Estate Maintenance, Rain and Pool...

Before I get started with all this, it has come to my attention that there are a growing number of local HOs that are reading this blog. I am impressed and humbled that they seem to be enjoying it. It just points out the lack of quality entertainment available here in DaHo. It's a good thing that I learned long ago not to lie or exaggerate too much or that could have been very embarrassing...

As the weather gets warmer, all the plants and weeds come alive and start going crazy. The mowing ritual has started. I have applied two different applications of chemicals to the lawn for Weeding and Feeding, and just Weeding and its starting to come around. Our lawn is only on about 4 inches of dirt, and as such, has a very tenuous existence as far as being able to store a reserve of water to keep it healthy and happy. It won't take much water and needs to be watered very often. Hooray for automatic sprinkler systems!

I uncovered the back yard fountain expecting it to be full as it is also maintained by a drip line. But, it was empty... So, if first thought there must be some problem with the drip irrigation system. I started poking around, literally, and pushed my finger through the bottom corner of the fountain. It is built out of this lava stone looking manufactured material. I don't know what happened to it. The only thing I can think of is after I had the sprinklers turned on for the year, it did freeze a couple of times and I am thinking that is what did it. So, its off to Home Depot to see what type of repair I can do to it. If that doesn't work, I guess its time to build some new pond/water fall as we really like the sound and sight of the running water. It also attracts lots of birds and Calicat loves to lust after them from the windows.

It has been forcasted to rain for days. And, as such, I have been staying around the house and doing 'Estate Management' and some prep for fishing. I redid the handle on my latest spinning Ugly Stik to match the custom rebuild job on the large casting Ugly Stik I did a few months ago. Now, both have a gimble butt on them so I can use both of them with the same fighting belt. A gimble butt is indented cross on the end of the rod that you can fit over the metal rod in the fighting belt to hold it in secure and straight.

I have also ordered a larger fighting belt, back harness and a couple of other items so when I hook into that BIG one again, it will be a fair fight. It took a few days to recover from the last one...

Finally, last night it did actually rain very heavy and I am ready to go after the big ones again whenever it clears up.

The reason I know it was raining so hard, is that I was out in it - Coming home from my first time playing in the Wednesday 8-ball handicap tournament. I usually play in the Tuesday night 9-ball tournament for those that might be confused.

I did play on Tuesday also, as usual, but wasn't playing well. I was not taking my time and was in this hurry-up mode and not concentrating on my game. This has been one of my biggest and longest problems playing pool. It comes from playing for 'fun' and not keeping focused on the game. I had a couple of bright moments, but basically sucked and was very unhappy with my performance.

I guess I must have 'somehow' expressed that to Pam, as when finishing up a great dinner last night, she asked if I was going to play pool tonight and after some deep contemplation, of about 2 seconds, I was gone and happy to have such a loving and understanding wife. And, while I am lathering it on...The dinner she cooked was truly fantastic. She cooked this Garlic, Scallops and Asparagus pasta dish that was to die for. I hated to leave without finishing it all, but I know its still there in the fridge waiting for me...

So, I made it to the tournament with little time to spare and it was starting to cloud over pretty well. I played very well, as I was very upset with myself from Tuesday night and focused on playing my game. All the 'big boys' were there as usual and I knew it was going to be a rough night. The good thing about having a lot of good players there is that they will usually end up taking each other out leaving only a couple left for me to deal with, if the 'cards' play out right. I got lucky up front with my game draws, and did well. Then, I played Jeremy, who is usually a good player, but didn't seem to be into it tonight - sorta like I was last night. He pretty much gave me the match.

After a couple more matches, it got very interesting. I had to play Steve, who many say is the best player in the area, and was the best player left in the tournament. He had already taken out Cary, the other really good player in the area. Steve has been doing very well lately and usually just doesn't miss. Coupled with his amazing position play, he is hard to beat. But, he did miss 3-4 shots playing me and I ended up winning and was playing and feeling good. Then I had to play Roy (I cannot remember that is the correct name right now, he always wears a Cabela's hat, but I play him all the time and he usually beats me somehow...). Anyway, I played him and beat him pretty handily for the Hill, aka 'only un-beaten' spot, in the tournament.

Then, I had to wait for all the players on the losers side to beat each other up and the winner from all that mess was Paul - another really good player that usually has beaten me in the past. He had to beat me twice to win - the first, so we would both have lost one match, and then to see who won, being on equal standings. The first match was very close, but Paul ended up beating me by a point to two. I made a couple of errors that were costly. Then, in the second match, it went back and forth up until the end and I ended up beating him and winning first place, which really pumped up my ego. The crowd would have been stunned and amazed, but they had all already gone home...

When I went outside to leave, it was raining big drops and hard. Most of the street gutters were full and the car kept hitting standing water and making big splashes most of the way home.

Pam was already asleep, so I put the winning envelope on the bathroom counter, unopened and went to bed. This morning, when Pam was leaving for work, she saw the envelope with the 1st written on it and congratulated me and took the money. So, it was a true WIN-WIN situation for us last night here in DaHo...