September 13, 2012 – 6:48 AM

Pentoga Road

I guess I forgot to upload Tuesday's log! Well, when you are done with this one, read on! Meanwhile...

Naturally, we beg for the rain we’ve received this summer and when we want to paint, what’s it doing? Raining! It’s not to last long and thankfully, the moisture held off until 5 Wednesday afternoon. It was a productive day.

Uncle Terry is completing the rough exterior of the front porch. It is so rough-cut and having been stained dark brown for many years, he finished one gallon yesterday afternoon and we had to drive to town to purchase another. He’s half finished with the second coat and he thinks there’s enough to finish. I hope so. At $35 a gallon, painting one’s house is an expensive proposition.

And then there’s the technique. Uncle Terry applies paint… he gently coats each bristle of his brush and loving and gently allows it to transfer from his brush onto the house. Not me.

I employ the “Three S’s” technique: Slap - Slop – Slather. It’s really very easy. I get a big ol’ gob of paint on my four-inch, made in China, imitation plastic bristle, bought at the Insurance Liquidator store for fifty cents, brush… then I slop that onto the house. It’s necessary to hurriedly slather the goo around before gravity takes hold and it sends long rivulets running onto the siding below or worse yet, down my wrist and onto my arm to eventually drip off my elbow.

It t’ain’t pretty, but it’s an effective way to transfer large amounts of paint from the can onto a house. And that’s what I did on Wednesday.

The largest section, the south side, was finished by noon. I took the time and removed an old satellite dish which necessitated filling the holes that were drilled for the huge lag bolts. After, that needed to be sanded, but in the end, it ended cleanly and looks nice.

I also got the east side of the living room finished. It was a victorious Three S day. If the rain stops, and it is supposed to, I should finish the rest of the house today while Uncle Terry continues to work on the porch. He’s about to finish the rough wood exterior and will begin apply white paint to the railing. We’re hoping to finish in the near future.

Amazing how a bit of paint can change the complexion of a home. Ours is already beginning to look more like a cottage, a small home in the country, a cute, little, ginger bread house, than a standing American flag. With Conservative values and no small amount of patriotism, my love of country ranks only below that of love for God and family/friends, but I disliked living in a home that was totally red, white, and blue. I’m liking what I see.

The owner of the internet company came out yesterday and confirmed what I’ve been saying for the past year, that there is indeed an address conflict that causes my service to disappear for indeterminate amounts of time. When someone else signs in, my service goes away.

In the past, the company sent out a team of flunkies to climb onto the roof, move the antenna a quarter of an inch, then pronounce the problem solved. I’ve maintained the signal has always been strong, it’s an address issue. Yesterday, the owner agreed and said that it would be rectified. Thanking him and watching him drive down the road, the internet promptly quit working for the next hour.

I fixed brat burgers in the rain on the grill last night. We love those as much as, or more, than hamburgers. Johnsonville is the brand. They get two thumbs up from the Sargie and Tom Outdoor Grill Team Taste Testers of the Upper Peninsula.

When service reappeared, I managed to grade over thirty papers last night. Needless to say, after a day of Three S’ing and then grading papers, I fell into a deep sleep and slumbered until the alarm rang this morning.

It’s been raining, but the weatherman promises a nice day with highs in the 60’s. Actually, it just stopped a few minutes ago and looks as though the clouds are breaking up, which is a good thing…

The pest control service called yesterday and said they would make their annual appearance at 9 this morning to spray for critters who like to call our house a home, mainly flies, spiders, earwigs, and other creepy/crawly things that may or may not go boo in the night.  I caught two mice in the trap line last night down the basement and it appears the indoor mouse population might have been arrested… for now.

I received an email from Pastor Tracy at the camp yesterday asking if I might work half days next week to help with registrations and other duties at the camp. Of course, I told her I would. Someone else is going to perform the accounting work. My duties will be much less strain on the eyes.

So with all that being said, I can honestly tell you that these are today’s tales from Pentoga Road…