Tippit gets a fence

Not exactly breaking news on CNN or anything, and nothing remotely significant for those of you out there in the world at large, but for the residents at 4806 Avenue O in the enduring burg known as Galveston, Texas—feline, canine, and, especially, this old monkey—a new backyard fence is, well, huge!

Tip ponders the driveway

Tip ponders the driveway

They say that fences make for good neighbors. And while I’m sure that’s true, I’m also certain that they make for fewer lawsuits, especially when a frequent inhabitant of said fenced backyard is one up and coming American Pit Bull Terrier.

That would be Tippy, of course.

So, like a responsible citizen, not to mention paranoid owner of a potentially lethal canine breed, I began interviewing contractors to see if I could find one who could actually put up a simple chain-link fence. All I wanted to do was finish enclosing the already partially fenced backyard, and also construct a small dog run/kennel in the rear corner. All just chain-link, folks. Keep the dog in, keep it simple, nothing special. Read the rest of this entry »

Wrapping pipes in Galveston? Why, this is an outrage!

What ever happened to our alleged subtropical climate?

What happened to the mild winters and extended growing season for flowers and fronds that I was so looking forward to?

Christmas Tippit

Christmas Tippit

Where the heck is global warming when we need it?!

Okay, so with island temperatures slated to drop into the upper 20s by Thursday night, I’m off to wrap five outdoor faucets and all the copper water pipe feeding the garage apartment behind the house.

The pipe, although technically indoors, is nevertheless entirely exposed, the former owner of the property having never insulated or sheetrocked the ceiling or walls of the two-bay garage below the apartment.

The logic of this omission, perhaps, was that (a) it doesn’t freeze around these parts (ha!) and/or (b) should there be another inundation due to hurricane, with no insulation or sheetrock in the garage, there would be that much less soggy, moldy building material to tear out and replace. Although (a) has proven to be a vicious lie, the logic behind (b) does have some merit. Read the rest of this entry »