It’s Saturday and nothing special is going on, except for the fact that Linda G. Hill has given us the opportunity to score some bonus points while working with her Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt:
“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is ‘sap/spa/asp/pas/PSA.’ Use one, use them all, use them any way you’d like. Bonus points if you use them all. Enjoy!“
If we were having a beer, you’d have a ton of questions.
“Dan, what was with the caution tape on your porch?”
“I had to remove the steps from the side so I could repair some earthquake damage.”
“Earthquake damage? Here? We haven’t had an earthquake in years.”
“And you haven’t had a good beverage since last week. What can I get you guys?”
“I’ll have my regular, and I think Dan will as well, Cheryl. Unless he’s too shaken up to hold a glass.”
“I’m fine, David. The quake was several years ago.”
“I’ll get these drinks, but first, what kind of damage was done, Dan. And why did it take so long for you to notice?”
“Cheryl, this is Dan we’re talking to. He’s the king of ignoring the obvious.”
“The problem was, the damage wasn’t obvious.”
“OK, one cold Modelo and one John Howell’s special. Now please explain.”
“We did feel our house moving during that last earthquake. There was no visible damage, but one of the concrete piers holding up the porch was pushed off to one side.”
“You sure you didn’t build it that way, Dan?”
“I wasn’t building a replica Tower of Pisa, David. I’m sure.”
“But you never saw this?”
“No, the pier was behind the side step.”
“How did you fix it?”
“The support structure is anchored to the concrete via a steel bracket. Fortunately, the movement sheared off the nails holding the structure to the bracket. I was able to shim the structure up and reattach it.”
“Sounds easy-peasy.”
“Yeah. Except the stair in the front sank with the porch and the railing separated—that’s actually how we knew something was wrong.”
“I take it you fixed that, too.”
“I did. I dug out under it, raised it back into position and filled underneath with several inches of packed gravel.”
“That sounds like way too much manual labor for my taste, Dan. I fear it would sap my strength. Plus, I’d be worried about something crawling out, you know, like the asps in the first Indian Jones movie. I might have just left the caution tape up. You don’t use that door anyway.”
“UPS, FedEx and the mailman deliver to the porch, David, and the only think living under there are chipmunks. If there were snakes, I don’t think there would be chipmunks.”
“OK, you need to keep them safe. What else did you do this week?”
“I took my car in for service.”
“Which means you had breakfast at Maddie’s. Which means you stopped at Great River Park. Taking your car for service is like a spa day for you.”
“Right on both counts. Except Great River Park was part of the Connecticut River.”
“Flooded?”
“Yep.”
“So, no fishermen to talk to.”
“One.”
“Someone was fishing in the flooded river?”
“A heron. The conversation was a bit one-sided, but I snapped a few pictures of him. I love they way they move while fishing. They’re delicate on their feet, more like a pas than a step.”
“Pas? What’s that?”
“I think it’s a ballet move, David.”
“I thought it was an abbreviation for ‘people are stupid’.”
“Dan’s right, David, but, from my position behind the bar, I see your point.”
“OK, now for the important question.”
“My important question is, do you guys want another round?”
“We do, Cheryl, but stick around because I think you’ll be interested in this next answer.”
“What has your curiosity so spun up, David?”
“The car.”
“What car?”
“The black convertible in the parade. Did anyone identify that car?”
“Of course. As I suggested, John Howell knew what it was.”
“Are you going to share that with us?”
“He says it was a nineteen forty-one Mercury, the last model built before World War Two. He added that it would sell for forty to forty-five thousand dollars today.”
“John certainly knows his cars.”
“And his bourbon. Here’s your fresh glass. Dan, here’s another Modelo. Which one of you is paying for this?”
“PSA – I think David wants to pay.”
“Excuse me?”
“PSA, i.e. Public Service Announcement not Yoda saying ‘people stupid are.’ We have a guest coming next week.”
“Oh, well then, let me get this tab, Cheryl.”
“OK, David. Who’s our guest, Dan?”
“Smitha!”
“Smitha V? That’s great. She’s such a talented woman. I’m looking forward to that.”
If you care to see the porch repairs, they’re below the gallery.
It’s hard to see, but it’s no longer straight or level 
That’s the post that was knocked off the straight and narrow 
The right side has to come up about 3/8″ 
This little jack fit under the structure and was strong enough to lift the porch. 
That looks better 
That railing segment should be an inch deep into that socket. The step has to be leveled. 
This steps supports couldn’t be rebuilt because the step couldn’t easily be removed. I added support under the structure. It should last a nice long time. 
There’s a layer of compressed gravel under that landscape fabric 
More gravel on top. This will be covered by some pavers 
The gravel has been tamped under the support structure for the step 
That looks a lot better 
The stairs that had been here were broken 
The step on the right is temporary 
Solid, straight and level
All five of my current books are now available in audio book form thanks to Amazon KDP’s Virtual Voice process. The voice is AI generated, but I can honestly say, it’s pretty darn good. The audio books are reasonably priced (all below $7 US) and, if you already own the Kindle version and want to add an audio version, you can do that for $1.99. There is a five-minute sample on the book page for each book. If you’re interested, click on any of the Dreamer’s Alliance book links below the image or on the link below for my latest book.
No Facilities 
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