Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Time For Girls Night Out!

Fact: Beautiful St. Augustine, Florida, was settled by Spanish admiral Pedro Menendez de Aviles on this day in history, Sept. 8, 1565. Continuously inhabited now for 457 years, it’s the oldest city in North America.

To brighten up your day!

He will never find his way out!

Today will be exciting as cement mixers and pump trucks will be doing their thing, making the planter walls solid retaining walls. I pity the poor people who may want to remove the garden someday; they will need dynamite!

We needed a pumper because we have a large parcel of land and a 250′ distance between the street and the backyard garden.

Did You Know? Until the early 20th century, concrete was mixed on the job site and transported from the cement mixer to the formwork, either in wheelbarrows or buckets lifted by cranes. This procedure required a lot of time and labor. In 1927, German engineers Max Giese and Fritz Hull came upon the idea of pumping concrete through pipes. They pumped concrete to a height of 38 meters (125 ft) and a distance of 120 meters (130 yds).

A “line pump,” or trailer-mounted concrete pump, is either mounted on a truck or placed on a trailer. This pump requires steel or flexible concrete placing hoses to be manually attached to the outlet of the machine and feed the concrete to the place of application. The length of the hoses varies; typical are 10′, 12.5′, 25′, and 50′ long hoses, depending on the diameter. Due to their lower pump volume, line pumps are used for smaller volume concrete applications such as swimming pools, sidewalks, single-family home concrete slabs, and most ground slabs.

The pumper had almost 200 feet to reach the garden.

I parked my car in front of the house, blocking as much area as possible so the trucks could get in quickly.

We got ready to go to the gym at 7:30 AM so we could arrive at 8:00 AM sharp and return home by 9:30 AM as we wanted to see the action before leaving for Girls Night Out. Well, it did not happen. As we left, the hoses were being laid out from the street to the garden.

I heard another silly law being proposed to ban guns! Ban guns and shooting stops; ban lighters and fires, stop! Same logic; when will they learn it is NOT the guns?

The moronic legislatures used the same logic. They do not understand the problem!!

We were gone when they started pouring the concrete, but I had the security camera overlooking the garden Thai could watch the process; it took him about two hours to put the concrete down through the openings in the block. Now the wall is solid cement and will not move, ever!

The video reveals all.

I came to the Elks with David because we had just been at UCI over in Orange. Mary drove my car to the Elks, and at the end of lunch, Mary and I went home together.

It was Girl’s Night Out at the Elks.

I ordered my special, which is called a chili size. It was invented in the mid-1930s in Los Angeles and is simply a nice meat patty smothered in chili with a nice portion of onions and cheese. It is delicious

I overate – I did a chili-size.

What I should’ve had was what Mary ordered. She had a wedge salad with a side of filet mignon steak, which looked mighty good. BTW, I was the recipient of all of Mary’s onions.

Mary remarked, “A man goes to the doctor with a piece of lettuce sticking out of his ear. The doctor looks at it and says “that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

Mary was a good girl!

David knew about half of the people there today, so he did not feel uncomfortable, but as you know, David never feels uncomfortable. A fantastic guy and fun to be with.

David stopped in as he took me to UCI to get an MRI appointment.

As usual, girls’ night out was a giggle fest, with everybody telling jokes, relating old stories, and shooting harpoons back and forth across the table.

This is what a happy girl looks like!

When I arrived home, everybody was already gone. We walked the construction area, and it looks pretty good. The estimate of two weeks to complete is probably right on.

I have decided to fill one planter at a time and ensure I got what I wanted instead of ordering 30 yards of soil, which I would be unhappy with! My little wheelbarrow can handle 1/2 yard at a  time, so I figure sixteen trips from the front yard to the back, and I can fill one bed. I can do this, and it will be excellent exercise.

These walls are now SOLID.

Scout, The Wonder Dog, wants to know how much he has earned supervising the contractors. We are in serious negotiations at this very moment.

Scout gives his nod of approval!

Mary had an Orange County Ophthalmology meeting this evening and departed at 5:00 PM. She was a past president of this organization and still knows several members. I continued work in the He-Shed, took out the trash, set the rat traps, did some wash, and worked on the daily diary. She returned at 9:30 PM, and I can honestly say I missed her!

Our security system worked, and I was alerted when the garage door opened. I can and got two glasses of wine. I had just taken a shower, so I was in my robe. A great idea came to my little pea brain. I dropped my robe, had two glasses of wine ready, and stood just inside the door to the garage. When she opened it, she yelled out a blood-curdling scream! Was it my magnificent naked body that scared her or just me being there? We will never know!

She made me put up the following sign!

About Paul

Just an old retired guy trying to finish out my last years on this planet. I lost my best friend and wife in early 2020. I was blessed again by reconnecting with Dr. Mary Côté, a long-time friend. Mary and I got married July 28th, 2021, and are enjoying life together and plan to spend the rest of our lives being a blessing to our friends and family.
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