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17 April, 2011

Sunday Morning Coming Down

Well, not quite, but I was searching for a title and this popped up into my train of thought, limited that that might be.

The project to provide some shade for the pool continues to make progress. Progress in a forward direction, no less.

Dianna and I spent some quality time Friday, applying silicone grease to the threads of 120 locking caribiners.
Caribiners All Greased And Ready
These are the little dudes that will go through grommets in the shade cloth and enclose the wire running from stanchion to stanchion.

Here's the first stanchion, painting is complete on it. One more to go.
This One's Finished
Yesterday was interesting. I had some chores to do in the morning and a Man's Group meeting in the afternoon. The chores mostly entailed me putting a first coat of 'Precaution Blue' on the second stanchions.
Second Stanchion Done
The first thing I did, besides wimping out on a morning walk with the girls, was to surprise them with a ride at 6:30 AM. We went in to town to Vivi's and got some meat pies for breakfast. Then, I got cracking on painting the stanchion.

After that, I took a shower and ran (drove) into town again with the girls. Two rides in one day. They thought that was pretty cool. I had to go by Villa's Imports and get a second can of 'Precaution Blue' and a couple of brushes.

While I was at Villa's, my phone kept ringing and since I was busy, I tried to ignore it. Whoever was calling was persistent, I'll give them that. Anyway, I answered the phone. It was Dra. Monica's assistant wanting to know if I could come in right then for an impromptu appointment. I told her no way as I had a lot of running around to do and a meeting in the afternoon. She came back saying it was really important as Dra. Monica needed to see how it was healing up and to try out the crown before it was sent to the techies who actually make the ceramic crown and that it would only take 10 or 15 minutes.

I told her ok, I'd be there in about 10 minutes if I could find a shady spot to park as I had the dogs. I finished purchasing the paint and brushes and jumped into the Isuzu.

As we neared the medical center, I spied a lucky spot across the street near the church on the corner. A nice shady spot too. Then I briskly walked over to the dental office and knocked on the door.

Right away they had me in the chair and Dra. Monica removed the temporary crown, fitted the 'mock-up' of the permanent one and after determining that the bite was fine, the two spent some time determining the matching color of my teeth.

After that, Dra. Monica re-installed the temp crown and we made an appointment for late Tuesday afternoon to put in the permanent crown (she goes on vacation on Wednesday).

Leaving her office, I completed my grocery shoppping and zoomed back home, let the girls out of the car and proceeded to put the first coat of blue on the second stanchion.

Then, it was time for another shower and by then, time to leave for the 'Man Meeting', which pretty much shot the rest of the day - with no pool time either.

I do have to confess something entirely unrelated. I've relapsed... Years ago, like around 1979, when we first got cable TV in Cheney, Washington, I became a Chicago Cubs fan, mostly because of Jack Brickhouse and Harry Caray, the Cubs announcers. They just made you feel like you were part of the Cubs family.

Several years later, when we moved up to Olympia, I started rooting for the Mariners. I remained an M's fan for around 20 years.

Well, now here we are in Belize, and it's next to impossible to watch the Mariner's on TV. Last season, I signed up for MLB-TV for mucho dinero. Turns out their system said my computer and connection would work, but of course, no it didn't. But, their policy didn't allow for a refund of my money. So I went last year with no interest in baseball.

This year, I had a hankering to watch the American pastime once again. Since we get WGN as part of our satellite package, I decided to renew my fan relationship with the Cubs, and it just feels right. Like an old comfortable pair of slippers.

I've managed to stay up and watch a couple games so far. Last night, they played the Colorado Rockies in Denver and kicked butt - 8 to 3. So, consequently, once again, I've become a Cubs fan. I might even have to dust off my Die-Hard Cubs Fan Club membership certificate - signed by Ernie Banks!

So, now we're back on topic and we do the miraculous time shift to today. I walked the doggies and got right to painting. I applied the second and last coat of blue to the stanchion (see photo above) and then pressure-washed the deck to remove most of the dribbles and drops I had spilled on the wood. My excuse for not using the plastic tarp that I had was that it was too windy. Well, that and I was probably too lazy to wrestle with it and the ladder at the same time.

Anyway, it's all done and we're waiting for Tuesday afternoon for the awning... And Tuesday at 5:30, when I get my permanent crown. Woo-hoo!

Cheers,

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