New Patio picture

Here is our new patio as referenced in my last post!

NEW TERRACE

The last month or so has been traumatic. A low bidder fly be night person put in the new terrace so badly that we had to have it replaced. This involved getting the old concrete out and pouring the new. It turned out so badly that both Jan and I were disgusted. Meanwhile, the fly by night collected his modest charge and disappeared.
With much help from some of the kids ,a competent person was hired to redo the whole thing.
Once again the concrete was removed and new concrete poured the way it should have been the first time. A beautiful mottled ocher color was incorporated right into the concrete and a pattern was put in while the concrete was still fresh. Turned out great.
We threw a small neighborhood party last night and inaugurated it. Once again, we are sleeping at night without having to worry about such things.
Speaking of incompetent people, my newly contracted tax preparers finally finished my 2008 tax return. They had no clue about how to handle some of the items on my return. I think they did a poor job but at least I finally got something off to the dear old IRS.
I also got a nasty note from the afore mentioned IRS about my 2007 return. I have turned this problem over to a CPA who seems to know what he is doing.
We will be off the North Carolina in about twenty days. Many of my vast readership may join us there.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Why do you suppose that almost all professional basketball games are played late at night ?
Although I am not a big fan of the game, when the Houston team got into the playoffs I got
excited and watched all the games at the expense of a decent nights sleep. Children most
likely never get to see these games, much less go to them. By the way, attending games has
become ruinously expensive thanks to the ridiculous salaries payed to the enormous thugs
that we seem to like to watch.

Why do the auto companies think that we need autos that can go from 0 to 60 in 4,5,0r 6 seconds and reach speeds of 130+ miles per hour ? When is the last time you got going that fast that quickly and why did you do it ? Top speeds of 100 mph should be sufficient. How about
0-60 in 12 seconds ? I have noticed that some of the overpowered cars cut out half the cylinders
when cruising at highway speeds. Engines half as powerful but differently geared to allow decent
acceleration would make the cars acceptable. They might use much less gasoline as well.

Yesterday was a good day. My incompetent tax preparers finally got my 2008 return done.
I don't think they did a good job and even I spotted a few errors. Heretofore, I have done my own returns but decided this year to get it done. Big mistake. The other good things : Jan and I
won our duplicate bridge game rather handily. All we get for this is the glory but we feel more
than adequately rewarded. Tuesday is trivia night at the Burlap Barrel and our team came out ahead. Here we won $40.00 of free drinks. I wonder if we are getting smarter or if everyone is getting stupider.

A FEW BAD DAYS

If there is something that can be put off, always do so . Also, never be pressured
by your spouse to do things that you don't want to do. This thing was the continual
complaint about the condition of our back patio which, over the years had developed
many large and unsightly cracks. We (she) decided to fix it.
We got a nice lowball quote and ordered the work done. What the quoter didn't know was that the concrete to be removed was six+ inches thick and had hardened
over the last 40 years. Three days of jack hammering is almost more than one can
bear. A mountain of chunks blocked our driveway for days. The coloring added to the concrete is splotchy. The mess left behind was unbelievable.
Jan was in serious danger when she told me that she hates what they did. I don't care for it too much either but would cut my throat before mentioning it.
The final parting indignity-As they moved the patio table back to the patio, somehow the glass top shattered into millions of tiny shards. I didn't see what they had done to cause this so we took the loss and didn't argue about it. Today we went out and purchased a new table and umbrella. Jan isn't my mom but happy mom's day.
The moral of the story ( if there is one): You gets what you pays for.

WORST NIGHTMARE

Just got a call from Virginia ( sister, not the state ) and she tells me that they had a terrible accident which destroyed their little Prius and bruised the sisters in the car pretty much. Injuries were confined to bruises all over and considerable soreness.
The nightmare part of the story is what might have been. Here we all are, driving about every day and at any moment we can get injured or killed. I think about this often. I don't want any dead family or friend. Do what I do. Drive slowly and carefully
so that if you do crash, you might survive.

DOOM AND GLOOM

Two dark and rainy days in a row and more to come tomorrow has done nothing to make thing rosier. I am being attacked by the IRS again. When I think of the puny little summ that they want from me and compare it to the trillions being spent by the Obama administration I wonder why they are after my few thousand dollars. I have finally given up on the idea that I can do my own taxes and have hired a professional who seems to be having trouble solving my problem. This in turn has caused me to have trouble sleeping. That, of course, is stupid as it solves nothing.
My skin doctor tells me that I need an operation in a hurry. He should have been nicer to me since I have helped him make payments on his fancy Mercedes. Tuesday I go in for what is really a very minor surgery but, since I am on a doom and gloom kick, I am allowing this to help keep me awake.
I will not burden my vast readership with any more of my troubles. Next time you hear from me I feel sure that I will once again be my usual amusing self

TWITTER

One keeps hearing about twitter or twittering(tweeting). Just what is it ? I see that the messages on twitter are very limited. My blogs, usually brief, are not limited. I can write on forever if it suits my fancy.
Unfortunately, the blog seems passe now , leaving me and fellow blogers in the dustbin of history. Modern technology has left us behind.