It has become my tradition to post this poem on Memorial Day. For all those served and never returned to their true love. You will never be forgotten. We, those of us who honor your memory, your service and your sacrifice, will keep your flame alive. We love you and we always will.

It has become my tradition to post this poem on Memorial Day. For all those served and never returned to their true love. You will never be forgotten. We, those of us who honor your memory, your service and your sacrifice, will keep your flame alive. We love you and we always will. 

As always, RIP Ken.

Soldier, Soldier
Soldier, soldier come from the wars,
Why don't you march with my true love?"
"We're fresh from off the ship an' 'e's maybe give the slip,
An' you'd best go look for a new love."
New love! True love!
Best go look for a new love,
The dead they cannot rise, an' you'd better dry your eyes,
An' you'd best go look for a new love.

"Soldier, soldier come from the wars,
What did you see o' my true love?"
"I seed 'im serve the Queen in a suit o' rifle-green,
An' you'd best go look for a new love."

"Soldier, soldier come from the wars,
Did ye see no more o' my true love?"
"I seed 'im runnin' by when the shots begun to fly --
But you'd best go look for a new love."

"Soldier, soldier come from the wars,
Did aught take 'arm to my true love?"
"I couldn't see the fight, for the smoke it lay so white --
An' you'd best go look for a new love."

"Soldier, soldier come from the wars,
I'll up an' tend to my true love!"
"'E's lying on the dead with a bullet through 'is 'ead,
An' you'd best go look for a new love."

"Soldier, soldier come from the wars,
I'll down an' die with my true love!"
"The pit we dug'll 'ide 'im an' the twenty men beside 'im --
An' you'd best go look for a new love."

"Soldier, soldier come from the wars,
Do you bring no sign from my true love?"
"I bring a lock of 'air that 'e allus used to wear,
An' you'd best go look for a new love."

"Soldier, soldier come from the wars,
O then I know it's true I've lost my true love!"
"An' I tell you truth again -- when you've lost the feel o' pain
You'd best take me for your true love."
True love! New love!
Best take 'im for a new love,
The dead they cannot rise, an' you'd better dry your eyes,
An' you'd best take 'im for your true love.

Sunday Kipling

"The Men That Fought at Minden"

A Song of Instruction
 
 
The men that fought at Minden, they was rookies in their time --
 So was them that fought at Waterloo!
All the 'ole command, yuss, from Minden to Maiwand,
 They was once dam' sweeps like you!
 
Then do not be discouraged, 'Eaven is your 'elper,
 We'll learn you not to forget;
An' you mustn't swear an' curse, or you'll only catch it worse,
 For we'll make you soldiers yet!
 
The men that fought at Minden, they 'ad stocks beneath their chins,
 Six inch 'igh an' more;
But fatigue it was their pride, and they would not be denied
 To clean the cook-'ouse floor.
 
The men that fought at Minden, they had anarchistic bombs
 Served to 'em by name of 'and-grenades;
But they got it in the eye (same as you will by-an'-by)
 When they clubbed their field-parades.
 
The men that fought at Minden, they 'ad buttons up an' down,
 Two-an'-twenty dozen of 'em told;
But they didn't grouse an' shirk at an hour's extry work,
 They kept 'em bright as gold.
 
The men that fought at Minden, they was armed with musketoons,
 Also, they was drilled by 'alberdiers;
I don't know what they were, but the sergeants took good care
 They washed be'ind their ears.
 
The men that fought at Minden, they 'ad ever cash in 'and
 Which they did not bank nor save,
But spent it gay an' free on their betters -- such as me --
 For the good advice I gave.
 
The men that fought at Minden, they was civil -- yuss, they was --
 Never didn't talk o' rights an' wrongs,
But they got it with the toe (same as you will get it -- so!) --
 For interrupting songs.
 
The men that fought at Minden, they was several other things
 Which I don't remember clear;
But that's the reason why, now the six-year men are dry,
 The rooks will stand the beer!
 
Then do not be discouraged, 'Eaven is your 'elper,
 We'll learn you not to forget;
An' you mustn't swear an' curse, or you'll only catch it worse,
 For we'll make you soldiers yet!
 
Soldiers yet, if you've got it in you --
 All for the sake of the Core;
Soldiers yet, if we 'ave to skin you --
 Run an' get the beer, Johnny Raw -- Johnny Raw!
 Ho! run an' get the beer, Johnny Raw!

Thank You

I am so grateful for all of your thoughts and prayers. It sounds trite but it's true, they really do help.

We're still working through a few things. I think I probably will talk about it here. There's enough wisdom and experience among you that I think you'd understand what happened and have some insight to share. Frankly, I could use both right about now. I'm not trying to be coy, just picking at the scab before I rip off the bandaid I currently have on my emotions.

Give me a day or two and I'll be back and I'll tell the story. Both for myself and possibly for others who may find themselves in my shoes.

You are the best friends a man could possibly have and I am profoundly grateful for each and every one of you.

Six

Grief

The knock on the door came at about 2:30 this afternoon. Two officers from the local PD doing a notification for the County Sheriff in Nevada.

My mother passed at 4:16 local time while Lu and I were en route to the hospital. There's a lot to this story. I'm unsure, at this late hour, how much if any I am going to talk about. It is intensely painful and after many hours, way too many miles and a lifetime of tears and sorrow I am simply too wrung out to know my own mind.

I am so tired but will sleep come? I may be away for a while. Again.

May you finally rest in peace Ma.

Six

Jem Trail With The Kids

With the kids having a few weeks on two wheels to practice and hone their skills it was time for the next step. Trail ride. We chose the Jem Trail because there's a very nice section of double track/ fire road that's pretty flat (considering it in the actual mountains) with a little loop of single track that's as non-technical as you can get out here. The kids loved it. I am positively giddy with delight. They took to it immediately, flying down declines, swooping over whoops, standing up and taking on ruts head on and powering up inclines. It was a ball. Both of them even crashed a couple of times. No tears, just dusted themselves off and on to the next section of trail. No whines, no crying, no complaints. Just good old fashioned fun in the dirt and a couple of band-aids.

Warning: the word awesome will be used extensively in this post. 

The day was bright, hot and clear. As you can see here, The Boy jumped into the lead right out of the gate and stayed there the whole day. Angus spent most of the day running back and forth between the two groups. We guys were naturally way more awesome of course. "Hey, you guys coming or what?"

There was one climb that was just a bit beyond them and they ended up pushing. It was all good as Angus promptly went back to show them how it was done.

This is where you turn off the double track and pick up the single. It was also where we had the endos that I was afraid was going to screw up the entire day. Biker chicks are so awesome.

Aftermath of the endo. Ok, here's Lu and The Princess at the endo site. Here's what happened. If you look closely you can see there's a small drop off just behind the girls. It's probably 6 feet down, not too steep, then flattens out and goes into a great little berm. At the bottom of the drop there's some soft dirt. I explained how to traverse the obstacle and then demonstrated it. The Boy sailed through but The Princess hit the soft dirt and promptly went right over the handlebars. It wasn't serious, just a slightly skinned knee, though it was awesome (sorry, it just was). I freaked thinking this was going to be it. She'd walk back to the truck and never ride again. Nope. She made the pain face, checked herself out, then remounted and rode on. This pic was just after the crash. The Princess and Lu were still discussing the spectacular endo and how to get around the berm. Have I mentioned how cool biker chicks are?

Both of the girls decided that discretion was the better part of valor and walked the berm. Of course they did have the benefit of watching The Boy make the attempt. I did mention two endos? Well this was where The Boy ate it. He got about halfway through the berm but didn't have enough speed and augured in at the mid point. It wasn't so much an endo as a get off but it was pretty cool. The Boy is getting to the point where he truly appreciates a really spectacular crash. Even his own.

The end of a really great day. The kids are now certified mountain bikers. Next year we'll be upgrading from those cheap big box bikes to something much better with suspension and good hand brakes. At this age the first thing that flies out of their heads in a braking situation is the ability to actually brake. Good hand brakes will go a long way toward alleviating that. We ended the day with ice cream at the local DQ. Nothing tastes better than after ride soft serve with a side of good, clean dirt.

Since these pictures were taken I took The boy out to the trail for another run. He fell heavily twice but both times popped right back up, dusted himself off and took off again. He also made the berm. The Boy is really learning how to ride. The great thing is that both of them love to ride. They've made approximately a million laps of the circular driveway and are now riding to school, which they seem to think is awesomely awesome beans.

Hey, only a few more days before they have to go home to Florida. We need at least one more good Jem Trail ride. See you guys later. We're going for a ride.

Six

Screen Porch II

I finally got the porch taken down and have started getting the house ready for attempt number two. I promised to explain what happened.

See, there was this really bright light and then suddenly I found myself in a craft looking at two grey aliens holding what looked like a probe of some kind. Oh wait. Wrong story. Please disregard. I need to up my medication.

Ok then. When I removed the soffits this is what I found.

That is the end of one of the rafters over the master bedroom/ mud room. It originally had a flat roof but many years ago a sloped roof was added due to some leakage issues. Here's a closer look.

For some reason that I will never understand they didn't take off the old roof (as I had assumed) and construct a new one. They simply built a new structure directly on top of the old roof. There is also some odd local prejudice against rain gutters. Instead they tend toward deep soffits. Hence what we see here. Instead of new, complete rafters and roof joists the contractor (yes, someone was paid to do this) just added about 18 inches to the ends of the joists. That's a 2x6 nailed onto the end of the joist. Here's a view from below.

You can see what they did. That's a six inch nailer on a 12 inch overhang. The contractor decided the soffit needed to be 12 inches deeper so he added an 18 inch section of 2x6 with a 6 inch overlap. It's simply nailed on. Now this kind of construction is indeed acceptable if done correctly but the commonly accepted method is you double the length of the overhang for the nailer and then you fasten it with glue and screws on both sides of the repair. There's simply no way this overhang can take any weight at all so it all has to come down. I'll cut the roof back to the original joists, square the ends and face it with a fresh 2x6 screwed to the joists. The 2x6 will also be anchored to one end with joist hangers at the post you can see in the picture and a 4x4 post at the far end.

Was that It? No, not by a long shot. When I started taking down the aluminum ceiling I found the joists for the other section of the roof. Yes, they were complete and there were no add ons but a closer look revealed this.

In this picture the roof slopes up and away from you. If you look closely you can see where the rafter intersects the wall header. Er. Did they notch the rafters?

Yes, yes they did. There's about an inch of wood left at the top of the rafter. It's enough for the roof though it's definitely not the proper way to do things and something I never do and absolutely recommend against. But it will never hold any more weight. To be fair this is rough sawn wood and the dimensions are true 2x4 but still, it's not something I want to fool around with.

This is another look at this section of the house. You can see the roof and where I put up the header/nailer for the joists at the back. That's the section I'm talking about. There is some good news. See those two posts left and right in the picture at the back of the structure I built? Those are supporting a doubled 2x6 header for the existing wall. I took the roof back to that header and I'll now use it as the nailer for the new joists. After I get the new joists up I'll be able to see how much of the soffit I'll have to remove for the roof to fit. I'll be judicious and may find a way to reinforce the old roof joists but I'm confident it'll be plenty strong enough.

The structure is now down and I'm measuring and planning the new build. I'm confident I have now identified all the problem areas and fixes that will work, be structurally sound and look good. I'm also going to follow KurtP's suggestion and make both of the unsupported perimeter joists true 4x6 headers and add in at least one more 4x4 post for support. I'm ever rethinking 24 inch on center joists and may go with 16 inch. Time and budget will tell.

What have I learned from this fiasco? Do your due diligence. If you're going to add something make absolutely certain you do a proper tear out and discover all the hidden issues before you drive a single nail or cut your first board. Trust me, it's a lot less painful that way.

More tomorrow.

Six

Sunday Kipling

It's technically still Sunday. Sorry, got caught up in the Mother's Day festivities.
Six

Mother o' Mine

DEDICATION TO "THE LIGHT THAT FAILED" 

If I were hanged on the highest hill,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!
I know whose love would follow me still,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!

If I were drowned in the deepest sea,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!
I know whose tears would come down to me,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!

If I were damned of body and soul,
I know whose prayers would make me whole,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!

What Is That Smell?

How can a six year old boy produce poop that smells like that? I mean, The Boy can clear out the entire house. What's he eating, raw weasel rectums? There's a semi permanent green cloud in the bathroom. Angus just tucks his tail and slinks away, whining and casting accusatory looks at me. Even Chrisi can smell it and she hasn't had a working nose for two years. The UN called, talking about sanctions and sending in a WMD inspection team. I mean, he's three feet tall with about a foot and a half of intestines. Nothing in there should have the time to reach that level of stinkitude. Lu is talking about installing an outhouse. In the neighbors yard.

Boys. Never let them use the indoor toilet.

Six

Prosecutors And Public Opinion

I've decided, for the sake of my mental health, to take a couple of days away from the porch. Lest I grab the chain saw and just raze the whole thing to the ground, burn the rubble and sow the earth with salt so nothing will ever be raised here again. Not that I'm bitter.

Whilst entertaining myself I ran across this story about another in-home self defense shooting. As I read it I was struck by the actions of the DA. Never let anyone tell you that the local prosecutor doesn't affect the way stories are viewed. This is a case in point. Please compare and contrast this case with Zimmerman. Note how the absence of racial details released until all the facts were in kept this off the front page and the race whores looking for greener pastures.

In my career my greatest source of professional frustration was with our DA. I never could understand their reasoning on which cases they would prosecute, which they would not and why they charged as they did. I've seen felons walk away from slam dunk cases and seen them press outlandish charges on cases that were certain dogs. Remember, every single deputy/assistant/associate DA I ever knew and worked with wanted to be either the DA or a judge (mostly a judge) and they filed their cases based on their view of how it was going to affect their career path. There are exceptions I'm sure (as the above cited article shows) I've just never personally met one. I had quite a few defense attorneys I liked, admired and was even friends with. I knew one deputy DA I liked but wouldn't have trusted him as far as I could have thrown his 300 pound ass. That's not bitterness it's reality. Prosecutors should have a shelf life before being required to return to private practice and should be reviewed and rated based on competence and common sense rather than their conviction record and how many headlines they can grab. Prosecutors are attention whores masquerading as law enforcement professionals and I have very limited respect for them.

Six

Uh, Never Mind

That last post? Yeah, please disregard the whole thing. Let this be a lesson for me. Always check and double check and even triple check because when you're dealing with a house this old and this poorly constructed it's a bottomless pit of "Oh Shit".

I'm going to have to take the whole porch apart and do it all over again. I won't go into specifics yet because I want to do a whole series of posts on this remodel but suffice it to say that as I was tearing off the old siding and the aluminum ceiling I found stuff that has completely changed how I'm going to anchor the porch roof. It all has to come down. The only thing I don't have to re-do is the corner post.

More tomorrow.

Sigh. Live and learn.

Six