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"I buy you flowers, you buy me donuts. I get the better end of that deal." - Me to Kat
"You get to eat yours and mine dies." - Kat

Monday, 10-31-22: Yard = mostly done.
I've been picking away aat our yard over the past few days, and we've had some great weather to be working outside lately. Temps in the 60s with many more 60-65 days still to come. Not bad at all for what is about to be November! We have two large maple trees that dump all kinds of leaves all over the yard so I made most of them disappear. The dogs aways enjoy the extra outdoor time until one of them (Groot?) decides to start digging holes. What a bunch of crap!

I'm trying to finish a few things before I leave tomorrow, and I'm mostly all set. Payroll for the restaurant is ready, my hunting gear is somewhat organized, banking done, etc. I'm going to the midcoast for a couple days to deer hunt and to replace a shed roof for Jason. I haven't even measured the shed roof, but going from memory I think it's only a couple or three square. Should be a piece of cake when compared to the last roof he had me do:

That was just more than a couple years ago, and it was four really long and arduous days. This shed is something I can do during the day between a morning and evening hunt on Wednesday. I might stripping it tomorrow PM before we hunt, but that depends on what time I arrive. I have things to do up here before I head south.

I need to finish some invoices for the recent carpentry that I've been doing. Mike needed a new front door and storm door; he also needed a new fridge and some trim work. All total it's just under 10 billable hours, but I have receipts for materials and some misc to add up. Dump fee for the old fridge and door, etc. Doing doors sucks. A lot. Sometimes it's easy, but usually it's trying to make a rectangle fit into a parrallelogram. Popping out the old door was easy, popping the new door in was easy, but then getting it to open and close the right way chewed up some precious... precious time. Doing the storm door took another couple hours. Get this, the friggin' storm door didn't even come with a handle. OMG WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAP!

I've done a lot of storm doors, but they've always been the relatively inexpensive ones for rental properties. The one Mike wanted is nicer, fancier, and it wasn't as easy to install. $59 extra for the handle = epic ripoff, but it was necessary. I should have stood more off to the side when I took the picture so my loser-ass wan't in the reflection. What a bunch of crap!

I don't have a lot of carpentry jobs lined up from now until the end of the year, and that suits me well enough. If someone reaches out I might take on a medium or smaller job, but I'm still gonna be helping with the restaurant here and there. I was going to get done, but the right thing to do is run the place at least once a week on either a Friday or a Saturday night. When I'm not on duty there I'll take care of some more carpentry there, and our own house needs some work in a few areas so I'm hoping to have enough precious... precious time to take care of that before the end of the year. I also have to do some tax training for the upcoming tax season. I'm not 100% sure I'm doing taxes this coming winter, but it's looking like I am.

Why wouldn't I do taxes? I enjoy it and the money isn't too bad. I need a place to do them, though. I have 10 or so clients all remote, but face-to-face is how I take care of 95% of my clients. I'm not doing taxes here at the house, F that, so I'll use the office again at the restaurant and pay rent. For a while we weren't so sure the restaurant was going to make it, but now I have more confidence. We changed our hours, we have new ads coming soon, and we are still getting many new 5-star reviews and fresh faces. Sales lately have been better, but are still down when compared to last year at this time. Of course that's not a 100% fair comparison since we changed the hours. Last year we were open 7 days a week 1200-close (0900 Sundays) and now we are closed Mondays and we don't open until 1600 Tues, Wed. and Thurs.

I'm looking forward to going hunting. The weather will almost be too warm in the mid 60s, but I'll take that over 25 and blustery or 35 with cold rain. Morning hunts should be great with temps in the 30s and low 40s. Taking a deer in the morning is awesome because there is light to see and tagging stations are open, but it seems rare I tag out in the morning. Of course I hunt evenings much more than mornings so that skews the data. I don't even care if I get a deer; I just want to have some quality time in the woods with Jason and Dad. Dad will hunt out back in his blind, but if he gets a deer I'll help him and it's always an exciting process. Last year he tagged out on a morning hunt and I helped him get his deer gutted out and up to the house. Do I have any pictures? Guy looks...

If I don't fuck it away or get stupid-sick again this should be a good rifle season for me despite the results. The last two years have been a total shit-show for me as far as free time and doing the things I like to do. What a bunch of crap! I did get a deer a couple years ago, but I don't feel like I even earned it since I only hunted a couple times and Jason did all the scouting and work before the season setting up stands and whatnot. At least this year I was able to help prep for the season so I'll feel like I earned a deer if I do get one.

^From 2020. Somehow that photo ended up in a recent edition of Whitetail Magazine hahaha!

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Wednesday, 10-26-22: New hours, last place, feeling better.
I feel pretty good this week. Oh Jesus, hell ya! Started off by having a nice visit with Dad Sunday afternoon; Mom, Dad, and I had lunch and then Dad and I went to the range to sight in our rifles and do some shooting. I was supposed to go the week prior, but my stupid-ass body decided to get itself deathly sick. The "deathly" part might be an exaggeration, but maybe not because I was wasted like Doc-J and 8-Ball from Full Metal Jacket. It was a really bad infection with a pronounced red line going all the way up my left arm from the hand all the way to my armpit. What a bunch of crap!

I had to take ten days worth of antibotics, and I took my last pill Monday evening. Then I watched the Patriots get beaten by the Bears. What a bunch of crap! I only watched the second and third quarters of the game before I bivouaced. The Pats are 3-4 on the season and in last place, just behind the 4-3 Dolphins. Even the lowly Jets are better so far this year haha. Oh well I still follow the New England teams, but I don't care as much as I did a decade or two ago.

Speaking of last place, here at the final AL standings for MLB:

Boston Red Sox = last place. EPIC FAILER! The Yankees had a great season, but Houston bounced their asses out of the ALCS so now it's gonna be the Astros vs the philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. I'll catch some of the WS here and there, but definitely not much of it.

We started our new hours at the bar this week. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow we're only open 1600-close. The closing time varies a bit based on the day of the week. Yesterday's close was 2300, but no one was there so they closed an hour earlier. Today is also 2300, but there is a drag show that will last until then so I'm guessing closing will be 2330. Tomorrow's close is 0100 since we have karaoke and, in general, more people are likely to do nightlife things on a Thurs than on a Tues or Wed. We also added a Saturday breakfast so now Saturday hours are expanded from 1200-0100 to 0900-0100. That's a really long day!

I'll go help with the drag show tonight, and if my help isn't needed maybe I'll have a couple beers. Or maybe not, who knows? I haven't had jack shit for alcohol lately. I was on my best behavior when I was sick and on antibiotics. I followed the instrutions like a boss. No booze, and I ate food every time I took a pill. That probably kept my guts from getting all knotted up. The doc said side effects of strong antibiotics can be nausea and diareahha (spelling?), but I had neither. Oh Jesus, hell ya! Actually that antibiotic made me poop regularly like a boss. Too much? Well the name of this bootleg site that no one ever reads says it all hehe...

I've spent a few hours over at Mike's house this week replaing a door and doing a storm door. Doors can really suck. A lot. This one isn't easy, but I've had to do worse. The old door came out easily, the new door went in easily, and then it started getting tough. The stupid fuckin' doorknob was giving me trouble, and I can't even figure out how to get the old-ass deadbolt back on. What a bunh of crap! Oh well, I'll just pick up a new one tomorrow. I only have an hour ot two left over there then I can invoice it out. I didn't expect to do any work there today because big rains are coming (again), but the rain held off until just after lunch so I got more done.

^Old door had rot and moisture was working all the way into the jack stud. What a bunch of crap!

This has been a wicked rainy month. Not in terms of days worth of rain, but in terms of heavy, tropical-like downpours. It's been mild, humid, and wet. We've gotten 5 inches, 2 inches, and now 1-2 coming soon. Plus all the other smaller storms and whatnot. Thankfully the landlord had the roof at the bar fixed so I don't think it will leak now. It better fuckin' not leak! I went up and looked at it today, and it looks great. We had rain Monday and nothing leaked at all, but there is a very big difference between a half inch of rain and triple that amount.

I still have a shitload of leaves to rake away here at the house. I wanted to do it earlier this month, but my useless ass got sick. Yesterday I cleared off the back deck and did a little of the yard, and today I had just enough time before the rains came to clean out the gutters and rake some more of the yard. The number of dog-shit land mines is staggering. It's almost impossible to shovel it away with a million maple leaves everywhere. When I was sick I couldn't shovel it away so it got buried under leaves. What a bunch of crap!

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Friday, 10-21-22: Event room put back together, but for how long?
I started an invoice for all my precious... precious time and money spent for working on our event room, but it's not done yet. So far I'm closing in on $1000, and I didn't even factor in poor Kat's countless hours of work. Plus the kids. Plus Jay (Maintenance manager.) How can I account for all of that and make it work?

What invoice you ask? The one I'll be mailing to the landlord (or giving it to him in person if I see his ass within the next 10 days, which I doubt will happen.) We have a large section of roof above our event room that needs replacing, the landlord knows this, and he's done nothing so far. I understand it take time to line up contractors, but his lack of effort to even return my calls or texts is appaling. We got another couple inches of rain Tuesday, the space flooded again, and it was all-bad. Dan and I spent an hour covering the bad section of roof up with a giant 19x29, 7-mil thick tarp Monday hoping that would stop the leaking. Unfortunately, like almost every other roof repair that I attempt at that place, it ended in epic failer. The tarp did stop the water that was on the tarp, but when the thing got too much water on it the rain was able to spill under the tarp and come right on in. What a bunch of crap!

^I had to go buy more tarps and waste even more precious... preccious time building that setup to funnel all the water into one spot.

^Lost even more ceiling tiles, and at $5 each that adds up fast. What a bunch of crap!

I'm at about 20 hours and my awesome wife is at an even higher number than that. Her kids? Too hard to say for sure. At least Jay was on the clock for a lot of the cleanup so he has been mostly compensated for his help, but not for all of it. I don't want to get really agressive about it all with the landlord because he'll just say we should have put in an insurance claim. However, we have a $1000 deductible and putting in a claim will jeaporzide our insurance package and/or raise rates. That plan = NO THANK YOU.

We've spent a few hunrded dollars on supplies like tarps, new ceiling tiles (we lost a lot of those at $5 each), roofing materials, etc. The biggest cost by far has been all that precious... precious time we've lost. Thankfully we have dry weather today for what will be our biggest event that we've ever had in the banquet room. Kat put her soul into that room, and I helped her last night for a few hours getting it all set up for later today. I have some photos from last night:

I am feeling much better since my infection. At this time last week I was in the hospital waiting area, and I was reading a Whitetail magazine. Somehow my ugly mug ended up on one of the back pages of that thing, a photo Dad or Jason took from a couple years ago when I shot an 8=point buck at Jason's place. I didn't even earn that deer because I didn't put in the work for him.

I did yoga and did a light working in the downstairs gym yesterday, and I just jogged a couple miles outside this afternoon. As usual I had to stop and walk a little, but I do feel much better. I'd write some more, but I have to get ready for work. We have 120 people coming tonight to use that event room so we will be BUSY. We need the business, but it will nearly overwhelm us if we don't stay on top of it all.

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Monday, 10-17-22: Another setback in my shitty-ass life.
We got 5 fucking inches of rain Thursday night into late Friday night/early Saturday morning, and our beautiful event room started flooding. While that was happening I had a really bad infection in my left hand that started getting worse so I had to drive my sick ass over to the hostiptal. Friday was in the top 10 for worst days of my life.

My amazing wife spent hours, her entire Thursday evening and into the night, working on the event room in prep for Friday TV commercial shoots. We had two separate ads scheduled to film Friday afternoon. She got home so late that I was already in bed and sleeping. I helped her some, but I was not feeling well. Seems the infetion made me sick. What a bunch of crap! Plus I worked all day Thursday so I wanted a little time to rest. She was up and at the bar before me Friday morning, and this is what she walked into at the place:

^OMG EPIC FAIL AND WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAP ALL ROLLED UP INTO ONE.

^The leaking was from many different areas in that entire corner so just putting a bucket in one spot was not going to work.

Water was POURING in, and we were pwned. No TV commercials, no use of that room that day. Thankfully there were no leaks in the restaurant itself so we could stay open. I actually told Kat we should just close and be done with it after I saw that event room and the look on her face that morning. Then I reached out to our lawyer to get some options if we did close. Bankruptcy? Sell the place? All options needed to be explored.

By Friday morning I had been on antibiotics for 24 hours. Unfortunately, I was a long way from getting better and I was actually getting worse. I took a nap early Friday afternoon so I could be rested for my Friday night work shift. Before I laid down Friday I noticed a faint red line going up my left arm, but I was hopeful the antibiotics would start to work. I slept for an hour or so, and my arm looked even worse with a very pronounced red line going all the way from my hand up to my armpit. Even my armpit was sore. I'm not smart at all when it comes to all this medical shit, but I know when red lines form on your limbs and you're infected it's your body telling you that death is looming.

Kat saw the red line and ordered me to go to the ER IMMEDIATELY. I don't fuckin' care if I die, I wasn't making it a priority at all, and my plan was to sit around for a little bit before my 1700-close shift at the bar. I knew my poor wife would get stuck doing my shift if I had to go to the hostpital, but she got all fired up about it and so I went. I didn't want to go, but I knew it was the right thing to do. Even though I don't give a fuck if I die it's not fair to my loved ones if I don't put in some effort to stick around at age 46. (If I was older then forget it, see ya later fuckers.)

Going to the hospital = hard pass. Thankfully I thought ahead to bring my backpack with magazines so I had something to do while I waited and waited and waited some more. Eventually I got put in some round thing that looks like an MRI machine but wasn't. I'd call it a donut, and they said CT scan or some shit. They had to give me an IV and put the contrast dye in me, and I got fluids and some potent antibiotics after that. The antibiotics did make me feel a lot better, and quickly so.

Meanwhile the bar got busy. Poor Kat was there running the shift when I was jacked into the IV fluids, and some fucking idiot decided to bring a .22 pistol in with a silencer on it. He had it in his back pocket, Kat worked some serious magic to get it away from him peacefully while he went to sing a song, she got the cops there just before the guy started threatening her because he wanted his gun back, total shit-show. There were 9 rounds in the pistol including one in the chamber. OMG!

ALL I WANNA KNOW IS WHY? WHY WOULD YOU STICK A FUCKIN LOADED PISTOL IN YOUR BACK POCKET, GET SHITFACED, AND TAKE IT TO A BAR?! WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAP! He wasn't served any booze at our place, but we know who he is (I've had to boot him out before for being creepy) and the cameras showed he was drunk or on drugs, definitely NOT sober, when he came in. Needless to say he was arrested, but he threatened my wife bigtime so the cops stayed Saturday night in the parking lot in case he came back. (He posted bail.)

I finally got parole from the hostpital around 2245 Friday night. They gave me a choice, and a very fair one. I could stay the night and get more IV fluids or I could get paroled and then go get stronger antibiotis at the pharmacy the next morning. Staying the night = NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I got the hell out of there ASAP, and I went to work for the final couple hours to help. Kat saw me come into work and she was pissed off because she had ordered my ass to go home. No way, man.

Meanwhile the rains kept coming. Tropical, heavy downpours and even thunder and lightning. The radar was amazing to see because these heavy storms just flared up out of seemingly nothing and hit us hard. Our road flooded, but we got home just before it became impassable. We are so lucky the basement didn't flood because our neighbor had serious damage to her cellar. No roof leaks either booya. Even the roof repair I did over at Gilmore St on Tuesday kept the place dry. Too bad the restaurant roof is pwned in one entire big area. What a bunch of crap!

We're getting more rain tomorrow, and it could be more of the same with a tropical air and "training" of showers in the same area. If we get 3-4 more inches we will have huge problems again, and 1-3 is expected so we think we're gonna be screwed. Dan and I put a HUGE 19x29 foot tarp up on the roof earlier this afternoon and we spent time weighing it down to that might keep the event room dry. Maybe? Hopefully!

The restaurant was incredibly busy all weekend so that counts for something positive, right? The antibiotics that I got Sat AM have helped a lot. I don't feel sick anymore and I worked a lot over the weekend, but not as much as Kat did. She worked a ton of hours. I'm hoping to do yoga tomorrow and ease back into some exercises, but my left hand is still tender so I gotta be careful. I got pus coming out of that spot on my thumb and it looks like shit. The hand surgeon guessed it was a spider bite; all we can do is guess beause I have no idea. All I know is I got a huge infection that was probably going to kill me fast based on the red line going up my arm.

Kat probably saved my life because I didn't give a shit. I would've been fine with riding it out and getting drunk to either pass out and die or pass out and wake up. Flip a coin for all I care. It does seem stupid to check out over a little cut or bite, though.

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Thursday, 10-13-22: Guy takes antibiotics.
I have a nasty infection on my left hand, right at the thumb-joint. It's all swollen and red, it hurt, it's hard to move my thumb and use the entire hand, and I don't feel very good. What a bunch of crap! I noticed it getting red a few days ago, but it didn't look that bad. Then it started getting worse and worse. Yesterday I took a couple asprin, I did the same thing this morning, and that was going to be good enough until my awesome wife basically ordered my ass to go to the doc.

Thankfully walk-in care was not very busy when I got there around 0830. I still had to wait 10 minutes, I blew $100, but now I have something called Cexyphllis. It sounds like an STD, but I take 4 pills a day for a week and hopefully I don't die of some horrible infection. I don't really fuckin' care if I die, but I'm not letting a little cut or splinter or whatever it is to take my ass out. Not when I can spend $100 (plus a few more for the pills) and probably get it fixed.

All I wanna know is why? Why did it happen? I think it was just a scratch or a little cut, but who knows? Possibly a small splinter? Usually I can feel splinters, though. I'd guess I had a little cut and some bacteria got in and now it's trying to eat my soul. It's not that big, but it's an UGLY red bump on my damn hand. Guy took a photo on guy's cellphone, but guy does not know how to get photos from guy's cellphone onto guy's bootleg webpage that almost no one will ever read. What a bunch of crap!

^Dear body, please fix this or just let me die in my sleep.

I was the daytime MOD at the bar today, something I rarely do anymore, and it sucked a little because I didn't feel so well. I dunno if my rotting hand made me feel sorta sick or if it's something else? Mentally neither Kat nor I are doing well becaues the bar is close to total failure and we seem to always be spending way more money than we are making. Business is down by a lot, especially during the week for lunches. Therefore, starting Tuesday, Oct 25 we are not doing lunches Tues, Wed, or Thurs. We'll open at 1600 and see how it goes. A $300 lunch is not even close to breaking even so fuck it.

Business was bad each of the last two Tuesdays. Like, bye bye $1000 in one day bad. OMG WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAP! We usually have a good Friday and Saturday, but that's only two days a week and it's not enough to dig out of the hole. We have regressed, and it's all-bad. I think a few things contribute to that, but worst of all is our pudding-head president and his cronies. Inflation is 8.2%, everything costs a lot more, and it sucks a bag of ass. We are in a recession, and many experts think it's gonna get worse. For most people deciding to blow $50 at the bar or put that $50 towards the higher cost of heat, rent, groceries, etc is an easy one. No bar, drink at home, save money. No date night, especially on a fixed income.

We might always wonder how we'd have started out of not for Covid and now a shit economy. Probably we'd actually make money. I'd love to know one day, but it seems greater than 50% that we are almost done. We will roll with the new hours, an updated menu, and a renewed advertising blitz for a while and see how it goes. I think by later next month we will have a better idea where we stand with it all. Maybe? Hopefully!

I'm still planning to step back from the place, but I won't 100% quit. My awesome wife and the kids still need my help, but I also have to balance what's right for me. I get overwhelmed and scattered when I work there too much, and seeing first-hand when business is slow really gets depressing. It's hard enough looking at the numbers from a distance when it's shit, but being there as well = double the suck.

This really has been a terrible year. I'm still doubting us living in Brewer at this time next year. If the restaurant/bar does fail then I don't want to be here anymore. I'll miss playing racquetball, but this entire area will be poisoned for us so I think we will leave. I really hope we don't have to do that, but we already kicked tires on it a little. There have been some early discussions of what we will do if we have to bankrupt the business. It will break hearts and cost a shitload so turning it around it by far the first option. I just can't keep working there as much as I do now for no pay or else we really will run out of money.

I dunno exactly what I'll do come November/December for work. I need to make some money and I do have some carpentry already lined up. It's not enough for 8 full weeks, but that's okay because I still need to work some at the bar and I NEED to go deer hunting. If I blow this coming rifle hunting season in November and don't get out there then I will be totally mentally checked out. I already wrote off the rest of bow season because I'm just not ready. I shot my bow once, and now forget it since my left hand is pwned and I can't even hold the thing. What a bunch of crap!

We're gonna get dumped on with rain tomorrow. On Tuesday I had to climb my scrappy ass up onto this roof to do repairs for a job I tackled back in 2015:

I used to manage that building, but I gave it up a few years ago because it wasn't worth it. The current management company is terrible so I guess they sent a worker up there to do something. Some of the shingles had come off, probably due to wind, and the owners questioned the quality of my roof install from almost 7 years ago. That roof needs new sheathing, but that was not an option due to time and budget so worked with the existing decking that was not so good in certain areas. Plus I had a drunk as a helper and he did a lot of that secton. Some of the nails didn't grab due to the poor decking/gaps so the shingles failed. I picked up a bundle of the same kind of shingles, I got my ass up there on what was a beautiful fall day, and two hours later was this:

I barely reached a couple spots, but thankfully that dormer gave me a step of sorts. I'm not charging the owners for the work because I do think the original install could have been better. If it leaks tomorrow that will suck. A lot. Kat's older sister and her husband live there plus she works for us as a cook so we see her a lot, and she'll let me know if it leaks. I sure as hell hope it doesn't leak!

It's still fairly early, but I'm feeling pretty beat so I'm gonna go lie in bed and watch some TV before I bivouac. Can't watch the Thursday football game because it's on Amazon only. What a bunch of crap! Oh well, not a game I care that much about anyway. Kat is at the bar working. We have a busy next couple of days at work with ads to film tomorrow and a big event Saturday, and I'll go to the midcoast Sunday.

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Tuesday, 10-04-22: Still can't jog 2 miles. Great hunting/outdoor weather.
This is the month when I usually find myself in the best cardio shape of the entire year, and I can usually jog 2 or 3 miles without stopping to walk some of it. Sadly those times are gone, probably forever. Now when I jog I have to stop and walk, I get tired easily, and going 2 miles is a challenge. What a bunch of crap! The weather is great today so I just went a couple miles, but I stopped to walk a couple times. Maybe if I use the treadmill more this coming winter I'll be in better cardio shape for next year...

I fell apart fast over these past couple years, and probably Covid has something to do with it. I also think the restaurant, working crazy hours, and just getting older took a toll. I'll never again be able to jog 4 miles in a half-hour like I did a few years ago, and I'm totally fine with that, but I'm hoping for more results. Not like I've been lazy I have done a pretty good job of regularly exercising. I'm just a lot weaker now and lack the endurance. Gods damn it!

I went down to the midcoast yesterday to help Dad get his boat in the water, to help with a few other things around their house, and to go on a bowhunt. I only shot my bow once all year to get ready for the season. What a bunch of crap! A 3-arrow group from 20 yards that was a good group. I knew things would have to be perfect for me to even attepmt a shot at a deer last evening, and they almost were perfect. I set up in a good spot that always has deer activity in early season Oct, at least it has the past 3 years. I was only there 15 minutes when a nice doe showed up under an apple tree that I was watching, 25 yards away. I wasn't super-pumped to shoot her because getting a deer out of there is a pain in the arse way down off the Keating Rd power line. However, she was a good-sized deer so I thought I'd get myself into position, just in case. She put her head down to graze, I moved my bow, and she saw me and it was game over. Bye bye deer. Oh well, my bad. In hindsight I should've just watched her a while more then made my decision. Other deer were coming, too. I heard them blowing after she took off.

The weather was crisp, 50s and neither humid nor windy. I couldn't have asked for better weather for a hunt. Jason saw deer but nothing worth shooting at, and Dad didn't have luck either. I thought Dad would hunt with his crossbow, but he wanted to duck hunt from his boat out on the pond. He had no luck duck hunting, though. At this point I'm glad he can still go considering his recent health issues and ongoing concerns. They said he has a golf ball-sized tumor during the summer, and now they say nevermind no he doesn't.

^Phemomenal fall weather.

^Their 7-year old dog, Amos, is a ball of energy and he sure loves going bird hunting with Dad.