Bogieblog

Christmas Visit

Sunday, 12/24, I started the day extremely early - even for me. My alarm went off at 2:15 and I was on the road by 3:15 AM. It has been sleeting so the roads were a bit slick, but not too bad. There wasn't much traffic so I made it to the airport in plenty of time. After checking my very small bag in for luggage, I went to the TSA line. Much to my delight I was TSA pre-checked so the nice officer said I could leave my shoes on and it would save time. Never had that happen before. Of course, the metal detector went off and after divesting myself of boots and belt I made it thru. Still less drama than usual.

I made it to Chicago and made my connecting flight with time to spare. The flight to Wichita surprised a lot of people as most carry on bags were required to be checked in plane-side. That didn't affect me as my tickets had not allowed me a carry on anyway (only one small personal item that could fit under the seat). The reason for them taking the carry ons was apparent once we entered the plane.

Yes, that is 3 seats across. The only overhead bins were those over the 2 seat side. The center aisle ceiling was so short that I had to take my readers off the top of my head (and I'm 5' 6.5"). This is the smallest jet plane I have ever been on and I seriously believe that Greyhound buses have a bigger passenger area.

I arrived without incident and had several great days with family that included attending Christmas morning with Fantastic Niece, NG's1 & 2, and Rachie in their "new" house (they've been in there for a year or two). I spent time with Wichi Dude and Dudette and Cop Car and her HH were kind enough to put me up for my stay (along with delivery to/from airport). There was a lot of catching up to do since I haven't been back there for 3 years. Some of the highlights were going to browse the "Tool Store" (we didn't get nearly enough time there or cover more than probably 1/8 of the store, but it was awesome!), having lunch with not only family but a dear family friend (Elegant Friend) and shopping for a new purse.

Yes, I said shopping for a new purse was a highlight - not something you would normally hear from a non-girly female :) . It seems every time I go back to Kansas I am in need of a purse. Usually I have been looking for the replacement for a while here in NH, but somehow I can't find the right one. Well, Wichi Dude and I took off one day and he took me to the mall. We visited 2 shops, where WD had to listen to my running commentary on likes and dislikes as I quickly eliminated one choice after another; no "onesies" (the inside needs to be divided into at least a couple of sections - not just a pouch), several outer pockets, small zippered inside pocket, size requirements etc. Let me tell you that WD pays attention and by the time we hit Sears he was going thru them like a pro and bringing my attention to good candidates. I found 3 different purses that would be good and was trying to decide on two of them - figuring that I wouldn't have to look again for 4-6 years. Then the "Sale" sign caught my eye - 50% off. Woohoo! I bought all three for just over $100 and should be good for 6-9 years. Now that is a successful shopping trip.

Cop Car was smart and decided to forego the ordeal of cooking meals - no massive leftovers, no mega dishes to wash, no working around food allergies of various family members. She did make a good selection of cookies and fudge plus there was plenty of lunch meat/cheeses and vegies so we could snack between going out or picking up meals to eat at the house.

Thursday HH took me back to the airport so I could find my way home. My first flight was delayed by a little over an hour. However, I had a 2+ hour layover planned so it was not an issue for me (I think I'm the only one that didn't have to scramble for a different connection). Although my connection boarded and closed the doors on time (or very close to), we sat there at the terminal for an hour waiting to be de-iced. The plane landed in NH right before midnight.

Although I normally walk to my car from the terminal, the temps ere in the negative numbers with a breeze so I elected to take the shuttle. I was the only one on the shuttle so the driver and I chatted. I had disclosed that the only reason I was taking the shuttle was becuase of the cold and he gave me some tidbits of info. The most important one I paid attention to was that if my truck wouldn't start (since it had been sitting in frigid temps for days), that I could wait until the next shuttle came by and inform the driver. Then the driver would arrange for someone to come out and give my battery a boost. Even though it turns out I didn't need it, that is a nice service to have! The shuttle driver also told me what to do if I lost my parking ticket (they take inventory every night so know how long each vehicle has been there) and also disclosed parking strategies (for 7+day trips park in the garage as it has a cap on parking rates where the open parking lots don't). After sweeping off all the snow from the truck and letting it warm up a bit, I headed on my way home - arriving about 1:30.

I had a great time seeing family, but as usual, it was nice to get home.

1 Ton Rig

In case you were wondering, why yes you can fit a ton of pellets into a 2004 Ford Explorer. Order of pics: Driver's side back door, tailgate, passenger side front door.

I don't need pellets. But, the pellets I have produce a lot of ash. Now I don't have an issue with that, but I will be leaving my house in the care of others for 5 days, and I need a less ashy product for them to deal with - espcially since they haven't dealt with pellet stoves before. I'd rather buy tonnage than by the bag (cheaper) so I inquired at my local TSC if I could by a ton and then take two trips to take it. They said sure. In fact, they will sell a ton and then you can pick up whatever you can handle and pick up more later. They just mark on your receipt how much you took and you present it each time at pick up.

Anyway, I knew I could fit 30 bags in there since I've done it before. As we were loading (me and two TSC employees), I got to 35 bags and still had lots of room, so we went for it. The bags in the front seat were still low enough that I had an unobstructed view.

The car got kicked out of the garage, which was good because it needed to run and charge the battery.  some of the pellets went in the garage and some of them went into the basement. However, I stacked the basement pellets in the garage first so I could keep the overhead door closed in case a cat decided to run out the basement door while.

Yes, yes, I know, me and my wild Friday nights :)

Artsy Time

It wasn't all fun and outdoor games last Sunday (see previous post). In the afternoon I sat down and started a project that I prepared for last winter. Go look at the link, I'll wait :). What you don't know is that some time later I found myself in a craft store for some reason or other, and found some paints that should work nicely, instead of using markers.

So after all my exercise earlier in the day, I decided I needed to do something other than reading, so figured I'd mess with the trim piece that will actually go in the bathroom.

Now I remember one of the reasons I dislike crafts - because they take a lot of patience. 1.5 hours later, I got the leaves on the 55" piece of trim outlined and the vines detailed with "warm penny" metallic craft paint.

Oh, and another reason I dislike crafts - I can't stay between the lines :)

Anyway, it's been started. No telling when I will feel like filling in the leaves, but it is one step closer to completion.

Winter is Here

Last Saturday into Sunday it snowed about 5". I got to try my new snow blower out. Actually, I guess I should go back to the Thursday prior. The weather guessers started making noise about a Nor'Easter that should dump about 7" of snow. Not impressive as far as Nor'Easters go, but impressive for a first measurable snowfall. Well, now that the bike was out of the garage, it was time to get the snowblower out of the basement. And, oh, by the way, finish putting it together :)

So Friday night when I got to work, I backed the car into the driveway, took snowblower out to the garage and spent a while puzzling over the pictographs on how to put the chute on. Okay, actually putting the chute on was easy, it was figureing out how to hook up the cabling so that I could control the top guide angle (nice feature that I don't have to do that manually like my old snowblower). Finally, I figured that out and started the beast up and putted it up and down the driveway a couple of times to get used to the controls. Oh, auger and drive controls are on the opposite sides from my old snowblower. Add onto that that the left hand is the clutch hand (on the bike) and I was all kinds of confused.

Saturday afternoon it started snowing, but by evening there was only a couple of inches so I elected to shovel the driveway. Sunday morning I woke up to a nice blanket of snow. Picture taken early morning, so barely any light.

 

After waiting until a respectable 8 AM, I started up the snow blower and started clearing the driveway, then onto the truck path to the tent garage, then the paths thru the pen and out to the mulch pile (and where I dump ashes from the pellet stoves). I was cussing myself because when I assembled it, the directions suggested putting it in 1WD and saving 2WD for heavy snow. Uggh, bad decision to listen to them. On smooth driveway 1WD was okay, but the yard was not fun. But, since the wheels were packed with snow, I didn't want to try to do the change over, so kept at it as it was.

Monday night I got home and changed the lock pin over so that the snow blower was in 2WD - getting ready for the next storm barreling toward us.

Tuesday it started snowing shortly before I left for work. It snowed all day and by the time I got home there was another 5.5" for me to move. This time, with 2WD, the job went much more smoothly. The blower has plenty of power and blows snow quite far. Since I wasn't fighting the wheels to keep it going straight, I was able to concentrate on getting used to the controls and an interlock system between the drive and auger levers that had completely discombobulated me the first try.

If the start of the winter is any indication, it will be a harder and snowier winter than the last two. It seems like this snowblower will be up to the challenge.

Busy Week for Bike Activities

Last Saturday was the HOG Christmas party. Although each person paid entrance fee that would cover the venue, dinner and entertainment, several of us brought appetizers to munch. The party started at 4 so I got there about 3:30 and helped the party committee set up.

Some LOH member had made the centerpieces, which turned out awesome!

After socializing and dinner, the awards ceremony began. Much to my surprise I got HOG Member of the Year award. Pretty much because I took on LOH and then will be Editor. Not long after the dancing and music started so I left for home.

Sunday LOH had a gift wrapping party. The HOG chapter took on 19 disadvantaged kids and got them Christmas gifts. LOH took on the wrapping (well, we did the buying too :) - but lots of people contributed the funds). I never thought to take pictures until the wrapping was done and the snacking and socializing began.

Monday I took the day off work so I could deliver the presents to the charity.

 

When I got home, it was in the low 40's so I took a last ride.

 

Tuesday morning the dealership picked up the bike

 

Finally, Thursday night the dealership had a Ladies' Night. Several of LOH showed up. The dealership was conducting a drawing for a gift certificate if you modeled some clothes and posted on their FB page. So I did. Nope, didn't win.

And now it is time for bike related stuff to slumber thru the winter. Just in time too - we had the first measurable snow fall today so I was out shoveling the driveway a little bit ago.

 

Resting the Shoulder - Not

Thanksgiving day I read all day so the start of resting my shoulder seemed to start out well. Then Friday morning Rita didn't show up for breakfast, or to be let out. She always wants out in the morning so that was a bit concerning. I looked everywhere for her, but she was nowhere to be found. Late morning I went to the dump and got a few groceries. When I got back I could hear her crying in the basement. It took quite a while for me to find her; she had gotten herself wedged underneath on of the pallets of pellets in the basement. As far as I can determine there aren't any mice in the house (never seen any sign of mice inside since I moved here) so I have no idea why she decided to crawl under there. I left her for a couple hours with a bowl of food sitting just outside the pallet, but she didn't move and just kept crying.

Naturally, she picked the pallet of pellets that I had not been heating from. There was nothing to do but unload 69 bags of pellets (50 bags is a ton). The left pallet is the one she was under

 

I was able to move most of the pellets over to the right hand stack

24 bags of pellets had to be moved out into another part of the basement, then re-stacked on the original pallet after I got Rita out.

The green/yellow bagged pellets put out less heat and more ash than the white bagged paellets so I have been using them for the relatively mid weather. The white bags are being saved for Jan-Feb. Well, I wasn't un-stacking the pellets on the right pallet again, so I brought in 31 bags from the garage. So yeah, I moved 69+24+31 = 124 bags; 2.5 tons in my cat rescuing mission.

I then blocked up all the holes so Rita could not get into mischief like that again.

Saturday, with the temps supposed to be climbing into the 50's, I was planning on going for a last ride for the season (I have less that 5k miles this year - least ever). However, about 10 am I got an email from the HOG Activities director asking me to contact LOH to see if anyone could help him empty out a storage unit for the woman who had lost her SO. I sent out an email to all of LOH, but everyone was shopping or not in town. So I took the Explorer and went to help. The Activities Director was pulling up with his Explorer, and a trailer filled with boxes and furniture when I got to her house. I helped unload that, then followed him to the storage unit where we filled both our trucks and trailer. That emptied most of the unit. After unloading his vehicle/trailer and my truck, I went shopping (since I was in Concord anyway).

Since then, it has been quiet so I haven't had to strain my shoulder anymore. I spent Sunday and my weeknights reading.