Wow.

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I have no idea what time I went to bed.  All I know is that I hurt for sleep.  I couldn't have stayed awake for love nor money.  I was literally flashing to sleep, having to jerk myself awake just typing that last post.  I was fine in the drive home, oddly.  And I got everything in and sorted.  I knew I was tired, but I hadn't started nodding in and out.  I sat down to type and got going on it and...  I remember it though.  I do not remember what time it was, at all.  My guess... ah, right, the post was timed at 17:41.  I doubt if I more than walked into the bedroom, undressed as quickly as a zombie can, got the fan blowing, then was asleep in no more than a minute.  I might have preferred a little more sleep, and may still go back... Just don't know.

I know what my plans are, once I wake up for sure.  Sweating some fixtures off the inlet and outlet, then figuring out where, exactly, I want the water heater... with a dry plumb enough in place to know my full limits, then to sweat the dry plumbs into wet handling plumbs.  I'll have the, maybe both actually, fire extinguishers on hand.  Hmm, and the axe too.  Some of the area that is at risk to fire, even with that shield I bought, is behind a wall...  Better to lose a little drywall than the whole house.  I'd be mightily disappointed.

Assuming that all goes according to plan, and after a bit of cooling, if those seems are holding, then to change the drain plug with brass and fill the water heater.  Then I have to do something new... actually I have never sweated a fitting, on or off, before either.  I will have to figure out which of the wires is hot, which is ground.  I may see if the wires are far enough apart that the non-contact voltage checker can differentiate them, first.  If that fails, I may try to test one of the closer outlets, make sure it has power and ground (hopefully, hard to tell with this wiring), then use the ground from that to check the other wires for continuity?  I saw something like that listed.  D.C. suggested another way, but... I didn't quite know if there were limits and haven't see that way explained well though I have seen smidgens of it, so far in my digging.  Actually, I will probably do a bit more checking online... just... to double check whether the ideas I have seen are... reasonable, and again, and probably triple check.  I'm not in the mood for one more major catastrophe.  And it won't kill me...  If anything it would freeze me in place long enough to light my whole home, then let me go just in time, if with a bit of a limp just to be a jerk.  :p

I have been collecting bits and pieces, for the trip, in a box.  Every time I order from Amazon, a few pieces are added to the cart.  Occasionally but not every time, while in shopping, I see and snag something.  This last trip saw to me buying disposable ear plugs.  Beside buying a box of MREs, I bought a survival whistle with a mirror, compass, and a compartment (which I filled with water/windproof matches), those matches, another waterproof container for those matches, 'churchkeys', little smiley-face buttons for gifting, personal lighting, and a dozen other things that work well for both BMan and typical prepping but that I didn't have.  Little tidbits are coming together for the trip.  In that box were the 2-way radios.  Yes, waterproof.  I haven't had time to open the plastic monstrosity of a shell they were in.  How the... are you supposed to open those?  I was almost thinking the chainsaw would be the only way!  Ah, but the machete worked splendidly, after a few opening cuts with the axe.  Well... maybe I fib but hush up, twice.  I got them, put the rechargeable battery packs in, then set them to charge.  I should have checked.  I think the batteries were up to full power.  Ah well.  I turned them both on, just because the red light was still on, as when I put them in.  Those will be checked once in a while, and tinkered with a bit while looking the "manual" over, or finding other easier to digest sources of usage guides.

Oh, some good news.  It seems I have overpaid one of my utilities to the tune of $$$.  That... might put me back to zero, or close, regarding my recent home repairs and upgrades.  Well... something anyway.  While not the greatest of savings plans... It was a nice little surprise.  Then again, like I'm earning interest at the bank.  On top of having little there, ever, I'm probably more at risk of having little electronic fingers filch from my banking accounts... both unofficial and after recent EU attempts, official.  I simply think, if they did such a thing, they would do all in their power to keep it secret if done here...  Assuming it hasn't been done already, under the guise of some fake fee, fine, or such.  We honestly cannot trust our government, at all, on any thing.  While these employees are honest, hard working, and decent... these over here are doing everything in their power to hurt America, Americans, the law, the constitution, and us personally.  And they have a LOT of power now.  Something has to give.  Now, a week, a month, a year, three...  Our government is bankrupt in every way that it can be.  Never the mind.  Just that some good news, finally, a bit, in the small way that it is.  I won't say God provided, He already did that.  And while this might constitute burying a talent, I like to think, due to my inability to keep up, that this wasn't so much burying as being unable to keep up, so losing, then finding, a talent.  As I suggested, like I'm earning anything in the bank.  Actually just having cash is losing wealth, a form of burial, at this point... if there are reason for it, too, potentially. 

What the... did I just write?  Never mind.  Time for me to decide whether to stay up, and then either get some coffee or go back to bed.  Oh knose!  My shadow!  Nope, not back in the hole like a ground hog...  I'm contrarian that way, so... coffee it is.  Later or something.