Sunday was Super Bowl day – the annual American Football championship game. Failure to watch this would probably put my Green Card in jeopardy. So we had a day in (not a hard decision given the wintery weather) to watch the spectacle. Within fifteen seconds, one team had scored a terrible own goal, and they went downhill from there. In case you are not fully cognisant of this sport, it is played by teams of 55 giants in padding and crash helmets. Admittedly, only a fifth of each team is supposed to be on the field at any time – though maybe a melee involving the total teams might make an interesting change. To the inexperienced eye, there don’t seem to be too many rules, pushing and shoving opponents for any or no reason seems to be the kernel of game. As soon as anything interesting starts happening, referees in black and white stripes throw bean bags at the players and everything stops for an advertising break. The advertisement breaks are probably the most important part of Superbowl – a thirty second slot reputedly costs up to $% million. All the big name brands take this as an opportunity to show off their latest adverts which will be repeated ad nauseam for the next few months. Surprisingly, there seemed to be a singular lack of Big Pharma adverts for mysterious ailments. In case you didn’t hear about it, the final result was a runaway victory for the team from Seattle.
A much more important American tradition was being played out on the same day. Punxsutawney Phil was scheduled to make a definitive weather forecast. This amateur meteorologist has to make a pronouncement on when winter will end. Not the regular star of a local TV station, Phil is a groundhog (see my blog of 10th November for more details). He is required to exit his cosy winter hibernation burrow early in the morning to predict if Spring is just around the corner. This year, Phil could see his own shadow (according to the judgement of distinguished local auguries in top hats). This means that the arrival of Spring is delayed for six weeks. Not brilliant news for house builders seeking a weather window to raise the roof on our new home.
Lisa has started a new activity – she is training to be a Master Gardener. This is a course that runs for several months, one day a week, and then lots of voluntary work to hone skills and knowledge. As well as giving her lots of new knowledge about local gardening (which plants are deer resistant, how to arrange cheap soil analyses, local plant diseases and nearby nurseries), it is a great way to make local contacts. I am looking over extramural and continuing education courses at the local university with similar thoughts.
On the Building Site
Work on framing the house stopped on Monday and Tuesday for bad weather, but Milan and the crew were out at work for the rest of the week. They are now chasing a deadline for the massive trusses which hold up the central part of the building are due to arrive next week. We really don’t want these just dumped on the ground amongst the remainder of the building lumber. These are precision crafted baulks of cabinet-smooth timber (8inch square cross-section) with a lovely smooth surface. The building site is red Georgia clay which has fearsome staining powers. So, the building must be ready for these trusses to be installed as soon as possible with the help of a mobile boom crane.
We continue the background work of designing cabinets, and Lisa is doing a great job of tracking down garage doors, gutters and tiles (and then shopping for them as cheap as maybe on the Internet!). Still on schedule and budget, mainly due to the efforts of Lisa.
We continue the background work, with Lisa tracking down just the right bathroom taps, garage doors and tiles (and then going shopping for them as cheap as maybe on the Internet!). Overall, we are still on schedule and budget, but mainly due to the efforts of Lisa.
Come back next week and find out if the roof trusses have been raised. And what we did for Valentine’s Day (quick hint here in case you haven’t done something yet for your favourite person).