It is 0815 and overcast.

and I think I am going to leave this as an open keyboard post today and see what happens.

Yesterday was a long, hard miserable day in that I spent several miserable hours digging a very small hole to plant some decorative grass.

There is a corner of the house where last summer we cut down a trio of Arbor vitus trees and I managed to yank out the stumps to the point that you can not see that they were there. That was a day of chain saw madness, pickup trucks, nylon slings and chains. Now it is time to replant the area.

One thing about the trees is that they sure had one hell of a root structure and the epicenter of where I wanted to plant was right smack dab in the middle of the old root structure.

I managed to get three of the grass clumps where I wanted them with a reasonable amount of effort but number four was a class A chore. I have an entire day into digging that small hole and it cost me about 5 Sawzall blades which was a mess. I got hole number 4 finished ar about 1830 yesterday.

A neighbor dropped by yesterday for a couple of reasons, he wanted to get out of the house and I suppose he wanted to do a little fishing as he heard I am now a licensed ham which means antennas and I suppose he was curious to know if I was going to do something like set up a 200 foot high tower or something along those lines.(I'm not)

I told him to drop by and as an afterthought suggested he bring his son with him. The lad is about 10. He's well behaved and welcome.

They showed up and we chatted.

The reason I told him to bring the boy along is that my father often took me along with him when he had dealings with people and I consider it to be an important part of growing up.

While the dad and I chatted, I occasionally asked the boy a couple of questions to keep him from feeling left out. Apparently he's doing well in school unlike me at that age. He's also a pretty voracious reader which I was at that age. Unless something stupid comes along he'll grow up just fine.

One of the things that happened to me as a result of my dad taking me with him is that over time I developed a couple of older friends.

As I write this one family comes to mind, the Greenes.

I grew up with Tom Greene,Jr who was a couple of years older than I am, but we stayed in touch. He was my friend and to this day still is.

However, because of my dad and his relationship with Tom Sr, he became a friend even though he was maybe 30 years older.

Tom Jr's son, Tom III is now a friend of mine, too.

Tom Sr was not just Tom Jr's dad to me, but a seperate individual that I respected and it was good that I had developed a relationship with him as he provided me with advice over the years. He was a WW2 sailor.

I guess now I am returning the favor to the family with the friendship I have with Tom III who is nearing 30. Time flies.

I think that it is important to have sons watch their fathers deal with other men because it shows the youngsters a few of mens ways and makes things easier for them as they grow up.

The reason i told my neighbor to bring his son with him is because I know that it will make the father's job of raising him a bit easier as time passes. It's a part of the Piccolo Good Neighbor policy.

Maybe more later.

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I got the lawn mowed which is no problem.

Earlier today I went looking for a specific battery and went to a battery shop which is a rather new thing as years ago drugstores had the job and now there are so many proprietory batteries out there that a drugstore can't handle a thenth of the,

ANyway, it was another case of someone trying to sell me something that he wanted to sell me as opposed to what I want. I smiled, nodded and walked out. A couple of years ago I would have smoked the whelp. I must be getting old.
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1500
Out to get a few things. SOmething happened for the first time in a long, long time. First ever, actually.

For the past couple of years when I am out I have developed a habit of at least trying to say something nice to a perfect stranger.

It may be something simple like 'nice shirt' but it is at least a positive step in this constantly gettting worse negative world we live in.

I said "Wow! You look attractive today." to a woman and she told me I was rude.

Hmmm."Don't worry, Ma'am, even though you're attractive, you are still miserable," I added and walked off.

This is the first time I have ever gotten a negative answer to a compliment I have given out.

Looking at it as I write, I am surprised it hasn't happened earlier.

There are a lot of miserable people out there.

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eBay.

Uggh!

I bought a couple things on eBay and it is sure hit or miss.

I buy, pay instantly and either it comes the following day in the mail or there is a hassle.

I bought a power pack for $27 change+shipping. I paid instantly and was immediately given a tracking number the next day.

The Post Office says they have not received it.

This means thay have not mailed it.

I see the same item listed now for $127 change+shipping, yet the actual Item I bought is still $27 =shipping.

I sense a fight.

There is another thing coming. Juno was my ISP until last winter when I cancelled them. They still bill my card. I have cancelled them monthly for 5 months now yet they still bill me.

I am going to call my credit card people and order them to stop paying the bums. I am tired of this.

Of course, they will send me to conflict resolution but there is no conflict. The way it is going to work is simple;Either they stop paying Juno or else I cancel the card. Period.

Companies like Juno that are on the ropes do this sort of thing. They keep billing small amounts hoping to fly under the radar.

That's what small arms fire is for.
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My day is over and the hill is weeded. I found a bottle of gin that is about two years old and I am feeling British today. I think I am going to get a lime and open a bottle of tonic water. First I must put on my pith helmet.

Betcha the police show up tomorrow.

Tomorrow if my wire arrives I am going to have to cut antennas and one of them is going to be about 46 meters long.

Now I will stretch the wire down the street and measure it and bigger than shit someone is going to demand to know what I am doing.

If they ask nicely I will tell them. If it is obvious that they are just being nebby I will tell them that I am cutting wire so that I can set off a row of Bangalore torpedoes off from my kitchen if anyone tries sneaking into my back yard.

There is something patently wrong with me because I simply can not give nebby people a straight answer. Curious? Yes. Nebby? No way.

Last year I was weeding and someone asked me what I was doing.

Now, I have a weeding tool in my hand, there are weeds in a pile nearby. I am dirty and sweaty.

The man deserved to have Bill Engvall hand him a sign. I would have but I was fresh out of signs which reminds me to call my printer as I have run out again.

Anyway, I told the idiot I was looking for land mines and sure enough, he called the cops. Hilarity ensued.

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Checking the mail.

My first QSL card arrived. Loudoun County, Virginia. 2333 UTC 16 Jun 11 on 7.265Mhz SSB.

The naysayers will have to shut up. My little backpack radio shot out over 200 miles the first time I tried it.

Not bad.

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I now have my gin and tonic in front of me and tomorrow will such as I have to get ready for a colonoscopy tomorrow night. Oh, well.








my other blog is: http://officerpiccolo.blogspot.com/ http://piccolosbutler.blogspot.com/