A Man And His Wood Stove

Hey everyone!  I'm back after a little blogging respite, and intend to grace you with my presence through the winter now!  Ain't you lucky?  Today I am here to tell you about my new obsession, yeah like I need another one right!  I recently purchased a wood stove for my house.  I have been thinking about this for years, and I finally bit the bullet this year and got one.  Seeing my oils bills rise to around $4000 per year was the final straw.  I also come across a fair amount of free wood in my travels as a contractor, so I figured it was worth a shot.  After a bunch of wheeling and dealing I managed to get myself a nice setup for a decent price.  Of course no self loving Meathead would allow anyone else to install his brand new toy, so I never even considered having anyone install it for me.  Little did I know what a royal pain in the ass it was going to be.  For most houses installing a woodstove is a fairly easy deal.  I had to put a flue liner in my chimney, and really wanted to do it right and go all the way from the top of the chimney to the new wood stove.  This is where the problem came in.  I swear the devil built my chimney.  The thing has more twists and turns in it then a friggin' maze.  So when I tried to drop my flue down the chimney like most normal people do, it wouldn't get past the first bend.  I could see it, but it just wasn't going to come.

I even set up a damned block and tackle in there to pull with.  True to form I pulled the rope right off the sucker.  So I pulled it back out and tried again.  Right around this time I called my father for reinforcements since I was climbing up an down the roof like a moron, over and over.  I figured with 2 guys we'd be able to push and pull at the same time and get that baby through.  No such luck.  Turns out I had to bring the 35' stainless flue liner into my house (the wife wasn't looking) and push it up that way.  The corner was a little less sharp this way, and after 2 hours of me pushing the pipe up like a maniac while sitting in the fire box, and Dad on the roof pulling for all he was worth, we finally inched the son of a bitch up the chimney the whole way.  Now after all of that hell, I was determined to get the pisser running that night.  My father and I lifted the 400 pound beast into the basement, and slid it into place.  I have to say my dad is one hell of a sport.  Of course he did bitch and moan the whole time, but he thoroughly enjoyed taking the pictures you see here of me struggling with the flue.  Anyway once we got it in place the installation was very simple.  I had it up and running within an hour.  I have been totally obsessed ever since.  I can't even sleep I'm so excited.  You see Costantino men are really sick.  Once we get an idea in our heads, we just can't get it out.  I have been heating the house entirely with the stove, but still have a couple of cold spots.  This is the obsessed part.

I have devised any number of ways to get the heat to these spots.  Everything from cutting registers in the floor, to fire heating hot water to run through a fan blown coil, you name it, I thunk it.  The other thing is that I can't bear the idea of the stove actually going out.  This leads to me waking up spontaneously every night and feeding logs in the hungry bastard (even though it does make it through the night without my attention).  All in all though I am totally in love with my wood stove.  I am obsessed with sitting in front of it.  I get dressed near it in the morning, and it is the last thing I see at night.  I even thoroughly enjoyed stacking the 2 cords of wood in my driveway the other day.  2 hours of hard work and it was done.  There is something very pleasing about creating your own heat, without dependence on the oil man.  I have not run my heat in 2 weeks, and it makes my insides all warm and fuzzy!  Bite me Exxon-Mobil!


Stay Warm!

Wacky Dad      

Old Friends On A Quick Trip To Maine

A Lobsterman in Southport Maine

This weekend was a real winner.  It has been years since we have gone away with our good friends Billy and Lisa, and to celebrate their 15th anniversary, we took a quick trip up to Boothbay Harbor Maine.  I have never been to Boothbay, and have spent very little time in Maine that is only about 2 hours away.  When Billy asked me if I would like to make the trip with them I was psyched to spend the weekend together with them and my wife, and also check out Maine.  When we arrived, I was really taken in by the natural beauty of Maine's incredible coastline.  As a Rhode Islander, it is easy to take the ocean and the seaside for granted, but Maine really makes your jaw drop.  What a pastoral place to visit.

An old schooner in Boothbay Harbor

We didn't really have an agenda for this trip, but we were 2 couples out on a little weekend adventure, and on a mission to just have some good old fun and take a couple of days off from everything, including the kids.  One thing that we made certain of is that we had packed a few bottles of wine to relax and sit on the front porch of our bed and breakfast with.  The weather was unbelievably warm for this late in October.  We did some shopping in town when we got there yesterday.  I think Billy and I sucked it up pretty well considering that we really hate the whole shopping thing.  We had an awesome lunch at a place called Mceagulls.  Lets just say that the "Lobster Stew" was to die for.  The 22 oz. beers were pretty damned good too.  After lunch, we checked into our Bed and Breakfast, The Greenleaf Inn, which was right across the road from the water.  What a beautiful place to stay; comfortable mattresses, good shower heads, and awesome breakfast, so no complaints!  We let lunch digest for a while, hunted some sea glass on a local beach, and took the opportunity to take in a few glasses of wine on the front porch of our bed and breakfast.  While we were sitting out there, we had a passing rain shower that created this stunning double rainbow. 

I even risked my beloved Sony camera to grab this shot in the rain.  It has never seen the rain before this, but it isn't every day you catch a rainbow as bright and as vivid as this on film.  When it got dark, we headed on down to this cool restaurant right across the street from us, that is actually an old tugboat.  We didn't really know what the food was going to be like, but it ain't every day that you get to eat in an old tugboat, so we gave it a shot.    They ended up putting us in the basement dining room and it turns out it wasn't underwater.  We ended up eating in a room that was somehow filled with a group of local seniors who were really whooping it up with a local singer.  I think we were the only ones under the age of 75 in the place, but let me tell you we had one hell of a good time, and the food was excellent.  My wife and I danced several dances (the wine didn't hurt in this department).  We witnessed a 90 year old lady playing-the-hell out of a kazoo with other accompanying instruments.  I seriously woke up hoarse this morning because I was laughing so hard.

The Tugboat Inn

All in all, it was a great time with old friends and my bride!  Today, after breakfast and checkout, we took a leisurely drive home along the coast, stopping anywhere we thought looked cool.  We stopped at Hendrick's beach in Southport and hunted some more sea glass, a favorite of Lisa's.  I love to hunt for anything, whether it is a pheasant, or glass so I was totally in.  W also stopped in Freeport and Ogunquan.  It took us about 8 hours or so of stopping and going before we actually made it home.  Virtually every stop included food of course!  I am desperately afraid to get back on the scale!  It really was awesome to get away with Billy and Lisa for this special weekend that commemorated their 15th anniversary.  I have known Billy since I was in diapers, and he remains my closest friend today, and he is really like a brother to me, especially since I don't have any siblings.  Billy dated Lisa all the way back in high school, so I have known her for an awful long time as well, and we have always loved each other.  Add my own bride of 16 years into the mix, and I can't think of anyone else I would rather have been with this weekend.  There aren't many people I could spend 8 hours in the car with and be pleasant with for the whole time, but we just joked around and had an awesome time.  To my old buddies Billy and Lisa, I wish you both a Happy Anniversary!  I love you both, and Cathy and I had one hell of a good time with you on our little 2 day adventure to Maine!  Lets do it again in another 15 years!  We'll fit in with the snow birds even better when we look the part!


Good Times!


Wacky Dad

      

My Blog - My Diary

Here are two reasons to blog. Give them
great and vivid memories!

I have come to the conclusion that I ain't ever going to get rich writing my blog.  I once thought it might be possible to make a few bucks at it, but it seems that the chances are pretty remote!  Aside from the occasional free product, or gift cards, the time spent writing could be better spent panning for gold in the brook in front of my house!  The best thing about this blog, and anyone's blog, is that it is a living diary.  Lets face it, writing a diary is kind of boring.  You can't add pictures, you tube video, links, or any of that good shit!  Here I can create content rich posts that my kids will be able to look at with their kids in 30 years, and really get a kick out of.  Some of the things I treasure most are a series of letters that my Papa Mario wrote to me while I was in the Marine Corps.  These letters gave an incredibly detailed biography of his life and I am so honored and glad to have them.  Every time I write in this blog I think about those letters and what they mean to me.  Here I am getting all of the benefits of writing a diary, but it is a social diary.  I have met a ton of cool people through blogging, and the social media outlets I use to promote the blog.  For an anti social jackass like me this is a real milestone.  It's funny, I am not a big talker, but put me on Twitter where the one liner rules, and I am right in my element.  Everything is just so short and sweet.  The other thing I like about the blog, is that even though I may not have a gigantic readership, I still get a chance to highlight some things that are very important to me.  I am able to put my kids on a pedestal when they are deserving, I can poke fun at my old man publicly which is always very fun, and easy to do, I can tell the world what wonderful wife I have, and I can use my blog and social media outlets to further my volunteer work to fight pancreatic cancer.  If there was no other reason than having a written history of my daily life to let my kids enjoy with their future families, then that would be enough.  If you're not blogging I highly recommend the benefits of owning one.  If you love to write and have fun, it is a great place to be! 




Happy Blogging!


Wacky Dad

Campfire Cuisine

Tonight was a really cool night.  My 3-1/2 year old Mia and I had a chance to spend the night together at the house.  My father-in-law had the two older girls over for the night, and Cathy was at work, so Mia was stuck with her old dad!  I will preface this by saying that I had a pretty rotten day - I rear ended someone in my car today.  No injuries, but not exactly good news, especially for my vehicle!  I don't exactly have a stellar record when it come to bumping into stuff, so I am a little worried that the insurance company is going to drop me, or at the least bump my rates even higher than they already are.  Ughh.  Ok enough of that crap.  On the way home from work I got the thought in my head that it would be a great night to have a quick campfire out in the yard.  This time of year is my favorite for outdoor fires, and Mia really digs them!  I had to stop at the store anyway, so I grabbed a package of hot dogs and some hot dog buns and raced home to get the fire lit.  I ran the idea by Mia and she was totally into it!

I split a bunch of wood a couple of weeks ago, so the fire was pretty much ready to light.  Mia and I hunted around for some small kindling out in the woods and got the fire roaring in no time.  We took the hot dogs, a couple of paper plates, a lighter, some mustard, and a bag of marshmallows down to the fire pit.  All you have to do is stick the hotdog on a stick, put it over the flames for a couple of minutes, and you have a truly delicious meat head delicacy!  Mia had one, I had four!  They were great.  We then switched to marshmallows, which Mia is surprisingly good at for a 3 year old.  She only torches them about 80% of the time.  My other kids were at about a 99.5% burn rate at Mia's age.  We followed up the marshamallows by sitting and watching the flames and the stars for a half hour or so.  We ended the night with a 1/2 hour of Dirty Jobs on TV and reading two kids books.  All in all it was one of the most enjoyable evenings I have ever had together with Mia.  It really is amazing how much more you can connect with them when you're one on one, and not with the whole crew.  It was a good reminder for me that I need to prioritize these father daughter dates with all of my girls.  They are something I have always done, but when we get busy it sometimes slips by us just how important those little windows of time are to our kids.  They just think it is so cool to be alone with dad for a while, especially when you do "Dad" type of stuff with them.  I highly recommend this kind of campfire cuisine.  Go out, grab a package of hot dogs, some buns, and enjoy!

Love,


Wacky Dad   

When Your Little Girl Grows Up

My Abby!

Man, I'll tell you, the last 11 years have flown by since my daughter Abigail was born.  Something struck me tonight as I was lying with her at bedtime talking and reading, the way I have for almost every night for the last 11 years, that this nightly routine's days are numbered.  Sometime soon she'll be kicking me to the curb and doing whatever it is that teenager's do.  I'm glad it was dark in the room when I had this epiphany, because as this fact dawned on me, my eyes actually teared up.  Maybe I am a dimwit, but this fact of life has never really struck me until tonight.  I am lucky to share a close relationship with all of my daughters, and Abby and I have always had a special bond with each other.  I remember fishing with Abby when she was just a baby, she was just happy to be along.  We used to take long walks in the woods together, Abby on my back in a backpack carrier.  She used to fall asleep right on my back and her cheek used to bounce on my shoulder as she slept.  Whatever we do together we just thoroughly enjoy.  The other day we had a father/daughter day out. We went wild mushrooming (we got 4 nice hen of the woods by the way) and we had a special lunch at a hibachi grille.  I just loved watching her smile as she watched the chef cook in front of us.  We just love each other.  I am pretty proud to say that when Abby has something on her mind she is just as likely to bounce it off her old dad as she is her mom.  Maybe that isn't as rare as I think, but it sure makes me feel needed and loved.  She says to me all of the time "you're the best dad in the world" or "you're cool".  She is my biggest fan.  The feeling is mutual.  I can't be any more proud of my "little girl".  I think one good thing about having three daughters from the ages of 3 to 11 is the fact that I will be slowly weaned off my children.  I guess it's good.  Or will it prolong the agony?  Perhaps I will grow with time, but right now the thought of not having my girls around me makes my insides ache.  I know fathers that have lived through it, but I wonder if they feel such a loss.  I have never asked them.  I guess I should be glad that I have such a strong father/daughter bond with Abby,  but I sure will rue the day when she ain't my little girl any more.  It is a selfish thought, but if I could stop the clock and keep my kids like they are right now I'd do it in a heartbeat.  Abigail, to you I say "you're the best daughter in the whole world", and "you're cool".  In my mind you will always be my little girl.


Love,




Your Wacky Daddy