Yesterday I labored long into the evening painting my daughter-in-law’s fence. Got a bit hard to see after dark. Especially the dark brown.

Spent the night in Luella (try to find that on a map) and bright and early drove towards a quaint small central Georgia town where my son’s new property is located. Stopped for breakfast in the Griffin Burger King. Got the maxi platter. More than I wanted as I was planning to save the pancakes for lunch.

Only ate one of them later. Not good. Limited funds have certain disadvantages. Eatable food for example.

Arrived at the new property with the van (sometimes passenger van, sometimes pickup van, and now moving van) loaded with “goodies”. Locks, tools, insulation. Got right to work cleaning the “pole barn”. Installed a double deadbolt lock in the fancy front french doors (why french doors are installed on the pole barn is beyond me.)

Left the property to go into town and as I was getting out of the van to lock the gate, the electric power company employee drove up. He came to give us an estimate on getting power to the cabin. Very nice as are most of the people in this town. Always have time to share. He has been with the company 32 years! Wow. I think my longest time with one company is 32 months.

So, this guy really knew the properties and owners in the county. We discussed how to get power, overhead vs underground – $3/foot overhead, $7/foot underground. 600 feet = $1,800. Ugh. $1,800 for a couple of telephone poles and some wire! Plus I have to get an easement from my neighbor who apparently is sick from some weird disease. I hope it is not contagious.

Solar energy is looking better and better.

Finished with him and went into town. Dropped the blueprints off at the planning office to get their opinion regarding building codes.

Next I drove up the main road, Hwy 19. My son had bought a tractor and gave me rather vague instructions about where to find the dealership. I did not see a tractor dealership but there was a company that sold tractors along with a bunch of other pieces of equipment. And hay.

So I stopped in, introduced myself, and asked if they had sold a tractor to someone this week from out of town. Yes, they had. “When did I want it delivered?” We agreed to deliver the tractor at 2:00 pm.

While in town, I also wanted to buy some replacement glass for a couple of broken window panes. It was quite clever the way the previous owner had dealt with the broken window panes – stuffed paper towels in the holes! I, on the other hand, took some builder’s felt (also called tar paper) and stapled it to the window frame around the broken out pane. The blacked out window makes for a very Gothic effect. Maybe I’ll do a couple more windows for Halloween.

I asked at the Home Depot about someone who could help with  the glass and the guy said “Yeah, they are out route 74 or 36. I can’t keep them straight.” Interesting, the town is not really that big…

I went “downtown” to a local cafe whose specialty is “scrambled hamburger”. I had that last time I was there but today I only ordered a Coke as my Burger King pancakes were standing by. I asked them about the glass store and they said it was “AA Glass”. And it is out Hwy 74.

“AA”? I shared later with my wife that I always had seen “AAA” so the vendor could be first in an alphabetic listing but never just “AA”. She said that it was probably because it was a small town and they only had to go to “AA”.

??? (My wife always gives me another perspective.)

So I drove out 74 and saw “AA Glass” on the right hand side of the road. Not a retail storefront, more commercial with a large window and a couple of solid panel doors. There was a sign on one of the doors – “Out of the Office doing a glass repair. Please call xxx-xxx-xxxx.”

Welcome to small town USA.

Of course I could not call him because my phone does not get reception out there. The only service in town is Verizon so I will have to get one of their phones on my next trip. Watch for the announcement.

Continued out 74 thinking it might intersect with my “short cut” Trice Cemetery Road.  Lo and behold, after about 3 miles, Trice Cemetery. Took a right and headed on down the road.

As a topped a ridge, my cell phone awoke briefly, burped out a message that I had messages, and then returned to its semi-sentient state as I headed down the hill. A SIGNAL! Wow! So I turned around, headed back up the road, reacquired the signal and called. Static, lots of static. I was able to get enough of the messages to learn the content but the signal was so weak, I could not call.

Went on to the property. Finished fixing the locks and securing the gate. Locked the storage shed and after I locked it, I looked at the hinges – all the screw heads were exposed. It would take about 5 minutes with a power screw driver to take all the hinges off and have an absolutely unlocked shed.  So, I guess that locks are to keep honest people out (what does that say about me?)

If something is stolen at least I can tell the insurance company that someone broke in. Kind of hard argument to make if you have a welcome mat and unlocked doors.

The tractor man came about 3:00 and give me a moderately thorough description of the different moving parts, how to raise and lower the implement (a “bush hog” is currently installed), how to change gears, start it, stop it, etc. I put it into first gear and let ‘er rip.

He walked alongside. I progressed slowly. Very slowly. About .5 mph slowly. I squealed with joy as the wind flowed through my hair. Not. I ramped it up to the high gears.

What a difference, now I was making at least 3 mph! Pure excitement. I lowered the bush hog and made my first swath through the field of hay. I circled. I made a loop in the field. I figured maybe someone in the air would see it and think it was cut by aliens. The dealer said “you have my number (I don’t) so call me if you have any questions.” Then he was gone.

I hope he didn’t treat his teenage daughter like that. “Alright young man, there she is. If you have any questions, call me.”

I sped around the pole barn, hacking away with the bush hog (a bush hog is essentially a heavy duty lawn mower that will, oh by the way, cut small trees up to 1″ in diameter).

I parked the red beauty under the roof and got out to admire it. Took some pictures.

Time to go. Locked up, drove up the gravel driveway and headed back to the big city and big city Friday afternoon traffic of Atlanta.

What a great day it was. The sky was crystal clear. So blue. The temperature reached a high of about 80. The birds were singing, the nearby creek was bubbling, the insects were chewing on the dead tree (now that’s a sound you never hear in the city. Chewing on your house yes; tree, no.)

Man, it is 1:40 am and I have been up since 6:00 yesterday. Lots done and now you know a little about an typical day of being “semi” retired.

Your sleepy blogger,

Frank

143 miles down
120 miles back.

Standing on the dam looking up hill at building site.