April 2010
So it's my weekend off again, and I go out to the truck Saturday morning and lo-and-behold, the driver's window rolls down! An Easter miracle indeed! I tried to include it in the photo, but you can barely see the window half-way down below.  My only goal for the weekend (other than monkeying around with the driver's window) was to get the furnace installed and wired in. Note to all similar Suburban furnace owners: when you are presented with the four-wire option, apparantly the two blue wires can be connected to either matching blue wire in your harness. They are just there to complete the circuit. It took me a little hunting to find this info, so hopefully I can add to the Googleness of life by posting this.  And here is the new furnace installed. Yes, it's sitting on some of the astroturf. Don't ask me if I've fired it up yet, because I haven't. Too chicken. I'll do that in the next couple days when I'm ready to accept that it might fail and/or I'm ready to call the Fire Department.  Trying to begin my new regimen/commitment today, which is: 60-minutes of continuous activity per day. This will be tough at times, but I really think health and weight-managing is about staying in motion; not so much about working out. I think studies have shown time after time that hard workouts are not really all that conducive to weight loss. Your body burns those calories, and sweats so much and you must quickly replace all that. I'm just thinking it might be sane (at 49) to presume staying ACTIVE is the key, not high-fuel-burning workouts. So I did my first one-hour walk around the track at the local high school. Some of this ambition is coming from the last month, which I have spent with several chiropractors, trainers, and massage therapists. I have been having chronic neck pain and headaches, and I have to find a way to get back in shape. I have spent too many mornings in tears or on Vicodin. I'm hoping if I can get active again, I can loosen up the kinks in my muscular-skeletal whatevers. * * * Naturally, it has been raining almost every day since I began my renewed walking-interest. Is it me, or does this always happen to everybody? The instant I commit to a diet, Pizza Hut starts giving away food and bowls of candy appear at the office. Is this a test? Will we have to answer for this in heaven? Anyway, I'm trying. I'm trying to slim down a little. Summer's coming up, and I don't want to work in the yard shirtless and walrus-shaped. And of course, Burning Man, where there is a significant chance my spare tires will be on public display if I don't get rid of them first. Nose to the grindstone. Rain or no rain. Must get my walking in each day. I sold my other favorite old Canon lens today, the 24mm wide angle. Tough to see the old friends go. But this is just the beginning. Just wait 'til the guitars start selling off........yeesh. Those will be some tough sales. But really, they're just things. And in the bigger picture, it's clear all these things are actually the reason I'm not on the road right now. I own a lot of things, and if you have a lot of things you can't live in a truck. Nose to the grindstone. * * * The furnace. Today is the day I can accept the results. Does the wiring work, or did I screw it up? Will I blow the truck thirty feet off the ground and convert it to a treehouse? I'm not the most mechanically inclined person on the planet, you know. And what I know about heating and air conditioning, well, you could fit it in your eye. I'm just a guy trying to save a couple bucks by installing his own propane furnace. Yeah, that's exactly what the coroner will say. Let's do it. Deep breath. I did, after all, just throw about $350 at this thing, and it was, after all, just a bit too easy to install.........could it be?.............. Propane tank: On. On/off rocker switch: On. Wall thermostat: On. Moments later, the most beautiful orange flame is rolling around inside the furnace. Warm air is piping out. Success. Relief. * * * Another weekend off. Another weekend of rain. I did manage a little yard cleanup - some desperate attention needed on Winter tree limb removal. It has turned cold again, here in Maine, so we are all just trying to get through the next two weeks, and not think about the almost-Spring weather we were lulled into. I've got another handful of cd's and dvd's being sold Monday, and I'm putting the old furnace on craigslist for twenty bucks. Why not? Still no real sparked interest on the steel building, but that's a long-play.....as long as it sells this Summer, and as long as I get $2,000. It's listed for $3,300 now, and going down $100 every two weeks. Hopefully, that will pay for the transmission work on my Toyota 4-Runner, which I can then sell off. The only project I wanted to complete was the replacement driver's seat. I managed to pick up this cloth beauty for around $60 brand new, which seems ridiculous to me. When I asked LDV why it was so cheap, they said it's the temporary seat that comes with a new vehicle before they get it and install the "real" one. Well, I've still got my "real" one, and I'm not sure if I'll reupholster/repair it or just sell it off, but I'm diggin' this cloth replacement for now. Since the bolt pattern is different now than that of the seat frames in '95, I had to attach the whole thing via a 1/2" board which I drilled out to fit.  But that's not all I did this weekend. Yesterday I bought.........you guessed it.........another parcel of land. This one's in Oklahoma. Duncan, Oklahoma. Duncan is about 20 miles West of OKC, and 70 miles South. It's an unusual piece of land, in that it's about 90x400' and has a creek running diagonal through it. I'm not sure that creek doesn't look like much more than a storm drain, but I've only got the handful of photos. There appear to be some decent trees on the lot, and since it's smack-dab in a neighborhood, it looks like a good, safe bet for visiting. What has me concerned post-purchase is the maintenance. I didn't think about that when I bid on this (on Ebay), and I'm not going to think about it too much for now. I guess the question is: who's been mowing it up until now? Or does it even require mowing? I certainly can't afford to pay somebody to go out there every two weeks and deal with it, so I'm expecting it to grow up pretty wild looking. Perhaps at some point I can convince the neighbors that this is usable property for them as much as they feel like mowing it. Or maybe I'll put a gazebo out there for everyone's use, and entice them to mow if they have a mind to. But I have no current plans to visit the area this year, so either I make plans now, or this will sit in my brain and bother me for a while. Anyway, 90x400 (8/10 of an acre) - $305. Property taxes: $47 per year. All in all, a good buy.  Here is the view from Cedar Avenue.      And here is an ugly post-Winter view from Pine Avenue.      Obviously, the best thing is to nab a parcel somewhere closer to the OKC area, but I feel comfortable with this for now. God knows how long it may take to find something suitable in the city. And by suitable I mean, of course, "cheap." * * * "What's a nice guy like you doin' in Ponca City?" Perhaps this is the best pick-up line I'll one day be served at the Food Pyramid in Ponca City, Oklahoma. What is the appeal of snagging property in Ponca City, you may ask? I couldn't say just yet, except it's 25x151, it's got some trees and a quarry-lake is just across the interstate. Oh, and it was $20.50. Annual taxes: $5.00. Ponca City is about 15 miles East of I-35, and about halfway between OKC and Wichita, Kansas. I have a feeling I-35 will probably be a popular North-South choice for me once I begin wandering.  Here's a good idea of the relationship of the property to the quarry-lake. Ponca City has a handful of real lakes, so this isn't a big deal....but it will make for some interesting walks. You can also see above, the proximity to a couple baseball fields; there is a decent park in the area.  View from I-60/77  The same seller had the property below in Guthrie. It was almost laughable, and yet could turn out to be something fun to have. It measures 14.3' x 42.5'........just like a long grassy driveway, I guess.  So here is my own little corner of Guthrie. Big enough for a rooter truck. The corner of S. 3rd and W. Grant. Cost: $10.50. Annual taxes: $8.33.  Yessir, that's all mine on the right of the tree all the way down to the stand of trees at the back. Silliness I may one day enjoy.  May 2010 Sub-Floor Storage Sale Of Steel Building And 4Runner Buying Property In Porum, Oklahoma Buying Property In Hartsel, Colorado Burning Man Wardrobe Progress |