Well, Chanters! It's Monday (or will be when this is published, so if the world gets destroyed between the time I'm writing this and then...well...Let's blame it on Beans! Yeah, THAT's the ticket!!!)
In ANY case, it's Springtime in Texas which means the temperature oscillates between freezing, then shorts and t-shirts, then afternoon downpours that would make Noah worried. Had a hail warning last night as I went to bed. The weather guessers said hail up to baseball size was possible. Unfortunately, the "Clear the stuff you didn't want to unpack after moving into the new house out of the garage" has been on hold for quite some time now. Fortunately, the weather guessers were wrong. Which is a double plus good thing, because even if we'd cleaned the garage, it's only a two car space.
That's right, Beans, MBD and MG are visiting and since her car is less than a couple of months old, my truck was almost certain to come in third in the in garage parking lottery.
Just sayin'
So, are MBD and MG visiting for any specific reason, juvat? Why yes, Sarge and thanks for asking as that is the subject of the post.
Yes, I'm desperate for one this week.
I believe I've mentioned before that MBD is "with child". About 4 months worth. Starting to show a little, but seems "Morning Sickness" starts around that time. Obviously, I'm no expert on the phenomenon, but having watched Mrs. J go through it twice and now MBD going through a return bout, I know enough to tread softly and answer "Yes, Dear" at every request.
 |
| Mom, Daughter and Grandchild #3 to be |
That's worked well so far.
But, I've mentioned that MBD and The Rev live in College Station in a large house his family owns. While the majority of the time, it's just the three of them there, that changes on certain weekends in the fall. Seems Aggie Football Fans put the "FAN" in fanatic. The house opens up for family and friends coming to watch the game. While the Football season is over for this year, another big event is happening next weekend. The Rev's only sister is getting married in College Station this coming Saturday. The house will be ground zero.
 |
| Gathering of the Clan in the College Station House |
MBD has, I think, wisely decided that the chaos of the event will be extremely stressful for her and Grandchild #3 (gender as yet unknown, so Official Blog Callsign is still TBD). So, she has ceded her housekeeping responsibilities to The Rev and transported herself, MG and future grandchild to the relative quiet of Rancho Juvat. The 4.5 of us will travel to the wedding the morning thereof.
As I said, a wise campaign plan.
 |
| MG trying on her dress for the wedding. Looks pretty good! |
And, Mrs. J and I get to spend time with them. So...Win/Win!
The major drawback to that napping thing is, my office is MG's bedroom and at this point, I've been kicked out so she can have her nap, which shortens the amount of time I have to blather on about some subject or another. Ah well!
Left with nothing better to do on my Sunday afternoon, I think I will follow her lead and engage in nappage myself.
Yeah! I'm enjoying this Grandpa gig! A lot!
Peace out, Y'all!
It's a rough life.....nappage yet someone has to do it. Good of you to volunteer juvat............ :)
ReplyDeleteNylon,
DeleteAnd I'm JUST the man to do it! ;-)
Thanks
Big doings! Better nap while you can!
ReplyDeleteSarge,
DeleteTempus Fugit! Seize the opportunity! Grab for the gold ring!
I'm sure there are other bon mots out there, but...MG is up and about, so the Grandpa thing is in gear.
Thanks.
Sounds like an excellent swap, the visit for your office space. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteTHBB,
DeleteYep, I'm good with it. Think I came out WELL ahead.
Although with Miss Rachel on the TV, I'm not sure my Brain isn't being sucked out my ears!
;-)
Thanks
Any chance of putting up a pole barn type garage/shop/storage on your place? I googled "pole barn kits texas" and ads came up. Be a good place to park all your vehicles during the next "hail event" (golf ball, base ball or soft ball sized will mean less if the vehicles are out of the weather).
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the family time!
Rob,
DeleteGot to run that idea across the VP-Finance and the President of the Company (Same person/two hats), but I think that might be a good one. Even if I clean out the garage, we frequently have other vehicles on the property with no protection. So, thanks for the idea.
Yep. Polebarn is the solution. Keep us updated.
DeleteBeans,
DeleteI don't disagree. Still looking (all day today) and there's either the affordable ones with little protection from the sides or the "less" affordable (less being spelled "un") ones.
The gathering of the clan is great as a way to keep up on extended family; much excitement and exchange of status of family. Always enjoyed meeting mine. Having said that, I find it relaxing to retreat to my little patch of land out in the country to watch my colony of Purple Martins nesting and raising their next generation. Oh, my youngest cat has learned how to pull open drawers, remove most clothing in said drawer, and then has a cozy spot in which to curl up and nap. Sigh...
ReplyDeleteStorms rolled over us early morning a few days ago; one of the ones you always hear about in south central Texas. Continuous lightening (most cloud-to-cloud) with associated thunder, heavy rain, and small hail. That kept us up in case we had to go into immediate "damage control mode" (in the past, busted windows and/or skylights have occurred to multiple folks in this area). Glad to hear the weather remained relatively calm for you and no damage to your truck.
-Barry
Barry,
DeleteHaving family around is quite nice. Especially when the "outliers" are either in a good mood or a different locale. Wile we have a few in that category, there's not that many.
We haven't seen Purple Martins up here, but Mrs. J has a couple of million (slight exaggeration) hummingbird feeders up and filled. Makes me feel at home watching the air to air action going on around them.
Gonna do a little garage re-arranging this morning to make room for MBD's brand new car. Damage to that would weigh heavily on my heart.
Thanks
Juvat, few miles north and east of you around 10pm the hail fell Saturday night...2-3" in diameter but all the rolling stock was under cover, metal roof suffered no dimples, all windows intact. Only damage involved two small garage door windows with one of them having a perfect 3" hail hole in it. Patch of hail stacked up next to the house slab (appx. 3' x,3' x 6") which didn't completely melt till about 3pm Sunday.
ReplyDeleteThe even better news is that we received 3.6" of rain which we really needed. Now leasing the hay field can go forward for this year. One added benefit is that I won't be p'ing and moaning about needing rain for a while.
Note that the annual Warbird Formation Flying Clinic is scheduled at T-82 (Gillespie County International) for the upcoming weekend (28-30 April). T-82 really isn't an international landing facility, although we do have flights originating outside Texas showing up during holidays and deer season, which bring cash into the local economy.
Cletus
Cletus,
DeleteThe rain has been great. Just enough to soak the soil, not enough to flood it. I think over the course of the week, we're probably in the same total rainfall range as you. The grass sure is green!
Looking forward to the flying clinic. Hopefully there'll be some good picture for next week's post. Video also if only to catch the sound of those radials going by.
Thanks
juvat
Having family around is a good thing but it can get a little long in the tooth; then peace and quiet for contemplation are good too. You do have your wonderful workshop you could escape to for peace and quiet, or even napping.
ReplyDeleteThat pole barn idea sounds great to protect vehicles. Make it big enough that guests in your cabins can park there in the event of a prognosticated hail storm. Mrs BillB and I have talked of putting up covers for some vehicles that are parked outside at this time. Wish I had had cover back in May '92 up in Arlington, TX; I stood in my downstairs watching softball size hail stones hit the ground and even bounce up into windows. Only lost a couple of windows, but the roof was badly bruised.
BillB,
DeleteNot sure about napping in the workshop, although I do have a pretty sturdy workbench. And...I have been neglecting paying attention to it lately. For some reason, the projects don't seem to be building themselves. Got to get through the wedding and then...
Going to put some thought into where and what orientation the pole barn should be situated.
While stationed at Moody in Georgia, all us pilot types got told to go look at an F-4 that had flown through a hail filled thunder storm. Holy Mackeral, that jet was screwed up. I don't recall if they fixed the jet or canned it, but it didn't look flyable to me. Gave me a lot of respect for large fluffy white/grey clouds and chased away any thoughts of playing with them.
Thanks
There is the hairy story of William Rankin in "The Man that Rode the Thunder". Engine failure forced him to bail out his F8 Crusader at 47,000 feet over a thunderstorm with the top at 45,000 feet. His parachute opened prematurely at 10,000 feet. Updrafts kept him rising and falling in the thunderstorm for 40 minutes after ejection, amid rain, hail, lightning and violent turbulence.
DeleteDon,
DeleteI think I've heard that story, or was warned about it. It really only took once to enter a thunderstorm and make a vow to myself that I would never knowingly do it again. That and seeing that F-4 all beat up. Fortunately, later in my flying career both the aircraft radars and the ground radars did a better job of keeping one out of the major cells.
Juviat, The book was condensed in Readers Digest that I read long years ago. I remember that the chute would lift him high (tens of thousands of feet) in an updraft, then collapse and streamer until it finally opened again lower down. In rain so heavy that he thought he would be found drowned on dry land in his chute. I suspect you don't want to fly missions on one of the C130 'Hurricane Hunters'.
DeleteDon, yep, that's were I heard it. No, Hurricane Hunters would have been more exciting than I would need.
DeleteForgot to add above that one car was "totaled" by the hail; it looked like someone took a big ball and peen hammer to it. It was still drivable as none of the glass was broken. The other car, an '84 Volvo 240 station wagon was almost untouched.
DeleteI have had to fly through small thunderstorms in a C-130 when in Europe. I did it when flying up through the Berlin corridors where diversion would have ment being forced down to an East German airfield or maybe even shot down over East Germany, which we didn't want to test. One time was being unable to divert because we would violate Swiss airspace; a no-no for brown and green (combat) aircraft. The other direction were even worse thunderstorms.
BillB,
DeleteStarted looking into the PoleBarn thing. First place I looked said it would cost $138,000. That took a lot of wind out of my sail, until I looked further and it basically was a garage attached to a pole barn house. Oh!
I also cleaned out one side of the garage (Ok, shoveled all the caca to one side), so the expensive vehicle is protected at this point. The fence line between my workshop and the gate to the property is 36', so I think I could get 3 cars in there which would take care of the Mrs and I and a Guest's car. LJW could get her car in the carport at our old house (also on the property). That was a much more reasonable cost (~$5K) so might be doable. Gonna have to talk to my private banker, AKA you know who. Weather reports still are forecasting severe weather for the week. We'll see.
Kicked out of your office so she can nap? Methinks you should be allowed in if you agree to nap too!
ReplyDeleteTuna,
DeleteUnfortunately, the floor in my office is not carpeted, much less padded. So, it would have to be the Master Bedroom. Not that that's an issue, but a bit more trafficked. And...Mrs. J is not adamant about not napping. She seems to do it regularly also. One of the bennies of retired living I suppose.
T-82 website is a fun read. Really nice pic of a high base to final.
ReplyDeleteLt Fuzz, didn’t know they hada websight. Gonna have to look into it, thanks.
Deletejuvat
Good for y'all! As you know, they grow up way too quickly!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks OldNFO. Yeah they do, don’t they?
Deletejuvat