I tried, I did.

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I bought a mapp brazer.  I hope it takes less time than the other.  Standing, at this point, for an half hour on each sweat, is killing my back.  I have pushed my body beyond it's limits and kept going.  Through exhaustion, through pain, and then on still.  I am seeing the price, with little things ripping me up or wiping me out.  Still, I have more to do.  And... I'm loving it... if limits are... pushing in on me.

I got the new brazer together, and tested the flame while figuring out the controls.  I truly hate manuals.  I think I did a few other minor things after shopping as well.  But I was falling down drunk tired when I returned.  I slept the rest of the day and a good part of the night.  Which is fine.  I'll get done what I get done.  It is all I can do.  Yeah, I'm way behind schedule, but is that a huge surprise?  Every step of the way there has been something new, some missing supplies, some technical problem to figure out or bypass.  Little, all of them little, mostly.  But true.  And I haven't quit, ever, anywhere.  I've trudged through, carried the load, learned the solution, and applied it.  But time is what it is.

Today?  Okies...  Today is all about brazing and figuring out electrical, with a side of laundry and bathroom cleaning, and some trash and recycling gathering and tending.  Tomorrow is the day.  I want the bathroom done and her primaries clean so she doesn't have to fuss right up front, more than... she will.  If it looks like too much, she should at least have a place to hide away for a little bit while I... focus on a bit more cleaning as she sleeps off jet lag and culture shock.  It ain't perfect, but...

I have a doctor's appointment the 6th, so that will be a bit of a day off.  But there is still the drive.  Compared to what I have and will be doing, a day of driving is easy though.  We can do a bit of shopping on our way back, for foods and supplies she might want.  And while the cave is a mess, it's not... too bad, overall.  There is less to do this time, save that there is gardening to tend as well.  At least she loves to garden.  She is a girl of the sun.

Oh, for all the rain we have gotten this spring, they are saying water levels are quite low?  The reservoir is down to 52%?  There may not be water for late summer?  *sigh*  The Western drought is finally hitting here too.  Last summer was worse than most thought, and it hasn't yet improved.  We are on odd/even watering, as is.  I think I am the evens, though I will sort of watch my neighbors to... know for sure.

Morning blathering...  A bit of "stuff" to wake, then on to brazing.  Good day!

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Something I see now, personally, that didn't make as much sense before?  As D.C. works his projects, he usually has many on tap.  He might be doing the evap cooler, brakes on this or that, some electrical project or three, etc.  He has many tasks he can put his hands to at once.  If he hits a block, runs out of parts for what he is immediately doing, doesn't have the money for a specific part(s) or tool(s), or the time-frame is wrong for completion on a task, he can simply choose another task or spend time wrapping things up for a bit.  Oh, don't think I didn't see this before now.  It is just that, for me, that wasn't practical.  Why?  Because, until recently?  Actually just finishing, just seeing one project through to completion, was often nearly impossible.

I have been getting better.  If I am still gimped, more sometimes, less other times, I am finally... waking, quickening.  As can be seen with the project list I have actually completed, and the projects I still have on tap, I can, sometimes, actually push things through.  Several projects at a time, perhaps.  So, now... in the future really... when I start a project, one that has multiples of tasks?  Now I will be using the notion of having several open projects at once.  Work each to some closing point, then move on.  Creating a parts and tools list as I go.  This will greatly, if not completely, cut down on runs to town.  That really adds to delays and expense.  Actually, it reminds me of project planning, employing multiple teams, that I was exposed to in engineering school.  A jobs list, with deadlines; expectations; possibly parts, tools, skill lists; quality checks at various points; and other things.  Only, being a single man "team", I am running, doing, checking, and pushing.  A little trickier, but... a good formula.

The thing is, on many projects, there will always be... more than what one thinks.  You can never completely be prepared.  Sometimes you have to engineer something from scratch.  As well, it is easy to overlook some little thing.  I knew I would be running pipe upwards, but didn't consider needing to brace the pipe.  Inexperience played a part, but too, thinking the pipe would be shorter so not considering the need for bracing was a part of overlooking the need.  I might be able to get by with 'plumber's tape' though, at least in the short run.  It is more an accidental positive, or more just using what is available... a new skill all it's own.  I am learning.

While I would love to have everything I do and use be exactly to spec, the cost and complexity of reality doesn't always allow that.  I have to... come off my idyllic cloud a bit, I think.  Yeah.  Something like that.  Experience helps with this, too.  Gah!  Just... I'm... improving.  Things are coming together.  Actually, it is extremely pleasing.  Frustrating, but very satisfying.  Later.