A Big Chore Done

Living here on Florida’s Central Coast is wonderful for about seven months of the year. Though we do have an occasional cold snap, it usually only lasts overnight, and daytimes warm up to where the most you need is a sweatshirt on the coldest winter days. But from late June through mid-November, it feels like you were living in a sauna. The temperatures and humidity levels are so high that, just like people in cold climates stay inside all winter as much as possible, people here stay inside during these months.

June through November is also hurricane season here, with the peak months being from mid-August to about mid-October. My Bennington pontoon boat has been sitting out on our large concrete parking apron with a cover on it when we weren’t using it this past winter and spring, but I’ve been wanting to get it back inside the garage before the worst of the summer storms reach us.

So yesterday, my buddy Jesse Bolton helped Terry and I get that big chore done. It’s a chore because the boat was sitting on its regular trailer, but to get it inside our garage, which doesn’t have a lot of clearance overhead, we have to put it on our scissor trailer to get it through the door.

Jesse and I took the scissor trailer down to our boat launch and parked it off to the side, then came back and got the boat itself on its regular trailer. We launched it, then Jesse went and parked the truck and trailer out of the way, and we took the boat for a quick run up the river to the Boston Whaler factory dock before turning around and coming back. It was the best day I’ve seen in months, and if we had time, we wouldn’t have minded staying out for a while, but there was too much to do.

Returning to our launch, I stayed in the boat while Jesse swapped the trailers around, then backed the scissor trailer down the ramp and we loaded the boat on it. Back at home, we were able to crank the trailer down enough to get the boat through the garage door, then we put four large 1000-pound capacity four-wheeled dollies under the pontoons and pulled the trailer back out. Then it was a fairly simple chore for Jesse, Terry, and I to push the boat into the far back corner of the garage. Then we went back to the launch and got the regular trailer and brought it back, and stashed the two trailers away.

The kayak trailer with two of our Old Town kayaks fits in next to the pontoon boat, and our other two Old Town kayaks are on the floor underneath the pontoon boat. We also have two Sea Eagle inflatable kayaks. One more watercraft and I think I can qualify to become an Admiral.

With everything inside, the garage still has room for the truck and my Mustang. No, the truck is not lopsided. The picture is just distorted from the angle that I took it.

While Jesse and I were moving boats around, Terry was trimming some branches off the trees between our garage and the little canal next to our house, and she managed to jab herself in the shin and create a large wound. Always the stoic, she said it wasn’t much, but I’d have wanted to be medevaced if it was me. 😊

With all of that done, I replaced the broken connection in our lawn sprinkler system that  I wrote about last week. Once all of the glue was dried, I tested it, but the sprinkler heads were just bubbling, so I took them off to soak in vinegar overnight, hoping it will clean them up.

Finally, with everything done, we showered and then loaded Jesse and his pretty lady Jennifer in the van to go to dinner at Boston Fish’s House in New Smyrna Beach. It was delicious, as always. Thanks for all your help, Jesse. We appreciate you!

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.

Congratulations Patty Richardson, winner of our drawing for an autographed copy of Written in Blood by Nathan Bush. The first book in Nathan’s the Foley Chronicles: Files from the 8th District is the story of rookie detective Ken Collins investigating a serial killer who begins mutilating prostitutes in the 8th District. Working with his partner, Senior Detective John Filcher, the duo is on the hunt for a brutal and efficient killer who leaves no trail to follow.

We had 36 entries this time around. Stay tuned, a new contest starts soon! Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books and audiobooks to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed

Thought For The Day – I may look normal, but believe me, I talk to animals and wait for them to reply.