right shoulder and blade are in agony this AM.    Picking up Grizz was a no-go on the right.

getting old (ain’t no gettin’, bruh, GOT!)

and of course paddle weekend didn’t help none, eh?  

Is what it is, and will be what it will be, and I carry on: i’s what I do.  A couple excedrin and mug of joe and get my arse prepared to do the battle of the day (whatever that may be),,,,

just gonna tell Burnout to do some growin’ up before he gets to kayak.   His entire past has been chasing the next thrill, no plans for the future, no sacrifice to the long term.    Get his shit in order and then we’ll discuss some fun.   The Responsible of the World understand this; its  a lesson he needs to learn, and if I am the one that was put in his path to teach him such,,,,Maybe I just need to take Ox’s advice,,,,

Hell, the only reason I get to play as much as I do is due to being an empty-nester.   No kids or spouse.   I take care of my little kingdom and then I have play time.  BUT, even now, taking care of my little kingdom takes precedent: its why I mow grass and such during the week, not hold off til satyrdays.   It’s also why I end up going alone so much: most of my compadre’s are NOT in the same boat: Kids and obligations that can’t be done through the week sort of stuff.  sigh,,,,      Not going to create a monster in Burnout, just to gain a paddle partner,,,, thats just bad mojo right there.   

I’s Muhnday, the beginning of the workweek, back to the J.O.B. and dealing with schizoid nieghbors and lord only knows what else (and possibly finding out Burnout did another stoopid over the weekend,,, will see.)   I am fair certain that today I will be finishing up that privacy fence, and psycho neighbor will be in full force as the Client already told me he will be out of town and his wife is alone with the kids this week.   That mix right there is sure signs that Nutzo will grow a temporary spine and cause issues.  I’s all good,,, have the Deputy on speed dial: won’t even say a word, just dial and let the mic pick up what’s going on.  Might even have the camera for Face-to-Face ready and just record what she is doing.

If I sound under-enthusiastic, you’re right.   Between the achy shoulder and the rest,,, sigh,,, its what it is, will be what it will be.    Rather like the rest of this political year,,, we’ll see what comes out the other end, one way or the other.

keep on livin’

Loaded Bluejean this AM (was gonna last night, but getting Lyssa off was harrowing enough,,, nearly busted a mirror off Buffalo,,,) with the intent of “if I get a minute or more, go to lake and just do some strollin’ around”,,,

Well, I have the time, but now is when the ramp will be loaded with all the Dregs of BellCo and loud music and reefer breezes (among other substances,,,,) 

Meh!   PASS!!!   Don’wanna deal with PEeps right now; had my share of peeple yesterday at the race.  Nice people mind you: I’m the grump that needs space, not them. And I don’t wanna kill a good vibe weekend by bumping into peeps that make me feel ‘icky’ inside; such as I would find on that boat ramp right now.

So, did some prep work on Lyssa realized it wasn’t near as bad as I thought so went ahead and started the gelcoat repairs.  I will get to the inside here soon since I do need two patchs in the glass side, and that means pulling that seat pan for one of them (and I need more FG to do that: on its way.)

And I POURED that gel on,,,,   Nice and thick

I’ll start ‘cutting it down’ tomorrow after a full 24 hr cure.   Clean that wax off first and not gum up my mill-file,,,(ask me how I know that one,,,)   She’ll be ready for prime-time by the coming weekend,

Burn-out has been asking me to take him kayaking,,,   Thats gonna be interesting, if I do it.     I have reservations I can’t pin down.   Something tells me “no, leave that one out of the mix’ and I can’t say why.   A gut feeling?  Yes, yes it is; is it valid?   Dunno, but these gut vibes are usually the correct ones.   Like my gut vibe that Brudda B was a guy I wanted to share an orbit with.   His reactions when that dude drowned at the lake cemented that gut vibe.   He is definitely someone you want around when shit gets sticky/heavy/rough.   I try to find that sort and hold ’em tight.  

Burn-out does not strike me as that sort.  He can be good when its labor oriented, but when it comes to brainpower and essential skills,,, ummm   how to put this gently,,,,

pass

The real trick is finding a diplomatic way to tell him to fuck off and not offend or have him hold a grudge.     I’ll figure something out, OR, I’ll take him and scare the devil out of him and make him lose interest,,, (or conversely, turn him into an adrenaline junkie,,,   BUT, I don’t support others habits,,,,)  That’s not my way though,, just a thought in passing, looking for that solution I haven’t seen yet.

and now, the weekend is in wrap up mode, get the brainium back into J.O.B. mode, and off the water it’s playin’ on.   or off that imaginary motobike its vroomin’round on,,,   its been back and forth all weekend,,,  LOL   slackard brainium, runnin’round the cloud being a foo! while the ambulant meat puppet it occupies, does all the work (like paddling 12.5 miles,,,,)

  

talkatch’all tomorrow   Keep on livin’

Feeling a little tight in places today.   Abs and shoulders are saying ‘hey, HEY,,,, Take a day off dangit!’,,,,

Looked at last years time compared to this years time.   I have the official time from last year and the time from my tracker for this, and I shaved a full 5 minutes off.    Thats not saying much since I blew up the boat and was sinking,,,   or maybe its saying a lot,,,,   I could have done even better, yes?  

Not feeling bad about my performance since I didn’t come in dead last and I finished: even with 5 gallons of water in the cockpit and a few more in the aft compartment.   The vols had to dump the boat to pick it up, she was so loaded with water.     Heck, I am more burnt up about not reading that drop correctly and blowing up the boat.  

shit happens.

didn’t KILL Lyssa, just wounded her.

Waiting on the Event Host to publish the final times.   Wanna see what times Mr Jarja did, since I wasn’t in the same race bracket as he was.   (that guy in the green Prijon Kodiak.   Great boat, Super nice guy, and got to meet his dad, also super nice guy.)  He beat me by 20 minutes last year, probably did even better this year.  He looked like he had shed the Dad belly this year and has been working out.

Only thing I was burnt up about was the ‘classifications’.    I pointed out those Epic V7’s in my pics last post.   Surfskis; also called ‘race boats’.    Because of someone mucking with the classifications and ‘redifining’ what classifies race boat by weight and length, those V7’s were suddenly ‘just sea kayaks’, and the racers loved the idea.   Usually all race boats are in their own niche and its dog eat dog,,, this year they were spread out among the brackets and only one, ONE, in the race bracket: an 18′ kevlar speedster; looks like a needle when stood up. 16″ wide at its widest and looks fast sitting still.  cuts through water like a hit knife through butter, leaves no wake other than paddle splash.  

Not really that burnt about it because I wouldn’t have placed even if that changed hadn’t happened.  

But I finished,,,    didn’t drop out once (except to get a drink of water,,, got dry in throat, despite me sitting in a cool bathtub.) 

———————————————————-

Domestics Suhnday, laundry, clean up, get ready for another work week.   May get the gelcoat and epoxy out and start working repairs on Lyssa, time/daylight permitting.   But today is also recovery day for sore stiff muscles,,, woof!

keep on livin’

I Lived

I Lost

and Lyssa is PISSED!!!!

And yah, I lost,,, not dead last, but hind teat all the way.   At the first rapid we approached, around mile 1 I misjudged the pour over, thinking I was hitting the ‘V’ when what I did was bottom out HARD and tip into the downstream side of it.

And that was the beginning of the end for Lyssa and me.   She started taking on water, way more than she ever has before.  not enough to ‘sink’ her, but by mile five my arse was most definitely sitting in water, and I could feel it sloshing around while edgeing for turns.  

That bottoming out ripped gelcoat clean off,  and cracked some glass.  the first two, side by side are dead under neath my seat pan.   I had water in the cockpit, and the furthest aft compartment.   She was tail heavy and getting  more so as time went by.

all repairable, nothing ‘boat killer’ in this, but she is not on water again until they are fixed.    All my dumb fault,,, Misread the river and didn’t check the water levels before leaving.   Thursday the water level was 900cfm,,, today it was 550.   That equates to about 4″ of depth difference and that four inches is why we did some scraping, let alone that horror show above.

as for how I did,,,,

Over all, pretty damned steady, even though you can see the slope off in the beginning.   That sudden burst the last 20  to 30 minutes? Me getting pissed off by being passed by a canoe,   I caught back up, but was depleted to pretty much empty as I crossed that line.   Lyssa was dragging pretty good at that time and it took everything I had left.

I’m whooped, sore, and ready for night to fall so I can fall like a felled tree into bed.   Not going to worry about Lyssa at this point; she can’t get any worse for wear sitting in drydock.  All wetgear is hanging to dry.   I’m wrapped up for the day.   

keep on livin’

Every time, EVERY TIME, we put up a privacy fence, its due to some psycho next door neighbor,,,  EVERY TIME.     

Today’s was no different.  The owner of the property warned us of the situation, walked us through the property lines and where he wants the fence, gave a little backstory as well.    Honestly, dood is being GENEROUS to his rotten neighbor, giving them several thousand square feet of HIS property.   I say that because, even though the county surveyor marked the corners, the fence is going to be considered the new Demarcation lines later down the road.   It is what it is, and later, will need resolved in a court of law in some property dispute.   Right now, its to appease NUTZOZ,,,,

so we are popping holes in the ground, setting posts for the boards we will put in after the concrete cures up (Muhnday? maybe,,,) and here comes psycho neighbor (after she spent 15 minutes taking pictures from her porch)

AND THE DUMB BUNNY TRIES TO PULL A 4X4 POST OUT OF THE GROUND WHILE HOLLERIN’ AT US,,,,  

I tried the ‘be nice’ approach, Ma’am’s and pointing out the surveyor marks, one of which is a federal benchmark point. (you know ’em: big brass ‘coin’ with long/lat/elevation coordinates and date)  NOPES,,, krazee started cussing at me and resorting to names I won’t publish here, and

DIO FIRED UP,,,,   “Call the police, NOW! and get your fat ass back on that porch.  WE WILL STOP HERE AND WAIT FOR THE COP TO TELL YOU TO TAKE A FUCKIN’ HIKE.”    in my best impression of a polite Drill Instructor.

And she Paled,,, ran back to her house, and came out 5 minutes later with some paperwork in hand, jumped in her car and took off.   I assumed she was headed to the courthouse to argue her point there.  

and about 10 minutes later, the Sheriff shows up, but not because she called, but the homeowner we are working for HAD.   The sheriff walked around with us, asked me about the confrontation, watched the vid the homeowner had of it (he has dozens of cameras placed around the house, all recording on motion detection) and said ‘Carry on”,,,,,

Later, Burnout asked me “why are people like her, like that?”

I could only answer “Envy.  Sometimes someone is so jealous of what someone else has, the only outlet is unbridled anger,,,”   See, the problem child in this picture DOES NOT EVEN OWN THE HOUSE,,, She is living there waiting for her father to die so she can inherit it,,,  Said father has been sent to the Nursing Home, instead of her taking care of him.   Some people have no love of the parents that brought them up, no love of themselves, so how can one expect them to love anything else,  let alone respect other peoples things; they can only covet, and when thier longing is twarted, they break in sharp ways, usually in anger,,,   but it can go full violent sometimes too.  This problem child is on that edge and needs corrected or someone is going to get hurt.  And I did say as much to the client and he agreed with me.

———————————————————–

kayak race tomorrow, my bracket is slotted for 10:15am start.   Depending on river current, its about a 2 hour race, give or take,,, (take, paddle faster, dammit!!!)   I’ll update more after the fact, and maybe have some before after pics for y’all.   Not during since I need to paddlepaddlepaddle the whole thing.  I love this river we are racing on,,, one of the prettier ones I have been on, and CLEAN, oh lord, so clean.   usually rivers around here tend to be murky; even after a week of clear weather.    But this one is clear enough, I could identify fish 5′ down.   Beautiful river.

wish me luck,  even though I have stated it many times, I am not in it for the win, just having some fun.   Not that I won’t give it my all, just that I know I am not in the shape of the serious racers; far from it,,,,

Keep on livin’

And maybe later, we can get on it. 

Talkin’ about the motobike thingy here. 

Last night, I was chattin’ with Brudda B about it, and his ‘two cents’ was ‘Don’t do it” and he had a seriously good arugment for the NO.   Scary picture sort of argument.  Won’t post it, as I didn’t ask permission and its not his to give anyways,,,,  I’ll respect the privacy of his neice.  Prayers for her, even if she is Ok, because some injuries take years to manifest.

And then today, while out doing the bank thing for payday, I was cut off by INCHES from a fast moving cage, close enough I could see the eyes of the driver and no, he didn’t LOOK first, that was second as he realized ‘oh, theres a truck there!’,,, and didn’t slow down,,,,

and not a minute later, nearly rear-ended by another one.  So close I couldn’t see the windshield of the little car over my tailgate in my rearview.   They were so close, I am shocked they didn’t actually swap paint with me. (yes, after that little incident that didn’t go full bore, I pulled up to a store, back up to the big window and made sure my brakelights were working.  They are, all three, so it wasn’t that.)

Me be thinking, Nudge is in agreement with Brudda B (obviously, she sent me TWO signs.) and that maybe, I need to let this dream go for a bit.  At least until such time as I can actually afford it, AND in an area where the Loose nutz behind the wheel are fewer and further between. (which, sadly means, NEVER GONNA HAPPEN,,,,)

I do so miss that feeling though.    I guess I just have to make do with kayaks.

And camping.   The whole ‘escape’ thing.    Maybe pull a Mark E and just do a month down some river, head water to end.   Get away from the world for awhile and get that ‘fix’,,,,    dunno.   Hard to say since its not like I have a reliable income stream that isn’t selling my lifehours to others.  No work, no pay is the rule for now.    (and that is a hard boondoggle to break free from.   Getting the assets that bring in money: doable, but not easily when you are paycheck to paycheck.   And on current course and speed, that is getting even tighter all around, not just for me.)

It’s Turdsday thursday, and I still have a mostly intact truck, no new dings or dinks, though they were both mighty close,,, and I have one more day of workweek before Race weekend.     Life is good enough without adding another headache to it, right?

sigh

vroom!    lol.    Still have my memories from riding all those years prior,,,  Good enough for now.

Keep on livin’

Sometimes I think the mower and the weeds are conspiring,,,  

Follow the imagined conversation,,,,

Weeds: “Hey, ya got a minute?”

Mower: “Huh,,, some’un talkin’ to me?”

Weeds: ‘Yeah, ya gotta minute?”

Mower: “sure,,, let me stretch a second,,,,”

Weeds: “Ok” then to themselves,,, ‘we gotta make this work,,, all brain cells to the front,,,,’

Mower: after a minute of ‘stretching and ticks and pops of expanding metal and skooging oil to fill the new gaps.   “whatcha’all want?”

Weeds: “Well, we notice you don’t seem to like your job too much?”

Mower: “Ya got that right,,, Used to love my job, but man, I am tired,,, just wanna park in the sun and rust away in peace.”

Weeds: “Yeah, well, we don’t like getting cut down in our prime and needing to start over every other week.  That shit sucks,, and then we are feeding on our own when we do get to grow again.  That is just 500 shades of wrong.“

Mower: “man! when you put it like that, Yeah, sounds like a true horror show!”

Weeds: “So what say you,,, You can keep breaking down and we get to keep growing, and eventually, you get your dream of  laying out here with us and rusting away,,,,,”

Mower: “you gotta deal,,, I have more than a few things I can ‘let go’ and piss him off to the point where he just gives up.”

Weeds: “Hot shit! that sounds AWESOME,,, Summer time, here we come!!!!

Went out to start mowing,,, Cord to the recoil starter gave up.   Ok,, No biggie,  didn’t have replacement on hand, but DO HAVE about 2000′ of paracord.  Not optimal, but will get the job done, and I can get the right stuff tomorrow.   

Then the draglink to the self propelled popped loose.   A little more paracord to hold all of that together till tomorrow when I can get another allen bolt to put it back together (have them, just didn’t want to dally around figuring out which one,,,,)

and then the governor spring broke,,,,,

Yes, I McGuyvered it with a stinkin’ rubber band dammit!!!!!    That grass (weeds) was getting done tonight PERIOD< END DISCUSSION.     Much more of this and I am going to just make a Flammenwerfer per BCE’s directions and do the nuke option every other week.  FUCK THESE WEEDS!!!!

(And yes, the yard is completed, minus some trimmer work around the tight spots.)