Sean arrives in Spring

Today, Sean flies in with his parents to visit his Mimi and Pops. It will be a short visit, he is only staying till Sunday, but I think it will be fun. I will attempt to teach him how to swim or at least float on his back so he is prepared for Aqua Tots when we go on our cruise. His cousin Caden arrives Thursday morning with both parents and Riley the dog. This is going to be a great weekend all of the above PLUS college football starts. NOW I can watch the big screen TV, no I am not kidding. I bought a 72 inch TV with all the bells and whistles for our great room, "The Madge" has 36 inch TV in her sitting room and I have a little teenie weenie TV in my study. Well it seems when I watch anything on the big guy it is too loud, you ever watch TV with a seven speaker surround sound in WHISPER MODE? So it never gets used until football season begins that's when something clicks in "The Madge's" head and she actually wants me to watch it. Pool news - I would say 98 % done. Again total stupidity on the part of the pool builders. They came over Monday to hook up the Heater, the cleaning system plus some little things around the pool area which took them around two hours. We left the house to run a few errands, got home around five, fed "Cooper" the dog and went out to dinner. Tuesday was a big day as I would be attending "Pool School". When I woke up and showered I noticed that the water was mildly warm then after a few minutes not warm at all. Hmmmm??? School started at 8 and since this is about 45 minutes before Madge wakes up I figured to ask the question as soon as class began. "Any chance your guy might have mistakenly done something to have our hot water system go off???". He looked at me like I had two heads, "The water system is in your house and he wasn't doing anything there was he?. Well two hours after school the plumber told me that some Jackass shut off the gas to the house.

Splish Splash

Before I get into the personal stories I would like to share an Election Poster that Bill Kenney sent to me titled "Barack is right about change"

While the pool is not 100% done, we had a break in the weather and Colleen showed up with bathing suit in hand. She, "The Madge" and Cooper all enjoyed themselves while I kept an eye on the clouds as thunderstorms were still in the area. So one can say it's now christened, however Caden and Sean won't be here until Wednesday and I have to think that will be the official christening, in more ways than one. We had better go out and stock up on Pool Pampers.
Belated Birthday Wishes to Yvonne Middleton, she joins the ranks of the 60 year olds. Here's a picture of Yvonne that was taken over thirty years ago. Happy Happy Birthday.
******WARNING WARNING WARNING *********
The Madge has booked yet another flight and will be heading up to Conn on September 10th. She will spend ten days taking in some pre fall weather and hanging out with Sean. Please do not treat this warning lightly.

Oooops, I Think I See The Sun

Here it is Friday morning and Ricardo will be over here in about 20 minutes. Forecast is rain, tomorrow's is more rain, since this rain has started I've heard we have had nearly eight inches with more on the way. These poor guys have spent every day this doing little things around the pool only working between the rain showers and according to Ricardo "Friday, we will be done!", now do I dare ask him when he plans on cutting the lawn? I will be taking some pictures as soon as it clears up. Since we have been holed up most of the time, we've been watching lots and lots of the Olympics. What a great job everyone is doing. I do believe that Bela Karolyi will start a war between us and China. Please no more crying about the ages of the Chinese girl gymnasts and why does he only like the girl gymnasts, hmmmm. Here's a picture of the gold medal winner in balance beam, floor exercises and uneven bars, what is your problem Bela????
Go U.S.A. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Noah I Need That Ark

Raining for the fourth day in a row, no problem with me as I have to think this is great for the new plants. It hasn't stopped Ricardo from working around the place, he shows up every day with new plants, rocks and additional lights. When the sun sets it looks like a Ritz Carlton Pool, no complaints with me but I am a little nervous with the neighbors having to look at constant daylight over at the Murphy's. I guess I will crank up the music to take their mind off the lighting. The "Pool Girl" showed up the other day to start the weekly service, she told me that when it rains she ONLY cleaned out the baskets and nothing else. In and Out in less then two minutes, since it was her first time here I would have thought it smart to familiarize herself with the equipment and hear her clients wishes, make a mental note to start a pool cleaning business along with my pool building company. Speaking of pool building, boy am I going to have fun with the one that did our pool. As previously advised, they are showing up here next Tuesday for "Pool School", I casually inquired "When your guy comes over here is he bringing the side spa control?". Their answer was "Huh, you don't need one as you have a remote control". "I know I have the remote, but I also asked for a spa control", I answered and they said "We will get back to you". That was Monday and no answer, too bad for them that I have it in writing and have a picture of where the control and wiring were supposed to go, but someone told the tile guys to fill in the slot. I know it couldn't have been the pool company owner/supervisor as he hasn't been here since they dug the hole. Now it's too late as the only way to put this in is to take up the Flagstone and tile, jack hammer the deck and retrench the back yard (new garden with wiring for the lights). This is going to be great.

Almost there

So here it is, it's about 95% done. Ricardo, the gardener, has done a great job and he will be back today to put in more shrubs and hook up the landscape lights. As far as the pool goes, I am waiting for these clowns to come over and adjust the chemicals in the water and allow me to operate the various features we have installed. I can not even turn on the lights in the pool, so I have to wait until next Tuesday (the earliest they can see me) to be able to do this. They also have a few odds and ends they have to do, oh well I've waited this long what's another seven days. Caden and Sean are visiting us next Wednesday and are bringing their parents, so I hope all will be working by then.

Bigfoot

Bigfoot has been in the news and I have just come across an article explaining the whole story.
" Today scientists released the DNA results from the mammal found in north Georgia, believed to be Bigfoot. But instead of being the corpse of the long-sought monster of lore, it turned out to be the alive body of a slumbering celebrity athlete.

"We ran the tests 3 times just to make sure, and it has conclusively shown every time that it wasn't Bigfoot. It was one of the Williams sisters. While we can't be positive which one, our money's on Serena", reported Jack Gruner, head of genetics at UCLA.

"She explained to us that she was taking a hike in the woods of Georgia to clear her head. Then she got tired, lied down to take a nap - And the next thing she knows she's trapped in a freezer full of ice by local rednecks."

Following the results, Matt Whitton and Rick Dyer stood by their original claims.

"Come on - There ain't no way that ain't no Bigfoot. Does ya' really think we's gonna mix up Serena Williams with a big, tall, muscular, hairy monster? Actually... Now that I thinks about it, that kinda do make sense."

Following her release, Bigfoot went on to Beijing to lose the Olympic quarterfinals 6-3, 4-6, 3-6."

Hope this clears things up.

It Must Have Been Something I Ate

Well 40th anniversary is over and it's on the way to 50 years. The Madge got diamond earrings, a family portrait and flowers from our girls,and I got the bill for the earrings. We both had a great dinner with some family and friends at Perrys Steakhouse where we were treated to a bottle of champagne from our girls. The food, wine and company were outstanding and we had lots of laughs with intermittent renditions of Panis Angelicus by Kay and Madge. After dinner we headed back to the homestead for some after dinner drinks and winding down, then around 11:15 one of our guests announced that he was going home. He tossed the car keys to his wife and said he was walking home, smart move not driving, however he lives two miles away. I kept thinking that if he decided to cut across the golf course we would be reading about a body found in one of the bunkers or floating on a pond. Well he made it without any problems, at least thats what he says. It's now Sunday morning and a perfect day to DO NOTHING but sit around and watch some TV, yes we are both extremely tired.

Forty Years - - WOW

Pool news - it's done and can now be used for swimming. The gardeners will be here on Monday for shrubs and lighting, and the pool guys will be showing up to test the water and do some other small things. Pictures will be taken and posted probably Tuesday as I think the shrubs will make a big difference. Colleen and Mark are heading up here tomorrow and will be the first to hit the water. Why tomorrow?? We will be married forty years tomorrow and will be taking Colleen, Mark and some friends out to dinner. Hard To Believe !!! Some people have asked how we stayed together for so long while others are splitting up. It's easy, try not to see each other every day and if you do happen to see one another for God's sake DON'T TALK TO EACH OTHER, as this might cause an argument. Well on to forty one. Erin sent some up to date pictures of Caden who is now laughing and flipping over.

Happy Birthday Joe Kennedy

Free Falling

Pool news first - Tomorrow the Pebbletec gets installed, they spray it one day then acid wash and polish it the second day, immediately turn on the hose and 24 hours later you are SWIMMING. I will contact the landscapers tomorrow and line them up for Friday. Pool will officially be open for business in five days, now because the end is in sight I went a little crazy on ordering toys, floats etc etc. I have a dozen inflatables that are turtles, ducks, planes, boats, and sharks plus water wings for Caden and Sean, also bought lounges, seats, float belts and a case (12) of noodles. I wonder if there will be room to swim? I am sure the UPS guy will hate me as I ordered from five different companies so many many boxes.
Colleen is back on the ground, she had a great time. The guy she jumped with started in 1968 and has about 8,000 jumps under his belt. I just wonder WHY does HE wear a helmet? Does he really believe it will help him???

As the rabbi said "It won't be long now"

I have not posted any pool activity on this Blog because there hasn't been any, just kidding, I didn't want to tell you of what was scheduled and then have to tell you of all the "no shows". That was not the case, yesterday two workers from the pool company came over to build a fence and install the hand rails plus eight sprinkler workers. Our trees and shrubs were clapping hysterically when they finished up last night. Now the two pool guys are another story, as I stated they are here for fence and rails, when the 5 o'clock whistle blew , BOOM, they were out the door and neither job was finished. While they were here they had to make six trips to the hardware store whether to take a break or actually buy something is hard to say. Drill bits seemed to be the major problem, snap, snap, snap, they were going through them at a lightning fast rate. I am not Bob Villa but even I know that you don't buy something that is rated for wood & plastic when you are trying to drill into tile & cement. They actually didn't wait until the "time to go home" whistle blew because they (and I am not kidding) burn out one drill, jammed another, ran out of bits and used up the last unbroken bolt, therefore "no toolie no workie". They told me that they would finish up on Monday however I advised them that the interior of the pool will be installed Monday morning and filling would commence Tuesday evening, so looks like they have to work this weekend.
On the family front only interesting news is Colleen is sky diving today and she called last night to remind me where her will is, just in case. She promised to call when she was back on the ground. Interesting how different children turn out, while Colleen is either diving ( sky & water) or riding helicopters into the Grand Canyon Meaghan is fighting the crowds at the mall.

Rain, Rain Go Away

I mentioned a few months ago that I should start a pool building business, well there is no doubt in my mind that it's the thing to do. We are experiencing a tropical storm here today and it's dropping MUCH NEEDED rain. I can almost see the golf course greening as the rain comes down, more important our lawn, trees, and shrubs are all chugging down the rain drops. This storm will finish up here this evening so everything returns to normal, but not for the pool company. I called today to see if certain items have been delivered to them, namely railing for the beach entry, and they informed me that everything will be delayed until next week due to the domino effect that the rain caused. HUH????? One day rain = four days delay???? Oh well, at least they picked up their trash around the dig site yesterday and that will do it for the week. I have recently started going to a pool over in Tomball, Tx to get much needed exercise and it looks like I will extend my one months membership. Well it's off to Tomball and swimming, even though we are in the middle of the storm but DOMINO THIS SUCKER.

On The Road Again

Caden just packed the car with luggage. Mom, Dad & Dog and headed back to Frisco Texas. I did a check on the weather for the drive and looked at the Temp up in in Frisco, 106 F. We're hot but not that hot, besides in a short time we will be floating in the pool. That's right the end is near and as promised I have included some pictures that show the stage it is in as of Aug 3. Now according to the pool company Monday - clean up(2 days), Wednesday - Pebbletec(2 days), Friday - sprinklers(1day) BUT it will be another 14 days to do the odds and ends, balance the water and get some landscaping done, it won't stop us from dangling our feet in the water. So here's some shots of Caden and the pool.

Storyville Jazz Hall in New Orleans

My brother-in-law Dick sent me this video that I had seen and heard a few years ago and it is a classic. It features Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino,Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones, Paul Shaffer, Donald "Duck" Dunn of Booker T & the MG's and Blues Brothers, Carl Perkins, & Steve Jordan of the Blues Brothers . Hope you enjoy it.

It's been awhile

First things first, Happy Birthday to Dick Owens and Pat Orsini and forty years ago today I asked "The Madge" for her hand in marriage. Well let's see, the pool is nearly done all that's needed is sprinkler system, clean up, pebbletec, & landscaping as it seems that this pool company only works on Mondays and Tuesdays, I figure three more weeks. Caden's visit was cut short as yours truly came down with a bug, so the little guy packed up his gear and took Erin down to Colleen's to breath clean air. They should come back here either today or tomorrow. Meaghan sent pictures of Sean in their pool, I've been working on ours since the end of May and they have one already. I think, but not 100% sure, ours will be a little better than theirs.

I recently came across a picture of Obama and his cousin, Abul. I can hardly wait for this idiot to get in the Black House and invite his family over for some dinner. Think of the poor delivery man (see second picture)

I know I promised pictures of Caden and the pool progress and I really really will have these posted on this blog by the end of the weekend.