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As Time Goes By ---- Odds & Ends

Alphonse bragged to Golly about helping me in the shop ( a small fib!), so I thought I would take him out with me and see what he would do.

First thing he did was to try to pick up some walnut pieces. I told him it was too much, but he didn't listen.

The next thing he did was to gather up the rest of the walnut pieces I had just cut and built a stack. Then he crawled up on it so I could brag on him.

So far, he's not much help!

Then, he discovered a small dove I carved for a cross and inspected it. I think maybe he was trying to "Point" like a birddog, but he didn't know how - I guess.

He decided to try on the mask I wear when I machine woods like walnut. It was a bit too large for him.

He also climbed up the wall on the wood clamps. He got pretty high, and I had to get him down. A bit embarrassed that he had to be rescued.

Al went into the wood storage room and climbed around on the lumber racks. He discovered a nice cozy place in one of them.

You may have guessed that I didn't get a lot done with Al running around the shop. He climbed all over everything and kept yelling "look at me". I need to sit him down and explain what "helping in the shop" really means. I was probably about as much help as Al when I was a kid.

Ever since Mater got to steer their truck on the way home from dinner, Alphonse has been after me to drive something. I thought the tractor might be a good starting place. Turns out he will need something to stand on, as his legs don't exactly fit -

He certainly is into this driving. However, the bouncing of the tractor was more than he could handle. So, we will have to try again later. You can see his problem in the picture on the right.

Before we started, Al had to check everything out. He stuck his head down in the gas filler pipe to check the gas level. I didn't tell him there was a gas gage on the back of the tractor! He also checked the ammeter and running time gages.

Al made me take him to Walmart to get Miss Betty a mother's day gift. I guess he felt he had some making up to do. We'll see how it works.

A few days later -

When I came in from the shop I heard noises in the computer room closet. Looking there, I found Alphonse with a new friend. His new friend appeared to be a duck. I wish I knew why he takes all of his friends to the computer room closet.

Alphonse and his new friend hopped down to a different shelf and Al introduced me. He said his friend was a duck and his name was Af. So now we have Al & Af. It also turns out , after figuring out that Geese say HONK and ducks say Quack, Af says neither! All he ever says, to me anyway, is "AFLAC". I guess he and Al communicate somehow. At least they seem to be having a good time. I still don't how Al met Af. I suppose he will tell me in time. I also, don't know how long Af intends to stay.

A few days later - it's a nice day

We went out to work in the yard, and naturally Al wanted to help. We said he could use the hoe in the trailer. He was kinda sad because he couldn't budge it. Only about 50 times his weight. That was the end of his help. Next he was playing in the wheel barrow.

Al had to check out the bar-b-q grill. Didn't have much to say about it except it looked dirty to him. The he played around on the smoker for a while.

Well, after all his hard work he stretched out along the cool concrete, in the shade and slept the rest of the afternoon. I can't wait till he helps on some other project.

Another Day

I took Al to the shop with me this morning. He promised not to be any trouble. He did good - in fact, he was so good I forgot he was there. So, when lunch time came around, I locked him in the shop. As we were eating lunch, my wife noticed him looking out of the window. He was a bit frantic. It looked like he thought he was in jail. Anyway, I got him out so he could visit with us at lunch.

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