Captain’s Log  3,847

Yesterday was a ball-raising event.  I got to the museum at 9:00 to find the installer guy putting the last touches on our enormous ball.  Cleaning it up and making it presentable to the public.  When one is going to have one’s ball on public display, one must take appropriate measures to assure that things are done well.  Our ball went right up the guide ramp, tipped, and landed in the correct spot on the very first try!  It took four of us.  Two people managed the pulley device, one was on a ladder under the ball to guide it properly, and I was on top making sure it didn’t fall forward onto the exhibit floor.  Please note that we moved everything out of the way before we started. 

Bright orange ball perched above the exhibit floor.  Cost of guide ramp materials = $30.  Time to build guide ramp = 2 hours.  Time to install ball = 5 minutes.  Value of the experience = Priceless

Huzzah!  Bright orange Union 76 ball now securely fastened to aluminum structure in the garage-way of the museum.  If someone asks me what I did yesterday, I am going to say, “I climbed a support structure and made sure an enormous orange ball didn’t fall on top of a VW Microbus that cost more than 5 times my annual salary.” 

You just never know what a work day will bring.  I also had lunch with Frank, the Drummer.  Potato tacos at one of our favorite places!  YAY!  Gotta love Frank.  He makes me laugh.  He’s a tough guy from Long Island who gave up a lucrative career to become a house painter.  He said he needed to the the master of his own destiny.  I admire that very much.

The storm has started.  The rain is beginning to come down and the winds are kicking up like mad.  I filled the feeders and well over 60 goldfinches have descended for their morning meal.  They know it’s going to rain.  Smart birds.  The hummers are going nutzoid for the nectar in the back.  I made their solution a bit stronger than 4:1 because they need extra energy when the temperatures drop.  I love my birds.  I plan to go birding in the desert in the spring.  Between geocaching and birding, I don’t have a whole lot more room for geekiness.  Unless I toss in some role-playing games.  Then I would have all bases covered.

EEEP!  In the short time it took to write the paragraph above, the skies have opened up and all hell is breaking loose.  The birds are still clinging to the feeders.  They look like little sailors in a storm trying to hang onto their ship.  Ahhhhh……here comes the wind.  We are in for a day of it.

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