Where are the signs?

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I woke right at 14:00.  It looks like I woke just in time for the sun to... almost... probably as close, from the looks of it, as it has or will get today, to shining.  I growled and hissed at the girls.  Being an ogre through the cave, letting them know I was not interested in feeding them right away.  "Argh!  Oogh!  Boo!", repeat as necessary.  My girls know that means leave me alone until after coffee and... something.  If I don't do that, they use me as a claw junglegym.  Even now I have to, sort of, watch my back.  Sam was not wanting to play at all, so asked to go outside.  Since it looks dry, and sunny, I let her go.  Then again, I don't think that was registering at the time?  Meh, I probably considered it.  And she would have too.  Sassy just kept out of the way.  She's the one that will really rip into me.  Even, sometimes, like yesterday, if I have fed her twice with the wet food.  Not sure what gets into her.  But she gets to the head of my short list, and might even get set outside if she persists.  She is spoiled, and shows it sometimes.

As to sign posts.  Okay, here is my deal.  I am barely waking up lately.  Medications are all back on schedule, and well.  But the sun, pretty much, has been under for... well... most of the week or two before heading out and since I returned.  Yes, I know, your dear soul can pump past a little weather.  How nice for you.  That, however, has nothing to do with me, especially after a minor major push.  So, I am thinking, if someone could put some signs up in my home.  Go here, do this, turn right?  Meh, wouldn't work.  It would just add clutter.  But... something...  I don't know how to get the engine started.  That's all.

I'll try to hit the bathroom again today.  A wire coat hanger, strapped to the hose, more tape to hold the balloon on, and keep it air tight, plus a bit extra to keep the bare metal of the hanger from damaging the toilet.  And, again, I am hoping to unload the vehicle.  Yeah, no, that hasn't happened.  I went for a little hooch in my coffee last night, but one was more than enough.  Sometimes that can kick things over, but I couldn't feel it.  The spirit of spirits was not with me.  Still, it did help shake off the cold for just a bit.  And I don't mind a sip or two a week, be it beer or spirits cut to mild sipping strength. 

Dreams though.  Crazy women, crazy cats, flying at the speed of light, figuring some calculus problem that was fun but... not what you'd call a day project, and building a cold cellar.  Don't ask me, just stuff my mind wanted to do.  No, I have, pretty much, a cold cellar.  I guess I've just always sort of liked the idea of those old circular, deep, dirt ones.  One of my great aunts, or great aunts in law, had one.  She wasn't, ever, a pretty woman.  But she was handy, helpful, and knew how to keep a home in stores.  She had become a very strange old bird by the time I knew her.  And I was just a child then, which doesn't help in making assessments.  But I already wasn't just a child, and could see around corners most children didn't even know existed.  I had some compassion for her, and respect, if just a touch of fear.  I knew I confounded her.  She knew I was... different... too.  When you can see into a soul, some of them can look back.

Whatever!  Now, where are those signs!  *grin*  Gotta wake up.  Not sure I would even notice them at this time, or for the next few hours.  Waking up, as the song goes, is hard to do.  Breaking up, you say?  Shut up.  Later.

Oh. Trust me.

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Doom awakes powerfully.

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Well, the lead sounded good.  And, really, it tain't bad.  I doubt if it will unfold into much, as most lion roars are just... checking, clearing teh throat(tm), announcing, and only rarely calling a charge.  I took a shower first thing.  I'm getting spoiled with showers ever few days.  But I'll take it when I can get it.  My arms started peeling a few days ago, finally.  It looks terrible but it is a fine new hobby!  I think realizing I was missing an important part of my medicinal regimen and adding that back in has helped.  Still a gloomy day out there, but not minding it so much.  Well, it is truly gorgeous though.  I am a storm giant, among other things, after all.

Today?  I don't know.  I have been working on clearing the toilet.  I gave it a good half hour to hour last night.  I'll probably try to add something to the line for stiffness, a wire coat hanger or some such, but wrap it so as to not harm the porcelain.  And, I have some minor hope of finishing the unpacking.  And unpack what is brought in.  Other than that, and a call to my mother, not much else.  Ah, but first, I need to wake up.  I found my tylenol, which may help in strained moments.  I think my body does hurt, I am just not capable enough to... have that register.  So, from time to time a small dose of that stuff might be going in.  Odd, my touch sensitivity, even on the finger I fried, is incredibly acute.  I don't understand all things, mind you.  I just know... I am different.

Well... on to some music with which to wake.  Good day.

Hmm, working on it.

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Time is so odd, as is flesh.  I'm simply not, haven't quite, it's...  Oh, well, I am working on a few things.  Not all that successfully, but something is better than nothing.  Time and space and me just aren't quite fitting into the box called reality in an orderly fashion.  It's not a bad thing, really.  It just isn't working out to some goals, most goals.

Sort of an ugly day.

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I couldn't sleep until quite late, and woke even later.  Yesterday I realized I was missing one part of my medicinal regimen, and fixed that.  It could be worse, but maybe this will make it better.  I don't know if the sun was out earlier, though I doubt it.  But, as luck would have it, when I woke the sun was out for a bit.  The curtains were opened and I ate what I could of the light.  It slowly started clouding back over.  A taste, however, of sun, does help.

I still don't have enough going to try to figure out if I am missing some points or if it is the world that has gone off track.  I keep working with the toilet, to try to get it clean for messing with.  I just... yeah... I prefer things a certain way before I have to deal with them.  At least I have options and techniques that allow me to bide my time with this project.

I am hoping, today, to do that project, unload completely, and unpack.  I don't think I'll have a problem doing it all, pretty much, in one step.  Between packing much lighter, already having unloaded a bit, and that my health is relatively good, only energy and focus being a minor temporary probably from pushing, I think it won't be much of a problem.

I really would like to figure out how to begin... sorting and storing... everything... in a much better way around here.  I have many tools, a good deal of various pieces of equipment, firearms and maintenance tools and consumables, and a fairly interesting set up for life.  But... I often don't have things arranged well.  Some of it is good.  Some of it simply needs attention.  It's a difficult task for most men, I think.  Though most people.  I have known a few people who do it very well, I seem to... find them.  Opposites attract?  Something about people who can focus on putting things in order is that, from what I have seen, they lack the ability to think ahead as to what they might need, depending on handling it all when they get to it.  And there is a place for that, but it fails for bigger jobs.  As well, they aren't as imaginative as to fixing problems.  They would rather pay someone else to do any work, or live without.  At least, that has been my experience.

Mixing the two types is a very good thing.  It adds to... difficulties, as a couple.  But each helps define, and limit, the talents of the other.  "She" has kept me from just buying, I have bought enough so that when "she" wants something fixed, changed, upgraded, altered to her wants or needs, up to a point, I can do that.  Women might be crazy, but men drive them there.  If I still think it's usually a very short trip.  :)  Honk, honk.  Yeah!

Later.

Quiet as a church mouse?

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Mostly.  A number of things, several, varied, and on too many fronts, have been disturbing my tranquility.  At first I was taking it personally.  Then, after a bit of rethinking, I decided not to do that.  It's a bit tricky to realize some things, but, whatever all may be wrong with me, at least at this stage of health, and when I was healthier for sure, I could and now can again do this.  Something is amiss, though.  It isn't my thinking, in here, in me.  However, my ability to interact with the world, to understand, to interact, may be shorted.  Either that or the world has gone a bit haywire.  I don't know.  Until I do... I believe I will resign myself to enjoying what is around me and what I can do.  Some of you, the "old timers" from around here, may still get comments.  If they happen to not make sense, just be patient.  Or better, help me to understand what I am missing.  Really, while sometimes sounding like a child, I do have my big-boy pants on most of the time.  But others...  Most of you...  Not so much.  Do not take it personally.  Until I can sort things out...  It saves me some angst, and possibly you too.  At least, that is what feedback, or the lack of it, seems to be indicating.

I am doing well, mostly.  Tired.  Very tired.  I am staying on medication as well as I can, but that has been just a wee less regular than I prefer.  No sun, and the event, sort of took it out of me.  But, then, I knew the burn would do that.  The sun being hidden is just an additional factor, adding to the problem.  I thought I was focusing well enough.  I thought I was understanding, basically, what others were writing or saying.  But it seems not.  Rather than step on toes, or blather like an idiot, I'll just hush for a bit.  Well, and try to get a few things done.  When I can, as I am able, yada yada.

It's about bedtime.  I took a nap not long ago, but couldn't sleep too long, so...  Back to it.  Never worry, this is a mild repercussion for an extended effort.  At least, to this point, other than frustration with not getting to things (if finding work-arounds) and misunderstandings(?), I am mostly enjoying coasting until I can get my feet back under me.  So there!  :p  :)

Good night. 

Only 11:00?

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I grumbled and rumbled last night.  No, I wasn't terribly angry.  Just disagreeable about something I don't quite understand.  Being told you don't understand something that you have read several times to make clear is... annoying.  Albeit, I have to admit, I can easily be an half turn out of alignment, or more, at times.  And, if I am out of alignment, it takes a goodly lot of feedback or several examples of trying to do things as I believe them to do and having them fail.  Still, I don't think I'm off kilter, so I'm... confused.  Aye, that would be it.  I think, think I say, think, I refrained from posting deeper in the cup.  Now, I didn't go all that far in, but while still in recovery it doesn't take much.  Basically a couple of double shot, if tall, drinks, and then I tried a few beers.  Beer just didn't taste good, mostly because it is cool.  That's a summer thing, and occasional cold-weather mood thing.

Never mind.  Just a sip.  Coffee, kahlua, rye, and cream, two talls.  I don't like the rye neat, so it's a mixer.  But it is a fine mixer.  Much better than bar brands, by far, as such.  Though I think I can spend much less on just as good of mixers.  It was an experiment.

Skin is still itchy.  I'm not sure if my aloe vera stuff isn't as good or if, simply through time, the itch would have to surface.  There is only minor peeling, and only where my skin was otherwise opened, by a scrape or blemish/hair follicle unfolding.  Yep, just dirt brown.  But... that's fine.  Nose, chin, and hands got the worst of it, from what I can tell.  The hands still look almost as bruised as burned.  The nose has a dry patch on the tip, as with the high point on the chin, that has dried and remains pretty scaly despite my best efforts to hydrate.  Swelling, however, in my hands on on the ear lobes, is gone, finally, mostly, I believe.  I'll... have to be more careful in the future.  But since it didn't kill me, or even interfere with the rest of the week or the return home, or recovery really, I'm not too worried.

Storming, outside, again today.  I am pretty sure, though, that every drop of rain is a good thing.  The last I heard, the dam was at 50%, a little under.  But that was from before I left.  We have had a lot of rain since.  And, I hope it continues for a bit.  It is far better to hike in the overcast, or even rain, for me, starting out.  That reduces heat stresses caused by being out of shape, allows for faster cool downs when I sit, and I have rain gear that is more than sufficient to keep my dry of the environment.  Monday?  I hope so.  That is the target.

I woke this morning, late I assumed.  Very late.  For whatever reason, I was waking all during the morning and afternoon.  I thought it was around 16:00, late into that hour, when I woke.  I must not have been very awake, because all the clocks 'seemed' to confirm this.  It wasn't until I got on the computer, and the real time is sitting right there in the corner, that I realized it was only just at 11:00 when I woke.  Crazy, but good sleep will trick you, and not let you go for a bit.  Still, that is enjoyable since I don't have anything scheduled and didn't set or reset expectations from the seeming poor waking performance.  As is, it was more like a practical joke by my body to my mind.  Fun.

Later.

No Comment

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Still struggling just a wee bit.

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The sun has come out twice, now, today.  Just a hint of it, now, really.  I'll take what I can get.  Whatever else I can or can't get done, I do plan to get out hiking twice next week, and visit my friend as well.  Though the dark of cloud is sort of keeping me down, I am hoping it stays, or comes back, for next week.  It is much easier for me to try to push when it is cool than in blazing sun.  But... what will happen will happen.  At least I know the sun screen does an excellent job.  And with twice daily treatments with aloe vera and then adding moisturizer in, my skin should be about ready Monday.

The lad that mows came by to do just that today.  I noticed he had mowed recently.  I paid him for feeding and scooping for the girls.  Before he got to that, he wanted to try out the water mine I have.  It's a CO2 operated sprayer.  We tinkered with it, carefully until we figured it out.  He was the, well, volunteer.  It works.  After a bit of tinkering with how to get it to spray best, we have it down.  And, we know how to fill it and set it up safely.  It's not, technically, dangerous.  It's more a matter of not wasting cartridges and not getting wet unexpectedly.  Oh, yes, this thing is going to be a little joy to play with.  In the heat of summer it will be perfect.  Not all of what Doom does is about death.  Sometimes it's about creating squeals of various sorts.  Hmm...  Mom?  Water mine?  Probably not so much.  Probably.  *evil grins*

I have, what I am hoping, is a little project that arrived today.  A new water filter for my drinking water.  The old one, technically, still works.  But the faucet for it broke from the piece that kept it held to the sink.  The three replacement parts, perhaps more were needed, cost more than a new system.  Wasteful.  I'll not buy Sears products again.  I simply used the system until it was pretty much ready for replacement filters, to get what of my money out of that system I could, but was looking the whole time.  Without the need for electrical connections, I should be able to get this in fairly easily.  Hopefully the old system, as I am taking it out, will prep me for putting in the new one.  The new one was purchased after a lot of reviewing reverse osmosis systems, reading the good and the bad, and doing my own calculations.  Simplicity of use and maintenance, longevity, and function were the starring roles, followed by cost, replacement part costs, and a few other things.  The problem with Sears equipment is that it often seems to be proprietary.  You have to buy from them, you can't just go to any old hardware store and pick up whole or partial bits.  With this, if the faucet goes, or just the connection actually, I can pick up a whole new faucet, with connections, for under $20.  Gah!

Oh, my books on edible plants arrived as well.  Now that I have my gear for drawing, and these, I think I am going to try to combine the two.  I figure, but looking for plants that are more likely to be in my a.o., and drawing those, perhaps making notes on the drawings, I will have a better chance at spying them in the wild.  As I suggested, I won't be eating anything out there.  Essentially, wild plants are considered toxic, at least by me.  Having some of the lore down would merely be as... a curiosity... unless greater need required some risk taking.  I still remember the story of a man who had been eating as such for decades, so much so that he taught others.  He ended up accidentally killing himself, and over a dozen others, with a mistake.  I think it was wild onions, or they look like onions.  If they don't smell of garlic they are extremely dangerous, but the two types can grow side by side.  Yeah... curiosity.  For now.  Well, and a reason to get into sketching and more impetus to hike.

A bit more sitting, after all that play time /snark and I will probably get in and try to remove the spoon this evening.  I have been tinkering, to try to clean out the mess, in the meantime.  It does drain, albeit very slowly.  Cleaning solution goes in after each flush, and I have some hope that the thing will, mostly, be cleaned before I tinker with it more seriously.  Another flush/cleaning or two and...  While I'm thinking about it, I ought to see if it can handle another flush and maybe a bit of brush cleaning and more Pine Sol.  It's dirty work.  Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor... Joe shit the ragman.  Later.

It just takes time.

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As I become rested, and manage some of the little problems, life begins to improve.  I woke two hours earlier today.  I will try to back my day into the earlier morning, though that effort has a sorted history.  Then again, staying on track with any schedule is still, probably, out of my hands for more than a few weeks to months.  Leave me to my delusions, though, thank you.  And... it gives me something to work at, probably for the rest of my life.  It's not like it is hurting my career.  :p  I am feeling better though, and more likely to get to this and that.  Still slowly, weakly, but much improved over my last return.  I do note that I missed an appointment.  Not sure how, to be fair to me.  I had an alarm set for five, three, and one day before but, for some stupid reason, none of them went off until... 15 minutes before the appointment, which is a two hour drive away.  My phone was off, batteries dead, for a while.  I guess you just can't trust phones.

I keep tinkering in the bathroom.  Mostly trying to clear the toilet, then clean it a bit eventually, though the balloon experiment can happen whenever I next feel up to tinkering more heavily.  Sleep was good.  I let the girls in and they appreciated it.  When I am pretty sure I can sleep normally I usually let them in.  If it's going to be a night of rolling, or if I need to sleep hard, and sometimes just because, I close the door.  Both hate that, though, and will bang on the door.  Sam, I'm pretty sure it is here, will sing the songs of her people from time to time, being sure that I have abandoned her to die.  :)  I sing along with the songs of MY people.  "Shut the *cough* up!"  Which she usually does, realizing I haven't died.  Gah!  If they are too persistent, I do an ogre stomp hunt, meaning to NOT catch them, the return to bed.  Grawl howl *stomp* grumble...  *pointing* "YOU!  And YOU!", back to bed.  They play 'run, run away fast', chuckling the whole time.  I was a kid once, I know this game.

The sun came out for just a moment, today, nearly for the first time since I have been home.  That little bit helped.  Yes, even as sun intolerant as I am, I need to see that thing once in a while.  Then again, I know I will be seeing it all summer long, and little else if this year is like last, so I am trying to enjoy the shade while it lasts.  When that sun hits, it's murder hot and hard.

Later.

A simple trip.

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I was able to find everything I needed or wanted, if not always exactly what I was seeking.  Balloons, enough for my attempt at clearing the trap and to practice shaving, when I can get to that.  No mixing and matching, mind you.  Milk and cream.  Milk can end up being a liquid meal, cream means I get enough caffeine to walk, or at least wake up.  Aloe vera stuff was found, and went on as soon as I came home.  As well, I bought a couple of packs of sole cushioning for my b.o.b.  If you have ever had to walk ten or twenty miles, especially when you really aren't feeling up to it, you might know how those could help.  More so if you have to walk more than that, and for several days, by needs.  I have had to do so, but I was younger and in better shape.  Still, I am quite sure I would have appreciated these.  Not sure they were allowed, or even really existed, back then.  Can't remember.

I also bought a meal while in town.  Look, that just saves me the trouble.  And, just making it to town was about what I could do.  I did unpack some things from the vehicle, finally.  The rest of it will be gotten to when I get to it.  That's that for that.

As to using the purchases for the toilet?  As I mentioned, I am done.  I have set up a temporary toilet.  It's nothing special.  And I will have to take some care in it's usage due to various factors.  But it will give me something else to use as I slowly clean out the toilet for an easier and more sanitary work area.  And, if I get it clean enough, I may be more willing to try to reach down in there, if all else fails.  Further, if reaching down in there doesn't get it, I will have to empty the water, undo the bolts, and pull the dang thing.  What a mess.  Yes, I am hoping the balloon works.  It will get several tries, starting with simple and then going on to trying to figure out other methods.  Vaseline, for example, if the balloon and tube can't otherwise get past the blockage... if that fails, taping a straightened metal coathanger onto the rest to give it some rigidity.  Ugh...  Hoping for simple, but...  Part of the reason I can't get to it, beside physical exhaustion, is the idea that it will fail, and fail, and fail, and...  When I am tired, it is difficult to... try.

Well, I am as geared for the attempt as I can be.  And I have a rough toilet on the side.  Life isn't always perfect, but it is doable with a little thought, care, and adaptation.  Later, or... good night, actually.

Haiku Monday - Endings and Beginnings

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It seems Haiku Monday will be changing.  No longer a contest, perhaps just a rotational, slower paced, haiku fest.  Some things will remain, some things will change.  I am sure it is not what haiku originated as, but traditionalists can go too far, as can non-conformists.  I'm not even sure I am either, or even both, or neither.  All or none of that is possible.  Oh, right, Karl has the post, his considerations, and the contest, up here.

For my part, I would be happy to see volunteers take the contest, and host a theme for a week or two.  No judging required, not even a post beyond the original page would be required.  As I suggested, however, I may continue some aspect of that.  Rather than choosing a winner, I would merely choose my favored from each poet and either do a song and dance about it or explain why it connected to my way of thinking.  If I have the time and energy.  I have no difficulty, mostly, judging.  Some do.  Okay, fair enough.  Well, and losing can be difficult for some.  True.  I am fifty-fifty on that last.  Can't win for losing or lose for winning with that attitude.  :)  Taking turns hosting may allow others the time to dabble without fear, until they can... take the reigns.  We will see.

So, I put up a few.  I may put up more.  But I'm in a bit of a hurry to get to some things right now.  Still... I didn't want to desert the crew(tm).

today, tomorrow

yesterday ~ before it starts it

is already over

for all good and bad

things ~ there is a first and last ~

so it starts and ends

every ending

is just the beginning of?

of a new end - is

Yeah, getting repetitive.  I just had to toy with the notion.  Won't put this one up, but will seek other threads of the theme.  It... worked for me!  Next! 

Stupid spoon isn't magnetic!

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So much for that.  It would have worked well, I think.  If one magnet didn't work, several would have.  But... no.  So a bit more looking and...

What if i took a plastic hose, fixed a balloon on the end of it, shoved it down the toilet past the toothbrush, inflated the balloon, then pulled out the toothbrush and inflated balloon.   My first attempt was with a rubber band to hold the balloon on...didn't work. Second try we fixed the balloon on with duct tape...pushed it down as far as we could, inflated the balloon (inflating a balloon in a toilet is hard, but possible) and started pulling it out. To my amazement, it pulled out the first balloon that we lost, as well as the toothbrush!  So there you have it...plastic tube, balloon, and tape.

 Now, will that really work?  I don't know.  I do know I recently purchased tubes, if more for slingshots and maybe, hopefully, to use with a charcoal filter I ordered, as an add to my wilderness water filter.  Yeah, rivers can have some serious fishy taste to them.  I think I have enough length, it isn't that deep in there, at most I would guess a foot, though through some curves and such.  Oh, but I never did end up buying any balloons.  I need to get to town anyway.  Milk, cream, tobacco, and just to get my butt off the chair.  Hmm... a shower, a trim, some unpacking, then out?  Yeah, maybe.

Later.

Still resting, but happily.

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It's not like I collapsed when I got home this time.  It will just take a bit of rest to get me back on my feet.  I am enjoying the time off, rather than fighting for a breath.  Sleep has been good.  The girls are great company, if their humble and reasonable demands are a bit of a push.  I sort of need that push to make sure I don't just fold up into thin air.  Well, they help, is what I am saying.  Not that it is all that close, just that it might otherwise be more possible.  A bit of grounding... with claws...  Laugh if you will.  I certainly do.  Until those claws get just a tad too close.

I still haven't gotten the spoon out.  I've tried this, and that, to open up the toilet.  Then, just this morning, as I checked on those... muddy waters... a thought came to me.  I have a package of earth metal magnets.  I am not sure if that particular silverware is magnetic, though I suspect it is.  I simply have to find the big one, with the hole in it.  Tie it to a string, very very well, or coated wire, and send it in where men would rather not.  I am sure hoping that works.  I don't think the spoon could be all that stuck, really.  It is merely it's mass and gravity, plus the flow of water and... other... that keeps it trapped.  The hole is too small for me to reach through, even should I wish it.  I'm not even sure a child could reach in far enough.  Such a simple problem.  If it were a fork, it wouldn't be near this problem, or even one of the smaller headed spoons.  But this thing, at that angle, completely chokes off flow.  Live and learn.  I just wish I had remembered. 

If I am stopping, but not commenting, you'll just have to wait.  I am in recovery mode.  To add to it, the sun has been hidden since I arrived home.  It has been raining, and cool.  That sort of takes me down a notch or three all by itself.  So, if I am not commenting, just... wait longer. 

Best get some food into these girls' bowls.  Those claws are starting to be sharpened, the back of my chair is being occupied, and I am being told... "or else".  A chore I cannot refuse.  So...  Later.

Oh, my.

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Don't let a bit of sentimentality... allow you to think I have gone soft.

In time.

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Yeah, a bit zapped.

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Yesterday didn't see much done.  Fair enough.  Today, however, I am hoping to figure out a bit more.  I knew I wouldn't be sprinting toward a new finish line when I returned.  I did think I would try to be more active.  And yesterday wasn't a complete toss.  A few projects were, if they remain, in the works.  A bit here, a bit there.  But when I hit the vehicle, I will unpack at least half of it, if not all of it, and relatively quickly is my guess.

Now that the girls are happy I am home, they are wanting me to be up and feed them.  On their schedule.  I'll have to train them, a bit, again.  Still, fair is fair.  I'll need to go to town before too long as well.  Milk and cream, for coffee.  Perhaps some soda for an occasional cold sip.  Nothing fancy, not a large supply needed from the store.  Hmm, and when I am going, I'll see if my friend wants to do some of his own shopping.  Oh, and aloe vera goop.  I think my skin is past the major peeling problem, but it could dry out if I don't keep tending it.  And, after using that, I am impressed with how well it works.

Oh, I suppose.  The girls are whining about food and it is about time.  Then just a bit o' music and on to... something.  Later.

Ah ha.

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I remember, now, why the toilet would be blocked.  The day I was leaving I was dumping wash water from a tub.  I thought it to be empty.  It was, all save a spoon.  And that spoon shot right into the trap, beyond sight.  It was a big spoon, tablespoon sized, plus.  Solid metal, a bit oversized even for it's intended uses.  So... that is what the problem is.  Before I remembered I tried the snake.  Now, the snake does open a channel which allows enough flow to vacate the stool but it doesn't seem able to catch the spoon and bring it back.  I'll keep tinkering... if I can stop needing to use the facilities.  Oh, I'll... get it sorted before long.  At least I can use the toilet, in a bit of a limited capacity.  And now that I know what the problem is I might be able to figure out a better solution.  I am wondering about fishing hooks, though...  I'm just not sure.  A spoon is going to be a little tricky, especially being as heavy as it is and with a trap that allows it to simply slide out of sight.  Looking at the trap, patterned into the ceramic, it doesn't seem like it should even be able to do that.  So much for looks.

I really thought the plumber snake would catch, or would sort of get tangled on it, and pull.  But nope.  Oh well, live and learn.  At least I don't have a wife and a dozen kids wanting in there.  Now if I could just tame my own needs.  Something about getting home...  Do we have to mark our territories, even if we don't think of it that way?  Don't know.  It is definitely incentive to get going on my en suite bathroom.  Two of everything, even in a home, really eases maintenance and other problems.

Later.

I thought so.

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I am doing really good.  My toilet, somehow, is clogged.  It wasn't when I left, and was on the first flush.  Hmm...  I'll try to plunge it again, again.  If that fails, the snake.  If all else fails, a plumber.  Now sure how that could have happened.  I just hope it isn't something like roots.  Don't see how it could be though.  Never mind, just something to figure out, but much sooner than later.  It's the only toilet I have at the moment.

I'll be working on that and getting unpacked today.  I am a bit tired, but it was a long drive for an old guy, and that after packing up camp earlier on top of it.  I have figured out, with breaking camping, doing a bit here, a bit there, and just taking my time... it is quite doable and even mildly relaxing.  I figure unpacking will be done similarly.

My burned skin has, mostly, healed.  Ear lobes are peeling just a bit.  I think there might be another very small area of peel happening, but nothing major, oddly.  I burned, I mean hard.  My skin was getting that purplish hue in places from it.  While I can't resist, or handle, the sun all that well, burns are another thing entirely.  I'm curious to see what sort of coloration will result from it.  I used to burn then turn golden, in my teens.  But as an adult I never allowed burns, and usually just turned... hmm... dirt brown.  :p  At least I know that sun screen I bought really works.  I didn't burn even a touch more after that first day.  I need to remember to buy aloe vera stuff when in town next, that stuff is a little miracle.  I used it, thankfully the Cat family brought it, twice a day.  It made it so I could handle the pain of the burn by cooling it, and kept my skin from just blistering off in places, I think.  Loverly stuff.

Yeah...  I have a few things to do.  And I do need a little time off.  The sun is behind thicker clouds so I get a little break from that too.  All good.  I'll figure things out and be ready, I am hoping, to get out shooting and hiking, and figuring out places to camp, starting next week.  I don't want to let this boost go to waste.  I may try to make it to Burning Man this year, somehow.  It depends.  Desert Cat might not be able to make it, doesn't know because of work this year.  In either case, I want to begin hiking and camping so, eventually, at one of these burn events, I can actually partake much more strongly.  I enjoy people.  And you don't really meet people in very many places who sort of treat you as kin, or who are unafraid to give you a hug or chat with or at you.  I'm not the hugging type, but... that's a weakness if it does have it's place and time, as well, mind you.

Oh, and I'm loving the girls!  They missed me too.  I had to sleep alone partly last night, but woke later and let them in.  I knew I would be rolling and needed some hard sleep right away.  They came in later and flopped, walked on, and otherwise made sure it was me, that I was still alive, and are letting me know that breakfast is needed.  So... 

But, yes, I am doing quite well.  A little groggy from the week and drive.  But the will and health are good.  And I'll be hitting medicines perfectly for a bit.  I did take them okay there, but... not perfectly.  It's tough, while camping, to keep that on track.  I figure partial is much better than none.  But... I really am in good shape, considering... though in part because the trip was a boost not a drain.  Yeah, the combo of medicines and being out is a very good thing.  I'll be doing things a bit slower this week, but not stopping, and with my goals set on getting out a few times a week, at least, the rest of the summer.  Oh, and snowshoeing to explore for winter camping this winter!  Gotta get, and stay, plugged in.

Later.

Back.

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Just.  I left the camp at noon, give or take.  Traffic was slow getting down the dirt roads to the highway.  But once to the highway, dispersion and whatever else cleared the road easily.  I left Snowflake at right at 14:00, it was right at 2:00 when I arrived home.  I went the speed limit plus five, and while I did stop for one very fast meal, it took an hour longer than the online map suggested.  Yeah, I was fast with gas fills too, so that wasn't it.  Actually I only went into one.  The rest were, pretty much, drivethroughs.  Ah well.  I made it, and alive, and on track.

The burn was fun.  It was good to see Desert Cat, and meet Daisy Cat.  An entertaining lot if I ever saw one.  I shouldn't have grinned and giggled so much but they WERE entertaining, according to my book.  She didn't kill me outright.  And she didn't end up being all that fearful.  And I never pulled any punches.  I don't cut corners or fib, as best as I am able, in real life or on my blog.  It works out better that way, in my opinion.

I cooked, burned hard, the first day.  After that, I learned to wear my sun proof solution and clothing and stayed in the shade for the most part.  I did get out several times, day and night.  I simply wasn't in very good shape.  A good month after seven or eight months knocking on death's door simply wasn't enough to liven me.  No matter, I enjoyed getting out, the company, and what activity I could do.

I am zapped.  So I won't unload tonight.  But I will unload, part or whole, tomorrow.  Further, I do believe I will tend things as I unpack them.  The tent won't need airing out.  But the sleeping bag will.  I'll want to go through my b.o.b. and rearrange and ensure I have what I want to keep in there.  I used some of the bits, here and there.  Clothing will all go into the washroom, and be sorted.  It might take a few days to get it all out, but it will be done this time, and quickly.

I best get to bed.  Good night.

Groused about for a post.

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Went looking for something to get me going, grease the gears, help shove off, wake up.  Couldn't find it, or think.  Then I noticed a post someone else had recently viewed and...  I'm just copying and pasting.  It's all I've got and I need something to... stir the pot.  Yeah, just a copy and past job.  Needed some music and offering a notion of... things... roughly.  Uhrm, two of the songs had been copyright blocked, so... I found two that hadn't been.  :)  Bleh.  Fixed the original post as well.  Were there is an internet, there is a way.
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I'll just enjoy for a bit.  I had thought to see if I could use it.  No need.  I think it will tend to that itself.  A good day is just that, a frisky one is better.  Invigorated, and mischievous, with a bloom of energy and imagination running rampant.  I have things to do.

Awake.

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Oh, that waking thing, that can be crazy.  You think it's one time, or another, and a cycle or two of the snooze bar plus some dreaming, and I was thinking it was after 3:00.  No fuss, just... *sigh*  I do try, and I have been pushing it, and I am pushing it on this specific thing.  I couldn't get everything packed and stowed before hitting it.  My mind had turned to mush and while my body was still good, save for a cranky back (but I've always had that! *grins* ), my body knew that I didn't have the whip of will or a very good means of guiding it anyway, so it slipped out the back and went "fishing". 

I did get the bulk of what I am taking in.  Water jugs were filled and loaded, tent and such went in, table, hibachi, all of the big stuff.  What I have left is the little irritating stuff, like toiletries, food, and such.  Oh, and I found a pan I had set aside.  Oh my.  Yeah, well, while I was cleaning out the soda cooler I went ahead and set the pan to soak.  Oh yuck was that a nasty one.  But stainless is good for it, same with cast, if you... urhm... goof.  I really have been pushing it.  Not just for me, but for any man, if only for a few days.

I went to hop on the machine and was told XP was dead unless I do something.  Doubting there would be a fix, but needing some wake-up time with coffee anyway, I pressed "do it now, on the phone".  Okay.  That ended up being a LOT less of a problem then I had anticipated.  I thought I would be fighting for my 'allowance' to use their software.  Nope, just had to enter eight sets of six numbers, then they spit out a new set of same for me to put in.  Easy enough.  Though my phone, right in the middle of it, decided, for some stupid reason, to ask me, while I needed to use the numerical keypad, if I wanted to add this number to my contacts!  I didn't know how to get that off, and by the time I figured that out, the system had booted me over to a talker (live contact).  I had to do it all over again, by voice, but that went fine.  Other than stumbles from being mostly still asleep, I am now, again, allowed to use "my" computer.  Gah!

So... of course... I wanted to do a post, check email, and see if any points east have been nuked yet.  Don't laugh, and it isn't just foreigners.  This admin is almost stupid enough to go to war with Russia and China rather than use right diplomacy and other tools, and certainly has no interest in allowing the loss of control in a city.  Burning San Diego as an example is not below them, nothing is.  It's... in their thought processes.  A wire loose, a need for control and power they don't legitimately have or even have the wealth of wisdom in order to possess.  Hate, they do, for their base iniquities. 

Cheery lot when I wake.  Ah, but it... gets much better.  When fully awake, I see more, more deeply, and more surely.  Cheers!  :P

Oh, right... the trip though.  Food needs to be packed, and soda et. al.  Toiletries and a few such odds and ends.  I have it pretty much set up, the final cooler is clean, the other is all set, though I need to get some gloves for the readjustment of dry ice and putting food in that.  I put the whole thing in the freezer, after... a few adjustments in there.  Hmm... yeah...  Oh, I best give the girls a meal, my last, and more a gift than a feeding...  Oh, and a shower.  Too much.  Overload.  I'm hoping to have that all done and loaded, an hour after I start, but... urhm... first I have to wake, and then...  That's pretty tight time.  Gah!

Have a good week.

Some things, it seems.

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When I set out to do something, if time is tight, I try to get my mind wrapped around the resources involved.  Time is extremely precious, so it is counted and weighed, and tables are created.  As many of you know, a job, or set of tasks, often, or almost always takes more time than anticipated.  Well, usually.  I expected, with traffic, the stores being busy, construction, and just chance, to require two hours for the trip to town and shopping at the two stores required.  It turned out to take just an hour and an half.  Maybe even a little less, actually.

A tarp was found, 9'x9', which I will need to fold under.  That is fine.  I didn't want to try an exactly size.  That seems to almost never work well unless it was made for the tent.  Even then, sometimes, that doesn't work well.  Charcoal was also found, and hand sanitizer.  Then on to the grocery store.  The dry ice, into the cooler with the cardboard to protect the sides and ice to help keep the dry ice in better shape.  As well, soda, potatoes, and three more small bags of ice.  Then home, just in time for dinner to arrive.  Timing, luck, or observations, I never can be sure.  Oh, not on my part.  I have no sense of such things, not in the mechanical, or physical way, and little regard for it due to an inability.  If that isn't the only... reason possible.

Now, to fill the water, load everything in, and get some rest before taking off tonight.  The gates open at noon.  And I am guessing a large portion of those who are coming will be there.  Right at noon.  So I am not terribly concerned about being there exactly at noon.  Still, within a few hours is good.  And if I happen to be there then, that is fine.  But no absolute hard-tack push is in play.  So, when I end up laying down, I will give myself eight hours for the alarm.  I will have clothes set out to wear, and take a shower, the last for a while, potentially.  Then finish what of the coffee I have made, while making a pot to be put into go cups.  Finally, some pets, and razzes for the girls before heading out.

Just getting out of the house with what I need and want is half of the adventure, and all of the work.  Driving is cake, camping is the easy life for someone like me, and grousing around for an ear to lean into is pleasant child's play.  I offer myself as a minor distraction for the costs.  Oh, and maybe a story or three that can't be refused, just not believed.  If you can believe it.  I need to let dinner settle just a wee before packing.  Most of my list is completed.  Oh, I'll forget something or other.  That is how it goes.  But I have more than I need so...

Hmm... a bit o' music would be good.  Nothing new to offer you, too busy lately, so I will just listen to some of my old stuff.  It does speed along the digestion.  I suppose this is good night.  Perhaps one last post right before I head out, for no good reason.

One thing, then another.

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Keep breathing, keep moving until you can't, then take a break.  Rinse and repeat.

Dishes are done, the cooler has been sorted out but now I need to figure out protection for it, from the dry ice.  I don't know if I said, but laundry has been done.  The last few loads haven't been folded or otherwise dealt with, but they are clean.  Medicine has been tended, one medset stored, the other will just go with me, out in the open for the most part.  Bits of this and that but never quite... there.  I still need to figure out food more fully.  I am about to go to town for dry ice and charcoal, and potatoes.  Might as well grab another bag or two of ice, just to be sure, and soda.  Bleh.

I haven't tried to contact anyone about windows trying to shut off, but I haven't had the time or I was busy or needing a break and couldn't think about that, it's getting late, so...  Oh well.  It is about time to head to town if I am going to be back in time for supper.  Yeah, I know, but...  Take it where you can get it when nothing else is working or everything else is being used elsewise.  It is too much.  But it can't be done, much of it, much earlier than I have done it.  I knew where everything was, and it was pretty much ready.  But that final bit has to be done right about at that time or it is under foot, could end up scattered, and might be needed for something else.

Never mind.  In to town before that is too late.  Oh, but I have to fit the cooler with cardboard first.  That "shouldn't take too long".  Bleh.  Later.

Too much.

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Gah!  Every time I turn around there is another detail or task.  Laundry is done, dishes still need to be finished but I refreshed the soak.  The table, hibachi, and b.o.b., plus the pack with the clothes which I had to and did pack, along with the tent and such, are near the door.  I've lined up four containers for water, two with spigots.  The directions were scrawled out by hand earlier.  I still have to get medicine ready.  I still have to think about food.  Four cans of veggies, four cans of fruit, a couple MREs, and of course meats.  But the cooler was in bad shape.  I went to start fitting it with cardboard, to protect from the dry ice.  I had thought it had been cleaned, but... no.  Not too bad, there wasn't anything in it that could seriously rot.  And it was dry.  It's just... mildewy smelling.  So, that is soaking with soap and a touch of bleach.  Medicine has to be set up, twice, and the medsets stored where they won't both go bad if there is a problem.  Another cooler, I hope it is in the basement, for soda, beer, and ice.

From what I am seeing, it should all fit in the back, and back seat, without me having to lay the back seat down.  I prefer not to do that.  Sometimes, though, there isn't an option.  Weight shouldn't even be close to a problem, even running with full water jugs this time.  Last time, my rig was filled to overflowing, plus had a rack carry bag.  Bleh.  Not even close this time.  I should have room for that gorgeous hitchhiker I know I will see.  He boyfriend will have to walk.  No funny business in my vehicle... unless it involves me.  And I'm celibate, so.

Every time I do something I have to think what else I have to do while trying not to stumble over what I have done.  I did make a list, but to make a complete list would... be crazy.  The best I can do is write something like "food", and just know that means assorted cans, some MREs, coffee, French press, frozen and figuring that out, the hibachi and charcoal (which I still have to get when I go to town for dry ice, after the cooler has soaked and is ready to clean and dry, and then is fitted with cardboard so as to be safe from the dry ice), and... whatever else food might involve.  See what I mean.  A general, skeletonized, list, is all that is possible.  The rest just has to be known.  Which, is tight quarters for a cripple who usually only has to figure out how to put coffee in his face and not do a nose dive into the keyboard.  Tricky as those things are, this is just a wee more than that.  Still, I think I'm doing alright.

Always waiting on something, or needing a little breather though.  Some people can straight shoot stuff.  I'm not one of those people.  I can straight shoot: a slip down a slope or the fall off a high object; digging political and social holes around other people; drinking more than an elephant on it's 21st birthday; failing miserably; and sometimes, just sometimes, pulling off the impossible.  Right now I'm in the middle of the latter, considering the one before it, looking forward to the one before that, and hoping not to experience the first.  *grin*  How'd you like them apples.  That oughta  stop some of your bitching.  Oh, don't think that hard, I didn't write that hard.  :p

The girls know something is up.  They are somewhere between excited with me and pissed.  If you can't have a woman, get a cat.  Same same, in some areas.  They'll give you grief, love, and hate you, all while hoping you actually return.  Just on the social side, mind you.  Consider them sisters or mother types, and there you go.  They know I'm going.  Don't know where, or care, so long as they get fed in the meantime, and that I return eventually.  Don't want to go.  It's not their thing.  Not even camping.  Underfoot as often as they can be in my efforts though.  But... t'sokay.  I just give them a little extra attention, or a razzleberry, which is at least as good in their eyes.  At least they don't literally cry when I head out, though... Should I?  Yeah...  I have always enjoyed a woman crying.  I know she'll quit as soon as I'm out of the driveway, and find something to do that I wouldn't approve.  Sweats, icecream, and television.  Bleh.  You'd think I would stir them to more but... that's it.

Blathering as I cool down so as to do more.  Later.

Alright, by hand then.

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I hate it when the instructions suggest this, that, and the other thing, when all they really mean is keep on a certain road, highway, interstate, or such.  It's, really, too much data.  I pared it down a lot.  The 15 steps to I-15 was completely cut, the rest of it was summarized.  They are suggesting it will an 11 hour trip just to Snowflake, but that can't be right.  On pretty much the same roads, it only took me 11 hours to get to Eloy, not far from Tuscon.  While I do, usually, go five mph fast, that's it.  So, don't even think I was playing fast and loose with the speed limit to do that.  Hmm, maybe my memory is a bit soft, that path, they say, takes 13 hours.  I just can't remember.  That wasn't a rough ride, even after having loaded the vehicle first, and with no nap in there between the loading and driving.  I spent... at least ten hours loading and packing, I think.  Ugh...  This will be quite a bit easier.

Well, with that done, a cup of joe, then on to the last of the packing and filling the water jugs.  When that is done, medicines.  After that, a run to town to pick up charcoal and dry ice, then a nap.  I'd like to do that later, but I want a nap before heading out.  Dry ice will simply last as long and well as it does.  My guess is, each trip will get smoother, more streamlined.  If I could find a printer that works...  The last three have been duds.  And with moving, and my general organizational skills, I've not been able to get warrantee protections...  Landfill material.  HP, Canon, and another.  Junk.  Oh, and don't think I have expended great time and effort trying to get them to work, in forums, calls to the manufacturer's tech lines, and such.  Junk.  I even reviewed them.  Lemons?  That many in a row?  Bleh.

On a side note, it looks like I'll hit 2k pageviews for the month.  It isn't significant, just a record.  That's 66.6~ pageviews a day.  I just wanted to put that into perspective so I understand it a bit better.  No idea why almost any reads, but... there it is.  Can't be entertaining.  Odd.  I'll think about it when I have more time.

Yeah, I best get to the last of it.  Later.

So many little things to do.

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Yeah, it's... pretty much all ready to go.  But ice in the coolers, stuff arranged, double bagged, and such.  This and that.  Oh, a set of clothes for the trip home, bagged just in case.  Not bagging all of my clothes this time.  Never did get a tarp, perhaps on the way out of town.  I need more charcoal, the real stuff, anyway.  I'm messing with the printer now, trying to get the instructions.  The instructions lead to a googlemap link, but you can't input your location to get complete instructions.  Poor coordination, as I see things.  Us a map that works!  Then again, not sure my printer will work, the ink might be dried out.  Still...

Of course, some last minute arrangements are always part of it.  Water bottles to be filled.  Everything loaded.  Always... something.  Ah... medicine.  I'll have to load up both medsets, and figure out the insulin.  It really is all ready to go, it just has to be... well... put together then loaded.  Or... something.  This is usually a job for the mrs. or misses.  It just is.  Oh, men can do it, but... not well.  They do the packing, we do the navigating, that's usually how it works.  My last wanted to change things up.  Every time we tried it, we ended up lost for great periods of time and showing up very late, and... missing stuff.  Still, I don't care.  She did, not me.  I just laughed.  That's... also part of our job.  Bah, I'll get there.  Sometime, with some stuff.

I did get someone to feed the girls, set the food out, wet food, on the counter.  Just use one stack, then the next.  I have sorted them for variety already.  I hope they remember where the dry food is.  I don't dare set that out.  It's in the cupboard outside of the bathroom.  In case you forgot.  It's the one that is open.  Says cat food on it.  :p  Oh, check the water and clean their litter box at least every other day, and stir it up so the pee doesn't soak in.  Just... trying to be helpful.

So many nitpicking little details.  I did what I could with the time I had, and then some, I should like to think.  Should have been more on top of it, but health doesn't always permit.  I get windows, I use windows.  If I don't have windows, I obviously can't use them.  And I have been out of sorts, no doubts there.  I'm actually surprised I got this window and did what I did, without having to simply stack everything I hoped I would need, as I could, and go.  That has, and can, happen.  And, actually, I am, so far, rather well on top of things.  Even to cleaning my house, a bit, before I go.  All laundry is done, and dishes will be too.  Trash is out, if there remain many boxes to eventually be dealt with, that is livable.

I figure I will need a nap, after loading, then will head out pretty late tonight.  Thankfully, the first part of the drive is well known.  And most of it will have some familiarity to it.  The last part, however, is a really doozy of paying attention, watching for tiny signs or maybe even watching the odometer?  It looks like a claustrophobic run if I have ever seen one.  Then again, I did find Desert Cat's secret hideaway without too much fuss.  I was rested though, but that doesn't always make too much difference for me.  Not when I'm on duty.  And... while driving to a strange place in a strange world, I'm on duty.

I love being back on active duty.  :)  Now... to see if the printer is running.  I just wish it didn't take so long to put the drivers and software on, just to even find out if the printer will even work!  Bleh.  Later.

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Crap, looks like the ink is dead.  I'll... tinker with it just a bit more, do some machine and hand stuff, to see if I can get the ink to flow, but...

That was weird...  My monitor just moved.  Cats aren't near it.  Like something ran into my home?  One sec. - Nope, just a ghost.  Weird.

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It's not the ink flow.  Lousy printer.  Now it's suggestion some kind of error, no matter what I do.  Found a fix for the error!  And it still, of course, doesn't work.  Well, hand notes, again.

Oh, that was good.

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Falling to sleep before dinner arrived, I kept my phone ready.  Wasn't sure I would hear it.  I did, and got up and was ready.  The girls are covered, dinner was quite welcome, and sleep was had immediately after.

My initial and second fall into sleep was easy.  No pain.  I thought to set that alarm for 5:00, an eight hour sleep, but that just didn't happen.  I was torn between sleeping as needed and pushing.  I didn't want to do either.  In the end, I just lost consciousness before I could decide.  No problem, as it turns out.  I woke at about 4:00.  Good enough.  I woke easily and without pain.  I'm just sort of waking, answering some last minute queries, and thinking else I need to do.

I merely need to pack what I have collected, fill the water, and put everything in the vehicle.  A lot less this time.  No bike to take, so I won't even be messing with that.  I may try to get XP fixed so it doesn't die while I am gone, if that is possible.  But first, just to wake up.  A bit of coffee right away.  Hmm, one more load of laundry, and to finish the dishes.  I have reset the rinse for the dishes.  The water has to be hot or dishes are a pain to dry.  When I set the coffee up, I'll put the last load of laundry through.  I've set the cat food out, for easy use.  I have one more load of trash to go out.  Should have taken it out yesterday, but, yeah... I was busy and did what I could, and then some.  And I have to get dry ice on the way out of town. 

Ugh, so much to do!  And, yet, not really.  It's all in place, like dominoes.  Just have to remember which ones to push to make it more orderly, and bulldoze when that fails.  I best check on the path and get that set, as well.  It's, mostly, the same path I took last time, just not as long of a drive as even the first leg of my last trip.  All good.  Later.

Not a bad effort.

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Traffic was insane today.  Main street was a bumper to bumper crawl, even the side streets were quite busy.  Side streets, just one or two off, are often the refuge of locals.  Not today, or not as successfully.  I kept my cool, mostly.  Tire rotation first, in and out in a hurry.  Then on to an oil change.  The guy at the counter told me to come back at 13:00.  I asked him to make an appointment, but he said I wouldn't need one.  Wrong.  I went to the wetworks for whistle adjustment fluid, then back.  I had to wait another hour.  I wish he had just been straight with me.  No worries, I needed a break from traffic anyway.  Beside oil, I got the inspection I needed for plates.  It'll save me a hassle later on, if I don't lose the paperwork.  After that I checked about a haircut.  The gal who does it as I like it wasn't in, won't be until Friday.  I just didn't like the last gal, and I don't think random works.  If you find someone you like, stick with them.  A lot of women cutting hair simply shouldn't.  They don't know what they are doing!  Bleh.

After that, I don't even remember.  The store for a few items, coffee, I ordered steaks before driving in so I wouldn't have to wait, I picked those up.  I need more charcoal, and... something(s) else?  Tomorrow.  I have my list.  I checked things off as I did them, so I know what I need.  I was going to pick up cat litter, but I think, since that would be a separate store, and it is busy out there, I will wait until my return trip.  But, for all intents and purposes, that is it for today.  I will stay awake until supper arrives, then crash well and deservedly. 

Not a bad day.  Somewhere in there, I became exhausted enough that it stopped hurting.  If I had to guess, when I get into bed, the pain will return to me as I try to break down into sleep.  It often does.  Well, and tomorrow morning will probably be a bit harsh.  No problems.  I know these things.  I sort of planned for them.  You can never quite be ready for that kind of pain though.  Memory doesn't serve, and it can be so fresh and sharp.  I'm rather glad I can't remember.  Then the trick is merely to suffer past it.  It's sort of like weight lifting.  All good.

I'll be up for a while longer, but this is my last post for the day.  Good night.

So much for drifting.

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Floating through work, to this point, was helpful.  It is also over.  From about 8:00 on it became painful.  I sorted another load of laundry, am about to figure out, I think, the next to the last load.  I will put whatever in the dryer, but will hold off on the last load until I return home.  I just don't like leaving a load sitting in the washer that long.  Seems to do fine, but... forgetting it means a lot more work.  Trash was collected and taken out, though I didn't see many recycle bins out so didn't set my own out.  It only has one bag in it, and a small one, I think.  No worries there, either way.  I have been drying dishes, bits at a time, as I did other things.  The water has probably gotten too cold to do more.  I'll hit it with fresh hot water before I go, with some hopes that it will still be warm enough to finish when I get home.

It doesn't sound like much, but it was, and a bit more.  I honestly couldn't have done that normally.  And, like last time I headed out, much didn't get done.  Though that was crazy.  I was definitely overloaded with too many things, most of which turned out to be quite unnecessary.  Really, aim at keeping it as simple as possible, then pare even that down.  The only thing I am going a bit heavier on, than I had planned, is clothing.  Since I don't know whether to expect hot or cold or a mix, with rain very possible as well.  My b.o.b. has that covered, but I'll take an extra poncho.  Actually, I am probably going to leave my bike.  Pare.  Still, I will check tires and stuff, if I can remember that in my rotation.

So tired.  But I have much to do.  I am going to put my list into my phone before I head out.  Yeah, I'll probably miss some things, but, as I said, there is tomorrow and on the way out of town.  Should work, more or less.  Yes, this now hurts.  And when it all catches up with me, it'll hurt a lot.  Or... as it sometimes does, it'll just pass.  Hmm, stranger adrenalin always cures pain.  I'll know in a few days.

Best get going.  You too!  Scoot.

Had to take a break.

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I was outstripping my pace and beginning to have... problems.  I yet need to go to town today.  Early is better, but nothing is open until 10:00 or so.  Pacing is vital.  I went to Amazon, to see if they had any instant view movies that would be of interest.  I looked through dozens.  Most of them simply weren't, seemingly, of interest.  The I saw one with potential.  Something about it.  No name actors.  A good thing mind you.  A topic I... enjoy historically.  A specific part of it that has intrigued me, specifically.  So, a look at the trailer on YouTube, perhaps some written reviews, avoiding spoilers.  People are true turds, these days, about putting spoilers into reviews without giving warning.  And, finally, after some... thinking... in spite of it being free, I pulled the trigger.  Touch down!

Yeah, two different sports.  Sue me.  I did end up enjoying the movie a great deal.  Enough that I wrote a review.  Most movies I can see where they are going, often nailing even twist endings.  My girlfriends of past... well... didn't always appreciate me doing that.  But if I can't get into the movie, or it starts dragging, my mind disengages and does it's thing.  And... I could have done that with this movie.  I would have been right, too, most likely.  I know how power can work, and how movies shows it to work.  Not always the same.  If you know a bit about both, you can figure it out.  My mind just never got bored.  There was action, intense action, but that was one part.  And it was just a part.  There were people, not too complex, but then people aren't complex until you really get to know them.  Even then, many people simply aren't difficult to read, know.

It was called Centurion.  It satisfied my itch for a video story without upsetting too many realities.  Oh, sure, any movie made after the 1940's or 50's, and possibly even then and before, is filled with bogus notions.  It's a matter of limiting how many of those occur.  If you have Amazon prime, like Roman history and specifically how it relates to England, and don't mind several historical faux pas (I am guessing, but pretty sure), and have a bit of time, give it a shot.

It is about time to do a few more things before settling down again, for a bit.  I might try another movie.  It kills some time and distracts without tiring me.  Oh, best make some coffee too.  I think I might be able to be packed later this evening, and have my home pretty much set up for an easy out and return. 

Hmm... in town?  Tire rotation, oil change, steaks and burger, put a check in my account, a pound of ground coffee, some cream and butter, and a shop at the wetworks.  Oh, and maybe a haircut if I can fit it in.  Gosh, I don't know.  I do have Tuesday, or the way out, if something doesn't fit in.  I can call ahead and get the steaks set up and ready to go while waiting somewhere.  I will just wait at the various auto shops, as I don't want to tax myself walking around too much.  I have a week of that coming up.

Oh, and tonight, I best make sure the bike is ready to go.  No, I haven't gotten to that.  Hmm... the sun is up and out!  I'll open the shades... that'll help.  Trash, right, and a load of socks to pair.  After a that and maybe a show, then on to the dishes and whatever laundry is ready then.  Then to town?  Something like that.  Later.

Drifting quite pleasantly.

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Three loads of laundry, the dishes are washed and soaking in a hot rinse, clothes to go are being sorted, everything is being folded, hung, and put away while I am at it.  Dishes remain to be finished, trash and such needs to be collected and taken out, but here and there, this and that, much is being done.  Not that I know what's going on, I just look out and see all the activity from time to time.

Hungry though.  I considered going for a fast food drive...  Hmm... 3:00?  I might be able to still make it.  I thought that it might interfere with my projects.  I don't think so.  It takes about an hour to get to town and back, and I would be sitting that long anyway as the most recent load just went in.  Definitely hungry.

I already showered, as well, so...  Best get going if I am going to get a burger instead of breakfast.  Their breakfasts are okay, but never quite what I am hungry to eat.  Poop... pot... on or off.  On.  Hungry to be sure.  Later!

Here or there?

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Often, in this realm, for now, whatever either of those words mean, I am either here or there.  If I am here, I am fully alive.  Sometimes, often, whether from illness or effort, I hurt.  I hurt as often as I can.  Such is life as I know it.  When suffering doesn't exist, I create it.  An extra day out, a hike, whatever I can add.  Though, honestly, for decades all I needed to do was fight to consciousness and pain was all around me.  It is my world, life.  One I do not regret.  If I am there, though, I feel nothing.  I see little, hear little, understand little.  The veil of tears is shuttered.  I ghost through time and space.  I am no more.

Oh, to have that bit of sun!

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That seemed to have helped me recharge.  I didn't get to much, staying up longer so as to enjoy that sun.  Actually, that was the sum total of the rest of yesterday...  Actually... today... or... something.  Further, as I wake, the sun is back out.  The skies are pretty much clear so we are getting the last rays of the sun as a usual evening.  I slept through, what I am told, was the tail end of the storm sweeping through to let us know it had been here.  The rain cleaned everything, and it didn't get cold enough to probably even slow spring, so everything looks fresh, green, and sharp.  This is the time, when having literal vision, the ability to see, in hyperrealism, is grand.  I have never seen a photograph that captures enough pixels to relay what I see with my eyes, when I focus.  No, it's not all of the time, only when I decide to look.  Ah, some examples you say?  Here.

Yeah, I know.  Probably another Doom story, you say.  I'm not sure how or why, but I tell you it's the way of it.  It's easier, I think, for them to capture it in black and white, but I get color too.  Usually I don't look that closely.  Something has to interest me, be texturally, or subject interesting, or a threat, to get me to focus.  I sort of stop being alive and go into the scene, it's sort of... resource demanding, of flesh.  But I can do it for moments, or roll it like movie film and just stay in that for a bit.  Some, I have heard, get stuck in there.  I prefer my way a lot.  I am using this on the scenes out my window, snow capped mountains, last of the clouds to the south, setting sun striking various things, the green valley.  Nice.  Not even those HD nature films can capture what I have.  They do have zoom, and when stabilized on a a mobile platform, with the zoom, can do some things I can't.  But in a static view, my vision handily wins.  It is a luxury I dearly enjoy.

I see more even than that.  But... I will only describe that which you might be able to fathom.  The rest is a story, but mine.  I would tell you how things changed, but that too is a story just for me.  I always saw rather well, but something... enhanced that.  Well, and seeing some other things... how to say it... opened my eyes to... what I was seeing.  Enough of that.

Ah, right, but... some things.  Dishes have been set up to a fresh soak.  I took a shower right off.  Supper was coming, and it was said I had a few minutes, and I thought I would try to be presentable and wake a bit better, so I had to drain the dishes, which... sets up for setting them to a fresh soak almost automatically.  More laundry, clothes packing, and preparation for a trip into town tomorrow.  Steaks, a tarp/ground cloth, tire rotation and oil change if possible, though I believe I am skipping the overtent.  I would love one, I just don't think they make sturdy ones in a price range I could pull off.  Actually... I just don't think they really make sturdy ones, almost at all.  Could end up being a welding and sewing project for some unknown future?  I saw one question about one of the *cough* more solid ones.  It seems that it ties down to anchors well enough, but in a stiff wind, the upper parts of the legs... bent.  Other than that, all good!  Bleh.

Yes, I am doing well.  Yes, I am going to be fine.  As usual, when out and about and in it, I seem to... do fine.  Nothing like the adrenalin rush of dealing with thousands of people after having been down and hiding in a cave for six months to help rise to the occasion.  :)  You can be a gimp at home, but if you are a gimp near a bunch of apex predators... and whatever else you think of men, understand, that is what they are... you will be eaten.  Of mind or body, being weak, or showing it, is becoming a target.

Hmm, beside the suggested list for tonight, clothing will be set out and packed, water will be made ready, and a few other ideas and notions will go forth as I see or remember them.  Prep for loading, a staging area will be set, the last of the trash and recycling will be readied for trash day tomorrow, and ducks will be lined up and list finished as I get into things.  I should be... in pretty good order by go time.  Oh, a call, quickly, to arrange something.  Yes, I did forget.  This time, so far, I think, is much smoother.

I have... a few things to do.  Later.

Clouds.

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They are starting to roll in.  It's still brighter than it has been for... a while.  I am cratering.  Whether because the sun is gone or because I am simply about done with wakefulness matters little.  A few last things, then off to bed.  Supper will be coming, usually after 17:00, so I'll set the alarm, to give me a bit of a stir, and keep the phone handy to take the call.  Tricks and traps, I do what I can.

Much more to do, but I am doing things here and there.  In setting up my b.o.b., I organized a bit.  I know where a lot of, if not all of, my camping and outdoor gear is.  Shouldn't be too much hassle to get arranged.  But things are a bit different.  I need to figure out hot water and coffee.  I'm not sure charcoal is the best way to heat water, but that might just have to do.  I am not sure what pan to take to boil the water in, either.  Meh, I'll figure something out.

Tonight I will actually start packing and setting things in a staging area, plus finish up the cleaning.  Actually, cleaning, my style, doesn't take too long.  Hmm, might get some boxes torn down and in the Xterra to take in Monday.  Little bits.  It's all I can do.  At least for the moment.  It looks like that should be enough though.  Over thinking things just causes heartburn.  This burn ought to get me another step closer to a couple of things, including how to gear up and what to take, and... how to get out of the door, again, again.

Later. 

Sun!

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I was folding the first load of laundry.  Watching local news seemed about the only thing to do to help snub the boring task.  Blah, blah, blah, cat's can give you cat scratch fever, blah, blah, crime, blah, crime, blah blah... sun.  What?  The sun, it seems is out, and will be out, but only, possibly until later in the day.  Then another storm moves through.

I had been thinking of waiting for the last load, then doing the dishes, then getting some rack time.  Of course, the "news" is from SLC, so... it might not be the same here.  Being early morning, give or take, here, still, and with the strength of my curtains, I couldn't tell until I opened them.  Ah!  Sun.  Yeah, I think I am going to push on through for a bit, as long as I can or until the sun goes away, or, actually, until I can't stay awake longer.  It looks like a foreign landscape.  I have been so down and it has been gone, to me at least, for so long.  Yes, I will bath in the sun for as long as possible.

A couple of bags of trash and recycling have been tended, the dishes were a bit too hot for my temperament.  Yeah, I can handle heat, I just don't always want to handle it.  The laundry has another... 45 minutes until dry.  One load has gone through and folded or hung.  I still have to put a few things away.  Oh, and breakfast was served.  A touch of the hot sauce worked well with the eggs.

Sometimes I think people believe I don't understand.  And, sure, sometimes I forget.  True.  But I realize I am not up to snuff, especially for society, academic, and other social or business ventures.  Honestly, I am considered an embarrassment.  Don't get all flustered.  I do understand, and try to stay back.  Between being a nobody, provincial, of poor health, and with a questionable mind, plus a bit too much faith, I don't fit in the modern world.  At one time that did bother me.  Finally, I realized, that is what separates some things.  I had to decide if I was going to sell out for what little worldly acclaim I could muster or if I was really going to try to follow God.  God won, or... that is my intent, failings and all.  No, I don't know a chablis from a burgundy.  I don't wear the newest color scheme of tie, pink shirts if that is the mode of the day, or the right socks for fashion's sake.  I don't have $100k in this, and another dozen such investments here and there.  I don't even ski in Veil.  I don't know what is socially acceptable to lie about and what must always be accurate.  I don't believe gold is any more rigged down than it is up, though I would suggest both forces are created by the same powers.  And I don't care what a bunch of self-aggrandizing writers, artists, bureaucrats, doctors, or others believe about themselves, their station in life, me, or God.

But don't take me for a fool.  Not you.  Understand I have chosen other than a neutral business tone with slight variances so as to cut out a stake to claim.  Seriously, do not think I haven't had some serious level of sophistication and worldliness, probably more, in my circles and at my level, than most will know in their own.  Even into my ill health, past several deaths, and ignoring signs and portents.  Then, one day, a call could not be denied and it was followed, as best as I have been able.  Slowly, over decades, I have surrendered much of that and chosen as much of a more humble cloak of reality, in sympathy with my sinful state and in submission to the greatness of God.  If I embarrass you, that is fine.  But you have nothing to worry about, I won't let anyone know we even know each other.  I don't deal with such things anymore.

One thing I do think about though.  If I would embarrass you, what kind of people are you trying to please?  And, if you are trying to please those kinds of people.. just what kind of person are you?  Not for me to answer.  But I needed to settle that in my mind.  I had to ask myself the same questions once.  It can be painful.  Honesty demands it.  My greatest, to this point unwritten, death, to this point, was my death to the world.  But most aren't ready for that.  Making too much money to fool with... letting the notion of it go.  I do understand I just don't agree.

Hmm, sun?  Oh yes.  Sun indeed.  Later.

Small pieces, here and there.

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While I am doing better, I don't have what it would take to rip and tear.  I collected laundry, set it in the washroom.  Made a bite to eat, using up bacon that would otherwise have potentially gone bad and a few eggs.  Then I set up for washing the dishes.  Breaks here and there.  Five or ten up, ten to twenty down.  It's the only way I will reasonably get it done.  It might be the only way to do it.  A day of work for you is a marathon for me.  I do have my first load going, dishes in a soak, and the recycling ready to go.  I have started assembling any trash.  I may have to, from packing and such, take another load of trash out as I go, and to clean out the fridge.  But that's all good.

I'll have to do whatever, with microsoft, on Monday, if possible.  I have a bit to do that day, if I can get up early enough or stay up.  An oil change and check, plus tire rotation.  Buying steaks, looking for a 10x10 tent or even shelter, and... probably some other stuff.  While I don't think Walmart would have anything substantial, there are a number of outdoor places.  Hardware stores probably won't carry that either.  Just thinking.

This time around I don't really have as much of a clue.  I don't have lists, not half of the planning that I put into the thing last time.  But I learned a lot from last time.  Don't overpack!  The less you take, and the more of it you use, the less of a job you have when you return home, as well.  I still haven't gotten into the spirit of the thing, just showing up, eating, having a sip, and leaving.  No connections have, or probably will be, formed.  No goofing.  Then again I am doing about what I can do in those regards.  A turtle at a dance festival just isn't... going to do much.  But I enjoy, and I get out.  Beats being in the cave all of the time.  And, who knows, this one might launch me into more activity this summer, including more hiking, possibly camping, and other things.

Yeah, a bit at a time.  I have an hour until the first load of laundry is done.  I will take a load of trash out then, reset the trash can, handle the laundry, then... rest for an half hour.  Then hit the dishes, though there aren't many so that should be quick.  Then rest until the next load of laundry.  Here and there, a bit at a time.  As I am folding clothes I will be sorting what of that I want to take.  Mostly shorts, though if it is as cool as it has been around here, I might be wise to take two pair of long pants and maybe a couple of pair of long underwear.  I'll have rain gear in my pack, and will probably take an extra poncho.  Oh, crap, I need a ground cloth for my tent, or a tarp that I am sure is big enough.  A 10x10 should be big enough, it can just be folded under.  It just helps in case of rain.  I have no idea what to expect, that way, or what the land is like in general.  Good camping spots or not.

Bleh!  I have no idea if phone service works there, come to think of it, so I'm not sure how to hook up with the Cat couple.  No idea.  He suggests that there will only be several thousand there, and I know what his RV looks like, mostly.  Meh, I'm not going to worry too much, with the givens.  Hmm... music, while I rest. 

There is always something else, isn't there?  No matter how much or how little you do, or think you need to, account for, there is always one other thing.  Neurosis.  I just blather, then ignore, much of it.  I can only do just so much.  And I can't swear that I will even do as much as I can do.  But then, what are the limits, on anyone?  Just... do what I do and not worry so much elsewise.

Later.

Much to do.

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I am feeling better.  It wasn't just this or that, but a group of things.  Not seeing the sun for a week, after having gotten sort of used to it, forgetting medicines for a few days, working hard last week, and then I figured out the last bit.  When the sun shines, even off and on, but certainly after a number of days, my old stone home warms.  With that gone, plus rain and cold, the home cools way down.  I hadn't been fussing with the furnace much, and it was set low.  Ah... warmth.  That helps a good deal.

A pot of coffee was put on, first thing this "morning".  I needed to fiddle with some things on my computer as well.  Something is going to become a problem shortly.  For no reason, Microsoft is saying my machine has been changed too much, and needs to be validated.  Bunk.  I haven't done a thing to my machine.  They are just trying to push people out of XP.  Three days notice.  There is a choice to talk to a rep, but it's a weekend.  Yeah, this is just another gimmick to milk money and end XP use.  You don't own your computer if you don't own your OS.  And with MS, that is the case.  May just have to wait until I get back.

I am going through lists of lists.  Things to do and things to take.  Another list, actually, is in there.  Things to buy and potentially buy.  On the to do list is basically cleaning my house and finding someone to feed the cats.  It's a simple list, and includes laundry, but it will take some time and effort.  I will begin tonight.  The packing list isn't too bad.  The heaviest items will be water.  I took six, I think, for the week.  I doubt if I used three.  I will go ahead and take four though I doubt if I need more than three.  Still, it's relatively cheap insurance.  I won't be taking all that much.  Three sets of clothes, plus one closed off for the trip back.  Food, if steaks and hamburger need to be purchased.  Maybe six cans of food and a couple of MREs, just in case.  The little hibachi, sleeping gear.  Nothing fancy, nothing at all.  I don't even think I am taking a frying pan.  Hmm, though maybe a small camping pan set for vegetables.  Oh... but coffee...  I'll think on that as I get ready.  I simply am not going to overload this time.  If I forget something vital, and can't find it?  My guess is I can live without it.  Only medicines are on high alert.  Two packs, packed separately, I won't go through falling off and getting back on those again any time soon.

So much to do, and yet any normal person could have these things done by Sunday evening, at the latest.  Being crippled sucks.  It could be worse, so I try not to complain too much.  Just visit a stroke patient, if you wish to know more.  I think, of all I have seen, that is probably the most truly pitiable situation I have seen.  If there is worse, thank you, but I would rather not know before I have no choice.  Hmm.  The goal is to have the home done by Monday night, and half of the packing.  Some of the packing will probably depend on laundry, so...  The last half of packing will be done when I put the gear into the vehicle.  I simply don't want to have to do any driving loaded with gear, save when I hit the road.  I may pick up the dry ice on my way out of town, now that I know where and how simple that really is.  I have ice here, so that will keep it all solid until I put the dry ice in.

Plans, plots, figuring, and... doing.  Lots of doing.  I just wish the sun would pop out.  We did need the rain.  We probably still need the rain.  But there is no reason nature can't give us a bit of both, is there?  :p

Yeah, I know what it looks like.  And while there is some whining, it's more a grump as I try to kick myself more to wakefulness.  Not all that much, either, really.  For me.  I think.  Bleh.  Best get on to a couple of things.
 
Later.