A pretty damned good weekend.

Man, this one flew by. Both me and Deb worked Saturday but were off early enough to make Catelynn's (grandbaby)birthday party. Since we both came from work, we didn't have the camera. We got home at 6 and I was able to talk Deb into helping mow this monster estate. While she rode the 140 I weedeated, then jumped on the 670 to help her finish. I got on hour or so with dad before the gang got back from their concert, then I crashed. Today I tried my hand at some plumbing. I installed a faucet at the back of the house, and that went well....took $10 and about an hours work. Wish I'd have done it 5 years ago. Mowed the dog pen and back yard. Got the Walker mower up in the air prepped for motor removal. Then we headed off the "the Sports Page" to watch Bobbies band play. We haven't been going, but it was his wife Lori's birthday party so we thought we'd better show up. I've got his set list memorized by now, but at least I know I'll get at least one Neil Young song out of them. Now I'm just sitting here listening to music and looking at fox news' coverage of the hurricane. Looks like we'll miss this one, but our office in LA (lower Alabama) is gonna get smashed again. I'm sure it will end up affecting me somehow, but not tonight.........

R.I.P. Vicky the dog.

Yet another pet bought the farm last night. We bought Vicky when we first moved out here, from what could probably best be described as a redneck puppy mill. She was a pretty little pup, but through lord only knows how much inbreeding, she wasn't exactly what one would call smart. In fact, I'm pretty sure she was retarded. Nevertheless, she was part of the zoo that is my house. When Christyn graduated and started spending more time at her dad's house, she sort of took Vicky over...She road in the car with Christyn, stayed mostly at her dads, and so on. I was very happy with that situation. She just wasn't one of my favorite dogs. Well, then Christyn started spending more time out here, and her dad didn't like Vicky much either, so she ended up in my back yard again.

Last night Christyn went out to give her some leftovers and found her lying dead in the yard....stiff. I'd seen her at 1pm, and Lany fed them at 4pm, but sometime between then and 10pm last night, Vicky had drawn her last breath. I've got no idea what happened. She didn't look like she has been attacked by either of the bigger dogs. She was fairly close to the electric fence, but not tangled in it. From the looks of things she just dropped dead.

She joined our pet cemetary along side Gina the prarie dog, and Kit-Kat the cat. Christyn is pretty tore up over it obviously and understandably. I'll add a pic later today if I can find one around here.

Lyndsay's Birthday party.

Spent the afternoon in Chucky Cheese hell, but we had a good time. As you can see from the pictures, the girls had a great time. Here are a couple of shots that came out pretty neat that really don't have a thing to do with the birthday, just cool pics...

Update on the fly...

Here is a quickie update. I'm strung out because I'm without a field supervisor in Montgomery so I'm making that trip several times per week. After a trip to Eufaula, AL in the morning I'm headed back there to interview a possible victim to put in that spot. He actually has more office expierience than field, and we need an office manager as well, so he may not get the job....but somebody damn sure needs to get it!

The backhoe project hit a snag last weekend...the bull gear in the rear end was basically eaten alive by the pinion gears. The replacement parts are about $300. I spent all week trying to decide if maybe I should just get a different tractor for the loader and backhoe, or fix this one. I took the hydrostat apart yesterday, and it needed some small parts, so that was about the last nail in the coffin for the Bolens...until I called and found out that those parts were quite cheap. So, I went ahead and ordered them, and I guess I'll start saving up side money to replace the bull gear. I think that by the time this little baby backhoe is done, I could have probably went and bought a used "real" backhoe...but that isn't quite as much fun...just cheaper.

A few random pictures.

Well, I managed to get a couple shots this week in my travels...and quite a lot of miles this past week too. I've had three 450 mile days this week. I've got to get a new lead tech hired for Montgomery!

Ok, I'm sure we've all noticed the trend of putting larger diameter wheels on cars for the past few years. In many cases this can look damn good....and in many cases the wheels are worth more than the car they are mounted on. This fella was so proud of his "Dubs" that he had to put the diameter on the side of the car!

Oh, and in case you missed it on the front, he added it to the rear as well....

And this next fellow was spotted in Hurtsboro, AL...just hanging out with the cows. Noticed those damned white birds are only bothering him...not his cousins.

Lyndsay's first day of school....

Today was Monks first day of school ever.....she didn't get a practice run at pre-shool...her mom won that battle. And, because of it, her mom paid the price today. For the past couple weeks actually. It seems she had more of a problem with Lyndsay going to school than Lyndsay did. If you look at these pictures closely, it is obvious who is actually not wanting to let go. Of course, this ended up getting the kid upset, but it was short lived. The first thing she told me when she got home this afternoon was "I love school!"

"The thing with the holes in it."

For as long as I can remember, Dad always had "the thing with the holes in it." It hung in the garage that we had when I grew up, and has now moved into the new machine shed. I didn't matter what it was, if it wasn't in plain sight, it was in "the thing with the holes in it." Oh, and that is the actual name of this thing. I've never heard it called anything else, and if you look at it, that is just the right name for it. Well, as of today, I've got my own "thing with the holes in it." Greg phased it out of his new shop, and as usual, I was there waiting for the hand me downs.

In other news, I posted a couple of pictures of my latest aquisition, a Walker MT ZTR mower. I has a lot of hours on it, and needs a head for the motor. Other than that, and a seat, it is in very good condition. I traded some labor for it, so as of right now I've not got an actual penny invested in it. This fine project is courtesy of my friend Dave.

The last of the pictures is mainly to show dad my setup for electolitic rust removal. It works great, and I did find out why is was drawing so hard on the charger....the wheel was big enough that is was to close to the rods. With smaller stuff it hovers right around 3 amps, and the charger never even warms up.

Hopefully I'll have a chance to update a bit more this week. The last one was pretty crazy.