Fall is almost here.Time for the mountains

   Around here we have been having great weather.Crisp mornings in the high 50s and days in the high 70s. Still a little warm to be Fall but super nice.This year me and the wife haven't spent as much time camping as we have wanted but we are planning a trip to the Smokies in 3 weeks.This year we have camped with the kids and sister-in-law,but we haven't gone alone yet and will be taking the family with us to the Smokies.We haven't took any of the kids to the mountains in 7 years so it time.Even though it sounds expensive its not to bad I pay for 1 tank of gas and the campsite.They pay for the gas to get there and what they find in the shops.Some how I always seem to get STUCK with one restaurant bill for everyone,Oh well i am use to it:).

We are kicking the habit !!!!

    The wife and I have decided to quit smoking.Boy that may not sound hard but i have smoked 32 years and the wife over 40 years.We have tried before it was ugly verrry ugly.Cold turkey is almost impossible,gum my cheek looked like a chipmunks,the patch we could have cover our whole body and still wanted a cig.
    My wife even tried the Chiantis but blamed my smoking on her starting back.I cant take the Chiantis due to the side effects.Last week while removing that sheet metal i was getting winded quick.I have had enough, my father and grandfather died of strokes so i try to watch my health.
    Since i have been out of work :) i have had to watch the money but have smoked so long that it was just lumped as weekly spending.Separating our smoking and doing the math was a shock we both smoked a pack and a half a day.
  3 packs at 4.00 ea
  90 a month that's 360.00
    So Wednesday we got the evod vape system so far neither of us has even wanted a cigarette.sure its still nicotine but if we can slowly reduce the nicotine I think we will make it.Oh the cost for us looks like it will be 35 to 45 a month both.

    Wish us luck  this time i am going to quit.

A unexpected dinner what she wanting?

       Tonite my wife went in to the kitchen, a very rare event.When she starts cooking I tend to hide she like to bang pots and pans uses words i never hear her use anywhere else.Tonite it was raining so i watched  the TV.I didn't hear a sound , I think that scared me more.When my wife cooks i never ask whats for dinner I AM OLD ENOUGH NOT TO ASK.2 wives and30 years of wives i am learning.Anyway she finished called me to fix a plate I walked in to see new red potatoes in butter ,fried squash and onions,corn and fried pork chops.She had cooked everything perfect it was great. AS i sit and write this i have to wonder what she is wanting,what she has bought,what have the kids asked for,the list is endless.A meal like that has a price .At a restaurant its about 12$ when a wife cooks it its much higher!

Here is a pic of a scrap built BBQ stand i built.

   This is built on an old pop up trailer frame.It was my son,s BBQ stand till he developed HEAD UP RECTUM  sickness.

    After i put the new metal on the garage and get it cleaned out I should be able to sheath and roof a 12x12 storage shed with what i pull off.It beats scraping it.

  

Here is those 21 footer,s i have to cut down for the garage and lean to.

Restaurant depot first visit.

    Last week i was on the other side of town and decided to check out a new store.A few friends  had told me about a restaurant supply store that had opened.They said it had great prices and more bulk items than SAMs or COSTCO so while i was in town(witch i hate)we took a little time to go check it out.
    Man oh Man i felt like a kid in a candy store Prices blew the Club's prices away!Even my wife who isn't a shopper was pointing out this and that and how cheep it was.As most of you all know most stores have 25 lb bags of pintos this place had pintos black eyed peas black beans and butter beans in 25lb bags sugar was 3 $ a fifty less than SAMs cases of #10 can veggies cheeses.The spices here was cheep and a huge variety.A lot of ethnic spices that for most folks cost and are hard to find.I also went into the cooler section to check out the meats for the BBQ They had a larger selection at 20 to 50 cents a pound cheaper.This was the first place i had seen that had pork belly and whole pork shoulders (that's leg and pork butt in one)for sell.
     As a cook  I could have spent a 1000$.As for prepps i could see many o those cases of #10 cans making there way into my basement real soon.If you have a Restaurant depot near you it is worth the trip!! Oh just for the record the day i went i had 42$ in my pocket and didn't buy anything but Tuesday i am going back.So i am going to get off here and pay all outstanding bills before i go Tuesday.I want one of those, 2 of those ,6 of them ,4 of that and a dozen of those.

Work is harder than it once was!

      Well got to tearing that metal off the pole barn today.I had already saved 10 12ft sheets that were not on the roof.Went over at 7 am while it was cool to start on the roof.Boy did i get a surprise.Was expecting to have to pull down 30 12footers No that would have been too easy, the roof was 15 24 foot sheets of 14 Ga roof metal.No one was around to help and i am to stupid to give up! I crow bared 10 of those monsters free had to flip them so about 40lb of leaves and dirt could fall off each one.I  had to drag them off the runners to the ground.I bet they weighted 120lb or more to make it worst i had to drag them 200 ft to my fence then lift an end over the fence to my yard.MY arms and legs felt like jelly after the first 5 sheets.It was almost 11 by then i was ready for lunch my shirt was soaked hands shaking legs barley made it in the house.I knew my sugar had to be below 50 i grabbed 2 Cinnamon rolls a buddy bar 2 ham sandwiches a regular coke and 2 bottles of water before i felt better.My wife looked at me and just shook her head,I think i heard the term stubborn jackass more than once by her before my head cleared.I piddled until 530 then got the other 5 into the yard.I still have 5 sheets to get down and into the yard that will be done in the morning.
      I don't remember work being this hard! I  loaded trucks from 95 to 99 i loved to take young guys in to floor load trailers with 4 or 500 cases.Back then hard work was fun.Now its a lot harder than it once was!!!!

A few pics

A lot of junk piled in the front and it looks worst inside.

this is the lean to on the side.

A shot of the roof that will be replaced.

Here is the salvaged metal from the old barn. It is dirty and rusty but will clean up and be painted.This is 14ga high V industrial grade. Spent most the day next door cutting the bushes and branches off my fence and garage. The garage sits dead on the property line to the inch.So while i have no neighbor's I'm trimming everything back a few feet on that side.The old metal roof will be tore off  i think i have a use for it but i better wait a while before i ask the wife.I was given 4 rolls of insulation R25 and 20 sheets of 4x8 foam sheeting with the pull off metal i may make a nice tractor shed and brewing room.

Sheet metal salvage.

      Today i started salvaging  an old pole barn.I am not sure what i am going to do with all the metal but it isn't going to be scraped.The metal off the roof is the thick kind that is self supporting.It looks like about 40 sheets 16 foot long.The metal looks like it was part of an old Butler building that was salvaged.The old man that built the pole barn was a funny fellow he probable got it free 25 years ago when he built the pole barn.May be tomorrow i can post some pictures,I have to decide if i want to re-roof my old shed and clean it out or do i want to build a new work shop.Its the cleaning out that i would dread.When you have lived in the same place for 28 years a lot of stuff accumulates.As bad as it sounds it would be easier to build a 16x16 metal workshop than to clean the old garage out.
      My dear wife has informed me i cant have a new workshop i have to many out buildings as it is.I do have a few 6 to be exact, she may have a point.When i shut down my store i stored 2 coolers 2 quarter pushers and 2 ice cream freezers in the garage.This was added to 2 beds a ton of display racks and a 4000 lb wire forming 4 slide from a past business.Yep life accumulates junk I guess i can scrap the old roof and the wire former for cash and sell the coolers freezers and quarter pushers.The garage is bigger if its cleaned out its 20x36 so this barn metal will be enough to re-roof the garage.The old roof has a few leaks that need fixed anyway.The price is right for the new roof     FREE  all i will have in it is blood sweat and tears.

Changes at the grocery store.

     Last week a local grocery store changed up there lay out in the produce department.They shrank it by half took out cooler and made bigger center tables.The only part that stayed the same was the fruit section.It struck me as odd so when i saw the manager i asked why.
     The store manager told me that the produce sales had been dropping for years.Part of it was the older folks were passing away and the younger folks didn't cook from fresh as much.Also Home gardens had eaten into sales, cost were going up and loss was up because what they could get wasn't the quality it use to be.
    As we talked he said the whole store was being relaid to reflect new purchasing trends more frozen foods and more heat and eats.A lot of the store brands have more shelf space now and a lot of the isles are took up with cheep to stock bulk.
     It is a shame that cooking may one day be as rare as a horse drawn wagon.

Solar charged my truck battery

    Today i went out and tried to crank my ford ranger to go to the store.All it did was click the battery in it has been on its last leg for 2 months so it was no surprise.I haven't drove it in over a week.I made the trip in my jeep but when i got back it was noon sun was out so i got an idea.I have a 80 watt BP solar panel stored in my shed so i got it out leaned it against the truck clamped the wires to the battery.No charge controller just straight 80 watt panel about 4 amps 4 hours of sun 16 amp hours into a wore out battery.What the hell if it works great if it don't i got jumper cables.
   Well went out and disconnected the solar panel from the battery jumped in and the truck barley cranked.Took off to the gas station come back let it idle for 20 minutes.Was happy the panel worked hooked it to my tractor battery for tomorrow to top it up to.
            P.S. before dark tried to crank the truck it just grunted.A solar panel is great when the sun is out but batteries are the weak link.I think i am going to replace the truck battery with a good marine battery this time.

Company

      Have had my mom visiting the last 2 days been kinda nice normally i drive up to see her.This time she came down for a few days she plans on going home Wednesday.Mom is 70 years old and her age is beginning to affect her more and more.I think this visit has really shown me i need to spend more time with her than i have in the past.She has Parkinson's and i do not think she will be driving much by next summer.Its 75 miles to her house and this summer she has had leg tremors in her right leg.I think her long drives are about over when she is at home a long drive for her is 5 miles.I carried her to SAMs club she likes to stock up on some items.I don't like for her to drive here in town her home town has maybe 4000 people in a 20 mile area.

     I think this visit has shown me mom is getting old,its strange you never want to admit that someone you love is hitting the last years of their life but it happens to everyone.My brother lives with her so i do know she is looked after.Really I'm not sure who looks after who but it has seemed to work.My brother is a mommas boy always has been always will be but it has kept her going since my stepfather passed away.I have always been the blacksheep in the family but i think i will be visiting more.I don't want to look back after shes gone and wonder what was so damn important that i didn't spend the time with her i could have.In the end what do we have except for family , friends and memory's?

a quote i found and sounds so true

                     “Government is a disease masquerading as its own cure.”




   I wish i knew who to give credit to for this quote!  It just seem to answer what our government as become.

Well they voted for war.

     Our brain dead leaders on capital hill gave our brain dead president their blessing on a new war front.It looks like we get to send our soldiers into a civil war.What right do we have getting involved in an internal conflict?Yea i know WE say the Syrian government used gas,WE also said Saddam had WMD how did that turn out?Any excuse to stay in a fight.Is there a national interest at stake in this war for the USA.In a civil war as long as it stays within their own borders all other country's should stay out.

    If there was a civil war here should other countries intervene?Or should we be able to settle it ourselves.Now i am not saying no trading France,Great Brittan,and other countries profited of the revolutionary and civil war.Munitions and Loans are the Bank masters profit centers has always been and still are today.My opinion is sell them arms but keep our military out of it.
    Maybe our bankers want us involved because whoever wins in Syria wont have the ability to repay the bankers.So they want us directly involved so their profit is guarantied.
     There is nothing in this for the American people except cost and deaths and future acts against us from the Muslim world.

Some people aint right bright

      Hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable Labor day weekend.I sweat ed for the last 4 days in 95 degrees with 90% humidity next to a smoker.Was a good weekend selling sold out early everyday.
      Sunday a gentleman stop ed by the stand and informed me i should be careful with my potato salad a few weeks before this he had bought 2 BBQ plates from me and he thought the potato salad had made him and his wife sick.I apologized and told him i tried to take great care in keeping it chilled.He told me that they had enjoyed it Friday nite liked the portions because it made enough for the next day.He said Saturday he had microwaved the plates and had them again.Sunday he told me both of them felt sick at there stomachs.
      Now i do feel bad that they got sick,BUT  who in their right mind heats potato salad in the MICROWAVE?Its mayo based, their is a reason its served cold !My best friend turned to me after the man left and smiled.He asked me "Some people ain't right bright are they?