Good Morning All. Clear and 64° here on the estate. Yes, it finally rained yesterday, for about 20 minutes. But it left 0.7" in the rain gauge, not really enough to break the drought but probably enough to revive the Bermuda grass. Maybe more coming in the next week or so.
Yesterday was a screwed up day for me. It started with a plumbing issue that took two hours to correct, then the rain at midday stopped my outdoor project, so I gave up and went to the train shed. My project is to upgrade a shallow 200' drainage ditch, so water would flow more easily to the main ditch alongside the road. Over the years, the swelling and subsiding of the ground has caused areas of standing water whenever it actually rains like normal. The process is simple but time-consuming. I have to run the tiller at a shallow depth back and forth over the length, and then remove about 2" of dirt and deposit it somewhere else. Once done, it lasts about 20 years before needing to be done again. This makes the third time that I have had to do it. Just barely got started yesterday before the rain came.
Pool temperature bumped up to 79° by sunset yesterday, so it looks like I will get a few more days of use this week with temperatures in the low 90's all week. A good sunshiny day will always raise the temperature by 2°-3° in a day, now that I have taken the shade umbrellas down.
Regarding dining out - We went to a very nice Mexican place Thursday night. I noticed and pointed out to my wife several tables where people came in, got the chips and salsa and got their glasses of water, all complimentary; and then they got up and left! I hadn't noticed this behavior before, so it struck me as taking advantage of the system. So on our way out, my wife asked the seating hostess about it and she smiled and responded that it happened all of the time, and said "after all, it's free". She added that she knows who many of them are, so she tries to rotate them through several servers so no one gets screwed too badly. It's not the tip, but the loss of an available table that provides room for a real paying customer.
I did spend extra time yesterday out in the train shed. I almost finished the scene at the Perfect Perk Cafe. However all of the pictures are junk! I need to check out the camera to see what is wrong. So please excuse the crappy pictures.
I need to add the trash cans as soon as I find them in the train shed. I have a few more like this one, somewhere.
Tom O - I've always referred to it as climate change, as it has been happening for millions of years.
I sure wish that I had a nearby buddy to solder for me. I am the worlds worst at soldering.
Karl - Couch shopping? Is that where you sit on the couch with a laptop and go shopping?
Sherrel - Good luck to Kate and her situation.
Troy - Never have eaten at a Logan's. None nearby. Have a safe trip to Tampa.
Everyone have a great day
