Easy come....Easy Go!

Well as the title says......Easy come.......Easy go!
Yesterday Ol- Whitey" became someone elses. It was time to turn her loose. It was a good experience, and it proved that we COULD benifit from an economy car for me to drive around town (the savings in gas was amazing compared to the truck). The down side was that after Whitey's freeze up, she wasn't quite the same, and the fix-it costs were eating into the money savings department.
So.....off to the next owner.
A quick add on Craigslist and she was gone within 24 hours! The price you ask?????? Well, i'll just have to keep you guessing....but, more than i paid (she was free :)) or had invested. Now the quest begins for another free car, whose name may be Ol-White-Too!

Signing off from the North......
Where some things are free.....then sold for more......and old cars rule the roads!


Mark.....The Iron Skillet

Health care plans for pets? I wish!

I think i may need to write a letter to our new president. I'd like to ask him to incorporate one more thing into his new Healthcare reform...it wouldn't take much, just a little extra wording, a little extra money, and a whole lot of drama between two political parties. Whats the the extra you ask....how bout a little health care coverage for our pets....ya know they get old too!

All jokeing aside, i got a little dose of how expensive the vet can be this last Sunday (ya, sunday, when only emergency pet clinics are open). What happened you ask.................

Well, here is the story...

Saturday night before i went to bed i loocked up the house and shooooed the two dogs off to their kenel for the night. They both looked like there normal selves and off they went. The next morning, we woke and took our time getting up in the morning, and finally about 8 a.m. i deemed it time to feed the dogs. I opened the door to find my old trusty (crusty) Dingo sitting there waiting paitently for his morning vitals, giving me the evil eye! Something drasticly wrong with him..........The picture says it all, look at his left eye!

I was shocked to say the least, over night his eye had completley clouded over! No ryme or reason, it just did! I felt sick to my stomach, and instantly thought my poor old dingo was going blind, and raceing thoughts of his doom were flashing before MY own eyes!
With steady hands Nicole thumbed through the phone book to find "urgent pet care" and a quick call was made. By 9 a.m. Monty was being seen!
The vet himmed and haaaaad over what was going on, and told me she wanted to do some blood work, and it could be this or that or some more of this and a little more of that.....By this time i'd come back to reality and my pocket book was starting to talk to me! With me being mostly laid off, every nickle counts around our house right now....and vet bills ARE NOT part of the monthly budget! So the vet talked me into the blood draw and a few tests and then she told me what she thought it was......Basicly Monty is to FAT! Something to do with Lipid cells carrying extra fat in his blood stream and somehow that can cause the eye to cloud over and if not treated fairly quickly can cause damage to the eye (although she did say it would take awhile to make him go blind). Her final soultioun were some pregnazone eye drops (a steroid) and it would clear up fairly quickly, and a follow up with my regular vet on Tuesday for the blood work out come, and a final diagnosis.
The vet then disappered for awhile and came back with eye drops and my bill. As i read the bill i came down to the total......$275! I think me turning white as a sheet was signal enough, as the Vet quickly left the room leaving me only one option of leaving and paying!

So, pay i did......after i got home and started the doses on Monty, his eye started to clear within 1/2 a day, and today it's back to normal. As for me i've stared at the cost of the bill about 10 different times......here's the breakdown.....$100 entry fee......$130 for the blood draw & labs.....$16 for the eye drops....and the rest is taxes and misc. charges.


So Mr. Obama.....how bout a pet care plan?........after that i need to talk to ya about my unemployment benifits...but that's a whole nother post alltogether!


Signing off from the North........Where pets get sick.....vets cost a lot.....and i'm broke now too........which is NOT nice!


Mark.....The Iron Skillet

Something Special

So Saturday found me with a little time on my hands. Nicole and her mom entertained kids, and it left me to a little tinkering out in the shop. As i was cleaning i came across an old Green Chest. I'd aquired this chest when Nicole's Grandpa George had passed. Everyone always loves to see what's in a chest, and to my plesant surprise this one was filled with old wood working tools! Since the the chest made it to my house i'd always had the intention of mounting some of the tools in a shadow box and hanging them in our house. As it turns out the tools were Nicole's Great Grandfathers.....so prettty old and pretty cool!
With the shop cleaned, it was the prefect time to finish part of this project (the other part of this project is to make 3 more of these for other family memebers) and add it too a wall in our house.

A picture with me before it was to be mounted on the wall

On the wall, and looking pretty good!

Those tools also go with these ones i aquired from my grandfather when i built the addition on our house.

I'm not sure if everyone would think these things are neat, specailly hanging up in our dining room, but i sure like the looks of them!

So, i'll keep this short and sweet today

Signing off from the North........Where tools are used......as art too.....which is nice

Mark......The Iron Skillet

Look Who's Back!

Yesterday went from Fun to Fu_ked up in the matter of a phone call.

So as the story goes.......

I didn't have any pressing work yesterday, so i got up and got nicole and the kids on their way for the day and then worked on installing the pond safety net that we've had for several years, and that Nicole has asked me repeatedly to install, so i did. I'd dreaded this project, and figured it would take at least a day to get done. For once, not the case. I found myself done and the project cleaned up by 9:30! If i'd of known it'd go that fast i'd have put in on a long time ago.....!!!!
So once finished, i decided to go down to holiday market and sportsman wearhouse (sporting goods stores) to look for just one more hunting jacket. A quick call to my buddy Gene, and the two of us were leaving town by 11 a.m.. It was good quality MAN time, and the bullshitting never stopped. We were just about done and ready to head back North on I-5 when i get a call from Nicole at around 2:30 p.m.. Her first question was "Did you take the kicker motor off your boat b4 you parked it out at grandpa's old house" my answer "yes" ..her response....a deep sigh of relief. Then she filled me in on the rest of the story. Seems that some time between Monday and Friday some thieves stole just about everything they could get their hands one out there. She told me all this, but my initial reaction wasn't of much concern. Before i'd taken the boat out there i'd taken everything out of it....i mean EVERYTHING.....well, almost..
So, Gene and i'd headed back north with the conversation filled mostly with what we thought they'd stole....and what we'd do to someone if we caught them stealing stuff from us. The final plot of justice involved duct tape, zip ties, and an IRON SKILLET.....i'll let you fill in the blanks on that one. So, by the time we got back to bellingham, i had vented long enough and was ready for what we'd find.
We arrived around 4 p.m., and did a once over of the boat. Footprints were found inside the boat, and the drop curtian unzipped, but nothing was missing.....so i thought. Gene and i agreed that it'd be best to tow her back to my place, and get her out of the theft zone. I went to jack the big motor up....a.....no power...that's wierd....no power on both batteries......very odd.........
A quick inspection of the battery storage area revealed both batteries missing! Dirty bastards stole em!
So another trip back to town, to purchase new batteries, and back out to the farm with a handfull of tools to install the new ones (have to have a battery to jack up the motor so the boat can be towed home).
So i installed just one battery, after looking at the jumbeled f'd up mess of wires they left me with (installing both, in the dark, in a hurry, and with a handfull of tools wasn't the best of conditions. )

This picture really doesn't due the justice of what's in this small hole, where two batteries live...only Dad will know what a pain in the ass this involves.


So with the aid of Gene (I CAN'T THANK HIM ENOUGH FOR HIS HELP), and a little trouble shooting, we installed one battery, jacked up the motor, hooked the boat to the truck and headed back to my house in one of the biggest rain storms of the year, and one of the darkest nights i've ever driven in! (another PAIN IN THE ASS)


So, at 6 p.m., this is where the old gal got parked for the night. In the FRONT driverway, under the SPOTLIGHT!


So today i'm out to purchase a couple of big tarps, seal her up tight, and park her back in the hole behind the garage. I'd hoped to leave her out at the farm, under cover for 2 more months while i built the new carport she's to reside under...but, no dice there. Just means i have to build it faster!


So, that's my tale of woe. It could have been worse, that's for sure! Nicole's uncle had his brand new 25 hp outboard stolen off the back of his boat stored right next to mine!
The only thing i can say is those thieves didn't get much from me, after a phone call to dad, it turns out the batteries were older than dirt and due to be replaced. Still sucks though.

Well, I've rambeled long enough for today.


From the North.....where things thought safe aren't, stuff gets stolen, and justice is plotted too....which is nice.


Mark....The Iron Skillet

Christmas spending......

Hello to all,
I keep getting emails asking why i haven't posted for awhile. In all honesty, there really hasn't been that much to post about. We had a good Christmas and it was a lot of fun, but Nicole's blog highlights all of that....so i havn't had much to blog about.
So, at the request of other's i'll blog about a little christmas spending.
We always seem to get a little mad money for christmas from mom and dad, and my Grandparents, and every year i try and purchase something i'll have for quite some time and when i use it i'll think of them.
So here are the things i purchased this year:

First on the list, a new Food Saver Vacume Packer. I have no idea how many fish the old vac. packed, but it was a lot! I hope the purchase of a new one doesn't give me the old Jinx on catching fish this next year! So, the Thank You goes to Mom and Dad on this one, i'll think of you guys every time i seal up a package of fish :) Second on the list of "must have's" was a new Cordless drill. I've been without for over a year, and today was the last straw! While working at Yeager's today building some shelving and installing a new office door i fought the cord to me elec. drill long enough and vowed to head to Hardware Sales once finished and buy a new CORDLESS drill....so i did! This Hitachi was the best deal in the place, and is ranked right along side makita and dewalt. This one just happened to be on sale.....so home it came.
So, Thank You, Grandma and Grandpa.....I'm sure i'll get years of use out of this one, and will be sure to think of you every time i use it!.......:)

Last but not least, my third and final purchase.......A new Hunten' coat. My gortex coat finaly died this last season, and refused to repel water anymore. So, a discovery in Cabela's Bargin Cave had me quickly ordering this nice Gortex Packable Jacket. If you can't see it in the picture.....well, it's because it's CAMO BABY!......i know a little corny.....but, couldn't resist.
So, another Thank You goes to Grandma and Granpa for this one. I'll think you every time i put it on, and head for the Mountian.

So there you have it. Not my typical Action, adventure, broken car, full of Bullshit typical story that i'm known for......just some normal stuff for today.

Signing off

From the North......Where men shop......and buy shit too!

Mark.....The Iron Skillet!

Christmas presents'

Hello to all,
Well this may sound a little odd, but today i made myself a christmas present. As i was finishing up EVERYONE else's christmas projects today, i came across a brown paper bag in my shop. I thought "this is odd, where'd this come from." As i opened the bag i found an old set of Mtn. Goat horns, and a giant ceder shake bolt. A flood of memories came back all at once. What i'd opened was something very special to me and that i'd saved and hidden only for myself to find on just the right day. Well, today must have been that day. What i'd uncovered were the horns (i belive the only horns) of a mtn. goat, my grandfather, Jim Blankenship, had shot back in 1965. When Grandpa had passed, and all horns had been given out i'd ended up with these. They were a treasure to me, since today Washington only give's out once in a lifetime Mtn. Goat tags....and they take a lifetime to get! So, i'd set them aside, along with a Giant old growth cedar shake bolt from grandpa's house, with the intentions of mounting them when "just the right day came along". Well, as most of you can guess......today was that day.
As i prepped things in the shop for cutting the old "shake bolt" i had to look at a pic. of gramps holding his goat, and thought you all would enjoy that too.
The horns even had the tag still attached. As i read this, it was October 2nd, 1965!

With a little band saw work, and some touch up with the sander, i had the horns attached to their Cedar Plank, and hung on the wall, in the most appropriate of places....."The Man Room".

So, as i worked on this small project i shed more than one tear. I thought of "Big Timber hunts", that he always talked about, and that i now finally understand. I remebered the first deer i shot with him, the green chevy truck's (one of which my brother now drives), the christmas recaps of hunting seasons that were now in the past, and most special of all, the glitter that danced in my grandfather's eye's as he retold his story's from the passed, that only a select few of us will ever know.

Who'd have thought that an old set of Goat horns would have such meaning and remeberance?

So, to everyone out there, MERRY CHRISTMAS. I wish you your own memorie's of the passed, and a happy holidays to all.

From the North.......Where thoughts are jogged,......people are missed......and new memories are made every day too....which is nice.

Mark...."The Iron Skillet"

SAUSAGE!!!!!!

Today was Sausage day. Chuck and i both had the day off today (a.k.a.....laid off) so we'd agreed that it would be a good day to make some sausage. We'd made a batch about a week ago, and to our dismay we are each down to what is left on this plate of a 10 pound batch of landjager sausage (landjager is a German Sausage also known as "hunter sausage"). We'd used bear meat this year, and both agreed that it was the best batch yet! Hence the reason there is only this much left after such a short period of time!

So, today we decided to make another batch, this time using a pepperoni/salmi mix to make some bigger loafs for the up comming christmas holidays......
These are scheduled to hit my smoker tommrow morning, and go ALL DAY! Chuck will do the same with his batch and then we'll divide it up at the end. His batch it the "HOTTER-N-HELL" version.....and my guess is that the two of us will be eating most of his with LOTS of cold beer, cheese and crackers.

The next sausage session is probaly going to be next week......what's on the menu you might ask.....well, brawt's are what we have planned. The italian brawt was a hit with the locals last year, and we've had requests for more of those style bun busting dogs!

So, that's all for now......

From the North.......where sausage is made......the beer is ice cold....and we eat and drink both too.....which is nice.


Mark....."The Iron Skillet"