"In the Summertime, When the Weather is..."

Day 1 of Summer??? Thought we had gotten into THAT at least a month ago, so if the previous month is any indication of what sort of temperatures we are to expect here in S-Central, KY., then we're in deep $hit!

The ground hereabouts is like concrete. Even back on Memorial Day one couldn't stick artificial flowers into the soil at grave sites without bending the wire. Since then we're had no more than an inch of rain, and that was at 5 minute intervals days apart.

The grass is dead, brown, crackily to walk on; I'm amazed it hasn't just burst into flames. Then if we do get a few minutes of rain it's like a hothouse effect from the terrible humidity. The local lakes still have their beaches closed due to the water level being more than 8 foot low.

However...it HAS been good painting weather for me as I've been working on enclosing the previously screened-in back porch of mine. Since this was never used as a sun porch but rather just another storage area (mostly for my wife's craft junk), I finally decided it was about time to cover it all up just so the neighbors couldn't see this mess. So everyday for about two hours after work, and for most of the days when I'm off from my regular job, I've been working on this project. Thus far I have two sides enclosed and am getting ready to do the back to complete it.

I must say that I've amazed myself doing this as I'd never tried such a project before. I used plywood and door skins to cover spaces, leaving about a foot or so of the screen exposed at the top which I covered in white lattice. The rest of the area is painted white but it's offset by dark green painted poles the height of the coverings. The white with hunter green colors match the white house with it's dark green roof.

There are exposed rafters on the rear of this house over that area, much eaten by wood-boring bees, so I also filed in all of the holes (with calking) these insects had made and repainted the wood. Eventually I'll probably paint some large sheets of plywood white and tack them to the open rafters totally enclosing and boxing in the roof (just for effect).

I figure about another two weeks and the rest will be completed. (Maybe I'll post a few pics of the finished work when I do.)

And on to other things...

I think I mentioned how badly my on line auctions were doing which a couple of eBay seller "friends" were listing for me on one of their auction sites. They were starting the bidding at .99 on lots of anywhere from 11 to 60 comics, and sadly most of those lots only got the opening bid so I really lost money on that. What's worst however is that the deal was to take out the auction fees and we'd split what it sold for, so on an auction which sold for .99, I'D only get .49 (MINUS the fees). This was literally killin' me since some auctions the comics were going for, like, 2-for-a-penny!

Now, to make things even worse, I checked to see who was placing some of the bids that I did get, and wouldn't you know it? It was one of the sellers. Yes, they were getting my merchandice for a piddly amount, and since the guy listing the books couldn't bid on his own auction, his partner was, and they ended up "taking me" for nearly a thousand comics for next to nothing. Needless to say I found this HIGHLY unethical! This was the same as shill bidding. So I finally just told them to stop ALL of the auctions, NOT to list anything else and I'd come pick up what hadn't been listed or didn't sell. In fact, this morning I went and picked up the last 4 boxes and brought them back home. I'll just keep them and not count them as part of my "actual" collection. They can just sit in the storage room since they aren't "eating" anything and do nothing more than take up space. Maybe in another 8-10 years when I get a better/new pc I'll list them again myself and have them where I'll clear at least a dime a book on lots to make it worthwhile listing. (It's certainly taught me a lesson about so-called friends.)

Won a couple of DC comics that I'd bidded on for my own collections: The Brave & The Bold #34 (Silver-Age Intro of "Hawkman") and Rip Hunter...Time Master #1 (1961). These were COVERLESS issues, but in otherwise nice shape. 'Can't say I've ever been much on collecting coverless comics, but these two I just could not resist.

And...back to work tomorrow. I've been off work for 2-1/2 days and won't get another day off until next week. Didn't get much rest, but got a lot of other stuff done that needed doing, so...

A belated Happy Birthday to Sir Paul McCartney, who turned 65 a couple days back (why don't you just retire and rest on your laurels, you old fart, since you can't write any decent music anymore?)