Dec 2 - still railling-less

I talked to Sam first thing.  He said that he gave his guys the option of taking Thanksgiving off and they did.  C'mon over and see where it stands.  So we went.

The welder was re-doing a section.  Sam gave a little more explanation -- welder came in Saturday and did work but Sam wasn't happy with it, so they're re-doing some of it.

It's huge.  The railing is all one piece.  It won't look as big when it's mounted, since it's part of the house, but as without that backdrop ... think about the fact that it's 25 feet from the bottom to top and then turns 90 degrees for another three feet to the pillar ...

We won't be seeing them today either.  He said to call first thing and he'd have a better idea when they'd be finished, depending on how far they got yesterday.

Ok, I'm ready for this to be over with, done, finished, wrapped up ...

What did I do with my day ?  Well, it was time to do some work outside.  I pulled the fountain surround apart and took out all the little stones, piling them, bucket's full, at Gene's side of the house.  I removed the rotten wood that backed the bricks and rebuilt the "container" with the bricks alone.  I washed the stones.  That took 2-3 hours because they were full of organic material accumulated over the years.  Mud.  I probably spent more in water than it would have cost me to have another cubic yard of stones delivered. 

This would have been a lot easier with bigger stones.  This stuff, generally 1" in diameter and smaller, was a mess.  I needed some sort of big colander but even that would have resulted in stones and sticks, with sand and chaff washed out.  

Re-built, the inside part is smaller because the brick container isn't as deep and the bricks themselves take up part of the space when they're flat as opposed to standing on edge.  There was enough with the small stones to fill the area; the larger granite chunks are now piled at the other side of the house.

Sandy talked to Joanne, the realtor for Scot's house next door.  Yes, the Georgia couple made an offer and it was accepted.  The closing date is mid January (I forget the date).  So we will have neighbors !  Great !

I bought another bike which will arrive next week.  I'm hoping that somehow I'm going to be able to bring it north !  This is a relative cheapie -- http://www.walmart.com/ip/26-Mongoose-Beast-Men-s-Oversized-All-Terrain-Bike/22861845

It's supposed to arrive in the store next Wednesday, just prior to our departure.  With 4" diameter tires, it should be a blast in the snow / on the ice of the lake (assuming that there is ice !).  I can also ride it on Osprey Road.

I'll get a workout on any hills with this bike -- no gears and the bike weighs 49 pounds :).

We had tuna for dinner with rice and sauteed spinach.  The normal shrimp seller wasn't at the NSB market on Saturday.

Today ... I may do my 200k.  We've got wind from the south for the next 7 days so this will be a change.  If I had to ride US 1 all the time it would be boring, but this is a change of pace at this point.  It'll start out a little cool -- 52F right now -- but should warm up quickly.  The next few days are predicted to be nice and warm, temps up to 80F again.  That changes as the wind shifts back to the north next week and we get ready to depart ...

Onward !