New Project

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pump.jpeg

We've been trying to empty stuff out of the basement at the house to have more room for storage. There's a bunch of plumbing stuff down there that isn't used any more, including the tank for our old water softener, some stuff from the well, and this old pump. The pump used to filter our hot tub that we yanked out when the contractor started work, so it's not being used for anything.

After watching our pool-cleaning guy a few weeks ago, I noticed he had a portable vacuum rig that basically used the same setup. So I pulled the pump out of the basement and built a little dolly for it. I got the scrap wood around the house and the plywood from out back behind the shed. I got the casters, screws, fittings and electric cord at Home Depot. Unfortunately, all I had time for this weekend was building the dolly, mounting the pump to it and putting the fittings on. Next weekend, I'll wire it up so it can be plugged into the outlet out back. I'll also run and get a vacuum head and 50 feet of flexible hose for it.

The fittings on there right now are just two 3/4" hose bibs, just so I can hook up two garden hoses to the pump and see what it puts out once I get it wired. Hopefully, all should work well and I can use this rig to vacuum the pool.

Fishing Stuff

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porgies.jpeg

Dad and I didn't have much luck with fishing for fluke. I caught two, but they were short of the limit.

When we switched over to porgies, though, we had a lot better luck. They're a tough fish to catch - when it feels like your sinker is dragging along the bottom, that's actually the fish nibbling on your bait, so the best thing to do when you feel something - anything - is to try to set the hook.

One of the guys on the boat filleted these fish for us and did a great job - porgies are usually quite bony if you don't fillet them right. I fried these up in a corn meal/egg batter and they were delicious.



Bag Search Update

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I promised I'd update folks on what I've seen with regard to who's getting searched at Penn Station, but I want to gather more data. But I didn't see the search station during last night's trip through Penn, nor did I see it this morning. Dunno if this has gone away or if the police are moving the station around to areas of Penn I haven't walked through. But I'm still on the lookout for it. Stay tuned.