✔ August 5, 2013 ★

Good morning! The new mailbox is installed & it looks great! This is a mailbox that I got many years ago from Homeplace Structures. They've long ago stopped making anything other than very large structures such as garages & sheds, but back in the day when they made cute lawn stuff, I bought this mailbox. It's never been installed here at this house though because the post was too close to the road for such a large mailbox. It would have hung out into the street. Since we had no choice but to install a new post though, we were able to set the new one farther back & put this mailbox up last night. Pete did all the hole digging & cement mixing, Kyle was the tool runner & held back my Texas Lilac so it didn't get damaged, & I pulled out what was left of the old post w/ my truck. Tough post! Well, it was in cement. We never did get it all out, but we got most of it. I rolled forward until there was no more tension in the rope, then slowly stepped on the accelerator, felt it tugging & tugging, I pressed harder & then ::: SNAP! ::: I love my truck. :) I'm grateful to Pete & Kyle for their help w/ this. I don't think I would have made it too far in this heat & the only other alternative would have been picking up our mail at the post office in a neighboring town until it cooled off enough for me to have installed the mailbox. Sad, I used to do well in the heat. It never bothered me. I would be out there walking in triple degree heat while pregnant & it didn't bother me at all. Today just opening the door & feeling the heat hit me makes me want to recoil back into the house, close the door, & hug my A/C. I know exactly when it happened, too. We were living in Branch & I was out in the yard working in triple degree heat & I pushed it too far. I don't know if it was age that caught up w/ me or what, but I almost dropped. I made it in the house & got into the tub & filled it w/ cold water which didn't even feel cold to me at the time. I remember sticking my head under the faucet & trying to cool myself down & I remember it felt like it took forever to even start feeling like the water was "cool". Yep, that was a really bad day. I probably should have called 9-1-1, most people would have ... but it never occurred to me. Anyway, ever since that day, I haven't been able to take the heat. It was like a light switch. I went from tough gal to wuss in the blink of a heat stroke. I guess I was about 35 when that happened. If it weren't for Pete still being tough, I would have to hire someone to do stuff like this around the house. Luckily Pete's still going strong ... stronger than most guys HALF his age & that's AFTER being hit by an 18-wheeler ... as a pedestrian. Talk about a tough guy! Does that mean he LIKES pushing himself like he did yesterday? No. Pete is a computer genius. Uber Geek. Doing hard labor outdoors in August in Texas isn't his idea of a good time. Bob Villa on the other hand probably lives for home projects like this ... but probably can't fix his own PC or even if can, probably hates it & would prefer to pay someone else to come out & do it. Everyone has their preferences, skills, & talents. Then there are those of us like myself who always WANTED to do the house flip thing ... buy a house, renovate it, sell it ... but didn't have the upper body strength or knowledge to do that kind of thing. I used to watch DIY shows all the time & WOW ... it takes an education, mechanical skill, & strength! Not being afraid of heights helps too. The DIY shows always have SOMEONE up on a ladder ... I get 2 steps up a ladder & suddenly I'm shaking & unstable. Yeah, that was a dream of mine that fell flat on me for several reasons, so I stuck with crocheting & knitting & DAMN I'm good at it! Anyway ... thank you Pete & Kyle for a great job on the mailbox! I love it!! Yes, I started to get jiggy w/ everyone over the weekend. Some projects around the house here have been in waiting for years. I guess I was just afraid this was going to be one of them. Everyone has those 'projects in waiting' that get put off for years ... either because of money, time, or just because it's a big job or a job that you dislike & dread doing. OTHER than the mailbox project yesterday, we did a lot of other things, too. I had bran flakes for breakfast, cleared my Gmail e-mail, the FD got toned out for a med call, I de-cobwebbed the walls in the living room, cleared out my YouTube subscriptions & replaced them w/ new ones for a great YouTube video lineup when I'm in the mood for videos, I waxed the woodwork, the FD took down a low hanging branch over the roadway, I dusted the audio system in the living room, then we all headed out for the afternoon. We went clothes shopping, had lunch at Jack in the Box, finished clothes shopping at another store, then headed to Home Depot for the mailbox post. I couldn't get the post I wanted because neither guy in the lumber department knew where ANY mailbox stuff was. We finally found ONE post. An ugly 4x4 post that no one wanted, laying on the floor under other stuff. That's the one I ended up with damnit. The number plate? Nowhere to be found. The huge green reflective one I used to have with the white reflective letters (that got destroyed when the car hit it)? Not sold there anymore. I had to purchase cheap little individual numbers that I need to nail onto the post later today. I bought a solar powered post cap light just like the one I love to use in Sims, but now it won't fit because the mailbox is HUGE & comes way up past the top of the post. I'm still trying to figure out a way to use this thing if I can modify it at all. BUT ... I got to use my mailbox from Homeplace Structures! :) When we got back from our outing I took the dogs out & then we did the mailbox thing. I had wanted to go out to Academy, but we didn't make it. I'll go today instead. Yesterday's Sims game was Bridgeport Heights & my Sim Robert was in the university towards a science & medicine degree. During the wait time on the mailbox (waiting for the cement to harden) I played until my Sim graduated the university. He got the great job of Video Game Developer! During his rise to the top Robert gained 2 new traits. 1 for reaching max nerd influence & 1 for graduating from the university. He now has the genius & handy traits. He graduated with a perfect GPA. :) This morning I took the dogs out & loaded up Maplegrove. My Sim Michael is in the university on an apprentice in fine arts award. He's working on his skills.

As a brutal initiation ritual, boys in the Satere-Mawe tribe in Brazil must wear gloves filled w/ bullet ants. They're called bullet ants for a reason - they have stings so nasty it's been compared to being shot by a bullet.

Combination of duct tape & WD-40 is often called "the redneck repair kit" & some of the NASA astronauts would agree!

Do you have a unique gift idea, but you can't find the item locally? There's a very good chance that you'll be able to find it on the Internet. Have a friend help you search the Web if Internet shopping is outside your comfort zone.

Duct tape was originally called "duck tape" because of its waterproof characteristics. "Like a duck takes to water," duct tape can easily solve the stickiest problem.

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Hold the open button & don't let go, no matter what anyone on the elevator says.

Self-renewal process must include balanced renewal in all 4 dimensions of our nature: the physical, the spiritual, the mental, & the social/emotional. Although renewal in each dimension is important, it only becomes optimally effective as we deal w/ all 4 dimensions in a wise & balanced way. To neglect any 1 area negatively impacts the rest.

Ways to use duct (or duck) tape top 10:

1. Wart cure
2. Emergency splint
3. Bandage
4. To seal & attach ductwork
5. Lint brush
6. Hair remover
7. Tape windows in a windwtorm
8. Hem drapes
9. Repair garden hoses
10. Repair fiberglass bodywork on cars & motorcycles

You're familiar w/ Napa Valley? ... The last grape stomper in Napa Valley retired after 50 years of stepping on grapes. Now the bad news is, she just got a job at the NBC commissary smoothing out the lumps in the gravy. -Johnny Carson 1986

You're riding shotgun w/ your teenage son at the wheel when he swerves to avoid a deer. The car launches off a small bridge & into a lake. You:

a. Immediately try to roll down or break your window to escape.

b. Get out your cell & call for help. The bubble of air in the vehicle should keep you safe until responders arrive.

c. Wait for the vehicle to settle, then use your feet to push open the passenger door.

Answer: a. Your best bet for surviving a submersion accident is to get a window or door open before the car starts to sink. Forget the phone - the emergency response could take up to 20 minutes. Don't spare a second trying to exit the car.

Your lucky words this week are: fubble, wonky, & bozo. Use them as often as possible w/o sounding silly.