SUMMER ARRIVES

THIS MORNING THE COUNTER ON MY HOMEPAGE SAID, “0”. YUP, TODAY, FOR US, IS THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER!! THAT MEANS YESTERDAY WAS MARY’S LAST DAY OF DEALING BLACKJACK AT THE CASINO.

MARY DID THE PAPERWORK FOR A LEAVE OF ABSENCE, AND IS DUE TO RETURN TO WORK ON NOVEMBER 16TH. “HEY REX”, SHE SAID THIS MORNING, “I’M JUST LIKE YOU, RETIRED!”

WE ARE BOTH LOOKING FORWARD TO OUR FIRST SOCIAL SECURITY CHECKS. MINE IS DUE THE LAST WEDNESDAY OF MAY, AND MARY’S IS DUE THE SECOND WEDNESDAY OF JUNE.

AND IT REALLY IS SUMMER HERE. THE TEMPERATURE TODAY IS GOING TO BE 97, TOMORROW 99, AND ON FRIDAY 101. OF COURSE BY FRIDAY, WE’LL BE ON “THE MOUNTAIN” WHERE THE FORCAST IS 75 DEGREES FOR FRIDAY.

OK REX, GET OFF THE INTERNET AND START PACKING , CLEANING, SHUTTING DOWN THE CAMPER FOR SUMMER.

  “SUNNY & 97”

Tree Trimming

By Uncle Hans

  Every year we have a tree or parts of a tree falling on our buildings.  In this case, our house on Crooked Road.  I took the chain saw up on the roof (always exciting) and cleaned this mess up.  the offending tree, just off the corner of the house, has been removed.

     I bring this up because tree removal is on our "to do" list this summer when Rex and Mary visit.  Each year we "harvest" 2-4 trees that are close enough to threaten the house or guest house.  They are all oaks and all infested with carpenter ants.  They are all weakened and the winds of summer storms will take them down.  This has been the topic of blogs before and will be again this summer when we do our work.  The wood goes in the fireplace all winter, the branches on a pile in the woods.  We only have about 10 more to take down to feel safe........

By Uncle Hans

Storm Damage

By Uncle Hans

One fine day last fall, a nasty windstorm came up suddenly out of the east and caused a fair amount of damage here.  Knocked down several trees, and blew the steel roof off the boatlift. It was a major pain-in-the-ass to fish it out of the water and dismantle it and take it to the scrap metal place.  Then it needed to be rebuilt.  I straightened and rebuilt the frame last fall.  But I had to wait until the ice formed to place the sheeting so I had a place to put the ladder...................

.....then, one very warm spring day, I got out the ladder and put the sheeting up.  I used plastic sheeting instead of steel, but I don't like how it turned out.  It looks cheap, but it keeps the rain and sun off the boat, I guess......

  ......now the lake toys are all ready for summer visitors.....

By Uncle Hans

Fix-A-Flat

By Uncle Hans

Here is the problem.   This is the pontoon trailer and one of these tires is flat (hint: the one with the rim of white wheel showing).  This happens because air leaks out during winter storage and the owner is too lazy to air them up before he tries to launch in the spring.  Backing out of the garage takes a tight turn and the sideways dragging of these tires on that turn breaks the bead and the tire goes down. 

     So here is the trick that Jason taught me how to re-inflate a tubeless tire that has lost it's seal with the wheel........

........the trick is using a ratchet strap.   Just put it on and squeeze the tire onto the wheel.  this makes the tire fatter and the edges press against rim and form a seal.  Adding the air with a good compressor tightens the seal and the tire inflates......

 

......This trick works whether the tire is attached to a vehicle or not attached.  You need a strong compressor, however, but one at a gas station would work fine.  Just take the tire and wheel and ratchet strap to the gas station.

By Uncle Hans

UPDATE LAUGHLIN

JUST AN UPDATE FROM CAT SITTING IN LAUGHLIN, ONLY A COUPLE OF DAYS LEFT, AND NEXT ON THE AGENDA IS TO BEGIN THE PACKING PROCESS FOR MOVING UP TO “THE MOUNTAIN”.

CAT SITTING IN LAUGHLIN IS WAY TOO CLOSE TO THE CASINOS ON CASINO DRIVE. IT’S JUST A FEW MINUTES DOWN THE HILL AND WAY TOO EASY.

THE WEATHER IN LAUGHLIN IS BEGINNING TO GET A LITTLE TOO WARM, AND WILL SOON BE IN THE TRIPLE DIGITS.

WHILE MARY AND I ARE TREADING WATER, WAITING FOR THE MOVE TO THE MOUNTAIN, LET’S GET BACK TO UNCLE HANS AND HIS PROJECTS.

Sunrise On SPI

By Uncle Hans

I am a sucker for a good sunrise, and this one is only so-so.  But it out of the hot tub at Florence I on South Padre so that makes it "blogable"...............

Tire Troubles

By Uncle Hans

On our recent trip to Texas, we took the bike to tool around on.  This "bike rack", the subject of a blog before, is pure mechanical genius from a friend who is a mechanical engineer, but it puts a lot of stress on the rear tires.  We must have picked up a nail just south of Kansas City because.....BOOM.....she blew!!  I needed new underwear by the time I got it under control and on the shoulder........

...................... Well, on the cell phone and soon a huge truck shows up to change the tire.  I know we are in trouble when he asks to borrow my jack........

......The whole tire change process took 3 hours, and brought us back to a tire shop about 5 miles away.  Luckily, they had one of these rare special=order tires, but the bad news was it was 11 years old (in storage).  We got 10 miles on that and ....BOOM....another set of underwear!!  You can see from the picture that the whole sidewall collapsed.

So back to the tire shop and we had a new tire the next morning.  We left the bike in the parking lot of the tire shop and pressed on to Texas.  we picked the bike up on the way back along with a new tire to use as a spare in case we had trouble. (the old spare was an original issue tire, about 13 years old)..............

.....that cut our time on the beach by one day, but we made the best of the time we had.  This is Hannah and Charlie going for their morning 5-mile run......

By Uncle Hans

CAT SITTING

OVER THE YEARS MARY AND I HAVE HOUSE SAT FOR PEOPLE WITH DOGS. TO US IT’S FUN. LIKE YOU MOVING INTO A CAMPER FOR A VACATION, FOR US IT’S A VACATION TO LIVE IN A HOUSE.

SO FOR THE NEXT 10 DAYS WE’RE HOUSE SITTING FOR SOME PEOPLE THAT HAVE TWO PURE BRED CATS. INSTEAD OF RUNNING A POOPER SCOOPER, IT’S LITER BOX PATROL.

SORRY WE CAN’T POST ANY PICTURES OF THE CATS OR HOME, I’M SURE THESE FOLKS WOULDN’T APPRECIATE THEIR CATS AND HOUSE POSTED ON THE INTERNET.

THEIR HOUSE AND OUR CAMPER ARE 25 MILES APART, SO THE SCOOTER IS GOING TO GET A WORKOUT.

MARY ONLY HAS TWO WEEKS OF WORK LEFT, TRUST ME SHE’S COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS, NOT THE WEEKS.

TODAY’S DATE

Saving The Dock

By Uncle Hans

..........Every year we worry about the ice "going out" on a windy day and taking the dock with it to the middle of the lake.  We got away with leaving the dock in again this year, but took the precaution of cutting the ice around it with a chainsaw, like every year.  My buddy, Place, got the honors this year......

Guy Fieri’s El Burro Borracho

“Welcome to El Burro Borracho, or the Drunken Donkey in its literal translation, where no detail is overlooked. Enjoy Mexican dishes familiar to those north of the border – tacos, enchiladas, burritos, fajitas and more – but created in a traditional style familiar to folks south of the border, and then blended with upscale touches and flair from what you would expect from Guy Fieri. Dessert is not something to be passed up with churros that are light as air, yet crisp to perfection and a variety of other tasty dishes.”

SINCE GUY FIERI OPENED HIS LAUGHLIN RESTAURANT IN HARRAH’S CASINO, MARY HAS BEEN SAYING SHE WAS GOING THERE TO CELEBRATE HER BIRTHDAY. WE MET UP WITH DAWN AND COLE AND HAD DINNER TO CELEBRATE MARY’S 65TH BIRTHDAY!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARY !!!

HAPPY EASTER

MARY AND I GRILLING OUR EASTER HAM ON THE DEVIL’S EGG.

 

OUR NAME FOR THIS RECIPE IS “MIKEY’S HAM” AS MIKEY’S LEFT OVER BURBON AND MAPLE SYRUP WERE PART OF THE GLAZE. THERE IS ONLY TWO OF US, CAN YOU SAY LEFTOVERS……..

LEFTOVER HAM SANDWICHES

LEFTOVER HAM AND SCALLOPED POTATOES

LEFTOVER HAM AND BEAN SOUP

LEFTOVER HAM AND EGGS

 

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE !!!!

NOW IS THE TIME TO DIG OUT YOUR LAWN MOWER, YOUR GOLF CLUBS, AND BUY A NEW BMW MOTORCYCLE.