Jay Gaulard Blog

Car Parked in the Garage

Thursday, May 15th, 2008

I can definitely see how people’s garages get full of stuff. I mean, it’s like a playpen in there. Right now, I have all sorts of tools and shelves…old mailboxes, you name it. The last thing I want to do is organize it to make space for a car. Well, when Winter comes, I am definitely going to do that.

The other day, I discovered a squirrel living under the hood of my car. I also discovered some mouse droppings in there as well. Can you believe it? The car has about 4,500 miles on it and this happens. I decided that it would be a good time to see if both the cars fit in the garage. A few nights were a bit cool and the vermin may have been looking for a place to snuggle. Well, this would throw them off the “under the hood scent.”

I got both of them in there, but there really wasn’t that much room to take a photo. The one above is the best I was able to get.

Laura’s car is still in there. She hasn’t driven it since we got here, which is good for her wallet…or purse…whatever.

Installing a New Mailbox

Monday, May 12th, 2008

Yeah, I keep saying I am going to run to Home Depot to get the mailbox stuff, but I just haven’t found the time yet.

I feel like I’ve been stuck inside for days…wait, that’s because I have been. I am doing so much stuff. Unfortunately, it’s all at the same time. I take breaks to rake leaves, which, by the way, are all finished in the front. I even sweat a bit. You should have seen the bugs swirling around my head.

I have a list for the next time we go to the Depot. I need a new mailbox. I am thinking green would be nice. I am going to get a nice traditional post, like many others on the road. I am also going to pick up some more Thompson’s Water Seal (with UV protection). I am going to treat the entire post, from top to bottom. Then, I am going to dig a nice deep hole and actually use cement way down deep. If it’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s having a crooked mailbox post. I know how they get crooked…it’s because of the snowplows slamming snow against them all Winter. With my installation, I am going to try to beat the plows.

I also have to get a 5 gallon plastic gas container for the ride-on lawnmower I plan on getting towards the end of the month. Right now, I only have a push mower and that’s not going to work so well up near the road. The kind neighbor offered to mow up in that area when she does hers. I thought that was nice. I explained to her that I really don’t want to be “that guy” who just moved in and now the grass is too high.

My brother came over yesterday for a visit. He works up North of Hartford, so it was only a 28 mile trip for him. I thought that was pretty cool. We went for a walk down into the woods and then down the nature trail. Then, we got the dog and walked up the road to the dead end. I wanted to show him all the nice houses. It’s good that he is so close now because we can hang out more. I keep offering to make him dinner, but he wants to keep eating in restaurants. One day…

I am planning on taking down the basketball hoop that is set up near the driveway. I offered it to my brother and he accepted. It’s in very good shape. I’m just wondering how deep that sucker goes into the dirt and how much cement they used as the footing. It may be a long day of digging.

I’ll show you some pictures of the new mailbox when I get it in.

Today Certainly is Another Day

Friday, February 29th, 2008

Today was another busy day. I spent a good majority of the day organizing things online. I would tell you what they are, but I have this thing about telling people my secrets. Oh well. I will say that I find it simply amazing that I am able to wake up every morning of my life and work on the computer for at least eight hours straight. Mind you, those are the days I have nothing to do. Oh, I just love looking at the clock as it reads 3PM and realizing that I have been sitting here since 7AM.

As I get older, I find myself focusing on my “physical” self more than I used to. I always try to sit up straight in my chair, so I don’t get a bad posture, like I have been warned about when I was a kid. I also recognize that I need exercise these days. When I say need, I mean “need.” I mean, I am in good shape, but as anyone gets older, I think they become more aware of these things. I also feel my eyes going to hell. When I was a kid, I used to pride myself on not wearing glasses. Well, the years of staring at this monitor has taken its toll, I’m afraid. Last year, I bought computer glasses to help take the strain off my eyes. These days, I find myself having to focus a heck of a lot more. I can actually feel my eyes getting tired. People say that you should get up every so often to give your eyes a break. They say that you should look out the window every once in a while so your eyes can focus on something else, other than your computer screen. I do that, but I am just hoping that one day I will make enough money to pay someone to do my work for me as I sit in a chair behind them, telling them what to do.

So, what’s new in life…I guess it’s just day to day stuff. As I work, the cats take their turns using my lap as their bed. I am not working on adding any more websites to my portfolio…well, I had to pop a new one in there, I just couldn’t help myself. This is the year of marketing. I haven’t focused on that portion of the business all that much in the past few years, so it might be something I should do to boost the $$$. I believe I can do a very good job with that in the next ten months.

I also have been making beer, if you haven’t noticed. I think it’s a pretty rewarding thing to do. Paul came over to pick up ten bottles for a party he is having tomorrow. He is going to get back to me with the consensus. I hope he likes them.

Since I have been in college, I have been looking for the perfect place to live. Where we are living now isn’t perfect, by any meaning of the word. As my mother would say, we have decided to hate it. It’s painful to realize that, but it’s true. I have learned that it’s pretty useless looking on the internet for that perfect town. All it takes is one lousy picture of a town to ruin everything. On to the next perfect town with that one lousy picture, and so on. I think the only way I am going to make it is to get an “anchor” house somewhere up north, with another smaller home in the heat for weekends in the Winter. I have also learned that the perfect town may not even exist anymore. Back in the day, there was a quiet little main street somewhere in Indiana that you could walk up and down for the rest of your life. Now, you have to worry about tornadoes and the Wal-Mart they are putting up at the end of the block. You might think I’m kidding, but look around. The most pristine places are very unaffordable. So the quest goes on.

On Monday, Laura and I are making a trip to Washington, CT. We are going to have lunch at the Mayflower Inn. A few years ago, my mother got us a gift certificate for the Inn that we used for a perfect Valentine’s Day dinner. It was one of the nicest places on earth. We were thrilled with the little antique town, but it was kind of dark on our way in. We really want to see it during the day. You would be surprised what the Connecticut hills have to offer, for a price. I’ll let you know how it goes. YouTube certainly needs a video or two of Washington, CT.

It just started snowing. Laura proposed another walk in the snow. Who am I to say no? I have a feeling I will be putting my boots on at midnight again. I do want to say that I am getting a little tired of the snow. Every time I think the driveway will be clear for a few days, it snows. I admit that it keeps things exciting, but enough already. It’s been a snowy Winter. The next week looks warmer with the temperatures above freezing. Also, the sunset is much later now, so that January depression has lifted. Now, the sun is going down close to 6PM. In March, we set the clocks ahead, so that should be fun. I am going to try to really soak up the seasons this Spring, Summer and Fall. I think they are worth it.

Wow, what a post. This might actually be what blogs are for. I guess I have to write some real stuff when I am not busy buying things and writing about them. Hey look…it’s another cat on my lap. I think they are doing laps now. This one is Sexy Boo.

Bottling My Home Brew

Tuesday, February 12th, 2008

Well, the day finally came. I was supposed to wait between four and seven days for the fermentation to stop with my home brew. It’s day seven and it just about stopped. How do I know it stopped? Well, the bubbles became few and far between. Also, the hydrometer reading was between 1.008 and 1.010. That’s the ideal reading for home brew with the type of sugar I used. If I had used regular white sugar, I would’ve had to have a reading of less than 1.006. Why did it take the full seven days? Because the temperature wasn’t as warm as I would’ve liked. The warmer the temperature, the faster the fermentation.

This is a photo of the hydrometer at work. It’s hard to tell the reading, but it’s about 1.009. After I found out that the brew was ready to be bottled, I had to add the carbonation drops to each bottle. All carbonation drops are is sugar balls. You can use regular sugar or these types of drops. The company that made the brew kit likes to make things easy for you. I had thirty 740ml bottles, so each bottle took two carbonation drops.

This is the adhesive thermometer. This tells me that the temperature is OK to bottle. The only reason the temperature is this high is because I had the tub sitting in front of the pellet stove. It’s hard to keep it this warm in the Winter.

This is what you call a “little bottler.” It helps to bottle the beer. You don’t really need one of these, but I guess it does help not make too much of a mess. It sticks right in the tap. Also, it’s imperative that you have a tablecloth like this. It helps with the bottling.

Me starting to bottle…

…and me bottling.

This is a photo of all thirty bottles full of beer. I have to wait another seven days with the bottles at 21C-27C and then another seven days at room temperature. I can then drink them. They say that if I wait up to three months, the flavor will get better and the bubbles will get smaller. We’ll see.

Yesterday Was a Winter Day

Monday, February 11th, 2008

Yesterday was one of those Winter days you could do without. It was snowing a tad bit in the morning, but by the afternoon, the snow was flying directly sideways. Well, eventually it hit the ground. I think we had a whiteout here.

On the news this morning, I heard there was a car pileup in Scranton and Rochester due to the wind and snow. I stayed up way too late last night listening to the wind. I hate this type of weather.

I took a picture of the trees in the back of the house. You can tell which way the wind was blowing because one side of each tree is completely covered while the other side has no snow at all on it.

Walking in the Snow

Monday, January 14th, 2008

Yesterday, we heard that it was going to snow overnight. I think we were supposed to get a few inches while NYC and Boston were supposed to get hit pretty hard with up to a foot of snow.

Laura and I were watching TV when I asked her if it was snowing. I think it was around midnight when she told me it was. I got up and stood outside on the front steps. I think the nicest thing about the snow, especially late at night, is the silence. I love to hear the flakes hit the ground. The neighbors had their driveway light on, so I could see how much was falling.

I walked inside and, half kidding, asked Laura if she wanted to go for a walk. She didn’t say no all too quickly. I think she gave me a weak excuse. I was sort of kidding anyway. While I was sitting on the couch taking my shoes off, she came out and said, “I’ll go with you.” Oh, how neat.

As we were walking down the road, I asked her when the last time we took a nice night time walk in the snow was. We couldn’t remember. I mean, I remember doing this stuff when I was a kid, but those days are long gone. Now, everything is work and thinking about work. It was very nice to be outside while there were no cars on the road and everyone else was asleep. It’s such a different world.

This late night walk came right on the heels of a great daytime walk we took yesterday. That one went for a few miles. On the way back, when we were almost home, I thought to myself how I didn’t want the walk to end. That’s the sign of a good time.

These walks are very therapeutic for me. If you haven’t noticed, I get kind of stuffed up during the Winter and a bit frustrated at things. I think I am going to make an effort from now on to walk more. In addition, Holly likes long walks. After all, she is a snow dog.

It’s 3 Degrees Outside

Thursday, January 3rd, 2008

Yes, that’s right, it’s 3 degrees outside. I am not sure I can tell the difference between 10 degrees and 3 degrees, or minus 30 degrees for that matter.

I just got back inside. I had to bring the big garbage can in and adjust the recyclable cans, because the garbage guys knocked one of them over. I sure hope it’s recyclable week.

One reason I hate the cold is because I freeze fast. I have a little problem with not dressing for the weather. I tell myself that I will be out there for just a second and then I go outside. Of course, it’s miserable. I have been doing this all my life. Now, I am trying to dress for the occasion. When I went outside this morning, I got all suited up and wore gloves. I felt good…the only thing that got cold were my fingertips because gloves suck in the cold. When I wear my snowboarding mittens, I am nice and toasty. In mittens, you can make a fist to keep warm. I think dressing warmly will make a big difference in the winter.

It’s supposed to warm up for the rest of the week, starting tomorrow. Because of that, my mother doesn’t have to worry anymore. She knows how much I like to run around in the buff. They have colonies for that kind of person, right?

Sunrise and Sunset Times

Tuesday, January 1st, 2008

I worked quite a bit today. I shoveled for the first part of the day, but was on the computer for most of the rest. I looked out the window and noticed that it was dark out. That is very depressing. I always get depressed from the Winter dark. It seems like it is starting to get dark the minute I go outside in the morning. I guess that’s from the sun being so low in the sky. Whatever the cause, it bugs me.

I think I do the same thing every year…I get on the computer and look for a website that will tell me when the sun is going to rise and set for the next few months. Actually people, the sun doesn’t rise or set. We are revolving around the sun. Please make no mistake.

Anyway, I found a great website today that tells the sunrise times, the sunset times and what altitude the sun will be in the sky in your state. The site is called, “TimeandDate.com.” I found a bunch of information on New York. Did you know that the sunset time in New York gets later and later in longer intervals every day? I always thought it was about thirty seconds a day after the first day of Winter. Shows how much I know.

So, if you are interested, take a visit to this website to see how long it’s going to take to get out of the Winter rut of darkness.

Follow-up to the Snow From Last Night

Monday, December 31st, 2007

As I mentioned in my previous post, it snowed last night. At about 10PM, I started hearing the sleet hitting the windows. I hate sleet, because it is so difficult to clean up in the morning. It turns into a sheet of semi-ice that’s a pain in the butt to get off the cars.

Anyway, I woke up to a nice layer of fluffy snow. Since it was kind of warm last night, a lot of it stuck to the trees. That always makes for a pretty view. I went out to clean off the cars and everything came off pretty easily. The snow was all melting around me. By the time I got to the mailbox, it was all turning to slush. That’s the kind of snow I don’t mind.

Christmas at the Red Lion Inn, Stockbridge, MA

Wednesday, December 26th, 2007

Well, we got back from the Red Lion Inn just a few hours ago. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas night there. It was a pretty nice little getaway. What was especially nice was actually staying at the inn, at last.

We have been there so many times before for dinner or just stopping by, but never for an actual stay, so that was exciting. After we checked in, we went up to our room on the third floor. There are 101 rooms at the inn, so finding it needed some direction. What caught me immediately after entering the room was the fact that the old inn was showing its age. Let’s just say that things have “settled” over the years. It gives the place its character. I think people like that because the place is always very busy.

Back when I called to make the reservations just a few weeks ago, I asked if the dining room and tavern had dress codes for the nights we would be eating there. The front desk informed me that men didn’t have to wear jackets in the dining room on Christmas Eve, because dinner was for guests only, no outsiders. Also, on Christmas night, I didn’t have to wear a jacket because we were eating in the Tavern and there was no dress code in there. As it turns out, I was supposed to wear a jacket for Christmas dinner, no matter where we were eating. This took me by surprise, because I didn’t bring a jacket.

We got in the car and shot up to “Prime Outlets” in Lee, MA. We went in a few store looking for a sport coat. No one had any…until we saw Brooks Brothers. We went in there to find a bunch of sport coats. I picked one out and bought it on the fly. By the way, I had other (nicer) clothes for dinner, not the ones I was wearing. Whoa, that was close.

So, one of the main reasons we went up to the Red Lion Inn for Christmas was to visit Williamstown, MA. We wanted to check out the town as a potential place to live. We are always doing that. It’s part of me being annoying.

We decided to drive North on Rt.7, through Pittsfield, MA to Rt.9 West and onto Rt.8 North. We drove through Adams, MA and into North Adams, MA. This was a good thing, because I always wanted to visit these towns too. I hear a lot about them while listening to NPR. One big famous thing we saw was Mass MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) (Blog) up in North Adams. We didn’t go in, but we did pass by to grab a few good shots of the place. This one was the best one.

It was a good thing we visited these areas, because we were able to cross them off our list of places to live. I am sure there are a bunch of nice people and some good culture, but it wasn’t for us.

We took Rt.2 West into Williamstown, MA. I have to say, this is a very nice town. Everything was really clean and neat. We drove down Spring Street and around a few roads. I did notice that the whole town was empty. It was Christmas, but we only saw one other person in the whole entire town. This creeped us out a little bit. As we were driving down Rt.7 back into Pittsfield, Laura turned to me and said, “We would really have to like one another to live in that town.” Not that it wasn’t very nice, it just seemed lonely when college wasn’t in session. Take a look at the photos of Spring Street.

There was one last thing I wanted to see on the way back to the inn. It was Pontoosuc Lake. On Google Earth, someone posted a really cool photo of the lake through some pine trees on the south side. There is a little park off Hancock Rd. This is a really pretty lake, so I got a nice shot too.

The Berkshires are a nice backdrop.

We made it back to the inn for another dinner. As usual, it was delicious. I did manage to grab a few nice photos throughout the time we were there. Some of them came out blurry, but others didn’t. Here they are.