Wednesday, September 22, 2010

I Really Enjoyed This Summer

The Highlight Of This Year Came During The Last Quarter Of Spring Which Had Nothing On This Past Summer.

I spent more time with my Godson this past Spring in total time since he was christened 18 years ago.


It was at my mothers passing that I mentioned to my nephew I would be taking a trip down Route 66 asking him if he would be interested in joining me this Summer.


I was pumped thinking how great to be able to take some serious pictures since driving and shooting pictures is not safe and seldom get what you're shooting at.


Touching base with my nephew was more of a chore than I needed to deal with while getting my mother's stuff in order even though her knowing she was passing made it a lot easier.


My wife had plans for while I was away and made it clear that she had arranged her vacation from work so that she could get some stuff done around here at the house.


My last trip to Route 66 which was solo but very rewarding in comparison to the very first trip, where my stress level was very high as my father in-law's pending death weighed heavy on my mind.


The last trip, I came home to a brand new kitchen floor.


What would have, could have and should have happened this trip never did, what ever it would have been.


Why?


I will take the rap because of guilt from not making much effort of being the greatest Godfather.

 
This lead me to beckon to my Nephew's wish to leave earlier than the date that coincided with my wife's vacation time.


I did not think this could or should have any bearing on what ever it was, my wife had planned while we were away.


Why did we leave early?


We left early because my Nephew knew it was hurricane season and Route 66 happens to be part of Hurricane Ally and I stupidly was up for it even though I am an adult.


As a matter of fact I was hoping to experience earthquakes when we finally got to Cali.


My biggest mistake was thinking that my nephew who had experienced his first year in college, was a fully developed adult.


Wrong!


Don't get me wrong I love my nephew now more like a son rather than a Godson, but he has a long way to go for adulthood.


From what your reading so far you think that about me, Don't You?


If any of you are familiar with polio you might find what I have to say about how sometimes us folk handle anger does not involve the physical but leaves the emotional something to be desired.


Since we left Boston it was getting more impossible to find stuff to talk about because my nephew knew everything and he was made me believe it.


Not!


Each mile that went by I wondered, how did this kid make it through his first year of college?


It was an accumulation of statements and contradictions which led me to finally have a polio attach in New Mexico after my nephew refused to believe the headlights were still on and the engine had to be on before the lights would turn off without the built in timer that would turn them off using the battery that I was trying to conserve if it made a difference or not.


I might have over done it on the apology as my nephew took it to heart when I said this trip is all about and for him which was evident in the Rout 66 attractions were not seeing leaning away from the guide book I took just so we would not miss what was out there.


For more on the trip please see the Route 66 Boston Blog because I want you to know why and get back my Summer was the best I had in a while.


We got back June 28 which left the whole Summer with lots to write and or shoot about.


I did a very bad job of watching my salt intake on the trip and needed to put myself on a diet which by the way worked,  losing 8 LBS, of course that was from doctor appointment to appointment because I put on an easy 5 LBS.


I made runs to Mickey D's mostly for the $1.00 coffee and if I ate their poison it was without hash brown & french fries.


I have not been near or at 240 LBS in at least a century; I did this while hanging at Revere Beach getting a tan.


I wanted to write but wanting to and doing is two different things as you all know.


I did however take lots of pictures mostly in and around here in Revere.


I needed that Summer to recover from my trip I just wish I wrote more about while it was fresh in my mind but as the highlights come back to me I get them back to you.

Of course your encouragement is always welcome and encouraged.







 

Friday, September 10, 2010

Is Waiting For The Plumber The Reason I'm Not Deficating?

Can't be that bad of an emergency if I had a choice of 3:00 this afternoon or Monday Morning!

Usually when my wife is in a panic about most emergencies I automatically take it down a couple of notches and worry less than her heightened reaction to the situation that she is displaying.

My pipes are not flooding the basement but I have to go there to defecate and not turn any water on upstairs; but my plumber the one of the two I talked to, who lives at home with his mother does not think it is an EMERGENCY?

The last emergency where these guy's where involved that I had; was when my fairly new oil burner died with at least a quarter of a tank of oil left or so it appeared. 

They came within a few hours since it was march and I don't know about where you come from but around her it is dam cold but thankfully we had a break in the weather as a warm front moved in.

It was a good thing for the warm spell because what was going to happen next was going to take a while.

These guys have a permanent contract gig with a Housing Project which obviously makes them complacent so they have this lets make a little extra on the side thing by servicing people like my wife and I.

When they came I let them in through the basement door and went to my unfinished office where it was heated with an electric space heater.

I left them alone because I know I would hate having someone breathing down my neck.


Some serious time had passed as they started out with cleaning the oil burner which should be part of  the regular maintenance that was couple of months over due.


I was busy working in my office but could hear them hard at work troubleshooting the problem.


After hours of laboring at the problem they both came to the conclusion that the oil tank was THE problem and had to be replaced.

I had no doubt at this time that they were correct in there conclusion.

NOW WHAT DO WE DO?

REPLACE THE OIL TANK RIGHT?

NOT SO FAST!

I'm very grateful that my brother in law told us about these guys BUT!

That was when they came in and gave our basement an updated bathroom sink and toilet that was done at the fraction of the cost YOUR plumber would have charged YOU.

It was time to make up for their losses.   

OK our oil tank was leaking right where the pipe that goes into that filter which then goes through to the oil burner.

We now had a choice.

Do we want to replace the oil tank with the same type or do we want one of these double lined German made Roth's?

Hey I know if we care so much for the environment what are we doing heating our house with oil?

We went with the Roth it takes up less space...that might have something to do with it hold less oil?

My concern was what was going to happen to the quarter of a tank of oil?

It would be taken care of along with the old oil tank disposal all included in the quoted price.

This was the best part of this whole part of  REPAIR: The Tigerloop Ultra.

The plumber's could not get this thing to work but managed to mainline oil to the burner overnight because there was a severe cold front coming.

So why couldn't we just let it run without the Tigerloop Ultra

The oil needs be filtered is what I was told and that makes sense.

Halfway through the job or when the oil tank was cut in half they realized the oil tank was empty!

The oil tank's gauge was broken!

Did we really need a new oil tank?

Is my leaking drain pipe an EMERGENCY?