A basement update

It has been about three weeks of working on the basement and I am just about done. There was a plan change, after I did a little research on painting cement. I found out that if we didn't get all the glue up from the old tile, the paint wouldn't stick. I went another direction and kind of blew my budget on the room. I went with vinyl laminate flooring. It looks and installs just like the regular wood laminate flooring, but moisture is much kinder to the vinyl! Here are a couple of pictures of the almost finished room. I am down to sanding and caulking on the baseboards and touching up some of the paint from where I nailed in the baseboards. I am pleased on how it turned out. Now I hope I can get my couches through the doorway!

Looking towards the future

My life has slowly changed to a more positive place these days. I have finally started looking towards the future instead of looking back at the past. It is not that the past is a bad place, it's just having a future isn't as depressing as thinking that the best part of your life is over!

I am now in the middle of remodeling my downstairs family room. I have spent the last week cleaning out junk, and still have more junk to get rid of. Michelle and I spent yesterday pulling up old carpet and tile that was underneath the carpet. The plan is to clean up the floor and paint it. The reason for paint is sometimes it does get a little damp down there and carpet and water don't go well together. I am still going to have area rugs in the family room part. The other end of the room will be used for my winter bike ride and exercise area.I am sticking with Beck's western motif and the paint and floor are going to have a south western feel to them. The plan is also to get another wood burner down there. So here is to the future and another exciting 52 years!

Time ( or trying to make better use of)

It has been quite a while since I have posted anything on here. It hasn't totally been that I haven't had much to write about. I have thought of posting something, but I was really havng trouble finding time to do it. Then time would pass and the subject that I planned to write on wasn't relevent anymore!

Since spring and through the summer I was working 6 days a week, plus some of those days were 10 hour days. I have been keeping up with my bike riding, which was 4 times a week, and with driving to the bike trails was taking around 2 hours of my time per trip. Plus I have a social life going on. Then there is yard work/ House work and every thing else we have to handle as grown ups!

I know excuses, excuses, excuses! I am going to try and do better now. I have started riding indoors early this year and I am keeping it to an hour per ride now, which is saving me 4 hours a week. The overtime has slowed down at least for a while, in fact I am off Friday, Saturday, and Sunday this week. I know this is not the most inspiring post, but at least I got it in for a change

Beck's headstone

It has been quite a while since I last posted anything here. It has been quite a struggle to get Beck's headstone made and installed, and this week it was finally accomplished! I have always found pictures of graves and headstones a bit creepy! It is even creepier when you have living family members posing around the grave. I am posting the pictures here as you guys probably wont have a chance to see it, and if you ever come here, the cemetery isn't the greatest vacation spot! I am glad that the last loose end is finally done. It doesn't really bring closure to anything, not sure if that ever really happens.

Thanks Mom!

I am a week away from another Elton John concert and anytime that I am going to a concert it brings back memories of the first show that I saw him. It was on October 25, 1975 at Dodger Stadium.

I remember Mom sent the 20 dollar check in for the 2 tickets. In return I had to cut back all the hedges that was between us and the Rathburn's. I am also amazed she would let her 17 year old son drive into Los Angeles without adult supervision. It was the correct decision and was something that I needed at that time!

It was just a fantastic day and have never seen a better show. I was right down on the left field grass along with whole bunch of other people. You could not only hear the music, you could feel it. It was the loudest show that I have ever been to. I saw Aerosmith and Van Helin at the L.A. Coliseum a few years later and it wasn't even close! I remember when the show was over that it seemed so quiet as I think I was suffering from a little bit of temporary hearing loss!

This was the young twenty something Elton, before the vocal chord surgery, and before 40 years of singing! He was all over that stage that day. On top of piano, underneath the piano, on his hands and knees pounding away on the key board! He also played for 3 hours and 45 minutes (a 1 hour encore). The other thing I remember every song was dead on as far as sounding pretty close to the original recording.

So this week I get to go back and relive some of those memories and I will be thanking Mom for that great day nearly 35 years ago!

A little progress report on me.

Today you know would have been Beck's 51st birthday. It has been a year and few months since she was taken from us. Sometimes in the quiet moments I sit back and wonder how I am doing. You find out a lot about yourself in a situation like this, I can handle more than I thought.

First off we were really good friends. We did just about everything together. She had a caring personality that probably could never be replaced. She brought out the best in me and helped me rediscover the real me. She helped me be comfortable in my own skin, which I still feel now.

I have kept myself busy in the last year, especially after getting back to work. On most days I am so busy that I don't dwell on my situation much. There are times on days off especially this winter that it will hit you between the eyes, and you feel the grief weighing on you. It will only last a day or so, and when I get around other people, it abates I'm fine.

Now for some of the points that I like about being by myself. I like that I can do what I want to do. I can think at work that when I get home from work I am going for a 2 hour bike ride, and when I get home, I go for a 2 hour bike ride. I like being in total control of my finances, When I leave for work with $2 dollars in my checking account, it isn't down to $1 dollar when I get home. If I want steak for dinner, I have steak for dinner! I guess you get the point! With that all said, I would trade my freedom to have it back like it was.

I have come to the conclusion that I don't want spend the next 20 or 30 years alone living in the Becky Lynn Long museum! I have been dating a little lately. I'm kind of picky in my old age, as I am not going to just settle for somebody. I'm not good with the exit plan.(I was dating someone that I knew it wasn't going to go any farther than that, she finally caught on, just not one of my smoothest moves)I want someone who has there life together and doesn't need me to fix it. I am talking right now with a woman who is a nurse who loves to ride the bike and lives right next to the bike trail I ride on. It sounds like a good start!

Beck can never be replaced and it is unfair to compare anyone with her. If I do that I will be living by myself for a long time! I wrote this to let you all know that I am doing alright. I'm still moving forward!

Abe and Me

It has been a while since I have posted on here. There really hasn't been much lately that has caught my interest. As You all know I have moved my exercise program indoors for the winter. I have continued riding the bike, just down in my basement till the warmer weather returns in spring.

The problem with riding indoors is the pure boredom of just sitting there looking at the scenery of the basement, which consists of a few pieces of old furniture and whole bunch of toys in which Gracie is growing a little to old for! After a few attempts of watching TV, which had to be blaring to hear it, which in turn with the bike noise included drove the dog completely wacko, I have moved to reading a book as I ride. I have completed 5 books while riding now, all novels.

I was at the library a few weeks ago and found a new biography on Abraham Lincoln by Ronald C. White Jr. titled "A. Lincoln". What this world probably doesn't need is another book on Abraham Lincoln as he has been dead for 145 years and there probably are not too many people to interview to come up with a new angle on his life! I ignored my first instinct to pass it up and brought it home.

With most history or biographies we are not talking about a quick invigorating read here. It is work sometimes to get through the material. I did learn that Lincoln when he read something, always read it out loud as he felt that by using two of his senses, hearing and sight, he was better able to remember what he read. I have taken his advice while reading and it has helped me to retain much of what I have read. Being at home by myself I don't disturb anyone! I have really enjoyed my time with Abe as I have learned some things and it has helped me forget what I am really doing downstairs and thats getting this old body in better shape!

The book has also got my mind thinking about our genealogy. Many times during the book during the 1850's Lincoln went to Bloomington, Illinois to speak. This gets you to thinking about our ancestor Richard Long and if he was ever able to hear him speak. I am going to do something here which any good genealogist would never do and that is speculate. (If you want to see what happens when a genealogist starts speculating look at Ancestory.com!) I would think that in the 1850's entertainment was lacking, no radio, TV, Internet, there were some books, but not sure on the availability. I know listening to political speeches was a big form of entertainment during those times, So I am speculating Richard Long probably heard him speak! We will never know, but just having a relative that close to history is exciting!