We often witness the aftermath of metal vs. flesh combat
MIDDLEBURGH — It’s the 31st and very last day of March, and now anticipating Good Friday and Easter Sunday, here we are gathered at the Middleburgh Diner in Middleburgh, south on Main Street from the center of the village, but not far from the town hall and community center, and the elementary School, near the corner with Cotton Hill Road.
Cold, dreary, rainy, ouch. But the usual good service and good company which brightened the day and got us off to a good start.
We often witness and review the aftermath of metal vs. flesh combat. The principal participant in this most recent and local encounter happened to be one of our very own, who lost the battle pretty demonstrably, but hopefully without any long-lasting consequences. Many recounted equipment mishaps; really no one has been exempt at this age.
When the metal fails, or just ages, and we hear from the expert OMOTM car refurbishers, you might be less unhappy with your rusty vehicle. Truth is that painting cars costs more than the amateurs in our midst imagined, and maybe more than the car is worth.
What sounded like exaggeration or speculation was confirmed by some googling. How about $800 for a pint of super-duper finish that takes on different colors from different directions?
Of course there is always a gap between sort of adequate and amazing perfection, and in this case it seems the expense gap is impressive. The entire job cost range seems between $1,000 and ten times that. Ouch, but we do love some of the masterpieces on wheels we see at breakfast.
Wells running dry
We recall that wells running dry was a problem that we faced as the last warm season came to a close, a distant memory now, especially when reports are that ponds are high starting off this year. That of course assumes that there is a relationship between the levels of ponds and the water table accessed by wells.
A local well driller reports that the water table is considerably lower than not so long ago. Native American wisdom once said, if you want to find water, look to the top of the mountain. Well, to that point, at least we are in the Hilltowns!
Seasonal tasks
A couple of seasonal tasks are getting some attention now. Pretty soon on the horizon for most of us is cutting grass, which now sounds so much better than plowing snow.
One of our number is particularly adept at repairing and making significant improvements to mowers, which is so significant for him personally that he has a 90-inch double mower to cruise around on when the green stuff begins to emerge, to enhance his landscapes, and to challenge our wherewithal.
Surprisingly, getting wood ready for next winter is already on the list, as it works so much better when it’s seasoned. You’d think that would be true of us also, since we are so well seasoned, and that may be true in select cases, but seems not to be a general rule unless we are pretty forgiving about it.
Frugality
On the subject of fuel, we have a general grievance and concern about rising costs and, depending on many variables, we see prices up dramatically. Gas and diesel are up, of course, which creates more of an impediment to getting to town, so we should be stocking up and doing less traveling; but this should not apply to Tuesday morning breakfast, an obvious necessity.
In other matters of frugality, some conversation revealed that recycling is not really such a new concept. In a quest for the location and remnants of a, dare we say, historic or vintage old home, it turned out that the newer home was really built from the parts of the old home.
The run to Home Depot, or the sawmill in 1820, could be avoided nicely by taking the beams and foundation components from the old house you’d outgrown and using them in the new improved model. So that’s what happened to that historic old house. It was cannibalized!
Another recycling conversation involved old guns that were made by reusing parts from older guns. A barrel here and a trigger there, maybe a handle, maybe a sight or a grip. So you may be unable to put a solid date on your favorite old vintage weapon unless you can date the parts.
Hopefully the recyclers in this case were really expert at piecing together the offspring parts of the donors so that the soldier or hunter or target-shooter finds the new weapon trustworthy.
And, here, much more than surviving, actually enjoying, sometimes flaunting our advanced agedness, this Tuesday morning at and around the long table at the Middleburg Diner, were: Harold Guest, Wally Guest, Miner Stevens, Ed Goff, Robert Schanz, Will Lichliter, George Washburn, Frank A. Fuss, Al Schager, Pastor Jay Francis, Warren Willsey, Chuck Batcher, Herb Bahrmann, John Jazz, Jack Norray, Dick Dexter, and sorry, not me, since I was in Florida, benefiting from advanced technical communications and a helpful spy network for information, yet not protected from accusations of scribal abandonment.