• Watching the Dawn

    Watching the dawn – Ginger soaking up the first light. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
  • Dawn at 30,000 feet

    Dawn at 30,000 feet – SGF to ORD.Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Vacation Day 1

    We were up at 3 am, ready for Lanie to pick us up and take us to the airport for a 6 am flight to Chicago. It must be said that the sunrise seen from the plane made up for an early start. While we are gone Lanie is house and cat-sitting for us, keeping Tubby company, and feeding him his meds. We’ll see how much she enjoys being woken up by Tubbs several times per night.

    We’re trying a different strategy on this trip — We are crossing the Atlantic earlier in the day and spending our first night at Heathrow. This idea was prompted by the fact that booking a combined flight and hotel was a lot less expensive than booking the flights alone. I’m not one-hundred percent sure about the logic of that. Someone is obviously making far too much profit on the flights for it to make sound business sense.

    The flight out of Chicago to London was at 9:30 am, so we had just enough time to face up to the hustle and bustle of Chicago ORD and find some breakfast. I was planning to work on the flight (on a nice new 787), but a lack of sleep and a determination not to sleep on the plane meant I ended up watching back-to-back movies in ‘brainless mode’. Our arrival time (22:45 local) meant immigration was a breeze, 10-15 minutes instead of the normal half to three-quarters of an hour. We missed the hotel shuttle service which shuts down for 4-5 hours a day (so much for the advertised 24-hour service), However, Google found us a free bus, which was an unexpected bonus.

    Once at the hotel, we were unable to check-in because their computers were down … So, by midnight we were sitting in the bar enjoying a complimentary pint of beer while they sorted out their computer woes. All in all, not a bad way to start our time in the UK. Tomorrow Robert is coming to pick us up to take us to Portsmouth.

    The flights aren’t the only different strategy we are trying. We have rented an Air BnB in Portsmouth for our time in the UK. There are no plans except catching up with family in Portsmouth and spending time with our new grandson and our first grandchild. We’re not renting a car, and we are not traveling around. By doing so we hope it will make for a more restful trip.

    In another departure from our usual routine, I’ll be traveling back alone as I have a tonne of work to get done and can’t be away for more than a couple of weeks — Convention is earlier this year and the volunteer committees that don’t have to do the work, apparently don’t realize that three months’ notice is not enough time for a part-time member of staff to devise, plan, shoot, and edit a complete 10-plus minute video, and at the same time perform their normal duties. Ginger’s extended stay includes teaching in the UK and Sweden, plus attending a workshop in Prague. She’ll get back just in time to wave goodbye as I head off for Convention. It’s almost a repeat of the June/July 2018, when she was away working for two weeks, and a day or two after she got back I went to Austin, Texas for General Convention for a couple of weeks. Fortunately, the diocesan convention will only require one night away. Then it’ll be time to start catching up on everything I couldn’t do while I was sorting out the convention video. Oh, and if I’m fit enough, maybe it’s time for some backpacking. I need some time in the woods.   

  • Medication

    Medication – Try as I might to get the doctors to take me off of some of these pills, they want me to take more. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Pride comes before a fall they say. I guess I shouldn’t have felt so pleased with myself back in April when I managed to convince my doctor to let me drop my blood pressure pills. I’d been dieting and exercising (a bit), and I stopped drinking alcohol too, to get my blood pressure down, and it worked. What I (and the doctor) didn’t realize at the time was that the same pills were also keeping my potentially wonky heart from going into AFIB. Well, that’s what the cardiologist has told me.

    The pretty orange and white pills seen here are a slow-release drug that’s supposed to keep my heart slow and regular. The cute yellow ones are simply coated aspirin to help prevent a stroke if I go into AFIB again. The cardiologist wants me to take stronger anticoagulants. I pushed back (hard) on that. I have a grudging agreement that if I can get to my ideal weight, and things are okay when I exercise, that I might try dropping the heart meds though the likelihood is I’ll be taking them ad infinitum.

    Since June I’ve been on a more intense diet — I call it my ‘Hungry is Good’ diet, and I’ve lost another eight pounds and I’m starting to see the results. My BMI is now almost down to the top end of ‘Ideal’ BMI scale, and have just another eight pounds to go to my ideal weight for me. Once the cooler weather gets here, I’m planning on getting back out on the trails — I still need to get to the gym first to check I’m not going to have any problems if I push myself far from medical assistance. The problem is I hate the gym. I’ve had four gym memberships now, and I’ve not liked or lasted long with any of them (Shhh. don’t tell, but to be honest, I’ve not set foot in the latest gym since I got my membership, nearly a year ago).

    The khaki and pink ones are calcium channel blockers (I think that’s right and I can’t be bothered to look it up). I call them ‘ Piss pills,’ though the intent is the opposite. I take those to deal with an enlarged prostate.

    Genetics being what they are, my boys are probably in for some fun in later life.

  • It’s tough being Tubby

    It’s tough being Tubby – Tubby, a few days ago, just about to turn 17. He spends most of his days asleep on my office couch. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    We have a new nickname for him — Roomba. Poor blind Tubby earned it by the way he navigates around the house. He’ll walk off in a random direction until he hits a wall and then head off in some other random direction. He does this until he gets where he wants to go — which can take a long time. Also, like the Roomba, sometimes his wheel sensor fails and he walks round and round in circles…

    He spends most of the day asleep on my office couch, and most of the night annoying Ginger (and me) climbing around the bed and complaining loudly (presumably) because no one is petting him.

    He now has the dubious pleasure of being the oldest survivor of our four cats. For a blind, asthmatic, half-deaf, cat with kidney failure and high blood pressure and more meds than I’m on, that’s quite an achievement.

  • Garage Project – Just about done

    Garage Project – Just about done … For now. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    … For now.

    I’ve been tinkering with finishing this project for a few weeks now. I fitted the sliding doors to the top shelf and the ceiling rack (to the left of my kayak) for storing lengths of lumber back in August.

    Sliding door height gauge – When I realized the garage ceiling wasn’t level I needed some easy way to optimize the door heights across the twelve-foot span. This was it. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    The top sliding doors were not without their challenges. I knew the garage floor sloped, that makes sense, water and fumes need to be able to flow out of the door away from the house. However, I hadn’t noticed that the ceiling wasn’t level – there’s about ½” to 1″ difference across the 12′ span. Either that or my spirit level needs adjusting… That raised a problem with the top doors, which slide in a track fixed to the ceiling. Musing over how to work out the best height for the doors — one that allowed me to easily insert and remove them, but also held them in place — I made myself this little gauge, which I used to experiment with different heights. The ceiling was out by too much though, so had I make the doors at each end a different height, but the gauge enabled me to optimize the doors to work over a larger span.

    Sliding doors – hopefully, to keep the dust out of the top shelf. Hmmm. I’m going to have to tackle that flaky ceiling at some point. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Workbench storage revisited

    Where the boxes used to live. That cross brace made them stick out too far. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    One of the main goals of the project was to try and declutter and improve access to everything. A major issue with the original build of the workbench and storage was that I used a load of cat litter boxes for storage. The boxes are great, but they stuck out four inches and would catch on bags and clothing as you walked past. Some of my tools stuck out a bit too. Changes were needed.

    While I was building the end units I made mental notes of issues using the bench and accessing tools etc. Last weekend (and some evenings this week), I’ve rearranged where I keep most of my tools and I replaced the cat litter boxes with drawers. I also built the final drawer for the ‘suck and blow’ (Vacuum cleaner and compressor) closet.

    The drawers are pretty primitive, and I could have made a better job of them, but they are holding all my screws, nails, brads, sanding belts and pads, safety equipment (masks, gloves, glasses, etc.), and more besides! And they don’t stick out.

    Still to do …

    Quite a lot, but I’ll save that for Stage IV ( or is it V? I’ve lost track).

    • Paint the back door.
    • Fit trim around the back door.
    • Doors and external ventilation for the Suck and Blow closet.
    • Dust extractor and vacuum connections plumbed to the workbench.
    • Compressed air plumbed to the workbench.
    • Re-wiring, and wire in new sockets (Needs an electrician. A pox on code is all I can say. I could do this easily)
    • Install an AC Unit.
    • Repaint the ceiling.
  • The light of the world

    The light of the world. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Jesus said, “I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” — John 8:12

    I popped back into the church for a last look around. The cleaner had finished, and all the lights were off. The light from the windows was reflecting off of the cross which was shining in the dark.

    I knew the title and the passage from John to accompany this picture before I pressed the shutter button.

  • Stained glass window in the Chapel of The Good Shepherd

    Matthew, Mark, and John. Stained glass window in the Chapel of The Good Shepherd, Christ Episcopal Church. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Matthew, Mark, and John. This stained glass window is in the Chapel of The Good Shepherd, Christ Episcopal Church. We’ll forego the debate on the full meaning of the sacrificial lamb. I’ve no idea why the saints are represented by animals. I guess we’d need to ask the original artist — probably long gone, as this widow was ‘discovered’ during a building refurb in 2006-7. From the blank pane, it looks like it was going to have a dedication added.

    Whatever its history and meaning, the colors are wonderful.

  • Altar and Stained Glass

    Altar and Stained Glass – Christ Episcopal Church. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    This morning I had a meeting at Christ Church. When it was over I went to find pictures to accompany evening prayers. The altar was bathed in a pool of light where the cleaner had turned on the altar spotlights and left the rest of the lights off. It made for a picture I couldn’t resist. I did have to move the vacuum cleaner out of the shot before I took the picture which makes it sound rather mundane, but I love empty churches. I find something very calming and soothing about them. I particularly like having churches to myself. I can be as reverent (or irreverent) as the mood takes me and there’s no one around to know. Empty churches are probably not the best publicity shots, but I like them.   

  • Garage Project – Open Sez-a-me

    Doors made and fitted. This was the key element of my idea. It’ll keep the worst of the dust out of the storage area. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    Reminder: This is what it looked like three weeks ago. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Phew! I’m getting there. Notice how there’s a ceiling in the entryway, as well as doors? — the entryway ceiling was there on August 9, but I forgot to mention it — The doors took a lot longer to make than I expected. A lot of time is wasted moving stuff around and setting up the saw cuts. A single car garage is a bit small for working with 4′ x 8′ sheets. Especially when you are trying to be careful to not damage the finish. Unusually for me, I am relying on glue alone (Loctite Ultimate Power Grab) to hold the front and back skins of the doors to the internal frames I made. I suspect that the two doors exceed the manufacturer’s 50lb door weight limit on the door track, but I’ve beefed up the track with some extra screws.

    There is still lots to do, like fitting doors to the top shelf to keep the dust out of there too, then there’s plumbing in the compressor and shop vac so that I can access them at the workbench, some more drawers to make, and I’m planning on fitting an AC unit out here as it gets hot, and making a tool cart to fit in the remaining space in the storage area.

    Most of that will keep for the moment. More important is putting up a rack to go up near the ceiling to the left of the kayaks to hold long pieces of lumber up out of the way. If I do that and get rid of the rest of the detritus from removing the old workbench and then maybe the minivan will be allowed back in the garage.

  • Garage Project – Main storage area and the overhead shelving

    Main storage area – and the overhead shelving is finished too. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    This project is starting to come together, though there are still a lot of details to attend to before it will be finished. The track for the sliding doors is in place. I could have bought a 12ft length of track for $33, but the delivery charge was $125! So I opted to buy two six-foot lengths of track ($18 each) and hope that the join doesn’t prove to be too much of a problem.

    Lots of off-cuts. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    All this construction has produced a lot of sawdust and a big pile of off-cuts, but with the shelves up I’ve been able to start putting things away again. I’ve also disposed of a lot of stuff, visiting two recycling plants and dropping some re-usable items off at Habitat for Humanity for them to sell on.

    With all the main construction finished I’ve also started cleaning up as the next job is to make the doors for the storage area. I have to make them as they need to be 39 inches wide and just one and three-eighth inches deep.   

    Clearing Up – I’ve visited two recycling plants and Habitat for Humanity getting rid of things we no longer need. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
  • Garage Project – Ready to start building the main storage area.

    Ready to start building the main storage area. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    It took a lot of work to remove the old workbench and prep that wall ready for painting. Besides the preexisting hole in the wall, I managed to do a fair bit of damage prising the workbench out — it was nailed to the wall and there were a lot of nails used, so lots of holes to patch. You can get an idea of the number of nails involved by looking at the boards leaning over on the left of the frame. It was so well secured I even used the hydraulic jack to help break it up.

    Magically the pile of lumber has grown (another trip to Lowes), and in the foreground is the new-to-me table saw which Jim found in a yard sale sometime last year. I’ve never had a table saw before, and I must say that I wish I’d bought one years ago. Now if I don’t have a piece of wood the size I need, I can produce something in minutes. The table saw ($100), along with my compound miter saw, circular saw ($15 in a yard sale), drill press ($1 in a yard sale), and cordless drill are my most used tools. And it just goes to show how a bit of time spent rummaging around in yard sales around can save a lot of money. I must have got 80% of my tools in yard sales.

    Sitting on the table saw is a quick test build of the top rail that will carry the sliding doors. Based on the results of making the test piece I have decided to trim the back of the horizontal 2″x4″ cross piece to make sure it screws in square. It’s going to be a heavy beam, but it has to carry the weight of the doors, and the top shelf over an unsupported span of around five or more feet. I’ll be using some 3/8″ Lag screws I have to fix it in place, plus I’ll glue it too. I don’t think it’ll have any trouble with the weight.   

    Loads’a nails – When I mentioned that there were a lot of nails in the old workbech, I wasn’t joking. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    The lag screws are pretty beefy. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    Lag Screw (one of eight) – holding the horizontal 2″x4″ beam carrying the sliding doors, to the vertical 2″x4″ beam that attaches it to the rest of the structure and supports the top shelves via a length of 2″x3″ screwed into the back. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
  • Garage Project – The shop vac and compressor now have a new home.

    Garage Progress – The shop vac and compressor now have a new home. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    Building Supplies – A trip to Lowes was needed for lumber and some drywall. So far the bill is around $200. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    It took a lot of wood, two sheets of drywall, a fair bit of time, effort, and no small amount of bodging to get to this point. If you look carefully at the top of the storage cupboard you’ll see it has been extended upward. That was the result of a ‘good idea’ and not having any drawn up plans.

    I thought I could lower the top shelf to gain a bit more clearance — and I could by over an inch — but what I failed to realize was that also involved dropping the support for the sliding doors that I plan to install, and they run the whole width of the garage. Fortunately, experience has taught me to check and double-check, so before I put up the drywall I put up the sliding door support cross-piece in place and realized that it stopped the back door from fully opening. In the picture above the left-hand half of the crosspiece can be seen temporarily clamped in place to the top of the wall. I rejected the idea of notching the crosspiece, so I had to extend the walls up, back to where I had originally intended to put them. I had to re-frame the other wall to the correct height. Grrr.

    Both of the new walls need patching and painting. Plus the top shelf needs to be re-fitted. Then I will be ready for the main build on the left-hand side of the garage.   

  • That’s the corner cleaned up

    That’s the corner cleaned up – The wall’s been patched, and the first coat of paint has been applied. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    That’s the corner cleaned up – The wall’s been patched, and the first coat of paint has been applied. I have just enough room to build the corner storage area and put up the end-wall for the main storage space. It’s going to take three coats of paint to cover the mess on the wall. Fortunately, there were no large holes in this section to fill. However, I see there’s a nice big hole in the wall under the workbench that will need to be patched when I start working on that side of the room.   

  • Garage Project: Getting Started With Stage IV

    Garage Project: Getting Started with Stage IV – I forgot to take a picture before I started clearing away, so the corner to the right had already been cleared. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    The plan is to build floor to ceiling storage across this end wall with a separate storage area to the right for the shop vac, compressor, and their associated tools. There are no drawings for this project (a decision I will rue), I just have some general ideas, and sketches in my notebook. So we’ll see how it goes as the work progresses.

    Because we have so much stuff stored in here, I’m going to have to work around things. To manage that I intend to build the shop vac and compressor storage first, so I can move the compressor, and the new top-shelf over the garage back door should hold a lot of the other things that were piled behind me as I took this picture.

    The goal is to free up shelf space elsewhere in the garage so that it’s not as cluttered, so I can get at tools without moving or knocking things over. We want to remove obstacles that get in the way when getting in and out of the minivan (yes a minivan fits in here), and also make the area easier to keep clean, hopefully making it a less inviting home to the local spider population, especially the brown recluse spiders we’ve recently spotted.

    Stage IV? I’ve just realized I’ve not written about stages I – III, so that’s something I’ll have to catch up on. For now, here’s a list.

  • The Books on my desk

    The books on my desk. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Last night, when I tidied up I left a stack of books on the corner of my desk. Seeing them this morning reminded me how much my life has changed. The pile of books is as follows — top to bottom:

    • Personal Journal
    • Work Journal
    • Saint Augustine’s Prayer Book
    • The Book of Common Prayer
    • The Brotherhood of St. Andrew Devotional Handbook
    • The Bible – New Standard Revised Version
    Journal Scribbles – an example of the scribbles in the sketchbook half of my journal. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Personal Journal. I’ve been using these homemade leather journal covers for several years now. When the notebooks in them get full I simply replace the notebooks with new ones. The first half of my personal journal is a rolling, rambling, monologue about my life which, honestly, is of little value to anyone, myself included. The second and much less populated half is a sketchbook, which contains scant few sketches, but various plans and schematics for projects both personal and around the house.

    Work Journal. My work journal is also in two halves. The first is my Bullet Journal, an endlessly expanding list of things to be done, things done, brief notes about progress, and other small snippets of information I think I may need to refer back to. I follow Ryder Carroll’s Bullet Journaling system quite closely, though my notes are probably not as short as the system requires. My other deviation is in keeping my  ‘Collections’ — or project notes in a separate notebook. That’s not really a huge departure as I keep both notebooks in the same cover, making the collections the second half, holding any more detailed notes I need.

    Saint Augustine’s Prayer Book. This prayer book was given to me earlier this year as part of the goodies in the Episcopal Communicators’ Conference goodie bag. I’m still learning my way around it. There’s a lot of good stuff in here, but some of the prayers have a tad too much adoration for my taste. More about prayers later …

    Book of Common Prayer. The BCP is probably the book I most often reach for. I received this copy when I was confirmed. Over the years I’ve learned my way around it, and it is the primary source of the daily prayers I post on behalf of the Diocese and Brotherhood online.

    Mornings and evenings it’s currently taking a backseat while I get to grips with St. Aug’s Prayer Book. I also have another, a combined prayer book and hymnal, that’s great for church, when I need the hymnal, but I don’t use it often in the office.

    The Brotherhood of St. Andrew Devotional Handbook. The Devotional Handbook has a few unique entries for men’s ministries and I need to spend more time going through it — that’s why it’s in the pile.

    And finally,

    The Bible. This is the copy I used throughout my Education for Ministry course. It’s well used with lots of highlighting, notes and exclamation points — typically where I got annoyed with some contradiction or outrageous recorded act. It took me a long time to get over a phobia about writing or defacing books, Especially the Bible! Our friend Pastor Katie says that a Bible’s not complete without lots of notes and highlighting. I’m still not sure. She even has one Bible ripped apart and re-configured in the shape of a cross. The Bible is probably the least used of these books, as it’s much easier to search online. www.Biblegateway.com is a great resource! I  still have the Bible I was given when I left my Church of England school back in 1967, but that copy is now out of date.

    So how has my life changed? Well, back in the UK, despite attending a church school and enduring many years of Religious Education, I stopped going to church in my teens. In later life, I considered myself an agnostic.

    When I moved to Missouri, it was obvious that church formed a big part of my new family’s routine and I was now living in the buckle of the Bible Belt. I decided that I should educate myself further, the better to ‘know the enemy’ as it were. I signed up for the four year Education for Ministry class. Little did I or Fr. Jonathan know what we were letting ourselves in for. Maybe I’ll write some more about that another day. Fr. Jonathan’s made some pointed comments over the years, the one I remember the best being “You look good in black,” after I led an evening prayer session. I’ve resisted that particular call. Too much studying and work involved. I ended up working parttime for the church as a civvy instead.   

  • He’s Baaack!

    He’s Baaack! – Arty’s been off on tour for a few weeks. He rejoined us last week. Someone needs to get that Artopus a beer. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Arty’s been off on tour for a few weeks. After spending time in an art exhibition in Arkansas he rejoined us and he’s safe and sound back in the living room.

    Someone needs to get that Artopus a beer.   

  • For the Conspiracy Theorists

    I recently showed Ginger the Tony Christie ‘Walk like a panther’ video on YouTube. It’s a great video (and song) that makes me smile every time I hear it played. It follows in the long tradition of Brit’s producing chart-topping (#10 in this case) satirical music that shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

    Being who I am, I like my own version of the lyrics: ‘Walk Like a Panda’.

    Anyway, a few days later it turned up on my suggested listening list on Spotify … cue the ‘Twilight Zone’ music. However, I prefer the 1979 Manhatten Transfer’s take on the ‘Twilight Zone’ signature theme.

    You can read about the song on Wikipedia.

    While I’m here…

    I was reminded of ‘The Baron Knights’ who made satirical covers of popular songs back in the sixties. I mention them because said Baron of the name was the older sibling of a brother and sister I went to school with. You may touch my hem.   

  • Ginger knows what I like and what will make me laugh

    Gulab Jamun & Cock Flavored Soup Mix. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Ginger went out for lunch with our friend Rebbie today and brought back some goodies. Among them were these two gems. Gulab Jamun is my favorite Indian dessert, I think I first encountered it when I was working in Hyderabad. Our local Indian restaurant serves it, and it is very hard to leave without having some.

    As to cock soup; well, it made me laugh. Maybe I’ll take it backpacking just to try it out.   

  • Brushes

    Paintbrushes in a studio.
    Brushes – on the bench in Ginger’s studio. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    I have no recollection of why I popped into Ginger’s studio, but the light caught my attention, so I took a couple of pictures.

    The studio’s been lying fallow for a while as Ginger is working on a new website, which is nearly ready to go. It’ll be getting busy in here soon as she has a lot of things to prepare for a retreat in August, and then teaching in the UK and Sweden in October, not to mention a trip to Prague. All of which I get to miss as I’ll be slaving away here in Missouri getting ready for the Diocesan Convention which has been brought forward to October this year.

    Studio. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    The little blue pot in the window … It contains Ginger’s collection of cat whiskers. And you thought I was strange.

    It should be noted that we have four bedrooms. Three of which have been commandeered for work, viz, Ginger’s office, my office, and Ginger’s studio. In recognition of the needs of guests, my office has a sofa that converts to a (very hard) bed.   

  • Only in the Ozarks

    Bar sign:

    “Extreme Midget Wrestling”

    Only in the Ozarks (I hope).

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