Into the Urban Woodlands

I woke near 630am feeling better but still not 100%. I completed calisthenics over the next 10-15 minutes whipping out my push-ups in the fresh air on the deck. It was supposed to be another gorgeous day with clear skies and temps near 80. And like most Friday’s, I planned on working from home.

Shortly after the kids left for school, I headed out for a walk with the pug. I was back by 705am. I planned to head out for a run somewhat early since our replacement range was expected to show up anytime between 8am and noon. I wanted to be on the road by 730am if at all possible.

Mindy left for school at her usual 715am. By then I was already in the middle of my stretch routine. I was out the door for my run by 735a. The appliance delivery company promised a call 20-30 minutes in advance. No call before I left. I ran 3 miles and was home by 803am.

Appliance delivery company phoned at 911am to let me know that they were on their way. Perfect. And before they arrived, I got a call from the glass block company asking if I was good with a slightly later arrival than originally promised. Yes. No problem.

Appliance guys showed up near 930am. I made sure they knew they were replacing an existing new range. They did. The driver suggested I watch them unpack the new and check it out for scratches even before bringing it inside. Sounded like a good idea to me. Without me saying a word, he pointed out numerous small but noticeable scratches on the new one. In fact, far more than were on the one we had. Told him that I didn’t want it. He went on to share that they deal with this all the time with stainless steel. Said he’s had to bring three or even four to finally get one without any scratches, which according to him are created often times by the manufacturing process itself.

Very pleasant, friendly fella. Had me sign a document indicating that I rejected the replacement due to scratches. Said they would be calling me back to schedule yet another delivery date. I was disappointed, wanting badly to get this resolved and move on. Although, I felt good that they would take care of me. They couldn’t have been gone even five minutes before their corporate office called me back to ask a few questions about the driver’s professionalism and to share that they were ordering a new one for delivery. Said they would call with a new date once it’s received.

I was really hungry having abstained from making breakfast while waiting on the range delivery. Opted to make a sandwich. And while doing so I decided to use the micro fiber cloth and hot steamy water on the range to clean it up like I do the new dishwasher. Imagine then my surprise when all the ‘scratches’ came off the range. Yeah, no kidding! Apparently those scratches were really remnants of that tight gripping plastic wrap. Only when I used steaming hot water with the micro-fiber cloth did it come right off. Hmm? I was thrilled to look at the range and not see scratches, which until that moment was what my eyes would immediately see.

Spent a considerable amount of my work time on a project. I think it was near 1pm when the glass block company showed up. There were two of them and they went right to work. One guy worked outside while the other inside. Had two of the windows in place and mortaring them in before I could even get my shoes on. They used what I’ll call a giant icing bag to mortar them in. Neato! I asked again if he thought he’d need me to crawl under the deck to do the third window. He said not, that the guy with him would do it. Uh, I didn’t think so. He was a pretty big fella.

Long story short, he tried but got stuck at the entry point. I told him that I was willing to do it, but just to give me a couple tips. I’d watched him mortar in the others. I was able to crawl in between the two deck levels without much problem at all. Guessing about 16” of clearance. Harder to squeeze the mortar bag than I imagined but soon got the hang of it. Took me two three times longer than it did Matt, and it didn’t look as pretty either, but then again, he does this every day. Finally satisfied that I had it as good as I could get it, I exited. I scribbled a check for the glass block company then told Matt that I was going back under with a wet towel so I could further smooth out the mortar lines and also clean up the glass block. He said I had a good 30 minutes before it would set-up. As soon as they left I headed back under the deck and did as I planned. Looked pretty good by the time I finished. I actually went back under a third time, that time to tack up the outdoor speaker wires draping down in front of the window. Figured it was as good a time as any since I had the access panel off and was already dirty.

Jacob & Bella were home from school near 3pm. Jacob said something I didn’t quite follow about soccer practice. Wasn’t sure if he blew it off or if it was cancelled. Either way, he needed the break. The kids had their friends over within a couple minutes, but not even five minutes later I witnessed both Jacob & Bella heading upstairs leaving their friends in the kitchen/family room without any word on their status. Hmm? A few minutes later I heard the neighbors leave. I had to join a work call so I didn’t have time to check on Jacob and Bella.

My called lasted a good 30-40 minutes. By the time it wrapped up it was 415pm. Mindy was home a little while later. Guessing it was near 430pm. She was surprised that Jacob was home. When she went up to check on the kids she found Jacob sound asleep and Bella lazing in her room. I let Mindy know too that they kind of abandoned their friends downstairs. We’ll need to talk about that for the future. Not good.

Mindy woke Jacob around 515pm, and Jimaken was over to pick-up the kids around 530pm. Mindy and I made plans to go to Woodlands to enjoy happy hour beer and music. We wanted to get there fairly early, too since it gets crowded in a hurry. I was showered and ready to go by 6pm.

We parked on 3rd Ave. about ½ block down from the venue. Not too bad at all. Lovely evening, low 70s and crystal clear. All the patio seating was taken so after getting a couple IPAs (Millersberg IPA) we stood at community table on the patio. There was ample seating inside where the one mad band was playing but it was a little too loud. Couldn’t talk. At the community table we met Eric and his dachshund, Rembrant. We stood since there weren’t any stools available.

On the western horizon, and just before sunset, a slivery moon hung in the crystal clear sky. I can still see it in my mind’s eye. We both ordered 2nd IPAs as well as a pepperoni pizza. Our server was attentive but perhaps not the brightest bulb in the batch. She returned with a single slice of pizza. We laughed and reiterated that we wanted a whole pie. She corrected the mistake but we had to wait for another pizza to bake. And she comp’d us the single slice.

Thinking it was near 820pm when we finished out 2nd beers and headed for home. Mindy had been exchanging texts with Bob I., who lives just around the corner. He was just getting home and heading our way via bicycle as we were heading home. Agreed to attempt a hook-up Saturday sometime.

For the first time in a really long time, Mindy and I walked down to visit briefly with neighbors Kenny and Chrissy. Missy & Guy were there too. I took a beer along. Once it was gone Mindy asked that we head for home. She headed to bed while I remained up playing my guitar and bongos, I had enough of a buzz that I thought I sounded good. 