9-04 10-04 11-04 12-04 1-05 2-05 3-05 4-05 5-05 6-05 7-05 8-05 9-05 10-05 11-05 12-05 1-06 2-06 3-06
4-06 5-06 6-06 7-06 8-06 9-06 10-06 11-06 12-06 1-07 2/07 3-07 4-07 5-07 6-07 7-07 8-07 9-07 10-07 11-07 12-07 1-08 2-08 3-08 4-08 5-08 6-08 7-08 8-08 9-08 10-08 11-08 12-08 1-09 2-09 3-09 4-09 5-09 6-09 7-09 8-09 9-09 10-09 11-09 12-09 1-10 2-10 3-10 4-10 5-10 6-10 7-10 8-10 9-10 10-10 11-10 12-10 1-11 2-11 3-11 4-11 5-11 6-11 7-11 8-11 9-11 10-11 11-11 12-11 1-12 2-12 3-12 4-12 5-12 6-12 7-12 8-12 9-12 10-12 11-12 12-12 1-13 2-13 3-13 4-13 5-13 6-13 7-13 8-13 9-13 10-13 11-13 12-13 1-14 2-14 3-14 4-14 5-14 6-14 7-14 8-14 9-14 10-14 11-14 12-14 1-15 2-15 3-15 4-15 5-15 6-15 7-15 8-15 9-15 10-15 11-15 12-15 1-16 2-16 3-16 4-16 5-16 6-16 7-16 8-16 9-16 10-16 11-16 12-16 1-17 2-17 3-17 4-17 5-17 6-17 7-17 8-17 9-17 10-17 11-17 12-17 1-18 2-18 3-18 4-18 5-18


"You asshole! Why did you give me booze? I didn't even have to do anything for your apartments." -Gavin
"It just appeared there magically." -Me
"That's funny, cause it is going to magically disappear, too!" -Gavin

Friday, 6-29-18: Here comes the heat.
A heat wave is coming, and it sort-of starts today. We're looking at mid-80s today, high 80s tomorrow, and then 90+ for early to midweek this coming week. High dew points each day will make it feel opressive at times. Working on Phil's house next Monday and Tuesday in 90-plus degree heat with high humidity will be a bunch of crap. Independence Day on the 4th looks very hot, and we'll be roasting when we have our annual karaoke/cookout/party. The party on the 4th has been a blast for the past few years so hopefully this one is a great time, too. Years ago I got shit-show drunk an was playing air guitar up on the old garage roof:

^From July 4th, 2015. Guess it was not air guitar, at least not in that photo. I'm lucky my dumb ass did not fall off and get hurt. Actually, I am very lucky overall that I have not fallen off anything and gotten hurt since I don't have any health insurance. However, if you are the IRS and reading this then yes, I do have minimum essential coverage. Hehehe. The fact that I am an honorably-discharged veteran who does not have any health insurance is a bunch of crap, but I am too proud to go pretend I have PTSD or some other war-related issue that would give me free handouts that I do not deserve.

I tried to sign up through the VA a few years ago for health insurance, but they denied my loser ass. What a bunch of crap! I would have paid for it, I didn't want to get it for free, but I guess that is not how it works. I just applied online so at some point I should go to the Bangor VA and meet with someone in person. I don't really feel like having health insurance is essential in my world, but for the amount of times I go up and down ladders, and for the amount of time I throw myself all over the racquetball court, I am at risk to a point. Plus I am getting older so anything beyond my control could pop up. Lyme Disease, etc. Gavin has Lyme's, three different strands of it. OMG that is horrible! He doesn't even spend nearly the time that I do in the woods either. Hell, maybe I already have some form of Lyme and don't even know it. Would not shock me in the least since little fucker ticks have tried to eat me many times. Too many to count. Gods damn ticks. What a bunch of crap those bootleg things are!

This year I won't be getting on the roof on the 4th because I won't get that drunk and because the roof is higher now. Hard to climb up this:

^From 2016, two summers ago. We must have just gotten Tiger Lily then,and Copper would have been about 6 months old.

I have some lawns to mow today and/or tomorrow, and I'll work on the gym ceiling some since it is going to be so hot outside. I do have this project to start, but I think I'll save that for mid-July, give or take, so we can get most or all of Phil's work done first.

^I built that wall maybe 10-12 years ago with Hemlock 6x6, but it is rotting and failing already. What a bunch of crap! I bought a bunch of RR ties recently over the course of 3 different trips to Lowe's so I plan to chansaw that old wall out and replace it with bulkier and longer-lasting RR ties. I might remove most or all of that dirt in behind there as well and replace it with gravel and a top-layer of soil to hold some shrubs. Water from the roof above drips down, and in the winter it all freezes and causes issues. I wish I did it right a decade ago, but you live and you learn. My bad using Hemlock and leaving too much dirt in behind. What a bunch of crap! I did put gravel in behind, but obviously not enough.

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Thursday, 6-28-18: Four years ago.
Sweet Pea and I have three important anniversarys each year. First and most importantly is our wedding anniversary of April 19, 2015. Second is the day we got engaged, September 28, 2014. Finally is the day we first officially spent time together, June 28, 2014. Four years ago today!

We met in a bar so most would think that is a red flag. However, to that I say if you don't like that you can gggggggggggeeeeeeeeeeeettttttttttttttttttttt ooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuttttttttttttttttttttt! She was, and still is, the Friday night karakoe DJ and I was just some nobody-patron. Her and I had chatted a bit at the bar, but that fateful Friday night (which began as the 27th but didn't officially commence fun times until the after-party on the 28th.) we really hit it off. I knew she was something special. I didn't even want to meet anyone because I was planning to drink beer, play video games, and just do my own thing in my newly-acquired house. Man am I glad she came into my life and scrapped those plans because what I got instead was infinitely better!

^From May of 2014, the month before we got together. We had a GREAT time that June 28th early morning (or 27th late-night depending on your perspective) sitting around that fire pit into the wee hours of the morning ripping out 80s tunes and watching Tommy deny some older chick who seemed to want him so badly. That chick was soooooo drunk, and when Tommy peaced out Three Stooges-style just in the wee hours we got a rolling laugh. Still is and probably will always be one of my fondest memories of Tommy, ever. Good god that night was epic. Kat and I texted some the following morning/day, and then we had our first date on Sunday June 29th. We hiked up Chick Hill and had supper at City Side so today in honor of that day we ate lunch at City Side. Unfortunately, no hike because the weather is a deluge. What a bunch of crap that is! Oh well, even on a perfect weather day we would not have gone up the hill because we need to rest from all the work at Phil's place.

Speaking of Phil's, the front of the garage is finally done:

^Looks awesome, but took over two days to shingle. No fast way to do all those edges. It is impossible.

Kat and I started on the back, and we got a lot done yesterday and the day before. Here is where we left off yesterday afternoon:

^There is still quite a bit of stripping of the old shingles left to do, and there is still a LOT of new shingles to install. On Monday we hope to shingle all the way up to the roof-line on that garage (left) side and I'll also address some rot issues along the right-side bottom. On Tuesday we'll get the peak of that garage section done and get the exposed areas tarpapered. We'll take from Wed July 4th through Sunday July 8th off, and then the week of the 9th-13th we will hopefully (but looking less than likely) get the remaining section shingled. We only plan to shingle what is in the photo, but much more remains and now Phil wants a new deck to replace that old and sagging blue wooden floating bootleg thing...

I really don't want to be working on that house right up until blueberry raking so if he wants more done it might have to wait until later in the summer. Or until 2019 because we will be busy renovating a newly-acquired property. Regarding that purchase, it is seeming more and more likely that we'll close on that building July 27th. Nothing is certain yet, but so far the bank still says yes and most of my bank paperwork is done including an appraisal of the property I am refinancing for the funds. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things stay on track because I'd love to own that property. I think it would be a perfect fit for us.

Kat is leaving soon to get her hair done so I'll go use my bootleg gym and install some more ceiling tiles before I come home to eat some food and watch the Red Sox. Her hair takes forever so most of the evening I am flying solo. Might as well work! That gym ceiling is slowly, very slowly, coming along. Here is the ceiling from the last time I worked on it last Saturday:

^So far so good! I'll work on it some more tonight, tomorrow, and a bit here and there next week. We're forecast to hit 90 degrees a few times next week so I'll stay down in that cool basement and get some of it done.

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Monday, 6-25-18: DDP Yoga and a couple more shingle photos.
I just did the first ten minutes of a DDP Yoga program with my Sweet Pea. She bought the DDP Yoga DVD a few months ago, and only recently has she been able to start a routine with it since her knee and heart surgeries from the past several months. I did the whole program with her once a couple weeks back, and it is a challenge to do the entire 32-minute workout. There are actually four different programs on the DVD, but we normally do the half-hour one.

As wrestling fans we think it's great that former WCW Champion Diamond Dallas Paige (DDP) has moved on from wrestling and has found a niche in the health and wellness business. As an added bonus he also incorporates his "Diamond Cutter" into the workout. Awesome! From what I have read DDP has actually helped a few former pro-wrestlers get their lives in order, especially Jake "the Snake" Roberts.

I like doing the first 10 minutes of the program because it gives me a good stretch. However, once he gets to this thing called "Broken Hood Ornament" I am out like a fat kid in dodge ball. F that it is too hard I ain't no car trinket gods damn it. Broken Hood Ornament = what a bunch of crap! I try to do that bullshit and I fall over. Epic fail.

Now that I am stretched and warmed up I will leave shortly to go use my bootleg gym that still has a very unfinished ceiling. When will I finish that gym ceiling? Most likely it won't get 100% done until 2019, but I hope to get the majority of it done before blueberry raking next month. Right now that ceiling is a side project that gets an hour here, an hour there, and at that pace it will take a LONG time. I will likely work on it for an hour this morning since it is raining outside now.

The siding work at Phil's house has taken up much of my precious... precious time lately. I was going to fly solo down there today, but I went yesterday instead since the weather was better. Kat didn't go with me yesterday because I was working on this:

Not much she could do to help me since I had a ton of 45-degree edge cuts to make and since I had to be on a ladder for most of it. I was hoping to get that garage front 100% done, but after a solid 9 hours of steady work (15 minutes inhaling a packed lunch then back at it) it still was not quite done. What a bunch of crap! Doing the edges just takes too much time. Plus needing to go up and down the ladder 100 times didn't help the efficiency. I was able to stage a bucket full of shingles so that helped my production, but there simply is no super-fast way to do it correctly. I really like how it looks so far, though.

Tomorrow both Kat and I will head down for another full day or work, and the same is planned for Wednesday. Weather forecast looks great for those two days so bonus there. Tomorrow morning I estimate I'll need a couple hours to finish that peak, 9 rows left, and she can start stripping more of the back because that is our next area of focus. There is still a lot left in the back for us to do:

Phil and I moved that floating deck last week; everything from the brown storm door near the right side all the way over to the back of the garage on the left side needs replacing. You can see a section that has already been stripped down to the sheathing so that will help us get a good start. Thankfully the top above the roof-line in the center does not need replacing, and I thank the gods who do not really exist for that. We'd like to get it all done in 7 more work days, but no guarantees there. So far it's taken us 8 work days to get the garage left and front mostly done, but there was a lot of rot to replace on the garage. Hopefully the rot on the back is minimal. We do have some concerns for the area just by the door, right side, and tomorrow will be telling for us in that regard. If there is no rotten sheating to replace that will be awesome because we might be able to start shingling that back tomorrow. Rotten sheathing = bye bye precious... precious time.

Phil is paying us a very fair hourly rate so if we were greedy we would want rot. Lots of rot = more pay. However, we are not greedy by nature, Phil is a great friend, and we hope for his sake that things go quickly with no major issues. We both have plenty here at home to keep us busy so we really just want to get this done on time so we can have enough free time in July to have a fun Goonie adventure or two before blueberry raking and the next property acquisition. As far as that property goes, so far we are still on track. I think. I hope! Bank still says approved for money so let's hope it stays that way.

Alright turds, all two of youz, I have to go do things now. Goonies never say die!

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Friday, 6-22-18: My bootleg gym ceiling and cedar shakes.
All I wanna know is why? Why do I work on my new bootleg gym ceiling on Friday nights instead of relaxing, watching baseball, and maybe playing video games? For the past few weeks after I've helped my Sweet Pea set up at Jester's for her karaoke show I've gone over to my gym not to lift weights but to work on the new cceiling that I started back in April. At my current pace the ceiling will be done by early 2019. What a bunch of crap! 1.5 hours a week ain't gettin it done, that's for sure.

^old photo from a month or two ago; since then I do have five recessed lights and some ceiling tiles installed in that area, I just don't want to make that gym my priority when the gym is still 100% usable and when the weather is good for outside projects. I can finish that bootleg gym on rainy days, at night (like tonight!) or when it gets cold in a few months.

The Red Sox were getting crushed 10-5, but now it is 12-10 Red Sox in the 7th inning at Fenway. Oh Jesus, hell ya! Awesome comeback. I had it on the radio when I was installing ceiling tiles, but now I am back home for a few before I haul my half-drunk arse down to Jester's.

Kat and I worked very hard this past week, Mon-Thurs, at Phil and Danielle's getting a bunch of cedar shakes installed. There is no fast way to properly install the shingles, and that is a bunch of crap. Here is where we stand right now:

Little things like finishing this edge by the door take a lot of precious... precious time:

I wish we could go faster, but as-is we are exremely efficient with our time. Any faster would mean fail quality, and F that. My motto of "It's just a rental!" does not apply for their beautiful house. I do wish they lived closer because it takes an hour each way just to get there so bye bye two hours each day in commute time. We could just stay down there and avoid a commute, but it is nice to be home at night, to see the dogs, to sleep in our own bed, etc. It is an easy commute because 58 of the 61.5 miles each way are all highway driving. Thank the gods who do not really exist for that.

Alright turds, all two of youz who read this pathetic excuse of a site, I am going to the bar now. I was just home long enough to put the dogs out, to have a shot of FIREBALL, and to eat a donut. Hey, I earned the donut becase I jogged 3 miles earlier at a pace of 24:36. Terrible for a real athelete, but for a guy who is 42.5 years old and who has always been a very bar runner, I'll take it. I seriously suck at running. I think my lungs are defective because I get gassed-out easily (or as Kat would hilariously say I get chugged out hehehehe) What a bunch of crap! The end. Fin. Goonies never say die!

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Sunday, 6-17-18: Blade Runner movies.
We were intived to go to the bar last night (Cap's and then most likely Jester's), but we decided to take it easy, rest up, and watch both the original Blade Runner movie from the early 80s and the new one that came out last year, Blade Runner 2049. Friday night was a long, fun night of drinking so we were all used up. We're too old to party that hard on two consecutive nights! We actually got an earlier-than-usual start Friday because we pregamed with some friends before going to set up at the bar for Kat's karaoke show. Four of the regulars there were celebrating birthday weekends so plenty of booze went down our collective gullets. Thankfully I was not hungover yesterday so I got all the lawns mowed, and I took care of some landscaping work as well. Also I had time to lose to Deno 3 games to 1 at Rball, and I gave Gav a hand squaring some framing for his soon-to-be new badass master deck.

Years ago when I first sas the original Blade Runner I was kinda confused. Harrison Ford was doing things, and it was the future, and there were "bad guy" robots that looked like people. I never loved the movie, but after last night's viewing I can appreciate it a little more. Doesn't help that four friggin' versions of the original exist. Director's cut, final cut, etc. I think we saw the "final cut" last night, but I'm not really even sure. Overall both are decent movies; I'd give the original a 7.5/10 and the sequel a 7/10.

By far the best part of the first Blade Runner, and a true classic in cinematic lore, is Rutger Hauer's little speech near the end right before he checks out:

When I am getting ready to check out I hope I have a soliloqy that is half as good. I definitely won't say this even though I have seen it at Jester's many times hehe:

^HAHAHAHAHA!

We'll have a busy upcoming week; tomorrow through Thursday we plan to continue working on Phil and Danielle's house in Oakland. Right now the garage looks like this:

Hopefully tomorrow we can start putting cedar shingles on the front and mostly finish the left side. It will take another hour or two just to totally strip the remaining shingles from the upper front. Stripping off the old shakes = what a bunch of crap! There is no easy way to do it en-mass because of all the small nails that remain. The right side does not need new shingles because of the carport attached, but on the back side of their house lots more work is needed. I want to have the garage 100% done this week and have a good start on the back side. Hopefully the weather works in our favor for all of that to happen. Right now tomorrow is looking very hot and humid with a high of 90-92 and a threat of mid-late PM thunderstorms. Working when it is 90 = what a bunch of crap! We'll spend most if not all of tomorrow just installing the new shingles. It is tedious and mentally taxing to a point, but not physically strenuous.

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Friday, 6-15-18: A morning update on a Friday?!
More often than not I update this bootleg piece of shit site on a Friday night after I've had a couple drinks and just before I head down to Jester's for Kat's karaoke show, but today I'm mixing it up a bit. Revielle was 0530 so I already watched some news, weather, and sports highlights. The Red Sox won a late game in Seattle, 2-1, and the forecast is fantastic. Very summer-like for the next week at least with only a chance of PM thunderstorms Monday. Now I have channel 1928 on, just listened to Flashdance... What a Feeling by Irene Cara. Awesome song, but probably a terrible movie. However, I don't know for sure because I have never watched the Flashdance movie. I'd rather watch Rambo. Rambo > musical crap movie.

Kat and I worked two more long days down in Oakland yesterday and the day before for Phil and Danielle, and we got a lot done. Yesterday was a questionable weather day with the threat of rain showers throughout the day, but we only got a few sprinkles so we were able to work outside 100% of the time. Oh Jesus, hell ya! We started the day with a trip to Hammond Lumber for 32 bundles (8 square) of cedar shingles, a coil nailer, and other supplies, and then we got to work on installing a layer of felt and the shingles. We saved some interior work for if we did get a period of rain:

^Kat kept the work area clean like a boss because I am a whirlwind when I do carpentry. I let shit fly all over the place. Rebuilding that entire lower section of wall behind my Sweet Pea was very time-consuming, but it badly needed to be ripped out and redone. We used pressure treated plywood on the exterior and pressure treated lumber for the sill (bottom.) We still need to install the insulation and interior wall so that will keep us busy for a couple hours on a future day if we do get some wet weather.

We have never installed shingles on a house before, but I did a lot of research before we took on the job, and in a lot of ways it is similar to roofing (which I have done a lot of.) However, it takes a lot longer than roofing because a roof shingle is 5x the length of the average cedar shake so you cover the ground faster with roof shingles. Thankfully Phil bought a nice siding nailer so that helps our efficiency by a lot. The bottom couple rows of shingles took the longest, but we made good progress and by near the end of the day here is where we were with it:

^We had stripped most of the front of the garage and replaced many of the trim boards Wednesday. Yesterday we focused solely on the left side where the new shingles are now started.

^Unfortunately, the two wood windows on that garage side wall are quite rotten. What a bunch of crap! Phil said replacements would cost a ton and would take a month so F that. I'll check the local Restore for him today and see if they have any used but decent-looking ones that might work. Throwing cheaper vinyl windows in is not really an option because they would not match the decor of the huse overall. We hate to install all new siding and leave rotting windows, but oh well from a distance the windows don't actually look rotten anyway.

Overall I'm very happy with the work we did get done in our three days of working down there, 26 hours, this week. Phil treated us well financially, and we treated him well in terms of working hard and efficiently so it's a win for all. Next week we're going to try to work down there four days, Mon-Thurs. BEAST MODE. We want to get as much done as possible between now and July 4th because after that our precious... precious time will likely be much more limited.

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Wednesday, 6-13-18: Leaving for another long work day this morning.
Kat and I are planning to leave around 0700 this morning to head to the Waterville area so we can continue working on Phil and Danielle's house. We worked there Monday for a full day, and we stayed home yesterday because we both had other things to do. Our plan is to work for Phil 3 days a week for the next 4-5 weeks, but that is just a guess. It all depends on how the job goes, and weather will also play a role since most of our work will be done outside. Thankfully Monday was a great weather day, and we went BEAST MODE and got a lot done.

We started in the garage where the left-side wall was in extremely rough condition. All kinds of rot that in one area pictured above almost 100% destroyed the 2x4 sill. We also stripped off the cedar shingles on the outside of that wall:

Sweet Pea crushed it; without her help I would have gotten only half as much done, if that. The rot ran the entire length of that wall. We got the old shingles stripped Monday morning, and we had everything prepped by just after lunch so it was time for a trip to the local Home Depot down there for supplies. Unfortunately, on the drive back to Phil's house three sheets of plywood fell out of the back of the truck and right onto Kennedy Memorial Drive after I hit a bump and things went flying. What a bunch of crap! I'm very lucky no one was behind me or else it would have been all bad. KMD is a busy road, too.

By later in the day we had the wall all braced with most of a new pressure-treated sill plate installed:

Today we should be able to finish the framing replacement, resheath the exterior plywood, and replace a bunch of rotten trim boards on the front of the garage. If things really fly we might also get to strip down the next section of shingles, and hopefully tomorrow we can start installing underlayment and new shingles. The two windows in the photos are pretty rotten so we might end up replacing those, too. Phil hasn't decided about the windows yet.

Many sections of their house have rotting shingles that need replacing so it seems likely we won't get to finish all of the work that needs to be done. Our plan is to repair and replace the worst areas between now and early/mid-July. After that we'll hopefully own our next property so that big renovation job will keep us plenty busy up here. George at the bank called Monday to let me know that everything looks good, and he is supposed to be emailing me some edocs to review and sign. Unfortunately, he had my @umit.maine.edu email address on file from way back in 2004 when I bought my Kenduskeag Ave property so he has to resend to the hotmail that I use now. I haven't used the UMaine First Class email system since they booted me off 12-14 years ago. What a bunch of crap! (Graduated 2003, but kept their email for a couple more years after that.)

Today's forecast is mostly decent. Looks like showers and T-storms move in later this afternoon, but I think most if not all of the day we'll be able to work outside. A little rain is okay because we can work on the inside of the garage, but if it stays dry all work day then perfect because tomorrow looks to be showery, too. We won't work for Phil Friday-Sunday because Kat works Friday evening/night at Jester's, and we want to have our weekend off. Plus I have stuff to do for the bootleg apartments on our "off" days from Phil's place. Each day we work down at Phil's will be a long day because it is a one-hour drive each way so 8 hours of work is really a 10-hour day. So far we've worked 8.5 hours, and I'd guess we'll need to each work 100-ish total hours to get the most important parts of the job done. By that guesstimated math we still have 91.5 hours to go!

Yesterday morning I finished this repair at my Holyoke property:

I am pleased with how it came out; it looks a lot better now. That job took up a bit more of my precious... precious time than I would have liked, and I had to dump about $50 extra on concrete and rebar to shore up the footings. What a bunch of crap! Oh well, it's a small price to pay considering the alternative of letting the existing metal supports totally rust out and fail. I still have to replace the skirting on the back side, but I think that can wait until next year.

Alright turds, all two of youz, I am getting off this bootleg site because I have to start getting ready for our long work day. The end. Fin.

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Saturday, 6-09-18: Epic sleep fail.
I should be bivouaced and asleep right now, but I am very much awake. It is 2250, and we shut everything down about 1.5 hours ago. It took me about a half hour to mostly fall asleep, but then maybe 20 minutes later I was wide awake. What a bunch of crap! We got about 5 hours of sleep last night because we had all kinds of fun at Jester's, we ate delicious eggs, and we did not go to bed until 0300. The night before that I didn't get too much sleep either.

There was a LOUD concert downtown Bangor at the Waterfront tonight, and I think that was the thing to pwn me. I think the concert just now ended as I am writing this sentence. Even though we have the fan on high and an air purifier on high in the bedroom I could still hear the base and the thumping from the concert. I thought I would be so tired that I would still just fall asleep, but that did not happen. The concert better have been good gods damn it because it did this to my sleep:

I am not upset about the concert at all, though. The concerts are a great boom for the local economy. Unfortunately, some of the good concerts over the past couple years have been on a Friday night, the night when Kat does karaoke at Jester's, so we haven't gone. Last year Def Leppard came on a Friday, but thankfully it was nice and I sat outside and heard some of it before I went to the bar. Next Friday is Foreigner, and we'll miss that. Oh well.

I drank a shot of Fireball to hopefully help me sleep. I'm actually gonna have another one right now, finish this bootleg update that no one will ever read, and then eat a snack and play some Majong Tiles. The fact that I can't even spell Majong is a bunch of crap. If I cared I would look up the proper spelling, but I don't even care... whether or not I care.

^Thanks, Morla the ancient one!

I think my brain has been a little bit in overdrive, and that does not help. I'm thinking about the projects I have to finish for the bootleg apartments, I'm thinking about the work we plan to start for Phil and Danielle next week, and I'm thinking about the property we plan to buy next month. Today I made good headway on this small project, but it still needs a couple more hours of my precious... precious time:

I got some of the lattice installed today, and I think I'll finish the rest of it Tuesday. That little project has been a little more involved than I expected when I started, but oh well at least now it will have good support and won't collapse in the future (hopefully!)

Next week will be busy. Tomorrow is a trip to the ol' homestead to celebrate Dad's birthday (was the 7th) and Father's Day. I got him a gift card to Cabela's, something that I've done many times in the past, because it's easy and I hate shopping. Seriously. My parents are hard to shop for anyway, especially Mom. Monday Kat and I will work a full day at Phil's replacing rotten sill, sheathing, and cedar siding, and then Tuesday it's back to apartment stuff here. Wed and Thurs we plan to work more at Phil's, and I'm sure I'll be busy Friday doing various things as well.

Phil and Danielle need a bunch of work done at their house in the Waterville area, and we hope to have the most important things done for them within about a month. It's hard to know exactly how long things will take until we dive right on in, but I'm hoping it all goes smoothly and we don't have huge rot issues throughout. Parts of the exterior look ugly, but the rotting cedar shakes on the outside might conceal the true extent of the damage. They live 60 miles away (thankfully almost all highway driving) so we plan to work 3 full days a week for 4 weeks and then see how we've done. I definitely can't still be working down there too far into July because we'll be getting a property to renovate, and blueberry raking will be beginning around the last week of July.

The Red Sox won today and are now 44-21. Oh Jesus, hell ya! Somehow they are 1/2 game behind the Yankees, though. Golden State beat Cleveland 4 games to 0 in the NBA finals. FU Lebron James. I guess if the Celtics had made it to the finals they probably would have been pwned in the finals, too.

Alright it is finally quiet here and I finished my crackers and granola bar so now maybe I can get tired. Two shots of Fireball will *hopefully* help, too. I JUST WANT TO SLEEP GODS DAMN IT. Normally I do not have problems sleeping, and I thank the gods who do not really exist for that. Unfortunately, these last 3 days just haven't been kind to me in that regard. Maybe I can still get a solid sleep because it is not that late yet...

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Friday, 6-08-18: Why am I not exhausted yet?
All I wanna know is why? Why am I not ready to crash and burn yet? It is 2230, and in a few I am heading to Jester's to hang out for about 3 more hours. Revielle was 0415 this morning, give or take, and no I did not set an alarm clock. It just happened. Waking up that early = what a bunch of crap! However, woke up and felt awake so after laying in bed for 20 minutes I knew what I had to do: get my arse up and do things! This time of year is a win because it is light before 0500 so after some Corn Pops and a bit of news on TV I walked the dogs to the park at 0545. Then I used my bootleg gym, and getting all that done before 0700 was pretty cool. Was it worth waking up so early? Only time will tell. I definitely have my doubts.

I should be wiped out right now, and I know it will hit me hard. After I used my gym and got a pretty good workout in I had to dig holes, mix, and pour 6 bags of 80-pound concrete to do footings at one of my bootleg properties. Maybe I didn't really have to do four footings, but I felt like it was the smart play since two of the three metal things that hold part of the property above ground look like this right now:

^All I wanna know is why? Why does that bootleg piece of metal (steel?) gotta hold up what could easily be a ton or more worth of Holyoke St building? Maybe 50 years ago it was great, but now it is a giant turd. No way would I put lattice around the base and leave that one alone. Looks like all kinds of rust from what I can only assume is ground contact has serously compromised the integrity of that metal support. I don't know anything about those kinds of supports, but I can surmise that they suck. A lot.

I mowed a bunch of lawns, and I played racquetball as well. I pretty much emptied the tank at Rball and I should have been beat, but when we tried to take a nap around 1700 the end result was fail. I just did not feel tired. What a bunch of crap! So we just stayed up and now I am running on what should be fumes, but I still feel pretty good and am going to the bar to drink a PBR or two. They used to have a pretty decent cider beer, but The Nothing came and took that away like it once took away the beautiful lake from the Rock Chewers in the North in The Neverending Story so that is okay I'll just drink PBR. PBR is good and cheaper so score one there!

After I helped Kat set up at Jester's I went over to my bootleg gym, but F working out I already did that and then some. No, instead I worked on the new ceiling for that gym that might seriously take a year or more to finish, at least on my current pace. Thankfully I did get five of the new lights working, and I am happy with how they look. I'll do recessed lighting, and it will take probably 15-20 total recessed lights because it is a big space. My priority has been exterior work during good weather so that ceiling just gets done a little here, a little there.

Starting on Monday Kat and I will be driving down to Waterville for 3-4 days a week to help Phil fix his bootleg (but really beautiful) house. There is all kinds of rot, and but he and Danielle work full time so he doesn't have the time to do the repairs himself. Somehow he thinks I have skills as a carpenter. AHAHAHAHAHA. I do mostly get it right, but sometimes I fail. Hopefully when we work on his house we do nothing but good work. They need a lot of siding replaced, cedar shakes. Plus there are some framing and sheathing issues so Kat and I are hoping it goes well so we can get it all done (or most of it) before we close on this property at some point in July:

That one will take a few months to get renovated, but I am excited for the challenge and I think it will be a perfect one for us to own.

Alright turds, all two of youz, I am out of here. Because I am so exhausted (even though I don't feel exhausted just yet) the coffee brandy and milk is hitting me a bit so I know it is time to go have fun for the last couple hours at Jester's. Overall today was a great, productive day, and I am happy. Oh, Katherine got her first vehicle today, too. Finally! It's a 2009 Jeep Liberty with around 100k miles on it. A whole other bootleg update could easily be devoted to the process we went through to help her make that happen. The end. Fin.

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Monday, 6-04-18: No racquetball today.
Today would have been a great day to play rball because it is raining and only 46 degrees, but Deno can't play because he has other stuff to do. What a bunch of crap! Oh well, I did other things and used my gym earlier so no worries. I helped Gavin with his taxes last year so he bought me a really nice racquet, but the first day I used it I had a collision that caused a hairline crack in the racquet. Thankfully the thing held together for a few months, but recently this happened:

^WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAP!

I bought a new one last week, and I opted for the $10 express shipping so I could use it Friday when we played cutthroat. It is expensive so it better last a long time gods damn it. I love playing rball; it is costly but oh well. $29 a month for the gym, $3 or 4 a month for the balls, a glove every now and then, new strings every once in a while, Monster Power energy before I play, etc. I bet on average it costs me $10 each time I play when all of that is factored in.

^EXPENSIVE BUT FUN AND A GREAT WORKOUT.

I met with George at the bank this morning, and he thinks things look good for what I plan to do with my next property. George did my very first property loan way back in 2004 when I bought my bootleg Bangor duplex, the one I just hauled on a few months ago. I don't miss that property, and I am glad to be rid of it. Funny side-note that is not really so funny, I found out last week that one of the tenants there is a registered sex offender. Epic fail! I inherited him as a tenant late last year, and I admittedly half-assed his paperwork because he had been staying there with his chick, rent was always paid on time, and there were no issues. What a bunch of crap! Needless to say I will be doing much better checking that stuff in the future. Sometimes I just feel like I have too much going on, but lately I feel pretty good about all the work I have scheduled. I can space it all out. I hope!

Accodring to the Interweb the property we plan to acquire at some point next month has this for a property tax history:

^OMG all I wanna know is why? Why is it supposedly worth so much when it is vacant and run down? I have it under contract for 75k so I have a feeling once it is all fixed up and looking good the city will rain hell-fire-and tax brimstone down on our asses. They will give us the financial hose with no lube, but thankfully I planned for that in my projections. No doubt the city will charge a lot in taxes on that place, and that is good and bad. It's good because it means the place is worth a fair amount, but it's also bad because bye bye lots of precious... precious money for that bullshit. Having both residential and commercial use will pwn us extra hard, too. Gods damn it!

I got ready for Sweet Pea's birthday today. Did some shopping, have a cake, card, etc. I also went to Lowe's to buy some supplies for the business, and I bought 8 RR ties for a rotting retaining wall that needs to get replaced soon. Unfortunately, those friggin' things are so heavy that I could only get five into the truck safely. I gots a 1/2 ton F150, but we decided five was plenty of weight. They must be 200 pounds each. They're pretty solid so that is great. I've worked with RR ties a lot, but I normally have them delivered. I'll need 16 total so that's two, maybe three more trips to the store. What a bunch of crap! Would it have been better to just have them delivered for the $60 delivery fee? Maybe, but at least this way I can ensure I don't get the shittiest rotting ones that are mixed in.

^There are a lot of turds in the pile over at Lowe's. The ones that are half-rotten = DO NOT WANT. If I use solid RR ties and do it right then my wall will last decades. The wall we did with RR ties way back in 2006 still looks decent today, and I think that one has a lot of life left in it still. 10 years ago I used hemlock on my aforementioned failing wall, and now I have to replace the whole thing already. What a bunch of crap!

Hopefully when I write my next bootleg update that two people will ever read I will have a rock-solid approval from one of my two banks for the money I need to get this property:

Right now things are looking good, but until I get official approval I'll only be cautiously optimistic. The end. Fin.

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Saturday, 6-02-18: Had one too many last night at the bar.
Kat and I both drank a lot last night at Jester's. I know I had too many, and that is a bunch of crap. I don't have a big hangover, but I am far from feeling 100%. I should not 'a done that last shot of Fireball, and in hindsight that last PBR was unwise. Everyone wanted to go to Denny's, Kat really wanted eggs, but I was too drunk and tired so I did not go. What a bunch of crap! Somehow our bar tab was only $2.50 last night so we scored a major win there. Kat was celebrating her birthday so lots of people bought her shots. I don't even know if I unloaded the vehicle last night. I should go check that now...

Yeah, epic fail there. Nothing unloaded, but not a huge problem because at least the vehicle was locked and it didn't get cold last night. This time of year is great! I actually did okay backing in the GMC Acadia, too. Driving home after drinking at the bar = what a bunch of crap! Thankfully we only live 1/3 of a mile away.

The front yard and driveway looked like this as of Thursday PM:

Since then I have thrown down three small-ish loads of reclaim asphault. I have a big pile of the reclaim asphault at my bootleg gym/office property, but my little well-worn utility trailer does not hold too much, and the stuff is very heavy, so I am only doing smaller loads. I think the weight capacity of my trailer is 1500 pounds, but I don't even want to get close to that limit considering how old the trailer is now. I bought it used several years ago for $450-ish, and I feel like I've already gotten my money's worth from the thing. Hopefully it lasts me several more years.

My deposit is all paid for the property that we plan to buy. I dropped this check off to Realty of Maine yesterday:

$5,000 paid, "only" $70,000 still left! Actually there will be closing costs so I'll need closer to $72-75k more. Come on bank, hook me up! If only I had a spare $80k laying around then we could own the building as early as this month. It seems likely we won't close on the place until later in July, most likely just before Cliff starts our 2018 blueberry raking season.

One of these years Cliff is sure to retire from blueberry raking, but it seems we say that every year lately and then we return for more. Cliff is 67 or 68 years old and already retired from his USPS job. However, I think he is the type of person who will never truly 100% retire. He also does firewood so he has enough to stave off potential boredom. I guess. I hope! Maybe when we are 67 or 68 we will be doing a similar thing. Some taxes, some rental property small odds and ends, but mostly just kicking back and enjoying life at a slower pace. We'll probably have the handicap placards on our vehicles, and we will be the fuckin' dinks who think driving 24MPH in a 25MPH zone is borderline too fast. What a bunch of crap!

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Friday, 6-01-18: A summer "schedule."
It feels like summer, and that is awesome. The humidity is a bit high today and that is a bunch of crap, but thundershowers passed through with a cool front tonight so things won't be too sticky this weekend. For most of this week we've been on a sorta summer schedule, even though there is no official summer schedule for us. When I think of summer I think of daylight before revielle, no heat needed, and lots of time outdoors in shorts, tee-shirts, and tank tops. Evening walks, lots of meals cooked on the grill, an occasional ice cream at Jimmy's, and all have happened for us since Tuesday. My main project this week has actually been here at our own house. I'm expanding the driveway some, but first I had to make a stump disappear. Disappear, scumbag stump!

On Tuesday Jim from Jim's Outdoor Services came over and hooked us up. The stump removal has been on the schedule for a couple weeks, but it was not urgent so I told Jim to get to it whenever. Jim has always treated me well so I would recommend him to anyone. Consider that an unpaid, unconditional endorsement that maybe two people on this bootleg piece of crap will ever read. Hehe.

After Jim's stump-grinder did magic I had this as an aftermath:

^A hardwood former-maple pile of crap that was pretty easy to haul on. Definitely time-consuming, though. (as expected) A bit of work later led me to this:

The Nothing came and took away the stump like it once took away the beautiful lake from the Rock Biters in the North in The Neverending Story. Hehe. That photo was from Wednesday, and since then I have gotten the rest of the lawn relocated. I plan to throw down reclaim asphault, and it will be additional parking for the house. I did a lot for it yesterday, but today I only did a little because, quite frankly, I was a bit worn down. I still used my bootleg gym and played racquetball today, though. BEAST MODE. Gee, I wonder why I always lose at racquetball...

Kat is at Jester's where the crowd is picking up. Her birthday is next Tuesday so tonight is her birthday celebration down there. She turns 29 again for the 14th time. Hehehe. Oh yeah, my awesome wife is really 6 months older than me. She looks damn good for a woman in her 40s. I guess I fooled her pretty good a few years back, and even better she knows about this bootleg site and has not hauled on me yet!

I'm hoping this weekend to mostly if not totally finish our driveway and yard work here. I still have a bunch of things to do for the bootleg apartments, but thankfully so far nothing time-sensitive. A lot of my projects will be exterior work, but not all of them. I'll never finish everything 100% because that is just not how I roll, but so far I am making good headway on my work.

Man, I am half in the bag right now. Coffee Brandy and milk for the win! Of course it is the cheap stuff, Mr. Boston, because F paying a lot for booze. It has been 3 weeks since a Friday night has seemed "routine" because of our awesome Mexico vacation. Mexico was great, and I'm sure we'll go back next year or, at the latest, the following year. One of these years I'd love to learn Spanish for when we go visist there, but that is a lot of work and I am getting old so that is not a good combination. Hell at this point in my life I can only successfully answer like 3 Jeapordy trivia questions per show, if that. What a bunch of crap!

The Red Sox are in Houston playing the Astros tonight so it was a 2000 start time. Bottom of the 7th, 4-3 Houston. I'll watch a bit more of the game before I head on down to the bar to socialize and to hang out with my awesom wife. Sometimes we end up there on a Sat night when she is not working, and I think I like that better because it is not as busy and her and I can actually hang out. She is so good at her job that she packs the place most Fridays, and the bar is not big so F being there when it is that busy. She seriously does make that bar a lot of money, and I wish the owner appreciated that more. She is a GREAT DJ.

Before I hop off this bootleg site that no one ever reads I do want to mention that property we plan to buy. As of now things are looking good! Bank says I am approved to refinance a property for cash out, but of course that could change. The bank chick took forever to get back to me gods damn it, but she did leave me a voicemail while I was losing at Rball so I am glad she reached out on a Friday evening. Hopefully by next week I'll know for sure 100% whether it will work or not. I hope it does work because I have big plans that could lead to us both never needing to be employees again. Guy hopes, but guy does not get too excited because guy knows life is rarely as simple as black and white.

Hey, speaking of black and white, when I worked at UPS (F that bootleg thankless job!) the head honcho said there were perceived white knights and black knights (an analogy related to union employees vs. management), and he asked me what I thought of that. I guess he didn't really ask me that, but somehow my retort was expected so I said "There are no white knights or black knights. All are various shades of grey." It was someting Plato would have said, but not really because this is all I can make with Play Dough:

^Somewhere if there is an afterife Plato is weeping for a failed society. What a bunch of crap!

Ok according to Google it's actually Play-Doh, not Play Dough. What a stupid epic failer bunch of crap. The end.