Father's Day Done Right!

I woke up with the alarm at 6:00 AM. I knocked on Lu's door to wake her as well. Jeremy is supposed to be here by 7:00 AM to drop off Riese.

I just brushed my teeth and hair and, at first, put on my work T-shirt and shorts. Then I changed my mind and swapped the shorts for my work pants. I made a pot of coffee.

Lu was still packing stuff and hauling it to the front door. Jeremy called at 6:30 AM and said he was about a half hour away. Then he asked if I would like to go to breakfast after the ladies left. I said, "Sure!" and went in to take a shower and dress in better clothes.

After Jeremy and Riese showed up, we visited for about an hour. Lu took her shower after they were here and then had a couple cups of tea. We all carried the remaining baskets, bags and coolers out to the car and Lu carefully fit it all in. Once again, the car was packed to the gills!

They left a little after 8:00 AM. Jeremy asked about restaurants and I named a few (I couldn't think of Bob Evan's but just kept saying, "You know, that sausage place.") I said if he just wanted a decent breakfast, the Coney Island across the way isn't bad. He started to get in his car, but I told him we could just walk. So, we did.

I had the mushroom and Swiss omelet, with grits and rye toast. He had an Italian omelet with hash browns, white toast and a side of bacon. I was stuffed by the time we finished, so the walk back home felt good. We visited for a little while longer and then he left.

Thanks for the Father's Day breakfast, Jeremy!

I went in to post the Blog Entry. Then I changed back into my work clothes and, about 11:30 AM, headed out to the garage. But the phone rang first.

It was Carla's Mom, calling me from Missouri (she's visiting her son Carlos) to wish me Happy Father's Day. We exchanged well-wishes and she said she's see me in August when she's planning on coming up for Carla's birthday.

Then I went into the garage. I finally figured out how to take off the pulley without removing the deck (saving me a couple of hours of hard work). When I got it off, I cleaned the bolt up and left for Home Depot. I thought I only needed a lock nut, but I noticed the bolt was a little chewed up. A helpful sales associate found me a similar bolt (it's extra hardened) and that lock nut. I got it 1/2 inch longer than the original bolt (for easy of installation). I also picked up two more rolls of those Velcro plant ties for the tomatoes.

Back home, I first went out and tied up the tomato plants. It was obviously past due as, the first time, I did get some of the plants attached to the first rail. But today, I also did the second and in some cases, even the third rail.

Then it was back to the mower. It was much easier to take the pulley off than to get it back on. I had to thread it through a hole in one movable arm, one fixed arm, a spacer and then into the deck itself.

I was still trying when Jake called a little after 2:00 PM. He started out saying, "Well, we were going to come over for Father's Day..." I said, "Oh, please don't! I'm still trying to fix the damn mower!" He said, "No, you didn't let me finish. We were going to come, but I have a speech to write, so we'll try it next week or weekend, if that's okay." I said, "Great!"

I finally got it, put the lock nut on and then put the belt back on. I tightened it up to "too tight" and backed it off a quarter turn. Then I put the belt back on. Am I finished? No, I still need to level the deck (again) and I think I'd like to add another nut (with Locktite on it) to make sure it doesn't come loose again. But, I'm finished for today!

So, its 4:30 PM and I'm tired, sweaty, greasy and grass covered. I put my work clothes in the washer and me in the shower. After getting cleaned up, I went outside and took a picture of the day lilies that just started blooming. Then I lay on the bed to take a rest. I ate the last of the cut up watermelon as a snack. After a while, I roused enough to turn on the Sunday night news and watched that until 7:00 PM.

Then I went to make my Sunday supper. When we left Jake and Carla's last Thursday, Carla gave me some pasta sauce she said she created just to use up the veal that was leftover from making the sausage. So, I warmed that up while I made a single serving of spaghetti. I put it altogether, topped it with Parm and headed in to eat and watch my Sunday night shows.

It was excellent! Thanks, Carla!

I fell asleep during the last one (say 10:30 PM), but woke up later and turned off the TV and lights.