Basement Find

One of the things I’ve decided during the time leading up to my surgery to stay busy. I was worried, with the whole retirement thing, that would be a challenge. It is not. I really enjoy the lack of the sense of pushing myself to get ready for work and have other events dictate what I choose to do with my time. However, I’ve got so many things I want to do around the house that I’m busier now that at any time in the past couple years. It’s just at a self-determined pace. Yesterday I decided to tackle a long-held project.

Deckzilla Yesterday

Half of our basement is unfinished and serves as a storage area. I’ve written before that my Favorite Panamanian is something of a whirling dervish when it comes to establishing cleanliness and order within the house. Unfortunately that means she dumps a bunch of stuff in long term storage with no rhyme or reason. Her motto is, “Out of Sight, Out of Mind” and since she rarely ventures down there, well, ‘nuff said. She was justifiably nervous when I started in on the accumulation. I had the bulkhead open and was tossing a bunch of stuff up through that opening when she decided she needed to pull rank. Luckily at that point I had just discovered a large box that contained clothes she had been looking for over the past few years.

She was so happy to finally locate these missing garments that she chose to ignore some of my more radical choices for elimination and or donation. This box was packed five years ago when we moved out of the Charlton house and was misidentified as long term storage. She soon had the somewhat musty collection of clothes strewn across Deckzilla getting some fresh air before hitting the washing machine. It’s funny how memories are attached to clothes and I saw several gowns and cocktail dresses that brought back many of those memories.

I’ll be back in the basement today sorting through the second half of the storage area. I also, against all odds, fixed a couple things around the house. I’m a less than talented rank amateur when it comes to mechanical ability so this is big news. I figured out the de-humidifier in the basement wasn’t working because of a bent hose and corrected that. The code on the external garage door opener also wasn’t working. I tried re-entering codes several times with no success. I then checked the wiring and learned the thing was battery operated. When I opened the battery compartment, I found the battery had literally melted. I scrubbed that out, installed a new battery, entered a new code and it worked! Of course this morning I learned that in my machinations I had stripped the codes from the two car remotes. Like I said, amateur.

When I haven’t been busy, my reading is devoted to The Guide to Surviving Prostate Cancer by Dr. Patrick Walsh. My surgeon recommended this as the best resource to explain what I was going through and Amazon was only too happy to deliver it the next day. I’ve just started but it’s already been a revelation. My Favorite Panamanian wants to read this together. I’m nervous about that because she’s already keyed into the dietary recommendation section. We head to New Jersey on Monday where I’m assured the FBR will insure I will be busy for our entire stay.

Latest Alien Watch - Only one More 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RECURRING CHARACTERS                                           

BR3 – granddaughter #3, BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; PanaGals – female relatives/friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn