Remembering Dave Morford

David George Morford, 62, passed away unexpectedly on Jan. 14, 2023. An accomplished meteorologist, both as lead forecaster for the NWS Forecast Office of Binghamton, NY, and as an incident meteorologist for wildfires and sporting events, Dave was also a devoted volunteer firefighter for many years, rising to the post of Chief of the Prospect Terrace Volunteer Fire Dept and later of board member, while continuing to answer calls, saving lives and putting out fires.

A dedicated and loving son, brother, uncle, husband and friend, Dave was the life of the party, bringing great comedy, kindness, and a patient, good humor to every gathering.

Dave was born on January 20th, 1960, to George Taylor Morford and Helen Marie Morford. The youngest of three, Dave was fascinated by all things meteorological from an early age. He could forecast the weather and plot the route from Binghamton to Queens before he could pronounce either place correctly. After graduating from the State University of New York, Oswego, Dave joined the National Weather Service Forecast Office at LaGuardia Airport, followed by a stint in Cortland, before returning home to the Forecast Office of Binghamton, where he remained until his retirement in 2020.

Dave met Cindy Ann Kenderes while they were both working at Kmart, and they were married in 1987. Dave was devoted to Cindy, a loving, thoughtful soulmate in all their days together. They had a special way of poking fun, telling stories of the other's eccentricities, but never at their beloved's expense, both laughing through it all. They were long-time members of the congregation of St Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church.

Dave had many passions and hobbies: bowling, poker, cars, caving, camping, climbing, golf, comedy and film. He was a MOPAR Man. An auto-didact to a T, Dave was a railroad buff, a craftsman – fixing up their century-plus old home – a great reader, and a writer, working on a crime novel in his spare time. He loved to travel, the Yankees and the Giants, and always had a story or a fun fact for every occasion.

He was preceded in death by his father George Taylor Morford, mother Helen Marie Morford, uncle George Winckler, and cousins Edward George Winckler and George Winckler. He is survived by his loving wife Cindy, his sister Karen Templeman (Randy), brother Edward Morford, sisters-in-law Debby Nelen (Mark) and Linda Marrs Morford, uncle Edward Winckler (Katherine), aunt Gertrude Winckler, and many other cousins, nieces, nephews, and dear friends. Dave was loved deeply and will be sorely missed.
Funeral services will be held Saturday January 21st at 11:00 AM at Sts. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church 212 Hill Ave. Endicott, NY. Burial will follow in Riverhurst Cemetery, Endwell, NY. The family will receive friends at the church on Friday January 20th from 4:00 - 7:00 PM.
The family would like to thank the Binghamton ICMS and Dr. John Welsh. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Prospect Terrace Volunteer Fire Company.

Building a better mousetrap, or toilet

Innards of the Super Toilet. The
white ring around the green
doohickey is the flapper valve. 

 One of the good things about having a blog is that I have inadvertently created a timeline of projects that I have completed. This helps we when something fails and I can go back and see when I fixed or replaced it. So, back in 2019 I replaced the sink and toilet in the bathroom. I recently noticed that the toilet was running randomly, a sure sign that the tank was leaking into the bowl. So, being the Amateur Plumber First Class that I am I removed the tank cover and literally looked into the problem. I was immediately reminded that I had purchased a Super Toilet, one that could apparently flush dozens of golf balls at once, a useful feature at times. One thing that was a hidden feature that this mad flusher possessed was an increased difficulty of repair, and more expensive parts. For those of you that have reached my lofty status of Amateur Plumber First Class, you know the most common cause of tank water leaking is the flapper valve, a rubber gasket that seals the tank after the flush and the doohickey (technical term) drops back into the tank. Apparently, these flapper valves have an engineered life of a few years before they fail to seal properly and allow the tank water to leak out. Now, why would a rubber gasket last only two years? You would think that buying the American Standard Super Toilet capable of flushing dozens of golf balls would also include higher quality components. However, similar to buying a high end luxury car, you may get a more comfortable ride, but repair costs and intervals are shorter.

As an aside, I haven't noticed an increased efficiency or flushing ability of the Super Toilet. It needs a the normal amount of "courtesy" flushes of any other toilet. I still haven't tested American Standard's golf ball claim, which I assume hasn't been tested by other home owners, for good reasons. Consumer Reports, are you listening? 

Anyway, the replacement of the flapper valve was not as easy as it would be in a normal toilet. After my first attempt, the toilet leaked even worse. At first I thought the leak was coming from someplace else, reenforced by my mistaken confidence in the Super Toilet that the flapper valve wouldn't fail so quickly. But after a time I realized that I hadn't reassembled the doohickey correctly allowing the water to continue to leak. The Super Toilet now stands ready to flush dozens of golf balls, should the need arise.  

A pretty morning in Saratoga

In other news, we had a pre-Christmas shopping trip to Saratoga Springs which was great, except that a block from our hotel, a guy lost control of his Jeep in the snowstorm and hit our Toyota head on. We were stationary at a traffic light and were unhurt. Luckily the car was drivable I wont bore you with the details but eventually his insurance found him to be 100% at fault and we can finally proceed with repairs. The estimate I got yesterday was $4100, less than I expected. They do not expect to begin repairs until March.

So now we enter what I consider the doldrums of winter. Short cloudy days, long cold nights without the benefit of Holiday lights to brighten the mood. Cindy and I are looking into possible winter escapes to sunny locales to help move the grey season along.

My favorite movie

 My favorite movie choice might surprise you, and it's almost certainly not for the reasons you may think. The movie is Silence of the Lambs. On it's surface, it's a film about pathological killers and the depths of depravity that they reach in the death and torture of their victims. But as Hannibal Lector would say, that is incidental to the real theme of the movie. That is what makes the movie so great.

Silence of the Lambs is a thriller about a serial killer in West Virginia who kidnaps, tortures, kills, and skins his victims. This killer is nicknamed Buffalo Bill and he hunts for young women in rural small towns. When he unknowingly kidnaps a U.S. senator's daughter, he brings the full weight of the FBI into the investigation with it's special Behavioral Science Unit. Hoping to get insight into the investigation, figuring it takes one to know one, they interview Hannibal Lector, known as Hannibal the Cannibal, whom is already in custody on previous grisly crimes. Hannibal could hardly care less and toys with interviewers, so the head of the unit decides to send a promising young recruit, student and temporary agent Clarice Starling to interview Hannibal, hoping that the genius, psychopathic murderer will respond to the young woman. Initially, the interview fails, until the end when an "unspeakable" act is committed against the recruit by the prisoner in the next cell.  This triggers sympathy in Lector, who as a child was a victim of sexual abuse. At the last moment, he gives Clarice a lead to follow.

Size alone can be used as intimidation.

So begins the heart of the movie, which is Clarice and the FBI slogging through the horror of the murders, occasionally interviewing Lector. But what is the movie really about? Is it a procedural about solving horrific crimes? Secondarily, yes. I feel the movie is about some men treating woman horrifically, and many men just badly in every day life. While Buffalo Bill is kidnapping, torturing, and killing young woman, men in all walks of life are dismissing, ogling, and insulting Clarice as she struggles through the investigation and struggles with her own demons that arose in her difficult childhood. There are two very telling scenes: One as Clarice enters an elevator full of tall men at the FBI academy, the other as she walks through a crowded airport. Watch how the men look at her, and how she is made uncomfortable by their stares. She has two friends in the movie; her FBI Academy roommate, and ironically, Hannibal Lector. 

A psychopath showing sympathy

Hannibal, the cannibal, develops a fatherly affection for Clarice, and treats her with respect that she does not receive from any of her fellow investigators. He guides her to the proper clues and helps her make the right conclusions about Buffalo Bill. In their last meeting, when Clarice finally discloses the details of her childhood nightmares to Hannibal, look carefully at his face. He has tears in his eyes in
sympathy, something he hasn't felt before. He also knows he will likely never see her again since he has given here all she needs to solve the crime. When she figures out who the killer is, and where he is, her boss dismisses her deduction and ends up sends her off to confront Buffalo Bill on her own, leading to a terrifying conclusion. 

So yes, the movie is a crime story, a horrific crime story, with two deadly psychopaths. In it's depth, it is about how men treat women in today's society, the subtle pressure that they put upon woman by their looks and comments. So Buffalo Bill is at the far end of the terrible treatment of women, with the rest of the creeps in the movie more subtle in their misogynistic behavior.

Update on life

 In a word, busy. It's fascinating to me to find out that I seem to have less time to myself than I did when I was working. I think a big part of it is that my lovely bride Cindy retired about the same time as I, so when I (we) are home, I'm less likely to sit in my den and write a blog. We just do other things. 

The colors are more attractive than this
 photo shows.

I have been very busy around the house, but much of it has turned into upkeep and maintenance. I have still not finished this den. We again are stalled at choosing a paint color. The ceiling is finished, and it looks great, so we are down to wall and trim work. Hopefully I can get to that after the holidays.

Outside maintenance has taken a lot of time. Besides the annual battle of the leaves, I cut down two large trees along the fence line, then have delt with the massive clean up. Surprisingly, the city took all eight bundles of sticks and 3 garbage cans full of leaves and twigs in one day. I still have several large logs to cut and store for curing. I will mostly burn those in the solo stove, and save the better hardwood for the fireplace.

New refrigerator being installed. Note
the missing door and frame.

We lost our "new" refrigerator over the summer. Apparently, 7 years is around the expected life span for them now. I have learned that the effort to employ more environmentally friendly refrigerants has significantly shortened the lifespan of compressors and coils. Also of note is the substantial increase in price of home appliances, and the scarcity of them. We were very lucky to get one we liked in the smudge resistant finish to match the range. I measured several times to see if the unit would fit through the door. I knew it would be very close. I ended up having to take off two doors and parts of two door frames to get the damn thing in the house. Hope it lasts for more than 7 years.

We have already done much of our holiday baking. We did our two batches of both cinnamon buns and bread, It occurs to me that I should do a blog on that, or maybe another blog on that. I need to go back and look to see if I previously wrote one. Cookie baking is on Cindy and her sister-in-law and aunt. 

Trapped and without power thanks to
 hurricane Ian.

We traveled to New Jersey twice, and also had a long and wonderful trip that included a Yankee game with my nephew and brother, the Jersey shore, Virginia Beach, and Myrtle Beach. That trip ended with quite an adventure as we were hit by the same hurricane twice. Pro Tip: Make sure you have a working flashlight when traveling to the south in hurricane season. That should be a blog as well.

We are preparing for the holidays now. The Christmas tree is up, the outside lights are up and working, and the house is decorated. I have a bit of shopping to do, and we have a couple of trips planned. A day trip to Skaneateles to experience the Dickens characters, and a few days in Saratoga to enjoy some food and drink, and to enjoy one of the most beautiful Christmas towns in the country.

Out with the "old"

Saying goodbye to our "old"
refrigerator.

 I'm old, but not quite ready to head "out". My age does give me a longer perspective on what else is old, and what is not. Our refrigerator, for example, is not old, but unfortunately, it headed out. Turns out, refrigerators do not last anywhere near as long as they used to. We have a freezer in the basement, that we bought 30 years ago, and it just keeps going. Our original refrigerator, that we bought when we moved back to Binghamton, was running like a champ when we gave it away, 7 years ago. It's replacement, quit a couple weeks ago. This surprised me, an old guy, that expected major appliances to last for decades. Turns out, 7 years is about average for modern refrigerators and freezers, according to a couple repairmen, and 3 appliance salespersons. The explanation, according to them, is that in an effort to make these types of appliances more environmentally friendly, they have become less durable. It seems like you are defeating the purpose, if the machines that are better for the environment last less of a third of the time, than the older machines that they replace. It's expensive too. Have you checked the prices of refrigerators lately? Plus, they can be hard to get now as we still have a supply side covid hangover. 

A window worth saving.

Renovations and repairs continue at the Morford estate. Two major projects currently underway are the renovation of the den, and the bigger project is the re-glazing of every window in the house. There are 24 windows in our home, not counting the basement. I have repaired and glazed 5 so far, and they were easier ones. I am now working on the diamond pattern windows, which are truly the ones were saving, and are the most difficult to glaze. The glaze is the putty like sealant between the glass and the window frame. Each diamond pattern window takes one tube of glazing, 3 Yuenglings, a truckload of patience. It is a good project to have going in the background since I can dive into it when I get a little free time. I'm getting better at the glazing now, so its time to tackle these difficult windows. The repair also includes repair and painting of the sills and frame. I also replace the old ropes that go the the counterweights hidden behind the frame. I will give credit to my late father in law Gene for showing me how to do this. The old cotton ropes rot and eventually break leaving you to prop open the window to get some air in the house.

My glazing is improving.

The den is stuck where all our renovations get stuck, and that's with paint color. We really struggle picking a color, with Cindy being pickier than me. We want something both bold and rich, but not overwhelming. Since I fixed the ceiling, and for now we are going with a simple white, not tiles, it allows us to go a bit more striking on the walls. I'm leaning toward a green, perhaps a spring green, but its hard to find one that's not either too bright, or too dark. the sweet spot is narrow on this.

In other news...Cindy pointed out to me that I never repaired and painted the heating grate in the kitchen. That turned into a bit more than I expected as removing the faceplate allowed the duct work to fall into the basement. That faceplate was the holding the duct in place. Oof. I went with a dark steel paint that matched our old refrigerator (ha ha) and it came out nice. We special ordered our new refrigerator to match it, further delaying the delivery. 

We are researching whole house AC. I'm still a bit undecided on this as the number of hot summer days around here is kind of limited, and I am a "windows open" kind of guy. Still, we must have a window AC in our bedroom for use on several nights each year. I am getting tired of lugging that thing into and out of the window each year. Another issue is the cost. Estimates are coming in at least 50% higher than I expected, but by all accounts we will see a corresponding increase in the value of our house. We'll see.

A life less ordered

Meh. The snow can wait.

 I'm happily retired. That should be clearly understood. Still, there are times that I notice how the lack of order in my life is something to be overcome. I am generally self motivated, but now that there is always free time in the schedule, it becomes easy to delay the hard stuff, or at least the stuff that I enjoy less. For example, when I was working, clearing the snow after a storm was something I scheduled. Now it's much easier to throw another log on the fire, or have another coffee. 

I also find it more difficult to keep track of appointments and other scheduled items. I wake up every day thinking my day is up to me, and it often is not. It's so strange that I assume that now, and even putting most every thing in my phone calendar doesn't always work. 

I wonder if my less ordered life has completely affected the way I think, and the way I approach life in general. The freedom is amazing, and I'd never go back, but there is something to be said about having a general life plan for 30 years. 

We always had a vacation schedule, generally knowing where we were going and when, months in advance. Now, we happily plug along at life, always thinking that we'll get to planning a trip at some point. We haven't travelled much yet, but we have been on vacation since September of  2020.

The weather has been steadily improving as the days are noticeably longer. Another thing I have noticed is that I enjoy the cold less and less each year. I had thought that retirement would allow me to more embrace the seasons, since I was not forced to go out in it, but in reality there are plenty of times I need to go out and deal with the cold and snow. 

Ouch!

On the repair and restore front, someone decided to hit our Toyota, and of course, not leave a note. Luckily, it was mainly scratches, with one small dent. I was not inclined to contact the insurance company, and file a police report, so I decided to see what I could do with a quality scratch remover. I was pleased with the product and after a bit of work, it looked pretty good. There is a minor dent that is hard to see. I may call the ding and dent remover company, but I suspect it is not one they can fix.

Better

The irony of the situation is that I purchased an insurance policy with he pervious car, that covered this type of damage with little or no deductible. I never used it. Despite that I was interested in getting the same policy, but it was no longer offered. Oof. Bad timing.

It's becoming time to start planning spring projects. I think a permanent fence and perhaps a storage shed may be in order. I'm at my limit for things I can store in the garage, and a boy needs room for his toys.

Getting plastered again and a nasty storm

The problem.

 I finally began the last major plaster repair job in the house. When we purchased the house, the second floor had some damaged ceilings from a roof leak. The roof was replaced by the previous owner, but the water damage was not fixed. This will be my third plaster repair and I am getting better at it. First step is to remove the loose plaster. This is a messy job that results in a lot of dust, and pieces of plaster everywhere. Then, you must secure the old plaster around the edge by drilling holes, squirting in a prep solution, squirting in glue, then securing the plaster to the lathe with wood screws

and large washers. This is even

messier as the prep solution drips

on the floor, and the glue squirts of the

holes as you drill in the screws.

The solution

After allowing the glue to dry for 24 hours, you apply the first coat of plaster. Plastering is simple. Doing it well is a learned skill. I am getting better at it. Many DIY home improvement projects are a blend of both but this is more skill than anything. Slapping plaster on a wall is easy, making it look nice is tough.

Luckily, the third step hides any amateur mistakes you may have made. After a couple of applications of the patching plaster, you put down a couple coats of joint compound, which is really easy to apply. It smooths out your mistakes, especially after you wet sand the surface.

The final result.

Finally, I primed the the repair area with a spray primer. This should prep it nicely for the ceiling paint, and what ever color we choose for the wall. I do have one more small repair area to repair in the other corner, and some other touch up on the walls (thank you Frat brothers).

Choosing the wall paint will be difficult. I am using the room as an office, and will continue to do so. But we may set it up with a couch or futon for a second guest room. We have kind of exhausted the available colors in the rest of our home, and hate to repeat. We may go a bit strong or rich, maybe a deep green. We will see.

On the weather front (pun intended), it has been a rather cold and nasty winter since Christmas. For four weeks in a row, my home weather station has a least one day of below zero temperatures. The spell culminated with a rough storm that dumped a couple inches of ice underneath a few inches of snow. The entire mess froze into a glacier on sidewalks and driveways that we are just now escaping. The longer days and higher sun angle of mid February are greatly appreciated.

Snow Day

 We had a snow storm last night. Not a record storm, not even close. It started in the evening, and began to snow heavily in the late night. One of those storms that when you woke up during the night, you pulled back the curtains and checked the progress. Magical. Then, in the morning, there was a new, fresh, deep blanket that covered the old dirty snow, and all the foot prints. A clean slate.

A fresh snow. At dusk.

When I went out to shovel, the snow was still falling. Silent and straight down. No wind, and only the occasional muffled sound in the distance. Very peaceful. Later in the day, the wind would increase and colder air would blow in, typical in New York snow storms. Plows would push the snow, and traffic would increase. But for now, it was quiet and beautiful.

For some reason, this storm caused a wave of nostalgia to hit me. It reminded me of snowfalls that hit when I was a youth. We seemed to have many of them, and we always took advantage of the fun and adventure that they provided, We sometimes would go hiking though the nearby forests and glens in deep snow, but more often, we would go sledding.

Our neighborhood was perched on the side of a hill. Lousy for bike riding, but excellent for sledding. Sometimes, an impromptu block party would break out and we would all just sled down the street. In later years, a long sledding trail was built. I do not know who did so, but it was there. It started in a backyard at the top of the hill, went down what was almost a ski jump, and directly into a pine forest. After that, it wound in an out of fields and forests, finally ending in a broad field in the valley. Parts were ridiculously steep, there were some difficult sliding turns, and sections of gentle slope that took skill to keep your speed up. I remember researching the trail on topographic maps and the total drop was around 400 feet. It took something like 45 minutes to pull your sled back to the top. Most of those short winter days there was only a couple of runs before it got dark.

Katia prefers to stay in by the fire.

I often think of one particular day. I was alone on the trail. I trudged to the beginning with my Flexible Flyer (my parents house was near the top end), put down my sled, and took off. We always sledded on our stomach. The trail was too fast for sitting up. It was snowing, not enough to slow me down, but enough to help me steer. I never timed myself but this felt like a record run. I leaned into turns, dug the toes of my boots in to help me steer and slow down. I flew down the final slope and drifted across the flat field at the bottom letting my speed bleed off as a slid to a stop. I rolled over, and looked up into the snowflakes silent drifting down on to my face. Silence. Peace. 

I finally got up and looked around. Dusk had hit, and it was snowing harder. Street lights were on in the distance. Cars moved silently on the highway pushing pools of light ahead. Countless beautiful snowflakes drifted by, surrounding me. I had a long, cold climb home. I didn't care. In fact, I loved it.

Happy New Year!

Cheers!

Yes, late, I know, but better than never. Same as this blog I suppose. The last entry was back in August. As usual, plenty has happened, and projects completed, but I just haven't taken the time to sit down and write. My writing has become more spotty since retirement, which is exactly the opposite of what I expected. I think it's due to the complete lack of structure in my life now as there are no looming work shifts on my horizon. Retirement has afforded me a "What shall I do today?" daily outlook, and somehow blogging really never comes up. I continue to photographically document our travels and projects, and I use those almost as a daily diary to see where we have been, and see where I left off.

Custom cabinet door. 
Note the stripped 
floor.

On the home improvement front, I finished the pantry, with the help of Cindy. All of the chocolate brown paint has been stripped off the walls revealing the beautiful bead board. Then I put on a polyurethane sealing coat so they can be easily cleaned.  I repaired the holes in the walls enclosing the half bath, stained and sealed the door frame, and built a nice access door to the bathroom plumbing. Finally, I unassembled, stripped, stained and sealed then reassembled the pantry shelves.  Finally, I painted

Cabinet.

the door we installed over 3 years ago. I did strip a small section of the floor, but it was just too much work. We will either have it professionally done, or repaint it. I'm really pleased with how it all turned out.

Traveling continues to be limited due to the pandemic. We did attend a beautiful wedding in the Chicago suburbs. I was lucky enough to be the best man for my brother and his lovely bride. We wish them all the best. The wedding allowed us to have a day in Chicago. We hadn't been there in quite some time and it was kind of sad to see how the pandemic had decimated the downtown business district. The Miracle Mile is not what it used to be. We also had a pleasant trip to Wildwood and Cape May. Out third of the year. Our general plan of attack is to monitor the weather, an when a nice stretch seems to be expected at the shore, we pack up the car and take off. The benefits of retirement.

Finally, we took another quick trip up to Saratoga Springs, for a bit of Christmas shopping, eating and drinking. Saratoga is a place that everyone should try to visit during the holiday season. The main shopping district is a throwback to the old days of small, shops, friendly service, and beautiful decorations. There are numerous restaurants and taverns, many cozy with working fireplaces and relaxed atmospheres. Our favorite, The Olde Bryan Inn, was built in the 1700s. That place alone is worth the trip. Pro tip: Avoid the area during racing season. Standard hotel rooms can go for $800 a night and everyplace is packed. 

Our favorite seats at the Olde Bryan Inn. Yes, I am a mug club member. 

Heat, Stripping Paint, and Neighbors

A warm July day.

It's been hot this summer, or at least I think so. The records at the Binghamton NWS office don't really agree with me. According to their records, June was warm, but May and July were slightly below average. August is running near average. So why do I think it has been hot? I believe it is because this is my first summer in nearly 40 years that I have not been in an air conditioned office most of the day. This not something I had considered when I dreamed of retirement. It does have us considering having whole house air conditioning installed in our home.

The beautiful wood beneath the paint.

Another part of my perception of the heat is my increased activity. Almost every day we are working on projects around the house, and that of course makes the heat more noticeable. Our current project, for example, is a hot one. Again my big mouth got me in trouble. I mentioned to Cindy that I thought the paint in the pantry could be stripped off the bead board revealing the stained wood beneath. I found a stripper that removed the paint but not the varnish and it worked perfectly. That's not to say it was easy at all. The two of us are wedged in this tiny room, the fumes are awful, and the paint tends to gum up and stick in the crevice along the bead. It is coming along nicely so we decided to strip the shelves in the back of the pantry as well. I haven't decided what to do about the floor. I might sand it, paint it, or even cover it with tile.

The night I began to call it the spooky house.

The spooky house next door continues to be a story. The owner has spent a lot of money on questionable workers to restore the place. I haven't been inside recently but if the repairs to the outside are any indication, I don't have a lot of confidence that a quality restoration is underway. The workers left a god awful mess of construction debris and general garbage which they just now cleaned up. The home has many issues, not the least of which is the yard. The house is shoe horned into a pizza slice shaped property leaving it with virtually no backyard. The driveway is accessed through city property, and cannot be built on since I have a right of way to access my second driveway. The owner does not believe my assessment of our property line, insisting that he had more land than he does despite never bothering to look it up. So I decided to pay a surveyor to properly find the pins and mark the line. I still don't think he believes where the line is so I will be installing a fence when the price of materials drops. Until then, I will be putting up a temporary plastic construction fence to keep the workers and debris out of my yard.

Plaster, trees, and Cape May

Obligatory home photo.

 Well hello. It has been the longest break ever from the blog. There are a few reasons, and more excuses, but certainly not a lack of material. Repairs and renovations have been made, trips have been taken, and we have generally emerged from the pandemic. One solid reason for the break is my broken "d" key here on my Lenovo laptop. Spell checker catches most of the dropped "d's", but if I miss one, I'm sure you'll forgive me. 

Before

The biggest completed task was the repair and painting of the walls an ceiling in our enclosed second floor porch. I ordered a kit from Plaster Magic specially designed for D.Y.I.ers repairing plaster walls and ceilings. It worked quite well and was relatively easy. The repair involves repairing and securing the loose plaster and then fixing the hole. The only additional item I had to buy was joint compound to skim coat the repair area. Then it was a matter of sanding, priming, and painting. I'm still working on the windows, repairing and glazing. That job needs to be done for every window in the house. 

After

Next big job kind of fell in my lap. The owner of the spooky house next door had hired a guy to take down some huge trees in "his" back yard. In conversation with him I realized he had no idea where the property line was and was about to have a large tree cut down in my yard. I wanted the tree down so I ended up paying for that tree, while the neighbor paid for his trees. Problem is all the branches and logs from all the trees ended up in my yard and it literally took me weeks to clean up the mess. Luckily, a farmer driving by wanted the massive logs to burn and he took those heavy things away.

We took a week off, finally, to go to Cape May and Wildwood Crest In the middle of June. The week pretty much consisted of us sitting in lounge chairs drinking cold stuff and reading novels. For me, it was my friend Dan Padavona and his creepy procedurals. ,We ate out at a few of our favorite restaurants, but also often dined in our room, that had a kitchenette. It was our first true vacation since retiring back in August. 

My position for most of vacation.

We have some plans for travel after Labor Day, but until then we are content to work on the house, and take a few day trips. The beauty of retirement life is traveling to the hot spots after everyone goes back to work and school.

I promise to update the blog more often, and maybe fix my keyboard. But just remember that I'm retired now, and deadlines and commitments are foreign to me. Upcoming blogs may include an on going practical joke, window repair and glazing and maybe a video blog.  

Emerging from the funk

It's snowed a bit back in December. 
That's not a drift.

 It's been almost 2 months since my last blog. It's not as though nothing has happened since then, and I have a backlog of DIY home improvement updates, it's really more about a complete lack of inspiration. I think this is at least partially due to the overall malaise of a long winter and continued covid-19 restrictions. Well, the sun is out today, and despite a near zero morning low, I'm feeling like spring is in the air, and it's time to get going on this.

Before

An ongoing project this winter has been the repair of the basement floor. The main issue is where the concrete and chipped and cracked away from the cast iron sewer pipe. I've never worked with concrete before and like so many other home repair projects, it's more of an art than a technical skill. Anyone can throw concrete patch into a hole, making it look good is where the tough part is. I've used three different types of patch so far, and have found that the type of patch material use makes a big difference in the difficulty of making it look right. 

After

Even after careful application and smoothing with the trowel, I found that I needed to use a rub brick to help smooth and taper the work. That is difficult  and tiring, but helps make the finished product look better. As I have improved my technique, I have gone on the fill other cracks and holes around the basement floor. I've been using a premixed compound so whenever I have some extra time, I can work on it.

Another project I have taken on is rewiring the attic lights. This is a good job to do now before it becomes unbearably hot up there. When we bought the house, the attic lights consisted of old time cloth extension cords with bare bulbs swinging from nails pounded into the rafters. My only improvement so far has been to replace the hot incandescent bulbs with LED's. Now I am completely rewiring from the switch adding outlets and properly mounting 4 LED fixtures. It will be much safer and ridiculously bright. Three of the fixtures will have pull chains on them so we wont need to light the place up like an operating room if we don't want to.

The spooky house on Halloween.

In neighborhood news, the owner of the spooky house next door is making another run at remodeling. He's got a dumpster in the driveway, and a trio of "carpenters" from New Jersey gutting the place and apparently putting in new drywall. He asked me to keep an eye on the place since it is filed with new materials. We do and will continue to do so. I really hope he completes the place, but I've seen this all before and am definitely in wait and see mode. A project this summer may be to build a fence between our houses. This will keep people from cutting the corner from Grand Boulevard, but more importantly, clearly demarking the irregular property line and driveway ownership to anyone that rents the place, assuming it ever becomes livable. 

 

A busy time of the year.

 Despite the pandemic, we've been so busy, that I haven't taken time to write in my blog. It's always busy, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but this year seems even more so as I work on the kitchen in between decorating, baking, and family.

Post installation.

One project was the installation of my weather station. Cindy gave me my Christmas present early so I could get it installed before the ground froze and the snow fell. That turned out to be a good plan (more on that later). First I had to install a post to mount the station. I got my self a pressure treated 4x4 and went about digging a 36" deep hole. It was actually not a tough as I thought it would be. I located the station well away from the trees to keep them from interfering with the operation of the weather station, so roots were not a problem. The soil was loose, with just some small, round rocks so the digging was easy. To secure the post, I used liquid fence post mix that turns to a foam, then hardens.  Within 24 hours, I was able to mount the station and after a simple set up with the WiFi, the station is working well. Despite a very low sun angle, and endless clouds, it stays charged enough top operate 24/7. Very nice.

Obligatory evidence of actual work being done.

Since we couldn't decide how to move forward with the kitchen, Cindy and I decided to put lipstick on a pig and go ahead and just fix it up as is. Since I had already done the ceiling, this fix up was mainly to scrape and repair the walls, paint, new fixtures, switch plates, and curtains. Once the walls were ready for paint I was actually shocked how badly yellowed they were. Despite using a high quality "one coat coverage" paint, it took three coats to make the walls look right. I also scraped and repainted all the trim. As always, time began to fly by so I had to really rush to get the room done before Christmas. 

It was a struggle to get to the garage.
That's a yardstick.

Then, it snowed. About 3 feet here in the valley, almost 4 feet in the nearby hills. Luckily, there was very little wind so no drifting but it still took me almost 6 hours to clear the driveway. There was still no place to go since the road had not yet been plowed. By amount, this was the biggest snowstorm I've ever seen. By impact, it's in the top 5 for sure. The blizzard of '93 had then biggest impact storm with 2 to 3 feet of snow and winds over 50 mph, followed by below zero temperatures. It was a paralyzing storm, mitigated only by the fact that it was in March, and the longer day and sun helped modify the effect. 

Installing a door as winter teases

 I follow a video blog called Goonzquad. It's two young brothers that apparently have no jobs other than whatever YouTube pays them, and what they make on "merch" sales. They first started documenting their work as subcontractors in the construction trade, doing just about anything they were asked, like demolition, painting, and minor carpentry. Then, they began to buy wrecked exotic cars, completely disassembling them, buying new parts, and putting them together. Keep in mind they have apparently received no formal training, just learning as they go. They now have a garage filled with Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and other high end muscle cars. Recently, they bought an "abandoned" house on a Tennessee mountaintop, stripped it to the studs, and are rebuilding much of it on their own. What I like about it is their complete lack of fear of error, their unquenchable enthusiasm, and insistence on doing it right. They are an inspiration.

The door was here. Should have 
taken a picture before I removed it.

That helps when I tackle a new project, like finally replacing the inadequate, non-functioning, and dangerous side door into the pantry. Luckily the door was a standard size, so we picked a pre-hung door at Home Depot. Then under the direct supervision and guidance of my Uncle Ed, we installed the door.

 First I ripped out all the molding and found that the opening was not even close to square, with the center near the latch narrowing to exactly the same dimensions as the new frame. It JUST fit. Then, after installing the door and adjusting the level, it was time to insulate, put in new molding then paint it all. We decided to go with a similar scheme as the other side door. 

The door is metal and much more secure and tight. I'm quite sure the unheated pantry will stay much warmer in the winter and will help keep the pipes in the half bath from freezing in the winter. 

I've been puttering around with some other projects. I did some framing for the first time in the garage. The "sponginess" of the second floor of the garage has made me a bit nervous so I married some two by fours to help firm up the main support beam that spans the garage. 

Finished. I like the way it came out.
Got some stucco work to do too.

I wrote about the annual leaf battle and that war goes on with no clear victors. The community farming plot has been overwhelmed with community leaves so I'm back to bagging them and leaving at the curb. Good news is that the Norway Maples are finally giving up for the winter and dropping their leaves so this year's struggles will soon be over. 

I finally figured out how to take the dryer apart and completed a much overdue cleaning. This is a case where online videos lead me astray. Every Maytag dryer video I found showed that taking apart the dryer was a simple case of popping the top up and removing the front screws. I eventually noticed two other screws securing the top and front face of the dryer and was able to get the thing open. Pro tip: I highly recommend taking apart your dryer and getting out all the lint that escapes the filter. That lint is a real fire hazard. I also lubricated one of the rollers that was making a horrible screeching sound every time the dryer started up.

A very dirty dryer.

Winter did indeed tease us back near the end of October with truly bitter cold air and a bit of snow. I got the fireplace going and of course Natasha and Katia loved it and lived it for a few days. Being off work the fire was going all day and it was a bit shocking how much wood I went through, but with about a full cord and a half we should make it until spring. It helped that the cold snap was followed by a long warm and dry spell where we climbed back into the 70s.

Cozy.

Coming soon to a blog near you: Lighting the bar and installing a weather station!

Fall Leaves and an elegant solution

A part of last year's effort.

I have documented in my annual leaf battle here and elsewhere in this blog. Our property is surrounded by several large maples, an enormous hickory, and various other trees. I love them, and the privacy they provide. Then fall happens. The amount of leaves that these trees produce is staggering, and it takes a mighty effort to gather them. When we first bought our home, Cindy and I would rake the entire yard, at least twice, bag the leaves, then drag them to the curb. Next, I bought a lawn tractor, got my dad's old wagon, and we were at least able to wheel them to the curb. Last year, I purchased a pull behind rake for the tractor, which worked nicely, but the leaves still needed to be bagged. Most years there are more than 40 enormous bags of leaves at the curb. 

In 2019, the City of Binghamton changed the rules. They would no longer accept plastic bags for leaves. Now, I completely agree with concerns over plastic bags and their impact on the environment. However, the bags could be re-used. The truck would come by, empty the bags into the truck, load all the bags into one bag, then leave them on the curb. I would refill the bags the next week. This way you could use the bags over and over again. Now, the city will only accept the leaves in paper bags, the large ones you purchase at Agway or Home Depot. Problems are that they are much smaller, the city has not raised the bag limit, they are not reusable, and they are expensive. Other local municipalities have you rake the leaves to the curb, then they come by with a huge vacuum truck and suck up the leaves. That would be great.

So, my solution this year has been to stay ahead of it, an option now that I have retired. So I have been out with the tractor every few days raking and bagging, trying to fit the leaves in garbage cans (which they still accept) to avoid using the expensive bags. This is what I was doing last Thursday when I was approached by a woman and her young daughter. The mother said they had two questions for me. The daughter, somewhere around 6 or 7 years old I would imagine, went first. She wanted to know if we were going to celebrate Halloween this year because she would like to visit our house again, and she would not be afraid.

Now, a little back story. We have been visited by this mother and her daughter almost every year since she was a toddler. She got a bit spooked in the past by the haunted house sounds I play, and by the motion activated talking/singing/howling werewolf head we have hanging by the porch stairs. Cindy felt so bad about that scare that the tradition has started where we invite her into the house, show she her our cats and otherwise realize we are not scary people. It's our annual Halloween highlight and the main reason we sit on the porch. We would rather not deal with the rude teenagers that grab a handful of candy without even a thank you. Anyway, of course I told her that we expected to be here and we hope she stops by.

Free delivery.

The second question was even easier to answer. The mother wanted the leaves. Uh....yeah. Turns out she runs the community garden at the end of the block and needs the leaves for mulch. She said she would be up with her wheel barrel to get them. Of course I insisted that I would deliver them and did just that. It was a bit awkward driving the garden tractor down the length of the block, but then a few of the neighbors were out and they waved as if I was just out or a walk; nothing unusual here. I do have to be a bit careful here and do not want overwhelm them with leaves. Would like to keep that option open through the fall, and the Norway maples are still green.

So sometimes you struggle to find a answer, sometimes the answer finds you. This answer was particularly nice.

Retirement Update

Most days start like this.

 Literally almost everyone has asked me how it feels to be retired. The short answer is pretty good. The longer answers follows. The thing I notice most is the lack of stress. I never realized how much I thought about work, even on my days off, until I didn't have to. While I was working, I would think about the next shift, what would the weather be like, with whom I was working, and what the potential workload would be. That I am not doing that nearly 24/7 is quite the relief.

I was also checking my work email a lot, along with the schedule spreadsheet and my shared documents. That stuff dominated an entire browser on my phone. All that is gone.

Our lifestyle has already changed significantly. With both of us retired, the urgency for the more mundane tasks of life is gone. We now feel more free to enjoy our morning coffee, rather than jumping up and racing around the house in an effort to complete everything before the next set of shifts arrive. Suddenly, we are not doing anything tomorrow either. 

A cheap door in it's day, but still 
beautiful.

Obviously planning appointments and getaways is so easy now. No need to plan around the work schedule, and really the only thing in the schedule is other appointments. I do need to start blocking potential vacation and get-away weeks so we can take a trip if this virus thing ever goes away.

The culprit

I have been doing some work on the house. Current project continues to be the door from the kitchen into the pantry. With the colder weather approaching, that job has taken on more urgency since the pantry is unheated. I've got most of the layers of paint, stain, and varnish off. Just need now to clean it up and rub it with some mineral oil. 

Adventures in plumbing continues as the sink drain in the half bath has started to leak again. I cannot believe what trouble that has been. Of course, it is the most inaccessible sink drain I have ever seen, and I am not looking forward to wedging myself in there again.

I've got a full cord of firewood coming later this month. I have about a half cord stacked and ready to go in the garage, but with being home this winter I expect to burn more wood. I really look forward to watching the bad weather from my couch, and not driving through it to work at 11 PM.

P.S. Google has "updated' their blogging app and I don't like it. I'm really struggling to get the blog to look the way I want it to look. Sorry about the weird picture placement and random gaps in the texts. I'm still trying to get it figured out. 

All Alarms Are Off

My workstation in 2020. 

 Wow. What happened? I entered into the National Weather Service in the age of noisy teletypes and huge facsimile machines that smelled vaguely of ozone. I leave in a time multiple flat screens, virtual briefings, and COVID-19. Deadly viruses aside, I could not have imagined where the job would go after I joined in 1986. The job is better, of course. We are smarter, vastly better trained, and much more accurate. We are also more needed in today's high tech and densely populated world. More people live on the coast than ever, more flood plains have been paved over, more wild areas encroached by development. Add climate change to the mix and you have millions and millions living in at risk areas with a strong need to know. 

It's an exciting time to be a meteorologist, but for me, time to hand off the baton. When you consider where I started and the tools I was given, to where we are now, I think I have handled the changes well, kind of like teaching a caveman Calculus. Still, it's time to go. For starters, It's not just the changes but the rate of change that is difficult. About the time I master one thing, there's three other things that are awaiting my attention. My 60 year old brain has had enough.

But it's not just that. Like I posted in an earlier blog, the life I wish to live out, awaits me. I don't see it as being an exotic, thrill a minute adventure, more of a spontaneous, do it when I want to life without alarm clocks and the dull hangover of shift work. Cindy and I can travel on a whim (2021AC - After Corona), relax on a whim, and start a project on a whim. We will not be bored. Our old fixer upper awaits some more spit and polish. 

Alarms turned off for
the last time

I will miss my co-workers the most. Fantastic people, every one of them, and my closest friends. Shift work, working weekends, and working holidays, tears you away from your outside friends, and relationships shrivel from the lack of attention. On the other hand, working all hours of the day, night, and week builds a closer relationship with your co-workers. The office almost becomes a club house. 

So like I wrote, it will become a time for travel, spontaneity, and rebuilding friendships. I hope to become more active in the fire department, more active at the gym, more active in the family, and maybe finish another room in the old barn on Park Street. Perhaps volunteer where I am needed. 

Who knows? Maybe I'll finish that damn novel in the next couple years, revealing what really goes on inside this over sized pumpkin. Other dreams include trying my hand at stand up comedy at an open mike night, rebuilding a car, and finding gold at the beach. 

I could just sit on my porch and watch the world go by. This seems least likely though since just watching means everyone and everything is passing you by. There's still time to make more memories. 

I will continue this blog. It's popularity is hard to gauge but I do enjoy writing it. I may begin to record some Video Blogs as well (Vlogs to us insiders). What could be more entertaining than actually watching me attempt these jobs that I write about? Kind of like a mash up of Fixer Upper and Emergency 911. 

Like Calvin told Hobbes in their final comic strip, "It's a magical world, Hobbes ol' buddy. Let's go exploring". Good advice.