Published by JPLand on 19 Sep 2008
Weekend Plans
This weekend is an odd occurrence. Kelley has decided to take the girls to visit her parents and has left me behind. I think that she would prefer me to go, but there are a couple of engagements that I have that prevent me from being able to go. As of 4:20pm on Friday, I have cleared out all of the work that was looming over my weekend and I’m looking out over an open schedule. Of course, I’m still on the hook if the boss calls me, so I’m not out of the woods, but if everything continues as it is now, I can get some stuff done. Here’s the plan:
Friday Evening
-Cut the grass
-wire an attic exhaust fan
-go listen to my friend Rob and his band “Deacons of Disaster” at CJ’s
Saturday
-make a video for church…it’s supposed to show on Sunday. I should probably start soon.
-clean the past year’s worth of yard debris
-construction project to fit a freezer in our closet
-yard work to remove pebbles and put down stepping stones
-try to watch a little football when I sit down for a breather
-repair a few random holes that I’ve put into walls (it’s a hobby)
Sunday
-Rest
-Gather with some college friends for a birthday party
-welcome Kelley and the girls home in the evening
-watch the sunset on the perfect weekend.
That’s what I hope will happen. Here’s what I expect to happen.
Friday Evening
-get supper
-sit on the couch
-fall asleep early
Saturday
-cut the grass
-get an e-mail from the boss about work
-work from mid-morning through the evening
-eat supper (something fast, greasy, and heart-attack inducing)
-remember video and work until midnight to make it
-forget to save, computer crash, scream at empty house
Sunday Morning, Early
-in the wee hours of the morning, redo Video
-take video to church with coffee and little sleep
-go back home, do more work
-Greet Kelley and the girls when they come home in the evening
-wonder what happened to the weekend
So there it is. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? Want to come over and watch?
*EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s now 4:45 (11 minutes after I originally posted this) and I didn’t sneak out of the office soon enough…I got pulled in to do some more work. *sigh* I sure wish someone would go cut my grass…hint, hint.


So, apparently the LintEater is designed to sneak around the lint and leave it undisturbed. While interesting, it’s not very helpful. So, I did what any other engineer would do in this situation….I “improved” the design.
Apparently my calculations did not take into account the fact that there would be a lot of lint in the vent. When the rag got beyond reach from either end, the nifty “Dryer Vent Cleaning System” broke. And not just “hey, that’s unfortunate” kind of break. It was broken at the precise location where the rag was firmly planted into the middle of my dryer vent…and I couldn’t reach it.
I love to work on the house or in the yard. There’s this feeling of accomplishment when a task is done. I stand back and look at my work and say “eh, not bad.” Prior to taking on a task, my wife never fails to ask “Are you sure you can do this?” And it’s not the supportive type of question. It’s the kind that really says “I don’t want a big hole in my house.” So, finishing a task not only makes me feel good, it gives me a bit of vindication for having my aptitude questioned. Granted, I occassionally give her reason to question, but that is not the point of the post, so please stop dwelling on the negative….hater.
At one point, I was sure I heard something behind me, but I kept working. And then, as plain as day, I felt something cold and wet on my leg. This could not be my imagination. I wanted to turn around and see what it was, but I didn’t want to do it so fast that I freaked out this thing and have it bite me. Slowly, I turned and pointed my flashlight into the beady eyes of this massive creature. Pippin lifted his cold nose from my leg, greeted my flashlight by licking my face, and then went back to exploring the dark underground.



This past weekend, I had numerous projects going on. Some were more evident than others. Let’s take, for instance, cleaning out the gutters. The job was long, hot, tedious, and dirty. When I got done and looked at the house, did it look any different? Negative. Would any visitors be able to tell that I’d done it? No. Is there really much evidence that I’d spent so much time on this? Not that I can see. But, this was a task that had to be done…so I did it.


Apparently, we have one of two possible problems. Either (1) the previous owners of our house put in some not-too-good toilets or (2) we eat too much Chinese food. And, since I’m not going to give up my Mongolian Beef anytime soon, it looks like I’ll be replacing a few porcelain thrones.
When I was in 
Sometimes
So here’s the plan. Butterfly and I went to Lowe’s this evening to get some supplies. First was grass seed. I got a small bag because it’s much easier on the wallet to waste a small bag than a big bag. Next, I got a bag of wildflower seeds. I’m hoping that I can scatter these about along the edges of the fence line and make my fence look wild. The last bag was full of birdseed. I figure I should at least have something alive in the backyard when I’m done.


Apparently, I’m 
My Christmas gift from the in-laws was a gift card that was 