May-Day

It’s been a very fast month….This time of year always is, but it doesn’t help I’ve been away for work for a good portion. Siding work was cut short due to losing the picker, which was ok because it wasn’t going to be of much use while I was traveling. And so, I found myself away the second week of this month, only to return to a fever pitch. I basically had 4 days to get the Damfest preparations completed (modify the amp, get the Damfest staples, do the grocery shopping), then get as much done on the Toro as I could for the 4^th St. Cruise since I would be returning the day before (and the dash was still torn apart), find time to pickup the glass door that was ready at Laidig’s, set aside time to haul things up from the Parents’ basement for their garage sale, and haul things in from The Lodge (like a 300 lb Pepsi machine) before Friday morning. It all went off without a hitch, except for the glass pick-up. This required the station wagon due to the glass length, and the wagon decided to strand me a few blocks away from my glass guy just after the pick-up. Therein lies a tale best suited for another time. Suffice it to say, that was a lost evening.

But it all worked out and we had our annual Damfest Celebration that Friday, the 17^th. To my surprise, we had a pretty decent turn-out and exceeded our usual tear-down time by several  hours. It was a blast.

The garage sale was also a success- I managed to part with some larger items that would have taken too much floor space out at the Lodge. These were ‘gimmes’ I had picked up over the years, usually as a bonus along with the real thing I was going for. A large CBS-Columbia 50’s TV, a GE Hi-Fi with FM band, my ’39 Silvertone with record cutter, a full-size Casio keyboard, and some other oddball stuff.

From there, a blur of mowing, planting and cleaning before I left again for another week in Downers. This time getting home Friday afternoon, the 24^th. A stop at the post office revealed a load of goodies waiting for me. Parts to finish up the Toro and a case of paper tape for the teletype machines. A quick run by Menards for some 1/8” lauan ply for the bookcase project, and then the great unloading. I got the Toro spiffed up, ran it up to Janesville to see if my new vacuum lines had improved things, and also topped off the tires (if you ever need air, the JV Kwikstar has an industrial compressor…the air hose is ¾ diameter and you’ll spend a fraction of the time filling your tires compared to EVERY. WHERE. ELSE. Plus, it’s FREE.) Yes, it’s worth the drive. Unfortunately, the clouds started rolling in that evening, but we still had acres to mow. It was dark when I put the tractor in the shed and that’s just about the time the rain started.

I awoke to thunder and lightning, and knew the 4^th Street Cruise was going to be a bust. That’s okay, because the day was going to be a busy one and I could use all the hours I could get. I put away my tools and materials in CS3 while Cara worked on cleaning upstairs in the Lodge. The Fondue Party was that night and there was still final shopping and cleaning to be done. I honestly don’t know where the day went, but 6:30 rolled around mighty quick. The fondue was a mixed bag…the conventional unit failed to heat properly and the beer/cheese mix wasn’t cooperating. Still, the mini-Cordon Bleus were great. After a tour of the facilities, Ben and Hilary bowed out before the games could begin. Viet was new to the game of dominoes, but that didn’t seem to stop him. We finally wrapped things up after 12…or was it 1? Like I say…a blur. And oh yes, I proposed to Cara over dinner!

Sunday was equally soggy. The day started with assembling the Ikea shelves I had bought the week prior, but the changes I had planned involved modifying the sides with my skilsaw. Unfortunately, I discovered this after we had the first one fully assembled. Nothing more to do than perform the operation then and there in the living room with the shop vac following along. We were able to modify the others out on the front balcony in between cloudbursts until the rain, and a dead battery, ultimately forced our hand. So…a trip to Menards was in order for their 11% off sale for trees and bushes. This entailed me digging the old, dead bushes out and hauling the whole mess in the back of the Blazer.  We were able to get things exchanged and the new trees and bushes loaded as the rain once again, returned. With all this rain we figured we better check on the parents’ basement since they were out of town….and yes, water shooting through the basement wall is never a good thing. So…several hours later we had 95% of it vacuumed up and fans running. Now, with evening descending, we returned home to finish the last shelf mods. I scrambled like mad to mark and cut the plywood outside that I had previously purchased while there was still enough light to follow my pencil marks. (I’ll have a separate entry on this). Then back off the sawhorses and into the Lodge for gel staining. That gel stain is interesting stuff. While it all set up to dry, I cleaned up and put on a new LD of Sleepers before calling it a night. Deniro nailed it as always.

Which brings us to yesterday…A quiet day by comparison. Ran into town to check on the parents’ basement. Planted the trees and bushes we bought. I got all the cabinets assembled with their new backs. We made a trip to the cemetery with flowers Cara had bought. I fixed up the Model 28 teletype with the new parts that arrived. Then a late dinner followed by Double Indemnity. Also…found my camera!