The Waffle
2006-04-28, 12:35 p.m.

Day 614 Waffling

Bob�s waffling. Last night, he was 989% sure he was ready to move into the Legacy. We reviewed his financials, showed him he had absolutely zero issues there. Went over what to do if unit #207 wasn�t available. Not worried terribly about the moving process � we�re all pretty experienced there. He was set to go look at #207 this afternoon and, if everything was to his liking and it was still available, he was going to apply and put in his deposit.

This morning, at 6am, he wandered downstairs as I was getting ready to head out to the gym. He�s back to wondering about his financial situation. I reminded him that we worked it out so that he�d be paying his rent, buying what little food he�d need, and covering all his other monthly expenses out of just his pension and social security � with plenty of pocket money left over. Then, he�s at an age where his 401K�s automatically disburse money every quarter � to the tune of another $1K plus a month. I also reminded him that he could afford to pay rent at the Legacy for 20+ years using the proceeds of his house sale alone. (yeah, it sold for that much. Property in Florida is going nuts in that area) I think he�s back to being comfortable with the whole moving idea. I hope. I just hate to see him sitting at either my house or Wayne�s house ALL DAY with zippo to do. He won�t even turn on the TV. I think he�s afraid of not being able to operate the remotes and not knowing what channels are worth watching. So he sits there, staring at the walls. He really needs to be with a community of his peers, enjoying life, not staring at the inside of someone�s house 8 hours a day.

Pondapalooza will be back under way this weekend. Weather looks to be perfectly fantabulous. Need to get that liner installed and start filling it. Need about 1500 gallons to fill it to the rim. Ought to take just a couple three hours I�d guess. During the filling, I can get the pump & plumbing installed and start messing with the filter falls. Bottom line is I want to get our fishies out of the garage this weekend. Pondapalooza is a fine title for the project, but an apt subtitle would be Save the Shibunkins!

Took a tour of the back yard last night. Wanted to re-survey what plants did or did not make it through that very mild winter we suffered. Last year we replanted a rather large bed along the back of our lot. This bed is shaded by a couple of big honking silver Maples and a row of 40 ft tall Douglas Firs. We�ve been struggling mightily trying to find a combination of plants that would survive under those conditions. Last years run at it is proving to be the best yet. We planted wood myrtle, a couple kinds of holly, hydrangea, some ferns, a Japanese Maple and relocated a bunch of hosta. So far, it looks like 2/3 of the myrtle is hanging in there, the ferns are starting to poke up through the mulch, the hollies are doing nicely, and the little jap maple is in good shape. The hydrangea took a hit, but there�s enough surviving that I�m hopeful we can pull it through.

Ought to add this -- We moved 3 azaleas from this bed last summer. The last survivors of a group of maybe 10 we planted back there 4 years ago. Put them over near the veggie garden where they�d get 8+ hours of sun a day. Last week, while I was redistributing the dirt from the pond dig, I yanked those poor, barren bastards out of the ground and tossed them on the compost heap. Now that I�m officially oh-for-forever on growing azaleas (seriously � I�ve killed better than 20 of them) I�m swearing off them forever. Next time I get the urge to try azaleas or rhododendrons again, would someone please remind me about this lucky streak?

More back yard learnings. Musta pissed off that mole pretty bad the other night. He�s pretty well ripped up one corner of my yard back by the shed. Right where the big showdown was. Guess he showed me a thing or two. But on a much happier note, while ambling over to check out the apple trees (blossoms galore coming this year), I noticed I did have some success against the rodentia family. Had a lovely mature woodchuck, dead as a doornail in the neck trap by the front door of the shed. Those little buggers have emasculated my string beans way too many times for me to be nice anymore. Since I got the conibear trap two years ago, this is the 9th woody that has met his maker � all in the same spot. Add in the two that we shishkabobbed (bow & arrow, really!) and one other that I nailed with a pitch fork and we�ve taken 12 miserable, bean fed woodchucks out of the gene pool. Wonder if they�ll ever catch on that I don�t want them near my yard? The squirrels have managed to learn that.

Off to the salt mines. Got some project deadlines coming up that I really need to make. Might even camp out here part of this weekend, just to have a demo going by Monday morning. That�ll make some people REAL happy. It�ll also royally screw up Pondapalooza � Save the Shibunkins. I�d better get to work.

Updated stats:

Weight start: 206.5 on 1/1/06 (265.0 on 1/15/05)
Current weight 195.50 on 4/22/06 (I peeked this morning. Might be ok this week.)
Target: 180 by 7/1/06 (was getting nearer the target line)
Next �official� weigh in: 4/29/06

The Keep on Truckin goal: (idea stolen shamelessly from Marn�s Big Adventure)
Miles at speed 4/28/06: 320.32
Miles with cooldown: 352.94
Target for 2006: 1000 miles

Might have to add a little something for the 5K training too.

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