Met one of my neighbors.

.
.
As I was heading out, a mini-van pulled up. At first I thought the driver was going to simply turn around. Perhaps something forgotten back at home, a phone call and some type of home or work disaster, or someone merely got last and now realized the truth of their location which happened to be a bit west of the intended location. Then a woman stepped out and walked toward the hood, then back to the door and reached in. I wondered if she were lost or looking for the previous owners, not being sure about me. But no, she intended to talk to me, and brought something.

Her name is &%@*&%! (encrypted for opsec reasons). She had been meaning to stop by, and had baked cookies several times. Those had been eaten by her rugrunts, or perhaps the husband? In any case, each of her arrangements had been rearranged. This time, however, she was able to make something and brought it with her. I am a sucker for food! It turns out to be a bread of some sort. I think it is chocolate, though it has a gingerbread sense to it. Delicious, mind you, and half gone in spite of myself... well, more than half gone but that is another issue.

In any case, she introduced herself. She also told me the name of her husband. They live just next to me, in an odd geographical manner. They have three munchkins, or midgets as I think I termed them. They moved here from %@# *)%$#& (big city, West Coast). It seems the husband is from this region and snagged a lucky city girl, got busy, and moved them back to the area. Yes, yes, I have a penchant for writing things to my way of thinking, though I think she seems happy here. Further, they are homeschoolers! She asked where I was from and why I was here, pretty bold questions. Though, after having lived in liberal-ville, I was a bit hesitant to answer more fully but I went ahead. I suggested I had wanted to move to more conservative country, to leave the city life to a mountainous region, and to begin carrying on as if I knew what I was doing, give or take. I also commended her on homeschooling. I doubt if she hears that much, even in Utah (very tough environment in which to homeschool, despite the other amenities the state and region offers). She suggested she is quite conservative as well. And pretty. Well, for a married mom with three children. That is all I am saying. I wonder if she has old maid sisters? *grins* I am quite pleased to have made the acquaintance. I hope to have more dealings with the family.

I did get in to town. I did not, however, find the gray-out stuff at any of the stores which I visited. Having stopped at 3 stores, I was done shopping. I will look tomorrow. Still, it would have been nice to get it all done today so that tomorrow would have been in and out. Plus, shopping after dark is so much cooler and often less crowded. Milk, butter, sour cream, cottage cheese, bread, batteries, and a few other life essentials were purchased, along with enough tobacco to see me through the next 3 to 4 weeks. At $6 to $10 a week, my tobacco habit is not exactly a financial burden. It is just the idea of paying so much in taxes for a simple pleasure rankles me to no end. I am also reconsidering rechargeable batteries. I plan to do a little research on the topic before lights out, hopefully in a half an hour to hour (or less).

I will not be getting to my garage today, and tomorrow... we will see. Since my work bench for reloading is on hold until I receive the plywood, I cannot tell if I will be ordering more such systems for the garage. Having one or two benches out there would be really nice, making stacking, sorting, storing, and placement a bit easier, not to mention offering a good place for a bench grinder and a vice or two. I will know soon enough, though I can get things sorted better and have my weight bench assembled and ready for use without a bench. I am not sure about working out there in the winter. I think there was a small heater out there before though, and I would guess a small propane, electric, or other heater would make it workable. Plus, I think there is some insulation out there, to a degree.

I am going to try to get to sleep early tonight. I will just bumble through the effort. If two or three hours pass, I may just get up. I do not know what else to do with this sleep thing. More food before bed? (And, no, despite old wives tales to the contrary, eating late at night does not actually stack on more fat, just so you know... we run a clean thought machine ship around here, wives tales, when wrong, are cast out. Though, old wives might be kept... depends... or if not in depends... something like that.) Anywho.

Good night, Dave.