TCC for 1/6/09

Originally the Caretaker was planning on posting a rather lengthy entry for today, but now he is far too drained. He paddled over to the mainland this morning only having to break through about 10 yards of ice, when he returned in the afternoon he had to break through ice pretty much the entire way back. However, that is not what has tuckered him out, dickering around with a new shower arrangement that took him over an hour and a half to get going (which in the end never worked so he had to go back to his old way) is what sucked all the energy out of him.

By the afternoon most all of the Lake South of the Island was iced over, at least as far as the eye could see, but come this evening the wind picked up and broke up much of the ice. Based on the weather report for tonight, chances are the Lake will ice in again by tomorrow afternoon. The weather report calls for precipitaion of various sorts up until Friday so the Caretaker is all set to hunker down on the Island until after the weather clears. He's looking forward to being Island bound for the next few days, he's got plenty to do that he has been neglecting, one thing in particular, among other things, is to get caught up on this blog. By tomorrow afternoon the entries from the past few days should be expanded upon. Unless of course something else comes up, which never happens here. Ha.

--The Caretaker

1/6/09 Early Morning






1/6/09 Late Afternoon

TCC for 1/5/09

The Caretaker was expecting to have the time today to be much more expansive in this post, however that is not the case, he is trying to be Island bound but the mainland keeps calling him back. So, in brief for today:
Paddled over to mainland for the day, left wallet on Island, lived without it and spent no money.
While paddling over, the Caretaker realized that instead of focusing on all that he had to do for the day he should focus on what he was doing that very moment as if that is all he has ever done or ever will do. The Caretaker is trying for more balance.
While paddling back to the Island he watched a Bald Eagle fly East towards Dome Island, eventually it alighted upon a tree on Dome.
Just a moment ago the Caretaker heard the ice over in Huddle Bay "sing", it was a long rumbling moan.

--The Caretaker

TCC for 1/4/09

The Caretaker has a photo from this morning, it is of a building on the West shore, it is reflected upon the ice that has formed over there, no real ice at the Island yet. In fact the Caretaker paddled back and forth to the Mainland three times today. He will be going over to the mainland tomorrow too, however, after that he will be Island bound whether it is by ice or by choice and that is when he will get caught up with his blog and share about things like motor boating in total white-out conditions, thawing out water buckets, nails through his feet, remote boat throttle control, oh, and how he killed a bird today, or at least thinks he did, but he didn't mean to.

--The Caretaker

TCC for 1/3/09

The Caretaker took advantage of the open water today to get over to the mainland to replenish fuel tanks for heating, cooking, and shower water. He also obtained a number of other things while on the mainland and wound up staying far later than he expected to so he was not able to take any photos, instead here are some photos from earlier in the year.

11/21/08


10/13/08


10/6/08


The Caretaker's original plan for today was to get over to the mainland not long after the crack of dawn, he missed his alarm and so didn't get over until after 8:30 or so. The second part of his original plan was to shoot down to Queensbury to pick up some groceries and fill his fuel tanks, then get right back to the Island, that didn't happen either, at least not as planned. He did pickup some groceries (about 20 pounds of frozen vegetables, they're much easier than fresh to store in a freezing climate when not maintaining a "heat-orator") and he filled his fuel tanks. He then hung around for a bit taking care of some other things in order to kill some time, late the night before via e-mail the Caretaker learned of a friend's loss of a loved one so he wanted to see this friend in person to pass on condolences. From there the Caretaker had one last stop, to pick up a some one pound canisters of propane, the place with the lowest price on these oh so wasteful fuel containers is the Coleman Outlet store, so on his way back to the Lake the Caretaker stopped in at the store to pick some up.

It was the Caretaker's lucky day, the store was having a 30% off sale on everything in the store (even the one pound propane canisters--which never happens).

The Caretaker feels that the one pound propane canisters are wasteful because they are "disposable" (i.e. once used up they are to be thrown away) which to the Caretaker's mind is a total waste of resources. There is a way to refill these canisters from 20 or 40 pound propane tanks, it requires a particular attachment. The Caretaker has this attachment and has used it a number of times but there is one problem with refilling "disposable" one pound canisters, the valves were not intended for refilling so eventually the refilled canisters leak. Some leak after one refill, others after four or five refills, and a few will take up to ten refills before leaking, there is a way to cap the one pound canisters so they don't leak but it is not 100% guaranteed, which is fine during the Summer months when the one pound propane canisters are used more as a luxury, however, during the Winter months it is not okay. The Caretaker likes to keep at least four new one pound propane canisters on hand incase of an emergency--like running out of propane before he can get to the mainland to refill his tanks. In the past they used to make "refillable" one pound propane canisters, they were red, they don't make them anymore, or at least they are not available for sale here in the States. (Here in our great country there isn't much profit in things we don't throw away, perhaps with the down turn in the economy our brilliant leaders in Washington will see fit to rescind the legislation that outlawed refillable one pound propane canisters. Better yet, why not make a one pound canister with a valve similar to that which is found on a 20 or 40 pound propane tank so the one pound canisters can be made safe to refill and transport? well, at least relatively safe.) So, for emergency purposes the Caretaker likes to keep some "disposable" propane canisters on hand and that is why he went to the Coleman store, the 30% off sale is why he walked out of there not once but twice with plenty more than just propane canisters.

Being an outlet store most all the merchandise is regularly selling at a discount, with an additional 30% some of the stuff was practically being given away. Most everything the Caretaker bought were things he uses so he didn't feel too bad about this unplanned shopping spree, but there were a few things that he didn't necessarily need but just couldn't pass on the price. One example was another Peak 1 propane stove, the Caretaker already has one but since they have been discontinued the thinking was to have a second as back-up and/or for parts (this was something that the Caretaker had been thinking of doing ever since he learned that the stove was discontinued so this would not really be considered an impulse buy). Another "steal" was a kerosene lantern, the Caretaker also already has one of these but this was a deal he could not let pass. Pressurized kerosene lanterns are not nearly as popular here in the States as electric. propane. or white gas/gasoline lanterns and so the Caretaker has always been mildly concerned that Coleman would at some point discontinue their line of kero lanterns. Although concerned about the possible discontinuation of the kero lantern the Caretaker always felt the cost of a second one as a backup wasn't worth the price. Some retailers charge up to $120-$130.00, the Caretaker bought his first kero lantern for around $80.00 which is certainly less, but not low enough to be worth buying a second. So, how much did the Caretaker spend on the "backup" kero lantern he bought? He walked out of the store having only parted with $33 dollars and change.

While walking around the store looking over the various outdoor products for sale playing the "Do I really need this?" game, the Caretaker noticed that all but one of the kerosene lanterns were price tagged at $80.00. The odd one out was priced at $44.00, that was a price certainly worth paying for a backup lantern. He thought about bringing it to the register to see if they would ring it up as marked, but then thought it would be unwise to try to capitalize on a clerk's error in price marking, so he left it on the shelf and proceeded to find other things he "needed". This was the second time he was in the store, after leaving the first time he looked at his receipt, realized how much he was saving and decided he should go back, he figured he should at least stock up on lantern mantles--and to see if there was anything else he missed. He did come across a few things he missed and so bought them. While his goods were being rung into the cash register by a clerk the Caretaker struck up a conversation with the assistant manager about outdoor products, the usual prices at the store, the prices with the additional 30% off, and a number of other topics. At one point, as the conversation went the Caretaker felt it relevant to share with the assistant manager that one of the kerosene lanterns was miss priced. In the end the lantern was offered to the Caretaker as priced, the Caretaker stated that he didn't feel he should benefit from someone's mistake and so at first declined the offer. The Caretaker then learned from the assistant manager that there is a law that a product on the shelf must be sold as marked, the Caretaker didn't hesitate to take the offer, and so with the additional 30% off, that is how the Caretaker bought a kerosene lantern for $33 dollars and change.

Real exciting stuff huh?

Who doesn't like a good deal?

Anyway, the Caretaker took care of a few other errands and eventually made it back to the Island well after nightfall.

--The Caretaker

TCC for 1/2/09

1/1/09


1/1/09


1/2/09


1/2/09


1/2/09


1/2/09


1/2/09


1/2/09


1/2/09


1/2/09


Not a whole lot to report on for today, the very early stages of ice-in have begun here on the Lake. The Caretaker spent most all of the day trying to get things in order in the Ghetto and preparing for a trip over to the mainland tomorrow to get more fuel for heat. He could probably get by without the fuel but he would be a lot colder without restocking his fuel tanks and since he doesn't want to be colder than he has to during ice-in he is going to take advantage of the open water and get more fuel.

Since this day was rather uneventful (or at least nothing too eventful can be remembered by the Caretaker) here's another story from December 2008:

Part of the work being done in the kitchen has required the Caretaker to keep one of the larger Island boats in the water far longer into the colder months of the year than it would usually be. It was the weekend of December 20th, the wind was blowing from the Narrows at a pretty good clip, snow was falling but not enough to limit visibility, the throttle cable on the boat was frozen and the Caretaker had to pick somebody up to bring out to the Island to assess something that needed repair. The Lake conditions weren't exactly great for travel, but certainly not absolutely terrible, not yet at least. Luckily it was only the throttle cable itself that was frozen and not the shift column at the helm nor the throttle linkage on the engine. The Caretaker was able to start the boat and shift it into forward and reverse but the boat would only operate at idle speed. The person the Caretaker was picking up was going to be on the mainland South of the Island, getting there would have been fine for the most part but returning against the wind at idle speed wasn't an option, the wind and waves would have blown the boat backwards. The Caretaker was seriously considering using the tin boat, but being much smaller (12 to 14 feet long with a 15 horse power engine) there were potential risks with using it given the current Lake conditions, especially with the additional weight of another person. Eventually the Caretaker struck on the idea of disconnecting the throttle cable from the engine and operate the engine with the cowling removed so he could control the throttle at the engine. He brought his tools to the boat and set to work on seeing if his idea would work, sure enough it did. Now all he had to do was wait for the phone call from the person he was picking up to bring out to the Island, eventually the call came and off the Caretaker went.

He started up the boat and at idle speed maneuvered it into the direction he needed to go, once in the right direction he left the helm, went back to the engine and raised the engine speed, luckily the throttle held its position so the Caretaker could then return to the helm to steer the boat. He certainly didn't pilot the boat anywhere near as fast as it could go but enough to keep ahead of the waves which were getting to some three to four feet by this time. This method of boat operation was a bit like juggling requiring the Caretaker to be quick on his feet, not exactly ideal but it got the job done. The Caretaker was able to pick the person up, bring him out to the Island and then bring him back to the mainland not too worse for wear. Now that the Caretaker was finished with the boat he had to get it out of the water so it could go into storage until Spring.

To read about that see the TCC for 1/4/09. Oh, and for more blathering:

http://www.theblatheringidiot.blogspot.com/

--The Caretaker

TCC for 1/1/09

12/31/08


1/1/08


1/1/08


1/1/08


This New Year's Day was most definitely on the cold side, down to around zero Fahrenheit or something, whatever the number, the Caretaker had difficulty getting Birch kindling to light for a fire in the fireplace. Eventually he got the fire to go, but since the stone of the fireplace was so cold it took an awfully long while for the hearth and fireplace to throw any heat, it wasn't exactly what one would consider warm and cozy. Other than being rather cold the day was mostly unremarkable, a bit windy so not too great for being out and about outside. The Lake is certainly cold enough to freeze over but the wind has been keeping it churned up so it hasn't iced over yet.

The photos taken today are of the ice formation along the shore, the ice was caused by the high winds blowing the water out of the Lake and up onto shore. The bottom photo is of ice coated frozen blades of grass.

Much of December of 2008 wasn't all that remarkable and the Caretaker's schedule kept him quite busy thus he wasn't able to get much out in the way of posts to his blog. As for photography during the month of December? For the most part the sky was overcast, accompanied with either rain, sleet, snow, or some combination of the three. In essence, the month of December for photography was a wash, however, there were a few incidents during the month that the Caretaker feels are worth mentioning.

Sometime during the middle of December, it was a Monday, the Caretaker was doing some work in the kitchen in the main house. He was pulling down some paneling to look for evidence of rot within the walls and ceiling, as he was pulling down the paneling he would allow it to fall on the floor, much of it still had nails sticking out of it. The Caretaker was aware of the potential risks associated with not being diligent about keeping the floor clean for walking, however if knowing is half the battle the Caretaker lost the other half. He was stepping down from the ladder so he could move it to a different location when he brought his left foot down onto the ground driving a rusty nail straight through his boot and consequently his foot. His right foot was still on the last rung of the ladder and so his immediate response was to step fully off the ladder in order to remove the nail from his foot, and like a grim comedy of errors he brought his right foot down on top of a nail too driving it into his foot. With nails in each foot the Caretaker immediately raised his left foot up, thankfully the nail came out. Putting his weight on his left foot he raised his right foot up, thankfully that nail came out just as easy as the first.

Not wanting to contract lock-jaw or at least do whatever he could to prevent it, the Caretaker quickly hobbled out of the kitchen to the Ghetto to dress his wounded feet. On his way to his desk chair he grabbed some bandages, iodine, and topical anti-biotic gel. Upon sitting he quickly threw off his left boot and sock and stopped the bleeding, doused the puncture wound with iodine and then applied a bandage treated with the topical anti-biotic, he did the same for his right foot. After dressing his wounds the Caretaker decided it would be a good idea to inspect the souls of his boots, sure enough there were one or two nails in each boot that needed to be removed. Before grabbing a pair of needle nose pliers the Caretaker observed that these holes would probably not be too good for the water-proof quality of his boots. He then wondered if these holes would prove to be not too good for the souls of his feet and thus his health overall, he hoped not. As he finished up removing the nails from his boots he noticed that he couldn't feel any pain associated with the puncture wounds, then he realized that it was because it was so cold both his feet were going numb. The Caretaker quickly put socks back on his feet and then put on his boots, laced them up and took a few tentative steps, all seemed well enough so he went back to work in the kitchen, the first thing he did was to cleanup all the paneling, especially the bits with nails sticking out. For the remainder of this job the Caretaker managed to finish it up injury free.

--The Caretaker

P.S. See the Caretaker's new blog:

http://www.theblatheringidiot.blogspot.com/