Category Archives: Personal

The Scrapyard of History

Posted on by

Last week I took a load of scrap metal to Anniston Scrap, which is a couple of blocks from Broad Street in downtown Rome. There is one several miles closer to us, but I chose Anniston, as I have in the past, for nostalgia. Anniston Scrap used to be owned by my great uncle, my paternal grandmother’s brother, Charlie Carnes.

I had 580 pounds, which netted us a cool $27.55, for which I got a check. The scrap metal business used to be a pretty informal thing, but these days you have to show identification and sign a statement that you actually own the scrap you’re bringing in.

Anniston Scrap has been right where it is now for probably a century. Here is a Google Earth view of downtown Rome.

downtown rome

My father worked there off and on as a kid. When you come with a load of scrap metal, you drive up onto the same set of scales that were there when I went there with my father, more than 50 years ago. The office is the same. I think the dirt on the floors and walls is the same.

anniston metal

The office is the building at upper left with the shiny roof. Some of the buildings adjacent to the scrapyard are not faring very well.

To dump the scrap, you drive right into the yard and toss everything onto a big pile of metal things surrounded by a retaining wall of old appliances. I added some paint cans, a box of rusty nails, my broken stationary bicycle, my father’s old cast-iron table saw, and a large amount of unidentifiable things.

I have taken scrap metal there three times since my mother died. It had been a very long time since I had been into the office. I asked the woman behind the counter if she had heard of Charlie Carnes. She hadn’t. I told her he used to own the scrap yard a long time ago. She didn’t seem impressed.

There is a scene in the movie Nebraska that reminded me of my visit to the scrap yard. Bruce Dern plays an elderly man who thinks he has won a million dollars in a contest like the Publisher’s Clearing House lottery. On his way to pick up his jackpot his son and he stop in their old hometown, where they visit the garage the old man used to own. He asks the current owners if they recognized his or his partner’s names. They had never heard of them.

But that’s the way things go. Old times get tossed onto a pile of useless scrap and forgotten.

Sunsets and sopapillas

Posted on by

As I mentioned in a previous post, Wednesday was my birthday. We had huevos rancheros and, as usual, when Leah told them it was my birthday, they brought out a birthday sopapilla.

sopapilla

It was rather large, although that’s hard to tell from the photo. Leah had just a little taste, so I had to eat the rest of it. Poor me.

Later on Wednesday evening as we drove home down Huffaker Road, nature gave us another sunset. As usual, we could see it only in little patches. This was the best shot I could get.

sunset19may16

The colored clouds stretched halfway around the horizon, but we couldn’t see all of it at once at any one place.

If we look off to the east from our new house, we can see Mount Alto, from which, if you look to the west, you can see Lavender Mountain and our house. And also the sunset. I told Leah we should finish our new house, sell it and then build on Mount Alto. She thought that was pretty funny.

We celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary tonight. It was not much of a celebration. We exchanged cards in the morning, and for at least the second time, we got each other the exact, same card. I had to (or got to) do a few hours of work for the company I used to work for, which, thank goodness, I could do right here at home. Then we went out to eat for dinner. Sunset on the way home was hidden behind thick, gray clouds, so no photos of that.

I’m not sure how many people read this poor, little blog, but I wanted to thank anyone who does. When I read the blogs that I read every day (I hope if any of their authors are reading this, they know that I do read them), even though I don’t really know any of you all, I feel like it’s a conversation between good neighbors leaning on our common fence. I appreciate comments, since otherwise it can feel like shouting into an empty stadium, and I try to reply to every one. Sometimes I miss a comment, but rest assured, I read them all.

Bullies and bullied, and an anniversary

Posted on by

It’s the same old story. The cats never get tired of it, but we sure do.

Here are the two cat bullies, Sylvester and Smokey, hanging out in front of the garage, probably planning their attack.

twobullies

And here are their targets, Dusty and Chloe.

twotargers

Chloe is almost hidden behind some of the liriope.

I’m a little embarrassed by the first shot. It shows a lot of trashy junk, including a load of scrap metal I plan to take to the scrap yard, a cooler and a bucket with some vinca that I plan to take up to the new house. The two propane tanks are headed for the scrap yard, too. I filled them with water and cut them open to make them safe. There’s also a trap we use to relocate possums and the occasional raccoon.

We really aren’t that trashy, although we sometimes look like it.

Today, May 20, is our 11th anniversary, both of being married and of living in our current house. It’s hard for me to remember not being married.

House progress

Posted on by

I have finally made some progress on finishing the basement of our current house. I took this shot a few days ago.

basement floor

I used the blue masking tape to make sure joints didn’t separate when I was snapping a new piece of flooring into place. Since then I have completed the flooring in the den. That leaves the flooring in the downstairs bedroom closet, which should take only a short time. Then it’s hanging doors and installing baseboards, and the basement will be essentially finished. Of course I still have to replace some cracked tiles in the master bathroom.

We are also approaching completion of drywall in the new house. The drywall contractor has been taping and mudding. He expects to be done by the end of the week.

The interior of the house looks like an actual house now. I expected to see it differently at this point, but I think I have been visualizing it so much that I already knew what it was going to look like.

Attic insulation comes next; that is tentatively scheduled with a helper for this Saturday. I have to do a little more in the attic and then I’m ready. The only thing standing in the way is a decision about whether to use blow-in cellulose or blow-in fiberglass. The biggest disadvantage to cellulose, other than the big mess it leaves, is that it will take at least 135 bags, while the fiberglass will take only about 50. I think I can get 50 bags on my truck and trailer, but not 135 bags. The big-box store gives a free one-day rental of the blowing machine if you buy enough bags of insulation (I’ll meet that requirement several times over), but it might well take more than one day to blow in the cellulose. I’ll have to make a decision on that in the next couple of days.

I saw my doctor on Tuesday about my right shoulder, which I injured in a fall in the new garage. (Step ladders were invented by the devil.) When I first injured it, it seemed to be a minor inconvenience. After a week or two, it was a major inconvenience. I couldn’t lift my right arm high enough to brush my hair, and I had to use my left hand to help my right hand reach the steering wheel when I drove. But Sunday I surprised myself by being able to raise my right arm over my head without any significant pain. I was pretty sure it was a torn rotator cuff, but the doctor is not certain. Leah suggested earlier that it might not be. The doctor ordered an X-ray to make sure the shoulder is not dislocated, and some ibuprofen to help with any inflammation. No visit to the orthopedic surgeon yet, and possibly not at all. And it seems that I can use my right arm for some things if I’m careful.

Like unloading about a half a ton of floor tile for the new house.

tiledelivery

I’m supposed to meet a flooring contractor Wednesday morning to get an estimate for tile and hardwood. The contractor I had originally intended to use says he is booked through June, and that just won’t work.

My forecast is for completion of attic insulation this weekend, and the start of painting early next week. Some time during the weekend I hope to install the final exterior door so the house can be locked, and after that, to get electrical power inside the house. Then it’s a clear path to an air conditioned house and hardwood flooring. And, if my right shoulder behaves itself, I may be able to install the interior doors and do the trim work myself.