Lester Street

Sweet Jesus, I agree with everything that another blogger has said in his post about Lester Street.. He's absolutely right. For a moment, we must forget the messenger and focus on the message. It IS time for this community to come together and develop a solution to this problem. Open an honest and respectful dialog that leaves the tinges of racism out of it and focuses on humanism.

If we don't get a handle on the crime problem then we won't attract new businesses to the area which means no new jobs and that just feeds the sense of helplessness of some members of this community. We must also get a grip on the education system. A new business can't or won't hire an employee that can't read or write. We must move away from the idea that an education is a right. It's not. It's a privilege. Those who really want to learn shouldn't be burdened with those who don't. Get the troublemakers out of the classroom and out of the school building. Develop alternatives which may include some sort of social service and have them fulfill that service and another country. Let them see just how sweet they have it here. Let them see what those in Africa or South America go through to get an education. Let them carry their daily ration of water 5 miles to their hut for a year or more then bring them home. I'd bet we'd see a difference. Give those who want to learn a safe and inviting place to do it.

If we don't get a handle on children having children then we will continue to increase a generation who doesn't know what it's like to be raised by parents who understand what it means to be a parent. This will require comprehensive sex education and access to good birth control. We've learned that not talking about how one gets pregnant does NOT prevent one from getting pregnant nor does teaching one how that happen increase sexual activity. This is no time to be a prude or embarrassed. A 16 year old knows NOTHING about how to raise a child and we see the effects of children having children every day. It must stop.

The solutions will call for strong talk, strong action and some hard work on the part of this community. We must get angry but not at each other. Get angry at the problem and channel that anger into positive action.

We can clean this up but not if we continue to call each other names and finger-point.

There is a quote from a movie that has stuck with me ever since I heard it. "All I know is that the choices we make dictate the lives we live." It's time to take our choices seriously and to hold those responsible who make bad choices. This city MUST come together and push from the same side so that we can turn this Titanic around. We can't do that if we're pushing against each other.

Toldja

I finished the porch and stair railing today. Both boys helped. I stared at 8:30 this morning and finished at 4:30 this afternoon.

It's all about the right tools. Kinda like life. I had to rent a hammer drill which made short order of drilling into the brick. What took so long was the tediousness of finding the right angles for the handrails and the right length and angle for all of the spindles that we put in by hand down each handrail. I couldn't gut them en masse because the heights weren't the same. I'm not sure how that happened because I measured but that's beside the point.

It's done.

Another job tackled and tamed.

And what did my boys learn today? Use the right tool to get the job done correctly. That goes for Math, English, History and Science. It just goes for life which is what I'm trying to teach them. Go out into the world unprepared and you'll get your ass kicked. The oldest got his kicked today. He couldn't hang until the end and had to send the youngest in to cover for him. I can still work circles around them. Life is GOOD.

The sunroom is next if it doesn't leak during this next rain. Keep your fingers crossed.

Now, where's the tylenol?

Home Improvement

OK, so I sold the MG. It now appears that I have replaced one addiction with another. Home improvement. It never ends. It's this insidious evil all encompassing gnome that has somehow taken over. A little over a week ago it was the roof. We're still waiting on it to rain so we can see if we've plugged the leaks. This weekend it's the railings on the front porch.

We go to Lowe's and spend 2 hours picking out the material. I come home and spend an hour just measuring and cutting one post and one rail. Know why?

BECAUSE NOTHING IN MIDTOWN IS SQUARE!!


I'm talking about the angles on my front porch. We can talk about the people later. Anyway, I'm trying to mount the brackets that will hold the railing to the brick pillars and can't get a hole drilled into the brick. I was able to drill into the concrete on the porch but not the bricks. I'm going to have to rent a hammer drill tomorrow. So, not to be thwarted, I decide to dig the holes and set the posts for the end of the stair railings. Dig dig dig 18" into the ground and a 2" root/limb later I have a hole. I put the post in it and fill the effer twice with dirt, tamp, dirt, tamp and still can't get it tight. Tomorrow when I rent that hammer drill I'm going to have to get some concrete.

I went ahead and cut the railing for the other side of the porch. I suppose I could have cut the railings going down the steps but made the mistake of sitting down and drinking a glass of water. And then tried to stand up.

Gawd. I really must stop doing this to myself. My legs were calling me all kinds of names and none of them nice. My back was standing behind my legs going, "Yeah, what they said!"

I won't let this break me though. I'll tilt with this windmill and win only because I'm just stubborn enough. According to my doctor I'm a short fat middle-aged chick who needs to start paying attention to my health. No sugar. No white flour. No potatoes or rice. Notice she didn't mention no physical labor. At no time did she tell me not to do these confounded home improvement projects.

Sadist. Or am I the masochist? I'm not sure. Maybe I'm just in a state of denial about my physical abilities at this stage in my life. Doesn't matter. I'm still going to finish that porch railing tomorrow. I may have to call the paramedics Monday but that's ok. They can come over and admire my new railing as they're hauling my fat tired ass to the ER.

The Carpenters - Rainy Days And Mondays

An angel's voice.

More Banjo

I love this song.

Enjoy

He plays the banjo

You just have to hear the sound. It's amazing.

Bela Fleck

Enjoy

Roofing

My GOD, I'm not 23 anymore. Our sunroom roof has been leaking apparently since we first put it on 2 years ago. I listened to a bunch of men tell me that there was enough pitch to put shingles on when I knew good and darn well there wasn't. Being as I'm broke I decided to do the job myself. Wm and I crawled up there Sunday and did the tear-off. I took Tuesday off to put it back on before the weather moves in on Wednesday and let my just give a HUGE thank you to my friends who came over and helped me. I couldn't have done this without her or my two sons.

Let me tell you something. I'm already sore as crap. I was sore Monday so what made me think I could get up there and do the hardest part today without getting sore all over again? Stupidity, that's what. Over confidence in my own abilities. Ego?

My legs are eaten up from moving around on the gritty roofing material. My hands are eaten up. I was COVERED in tar. That stuff is insidious. Once it got on my body I SWEAR it multiplied on its own. The nails stuck to my hands. My hands stuck to the trowel. I couldn't have slide off that roof if my life depended on it because all I would have had to do was put my hands down and I'd would have stuck to the roof. I had it on my ass, legs, hands, arms and somehow on the back of my neck.

But....we did it. We replaced 200 sq ft of rolled roofing. We cut and fit it like pros. The test will come Wednesday and Thursday when it rains. It sure feels good though. It feels good to know that I can still take these projects on. That I can do these things for myself. That I'm still capable. At 48, I might be a little slower but I can still do it.