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Friday, 7-27-18: OMG WE OWN IT NOW.
It seems like a miracle, but in the final hours things came together and now my Sweet Pea and I own this bootleg building that needs epic remodeling:

Yesterday at about 1430 George from BSB called to tell me that we were a go for his loan, and this morning I reported for my 0900 appointment early, I signed what needed to be signed, I made the usual polite small-talk (I like George, he is a good guy who gave me my first ever loan way back in 2004 for my former bootleg Bangor duplex) and I had the fund needed. FU TD Bank.

I was signing for George's BSB loan at about 0915, and we had our closing for the property pictured above about 40 minutes later. OMG tight timetable! I am super-excited to own the place, but now we are borderline poor since TD Bank fucked it away and did not give me their money yet. What a bunch of crap! Oh well, raking starts in less than 12 hours now so next week I will bank some $$$$$$. I talked to G an hour or so ago when he was taking the "grand tour" of that property pictured above, and he said he talked to Cliff last week and Cliff thinks we can make some money. I'm not so convinced, but tomorrow will be very telling.

We've only owned that building for 12 hours, and I have already shown to a prospective renter for not only the upstairs 2BR apt there but also for some potential office space on the first floor. Now that we own the building I fully intend to give my notice to Jackson Hewitt and to strike out on my own as a tax preparer. I think I can make a go of it for a few years before we have the means to GTFO of this frozen tundra of a state in winter. However, it is too early to know for sure and I am a bit stresed out about the fact that my awesome wife seems less than certain that I can make it all work.

I packed a bunch of gear for raking before I got onto this bootleg site that about two people will ever read, and I am almost ready to go. I might get 5-6 hrs of sleep tonight before revielle, loading final gear, and driving the 58 miles to Cliff's field. 58 miles is not horribly far, the drive to Phil's in Oakland was 61 one-way, but unlike that Oakland job there is no highway driving, it is all bootleg back roads, so it is closer to 1.5 hours one-way vs. one hour to Phil's. What a bunch of crap! It seems almost certain this is my final update of this month because Gav and I will be camped at Mic Mac for the next few days and focused on helping Cliff get his field raked. I have no idea what to expect for this season, but after camping expenses I'd like to make at least a few hundred. Hopefully by this time tomorrow I'll have a better idea, but by this time tomorrow I will probably be sleeping because I will be tired.

Alright turds, all two of youz, I am out of here. Long day tomorrow, long week next week, but a rewarding one. I am nuts and still love to go raking so where's my psychologist? What a bunch of crap! The end. Fin.

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Thursday, 7-26-18: 21 hours from now?
In about 21 hours we are supposed to close on our next property. I just called and switched over the power into my name, and I left a message for the Bangor Gas rep so I can discuss converting from the oil heat that is there now. Unfortunately, I have no word from either of my banks as to when I can get the precious... precious money that is needed in order to pay for this next property. One bank sucks ass, and I just sent this to them after I got an email asking for even more info:

"I guess at this point it is fair you know that I am displeased with your entire process, and I am considering canceling the entire thing and using a different bank for my refinance. My purchase and sales contract for the property that I want to buy with the proceeds ends tomorrow so I am just hoping the sellers understand and are willing to wait more. I already have to eat some costs, and I was "conditionally" approved for this loan almost two months ago now. If we can still make this work then I would love to stay with you, but if I keep having to send more and more and then face paying a higher rate because my "rate lock" expires in 8 days then that will really be upsetting to me. Compounded by that is the fact that I am out of town for most of next week with the likely exception of Tuesday PM and Wednesday AM when I will be back in town to take care of some business.

What really frustrates me is the fact that I have a decent credit score and I have a long history of making timely payments not only to your bank for my two previous loans but also to all other banks. In addition, my monthly payment is actually going to decrease as compared to what I am paying now. Please advise as to whether I should cancel everything or if you think you can get me a closing date and time with an approval from your underwriter ASAP. I an not mad at you personally, you have been good to me, but the whole process is arduous on this end. Thanks in advance."

I don't care too much that I have to wait for funds, I expected that. However, I do care that the sellers are probably going to be upset that things are delayed. They seem to have been very patient so far, and I don't want them to get frustrated and to pull our contract and sell to someone ese. The bank approved my ass for money weeks and weeks ago so it is a bunch of crap that now this one bank keeps wanting me to send them more and more last-minute crap. The latest request from them put me over the edge so to speak. They want line-item details from our taxes that I don't even have with me. The thing they want is so stupidly small, too. It's the line that lists snow removal as a misc expense, but the dollar amount is right there on the sch. E, and they already (should have) verified that they are real tax returns from the IRS since I did that consent form.

^To one of my two banks for jerking my ass around so much here at crunch-time. If they don't get this loan done ASAP then I will reach out to my other bank, or some other local bank, to get my precious... precious money.

The other bank, the "better" of the two banks, is supposed to have a closing with me tomorrow AM. However, I have not heard back from that bank guy at all, no nothing, so maybe nothing will happen at all tomorrow. I hate, HATE having to wait until the last minute to plan this all out. It's not fair to the sellers and to the closing attorneys to push things back so last-minute like this. There is still a chance it could all happen tomorrow, but at this point I'd call it a SLIM chance at best. In another couple hours I'll call the bank again and try to track my guy down, and if I can't get anything then I will try to push the closing back and just hope the sellers don't flip out and pull the plug. Especially now that I already switched over the electrity.

Kat and I went over to the property this morning so I could take some measurements and so we could brainstorm a bit more on how we want to use the space. The downstairs appears to have room for at least two offices as well as a sizeable common area (waiting room? Meeting area? Both?) I roughly measured the windows so I can price those, and I have a better idea how the bathroom and kitchen should look once they are remodeled. Right now the downstairs area looks like this:

^The door to the left leads down to the basement. That old sink way to the left will be the general area where a small bathroom goes. There are two good-sized large windows in the front off to the right.

^From the entry area facing in. That door by my awesome wife leads to a back "storage" area that could easily be converted into office use. The main floor area where I am standing when taking the picture is 22x27 feet, and the back area is about 12 feet more depth running the length of the property. Overall I'd estimate there will be ~850 usable square feet of space in the downstairs office area; the entire first-floor space is closer to 1000 square feet, but there will be a toilet/sink, walls, cellar access, etc. Upstairs is a 2BR vacant apt that is also about 1000 square feet.

Before I can really say how we will use the downstairs space we need to actually own the building. I was hoping that would happen tomorrow, but as each minute passes that seems like epic failer. If the sellers are cool with waiting then I will be less stressed-out/frustrated about it, but right now there are too many unknowns. Blueberry raking starts in less than two days for me now so it really sucks being against the wall as far as time. Right now I am planning to come home Tuesday PM/Wednesday AM next week so if things can't get done tomorrow then *maybe* things can get taken care of then. I hope. I don't want to leave Saturday AM for raking not knowing when and if we can get that property or not. That would suck. A lot.

Kat doesn't seem to even want the place anyway so that also is a bummer. She thinks I have too much to do already, and she is probably right. However, once that place pictured above is all renovated and looking great then I hope she sees my vision. Especially if she can use some of that downstairs office area pictured above to promote her own DJ business.

I guess I am out of here for now. I gotta shop online for a few things and sit in my stupid holding pattern as I wait for either of two banks to step up and get things done for me. Waiting around for my banks sucks. A lot. It is a bunch of crap!

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Wednesday, 7-25-18: The squirrels entertain the dogs. Oh, no closing date or time yet either.
All I wanna know is why? Why is it Wednesday morning at 1015, two days before I am supposed to close on a loan, and I still don't know what the hell is going on? One bank is supposed to reach out to me today about a Friday morning loan closing, and the other bank is epic failer in every way. The other bank wants me to do a bunch more stuff, it is under more review, etc. What a bunch of crap! As of now there is still a 1000 closing on our new property scheduled for about 48 hours from this moment, but with each passing hour it seems likely that will need to change. I just need one of the two friggin' banks to get it done. If not then plan B = wait until next week or even into early August. I don't mind waiting that much because I'll be busy blueberry raking anyway, but I don't want the sellers of the property that we are trying to buy get frustrated and bail.

Hopefully by later today I will have things a little more under control. It is frustrating having to wait around for other people to do things on my behalf. Oh well, I knew it would not be so simple to get this all done because it never is. I need money to buy another property, and getting that money is an arduous process. Banks take forever to get shit done. Epic fail.

Kat has a bird feeder on the maple tree out back again, and there is a red squirrel who seems to like it more than the birds do. The squirrel has gotten a bit bold, too. Here it is a couple days ago while the dogs eagerly watch:

The dogs race out the door and over to that spot all the time, regardless of whether any birds or squirrels are there or not. I'd like to think that the dogs would not really try to eat a bird or a squirrel, but I guess that is what dogs try to do so hopefully we never find out. Thankfully those seed-loving critters all seems to be able to easily escape.

I talked to Mom for a bit on Monday afternoon, and she told me that Holly is pregnant again. Jason and Holly apparently have been trying to have another kid for a bit so I am happy for them. Nadia will be 8 when her sibling is born so that is a pretty big age gap. I'll be an uncle for at least two kids in this world. I admit to being a shitty uncle to my only niece now; I've seen her about twice in the past year. Once in June and the time before that was probably at Jason and Holly's wedding last August 5th. Oh well it happens. I am not too sad about it. I'm sure Nadia barely knows who the hell I am since I rarely go down there to visit. Mom and Dad want me to go to the house for a supper visit next week one day, but I said thanks but no thanks because I'd rather just finish raking for the day and go back to camp nearby to unwind and have quiet time. I'll see them eventually before summer ends. I hope. Okay maybe not because I gots shit to do. Me = family visit what a bunch of crap!

The bank was trying to verify my employment with Jackson Hewitt earlier today, but I am not listed as an active employee right now since I only work there in the winter. Things like that make getting a loan an adventure. Hell this one bank might tell me too bad DENIED at this point. They better gods damned not do that, though. After all I already spent $750 or some shit for an appraisal so I hope things all work out.

^Has not happened to me yet for these loans, but I could see it happening as they want more and more info from me. My credit is good and I never miss payments on anything. Also, I am doing a refinance for this one so my monthly payment will actually be decreasing. Instead of paying $530/month I'll be paying $470/month. The tradeoff is instead of paying $530 for two more years I gotta pay $470 for 30 more years. What a bunch of crap! No early payoff fees, though.

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Monday, 7-23-18: Our next property?
Come on bank, hurry up you mudda fuckas! My loser ass got approved for funds wayyyyy back in early June, but still I sit here not only without funds but also without even so much as a definite closing date. I am supposed to close on one of my two loans this Thursday, but the chick from the bank called me this PM to firm a couple things up, and she said they are hoping for Friday. My other loan will take longer because... reasons. What a bunch of crap! I need one of the loans for the purchase and the other loan for the renovations so I am fine with one taking longer. However, both taking longer = epic failer.

If all goes well I will close on the refinance funds Friday and then Kat and I will go close on our next property. I already got the HUD statement in my email to preview for the property that we are buying so that is awesome. We have a meeting time of 1000 scheduled for this Friday, but if I don't have the precious... precious money needed at 1000 then I will have to beg for mercy and try to push it back to later that day. I definitely hope to close Friday so I can be done with it and then focus on blueberry raking. It is a bunch of crap that Monday is now pretty much over (evening time now) and I still don't have times and dates pinned down yet. What a bunch of crap!

I didn't work at all yesterday, and it was glorious. I didn't work too much today either, but I did tie up a few loose ends so-to-speak. I was going to install some more tiles/lights in the bootleg gym, but F it. I did a little carpentry there earlier before I quit and went for a 2-mile jog. I have gone 3 miles all other times so far this month, but the dew point is 70 and the air is too humid. All week we are scheduled for bigtime humidity from the tropics. Gods damn it.

^I've spent a little time on Friday nights over the past month or so working on that ceiling so a lot of the tiles are installed now. There is still a lot left to do, though. Unfortunately it won't be done at all this summer unless our purchase of our next property really turns into a shit-show.

^One drain pipe is showing on the top right, and that connects to a larger drain-stack that needs to be reworked by my plumber, Bruce. I can't even finish that ceiling over there until I get Bruce back there to redo all that drain stuff. However, I can keep working on the left side if time permits. I might have a few hours to work on it this week, but come the end of the week I will be very busy and will have no time. Rain looks to wash out most of Thursday so not only will I *maybe* have two closings to do on Friday but I will also have to do a lot of mowing and pack for blueberry raking that evening. I need to NOT work too much these next three days because after that I think I'm in for a very busy stretch.

The next property that we are buying will hopefully change both of our lives in a major way. The place is zoned and approved for both residential and commercial use so at some point this week I will detail the dream moving forward there. First I just need my bank to GIVE ME THE PRECIOUS... PRECIOUS MONEY so that we can take ownership and start the rebuild. The property is dilapidated and in need of major overhauls.

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Saturday, 7-21-18: Another project completed.
Yesterday morning after I updated this bootleg site that two people will ever read I lifted some weights in my gym, and then I busted my arse for the remainder of the morning finishing this retaining wall earth work:

I am very pleased with how it turned out, and I hope those shrubs grow large enough to encompass the entire mulch area there so I don't have to weedwack it anymore. At least the landscape fabric and mulch will mostly keep weeds and shit at bay for this year, but gods damned weeds are like turds that don't flush and they always find a way to resurface. What a bunch of crap! Speaking of turds that do not flush, I told one of the annoying drunks down at Jester's last night to leave me alone because he is like a turd that won't flush. His drunk ass then replied "I don't appreciate that. I'm not coming here for three weeks now because you said that."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! It was pretty hilarous at the time, and even better his seemingly random "threat" of not coming for exactly three weeks. I told him I don't work at the bar so I don't give a shit if he wants to boycott the place. He was annoying me bigtime, trying to apologize to me for drinking a nip right at the bar and right when Joel turned his back. I said that shit was not too cool so the guy then tried to lie and say it was an empty nip when I CLEARLY saw him drink the booze from it. What a bunch of crap! Only at Jester's...

That wall pictured above needed about a dozen $15 RR ties, a bunch of 12" spikes at about 80 cents each, a yard of mulch for $26, and a yard of gravel for drainage on the back side for about $32. I also paid $40 to Travis a couple weeks ago to help me with removing the old wall and with moving a lot of dirt so when I add it all up I'm up to about $308. However, I also did replace the two mailboxes there so that's another $20-$25. I did have some leftover mulch as well for other areas around that property. The deck there is old, I think I built that in 2005 or 2006, and I did a shitty job with the footings so the front driveway side has sagged quite a bit. With unlimited time and money I would rebuild that deck this year, but F that I think it can last a while more before it becomes too much of an eyesore and/or unsafe. No one uses it that much anyway.

I haven't gotten too boozed up on Friday nights for the past two weeks, and the same will likely be true next Friday when I am putting the finishing touches on packing for blueberry raking. Gav and I are planning to head out fairly early Saturday morning to get to Cliff's field and start the season. Cliff texted that patches look decent, but that could mean anything. Historically his fields suck, and his field is the only one we are raking this season, so I think it will be a short week-long season only. No way to know for sure until exactly a week from today. I am very much looking forward to raking because I have issues. Volumes of issues. I like the challenge, the work ourdoors, and the exercise. Lots of exercise. Camping out and hanging out with Gavin is always fun, too.

I played rbal this morning and made a dump-run. Also had time to stop at Lowe's for some supplies, and when I got home around noon my Sweet Pea was prepping the cat-laundry area for paint. I should have applied floor paint to this area when I did the remodel a couple years ago, but I blew it and did not:

^Random town drunk who pissed out there on our epic July 4th party inspired us to get it sealed and painted since every time it has been humid since then there has been a urine odor. What a bunch of crap that is! The fuckin' guy can eat the peanuts out of my shheeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttttttttttttttttt. He pissed a friggin' river in there, too. Totally not cool I hope he keels over and dies.

Katherine's birthday was Tuesday, but later this afternoon we are having the actual party. She wants it to be a costume party, but F that I will just appear as myself. I don't even care... whether or not I care about dressing up on Halloween so I damn sure don't plan to dress up today in the middle of summer when it is 80+ degrees. I feel badly I hope I don't hurt her feelings, but a Halloween theme in the middle of summer = what a bunch of crap!

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Friday, 7-20-18: Done at Phil's for now.
I worked a long day Wednesday down in the Waterville area finishing up "phase 1" of the job Kat and I took on at Phil's house. I went by myself Wednesday because I had to spend quite a bit of the day up on this little roof shingling up to the peak, and there was no room up there for both my awesome wife and for me at the same time:

Thankfully the roof there was flat enough for me to stand on and to use as a makeshift work area. However, it was still a pain in the arse working up there. Lots of edge cuts to do. I wrapped the cord of the nail gun around that little stink-pipe so if it slid it wouldn't fall onto the ground and break. The nail gun was awesome, and Phil got his money's worth from that thing for sure. Doing it all by hand would have added days to the job in total.

I ended up working 11 hours Wednesday. OMG. I worked down there for 17 total days, and Kat went with me for 15 of those days. 17 trips at 123 miles per trip = 2091 miles on the truck. Plus a little more for a few trips to Home Depot, Lowe's, and Hammond Lumber so definitely over 2100 miles. Thankfully most of those were highway miles. The truck still only has around 75,000 miles on it in total as it approaches 8 years old. Not bad! We got roughly half of Phil's house done; there is still much more to do down there.

Oh great, Simba just chundered all over the dining room table. What a bunch of crap! This is why we can't have nice things gods damn it. There is always a pet doing something stupid around here. Oh well we have a table that is built tough and that can take a little abuse.

Here are a couple pictures of the back side of Phil and Danielle's house:

^Under that bay window are three temporary scrap 2x4 pieces as braces. Nicer bracing is on order and should look great once it is installed there. The shingles on the second floor are newer and, although weathered, still in good shape overall and not in need of replacement.

I'd like to shingle the little side piece immediately to the right of that brown storm door so the other ledger board can be installed for what will be their new 8x8 little deck there. Kat thinks I should shut it down for the year down there because we have a lot to do up here, but I think it would only take a couple days to get that last part done for them. Plus I feel like I still owe Phil since he overpaid on the last check. Then the rest of the house can either get done next spring or they can hire a "real" carpenter to finish it up this fall. I told Phil the same thing in as nice a way as possible. He paid us very well for the work that we did, and we busted our asses to set a high standard for them. I am grateful that they had us do all that work.

If I do go back down to finish that last little part it won't be until next month because I have things to do up here for the next week and then it's blueberry raking and hopefully starting on the next huge remodel here:

I've been working on acquiring that property for the past 2 months, and right now we have a closing date set for next Friday at 1000. Great! However, I don't have the money needed for the cash purchase yet. What a bunch of crap! I am doing a refinance through TD Bank of one of my other properties for the funds, I am approved, but things go slow at the bank. I talked to them yesterday PM and it looks like all they need is one more thing, but it is an important thing and without it I get delayed. They need verification of my timely mortgage payments, but that is a private loan so they have to email a form to that person. It should have already been done, but I guess it was not done. What a bunch of crap! So whether or not I stay on time depends on how quickly today that form gets bounced around in cyberspace. Thankfully I have gotten quick responses from all parties so far.

If things do stay on schedule I will close for the funds needed on Thursday the 26th and then we will officially own that building pictured above on Friday the 27th. It all could happen in one week! I do expect something to delay so I'd love to have the bank and laywers prove me wrong and actually stay on schedule. It is very important to me because the purchase contract for that property expires next Friday so any delay could cause the seller to cancel the contract and sell to someone else or to increase the price. That would suck. A lot.

Right now it seems most likely that we will own that building pictured above. I'd give it a 90%+ chance of happening. Blueberry raking begins on the 28th, in 8 days, so there is even more pressure to close this thing on time. Raking will be a short season this year, maybe only 7-8 total days, so that is actually a good thing. The past few years my raking season with Cliff has been closer to 12-14 days. The pay will be less, but F it we've already made great "bonus" money working for Phil in Oakland this year. I do still look forward to raking this season, but as soon as raking ends it's time to start working on the new building (assuming we actually own it by then!) That building in the above photo needs a total remodel. It will take months and be costly, but I am excited for the challenge. Too bad Kat is not too excited for it...

Cliff and I texted some on Tuesday evening, and the vibe I got is we are only going to be raking his field, and patch-raking it at that. No other fields to do this season. Bull Hill (aka Bob Wright's) is shit on toast because the price per pound of berries is a shit-show these past couple years thanks to competition from Canada. Oversupply and all. Many growers locally are switching to an organic crop for higher $$$$ per pound. However, to switch to organic takes 3 years because the field have to naturally shed all the chemicals so that is where Cliff is stuck. His field has had no chemicals at all because he is also switching to organic. No chemicals = more weeds and less berries. Less berries = less pay. Oh well, as Gavin hilariously texted me: "I'll just bring extra booze, get drunk and get double vision...it will look like there are twice as many blueberries!" HAHAHAHA.

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Tuesday, 7-17-18: Oh to be 20 again.
Today is Katherine's 20th birthday. From the seems of things she is very excited for her birthday today and for her birthday party that we'll have this Saturday afternoon. I facetiously told her yesterday that her body will slowly start to fail from here on out, and I guess to a point that is true. Not sure when peak age is for a human body, but I can look it up on the WORLD WIDE WEB. The Internet never lies, right? Hehehe.

WE know the brain starts breaking down during middle-age, but what about our bodies? While scientists have found mental decline occurs in our 40s, our organs start declining much earlier. Most bodily functions peak shortly before age 30 and then start going downhill. Signs like a slowing metabolism, food intolerance and hangovers getting harder to handle can crop up before we notice grey hairs and wrinkles. Nutritionist Lola Berry says how you bounce back from a big night out depends how well you care for your body. 'How you look after yourself affects your vitality and how well you bounce back,' she said. -https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/the-age-your-body-breaks-down/news-story/977ca7bb15385d6570941b2fa91826d0

Well alrighty then, I guess age upper 20s is where the glory happens and the body is in its prime. That's good news for all the kids! Not so good for us; not only is our physical being on the decline but also so is our mental function now. When I was in my "prime" in my upper 20s I was a loser ass who was mentally about 10 years younger. What a bunch of crap! However, I did have a work ethic like a boss so I did start building my bootleg apartment business. If I could be 20 again with the knowledge about life and about this world I would be unstoppable. However, that is not how things work and I would not want to be 20 again. F that I am fine with being borderline old. My body is definitely past its prime, but because I exercise a lot I am still doing just fine. I know I have lost a step on the rball court, but I play against Gavin and Mike, and both of them are a bit older than me so in theory that should even us out.

Wait, if they are older than me by a year or three then all I wanna know is why? Why do I lose all the time?! What a bunch of crap! I keep an exercise log, and according to my records I am 3-37 against Mike (Deno) since the beginning of June. OMG TERRIBLE. The games are usually very tough and often quite close, though. Sadly Gav has not played since maybe early May because he has a sore back. He said his back is getting better, but with raking less than two weeks away he doesn't want to take a chance to aggrivate it.

If all goes as planned I will be working a LONG day tomorrow at Phil and Danielle's house, and then I *might* have one relatively easy week before some business transactions and blueberry raking. Kat and I worked at Phil and Danielle's on Sunday, and that was Kat's last day helping me. Having my awesome wife there with me for the job was fan-friggin-tastic. She would go with me tomorrow, but I have to shingle this:

^I got a little done on that left side Sunday around the roof-line, and the right side is 100% shingled now. Kat did a lot of the right side herself. Awesome!

There is not much Kat could do to help me on that left peak-side part so I will fly solo tomorrow. I am not sure I can finish that and the other things that need doing down there in only one day, but I damn sure plan to push as hard as I can to make that happen. I'll work a 12-hour day tomorrow if it means finishing what we promised Phil that we would do. If not no worries I will just go back on Thursday; I won't know for sure until tomorrow afternoon if I can make it or not.

Phil wants us to shingles more sections of his house, but I think we will be quite busy this fall and won't have the time. I would like to make time to do some more for him and Danielle since they are paying us a very fair rate. Unfortunately, we just can't sacrifice work that needs doing here at home in order to make the extra money and to help friends. We are already over what we promised Phil that we would do. Shingling takes a long time, and on top of that there have been some rot repairs and other things to take care of along the way. I won't know for sure how much free time I'll have this fall until we close on our new property and start that remodel next month.

Speaking of that new property, I have a closing date set for next Friday the 27th. I am supposed to be closing on a property refinance next Thursday the 26th for the funds needed, but my bank people take their time communicating with me and that is a bunch of crap. I fully expect things to get pushed back, but I hope we can stay on track so I can get my business done and then go focus on blueberry raking for Cliff for a week. Plus I don't want things to delay in case the owner of the property we plan to buy has a change of heart and decided to hike the price. My purchase contract has a limited shelf life so this needs to get done ASAP.

In between working for Phil and wheeling and dealing for a new property I have been working on a replacement retaining wall over at my former apartment building just around the corner. I have only worked on it a little here and there, but now it is nearing completion. Here is what it looks like right now:

^I just need to cut one more small RR tie piece, affix the mailboxes, and do the landscaping. I bought 1/2 yard of 3/4" gravel for the back side on Saturday, but I need another 1/2 yard of the gravel (for drainage) and then a yard or so of mulch for the top and also for use at some of my other bootleg properties. I find doing business at New England Salt Company over in Bangor works well for me when I need smaller amounts of gravel and/or mulch (unpaid endorsement that two people will ever read!) because they load it right into my truck and trailer, the prices are fair, and they are pleasant and prompt. I think I can have that wall 100% done on Friday. I hope! It probably "only" needs 3-4 more hours of my precious... precious time. However, my time estimates often fail so that probably means 5-6 hours. What a bunch of crap!

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Friday, 7-13-18: Wow Red Sox!
The Red Sox have won 10 consecutive games, and they have been on a huge tear for most of the season. Here are the AL standings right now:

66-29 and in first place = Oh Jesus hell ya! Unfortunately the Yankees are also having a great season so the Sox only have a narrow lead. The Baltimore Orioles = AHAHAHAHAHAHA. When your team is about 40GB and it's not the All-Star break yet then that is epic fail. The All-Star break is next week, Mon-Thurs, with the All-Star game itself on Tuesday night. I don't even care... whether or not I care about the All-Star game. The Sox are sending Chris Sale, Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez (awesome off-season big signing!), and Craig Kimbrel to the game. Maybe Mitch Moreland, too? I forgot.

Kat and I worked four hard, long days at Phil and Danielle's house this week, and we really got a great rythm going over the past two days. We finally finished most of the little carpenty prep-type stuff (yesterday: final rot repair, ledger board, trim replacement and paint, etc.) so now we can just mostly shingle until the end. Kat did A LOT of shingling, and that freed me up for the other stuff. Here is what the back side looks like right now:

We plan to go back on Sunday to finish that section of shingles to the right of the bay window, and hopefully on Sunday I can also do some more shingling on that garage peak off to the left. That part wlll take the longest because doing a peak = what a bunch of crap! Kat's last day was going to be yesterday, but she decided to do one more day and I am very thankful for that because we get a lot done when we work together, much more than I would accomplish working all day solo.

I'm writing this bootleg update that two people will ever read in the back yard with my Sweet Pea. We're ripping out 80s rock, and she is tanning. I am "hiding" from the sun under the canopy of our swing-bench because I am all set with tanning. All this work outside has gotten me epic tan. Phil's back yard is unlimited sun so that is why we have that blue canopy there, for a bit of relief and shade. We've been outside a lot this spring and summer so far, and we will be outside a lot more to come.

I'm leaving shortly to go check on one of the town drunks. He is painting trim and the white exterior of the property that I manage. Here is what it looked like before he started:

^What a peeling bunch of crap! Also at that property a fridge died a few days ago, but like a boss I handled that shit. Years ago I bought a used (but like new) fridge from Gavin, and it has sat in my shed unused for what seems like forever. One time I tried to bring it to my former bootleg Bangor duplex, but we got it there and it did not fit. What a bunch of crap that was! My bad not measuring there...

I'll bill the owners of the property a fair rate, basically what I paid for the thing plus a little for my time and effort. It will certainly be a great deal for them in the end, much better than paying for a repair or paying for a new one for $450-ish. Other than that the apartment stuff has been pretty easy. I had to remove a dead skunk from a lawn a few days ago, but even that was simple. Not sure why it died there, but it is gone now. I'm leaving in a few to go work a little before a 1600 appraisal of my bootleg gym/office property. Oh, the appraisal of the property that I am refinancing through TD Bank came in at $118k. Oh Jesus, hell ya! I needed $115k to make it work. Essentially the appraisal was what the city values the place at for taxation. I paid $750 for that appraisal so I got hosed. What a bunch of crap! Appraisals always seem way overpriced. Gods damn it. Doing an appraisal can't be that friggin hard. I should learn how to do them, but F that I have plenty of other things to do. And then some. The end. Fin.

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Tuesday, 7-10-18: A "day off?"
Kat and I worked at Phil and Danielle's house both Sunday and yesterday, but today we're staying home to take care of some things up here. She has a 0800 PT appointment and has some other errands to run, and I think I have to go buy a new fridge for the property that I manage. I also might play Rball and mow our back yard later. Possibly I will also throw a few RR ties into place for that retaining wall I posted a photo of last time. Wow, given all that it is not going to be a true day off. What a bunch of crap!

We are chugging right along at Phil's, but we are still not too close to the end of our work for this summer. On the back side there is this window:

At first Phil decided we would just shingle around the bottom there since that winder is a new addition and the shingles under there are in okay shape still. However, on Sunday Phil changed his mind and decided he wanted all new shingles there. OMG! Doing all that looks like it won't take too long, but I knew it would take forever with all the fine cuts to make. Plus we already spent all kinds of precious... precious time cutting all around those shinges so we could save them.

So Phil peeled off a few shingles to take a closer look at the back side, and that is when we both discovered all kinds of rot. Look at this shit:

WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAP! That photo does not even show the worst of it, but it does show how poorly-made that addition is. The 2x4 supports don't even support anything! Epic fail. Thankfully Kat and I had an pretty smart idea. We figured there was no sense rebuilding that entire base-piece when we could do this instead:

We weren't sure we could get Phil to agree, but thankfully we found some nice corbels online that look like this:

Once those arrive (special order takes a few weeks to ship) are installed and painted then the bottom of that big bay winder will look awesome. Right now I just have temporary bracking there with scrap 2x4 pieces. Not only will it look better than what was there before but it will also make installing the cedar shakes underneath a lot easier because we can just stay along that flat wall. I figure it will use a lot fewer shingles as well, and it will save a few hours of labor so in the end Phil and Danielle will save money.

I wanted to be all done at their house this week, but I don't see it happening. Kat and I will go tomorrow and Thursday, but shingling takes a long time and there is still too much left. I hope we can get most of that back side done, but I will still have to finish this part:

^Older photo from last week; we actually have that shingled to above the door now and up to the roof line.

Kat won't go with me for that peak because there is not a lot she can do to help up there. I need to do that on a day when it is not blistering-hot so I can stand on that roof and not mess up the asphault shingles. Yesterday was NOT the day for that. It was gods damned hot yesterday, 89 degrees in Waterville. However, it felt like 100+ in their back yard once the sun hit us all afternoon. Thankfully we had a good morning of working in the shade; we started working at 0700 there (left here at 0600) because we knew the afternoon would be brutal. A front sweeps through this PM to cool us off some so the next two days should be better with highs around 80 and lower humidity.

I'm guessing after Thursday there will be two more days of work at their house left, but it is impossible to project that accurately right now. Thankfully Kat did all kinds of shingling yesterday while I spent most of the day dealing with that bootleg under-window mess. The original carpenter(s) who build that thing suck. A lot. It was only done several years ago so to have that much rot = what a bunch of crap!

^Sweet Pea knows how to work. Awesome!

I have an epic tan right now from all this working outside. It seems most days lately have been mostly sunny. I did spend most of my time indoors for a few days last week when we had a huge heat wave (too hot and humid to work outside), but the last few days have been about 100% clear. I've worked outside for most of the day since thunderstorms ended at lunchtime Friday. Oh well, how can I complain when in half a year this place will be one giant frozen shit-tundra? This time of year rocks, even when it does get a bit too hot and humid. F winter!

I need to call the owners of the building that I manage this morning. I emailed them Saturday PM, but I have not heard back from them yet. The fridge in the back apartment is starting to fail, and it is an older fridge so I don't want to just call Penobscot Appliance (cheap unpaid plug for them that two people will ever read. Those guys are always very good to me.) to have it fixed for half the cost of a new one. I want to just buy a new fridge at Lowe's today to get a sale price and free delivery, but I need to get approval from the owners since it is a larger cost. They still have not written back to me so if I can't get them today I'll just make a command decision and go get a new one for $450.

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Friday, 7-06-18: All I wanna know is why?
All I wanna know is why? Why does our house have to smell like piss right now? Oh I know, it is because some loser fucking asshole from our July 4th party decided to take a leak out in our laundry area. OMG WHO DOES THAT?! We did not see it happen, but the evidence is pretty damning. We think some blackout, shit-show drunk went to use the bathroom, but someone was in the head closest to the deck and out back, and this drunk wandered and found a spot. At first when Kat told me about it (she made the discovery when I was bivouaced/passed out yesterday morning) I thought someone just spilled a drink, but the smell gives it away. It definitely was not a pet because there was a baby-gate up to keep the dogs out so someone walked up to the gate, whipped out his little shriveled weiner, and started pissing.

WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAP!

The humidity was almost off the scale since our party, 70-75 dew point epic humid, so that did not help. We did have all the winders open in this muther, but this morning we got thunderstorms and downpours so we had to close the winders and that is when the smell became noticeable.

^Thankfully the douche-nugget who failed at life pissed out in this area on the concrete floor. Concrete is porous, but we do have a concrete paint on that floor, and I'll take that over pissing on a carpet or wood floor.

I would pay good money to know who wizzed on our precious... precious utility-area floor. Poor Kat walked right through it in her flip-flops. We had some people at our July 4th party who were so wasted that they were not able to perform basic functions like stay upright near a fire pit and piss either outside or in a thunderjug. I wish I knew who did that in our house, but I will never know since it is a mystery. A few people were shit-show drunk to the point or mental retardation so there is not one suspect. I was wasted, but no matter how shit-show I have ever gotten in my life I have never pissed myself or pissed in some person's hallway. I have never fallen into a fire pit either. Mother hell what a party we had here two days ago. I wish I could say it was 100% awesome, but stupid shit like that, like Shawn getting crispy-friend, and like Eric throwing a live firework into the fire put a damper on things. Today when we were hanging out with friends there were battle scars from that explosion. Gods damn it what a bunch of crap!

I made my first drink, a "Fatass in a glass" at 2215, only 30 minutes ago. I do NOT plan to drink too much tonight, F that. At first I planned to drink nothing at all, but being sober at Jester's kinda sucks so I'll catch a buzz and go from there. I definitely want to be functional tomorrow so I can keep working on this:

I paid Travis $40 to help me for 3 hours this afternoon, and he did great. He is a hard worker, and that is a refreshing change because the only other hard worker who has at least some time to help me on occasion is Kat. My awesome wife is more than capable of working her ass off, but sadly the lupus that she does not deserve does limit her capacity. Hopefully I can get Travis to help me with some other projects because the town drunk and/or out of shape people do not get it done when it comes to manual labor. Travis does have a full-time job so he won't help me too much.

Tomorrow I will do a little mowing and work more on that wall pictured above. Today we got a lot of earth moved. I planned to lift weights this morning, but I was not feeling so great (gods damned heat wave and revielle at 0430) so I thought I would just do it tonight. Unfortunately tonight I did one set and knew I was pwned so I just installed some more ceiling tiles instead. I did not have the energy to lift weights. What a bunch of crap! Oh well, at least I did jog 3 miles earlier today before supper.

In conclusion, if you pissed on my floor then I hate you. I probably hate you anyway, but I'll hate you a little more.

DO NOT COME TO OUR HOUSE AS A GUEST AND GET SO DRUNK THAT YOU CANNOT FIND THE HEAD AND YOU PISS IN A HALL. FUCK YOU UP YOUR FUCKING ASS FOR DOING THAT, ESPECIALLY WHEN EVERYONE ELSE WAS OUTSIDE AND IT IS THE MIDDLE OF SUMMER AND YOU COULD HAVE TAKEN A PISS IN THE YARD IN A DARK CORNER OR BEHIND THE SHED, OR BOTH. WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAP!

I want to play Spuer Metriod. However, I want to see my wife so I am going to Jester's right now.

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Friday, 7-06-18: Another crazy, epic July 4th party came and went.
I had to spend most of yesterday recovering from our big July 4th party. I drank too much, I stayed up too late, and I had a hangover yesterday. What a bunch of crap! It has been a long time since I was so hungover, and in hindsight I definitely drank too much Wednesday night. The party was a lot of fun with some memorable moments. The theme for the party should have been Dokken's Into the Fire (great song!) because I had to take a trip to the hospital yesterday. That was a bunch of crap, too.

^Should link to the YouTube music video of the awesome song.

We had maybe 25-30 people here for the party, and it was a blistering-hot 94 degrees outside. This entire week has been incredibly hot, but thankfully a front is sweeping through this morning that should give us a better, less humid afternoon and weekend. Even though it was extremely hot we still made a fire once it got dark, and not long after that the kids started the fireworks. Kat bought $70 worth of fireworks last week so we had plenty of them to use. Unfortunately, by then some people at the party were too drunk and one person in particular made a horrible decision to throw a "dud" firework into the fire. The end result of that terrible decision was epic fail when the thing exploded and sent debris all over the place. Three people got hit, and a piece of flaming shrapnel blew a hole through our swing-awning. What a bunch of crap! Thank the gods who do not really exist that no one got seriously hurt because that could have ended a lot worse.

Needless to say that dumb decision led to the immediate end of the fireworks. Thankfully the kids were not too drunk, but the older people were the ones who got too drunk. Seriously sad that the oldest of us were the most irresposible with the booze Wed night and I include myself there, too. Kat actually tapped out before me because she got so drunk. Wow! Our oldest friend got annihilated and drove home wasted. What a bunch of crap that is! Thankfully he didn't run anyone over.

Not too long after the fireworks got prematurely shut down the worst thing of the night happened, and even though I was boozed up I saw it go down and had to do a rescue. One of our Jester's regulars was so shitfaced that he started to lean forward, and he fell directly into the fire pit. I was away a bit, but I saw him falling forward so I moved my ass as fast as possible. Unfortunately I was too far away and in he went, face-first before I could reach him. I hauled him out only what seemed like seconds later, but the damage was done. He had bad burns on his hands, arms, torso, and face. What a bunch of crap! Someone put a few bandages on him and he kept drinking. He ended up bivouacing here on the couch, and when he woke up yesterday we realized he had to go to the ER. He was burned badly. What a bunch of crap!

When you are the town drunk and when you get so shitfaced that you fall into a fire you have failed. Epic fail. I feel badly for the guy. I suggested some gauze and ointment, but Kat said he needed to go to the ER so I drove him over to St, Joseph's. A few hours later they patched him up, officially 2nd and 3rd degree burns, and instead of wanting to go home he had Kat pick him up and drop him off at Jester's. OMG YOU KNOW YOU ARE A DRUNK WHEN YOU GET OUT OF THE HOSPITAL LOOKING LIKE A MUMMY FROM ALL YOUR WOUND-TREATMENTS AND THEN DECIDE TO GO STRAIGHT TO THE BAR. WHAT A HILARIOUS BUNCH OF CRAP! The guy was wasted-looking when I dropped him off at the ER. His face was all swollen, it was all bad.

^He prefers to drink Bud Light, but all I can picture is this at Jester's yesterday evening. HAHAHAHAHA.

Two different people have now fallen into our fire pit in the 4+ years that I have lived here. I remember when "Father John" fell in back in 2014, right around the time I was getting to know Kat for the first time. His jeans fused to his ass or something like that. DO NOT GET WASTED AND FALL INTO A FIRE IT WILL SUCK. A LOT. Thankfully I have never been so drunk that I have fallen into a fire.

Late-night was a lot of fun, at least until I got totally plastered and started to pass out in the back yard. Gav was here, and Kevin picked me up like a rag doll and carried me up to the deck. They said it was hilarious the way he was carrying me. He's pretty damn strong to carry me one-armed, but I do only weigh about 150...

It is 0530 and 74 degrees outside. I got up at 0430 because I just knew I would. It was 87 in the bedroom last night so sleeping when it is that hot is not easy. We have to keep the windows open and two fans on. Once daylight rolls around it gets kinda bright in the bedroom, and that woke me up. Oh well I can take a nap later. Maybe. Kat works at Jester's tonight, but right now I don't plan to drink. F that I drank way too much Wed night. I told myself not to drink too much, but then I got caught up in the moments and overdid it. Overall I do think the party was a success and people had a blast, but it did suck that someone fell into the fire and others almost got seriously hurt when a dumbass threw fireworks into the fire. People driving home drunk, etc. What a bunch of crap!

I have to work today doing apartment stuff. I should have worked some yesterday, but oh well. If this front can sweep through by lunch then I can spend what should be a decent afternoon working on tearing this wall out:

If I can get the old wall 100% removed and prep for the new wall then great. I can also spend a bit of time tomorrow starting the new RR tie wall. I won't finish it today and tomorrow, but I hope to at least get a good start on it. On Sunday we're going to head down to Phil's to keep working on his cedar shingle siding. I'd like to do 4-5 days at Phil's next week to mostly finish the siding sections that we committed to doing this summer. After that I know he has more work that needs doing, but it will have to wait until August at the soonest. Maybe it will have to wait until 2019... I'm not 100% sure yet, but by this time next week I'll have a much better idea where we are at with his place.

Alright turds, all two of you who actually read this pathetic excuse of a blog, I am out of here. I think I'll sit on the back deck and read a little until Kat gets up. Then I'll go use my bootleg gym and pay a few bills. If you are drinking by a fire then make sure you don't get so drunk that you fall in and have to go to the burn ward at the hospital. The end. Fin.

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Wednesday, 7-04-18: Happy America Day you pathetic simps.
It is a HOT Independence Day today. Let's hope Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum can keep evil paratitic hive aliens at bay so we can survive as a species for a while more to come. Several hundred years at least would be good for the sake of the kids' kids and their kids. After that my remains will not even barely be dust. Maybe my leftover essence will be a grain of sand that can save Fantasia in a dystopian version of a future Neverending Story.

^Michael Ende rolls in his grave if he reads that. What a bunch of crap! Oh well he already hated the movie version of his masterpiece before he died so this bootleg farce can't be much worse that that.

We're having a BIG party here today. 30-35 people expected, tons of food and booze. Last year's July 4th party was epic so this year's will be a success if we can even come close to that. The only potential problem today is the forecast high temperature of 95 degrees. That is a bunch of crap! The sun lays into our back yar pretty hard later in the PM when people will be arriving, but we do have a canopy up and the maple tree offers a lot of shade. Hopefully by evening it starts to cool off before everyone gets too hot and just leaves.

We only worked on Phil's house Monday this week. I was going to go yesterday with Jeremy, but after Monday we realized we would not have success. Monday was "only" 82 degrees for a high temp, but the dew point was around 70 so it was terribly humid. Jeremy was wasted like Doc-J and 8-Ball from Full Metal Jacket by the end of the day. He had a sunburn, he was filthy, and he was half-drunk. We had him stripping off old shingles, and that can be a workout in itself. Add to that the fact that he is homeless and an alcoholic and the end result is epic fail. Poor Jeremy, he can't get himself off the booze and his life is a giant shit-show. His Mom just died last week so we felt badly and wanted to give him a chance to earn some badly needed $$$$$. He didn't do a great job Monday with us, but he got enough done to justify his being there. Barely.

Jeremy is seriously homeless, and he seriously drank "Natty Daddy" beer on Monday. I told him no booze, but when we got there he stashed a beer and drank a bit while he worked. I think he smoked a whole pack during the day, too. He is having some kind of family feud so they threw him out after his Mom passed away. I have known him and their family for years and it is sad that his Mom died of cancer. Back in 2005-2006-ish I rented to them all where Daniel and his friends live now. Jeremy has helped me on some large carpentry projects beginning in late 2007 with my Chamberlain duplex. That Chamberlain property, thank the gods who do not really exist that I lived so cheaply back then because I poured all kinds of money into that place. To say I went over budget on that one would be a huge understatement. We *mostly* finished that remodel a decade ago now, and at this time 10 years ago I had both of the two apartments there rented.

^Nov, 2007. I thought the entire house would take 3 months and cost $30k, but it ended up being double that. What a bunch of crap! Jeremy did a lot of work there at "The building" as he called it. In hindsight I made some poor labor-management decision then, but I have no regrets because I learned a ton along the way and now I have most of my remodel projects dialed in.

I saw Jeremy at the gas station (his family lives right by there and two house down from my bootleg office/gym) last week, and he was paying for a Natty Daddy with spare change. He was down to pennies piled on the checkout counter, and it was pretty sad. He was so broke and was practically begging for some work so Kat and I made a plan to help both us, Phil, and Jeremy. We are behind where we want to be on Phil's place so we thought Jeremy could do a day's worth of misc work to help, and that plan mostly worked out okay. Jeremy did get the part stripped down that we needed done, and he did a little painting and misc, too. As an added bonus during the drive down Jeremy was telling us some amusing stories of being homeless, just roaming around, and sleeping in places like the dugout at the ballfield by Paradis and even in the little attendant-station in the bankrupt gas stop in the paradis plaza. We did give Jeremy food and a shower so we tried to help him, but we know that sadly there is no helping him long-term as long as all he can do is drink. He needs the booze or else he goes into withdrawals. If he doesn't get it figured out he will end up dead sooner rather than later. It's a shame because I do like the guy.

It is hard to find good help. A couple weeks ago we brought Katherine with us to help work on Phil's house and she ended up being an epic fail. I was almost embarassed to have brought her with us since she got all tired and did not accomplish enough to justify her pay. Thankfully Kat and I work very hard to we sorta picked up the slack. The same was almost true with Jeremy on Monday. Stripping off old shingles is physical work, but it's not so taxing that only an athelete can do it. Hell, Kat goes BEAST MODE on that shit and she has a friggin lupus-damaged body. Is is a letdown to see how many of the younger folks fail at real work. Makes me think more and more that the movie Wall-E is mankind's future. Humans trash Earth, get fat, and live in spaceships in orbit while they get fatter and fatter.

^Future Earth while Short Circuit 2.0 looks on in cyber-disgust? Jeremy would only want to be there if he could still get cheap Natty Daddys.

I am very glad we didn't go to Phil's yesterday because it was 90 with extreme humidity yet again. Phil's back yard gets unlimited sun from late morning until quitting time, and he is in the woods so the trees and his house block most of any breeze. 90 would have felt like 110 back there yesterday. No thanks. Kat did a lot of shingling on that garage side while Jeremy and I prepped, tarpapered, removed rotten sill and plywood, etc on Monday. I have some photos of our progress that I should upload and post for next time.

Since it was so hot yesterday I worked on my bootleg gym ceiling for 3-4 hours. It was nice working down there because it is "only" 70 degrees and not humid at all. I have a badass dehumidifier running in that basement/gym this time of year. The thing costs $50-$75 a month in power to use, but without it that cellar turns into a virtual sauna. I know from many years past before I connected a dehumidifier how bad it can get down there. Now the low humidity in there makes a HUGE difference. I'm still not even 50% done with that ceiling, but I am getting closer to the halfway mark. Tomorrow will be 90+ so I'll work on it some more, and then if we get a predicted cool front to blow through fast enough Friday I can start replacing a rotten retaining wall Friday PM and Saturday. Kat and I will be going back to Phil's Sunday, and next week we plan to get a lot done at his place as long as the weather cooperates for us.

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Sunday, 7-01-18: It's too hot to jog so I'll play rball again.
Our overnight low temperature just about hit the dew point, 70-ish degrees. That is brutally hot for an overnight temp. What a bunch of crap! However, I still slept pretty well because I had to make up for a bootleg Friday night sleep of a spotty few hours at best. It was a typical and pretty fun Friday night. Get boozed up, bivouac between 0200-0300, late-night snack (few bites of a spongy McChicken.) I actually didn't think I drank too much, but by the end of the night I was fairly lit. Not too drunk, though. No hangover yesterday! I was good-to-go, and I got all of the mowing done so every lawn is all set for another week or more.

I actually mowed one lawn, my most difficult lawn, Friday evening after I played racquetball. In hindsight that was an unwise decision because both Deno and I burned a shitload of energy doing battle for over an hour on the court. Lately we've had some great games of 1v1, but I end up losing about 90% of the time. What a bunch of crap that is! I'll often take a lead but then blow it because I get a little tired and because he is such a good player. Gavin is a great player also, but he hasn't played lately because he has a sore back. With only 4 weeks til blueberry raking he doesn't want to take any chances with it getting worse so for this month when I do play rball it will be only vs. Mike.

So after rball I was soaked in sweat, but Kat was hanging out with her friend just up the road so I had free time and I decided to tackle a little mowing. At first I was good-to-go, but by the time I got to the hill on the front I started getting dizzy. I almost stopped and left the mower right there in the middle of the lawn, but F that I got it done. Barely.

^Mowing that bootleg lawn is a bunch of crap. I should not 'a played rball so hard and then went right to mowing when it was so humid. I was sweating a ton so I got my arse home to drink Gatorade and shovel deer meat into my gom-hole. I needed to fuel up before I passed out, and it was a close call. My bad.

It took me a while to finish all the mowing Saturday because every nook and cranny of every lawn needed mowing and weedwacking. Heavy rain Thursday will help everything grow fast, but then this coming heat wave will cook it all to a slowdown. The lawns didn't grow too fast in the spring because overall it was dry and crisp when compared to average. Less mowing = awesome. I don't hate mowing the lawns, but sometimes it is a pain in the arse when it takes me away from other projects that I could be working on.

Since it is so humid I'll skip jogging and go play rball again this morning. Most likely I will lose, but hopefully not. Before rball I need to stop at Lowe's for a few more PVC trim boards for Phil's home renovation. I could get them tomorrow on the way down, but I'd rather be loaded up with the needed supplies and just get there and start working hard. We'll work there tomorrow and Tuesday this week and then not again until the following week. Tomorrow will "only" be 82 with high humidity, but Tuesday will be 90+. What a bunch of crap! Wednesday the 4th is predicted to be 94 here in Bangor area. OMG.

Before I get off this bootleg site that no one reads I just want to post my review of a terrible movie that we watched last night, The Escape Plan 2. Wow, what a terribe piece of shit that movie was. The first Escape Plan was a pretty good movie with both Stallone and Scwarzenegger starring. Unfortunately, the straight-to-DVD sequel was a mess. Scwarzenegger was not in the movie, and I bet Stallone wishes he was not in the movie either. Everything about the movie sucked. Badly. Poor Stallone, my favorite celebrity, even he could not save it. To the writers, directors, and producers of this mess of a movie (Thankfully not Stallone!) I award you my bootleg fail-trophy:

The Escape Plan 2: I give it a 1/10 review. A horrid movie, and even worse we paid $5.99 to watch it On Demand. What a bunch of crap! I wish we could get a refund gods damn it. The end. Fin.