Death toll rises

Just one more animal to add to the heap!. Saturday I was driving out to the far end of the pasture to knock down some mole holes... I saw what I thought was a shimmering piece of metal out in the grass. As I pulled up, I noticed that it was a Giant Snake cruising through our property! I pulled up beside it, and it didn't look like a Garter Snake. Being the big man that I am.... I ran it over! He eventually curled up and died. I felt kinda bad when I found out it was a Bull Snake. The Bull Snake makes its living killing small rodents and MOLES! Man did I screw up! Anyway, the North American Wildlife handbook (Gift from Pete and Marie when I was 12) says that they get up to 8 feet long. I don't know that I can handle an 8 foot snake on my property, even if he is the good kind! Here is a picture of me with the kill.

CBGB's

I missed Survivor last night! I had a meeting, and the tape did not record! I don't think it really matters, the last 2 episodes had the writing on the wall. I will hope that my favorite Survivor web site writes a good summary. Oh man! How could I forget! Don called me yesterday. He gave me the HUGE HUGE news! His band will be playing WORLD FAMOUS CBGB's in New York City! This is the original hang out for the Talking Heads, Ramones, Blondie. It has also been a haunt of such people as Lou Reed, Andy Warhol, and the beat poets like Ginsberg. My list could go on and on! ITS HISTORY BABY! (Said with my best Dick Vitale). The show will only be for 30 to 40 minutes, and it is all for publicity and promotion. Hopefully they will impress some record people who will be there. Wish them Tons of Luck! Have you sensed my excitement?

Billy Idol

I was watching Letterman the other night... Billy Idol was on singing some 80's classic. Well, I swear that he was wearing a "Rug". (But in retrospect it could have been his black roots) Anyway, I thought I would go to Billyidol.com and post the question on his message board. There is nothing more entertaining than Billy fans swarming around my message, and reading their mature responses!. One made reference to my "Rear End" being placed on top of my head for a hat. We got our kitchen lights today. Now it is just a matter of installation. After that, we will be looking at colors for the walls. Paper, Paint... Who Knows! Oh, another fun thing to do: If you have been downloading music on Napster, you probably know all about the new filtering they have done to protect copy write laws. Well, it is almost as much fun to see what new names people are using to dodge the system. Nelly Furtado who sings "I'm Like a Bird" is now going as Natalie Furtardo on Napster.

Learn from my mistakes!!!

Today will be an education session. Never buy fish that is in the discount bin at the grocery store. We bought some "Whiting" at Kroger this last week, and it had been reduced for quick sale.... The whole package smelled fishy. (Almost like low tide!). Since Ang is on this Diet for the baby, I thought I would fix them on the grill for dinner. They were still fishy, but edible... We ate 2 of the 4 in the package. I cooked them all so I could get the smelly things out of the freezer. Last night Ang substituted the cooked Whiting for Tuna in a Tuna Casserole. Let me tell you, the only people eating those leftovers are the cats! Never run over electric fence with a riding mower. It only causes you an extra hour of aggravation! Never get a bad 70's song in your head before you take the helm of the riding mower.... I kept running the lines of "Blues Image, Ride Captain Ride" through my head! AHHHHHH! Never listen to Don when he sends you an Email about how some band is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Don sent me and a few others an Email about how Phish is sooooo awesome. Well, I have a Phish CD in my collection (Don't ask, must have lost a bet!). I played it while we were cleaning the kitchen on Saturday.... It was not that Great, as a matter of fact it got kinda monotonous! (Is there such a thing as Kinda Monotonous? Or is it one of those things that has to 100%?) Never order Thermonuclear Hot Wings unless you have the ability to order a beer to wash it down with. I went to lunch today with a coworker and we ordered the hot ones.... And I almost started crying after 2. Iced Tea did not cut pain! Plus you almost had to get a sign to flag the waitress for a refill! And last but not least: Never assume that a barn cat belongs to you. I saw our pregnant cat hanging out with the neighbors down the road this morning. I hadn't seen her in a few days, and just assumed the worse. Now she will have kittens, and they will hang out over at the neighbors! for all I know, she had the kittens! She never calls us!

HA HA HA HA HA HA

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha !!!!! I got all of you on that peak of the kitchen. Did you really think I would slip up on the Blackout?

Joey Ramone

Tragic day in the history of Rock. Joey Ramone, lead singer of the Ramones, Dead at 49.

New Kitchen

We just had dinner in our new kitchen for the first time. Take a look at the new layout. Isn't it great? We spent so much time picking things out and coordinating colors. Linda brought some pictures of Sammy. One, Two HAPPY EASTER! We went to the Big Easter Mass in Peoria last night. I tried to warn Ang, but she was not very impressed that the Mass started at 8PM, and ended at 10:30. Abby was Baptized.... She yelled the whole time! Must have been full of Sin. Ha Ha!

Coon Elbow

I have tennis elbow today. Those little post hole diggers made me a little soar yesterday. Last night I had to shoot about 50 BB's to take out a Raccoon in the barn. He keeps stealing the cat food! Anyway, I cocked the gun 10 times for every shot, and my arm was throbbing when I went to bed.

Pergo

What a weekend! Saturday I went over to Bill and Sandra's to help install a new "Pergo" floor. I installed 2 rooms of this stuff at the house in Delavan, and volunteered to help Bill. They have made this stuff a little better in the past few years... They have locking grooves, and certain twisting motions every time you place new piece. It took us 6 and a half hours. My knees still have not recovered from being hunched over all day. Sunday was house day. I built a fenced in area for the Willow tree out in the pasture. More fun with Post Hole Diggers! Believe it or not, but it is only 4 inches out of square! Not bad for being too bull headed to use my square! Ang planted all the bulbs that Grandpa Dan gave us. Ang cleaned the concrete pad that once held the chicken coup.

Weeds and Mice

Remember the weeds? Check this picture out. Now take a look at a picture I took today. Kinda makes it all seem worthwhile. When Don and Robert where here, I was taking them on a tour of the house. When we looked at the attic we saw a mouse scurrying away! How disgusting! I was so proud just a while back thinking that we had an almost "Mouse Free" home. Today I went up and checked that trap I set up last night... I got him! a few minutes later, I reset the trap. Within minutes I heard something upstairs. It was another caught mouse. 30 minutes later, it was another. Its been almost 8 hours now, and I think they are all gone (or wised up about that trap!). Lets hope they are gone. This reminds me, why did I get Newt? I said "Almost Mouse Free" because we had a little critter in January. Its not like I have mouse poop around the house, and just clean it up!!!!! Go take a look at the Farm page for pictures of the house this Spring.

Godfather

My buddy Chris from the dealership asked me to be the God Father of little Abby. (The picture I just posted this last week) I was really honored, and asked a lot of questions to make sure I was the right guy... In the end I accepted. What a great thing! Bubba, the finance manager at Fort's is a Deacon in the Catholic Church. He will do the actual ceremony. I think this will happen after Easter Mass in Pekin. I will make sure to take some photos. Last night, Angela swore that there was a "coon" in the garage. I flew home, and searched it over... But he was gone. Maybe next time! Tonight it started raining for a change. It has been pretty dry, and the pasture grass was suffering. The rain came pretty fast, and now we have some kind of mud thing going on. Ang wanted to take the horses to Vera's tonight, so I went out in the truck to retrieve the trailer from the back barn... I had to turn on the 4 wheel drive! I think you will see the path for weeks to come. Let me tell you, I did not work on that pasture for the last 9 months in order to ruin it in 1 hour. I think the kitchen would have been done today if it had not been for this cabinet swap... Probably early next week. Since it was raining today, I avoided any contact with the fence... (That's me.... Always thinking!) By the way, the manure went out yesterday morning.

Don and Robert Visit

Had some fun today... Don and Robert made it out to the farm The Manure is still smoldering. I touched the fence again today, but was smart enough to avoid getting grounded Looks like we avoided a collision on the cabinets. Ang was kind enough to let me have this victory. Don and Robert both agreed with me on this one. Since we are in the black out... I can not say more!

Ouch

Note to Self: Never touch anything grounded while you are testing the electric fence. You may lock up your jaw, and get a tremendous shock! (Its a story that does not deserve any more mention than that!) Don is swinging by with Robert tomorrow.... I hope he can deal with the dust of the construction! If you have ever seen his Immaculately Clean apartment... You will know why I am worried! I helped our kitchen guy move the washer and dryer back into place today. Its bad enough not having food or dishes... But Laundry may be worse. Me and Ang are gonna have a blowout on ONE cabinet! I will let you know who wins next week! The Manure pile was pretty tapered off when I got home from work. No flame, but plenty of smoke. I imagine that tomorrow it will be pretty cashed out.

April Fools Day 2001

I am just glad that this weekend is over! Ang tricked me into several jobs around the farm, and once again I find myself looking out the window at a burning mound of Manure! Hopefully it wont take days to sputter out like the last time. There was an Oak sapling directly in front of the porch on the north side of the house. We went ahead and dug it up, then moved it to the side of the driveway. Ang found some metal fence in the one of the barns out back, and wanted it put up in the back pasture. It was a PAIN to put up. When you start getting to the end of a roll, you really have to stretch it. Then I have to nail these little Staple/Nails that love to just jump out when you have them 2 or 3 taps in. Anyway, I am glad that one is over for now! We pulled up 3 old mowers from the back barn. They are placed out front, and Ang swears they will sell... I would have to be a HELL of a salesman to get any money for these! I also pulled the Hay Rake up to the front as well, that may bring a hundred bucks or so! I finally did a proper grounding of the electric fence. It was an 8 foot copper rod, and I made short work of it with that old Post Driver! The horses will think twice about busting the fence reaching for a few blades of grass. (It happened 2 weeks ago. Fortunately the 2 horses hate being apart, so the one that got out just stayed on the other side of the fence!) I cut up some hedge today, and we cleared out the Weedy brush on the south side of the house, and we now have a clear view. The Kitchen progress looks Great! Unfortunately, we are in a Black out for Dad. So I will not be sharing any photos till May. We were out looking at lights on Saturday, and that about drove me nuts. We (Do I really mean "We"?) switched our opinions a half dozen times in the last 2 weeks. Ideally we will have a new Kitchen by the end of the week. The groundwork is in place, so lets hope for ideal conditions. Oh, and last but not least. I used the points I had left from Cisco Systems, and bought a Wireless network system. This mean that I can walk just about anywhere on the farm with the Laptop, and be on the internet. Not that I would! But it will be nice to be in the living room, or Kitchen without plugging any wires!