Is That Snow in the Forecast?

A window to my world Mailbox in costume I didn’t want to deprive myself of sleep, thus I slept a little later than my usual 5:30am rise time. And after consuming oodles of carbs and a mountain of chocolate the day before, I was feeling a bit strange. This was a Monday, and like most others, it was a bit of a struggle to muster the motivation necessary to fire on all cylinders, but eventually I did. The weather was forecasted to begin a slow return to normalcy beginning with today. Temps are expected to rise into the seventies with a fair amount of sunshine. Thank God! I can only tolerate so much crappy weather. A cool cloudy weekend is a bitter pill to swallow. After all, we only get so many of these to enjoy. To begin the day it was necessary to wear a jacket. Yep, you heard it right – it’s the frikin’ middle of June and I’ve got to wear a jacket to feel comfortable walking Ykraps! Aside from the chilly start, at least we had some sunshine to begin the day. I was ready to leave the house destined for work at 7:40am. I was a little behind, but … it’s better to be a little behind rather than a big ass! J I’ll spare you the drama of typical Monday, and instead proceed through my day. I left for my run at 1pm with a sky full of puffy clouds despite a forecast predicting otherwise. It was an easy run because the temperature was still fairly cool. My afternoon went pretty quick, just as one would expect of a busy day. I left work just before 5pm hoping to get a jump on the evening. I thought that I might steal a nap as soon as I got home but didn’t. Instead, after walking Ykraps I got started on my deck project pronto! Mindy was due over and she was bringing T-Bone steaks to cook on the grill. But for the time being, I was focused on the deck. I had seven more boards to attach and trim to fit. Aside form that, I had a hell of a mess from the seventeen old bards to process. I kept working at a good clip even after Mindy arrived. While I worked on the deck, Mindy checked out pictures on the PC. I called for her assistance a couple of times as I needed that third hand to help remove a slight bow in a board or two. With three left to go I popped up and took a break long enough to ignite the grill. Soon the grill was hot and the steaks were on. They didn’t take much time to cook either. During their cooking, I managed to get two more boards attached and trimmed. That left only the final board which would have to be ripped. I saved that for after dinner. The steaks were better than good. They were delicious! After dinner I set out to finish up the last board. I needed Mindy’s assistance to help support the 16’ board as I marked then ripped about 1.5 inches from its girth. I’ve learned the hard way that you want to rip it to fit the first time. Any additional micro trimming that becomes necessary leaves the cut edge looking amateurish. I was doing my ripping with a circular saw, not a table saw. When it was completed, the board didn’t easily rest into the slot. It seemed a tad wide, but it was extremely close. I decided to see if it would settle with a little guided force. Lucky for me it did. I went all along the edges with a block and a sledge to ensure it was resting snuggly against the joists. After setting it, I realized I would have to re-raise it to cut the angle at the steps. Crap! Turned out OK, though. Mindy helped clean up the mess left over form the job. She also insisted that we take the time now to cut up the old decking boards so that they can be stowed neatly until such a time that I can easily dispose of them. It took us an additional 15 minutes to do that job. What’s left is going back over and placing decking screws in all of the joists. Cool! After we finished, it was well past Mindy’s usual departure time. As she gathered her things to leave, Pat Schultz showed up for a visit. After a quick hello, Mindy hit the door. Pat stayed behind. We visited for about 30 minutes. Pat shared a story about one of his sons being involved in a recent pedestrian/car accident. I had actually heard the accident discussed on the radio last Friday. Well, as it turns out, it was Pat’s son, Jake. He hit a girl crossing the street in front of the high school. Lucky for him, it wasn’t his fault and there were plenty of witnesses to support his side – including one of the school principals. After Pat left I went upstairs and took a quick shower to wash away the sweat and sawdust. I spent the next hour or so updating my blog from the weekend. It was then that I retreated to my bed, did some reading, and then went to sleep.