What did you do today? 2016 version

[BigBob]

Bicycled 46 miles as a recovery ride from yesterday's 66 mile endeavor. Life is good, and 2 weeks and 3 days to retirement!

 

[Walt34]

Prepared the small lawn mower for long-term storage. (I did the large one a few days ago.) It hadn't been run since last fall (I had some health issues and now hire out the mowing) and at that time I just closed the fuel valve and let it run until the line and carburetor ran dry. I'd had fuel preservative in the fuel and it started right up! Let it run for a bit to warm up, drained the oil and put in fresh/new, ran it a bit to spread that around inside, drained what fuel I could, let it run again until it stopped for lack of fuel. Removed the spark plug, squirt some motor oil in the cylinder, put the plug back in and spin the engine a few times, and done.

Tomorrow I might remember to wipe some motor oil on the blade.

And think about whether I should sell the mowers or maybe I'll get back to doing the mowing myself. While I could do it now I have found that I really like not having to do it and hiring someone is easily affordable. Just getting lazy I guess.

 

[W2R]

And think about whether I should sell the mowers or maybe I'll get back to doing the mowing myself. While I could do it now I have found that I really like not having to do it and hiring someone is easily affordable. Just getting lazy I guess.

Sell them! You can afford to have someone do the lawn and it's silly to mow if you don't have to and don't want to.

You are not getting lazy; if this worries you, then work out twice as long at the gym.

 

[ElizabethT]

Absolutely nothing!

Spent the last four days backpacking, rolling in around 9:00 PM last night, so today I have given myself permission to do not a whole lot.

The loose plan is to unpack and sort out our backpacks as we do need to dry out our tent, and to pretty much veg out other than that.

A little reading, a little Hulu, then dinner out tonight with our book club.

I relish these 'day afters' which we now do after pretty much every trip.

 

[Cassius King]

Enjoyed the view from my balcony.

 

[Ronstar]

Went to Chicago Bears training camp. Then to a brewpub to replenish lost fluids.

 

[aja8888]

Went to Chicago Bears training camp. Then to a brewpub to replenish lost fluids.

Are you trying out? I mean, I know the Bears are hurting......but....

 

[Ronstar]

Are you trying out? I mean, I know the Bears are hurting......but....

Ha! I should have tried out, but I don't think I would survive 1 practice. 11am to 1 pm in 85° with full pads. You'd think they would practice early mornings.

 

[BigBob]

Spent the last four days backpacking...

Where did you go backpacking? Would you recommend this location?

 

[ElizabethT]

Where did you go backpacking? Would you recommend this location?

We were in the Sierras, which extend for hundreds of miles, thousands of backpacking miles, and about the same number of glacial lakes. Don't think it's possible to make a wrong choice anywhere within.

Here's a photo of the view from our tent on this particular trip:

 

[MBAustin]

Today is one of those days that makes me wonder how I ever had time to w*rk.

After morning walk and breakfast, washed the dog, unloaded the dishwasher, showered, caught up online, recycled newspapers, exchanged propane for the grill, planned meals for the rest of the week, and grocery shopped. Just finished inventorying my herbs and spices and placed a replenishment order (unfortunately, Penzeys closed their Austin store without notice recently). Time for lunch, then since I got a lot done this morning, I'll watch some Olympics and knit. Also need to finish up a letter for our church's prison ministry. This evening, dog and I go to training class - 9 more weeks and he should be ready to be certified as a therapy dog.

 

[Walt34]

Went to the gym, then to the farmer's market to get the spare grill propane tank refilled and couldn't help but buy 1/2 peck of the HUGE peaches they had for sale there. Lunch was peaches and some fresh corn I also bought there.

 

[bbbamI]

This morning consisted of taking care of a few chores in the house. Later, I vacuumed the patio rug and did some general cleaning until the heat was a bit much. This afternoon, I enjoyed a little pecan crackin'. My thoughts went from one place to another. Remembering my childhood days, the food my momma used to cook (she was the best), friends I've made during my lifetime, the realization I am in love for the last time, and amazed how quickly the years have gone by.

After the last pecan was cracked, I heard this song on the radio...

Couldn't stay still...had to get up and boogie on down, don't ya know.

 

[Philliefan33]

Not today, but here's a summary of my encounters with critters since Saturday:

- a mouse in my car, eventually caught in a trap sometime Sunday night

- a rattlesnake swimming in the river, amongst the boats on our commercial trip

- two rattlesnakes at our lunch spot

- a baby rattlesnake on the beach where we finish our river trip

- a copperhead sitting near where the guides' boats were stacked

- a dead eel that I almost stepped on while helping the truck crew put away the boats

I have had it up to "here" with snakes and creepy wiggly things!

 

[NW-Bound]

Packed up the car and was ready to go up to our high-country home, when I saw that the tenacious roof rat/rats has/have chewed another hole in the ceiling of the garage to go up to the attic. So, postpone the trip until the battle comes to the conclusion, hopefully in my favor.

I have set the electronic rat zapper in the attic, and got a small young rat, and a teenage one. The presumably big daddy/mommy rat is just too smart, and left a lot of rat droppings around the trap, but would not enter it. Attempts to plug up the entrance hole seemed to work, until I saw the new hole this morning in a different corner of the garage.

So, if it refuses the clean and humane dispatch by the electronic zapper, out come the traditional spring traps. If that fails, I will buy some glue traps.

C'est la guerre.

It's been almost 2 weeks. I guess I need to provide the interested readers with a follow up.

So, the rats chewed a new ceiling hole to go to/from the garage to the attic. The rat zapper trap set on the garage floor was shunned, although I did get two juvenile rats earlier in the attic.

I mounted 3 snap traps on a pole, and erected it up so that the rats would hit them as they traveled down from the hole in the garage ceiling at night. Roof rats are nocturnal. They hide during the day, and venture out for food at night.

The next morning, found all traps set off, but no rats! Darn, these traps were meant for mice, and I would need beefy ones for rats. Bought 2 rat-sized traps, and repeated the set up.

Next day, traps were not set off. So, they did get down, but how? Found a 3rd hole yet. The rats were smart, and abandoned the old hole, and chewed themselves a new one in the ceiling, near the wall.

Set new traps near that 3rd hole. Next day, found no trap was set off. Wow! How did they evade it? They did get down, because the hole chewed off the garage door bottom seal was enlarged!

Changed the arrangement to make it more difficult for them to get past the traps at the ceiling hole. Also, bought more traps, and set new traps at the hole chewed through the garage door bottom seal, with multiple traps inside as well as outside the door.

The next morning, found out that they still managed to tiptoe through the traps at the ceiling hole. However, the traps set at the garage door bottom seal were impossible to bypass and stayed intact. They knew not to crawl through that hole. But how did they get out?

A check around the garage found that they chewed through a metal wire mesh at a ventilation hole. My garage wall is of block construction, with 4 ventilation holes covered with a wire mesh. The mesh is fine and similar to that used on screen doors. The rats chewed a 2" diameter hole through that metal mesh. Holly Molly!

So, I rearranged the traps at the ceiling hole once more, and also set a trap outside the hole in the wire mesh.

The next day, found that they managed to push a trap out of the way at the ceiling hole, but set off the trap at the wire mesh. The trap was dragged about 2 feet from where it was, but no rats! Wow, must be a big rat that could extricate itself from the snap trap! Holly Molly!

So, I fixed up the set up at the ceiling hole once more, and set up the trap at the wire mesh again. After a couple of days, saw no sign that there was traffic, so I covered up the holes and removed the traps. Apparently, the big rat was not killed, but hurt by the trap that it ran away for good.

So, is it a happy ending? No, not really.

I continued to set the electric rat zapper up in the attic. The thinking is that while the big daddy or mommy rat escaped, there might still be smaller rats stuck up in the attic. Surely, I have gotten two more rats. Judging by their size, one was a juvenile and the other one a young adult.

The last rat caught was on the night before yesterday. This morning, there's no rat. I guess I don't really know for a while.

By the way, I lured them first with a bit of blue cheese set on a piece of aluminum foil. They liked the cheese so much that they tore up the foil, trying to get every bit of that cheese stuck on the foil. After that, I moved the cheese to inside the trap, and that's how I got the recent two.

 

[Souschef]

Angel Flight

I flew a young mother and her 4 year old son from Santa (UCLA Medical) to their home In San Diego. The boy just had a liver transplant recently, and his mom lifted his shirt to show me the scar.
As we got closer to San Diego, the cloud started dropping, but we could see the airport and landed safely.
Coming home, however, we had to climb through a 700 foot cloud deck to get on top. The rest of the flight was uneventful.

 

[Just_Steve]

Just spent 2 days on the beach and 2 nights getting my Crab habit under control in Ocean City, MD. We then drove to Philadelphia for some cheese steak hero's, had both Pats and Geno's (Pat's gets my vote) after lunch drove to Atlantic City to gamble away our children's inheritance. Fun 4 days.

 

[Sittinginthesun]

Down at my vacation home in Florida and had the local tennis pro kick my butt on the court with the ball machine until I burned off almost 1200 cal. Then I did some errands including Home Depot etc. before jumping into the pool with a good new book for couple of hours.

 

[MRG]

I'm not a real tidy person, small delicate tasks are difficult for me. Today my index fingernail is trying to peel off from where I whacked it with a chef's knife. DW gives me some superglue to attach it with. Now I've learned what NOT to do with superglue.

 

[Souschef]

IRS Lawsuit

I am thrilled! I just got my robocall from the IRS! Everyone else has been getting them and I felt so left out

 

[REWahoo]

I am thrilled! I just got my robocall from the IRS! Everyone else has been getting them and I felt so left out

I apologize as I have apparently been taking more than my fair share. They called me twice yesterday.

 

[Walt34]

Drove with DW about four hours drive time to Chesapeake, VA for a layover pending an early AM departure for Corolla, NC where family has rented a beach house. We stopped for about an hour on the way for lunch and had a nice steak dinner after check-in at the hotel.

 

[RobbieB]

Walked the dog, went to the store and got some lobster tails for supper, unpacked my southern boiled peanuts that arrived and now I'm going out to work on my little "plumbing project"

Then I'll warm up some of those peanuts and munch with cocktails and consider how I'm gonna cook those lobster tails.

 

[NW-Bound]

Never had Southern boiled peanuts, so I had to look it up. A frugal guy like me would make it himself than to buy it on line and have it shipped. I may try it some time.

 

[RobbieB]

I've made some myself and they are good. You need raw peanuts in the shell, water and salt. Add whatever spice you desire.

But I'm an affluent spendthrift and order online -