UltimateBass Home Front Activities Oct 2024

[caddyjoe77]

Certainly true Bud.  If it was not one of the coolest customers I would not do it but I still believe in what they are doing so sacrifices must be made.  I have traveled more in the past at times but this one, with the new role, is definitely more in the fun category around work.  Travel is a grind to be sure.  And you are 100 percent right, people dont realize how much time is lost until they do it, then they understand.  And yes, the lounges are not as good as they used to be but I still go in them, but usually only if I am on a longer flight.   Usually I only have an hour or so between so I hang out with whoever is around.  Suits me just fine.   

[Donald Garner]

Good morning to everyone,

Beautiful Fall Day here in Central Texas this morning.  Our forecast for today is 56-81dgrs with 49%humidity with an E wind @ 9mphs.  There's still no rain in the 10day forecast.

Slack day here today.  Made a quick run to the post office to check the mail.  Stopped by the gas station for a breakfast biscuit, cheese, egg and bacon sandwich    We're off to the movies here later on this afternoon.  There will be a pitstop at Miller's BBQ prior to to the movies 

I hope everyone has a relaxing and pleasant Saturday and Sunday.  Enjoy the family time, be safe in your travels if you're out and about. Tight lines if you're out on the water   

[Bud Kennedy]

Been a lazy Sunday with some really nice fall weather.  Temps will be warming as we go through the upcoming week with temps in the upper 70s to low 80s and lows in the 50s with continued dry conditions.  We could use some rain but nothing is in the forecast this coming week.

Taking the Expedition in for service tomorrow to once again repair an electric window and to fix the cabin air system so I can select where I want to have the air come from.  Currently the default position are the dash vents.  Also on the menu is diagnosis on the overall suspension system.  Believe it or not it still has the original suspension components that came with the vehicle 18 years ago. 

The crown jewel this week is the start of early voting this week in South Carolina beginning tomorrow.  Our poll location for early voting is fairly close with plenty of parking.  The Mrs. will have to use her walker for this event just incase she needs to have a place to sit down while on line.

Hope everyone has a good week ahead and if you can go vote early go do it.

[Donald Garner]

Good morning to everyone,

Blue Bird Skies with with temps ranging from 62-83today.  The forecast looks pleasant with 64%humidity with SE wind @ 6mphs.  There's still no rain being forecasted in the 10day outlook.

We had a pleasant weekend with really nice weather.  We went and saw Rocky Horror Picture Show.  I've never seen this prior to Saturday night and there's no Danger of me going and watching it again    Sunday we attended our small group fellowship and needless to say the Ladies of the group did an outstanding job of preparing the meal    Everyone just fixed something and brought it.  Great time visiting with our church friends and enjoying the meal together.

There's nothing happening here today.  I'm just going to tinker around on the computer and relax.  My health is getting better (Kidney Issue) I have another MRI coming up so they can do a biopsy on my prostate.  My last Prostate MRI they found 2 items of interest and now we have to get that issued resolved.

Haven't been fishing yet has I'm having issues with bending down on one knee and standing back up. My wife worries about me being out by myself in the boat also.  I'll give it till late Spring to get back to at least 90% health wise.  I still need to purchase new covers for both boats prior to Winter setting in also.

We have Early Voting going on now across the area.  It started today.  There's lots of polling places open with plenty of parking and personnel to assist you with moving around.  My wife and I are heading out to the polls Wednesday morning. 

Tuesday morning at 8:30am the HVAC Service Techs will be here to do the Winter Checkup. 

Bud; Tks for stopping by and sharing the morning with us.  Good luck on getting the vehicle fixed.  Hope they don't charge you a bundle in getting the repairs done.  You have a mechanic / certain shop you take your vehicles too or do you take it to a dealership?  I use Goodyear for most of the work I have done unless they can't do then it's off to the dealership.

To everyone hope your day today is a real pleasant one.  Be safe in your travels if you have to be out and about.       

[Bud Kennedy]

Donald the Expedition has been serviced by a ford dealer in Pawleys Island for the past 17 years.  They have always done a good job at a fair price.  From time to time I have had some work done at Firestone but not much.

The repair bill I will be gettng will be just a bit over $2k.  They are replacing the window regulator for the electric window on the passenger front side.  Then they are fixing the air control system that directs where the air flow will go in the front cabin.  Currently I only have air coming from the dash vents.  This means no defrost and I cannot move the air from the dash to the floor vents.  Not a big deal just a bit of a pain but does require some disassembly of the dash board.
The last thing I am having done are new front struts and also replacing the pinion seal on the transfer case. 

When you have old vehicles you gotta expect stuff like this.  Repair is still a heck of a lot cheaper than buying a new vehicle.  FYI the Mrs Monte carlo is 20 years old but with 44K miles it will be around for a lot longer.

[Captsteve]

 Hello all, been on the boat two weeks. Haven't been running much. That makes the hitch go by slow. Working two extra days,  my relief has to go to a school.

 Ordered a new rifle with scout scope. A socom 16. Will pick it up on the way home.
They mounted and zeroed the scope for me and Ordered some extra mags. So, a range day is forth coming when I get home. Try that baby out.

 Plan on getting the boat out and doing some fishing too.

Sent from my SM-X808U using Tapatalk

[Donald Garner]

Good morning to all,

Forecasted temps for across Central Texas this morning are 66-87dgrs with 97%humidity with a SE wind @ 6mphs.  Lots of sun with some humidity today. 

Got the HVAC Tech's coming this morning around 8:30am to do the Fall Check of the system.  Other than that there isn't anything else going on here.  I be tinkering around on the computer and relaxing in the recliner later on.

Bud; Tks for sharing the day with us.  Hope the tech's do a good job for ya and don't have to keep the vehicle any longer than needed.  I know about making those repair cost bills also.  Our Silverado is 15yrs old as is the Dodge Ram Diesel.  My wife's Cruze is 8yrs old but it doesn't get driven very much now that my daughter left her Trail Blazer here.

Steve; Tks for stopping by.  Congrats on getting a new toy to play with.  Have fun out on the firing line with it.

To everyone enjoy the day and I hope your evening ahead is a pleasant and relaxing one.  Be safe in your travels if your out and about.   

[caddyjoe77]

ohhh nice Steve enjoy spreading those freedom seeds

been working, grass is randomly popping up, not sure but it looks right.  Trying a combination of two methods to see if it works better:
In the area where i spread the dirt, its alabama so of course there is some clay in the soil, which makes it hard for the seed to stick if you over water it.  Plus it is on a hill.  For this, I got a compost spreader that I can pull behind the mower.  Found some good peat moss that I picked up si hypothetically I should be able to put a thin even layer of peat on the ground and hopefully sprout some grass. 

the second method involves soaking the grass seed in a paint strainer mesh bag in a bucket for a couple days to get them to pre-germinate.  Thinking about this, I thought well hell maybe thats why seed can be such a PITA to get started.  I am in this process now-- im on day 2 of soaking the seeds. 

I am going to combine the two methods after the spreader gets here and mix the wet seed with some milorganite so it can be spread properly as the milorganite should make the seeds good enough to spread. 
this method should save water costs as well

Time will tell.  Used about 6-7 pounds of seed in the bucket -- im getting this seed to grow one way or the other dammit :D

taking the kitty out sometime this week, the doc called again so gotta make those appointments :D

[Donald Garner]

Good morning to all,

Another beautiful day here in Central Texas 

Our forecast temps for today are 66-89dgrs with 59%humidity with a SE wind @ 7mphs.  Lots of sun out there this morning 

Busy morning here for the wife and me.  We got up early and went and Voted.  The whole process took less than 40minutes.  There were maybe 70 people there at the polling place.  The polling place was setup in our Activities Bldg. at the church we attend in Salado.  The polling staff had the bldg. setup with chairs so no one would be standing for any extended period of time. 

The setup was done very professionally and was very functional as well as being well staffed.  The check in area had 4 staff members with computers.  Once you showed them your drivers license and voters registration card you signed you name to verify the information.  They had numerous voting machines setup in a separate class room. The computer had easy instructions to follow and that whole selection process took less than 5 minutes from start to finish.  Once you checked your ballot you placed it inside of the voting box which had a staff member there to assist you if you needed it.

After voting we headed back to Belton and stopped in Clem's BBQ for breakfast   The rest of the day will be relaxation and watching some tv. 

Joe; Good luck with getting the grass to grow.  Did you think of just putting down sod or hydra-seeding the area?  Make sure you attend that upcoming Doctor's Appointment     Some of those appointments can be pretty interesting 

To everyone hope your day and evening ahead are pleasant and relaxing.  Be safe in your travels if you have to be out and about.  

[caddyjoe77]

I do have a plug aerator, which has worked in the past.  Dont have a seeder and there wasnt one at the rental place.  i could put down sod but the problem is you dont know the quality of it and i want sod that will last in the bama heat. 

Plus, admittedly, maybe im part hard headed  and part super inquisitive in how the hell to get this to work :D 

[Bud Kennedy]

Been a busy morning.  Took wife in for some lab work for her routing check up next week and then off to McDonalds so she can have an egg McMuffin since she had to fast for her lab work.  After a quick breakfast headed down to Pawleys Island to pick up the Expedition from service.

Big difference with the expedition.  New front end struts makes the old truck feel like a new one.  They also fixed the electric window on the passenger side and replaced the pinion gasket that was starting to leak.  The bill for all this stuff was $2,368.00.  I noticed that their labor rate is not 165 per hour.  Seems kind of steep to me but I can't complain since they did a good job.  Overall this is far better than dropping 70-80K on a new vehicle.

Bowling yesterday was up and down.  Games 1&3 in the toilet with game #2 being a good one. I can tell you it is a struggle for someone my age.  Just don't have the strength and agility of long ago.  Just gotta keep doing the best I can and accept my physical limitations.

The Ranger will be coming home tomorrow.  I am looking forward to her visit for a few days.  I sure wish I had a younger fishing partner to go fishing with.  It is just not safe for me to go out by myself.  Even though the fishing sucks in the river it is still better than not fishing at all.  I do see some reports that inshore fishing in the saltwater is starting to heat up.  Maybe I will finally pull the trigger on a redfish tip this fall.  Inshore guides are getting $500 to $600 for a half day charter.  I may just have to treat myself.

We voted on Tuesday and the lines were long but moved along nicely.  We were on line about an hour to get into the building then after that it was only about a 5 minute wait.  The weather was great so no problems waiting.  It was actually kind of a social event with other folks enjoying talking to other line mates.  South Carolina is a very red state so for the most part the outcomes will mostly be predictable.  No senate race for us this year and no governor race either.  Just the congressional seats for the most part. 

[caddyjoe77]

Have some grass popping up finally so that is a good sign.  Still waiting on method 2 to show signs of sprouting in the water, which will get transferred to the peat moss mix and combined with the prior seed i put down.  Finish that up sometime this weekend.   

it is a warm one today with the high reaching 84 -- I guess it was another fake fall, just later.  Will work good for the grass though so its not all bad. 

security door delivered today, installing that sometime this weekend.  Just in case, you never know and an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of lead -- oops cure 

Prepping the kitty for a journey this weekend. 

[Donald Garner]

Howdy 

We've have had some really beautiful weather here in Central Texas this past week.  Today's forecast is
65-90dgrs with 39%humidity with a S wind @ 7mphs.  We have some rain in the forecast starting Thursday the 31st Oct and ending 5 Nov.  They're not calling for a lot but right now we'll take what ever they have forecasted    It's been really dry here lately.  The grass in my yard is completed dead brown     

Yesterday was a really good day.  Dwayne and I took the Stratos out and got her wet over on Belton Lake.  We traveled from the far West end of the lake which starts up in Cowhouse Creek near the Ft. Hood East Range Road Bridge. We made the run up to the Long Bridge at TX Hwy 36 Bridge.  The total Round Trip was 52miles using 3/4 tank of gas.  The weather was great being in the 70's.  The water temp varied depending on your location 70dgrs - 74dgrs.   

The lake for the most part was Clear to Murky again depending on your location. She ran GREAT there weren't any issues at all.  We didn't do any fishing during this trip.  I'm not quite ready for that feat yet.  I did get on the trolling motor for a short bit just making sure I could at least do that.  After getting her back on the trailer we made a run over to car wash.

Stratos at the carwash



Stratos drying off


There not much happening here today.  We attended church this morning and afterwards Dwayne took us to dinner to BJ Restaurant in Temple.  We had a very enjoyable lunch of Enlightened Asian Chopped Salad; Atlantic Salmon and Jumbo Spaghetti with Meatballs.  We're all relaxing and doing nothing for the rest of the day.

Joe; Tks for stopping by.  Glad to hear the grass is starting to come up.  You going to install the Security Door yourself or have a contractor do it?  Hope you had time to get that Cat wet this weekend.

Bud; My good man glad you had the time to stop by.  Hope your wife lab test all come back good for her.    Glad to hear you were able to pickup your vehicle already and you didn't have to break the bank getting it fixed.
Bowling...seems like you're having a mixed outing there.  When I bowled my games were like that also pretty good one, bad one with finishing up with a decent one.  Hey keep at it buddy.  That hobby is a time passer.  To bad you don't play golf at least you'd be out side playing that. 

That guided offshore trip sounds fun.  You know the deal with hiring a guide, make sure you find a good one.

To everyone hope your Sunday has been a pleasant and relaxing one.  Be safe in your travels if you have to be out and about.     

[Bud Kennedy]

Fairly quiet day today.  Temps mostly in the upper 60s at this time with continuing lite rain.  It was overcast yesterday tool with warmer temps but no rain.  Summer like temps returning by the weekend and the kids should have great weather for trick or treat.  We don't get many kids for for trick or treat but I always enjoy the few that do come to our door.  Our neighborhood is mostly retired age folks so not many kids around.

Just a quick errand to Walmart this morning for some odds and ends.  I had ordered some new headlight assemblies for the Expedition and they were delivered by Fed Ex today.  I plan on installing them on Thursday.  The old lights were mostly frosted over and even though I tried some of those kits to fix them it just did not work all that well.  Bowling is tomorrow.  I have been bowling so poorly the past few weeks that I hope I can break the curse tomorrow and score better. 

The Election is next Tuesday.  Sure will be nice to have all this political BS over even if it is just for a little while.

[Donald Garner]

Good morning to everyone

We had a rain shower move across Central Texas early this morning     There's more rain in the forecast this afternoon and for the next 3 days      Our forecasted temps for today are 64-78dgrs with 87% humidity and N wind @ 8mphs

Nothing exciting happening here today.  We might take a trip down to Hutto, Tx (Community down by Austin)  the ladies group at church is having their Monthly luncheon down there.  We'll take a drive down and find this place prior to the luncheon on Monday.  There might be a stop at the Bass Pro Shop in Round Rock while we're down that way.  I've not been there in quiet a while.

Bud; My good man tks for stopping by.  We don't do Trick or Treat here.  I turn off all the lights and close all the blinds.  The surrounding communities put on what the call Trunk or Treat.  They set up in  local church parking lots and the kids come and get candy from the trunks of the vehicles set up there.  Some of the people that hand out candy dress up etc also.

Have fun bowling I hope your score improves that's always a good feeling at the end of the day. I too will be glad when the election will be over with.  I'm really tired just like a bunch of other people.  It a shame we might not know who got elected for a couple day later though.

To everyone I hope y'all have a pleasant and relaxing day today.  Be safe in your travels if your out and about.

[Bud Kennedy]

Very nice day today.  Had just one short errand to do this morning and will spend the rest of the day here at home.  We are ready for the trick or treat kids tonight.  We really don't get many but I do look forward to seeing their costumes, especially the really young ones.

Was able to install the replacement headlight assemblies on the expedition this afternoon.  Quick and easy job and the new ones fit perfectly and look great.  Next simple replacement one of these days will be the lift shocks on the rear hatch.  I have replaced them many years ago. Not a big deal and very easy to do.

Everyone here are doing well including the dog and cat.  Hopefully it stays that way for a while.  The pets, the wife and myself have been under the weather off and on but right now we are doing well for a couple of old geezers.  Oh yeah, bowling went better last night but not fantastic.  I am happy about my performance.  Our team is only 3 games out of first place at this time.  Not bad for a 30 team league.  Hopefully we can keep it up for the season.