There's been a blog delay while I got a few gifts together and did some baking this month. One of the major items was getting a dozen of my short stories online for folks to read if they wished; a couple friends and relatives have ereaders, so I was on a learning curve to set these up in downloadable formats. Anyway... (The Crazy Dozen @ http://pickledtales.com - one of my favorites is 'The Survey Taker Rides Again' and I think Jim will enjoy it.)
So - thoughts on 2010. A year ago in January I wood-burned a sign "It's Getting Weirder". I was right, and it still is. Between weather and Wikileaks, seems everything is more agitated. People's lives are fairly disturbed, too - finances are challenged, folks are moving around, and a bit of Active Instability occurring. This explains Matt getting divorced and married in the same month, a friend going through 4-5 jobs that didn't pan out, cars going ka-blooey, a close friend reappearing temporarily and disappearing thoroughly, a new friend stepping in that is seriously trying to take care of me ---- 4 kinds of chocolate and a back massage for Christmas... AND he read my short stories!
Just proves we're not immune to 'the weirdness' here, but learning to flow with it or stay centered (in the eye of the hurricane it's calm) is challenging - and no, I'm no good at this, either. That we're not battling severe floods or house collapsing or power outages or total chaos makes it easier. So much of the world is getting clobbered by extreme weather and it isn't letting up. We have a predicted 7 - 11 more inches of snow coming through New Year's Day, which makes me glad I put "the snow support" over my room - amen!
I know - a touch of spring fever already, looking forward to shoveling off the 'snow support' and sitting coatless in the sun. I shoveled the first round yesterday, so I'm thinking the current batch is Dennis's and Sera's to deal with. I've learned to drape a tarp over my car when the forecast suggests it; makes it a lot easier to clear the car when I'm ready. We're at the bottom of a lovely little hill that likes to challenge vehicles. I thought the plow-guy was being nice dumping sand, and then I realized he was stuck for 10 minutes and was dumping it to get himself out.
Now... did you know Coca-Cola owns Minute Maid? I just found out, though I am aware of these 'companies within companies'. I wonder how many of various products actually end up owned by very few companies, which do control our lives to some extent. Aren't we all glad Wall Street bankers had a banner year while minimum wage in some areas went up a dime? Folks are starting to clue in "there's something sour in our monetary system" but it's a tangled web intended to deceive. That Wall Street rakes in profits while states are going bankrupt is a symptom of the insanity. I doubt Wikileaks can share much on it that would surprise me.
This seems like a rather boring post, and I apologize if it seems so to you, too. I will share a little news blip: gent was 106 years old and gave up smoking. Hello, if he's made it 106 years without smoking killing him, then maybe it's not a good idea to switch now! Odds are his system will get confused and viruses will have a field day setting up shop, leading to his demise. This is an untested personal observation, but I've seen a few middle-agers quit smoking only to die within a few years from unrelated causes. Folks will suggest they should have quit sooner, but another possible conclusion is 'upsetting the apple cart' - a body is used to operating under set chemical conditions - habituated, if you wish - and a radical change could leave an opening for anything to develop. It's a bit like turning the soil in a field and leaving it for any opportunistic seed to grow.
I'm curious if Attitude doesn't affect one's health more in the long run; guilt and shame (socially levied) could wear a person into cancer, while 'a death wish' could strangle a person with alcohol or prescription meds (don't get me started on that one!) or suicidal driving. Stress eats people, regardless of personal habits. Case in point, my dad told me of a health guru on TV, wonderful gent in his late forties, looked like he was in his mid-twenties. 'Live' TV back then, and the guy had a heart attack and died on-air - go figure! Dad was about to change his evil ways but decided all that health-living wasn't all it was cracked up to be, lit up his pipe, filled his coffee cup and had a piece of chocolate. I suggest stressing over anything, including health, is BAD for you!
Now all I need to do is past this invaluable advice on to my supervisor and children and bill collectors... BTW, my supervisor quit smoking, has a good deal of stress related to this situation; I wonder how her health will be in a year (I know, blame the smoking, not the stress or attitude). If there's a healthy way to quit smoking, then it doesn't include Chantix - potentially deadly side affects and increased suicidal thoughts - or eating oneself into a grave. Well, how do you apply a negative and expect things to turn out positive?
That's a conversation I had with my sister. She's been 'fighting to quit' for some time - note the term, 'fighting'. Inner battle then, part of her seriously doesn't want to quit or she wouldn't be battling it continuously. I suggest folks don't beat themselves up over it because this is not a healthy approach! Your body and mind will hear your angst, and produce conditions to reflect it if you repeat it often enough. Ever wonder what the benefits are of getting sick?
A person doesn't think this way normally, but there are situations that 'generate ill health' - sometimes just so you'll take a break and not 'do what you didn't want to do in the first place' like burning yourself out on a job or holidays. Kid on crutches here has figured out, despite her ability to do pretty much anything she wants and hop around in all directions, that she can get folks to do it for her if she hangs a sad face on. I don't claim this is the only reason for ill health and I'd be absolutely wrong to do so; too many other influences, including possible past-life issues, to be this glib.
It just seems wise to ask yourself when a bug strikes, "What's the potential benefits of me being sick right now?" and answering honestly. Sometimes we all need a break but won't allow it until we're knocked flat and we can justify it. Sometimes we wear ourselves this thin with pressure before we'll surrender.
Sure, and there's a scene in The Celestine Prophecy series where he sprains his ankle; they ask him what the benefit is, and he indignantly denies any until he thinks about it some. It ties to a past situation in his youth and gives him time to think more thoroughly before proceeding in a given direction. He couldn't have done this without 'spraining his ankle', so he did. It could have been a fluke accident, but it was what he needed at the time.
Gads, reminds me of the lady that became fully paralyzed for no apparent reason, spent about a year 'doing nothing'... but thinking. Hard lesson, but what a change this must have brought into her life, hmm? Talk about losing control, letting others serve you, pondering this thing called Life in a way none of us would ever wish for! Considering I don't even sit still well, I'd have gone stark raving mad.
Personally, I'm wondering if my glasses are helping or hurting me. They keep upping the strength; I imagine this just encourages weaker vision in the long run, kind of like a cast on a leg weakens muscles. Actually, just high-top boots continously will weaken ankles, making it difficult to wear 'regular shoes' any length of time (happened with an ex-). In some possible universe, reducing the strength of glasses may help eyes 'get back to seeing', much like the boots above. I'm my own worst enemy on this; too much computer and tend to leave 'reading' glasses on while roaming the house. I'll have to give myself a stern lecture. I also think sometimes "we've seen too much" and our bodies adjust to serve this. A few interesting reports on hypnotism showed folks could read fine without glasses while 'under the influence' -- how can that be??
Great. I hope whatever 2011 dishes up, it's wonderful and enchanting and glorious. A piece of wisdom (from Celestine Prophecies, again) is: See Beauty. I try to remember this, but sometimes I have to stretch for it, like on a slick road on a grey day where the planet seems to be weary. I do know it does help relieve stress whenever a person can achieve this state. I bet it helps eyes see better, too!
I plan on writing this blog a bit more frequently in 2011, barring crises, major crisis, solar flares or other phenomenon. It's a little gift to those who read it. :)
I'd love to hear from others how they think 2011 will develop, because I have a feeling it's gonna get wilder. Wondering what others' gut impressions are and any suggestions for staying sane...
'Hugs as big as the blizzard' going out to all of you.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Mental Wandering
Thought I'd let my mind roam and see where it ended up. Jim's responses to my last post added to the mix - I'm starting to think there are vast dimensions and wildernesses inside our heads if we but wander the trails. With all the new virtual-reality devices, can you imagine if they were linked to what's in our heads?
Does a bigger maze exist?
New-friend Terry came to visit Friday evening, stayed the night to help me out on Saturday. In a 24 hour period, he was exposed to 'old Neil Young' while I meandered paths associated to Eric and the upcoming 10-year anniversary of his passing. Awfully busy 10 years it's been, keeping a grip on this world while bumping into Spirits - some in flesh, some 'just hanging out with me' in an unseen way.
Roaming around in my head and past, Neil Young and John Lennon at age 16, getting stoned so Life wasn't so sharp. Changes in the home, Vietnam raging, Social Security failing, Silent Spring and toxic waste, nuclear weapons and humanity's ability to wipe out all life '10 times over'. It seemed redundant to me at the time, because if we could wipe out life just once or twice we could put our energy into something more life-supporting. I figured living was a daily crap-shoot, as individuals and as a species. Pondered religion and reincarnation, stared into the swamp at another world of insects and plants, concluded I was 'about like a bug' from a larger perspective.
This wasn't a negative thought to me. Being just a little piece of Life in a great big cosmos was reassuring, and everything was okay then. Decades later, I'm still a little piece of Life in a great big cosmos, pondering religion and reincarnation, watching Social Security squirm and toxic waste and humanity's inhumanity... and listening again to Neil. His music was a constant while I worked at the plastics plant and Eric was spiraling towards his departure. Driving to Duluth to pick up Eric, Neil kept me company. "Old Man" is as connected to my dad now as it was then, and as the song says, "I'm a lot like you."
Dad had his tobacco and coffee and chocolate. He was stubborn, independent, mostly a loner and loved his land. He told me he felt God a lot more out in the fields than he did in church. Sometimes he'd get going on a project and 'couldn't stop' until three or four in the morning. He roamed cross-country as a young adult for ten years, having Adventures and sometimes doing not-so-bright stuff. Yeah, Dad - I'm a lot like you.
Wherever Neil Young is, I hope he keeps on singing for a couple more decades.
What I'm also noticing is that there is a shift in human consciousness occurring, and it seems to be in all areas. Heading towards a Convergence? I can hope! Started another IT class online this week, and in the postings, one student had been part of a paranormal research group and the instructor responded with a comment on 'energy weirdness' occasionally hitting computer systems. This is not a dialogue that would have occurred a few decades ago - are we catching up to ourselves? Youtube has a good video trying to explain a 'Salvia experience' and the concept of losing "I" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1gfezZIO1o - jump over to Terrence McKenna's "The Singularity" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8v8mgwuubU - and perception on "Time Acceleration" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLc6i29yhDM&feature=related -you're about on track with friend Terry's last 24 hours with me.
I previously subjected him to Walt Disney's "It's a Small World After All" and Alice in Wonderland tune and the sound of pulsars drumming http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHEVo-LkDrQ Last night I 'needed cartoons' and ended up watching Johnny Bravo three times - gotta love the pyscho-squirrel in this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k83lg34Z-FU&feature=related
Betwixt and between, it seemed on Saturday it'd be wise to finally get the tarp over the 'snow support'... since it was snowing. I thought "10 minutes - stretch it out, hammer in a few staples" - I was wrong. Terry tends to have a little less optimism in things staying put, so nailed in some boards and such. This little project took a few hours in the wet slush after I did some house-cleaning and then fetched Dennis home. In other words, I finally made some omelets about three in the afternoon, thereby pushing breakfast to a new level.
Life being Real, Sera came home with the little grandkids for the night, and they proceeded to glue up styrofoam balls and popsicle sticks and beans into odd snow-creatures. "Happy mess" I guess is the best way to describe it.
So if we are finally collectively moving forward, or maybe out of our swamp into a larger world, then maybe Universal Design is stirring up the mud on us. From a bigger perspective than me, this too may just be a "happy mess" - one we're participating in, losing tadpole tails and growing wings for the next leap forward. Seems to me, if bugs can do it, there's a good chance we can, too.
The question is, can we stay sane through it, or do we really need to lose our minds? I can say, if Terrence is right, tripping back and forth between salvia-reality and earth is a quite shocking experience, one that brings discomfort as perceptions blur. A lot of folks don't like the affects, much the same I would think a swamp-bug would enjoy being scooped out of the water. If the New Reality is pyschadelic and we're part of it... yeah, no wonder we can't conceive it properly and we're all going a little nuts.
With another 'time jump' slated for February 2011 (Mayan Calendar Comes North, Lungold), we may all be a little nuttier soon. Hopefully, all the good stuff of humanity leaps with us. Truth of it, most of my friends seem capable of recognizing this shift, each in his or her own way. Especially 'the '70's kids', growing through that decade (1960's-'70's) of radical change. Maybe we made a few jumps out of the water then that will serve us well now... Jim, David, Rich and others should understand this.
We might be running out of 'Time', but we're running into Something. Anyone have a clue where we'll end up?
It seems to be holding pretty accurate; my supervisor, regional office and headquarters all are scrambling for a more reassuring solidity - now we're getting GPS and wireless transmissions. That might help a little bit on the planet, but where the hell are we in the cosmos? This level doesn't 'do pyschadelics well' - how do you count Spirits in multi-dimensions and keep track of hours if there is no Time? Some things we'll just have to let go of.
Here's a possible clue: when time seems to slow down or speed up, we get dizzy during the shift. Watch a cartoon in fast-forward or listen to a tune in the dark on super-slow - you're not 'moving' per se, but your perception gets a bit warped. I wonder what would happen if a person was subjected to these conditions steadily for a week or two and then 'brought back to normal'. I bet they'd be a bit unhinged. NO - I'm not going to try this! But it's easy to see where we'd all be a bit dizzy during perception shifts. Does it help to know why you're dizzy?
Yup, and the calm place to be in a hurricane is in the eye of the storm. Yup, another Neil Young tune... If you stir up this posting, you have a glimpse of 'me' in a 24-hour period. Now I'm going to go 'feel outside' for a few minutes and make a tobacco offering to the earth spirits. About the same thing I did when I was 15, and it's weird to see most of what I thought back then I still think now. Really weird - I thought I might outgrow it, but never did. I think you all can relate!
Does a bigger maze exist?
New-friend Terry came to visit Friday evening, stayed the night to help me out on Saturday. In a 24 hour period, he was exposed to 'old Neil Young' while I meandered paths associated to Eric and the upcoming 10-year anniversary of his passing. Awfully busy 10 years it's been, keeping a grip on this world while bumping into Spirits - some in flesh, some 'just hanging out with me' in an unseen way.
Roaming around in my head and past, Neil Young and John Lennon at age 16, getting stoned so Life wasn't so sharp. Changes in the home, Vietnam raging, Social Security failing, Silent Spring and toxic waste, nuclear weapons and humanity's ability to wipe out all life '10 times over'. It seemed redundant to me at the time, because if we could wipe out life just once or twice we could put our energy into something more life-supporting. I figured living was a daily crap-shoot, as individuals and as a species. Pondered religion and reincarnation, stared into the swamp at another world of insects and plants, concluded I was 'about like a bug' from a larger perspective.
This wasn't a negative thought to me. Being just a little piece of Life in a great big cosmos was reassuring, and everything was okay then. Decades later, I'm still a little piece of Life in a great big cosmos, pondering religion and reincarnation, watching Social Security squirm and toxic waste and humanity's inhumanity... and listening again to Neil. His music was a constant while I worked at the plastics plant and Eric was spiraling towards his departure. Driving to Duluth to pick up Eric, Neil kept me company. "Old Man" is as connected to my dad now as it was then, and as the song says, "I'm a lot like you."
Dad had his tobacco and coffee and chocolate. He was stubborn, independent, mostly a loner and loved his land. He told me he felt God a lot more out in the fields than he did in church. Sometimes he'd get going on a project and 'couldn't stop' until three or four in the morning. He roamed cross-country as a young adult for ten years, having Adventures and sometimes doing not-so-bright stuff. Yeah, Dad - I'm a lot like you.
Wherever Neil Young is, I hope he keeps on singing for a couple more decades.
What I'm also noticing is that there is a shift in human consciousness occurring, and it seems to be in all areas. Heading towards a Convergence? I can hope! Started another IT class online this week, and in the postings, one student had been part of a paranormal research group and the instructor responded with a comment on 'energy weirdness' occasionally hitting computer systems. This is not a dialogue that would have occurred a few decades ago - are we catching up to ourselves? Youtube has a good video trying to explain a 'Salvia experience' and the concept of losing "I" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1gfezZIO1o - jump over to Terrence McKenna's "The Singularity" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8v8mgwuubU - and perception on "Time Acceleration" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLc6i29yhDM&feature=related -you're about on track with friend Terry's last 24 hours with me.
I previously subjected him to Walt Disney's "It's a Small World After All" and Alice in Wonderland tune and the sound of pulsars drumming http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHEVo-LkDrQ Last night I 'needed cartoons' and ended up watching Johnny Bravo three times - gotta love the pyscho-squirrel in this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k83lg34Z-FU&feature=related
Betwixt and between, it seemed on Saturday it'd be wise to finally get the tarp over the 'snow support'... since it was snowing. I thought "10 minutes - stretch it out, hammer in a few staples" - I was wrong. Terry tends to have a little less optimism in things staying put, so nailed in some boards and such. This little project took a few hours in the wet slush after I did some house-cleaning and then fetched Dennis home. In other words, I finally made some omelets about three in the afternoon, thereby pushing breakfast to a new level.
Life being Real, Sera came home with the little grandkids for the night, and they proceeded to glue up styrofoam balls and popsicle sticks and beans into odd snow-creatures. "Happy mess" I guess is the best way to describe it.
So if we are finally collectively moving forward, or maybe out of our swamp into a larger world, then maybe Universal Design is stirring up the mud on us. From a bigger perspective than me, this too may just be a "happy mess" - one we're participating in, losing tadpole tails and growing wings for the next leap forward. Seems to me, if bugs can do it, there's a good chance we can, too.
The question is, can we stay sane through it, or do we really need to lose our minds? I can say, if Terrence is right, tripping back and forth between salvia-reality and earth is a quite shocking experience, one that brings discomfort as perceptions blur. A lot of folks don't like the affects, much the same I would think a swamp-bug would enjoy being scooped out of the water. If the New Reality is pyschadelic and we're part of it... yeah, no wonder we can't conceive it properly and we're all going a little nuts.
With another 'time jump' slated for February 2011 (Mayan Calendar Comes North, Lungold), we may all be a little nuttier soon. Hopefully, all the good stuff of humanity leaps with us. Truth of it, most of my friends seem capable of recognizing this shift, each in his or her own way. Especially 'the '70's kids', growing through that decade (1960's-'70's) of radical change. Maybe we made a few jumps out of the water then that will serve us well now... Jim, David, Rich and others should understand this.
We might be running out of 'Time', but we're running into Something. Anyone have a clue where we'll end up?
It seems to be holding pretty accurate; my supervisor, regional office and headquarters all are scrambling for a more reassuring solidity - now we're getting GPS and wireless transmissions. That might help a little bit on the planet, but where the hell are we in the cosmos? This level doesn't 'do pyschadelics well' - how do you count Spirits in multi-dimensions and keep track of hours if there is no Time? Some things we'll just have to let go of.
Here's a possible clue: when time seems to slow down or speed up, we get dizzy during the shift. Watch a cartoon in fast-forward or listen to a tune in the dark on super-slow - you're not 'moving' per se, but your perception gets a bit warped. I wonder what would happen if a person was subjected to these conditions steadily for a week or two and then 'brought back to normal'. I bet they'd be a bit unhinged. NO - I'm not going to try this! But it's easy to see where we'd all be a bit dizzy during perception shifts. Does it help to know why you're dizzy?
Yup, and the calm place to be in a hurricane is in the eye of the storm. Yup, another Neil Young tune... If you stir up this posting, you have a glimpse of 'me' in a 24-hour period. Now I'm going to go 'feel outside' for a few minutes and make a tobacco offering to the earth spirits. About the same thing I did when I was 15, and it's weird to see most of what I thought back then I still think now. Really weird - I thought I might outgrow it, but never did. I think you all can relate!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Buddha and my Car
I was a'drivin' and a'thinkin' and a'drivin' and a'thinkin'... I realized Buddha had his tree, I have my car. Both vehicles of meditation, except it's best I don't get too zoned out behind the wheel and I am much more attached to my car than Buddha was his tree. I expect he would have just found another tree if the original fell over, but cars aren't that easy -- especially cars that fit right and are good for meditating in.
On a sad note, my old Acura of 5 years (saw me through Elise's passing and a relationship start to finish, along with massive hours of thinkin' time) died beginning of this month. Engine seized up, though I did have the timing belt changed when it was due. Death of a mechanical friend. Double-hit, in that I didn't have back-up funds for another (thought it'd run through the winter fine, barring deer and accidents) and it really was an emotional loss (I know - I need more friends).
Frantic searching led me to the only aged Acura that was compatible with the original (now a parts car, kind of like an organ donor) in Minnesota. Had to wipe out a paycheck - so much for bills - and borrow to get it, but... It's 99.9% identical to Old Faithful! Same interior, knew right my coffee cup went; programmed the radio with barely a glance; switched glove box stuff and all personal items to their proper places, no confusion necessary. My mechanic exchanged a wheel bearing between them, and I rapidly put 2000 miles on it (2 weeks). We had to switch the thermostat this week, but I'd replaced OF's this spring, so it was only a few months used.
Car-lita (seemed suitable) has already had the 'hatch of Jaws' open for hauling home 2 large wood dog houses (thought the cats would like a spot for dry paws), I've already done a bunch of thinkin' in it, and now that some of the original parts are in it... If cars have spirit, then maybe the old one came along for the ride. (More hours alone in that car than I've spent with most people, I'm willing to admit it was a bit of a relationship - I talked, it listened; I daresay Something was listening!)
That's when I realized Buddha had his tree. Nowadays, he'd have to own it and pay property taxes on it and trim it off his neighbor's fence and cut it down if the city found it bugged, because if he just went out to sit under a tree, the DNR or someone would come along and order him off or haul him in as a loony-tune. Today's society would try to analyze him and test him for normalcy and try some med's on him or charge him for vagrancy (gotta love it when they fine you for not having money, hmm?). THIS is why I don't sit under a tree for a few weeks!
No one knows you're really thinking about big things when you're driving. Of course, getting to the big things usually means wading through a lot of little things, like losing one's car or what the devil to do about the furnace. If there really was a fiery hell below, it might not be a bad idea to tap into it about now; my luck, it's froze over. Sigh, will have to call the Furnace Doctor.
So what other small things might be going on in my small life, you ask? Will you never learn? There was a chance friend David might stop by, and since he's been going through chemo- and his immune system is none too strong, I figured I'd best gut the bathroom ceiling and its mold before he stopped by. Since the bathroom project has been planned some time, I did happen to have a spare tub in the yard and a cabinet-sink on the porch; made sense to do it all, then.
New tub (used from Habitat, $50 a year ago, been in the yard awhile) was a corner tub, of a size to barely fit. Managed to jam 'er in, barely, but the built-in step was inches away from 'the throne'. Awkward, in other words. Now, it wasn't a tub I could return and it seemed Val might object if I knocked her wall out and stuck a tub into her room, so it seemed to me removing the step was logical - and I had a jig-saw. Terry was trying to help with this project, and tends to do things a bit more professionally, but he's in My World now. While he hesitated, I figured couldn't do no harm and ripped off the step - the other option being put back the old tub, which we'd just taken out.
Ta-da! It fit. I will put some nice little woodwork across the gap, but it's in and working. Almost had to grease the sides, but one can usually coax a half-inch here or there if necessary - right?
And friend David couldn't stop by after all, due to bus schedules being weird; it's seven hours from Brainerd to Duluth by bus, but only three hours from Minneapolis to Duluth. This is because they route you back through Minneapolis to get to Duluth. And y'all were thinkin' I wasn't too logical!
On the slightly weird side, and yes - I know, Jim, LEAVE THE SUPERGLUE ALONE - but I'd bought a 3-pack. The one tube was a bit crushed and dry looking, so I stuck an oversized tack in it to prove it, and it was pretty much not-dry. Since I was holding it, I turned it upside down, then realized I had my good jeans on, so wisely held it away from me, which is when I superglued my toes together. Of course I reacted rapidly to a puddle of superglue running off my foot and peeled my digits apart before they stuck together in one big blob. Which is when I realized I best remove my fingers from my toes before I was glued in this position...
And I can say, I've never done that before!
On a sad note, my old Acura of 5 years (saw me through Elise's passing and a relationship start to finish, along with massive hours of thinkin' time) died beginning of this month. Engine seized up, though I did have the timing belt changed when it was due. Death of a mechanical friend. Double-hit, in that I didn't have back-up funds for another (thought it'd run through the winter fine, barring deer and accidents) and it really was an emotional loss (I know - I need more friends).
Frantic searching led me to the only aged Acura that was compatible with the original (now a parts car, kind of like an organ donor) in Minnesota. Had to wipe out a paycheck - so much for bills - and borrow to get it, but... It's 99.9% identical to Old Faithful! Same interior, knew right my coffee cup went; programmed the radio with barely a glance; switched glove box stuff and all personal items to their proper places, no confusion necessary. My mechanic exchanged a wheel bearing between them, and I rapidly put 2000 miles on it (2 weeks). We had to switch the thermostat this week, but I'd replaced OF's this spring, so it was only a few months used.
Car-lita (seemed suitable) has already had the 'hatch of Jaws' open for hauling home 2 large wood dog houses (thought the cats would like a spot for dry paws), I've already done a bunch of thinkin' in it, and now that some of the original parts are in it... If cars have spirit, then maybe the old one came along for the ride. (More hours alone in that car than I've spent with most people, I'm willing to admit it was a bit of a relationship - I talked, it listened; I daresay Something was listening!)
That's when I realized Buddha had his tree. Nowadays, he'd have to own it and pay property taxes on it and trim it off his neighbor's fence and cut it down if the city found it bugged, because if he just went out to sit under a tree, the DNR or someone would come along and order him off or haul him in as a loony-tune. Today's society would try to analyze him and test him for normalcy and try some med's on him or charge him for vagrancy (gotta love it when they fine you for not having money, hmm?). THIS is why I don't sit under a tree for a few weeks!
No one knows you're really thinking about big things when you're driving. Of course, getting to the big things usually means wading through a lot of little things, like losing one's car or what the devil to do about the furnace. If there really was a fiery hell below, it might not be a bad idea to tap into it about now; my luck, it's froze over. Sigh, will have to call the Furnace Doctor.
So what other small things might be going on in my small life, you ask? Will you never learn? There was a chance friend David might stop by, and since he's been going through chemo- and his immune system is none too strong, I figured I'd best gut the bathroom ceiling and its mold before he stopped by. Since the bathroom project has been planned some time, I did happen to have a spare tub in the yard and a cabinet-sink on the porch; made sense to do it all, then.
New tub (used from Habitat, $50 a year ago, been in the yard awhile) was a corner tub, of a size to barely fit. Managed to jam 'er in, barely, but the built-in step was inches away from 'the throne'. Awkward, in other words. Now, it wasn't a tub I could return and it seemed Val might object if I knocked her wall out and stuck a tub into her room, so it seemed to me removing the step was logical - and I had a jig-saw. Terry was trying to help with this project, and tends to do things a bit more professionally, but he's in My World now. While he hesitated, I figured couldn't do no harm and ripped off the step - the other option being put back the old tub, which we'd just taken out.
Ta-da! It fit. I will put some nice little woodwork across the gap, but it's in and working. Almost had to grease the sides, but one can usually coax a half-inch here or there if necessary - right?
And friend David couldn't stop by after all, due to bus schedules being weird; it's seven hours from Brainerd to Duluth by bus, but only three hours from Minneapolis to Duluth. This is because they route you back through Minneapolis to get to Duluth. And y'all were thinkin' I wasn't too logical!
On the slightly weird side, and yes - I know, Jim, LEAVE THE SUPERGLUE ALONE - but I'd bought a 3-pack. The one tube was a bit crushed and dry looking, so I stuck an oversized tack in it to prove it, and it was pretty much not-dry. Since I was holding it, I turned it upside down, then realized I had my good jeans on, so wisely held it away from me, which is when I superglued my toes together. Of course I reacted rapidly to a puddle of superglue running off my foot and peeled my digits apart before they stuck together in one big blob. Which is when I realized I best remove my fingers from my toes before I was glued in this position...
And I can say, I've never done that before!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
I have an entourage...
Okay, so my entourage is only 4 and they all have fur, but when I'm working outside, they trail me back and forth. If I break for lunch or a snack, they're right there; if I walk around a building, they're on my heels (just in case it's interesting, I guess). Not exactly rock-star status, but I do have a following?
So what's up in my world, you ask... Well, I'm up on the roof again. It just happened that the Universe (via Bill) donated a few carloads of 2x4's and deck boards and 2x6's. Since my finances went out the door when I paid back property taxes (had house refinance this summer, they always wrapped the back taxes into it, but they didn't this time; Sera handled the refinance, so I wasn't aware of this until August) and house insurance went up (August surprise, again) and I actually had a licensed carpenter (!! who, me? - older friend my sons hung out with) 'pitch off' 1/2 the main house (where the leaking redeveloped, and these folks like to use new materials) --- suffice it to say, I couldn't scare up another $500 to finish pitching the roof across the addition.
But there... growing in the yard... was a perfectly good pile of wood. It all seemed to fit together just fine to whack a 'snow support' over the addition - I empathetically refuse to consider this a deck. It happens to look like a deck just because that's the wood I had available to use, but I wouldn't have put out this energy now for a deck if this roof wasn't a continual winter hazard -- I would work hard though for a 'snow support' protecting the old roof.
No one thought this was the best plan, but it was do-able. I had enough 2x4's to double them as framing supports, under 7 feet long, so these became cross-beams between 2x6's. Three sets of them spanned a major portion of the addition, under which is my room. I had 3 main goals to accomplish with this: keep snow weight off the old roof, which is weak and a bit warped; prevent ice berms along the edge that back up water and create leaks at -20 temps (requiring chiseling and shoveling, which tears up the rolled roofing); create an air space, which is mostly missing in the 2x4 original roof design (which I didn't do!) during the worst of the cold.
Everytime I checked the winter forecast and it said, "cold and snow," I'd get jittery about what to do with this portion of the roof. I had a stack of used deck boards but not much else until Bill volunteered some of the wood stacked about his place "enough to get the job done". If the Universe is going to provide the materials, I'm going to put them where I think they'll do the most good; being on the ground doesn't accomplish much, so figured I'd put them on the roof.
Depending on what comes first, this is either a "2012 observation platform" or a temporary fix until we have a spare $500 to complete the pitch-roof Tom started, at which time I can pull this down in an afternoon and put a deck somewhere else. Odds of us having a few spare $500's around here doesn't look likely, and the other 1/2 of the main structure would benefit from continuing Tom's design - but that section isn't critical or leaking.
I'm thinking I'll cover this platform with a few tarps when the snow flies to prevent icing on 'the real roof'. I'm totally expecting this to be a huge bonus in the next few months when I'm not mucking around on the ##@! (gol-darned) roof at subzero temps. I'll post a picture when I take one, and I did meet a man who refused to let me tackle this project on my own, so I've had some back-up and experienced help (i.e. I'm not winging it totally on my own).
Whew. Getting this roof secured is a huge relief.
I do have a picture to share, but it's plants. I found something I can grow? Tobacco... Sure, my cantelope are only slightly larger than baseballs, but check this out:
So what's up in my world, you ask... Well, I'm up on the roof again. It just happened that the Universe (via Bill) donated a few carloads of 2x4's and deck boards and 2x6's. Since my finances went out the door when I paid back property taxes (had house refinance this summer, they always wrapped the back taxes into it, but they didn't this time; Sera handled the refinance, so I wasn't aware of this until August) and house insurance went up (August surprise, again) and I actually had a licensed carpenter (!! who, me? - older friend my sons hung out with) 'pitch off' 1/2 the main house (where the leaking redeveloped, and these folks like to use new materials) --- suffice it to say, I couldn't scare up another $500 to finish pitching the roof across the addition.
But there... growing in the yard... was a perfectly good pile of wood. It all seemed to fit together just fine to whack a 'snow support' over the addition - I empathetically refuse to consider this a deck. It happens to look like a deck just because that's the wood I had available to use, but I wouldn't have put out this energy now for a deck if this roof wasn't a continual winter hazard -- I would work hard though for a 'snow support' protecting the old roof.
No one thought this was the best plan, but it was do-able. I had enough 2x4's to double them as framing supports, under 7 feet long, so these became cross-beams between 2x6's. Three sets of them spanned a major portion of the addition, under which is my room. I had 3 main goals to accomplish with this: keep snow weight off the old roof, which is weak and a bit warped; prevent ice berms along the edge that back up water and create leaks at -20 temps (requiring chiseling and shoveling, which tears up the rolled roofing); create an air space, which is mostly missing in the 2x4 original roof design (which I didn't do!) during the worst of the cold.
Everytime I checked the winter forecast and it said, "cold and snow," I'd get jittery about what to do with this portion of the roof. I had a stack of used deck boards but not much else until Bill volunteered some of the wood stacked about his place "enough to get the job done". If the Universe is going to provide the materials, I'm going to put them where I think they'll do the most good; being on the ground doesn't accomplish much, so figured I'd put them on the roof.
Depending on what comes first, this is either a "2012 observation platform" or a temporary fix until we have a spare $500 to complete the pitch-roof Tom started, at which time I can pull this down in an afternoon and put a deck somewhere else. Odds of us having a few spare $500's around here doesn't look likely, and the other 1/2 of the main structure would benefit from continuing Tom's design - but that section isn't critical or leaking.
I'm thinking I'll cover this platform with a few tarps when the snow flies to prevent icing on 'the real roof'. I'm totally expecting this to be a huge bonus in the next few months when I'm not mucking around on the ##@! (gol-darned) roof at subzero temps. I'll post a picture when I take one, and I did meet a man who refused to let me tackle this project on my own, so I've had some back-up and experienced help (i.e. I'm not winging it totally on my own).
Whew. Getting this roof secured is a huge relief.
I do have a picture to share, but it's plants. I found something I can grow? Tobacco... Sure, my cantelope are only slightly larger than baseballs, but check this out:
Not a great picture, but the only one my son was willing to take when I interrupted his football game or such - does show how happy these plants seem to be, despite late planting and shade. I know, there are other tobacco-type products in greater demand, but I have my own lifetime habits - two in the picture, if you spotted the coffee cup. I won't get into health issues, since it seems everything Big Money touches is corrupted - chemicals in cigarettes, meats, veggies, shampoos and deodorants. And most the folks that scowl at my smoking happily toss back alcoholic beverages, so...
I won't mention the economy; I think we all know we're screwed until major changes occur (like reclaiming true US currency). I compared it to an elephant in the room, and all the professional economists are busy dealing with the crap but never realizing the elephant's there. Once the elephant is removed, the rest can be cleaned up. Shoveling it from one side of the room to the other is an exercise in futility - does make my 'snow support' seem downright logical in comparison.
If a person thinks we're in for a rough ride, then battening down the hatches is simply wise. I think they're b.s.'ing when they declared "the recession's over" - the same day Sera's work laid off another person. The good news is, folks are starting to be aware of the true problem, folks I meet on the street or at my job. Five years ago, I'd get a blank look if I mentioned some simple monetary facts, now others are aware and agreeing. This is a step in the right direction, unless you happen to be part of the elite monetary powers. I don't know anyone that qualifies, but someone's making a profit off the interest generated by the Federal Reserve - money won't be worth much, but asset ownership is going into the hands of the 'paper holders'. Ungodly suggestion off the internet, wherein the Federal Reserve (remember, private bankers) may buy up housing from banks "to help the economy" and just hold for resale... or creating serfs living on the master's property again?
Does anyone else realize how easily we could 'declare US of A bankrupt', close it down and reopen the next morning as 'the Collective States of America'? Old debts die with the old country, and nothing anyone could do about it. Clean slate, issue proper currency and take back our country. Does this make more sense than having so many foreign and international corporations 'owning' us? It seems logical to me, but then I built a 'snow support' against the advice of pretty much everybody because 'it felt right'.
For me, the next few months will prove if I'm weather-wise or not. For the country, the next few years will prove if we've got the brains to survive. In the meantime, I'll stock up on coffee and tobaccy and nettle for tea. Haven't tried growing coffee beans yet.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Life... Playing Dodgeball with the Universe
I was recalling days past and the game of Dodgeball in gym; I hated being a target and knowing the goal was to smack me as hard as possible from multiple directions and put me out. The way life's going, I realized this is a bit like the Universe, lobbing balls at folks and everyone trying to dodge 'em as best they can... And knowing full well one day "we'll all be out".
You're knowing what I'm talking about, I bet. Start feeling a little good about where you are in life, even if it's a bit patched up with hot dogs and beans, and then "never saw that one coming - whack!" Sometimes they're just small fluffy balls and don't sting too much, sometimes it's like a rubber-coated bowling ball plowing into you. Usually they're just 'life balls' one deals with, like suddenly discovering a piece of glass on the ground when you're barefoot.
Sometimes it seems you've attracted the attention of the Universe, and in Dodgeball, this is really not a good thing! As a kid, I'd try to keep a low profile in the back, but as fewer players were left standing, I knew I was going to attract attention -- really now, I had no desire to get hit!
Some would say, "It's just a game" referring to gym class, yet others would say the same thing about Life. From my perspective, all I saw were balls comin' at me.
A few unexpected balls landed lately, from a vet ER on Saturday and dog with a shunt in her leg for infection to Sera's car 'kind of requiring immediate mechanical attention'. Luckily a few 'happy balls' landed and made it possible to slog our way through a house-loan refinance (I won't mention daughter lost track of a few payments and went into a spiral catching up to appease the bank). Whappity-whappity-whappity-whap. Three Big Ones mostly targeting her, and she had the dubious honor of assisting the vet while the dog was being cut, cleaned, and stitched.
I caught the balls labeled "so the roof hasn't leaked until now, but with the really heavy rain, pieces of the bathroom ceiling will be plopping down" and "brake caliper time" and "strange lights on the dash". Truth of it, strange lights in the sky don't bother me as much as the ones on the dash do - luckily, this one was self-healing, car was just 'having a moment'.
So... 4500 miles spun in two months, two tires replaced and rotated to resolve a 60-mile an hour wobble, and The Day of the Corn. Oh, yes - that day. We'd finally switched the kitchen counters out, had the 'new-used' on the porch since December; we all know the fun of old copper water lines and moving sinks, I think. This did entail a bit of kitchen rearranging and building a 'jar shelf' while tearing out a cupboard, but that's... how it fit. Needed a new faucet, anyway, so did this while we were at it.
Everyone thinks I'm nuts when I bring home 10 dozen ears of corn to freeze up, but I've noticed they enjoy eating it (actually, Val's been eating it already 'as a snack' and I'm not too fond of this - she didn't help, and it's 'for winter'). Straight from the farmer's garden to the house, shuck it, blanch it, cut it, freeze it. That was the plan. Except there was a major puddle under the sink where a connection had got bent and failed.
Of course the kids were gone, unless one counts a 12-year old as a potential assistant, which made it My Problem. Unloading under-sink stuff, mopping, shutting off water to the house and flipping off the pump switch, finding various wrenches, towels, light source, plumber's tape; twisting into a pretzel to fit under the sink mildly cussing and filled with trepidation. Been there, haven't you? There's always the thought that you might really screw something up and the ensuing flood waters will engulf your house like quicksand.
The whole time I was mucking with this, I knew I had 10 dozen ears of corn waiting to be processed. Good news is, a few hours later I was able to get back to the corn, which took me into the later hours of the day.
While back on the roof... a family friend - also a carpenter - had the time right now to take on 'a real fix', so he's working with Dennis to build a proper slant over half of the house, i.e. the half that has all the fittings coming out over the bathroom. His way will also create a slant over the addition I'm in, taking the snow-weight off the shoddy flat roof (2x4 construction with 2-foot spacing) and adding an air gap. He'll frame it up, and we can take it from there, meaning once this is done, I can get on with the bathroom repairs and get the other tub in that's been sitting in the yard for a year.
See - 'living' is the stuff you do between balls, 'Life' is how you handle them. "That's life" - right, easier to say when it's not you behind the ball, hmm?
Oh, yeah, I also found out, while pulling the dryer and washer and wall out to get to the water heater for the vent pipe, that there is a faint whiff of foul stench, reminiscent of Decaying Rodent. This is quite possible, but it's one of those things if you ignore it long enough, it goes away; the only other option is to squiggle under the crawl space and try to locate the culprit, which is its own nightmare. We all know that smell, too, don't we?
Now then, hope the balls heading at you are all fluffy happy ones. :)
You're knowing what I'm talking about, I bet. Start feeling a little good about where you are in life, even if it's a bit patched up with hot dogs and beans, and then "never saw that one coming - whack!" Sometimes they're just small fluffy balls and don't sting too much, sometimes it's like a rubber-coated bowling ball plowing into you. Usually they're just 'life balls' one deals with, like suddenly discovering a piece of glass on the ground when you're barefoot.
Sometimes it seems you've attracted the attention of the Universe, and in Dodgeball, this is really not a good thing! As a kid, I'd try to keep a low profile in the back, but as fewer players were left standing, I knew I was going to attract attention -- really now, I had no desire to get hit!
Some would say, "It's just a game" referring to gym class, yet others would say the same thing about Life. From my perspective, all I saw were balls comin' at me.
A few unexpected balls landed lately, from a vet ER on Saturday and dog with a shunt in her leg for infection to Sera's car 'kind of requiring immediate mechanical attention'. Luckily a few 'happy balls' landed and made it possible to slog our way through a house-loan refinance (I won't mention daughter lost track of a few payments and went into a spiral catching up to appease the bank). Whappity-whappity-whappity-whap. Three Big Ones mostly targeting her, and she had the dubious honor of assisting the vet while the dog was being cut, cleaned, and stitched.
I caught the balls labeled "so the roof hasn't leaked until now, but with the really heavy rain, pieces of the bathroom ceiling will be plopping down" and "brake caliper time" and "strange lights on the dash". Truth of it, strange lights in the sky don't bother me as much as the ones on the dash do - luckily, this one was self-healing, car was just 'having a moment'.
So... 4500 miles spun in two months, two tires replaced and rotated to resolve a 60-mile an hour wobble, and The Day of the Corn. Oh, yes - that day. We'd finally switched the kitchen counters out, had the 'new-used' on the porch since December; we all know the fun of old copper water lines and moving sinks, I think. This did entail a bit of kitchen rearranging and building a 'jar shelf' while tearing out a cupboard, but that's... how it fit. Needed a new faucet, anyway, so did this while we were at it.
Everyone thinks I'm nuts when I bring home 10 dozen ears of corn to freeze up, but I've noticed they enjoy eating it (actually, Val's been eating it already 'as a snack' and I'm not too fond of this - she didn't help, and it's 'for winter'). Straight from the farmer's garden to the house, shuck it, blanch it, cut it, freeze it. That was the plan. Except there was a major puddle under the sink where a connection had got bent and failed.
Of course the kids were gone, unless one counts a 12-year old as a potential assistant, which made it My Problem. Unloading under-sink stuff, mopping, shutting off water to the house and flipping off the pump switch, finding various wrenches, towels, light source, plumber's tape; twisting into a pretzel to fit under the sink mildly cussing and filled with trepidation. Been there, haven't you? There's always the thought that you might really screw something up and the ensuing flood waters will engulf your house like quicksand.
The whole time I was mucking with this, I knew I had 10 dozen ears of corn waiting to be processed. Good news is, a few hours later I was able to get back to the corn, which took me into the later hours of the day.
While back on the roof... a family friend - also a carpenter - had the time right now to take on 'a real fix', so he's working with Dennis to build a proper slant over half of the house, i.e. the half that has all the fittings coming out over the bathroom. His way will also create a slant over the addition I'm in, taking the snow-weight off the shoddy flat roof (2x4 construction with 2-foot spacing) and adding an air gap. He'll frame it up, and we can take it from there, meaning once this is done, I can get on with the bathroom repairs and get the other tub in that's been sitting in the yard for a year.
See - 'living' is the stuff you do between balls, 'Life' is how you handle them. "That's life" - right, easier to say when it's not you behind the ball, hmm?
Oh, yeah, I also found out, while pulling the dryer and washer and wall out to get to the water heater for the vent pipe, that there is a faint whiff of foul stench, reminiscent of Decaying Rodent. This is quite possible, but it's one of those things if you ignore it long enough, it goes away; the only other option is to squiggle under the crawl space and try to locate the culprit, which is its own nightmare. We all know that smell, too, don't we?
Now then, hope the balls heading at you are all fluffy happy ones. :)
Sunday, July 11, 2010
The Moments of My Life
This one's for Jim. Just a Moment of my life frozen in time on Friday:
Had one of those 'sit still' moments, brought on by a red light. In my pocket was the First Reason I was going to Towne - a grocery list for Dennis and his friend (nice young lady) who were going camping. On the seat next to me was the Second Reason - consisting of Sera's flat tire. In the back seat were 4 pork chops contributed for dogs when Pete thought the meat had aged a day more than he wanted to risk. And I was chewing super-glue off my fingers.
It was 10:30 in the morning with a half-minute to contemplate the day thus far.
I started by driving 'the kids' to the campsite 8 miles away, but 4 miles are a narrow, dirt, winding road with speeds of 20 - 25 mph, so seems longer. They tossed up a tent and registered to reserve the spot, then I spun them back the other way to help Pete for a few hours. (Wise older folks learn to use young muscle when it's available.)
Plan was to get groceries and get home, but -. Sera called Pete before we got there, had a flat at home that wouldn't come loose. I went home instead to help. She had the lug nuts off, but the tire wouldn't break free, had the spare donut out. We tried inflating it first with a little gizmo that had banged around in my trunk some time.
Interesting gizmo, in that the switch was stuck so I pried it out and shorted across with a screwdriver to make it work... kind of. Tire wouldn't hold air. Tire wouldn't come loose. I went after a pry bar to convince it otherwise, but didn't need to use it. Sera in frustration squatted in front of it with her arms almost around it and gave a mighty jerk. It worked, though she landed on her back with the tire on top of her, missing the cardboard she'd put down to stay clean.
See, I have a bit more experience and was planning NOT to do it this way, figuring the pry bar would save my wrist from 'jerking out' too, but now Sera has her own experience to learn from - i.e., don't always believe the pictures in the manual and how easy it appears to be; keep a pry bar handy instead.
She headed off to work on the little tire and I offered to drop off the flat for repairs since I was going to Towne anyway. Betwixt this, she'd called brother Matt to get assistance if all else failed, so the phone was ringing; the youngest dog, under a year yet, didn't get let out during the tire exchange and left a pile by the door - suffice it to say one might think we had a horse in the house. These are the dogs the pork chops were for that Pete donated when I dropped off the kids.
The super glue "I opened the wrong way" the night before, coating all fingers successfully - which wasn't my intent.
This defines the moment that found me at the red light.
I didn't yet know the next few hours were aligning in equal pattern. I got home in time to call Sera with hours on the tire shop, stash groceries in refrig, change for 'professional look' for upcoming census appointment, then ran to pick up kids. They were packing for their outing while I caught the appointment... who wasn't home, anyway. While I was in that area, figured it'd be wisest to pick up the 3 bundles of wood and drop it off at their campsite (state park, approved wood only). Got home and delivered the kids to the camp.
Remember the dirt road? I hit some of the bumps left by a bad plow-job, the kind that feel like railroad tracks, going around one of the corners on the hill and this triggered my check engine light to go on. This isn't a light I've seen before, but everything else appeared fine; figured maybe something got knocked loose... or it'd resolve itself. Made the trip back a little more interesting than I wanted. Decided I'd let the car sit to sort itself out awhile before starting it again.
Luckily, this little light turned itself off and didn't require me to probe around where I don't belong - under the hood - or call my mechanic. Life finally went back to normal around here.
I think there was a spastic star moving through the universe, one of the monkey wrenches of time and space that grinds our gears. "Under the Influence" - Time just has a few extra warps in it to deal with. This is often mistaken for gremlins, but gremlins are isolated incidents, whereas spastic stars are like ripples of seemingly unconnected weirded bits.
Not sure if it's occurring more frequently; after all, we know it's always a bit weird around here!
Had one of those 'sit still' moments, brought on by a red light. In my pocket was the First Reason I was going to Towne - a grocery list for Dennis and his friend (nice young lady) who were going camping. On the seat next to me was the Second Reason - consisting of Sera's flat tire. In the back seat were 4 pork chops contributed for dogs when Pete thought the meat had aged a day more than he wanted to risk. And I was chewing super-glue off my fingers.
It was 10:30 in the morning with a half-minute to contemplate the day thus far.
I started by driving 'the kids' to the campsite 8 miles away, but 4 miles are a narrow, dirt, winding road with speeds of 20 - 25 mph, so seems longer. They tossed up a tent and registered to reserve the spot, then I spun them back the other way to help Pete for a few hours. (Wise older folks learn to use young muscle when it's available.)
Plan was to get groceries and get home, but -. Sera called Pete before we got there, had a flat at home that wouldn't come loose. I went home instead to help. She had the lug nuts off, but the tire wouldn't break free, had the spare donut out. We tried inflating it first with a little gizmo that had banged around in my trunk some time.
Interesting gizmo, in that the switch was stuck so I pried it out and shorted across with a screwdriver to make it work... kind of. Tire wouldn't hold air. Tire wouldn't come loose. I went after a pry bar to convince it otherwise, but didn't need to use it. Sera in frustration squatted in front of it with her arms almost around it and gave a mighty jerk. It worked, though she landed on her back with the tire on top of her, missing the cardboard she'd put down to stay clean.
See, I have a bit more experience and was planning NOT to do it this way, figuring the pry bar would save my wrist from 'jerking out' too, but now Sera has her own experience to learn from - i.e., don't always believe the pictures in the manual and how easy it appears to be; keep a pry bar handy instead.
She headed off to work on the little tire and I offered to drop off the flat for repairs since I was going to Towne anyway. Betwixt this, she'd called brother Matt to get assistance if all else failed, so the phone was ringing; the youngest dog, under a year yet, didn't get let out during the tire exchange and left a pile by the door - suffice it to say one might think we had a horse in the house. These are the dogs the pork chops were for that Pete donated when I dropped off the kids.
The super glue "I opened the wrong way" the night before, coating all fingers successfully - which wasn't my intent.
This defines the moment that found me at the red light.
I didn't yet know the next few hours were aligning in equal pattern. I got home in time to call Sera with hours on the tire shop, stash groceries in refrig, change for 'professional look' for upcoming census appointment, then ran to pick up kids. They were packing for their outing while I caught the appointment... who wasn't home, anyway. While I was in that area, figured it'd be wisest to pick up the 3 bundles of wood and drop it off at their campsite (state park, approved wood only). Got home and delivered the kids to the camp.
Remember the dirt road? I hit some of the bumps left by a bad plow-job, the kind that feel like railroad tracks, going around one of the corners on the hill and this triggered my check engine light to go on. This isn't a light I've seen before, but everything else appeared fine; figured maybe something got knocked loose... or it'd resolve itself. Made the trip back a little more interesting than I wanted. Decided I'd let the car sit to sort itself out awhile before starting it again.
Luckily, this little light turned itself off and didn't require me to probe around where I don't belong - under the hood - or call my mechanic. Life finally went back to normal around here.
I think there was a spastic star moving through the universe, one of the monkey wrenches of time and space that grinds our gears. "Under the Influence" - Time just has a few extra warps in it to deal with. This is often mistaken for gremlins, but gremlins are isolated incidents, whereas spastic stars are like ripples of seemingly unconnected weirded bits.
Not sure if it's occurring more frequently; after all, we know it's always a bit weird around here!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Gads, the days just fly by...
Sorry I took a leave of absence... had a lot of things going on, some more interesting than others. In no particular order:
I began my challenge with the credit card companies, though I have yet to send the follow up letters and begin facing off with them -- gotta get on with this. The original notices went out early March, the checks have cleared, and I picked up copies from my bank... Ha! Three of them were 'cashed electronically' so my bank only had proof they were cashed, not actual copies of the checks. Luckily, I made my own copies before mailing them. :)
On this, I hate 'getting my hands dirty' with foul things like credit card scams, yet 'repayment in kind' is long overdue - what are they going to do, shoot an old lady? (Won't help, I stipulated my life insurance has been cleared of these debts in the small print, which they acknowledged when they cashed my final payments.)
For the rest of things -- I actually do seem to like 'getting my hands dirty' - when it's good dirt, like planting things or messing about in my lil' shed. Tinkering. Now that's a fine word! We'll come back to that in a bit.
Let's see... on cars, learned that the new thermostat was rated hotter than my little car liked, had to replace it after my mechanic tried trouble-shooting everything else (good guy, didn't charge me for the hours he spent trying to figure out why the cooling fan has been gremlin'd for the past year or so). Currently it either has a squeaky belt or highly annoying speedometer cable going, or both. Mechanic Shane has no fondness for tearing out the instrument panel to work on this, so I've been gathering my own information on it - not sure what it'd cost for him to tackle it.
For this stuff, I found out our library has Chilton's repair manuals and I can copy the few pages I need to locate 'stuff' - like Torx bolts (which Shane said just meant star-shaped, why not just use Philips I don't know). Then I was admiring an older Acura almost identical to mine... and the kid driving it showed me where a side bolt was snuck in to the panel! I might not have figured that one out.
Somewhere between these things, I had 'a weird tire thing' going on with occasional seriously-vibrating steering wheel. I let a blonde gal in a red convertible annoy me when she was tailgating and sped up when a 'case of shakes' occurred a few miles from home - aha! Smoke was rolling off the driver's tire when I pulled in the yard...
Instantly called Shane, carefully drove to his garage, caliper was fine -- brake hose was failing. Got that fixed.
Of course this stuff is happening during the time I took on the 2010 census position - need to pay property taxes up, according to the county. Ran this as much as possible along with the other position, which does eat up one's time. (Haven't written my Christmas letter yet, either.)
Hmm... also created a website for a new client, so those were income-type things to stay alive here in dollar sense.
Of greater interest, I planted peanuts. Now I'm trying to convince them they're in Georgia, not Minnesota. Started them mid-March after reading you could grow raw peanuts from the grocery store, then I built them some hot-boxes out of the old trailer windows still sitting here (and some would call them junk!). The only explanation for doing this is 'because I could' - and I wanted to see if I really could?
Sure, and when raspberry plants were offered for the digging on free-cycle, I loaded my car twice with plants anywhere from a foot to three feet tall, dirt and all. Had to carve out a small plot for them, but they seem happy. :)
Considering I don't have a green thumb (occasionally dirt and grease-caked brown), I'm impressed when the strawberries and rhubarb grow for me. These are all in tire planters, due to dogs & kids; strawberries are triple-stacked tires, because the ground has gotten further away for picking over the years. Have you also noticed this phenomena?
Sweet potatoes, purple potatoes from Colorado (or Montana, off of ebay), cucumbers and a small tray of tobacco growing... Since the yard is in shade, these are strategically planted wherever a few rays of sunshine meander through. I am always in awe that they're bothering to grow! If we get cold early, not sure if I can bring them all inside - yeeps! However... a few of them a tucked under an A-frame of 2x4's and wire, so I could blanket it with some of the tarps stashed about the place and stick a light in.
My latest obsession (seems I keep a few going at all times) is learning about alternative energy sources. This was heightened by "a birthday gift from Eric". What?? We don't lose power often and the weather wasn't that serious, but on his birthdate, May 13, we lost power for over an hour. Warning from the other side? Definitely a wake-up call, in that candles burning everywhere and Sera reading in bed with an oil lantern is highly unsafe -- and also difficult. Val was doing homework at the table with about 10 candles surrounding her papers; I won't mention this was about 10 o'clock at night and she should have had her homework done earlier.
I've been doing my own research and of course I don't know much about any of this. On the positive side of this, means I'm not limited in thinking to what the current experts say and I have a vastly open - (okay, skip the naive comments) mind. On the less-positive side of things, this means I need to not-instantly-build-a-Tesla-coil that could potentially fry everything within 100 feet of it. :)
I'm starting with the basics, things like salt water batteries and earth batteries and leyden jars juiced by static electricity. I have yet to create any awesome gadgets, but there's a ton of stuff on the internet to spark interest (pun intended). You-tube and instructables.com have a lot of experiments on them, one of my favorites is a self-generating water wheel with a sump pump
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9125003792513982191#docid=7002481194528799490
which makes me wonder why this couldn't be done with a shop vac and a wind turbine?
More stuff on Stubblefield of interest, http://www.icehouse.net/john1/stubblefield.html and a really awesome downloadable free PDF on all kinds of this stuff is http://www.free-energy-info.co.uk/PJKBook.html - homepage is http://www.free-energy-info.co.uk/ .
these are cool and simple to try - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY1eyLEo8_A&feature=PlayList&p=37AD218ED6DFD466&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh-DBUMt8VY&NR=1
Googling either on the internet or in You-tube for earth batteries, tesla, generator, energy, stationary bike hack... Yes, I have an exercise bike to hack one day! This is another great site to explore http://howtomakeapowergenerator.com/category/free-electricity/ and Tariel Kapanadze at the bottom is intriguing.
Question: We've all heard of water-powered cars, right? - Actually, hydrogen power, in that I think this is what the water is broken into (try googling Brown water or something). It's too cold in MN for this in winter, but... WHAT IF... someone took this idea and applied it to a gas-powered back-up electricity generator? Hmm... If I only had the experience and mechanical know-how to do this! I think I'd be willing to offer someone a generator (okay, the $225 models from Menards or something) if they hacked me one to run on water. Any interested parties?
I am a bit more intrigued with electromagnetic generators, and have been hacking speakers for magnets just to play around a bit. I will also share a recent relearning experience...
So I did get a 'free broken tv'. And I did remember warnings about electrical charges and such. And, yes, they do have warning labels all over these babies when you open them up. And of course I turned it on first to make sure it was broken (i.e. accidentally fully charging it again). I did use the rubber-handled screwdriver to explore, which is when I felt a fair jolt go through my arm -- luckily, I used the rubber-handled screwdriver. I immediately resorted to the internet for instruction.
Most sites said, "DON'T EVER DO THIS... but if you're going to, here's how -". I then used my wooden-handled, metal-tipped shovel to pry off the zapping piece thing (how technical can I get?) and gingerly salvaged a big chunk of something with a lot of copper wire that should come in handy when I start wrapping tesla coils. Parts saved.
Decided I'd pursue a much simpler idea and hack a hand-crank, LED flashlight. Problem with them is one needs to hold the flashlight and it's difficult to read in the dark that way. All I really did was open one up and add a length of phone wire (perfect, four wires to extend). I sewed the LED part into a cloth headband, but I really don't need to light up my head (though some may argue this point) - I need it shining on a book in front of me. Shifting the headband into a collar position worked beautifully, and the crank piece can now go into a pocket or next to a person.
These are just a few of the recent events, and it's hard to determine which one should be top priority TODAY. First things first, I'll wander outside and say hi to the plants, see if they want some water and if they're happy.
Sera is working on having me committed.
I began my challenge with the credit card companies, though I have yet to send the follow up letters and begin facing off with them -- gotta get on with this. The original notices went out early March, the checks have cleared, and I picked up copies from my bank... Ha! Three of them were 'cashed electronically' so my bank only had proof they were cashed, not actual copies of the checks. Luckily, I made my own copies before mailing them. :)
On this, I hate 'getting my hands dirty' with foul things like credit card scams, yet 'repayment in kind' is long overdue - what are they going to do, shoot an old lady? (Won't help, I stipulated my life insurance has been cleared of these debts in the small print, which they acknowledged when they cashed my final payments.)
For the rest of things -- I actually do seem to like 'getting my hands dirty' - when it's good dirt, like planting things or messing about in my lil' shed. Tinkering. Now that's a fine word! We'll come back to that in a bit.
Let's see... on cars, learned that the new thermostat was rated hotter than my little car liked, had to replace it after my mechanic tried trouble-shooting everything else (good guy, didn't charge me for the hours he spent trying to figure out why the cooling fan has been gremlin'd for the past year or so). Currently it either has a squeaky belt or highly annoying speedometer cable going, or both. Mechanic Shane has no fondness for tearing out the instrument panel to work on this, so I've been gathering my own information on it - not sure what it'd cost for him to tackle it.
For this stuff, I found out our library has Chilton's repair manuals and I can copy the few pages I need to locate 'stuff' - like Torx bolts (which Shane said just meant star-shaped, why not just use Philips I don't know). Then I was admiring an older Acura almost identical to mine... and the kid driving it showed me where a side bolt was snuck in to the panel! I might not have figured that one out.
Somewhere between these things, I had 'a weird tire thing' going on with occasional seriously-vibrating steering wheel. I let a blonde gal in a red convertible annoy me when she was tailgating and sped up when a 'case of shakes' occurred a few miles from home - aha! Smoke was rolling off the driver's tire when I pulled in the yard...
Instantly called Shane, carefully drove to his garage, caliper was fine -- brake hose was failing. Got that fixed.
Of course this stuff is happening during the time I took on the 2010 census position - need to pay property taxes up, according to the county. Ran this as much as possible along with the other position, which does eat up one's time. (Haven't written my Christmas letter yet, either.)
Hmm... also created a website for a new client, so those were income-type things to stay alive here in dollar sense.
Of greater interest, I planted peanuts. Now I'm trying to convince them they're in Georgia, not Minnesota. Started them mid-March after reading you could grow raw peanuts from the grocery store, then I built them some hot-boxes out of the old trailer windows still sitting here (and some would call them junk!). The only explanation for doing this is 'because I could' - and I wanted to see if I really could?
Sure, and when raspberry plants were offered for the digging on free-cycle, I loaded my car twice with plants anywhere from a foot to three feet tall, dirt and all. Had to carve out a small plot for them, but they seem happy. :)
Considering I don't have a green thumb (occasionally dirt and grease-caked brown), I'm impressed when the strawberries and rhubarb grow for me. These are all in tire planters, due to dogs & kids; strawberries are triple-stacked tires, because the ground has gotten further away for picking over the years. Have you also noticed this phenomena?
Sweet potatoes, purple potatoes from Colorado (or Montana, off of ebay), cucumbers and a small tray of tobacco growing... Since the yard is in shade, these are strategically planted wherever a few rays of sunshine meander through. I am always in awe that they're bothering to grow! If we get cold early, not sure if I can bring them all inside - yeeps! However... a few of them a tucked under an A-frame of 2x4's and wire, so I could blanket it with some of the tarps stashed about the place and stick a light in.
My latest obsession (seems I keep a few going at all times) is learning about alternative energy sources. This was heightened by "a birthday gift from Eric". What?? We don't lose power often and the weather wasn't that serious, but on his birthdate, May 13, we lost power for over an hour. Warning from the other side? Definitely a wake-up call, in that candles burning everywhere and Sera reading in bed with an oil lantern is highly unsafe -- and also difficult. Val was doing homework at the table with about 10 candles surrounding her papers; I won't mention this was about 10 o'clock at night and she should have had her homework done earlier.
I've been doing my own research and of course I don't know much about any of this. On the positive side of this, means I'm not limited in thinking to what the current experts say and I have a vastly open - (okay, skip the naive comments) mind. On the less-positive side of things, this means I need to not-instantly-build-a-Tesla-coil that could potentially fry everything within 100 feet of it. :)
I'm starting with the basics, things like salt water batteries and earth batteries and leyden jars juiced by static electricity. I have yet to create any awesome gadgets, but there's a ton of stuff on the internet to spark interest (pun intended). You-tube and instructables.com have a lot of experiments on them, one of my favorites is a self-generating water wheel with a sump pump
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9125003792513982191#docid=7002481194528799490
which makes me wonder why this couldn't be done with a shop vac and a wind turbine?
More stuff on Stubblefield of interest, http://www.icehouse.net/john1/stubblefield.html and a really awesome downloadable free PDF on all kinds of this stuff is http://www.free-energy-info.co.uk/PJKBook.html - homepage is http://www.free-energy-info.co.uk/ .
these are cool and simple to try - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY1eyLEo8_A&feature=PlayList&p=37AD218ED6DFD466&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh-DBUMt8VY&NR=1
Googling either on the internet or in You-tube for earth batteries, tesla, generator, energy, stationary bike hack... Yes, I have an exercise bike to hack one day! This is another great site to explore http://howtomakeapowergenerator.com/category/free-electricity/ and Tariel Kapanadze at the bottom is intriguing.
Question: We've all heard of water-powered cars, right? - Actually, hydrogen power, in that I think this is what the water is broken into (try googling Brown water or something). It's too cold in MN for this in winter, but... WHAT IF... someone took this idea and applied it to a gas-powered back-up electricity generator? Hmm... If I only had the experience and mechanical know-how to do this! I think I'd be willing to offer someone a generator (okay, the $225 models from Menards or something) if they hacked me one to run on water. Any interested parties?
I am a bit more intrigued with electromagnetic generators, and have been hacking speakers for magnets just to play around a bit. I will also share a recent relearning experience...
So I did get a 'free broken tv'. And I did remember warnings about electrical charges and such. And, yes, they do have warning labels all over these babies when you open them up. And of course I turned it on first to make sure it was broken (i.e. accidentally fully charging it again). I did use the rubber-handled screwdriver to explore, which is when I felt a fair jolt go through my arm -- luckily, I used the rubber-handled screwdriver. I immediately resorted to the internet for instruction.
Most sites said, "DON'T EVER DO THIS... but if you're going to, here's how -". I then used my wooden-handled, metal-tipped shovel to pry off the zapping piece thing (how technical can I get?) and gingerly salvaged a big chunk of something with a lot of copper wire that should come in handy when I start wrapping tesla coils. Parts saved.
Decided I'd pursue a much simpler idea and hack a hand-crank, LED flashlight. Problem with them is one needs to hold the flashlight and it's difficult to read in the dark that way. All I really did was open one up and add a length of phone wire (perfect, four wires to extend). I sewed the LED part into a cloth headband, but I really don't need to light up my head (though some may argue this point) - I need it shining on a book in front of me. Shifting the headband into a collar position worked beautifully, and the crank piece can now go into a pocket or next to a person.
These are just a few of the recent events, and it's hard to determine which one should be top priority TODAY. First things first, I'll wander outside and say hi to the plants, see if they want some water and if they're happy.
Sera is working on having me committed.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Blog-time
Some folks on a Friday night might have better things to do than meander about in Blog-land, but... for me it's a break? Well...
I haven't written because there didn't seem anything too unusual to share. I realize, however, that at least one loyal reader (hi, Jim) looks forward to my blogs - it makes him glad not to be in the immediate vicinity.
One of the dumber things I did yesterday involved super-glue. I kind of broke the tube in half across both hands and a loose tooth crown I was trying to re-cement. I had enough sense to instantly spread my fingers apart so they weren't stuck like mitts and the tooth fell into a corner of dog fur and dust balls. I will point out that nail polish remover did not work to remove the super glue, nor did Goo-gone. The tooth was fine after I scraped it clean with a knife, and I used the same method on my fingers to remove a good portion of the glue.
Super glue dries fast, and most of it has been peeled / chewed off in the last 24 hours. I have a few raw spots on a couple of fingers where it was a little more persistent, and I have once again proved this stuff is hazardous in my world.
Of a more critical nature, I took my wonderful little car to the mechanic's. It was past a tune-up by a couple of years and has been starting a bit rough. I figured some new plugs would cheer it up. It's been needing rear brake calipers for several months, so this, too, was on my list, along with tightening a battery cable (which had presented itself as 'loose' one cold winter day).
I mentioned to Shane-my-mechanic that it seemed to be getting hot in idle, and interestingly enough, when I opened the hood, the radiator was steaming. The seam along the top of the radiator was failing. Shane didn't think it'd be wise to drive it, and I'm glad it didn't go completely while I was 75 miles from home in the middle of the boondocks searching for a census case whilst the sun set Wednesday.
I had noticed the temperature gauge creeping towards hot whenever I idled a few minutes that day, and in hindsight, now I know why.
One of the fuel injectors was cracked and leaking too, which accounted for the gassy smell upon starting, so the car was definitely due for a few repairs. Shane called this afternoon to share his findings, and he was basically dumbfounded that it was even running - something to do with the distributor cap being cracked and sticking together by a small miracle ---
Which proves what I've suspected: Things in my world stay together either from force of habit or love. The car kept running until I could afford to get it "to the doctor" and considering I put about 1000 miles on it in the last 6 weeks of cold, it could have failed out on some God-forsaken - and sparingly populated - road. Between me, the Universe, and my car, I'm glad it didn't.
Should I mention the kitten is in heat? Luckily there's enough snow and cold to keep it inside, but it's trying to escape and scr-owwwls occasionally like its foot is in a trap. My vet is booked out until mid-April, which is not good! Why they don't have birth control for cats until a person can get them spayed beats me.
I do find this a distressing omen of things to come, in that the granddaughter is 12 going on Teen.
Just my corner of the globe. Slightly more stable than the weather and Washington, D.C., and that's a thought to scare the bee-jesus out of any sane person.
Think about it. A lot of people are 'pretending it's stable', kind of like D.C. and the California coast, but somebody that super-glued her fingers and de-furred a tooth with a squalling cat in heat and car running on faith is actually saner...
I could be wrong, if anyone wants to reassure me!
I haven't written because there didn't seem anything too unusual to share. I realize, however, that at least one loyal reader (hi, Jim) looks forward to my blogs - it makes him glad not to be in the immediate vicinity.
One of the dumber things I did yesterday involved super-glue. I kind of broke the tube in half across both hands and a loose tooth crown I was trying to re-cement. I had enough sense to instantly spread my fingers apart so they weren't stuck like mitts and the tooth fell into a corner of dog fur and dust balls. I will point out that nail polish remover did not work to remove the super glue, nor did Goo-gone. The tooth was fine after I scraped it clean with a knife, and I used the same method on my fingers to remove a good portion of the glue.
Super glue dries fast, and most of it has been peeled / chewed off in the last 24 hours. I have a few raw spots on a couple of fingers where it was a little more persistent, and I have once again proved this stuff is hazardous in my world.
Of a more critical nature, I took my wonderful little car to the mechanic's. It was past a tune-up by a couple of years and has been starting a bit rough. I figured some new plugs would cheer it up. It's been needing rear brake calipers for several months, so this, too, was on my list, along with tightening a battery cable (which had presented itself as 'loose' one cold winter day).
I mentioned to Shane-my-mechanic that it seemed to be getting hot in idle, and interestingly enough, when I opened the hood, the radiator was steaming. The seam along the top of the radiator was failing. Shane didn't think it'd be wise to drive it, and I'm glad it didn't go completely while I was 75 miles from home in the middle of the boondocks searching for a census case whilst the sun set Wednesday.
I had noticed the temperature gauge creeping towards hot whenever I idled a few minutes that day, and in hindsight, now I know why.
One of the fuel injectors was cracked and leaking too, which accounted for the gassy smell upon starting, so the car was definitely due for a few repairs. Shane called this afternoon to share his findings, and he was basically dumbfounded that it was even running - something to do with the distributor cap being cracked and sticking together by a small miracle ---
Which proves what I've suspected: Things in my world stay together either from force of habit or love. The car kept running until I could afford to get it "to the doctor" and considering I put about 1000 miles on it in the last 6 weeks of cold, it could have failed out on some God-forsaken - and sparingly populated - road. Between me, the Universe, and my car, I'm glad it didn't.
Should I mention the kitten is in heat? Luckily there's enough snow and cold to keep it inside, but it's trying to escape and scr-owwwls occasionally like its foot is in a trap. My vet is booked out until mid-April, which is not good! Why they don't have birth control for cats until a person can get them spayed beats me.
I do find this a distressing omen of things to come, in that the granddaughter is 12 going on Teen.
Just my corner of the globe. Slightly more stable than the weather and Washington, D.C., and that's a thought to scare the bee-jesus out of any sane person.
Think about it. A lot of people are 'pretending it's stable', kind of like D.C. and the California coast, but somebody that super-glued her fingers and de-furred a tooth with a squalling cat in heat and car running on faith is actually saner...
I could be wrong, if anyone wants to reassure me!
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