Pitch & Green

Where does the time go

Man...I honestly meant to keep this thing updated when I started it...life keeps happening though. Between the full time electrical work, lawn contracts and appraising houses I just haven't had and don't have the time. I think maybe I just need to start posting a bunch of pictures...never could make the last batch work.

Thank the Lord for warranties

Well, the mower had a pinched wire issue to fix. I did take it back to the dealer and the technician heard the problem and went straight to the wire. It was fixed in 10 minutes. Now, if I could have the 3 days of non mowing that I missed...lesson, if it's under warranty, take it in! Even if it's not, take it in...it's just not worth it monetarily to be wrong when it comes to that.
Lesson learned.

Mower trouble

For those of you that don't know, I purchased a SCAG Wildcat 61 inch mower last fall for my lawn care business. This machine is AWESOME! It is amazing the amount of grass it can cut and not bog down doing it. We had our first challenge with it this weekend. A fuse blew out on it and the guy from the place I bought it actually drove out to me to fix it. When we discovered it was the fuse, we simply replaced it and continued mowing. Well, today, it blew 2 more fuses. We decided to shut down the mowing and just load it on the trailer to figure out the problem. Easy right? Wrong. Fuse blown, won't start. So...I employ my problem solving skills and run a jumper wire, get it started and drive it towards the trailer. It shuts down after 10 seconds. Another jumper wire...same outcome. For crying out loud!...I just want to load the mower! So, I pull out my mini Swiss Army Knife...the one with the little bitty scissors on it, and open the scissors and plug them into the fuse receptacle. This time I make it to the top of the ramp before I notice a bright light by my side. My knife is ON FIRE!!!! I shut it down, knocked the knife off the fuse receptacle and emergency over. Would you believe it actually burned the metal in half? The boys and I wound up having to pull/push the mower onto the trailer.
I think I waited to long to wash all the dirt off the mower...if that's all it is, I'll feel really stupid.

It's going to be a....

We went to the doctor last Wednesday for the ultrasound and yes we wanted to know if baby Marsalis is boy or girl. Well, we found out that #6 is...a GIRL! Everyone is very excited, not least of all Jane Beth who badly wanted a baby sister.
All I can say is wow.

Some help please

Yes...I know...the pictures only show the right side of the...well, the pictures. What do I do?

Some pictures of things I've been doing...

I've had to work a full time job in addition to everything else and while it is a little frustrating, I've seen and done some cool stuff. Here are a few pics.
This is a gator that was at the helipad I flew out to an oilrig from...he tried to take my finger!

This one is on the flight out. While you can't see them in this picture, you can look down and see the deer and alligators all over the place as you fly over...very cool.

I don't think much more needs to be said of this...the picture does not do this justice...the pilot said he never gets over the beauty of a sunrise or sunset in the Gulf from the air...

This is a school of yellowfin tuna...I think...there were fish all over the place around these oil rigs...you wouldn't believe the overkill they take in not polluting...the area around these rigs is an environmentalists dream...incredible.

Okay...these aren't all that interesting, but these are referred to as "tanks" in the oil industry. They are necessary for mixing of the drilling fluids and for the seperation of all that comes out of the hole once it is drilled. The amount of hardware and electronics on here is impressive. They really aren't that complicated when you break them down, but man, do they ever take a long time to get from the beginning to the finished product. I'm going to the site these will be put on this weekend. It's actually extremely interesting...see, that training as an electrician's apprentice finally paid off from the military!

Movie night

Well, we all went and saw Shrek III tonight. Pretty cute. It was probably more fun watching the kids in the arcade before and after the movie. Jane Beth and John James love the skee ball. They haven't got the full hang of it yet...sometimes they release the ball a little (a lot) late and it comes right back at them after crashing into the metal fencing at the end of the ramp. Will showed his shooting skill with a hunting game...impressive. Stephen showed the younger ones how to properly play skeeball...won about a kajillion tickets.
Nice evening...now, to bed.

The dark side of Monopoly

Here's a picture of the boys playing their favorite board game...Monopoly...Star Wars edition. Will is winning this one I believe.

In case you don't know

Our sixth child is on the way. We find out tomorrow whether this one will be a boy or a girl. Everyone is excited about finding out, including Candice and I. You would think that after 5 kids the excitement would wear off but not so.

Back from the Mouse House

In case you didn't know(and it's likely you didn't), we just returned from DisneyWorld last week. The vacation was MUCH NEEDED and was wonderful. Now it's work, work, and oh yes, work. We didn't go into debt for the vacation, but we spent everything but 20 dollars we allocated for it. We did the baby swap thing a lot on the rides and thus, the kids got to ride more than they would have had we not had an infant with us. Candice and I didn't get to ride that often, but we still got plenty of riding done. I'd say we rode way more than people that go during the moderate or the busy season. Our longest wait from the time we got in line until the time we exited the ride was 45 minutes. The norm was about 20 to 30, and it was far less than that for the next ride because of the babyswap and the fastpasses that we usually had as well to allow us another ride while we were there.
Everest is the new ride at Animal Kingdom and it is well worth it. We don't go nuts over Animal Kingdom though, we do it and MGM on the same day with the bulk of time being spent at MGM. Still, Animal Kingdom has some neat stuff, you just have to take the whole 8 million/billion years thing with a grain of salt.
MGM has a new show called Stunt Spectacular. It's very exciting. They drive these cars around and film a movie shoot complete with jumps, near misses, high speed forward and reverse driving, and of course, explosions. It was very, very well done.
The mowing season is dropping off so all I have to look forward to in the lawncare end is 3 weekly accounts and fall cleanups. I'm trying to drum up a few lot cleanups and/or small landscaping jobs around here, but the appraisal business is very much at the forefront now. I spent 2 days last week knocking on doors and one day working on an appraisal request I received from that cold calling. I'm revisiting many lenders that I've already talked to as well, so I'm optimistic the repetition of seeing my face and the fact that they are already waiting 3 days or longer for the appraisals they do have will encourage them to try us out(Delta).

New Orleans Saints

Where has this team been all these years? I remember watching them when Hank Stram would dance a jig if they won a game. Now, they are winning game after game...legitimately! I'm surprised...okay, I'm impressed. Keep it up fellas, could be the year of the come from last place guys. Just look at the Detroit Tigers right now.

NASCAR????

I take Zogby polls online occasionally and this one threw me for a loop. They wanted to know if I am a NASCAR fan! NASCAR! Not football, baseball, soccer, golf...NASCAR! What the heck is that supposed to tell the pollsters?

Harvest Moon

WOW! Are any of ya'll looking at this moon? It's so BRIGHT! We actually drove down our road with just the moonlight, very cool. Once we got home, we decided to get the telescope out and look at the moon more closely. Note to self, buy the family a better telescope. This one shakes at the slightest tremor...how slight? Try just breathing in the telescopes vicinity. We can't look at it a real long time because it's so bright, but wow...the things you can see. Look! There's the golf ball that astronaut hit! HA! I knew he pushed it! It's not even on the fairway...no wonder it was so tough to find. And look, there's that used car. Hey, it's a classic! Open top dune buggy, no bells or whistles, just your basic transportation.

Up and running

Well, it's been a busy month and then some.
We moved into our new house(new to us), I completed my real estate appraisal course and got my trainee license, Robbie and I opened Delta Appraisal in Lafayette, my boys have had soccer games left and right, Candice has been unpacking and decorating, we've been hanging ceiling fans and closet doors, and I'm still working ALOT at my regular job...that's soon to change I feel.
Anyway, I'll be doing random thoughts, news, and musings again now...just in case you don't have enough ridiculous things to read already.

The wit of a son

My sons, being brothers, irritate one another occasionally. Oh, not in a bad or cruel way, just in a "brotherly" way. Well, tonight Stephen was taking his turn at giving his brother some grief. Will says to Stephen, "If you don't stop, you're going to be getting a visit from the tooth fairy tonight"(meaning he was going to knock some teeth out). Stephen said, "Hmmm...I can use some extra cash".
Funny.