truck and drove off… and did not stop at any other house on the street.  So, you can understand that I was especially happy that my weed eater parts came in the mail a few days early so that I could get busy on the edging and border weed whacking last night.   I couldn’t wait til work was over today to get out and mow the lawn, front and back.  THAT’S how tired I was of looking at our messy yard.

Ok.  So, I’m mowing in the back yard… turning a tight circle around a shepherd’s hook that’s holding some planters and a hummingbird feeder, and all of a sudden I noticed a couple bees flying around my arms.   Whoa!  Where did they come from?!   Oh,  I guess they’re with the rest of the hoard swarming the tip of the hummingbird feeder a foot from my head!!!!

That was a close call!     I don’t know if I’m allergic to bees, because it’s been probably 30+ years since I’ve been stung.  But, I’m REALLY glad I didn’t have to find out this evening.

You’d think I was happy to have gotten away unscathed the first time.  But, I couldn’t resist the urge to get a picture.   So, I dashed into the house, got my camera and went back in close for this shot.    🙂

Feb 7, 2011

Sick puppy.

The cold/flu season is upon us.   Monte came down with something yesterday and is down for the count today.  Time to dig up those nearly expired decongestants!

Let’s see how long it takes to get to me, now.  🙂

Feb 4, 2011

Ruh-roh.
One of the pipes that was frozen has broken. Cracked right at the hosebib out back. Water was spurting out into the backyard and running into the house…. water in the guest bedroom and bath. Can’t tell if it’s broken in the wall as well.

We’ve turned off the water to the house for now. We’ll have to wait till everything thaws out.

This is why I don’t complain when it hits 105 degrees in Central Texas. 😮

Jan 13, 2011

Looooooser.

Our cupboards are getting a little bare, so last night on our way home we stopped at the nearby Tetco and picked up a gallon of milk.. AND $3 worth of lottery tickets.

I was so tired last night I forgot to check the nums… I actually ran across this ticket this morning, almost buried under the couch.

For the record… I did *not* win a bazillion dollars.

Maybe next time.

Jan 3, 2011

Spring has sprung.

We have been shut out of our garage for the last few days.   I went to Ann’s for my inaugural New Year’s game day on Saturday and when I came home the garage door could not be opened.  It’s a good thing all the cars were out of the garage at the time, or they would have been trapped there until we got it fixed today.

Turns out when your garage door torsion spring looks something like this picture, you need to get it replaced.   Monte toyed with the idea of fixing it himself.  But when the first hits on google for “Do-It-Yourself broken garage door torsion spring” brought up things like:  risk of death, maiming, danger, danger, danger, I looked for a local company to come fix us up.

Les from Cedar Park Overhead Doors came to the rescue today, and we were all set in under an hour.

I’m enjoying this first Monday of the new year… good thing it’s a vacation day!

Tomorrow…back to the grindstone.

Dec 18, 2010

Galloping Gertie.

I took a drive today to visit Brian, Gail, Josh and their friend Edgar.

To get from the peninsula side of Puget Sound to the Seattle/Tacoma side you can take a ferry, or you have to drive around the south end of the Sound.  The Tacoma Narrows bridge was built in 1940 to make that drive shorter.

This is a shot of the crossing today from the Gig Harbor side.   The old bridge is on the left.  On the right is a newer, twin span that was completed only several years ago.  Now each bridge carries traffic in only one direction.

The original span was completed in July 0f 1940.   It was the longest man-made suspension bridge in the US at the time, and the 3rd longest in the world.   Only four months later it had collapsed.   Let that be a harmonics lesson to all of us…

Here’s a youtube video with footage from November 7, 1940, the day the bridge collapsed in 40 mile an hour winds after pitching and swaying for over an hour.