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Baked ham

Posted on June 28, 2021 by backuphill

OK, it’s hot! It’s really, really hot!

These temps, up here in the Northwest corner of the United States, are not normal. If anyone asks, it rains all the time. Don’t move here. But, seriously, there are nice days here…except the the last two, and probably tomorrow too. It’s just unusually hot.

It isn’t the hottest part of the day, but the forecast is calling for a high somewhere in the neighborhood of 104 (105 depending on where you look) today. Of course, we all know those guys are rarely correct, so it will be hotter, for sure. At 12:31pm, it is currently 95 degrees outside.

Now, if you have been reading this blog for the last year and a half you will know that I have been working from home for the time of the “flu that is known by another name.” And, you will also know that my home office is in my garage. To further give details of my situation, know that my home and garage have no AC.

So, currently, at 12:31pm, the garage temp where I am working is 88 degrees and the house is 85 degrees.

I know know what a baked ham feels like, or a baked chicken. My family would probably say turkey. A baked turkey.

Anyway, stay cool out there…

Bad motivator

Posted on June 4, 2021 by backuphill

I seem to have a bad motivator. Yet, I have so much I could be doing. Anyone else having a hard time getting started today?

After a LONG, short week of work and every evening being dominated by gazebo construction (no, not done yet), I am just having a hard time focusing on what needs to be done at work today. I am already thinking about what I may be able to accomplish after work today, and yet there is a part of me that says, “You should just sit on the couch tonight.”

Perhaps another droid would like to take over and finish out the day for me.

Anyone?

Warped

Posted on June 2, 2021 by backuphill

Continuing on the projects theme from yesterday, the gazebo has been started and so far things are going fairly well.

Except…

Except that there are quite a few pieces of the wood material that is warped. Not horribly, but enough that making the gazebo square, which it needs to be for the roof, which could prove to be a major challenge.

I guess I shouldn’t have expected anything less. That’s the problem with these prefab kits you buy. Sure, all the pieces are cut to the right size, pre-drilled, and have all the components you’ll need but there is that one factor they just can’t account for – how much the wood will continue to warp once it is packaged.

Working on this kind of project also warps something else…my attitude.

I already have a warped sense of humor, so it doesn’t nothing for that.

Seriously though, warped wood sucks.

Here’s to straight boards, straight cuts, and no knots.

Projects, projects, and more projects

Posted on June 1, 2021 by backuphill

So, how do you know when you have too many irons in the fire? Is it that you just look at everything and can’t decide which is most important or where to start because they just all need to be done? Or is it that you look at everything and you just decide that you don’t know where to start and therefore just don nothing?

Currently, I have too many things going on that I can’t decide where to start, though there is a looking deadline of rain coming at the end of the week, so that dictates a little of the timeline.

Project one: I have a front yard that needs some attention. I have a hedge and a tree that need trimmed and some Sluggo (bait for slugs and snails) to put down. While these aren’t extremely time consuming and aren’t necessarily urgent, they are the final pieces to having the front yard cleaned up for the summer.

Project two: A garage sale purchase needs cleaned up and tested. The house gets exceptionally warm during hit weather, but there isn’t a heat pump to control the temp inside. So, while visiting a garage sale recently someone was selling a pretty decent portable AC unit for $25. It’s four years old and needs to be cleaned up. I had the guy run it before purchase and it appears to be operable, but it needs to be given some attention. Unfortunately, it won’t likely happen before the warmer weather this week.

Project three: The patio has been built in the back yard and a gazebo purchased. Spent most of the day yesterday working on putting wood sealant on it to further protect the wood into the future. Now the assembly of the gazebo needs to be done…a very time consuming task. Obviously, having it constructed before the weather comes in this weekend would be ideal as it would help to keep the water from hitting most of the wood. So, that seems to be the immediate winner of focus.

There are lots of other projects that needs to be done too, just none of those seem as pressing as these three.

When faced with a list of projects, how do you prioritize which ones get done first?

Drag on

Posted on May 17, 2021 by backuphill

Or draggin’. Dragging.

Today. Is. Dragging. On. On. On.

Good grief.

It all started with an alarm that told me to get outta bed. Like most week days. Like most work days. The mistake was I listened.

The weather has turned sloppy. It’s cool and freary.

The software is hung up. It is slow as molasses today. Dragging, dragging, dragging.

This would be a better day just left to do nothing. Well, at least nothing of consequence.

It’s an uphill, uphill battle today.

How about a reset?

I’ll just go back to bed and try again tomorrow.

Friday vibes

Posted on May 14, 2021 by backuphill

It’s Friday.

It’s sunny.

It’s been a long week.

Friday vibes got me wishing I was anyplace other than working…well, I guess anyplace is maybe a tad of an overstatement. So, how about someplace I’d rather be…

Can I get an amen on that?

Who has the power to give me permission to just bail on work and get the weekend started? Anyone? Anyone?

Time is moving so slowly…and watching that clock doesn’t make it go any faster….

Take my money

Posted on May 13, 2021 by backuphill

Every had something you really, really, really wanted to buy but couldn’t because they can’t keep it in stock? I am sure you probably have, so that is kind of a silly question.

To throw a whole twist to the situation is that it is only available online, which is more convenient than having to go into the store to check the inventory but it still causes an issue because there is no way to find out when it is back in stock. Like, there is no way to sign up for a notification when it is in fact back in stock. That’s seems weird because, ya know, technology…but it just isn’t an option for this retailer.

I do have some information that it will be restocked “at the end of May,” so there is that to go on. It was also previously not showing up on the website when it was out of stock the first time, but now it is again. That leads me to believe that it could be stocked at any time. So, now I am reduced to checking every hour to see if it pops up.

A similar item was in stock, then out of stock, then magically appeared as in stock, only to be out of stock less than 6 hours later. It wasn’t what I really wanted, but seriously debated the purchase as it was close and did I want to risk waiting for the other one I really wanted? I decided to wait. Which might pay off, but the waiting is excruciating.

I just want to give them my money. Why do they refuse to take it? Hell, I’ll even pre-order it, but they won’t even accept that either.

So, I am left to checking the website….OFTEN…in hopes that it suddenly appears in stock.

Frustrating and exciting at the same time. Know what I mean?

I swear…

Posted on April 19, 2021 by backuphill

Ever heard someone else utter those words? Ever heard yourself utter those words? Have you “had it” to the level that you begin muttering under your breath and out comes those words, followed by a definitive statement that you have no intention of following through with?

I have heard that phrase from others in the past. I can distinctly remember my mother saying that phrase several times. The multiple occasions probably probably involved my brother and I (or maybe my sisters). I can’t remember exactly, but I do remember that we all knew it was time to be on our best behavior or something was going to happen that involved the “tanning of our backsides.”

Anyway, I have reached my level.

Only it isn’t with children (though I am sure I have uttered this about them too).

It’s the pets today.

The cat won’t shut up. Meow. Meow. Meow meow meow…seriously! What the heck! I have let him outta the house three times already today. In and out. In and out.

The dog is even worse. Whine and whine and whine….and then there is the whole in and out, in and out, thing with her too. The dog has gone out to the back yard 8 times already. 8! Sure it’s a nice day outside, but heck if I know what the hell she wants.

So, I swear…if I gotta let them outta the house one more time…

Working from home is great, but this is admittedly a downside. The interruptions are incessant.

I swear…

Registered?

Posted on April 13, 2021 by backuphill

Lots of companies want you to register the product you purchased. Probably so they can track you or something, but hopefully it is because they want to provide you with excellent customer support when the product breaks or malfunctions or something.

Why then, if they want you to do this, does it have to be so difficult?

I went to the Ryobi website to register a product and to make sure the warranty was going to be there if needed. I signed into my account and the very first thing I noticed was that EVERY page I went to the “live chat” box popped up, even after closing it. Annoying…

When I finally got to the product registration page and inputted the model number, the correct product doesn’t come up. WTH? I searched through everything that was suggested and they were the right type of tool, but not even close to the correct model.

So, I had to use the “live chat” after all…only to have to agree to have them send me an email so they could get all the pertinent product details and then they would register the product for me and confirm via email that it was done.

I am still waiting for that email.

Again, this is a large tool company. It’s their website.

Think it should work correctly? Think it is good customer service to have the customer go to your website and then they can’t do the thing they were directed to do on the website in the first place?

Not even remotely.

I hope I get a satisfaction survey…

Partied out

Posted on April 12, 2021 by backuphill

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

It was a long weekend that started on Thursday night.

It was a weekend filled with food, celebration, and family.

Too much family.

Too much planning.

Too much to do to actually enjoy it.

Anyway, three birthday parties in two days…one on Saturday and two on Sunday.

All at my house.

It was a good time, but it was exhausting.

What’s worse is that there is always some family members that are there that you just rather wouldn’t be there. That’s harsh to say, I know, and I love them and all but they just make anything and everything more work.

Everyone had a good time. At least I think so.

I did and I didn’t.

At least it is over. I am partied out. I could care less if there are any more this year.