June 5, 2013 – Wednesday

47 degrees/calm/rain – drizzle

Pentoga Road

I didn’t sleep well last night. It appears my heart has migrated south into my left knee keeping me from getting keeping any sleep. I just can’t get comfortable. Hopefully, the orthopedic doctor I have an appointment with tomorrow will have a remedy. At this juncture, I don’t care what has to be done, let’s just do something so I can get on with life, hiking, and being active. I do a poor slug imitation.

I don’t mind my chronological age. In a few days, I’ll be sixty-one. In fact, I like being sixty-one and anticipate feeling the same way should I live to be a hundred. What I don’t enjoy is that my body thinks it’s okay that its parts are wearing out.

Wrong Bucko.

I’m going to have a brain to body discussion in the near future and inform the torso and all extremities that they have at least another thirty years of activity left. After that, I’m open to negotiation… somewhat.

I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I remain busy, I’m not a couch potato, I take a shower every evening and brush my teeth every morning. I keep my mind active with teaching and researching all sorts of worthless projects… geesh, where’s the reward for healthy living?

After reading the above, I think I’ll just slap myself and tell me to, “man up and deal with it.” There, that’s better. Onto page two.

The guys arrived here yesterday morning and spent a couple of hours grading the gravel in the garage and doing whatever it is concrete guys do before pouring commences.

The concrete truck, driven by my newest BFF, Charlie, pulled into the drive around 1 and the fun began. I watched the six-bag, creamy, cement pour down the chute and was just as fascinated as I was fifty-five years ago, the first time I watched a truck unload concrete. The crew was a well-coordinated team, shoveling, troweling, brushing and flossing.

Mark, the owner, pronounced that phase of the cement pouring complete. He reached up to pull the garage door down when the bottom came off in his hand. It appears I not only needed a new floor, but also an overhead door.

The door is rotten. I pieced it back together and gently lowered it to the ground. I was too tired to deal with any crisis.

Sargie and I priced garage doors on the internet last night. Insulated or uninsulated? Windows? Panels or flat? It appears one can spend anywhere between $189 and $1,000 on 9 ft. garage doors. Having one installed seems to add another $400 worth of salt to the wound.

Yooper Brother Mark and Sheri stopped out for a bit last night and brought the best rhubarb dessert Sargie and I have ever tasted. Sheri’s skills in the kitchen are well known and she outdid herself making the rhubarb she picked the other night into one of the most delectable desserts I’ve had in years. We talked and laughed and before they left, Mark gave me some ideas for building the shop into the barn later this summer.

If there is a sleepy time hell, I lived it during the nighttime hours. I tossed and turned and more than once, threw my left leg over Sargie in an attempt to relieve the throbbing and pain. I started to get up for the day at 4 AM and after rolling over to kiss Sargie, I remember thinking how soft her hair was and how nice it smelled. I laid my head down beside hers for just a minute.

The alarm woke us two hours later. Try as I may, I couldn’t force myself from bed. I simply wanted to sleep. Sargie told me to stay where I was, that there was no need for me to get up.

I tried to fall back into the deep slumber from which I’d been awakened, but the throbbing heartbeat in my knee insisted I get up for the day. So, here I am.

11:29 AM

Whew, it’s raining outside. I just fixed the garage door, probably more of a permanent fix (meaning it might last until I have the time/money to purchase a new one later this summer) than intended. Amazing what a bit of metal sheeting, a 1x6, a couple of unused small award plaques, and some one-inch screw-nails can do. I also adjusted the track and tension and honestly, the garage door hasn’t worked this good since I bought the place several years ago.

I saw where the door was patched sometime in the past. The previous owner did a good job. I never noticed until now. Hopefully, with a coat of white paint, we can get by for a few months, maybe until next fall.

A coat of white paint, a bit of caulk... it ought to last until September.

The crew should be arriving fairly soon to cut the garage floor. They’ll saw the huge slab in half length and width-wise so if it should heave in the future, the smaller slab will temporarily shift rather than cracking and ruining the entire floor.

Sargie’s went into work early. Her new computer is supposed to arrive today and she should have all evening to play with that.

I’m going to try to go to bed somewhat early tonight and hopefully, will get some sleep. I’m to be at the hospital in Iron Mountain at 8:30 in the morning for x-rays and at the orthopedic doctor’s office at 9:30. I’ll be ready. After all, a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…