Don't Do It, Just Think About It

Doesn't he look like he's seriously considering doing it?


Why do cats like boxes so much anyway?

I'm thinking he's only in here to keep the other cat out. It's the whole dominance thing in action.

Renegade Renovation #3 - Dancing with a Drum Sander

Courtesy of the local home improvement store, I’ve spent several hours recently, working on the floor. The gooey rubber and glue were mostly gone, so it became time to see if the floor could even be refinished. Take a moment to notice the crossed fingers.

If you don’t know what a drum sander is, please don’t feel like you’ve missed out on anything. It rather resembles the upright version of an old time vacuum, bag and all. The only difference is, instead of the sucking area down front, there’s a drum which holds a sanding belt. Yeehaw.

Back and forth we went, with the grain of course. Music playing, round and round we danced. Belt after belt. Coarse, medium, and fine. Dipping, swaying, swinging right along. With an occasional stop to empty the bag.

Did I mention this is a large area? As in several rooms large? There just aren’t any walls at the moment. The contractor suggested the floor be done before the framing to make it easier. Easier on who? Oh, that’s right, this was my stupid idea. Since the budget won’t allow anyone else to come in and do this professionally, (believe me, I got estimates) guess who’s left? Anyone else want to send in their bright ideas? Evidently I’m open to them.

As soon as I find the energy to vacuum and tack the dust off, we’ll be on to a coat of sanding sealer. In the meantime, I’ve got some writing to do, so I’m outta here.

Side Table Saturday

What’s this you ask? Well, unlike a lot of people, the one thing I don’t do is read in bed. I would be up all night reading. It doesn’t soothe me and make me drift off. It keeps me wide-eyed until the very end. Which means I have no books on my nightstand. Instead, I keep them stacked on a side table, along with my ereader. That way I can grab them coming or going.

Although I write women’s fiction, my taste in reading is somewhat eclectic. If it’s got words on it, I’ll give it a try. I may not go back for seconds, but it’s worth a look the first time around.

Right now, I’m reading an older work of Dean Koontz entitled Velocity. If you don’t mind a little grizzly murder, and love suspense, this is the thriller for you. It’ll keep you turning the page from beginning to end. It’s a wonderfully done, tight, fast-paced read. I couldn’t put it down. My partner suggested I read this, and I’m so glad I did. We were both constantly surprised at the twists and turns of the plot. It’s made dinner conversation at our house rather lively for several nights in a row.

It’s the story of writer/bartender Billy Wiles and what happens to him when his work draws the attention of a killer. I won’t say more than that, simply because I hate spoilers when people recommend a book. Just read it, already!

Wondering what’s on my ereader? You’ll have to wait a day or two to find out. I’m not quite finished with the story and a review (along with a rating system) will be forthcoming.

Cheers!

Through The Fence – Brownstown Speedway

Located in Brownstown, Indiana at the county fairgrounds, Brownstown Speedway has been “Racing Since 1952”. Longer than I’ve been alive. Whew, it’s nice to know I’m not older than everything.

This track is a fairly flat, three-eighths mile dirt oval. Banking in the corners appeared to be about twelve degrees or so. No measurements here; it’s a best guest scenario. I admit to being surprised upon my arrival, during the first modified heat race, to find the track dry and quite slippery in turns one and two, thus prompting several spin outs that slowed down the show.


Being on top of things, after the heat races, they announced they would be reworking the track during intermission. Okay, I’ll admit to having a wtf? moment here. I’ve been to tracks where the reworking has taken two hours. It sucks. For a fan, it’s not fun. Kudos to the track workers. They did it in forty minutes and the track ended up gorgeous.

What fascinated me most here was that since the straight-aways were so wide and flat, drivers racing out of turn four would hang their right rear tire off the edge of the track which would propel them forward and back onto the track. Without loss of position. This made for some fantastic racing action. Lots of three and four wide battles.


Another high point was watching a few drivers who started back in the field take the absolute highest line at the edge of the track and just pedal their hearts out. Passing the competition like they were standing still!

All in all, it was a great night of racing. The track and grounds are well cared for, they do have a portion of covered grandstands (which I love in case of rain), and concessions offered a good variety of food and drink at very reasonable prices. If you’re ever in the area, I’d recommend this track for a fun family outing!

Through The Fence

Hi all. Hope you had a good weekend.

I went to the race track as usual. Which brings me to the reason for this post. Starting tomorrow, I’ll be posting a new regular feature. Sharing my track experiences with you, whether it’s actual racing or just going as a fan. You’ll get details on track’s I visit, and how things went. Good or bad.

You’ll read about what I see, through the fence.

Until tomorrow!

Good News

What a way to start a Friday. I opened my email this morning to discover a wonderful review of Center Ring by The Romance Studio.

"Center Ring is a page-turner." Linda L.

The Romance Studio Review

It really makes the work worth while when someone reads one of my stories, and enjoys it.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Promise Kept

I did it. I kept my promise. Frankly, I just don’t know if I can live with it.

Many of you, who may have visited my website, know I have red hair. It’s been that way for oh, longer than some of you have been born. Almost. At any rate, awhile back, like when the very first gray hair dared to appear on my head, I promised myself that if my hair got gray enough, I’d just stop coloring it and grow it out.

Surely you’ve seen those gorgeous women who are sporting a fabulous ‘do that’s entirely gray? Like the one who does those KraftMaid kitchen cabinet commercials. She’s just brimming with vitality and self-confidence. Not to mention, beautiful. I keep seeing her because I’m trying to decide on kitchen cabinets. That’s another post entirely though.

At any rate, that day has arrived. I stopped coloring my hair long enough for the gray to show through, and then cut it off. A la, Jamie Lee Curtis. Minus the legs, boobs, and body that’s still to die for.

Ha! The jokes on me. I love it, except that it’s, well, gray. And white, and dark brown. I feel really good about keeping the promise I made to myself all those years ago. As women, we tend to put ourselves at the bottom of the list for so many things, it became really important for me to do this. So. I’ve done it. And every time I see a redhead, I sigh with longing for my own firey locks. How's that for fickle?

Um, and now, I’m going hunting for hair color. Maybe a rich sable brown this time?

Renegade Renovation #2 – Ode to the Flo’ Ho

Time to remove the carpet. With a little help from a pry bar I managed to raise a corner of the carpet to see what was underneath. (Please let it be oak, or if wishes really come true how about walnut?)

Alas. Resting comfortably under the blue businesslike carpet is ... another layer of carpet! This time, it’s green. And, oh, did I mention it’s glued to the floor?

It has to come up. And come up it does. Along with what seems like miles of tack strip. Hats off to the installers. They made sure those strips were tacked down every six inches. Good job, guys. It only took me two hours to pull them all up.

In case you’re wondering what the floor looks like now, here’s a picture. Under all that black rubber goo is what may have been a lovely pine floor. Hence the title of this column.

Have you ever used a floor scraper? Funny, to me it looks exactly like a garden hoe. It wears blisters on your hands just like one too. Floor hoe, garden scraper, whatever. Looks like I have hours of work waiting, so I’d better get to it.

Have a good one!

Independence Day

If you celebrate this holiday, have a great one!