Margret Sloan

We want to introduce our grandson to camping and have been waiting for the right time to take off a couple days from work. Now that we have everything covered at work, we are waiting for the right weather. Looks like we have a good chance of good weather this coming weekend. I don’t want to be sleeping in a tent during a thunderstorm, especially if that’s his first night camping.

We have a great tent, sleeping bags, cooler and plenty of fishing gear. Yesterday we stopped by Wal-Mart to see if we needed anything else to pick up and found a few things. I bought a couple flashlights and a can of bug spray. We’ll wait to buy the groceries until we get closer to the weekend and know for sure that we’re going.

So cross your fingers for us that we have a good weekend!

Is it just me or does some “expert” come out every dang summer and announce that flip flops are bad for your feet? Personally, I’m sick of “experts” making broad generalizations on things in my daily life and then not being held accountable for their proclamations when proven wrong.

Like the “experts” who every year predict that this coming year will have lots of terrible hurricanes. Well, duh. Every year does have the chance that there will be terrible hurricanes, and if a hurricane happens to rip through your own neighborhood then you most likely will be calling that hurricane terrible and a few other choice names. But the fact is that not every year has terrible hurricanes, some years are worse than others.

I like flip flops. I have been wearing them since a little kid and they are my footwear of choice during the hot summer months and certainly better than going barefoot. There is not much difference between a pair of cheap flip flops and expensive designer thongs sandals other than the “design” and the price tag. I really don’t see how flip flops can be bad for my feet when I’ve been wearing them every summer for over 50 years.

Had lunch with Rhonda today and hashed out her plans for the house in California that she just inherited. Originally she was going to fix it up a little - spit and polish - and then sell it. It’s a great house on a marvelous lot outside of San Francisco in this west coast picture perfect town called Pacifica. But with the housing market in the tank she probably won’t get much for it.

Being on the coast, the house has suffered a lot of weather damage and actually needs a lot more work than just spit and polish. She met with a contractor while she was out there settling the estate and he went through the house to give her a detailed estimate for repairs.

The contractor works for American Home Craft Inc and seemed to be very knowledgeable and thorough. The most pressing repair is to actually replace all the windows, especially the ones on the western exposure. Since I just went through the same ordeal with my house, I was able to give her a few pointers about replacement windows.

We checked the references for American Home Craft Inc and they have an outstanding reputation in California. They have a nice web site, too, with good information on their services and the products they recommend. When they replace windows thay have a special window just for coastal homes, called Simonton StormBreaker Plus® windows, which are energy efficient and impact resistant. All their windows come with a lifetime glass breakage warranty, so that really boosts her comfort level with that brand.

Rhonda is going out to Pacifica again next month to get some of the work started. I have a funny feeling that she is going to like it out there so much that she decides to move there permanently, or at least for a few years until the housing market improves and she can get a good price on the property.

This morning the doorbell rand and the UPS guy left a box for me at the door. He knows I have a lot of dogs and he doesn’t need a signature for most deliveries, so he rings the bell and then dashes back to his truck before I can even get to the door.

The delivery was the father’s day gift I ordered just a couple days ago - a way cool flashlight from a website I came across that specializes in hobby and tactical optical products. Those are big words for some really cool guy stuff, like binoculars, rifle scopes, flashlights, etc.

I was actually looking at riflescopes for hubby, as he has really gotten into hunting again. But when I got to this site, I thought the flashlight would be a much more useful gift for year round use and maybe I’ll get the riflescope for him for Christmas. They have all the good name brands and a helpful article on the site about how to choose the right riflescope, so I know I can pick out something that he’ll really like and appreciate.

Warren is home for the summer and his dad has informed him that this past week of sleeping until noon is his only luxury. Time for Warren to get busy and find a summer job. He had looked half-heartedly before he left school, but it’s getting serious at this point - his spending money for the next school year depends on what he can make this summer.

My friend Tom has offered him a spot on his work crew building decks on new homes. It’s good money and relatively easy to learn. The only drawback is he can’t work if it’s raining and we’ll need to spot him some money to buy a pair of good workboots.

There’s a website called Work Boots USA that gives a quick overview of the different types of boots and it carries all the major brands. You can easily tell from the short description under each photo if the boot has a soft toe, hard toe or steel toe - the type of toe you need depends upon the type of work you’ll be doing and what kind of workplace hazards you have to protect your feet from.

I told Warren that if he picks out a pair of work boots from that site I’ll put them on my charge card. They can have the boots delivered by the weekend and he can start work for Tom on Monday.