Sargie surprised me with our wedding picture. Seems we have pictures of everyone else hanging in the house, but after all these years, had yet to have one of just us.
(The picture is straight, the camera's crooked.)

January 11, 2020 - Saturday morning
10 degrees/calm winds/partly cloudy

Pentoga Road

Friday was an almost picture perfect day. There was nary a cloud in the sky and the temperatures were in the 20's with just enough breeze to keep the ticks and mosquitoes at bay.

Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother's house we go...
Pentoga Road early Friday morning

I'd started a fire in the outdoor wood furnace before leaving for my walk and it was warm and inviting by the time I returned home. It was time to get to work.

We inherited Mom's card holder after her passing. It's a simple device, similar to a tray that holds Scrabble letters, only with multiple grooved rows to accommodate cards. 

Grady has begun playing cards and does quite well with one exception, his little hands have a difficult time holding more than just a few at a time.

For sentimental reasons, I didn't want to give him Mom's, at least not yet, so I made him his very own, beefed up, five year-old proof, card holder Friday morning. 

Hambone will soon be dealing and shuffling with the best of them.

It was time to install the new cell booster. The instructions looked simple; I'd face the outdoor antenna towards the closest tower, run the cable, power up the unit and interior antenna and we'd in business.

The first task was to climb onto a very slippery metal roof over the garage.

I remember when I used to crawl all over the roof of any structure without a thought. Not any more. I don't like heights, especially those that are snow covered and slippery. After last year's twelve foot tumble from the barn roof, I'm especially leery of any height over six inches.

I needed to straighten the pole onto which the tv antenna is fastened. It was blown to one side during the last wind/snow storm at Thanksgiving.

Using an old car axle, I managed to pry the thing halfway straight. It was time to fasten the cellular antenna.

What? No signal?

How about now?

Now?

Better?

What the heck?

&*%))#^%(^!!!!!!!

Sargie and I worked all day trying to find a signal with little to be had. The ads say if we can get any signal at all without the booster, that it will amplify that and we'll be soooo happy. 

For what the unit cost, we'd better be.

It was up and down the ladder, around the outside of the house, up and down the inside steps, in and out of the doors. With each step, our normally pleasant and lilting personalities became less so.

How about now?

Now?

I SAID NOW????

I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!!

^^&*$@%!@$$( !!!!!!

Sargie and I seldom disagree nor do we raise our voices to each other... until yesterday. I'm not sure we were yelling to be heard through the walls of the house or out of frustration.

Frustration turned to (as Sargie says) being snippy.

I was tired of crawling up and down the ladder. She was sick of standing around, freezing to death, reading the signal meter as I carried the antenna in and out of the house, dragging sixty feet of cable behind, allowing very cold air to pour in through open doors, and tracking snow everywhere. 

Once, I thought I had a signal and called Mississippi Brother Garry as a test. He said he could hear me, but my voice wasn't the best. I sighed and told him we were so tired of trying to get everything to work, plus, Sargie was ready to throttle me for a lousy attitude that was growing worse by the minute.

In a big brotherly manner, he suggested we quit and go to town and get Sargie's Coke.

Now there's the reason why Mississippi Brother Garry and Miss Jody have been married for (going on) sixty years! I bet they haven't disagreed on anything for forty or fifty years. The boy has this marriage thing down to a science.

We took his advice, quit, and drove to town.

I talked to the young girl at the Verizon store and not knowing a thing about exterior antennas, told me that her former boss once said that it takes some effort to find the exact spot for good cell phone reception. I thanked her, we got Sargie's Coke, took a short drive, and came back home.

Ready to call the manufacturer, I was reading a troubleshooting feature online last night when I saw that the exterior and interior antennas should be at least twenty to twenty five feet apart. 

Hmmm.

With the cable running under the front room window, I stretched the thick wire across the dining room floor, in front of the couch, moved the booster to the floor alongside the end table, relocated the interior antenna to in front of the tv, plugged it all in, and....



BOOM!

FIVE BARS AND LTE TO BOOT!

It was a happy Tommy P who climbed the steps to bed last night. It was a happier Sargie M who watched Tommy P go to bed. Sargie M will, no doubt, be filled with gladness and joy when Tommy P reroutes the cable and cleans all the mess that was made yesterday in the name of cell phone reception.

So, we're in business, just like big city people who expect their cellular magic to automatically come booming into their homes. 

I think Sargie will be much happier when I get the equipment and cords off the floor and hidden well away.

Sargie has a funeral to attend in Foster City this morning. Her brother Steve, who is also attending the funeral, and his bride, Bonnie, are hosting a post holiday family party at their home in Vulcan this afternoon. Sargie's going to ride with Steve after the funeral. I'll drive Sargie to Foster City this morning, come home for a few hours, then meet her at Steve and Bonnie's this afternoon.

(Don't feel bad if you need a road map to follow everything in the above paragraph. I do.)

It's time to strap on the hikers and get a quick three miles under my feet before it's time to drive Sargie to ... wait, where am I taking her... oh, yeah, to Foster City.

After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...