The smell of smoke

While most people do not like the smell of smoke, there are two times that I really love to smell it.  One is during the Independence Day celebrations with all the fireworks....since that just happened I don't long for the feeling of heat and humidity.... I would much rather have the feeling of a nip in the air and Christmas lights on the houses with the smell of families lighting up the fireplace.  The smell of smoke in the winter of a roaring fireplace just takes me away to a special place of happy memories with the family looking at Christmas lights and excitement of the celebrations around the end of the year.  When you are driving around in the fall and you smell that first scent of a fireplace, it puts a smile on your face and lets you know, it's time.  Although for the next week we are forecasting either a degree shy or better than 90, it won't be long til the leaves start turning and we will need that jacket, then coat, then extra sweatervest to keep a little warm.... while there is no set date on when I will be dawning my sweatervest, normally the rule of thumb is the first days where we reach highs in the 50's.... 

Christmas is less than four months away, and I can't wait for the holiday season to approach!  Not only will it be filled with cheer, but it will also give my mopeds a little break from the roads. This means all their engines will be cracked open and rebuilt, so when next spring rolls around, they will feel like 2 years old, rather than 31.......and who doesn't like to feel like a kid again???  All the presents and no responsibility....just bed time....  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Great Deck Staining Weather

The mild temps and dry weather has been perfect for getting the deck ready for weathering and taking a beating.... so rather than doing it in the beating sunshine and heat, the last few days has been great to get out there and work on the wooden patio.  I have been helping out a friend and it has been an interesting experience.  Monday I cleaned the decks by using the cleaner, which is basically bleach... I managed to bleach my shirt and have a constant head ache the entire day... Yesterday, Tuesday, after it dried I put down the first coat of stain.  It was a cedar color and by the time I was done, I had a great spray tan, but instead of soaking into my skin like it did with the wood, I was crazy sticky.  My shoes are completely orange and will be thrown away once I am finished, but I guess it is good that I wore my old shoes.  Anyway, I will do some touch-up work along the side of the house which was covered by sheets, let that dry, and apply the second coat tomorrow....  Pending no rain falls at the house today.

Speaking of rain, a cold front is swinging through the area today, but since the air has been so dry the last few days and will get even drier for the coming days, the cold front doesn't have a lot of moisture for much rain.  If we see anything today it should be a light shower at best...maybe a sprinkle.  The next few days will be dry and unseasonably cool....but not for long, things will warm up for the weekend and next week looks hot, around 90 for the highs.  As of right now, it appears it may be the last "hot" streak before we finally start cooling down for the fall.  About time, I know, enjoy the next few days and have a good one!

P.S. Four months til Christmas!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Coming soon to an outside near you......Beautiful Weather

So after a sticky, hot, humid summer it is about time we start cooling down.  This week looks FANTASTIC!  Highs will be in the mid 80's to start off the week, and by the end of the week, low 80's.  Only a slight chance for rain on Wednesday, otherwise dry weather for quite a while.  I know I will be enjoying it on my moped for sure!

Dawn landed back in Cleveland yesterday, Friday, after her super long(in my opinion) vacation to Key West with her family.  I constantly keep asking her if she is on her way back to Dayton, but she insists she has to stay to go to a wedding show Sunday in Columbus and then come home.   Anyways, she has informed me that I have started annoying her by constantly asking where she is and if she is home already....  Guess she didn't miss me very much....or Buckeye.

Been doing more moped work and I have decided I am sticking with my three that I have.  I will make some adjustments to them this winter, but I am done looking to buy new mopeds.  I recently sold my gold one in the picture below to get money for bills and for parts for the far left silver Magnum.  They are quite a lot of fun.  I swapped motors on the silver one earlier today, only took about 3 hours to complete the job and get back on the street and riding around.  If you have a moped and are ever around and want to ride, send me an email!  I am always down for a good ride and this week looks to be perfect weather for riding.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Back into reading.

I have to be honest.... I cannot tell you the last time I have read a book for pleasure....it has to be a year or two...  I was thinking about that a week ago and decided to change that.  While attending Ohio State, I worked at the Holiday Inn on Lane Ave in Columbus where Hineygate used to take place.  While there I believe I am not sure if Robert Liparulo was in town on a book tour or what, but we had a box of books in the back room and I came across Deadfall. It was a promo book and I knew no one had paid for it so I started reading it during by break... I got about 40 pages into, but never finished it.  Well five days ago, I finally decided to dust it off and start it over.

A few friends encouraged me to sign up for Goodreads.com and so I did.  Pretty cool site, I must admit.  I don't know if the online-check-ins helped me continue, but once I got into the book, it was hard to find time to log in to check-up.  It was a great book and I can't wait to dive into my next book.  If you want, I posted a review of the book: http://bit.ly/bZFf80.

Switching to the weather, things are going to be heating up for the next few days and next week looks to say fairly warm as well..... what happened to the cool temps?  Just wait, fall will be here and snow soon after.  No snow for now, just 90 degree days, haha.  Stay cool and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Trying to straighten up....

Dawn is in Key West and she left the house as if she had no prior warning of her trip... The house looked like a tornado just went through it. So I have been slowly deep cleaning the entire house.  Laundry, dishes, bags of recycling paper, reorganizing, and more cleaning.  It will take me all week, but it will be immaculate when she returns...  Now as for dinner, that has been a little different story.

Since I have been dedicating so much time around the house, the kitchen and the food preparation has been lacking and I vowed to myself absolutely no eating out while she is gone for the ten days.  Well yesterday was lunch meat sandwich with baked beans on a bed of mashed potatoes....ehhh, it is what it is.  Tonight I wanted to whip something up.... now keep in mind, I have about 45 minutes, tops, to get home, let Buckeye out, start making food, eat, clean up, and let Buckeye out again.  Sometime the last few weeks the recipe box must have gotten moved because I couldn't find it and I wanted to make pancakes (very filling).  So I started grabbing stuff: whole wheat flower, bleached flower, sugar, eggs, milk, water.... and threw it all together.  I popped off the beaters into the sink as I turned on the stove and realized I forgot oil to keep them from sticking to the skillet.  I cleaned the beaters and added the oil, just in time for the skillet to heat up.  Pop the beaters back into the sink.  After it was in the skillet and cooking, I realized I forgot baking powder... Now I am NOT one to waste food so I planned on eating it, but I still added the baking powder to the rest of the uncooked batter, meaning I had to wash the beaters once again after taking them out of the sink.  It was amazing how much different the baking powder made.  So much fluffier and tasty.  Try it!

Anyways, I got my meals planned out for the next few days:  I am making a chicken, pasta, vegetable, stew thingy I make ever so well.  It will easily be reheated and is AWESOME!!  Just thought I would share my kitchen happenings!  Hope you all are enjoying the cool temps before it gets steamy again for Thursday and Friday!  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Browns are back!

Well I know it is preseason, but the Browns came out with a lot of steam... I am still listen to the game on 980 AM.  So far we have scored a touchdown and when the Packers got the ball back, we popped out the ball and recovered the fumble.  Now for all of you Bengals fans, I am not going to be arrogant and start talking about the Superbowl because I know this will be a building year. We have so many new players. Wait...... TOUCHDOWN!!!!  The score is now 14-0!!!  Man, I wish this was regular season.

Ok, no more Browns talk, I don't want to jinx this preseason game, haha...  Crazy day of weather. a lot of severe thunderstorms for the southern part of the Miami Valley.  Parts of the North saw some rain, but the storms were just developing there, so they didn't get full strength until they passed the Miami Valley.  It appears we will be staying dry until tomorrow.  It will be isolated showers and storms as the slow moving cold front finally pushes through.  The good news is that we will see lower humidity and cooler temperatures greeting us for the start of the workweek.  No worries, it will return by week's end.  Oh, ya gotta love the weather in Ohio!  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Pulling up the Anchor.

It has been a fun time on the morning show, but Jeff Booth has to take vacation sometime.... meaning I am getting pulled off the anchor chair and position for at least the next week.  Which means nine days straight of the evening weather, not complaining, cuz when you love what you do, it is always fun.

Also for the next nine days it will just be Buckeye and I at home because Dawn is going to Key West with her family on vacation.  I am totally jealous of her.  I went to Key West on a road trip back in 2007 with my friend Jimmy Noe.  We had a blast, I can't remember the song, but I think it was by The Verve and it was the "Key West Song." We would drive around just blaring the song and it totally fit the atmosphere and mood.  The one thing I am not jealous about the trip is the fact that they are flying.  When we drove along the bridges from Miami to Key West, I remember it as one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.  It did take several hours because the speed limit was a little restrictive, but I love just going from island to island on the bridges and looking out for miles at the calm water with boats out in the distance just anchored and I am sure its passengers loving life....  yea I miss Key West.

Oh well, we got Key West temps I guess.  A cold front will swing through late Saturday into Sunday and that will bring some rain and will knock the temps back into the mid 80's for next week.  I can't wait til we are talking mid 70's for highs, ehh?  Well stay cool and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

What up Reds?!?!

You guys have been doing so well and was hoping to take a few games away from the Cardinals in the series this week, but we get swept?!?!  We go from two games atop the NL Central to now one game back?!?!  I thought you were better than that.   I went to Wednesdays game and apart from being hot, you held your own, until the grand slam.   Even though there was plenty of time left, you could feel the fans just sigh as the fork went in.... cuz we were done...  Not sure if its a mental block or what, but we NEED to really own some hardware when it comes to the Cardinals. 

Well time for another hot day, the humidity was slow to return, but with temps in the 90's it doesnt need to be super humid to feel nasty outside.  We actually managed to top out at 94 Tuesday making it the hottest day of the year so far.  We almost hit 90 yesterday but the rain cooled off the airport and so far only two consecutive days in the 90's, meaning no heatwave, technically.(you need three days consecutively)  That being said, no one would argue that it wasnt hot yesterday.  The heat will linger though the next few days until we finally see a decent push of "cooler" air arrive to the area.  Stay cool and have a good one.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Pumped up and Swollen too

Ever have one of those days you just have a lot of energy pent up.... I have been listening to Foo Fighters and Brand New a lot today so that MAY have something to do with it.  I am super pumped right now...

And yes I am also swollen, on my left cheek...  I realized I left my work cell phone at the station so I jumped on my moped and began to ride it to work.  I was wearing my helmet and protective sunglasses.  It was warm so I flipped up my visor on the helmet to keep a little cooler.  Well I rode into the path of a bee or wasp and it hit my left eye and fell below onto my cheek and was held up by the padding in the helmet.... About a split second later I felt it sting me, but it didnt really feel like a full-on sting so I wasn't too worried... and I have been stung dozens of times as a kid, so I know what a good stinging feels like... Anyway, through the day and evening yesterday I could continue to feel it throb more and more.  So now my left cheek is slightly swollen, oh well, could be worse....  Shut your visor silly!  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Low Humidity On The Way & Here To Stay

For at least the next week or so....  We will finally see a little break from the sticky air.  Normally it has only been about 2 days of low humidity before it becomes sticky again and we have been stuck in that pattern for the last month or so.... However drier air has been arriving the last 24 hours and dewpoints (moisture in the air) which have been in the mid and upper 70's the last two days, will have a hard time even reaching 70 for the next week.... Maybe it is a sign of fall arriving..... ehh, I wouldn't put all your pennies in on that bet.  Enjoy it while it lasts, because it will be hot and sticky again in about a week and a half.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

My body aches....

I went boating with Dawn's cousins yesterday and today I am feeling the pain.  I have never tried water skiing, but snow ski occasionally.  Well it turns out that water skiing and snow skiing are a little different.... The form is what really threw me off at first, I am used to sitting on the skis, but not the same for water skiing.   The first few tries were nothing more than comical.... I kept just eating water at Ceasers Creek State Park.  Every time I seemed to make it a little farther into getting on my skis and riding, but would fall back down... I finally did get up though, for about 15 seconds, and after that, I was way too exhausted to give it another go.....  We then found a rope swing and had a blast swinging into the lake followed by some tubing.  Everyone can tube, and that was an absolute blast!  I think I caught a few feet of air a few times and really enjoyed the fun day.  However, like I said, today I am really feeling sore all over my body, but especially between my shoulder blades.  My back muscles feel like they are tensed up and hard enough that you could use it as a cutting board to prepare food...... Where is Dawn for a back massage when you need her?!?!  Oh well, off to bed for a late morning nap.... Stay cool out there today and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

The Heat Returns

That seems to be the pattern this year.  We get a few days of cool weather, than back to the heat.  Remember last summer when it was cool all summer long???  Man was that nice.  I am totally dreading getting the electric bill in the mail this week from running the AC non-stop.  And it's not like we kept the house "cool," Dawn and I only set it at 80.... and then at night bumped it down to 78(normally it was already there or at least at 79)  Anyways, the AC will be on again starting tomorrow for at least a week straight.  I know today is August 1, but I want the fall to finally arrive.

Well time to get ready for the news, stay cool and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael