Nonsense Falls Out

Flour Bluff, Texas

Most of the day has been just mope around and recuperate from the messy migraine. At least my head seems to be working correctly now. Of course recuperation time with cold rain outside and unlimited internet service results in checking out many interesting things. My intentions is to get into fishing the surf more in the next few weeks. It is a fact seen by my own eyes that there is an unreal huge amount of fish harvested from Fulton/ Port Aransas to the southern end of Texas.

From reading the different specialty forums and web sites, it seems that catching only enough fish to keep one person fed can be a problem. If you want to fish a lot, then a lot of fish must be chunked back in. Some folks seem to never catch anything. Others catch a lot. My reference is not just to reds and sea trout, but any edible fish. A couple of days ago some pictures were shot and reported in a blog entry. However during the short time of taking the pictures, dozens of decent size fish came to the waiting ice chests.

Last summer in this area, my efforts at catching fish were not very rigorous. However many more were caught than were used by me. All my years of fishing around Galveston, Texas put together do not seem to equal even one year here. By no means is TheOFM an excellent fisherman. In fact he is a very lazy fisherman. One thing about this area, you will have to get out and get salty, sand blown and wind worn for any success.

The welders showed up the other day finally and we made some discovery of importance.
The Truck’s receiver is hour glass shaped. It is wide at the entrance, narrow in the middle and wide again at the end. The picture above gives the approximate dimensions we found with the welders equipment. No wonder the shank clangs and bangs all over the place.
Weld material was added to the shank and ground to take out as much slack as possible. None of the aftermarket receivers in my forty years of towing have had this trouble. This is the first “factory” receiver and it is not really well done. All the welds were carefully gone over and inspected by the welder and me. There is not a single instance of stress crack or elongation showing. That means the system is safe to continue to use. Maybe some ear plugs would make it sound better when traveling.

On response to an email question. No, there is not a shortage of blog material yet, but definitely a shortage of time to get to all the topics available in the computer right now. There are at least five articles in progress, for instance a detailed explanation of Sturdy Steed. There is one blogger of long duration that has file cabinets of ideas, several thumb drives full of ideas and a couple of computers with entries in progress. So folks if you have ever thought or writing a blog, please jump in. It has been two years for me and to cover what is know to talk about now will take around a hundred years of everyday entries. We need help so jump in. Blogger even makes it free!!!!

You say you don’t know what to write! That makes two of us. Usually my entry starts by a quick run over anything that caught my interest that day. A small piece of paper records that small ( a bird chasing food on a rock, see the blog entries a couple of nights ago) idea and the one right after it and the next one. Three is plenty, so it is time to write. Every blogger that I have met quickly runs into trouble keeping each entry under two single spaced pages plus pictures. A couple of my early attempts at writing an entry ran to over six pages and I was not any where close to finished, but I am a lot of hot air. Start a blog, ask for help and it will come in great quantities.

How do you write is a BIG question? There are several hundred styles and yours will soon emerge. Just write like you talk to your friends. Tamia writes a more professional style. Bob, of Japan Considered, tries to stay in his down home life style of writing. He is a college professor and has to work at it to stay down home. As for me, it is obvious, my mouth flies open and nonsense falls out. There isn’t a person out there without a story worth telling. It is guaranteed that if you tell your first story, if will amaze you how many folks are glad to hear it. The bad part is they want more and more. If my sister would write a blog, we would be laughing sore and forever with her stories

Many folks quickly overload themselves with many blogs on lots of subjects until it gets to be serious work. Old Bob up there had Tamia and TheOFM push him to get him to write his first non-professional blog. Check it out, in a few months he has spread stories all over the world. It is time for me to be quiet, the text just went to the third page.

December is dedicated to Christmas shopping until my shopping chores are finished. So starting tomorrow morning, shopping will be the way to try to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Cut Short

Flour Bluff, Texas

The day and the morning fishing trip were cut short by a severe migraine attack. This is not the way to try to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

On Edit. My head is clearing some. My personal RVing tips have been added to OFM Details tonight.

Green With Envy

Flour Bluff, Texas

There is too much to write about for today so my readers get the small juicy portion. Those up north can turn GREEN with envy of what is coming up to view on this late Fall day. My old friends in Washington know this is the reason the Truck ran on back down South when we left Washington in October two years ago.

This kayak demonstration was sponsored by none other than

This is where you go to get fantastic service all the time.

There was a mess (that is a quantity known to Southerners) of boats at the launch site. My arrival was early enough to help unload some of the boats and set up the shade shelter. The main greeter for folks was Max. Here he is getting a good scratching from his owner. A rather nice pup he was.
An expert at tying flies was there helping out and demonstrating fly tying. His name escapes me but he was great to visit. It is guaranteed his fingers are not arthritic yet. He was quick and good.
With an air temperature of low seventies, bright sunshine and clear skies the day was fairly adequate for a late Fall day. The water had a good feeling. The waves were just big enough to play with and have fun. Here was the flotilla of boats to try out. The cost for entry was no dollars but a release was required to be signed.

There were folks of all sizes having fun. How many boats were sold? That is not known. How many folks had a great time? ALL OF THEM. Some of them were lil ones.
Some of them were bigger ones.
To add to the excitement, in the afternoon the windsurfers and kite boarders showed up. Everyone was careful to look out for each other. It was one of the best times ever of folks helping each other have a great time.

Back at the shop DebiB had decorated a Christmas tree, kayaker style of course. It was so attractive that it needed a picture from each side to do it justice. Click on the pics to see the full glory. Check out the top decoration in particular!!!

Those are trees after my own heart.

We have a cold and rain front due in tomorrow evening. The weather folks are saying we will not be back to this great weather until Tuesday. That certainly beats parts of the country where the weather will not be warm again for several months. Snow and ice might be fun for a visit, but my body will take the sunny beach and leave the winter frozen water sports for others.

These kind of days are custom built for trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Waiting, Waiting And Waiting

Flour Bluff, Texas



The morning was laundry and the rest of the day was waiting for a repair fool to show. He never did or called or nothing. God gave me this to top off another of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Turkey Day Walk

Flour Bluff, Texas

Nature has a way of remodeling things in ways man did not plan on. The Packery Channel lining has taken a beating in the recent floods and rains. Some parts of the side with the boat ramp were badly damaged recently. One section near the boat ramp has had emergency repair to save the boat ramp. This next section is down the channel long way but took a serious hit.
The sand can wash into the channel through this damage. Naturally repair money is not available in excess abundance.

The meal this afternoon dictated a walk this evening and the Packery Channel was the walk of choice. Hopefully a sunset shot would show up. On the way out the walk to the end a few neat things were seen. The bird in this picture was working the rocks over pretty well in search of his meal. It was actually very active and difficult to get a shot in focus. Persistence and a quick finger and several tries got you this shot.
Near the end was this fisherman. He was catching the devil out of the pinfish. They make good bull redfish bait. Likely they were planning on a night fishing episode with the pinfish and stouter rods.
The Gulf of Mexico was slightly rough but not really bad for fishing. The surfers were having a good time though. In this next picture look between the handrails on the lower left for the dots in the water. That is the surfers.
Close by was a banquet going on. The participants were very busy chowing down quickly. What are they eating???? Who knows but they were definitely loving it.
As my walk headed back to the boat ramp parking lot, the temperature started dropping significantly. My jacket was getting a bit light for the cool wet breeze. More than a few shivers rocked my body. It was getting a lot colder than my memory said it was supposed to get. Back at the truck the thermometer said the temperature was all the way down to sixty four degrees F. But that wind chill seemed a lot worse than that.

Still GOD wasn’t finished with the day’s beauty yet. A good sunset was building. So even if your day was ordinary, a finish like this would make it a great day of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

　

　
　
　

Blind Fishing

Flour Bluff, Texas

The island in the above picture, Pita Island, is likely my first destination when Sneaky heads out for fishing soon.

http://www.stxmaps.com/go/pita-island.html

The day was mostly bright sunshine but slightly brisk in the 60s. When Sneaky hit’s the water, the paddle distance will be less than ¾ mile to the island. The owner of the rv park is a long time fisherman of the area tells me that there is normally fish to catch around the island. So a paddle there could be a catching trip instead of just an exercise trip. That sounds good to me.

Sneaky was unloaded today with no accidents or blood letting. It is now stored on the picnic table awaiting action. Storing Sneaky on the table helps keep fire ants and kids off the boat.

For your information, sewer hoses for Rvs come in left hand or right hand spirals. My first fittings were screw in types that used the spiral that is not normally available at Wal-Mart. So “adjustments” have been being made to hook up the sewers in an air tight manner. Today some fittings were found that can adjust to either spiral. Now there will be a lot less hassles with hooking up to sewers.

This evening a sortie to Packery Channel park and launch ramp made for some pleasant evening time. There were a nice lot of folks there and naturally some visiting happened. There was a blind guy there fishing along with two other folks. He was guided down to the waters edge. Some bait was set next to him and the helpers walked away to do their own fishing. He was able to bait his own hook, cast out and even landed a fish. Then to my real surprise he unhooked the fish himself. He was doing very well. There were others around and one fellow caught a real nice redfish that will be for supper Friday night.

The sun was starting to get lower on the horizon.
That was a clue for me to head back to the Castle for the day.
It was a great finish to a day of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Stormy Travels

Flour Bluff, Texas

It has been a less than wonderful day today. Strong storms forced the Team into a Wal-Mart Supercenter in the middle of Corpus Christi. After the rain and wind eased, a grocery shopping trip set me back $40. Most of the day the cold wet wind has kept my joints aching.

When the Team arrived at Laguna Shores Rv Park, it was about three hours after leaving Sinton. The distance was about thirty miles. The Castle was easily backed into the site and set up started.


It was raining slightly but setup continued. My hips were even giving me trouble getting down to set the stabilizer jacks. Naturally on sand you have to have boards under the stabilizers to spread the load. The final trouble was the sewer hose fittings have given up the ghost. A trip to the local Wal-Mart will replace those tomorrow. Tonight the Castle will run on the onboard holding tanks.

A quick trip to the local launch place resulted in meeting two nice young men. They were very interested in some of my travels. We must have visited for an hour, but my camera was left at the Castle.

Speaking of the camera, notice the funny colors and lines in the above picture. Maybe the camera is about to totally fail. It is time to shop for another. This poor camera has been frozen to 14 degrees range several times, then later it has been cooked to well over a 100 degrees repeatedly, splashed with salt and fresh water, been through dust storms and you name it. It has earned it’s keep several times over. Oh Boy shop for a new toy!!!!!

Hmmm shopping for new toys could be a great way to try to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Flood Damage

Sinton, Texas

A fundamental basic of full time rv life is that if you spend more than a visit or two in a location, it is cheaper and better to take your home there. For the last three weeks many trips have been made to the Gulf waters area. Today a site was found near there and tomorrow the Castle follows the Truck down to near the water. Sites do not come easily in winter Texan areas in the winter. Tune in tomorrow night to see where.

The rain storms around here did their damage well as you have seen in the cotton field pictures of a day or so ago. Today some more damage was noticed next to the road across from the park. The flood waters receded enough to show where they washed away enough ditch that what looks like a water line has been uncovered.

If anyone is headed this way, Luella has a couple of sites available in this wonderful park. It is far enough inland you will not have to worry about the corrosion that will attack my equipment down at the coast. Contact Luella at 361-364-9250 if you are needing a good site in a great park next to the 18 hole golf course near the town of Sinton. It is about the friendliest town of my travels. The OFM gives it a stamp of 10/10.

After a lot of driving today, it is time for a bath and bed. There were some nice scenery down on the Gulf of Mexico that made it a good day of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM
　

On Learning

Sinton, Texas

It has been a gentle day. A book on digital cameras and photography was finished this morning. There certainly is a lot of information to learn about the digital cameras. Mostly it is a process of weeding out the part that will not be used in my blog photography and pounding into my head the part will be used.

Later another ride down to the Gulf waters was enjoyed. While there, some reading of a new book on color and light for artistic endeavors was started. A concept that really caught my attention was that the photographer and painter have exactly the same things to watch for in lighting! That means that the art book will surely have a nice effect on my photography also. AHA two for one in studies. Efficiency is nice.

This evening has been consumed in an attempt to properly describe Sturdy Steed. What was planned as a twenty minute write up has already consumed over two hours! To top it off, a whole set of new pictures will be needed to compliment and clarify the write up. That has really turned out to be a significant project.

This writing for fun has been a great experience for me. It had never entered my mind how long it takes to write even a short article, much less a book. A blog entry without pictures takes about an hour to put together. A blog entry with several pictures can run in excess of two hours.

Articles in OFMDetails can take several days to get ready since they are, or at least try to be, more precise descriptions and can require careful, repeated editing.

It is my opinion that learning new things is a great way to try to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.
　
　
　

Spies Everywhere

Sinton, Texas

The rain eventually ended and by very late in the day the sunshine was winning the battle for the sky. That was nice to see. On a trip to verify some research on bicycles and other things, this picture of one of the cotton fields near here was taken. Take my word for it, there is a cotton field under all that water.
The whole thing was under water. From what was visible from the roads, about twenty percent of the fields have standing water on them. Most of the fields had been prepared for the next step in crop growing, but now will require a repeat of that step. Most all the previous furrows are gone and the field looks like a mud flat if it can be seen at all.

Due to my extreme animosity toward cold climates, the Team will likely be here in Sinton, Texas until the spring runs some cold away from the area north of us. It could be as early as late February. That means the blog will need to drop into GrannyJ style sometimes. http://walkingprescott.blogspot.com/ She is the neat lady who reports on Prescott Arizona nearly every day. Very seldom does her blog miss a day. It is always an interesting entry.

Of all things, while at the bike shop checking out my research, one of the workers was a student of GUMO http://gumotx.blogspot.com/ a few years ago. GUMO has been emailed about him having spies everywhere tracking me. He needs to be very proud of his impact on hundreds of his students over the years. His blog is not daily, but when he does post it is really good. GUMO also does a pretty good job of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.
　

Underwater Golf

Sinton, Texas

RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN ETC and still more due in in about an hour. It was nice to have Sneaky standing by all day. The entire day inside the Castle watching the rain got me really ready for the Friday shrimp gorge. As the Truck started toward Rockport, it was noticed that the ditches and creeks were out of their banks and flooding yards and fields. There were dark clouds and rain showing to the south heading this way. Never mind. Another drive in the rain like last night is not desirable. So it was a stop for a fish sandwich at Whataburger and back to the Castle.

About four pm it stopped the hard raining. The next three pictures were taken in the twenty minute respite we had. Here is my neighbors trailer in about an inch and a half of water under it.

Next is this picture of the golf course for folks with SCUBA gear.
Then out my bathroom window towards the boat storage area. You need hip boots to access your boat in there.

It is now 7:30 pm and the radar shows another huge storm headed at us. Hopefully the Truck and the Castle will both be high enough that no flooding will get to them. Most likely we will all be ok.

The fish and ducks are definitely out there trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

All Comfy

Sinton, Texas

A nice pleasant day, cool breeze, fresh fish for lunch and a warm sunny spot for a nap. There is not a way this can get any better.

Not many feet away was the new sculpture at the Rockport, Texas art spot. The porpoises are shown like they play in the bow wave of a boat. It is very nice.

These were the good highlights of the morning. This evening we are having intermittent rain and lightning.

Four fluorescent bulbs in the Castle needed replacing, so Wal-Mart supplied them for a nominal FEE. The bulbs in stock were labeled Daylight. These are wrong. The glare is severe. So severe that an early evening trip to Home Depot at Calallen was taken to get some better “color”. Cool white turns out to be the proper “color”.

As my checkout was finished and my feet got just out the exit door, a bolt of lightning hit close by and the whole store went dark. WOW it was a lucky timing for me. The trip back to the Castle was slow and very cautious and nasty. However here at the rv park it has not been bad so far (9pm now).

Let us back up in time a few hours. To add to the fun at Wal-Mart earlier, when checking out at the self serve check out my credit card slipped from my senile old fingers. It did a back flip right down into a crack in the checkout machine. The employees were quickly diligent in retrieving it. About fifteen minutes and a nice fellow with his “it has happened before” tool was able to snag it out along with two receipts, a penny and two dimes. It looks like a crack that needs some duct tape covering it to me.

Sneaky needs to get on down to the water and get wet. Tomorrow is unlikely since it is supposed to be thunder storms and flooding. Sneaky might not mind but his motor does. That means something else must be chased in the effort of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Crabby Homes

Sinton, Texas

During a recent password audit, it was found that a blonde was using the following password:"MickeyMinniePlutoHueyLouieDeweyDonaldGoofy"

When asked why such a big password, she said, "Well, DUH, it has to be at least 8 characters long."

The tides are back to normal. A trip to check out the water line at Mustang Island State Park was profitable, knowledge wise anyway. The main parking lot still had spots with six to eight inches of sand in it. The park folks have moved a lot of trash and sand to get the parking lot looking this good. Notice the wet mark up on the sand. That is real close to how high the tides got to be.

It was a very nice sunny day at the beach. The temperature was hovering around 71 during this visit. This fellow was walking the beach and enjoying the sun. Most likely he was from up north.
Out at the jetty were some fisher folks. The surf was really flat and if these folks caught anything is unknown to me. Most of them seemed to be enjoying the warm sun after the last two chilly mornings.
The high tides had washed a lot of debris up to the dunes. Apparently the sand crabs were in the process of rebuilding their homes in the normal flatter sand. This one was being very diligent on the construction. It also seemed to be unfazed by me getting within three feet of him for this picture. It is about a inch and a half long and 3/4 inchfrom the eyes to back side.
A search for some wind sculptures was mostly futile. Everything was so water worn that the sand had not been moved enough to really get the sculpture work going. There were lots of these cliff slides where the sand was relocating under the influence of the winds. This one was a little over knee high. Some other cliffs were close to waist high and collapsing also.
Hopefully this winter we will have a great crop of wind sculptures. They are a joy to find them. It is sort of an Easter egg hunt type of feeling. Being out playing on the each doesn’t hurt me either.

Supper tonight was catfish, corn bread and assorted vegetables. Now THAT is the way to finish a day of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

New Heading Picture

Sinton, Texas

About the only exciting thing today was learning how to put my personal pictures at the top of the blog with the header. The current one is Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, Utah. My arrival at the arch area was precededed by only one fellow who fancied himself a professional photographer. Like a lot of those folks, he figured everyone else needed to get out of his way. This old fat man did not win his approval.

GUMO added a picture to his blog a few weeks ago. That is what inspired me to add to my blog. His is of Wild Rose Pass in the Davis Mountains of Texas.

Parts of that area are pretty nice. Maybe the Truck will take me and the Castle back there next spring. My boot prints have been made on many trails in that area. However there are many more trails that need my boot prints also.

Most of southern Utah is scenic and worth the bother of going there to try to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Better Now

Sinton, Texas

In case any one would like to read about a fantastic place to hike, check out
http://www.bigbendchat.com/portal/forum/nonbibe-trip-reports/paria-river-canyon-utah-one-of-the-best-hikes-in-the-world-t8618.0.html. Those places are awesome. The few similar to those that got my footprints in them were spectacular in my eyes.

The two days of stomach cramps have finally released me for fun tomorrow. As far as today goes the huge event was getting the Truck inspected for it’s state sticker. Of course it passed easily.

Now this evening it is laundry time. Most of the day was spent searching out other folks adventures. That has been my only way of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Sturdy Steed Grip Report

Sinton, Texas



The Ergon grips that have been on Sturdy Steed for a few weeks have proven to be worth having. They are not cheap to purchase. Some bike forum members have reported them to weather very quickly. However the feeling in my hands says that they are worth their cost. Even though they do not totally stop the nerve pinch, they do reduce it by about eighty percent. The wider flat spot on the grip is very nice for changing hand positions.

They do make things better when riding a bicycle trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

The Boulder Smasher Test

Sinton, Texas

It is now known what to use to crumble granite or any other hard substance. Order a Brooks leather bicycle seat. Put a stout pole in the mounting point. Then whack the boulder a couple of times with the leather seat and the boulder will crumble instantly.

After several hours scattered over a couple of weeks, it was decided to give the Brooks B-17 leather saddle a chance. None of my bikes has ever had a comfortable saddle. After market or OEM did not matter, none were comfortable. The research all said that the Brooks saddles were the most comfortable of them all AFTER THEY WERE BROKEN IN. Little did my mind understand what that means. Let me suggest that the rock hard would be overly optimistic for the softness of that leather.

The literature that came with it tells of the treatment needed. Expensive oils of all sorts of were recommended. Lots of them from animals and can turn rancid and stink after a time. No Thanks. One well known “expert” used 30W motor oil. When it was all said and done my choice was simple baby oil. It is applied to the rough side and allowed to soak through to the outside hard side. Before the oil was applied, my hands did not have enough strength to bend any part of the saddle.

Here we have a picture after the oiling was started. The lighter color is the color of the saddle on arrival. The greasy finger print shows what the final color will be.
The saddle adsorbed a LOT of baby oil. It was painted on with a brush slowly to prevent run off of the oil. Actually the leather absorbed it very fast. About an ounce of oil was used on the bottom side.
After the oil had set for an hour or so, the leather was pliable enough that my hands could just barely flex some of it. Several “tools” were used to work on flexing the leather to cut down on the riding time to “break it in”. Approximately four hours were spent last night working on this saddle. My thought was that it better be worth it!!!!!
Here the saddle is mounted on Sturdy Steed. You can see the dark areas where the oil has finished penetrating the leather. As the hours go by the rest of the saddle should turn the darker color also. The top of the saddle where it fits to your body is very hard surfaced and slick. What that would be like to ride was a question in my mind.

This morning the new saddle was fitted to Sturdy Steed.
Some guess work adjustments were done and a test ride taken. The first thing that happened is my whole body nearly slid off the saddle to the back of the bike with the first peddle stroke. WOW that saddle is slick. During the next twenty minutes or so, several adjustments were made to the position, tilt and height of the new saddle. It has proven to be very sensitive to all the adjustments. After the saddle was fairly adjusted, a dowel was used to roll back and forth on the seating portion of the saddle to help soften it some more.

Finally it was time to take “the rock” for a ride to return a library book. This is an eight mile round trip. Several things had to be adjusted as the ride moved along the highway. A few good points were noted. Being smaller over all is very good. Having a short thin snout is wonderful. My thigh size has always been large and this saddle does not rub the insides of my thighs. The slick seating surface allows me to turn to look behind me very easily. It also allows me to use my body movements to control the bike much better. Over all it is by far the best saddle that any of my bikes have ever had as far as controlling the bike is concerned.

Comfort wise it is already as good as any that has ever been under me. The leather certainly is a wonderful surface for a bike seat. By the time Sturdy was on the way back from the library, the saddle was feeling very good. It is not yet what could be called comfortable. However they difference in bike handling for equal comfort has made it a valuable asset in my opinion.

While watching the end of a show on TV, an ad came up for some stuff. The advertiser bragged they would match any advertised price. But in small print at the bottom of the screen was the statement “except for Wal-Mart”. That tells me where my shopping needs to be done!!!

With a great new saddle on Sturdy, it looks like there will be more time of Sturdy helping me to try to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Shrimp Time

Sinton, Texas

All the sand in the foreground of the next picture was covered two days ago by the excessively high tides.


Today it looks like the tides are only about a foot over normal. Maybe by Monday the flooding will be over and Sneaky can go out chasing redfish. Here is one of the boats from Key Allegro coming in from running around in the bay. This certainly nice “winter weather”.


Speaking of winter weather, the Winter Texans are pouring into the area early due to the ice and snow up north. Most of them are pretty nice but reserved. If you start with a greeting they will normally jump right in. But for the first month or so, depending if they have wintered in Texas before, you have to start the visit.

Here is a couple of winter Texans out getting acquainted with the area. They were still a little reserved and did not even respond to a friendly “HOWDY” and a wave as they walked close by me. Give’em a couple of weeks and they will be real folks by then. Put a few dozen well prepared shrimp in them and they will come around even sooner.
Speaking of shrimp, today the China A buffet was severely devastated by an old fat man eating shrimp as fast as they could cook it. In fact they had to call for a few more truck loads of fresh shrimp by the time he left.

My new bicycle seat came in today. It is a Brooks B17 model. Tomorrow some leather treatment stuff needs to be purchased and the break-in started. If a store in town does not have it then a trip to Corpus will be required.

Hmmm A trip to Corpus is usually a good way to try to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

All Together Now

Sinton, Texas

What to do today???? A chance opening of the coat closet next to the bed in the Castle settled it.
It has been needing shelves for two years at least and today is the day, maybe. This would likely be a longer shopping trip, so the Truck was filled with diesel at $2.549 here in Sinton. That is the best price any where around here. The nearest place with a WSC (Wal-Mart Super Center) and a building supply store is at Five Points north of Corpus.

Naturally there had to be a rush hour traffic jam to slow up down for a little while. Here is the jamming device.
That sucker probably jammed up the intersection for all of ten seconds. That is the worst traffic jam in all my times staying here in Sinton. That’s terrible don’t you think.

Anyway after that major holdup, it was clear sailing at fifty five mph all the way to the Home Depot. It seemed like it was taking forever to decide what to use in the closet. And it was, especially when the decision was made that nothing at that store fit.

Ok. Around the corner to the WSC to check out what they might have to take care of the closet. Several things were considered and a couple were even put into my basket. Back in a corner was some shelves. After considerable measuring and wandering, a set was chosen and placed in my basket. The previous items were returned to their home hangers.

Since the Team was at WSC, some groceries might as well be picked up. Final check out was about forty dollars including the shelves. The trip back home went very smoothly at fifty-five mph again. These high speed highways are great.

Now to install the shelves.
A little messing around with the pieces brought the sudden realization that the shelves would have to be installed in place inside the closet. Ut Oh. The box was opened and guess what, no hardware to put the shelves together.

That turned out good as it worked out, the hardware that was supposed to be with the shelves would not have worked any way. The decision was made to use some angle shelf brackets. Another trip to a store, but at least this one was the Ace Hardware place in town. In twenty minutes the brackets were back in the Castle.

Careful preparation was done and the drilling started. Here is a picture of the angle brackets being installed on one side of the shelves.

After all the holes were drilled and the brackets assembled as much as possible, it was time for assembly inside the closet. It was very difficult with tri-focal lens glasses. It was difficult with my finger joints hurting when the screw driver had to be turned. But the really hard part was all the contortions required to get in positions to get my arms and head into the closet at the same time. By the time the devil was assembled, it had taken nearly an hour to screw in twelve small screws. At least it was a total success, but right then some Ibuprofen is needed.
By the time the closet was finished it was after four pm. Maybe a walk to get some kinks out of my bones would be good. Luella caught me and we talked for a bit. Then I went in her golf cart toward her house. From there the plan was to walk back the ¼ mile.

Almost there, we stopped to visit a nice fellow. In a few minutes the mass organized attack of the mosquito army at sunset started. With a quick goodbye, the quick hurry back to the Castle and the safety of the interior was enacted. There is only a dozen or so new bites on my body.

Be assured that fighting mosquitoes is not the right way to try to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.