So we FINALLY got a patio poured in the back yard. But not without problems. At 9:00am this morning I got a frantic call from the Mrs., screaming that the office was flooding. Holy. Crap. I had about three heart attacks as I raced home from work. Long story short, the patio contractors hit a water line in the base of the house (they have to drill a 3" hole in the side of the foundation for re-bar) which seeped up through the corner of the house and the foundation and into the office. Luckily, the Mrs. was sitting at her desk like usual and the main line was shut off in time before any SERIOUS damage occured. Had she not been home or simply in another room, the damage would have been much, much worse. All in all though, the patio looks great and I can't wait to use it.
The damage. Here we had to chisel away the wall to expose the ruptured pipe so it could be repaired. Next week it will get properly fixed.
...asking for an update on my facial hair. So, I figured I would post a quick status photo. It's getting really annoying actually. First off, Linda won't even kiss me. Second, dried snot and food seems to be a growing problem. :) That aside, it does look pretty rugged and grungy. It definitely makes me look harder. It still needs another month to really start filling out though.
So the three of us (me, Linda and my brother) all cleaned our whips and decided to do a photo shoot. You can stop laughing now.
From Reno to Vegas to Ft. Lauderdale and back in 4 days. This is what I got (in no particular order)...
Fantastic turkey vulture. I just love their fuzzy, skeletal, pre-historic heads.
Today my friend Shawn and I went scouting for deer just over the Cali border north of town. The weather was extremely wet and windy. So much so that the highway was closed on the way up there due to the wind blowing a semi over, blocking the entire road. The trails we took were a sloppy mess, but the VX and the BFG M/Ts tore it all up. I am really quite happy with the performance of the BFG M/Ts, compared to my previous set of BFG A/Ts, which I think would have sucked in a situation like today's.
The deer were out in droves. We spotted quite a few, but didn't get close enough for any real spectacular photos. These are the best shots from what I was able to get given the rain and wind and relatively low light.
Wow, hard to believe yet another year has passed. 2008 came and went. For the first day of 2009, Linda and I spent a lazy morning on the couch recovering from too much food and too much wine the night before. But, in the late afternoon (too late in fact) we set out for a little wheeling south of Carson City. I had a destination in mind, but the sun didn't let us get there. We did however play in the mud and slush a little, which was exciting. We stopped at the top of this mountain where this weird structure stood. It looks like a huge sign, but given the remote location and the fact that it had nothing on it whatsoever left us wondering if it was some sort of reflecting device. I really don't know. Anyway, the sun started setting while we up there, which was nice for photos.
For the week right before Xmas, my sister, brother-in-law and niece and nephew came out for a visit.
