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"What's the difference between a condom and a coffin?"
"You come in one and leave in the other, but you need to be stiff to go in both." - Joke I read on the Interweb

Thursday, 7-27-23: Half-packed for raking.
I just washed the 5-gallon water jug that I only seem to use for a week or so every two years for raking. Every season when I get done raking I just half-ass unload my stuff because I have to get back to work, and often-times things are not cleaned properly. A prime example of that is that water jug. No disgusting black mold, but some blueberry stains, leaves, etc. The stains are there forever, but I did get it fairly clean. My smaller water thermos was even worse!

I wanted to load up more gear, but it didn't stop raining until after dark. What a bunch of crap! Nevertheless I do have a bunch of firewood, chairs, the canopy, and a bunch of clothes and whatnot already loaded. My checklist is about half-done. I can load the rest tomorrow morning before I head out; I'm hoping to leave around 1000, give or take. It will be my first day of raking in almost two years, but I feel as ready as ever. Not being cocky about that because I know how things can change. I could show up to the field feeling great, and then after a half hour I could blow out a forearm or something. Years ago, MANY years ago, I blew out a forearm for a couple days when I was blueberry raking and the end result was using a tiny 45-tooth rake in "the valley of the chuck" for way too long. That was a bunch of crap!

I feel like I'm in shape, but I'm not planning to use the most badass blueberry rake Cliff owns much, if at all.

^From 2007, and Gavin was arriving to give me a proper greeting. I can't find a photo of the epic Excalibur rake. What a bunch of crap! Oh well, Gavin flipping me off works just as well. The Ex is a 110-tooth behemoth that can really pick up the blueberries, but my 145-pound ass can barely wield it these days now that I am borderline old. Ten years ago I could roll with that rake for 75% of the time, but not anymore. Now I'll probably use a 90-tooth rake for most of my season...

I'm working on a home equity loan so we have some extra precious... precious money for the restaurant. The bank needed a few things including photos of the house. I was in the bank yesterday trying to make an appointment for a consultation with a mortgage person, and the chick helping me at the teller-section was not so good at her job. She was asking me what my credit score is, and I don't know. THAT'S NOT MY JOB YOU PULL MY CREDIT SCORE. I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO GET ON THE INTERWEB TO LOOK IT UP MYSELF I'M SURE I COULD FIGURE IT OUT BUT THEN I WOULD BE ON A BUNCH OF SPAM AND GAY PORN LISTS NO THANK YOU.

So I just used their online thing to get it started, and I put a lot of effort into it today. Credit score: 767. I think that's good? However, they want tax returns and that's when it gets weird. Tax business, carpentry business, rental properties (sold!), restaurant with big losses, etc. I don't think they will like the looks of our tax returns, but we will know for sure soon enough when we get either the APPROVED or DENIED message.

^Guy does not want that one. They gave me an approval, but it's only tentative and can change fast when the underwriters look at all of my shit. That credit score should help, though. Maybe? Hopefully!

Hey, the house looks great:

^I'd loan to... ME!

I suppose I should get off this bootleg site that almost no one ever reads. I might get back on in an hour or two, but that's probably unlikely. Right now I'm gonna go down to the bar and have a couple beers before I come home and rack out. I made $28 in two hours as a server earlier for what was a fairly busy supper rush so let's see if I can blow it all.

Goonies never say die!

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Tuesday, 7-25-23: The not-birthday party, and lots of blueberries. Fuck off, COVID.
I had a trip planned to the ol' homestead today, and I had some stops mapped out along the way. First was a stop to some new nutrition-shack place in Hampden to get a $7.50 peanut-butter-flavored protein shake. That thing was great! Is it worth $7.50? Probably not, but it did keep me full for the entire afternoon and into the evening. I'd never go to a place like that, but a couple of our bar patrons were telling me about their new endeavor and I thought the least I could do was stop in and check it out since they spand a lot of money at our place over the course of a year.

The shake was really good, and I'd stop in again to get another flavor in the future. Maybe on a drive back home from raking after I've burned 10000 calories and need the precious... precious energy.

My next stop was over an hour drive away in Union, Cliff's house and blueberry land. This is what I saw:

^I SEE A LOT OF BOOBERRIES!

I met up with the boss, and we caught up for about a half hour. He showed me around the field some, and it looks good. GREAT. Two years ago it looked just about as good, but I was a pussy and didn't make as much money as I should have. What a bunch of crap! I do think COVID had something to do with that, but there's no way to prove it. This year I feel pretty good physically so we'll see how that goes once I start raking. Harvesting those little berries is not easy at all. 73-year old Cliff still does it like a champ, though. He's a machine!

I've never gone to the blueberry field before the season at Cliff's to look at it, but it was on my way down to the midcoast so why not? Today is Hawke's 4th birthday so I was planning to attend his party later in the afternoon. I think it's going to be a really good raking season, and I'm pumped up for it even more after seeing the field. Plus the forecast is looking better with the epic July heat wave finally ending and temps getting back into the 70s for highs with 50s for lows. PERFECT! We do have to suffer more high heat and humidity for three more days, though. What a bunch of crap!

I hadn't seen Cliff in almost two years, and I honestly thought I was done with blueberry raking after my less-than-stellar 2021 season. Gavin plans to go as well so we'll camp out at Mic Mac again starting Friday night and into next week. The timing is great because the restaurant is burning me out to the point I don't really want to do it anymore. Kat told me earlier that our dishwasher called out, and I didn't even care... whether or not I cared. If we didn't get a replacment I would have voted to just close. What a bunch of crap! Thankfully Zack agreed to take the shift so we have coverage and I don't have to do it. I don't mind, but not this week I have other shit going on.

After stopping for a nice visit with Cliff I stopped into Mic Mac to pay for the camp, but she wasn't there so I'll just pay Friday. I called her, and we're all good. Campground looks the same, store nearby looks the same, seems all systems go. I need something to look forward to because my life lately feels like 10 pounds of crap stuffed into a 5 pound bag. What a bunch of crap!

I planned to go to Mom and Dad's for a couple hours before Hawke's party so I could help Dad unload a bunch of supplies for his food plot out back. He has his guy coming to till it up, and it's time for fertilizer and lime. Dad had 750 pound worth of product in the back of his truck so we got it stashed under the deck out back. We visited for a bit, we were about to head to Hawke's party, and then it ended badly.

Jason called Mom and Dad's house (landline phone still at the ol' homestead!) with the bad news. No party, Hawke tested positive for the 'rona. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! THE LITTLE GUY HAS COVID. He's not sick, but Dad can't be around that shit and I can't really justify hanging out with my nephew knowing he could give me the 'rona and I could give it to my wife. I don't fuckin' care if I get exposed to COVID yet again, but it's just not fair to Kat.

I don't love going to kids' birthday parties. I think they suck! However, I wouldn't wish this fate on any kid. This is the best we could do for today, from a distance:

^LOOK AT THE LITTLE GUY HE'S TRYING NOT TO CRY AND HE HAS THAT GODS DAMNED MASK ON THIS FUCKING SSSSSSSSSSSSUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAP!

Jason showed us the cake Holly made for Hawke, and the poor little guy had to wear a mask and hold back tears. NO PARTY FOR YOU FUCK OFF WUHAN, CHINA AND ANYONE WHO MADE US FEAR THIS STRONG AND PROBABLY MAN-MADE VERSION OF THE FLU! THIS SHIT IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE.

Fuckin' COVID. This piece of shit thing has been a thorn in out collective sides for what, 3.5 years? I'm emotionally impotent, but seeing the little guy look so sad tugged at my heart. Even worse, when they do have a proper party for him I won't be able to go because I'll be raking. I could go, but I need the money from raking and I already used up all that precious... precious time going down there today for what ended up being an epic failer. I'm not suicidal (yet), but this whole COVID mess has pushed me closer to just wanting to die. Life sucks worse now than it did 4 years ago, and it seems we're going in the wrong direction not only because of the 'rona but also because of a lot of other factors that I don't need to revisit right now.

Cliff plans to start raking Thursday, but I think I'll wait and go Friday for 1/2 a day before I start setting up camp. I have a few more things I can take care of up here, but I don't feel too overwhelmed with work so that's a rare win for me. Who knows, after seeing that field I might get more motivated to go on Thursday, but it's 58 miles one-way and not an easy 58 miles either. Takes about 1:20 one-way and uses up close to $20 in gas plus wear and tear. If I go Friday I'll also be a bit more physically fresh since I lifted weights today. No more lifting weights for me until after raking. Hopefully I can do yoga and jog tomorrow, and then take Thursday off from any exercise before hitting it hard in the field Friday and into next week.

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Monday, 7-24-23: This stupid asshole cat...
I'm pretty sure there are 7 cats living in this house. Katherine has 3, and Kat has 4. I'm not 100% sure I'm right about those numbers because some of them look the same, and most of them suck. One of them really sucks. A lot. I never really liked cats that much, and this one is a big part of my annoyance with them all:

^His name is Eleven, and he can eat the peanuts out of my ssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttttttttttttttttt. I HATE THIS FUCKING CAT.

Why do I hate this cat you ask? Mostly because he always tries to run outside when we're putting the dogs out or letting them back in, and he's gotten pretty sneaky about it. Sometimes I'll look around to see if he's near the door, I don't see him, and he still finds a way to dart his worthless loser-ass right out that door. All I wanna know is why? Why does he always wanna run outside? That little skid-mark is hard to catch, too. He got outside Friday morning and I just about lost my cool. Then I calmly said to myself, in the spirit of Drago from Rocky IV, "If he dies, he dies."

^When Apollo died is was really sad, and that that was a fake movie story death. If Eleven dies it won't be real-life sad for me at all. Too bad he'll probably live another decade. What a bunch of crap!

I don't fuckin' care if that cat goes outside, jumps the fence, and is never seen again. My wife would hate me for it, but oh well. At this point I don't even care... whether or not I care. I did try to get him back inside, but I waited a few minutes until he got a little more bored out there because he's about impossible to catch. Thankfully (or not?) I got his dumb ass back inside. Then, after work that same night in the middle of the night, he got out again. WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAP!

When he got outside the second time around I was already in a shitty mood because my wife was drunk, work had been busy, and I was done. I left that little piece of shit out there, and Kat went out to get him. She's a lot better at that stuff than I am, and recovering a black cat in the middle of the night is no easy task. Nevertheless she did grab him, he clawed her some, and I didn't even feel badly for her because that's what you get for being drunk and having a piece of shit pet who sucks at life.

I have a lot of built-up anger towards this fuckin' cat. Not only is he a dick by trying to get outside but he's also a dick by being obnoxious even when inside the house. I have pet him a couple times, and in hindsight I regret that because I don't want this cat thinking we're friends. WE WILL NEVER BE FRIENDS I FUCKING HATE YOU!

I am not a cruel person so I will not kill this loser-pet, and I will not intentionally let him outside and throw him over the fence (or wait for him to hop over it.) However, if he does get back outside I'm definitely going to half-ass my effort to get him back inside, just like I did Friday. If he dies, he dies.

I can tolerate the other cats more than Eleven, but at times they all piss me off as well. I was a total pussy husband and I let my wife get another cat last year, Schroeder. At first it was a cute kitten, and I even let him sleep in our bed with us when he was really tiny. However, since then he's grown up and he's an obnoxious asshole, too. What a bunch of crap!

So I just put the dogs out, and Eleven ran right over to the screen door. Thankfully he didn't get out this time so we have a trick to get his ass away from the door. We keep a spray bottle of water there, and when he lurks we give him some squirts to get him out of the area. Most cats hate getting sprayed with water, and we don't enjoy doing it, but we'd rather do that than have him outside again and again.

My life fucking sucks.

Oh, it's gonna be HOT again this week. Stupid-hot Thursday and Friday and very humid. 72 for a low temp Thurs so I'll complain more about that later in the week, if I have time to update this bootleg site that almost no one ever reads. Looks like I'm heading out to blueberry rake Friday late morning, and it'll be 90 degrees. What a bunch of crap! Afternoon/evening thunderstorms will cool things off and next week looks great with temps in the 70s. As long as we don't get a lot of rain it will be fantastic raking weather. Maybe? Hopefully!

I really need to go blueberry raking just to get away for a bit. I haven't been happy lately, and I think the restaurant is burning me out yet again. Raking isn't even a vacation, it's a lot of hard work, but at least it's something different and it will feel like a break from what has become my shitty life. Dad likes to say "You make your own luck." and it's true more often than not so when I complain about my life being a turd who do I have to blame? Me of course. What a bunch of crap!

Oh the bright side of things I don't have tons of work to do this week, and I feel like I'm in pretty good shape as compared to where I've been over the past couple years. I lifted weights not long ago, and I might go for a jog later depending on how I feel. It'll be humid and 87 so if I do jog it might only be a mile. I jogged two miles yesterday without having to stop and walk. It was "only" 80 degrees with a 63 dew point so it was plenty warm, but not stupid-hot.

Alright turds, all two of you who read this bootleg site of mine, I gotta go do some house-work. I'll go clean out the closet where I keep tools, hunting gear, etc and if I have time I'll do some cleaning in the basement as well. I need to organize some of my stuff for raking, too. Maybe dredge up an air mattress, etc. I had an air mattress in the shed until mice ate holes in it. What a bunch of crap!

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Thursday, 7-20-23: Full day of carpentry/demolition today.
I worked with Gavin again today over at his place replacing a big section of flooring. We hit it pretty hard Tuesday and really worked up a sweat ripping up a big section of the old floor on what was a very humid day. Today the weather was great with lower humidity and less demolition, more actual construction, and we got a lot done in a full 8 hours of work. It was still plenty of exercise going up and down and moving 22-foot joists into place. Plus the blocking, flooring, etc all chewed up precious... precious time. We're just a bit more than halfway done after 14.5 hours of working together on it. I might be able to help him some this weekend, maybe a couple hours Saturday and/or Sunday, and then that's it until next month.

^We made awesome progress today. That photo was around midday, and we got even more done in the afternoon.

I still enjoy doing carpentry, and it feels good seeing a project come together. Gavin's place is always a challenge; today was a lot of measuring and double-checking to keep the new floor both level and safe. It's definitely over-engineered with double 8" joists 16" on center (13" blocking between the joists, too.) but there is a 10 or 11-foot span to the center support so it's smart to double up the joists for strength. That floor will most likely be a kitchen/dining room at some point, or maybe two separate rooms, and it will get a lot of use as the center-point of the apartment with both entry doors leading to that area. That new floor is STRONG. The old floor was a bootleg piece of shit with some failing areas around what once was a chimney hole. What a bunch of crap!

At this time in one week I'll either be awake writing my useless thoughts to almost no one on this bootleg site, I'll be racked out, or I'll be at work. I definitely hope it's not the last of those three! I plan to leave for blueberry raking Friday morning next week, and I'd like to rake for 1/2 a day before I set up camp. Gavin will meet me at some point next Friday, and we'll have camp set up for a week down in Union.

We finished a 36k heat pump in the restaurant event room a week or two ago, the thing worked great for a couple days, and then it stopped working. OMG! I reached out to the contractor who did the install, and he came by tonight to look at it. Kat also has a friend who does HVAC so he had looked at it earlier today and said it needed more coolant. Turns out there was a leak so bye bye coolant and bye bye cool air. NOOOOOOOOOO! All I wanna know is why? Why can't we get something new to just work right? We have a huge event for tomorrow evening so having it working was really important to us. It better not leak again gods damn it!

The Interweb at our house sucks. A lot. We have Spectrum, and it keeps cutting in and out. What a bunch of crap! We bought a new router last month, but we couldn't get it working. I didn't try at all because I'm dumb with all this stuff. Kat tried some then gave up.. for now. Gavin suggested we have to call Spectrum to get a new router set up so maybe that's the problem. Or maybe we just dump Spectrum and get something else...

Our Interweb may only work 1/2 the time, but it sure beats dial-up! Hehehe.

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Tuesday, 7-18-23: More carpentry work at Gavin's. Oh, raking soon. Humidity = do not want.
Gavin took today off from work, and I helped him do a floor replacement in a sizeable area of his bootleg apartment building. I used to joke that I owned bootleg apartments, but his building is the epitomy of a bootleg money pit compared to the ones I owned. Everything there is harder than it should be. What a bunch of crap!

Actually my Chamberlain St. duplex was pretty screwed, and maybe worse than Gavin's building... hard to tell since I was doing Chamberlain St. over 15 years ago...

^Yeah, I learned a lot doing that one. A LOT. That photo was an interior second-floor kitchen OMG WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAP! From late 2007, seemingly forever ago.

Today Gavin and I worked on this floor:

We have to keep ripping out the old floor on the right side, and doing that = what a bunch of crap! It's 3 or 4 layers of wood, and it's very difficult to cut out. A chainsaw doesn't work because of all the nails so sawzalls are the way to go, but it takes a lot of precious... precious time. We can't cut out too much of that old floor before we do the new joists because we want the house to stay upright. Getting those new joists in isn't easy because each one is about 22 feet long with custom notches on each end to fit.

That hole in the center of the old floor used to be a chimney so nothing around that is structurally the best either. I thought we could get to that chimney-hole today (Gavin removed the chimney years ago), but it just took too long doing what we had to do elsewhere. Installing the new joists is quite a task, and just the blocking alone chews up the clock. Sweat was pouring off us both earlier because the air has been nothing but humid all month. Seriously. ALL FUCKIN MONTH OMG! It was around 68 for a low temp last night, never cooled off, again. What a bunch of crap! 85 degrees today and epic humid made that work seem even harder. I enjoyed doing it, though. Good prep for blueberry raking, good exercise, and a sense of accomplishment. Plus I'll make a few bucks so that's a win. Lots of dust and debris, and we were both flithy by the end of the day.

Speaking of blueberry raking, it's just over a week away now for my loser-ass! I texted with the boss Sunday, and he sent me a lot of blueberry symbols on the cellphone. He says the field looks great, but we won't know until we start. Hawke's 4th birthday is next Tuesday the 25th so I'll be down in the midcoast for that, and if Cliff starts raking on Wednesday the 26th I might just bivouac at Mon and Dad's and rake some Wednesday next week. Definitely not locked in yet, only a maybe, but a real possibility.

It seems more certain that I'll go blueberry rake for half a day next week, Friday the 28th, and then set up camp and meet up with Gavin and stay down there for the better part of a week while we blueberry rake. I'll come home once or twice, probably Tuesday August 1 will be the day I come home for an overnight, but we'll see how it goes. Weather matters, too. I don't want to blueberry rake if we're going to get rain all day. I might do it anyway, though. They come off easier when they're wet, and as long as it's not too cold the rain can help keep you cool and moving double-time.

Physically I feel pretty good so far this month. The humidity makes jogging hard, but not impossible. I felt really weak in May, but I think allergies had a lot to do with that. Sometimes I felt like I couldn't get enough air, but that has passed... for now. I've had a decent mix of yoga, my bootleg little cellar gym, some jogging, and some racquetball. Will that help for blueberry raking? I hope so, but I won't know until I get out there. Two years ago when I last went blueberry raking it was an epic failer. I still made good money, but I should have made GREAT money. I was just too much of a pussy, I guess. After the raking season two years ago I really thought that was the end of it all. No more, ever. Fin. Goodbye. I don't want to go rake anywhere else, and Cliff is getting up there in years. However, Cliff seems ready to go again for this season so that helps get me fired up for it, too.

I do feel badly that my awesome wife will have to work more up here while I go raking at the end of this month and into early August, but we could really use the money and, if the crop is good, I'll make at least $40/hr (assuming my body doesn't fail on me) I used to be happy averaging $20/hr raking, but that was a really old goal and inflation sucks ass so anything less than $30/hr this year is a fail. Cliff is paying more so I only need 6 boxes an hour to hit that rate of pay. Two years ago I felt like I sucked and I topped that number.

I'm almost to the point where I'm ready for summer to end. It's been way too hot and humid lately. What a bunch of crap! I used to think July was one of my favorite months of the year, but now I think it mostly sucks. Too hot, too humid. The best weather we have is really towards the end of August and into September, and then it slowly gets worse from there. I do enjoy deer hunting season weather (mostly) and after that it's game over for a while. Winter still sucks a bag of ass so hopefully one day we can leave here for winter and go somewhere warmer. That all depends on seemingly 100 factors that we can't control, though.

So my soon-to-be 4-year old nephew's birthday is next week on Tuesday, and I plan to actually go to his party. Did I go last year? NOPE BECAUSE I AM A SHITTY UNCLE! I dunno maybe I went? Guy looks at the archives of this bootleg site that no one ever reads...

I have to leave soon to go down to the midcoast. I'll swing by Mom and Dad's house to get their window A/C units in. I haven't even been to their house in roughly 8 or 9 months. What a bunch of crap! Earlier this month when I went down for a visit we all met at the lake house Jason and Holly rented for the week. That was a nice visit and not too hot at all. We'll roast today, and Hawke's birthday party is later this afternoon. He officially turns 2 or 3 tomorrow, but doing the party on a Monday sucks ass and I wouldn't have gone.

Ok so I skipped his 2-year birthday party from 2021. Oh well he was too young to remember that! He won't remember his 4th either, and I don't think I remember any of mine from... ever. What a bunch of crap! I don't give a crispy crap about my birthday, though. It's just another day to me. Some people get so excited for their birthday, and I can't understand why? Who cares it's just a birthday. For kids I get the excitement, but I know full-grown adults who get all fired up for it. Doesn't make sense to me at all.

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Thurday, 7-13-23: Past my bedtime? Not quite yet.
It's only 2245 so, for a Thursday, that's not too late yet. On a Sunday or Monday night? Forget it my ass is bivouaced already. On

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights the bar/restaurant stays open until 0100 so the place is cranking along pretty good right now as I write this bootleg update that almost no one will ever read. We also do karaoke tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday night. This time of year can be hit or miss, but so far this week hasn't been too shabby. Better than I would have expected for the middle of a hot stretch of summer. We got so busy for trivia last night that we had to work for a couple hours. Small price to pay for being busy, and I was happy to do it. I'd work tonight if needed, but it looks like the staff has it under control. Maybe? Hopefully!

I probably would have gone to sleep not long, but it's still 70+ degrees and humid outside so the bedroom is hot. What a bunch of crap! Summer nights seem to get hotter each year (on average) so I suppose having A/C in the bedroom at some point would be good. I don't mind staying up for a bit longer just in case I am needed down at the bar. Plus I work until around 0200 tomorrow and Saturday so I might as well get on a later sleep schedule. Half the time on Thursday nights my aweome wife and I are down at the bar hanging out as customers, but not tonight. I didn't want to go; we stayed home and watched a documentary about the once-famous TV show "American Gladiators." It aired mostly in the 90s, and I never watched it, but the documentary was very interesting.

We did take a break from watching the show to go for a nice walk, and that's something we've rarely been able to do so far this summer either because we have work or because the weather has been a giant bunch of crap. Lots of wet days, and often even when it's not raining it feels like it could pour at any moment. That happened to my loser-ass a couple days ago when I was about to go mow the lawn and then it started downpouring. What a bunch of crap! Oh well, I did get the lawn done yesterday in 88-degree heat. Parts of the lawn were still damp so I haven't mowed a totally dry lawn here since... May? Epic failer!

It's been a decent week so far with not an overwhelming amount of work. I spent a total of 5 more hours at Gavin's today finishing up all the remaining trim (not much was left needing install) and then caulking and painting. It's really close to done now, and I think he will finally be able to move into the upstairs apartment very soon. He needs a final sign-off from the city and gas hooked up so even with the trim being all done it's not move-in ready. Next week I'll help him with some floor replacements in another section of his building. We have to rip out old joists in one big section of the place and install new ones. Could take days, and I'm sure between that and the restaurant I'll have plenty to keep my ass busy for the next couple weeks. After that is BLUEBERRY RAKING. It's looking like Saturday the 29th of this month will be my first day since I plan to work Friday night the 28th...

^Trim done around the slider today. That step is just temporary. It was more of a pain in the arse than it might appear in the photo because I had to rip some scrap 3/4 for the depth. Not a whole lot to work with and unforgiving if nailed wrong, but the end result is a win.

I don't consider myelf to be a great finish carpenter, but Gavin's place is coming along nicely and the work I've done looks pretty good. Not perfect, but more than passable and quick. No offense to G, he' a great person and a great friend, but he is SLOW with his finish work. I'm charging him by the hour, but I don't screw around I try to be as efficient as possible with the use my my precious... precious time.

I've gotten some decent exercise this week so bonus there. I've lifted weights, done yoga, played rball, and gone for a couple short jogs. Monday was only a mile before it started to rain (what a bunch of crap!) and yesterday was so damn hot I only went 1.67 miles, and I walked some of it. Will I be in shape enough to do well blueberry raking? My goal is 300 boxes; two years ago I did 400 boxes, but that was a fantastic crop and it would be foolish to expect the same crop again.

^My one raking photo from two years ago and look, it was about to rain! We've gotten so much rain this summer so I hope the pattern shifts and we have a dry start to August. Raking in the rain sucks. A lot.

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Tuesday, 7-11-23: Court verdict, trim work, motor research, more garbage weather.
I went to court last Wednesday at 0830, and my hungover-ass had to sit for a couple hours through all kinds of other cases before my lawyer finally rolled in and said we were pushed back to Monday the 10th. OMG WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAP! I could have been home helping my awesome wife clean up after another epic July 4th party, but instead I had to sit in court awaiting the chance to get out of a "Disorderly conduct" charge, a $250 fine, and the cost of a Toyota Avalon driver door (I kicked it in hehehe okay not cool but the archives of this bootleg site detail that shit-show that wasn't really my fault...)

So I went back to court yesterday at 1300, and it was a best-case scenario. Case dismissed! Paying a lawyer a $2000 retainer worked out well for me because he handled that shit like a boss. Too bad he hasn't handled our other lingering problem yet, one that is approaching 2.5 years in the works. What a bunch of crap! There will *hopefully* be a resolution to that soon, though.

Court yesterday only ate up a half-hour of my precious... precious time, but I would have rather spent that time elsewhere. Overall my epic bar parking-lot fight from late Dec last year cost my dumb ass $2000 and several hours in court and dealing with shit. Do I regret it? Hmmmm... I want to, but NOPE I DO NOT. I got beat up by some bigass guy, but I kicked him in the face and dented in his car door. He was a total dick to my family and to my place of business, and that is not cool. Ever.

Will I get into another bar fight? I'm 47 friggin years old so I sure hope not! I didn't want to get in the fight 6 months ago either, but it was time to make a stand. Too bad in making that stand a local cop was on patrol and sniffed out enough of it to get in on the action via my summons to court for "disorderly conduct." The other guy got an assault charge so we both, through our lawyers, agreed to something called a "Mutual accord" where the whole thing just goes away. I'm sure he didn't want an assault charge on his record, and I didn't want to pay for a car door!

I worked for 5 hour at Gavin's place today finishing up some more trim work. Gavin was in charge of the spray-foam around his kitchen window, and the end result is this hilarious photo:

^HAHAHAHAHA. I LOVE THIS PHOTO. If you put in too much of the spray foam it expands and makes one hell of a mess. I know all too well, but I've learned from years past of epic fails that less is more when it comes to that stuff. Gavin still needs to study the game.

A big part of the reason why I love that photo is the view from that window. It's our old apartment deck! I have more epic memories from living in that apartment outside his window than I will ever remember. When I built that deck in the photo outside the window and across the street Gavin didn't even own that bootleg house. I actually had the house under contract many years ago and then I convinced Gavin to buy it. Weird irony that I occasionally go over there and work for him? I still feel badly that he got "stuck" with the place. It's been a real money-pit for him. What a bunch of crap!

I have to go over to Tractor Supply tomorrow and buy a motor. I was doing some research yesterday because we need a new motor for one of our kitchen hoods. I took a picture of the motor on the neighboring hood:

^Is that from before I was born? Pre-1975? Guy think that is possible!

The Interwebs were a confusing place to start, but I narrowed it down to two different types of motors. First is the "Air compressor" motor and second is the "Farm" motor. I think I want a farm one? Maybe? Hopefully! I can get a 1HP farm motor at Harbor Freight Tools for under $200, but it doesn't seem like the right thing to do. I also need a pulley and a belt. Amazon.com had some options, but the drawback of ordering online is the consequence of a fail. If I get the wrong stuff it will suck to return, if I can return it at all. Thankfully Tractor Supply in Bangor has what I need, at least according to their website. There's also a Tractor Supply in Holden so bonus there. Sadly it will cost a lot more to get locally, but I'm okay with that we need it.

The lawn needed to be mowed today so I was about to head out and do it when it started pouring rain. Again. This summer weather = what a bunch of crap! We've had lots of cloudy, rainy days as well as HUMIDITY. Tomorrow there is "only" a small chance of a thunderstorm, but it'll be humid and near 90. NOOOOOOOOOO! I'll mow the lawn in the heat, but doing it in the rain 100% sucks. I haven't mowed our lawn when its been dry since... 2022? Maybe once or twice in May? I can't remember, but the last few times I've mowed the lawn it's been wet so the eject-chute gets all clogged and it's a bunch of crap!

I gotta get that shit on a schedule because I leave for blueberry raking in 2.5 weeks. If I mow tomorrow, next week Thursday, and the week after Friday, I should be on track. Maybe? Hopefully! Speaking of hopefully, I hope I'm in shape enough to have a good raking season. I wouldn't even go, but we can use the money and I am weird and still look forward to it. It's like the ultimate personal challenge over the course of a week or two. How many blueberries can I harvest (and more = more pay!) before my body starts to fail on me? If it's a good crop the pay will be fantastic, best ever, but if it's not a good season we might be pwned. We'll find out soon enough...

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Friday, 7-07-23: 100k, need A/C, back to court. Oh, a party.
Every year for the past 4 years Jason and Holly have rented a nice house down in Jefferson on Damriscotta Lake for a vacation week, and I've gone to visit each time. Yesterday was really the only day of the week I had free enough to go, and it was a fantastic day. Hot, 92 here in Brewer, and almost as warm down there. We had a nice lunch, swam some, and had a fun boat ride with more swimming. Mom and Dad came for lunch, and my soon-to-be 4-year old nephew had a blast shooting me 100 times with his various squirt guns. Ripping out Def Leppard as we cruise the lake? Oh Jesus, hell ya!

On the drive home my once-badass F150 finally hit the 100k mark for miles travelled. It's been almost 13 years since I got that truck down in Georgia. Wow! I need a newer one because mine is rusting out, epecially in the rocker panels, but that will have to wait until we *maybe* get the restaurant profitable.

^Passed 100k on North Main, near the Irving gas station by the State Street traffic light, only a half-mile or so from the house. Dusty dashboard, "Door open" warning always on, check engine light on. What a bunch of crap!

We've had a brutally hot and humid stretch of weather lately, and I saw on the news the entire planet just had its hottest day ever recorded. What a bunch of crap! Is that caused by humans? Earth is what, 4 or 5 billion years old? We have data going back only 100 years so that's hardy cause to raise the red flag. I'm fine with winters being warmer, but warmer summers = DO NOT WANT. Not every day has been stupid-hot, but nights haven't cooled off much lately and the humidity is often opressive. We need A/C in the event room at the restaurant, and as of today we should have it.

Our HVAC guy came Wednesday evening to finish up the install, but the sparkies still need an hour or two to get it powered. They were supposed to come last night so my awesome wife and I went down to the bar, but then they bailed so we stayed and had a couple drinks anyway. They're coming this morning. (Maybe? Hopefully!) and it needs to get done by around midday so we can get it running and try to cool it off some. We're having four events this weekend, some of them big, so having that room be 80 degrees and stifling is not a good look for our still relatively new business. Tonight's event starts at 1900 so if we get it going by noon that might be enough time, but I'm not even sure. It will be 88 outside today and humid again...

One 36k heat pump won't be enough for the entire room, but if it shaves a few degrees off and wicks out some of the humidity it's a win. Plus it shows the regular renters that we're putting in the effort and investment. I still have to tie in the drain line for the thing this morning, but that's the least of my concern. In the past the contractors who have done our other heat pumps have done all that, but they've also charged a lot more money. This one is costing us less, but it requires more of my precious... precious time helping along the way. I've mounted the bracket for the head-unit, gotten the compressor on the roof (with help, not easy it's heavy what a bunch of crap), drilled holes, and now I'll take care of the drain. Just some 1/2" PVC and fittings will do, shouldn't take that long. However, it will take longer than I want it to take because I have to tie into some existing plumbing...

We didn't drink that much last night, only two beers for my ass, because I bigtime overdid it Tuesday night for our big July 4th party. We had a GREAT turnout, and it wa a lot of fun, but then I got too drunk and don't even remember the end of the night. What a bunch of crap! I woke up pretty hungover Wednesday morning needing to go to court by 0830. I got to court and waited around for 2 hours watching other cases (all class D & E stuff, lots of driving without a license and whatnot) and then they pushed my case back to Monday because of reasons above my pay grade. OMG I DIDN'T EVEN HAVE TO GO WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAP!

Sucks I have to go back, but odds of everything getting dismissed have increased so I'll take those odds. Court is only 1.5 miles from the house so it's not a far commute, but it does eat up my precious... precious time that I could spend doing other things.

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Monday, 7-03-23: Party tomorrow, court Wednesday.
The restaurant was closed today (CLOSED MONDAYS!), and it will also be closed tomorrow for Independence Day. Oh Jesus, hell ya! Can't make any money being closed, but can't lose that much either hehehe. Even though the place was closed today both my awesome wife and I were there doing some work. I also had the electricians there this afternoon getting as much wiring as possible done for a new heat pump that's in the works. If all goes as planned we'll have that thing working by Friday in our event room. We need it badly, too. It was HOT in there this past weekend, and the air temp outside barely hit 80. What a bunch of crap! The humidity has been rough lately. Lots of wet, muggy air with lots of rain as well. Gods damn it!

We have four events this coming weekend in that banquet room. First is a singles dance Friday night, second is a baby shower during the day Saturday. Third is a 25th wedding anniversary party, and finally comes our usual Sunday Country Jam. The baby shower is a smaller event, but the other three will likely have between 60-80 people, and all that body heat really adds up fast.

One 36k heat pump isn't enough to heat or cool the entire room a huge sum, but even shaving a few degrees off in the summer and killing some of the humidity would be a big win. Maybe help with heat in the winter, too...

I have to go to court Wednesday becausse I got into a stupid fist-fight a half a year ago. I kicked a big dent in the guy's car, and he banged me up a bit with his fists. Oh, I also got body-slammed onto the pavement. Lost the fight, have to go to court anway. What a bunch of crap! No one called the cops on us, but a cop was on patrol nearby and saw all the fuss... or something like that. Our lawyer is 60-40 that he can get me out of the bullshit "Disorderly conduct" charge, and the guy who assualted me doesn't want the law involved either, so making the whole thing simply disappear is the ultimate goal.

Going to court at 0830 Wednesday means no partying hard tomorrow for our annual July 4th party. I'm actually not looking forward to the party like I have in years past. Hopefully it will end up being a great time, but getting up early the following morning kills the vibe a bit. Plus it's always a lot of work and cleanup after. However, if we have some epic moments it will all be worthwhile. We really used to get crazy before we opened the bar...

^NO MORE DANCING ON THE ROOF!