The weather has finally cleared up. Finally…feels like Spring…time to get back to building the boot shop.

Okay…so I noticed it too. It took me longer to update my web page than it did for the U.S. to win a war, and occupy and/or “secure” an entire country. It’s all about manpower.

Now that my bronchitis is long gone I’m getting back to business. My next step on the bootshop is to transport a file cabinet to my landlord in Vallejo. My landlord has kept a big pile of stuff in the basement for the last five years…and now it’s bugging me. Her file cabinet is sitting right where my sander is meant to be. I’m waiting for a dependable stretch of dry weather…then I’m pitchin’ that file cabinet and all it’s four drawers in the back of the Ranchero and headin’ North.

I found a makeshift workbench in my yard, in the back of what used to be the garage. I think I can get it through the basement door. I’m moving my inseaming jack and lasting stand down to the basement too….Then I all I need to do is scrape together enough money for my sander. I’m part of the way there…just not quite the whole way.

I’m encouraged though…at least one kind soul with keen vision saw the link to my “Tip Jar.” (Do ya see it there in the right hand corner of this page?) It’s hard to know earlier this month, which was worth more…his generous gift, or the words of encouragement that came along with it.

I was also slightly awed by my recent web statistics. A pal of mine at work…even geekier than me…ran my March web page stats through his wowie-zowie analyzer software. Here’s the deal…in March 2003 this website had:

• 34,279 User Sessions.
• 11,116 Unique Visitors
•  2,278 Repeat Visitors… 1,509 of whom visit more than once a week, and 742 of whom visit once or more EACH DAY!
• 334 page visitors spent from 30 minutes to more than an hour online at my site.
• My biggest crowds show up on Mondays.

Eeek…that’s a lot of people. There used to be a time (not so long ago) when it was me, Marshall, and maybe my dad.

Sorry I haven’t written…that cold I told you about turned into some kind of bronchitis. I’ve been too busy coughing to type. I’ve been reading books and watching the news hour.

The country’s gone to war and San Francisco’s gone to hell. It’s been reported that the protests are costing the city more than half a million dollars a day, and the Mayor has promised to take it out of the budget for health care, and the programs for the homeless.
As I’ve grown older, I’ve become leary of strong opinions, right or left, it doesn’t matter… I think strong opinions close your mind to new ideas and changing stituations. I think strong opinions limit your compassion towards others.

….ugh, what a disaster.