More Looking Back (Trips)

When we left Our Over Confident Fuzz and His Sensible Sweetie, they were looking for a Hotel on their way to Oklahoma.

They found a pretty nice one.

After a good night's sleep- sans windstorm- they got back on the road.

It seemed that their timing for this part of the trip put them in the middle of tornado season or something.

Maybe it's always tornado season out there.

So...

They dropped the idea of the KOA campground and set up in another hotel.

This was becoming a trend!

Here they had an all too brief visit with family.

But they did get to enjoy some time at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.

They saw the bueatiful glass art of Dale Chihuly.

It would be hard to describe-

So here's a picture! 

Next it was back on the road to visit more family in Texas.

They spent a few days there near Huston and even made it to the zoo.

It was a nice visit.

But then it was back on the road again.

This time for Mammoth Cave National Park, in Kentucky.

They couldn't make that all in one shot, so there was another stop for lodging in Arkansas.

This was another nice quiet little place.

And the next day after just barely touching Missouri, the made it to the park.

That was a nice campground.

It was good to get back in the camping mode again after all those cities and hotels!

Lots of wildlife.

Being retired, The Fuzz and His Sweetie don't have to confine their trips to weekends.  And this was still early June, so kids would mostly still be in school.  So they had the place mostly to themselves.

Of course there were people going into the cave-

As did the Fuzz and His Sweetie.

The next stop was supposed to be in Tennessee, but that didn't really work out all that well.

Since that hadn't worked out, they went on to spend a couple of nights in the North Carolina Mountains at Cheoah Point Campground.

That was pretty nice also.

Amazingly, this is right next to the infamous-

Dragon's Tail motorcycle route.

But the Fuzz didn't have his bike, so he'll have to come again some time.

When The Fuzz stepped into the "facilities", he found this on the door.

Later he googled "Leina Kunst and found this.

Well, Art in a Toilet.

From there it was back to Their Home in the Woods!

That was quite an adventure.

But there were more ahead.

But we'll have to look into those at another time.

More of The Kitchen Project (4)

With the "back splash" and counter top tiled, all that remained was to finish up with the edge of the counter.

This was pretty easy to do, since it was a 2" border.  That way the only tiles needed to be cut would be possibly at one end.

Yeah, well as was mentioned previously, that cutting business can be a problem.

Here's what The Fuzz had to work with.

The big guy with the lever on top was way too big for those 2x2" tiles.  Plus they were a natural stone with an uneven face that made scoring them difficult.

The Fuzz did have this little jewel.

It seemed to be about the right size for this job.

But it also required scoring one side before trying to break it.

What he finally did, was use his trusty Dremel with a diamond cutting wheel to cut a groove...

and then use that thing to snap it.

This procedure had worked - more or less - when doing the back splash, but there were a number of useless broken tiles as a result.  In fact for a while he couldn't get any to break right.

Now with only a very few left to do, he was having no luck at all!

He tried simply cutting all the way through with the diamond wheel - a slow process - but even that didn't work.

The tiles, which were some kind of slate, tended to flake apart.

In the end, after many attempts, That Persistent Fuzz managed to get that last piece cut.

There had been some question about these guys staying in place  without any support.  One YouTube had tacked a board to the counter to support this sort of edge.  But the mastic proved thick enough to hold them without it.

And so, the tiles were finally in place.

The next step would be the grout.

The Kitchen Project (3)

The Fuzz had planned to get started on setting tile the next morning.  But it turned out that the plastic stuff was not firmly glued down.  In spite of the fact that the heavy tile had been laid over it to help keep it down, it was buckled up in the center of each piece.

However, the pieces glued to the edges were fine.

The Fuzz and His Sweetie concluded that perhaps not enough adhesive had been applied.  The fiber backing had soaked up a fair amount.

So...

The plastic was pealed up to be re-glued.

This was not easy to do, but finally gotten up, and re-glued.

Again, heavy weights were used, and much pounding with the mallet.

And then it was back to town for a few hours of heat and fresh air.

On their return, it was discovered that although there was much improvement, there was still a bit of buckling.

But by now The Fuzz and His Sweetie decided to go ahead with setting tile, figuring that the weight of the tile might hold it down until the mastic set.

The wall was done first.  This seemed like the best approach since the counter top wouldn't get messed up this way.

They had chosen these "mosaic" type tiles for the back splash.

Each piece was 12"x12" and made up of 2" square tiles attached to a mesh to hold it all together.

It was easy to cut sections to fit where needed-

As long as they were multiples of 2".

This actually went pretty well.

After the main pieces were up, The Fuzz's Sweetie handled fitting the smaller pieces at the edges, and around the electrical outlets while The Fuzz cut the tiles.

(There will be more said on this later!)

And here is a look at the back splash at this stage.

These larger (12"x24") tiles had been chosen for the actual counter top.  This would reduce the number of grout lines, and provide larger, smoother work surfaces.

And this went down pretty well also...

except for around the sink cut out.

It proved to be impossible for The Fuzz to make clean cuts on the smaller pieces with the tile cutter he had.

He did the best he could, but probably should have gone back to the Home Improvement Store and had them cut these on their special tile cutting saw.

(There will be more on this also.)

But as can be seen, it was late now, and he just wanted to be finished.

More Kitchen Project (2)

The next morning it was time to start on the wall.

The Backer Board needed to be mounted to it.

This meant that the stuff would have to be cut to fit for the "back splash" on the wall behind the counter.

Cutting the stuff was not difficult with the recommended blade in a circular saw.  But the cutouts for the electrical outlets were another story.

First, The Fuzz drilled holes at each corner.  Then he got out the little jigsaw.

This proved to be ineffective with this stuff, and the blade was ruined before the first hole was finished.  The Fuzz finished the cutout with his trusty Dremel tool.

Of course there were still 2 more of these to cut out.

The circular saw would cut the stuff, but was way too big for the job.

What The Resourceful Fuzz finally did was use a combination of very careful plunge cuts with the saw, followed up with the Dremel tool.

With everything finally cut right, more or less, the backer board was screwed to the wall.

Now it was time to prepare the counter top itself.

1st, the sink was removed.

There were a number of ideas kicked around on how to lay the tile on the counter top. The original idea was to remove the whole thing and replace it with plywood.  But it was discovered that this would essentially destroy the flimsy counter.

Some suggested simply sanding it, and then applying mastic and and the tile.  But this was discouraged by the "experts".

What was finally suggested was to use this weird stuff.

It comes on a big roll, and is not cheap.

It would be glued to the counter with contact cement.

The can strongly warned about using this around any flame or spark producing devices.  Oops, this place is heated by a wood heater, definitely containing a flame.

So the fire was extinguished and the windows opened to the freezing cold outside.

Note the coat on The Fuzz's Sweetie as she pounds on this plastic with a rubber mallet in an effort to set the stuff.

With the weird plastic glued down, and the trailer freezing cold and full of fumes, it was time to head into town for a break and some dinner.

Hey There !

Hey There !

The Fuzz was just goofing around with some stuff he saw over the weekend.

Juiced Up

While at the beach,The Fuzz and His Sweetie received a gift of this Wonderful, Brand New Juicer Machine.

With some of the family starting to get into this Juicing thing, and having tasted the product, both The Fuzz and His Sweetie had become interested.  And of course it's HEALTY!  No doubt the flick, "Fat Sick and Nearly Dead" had a bit of influence as well.
Well, even The Fuzz decided to bite the bullet as it were, and so Our Fuzz, His Sweetie, and even the Not So Young Anymore Daughter have embarked on this 10 Day Juice Fast.  So no food, beer or wine for 10 days.
Today is already Day 3, and The Fuzz is still living.  Day 2 was a bit rough for him with a headache and stuff like that.  But today is much better.  And besides, it's 30% over!
But he'll still have a little wait for that burger.

Remember Da’ Bomb?

How about this-


"Chicago high school student facing charges after hot sauce prank"


"A Chicago high school student is facing charges after reportedly spiking a container of marinara sauce with fiery hot sauce, sending three people to the hospital, police said."

Having had some experience with this stuff, The Fuzz can appreciate this!

The Story Behind It

Toward the end of last year, The Fuzz heard the sound of machinery in the woods across the creek.

When he checked it out he found this.
This part of the woods had been logged off.
Now the speculation began. Why did they do this? Was it just for the money? Or was there something more sinister going on.
Of course there were rumors.
Chicken "Farming" is big business these days.  So here is the sad reality behind our latest Mystery Pix.

Those things were some of the huge fans used to keep these poor things from suffocating.
And here's a look at the New View from the same approximate location as above.

Fortunately for The Fuzz and His Sweetie, This operation is downwind.

You've Got Mail

Regular readers of this blog may remember how The Fuzz's weekend was negatively affected by an encounter with a Big Red SUV. Well, the day the Police Report came out, he found a full mailbox.Apparently The Fuzz had become quite popular! At least with the local lawyers. The one with the pretty colors is from a chiropractor.
Well, at least it wasn't bills.
We're glad to report that although there is still a ways to go, The Fuzz is on the mend. God willing, he hopes to be back at work next week. For now, he's doing what he can to get this Sliding Glass Door Project
finished up.

Sam

Renaissance Festival 2010.4

And who could pass on a chance to see that Master of Mayhem, Gypsy Geoff.
He was going to great lengths to stay warm in the cold.

He even got out of this mess!
That Gypsy Geoff is a slick one.

We did wimp out and leave a little early. After we got though the nasty traffic, we took the back roads home, stopping along the way for a bite of super.

And so ended our annual Renaissance Festival trip.

Giant Muffler!

Here it is, The Giant Muffler!

Yup, that's one big muffler.
Every so often they crank that sucker up for a test flight. That muffler is pretty impressive, but there's no question when that thing is on line.
It's back-up power for the water plant.
The Fuzz was just a bit lazy, and this is all he gave us to work with tonight. We think he's a little PO'd about the time change again.
He was wondering just where all this daylight we're saving is going.
He's thinking it's just some new kind of tax, some way those congressmen are getting our daylight.
Well, we'll just have to take it I guess.

R 2

In a reply to one of our recent posts, maria asks..."What are the other R's?" Well, the 2nd is of course, 'riting.
In this The Fuzz has been somewhat less successful. Back in the days, there was a class called Penmanship. As can be seen from the example here, The Fuzz was not what one would consider an Honor Student. In fact, by the time he reached the 7th grade, he was ordered to abandon cursive writing altogether. This was not too big a sacrifice since he couldn't read it himself.
Now it seems to be possible to read his writin' if he draws the letters rather than attempts to write them, as can be seen here.
But there are other aspects to this writin' stuff besides neatness, stuff like grammar and spelling. Now that grammar stuff can get confusing, so well not get into that here. But that spelling business deserves a word or two. It has been said that the English language is 80% phonetic. The obvious problem here is that 20% is not! If this wasn't enough, how does one know if a mystery word is in the 80% or the 20%? I mean, is this fair? And just who decided what's what here?
The fact is, if not for "spell check" you probably couldn't even read this.
So now we've dealt with two of these "R's". One of these days we may get to the next.

The Truth At Last!

Well, it seems that the scoffers were right after all. After a careful and extensive investigation, we have come to the conclusion, that this is, in fact, a mere Flashlight.
It seems that a couple of it's many features involve swiveling heads and a deployable tripod !
Considering a lack of sleep and all this, it is understandable how The Fuzz could have become confused in the dark.
We do thank you all for not panicking in this situation, and we have instructed The Fuzz to be more careful in the future.

The Truth Is Out There

It has come to our attention that there are some who think that this is some kind of scam, some sort of Photoshop creation of a sick mind.
Well, here is an actual, un-retouched photo of this strange phenomenon.

The Fuzz claims this was made from about as close as he felt safe.
But we will get to the bottom of this-
The truth is out there.

What The ......!

Things have settled down a bit, but I've never seen anything like it.

Tour de Big Cities

First, let's congratulate "vi" for correctly identifying that troublesome Mystery Pix.
It is in fact, only a lowly Lego.

But many thanks to all who used the imagination and came up with so many great guesses. We must admit, we did not intend for it to be easy. And so it is time to move on.

On the road again

It seemed like a good time for some visiting. So we loaded up the car and hit the road. We knew this trip would involve Big Cities and that sort of thing, but we can take it. We hit the first Big City, not for a visit, but a stop at the Overseas Market there for some fresh fish and other overseas stuff. Then with our fish on ice in the cooler, it was back on the road.

The Big City has lots of big buildings. This building was across from the Bookstore.
This was where we met up with College Student Son, School Teacher Daughter and that Dangerous Daughter with the battle ax in her bedroom.
They also got to meet that Silly New Puppy.
But note here in this picture, the little sign that caught The Fuzz's Sweetie's eye. That's right, a whole bunch of 10 cent Books. This is the sort of thing that can not be passed up! So we did spend some time here. But it was OK cause they did have "facilities" there. (And since that subject came up, The Fuzz wanted me to mention that this was the only "bathroom" he had ever seen where the walls were covered with books.)
After the bookstore, we headed down the street for some lunch. Said Son had participated in some sort of insane "Doughnut Challenge" where they run 2 miles, eat an even dozen doughnuts and then run the 2 miles back. Fortunately, he had gotten his apatite back by now.
After a tasty snack (although not without complications) we took a stroll around the campus and narrowly avoided being run over by these weirdos hurdling down the hill on some sort of strange contraptions.

We'll have more on this exciting trip later.