A Day (or Two) in the Life of Scott Hanno

Happy Halloween 2004 everyone - did anyone do any trick or treating tonight? And I had about 10-15 trick or treaters last night but didn't have any today - Bay County declared Saturday night as the official T&T night but I still figured that I would have had some tonight but notta. And I had more this year than in previous years - I guess it's cuz there are more and more houses going up but it's still not a very pedestrian friendly hood as there aren't even any sidewalks out there. And they ruined my nap time too as I was waiting for them and figured if I laid down the door bell would ring so I didn't even bother.

At least the extra hours sleep this morning was a good thing, kind of sucks that it's dark out by 5pm now but guess that we'll have to get used to it as it's going to be like that for some time to come. You wouldn't know that it was Fall yet around these parts as it was still in the mid-80's all weekend and was still 80' out when I went to Subway at 6pm tonight - and from the looks of things there is no sign of cooler weather at least in the next 10 days or something but I'm sure that it'll be here eventually. My lawn seems to know that it's coming and has all ready started to slow down it's growing - I did end up mowing the whole thing yesterday as I blew off doing the backyard last week so at least I could tell where I was mowing.

I have had a pretty busy week around here too, the County showed up Tuesday morning and dug out my ditches on the side of the house where the new road is and it looks mucho better - they originally told me that I'd have to pay if I wanted it done but I thought that was a crock so I'm glad that they figured it out that they were suppose to do it - plus they packed it all down with the bucket so I think that it won't be going anywhere either. I also had a dentist appointment on Tuesday for my six month check up (with all the x-rays) and that went fine - no issues to be seen so I'm good to go for another six months. I'm telling you, I still swear by my sonicare and it's been over three years since I've had to have any work done and I'm never that lucky - they just told me to keep doing what I'm doing :)

And then I called the guys that cut down my pine trees out front to see if they could do anything with my leaning sycamore tree out back and they showed up on Wednesday - they hoisted it up and pulled it straight with a truck and then tied it off to another tree and are going to give it a month and see how it looks after that. They were able to get the trunk to move though and they have me watering it down an hour a day so see if we can fill in some of the gaps that it created when they pulled it back up. I ended up shoveling a wheel barrel full of sand (out of my ditch) and spread it all around the tree and then used water to get it to fill in the gaps - and after I was finished there wasn't any sand left - it all went into the cracks so I'm hoping that will definitely help settle the root ball down some as well. And they also talked me into taking out a magnolia tree that had to have been planted like 10' away from the back of the house and it was way to close - and the guy said that every year that I wait it was adding another $75 to the cost of getting rid of it so I decided to deal with it now and it was gone in about 15 minutes. They still need to come back and remove the stump but I guess the digger is in the shop right now - but they also have to come back and check on my tree too so they can do them both at the same time. Still trying to figure out what to plant there that won't get so big - the guy suggested a Holly tree but I'm not sure that I like the looks of that.

I also finally decided to do something about my HP 1100 laserjet printer that I've had for at least the last five years as it constantly sucks through about 20 sheets of paper when it prints one - plus my computer slows down until it was done printing and I couldn't find any drivers for XP pro - I talked with them on Wednesday and they offered an upgrade - I buy a new one and send them my old one so I did that and had my new printer on Thursday. The thing is sweet too, quiet and fast - I got the HP 1300 which is nothing fancy, just a black and white laser jet but is light years ahead of my old one.

And then I guess to end the week I had the Stanley Steemer guys here yesterday to completely clean my ceramic tiles, they use an acid type stuff on the grout and then suck it up like they do the carpets, then seal the grout with some sealer stuff and it was well worth it. I started to clean it a week ago and got about 10 tiles done in a couple of hours - but in two hours they had the entire floor done and they were out of here. I think that now that it's back to the original color that I can keep it that way - I have the knowledge now as to what to do and plan on keeping it that way. I've also been working on my ac coils using my "fin comb", but that turned out to be quiet a bit of work and is going to take a while.

I need to take some time off too in the near future and think that I'm going to see about taking the week before Thanksgiving off and just hang around the house as I have a lot to keep me busy - I still need to derust the drive and trim the hedges plus a 100 other things and my co-partner is taking T-Day Week off and we both can't be gone at the same time - I just hope that if I pick that week that it'll be good weather or I'll be stuck. We'll see - I still haven't done anything about it yet other than to think about it. And my Mexican vacation can wait a little while longer, not too sure yet when I'll be taking that.

And I guess that this is long enough so I'm going to end your misery now and let you be on your merry way. So I'll talk with you later - and I hope you have a wonderful week.

posted by Scott @ 10:21 PM

Sunday night here, and it's almost the end of October and only six days left of our ole Day Light Savings time ...... it's a lot harder to adjust to loosing it than it is to gaining it! And I had to look up the date today only to find out that it's the last Sunday in October - and I wonder how many times that ends up falling on Halloween ..... well, I guess that would be every six or seven years depending on a Leap Year! Seems a lot later than usual so I guess that I should be happy - but I won't be happy when it's dark outside at 5pm each night. At least it'll be Spring before we know it - after we get through all of those dang holidays!

And it was a wonderful weather weekend around these parts this weekend, still kind of warm out and was in the low 80's probably, and yesterday I went wild with the pressure washer and spent more time doing that than I did in mowing the lawn. I only mowed the front and side yards and blew off the backyard as it didn't really need it and has all ready started to slow down in it's growth - but I did finish pressure washing the back side of the house and then did the front, then I did my entire driveway too still trying to get that Georgia clay off of it from the mudhole that they created before the paved my road. It's all looking much better today though but I do need to apply some Rustaid to it to get rid of some of the rust stains from the sprinklers again - but it's a lot less now that I have my rust remover tank thingy.

I've also been working on my ceramic tile and am determined to see if I can clean up some of the grout as it's been down for a couple of years and is starting to show some wear - and also dug up one of the tiles that was in front of my refrigerator that had a tiny chip in it and replaced the tile and then re-grouted it - I'm getting pretty good at it I might add and looks perfect now! I was down to my last tile though so I went to the store where I bought them originally and bought a box of tiles and a bag of grout - so for $20 I'm set for life! And it's weird that they come in so many different sized too - but we found the perfect box that is exactly what I have ...... and I didn't realize that the tile that I had was such a popular color as they must have had 10 boxes that were left over that we went through.

I also had my 6 month AC/Heating unit preventive maintenance thing on Monday and all checked out perfect - but I wanted to see if they could give me a price for the grill thing that goes around the heat pump outside as some of the coils are bent over and it's starting to look pretty bad. But then the Sales guy called me and guess that there is more to it than the coils and to replace it it would cost like $1000, the thing works perfectly so there is no need for that but then he told me about a "fin comb" that they use to just run down the coils and it straightens them right out back to brand new. He told me I could probably find on at a heating supply store - but I found one on E-Bay for $10 that should be here any day now and I'll give that a shot - I think that should solve my issues there.

I've got a dental appointment for my six month cleaning on Tuesday of this week and I'm hoping for another perfect check up, I don't think that I have any issues so I'm hoping so but I'll guess that I'll find out soon enough. Oh, and the big announcement that I was talking about at work last weekend happened with a conference call last Monday and guess that we are taking over a company of 60 hotels which is going to triple the size of our company. If you want you can read the press release at the following link - Crestline Hotels, at least I think that should work. It should make for an interesting time though and guess that it's set for the first part of next year - we'll have to see what changes we are in for.

And I guess that is enough rambling for now so I'll close and be done for another week - if you have a chance let me know how things are going with you and I will talk with you soon. Have a great week and I'll talk with you later.

posted by Scott @ 10:17 PM

Notta nothing new round here, the weather is finally cooling off a little bit and it's been in the 60's at night and the 70's or so during the day ....... gotta like that! But I think that the cool weather is over as it was in the 80's again today, oh well hopefully it'll be back again some day. I mowed the lawn and stuff yesterday and even broke out the pressure washer and did the back side of the house which was long overdue, it still amazes me how it cleans up like it's brand new even after at least six months since the last time. At least it gives me motivation after seeing what it can look like to do the rest of the house, the front really needs it just as bad as the back, those toads can make quite the mess! And speaking of those dang toads, I am constantly moving them out of the driveway before I pull into the garage so that they don't end up being squashed legs!

And I think that my budget season is just about complete, I've been talking with them all weekend as the properties finalize things plus I finished up on my Omaha budget and turned it back over to them ..... I'm actually starting to see the wood on my desk again. I'm done working with Omaha at least for the time being, I mailed back 14 pounds of paper today that they had sent me and my hands are washed of the place. At least I can focus on my other three properties now - and hopefully things might even start to get back to normal (or close to it).

There is some big announcement coming out at work tomorrow, we have a conference call at 8am with our company president to let us know what's going on, we're all just hoping that it's a good thing and not a bad thing but I'm not too worried. My boss also has me working on a website for a historic hotel that we are renovating and we are managing beginning towards the end of 2005, and I guess they have no budget for stuff so that's where I come in. It's fun for me though so I'll have to play around with it and see what I can come up with, not too sure when all of that is due either.

And as I said nothing new with me, same ole stuff just a different day. I guess that's about it so I'm going to run - if you have a chance drop me a line and I'll be sure to get back to you (Tom, I owe ya one!). Have a great week, enjoy your Fall weather!

posted by Scott @ 10:07 PM

Hello again and I guess that it's another Sunday night on this end. Not much to report this weekend though as Matthew kind of rained on our parades, actually not all that much rain but it's been cloudy out since Friday. It rained pretty good today though and it was pouring rain as I came out of Walmart, got mighty soaked but glad that I had my umbrella with me. And that reminds me but while shopping at Wally World the power went out - and did you know that even though we were all shopping in the dark that they actually have all of their registers on back up generator and don't even miss a sale!

And my power went out again last Tuesday night for like an hour and a half, I'm really liking my UPS battery powered backup thing that keeps my computer running even if the power goes out. I have it set up where I've still got internet and both of my computers are on it and gives me enough time to save what I'm doing and shut down the computers ....... and runs them for at least 30 minutes beyond that if I need it to. I sure am getting sick of resetting all of my clocks though - now if there was only something to save their settings I would be all set.

Not much to report though as I really didn't have any motivation to do anything outside this weekend, I mowed the lawn and was going to pressure wash at least one side of the house but then never got around to it ..... I took a two hour nap instead. Working on budgets and business plans in between doing other things and I think that in another week or so that will all be behind us again for another year.

My brother sent me a link for a site where you can download programs, music and movies and I've been messing with that since Friday but I finally got it figured out and I can now download just about anything that I need. You can even get movies before they are even out on DVD, at least I think that I'll be set for a while as long as my ISP doesn't cut me off for overloading their circuits! I guess that's about it, nothing new to report really but tomorrow is a start to another new week so we'll see what that brings - and I hope that you have a wonderful week as well. Talk with you later.

posted by Scott @ 10:08 PM

10-4 (good buddy), I remember my Uncle Tom telling me that was how he remembered the day that my Mom died and now that's how I remember it - each time I wrote that date today I thought of her ...... I guess that it's now been three years since that day and I also remember us invading Afghanistan on the same weekend. I miss her though, I miss her coming to visit and I miss going home, things just haven't been quite the same since. Montie misses the "ice cream lady" as she had a bowl of ice cream each night and he really like that!

But I'm doing just fine, she raised me well and I still thank her for everything that she did for me - and I'm still comfortable knowing that she went to a better place ..... she's got lots of company with my Dad, my brother, my sister, her Mom, Dad ......dang - she's got more with her than I've got left on earth ..... so rock on Mom and let the party begin :) God bless you for everything that made you you - you hard headed, stubborn and strong willed lady, I'm proud to say that I am your son. Here's hoping you've got an internet connection where you are tonight so that you can read this - and I bet that it's faster than the one that I've got down here! Love you and miss you ...... you were the bestest.

posted by Scott @ 12:30 AM

Hey guess what? It's another Sunday night, go figure huh? And I saw this when I logged on to the Blogger site and thought that I'd throw it out there, especially since I don't have any new pictures to share this week - but their idea was as follows ...... Ask your readers to think of three photos they'd like to see posted on your blog (things around your house or whatever). When you have enough requests, then post them! What do you think - got any ideas of things you'd like to see (and hehehe, keep 'em clean of course!).

Not too much to report around these parts this week, it was great being home all last week and having a much more normal week for a change - I actually think that I even got some work done! Still hotter than heck this weekend and today it was at least 93' and would guess that yesterday was just as hot - I was out shovelling dirt trying to improve the looks of my ditch and I roasted my butt off! I talked to the County guy about fixing my ditch so that it looked normal and I had hoped that he was going to say that they weren't done with it yet and that they'd take care of it - but no, he actually had the guts to tell me that if I wanted the ditch dug out that it would cost me ....... now why in the heck would I want to pay to dig out their ditch??? I just moved some dirt around and leveled it all off and after about an hour it looks much better than it did before so at least I can live with it. I do still need to see what a rain storm is going to do to it though as I don't think that it's rained since they paved the road, but I'm hoping that the erosion issue is a thing of the past - but who knows, my ditch might all wash away. And it was so weird being able to take my blower on that side of the house, I always blow the street out front but now I can even do both sides, it was quite the strange event for sure!

Nothing else going on though, Montie got a buzz-cut yesterday and today his knees don't work and he's all sore from the experience but that's nothing new as he is always like that the day afterwards - but at least he's looking nice and sporty.

Oh, and I just remembered that I do have one photo to share as I found these shoe laces last weekend at Walmart when I was buying show polish - and the package said that you'd never have to tie your shoes again and I'm really starting to like them. Here's a pic - sorry for the crappy picture but all you do is pull on the ends and they stay all nice and tight. What do you think - pretty cool huh :?)

I also rented a couple of dvd's that I watched this weekend as I've been watching pvp but then never have the movie around to watch again - so I got Cheaper by the Dozen and Cabin Fever ..... Cheaper is a really, really good movie. Pamela, I'll send you a couple in a few days but you couldn't handle Cabin Fever so I'll pass you on that one.

I guess that's about it though, I'm swamped at work and the days are def flying by, there just aren't enough hours in the day right now but hopefully that'll all improve in a month or so. I hope that all is well with you and that you have a great week ahead - and maybe someday soon I'll talk with you again. Later!

posted by Scott @ 10:14 PM