[Moogs]

That means:

• At least one excellent BBQ or partaking of BBQ-style food (BBQ chicken, steaks, burgers, brats, chips & salsa, etc)
• Beer or Wine (perhaps a picnic with a loved one)
• Soda (for you underage types)
• Family and/or Friends
• Swimming pool if it's hot out
• Frisbee Dog / Catch (baseball) / Lawn Darts (with explosive warheads for Xtra Fun!)

and most important of all

• Staying the hell off the road when all the drunkards are on it / letting someone else drive if you're a drunkard for a day. Seriously. Inconvenience someone if you have to. Auto accidents are not allowed this weekend among the denizens of Aldo Novaville.



Have a great time, guys (and gals). For me it's sadly a 4 day home improvement extravaganza so fun will be had in very limited quantities. Therefore I will live vicariously through all of you and your quality stories, to be posted here all weekend.

[Wyatt]

I love Memorial Day weekend. Not only do I get a long weekend, but it's always the same week as my birthday. I hit 22 on the holiday this year, which is always fun. At least that way I'm guaranteed to get the day off.

I hit the road in a couple hours to head south to see my family for the weekend, so hopefully I won't get killed by any drunk bastards.

The drive can't be worse than Thanksgiving '05, though. I was nearly hit by some moron who pulled onto an offramp and then tried to get back off of it. He of course went to the trouble to stop his car completely, extend his arm out the window and flip me off before continuing down the ramp. What a morning.

[BuonRotto]

On Saturday, we're taking the dogs out to Hanging Rock and hiking up to the top. We'll picnic along the trail somewhere and let the boys run around. On Sunday, we're going to my gf's friends house for the usual BBQ (which, in the south, means a pig pickin', strictly speaking) and brewskis.

Alas, the gf works on Monday. Boooooo.... so I'll probably take the boys out for a long walk again and get some personal work done.

Apparently, at one time in the South (and this may still be the case in some places), people didn't accept Memorial Day as a US holiday because it was created by the victorious Union in the aftermath of the Civil War. This place has been so run over by carpetbagging yankees though, it might as well be the North.

[PKIDelirium]

I'm going Hawk Hunting tomorrow afternoon.

[Foj]

Originally Posted by Moogs For me it's sadly a 4 day home improvement extravaganza so fun will be had in very limited quantities.

Limited quantities, eh? You can have loads of fun. Like doing a 4 day drunken Moogs version of 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'. But make sure someone is filming so you can post the results for all to see.

[AWR]

Where's Hanging Rock?

We have a three-day weekend too, but not on account of Memorial Day - rather something called Pentacost (sounds religious, but I'm happy to partake nonetheless).

We have a reasonably large plan. I can't wait. It involves welcoming the following little fella home tomorrow, 4-days in. Here he is at 24 hours:




As Moogs strongly recommends, keep safe. Get levelled if you must, but sleep on a couch or let a DD get you home. Cheers.

Have fun with the renovations, Moogs.

Edit: Thanks griz! And congrats to you too. 22 -- I used to be a contender.

Edit: Thanks SilentEchoes. Do I sense that you had a wee one recently as well? Edit: Congrats. She is a cutie pie. A bunch of work, but very rewarding too.

Edit: Thanks BuonRotto. Thanks for the map; looks good, especially before and after some local BBQ. I had it confused with Blowing Rock, or thought it was something like Beech Mountain -- farther West, as you know. If you do end up in CH sometime, drop a line.

Edit: Thanks, Moogs. Once you get that house in shape (and buy a few more Macs) you'll be ready for the leap yourself.

[Wyatt]

What is this, baby week? Congrats, AWR.

[Ebby]

Already got plans for our famous family Soccer Game (banned from 3 city fields ) and hitting Costco for our famous after-game Burger BBQ.

All set!

[Windswept]

Many congratulations to you too, AWR!

What a fine-looking baby boy. A chip off the old block, no doubt.

We can see that you don't spend 'all' your energies in riding your bike.

So, is he automatically a citizen of Switzerland, or does he have dual Swiss/US citizenship?

Just wondering.

[AWR]

Thank you, Windwept. You're too kind.

Actually, he (they - his two older brothers included!) is automatically American and Spanish (Mom is from Barcelona). The kids will be eligible for Swiss citizenship when they are 12 or so. A lot of papers to keep track of!

[SilentEchoes]

congrats AWR

[BuonRotto]

Hanging Rock State Park




Congrats AWR! I have a friend from Philly with dual Swiss-American citizenship. Damn woman never takes advantage of that though. I always wanted a free vacation to Helvetia.

[alcimedes]

I'm going to a bachelor party tonight, a wedding on Sunday, and a BBQ/party on Sat. night.

I already feel hung over just thinking about it.

[psmith2.0]

I've got 100% nothing planned...and I love it. I'll just wing it the entire weekend, and go with whatever presents itself. Or nothing at all, if I feel like it.

Going to stay out of the bars and off the roads myself. Might rent some movies and catch up on reading, writing and some tough crosswords.

But I do think I'll go buy stuff to make some good hotdogs tonight. I loves me a chili/slaw dog with some crispy crinkle fries.

Yay, weekend!

[SilentEchoes]

Originally Posted by AWR Edit: Thanks SilentEchoes. Do I sense that you had a wee one recently as well?

Sure did

[Windswept]

Cut a lengthwise slit in a hot dog, leaving the ends UNslit, so that the dog can be opened like a canoe.

Place a nice, thick strip of cheese into the opening in the hot dog.

Place dog on cookie sheet under broiler.

Broil till cheese melts and dog is slightly charred.

Obviously, if you cook the dog on the bbq grill, you won't be able to turn it, or the melted cheese will leak out.

So, if you want to use the outdoor grill, you could grill the dog till mostly done, *then* slit it, stuff with a strip of cheese, and put back on the grill till the cheese melts. Yum!

[Moogs]

Congrats AWR! Great looking kid.

Foj: I think midway through tomorrow I will start seriously considering your Drunken Home Makeover Edition. I might even fuck my hair up like manly Tie Pennington.

[Ebby]

Woot! $450+ Costco receipt!

Just try to top that.

[Windowsrookie]

Originally Posted by Moogs • Soda (for you underage types)

Man, I look forward to this weekend all year, just for some pop.

[Moogs]

Yah well don't laugh at me too much. Yesterday around dinner time my biggest thrill yet was -as I was going to restock the fridge- "hey I didn't know we bought some Dr. Pepper." I immediately grabbed 3 out of the box and loaded them into the soft drink tray. Scates would be proud. But the truth is, I hardly ever drink pop anymore, and when we do it's almost always Sprite or 7-Up (the "less bad for you") varieties. So make no mistake, I will revel in the "Dr. Pepper Experience", as I roll primer and paint onto the walls all day today.

Nothing says "good times" like Dr. Pepper and paint fumes.

[bender0069]

Everyone have a safe and happy holiday. Sunday is my 1 yr wedding anniversary. We went out last night to celebrate.

Congrats on all the new little ones.

Sadly, I'll be cleaning the house all weekend. Next weekend my parents will be here to help me celebrate turning 30

[alcimedes]

Ugh.

[Moogs]

Painting sucks... SO bad. Holy shit, two days straight and we're barely half way done after all the priming and masking. Fuck I hate painting. My family invited us to a BBQ Monday and I'm sitting there looking at the walls and ceiling thinking "fat chance in hell we'll be done by then"... we'll see. Maybe we'll be done by Monday at lunch time.

[AWR]

Sounds like hell. An impressive undertaking, though. As for me, I would never take-on such a serious paint job. I have no idea about these things: yes, the masking tape, etc., ok, I get that, but primer ???

[psmith2.0]

Originally Posted by Moogs Nothing says "good times" like Dr. Pepper and paint fumes.

Ha...that's how I roll.

Well, I'm having a nice, relaxing and fun weekend. Not nearly as much as Lindsay Lohan, but still...



The primer makes the paint go on smoother and better. I use Killz, and get a nice solid, smooth coat. Then paint just goes on and it's nice. I imagine you'd want something to "zero out" things, especially if you were replacing a darker color with a lighter one?

I just spent the other day painting 10 beadboard panels for a friend's new deck a nice apple/pear green. They had a coat of Killz already, and I just rolled the nice green on in a few hours (and yeah, I had a Dr. Pepper in one hand, roller in the other).

[kieran]

Nothing too big going on for me this weekend. I was planning on spending it down the Jersey Shore, but that didn't work out. (School work to do and gf working)

Now we're just gonna head over to her parents house for the day for some bbq.

I also have to find someone who can fix a flat tire that I got yesterday. Driving around on a spare tire is not ver fun.

[Moogs]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 Ha...that's how I roll. Well, I'm having a nice, relaxing and fun weekend. Not nearly as much as Lindsay Lohan, but still...

Good on you, then. I'm glad one of us doing the right thing on Memorial Day weekend!

The primer makes the paint go on smoother and better. I use Killz, and get a nice solid, smooth coat. Then paint just goes on and it's nice. I imagine you'd want something to "zero out" things, especially if you were replacing a darker color with a lighter one?

Yep, there are two rooms that had a darker shade of blue, to be covered by something much lighter. Word to the wise: Zinnser primer = automatic two coats if you're covering anything other than lighter shades. And we're talking about laying the first coat on pretty thick, too. Might want to ask your local hardware guy if there is a better brand that might lead to a one coat primer.

I just spent the other day painting 10 beadboard panels for a friend's new deck a nice apple/pear green. They had a coat of Killz already, and I just rolled the nice green on in a few hours (and yeah, I had a Dr. Pepper in one hand, roller in the other).

That's what I'm talkin' about! And now... back to our feature "Crown Mouldings: Paint Brush Hell"

[Moogs]

And nowwww.... your weekend update.

Today sunny with a high of 75, and no chance of a finished paint job by 5:00pm. Now back to Bob at the sports desk!

[Windswept]

I guess I shouldn't say this, but wouldn't it have been better to do one room at a time?

*ducks*

One room this weekend.

Another room three weeks from now... etc.

[psmith2.0]

I've got a day and not much to do, other than rehearsal this evening at 6:00. I might see if I can just stay in my boxers (or less...rawwwr!) all day until then. How's that for lofty goals?