When I got home from work there were a couple packages waiting for me, but the best surprise was the PST returned from Meade/Coronado a lot sooner than I thought it would be. The front objective has been repaired, in fact it looks like it was replaced with one of the newer blue tinted ones. I’ll be setting it up tomorrow to test out how much better the sun looks with a good objective. Now if old Sol will cooperate and do something instead of these bottom of the cycle doldrums we have been experiencing…
Author Archives: Pat
Long Way Down
| I’ve got to stop reading motorcycling related books. They’re really making me want to pack the bags and point the front wheel towards points elsewhere. This one covers the second trip that misters McGregor and Boorman, this time from Scotland to South Africa. It really is a great companion book to Long Way Down, so if you enjoyed that one you should like this one as well. There’s definitely some moving scenes, concerning the civil wars that have ravaged that part of the world over the last few decades, but there’s a lot of beauty as well. I’m really excited now because on the 31st I’m going to see a showing of Long Way Down in a cinema, though I hear it’s been edited down for time. It’s also going to be on the Reality Channel starting August 2. |
The Big Garage Cleanup
Phase one is done, and just in time because the heat was starting to get to me. I’ve disassembled the old desk that was blocking a bunch of the space on the motorcycle half, moved some shelves from the back wall to where it was, moved a Sun StorEdge rack to the back corner (it’s going to be a tool cabinet), and put a new desk together. There’s already a bunch more space usable in here and once I get the mulch out of the way I should be able to actually park the Jeep and both bikes.
Moving The Viking
I packed up the bike with some housewarming gifts and headed over to the Viking’s new digs to help him unload truck. Hard work in the heat, but it was offset by seeing that nice cool swimming pool in the back yard. After we finished working on went the swimsuits and in the cold water we went. Refreshing after all that work.
Some Puttering In The Garden
I did a little work in the garden this morning, before the Texas summer came up to full power. The squash plants, those under performing wastes of garden space, have been retired to the beginnings of a compost pile. I only got one fruit off of the three of them and it was more of a gourd than a squash. They’ve been replaced with a thin, smooth skinned variety, so hopefully within a week I’ll have sprouts.
After that the peas got removed. They were fun, and I’ll probably plant snow peas again next year, but I just don’t have enough room to dedicate to them to grow enough to make a couple meals out of them. So I seeded in some burpless cucumbers. I tried one of the pickling ones in a salad and wasn’t impressed, so they’re all just going to go into brine. The burpless on the other hand are a known quantity since I grew some last year. Tasty and prolific.
After that a general course of weeding and watering and I’m done before the heat becomes unbearable.
Getting Through The Picture Backlog
I’ve been a slacker. It’s true. But I’ve started getting through the backlog of picture posting. There’s albums up for the 2007 road trip and Reese’s T-ball practice from the June visit. I’m being a big chicken and avoiding the DC trip because there’s just so much work to do. Maybe next weekend…
They can all be found over in the gallery
Hancock
Got together with some friends to go see Hancock over at the Ciné Capri in Southlake. It was a fun movie, certainly a new take on superheroes. I really liked the concept behind his powers but wished that they’d gone a little deeper into the back story. That being said, I can see why it had such a good opening weekend. Definitely worth the money.
After the movie we went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and then headed over to Barnes and Noble for some book shopping. I picked up a couple books, including the sequel to Long Way Round, Long Way Down. I’m pretty beat so it’ll get started tomorrow.
First Rider’s Call
| After too many years of waiting I finally got a copy of the sequel to Green Rider. It’s a good, entertaining read which delves into the origins of the riders and the history of the kingdom and people. The book was good, but the ending was way too abrupt. It smells like a sequel is being set up, and it looks like it’s even out in hardback now. I hope her writing schedule stays a little faster than it has been. |
Back Home In Texas
After an uneventful plane ride I arrived back in the sweltering metromess. It was a good visit, I really enjoyed my time with the little guy and I hope that he did too. Too short, as usual, but there’s not much I can do about that now…
Back In Peoria
We hit the road in the morning and had an uneventful drive back to Peoria. Reese was a little sad to go, but I have a feeling that we’ll be back because he’s almost tall enough to ride all of the rides.
Dinner was at Flat Top Grill, a Mongolian barbecue style restaurant. The food was excellent, it kind of reminded me of BD’s, which I miss because they folded their Texas locations.