Game On...

I've got the essentials on order:

• Spark plugs
• spark plug wires
• distributor cap & rotor
• brake pads
• brake fluid
• brake bleeder
• oil
• oil filter

Next up is clearing the garage, washing & waxing, and when it arrives, getting to work. When I'm not at work.
Also today we got a new battery for the Honda. We hadn't driven the car in 2+ months. The battery was dead, but fortunately we got a pretty good exchange fomr Sears on it, since it was less than 2 years old. Katie washed it today, and we're putting it on Craigslist! Goodbye Honda!

Mr. Handyman

So I have the goal of fitting my car into the garage for the winter. However, that has not been possible. There are lots of shelves and other stuff in the garage. And we also want to keep our bikes (at least the commuters) in the garage. (that is actually a whole 'nother post: I got a new commuter bike! Check back soon...) The garage is not too big, either. It is a total of 10.5 feet by 18 feet.
So one step I had to take was to re-arrange the (road) bicycles. I moved them from the wooden rack/stand that had held them in the apartment to newly installed hooks parallel to the wall. I would say the far wall, but it is actually quite close. There is also a ladder hanging along the wall.
On the wall opposite the bicycles was a workbench protruding two feet from the wall. Not a ton of space, but enough to work on small projects. Above that are some long, narrow shelves. So I decided that I would like to clear up the space. I bought a reciprocating saw from the Home Depot, and cut the bench about four inches from the wall, then put on some hinges, and attached legs with another set of hinges. I then added a safety straps so that. Just in case. It latches with a sliding bolt into a hole in the shelf above.
I'm the first to admit that it is not pretty, but it actually looks better than it did before. And it enabled me for the first time to pull the car all the way into the garage!!! (But the camera batteries died before I got a picture.) I will need to take out another set of shelves in the back of the garage (about 28 inches deep) and find a new home for the lawnmower in order to make it work to keep the commuters and the car inside, but each weekend I'm getting closer.
I'll be posting more blogs now that I'm doing more around the house. Be sure to check back for pics of the new commuter bike, pics of the Volvo in the garage and updates on the T5: oil changes, brake fluid changes, new brake pads, new plugs and wires and the exterior treatment.
Finally, check out the link on the right for the Three Dollar Connoisseur. We know the posters (Poseurs?)

House Pics. Front door, then garage, then window wells

Here are pictures of the garage back door



Here are pics of the window wells. the pics are a little mixed, but there are a total of three pics of the "good" window, and the rest are of the bad one.

Could it be? Snow?

What is less surprising than bleach-blonde women driving German SUVs thru the drive-thru at Starbucks and a parking lot full of Toyota Priuses at the local Whole Foods market? That's right: snow in Madison.
I know, I hear you saying " It is March! Average high temps should be in the 50s and lows should be in the mid 30s!" Well, never mind that stuff. It is still below freezing, and we're getting more of the white stuff.
The end (or at least a respite) could be in sight. We are slated to get above freezing this week every day, starting tomorrow. Night time temps will still be freezing, however. We won't be headed for any records as far as length of ice cover goes unless the ice sticks around until June 3. The latest date for the ice to clear is May 6, and that was in 1856! If it takes until the end of April we will be at 127 days. The average date for the ice to break up over the past 50 years is March 31st. Since 1990, the ice has been clear no later than the 11th of April.
Even though we are only nine days into March, I'm not apprehensive in my prediction that the ice won't break until April 15th.
One more thing about ice: most of the side streets in town are horrible. Many are deeply rutted with ice "medians" and kerbs. Once you are in the rut, there is no getting out. most of this is from snow that fell 2 or more weeks ago.
Bring on Spring!!!

Ice Bike 2008

The rain last weekend cleared much of the snow off of the ice on the lake, and made it tempting for me to head out onto the lake. Many days there are hordes of ice-fishermen in the middle of the lake, almost forming a small town. I'm not sure why, but they tend to clump together. Maybe these guys are just always taking them to the same place.

Part of the ride on the lake was on a tin layer of crusty snow which provided pretty good traction. The rest was on bare, slick, shiny ice that would have made a zamboni driver jealous.

It was a bit tricky at times where the ice was shiny, but not smooth, on the way back to the path I rode at a pace no quicker than a walk. but I did stay upright. I probably could have gone faster, but I'm old and afraid of falling...

So, how long does the ice usually last? Check it out here...

Ugh. Winter is not over

Well, it should not have really come as a surprise, but winter is still here. Last night when I went to bed it was 48 degrees. When I woke up it was 28 degrees and there was about 1.5 inches of snow. The temps dropped all day, and it is now about 20. But it was a nice weekend and the temps should be in the 40s again this weekend!

Road Trip!

Okay, So after a tough week of colder weather and without somebody sweet nearby to inspire me to expound upon the ins and outs of Wisconsin weather and culture, I'm back with a new post. As I write it is 48 degrees!!! It is raining, but this "warm" rain is supposed to turn to freezing rain, then sleet and snow and we should get another 3-4 inches...

This weekend brought warmer weather and a road trip to "The Bays" (Green Bay and Sturgeon Bay). Sturgeon Bay is located in "Wisconsin's Scenic Door County", which is "the finger" of Wisconsin sticking into Lake Michigan.

I drove by Lambeau Field, and saw both Lombardi Ave and Holmgren Ave. Green Bay is pretty unique in that it is a town of 102,313, but it is home to an NFL team. I would bet that there is not other town/metro area with an NFL team that is less than one million people. I would also bet that there are fewer than 10 of those NFL players who live there year round. Green Bay is very much a working-class town with small homes, rusty cars and lots of factories making cheese, paper and steel. Now that I've been there, Green Bay is no place I need to go again.

We drove on Sautrday to Sturgeon Bay, located in Door County. Dor County is sort of like Cape Cod or Nantucket for the midwest. There were lots of cars from Illinois (FIBs). There are lots of vacation homes and resorts in Door County, and, tellingly, many wineries. I don't know if many grapes are grown on the finger, but people up there have figured out that the rich tourists will pay good money to go to a winery and taste some local wines. There were also lots of expensive stores selling "fashionable" clothes for older women at high prices.

It seems that Sturgeon bay is a popular spot with the legions of boaters who cruise Lake Michigan in the summers, but there was definitely no boating going on this time of year! There were lots of people out on the ice, but they were in fishing tents or on snowmobiles. It was pretty impressive to see that much water frozen thick enough that people were confident (foolhardy?) enough to take their power equipment onto the lake.

In news more close to home, ice on Lake Mendota was 30 inches on Saturday, reaching the upper limits of the boring tools most ice-fishers use to reach the lake.