Wednesday November 27, 2024

This fire bomber was parked next to us on the ramp at Dickinson, ND. That would be a fun ride.

We took a road trip from Dickinson to Deadwood on our quest to efficiently waste time on a layover.

This will never fit in the helicopter…. but it did along with me and a couple more coolers. The pilots say I have the record for packing the most stuff in a helicopter.

The View from the Outhouse

Hello everyone, from Silty Slough.

I made it back to the Slough last Friday after about a month of flying, just in time for the start of “Digging through 6 inches of Carharts for 2 inches of pecker season”.

The river is freezing up but still has some open water. A few snowmachiners have gone by. I think I will wait a while longer until it freezes a bit more. We need some snow to cushion the ride. There was about 4” of snow when I pulled the groomer on the trail through the slough a couple days ago. I groomed a few rocks and decided to wait. Kari and Thor have the trails around the property packed and groomed like freeways. I can still drive the Kubota anywhere. This time last year when I got home from flying I think the snow was about knee deep or more. Temps have been good in the 0 to 20 range.

Since I was flying on November 5th I didn’t get to see the election results. Did Trump win? Been pretty quiet on FB, so I suspect he did. I’m so happy that Brandon and the 81 million that supposedly voted for him paid off my student loan for my lesbian literature degree just before the election. I sent the extra money I had left over to the Trump campaign.

…. Back to the slough. When I came out in the helicopter I only took one picture because I was busy taking everything in. This time the pilot landed right up by the cabin, talking about door to door service. Sam and the Pollux guys had the R66 filled to the brim with me, a trash pump, hoses, a turkey, and the rest of the groceries for Thanksgiving, along with repair parts to fix a few things at the cabin. The two Costco pumpkin pies and five dozen eggs made it all intact. Except for one piece of pie that came up missing. That could have happened in the truck on the way from Anchorage. Too bad I’m too old or I might try this helicopter flying stuff. I should be careful, the last time I said too bad I’m too old I ended up flying a business jet. Maybe I’ll ask Santa for a drone for Christmas and start another adventure.

It’s sunny 12 degrees and the wind is blowing about 5, so I guess I should get my Carharts on and find something that needs to be done outside. I don’t have to look far, just open the door and look in any direction.

From Silty Slough we wish everyone a happy and blessed Thanksgiving!!

Thank you Lord for everything you have blessed us with.

I’ll be in touch.

Blue Skies!!!

PS. Does anyone know of a position for someone with a PHD in lesbian literature? Just in case the judges block the new administration from kicking all the illegals off Social Security, before it goes bankrupt.

Tuesday November 5, 2024

Hello from Silty Slough. Steve Butts and I installing an ADSB antenna and a Wi-Fi link to Steve’s cabin. That’s me on top of 5 stands of scaffolding. They say at 72 you are not supposed to go over 3 steps high on a ladder.

Iqaluit is very expensive. Most everything is flown in.

The city of Iqaluit, capitol of Nunavut Territory.

The View from the Outhouse

Hello friends, I looked back through my posts and realized that I hadn’t checked in for about a year. We are still kicking.

The cabin is still coming along. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The metal siding is up, the Trex is on the front porch, the new woodshed is stacked full of wood.

Last year I decided being retired is too much work so I took a part time job flying. It gets me out of the house and lets me see some places that I have only flown over at the airline. I’ve been to Valdez, Cordova, Sitka, King Salmon, and Kodiak in Alaska. Many trips to Boeing Field in Seattle. It was exciting to go to Yellowknife, NWT and Iqaluit, Nunavut Territory, ending up about 300 miles from Greenland. It’s a great job, beats working.

I had to work pretty hard doing cabin things for a few weeks to get a kitchen pass to escape on the helicopter to Wolf Lake. I’m going to be gone about a month so Kari and Thor are holding the fort down. The good news is when I fly back out in the helicopter I can bring fresh food for the holidays and presents. From the amount of stuff I’ve collected I may need two helicopters.

Life isn’t all skittles and beer. While in town I bit into a Hershey Kiss and broke a front tooth. It couldn’t be repaired and had to be pulled. Pretty good I got to be a jack o lantern for Halloween. I guess chocolate is bad for me after all.

The latest news is that we held the Silty Slough election yesterday to beat the rush. Mayor Cooper won once again. Teddy is making noise about term limits. Our population is 6. Kari, Thor, myself, Cooper, Teddy, and Oden the cat. Piper passed away earlier but was still somehow able to vote. We received about 5000 mail in ballots voting for Kamala but they were disqualified because the mail plane arrived too late. We had a wolf, a moose, several coyotes, two eagles, a fox, and a couple ravens come up from the southern border of the slough but were turned away since they didn’t have ID. So Mayor Cooper’s political machine once again won by a landslide. He is talking about appointing Kamala dog catcher but she may not be qualified. The garbage collector position will be open since we have a lot of garbage and deplorables residing here.

Watch for an announcement from Mayor Cooper. His website is going to be selling FEMA tee shirts with their motto “Too little, too late” on them.

It’s time to have a nap to be rested for the election results. I’m in Seattle, flying, better than being in Portland where they could burn the place down.

Vote early and often. Stay safe and stay out of Walmart.

I hope everyone has a great day!!

Thank you Lord for watching over us.

I’ll be in touch.

Blue skies!!

Sunday December 31, 2023

The View from the Outhouse

Good morning from Silty Slough, everyone. I slept in this morning, let the fire go out but there is little change in the indoor temperature, about 68. The outside temp changed big time overnight. I knew it would be good when I turned the porch light on and saw snow falling. It is 35 degrees warmer than last night. Plus 10 degrees now. I started a fire in the stove, turned on the burner for the coffee pot, and started this post. The women woke up had some coffee and Jess started breakfast. Bacon, scrambled eggs, home baked sourdough toast, with a glass of tomato juice for $13.75 plus tip.

Prime rib and shrimp turned out excellent.

After breakfast I made a swing by the outhouse in my pj bottoms, t shirt, and Crocks. Figured I might as well try the heater one more time since I’m out strolling around. I plugged it in and pressed the power button. No 33 error code yet, it should appear in a couple seconds. But heater lit off, no code. I guess it was too cold for the overheat sensor to operate properly yesterday. Cancel that parts order. I don’t need no stinking repair parts now.

Jess spotted a moose across the river. I took a picture. It is the tiny black dot in the center of the frame. I titled it “Moose in the middle”.

With the warmer weather I should cross some things off my to do list.

Check the generator diesel tank quantity

Replace the shock in the rear suspension on my snow go

Dig out my freight sled

Water solar batteries

Carry in wood

Treadmill

That’s all crossed off. I’ll get to them later today or tomorrow.

Maybe time to take a nap so I can stay awake until midnight New York time.

From the Silty Slough, I hope everyone has a Great New Year!!

Thank you Lord for your many blessings!

I’ll be in touch.

Blue skies!!!

Saturday December 30, 2023

The View from the Outhouse

Good afternoon from Silty Slough.

-25 now up from -30 when I went outside at 4:30 this morning.

I shot myself in the foot with my post on Friday. I said I wasn’t going outside unless the generator failed to autostart. Guess what….Saturday morning Kari looked downstairs and a light was flashing on the autostart controller. I better check it out. -27 when I went out to check it and reset the control box on the generator. I attempted one start, didn’t start. Ok save the battery. This job is going to take more clothes. The heater in the generator shed that also semi warms the outhouse was flashing a 33 code. I made several attempts to reset it but I can’t get it going. I’ll get the Honda 2000 that I keep in the shop because it is almost impossible to start cold. I try it inside and it won’t start. No problem I have an outlet powered from the house system in the generator shed just in case. Under the deck I have a new bullet heater. Feels light when I pick it up, so I know it needs fuel. Carry it out to the diesel tank. The fuel hose there is so stiff it won’t bend or twist to get the nozzle in the filler. I finally get the heater jockeyed around enough to fill it. I know when it is cold the nozzle sticks and won’t shut off, so I quit early. Let the handle snap. The fuel slowly stopped flowing and the handle fell out of the nozzle and promptly rolled into the snow. I shut the tank valve off, will get to the nozzle repair on a warmer day. Ok take the heater to the generator shed. Plug it in and it fires right up. Position it so I don’t burn the place down. I’m not cold yet so I might as well try to see how much propane is in the 100 pound bottle for the heater. It is frozen down, so I picked up a chunk of 4×4 and give it a couple whacks. The tank rocks, the frozen rubber hose cracks and starts shooting propane at me. I rock the tank back and it stopped, so I shut off the valve. I guess the tank isn’t empty. I took the rubber line off and looked for a replacement in the greenhouse, which is 3 degrees inside without any heat source. Maybe I should move the generator into the greenhouse. Anyway the one copper line I have has too small of a fitting on the end that connects to the regulator. I have another rubber line with the end broken off. I’ll use an air hose barb and clamp to make it work. Ok now I have a good hose with a POL fitting on it to connect to the tank. Do you know why it is called that? Prest-O-Lite is the company that developed them and set the standard. Enough education back to trouble shooting and problem solving. I installed the hose, hooked up the POL fitting to the tank and turned it on. It has been long enough so I tried a start on the generator, started but died, second attempt it ran. We are in business….cooking with gas, diesel, and electricity. I’ll go in and google the 33 code on the heater. With a smartphone, an internet connection, and Google anybody can be a know it all. I need the model number so back out to the shed and photograph the data plate. I’m sure I have a photo in my phone but I don’t want to look through 30,000 picts. Has anyone heard from Kamala lately? She hasn’t checked in with me about this cats-ass-trophy I’m faced with. Probably couldn’t handle it anyway.

After some study a 33 code is a $6 switch. Of course it is a holiday and I can’t get one shipped until Tuesday. I’ll order a couple to have an extra one on hand to be assured that some other part will fail next time.

I’ll leave the generator run until bedtime so it won’t need to start until Saturday afternoon. What’s a couple gallons of diesel fuel in a bankruptcy of this size anyway.

The women are still cooking like some army is coming over.

Needed to get the prime rib to room temp to cook it last night. I guess sewing and quilting got in the way so we had Portillo’s Chicago style hot dogs. One twist, Kari had some relish made with green tomatoes that she canned a couple years ago. Awesome!! Jess made bearing sausage gravy, sausage patty, biscuits, and scrambled eggs for breakfast this morning.

-21 now. Couple more degrees and I will attempt a start on the generator. Their sewing and ironing have sucked some juice. Made sure they took the prime rib out. I’ll carry in a couple loads of wood. Surprisingly we aren’t using very much. It stays about 70 in here. I suppose all the cooking and baking helps. Rattle those pans ladies. Next week is going to be diet city for me.

One more thing… the dogs were going crazy, barking, and carrying on. Jess looked out and 3 coyotes were running down the river. Must have missed the roadrunner.

Everyone stay safe and healthy, and stay out of Walmart.

Thank you Lord for watching over us!!

I’ll be in touch.

Blue skies!!!

Thursday October 27, 2022

More heat to go upstairs. Proves heat rises.

The View from the Outhouse

Hello from Silty Slough. I woke up at 6am to put more wood in the stove. Still haven’t resorted to using the propane boiler. 25 degrees outside this morning. Can’t see the river yet to check on the ice. It will be daylight in several more hours.

The cell still isn’t working. This is the longest I can remember it being out. Maybe the cell tower repair man is in Florida helping those people out. If so I understand and I’m fine with that. I’m beginning to think it is my phone. Ever so often a stray roaming signal pops up, but it is too weak to do anything. Must be from the Willow or Anchorage area towers. I know you must be tired of me whining about it. If you are, just give me a call.

An airplane flew over yesterday and made a couple circles. Some is checking on me. Probably the guy that has been calling about my extended car warranty. At least he could see that there are no roads and no cars here. Still no chicken sandwiches or root beer floats falling from the sky.

I have managed to get some meaningful work done other than the necessary cabin chores to keep the heat and lights on and meals on the table. Yesterday I adjusted the shims around the front door to get it just right. I have learned a few things in my 70 trips around the sun on this big ball. Some being how to use a highlighter and how to tear long computer printer outputs into even sheets when I was flying at the airline. Now laser printers have made it another one of aviations lost arts. Another thing I learned, I think by watching an episode of “This Old House” is how to hang a door. I take the time to get it square and plumb, and the margins adjusted so it closes and seals just right. I also adjust the seal on the threshold so no air passes under the door. So what happens, the first person through steps on the threshold. After a while with people walking on it all the time you can throw a cat through the crack under the door. A major propane leak and at todays prices I can see dollar bills blowing out under the door into the wind. Besides it is unsightly to have a threshold that looks like a swayback horse. People get it right, you step over the threshold, not on the threshold. Google it. Everyone should know this. You carry a new bride over the threshold, not on the threshold, don’t you? Light airplanes have placards on places that you aren’t supposed to walk on. They say “No Step”. I’ll have to get some on order for my doorways.

When I got the door just right, I decided to seal all the gaps around the downstairs doors, windows, and anywhere the insulators couldn’t get to. Bring out the canned foam, the window and door, the non expanding kind. Truly a misnomer. It says somewhere in the fine print to fill the gaps to 50%. But this is the “non expanding” variety. I have seen the expanding foam used before and it consumed most of the wall and made the windows and doors so tight you couldn’t open them. Might be a good prank in a divorce, if any of the ceremonies performed at the Silty Slough Wedding Chapel should take a turn south. Anyway, I guess I could have filled the gaps a little more than 50%, maybe 90% to stop all that cold from getting in. More is better, right? I went upstairs to have a cup of tea with Cooper and Teddy since the pets are the only ones I have to talk to other than myself right now. At least I think they agree with most of my opinions. Oden the cat talks to me, but usually he is ordering me around. Piper the only female here has a soft quiet voice. She grew up around Moochie and begs for table food like a dog. They are all good company right now.

Back downstairs and holy moly, the foam has risen like loaves of bread around the windows. I guess like in some other cases, more is not better. About a third of the foam is where it needs to be sealing the gaps. One of my tasks today it to trim the other two thirds off before the woman comes home and sees how much expensive foam I’ve wasted. I’ll fill the upstairs gaps at 50% or less.

The last project for the day was to remove the temporary construction stairway to make room for the finished one. Not sure if Cooper and Teddy comprehend what the old guy was doing. Now we have this 4 foot wide gaping hole in the floor and no steps to bounce the ball down and retrieve it when dad is too busy to play.

Just waiting for the internet to be available so I can draw the details in AutoCAD to get the new stairs just right so the ball will bounce perfectly. I learned about stairs from Bob and Norm, no actually I bought a couple books and read them when I did the mahogany stairway at our old house in Chugiak.

8 am and still dark. I think I’ll take a short nap. Hope I don’t have a nightmare about expanding foam consuming the whole house. Maybe I’ll put some in one of Kari’s bread pans and let it rise into a nice looking loaf. I’ll start with 50%.

Just waist’in away in “No Service” land.

Wait’in for the helicopter to fly over.

From Silty Slough, I wish you well, my friends.

Thank you Lord for my pets.

I’ll be in touch.

Blue skies!!!

This and all previous posts are at www.siltyslough.com