We built this shop during the winter of 2017-18 and put down gravel during that winter. That has been eight years. Around here, crushed limestone is the preferred driveway material The limestone dust packs well between the stones and makes a firm driveway that needs very little maintenance.
Sometime about the middle of May, we had to buy a new fridge for the house. Belle went online to the Lowe's site and picked out a fridge. A nice Frigidaire on sale. Had it delivered. The fellow who delivered it and set it up was a nice fellow, very professional, did a great job setting it up, connecting the ice maker and walking me through the process.
Couple of days ago, the fridge threw a code on the door panel, telling me that it needs an air filter.
What? An air filter? Seriously? So, we went to Amazon and ordered some air filters. They will be in tomorrow. Today, I came in and it is throwing another code. It wants a water filter. Hence, we have ordered some water filters.
My old fridge stood there for almost 20 years and when Lowes hauled it off it had the same filter in it that the manufacturer had installed.
It is a nice fridge, but it is needy.
It's hot outside. Belle is puttering in the kitchen. Lunch will soon be upon us. Just another Wednesday in the piney woods of central Louisiana.
I'm being worthless today. As is my right as an old retired curmudgeon. I will haul off some trash later, but that is about the extent of my ambition today. As I scroll through my news feeds I note that it is all Dolly, all the time. That is to be expected, I guess.
The tropics are quiet, almost spooky quiet. Looking at the list of names for the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, I note that the name Dolly is on the list. Strange coincidence.
After a busy morning, I turned on the computer and learned that Dolly parton has died at age 80.
Dolly/s music has been a constant in mu life. She was truly a superstar in the music industry, and her music has reached across genres. She will be sorely missed.
We are in the mid-August heat wave. It hasn't rained in a couple of weeks and the sun is a constant tormentor. The grass is "crunchy", dry and coarse. In short, it is hot. Humidity is only at 36%, but the heat feels like a blanket.
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”
Cougars (catamount, panthers, whatever) are in lots of places where the Wildlife Weenies don't seem to want to admit that they have cougars. Like in Michigan for example. Good for Michigan for admitting what landowners and hunters have known for years.
When I lived in Natchitoches Parish in the early 80s, I had panthers on my property. i would hear then occasionally and saw them twice. Ours were dark brown, almost chocolate and would appear black in certain light conditions. The neighbors would talk about sightings, but the wildlife weenies would not admit that we had then in the area. okay, fine. In 2002 I wrote about it on Castbullet.
If you want to stir up some crap around a campfire, tell then that there is no such thing as a black panther. In certain low-light conditions a brown panther will look black. That is what people see and that is what they report. If you go back to the little video linked above, one of the photos looks black.
I'm just glad that they are out there.
On this 19th day of August we are officially in the dog days of summer. The local weather weenies tell us that our afternoon temps will flirt with triple digits, if not surpass it. As we approach the typical peak of the hurricane season, the tropics are unusually quiet. Thus far we have had only three named storms, and I had to verify that It is quiet.
The national weather weenies tell us that fall teps are just around the corner. That is well and good for the rest of you, but I am aware that I live in Deep South Louisiana and. We are two months away from taking out the flannel shirts.
This is the first day in a while that Belle and I have nothing scheduled. No appointments, no obligations. the only problem with doing nothing is that you are never sure when you have finished. As such, I pulled some fish from the freezer, and it is thawing in the sink. I'll make a run up to the Dollar Store in a bit to pick up some french fries.
I took my Honda to the dealer today to get it serviced. It's a 2020 Odyssey with ~60K miles. It needed an oil change and a tire rotation. when the dealer finished and we were settling up, she told me that my vehicle has two safety recalls. One for the rearview camera and one for an air bag. The only problem is that they don't have the parts for the recall.
For one of the recalls (I forget which) they will order the part and it will be in by next Tuesday, when we'll do the recall work. Thor the other, the dealer can only order one (1) per day, and they have thousands of customers on that list.
I recently realized that I had lost the appointment for my primary care doc. I called the office, but that was a no-go, so while I was in town today, I went to the doc's office to check. It's next month. While I was there, I registered a complaint on behalf of Belle's brother who is in the hospital. It seems that the coms lines between the hospital and the primary care doc are inop. No message traffic. One hand has no clue what the other is doing. That is the nature of medical practice today.
