I have been working more than i would prefer but am purposely scaling back prior to our vacation to see The Siths.
Housekeeper and Tender of the Beests, check. Bills paid, check. Time off, check, check, check. Train tickets, check. Packed and ready to go, not so checked.
Yes, train. We are taking a train to see the Siths in Deepest Darkest Texas. We will smoke meat, spend money (wimmenfolk and chilluns), and escape by fishing somewhere (me and Mr. Sith). I have packed the dry rub, which is of paramount importance.
Here is a pic of me trying to explain to CW last week why I had to work late again.
Speaking of CW… She sent me this today. Great one.
The shop is nearly wired. In a few weeks the contractor will start on getting it ready to put in a concrete pad. I am in a tizzy but my calm demeanor may be at odds with that declaration. Just tired.
Have a pic of Melody and Jilly-boo. Note the kitten’s size and her submissive stance around Jill.
Now have a pic of Mel and Jill intently watching Hackerboy’s tuna fish sandwich. Note their clear hesitation at getting too close.
Hackerboy was busy using Cruel Wife’s iPad and email account this morning when I got up… he was fixin’ to send a message to the makers of a video game, expressing his displeasure at their game. The kid is seven. We need to watch him more closely.
A side project of mine is playing with LED lighting. On Amazon I got 15′ rolls of LED’s for $13. I took an old train caboose lantern that already had red glass and installed a pipe for heat conduction and wrapped the LED’s around it, ending up with a lantern that makes an awesome night light. It won’t keep you awake but is excellent for seeing at night when you get up to answer nature’s call. Either that or we can open a brothel.
I am currently figuring out how to mount a 4-5 inch lens in a brass ring, ala-steampunk, and internally ring the lens with green LED’s. It is a surprise for CW… Shhh, don’t tell.
AWESOME!!!! Steampunk rulz!!!! Lovin the lamp…do that many LED’s actually give off enough heat to need a heat-conductor? Nice thing about the red, though, is you can see to get to the potty, but it doesn’t destroy your night-vision in case something is going on in the darker corners of the house (usually involving cats).
Well, surprisingly, if you don’t give the little heat they do make some place to go they do get hot. Just lighting up the roll with them supported by nothing they did get warm. I did it more for a life-of-diode reason.
Nail on the head – night vision is preserved quite nicely. The cats are fine if we don’t leave the butter out. A clatter now and then is all.
Almost shot one of the cats one night. It decided to investigate a paper sack with some peaches in it. On a counter. Except it was one of the fancier, more durable paper sacks with the cute little paper-sack handles. Stupid cat got tangled in the handles and must’ve bounced that stupid sack off every solid object in the kitchen and living room before finally shaking free someplace in the middle of the hallway. At 2am. I was up, armed, cocked and locked faster than I think I’ve ever gotten up before. Noticed the sack laying in the middle of the hallway, checked the rest of the rooms, and realized what had happened. Cat must’ve kiced in to survival mode, cuz I didn’t see it prior to going back to bed and waiting for the adrenaline rush to subside so I could (vainly) try to go back to sleep…if I’d seen it, I might’ve been quite cross with it….
We had cat-bag-handleage with Mel a few months ago. The girl noticed it and alerted us or we would have just thought the dumb critter was just playing with the bag. I imagine a loaded bag would be much deadlier to a kitty.
I don’t keep guns at hand because of kidlets. I do have the tactical tomahawk though.
Gun stays on my hip when I’m awake (or on the counter in the locked bathroom when I’m showering…yes…I shower…). At night, its on the nightstand next to me, within easy reach. Kidlet already knows that she’s more than welcome to hold any of our firearms, all she has to do is ask. They’re immediately unloaded and cleared, and then she has to go through the motions (as much as possible…she can’t rack the slide back, but she knows to check the chamber) to check it unloaded before she’s allowed to hold or do anything else. Mostly she just wants to hold, maybe dry-fire once or twice, and then she’s on to something else to play with. We’ve left them laying out (unloaded), and she never bothers with them (we’re working on getting her to tell us when she finds one…but, she’s 4, so we’re also getting her to work on telling us a lot of stuff! She’s certainly got pointing out when “Daddy Tooted!” down pat. Usually only in public venues.). Honestly, in the last 6 months or so, she hasn’t asked to see any of the rifles or handguns all that much. The newness has worn off, they’re not “forbidden”, so she’s taken to finding other things to get into. Such as Serenity’s jewelery drawer….
OMG!!! TWO DAYS!!!
But I only wish it were darkest Texas. Would be a relief from the heat 🙂
Yes, two days… And hopefully by the end of the train trip I will have decompressed non-explosively. It’s should be a blast. I cannot remember the last time I looked forward to a vacation this much.
Decompression level shall be achieved 😀
We just left Chi—caaaago-o-o-oh (band reference, sorta, which probably shows my age). Kids have not been thrown from the train.