White Lightning Axiom: Redux

The weekend worked out pretty well. I suppose. There was that little bit of a migraine on Friday afternoon. The synergistic combination of that and the still aching ribs pretty much kicked my but for a large chunk of Friday. While I was laid low, the Mrs decided to see another man behind my back. Of course, it was the Big Little Brother and their shared love was that of buying new electronic gadgetry. The siren call of disk drives, CD ROM writers and Flat Screen monitors was too much to resist for them on Black Friday. I am truly blessed to have a Mrs who is driven mad by the latest software rather than Prada shoes. As the day grinds on and the credit line grows shorter, I start to feel like my old self again. I watch the tube for a bit, read some of my six sigma book and go for a walk with the dogs and Jake. At one point, some of the neighborhood dogs come out to investigate the lumbering juggernauts ambling down the lane, but a swift jerk of the leash helped keep the little morsels from being gobbled up. Noting of real note. It is currently hunting season so we did not venture off into the woods. Sure, there is not supposed to be any hunting near by. But there are a lot of things that should not happen and having the common sense to not be in a place where shotgun slugs may be flying is a good thing.

Saturday brought more of the same. I spent some time with Hero Dad putting an epoxy patch on the monster chainsaw. The handle had a crack in it from a kickback incident so a good dual component epoxy with fiberglass mesh was in order. Stank like all get-out too. It takes 5 minutes to bind, 8 hours to cure and 24 hours for a workable solution. After chipping the chemical bond from my nails, we went out to put up the lights on the FOB (yes, we wait till AFTER thanksgiving to start our Christmas celebration) and then head out to get a tree for the kids to decorate. We have been going to the same 'you cut' place for a few years now. Its on the property of a couple of retired folks. He came from Finland back in 1957 and she is an American born Fin. Great folk. They are related in some way to a man I worked for a long time ago. Mark Haag was a pretty good boss, but he and his Mrs smoked like a pair 1945 diesel mac trucks in a North Dakota winter. That would be the end of them both. The fellow, I believe his name is Hammon, spends his year getting ready for the December. If you are in the area, it's called Southview - 630 South Danby Road, Spencer NY,. Yeah, I'm pimping for a tree vendor. But hey, the trees cost about 20$ so he is not making much of any profit from it. Back at the FOB, the kids completely cover the tree in decorations and it looks great. Pictures were taken and reside snugly within the camera yet. The Mrs and I will probably skip the usual 80 foot tree this year at the Manor since we'll be up at the FOB again for the next week long holiday. No need in having dead horticulture around when there will be nobody to see it. Sounds like a philosophical question, eh?

The rest of the time off was not very interesting. Wash the hounds, go to evening Mass, get up late Sunday, eat brunch, pack 100 metric tons of electronic goodies into the Family Tank v2.0 and hit the road by 1320 hours. Other than Alexis throwing up three times along the way, it was a fairly anti-climatic end to a wonderful time with the Grandparents. Of course, the kids were very unhappy to leave. Spoiled to the core they are. Now, my greatest task for the next week will be cooking up a year-end Christmas letter. When you chronicle every hangnail, zit and hiccup you have on a daily basis, trying to condense it all down to one sheet, WITH pictures can be daunting.

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