A two way street

While talking to a friend yesterday, we were discussing all the space related stuff going on. During the conversation she remarked, 'I watch the news.'
That brought me up short. I consider this friend well spoken and knowledgeable. Could I have been talking down to her, treating her badly? Our conversation went on and took different directions like chit-chat does. The impression I got was that I hadn't slighted her. We were sharing each other's points of view.
Communication is a two way street and before the accident, I tried my best to listen to what the other person has to say. Now my scope of understanding is constrained by my lip reading and the stuff I pick up from the implant. In situations like that, I find myself doing most of the talking with the listener nodding their head a lot. 
That can get boring and dangerous. By that I mean I don't want to be a bore and dangerous because I believe other people have important things to say. Mine isn't the only opinion out there and I miss having thoughtful discussions. It's not that I don't have them, I just have fewer and shorter conversations with people.
The reverse of that is I get left out conversations to the point of exclusion.
I have no wish to be the center of attention. It's more enjoyable to share the spotlight.
This is what I've noticed over the past few years. Unless they are speaking directly to you, hearing people have a tendency to ignore me. It took a little while to realize that it's not intentional. Most days at my work I can go most of the morning and not talk to anyone. The record is four and a half hours. Yeah, I measured.
There is a girl who got hired at my work recently. The reason I mention her is because she often uses ASL to communicate with me. There have been days where she is the person I talk to the most. This is not idle gossip or chit-chat. My manager will say a dozen words to me over the course of the day. The new cashier works on the opposite end of the store often says more in the brief moments we interact than anyone else.
That says something.
I'm going to send this out right away. I'm getting up early for Cowboy breakfast. Hey, free food.

As I go along

The morning of project day. Hot diggity! The weather was cooperating with the skies a semi-shade of blue. Winter sucks. (To my northern brethren: That's why I live in the south.) I like snow. Many fond memories of building snow forts and snowball wars with my friends I will treasure forever. Skiing. Oh, fantastic times. Hate freezing my toes off. You can keep your frostbite, thank you very much. This doesn't mean I WANT to be where it's cold for half the year. My plans for retirement include the equator, not the Arctic circle.
Last night I got some pieces of wood and stuff that I thought would help me construct my mead rack. After looking at several designs I went with building something that fit my needs and wants. What I ended up with however...
I don't want this.

who wants a wine rack that tall?

I'm going to cut it in half. Some of the bracket pieces I made split. Belatedly I remembered to pre-drill the holes.

No plan survives contact with the enemy. To wit: I'm looking at a drill bit that seems a bit dull. It's a wide bore bit that would put a hole 5/8th wide for a dowel to go through. What's odd however is the drill bit is entirely capable of puncturing a hole on my table or saw  horse, but can't punch through a damn crossbar!
Having had enough, I did the male thing. I muscled and pushed my way through. Wood be damned! The dowel won't fit. Dammit! The difference between 1/2 and 5/8.
So I've exhausted my weekend supply if beer trying to put this half-assed monstrosity together.
So I'll need to go back to the store for sandpaper and a new drill bit. Of course as I was putting this thing together I was thinking: that table saw you sold at the last garage sale would come in handy right now. My jigsaw was making more problems than solving them.
Another item that may or may not be relevant. One of my dry mead bottles popped it's cork while everyone was out working yesterday. Upon coming home I noticed the half-empty bottle and the small puddle under the crate.
That's what I call it. I bought a small wine rack. that holds nine bottles. I strongly resembles a milk crate, hence the name.

One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong.

Sunday update: I took apart the whole thing and I'm starting over. It looked too much like a ladder, would take up a bunch of space and not serve the function I want. I also dropped my drill and broke it. The drill was over twelve years old, so I got some use out of it.
All of my power tools are corded. No battery powered items in my garage. In the past I've been tempted to get a lithium powered drill, but thus far I've resisted the urge.
My wife reminded me that I originally wanted it triangular shaped so it would fit in the corner and not take up space. That's what she does. Reminds me to stay on track. She corrects my course of direction from time to time. A smart man can and does change his mind according to circumstances. My wife is my friend and guide. She is also my conscience. It's a good thing to listen and take advice from her.

Winter doledrums

There's a phenomenon known as the dog days of summer. Where it's too hot to do anything or get a task done. You wait until it's nightfall and a tad bit cooler to do what needs doing. People hunker down in their shade and air conditioning until the sun goes down.
The equivalent for winter is the doledrums.
The holidays are over. It's too cold to go outside. You clean around inside the house and throw away stuff. The boredom of cabin fever sets in.  If things were a little warmer or if there were a tad more light in our day, we could be doing things. That's why spring and fall are good times for me. I can do work, chores and projects and still get a full nights sleep. 
I'm making lists. Things I need to do. Stuff I need to buy. Bills I need to pay. Right now there is a material list of things I need to buy for my next project. That's part of my problem. Not only do I budget money for what needs to be done, but my time invested as well. When it comes time to buy all the stuff I need, going back to the store for a certain kind of nail or an L bracket, cuts into my time to construct said project. Oh, there will be things I need to run back to the store for, but I'm trying to minimize those.
This coming weekend I will be in my garage, banging things and making Tim Allen noises. The garage door may or may not be open due to weather and lighting conditions. The dust I will kick up during sanding may be too much. We'll see.

Do or do not

Starting off a sentence can be tricky. With the New Year beginning at last, I've made a personal resolution: to avoid starting a sentence with 'I'.

I did this.

I saw that.

I went here.

Boring as hell and makes it look as if I think the world revolves around me. In fact, far from it. My wife is rolling her eyes as she reads this. Yes, I have a superiority complex, but I really try to tone it down. There's a fine line between tooting your own horn and boasting outrageously. It didn't help that I could actually do the stuff people thought I bragged about. Being able to do one thing particularly well doesn't give you a pass on the rest of life.
When I told a friend about my recent beer making exploits, he quipped, 'Is there anything you can't do?'
I smiled and laughed but deep inside I wanted to say, 'Our friendship will last longer if I don't answer that.'

Of the many things I do, not all of them are successful.

I tried making a cinnamon mead back before Christmas. Yesterday it was time to bottle it and have a taste to see where it stood.
It reminded me of the dry mead I made earlier. Flat and a little bitter. No trace of cinnamon. So I ended up pouring it down the drain. As I look over at my latest batch of mead, I can count to 25 between bubbles escaping from the airlock. Technically that's a good sign, but I thought it would be more since I added a second dose of yeast yesterday.
Patience is required while making mead. That's why I'm being extra careful. This part of the process is actually boring, almost like watching golf.
As with all my friends we trade tales of how our weekend events are going. It's fun seeing people try new things or perfect old hobbies. 
Come spring I am going to try and make an effort to attend a Highland game. One of my friends actually trains and competes. So next time I hear when it's going to happen, I'm going out there to cheer him on.
It's one thing to listen to your friends. Going out and supporting them at a caber toss is another.

My pie is about to come out of the oven. Another thing I'm trying to improve upon. Actually I didn't want the pecans to go bad, so into the pie they went. Perhaps I'll freeze the remainder of the uncooked ones.
It's not whether we succeed or fail. True victory is in trying.

The next project

Today I went up a certain aisle of my work to look at the specially cut pieces of wood. Little 1x1 and 2x3's in a variety of lengths and type. This is research for my next project. I haven't seen a plan I like or feel I'm talented enough to go it alone. Actually I undersell my carpentry skills. The plan is to build a modified A-frame with enough space to hold 40 odd wine bottles. Right now I'm torn between using pine or oak for the frame.
My next project was going to be rebuilding the porch. Again, I'm not 100% sure how to go about it. I look for plans in books and online, but there's no room for waste and simply winging it. I know what I don't want: the exact thing I took apart all those years ago. My wife wants me to enclose the porch. All right, I think I know how to go about that. (big emphasis on the word 'think'.) I also don't want it rotting and being a haven for wasps each summer. Those were two deciding factors for me to take it down in the first place.
There are days where I miss sitting on the back porch, watching the rain. I used to listen to it all the time. I found it calming. With so many things needing repair, it's hard to decide. I usually pick a project and go with it. Lately, the projects have been choosing me. Broken pipe? Cabinet door falling off? Tail light out? Hey, those leaves aren't going to rake themselves.
So for now, stick to the plan. Fix what you can and do what you must. Easier said than done. Right now I'm trying to stay ahead of entropy. I don't get to use that word often, so give me a break.

Button up

As I drove home from work this afternoon, I noticed the stop lights swaying as if they were Chinese lanterns. Each time I went through an intersection, I hoped the wires holding the traffic signals would last. At least until I was through the intersection. I am not planning on going out for any reason, not to a high school basketball game, not to the grocery store to get milk or bread. For the next few days we're gonna get icy cold and you know what that means, people will be taking stupid pills and driving like maniacs. Oh, the weekend can't get here fast enough.

In other news, three gunman from a radical group opened fire on a French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo. From what I understand, the magazine is the French equivalent of National Lampoon. Twelve people including a police officer, writers, and cartoonists were killed. Some people are saying it is the work of Isalmists and such. To that I reply, give me proof. A lot of the hate mongers and ammosexuals are quick to point the finger at ISIS and any (all) Islamic groups. Hold that trigger finger, bucko. We don't know who did it, but when we find out who did, we will respond with the strictest measures. Until then, safeties on.

I am so behind this #CharlieHebdo

Back to normal?

Despite one child being sick, another on the emotional roller coaster that comes part and parcel with being a healthy teenager, (Was that putting it delicately enough?) We saw the Hobbit this afternoon.

The movie was long, but in a good way. I'll be the first to admit it, Tolkien liked to do a bit of telling and not showing. Peter Jackson took what was said in the book through exposition and was able to be faithful to the story while making one book last for three movies.

Before you nit pickers get started, let me tell you. The movie doesn't have to be a literal translation of the novel. Many times it goes the other way. Movies skip the parts and key points of stories. We all heard the trope, 'the book was better.' Well, this time it's the other way around. In the book, I couldn't keep all the dwarves straight. Jackson deserves some of the credit, but the rest goes to the actors who portrayed the band of 13. I'd now recognize Thorin Oakenshield, Fili, Kili, and the rest. They became distinct characters worthy of remembrance.

So how geeky are my girls? After the movie they started to try and figure out how old Bilbo Baggins was at the time of the adventure. I reminded them that at the start of the Fellowship of the Ring trilogy, Bilbo Baggins was celebrating his 111th birthday. They're watching the movies now picking up clues from what people say. I've still got all the books and made the offer they should read them.

'But dad, who has the time to read?'

Tell me I was never this bad.

A long time ago, about three years, I gave a book to one of my daughters who prides herself on being a voracious reader. She still hasn't gotten to it. The book? The Stand by Stephen King. I think there is a distinct lack of interest there. Later when she's an adult, she might change her mind. Until then perhaps I should ask for the book back.

Yesterday I upped the recipe for prickly pear mead. My last three bottles of that were a resounding success, but this time I wanted to keep the original color of the fruit, so I juiced them.

This next picture is going to look a little nasty, but keep in mind that this is what it does at the very beginning.

From this

To this

Right now the yeast is doing it's thing. I can count to four in between bubbles coming out of the airlock. In a month I'll transfer it to a glass container for  the secondary process. Add another month for that I should be ready to bottle by the time March rolls around.

More good news: I only used half of what you see in the picture. I have a friend with a bunch of the cacti on his property, so I could get a steady supply of this whenever I want. I also bought one of those Pur water filters for the sink. I can't wait to make some coffee with that. I'm betting it will taste 100% better.

Now that batch will equal about 25 bottles, and I have enough material to do it all over again.

Next up: build a bigger wine rack.

School starts tomorrow. A new semester. Rodeo will start one month from now. My oldest will be heading back to college on the 17th. Time really does fly.

 

Birthday wishes

There's a saying I'm fond of. The first and only time I heard it was in a John Wayne movie, The Cowboys. 

'We're burning daylight.'

To me that meant to get up early and get a full productive day in before sunset. There have been times where I look back and wonder, 'Where did the day go?' and 'How much did I get done?'
Days that I work 7 to 4 or 9 to 6 in my Clark Kent job I regard as day wasters. I can't do anything beforehand and there is very little that can be accomplished in those key hours.
An ideal day for me is to do a Clark Kent job for a part of the day, then do something with sustenance in the time remaining. I can look back at the end of the day and have something to show for it. A clean house. 20+ bottles of mead. Christmas decorations put away. A clean garage. These are tangible things. 
Right now I'm waiting for the Prickly pear fruit to defrost. (Freezing them yields more juice.) I'm also having lunch.
My first venture in using the fruit resulted in an orange mead that turned gold. I was very satisfied with the results. Then someone on an online forum suggested I juice them to maintain the color. That's what I'm doing now.
So the goal for today will be a purple concoction that will hopefully be in the high teens in terms of fermentation sugars.
I'll also clean out the garage a bit.
Today is my sister's birthday. I've posted several well wishes online and this is one of them. Purple is my sister's favorite color and if successful, will be both purple and delicious. It will have to be a few months after her birthday, but I'm hoping she'll understand. If I do this right, there will be enough to go around.