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 6-18 7-18 8-18 9-18 10-18 11-18 12-18 1-19 2-19 3-19 4-19 5-19 6-19 7-19 8-19 9-19 10-19 11-19 12-19 1-20 2-20 3-20 4-20 5-20 6-20 7-20 8-20 9-20 10-20 11-20 12-20 1-21 2-21 3-21 4-21 5-21 6-21 7-21 8-21 9-21 10-21 11-21 12-21 1-22 2-22 3-22 4-22 5-22 6-22 7-22 8-22 9-22 10-22



"Even my dog hates Biden." - Slogan on a tee shirt I saw

Friday, 11-25-22: Not at work on a Friday night.
I'm not at work tonight. Oh Jesus, hell ya! It's incredibly rare that I don't work on a Friday night these days. I had a Friday night off mid-month last month, but I was in the ER getting pumped full of antibiotics so that was not a real day off. 8 fucking hours in the hospital. What a bunch of crap! Oh, after I got released from the ER I did go to work for a couple hours befure the place closed so it was definitely no day off.

I thought I'd have to work tonight because we had two people out sick, but they figured it out. I almost had to go in not long ago, but it's 2325 and I'm half drunk off not much alcohol at all so I'm not going. The place could be on fire right now and I wouldn't go. Let it burn! (After everyone gets a chance to esape.) My wife is also sick. I'm not physically sick, but I am mentally not well. I hate my fucking life again. I was doing better, but this week can eat the peanuts out of my ssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttttttttttttttt.

I miss my old life. I don't want to work Friday and Saturday nights anymore and have to be the manager on duty at a bar so I gave my notice to resign back in September. My last day was supposed to be October 31, but I'm still working there every weekend. I am MOD tomorrow night, and I'll have to work every weekend for the next several weekends. What a bunch of crap!

I don't know what the hell is going to happen in 2023, but it is going to involve some way of fixing my shit. I think I'll do taxes again this winter, but that's not even 100% certain. Right now I'm thinking I do taxes Jan-April then do some carpentry in the spring. However, I might go get a "real job" that has benefits like a 401k, paid vacation, and health insurance. I haven't even gotten all the hospital bills from my shit-show last month. How much will that cost? I expect it to be a lot. So far I've gotten a bill for $60 and a bill for $153, but I know more are coming.

I can't get health insurance through the VA because I don't have any service-related issues and I'd rather die before I try to fake some bullshit to steal from the government. The government is actually a pool of funds from everyone so I'm not going to mooch my way through anything. F that I'd rather just die. Am I afraid to die? Nope! I'd rather not die via torture; getting drunk and never waking up would be best, but I'll take what I can get when the time comes.

I could get health insurance through the VA if I make less than around $44k a year. I think I'll hit that next year because guess what? Owning a restaurant was FUCKING STUPID. My bad there. However, maybe I'll find a job that pays more and offers benefits. I have to earn a lot of money in the next couple decades to make up for my epi failer from the past two years. Who knows, maybe the restaurant will turn the corner and make money before we close or sell it? Seems unlikely, though. This week has been TERRIBLE, and last year Thanksgiving week was great so it looks like we are pwned. Our only hope is the fact that we have the event room booked up hard for Christmas parties between Dec 2 and Christmas.

I need to get drunk more. I haven't been truly boozed up in a while, and that sucks. Drinking helps me cope with my dog-shit life. I'm not drunk now, but I'm close. I didn't want to overdo it in case I got called into work. I almost did get called in not long ago, but they can make it work without me. I watched some of the Celtics then I watched a little Gold Rush after Kat went to sleep. Now it's channel 1928 and Bob Segar's Shakedown from 1987.

Kat and I did watch The Princess Bride on TV before she went to sleep. What a beaufitul movie that is! If you don't like The Princess Bride then I hate you. I probably hate you anyway, but I'll hate you a little more. There are so many iconic quotes from that movie. What's the best one? I dunno, but I use this one a lot to this day:

^INCONCEIVABLE! It's such a well-made, beautiful movie that I can watch again and again.

So I lost my digital camera and a two checkbooks. How sad is that? I think they are in my possession somewhere, but who knows? I have a bank bag floating around somewhere with them in it. Maybe in the office at the bar or in the truck? I had my camera a few days ago, but then I misplaced it when I was going to Mom and Dad's Tuesday morning. My life is like a Chinese fire drill at times so I was in a hurry. What a bunch of crap! As usual I had places to be and not enough precious... precious time.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Wednesday, 11-23-22: I'm tired but... not tired?
All I wanna know is why? Why can't I sleep? I tried to bivouac around 2130, an hour ago, but after 20 minutes of laying there feeling wide awake I got my ass up and had one coffee brandy and milk and a snack. I don't want to get liquored up, F that, but maybe a drink and some food will help me rack out soon. I should be tired since revielle was 0445 this morning down in Warren and I didn't sleep great last night.

It's been a busy week. Monday I rented the floor-stripper-machine and got to work in the event room at the bar. It's the buffer-looking machine that has diamond bits to chew up a concrete floor to prep it for paint. At first I thought things were going really well, but then it didn't go so well. Thankfully Katherine and Deven both came to help, and it was a gift from the gods who do not exist having them there. I tried to quickly scuff the floor, clean it up, and get it ready for paint. However, the quick scuff-job was not adequate and Katherine was smart to notice it first. Bye bye roughly 3 hours or precous... precious time going back to the stripper-machine to chew up more of the floor and remove most of the old paint. Wasting time = what a bunch of crap! It's still not ready for the new floor paint, but I think it will be ready soon. I worked on it for an hour Tuesday morning (another early revielle) before I had to return the machine and drive south.

I had two missions from yesterday to today. My first stop was the Waterville area to do more work at Phil's house before I continued on down to Warren to deer hunt. Tuesday evening was a perfect day for a hunt. Cool, crisp, no wind, but also no deer. Oh well, it happens. I stayed with Mom and Dad Tuesday night and Mom and Dad did a little birthday thing with me. Jason even had dinner with us, and that was really nice since he has his own family now. Deer stew, cake, and gifts including new gloves and a perfect pair of ligher boots that I can use for hunting and banging around in the woods when it's warmer. I had a thinner pair of boots for a long time, but they wore out like all things do. I am going to be 47 years old in a few days so I don't give a crap about celebrating my birthday. I haven't given a crap about that in seemingly forever. It was still a very nice thing for my parents to do, though.

I hunted this morning in the same spot where I shot a nice buck a couple years ago. No deer. However, Jason did send me this photo an hour after I quit:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh well, I don't regret "only" hunting for two hours instead of three hours. No guarantee a deer was going to show up then. Plus I was still hoping for a buck. If she showed up when I was there would I have shot her? Hmmm.... 50/50 chance.

I did get to see Nadia and Hawke before I headed back to the Waterville area to do 5.5 more hours of work for Phil. I think I'm done at his place now, but maybe not I think he plans to add a few more items to the list. I didn't take any new photos at his place today because I suck so maybe if I go back I'll take some. I did finish the floor in the octagon room, and I also repaired some rot under a bay window. The rot took a while, but it was important since they are about to try to sell the house and rot can scare off potential buyers and/or cause a serious price drop.

So I should be beat up from the feet up after being out in the cold to hunt at first light and doing that floor for a while, but I'm just not there yet. I think I have too much on my mind. I don't really feel like diving too deeply into it tonight, but there are a few things that are very frustrating. Plus, to top it all off, Kat is very sick again so I felt like I was ditching out on her. It seems like every time I take off for an overnight she gets sick. I feel badly because she is VERY sick, and I don't think we are going to have a Thanksgiving tomorrow. The plan was to do a meal down at the restaurant, same as last year, but I don't see that happening unless she really feels better in the morning. I hope she does feel a lot better because who likes being sick? NO ONE.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sunday, 11-20-22: 9 hours til bedtime!
It's around 1230, and I'm looking forward to hitting the rack tonight. I could lay down and easily fall asleep now, but F that I'd rather drink a little Mio (caffiene-additive to my water) and power through for another 9 hours or so. Kat and I usually crash pretty hard Sunday nights after working a lot over the weekend, and this weekend is no different for me. Kat is still at work now, but I took a break from there to come home for a while. I'll head back down in about an hour for "Kids' Karaoke" in case it's really busy and they need help. I'm not on the schedule, but I'm not built to just sit around when they need help at the restaurant.

Kids Karaoke and the breakfast we do on Sunday bring in good business. At first when Kat wanted to add both of those things around a year and a half ago I thought it was destined to fail, but both have been amazing. Breakfast does so well on Sunday that we added a Saturday breakfast (actually called brunch), also from 0900-1200. Saturday isn't as busy yet, but it will catch on and pick up.

Kids Karaoke has been really busy these past few weeks. The colder weather helps since it's essentially winter now and not much fun for kids outside to do right now. Still no snow for sledding, just a lot of cold air. Today a reporter is coming to do an interview about it with Kat. How cool is that?! I was at the bar this morning and helped a little in the kitchen as the "Toast bitch", but then I wasn't needed so I did what I truly enjoy doing down there:

^A new shelf coming soon for the pizza warmer. We had a fridge there, but my awesome wife had a genius plan so we moved a few things around on Friday.

This past week sales were down as compared to the few weeks prior, but it happens from time to time. Today is going very well with good business expected both from the Kids Karaoke and a private event after that in the event room. Tomorrow I plan to finish that shelf in the photo above, and I plan to also rent a floor sander (a buffer with diamond blades) to scuff up the event room floor and prep it for another coat of paint. The paint there now is wearing off in spots, and in this corner it's coming up hard:

^What a bunch of crap! I started to run out of paint when I did that floor in the summer of last year so it was applied too thin. Plus I probably did a terrible job prepping the floor since I got sick of running that floor sander...

I'm hoping to get the epoxy on that floor tomorrow PM before supper. Then Tuesday I can head down to Phil's to work some more before I go to Warren to deer hunt Tuesday PM and Wed AM. I'll go from there back to Phil's Wednesday to *hopefully* finish his list and then be up here for Thanksgiving. I work Thanksgiving night. We were going to close, but last year we opened later in the afternoon and did good business. Will we do the same this year? Maybe? Hopefully! The work shift was volunteer-only, and we got enough people to agree to do it including me as both MOD and dishwasher. We will only have the kitchen open for pizzas so there won't be too many kitchen dishes, though.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Friday, 11-18-22: More work at Phil's.
I drove down to the Waterville area Tuesday, Wednesday, and yesterday to work on Phil and Danielle's soon-to-be sold house. I've done at lot of work on that house over the past few years, and this will be my last job there before the place officially goes on the market and most likely sells this winter. They bought a newer house nearby so I've already gone down there a couple times over the past month to help them move. Now I'm there as a carpenter. Again.

This time the primary focus in on a beautiful octagon-shaped room; I had to sand down some window trim, paint around a giant skylight, and replace this floor:

^From Tuesday afternoon when we started cutting out the old carpet. I brought Deven with me Tuesday, and it was nice to have his help. We got a later start because Kat and I had a 1000 appointment, but Deven and I were still able to load up a bunch of new flooring from Lowe's and work at Phil's for 5 hours. I went by myself Wednesday and also got a later start because we got our first snow of the season. We only got a slushy inch before it turned to a very cold rain, but I waited for the roads to clear some because the Etna hills on I-95 can be messy at times when it's 33 or 34 here in town and a few degrees colder on that stretch of the interstate. The drive down wasn't too bad, but the drive home was actually worse. What a bunch of crap! It wasn't below freezing, but it was very rainy 35 degrees and hard to see so I drove a few MPH slower than usual both driving down and coming home.

Deven didn't go with me yesterday, but Phil issued me a helper. They have a guy on their temporary payroll doing cleaning and other projects for them down there, Josh, and I like the guy. He and I worked very well together yesterday for a few hours before he had to go. I worked a full day, but it's a huge room over 600 square feet and finishing it quickly just is not an option. Too much prep, too many edge cuts, etc. Here are a couple more photos:

^Again from Tuesday. Deven pulls nails and staples while I shake my head in wonder. All I wanna know is why? Why did a previous homeowner decide to put an outlet on the floor right there? It's nothing to junction from the cellar and put the outlet more against the wall. I got rid of that shit-show because it looked stupid.

^Opening up the boxes of flooring and sorting the various sizes takes a lot of precious... precious time. There are 4 different sized pieces of flooring, but some of the boxes only had two sizes so Josh and I had to keep looking. What a bunch of crap! I brought 17 boxes of flooring Tuesday and 18 boxes Wednesday. Phil and Danielle picked out the flooring they want, but they are so busy they were fine with me buying it. It's a Lowe's flooring, and I love working with the stuff. By far the easiest to install I've ever used. I'll have to dig out the brand and post it on here then bill Lowe's for the advertising. How much will they pay my ass for the two clicks they'll ever get from here?! Hehehhe.

I got more of the floor done than what's in the photo above. I'd say I'm 2/3 done with the floor, and since the painting and other stuff is done I can focus just on the floor when I do go back next week. I dunno when I'm going back yet, though. I also want to go to the midcoast early-midweek next week to deer hunt again. I had too much going on this past week to make time for deer hunting. I could have passed on doing Phil's floor an hour away, but they want to list the house soon and finishing that room will be a huge selling point. Plus the money will come in handy since we still don't make any money from the restaurant. Maybe this month the place will break even. Hopefully? Next month I think we can at least break even, and after that who knows?

The restaurant had a terrible August and September. October wasn't great either, but at least we made some necessary changes and I think we are set up for success now. We jettisoned lunches Tues-Thurs so now we open at 1600 those days instead of 1200. Sales on weekends lately have been good; last weekend was incredibly busy and quite taxing. The Friday and Saturday night shifts are still mine even though I want to quit. What a bunch of crap! The bad sales late summer and into this fall are what prompted me to start taking on outside work. Plus I actually enjoy doing the carpentry more than I enjoy working at the restaurant/bar.

Reducing our hours will save on payroll and other costs, and it will give us more time to do maintenances and repairs when we are closed. We also made new TV and radio ads that should help. The event room is getting more and more popular, and that will be the key to whether or not we succeed or fail. We already have every weekend in December fully booked (Fri, Sat, Sun) and on some of those days we have both an afternoon and an evening event. Coordinating with people who book the space takes up a lot of precious... precious time so I mostly handle that still. There are always emails to respond to, calls to make, food and drink items to quote, etc. It's worth it, though. Some of the events we've done lately and that we will do next month will bring in great business.

I'm hoping to finish Phil and Danielle's next week, and I still have to finish this shed roof for Jason:

^At this time exactly one week ago I was finishing up a morning deer hunt (no deer yet epic fail) and getting ready to start that back side. It was 55 or so degrees, and it warmed up into the 60s as I worked. Great temps for this time of year. I had to leave there around noon to get back before a work shift, and we were also having our sewer line replaced here at the house so I wanted to be here in case I was needed for that. They ended up doing most of the work while I was gone, and I'm very relieved it's done. Whitmore Contracting, great group of people with whom to work and treated us well.

I don't know when I can finish that roof. It's real winter now, and it will be through the end of this month. What a bunch of crap! Highs in the 30s, lows in the 20s and teens. I can work on the roof when it's 35, but it sucks doing so. Thankfully it is just a shed and one that doesn't need to be 100% waterproof for a while. Jason stores his excavator in there along with a bunch of firewood. I'd guess it'll take me 4 or 5 total hours to finish that all up and clean up some small debris still on the back side. I did haul off over 500 pounds of debris last Friday when I headed home so it's mostly cleaned up. Now I have a bunch of old carpet in my truck from Phil's so I'll take that to the dump tomorrow and invoice it out.

Alright turds, all two of you who read this pathetic excuse for a website, I need to go down to the restaurant to get some admin and other work done. We have a new hire starting at 1100, another new hire starting at 1500, and I have 3 or 4 days worth of paperwork on my desk to clear off. It'll be busy tonight during my shift so I won't have time to do the admin then. I'll work for 2-3 hours then hopefully come home and take a nap. I can't believe Thanksgiving is already less than a week away. Wow this month is flying by!

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Wednesday, 11-09-22: Some election results and my rusting truck.
Some electon results are in from yesterday's big day, and many hoped for a "Red Wave" nationwide with Republicans winning a lot of new seats in Congress. I also wanted that, but it really didn't happen. What a bunch of crap! There are key races that are too early to call so it's still unknown which party will control the House of Reps and the Senate. Hopefully there is enough of a red wave, even a splash, so dems don't have the power to ram their stupid shit through over and over again. "Build Back Better?" More like 8.2% inflation ya fuckin' DINKS.

Here in Maine Mills beat LePage. What a bunch of crap! Oh well, I figured it would happen because LePage was probably not the best Republican choice. He was already governor for 8 years, and he is polarizing. Kat said it best this morning when she said a different candicate might have had a shot. I voted all Republican, but it seems to have been a wasted effort. I still dunno if that bootleg $18/hr Portland minimum wage bill passed. Guy looks now online...

Oh good, it failed 61% to 39%. What a fucking stupid piece of shit legislature to even try to pass! I read a little more on it, and if it did pass it would have slowly phased in by the year 2025. No more $6.40/hr for restaurant servers. Uber drivers wouldn't be considered independent contractors anymore, they'd be employees. Just another example of big government meddling with capitalism so I thank the gods who do not exist that one failed. Even though we are 130 miles away from Portland (Via I-95 south) I'd hate to see piece of dump laws like that start becoming the norm.

In other useless news, I got my truck back from the shop this morning. It needed an inspection sticker and some other work. The F150 is starting to rust, and the rocker panels are really looking unhealthy. Thankfully the truck has a solid frame so it passed. Bye bye $484, hello truck that should *hopefully* get me well into 2023 and possibly 2024 before it falls apart. I had intentions to get a newer truck a few years ago, but it never happened and now prices are crazy high so forget it. I don't drive that far in a year anyway. I think I only put 3000 miles on the truck in the past year. OMG!

I finally got new license plates for the truck, too! I went to the town office to re-register it, and I saw a sign that said "We now offer license plates." so I was all over that. I thought I had to go to the DMV for plates, and going to the DMV = HARD PASS.

^Beetleguese like a boss. If you don't like that movie then I hate you. I probably hate you anyway, but I'll hate you a little more.

I actually got "VETERAN" plates for the truck, too. I've had my DD-214 for over two decades and I just now get around to it? What a bunch of crap! It's not a priority, I don't need to brag that I was in the service when all I did was float around on a big ship, but those plates sure can help when the cops are out on patrol. I can't help but think having a veteran plate on the truck might have prevented my ass from getting a $300+ ticket on a drive back from working at Phil's a few years ago...

I'm going back to the midcoast tomorrow to deer hunt and to *hopefully* finish Jason's shed roof. I have 3 square left to do so I'm thinking 6 or 7 total hours. I guess is carpentry that really means 8 or 9 hehe. I have 6.5 hours into it now, give or take, and it's close to half done. The rear part is bigger than the front part that I finished, but the rear will be easier to strip and prep since I don't have to be as careful with where some of the nails go. It's just a woods drop-off in the back whereas in the front Jason drives around and I didn't want nails all over the lawn there...

^DO NOT WANT NAILS ALL OVER THE PLACE THERE. Nadia is working on stacking that wood so I don't need my 10-year old niece getting a nail in her foot...

I will start my hunt tomorrow around 1445 so I can work until maybe 1400 then get to the woods. If I start the roof by 1030 that gives me some solid work-time, and if I spend 3 or 4 hours on it Friday after a morning hunt I think I'll be done, all exept throwing some debris away and stowing some tools. I'll leave a bunch of tools in the truck since Phil hired me to do a floor and some other work in the Waterville area. I'll start that next week, and I hope to have it all done by Thanksgiving week so I can go deer hunting some more. Maybe? Hopefully!

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tuesday, 11-08-22: Election day.
Today is an importat day for the next couple years of our collective eonomic path. Unfortunately we're stuck with Biden for another couple years (unless he checks out, and then it's just as bad with Harris next in line), but we can effect a change in congress today. Right now the Democrats control the presidency, the senate, and the house. What a bunch of crap! It's actually 50/50 in the senate, but the tiebreaker goes to Harris and she'll always vote in favor of the dems.

I used to not care as much as I do now about what happens in Washington DC; is that part of getting older? Now it matters to me. A lot. Especially with our almost-failing business trying to make a go of it. Over the past couple years the democrats have totally fucked it up. Like, bad. My stupid "What a bunch of crap" slogan is really just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Bad economy, overspending, porous southern border, etc. It's been a total shit-show and epic fail all rolled up into one steaming pile of shit.

^ALL DEMOCRATS SINCE 2020, INCLUDING THE ONE I WANT TO LIKE BUT CANNOT VOTE FOR AGAIN, JARED GOLDEN (our local rep in the house.)

My plan today is pretty simple. Go to the polls, check every single box for a Republican candidate, and say I did my part. Maine ususally leans democrat so we'll see how it goes. Mills is a terrible governette, and former governor Lepage is back for another go at it so I hope he wins. I think he's probably an asshole, but I believe he'll run this state better than Mills.

There are some close senate races nationwide including Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania. Pundits expect republicans to take back the house, but there is a chance they can also take the senate. Flipping one senate seat = republican majority and much better chance of stopping Biden and his group of inept morons from ramming through more nonsensical legislation and spending.

The bad economy might cost us our restaurant, but it could be worse. There's a referendum on the Portland ballot for an $18/hr minimum wage with a total elimination of a second, lower tipped-employee minimum wage. If that passed here we'd be 100% done, and probably overnight. Right now we pay servers and bartenders much less than minimum wage so they don't hit us so hard on payroll. They all make way over minimum wage with tips, though. If we had to pay them $18/hr we'd have to charge $30 for a burger and $10 for a beer and no one would pay that. I really hope that dumbass proposal fails hard in Portland or we'll probably be next.

This fucking world. It's not going to end well for any of us at this rate. Reason #752,346 why a giant asteroid should just come wipe out 98% of everything so we can reboot it all and try to do it right. However, people aren't truly designed to ever get it right so nevermind. Biden and his group of fuck-ups still think that solar and wind will power us into the future. Meanwhile heat and electricity will be epic expensive this winter so that might be a huge hit to the checkbook. Hard to know for sure when winter hasn't arrived yet, and having 4 consecutive days around 70 degrees Friday through yesterday was a gift from the gods who do not exist. Saved a few bucks on heat, but needed A/C on at the bar Friday and Saturday nights when it got really busy. What a bunch of crap!

Lately the restaurant does great on Friday and Saturday nights, but it has some slow times other days. It can't always be busy 100% of the time, but getting some more business would certainly make a huge difference. We are doing better lately than we were in August and September, and reducing hours cut out quite a bit of the slower times. It also reduced payroll and should cut down wear and tear, utilities, etc. The utilities won't drop by too much, but every little bit helps. Kat and the kids are working hard to keep the place going, too. Without them it all would have been closed many months ago...

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Friday, 11-04-22: Came back to a shit show, again. Oh, deer!
I remember when I used to be able to leave for a couple days without everything going wrong, but those will be the days of lore for what I believe is a long time to come. I was planning to go down to Warren Tuesday and come back yesterday, and that's exactly what I did. However, before I left Tuesday things went to shit and then yesterday things went to shit some more. What a bunch of crap my fucking life is these days.

I was hoping to leave Tuesday around noon, but I didn't get on the road until 1330 or so. Katherine needed help with her vehicle, and the usual other crap came up. I wanted to get up on Jason's shed roof and spend an hour prepping, but that went to hell. I barely had time to get there, meet Jason, and get into the woods for a PM hunt. Then, to top off the shit-sandwich that is my life, it started raining even though there was blue sky overhead. Was rain in the forecast? NOPE. All my tools were in the back of the truck, and I didn't have time to unload them for reasons mentioned above. Thankfully it didn't pour, but it was still gods damned annoying.

We hunted off the Mt. Rd Wednesday morning, and the deer sign in there was fantastic. Fresh scrapes and rubs, all good. Unfortunately it was 50 fuckin degrees at first light so the warmth makes deer move around less. It makes for a much more comfortable hunt, though. Jason and I didn't see shit, but oh well it happens.

After our hunt I finally had a little time to work on this shed before lunch:

When I looked at it earlier in the year, only really a passing glance a few times, I was thinking it's 2 or 3 square. Nope! That thing is tucked into the woods-line, and the rear goes back further, so it's closer to 5.3 square total. (530 sq feet.) Not huge and I can stand on it without staging, but too much to bang out in a couple days of only part-time work in between morning and evening hunts.

I got this far with it Wednesday:

Actually I got it shingled 2/3 up that side. There was no underlayment on it before, and it's just a shed so really who cares? However, Jason already had the materials on hand probably leftover from when we did his showroom so might as well put it to use. No way I'd spend $100 of his money on that ice/water shield if he didn't already have it, not for a shed.

Jason bought a new parcel of land in Warren last month so he and I went to hunt it Wednesday evening on another warm day. Sadly some other hunter was in there so that pwned us. I was able to get into a nice stand of oak, but it was way later than I wanted and I didn't see anything yet again. What a bunch of crap! Jason posted the hell out of it and politely got the other guy out of there, for now anyway.

Thursday morning was a great morning to hunt. Low 30s, a bit frosty, calm. We decided to go back to the Mt. Road, and we spooked a deer just getting into there. However, once we were set up we felt good about it all. Jason hunted over the swamp again, and he saw a really nice buck at the end of the swamp. He only saw the buck's head so he didn't shoot, though. A 150-yd head shot on a deer is dumb. He's a great hunter who usually gets it right. I saw turkeys but no deer so maybe I should have dropped down lower closer to the swamp? Oh well I still felt like I was in a great spot, too.

We finished the hunt mid-morning, and I found out Kat passed out on the kitchen floor and was in the ER. OMG! Oh, no hot water in the new section of the house either. Staffing issues at the restaurant (same thing again today and tomorrow gods damn it) so I had to rush through my shit to get heading north. I'm so sick of having to rush through my stuff because I have somewhere else to be or something else I should be doing. I did get the rest of the shingles on the front side of the shed, though:

I still have a few hundred pounds of debris in the truck to haul over to the dump tomorrow.

I got home and Kat was still in the hospital. They were going to make her stay and they guessed it might be heart-related, but they said a stay would be $1500 co-pay so she did exactly what I would have done. FUCK THAT I'M OUT SEE YA! Then we found out there is a huge RSV outbreak all over the nation and one of our servers and her kids has it. Kat was around them a lot Sunday for Kids' Karaoke so now we think it's not a heart conditon but RSV. No way to know for sure because her doc said go back to the ER to find out. What a bunch of crap!

I didn't even know what fuckin' RSV was until yesterday. I guess it's like the flu, maybe worse, bad for kids, old people, and immuno-compromised people (Kat.) I feel okay so maybe it'll spare me. Or maybe I'll get sick later? I hope not becasue I need to work at the retaurant this weekend. I was only on the schedule for tonight this week, but I'll help tomorrow. I was going to drive down to Waterville area to help Phil chip away a huge woodpile, but now that's looking like a Sunday mission. Oh well, at least both days will have really good weather. Highs around 70 OMG! Too hot to deer hunt, but I wasn't planning to go hunting anyway.

So this morning was another great morning for deer hunting, and I wasn't there for it. I wasn't gonna hunt this morning anwyay, but it bums me out that I missed it by a day. even though I probably wouldn't have gotten anything I could have helped because both Dad and Jason shot bucks. Jason went back to that Mt. Rd swamp and got a huge 10-pointer, and Dad shot a 4-pointer from his blind out back. I knew they'd both tag out, they always do, but to do it at almsot exactly the same time on the same day is rare. I think it was around 0730, but I gotta talk to them to get the full scoop.

Alright turds, all two of you who read this pathetic excuse for a site, I gotta take a shower and maybe a little nap before work. I don't feel tired, but revielle was 0545 and I'm not going to bed until 0300 so a little nap would be great, if I can. I'm probably too amped up but I can try. It's 66 degrees and I went for a slow-ass 2-mile jog in my tank top and was sweating. Very rare for November!

At least I got the hot water working again. It was jusst a pilot light out. I was too worked up to fix it yesterday with Kat in bad shape and everything else going on. Finally when I had more than a minute to spend on it I got it. My life SUCKS!