Eh

 Yeah, I took a few days off last week.  Though it only kinda maybe seems like it.

Still, I got some hikes in with my new fivefingers KSO Treks which work great for hiking because they have real tread on them and a bit more cushioning.  

I went up to the nice theatre to see Transformers 3 in 3D.  We SO need a nice theatre like that which is closer than the roughly 1.5hrs it takes to get there from our place.  I was in a "normal" theatre, not the imax one this time, but really?  I’m not positive I’d know the difference.  Even the normal theatres at this place are huge stadium seating with nice tall back reclining chairs and the screen is almost as big as the imax screen and nice and clear.  It just sucks so bad that our little local place charges more for a teeny theatre with small, painful seats, small screen, stickier floor and what not.

I’ve had random thoughts of attempting to set up my own drive-in theatre in the yard which would be more of a sit-in theatre and then inviting family or maybe even some neighbors.  I like the concept, but I’m not so sure about the reality.

That somewhat ties into the fact that I’ve been wanting to use the gazebo more for years(like since we got the house 3.5 years ago) and we’ve really never used it.  and now Sara’s started a bonfire place near it to burn up some brush and she’s been cooking chicken and dogs and smores on it and we’ve eaten at the fire and in the gazebo a few times.  The concept is nice, but the reality is that the dang bugs drive me (and Shadow) crazy.  It’s slightly better in the gazebo, but even if I get a bit where I’m not feeling so buggy, I look down and shadow is just covered in hundreds of gnats on her underside and legs.  This bothers me.  I generally dislike bugs a lot when they’re bothering me.  I lit the big citronella torch in the gazebo, but I’m not sure it really helps all that much, especially down at ground level where Shadow is.

So the reality of the outdoor theatre may be that it would just bother me anyway.  Then again, I could set up the screen somewhere in front of the deck maybe.  The deck usually isn’t that bad buggy wise.

Oh, and Transformers 3 was actually better than I was thinking.  Though as much as I want to like the new transformers(like new as in since the live action movies started) I just can’t.  Yeah, they look cool, but they’re just… Too much…  I liked the more plain original versions.  Though for that matter, half of my problem is the fact that I can’t tell who anyone is.  With the exception of Optimus and Bumblebee, I see vehicles moving around and I don’t realize they are characters, and when transformed I have no idea who anyone is, ESPECIALLY the decepticons who seem to all look near identical and grey…

But yeah, the movie was actually pretty good.

And as far as movies go the one that’s still on my radar is Cowboys and Aliens.  I am sure I will be let down, the trailers are already making me worry a bit more.  But I still have high hopes that it will just be cool(at least to me).

 

What else? I dunno…

We went over to my aunt/uncle’s Sat night to see fireworks.  It was summerfest in a nearby town and they live on top of a hill so can literally see fireworks almost 360 degrees around on the 4th, and there was a good show Sat night even if they were about 4 miles away(judging by the roughly 30 second sight to sound delay).  They had quite a party up there.  Wish we’d gotten there earlier but Sara didn’t think we should and then she was playing outside to boot.

 

Monday sucked ass mostly.  It got up to about 90F.  Sara was tired and stayed home and we pretty much just laid around in front of fans and watched tv and ate for the day.  Blech.  it almost made it down to 70F Monday night.  It was hot again yesterday but not as bad.

I also drove the bug yesterday.  Haven’t done that as much lately.  Much like my mood, it’s kind of stalled.  Also largely because mechanic Mike hasn’t seemed to have time to do anything.  It’s making me question that I should just start whacking at it myself and get it moving, but for one, welding is not my strong suit.  I don’t have that much experience.  For Two, most of the stuff on the bug is rusty and that’s difficult for even experienced welders to get stuff to attach and not just disintegrate, let alone for me to try.  And most importantly, the fact that most of this stuff is more of the safety variety, so if I’m going to do it, I’d rather it be done to a level where I think there’s a chance it wouldn’t just all break off in a crash, which would mean that I might survive it.  In other words, if I did crash, I think I would stand a better chance of living if the seat stayed bolted to the bug and the seatbelts stayed attached to the bug to hold me in the seat.  Though at the moment just sitting in a loose seat in there is pretty minimal on safety anyway.

Anyway, bug actually acted up a bit yesterday which is actually surprising from my view as to how much it HASN’T acted up in the past.

During the morning trip I used the turn signal a couple times and then they stopped working.  Hmm, must have blown a fuse or something…  And then right before reaching the farm the engine died for about a second.  ok…  Got to the farm and replaced the fuse with a bigger one(I’m just kinda rough guesstimating the ratings)  It pretty instantly fried.  Hmm, apparently I have a short somewhere.  I need to check on that.

Then, most impressive was the trip home.  I left the farm, and then after crossing the road, right in front of a couple houses and 3 people standing outside I somehow managed to(as best I can tell) slip my foot off the clutch which resulted in it flinging itself back towards me, all the way to the floor.  Which wouldn’t have been all that bad in itself, I got the pedal back up, but then realized the pedal didn’t seem to be attached.  So I shut it off there in front of everyone for a second, reached to the clutch, and then realized it was probably disconnected up front, which would be at least a minor pain to reconnect, especially in front of everyone.  Then I realized I’ve been driving this thing with a clutch that doesn’t really release much anyway.  So who needs it?!  I just through it into first gear, started it up and off we went.  I actually think I shifted better without even trying to use the clutch pedal.  It just meant that I’d have to start and stop the engine if I needed to stop.  But nicely on my chosen route, I didn’t need to stop, so I just went on until I got home.

And today I drove the Prius since i bought tickets for pulled pork dinners and those would be considerably difficult to transport on the bike.

Oh, and work on the turbines is FLYING along…  I went to go hike part of the finger lakes trail Friday and I passed numerous dump trucks and parts of the towers and they’ve widened roads and corners.  And then where I was going to park I decided I was too scared to.  Big dump trucks just flying past and not much shoulder to pull off on.  So I went

around to the other end of this path and that was actually better anyway since it started out uphill and not vice-versa.  

It’s been a bit spooky seeing the cranes and small preliminary towers going up over near my parents.  I did not realize just how close they would be.  And then yesterday I came up the hill on the bike and "woah!"  There are now two new big permanent white towers in place that I am pretty sure were not there as of last Friday…  It’s gonna be freaky when the turbines get up on top and then those 100 foot blades go up in place…

 

There’s a rally up in NH/ME this weekend I’d like to go to, but…  Eh, I just can’t really see doing the 10hr drive each way for it…

 

ANYWAY….  Hope you are all having a LOVELY time!!  (: