Updates

For a few days I got worried when it started to be overcast and misty. I need sunny between 50 and 85 degrees, not too much to ask for in order to finish staining the decks. The backside all had to be reached by ladder. I have been up on a ladder every day this week. All but the two story deck is finished front and back. I want someone home if I am going up two stories. Besides my hand and arm are getting sore after a week of using a paint brush. I do want to use up all the stain.

It amazes me how the treated support beams suck up the stain. They are so deprived of moisture you can see the boards renew themselves before your eyes. I don't go in for the weathered look, the boards look too distressed. I figure I am buying ten years of stress free deck by doing all this work. According to the can that is how long the guarantee is for the stain on the deck surface, 25 years for the posts.

Tom asked me why I was doing it by hand and not using the sprayer. The sprayer is so messy and doesn't get the thick  coverage I want, plus the thing leaks. Hand painting is therapy. It is a nice soothing activity. At least it was until I had to climb the ladder for the back side. Ladders are stressful and having to go up, do three feet and come down, and move the ladder to the next section is more work than therapy.

It is keeping me busy though as I wait for news from my parents. They are dealing with a health issue that has us all worried. We wait for news and doctor updates. Keeping active with a big project that I can drop easily is good for me.

Tomorrow is a  big day. I am showing the old house to some prospects. Two potential buyers and one potential tenant family. I decided to go down to be there myself as there are so many people coming through. I can also check on the status of the house since I heard the dogs our current tenant have are causing some damage.

 I thought that my coming down might get my tenant to make an effort to clean up a bit more. What it did do was get him to ask me if he could sign another year. I thought he wanted to move. That is what he told me two months ago. I told him we could discuss it. I want to see the condition of the house and hear what the people coming through say about the house. We would rather sell.

Meanwhile I am the popcorn coordinator for Trevor's scouts. I have a garage full of popcorn if anyone wants to buy some to support the scouting program. 30% goes to the scout himself and 30% goes to the troop for equipment and costs. That is 70%  return. The popcorn is delightful, especially the chocolate covered popcorn.

I sat at Fred Meyers for three hours on Saturday morning keeping a young scout company as he sold popcorn at the door. I have arranged for several other days, but this time the parents are sitting with their own children.

Trevor hasn't been available to sell. He is doing football five nights a week. Last night he played the whole JV game. He was so excited when I picked him up from school after the game. It was an away game. He didn't get home until after 10:00pm. I had driven down to wait for him in the parking lot to save some time. I waited fifteen minutes before the bus pulled in. It will be a long week for that boy.He has a lot more energy than I do. He was so excited to play that much as it is an indicator that he may play on the Varsity team with more play time.

Last week he played all four quarters on the Freshman squad game, so he didn't get any Varsity play time the next night. We will see what happens this week. four quarters in 48 hours is all that is allowed in this league.

We had a home game pot luck dinner last Wednesday at the school. I was assigned to bring drinks. The apple juice was a success the iced tea was not. I also brought a case of water which will be saved for another sport like soccer or tennis since the boys have a water horse and the other sports don't use one.

A water horse looks something like a long saw horse with perforated pipes so a dozen boys  can drink at once. It runs constantly throughout practice. At games there are big water coolers and a water boy who brings refillable  bottles to the players while in the huddle or on the side lines. Trevor had to be water boy last year while he waited for his grades to improve.

I have been researching colleges with Riley. He wants to be an Engineer and go to a medium to small college. I had to snort when the only school that came up with all his criteria was Whitman. He would love it but at over $50,000 a year and they only look at grades 3.7 or better. After last year's report card, he is kind of screwed.

The other college that caught my eye was Southern Oregon U, in Ashland. It doesn't have a full engineering program but a pre engineering program transferring to OSU after two years. They work with OSU throughout the preprogram and have a NASA project with scholarships. Riley wants to do rockets with NASA. It might be a good fit.

University of Montana in Bozeman also came up when I widened the distances. They have an Engineering program, but it is dang cold in Montana. Riley might like Ashland's more milder weather better. It was nice to see the options though and start whittling down the list. I asked him to find a half a dozen schools of interest so we can proceed.

PSAT's are coming up on October 17. Get your college bound high schooler registered this week.