Saturday, October 10, 2020

This Is Why...


...I love fall golf...absolutely beautiful morning on the links.


Didn't hurt that I played pretty well...handled my niblick around the greens almost like I knew what I was doing, hit my mid iron with some proficiency...

...and experienced a mi'racle with Calamity Jane on #3 when I dropped a 40 footer for par.

mi'racle   noun

mir-a-cle  | \ `my ra kul \

a contraction of "minor" and "miracle"...not divine intervention, but unusual enough to merit more than a passing comment.



As a bonus, I managed to finish with bogey, bogey, par on 7, 8 and 9.

Above all it was a delightful stroll through the countryside on a perfect autumn morning.

Couldn't really ask for more.


As always, Karen has been busy in the home improvement department.

She decided to paint DBV's newly exposed metal artwork, changing it from its original white...

...to a more mid century modern orange that looks better from the outside...

...as well as from the inside.

As our friends in France might say, Magnifique!


6 months ago, there was really only one place from which my IT fellows and I could work, and that was the home office.

But now...
note the hand sanitizer and tp

...there's really only one place from which my IT fellows and I may NOT work, and that's the home office.

Consequently, I've been working from home for the past half year and loving it...and one of my co-workers has recently been working from his cottage up north and doing the same thing (loving it, that is).

Larry has been enjoying beautiful sunrises before work...

...dazzling scenery on his lunch break...


...spectacular autumn colors on his trips to the store...

...and serene sunsets in the evenings.

We'll all be glad when this crazy time is over, but you have to give thanks for unexpected blessings along life's uncertain paths.


Heard some strange noises emanating from the garage today so decided it was the better part of wisdom to investigate.

Sauntering toward the source of the hubbub, I opened the door and was shocked - shocked! - at what my wondering eyes there beheld:

Mr. Bolts is not much of a conversationalist so I never really did get much traction as I tried to uncover what this gang of All Hallows E'en escapees were up to.

I finally surmised from their grumblings they were tired of being cooped up in storage when we're so close to the big day.

Heartless wretch that I am, I shepherded them back into their boxes - all of them except Mr. Bolts, that is - his box had been taken over by a mama mouse and her babies.

Not a welcoming sight - so he's currently standing guard in the back of the garage behind Mr. T.

2 weeks and counting...


Some random sightings from hither and yon...

saw this on the way home from the links today...I'm sure our liberal friends are horrified to be seeing double when it comes to the Bad Orange Man


Karen prepared a delicious meal tonight: Tikka Masala with chicken over rice, served with nan bread and roasted veggies, complemented with a nice glass of pinot noir...I do not deserve to eat this well, but I'll take it.


the view from the command center this evening while enjoying a kentucky cheroot cigar...not quite as good as toscano anticos, but at 1/3rd the price, they're pretty darned good.


Karen came home with a venus flytrap plant and waddya know?  it works...mr. mosquito landed for a blood meal and that was the last thing he did.


one cool morning last week as the sun rose over the trees

I miss Calvin and Hobbes


I'm happy to report we've successfully landed another excitin' flight of the Atomic Monster Cafe Aero-Express...


...and conveniently parked in the midst of arboreal splendor for your viewing pleasure.

The pilot ejected a while ago, so feel free to shinny down the trunk and make your exit at your leisure.

later, mcm fans...


* Crass Commercialism Corner *

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Saturday, October 3, 2020

I Done Did...


...the dirty deed...and my only regret is I didn't have a chain saw as I removed the two trees marring Dean Bryant Vollendorf's clean, sweeping lines along the front wall.

Here's his original design...


...and here's our front wall when we moved in...


...besides all the overgrown bushes, it looks like some kind of giant green spider perched up there, with a tree to the right that blocks DBV's metal artwork.

But after some work with my shears and handy buck saw, here's the new view along our front wall...



...shrubs trimmed, big green spider removed and metal artwork revealed.

DBV passed on 12 years ago, so I like to think he's smiling down at us for restoring his original vision of clean lines for this home.

So...why did we wait 'til our 4th summer here to do this?

A couple of reasons...one was just a matter of priorities...there was so much that needed to be fixed / replaced, from flooring in the entire home to a complete kitchen remodel to basic plumbing repairs to total roof replacement...etc etc etc

And perhaps equally important, without actually knowing the pedigree of this home, we had only our suspicions and suppositions to go on.

Finding out who the architect was and seeing the original design on paper has given us a certainty about what we should be doing and how we should proceed.

Ergo, no more trees interrupting the clean lines of the front wall...


...and an uncluttered view of the metal artwork.



Progress.


It was a perfect fall day for hickory golf...

...somewhere, I assume...but sadly, not here...


...no, 'round these parts it was cold, wet and gloomy, so no pleasant stroll through the countryside this week.

This is distressing since the weekends I have left to chase that little white gutta percha around the links with my hickories are rapidly disappearing...


...hoping for better weather next week.



Karen and I are late to the party, but we've been watching Heartland...

...a Canadian TV series that has recently been renewed for its 14th season.

We're currently working our way through season 2, so we've got a ways to go.

I think we're enjoying it so much because it's pretty much a mirror image of the life we live...

...y'know, up in rural Canada on a ranch, surrounded by horses and cattle and rodeos and...

...yeah, ok, that's not it.

I guess we like it because it's well acted with believable characters and clean dialog and it's not intrusively "woke" or politically motivated...it's just life...a very different life than we live...

...but still...it feels authentic and genuine and I don't have to brace myself for the usual bizarre nonsense that permeates most of the trash being spewed from Hollywood.

Amazon Prime has the first 9 seasons, so we're good for awhile.

At the moment it's a very pleasant break from the toxic environment currently permeating American culture.

Highly recommended.


Some random sights from here and there...

my temporary command center at Oval Beach on our recent anniversary



I spy a beautiful woman



coming in for a landing



the squirrels are always amused at the cats' serious but hopeless attempts to catch them



at the weary willie convention



October moon and Mars on the left


I've been sitting here wracking the neural network that passes for my brain, trying to think of something witty to say as I push you out the back door so we here at the Atomic Monster Cafe can get back to all the important stuff we have to do...


...and I finally thought of something...


later, mcm fans...


* Crass Commercialism Corner *

In the "so convenient you can't stand it" department, you can purchase my books here and on Amazon.com!

Get your paperback books here:



Get your ebooks here: