It’s been a while since I’ve written here.  Perhaps it’s not been long enough for some who read this blog.  I suppose there are reasons why I haven’t written in a while.  Truthfully, there are two…the official reason and then the unofficial one.  Just for kicks and grins, I’ll go ahead and give them too you. 

Officially, I have been extremely busy here in Clear Lake with several major home improvement projects me and my boyfriend took on…back to back and then simultaneously.  I’m happy to say, they are now complete.  One was to completely line the pool with a terracotta masonry edging.  Behind the terracotta we then planted one gallon potted Liriope on eight inch centers.  Roughly, this was about a hundred and fifty linear feet of work.  That doesn’t sound like much until one considers that it entailed digging out a 150 ft. X 2.5 ft. X 6 in. area of what amounted to solid clay and then hauling it by wheelbarrow to a corner of the yard.  Then 100, terracotta, edging bricks, each weighing about 7 pounds, had to be bought, loaded, driven home, unloaded and then hauled by wheelbarrow from the front of our house to the back and stacked in groups of six all around the pool.  Next, the bricks were set completely level, each caulked to the other, on a bed of landscape cloth filled with sand before the Liriope could be planted.  Two hundred and fifty, one gallon potted Liriope plants were then planted, each with their own small hand dug hole, before being backfilled with conditioned top soil.  The pool is not rectangular, but an oval, circular design…many of the bricks had to be cut; they were not terracotta clay but terracotta colored solid cement.  It was a huge job. 

Next, the fence dividing our house from the neighbor had to be replaced; it had been damaged by Hurricane Ike.  My boyfriend owned the fence; it had to be replaced (we replaced the fence on the opposite side of the house last Fall).  That was an entire three days, from early on a Friday morning, to dark on a Sunday evening.  Again, doesn’t sound like much…but.  It consisted of demolishing and dismantling the original fence, about a hundred feet or so.  We had to pull (jack out of the ground) all but two of the original, concrete set, fence posts out of the ground and replace…mix cement in a wheelbarrow, reset the posts, add twenty feet to the length, set more post in concrete and then construct the fence…with gate.  A bone crushing weekend it was. 

While enjoying a drink after one of the days spent on the fence, I mentioned how nice a court yard would be in the area that was created by the fence extension on that side of our home.  The next weekend we were off to buy some terracotta tile to do a small court yard.  Simultaneously, a new deck with a small slab was needed behind yet another small fence that needed to be constructed to hide the pool filter and controls.  More dirt had to be dug out…make that gumbo clay had to be removed…for the deck was not to be raised, but to be level relative to the grade of the ground. 

Enjoying yet another drink one afternoon, my boyfriend had the idea that since we were going to put a small courtyard in anyway, we might as well do it right.  So, the small 6 ft. X 9 ft. courtyard of terracotta, cement tile instantly morphed by an order of magnitude into an almost 600 square foot, vehicular rated, cement, cobblestone sidewalk/courtyard/patio addition that would start at the front of our home by the driveway and end at the pool patio in the rear…complete with two in-ground raised bed and lined planters.  This project required 6” treated decking material forms that dropped in elevation 5.5 inches in three stages from level at the patio, then a gradual 3.5” grade, to level again, and then a 2” gradual drop to the drive way…to make matters even more difficult, the forms had to be internally braced as they would stay in place when complete.  You guessed it…more digging (5” – 7” of the hardest dirt on the planet), more cement mixing (to reinforce the internally braced forms), more spoils added to our growing spoils pile from the new deck and patio edging dirt…over 1300 paver bricks in a 60%-40% ratio of 6” X 6” X 2 7/8” and 6” X 9” X 2 7/8” (thousands of pounds of bricks), and 7 cubic yards of masonry sand.  To make matters worse the main court yard was skewed on the fence side making the largest portion of the project not square.  Every day for me, and every  Friday afternoon, Saturday, and Sunday for my boyfriend for over a month has been consumed by this project alone but now it is complete…almost.  I say almost because in 60 days, after the pavers effervesce, we will have to pressure wash the entire area, blast out most of the sand, apply a polymerized sand grout, and the concrete seal the entire project.  

But wait, there’s more… 

We had cubic yards and yards of dirt piled up…it had to go somewhere.  Sooooo…after a few more drinks at the end of one of the dog tired days, we decided there was no other option but to build a two level raised bed and retaining wall planting area to put the bricks.  Now, edging bricks and paver bricks are heavy, but retaining wall bricks are brutal.  We needed a couple of hundred of those…off to the brick store…more hauling, more leveling, more design, and lots and lots and lots of shoveling.  I’m happy to say, that part of the project is totally complete.  

My boyfriend and I love doing projects together.  He’s a Mechanical Engineer with heavy emphasis on design; I’m an Industrial Engineer and my entire career has been involved almost entirely in heavy construction.  We get into endless discussions at the end of the day over the best way to approach our projects as we easily switch leads when one’s idea is better than the other.  But I think he put it best last Sunday afternoon as we installed the last of the paver bricks on the courtyard and finished entirely the deck/pool edging/retainer wall part of things: 

“You know, Susie…this was a lot of fun before we got into the pyramid building business.” 

Ahhhhh….well, enough of the minutia…how about the unofficial reason? 

Unofficially, the GLBT thing simply makes me ill.  There is so much crap on the internet that I would like to respond to that it’s overwhelming.  Consider these crackpots.  No names, but you all will know who I’m talking about. 

There is one site that is entirely devoted to the perceived persecution they feel that not only themselves, but everyone associated with the gender debate is subject too.  No matter what the issue, it boils down to them being persecuted by someone…over some thing.  The site is like a covey of sick whining roadkill.  Misogny this…bigotry that…phobia this and that.  Whine, whine, whine… 

Another prominent “activist” is in love with yet another transsexual.  All existential like, she has now resorted to daily verse sighting sunsets, early morning sunrises and the simpler things in life she has missed all these years while getting over her divorce.  Love, ain’t it a grand…and, nauseating to hear about.  The owner of this site has claimed to be reassessing her activism…despite a month of speaking at pride events.  Some people just never transition. 

The Hater Tots racist is continuing her daily angry black woman threads.  She openly states that if you disagree with her she will not post your comments; personally, I don’t even try…it’d be kind of fruitless.  She touts her people and of course transgender rights.  The reality is she seems quite more interested in mining the internet for the latest drag queen videos on YouTube…the Ball Room crowd, and trying to convince herself straight men like neoclits. 

The HBS crowd continue their fanaticism.  One site’s owner can’t seem to write a sentence unless it starts with the letter I.  Virtually every essay is contentious in some way, and lo to those who may disagree.  Thinking she’s a part of history, her pieces are never short of anti-establishment rhetoric.  Forgetting there are lots of us who were rebels (and transsexual) when we were young, her membership in the more radical fringe groups of the 60’s is drawn like a sword at every opportunity and worn as a badge of honor.  The truth is no one gives a damn. 

One of the more popular lesbian sites continues to lash out against the use of TASERS.  One of her mixers seems to be obsesses with bathrooms, their use and, now, even utensils for women who want to use the loo while standing up…not a problem for her anyhow; she’s not had GRS…she can stand up to pee and be proud.  She loves posting or linking to her picture or video du jour.  It’s the same old we were a Red State and now we are Blue…day in and day out.  Gay marriage and the Christian Right seem to be the biggest targets.  Bores me to hell and back a few hundred times. 

A popular gay site still enjoys banning dissenters.  One particular project manager, a homosexual man, continues to speak on behalf of post operative transsexuals.  Revenues must be down, they advertise a lot for others to advertise a lot.  Lots of gay sex essays there, a real draw for those of us who are heterosexual.  Rights and privileges are big. 

One site just can’t seem to end ENDA.  You get a lot of cute names there…catchy phrases…lots of icing but not much cake.  I don’t visit it anymore; seldom does anyone post a comment.  Based on personal correspondence some time back, the owner’s a hypocrite.  Cute syntax but that just doesn’t do it for me. 

Another site owner loves to knock America, almost to the point of obsession.  Considering recent developments in her own country, she might try removing the log from her own eye before she tries to remove the splinter from America’s.  Her battles seem to be daily on some obscure thread trying to teach pigs to sing.  Fence Rider to the rescue. 

A couple of the more maladjusted have made their site a membership thing.  I’ve never applied, and thought both of them were way too saccharine for me.  They seemed to be written by idiots for idiots; I didn’t qualify.  The near and far Eastern mysticism laced threads and crossdresser comments were pretty lame, as was the sickening insertion of her family life as well. 

Seems titles are important now days as well.  One well known activist’s name is always prefaced by Dr.  That prefix is supposed to denote knowledge above and beyond.  But she’s not a medical doctor at all, instead being much more at home in the engineering field.  I’ve got a university degree, a bit of post graduate study as well, in engineering…nonetheless, I have always thought it amusing when someone with a doctorate in an academic discipline (particularly and specifically if they are retired) refer to themselves as Doctor…it’s kind the epitome of vain and pretentious.  It’s just not that hard to acquire post graduate degrees if one wants to devote the time.  Referring to oneself with academic credentials is just plain stupid.  Using these titles to legitimize or enhance one’s argument in the gender debate is disingenuous at best…silly at the least. 

Anyway, now that the work is done, and a bit more time, I’ll get back to a bit of more regular blogging…if something comes up. 

I’ve been reading about the big brouhaha about one of the activists saying that most transgender don’t get GRS…seems that statement set the TeeGee crowd on their noses…I suppose the TeeGees never know when the truth will bitch slap them into reality.  And, as Leigh said, Chastity Bono, known as Chaz, has transitioned from FtoM…good for him.  It’s Pride Month…I think.  I’m not much on Pride parades; in fact, I’m nothing at all, though I do suppose if one happened to be marching down the street in front of my house I’d probably stand out in the yard and gawk with the rest of the neighbors as they walk by. 

It seems hotter than it was last year…the heat index has been in the low one hundreds here in Clear Lake for the past week or so…no rain in sight on the 10-Day look ahead; the heat can be wilting if not downright oppressive here…definitely the heat is definitely not TG friendly.  I am blessed that if the Lord is willing (hopeful) and the creek don’t rise (probable) I will see yet the beginning of yet another summer…the Summer Solstice, June 21^st, is just around the corner…the official start of Summer, the longest day of the year and the days get shorter and shorter from that day on.  The down side of Summer is that it brings the hurricane season.  I’ve been through three hurricanes in the past two summers; I’m hopeful our area will be spared this year. 

I know, I know…crappy blog entry.  But, hey, throw me a bone, it’s difficult being spectacular all the time…

 

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