Whole Lotta Updating
2008-11-17, 10:37 p.m.

Day 1548 Whole Lotta Updating

Gah! Still have that meme from Q to do, need to update the deck porch status, ought to report on Thursday�s bowling, have a little to share on the latest antics of my favorite alcoholic, AND I am also happy to report that my personal deer season is complete.

I�ll spare you the picture, but let it suffice to say that I managed to get a very nice buck on Sunday, the second day of the season. One shot, clean job. Worst part was getting him out of the woods. Pretty long haul. Glad Zach was there to help. We actually had to go a little further than we did last year when we dragged his deer out.

For the record, Saturday was the worst opening day I remember. I didn�t get out till 2pm (more on that story line in a minute), but that was the first moment all day long when it wasn�t pouring down rain. I only stayed out a couple of hours. Went to my normal stand, sat for a bit, then decided to take a little tour. On property next to where I hunt I found 3 new stands, all covering a nice little 5 acre patch of evergreens that I still think makes for an excellent bedding area for deer.

I was a little dismayed at finding these stands. Besides keeping a bedding area covered, they also covered the easy access to the only open fields within a mile. The only real good news was that my stands are deeper in the woods along a natural traffic funnel. I�d stand a good chance of seeing any deer coming from deeper in the woods before they made it to the open fields. Besides � I always see deer when in these stands. Not a lot � but they�re a little more relaxed being deeper in the woods and we get presented with some nice quality opportunities (for ambushing their tasty little behinds).

Sunday�s opportunity came about because Zach�s stand broke. Support beam separated from the tree. That left him dangling on two of the three trees we�re using for support. After a couple hours, he decided to get down & walk the area. He traveled in very big circle. About half way around he noticed a bouncing white tail through the brush & trees. He managed to keep the deer between him & me, eventually working the deer within 100 ft of my stand (making good use of that natural traffic lane). We were trading text messages off & on during his trek. The last one I got from him was �That was u� � not a question meaning he definitely heard my shot. He also saw the deer take off like a rocket immediately after. He didn�t travel too far, just in a direction opposite civilization. Now I need to find a processor. Really don�t have the time to do up my own this year.

Now for a chronologically linear accounting of time since, what � Thursday?

Bowling was fine. Only 2 splits this week (missed them both) and only 3 opens overall. Still, a serious lack of any consecutive strikes (one four bagger, one double) kept my total under 600. Beat average for the night, but it felt like a real struggle.

Thursday was also Eric�s birthday. For his birthday dinner, he wanted to hit up the Outback Steak House. We invited Zach & Jill, Kelly (E�s gf) was in town and I also invited both of my brothers and their wives, but only Lefty and Mrs. Lefty were able to make it. Oh. My mom showed up at bowling to watch, so she was a late addition to the party as well. Being a Jehoovers Witless she doesn�t celebrate much of anything outside the cult, but seeing as this was all a rather impromptu gathering, she went along for the ride.

Now Cindy knew we were taking Eric out to dinner. She knew about everyone that was coming along except my mom. The kids were heading from the bowling alley straight to the Outback. Lefty had to go home and pick up the missus. And even though Cindy knew our dinner plans, Eric suggested that maybe I call home and see if maybe she needed a ride to the restaurant, �to cut down on the number of cars we were taking there�. That is to say that Eric was certain she�d been drinking when he left the house and felt that she wasn�t fit to drive on her own.

So I called home when we were done. (Team took all 8 points too � from a team well u in the standings. Maybe we�re waking up finally.) Talked to Cindy. She allowed that yeah, it was a good idea if we rode together. So I headed home (south), picked her up, then went to the restaurant (north, past the bowling alley). It was probably a good thing I picked her up. Much as it felt like enabling her a little bit, it was best to keep her off the roads at that point.

At the restaurant, she was surprised to see my mom there. She was all �you didn�t tell me she was coming!� when in fact, it was only settled an hour or so before we got there. Besides, is it like she�d have drank any less before hand? She knew who all else would be there.

The only smart thing she did all night was to drink nothing but water. She and my mom were the only ones not drinking something with alcohol in it. I don�t think anyone was fooled either. But, apparently getting her drink on was more important than attending her son�s birthday dinner while sober. Point taken.

Friday I took the day off. Intended to get in a little early workout, head out to the woods and check my stands, get home & clean up some, then do little shopping and have lunch with a friend before returning back home. Got to everything but that lunch date. Eric was home from work, sick. There was potential for possibly driving him to a doctor (slim) and also the potential for having to explain an extended absence when I could be working on the laundry room. Number 2 there was more of an issue.

So I stayed home and played remodeler some more. What really busted my nuts was Cindy calling from work saying she was chaperoning a soccer game Saturday. In Olean or something like that � a 2 hour bus ride away. That in itself wasn�t so bad. What really sucked was that the bus was leaving at 7:30am. We were due to have furniture delivered (for the as-yet-unfinished-room formerly known as the family room) sometime between 8 and 12. That in itself wasn�t so bad. What really sucked was that Saturday was the opening day of gun season for deer and I had grand designs of hanging out in a tree all day. Which I couldn�t do because I had to be home to receive furniture because Cindy was off chaperoning a game. (At least the game was early and she�d be sober!!)

To further complicate things, (as if we needed THAT), we were also getting our wedding gift to the kids delivered. To their apartment, from the same place that was delivering our stuff. But the kids were down visiting Jill�s parents so we (now I) were going to cover it for them.

All I can say is I am SSSOOOOOooooo happy Saturday was just miserable weather wise. Rained all night, rained all morning. Absolutely nothing was dry. Only the most dedicated hunters would have been out. I may have attempted it for a bit, but the damage that can be done to a fire arm by all that water . . . ugh. No thanks.

The real pisser? Gopt a call from Cindy about 7:30 Saturday morning. All but 12 kids bailed on the trip top Olean (their boys soccer team was in the state semi-finals) and they only needed 1 chaperone not 2. Since Cindy was a last minute fill in and the other gal had signed up to go initially, Cindy was coming home. She was shocked that I sounded rather disappointed when she told me.

In the end, all the furniture was delivered just fine. I managed to get out hunting for a bit in the afternoon. Also managed to work on the laundry room some more in the evening.

The deck dudes are making nice progress. As of Friday afternoon, they had about � the floor in place. If they work today (Monday), they ought to have the floor complete and maybe get started on the walls. But it�s snowing here today with more expected tonight & tomorrow. Areas downwind of Lake Erie got well over a foot last night, we�re expected to get up to a foot by tomorrow night.

Which reminds me. I was inspired this morning. For the winter, I thought about instituting my own blogger-thon thingie. I�d call it the NooYoSnoBlo. The idea would be to do a blog entry the day after it snows for the duration of the winter. It�d be nice to include the �official� accumulation of snow for the previous day too.

For instance, yesterday it spit snow for a bit. No accumulation for us, might officially be called a �trace�. However, that snowfall would have compelled me to do an entry today. Of course, it snowed a bit today too, so I need to do an entry tomorrow.

If it doesn�t snow, I could still do an entry. It just if it DOES snow, I gotta do one. Anyone else in a snow belt is invited to come along for the ride. Anyone. Bueller?

Q done tagged me with a meme thing. Here we go: (I don�t think she�s in a snow belt city)

Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people & posts their names, then goes to their blog & leaves them a comment letting them know that they have been tagged & asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you've answered the questions on your blog.

10 YEARS AGO I...
1. Still lived in the same house I�m in now
2. Finished nite school to get my BSEE
3. Weighed 50lbs more than I do now
4. Hadn�t fully accepted how someone�s alcoholism was affecting my family
5. Wasn�t fretting turning 40.

5 THINGS ON TODAY'S TO-DO LIST
1. Work
2. Get deer to butcher.
3. Get some more drywall work done.
4. Gripe at Q for tagging me.
5. Watch Bills game!

5 THINGS I WOULD DO IF I WERE A MILLIONAIRE
1. Hire contractors to finish a project or three
2. Buy a some property for hunting in the next county south
3. Get me a Jetta TDI
4. Invite all my blog buds up to break in the new deck next spring
5. Piss off my boss one last time.
5 PLACES I HAVE LIVED
1. Rochester, NY
2. San Antonio, TX (Ft. Sam Houston).
3. Ft. Lewis, Wa
4. Scottsville, NY
5. Gates, NY

5 JOBS I'VE HAD
1. mom n pop store stocker/cashier/beer keg wrangler
2. hotel maintenance dude
3. med lab tech (Army)
4. QA technician
5. professional geek (Electrical engineer)
I'll tag :
Anyone crazy enough to try it.

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