New Twist On An Old Pastime

I grew up in Hawaii, surrounded by water.  Did all sorts of water activities.  Boogie boarding, surfing, skim boarding, water skiing, snorkeling and fishing.  I have since lived in the mainland for the past 13 1/2 years and lost track of those fun times.
Yesterday gave me a glimpse of a life I used to have.  A life free of bills, work, projects and chores.  I have a wife and 2 friends to thank for that.
Fishing in Hawaii was a bit different than it was here on a lake.  My earliest memories of fishing, were from shore with my parents and grandparents in the dark.  They used long whipping poles, sand spikes and bells.  I fished from shore, casting and retrieving a lure.  Then When I was 12 or so Grandpa took me on his 26 foot boat with a flying bridge and cabin, powered by a Volvo Penta diesel motor.  We'd leave the house at 4:30am and return at 4:30-5:30pm.  We'd cruise 20-25 miles off shore and troll for Aku, Ahi and Mahi Mahi .  Lures were made with store bought skirts and heads cast by my grandpa.  Great memories.
Enter a new chapter.

Yesterday 2 friends and I hit the lake for opening day in this 12 foot boat,powered by an electric trolling motor with paddle back up.  Whoa! What a different scenario!  It was opening day, so there was lots of boats and fisherman.  All were in good spirits.

This is the kind of stuff I was now going to be using.  Uh, OK.  I'm glad I happened by a fishing seminar a couple weeks ago and listened for a few minutes, because if I didn't I would have looked REALLY stupid.  As soon as we shoved off and were on the way one of my friends asked do you have a wedding ring?  If I hadn't heard the term at the seminar i would have looked down at my  finger and said not wearing it right now.  Instead I promptly answered "Yup got a red one"  Whew!  2 minutes in and I would have looked more stupid than I am!
We trolled around while me and my carpal tunnel hands took for ever to rig my pole.  Damn 8# line!  I finally was ready to go, got the line in the water and in minutes, Hana Pa'a!  Or here in the lake Fish On!

Lost that one but a few minutes later, got this 16 inch trout!  Doing good so far.  Ended up getting greedy, letting a 10 incher go.  Decided later when the bites weren't coming as easy, to keep another 10 incher.

Gutted these guys, stuffed them with lemon wedges and garlic slices seasoned with salt and pepper and through them on my Traeger wood pellet grill.  Pretty tasty, I must say!
All in all, had a great time making new memories with 2 good guys.  Hope to go again soon.  Enough rambling for today, tomorrow is just a short sleep away...


 

Neighbor Disputes

Do you ever ask yourself, at what point do you say to your neighbor, WTF?  I have suffered in silence for a long time.  Mainly because I was the guy that, "has the Sheppard that barks all the time."  
This has lead to a lot of frustration for me.  Especialy since she is now a lot better!
But some stuff, really?

What do you say to this?  I said " Your tree fell and almost took out our dog kennel, it could have been bad."  The response was, "Oh really, wow!"  Nothing happened, I cleaned it up and took care of the rest of the tree.
That is probably worse than the rest of the crap we all deal with, but still.

Keep your s**t in your own yard!  C'mon now!  I bust my ass trying to keep my neighbors crap at bay, but it gets to a point where you just lose your mind!

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Run your trimmer for goodness sake!  I mean, really?!?
Sorry, but sometimes things just get frustrating!  Enough rambling for today, tomorrow is just a short sleep away...

Remodeling For Life

Sometimes we make a change to our home with a specific thing in mind.  We don't realize sometimes how much it may affect us later.  Life has a way of reminding us of things we might have forgotten.  I did almost all of this before I damaged my neck, which would make most of this stuff impossible in my current condition.

I started remodeling our house right after we bought it.  It started with removing 6' tall Rhodies in front of my kids bedroom windows and dropping the sill height to bring in more natural light.  It spread to bigger things from there.  These windows were cut into a wall where there weren't any.  This really opened up the living room.

Later we bought a fridge that didn't quite fit into our galley style kitchen.















I moved the end of a wall to accommodate the fridge, not knowing what was coming next!









Neither the galley style or storage space fit our needs. So major reconstruction started!  This pushed our family to the limits of sanity.  Our lives were drastically changed for months on end!

My kids got first hand experience, REAL life experience.

They both got to get in there and do the work!

I can only hope it gave them both an appreciation for what we now have.









It wasn't all slave labor, there was time to explore and goof around!

Walls came down, new walls went up, it was a major ordeal trying to leave some stuff in place so we could still cook and provide for our family while everything was a war zone!  Electrical hanging from the ceiling, plastic covering furniture and TV.

The further along the project came, the realization set in that sooner or later everything was going to have to be gone!

For a while we had no kitchen, dining or living room!  That was a lot of fun!

I sure am glad I had some help...?  My father and son working together is well worth it!

Slowly things started coming together.

Which was nice, compared to coming apart.  At least now there was a light at the end of the tunnel!

All of a sudden, just when things were almost back together, demolition started again!  What is wrong with me!

Now when you entered, instead of having the galley kitchen in front of you, there was a wall.  The already small entry shrank even more.  So i took some space out of my garage to widen the entry!

The ugly front door opened the wrong way now too!  More demolition!

Much better, don't you think?

7 years later it is so nice to cook in here!  At this point in my life cooking is as therapeutic as it is necessary! 

At the end of it all, I couldn't be happier.  Glad it's over, but the rough life through the process definitely makes it even more worthwhile!







We had a party here recently and it was nice to hear compliments on the kitchen.  It has almost become a forgotten memory.  Almost.  It is still the gathering place we hoped it to be when building it.  

This group of people spent a lot of the night in the kitchen hanging out.  We didn't even cook anything.  It's just where everyone decided to kick back!

 Today this remodel still provides what was only a dream 7 years ago!  A place to cook, entertain, hang out and enjoy life.
Anyway, enough rambling for today, tomorrow is just a short sleep away...

Dealing with CHANGE

Ever notice how just as you are adjusting to a change, it changes again?

Picture flying a kite.  It is at a beautiful height, tail blowing in the breeze it shifts gently from left to right...WHAM!  The wind stops and the kite starts to fall. 

You take up slack and start saying "C'mon, c'mon!  Don't, no, don't..." as if the kite will listen.  It doesn't, but your adjustments are just enough to keep it afloat.  You feed more line, and start to relax, but all the while you are wondering "Is it going to happen again?"
Same thing in life.  Just when we think we've made adjustments, something changes.  With a lot of things I am a creature of habit.  I like all my stuff to be in the same place everyday, for example.  We  all enjoy a little excitement,  but take comfort in other things that stay the same...I have a feeling the wind is about to drop in my life...
Anyway, enough rambling for today, tomorrow is just a short sleep away...

Breakfast to fill you up!

On the weekends I like to eat a breakfast to  fill me up and keep me going.  This  is one that sticks with you for a little bit...

Cut up some potatoes, mix in a large bowl with minced garlic, chopped onion, chopped artichoke halves, oregano, basil and olive oil.   Put everything in an oven safe dish and bake for 20 min on 425°.

Cut up some bacon and cook up with some chopped onion.  Whisk up some eggs and half & half seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic.  Add eggs to the bacon/onions and scramble in pan until done.

Add eggs to the potatoes and mix in dish, add some mexican blend cheese and stir up again.  Cover dish and bake for an additional 25 min.

Plate, sit down and enjoy.  This should keep you, at least until second breakfast!
Anyway, enough rambling for today, tomorrow is just a short sleep away...

How To Get Rich, Scheme

Ever wonder how people get to where they are financially?  
The answer is pretty simple.  Ever notice how well to do people get preferential treatment?  They  get better deals, the better picks, best seats....you get the picture.  It is always the "Do you know who I am?" mentality.
I have noticed for many years that the people with the money are the ones that everyone bends over backwards for.  I have always given the same level of service to EVERYONE I deal with.
So, like I said, the answer is simple.  No need for get rich schemes, internet/eBay wonders.  Just be well off, and you'll become rich!  I'm gonna start tomorrow!
Anyway, enough rambling for today, tomorrow is just a short sleep away...

You Get What You Pay For

Ever notice how somethings you gotta pay up, to get the real goods?  If you've read my Blogs, you'd know that I tend to keep my stuff a long time. 
Gotta say I'm a little disappointed, but we'll get to that shortly.

I got this Makita 1/2" drill as a gift in 1991 and is is still my got to drill when I need some power.  I have 3 cordless drills, but this is the monster.

I got this Makita Hypoid saw in 1992, again as a gift.  The brushes have never even been changed!!!

I bought this this Makita table saw, probably about 7 1/2 to 8 years ago, I have put it through a lot and it still looks new!

This SnapOn 1/2" ratchet came in a set that I got (yup, as a gift), in 1989.  The only thing I've had to replace was a 3/8" 3" extension.

Now for the disappointment.  I bought this Denmark 8 QT, stainless Multi Cooker, ± a month ago.  The bottom is already warped.  It has mostly been used for pasta...





  

I made some chili tonight using it and was not happy with the rocky rollie action!

It was inexpensive, but I did not expect this.  Oh, well you get what you pay for.  Chili came out good anyway.






 And yes there is a lot in it.  Hamburger, white onion, red onion, artichoke halves, bell pepper, celery, corn, chipotle, salt, pepper, Sriracha, cinnamon, chili powder, garlic, honey, a little oregano and basil.  Cleared my sinuses!
Anyway, enough rambling for today, tomorrow is just a short sleep away...