Today was a good day on the Desert Island. That's wacky family Rogers for all you who aren't in the know. After a number of days of dry sunny weather, we were able to burn all the branches from this winter's trimming. It took most of the day and the neighbor from across Hales Passage didn't call the fire departnent on my this time.

Good times and after a hard days work weenies and brews for all...except for the young ones, they only got brews.

We roasted the weenies on the embers from the day's work on green apple water sprouts, nice and straight. and only all beef hot dogs for me. Non of those spamlike mixed meat nastydogs.

Beautiful weather today. Spent all day putting the clubhouse together. The thing is a monster. We finished most of it. Still a little staining to finish and I ran out of roofing materials so I still have half the roof to finish. Also, I have an old outdoor blind that I will use for a door and some window shades.

The big toy was given to us when our church was getting rid of it. The windows are from a blown out section of our greenhouse.

The kids helped get the walls up on the platform and get the roof erected. This picture shows the walls together and the end rafters in place.

Now we have the roof on and the tar paper laid

Windows in and Sarah is sizing it up.













David has woken up from his nap and checking out the new fun house.




View from the street. It is just a matter of time before the county govnmt comes by to tell me I can't do what I just done. Or some nose in yer business neighbor will call thw authorities.













Still need to stain the upper triangles and exposed rafters but it is pretty sharp. the neighbors will have all weekend to get a good look at her. All the tree ends where there are stubs are where he cut my tree back. Well now he can look at the fun house instead of my tree.

The four walls of Kevin's Krazy Klubhouse are finished. Mathew is applying the stain. I had Mathew do a little figuring for practise to sort out where to cut the notches for the roof beams. We are doing a simple 90 degree roof. Makes the figuring much easier. Mathew has been throwing the hammer a bit and hit his thumb once or twice.

We need to cut the rafters and the plywood for the roof. Pretty easy work. We want everything ready to go before we assemble it on the big toy. The neighbor should be thoroughly pissed. This is payback for him putting his heat pump outside my kitchen window. This thing is going to be massive. I have some old glass out of the greenhouse that we will use for windows. The wife asked if I am going to bolt it down so it doesn't blow away. She really has no idea what is going on here. The thing will probably weigh 500lbs. I am a bit worried that the big toy platform might collapse under the weight.

We will get the final supplies after Ash Wednesday services tomorrow and should
have it assembled tomorrow. Lent begins tomorrow

New coop is done

Progress

Continues. The circular saw arrived and I have been putting it to good work.

Kitchen:
The countertops are done and sheetrock has been hung on the ceiling. It is the top priority inside project. Time to mud, sand, repeat. Then I paint the kitchen, living and dining rooms and finish with a bunch of molding. I think I will hire out the floor refinishing.

Outside I have almost got the new chicken coop finished. The big toy is finished and ready for the clubhouse to be built.

I have finished most of the trimming. I have planted a himalayan birch as a screen between me and my neighbor. I caught him trimming my tree and he asked if I wanted it cut down. My answer is to plant another tree right next to it. Another neighbor is considering my request to plant an orchard in their field so that we will have lots of apples for cider in the fall. Lots of weeding left to do.

I have made tons of house repair money selling my old stuff on craigslist. If I haven't used it in a couple of years, i am selling it. I also sold 5 of the necky's on CL.

Pictures coming when I get the camera fixed. Don't forget valentines day.

More Marriage Advice

Love is patient,
love is kind.
It is not ,jealous is not pompous,
it is not inflated,
it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick tempered,
it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.

It bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things.

Love never fails.

Tough words to live by. Marriage isn't always easy. It wasn't meant to be.

All of my life I have worked in teams with other working towards one goal or another. team of meat cutters on a line, team of auditors auditing a company, team of traders on a desk, adventure racing team.

Now I spend most of my days by alone working on projects around the house. I have david all day and the other kids in the early morning and late afternoon. Life is alot different. I spend alot of time looking at the water or the mountains.

Enoy it while you have it. Now back to sanding drywall

I took my wife to Lake Quinault lodge for her birthday. It was a surprise as she likes the beach. It was a great place. With a nice great room and fire to read or play games near. It was definitely worth it and I would recommend it to anybody. It was kinda surreal. We were hanging out playing cards watching the other couples in the room. Must of been about 10-12 other couples all doing the same thing, about the same age, etc. As I sat there I thought how odd it would be if there were two guys there as a couple. It would just seem out of place.

As I sat there eating breakfast looking out over the lake I remembered how I once heard that 99% of all people who visit national parks never get a mile from the road. I used to take pleasure in watching those people and knowing that I was going out to cross this or circumnavigate that and get out in the wild country. Now I am one of those 97% looking out wondering what is out there or what it is like or could I doo that.

One project done and one on the way. the first three pictures are the kitchen ready for drywall and cabinets. The last three are Laura's room done except for a little touch up paint.

One project done one on the way to being done.

A friend gave me this today. Something to always keep in mind.

A happy wife is a happy life!

I am the luckiest man alive. It doesn't matter what I'm doing or where i'm at, any alternative is not as good as what is presented before me

Some can not tell you what makes them happy, what they want from life, or how they want to spend the precious few years that they have. They bumble their way through. Unhappy, miserable and not very pleasant to be around.
I want to raise my kids to be good human beings. I am not perfect and I make many mistakes along the way. I want my kids to be happy and successful in whatever they choose to do. I am their protector, educator, their mentor, their advisor and maybe someday their counselor. I am not often their friend. There are oftentimes things that need to be said or done that a friend couldn't or wouldn't do at their ages.
I like to explore. There are so many places that I want to go and see in the wilderness. I want to spend many days paddling or traversing mountains, or riding my bike. I think I was born in the wrong time. I like to watch the sunrise from the top of a high mountain with friends and knowing that at that moment there is nowhere else in the world that I would rather be.
There are many other things that I enjoy, what to learn and do before it it too late. I need to remind myself that every day might be my last. I also need solitude. I can ride my bike for hours by myself with my thoughts. And when I am done, everything else in my life seems so much more important. At the end I so much want that long isolation to be over and retun to my family.
I raced for a number of years. I was drawn to something I love. I found great friends who were as passionate as I about being the best and spending great times in the outdoors. We helped each other through tough times and saw some beautiful sights. We pushed each other and ourselves to be better than we could individually.
I am taking a step back from that for a while. Many other things in my life have been put on hold because of my drive and determination. For the foreseable future I will be staying home working on projects and plans that have been put on the back burner. Hopefully those things can be done soon or when all the kids are gone in 10-12years I will set outfor the ultimate adventure.
Right now I am cleaning, remodelling, selling stuff that I haven't used in many years. Trying to simplify. The kids are up and off by 9. I spend a few hours doing carpentry and spend the rest of the day doing other chores that keep a house with 2 adults and 5 kids humming along. Always ending with sweeping the floor at the end of the day. I made a list and it is huge, I am not sure how long it will take. I am very close to finishing the remodel of Laura's bedroom. Then I will finish the kitchen remodel.
I feel like a caged animal but I know that in due time I will be out again

Finish on the Court House

Finish on the Court House
Originally uploaded by EnduranceJunkie.

Hut, Hut, HO!!!

Hut, Hut, HO!!!
Originally uploaded by EnduranceJunkie.

Before the start...

Before the start...
Originally uploaded by EnduranceJunkie.

2008 National Champions!

2008 National Champions!
Originally uploaded by EnduranceJunkie.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their substance.

The Declaration of Independence

Are you sure "He" is the king of England?

Anybody who says that the economy is as bad as the great depression has no grasp of history. The truth is that its going to be as bad as the Carter administration but no worse. The media continues to push the depression line only because the worse the economy, or general perception thereof, the better for their presidential candidate. With any significant market dislocation, opportunity is created. The last few weeks I have been more active in the market than since I left New York. Dislocations like this only happen once a decade and while I will keep tight stops on many additional investments, I am in it for the long haul and you know how that story goes.

A friend sent me this photo. It illustrates the proper method for sanding the bottom of your kayak

Three Pass loop - Widget powered by: EveryTrail

One tough ride.