Rancorocity

Granddaughter as Harry Potter

Into the second week of the Trump presidency and rancor is at an all-time high, predictably. I don’t know why people are acting so surprised at his actions. He’s doing exactly what he said he was going to do during the election, as despicable as some of those actions are. The latest shot across the bow of the progressive battle fleet is the immigration ban for certain Muslim countries. This was a grandstand move to placate the Trump voters and was handled in very amateurish manner.

And Bambi

If he’s going to be successful Trump needs to get some more seasoned help because it seems he still thinks he’s on the campaign trail. I get the distinct impression that he ran for president for the personal attention he received during it and never expected to win. Now that he has the job he’s really struggling to present a coherent plan for his presidency. He said he was going to drain the swamp but he seems to be getting sucked into the muck as veteran politicians are running circles around him and his coterie.

The "Woofs"

The immigration ban will accomplish nothing other than inflame the rhetoric on the “Arab Street” which is always attuned to anything Anti-American. So, in the larger picture, we’ve gained nothing and lost ground in reducing radicalization. Like I said – Amateur. We’re a country of immigrants, even the Native Americans came over from Asia via the land bridge in pre-historic days. Our diversity will always be the strength of America. Trump too will pass and the inherent strength of spirit in America will reassert itself.

A Rabbit - I think

The First Blog Reader was uncharacteristically grumpy last night during our FaceTime call. My daughter blamed this on the hectic return flight from Orlando where they fell victim to the Delta Airline’s computer crash which took place five minutes before they were to board. A five hour delay is never fun but add a cranky one year old to the mix and we’re talking a special brand of purgatory. One of the ways they passed time during the flight delay was playing with the photo app which produces silly photos – samples included here. She did manage a couple smiles at her grandparents’ antics. Wingman reported she is pitching in to help with the packing which is going full bore for next week’s big move east.

Helping Dad Pack

I finally finished, after squeezing in some reading time over the past couple weeks, Authority by Jeff Vandermeer. This is the second book in the Southern Reach trilogy that my daughter convinced me to read. She left the second two books with me after Christmas. Authority picks up the story of the efforts to find out what is going on in Area X. The protagonist is the newly appointed head of the Southern Reach, charged with finding out the answer. I’m not a huge fan of Vandermeer’s writing style which is kind of dense, at least compared to my usual fare but I enjoyed the read. He creates a very strange world with circles within circles that are slowly peeled away. The ending is the perfect culmination of the first two books as characters from both are thrown together under mysterious circumstances heading into the ultimate novel. I now have to find that book which has disappeared into the maelstrom of moving stuff for the floor project.

Flower Child

Today’s morale photo injection (and don’t we all need that):

Mission Complete

Two Disney Beauties

I’m hesitant to use that phrase given its employment by one of our former presidents. I’ll excuse him in his failure because he was surrounded by Navy personnel at the time. Everyone is back home from their weekend Florida adventure but the California Contingent had a bad day of it with a flight delay that didn’t get them back into LA until 2:30 in the morning. It’s the kind of thing that makes you want to move back to the east coast.

Hey Mickey!

My wife made it back ahead of schedule despite getting slightly disoriented and wandering the vast Orlando airport in search of the JetBlue counter. I abandoned my floor removal project long enough to dash up to the airport thinking I had twenty minutes to spare when she called wondering where I was. Her flight arrived nearly a half hour early which would be a good thing if I was operating on that same time schedule. It was good to have her back and she regaled me with tales of the continued excellence of our granddaughter on the trip home.

The cosmos apparently didn’t think ripping up the entire first floor flooring was challenging enough for me over the weekend. The power failed at the company on Saturday night which I didn’t think was a big deal because we have a pair of huge generators that could literally power half of Worcester. While the generator did come on they don’t appear to be connected to anything other than the emergency lighting was virtually useless in running daily operations. I had to make several trips to the building on Sunday to rectify situations that arose because of the power outage.

Saturday Morning

Sunday Night

This turned out to be something of a Godsend because I needed the break. Chiseling under each of the kitchen tiles and prying them up was not a lot of fun. I finally arrived at a technique which had the least (but still measurable) impact on my back. The Mafioso and his daughter showed up to see the remains of the laminate flooring stored in the garage which I’m giving to them for their basement. I went back downstairs to put on some warmer clothing but by the time I got back upstairs they had loaded up the entire amount (my back silently thanked them).

Condo Progress - People Standing in Ours on Left Side

By the time I picked up my wife all I had left to remove was the floor under the refrigerator. She tried to make up for neglecting her supervisory role in the house by advising me on better techniques for this remaining section. I pointed out the work I had already accomplished without her “expert” advice and asked if she didn’t have some unpacking to do. So the floor is completely removed and the hardwood started showing up this morning. I’m a little proud of myself for getting this done over a couple days but the middle aged body is staging its own form of protest right now.

Today’s morale photo injection:

Floored

Hanging with Abuela is Fun!!

While my wife was basking in the reflected glow of time spent with our granddaughter down in Orlando I was once again validating the theory that I am not as young as I used to be. Deckzilla Dude came over early yesterday to give me a quick introduction in floor removal techniques and then left me to my own devices. The laminate was a floating floor so once I figured out how to unlock the different pieces it was not a difficult job though tedious and day consuming. We’re giving the floor to the Mafioso’s daughter so I bundled the removed boards in movable stacks and also labeled the lefts and rights which is apparently important.

Initial Instructions on Tile Removal

And Laminate Removal

End of Day Dining Room

Living Room

Start of Kitchen

I’d hoped to have the entire floor removed, including the kitchen (which was definitely not floating) by the end of the day. I did get all the laminate up and got a foothold in the kitchen but I was completely gassed by the time the sun went down – this is where the semi-elderly body came into play. I didn’t realize how lonely the day had been until the Great Aunt and Soxfather showed up to take me out to dinner. I greeted them like long lost life savers which they kind of were last night.

With the Life savers Last Night

I have a bad habit (according to my wife at least) of working beyond exhaustion when I have a task in front of me. I blame the mis-spent youth in the Army for this which is kind of what they expect of you. The life savers from Rhode Island took me out to my favorite restaurant where we caught up and I tasted one of those post-heavy work beers seemingly celestially brewed.

My wife, chomping at the bit for having to supervise me long distance periodically checked in from her Disney world hotel where she and the First Blog Reader seemed totally enamored of each other.

Loose in Disney World

Trying on Gramma's Pajamas

Apparently I’ve been very generous this weekend in the Disney gift shop arena. My wife said when our granddaughter walked into the gift shop and saw all the toys she let out a squeal of delight. Grandparents, as we are wont to be, are helpless in the face of opportunities to spoil grandchildren in situations like this. It was obvious how much fun they were having with each other via the various FaceTime calls we shared.

I’m back at the rest of the tile floor this morning. Removing a tile floor is not fun – just saying. 

Today's morale photos:

Orlandone

Together Again

My wife is a very happy camper right now. She spent last night with the California contingent in a Disney World hotel. The happiest place on earth had to receive a huge assistance with that title when she arrived and was reunited with a certain granddaughter. She flew out of Worcester which was so incredibly easy that I even made it First Friday on time. I’ve spent so much time suffering through trips to Logan Airport that I forgot the ease a small airport offers, free parking for less than 24 hours as well (!!!!) Wingman was delayed a little in picking her up in Orlando due to some malfunctioning hotel doors but by the time I got them on the phone they were busily consuming pizza, wine, and laughing almost non-stop. My wife observed that our granddaughter is evolving into quite an accomplished little traverlor.

Pizza and Granddaughter - Doesn't Get Any Better than That!

Open up Abuela

Please Open this Door so I can Get At Grandma

Whoo Hoo - Road Trip!

Thankful Nap Enroute

Negotiating the Long Lines at Worcester Airport

They have adjoining hotel rooms and once the First Blog Reader figured out her crazy abuela was on the other side of the connecting door she began to knock on it repeatedly. I think I’m going to really, really like having this bunch back on the east coast permanently. My wife will be flying south for the winter a couple days before the big move east so it is so good for her to have this opportunity to hang out with our number one grandchild. An old Army buddy read yesterday’s blog and lives within driving distance of Orlando so I’m sorry I didn’t make the trip for yet another reason.

Denuded Floor Waiting my Attention

I continued my troubling trend of very mundane Friday nights. While First Friday celebrations were their usual fantastic-ness the rest of the evening was disconcerting in its lack of partying. I spent most of it preparing for my weekend destruction of the first floor flooring. Deckzilla Dude is coming over this morning to get me started. I’m actually looking forward to that, maybe a little too much. Before all that could happen though all the non-major pieces of furniture had to be moved out along with the virtual jungle of house plants my wife employs. Carrying furniture and plants up and down stairs is not my idea of an ideal Friday night. The work is done though and I’m ready to start breaking things. Great Aunt, taking note of my solitary condition, is coming up with Soxfather later today to take me out to dinner. Frail Deeds readers once again coming to my rescue.

Today's Morale Photos of our Fantastic Earth