9-04 10-04 11-04 12-04 1-05 2-05 3-05 4-05 5-05 6-05 7-05 8-05 9-05 10-05 11-05 12-05 1-06 2-06 3-06
4-06 5-06 6-06 7-06 8-06 9-06 10-06 11-06 12-06 1-07 2/07 3-07 4-07 5-07 6-07 7-07 8-07 9-07 10-07 11-07 12-07 1-08 2-08 3-08 4-08 5-08 6-08 7-08 8-08 9-08 10-08 11-08 12-08 1-09 2-09 3-09 4-09 5-09 6-09 7-09 8-09 9-09 10-09 11-09 12-09 1-10 2-10 3-10 4-10 5-10 6-10 7-10 8-10 9-10 10-10 11-10 12-10 1-11 2-11 3-11 4-11 5-11 6-11 7-11 8-11 9-11 10-11 11-11 12-11 1-12 2-12 3-12 4-12 5-12 6-12 7-12 8-12 9-12 10-12 11-12 12-12 1-13 2-13 3-13 4-13 5-13 6-13 7-13 8-13 9-13 10-13 11-13 12-13 1-14 2-14 3-14 4-14 5-14 6-14 7-14 8-14 9-14 10-14 11-14 12-14 1-15 2-15 3-15 4-15 5-15 6-15 7-15 8-15 9-15 10-15 11-15 12-15 1-16 2-16 3-16 4-16 5-16 6-16 7-16 8-16 9-16 10-16 11-16 12-16 1-17 2-17 3-17 4-17 5-17 6-17


"The world meets nobody halfway. When you want something you gotta take it." -Stallone in Over the Top

Thursday, 7-27-17: Cliff starts raking today. Maybe?
The 2017 blueberry raking season starts tomorrow for Gavin and I, but it starts for Cliff and some of his other workers today. Maybe? I suppose the weather could have an impact since rain is moving in at this early hour. The 0600 radar:

Looks like it's not raining in the midcoast yet, but it will be in minutes. The forecast is only for .1" of rain so not much at all. My guess is Cliff, Phil, and Sierra will rake at least some today down there. Cliff might already be in the field getting started. Cliff does not have much of a crew these days, and I like it. Better to have a core, small group of good people than a larger herd of folks. It sucks to have a small crew when there is poor raking because it takes longer to chew up the garbage, but it is nice when the raking is good because it lasts longer.

This season we will be starting at Payson's field, moving on to a field called "The Wentworth Lot." and then finally finishing up in Cliff's Palermo field. I am NOT looking forward to doing Palermo, but oh well. We've never raked either the Wentworth or Palermo fields before. Cliff said the Wentworth field was great 2 years ago, and we all know his Palermo field is hot garbage. Cliff usually hires out that field, but not this year. What a bunch of crap! Even worse is the fact that it is pretty far away from everything. It's over an hour from here and 40 minutes from Warren so that sucks. It is "only" 25 minutes from Mic Mac, but by then camping will be over so I will have to commute. Gods damn it. I'm guessing 4-5 days at Payson's, 4-5 days at Wentworth's lot, and then a few more in Palermo for a 2-week season. Of course there is no way to know at this point.

All I wanna know is why? Why did I have to wake up at 0421 and not be able to go back to sleep? I feel wide awake. I tried to go back to sleep, but that was epic fail. What a bunch of crap! Oh well, I guess that means I am well enough rested. Maybe? Hopefully I can sleep better tonight, my last night home for a few nights. Gav and I are camping at Mic Mac starting tomorrow night and going through Saturday night August 5th. However, I will most likely come back home for a night next Tuesday or Wednesday so I can see my awesome wife.

Raking season this year will also be Jason and Holly's wedding. Uncle Kevin, Uncle Jimmy, and Uncle Greg are all flying back from the west coast to attend the August 5th wedding. I haven't seen Uncle Kevin or Uncle Jimmy in over 20 years. What a bunch of crap! I last saw them probably in early 1997 before the Alamdea base closed and we transferred up to Bremerton, Washington when I was aboard the USS Carl Vinson in the Navy. I'm especially excited to see Uncle Kevin because he is a great guy. We hung out a lot in between my deployments when I was stationed not far from him all those years ago. It seems like a lifetime ago when we played chess at his San Leandro apartment and when we ate at Harry's and the buffet place whose name I have long forgotten.

Also coming back for the wedding is Doug. I have not seen Doug since the shit-show that was my own wedding over two years ago. I'll see him next week, and I am looking forward to it because I want to work towards fixing shit. I know he does, too. He and I have texted some over the past month, but we are far from the great friends that we once were. Getting blackout drunk and talking shit about my wife = all bad and not soon forgotten, especially when there has of yet been no apology for it...

I have a lot to do today, but not an overwhelming amount. I have to load the truck with firewood and other camping supplies, but I'll do that later. I have to buy some groceries, I have to pack, I have to cut my hair, and I have to mow as many lawns as I can today. I don't know if I will get them all done, but awesome if I do because then I won't have to do any next week when I come back for an overnight visit. If I stay on it today I'll also do a little work downstairs here at our house. That remodel is coming along well; I got quite a bit done on it yesterday. Hopefully after blueberry raking I can get it done quickly. I hope it comes out looking good, too.

I got sick of watching the news so I put it on the 80s channel 1928. Cyndi Lauper All Through the Night. Good tune! At 0700 I will flip it back to the NBC Today show so I can see some national headlines. I'm guessing the latest efforts from congress to repeal and replace Obamacare will be the top story. Votes to replace ended in epic fail so now they are going to just try to repeal the bootleg thing. I hope the repeal passes because that would eliminate the tax penalty for not having health insurance.

I don't think I will update this shit-show of a site again for a while. Most likely after blueberry raking. Maybe? Who knows for sure. Next week if I get a little free time. The weather is looking great after today's showers so that is awesome. It looks hot midweek next week so that is not awesome, but it sure beats heavy rains and I can man up and work right through heat. Mostly.

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Tuesday, 7-25-17: A remodel of the downstairs.
Since I bought this house 3.25 years ago I have had someone bivouaced in the downstairs area most of the time. First was Doug for a couple weeks in May of 2014 when he came back to visit. Then in July 2014 Tommy moved in and set up camp down there. Tommy moved in just when Kat and I started dating in fact. After Tommy moved out in the winter of 2015 Katherine moved in, and then two years ago Katherine moved upstairs so Daniel could move in and take over that downstairs area. Now Daniel is gone, and for the first time in a while it is empty down there.

Daniel actually moved out less than 24 hours ago. Yesterday morning at time time I was in my bootleg gym, and then after that I did a final walkthrough with a tenant and we started to load up Daniel's possessions so he could spread out into his own place with three of his friends. By early afternoon the downstairs here was empty, and I had a chance to do a little work on it already:

That downstairs area is fairly bootleg. The ceiling height is only 77 inches. What a bunch of crap! I can't do anything to fix that (short of excavating the entire foundation for tens of thousands of dollars... no thanks.) The carpet is old and worn so it all has to go, and many of the ceiling tiles had fallen down thanks to a poor installation job by someone in the distant past. I've done a lof of work to this house since I bought it (A LOT.), but up until now I have not done jack shit to the downstairs for improvements. That all changes this week and after blueberry raking. I'm going to rip out some useless nook, install a new ceiling, and bye bye to that bootleg carpet and hello to some laminate flooring that should look much nicer. Hopefully.

I think that area in red in the photo was once a closet, but for some weird reason it was converted into a bench-thing that really served no useful purpose. With that entire area opened up I think it will feel a lot more open down there. Off to the left and not pictured is a separate 8x13 bedroom with two good-sized closets. We had discussed opening up everything so it is just one giant room, but I think we will keep it two different rooms. There is a support post and some wires in the center so doing an open-concept would be tricky. It would look nice and be about 13x20, though. Except for that damn low ceiling... what a bunch of crap that is!

^That desk-thing will most likely stay. See all the pipes at the top? I have to box all those in, and that will be tricky. Those are all the feeds to the new house addition. Hot water, cold water, natural gas, sewer drain, and an 8-guage electrical feed rated for (Maybe?) 60 amps for the new little panel for the addition beyond. I have limited space with which to work when I box that all in, expecially at the entry to the space, so it will not be much fun.

I only spent about an hour yesterday on the downstairs because we spent several hours moving Daniel to the 4BR apt over by my office and because I wanted to play racquetball. (Lost all 5 games to Deno. What a bunch of crap!) Today I have to install a new water heater, but after that I can come back here and spend a few hours on that downstairs. I don't think the downstairs will be too easy. In addition to some pipes and wires in my way there is also a support column *partly* in the way. I don't want to turn it into some hugely expensive thing, but we shall see...

Once I finish the downstairs next month Dillon and Debbie will be moving down there so Kat can finally have her studio up here in the new addition. There is actually a bit more square footage for Dillon and Debbie downstairs, but the lower celings make it seems less inviting, at least in my opinion. I hope they like it well enough down there and if they don't then oh well at least I tried. Again, there is only so much I can do with that downstairs. It will never be as nice as the upstairs no matter what I do.

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Saturday, 7-22-17: A perfect night.
The weather is great tonight. Not too hot, not too cold. 71 degrees, dew point 52, NW breeze to help with the air flow. It's 2112, and I am leaving in about 20 minutes to go have a couple beers with Gavin at his place before I scoot across the street from his house to Jester's. Gavin lives so close to us, to Jester's, and to our old apartment and my bootleg office/gym now. Ever since he bought his place back in 2014 he is right here in the neighborhood. His house is actually the one I was going to buy, but I ended up "sticking" him with it. Not a bad place, but it has needed a lot of work since he got it.

I just got off the phone with Mom, and I have a plan laid out for around the time of Jason and Holly's wedding. Hopefully Mom does not text another photo of Dad laying on the couch like she did last night because that sucked. It was a bunch of crap. I know my Dad is in poor health, and I don't need Mom to text me photos like that. When she goes to Cape Cod on the 6th and 7th next month Dad will be home alone so I am going to stay with him for those two nights. Better he have some company, especially since his health lately has been questionable at best. The doctors don't know what is wrong with him, but the term "mini strokes" has been bandied about much too often for my liking. What a bunch of crap!

This house just hit the market a couple days ago:

It is only a couple house down the road from us, and I can't believe they are asking $165k for it. OMG. It is a tiny little ranch, only $1150 square feet. It is actually kinda comparable to this house that I bought in April of 2014. I paid $122,500 for this house. However, now our house does not compare because it is twice as large since we did the remodel. I hope that house does sell for full asking price because that means our pad has some serious value. Not that I want to sell anytime soon because I don't. Kat and I agree that living a bit more rural would be awesome, but this is a great house and being so close to town and to the rental properties is a huge plus. However, the $3600 a year in property taxes is not such a plus. What a bunch of crap that is! Maybe is is $3000 a year. Hell I forget. I could look it up, but F it. Before we added 1000 square feet of living space property taxes were closer to $2400. Now our house is about 2500 square feet with 3 bathrooms and 5 bedrooms. Not bad. Plenty of room for the kids, for the dogs, and for the cats.

EDIT: THE PROPERTY TAX BILL ARRIVED ON JULY 25TH IN THE MAIL, AND TAXES FOR THIS COMING YEAR ARE GOING TO BE $3991. OMG WHAT A CRISPY BUNCH OF CRAP! HOLY SHIT BREWER IS FUCKING EXPENSIVE WE SHOULD MOVE TO A MORE RURAL PLACE WITH CHEAPER TAXES GODS DAMN IT.

Alright you droolbuckets, all two of youz, I am out of here. Time to go put the finishing touches on the blueberry raking plans with Gavin and to talk about how he totally destroyed Mike and I at racquetball last night. We got CRUSHED. Worst cutthroat beating, ever. In one game Mike and I did not even score one frigging point. What a bunch of crap! We blame Gavin's "juiced" ball. Hehehe.

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Saturday, 7-22-17: Five days until raking starts.
Cliff text messaged me back at 0638 this morning to let me know that he plans to start Payson's field on the 27th this season. For all the years that Gavin and I have raked for Cliff he has done the Payson and "Bob Wright's" Bull Hill fields on the odd years and his own field and the other Bob Wright fields on the even years. Our first year raking together for Cliff was 2004 so this will be our 14th consecutive year working for Cliff during the raking season. Wow! Cliff is 67 years old so there are not too many years left before I'm sure he 100% retires. He already retired from the USPS a couple years ago.

This year will be different because after Payson's we are doing a new field called the Wentworth lot instead of the Bull Hull fields. Gavin raked for Cliff when I was in the Navy and when I was doing my own raking up here, but he said he does not know what the Wentworth lot is. Cliff thinks the 7-acre piece will be good, and it is only 5 miles away from Mic Mac where we are camping so that seems like a good deal. I hope! We will be raking fewer acres this season than we ever have so hopefully the season is not too short. However, we might have a smaller crew than ever so maybe it will all work out just fine.

^What was historically the best Bull Hill field we are no longer raking. What a bunch of crap! We are not doing Bull Hill because the owners did not spend money for bees (and chemicals?) so F that. Bob Wright would be rolling in his grave at the thought I am sure, but I don't think his kids give a crap. Ever since he passed away many years ago the entire piece has been for sale, but for a shitload of money so the property has not moved. I think at one point they wanted close to a million dollars for all that land. OMG F that! It is a beautiful property. Most blueberry fields are beutiful because they are on hilltops/hillsides.

Since Cliff's first day will be the 27th I think I will wait and start on the 28th. Gav and I start camping next Friday the 28th so it makes sense to just wait and do that. If Cliff had started on the 26th, this Wednesday, then I would have driven down and stayed Wed night with Mom and Dad so I could rake for the 26th and for half of the 27th before coming home to mow lawns and to get ready for camping. I don't really want to go down for just a day trip when I will have things to do up here still. This coming week will be busy because Daniel is moving into my 4BR apt with three other friends so I have to get that place ready for them. The current tenants will be all done Monday morning, and I think they will leave the place looking great. I hope! If that apartment is in good shape (which I totally expect) then all I should have to do is a few touch-ups, some paperwork, and change the locks. Maybe the guys can start moving in as early as later Monday...

Once Daniel is out of the downstairs here at our house I need to rip out the old carpets, redo the ceiling, and take care of a few other things down there. I don't think I can get the downstairs all done before I start raking, but it would be awesome if I could get it done because then Dillon and Debbie can move down there and Kat can finally get her studio that I built for her 1.5 years ago.

^It is a big room, 16x13 I believe. Plenty of space for her DJ gear as well as other cool things. Dillon moved in with us in February 2016 after he hauled on his chick one late night, but then like 2 days later they got back together and she moved into that same room with him in June last year. AAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Young love cannot often be explained. They both still live here and seem happy so great for them.

I suppose I should get off this turd-heap so I can do some work. Even though Daniel has not moved yet I can still take some meaurements and maybe rip out the carpet on the steps leading downstairs. I can also make a trip to Home Depot for supplies, although I might wait and do that tomorrow. It is going to be a beautiful weekend so I also want to spend plenty of time outside.

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Thursday, 7-20-17: Epic healthcare overhaul fail, and a trip to the beach.
Looks like we're stuck with "Obamacare" for the time being. Over the past several weeks Republicans have been trying to repeal and replace the controversial former president Obama's grand and crumbling healthcare system. Obamacare fucking sucks, and I have written about that at length already on this bootleg site that no one will ever read many times in the past.

The Republican plan (Trumpcare?) was going to totally retool Obamacare without the help of any Demococrats, and the Republican plan was not popular. Medicare cuts were going to cost millions of people their coverage, and premiums were going to rise substantially under the proposed Republican plan. No Democrat was going to vote for the crap that the Republicans cooked up, and what doomed the "Trumpcare" Republican plan was the fact that some of the Republicans also thought it was 10 pounds of shit stuffed into a 5 pound bag. What a bunch of crap!

It really is sad that the two main political parties in Washington DC are so divided that they can't even work together to fix this shit. Most lawmakers agree that Obamacare is a flawed and failing system. Democraats had the presidency and a majority in the house and senate so that is how they were able to ram their own agenda through 7-ish years ago. At that time they were accused (mainly by Republicans, Fox News, and conservatives) of ramming their plan through under the cover of night in closed scheming sessions, and that was not cool of them to do. However, now that the Republicans have the majority rule they are trying to do the same thing. What a bunch of crap!

^To our lawmakers who cannot find a way to fix a failing healthcare system in this country. Epic fail indeed. Work together you dumb stubborn mostly cornbread old white crusty fucks.

Toothless, one of the two 3-month old kittens that Kat got from the Humane Society 12 days ago, is doing better. We noticed last Saturday AM that he was limping around the house, and after several hours he did not get better so bye bye $300 for a trip to the weekend price-gouge after-hours vet. We were worried he had a broken limb because he couldn't put any weight on it at all, but thankfully nothing was broken. Unfortunately, he still seemed lethargic and he had a fever so Kat had to take him to our normal vet Tuesday. The vet did not know exactly what was wrong with Toothless (name given by Katherine from some cartoon dragon movie that I have never seen. The kitten does have teeth hehehe.), but an infection seemed to be the most likely issue so it was time for antibodies and $217 more. That's gods damned expensive. What a bunch of crap! It was necessary, though. Poor Toothless was not doing good at all. His sister played and was just fine, but he was wiped out and in rough shape.

Yesterday and this AM Toothless seems to be a lot more kitten-like. He is now playing again, and he did not have a fever anymore as of yesterday. Did you know that a cat's body temp should be 102? I did not know that until this week. Maybe one day that little fact will come in handy if I ever go on Jeopardy. I'd get it right for $400 and then my score would only be -4500 after round one. Hehehehe.

Toothless decided to park inside my Monster Energy 10-pack box last night. Awesome!

We were going to head to Donnell Pond with the dogs yesterday, but we skipped it so Kat could keep an eye on Toothless. Plus I had some work to do since I didn't get what I wanted to get done Tuesday due to the vet trip and two consecutive hours of rain. the forecast was a 20% chance of a shower, but we got deluged on. What a bunch of crap! To add insult to injury it did not even rain in the midcoast so the blueberry fields better not be too dry down there gods damn it. Things have been hot and humid lately. Yesterday I was soaked in sweat when I did landscaping work, lawn mowing, and when I played racquetball. I probably burned 5000 calories during the day. (Not really. Maybe?)

I don't know if we are going to Donnell today or not, but the dogs would love it. Last year Tiger Lily was so tiny when we went. She loved the water and the swimming, but Copper was to scared to do anything but wade in up to his chest. It's been a year since we took the dogs swimming so it would be great for them to go. If we don't go I guess I will do some more landscape work on the properties, but I won't do too much because today will be hotter and more humid than yesterday was. What a bunch of crap! Maybe I'll just clean my office because at least that is in a cooler basement. It's actually 72 in that basement right now so that is not so cool. What a bunch of crap! Oh well, at least my dehumidifier works like a boss so it is dry in that cellar. It costs about $50 a month on the electric bill for that basement so it better damn well work like a champ. I'd love to see it 10 degrees cooler in there for when I use the gym, but oh well it sure beats being too cold in the winter.

Okay it's now 1545 and we're back. We did go to Donnell, and it was awesome. The drive down and back was easy (traffic this time of year heading through Ellsworth often sucks. A lot.), and the beach was not crowded at all. We got there at 1000 and we actually had the entire beach to ourselves for the first half hour. Awesome! It is hot, but at the beach it was not too bad. Both of the dogs loved the water, but just like last year Copper will not swim. He will run around at the water's edge like a boss, and he will go in to about his chest, but he will NOT swim.

^Played fetch 100 times.

^Tiger Lily swam a lot. Unfortunately and very oddly, she had no issues first squatting in the water to take a piss and then later squatting to take a dump. OMG WTF?! All I wanna know is why? Why did she go poop in a foot of water? Some of it sank to the bottom, and some of it floated. What a bunch of crap in the water! Our dogs, great as they are, do some seriously unusual things from time to time. I don't now why we have one golden retriever who will not swim and one who thinks the pond is a toilet. Oh well, they are overall awesome dogs and their quirks make them unique in their own lovable ways.

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Saturday, 7-15-17: Two weeks.
Two weeeeekkkkkksssssss.....

^TOTAL RECALL TWO WEEKS LIKE A BOSS.

In two weeks Gav and I should be blueberry raking, and Kat will be DJing a class reunion in Machias. I feel badly that I can't go with her to that gig, but raking is something that is in my blood in some warped way that is hard to understand for all non-rakers. I just do it. It happens. I actually enjoy it, too. What a bunch of crap! I look forward to raking, too. I just enjoy doing it, and I do not know how to explain that. I guess the exercise, the money, and the change of routine. I can eat anything I want when I rake because I burn seemingly 1000000 calories. However, I am getting older so I can't really eat whatever I want or I will get fat.

My diet has been decent lately. Not perfect like some bodybuilder, but good enough. It works for me. Not like I am going to live to be 100 so it doesn't matter that much. Once years ago I said I would live to be 100, but that is a bunch of crap because once my precious... precious body fails for real I am out like a fat kid in dodge ball. Fuck being all old and immobile and stuck in some bootleg nursing home where the staff gives no fucks and feeds you slop three times a day. I'd rather just die like a boss and man up when the time comes. I'll freeze myself to death that way people don't have to clean up a huge mess.

I wonder what will happen when Kat and I are really old. Sometimes Kat talks about the future as if she won't be around and I will still be among the living, but F that I don't want to have that conversation. Yes she has lupus and has had cancer already, but she is stronger than me in every way except for "How much you bench?" Hell I can barely beat her in an arm-wrestling match because she is tough. In case you are wondering yes I told her to "latch on" after we watched Over the Top and we did arm wrestle in the living room. It reminded me of when Jason, Doug, and I were kids way back in 1987 or whatever and when we watched the epic Stallone movie and then arm-wrestled all over the house. We seriously did that, too. Then we probably played Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. The two games came as a package deal for the NES back then. God life was simple then and I miss it in many ways except F that if I went back I would not know my wife so that is never an option.

I used my bootleg gym tonight after I helped Kat set up at Jester's, and I drank some coffee brandy and milk there as I listened to a CD that I burned. On that CD are songs from Over the Top, from Rocky IV, and from various other parts unknown. I did not finish the CD so I am listening to the rest of it as an mp3 playlist on my Acer laptop PC right now. Currently is Asia Valkyrie. This is a recent song from the past couple years, but it is great and it has an 80s vibe so it wins. Now comes Heavy Fuel from Dire Straits, and this song is actually from 1991 but close enough to the 80s gods damn it.

All I wanna know is why? Why does that image come up a bunch of times when I Google search Dire Straits Heavy Fuel? Also are photos of cheeseburgers. What a bunch of crap! Man this song is so awesome.

I think this is a song about cheeseburgers? But are they in paradise? Nope I guess that is Jimmy Buffet. or as Katherine would say "Jimmy Buf-fet" as in a buffet restaurant. Kids. They exist and know so little. Even the nearly 19-year old ones. Hehehehe. If I asked Katherine what year the civil war was I think she would get on her Apple series 7 $700 phone and see what her Google came up with. $80 a month for a phone. I think the fuck not. I pay $34 a month for mine (unlimited calls and txts) and I probably getting price-gouged considering what a "Smartphone" plan costs. However, I do not want a smartphone because I am smart and a stupid-phone works for me.

^$700 for the phone, a pint of blood, a 2-year contract, and $80 a month = fuck you technology I will tend the rabbits and live off 'a the fat of the land. Oh, I like ketchup on my baked beans.

Steinback was a literary genius. Of Mice and Men almost makes me cry. *almost* It takes a lot to make me cry because I am more screwed up than a soup sandwich. What a bunch of crap! I saw my wife come down the aisle in her wedding dress and I was crying a little becase I am mediorce at best and she is like a goddess so I am outside of my pay-grade with her by a lot. A lot.

Everyone was happy for us that day except for maybe this one person...

^COME ON MOM BE HAPPY FOR US WELL I GOT THE LAST LAUGH SO TO SPEAK BECAUSE AFTER 3+ YEARS TOGETHER (27 MONTHS ACTUALLY MARRIED) WE ARE BETTER THAN EVER WE WIN.

Speaking of Mom I am worried about her. I'm actually more worried about Dad because he has health issues that seems to be a mystery to modern medicine, but it takes a heavy toll on Mom. They said something about a meningioma in his head, but since it is "only" one centimeter no worries. Yeah fuckers no worries except for the fact that his face randomly goes numb. Sucks they probably billed insurance $100000 for all of Dad's tests and hospital stay but they don't have answers. Shit if I take my F150 so the shop and they say "We dunno why your truck is epic failer" then you better gods damned well believe I ain't giving them a fucking penny yet we have to pay doctors a ton of money for answers that are not really answers. What a bunch of crap!

I guess I am done. Fin. It is time to go to Jester's where it is busy tonight. I feel badly because if Cap's had not burned down 48 hours ago Jester's would not be busy and Kat would not even be working, but we had to spend $302 at the vet today for one of the kittens so the extra money she is making is a good thing for us. (kitten had a hurt paw thankfully nothing broken but emergency weekend vet = price fucking gouge gods damn it and what a bunch of crap all rolled up into one.)

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Friday, 7-14-17: The local competition burned down.
Cap's Tavern here in Brewer burned last night. Badly. Like, so badly that it looks like The Nothing took it away like The Nothing once took away the beautiful lake from the Rock Biters from the North in The Neverending Story. What a bunch of crap!

^Last night around this time. They suspect foul play aka someone set the fire on purpose, but the investigation is just in the beginning phase.

I liked Cap's. I did not like it as much as Jester's for obvious reasons, but I feel badly that the place is now smoldering cinders. One of the servers there was a total beotch, but I bet at least a couple good people worked there. The karaoke guy seemed like a good guy, and I feel badly for him. How will the people who worked there rebound? It is Friday night and this is one of the two biggest nights of the week. Right now the people who worked at Cap's don't have an income because their bar is toast. Oh man it is not cool at all to burn down anything. Fucking arsons. What a bunch of crap!

With trajedy comes opportunity, and that is the case at Jester's. Cap's was a big karaoke bar so now there is one less karaoke place. The owner of Jester's wasted no time contacting Kat to ask her if she could work extra since there is no more Cap's, and tonight Kat came to an agreement to work most Saturday nights in addition to Friday ngihts at Jester's until her knee replacement surgery this November.

I talked to Mom for almost an hour tonight as I drank a couple coffee brandys and milks. I can tell Mom is still worried about Dad, and rightfully so. The doctors still do not know what is wrong with Dad, but tonight Mom said that when Dad was in Vietman his helmet was shot off and there are bullet fragments in his skull. OMG WTF?! Maybe that is not really true, but why would she lie to me? Mom probably does not know half the hell that Dad went through in 'Nam, and I don't blame Pop for not talking about it because I don't talk about a lot of the shit I saw when I was in the Navy, and I was not even in a "real" war zone then. We were in a war zone some, but not like what Pop saw, not even close. Yeah we had to do the Gulf and enfore no'fly zones and whatnot, but come on it was a piece of fucking cake compared to the hell Dad most likely endured back then.

I am really worried about Dad. I don't want him to die because he is a hunting/sportsman Goonie, and Goonies never say die. I fear I can't be a sportsman without Dad even though I have shot a couple deer and turkeys on my own. They've lived in that house since 1982 or whatever, and they raised two mediorce and one good kid in that house. Jason is their golden child because he lives close, he has his shit together, and he is the only one of us who managed to reproduce. I do not regret not reproducing, though. F that I suck with kids I have issues hence this bootleg piece of dump website.

I don't know what happened because I am half in the bag, but the Red Sox just won with a walk in the bottom of the 9th inning at Fenway Park. Oh jesus, hell ya! Now I can turn off the TV and rip out some awesome tunes from Rocky IV and Over the Top before I go to Jester's. The speakers on this Acer laptop PC sound like tin cans, but oh well I can take it like a man. I burned a CD today that had a bunch of Rocky IV and Over the Top songs as well as heavy Fuel (Dire Straits), and a John Parr song from the 80s movie The Running Man. The Dire Straits Hevy Fuel song is from 1991 so I *almost* feel like I am cheating on the 80s, but fuck it the early 90s were a win as well until Nirvana fucked it all up and cost the planet the hair era of rock. What a bunch of crap that was!

Oh man I need Pops to heal up and live for a while. I don't even know how to clean my model 870 without his help. He is a God in my life, and I do not even believe in God. I really need Dad to live a long time to come for Mom more-so than for me. Mom married him when she was about 18 years old. Wow! 1974 sure was a great year for them, and then I came along in 1975 and fucked it all up for them. Hehehehe. Then came Jason in 1978 and Doug in 1980. However, we are all only just over two years apart in age because I am a November baby, Jason is a January baby, and Doug was born in February. Back then the world was better. There was no Failbook and no What a bunch of crap! However, there was also no Nintendo and no Goonies so nevermind the 1990s were really the best.

I am pretty gods damned liquored up so I better get my arse to Jester's before it is too late to say goodbye like a Richard Marx song. I am out of here. Goonies never say die and my Dad better not die either gods damn it! The end. Fin. Coffee brandy and milk is a great drink and Gavin is a great racquetball player.

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Thursday, 7-13-17: A rainy summer morning.
It is raining outside right now at 0730, and the radar looks all bad. I think it will rain for several more hours so I likely won't do any exterior work on the bootleg apartments today. Oh well, no worries. I've gotten enough done lately to not feel like a total scumlord. Earlier in the week I threw some lattice on the deck at my old apartment:

^When I lived there the deck was not that large or nice. I rebuilt it a few years ago. The current tenants put the flags up, and it is a nice little touch that improves the neighborhood.

^I should have done the lattice a few years ago, but I never got around to it. The lattice does make it look a lot nicer and it "only" cost about $40 and took a couple hours.

I've also been doing exterior work at my Chamberlain St duplex. Yesterday I replaced the lattice and steps in this photo:

The steps might have lasted a couple more years, but maybe not because the carpenter who installed them about 9 years ago did a piss-poor job. He used only 1" decking boards for the treads, he did not use pavers/stones for the stringers to rest upon, and he apparently did not use a level either. Of course I was the original carpenter. What a bunch of crap! Oh well 9 years ain't too shabby. I made sure I did a better job on the new ones, and I hope they last 15-20 years. I'll maybe post a photo of those and the new lattice next time. Maybe? Hopefully. I did the lattice in the photo 8-9 years ago, but I bought the cheapest lattice for around $15 a 4x8 sheet and that stuff obviously does not stand the test of time. The lattice I bought this time was $5 more per sheet, but it is twice as thick and I think it will last a lot longer. Maybe? Hopefully.

It is the MLB All-Star break, and I just wrote a paragraph about how worthless the All-Star game is before I accidentally closed out of this program. I don't even know how I did that without it asking me if I want to same my work, but I've accidentally done it a few other times in the past so now I click "SAVE" after just about every paragraph that I write. Plus every once in a while my computer shuts itself off so I am like a SAVE-NINJA and I frequently click CTRL-S while I do my work. Losing my worthless thoughts that almost no one will ever read = what a bunch of crap!

^The Red Sox are in first place at the break. Oh Jesus hell ya! They need a better 3rd baseman to really dominate, but overall no complaints here. They had a very solid June to surge past the Yankees and to take the division lead.

I guess I should do some of my Jackson Hewitt online training while I can't work outside. I need to do 4 credit hours of paid training before the end of this month as part of their "Flex Force" program, and I have only done one of the four so far. All I wanna know is why? Why do they call it Flex Force? This is tax training not bicep curing. There is nothing to flex. I stay on the payroll so they don't have to rehire me this fall so I guess it has something to do with that. Maybe?

I need to have all my JH training and all my other smaller things done by July 24th because after that I have an apartment to turn over, I have blueberry raking, and then Jason and Holly get married August 5th. Most likely there will still be raking on the 5th when they get married, but who knows for sure? Even Cliff does not know yet. What a bunch of crap! We do have our campsite reserved for July 28-Aug 5 already so there damn well better be raking.

Oh, we got two kittens last week. By we I really mean Kat because my awesome wife loves cats and I simply tolerate them. We mow have 11 cats in this house. OMG. One cat sadly is near the end of her life and one will go with Daniel in a couple weeks when he moves into the 4BR apt that I have opening up. Then we will "only" have 9 cats here again. Right now 5 of the 11 cats belong to the kids.

^One male, one female, siblings who are about 3 months old and who came from the Bangor Humane Society. Even though I don't give a shit about cats I do admit they are pretty damn cute.

^Copper and Tiger-Lily were watching me when I took the photo of the kittens. I had to include them in my photos because they are by far my favorite of all the pets in the house. Dogs > cats, but Kat > everything. It's like a matching question from an SAT test. Hehehehe.

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Tuesday, 7-11-17: A health scare for Dad.
Mom called me Sunday night, and she started the conversation by asking about our weekend. She knew we were busy so she asked about both Friday and Saturday's weddings. The usual small-talk, seemed like everything was A-ok and she just wanted to catch up. However, after a couple minutes of that small-talk she changed the subject in a major way. She said she was on the fence about whether or not to tell me, but Dad was in the hospital becase he might have had a stroke.

WAIT WHAT YOU SAY?! OMG MOM.

I was taken aback in a major way, and I told her that none of that stupid crap about the weddings that we did mattered and by far she should have started off the conversation with that fact. Dad in the hospital is a huge deal because he has never been in the hospital since before I have existed on this Earth. Mom said he's never been admitted to the hospital in the 42.5 years they have been married. Bad shit went down when Pop was in the Army in Vietnam; he won't talk about that for obvious reasons, but he might have been in the hospital then (got blown up by a land mine?)

Mom was at home when she called me, and I asked her if she just dropped Dad off and said "tuck and roll." My bad that was pretty harsh, and she rightfully scolded me for saying it. I was shocked she was not staying at the hospital with him, but she did say she was there for 5 hours earlier and someone had to put out the dog. Makes sense. I guess. Maybe? If Kat was in the hospital overnight my ass would be camped the hell out right there. I'd bivouac on the floor or something.

Apparently Dad has had three incidents recently where he has lost feeling in the side of his face and in his arm. Stroke? Maybe, maybe not. It happened twice over the weekend, once Saturday and once Sunday AM. Dad has been working pretty hard on the back yard and on the "food plot" out back near the pond. On Saturday AM that is when he felt faint and noticed he was numb. However, he is so hardcore that he blew it off and instead told me that he heard a deer blowing and then he saw a bobcat walk through the bottom end of the food plot. Seeing wildlife > maybe dying. At least in the eyes of Pop.

Dad is 68 years old. Not ancient, but definitely at risk for bad things that happen in life when you get "old." Is 68 old these days? I think it is, but when I was 20 I probably thought 40 was old and now I am 41.5 years old. What a bunch of crap! Dad is not a genetic jackhammer, but he is in decent shape for someone his age. He spends a lot of time outside hunting, and that requires varying degrees of physical effort. As of now the docs can't confirm whether it was a stroke or not. Hopefully test results come back that give a better answer.

Dad is home now; he was released from the hospital yesterday PM. I was going to head on down to the midcoast, but since Dad is a free man again I will stay up here and check in on the phone. Hopefully it does not happen again. I feel badly for Mom because I know how worried she will be. We are all worried. Dad is too young to check out. Grammy and Papa both lived into their 90s so gods damn it Dad better do the same. We need him around for a long time to come.

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Sunday, 7-09-17: Two weddings and a holiday party.
The last two days were long work days for both Kat and I. She booked a wedding in Bar Harbor for Friday during the day, and she had Jester's that night. Driving to Bar Harbor is only about 46 miles from here, but it takes damn near 1.5 hours one-way because it is peak tourist season. What a bunch of crap! Bar harbor is a beautiful town, but it gets way too jammed up this time of year. Thankfully we got home with enough time to shovel in some food and to watch Jeopardy before it was time for Friday night karaoke at Jester's.

Yesterday was a wedding in Buxton. 144 miles, 2.33 hours one-way. We did not see the stone wall and unusual rock on that wall where Morgan Freeman once found Tim Robbins' hidden "treasure" in The Shawshank Redemption.

"Promise me, Red. If you ever get out, find that spot. In the base of that wall you'll find a rock that has no earthly business in a Maine hayfield. A piece of black volcanic glass. You'll find something buried under it I want you to have..."

Great movie, one of the best movie endings in the history of cinema to boot. I suspected that was not really a field in Buxton in the movie, and it certainly was not. That scene along with most of the movie was filmed in and around Mansfield, Ohio. Sadly that beautiful oak tree fell down last year. What a bunch of crap! Bad weather killed it. Lightning, winds, etc.

The wedding in Buxton was nice, but we did have to get there 3 hours early so the setup would not interfere with the ceremony and live musician. Setting up that early was a bunch of crap, but they turned out to be a great crowd who loved Kat and who loved the music. By the time we broke down our gear and got home it was 0130 so for the second consecutive night we tapped out close to 0200. I did sleep in until 0840 today, but I think we will still sleep well tonight.

Kat's next bigger gig is July 29th, but I don't think I will be helping her with that one because I think (maybe?) I will be blueberry raking. A couple days ago I finally booked a campsite for July 28 - Aug 5th down at Mic Mac. Cliff still does not know what field(s) we will be raking, and that is a bunch of crap. Hopefully a good one. Cliff owns a field in Palermo and we are hoping we don't get stuck raking that field for two reasons. First, even though we've never seen his Palermo field, we know from Cliff's own description that it is a shit field. Second, it is pretty far from the midcoast. Google Maps here is telling me it is about 24 miles away from Mic Mac. Cliff has always hired out that field so we've never had to rake it, and I hope he does the same thing this year.

Normally Cliff starts his season around July 25th-27th so that does not leave much time before the first day. The next couple weeks should be fairly easy for both Kat and I, but after that I will have an apartment to turn over and of course blueberry raking. Also this raking season is Jason and Holly's wedding. That is Saturday August 5th at Harmony Hill in Warren. Thankfully that venue is only 8 miles from Mic Mac so oh Jesus hell yeah to that!

We had an epic July 4th party here on Tuesday. It was by far the best party we've ever had here. We had tons of food and tons of booze thanks to some of our friends bringing lots to the party. For days leading up to the 4th the forecast was for great weather, but then the day of the party the forecast changed and we did get some rain showers. What a bunch of crap! The rain did mess up Kat's DJ setup, but it never downpoured enough to cancel outdoor activities so we were able to hang out on the new deck and we also had a badass fire in our new fire pit. Sadly I did not take any pictures because I forgot. What a bunch of crap! I also drank too much, but thankfully I did not pass out on the deck or end up on the roof. My bad having one or two too many drinks. Kat was not mad at me for it, but I was mad at myself because I hardly remember the last hour of the party. Epic fail.

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Tuesday, 7-04-17: Best holiday of the year.
Today is America's 241st birthday. This holiday is great because it is summer, and no one has to give or receive lame presents. We can spend time outside, and hopefully we get to do a lot of that later today when we have our 3rd annual Independence Day party. This party should have a good turnout, and it starts arond 1600. For days upon days the forecast had been fantastic, but we awoke this morning to an updated forecast of 60% chance of showers. What a bunch of crap! Most of the showers are supposed to be between 1200-1600 so hopefully it is dry for the party. Gods damn it just when this state gives a bit of good weather it steals it away just as fast.

It could be worse. I'll take a few showers and 74 degrees over frozen tundra or the 120 blistering heat of the southwest. It's been so hot in AZ that trash cans have melted and roads have buckled. F that! I'll spend an entire winter in beautiful AZ, but a summer that hot can kiss my hairy ass.

I went to Jason's bacheolr party in NH Sat-Sunday. While there I hit the liquor store and bought some Jose Cuervo for Kat, and some coffee brandy for me to bring home. I also got a pint of Fireball that we (mostly me) drank Sat night. I have never bought Fireball before in my life, but I saw it at the store and got inspired. In hindsight it was a good decision.

^The Fireball did not give me a hangover the next morning. Oh Jesus, hell ya!

The bachelor party was tame, and I am glad for that. Most of Jason's friends and I are close to 40 or even older than that. No strippers, no crazy antics. We drank plenty of alcohol, but we mostly hung out at the cottage that they all rented. It was in Gorham, NH, and the main reason they all went there was for the ATV trails. Most of them arrived Friday, but I didn't care about riding around in an ATV so I just showed up Sat. Good thing, too. It poured so they all got back soaking wet. When I was at the liquor store in Gorham they interrupted the music on the radio to post a severe thunderstorm warning.

We have a lot of booze and food here. A lot. I probably won't get too liquored up tonight. Hopefully. Maybe. I promised my Sweet Pea I would not get wasted, climb up on the roof, and do this like I did two years ago:

^In my defense Hulk Hogan's Real American song did inspire me. Hehehehe. I also passed out on the deck that year, and early. Epic fail. Since then I have not been passout drunk, and that is a very good thing. Like Danny Glover from Lethal Weapon I am too old for that shit.

I have about 3 weeks to check a few smaller things off my "to do" list before my next 4BR apartment opens up. Thankfully Daniel and three of his friends are taking that place so it shouldn't take more than a couple days to get it ready for all of them. The girls in that 4BR now are out on the 24th of this month, and I'd like to have it ready for the guys within a day or two. I still don't know when blueberry raking will start or where Cliff will even rake this year, but I'm sure it will be the end of this month because it almost always is. Last year we started July 25th. I'll be busy from the end of July until raking ends in August.

Hey awesome, the Red Sox are in first place by 3 games over the Yankees. Great! The Red Sox crushed the Blue Jays in Toronto all three games over the weekend, and they won in Texas last night. Donald Trump is in the headlines for more offensive Tweets, North Korea tested another missle, and the senate still can't agree on a replacement for Obamacare.