I wouldn't have believed it.

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So, out I went.  Oh, but I had to come back in, find the instructions, read them over a bit, and then get to it.  I had all the tools I needed, where I needed them.  I just could not remember how, distance, depth, and such.  Rhubarb first.  I only have six of those, and they just go into a pit.  Nothing fancy, and not to full depth or more.  I cut the plastic around, as well as the cardboard, then dug a good nine inches of dirt out.  More than needed, but I hate ending up having to dig more while in the process.  Plus, it loosens the soil.  All good.

I did each kind at it's own end.  I fudged distances a bit, but then their notions were ridiculous for my setup.  I suppose commercial farmers would be more attuned to their odd ways.  Then again, I guess we will see.  At least two should be fine.  I left an area in the middle I am hoping to plant garlic and maybe daikon radishes, if they will grow.  They may be a bit too water needing to do well here.  Still, I'd like to give it a shot.

Then out to the asparagus bed.  I dug three cross-angle trenches, to see if that would work.  With 25 (plus one extra) root bundles, I would need to dig another nine if I was going to plant them all, done all today, dug and planted some today some later, or what, I did not know.  I decided to go with the dogs to the butt.  If they started barking I would give it a rest... or at least if they barked and bit beyond my tolerances.

The angled trench was perfect for two to three root systems.  I also cut the roots back just a bit before putting them into the ground.  I had needed to do nothing with the rhubarb.  Still, no fuss... save that I was on my knees, crawling around.  Oddly my knees didn't bug me.  Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.  Of course I was wearing knee pads.  Not that that always helps.  I finished the three trenches then reassessed my situation.  Good!  So, on I went.  I dug the rest of the trenches, unsure if I would be able to finish the planting.  On I went, trimming the roots, burying as I believe the instructions suggested, on down the line.

Done.  Before I knew it they were finished.  Well, for now.  The instructions suggested digging a six inch trench, putting them in, but only burying them to two inches, at first.  When/if the bulbs shoot up, then when ready, bury them to near the surface but just another two inches.  Finally, when they are ready, bury them the rest of the way.  They say it could take four to six weeks.  Okay.  Reminds me of women.  Only they are never done.  :p

Finished?  No.  I was still doing well.  So... I grabbed the spade and root shovel to begin digging starter holes for the other other bushes.  Six holes.  I don't think they are deep enough, but they are mostly dug.  When, probably Monday, I get out to finish those, I will trim their roots, set them in water for four, six, maybe eight hours, then dig more... if I think, where they are, I will need the pick-awl.  I'd like to get about a foot maybe up to half more diameter hole at least a foot deep.  After they have been watered in preparation, then I'll put them in.

Anyway, not bad.  I can handle this well.  My legs are slightly stiff, but not back to a full on concrete feel.  I have a reasonable sweat going.  And I feel like I did a bit of work.  Digging is work, but the heaviest thing, for me, is going down to a kneel and getting up from it.  Actually, the whole process of working on the knees, digging, and all... it's all a reasonable effort.  On the good side, I can do it fairly well, when I can do it.  Tomorrow will be a good day down.

Later.

I hate when I can't get to bed well.

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I kept thinking about bed.  Between the sore legs and that keeping me from burning much energy, I couldn't get to sleep well.  It was well after 4:00, possibly as much as two to three hours later.  Annoying.  Of course, when I go down late I often can't wake for six to more like eight and sometimes up to twelve hours later... depending on how much I have been working before having the problem.  I think I hit about eight hours this time, about where I want to hit though.  Too little and I can be (more) tired all day.  Too much sleep can have a similar affect.  Silly but that's how it works.  Even with eight hours I can be a bit groggy all day, but over time that will work itself out whereas other sleep times will just get worse.  I still remember, until I was on some heart medicine, sleeping many hours, even days, and sometimes for nearly weeks and months, and never even coming close to feeling rested.  That went on for decades, that was a little form of hell... like being in a lake, but in such a way that the only water you could drink was from rain... whenever that would fall.  Water, water, everywhere but nary a drop to drink.

Life is still a bit tough, at times.  But now I can push through, do things, and willingly pay a price for goods... not just suffer whatever exists.  I can barter, push, pull, make things happen... if not as much as some, more than even others.  I don't understand why people don't... do more... or try for more.  Maybe not every time, every year, in every way, but something new, something old, some borrowed, something blue.  Not just a marriage thing (though I think something to keep in mind... did I ever mention, blue is my favorite color?).  Be wed to life.  Explore in it, through it.  Be curious, inventive, creative, procreative.  "Do!"  Amen.

Anyway, I just think, whatever else you are doing, are required to do, should just be the start.  Find other things to do, figure out how to get beyond your means without going bankrupt.  Meet people who can and will teach, then learn enough to pass that on.  My sleep pattern problems make it difficult for folk to be my friend.  I end up seeming like a terrible friend.  So, often, I avoid involvements.  Folk don't understand.  Life has them cowed and they are trying to avoid involvements as they can... for their own reasons.  Anyway... worth a shot if you can do it.

Today?  Well... I think I might try to plant some things.  The rhubarb, then what of that asparagus I can get in.  Yeah, I know.  But my legs are feeling much better.  I can rest tomorrow, and will probably have to rest.  I am surprised they are eased and ready to work today, or seem to be.  I don't know that I will be able to work all that long.  I'll do what I can.  I just know, when things are finally all planted and dug in, I can take some time off from heavier work, just do cleaning, and... get ready for the next push into plumbing and maybe some woodworking and carpentry.  Yeah...  I'll plant what I can today.  If I can get it all, I will.  I just... don't think so.  This is going to hurt tomorrow, but I will have both chosen, and earned, it.

A Sixpence in your shoe.  Later.

Fair is fair.

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Normally, when I wake sore, stiff, or both, time is good to me.  Unless I really overdid things.  It seems I really overdid bending, kneeling, lifting, and all else.  My legs started out a bit sore and stiff.  Now they are concrete.  I have, mostly save for cooking, been off my feet.  That usually helps.  My legs aren't cramping, if in part because I take vitamins and double down on electrolyte types.  Well, not a pure doubling down, just an additional extra of b vitamins, calcium, potassium, zinc, and some others... not quite doubling, but probably, save for a lot extra potassium, 150% of the normal vitamin and mineral intake in those areas.  The water pill makes that advisable, anyway.  I know if I weren't taking those, at the doses I do, my legs would be cramping harshly, and would have been for days now.

Yeah, okay, a day or three off is just how it has to go.  I even gave in and finally, for the first time in some time, took anacin.  My legs are like not-quite-set concrete.  And when there is some movement in there, it hurts in a ticklish manner.  Have you ever eaten sweet and sours?  Right, like that, only inside my legs.  Not sure, quite, what that is all about.  It's... different.  I am sure it is because of something I am eating, or missing, in my diet?  Almost sure, I'm just not quite sure.

Sometimes, even with the anacin taken an hour ago, I still... sort of wince.  They are almost cramping.  It's a good thing, if inconvenient.  It means I have worked them and well.  I will skip doing dishes tonight, or much else.  Hmm, it's about bedtime anyway.  Good night... uhrm, day.

My first shot at artichokes.

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Actually this is my second time.  The first time I ended up having no idea how to work them.  Sometimes you just think cooking and eating something will make sense, right until it doesn't.  I ended up just tossing it, partially in embarrassment a bit from anger if with some strange hunger.  Sour grapes?  Of a sort.  Unwilling to give up I decided to do some research and eventually give it another try.  So it went.

I must admit I was not extremely pleased.  Then again, I am not sure these were the best artichokes.  As well, I am not sure I cooked them just right and I didn't have a good sauce for them.  I attempted to make mayonnaise.  I am beginning to think that the eggs I have used before may be different.  Perhaps they have started pasteurizing them.  My guess is that would make it impossible to make homemade mayo.  It wouldn't surprise me if just reading my blog would be enough to cause a change in behavior.  Lawsuits, but also a want by growers and such to band together to stop people from doing things on their own.  It almost doesn't matter what it is, from cooking to preps like this, to carpentry, electrical work, and plumbing... they don't want you to do it yourself and have set things and changed things to work against you.

Anyway, so no mayo.  I may see what options exist for purchasing fresh eggs I can trust... which haven't been 'cooked'.  Of course, if I find a source, I won't be writing about it.  Even red states are much more blue than they seem.  Frustrating.

I fixed the lamb shoulder chops, going with a spice mix more akin to a pumpkin pie than a shank of beef or ham... nearly sweet.  Baking them to make sure they were done, then pan searing two of them, and it worked well.  For a sauce to go with the artichokes, I melted butter and added lemon and lime.  It was a decent sauce.  It isn't as if the artichokes were horrible, it's just that they weren't... all that much.  Think of something with the consistency of mashed but then formed avocado, but without all that much flavor.  The citrus butter was good, and the artichokes weren't bad, it's... just... a lot of fuss for not much.  Still, it was a bit of a unique and special meal.  Overall it worked well.

Hmm?  I don't know.  I might get in and do the dishes yet.  I am, especially after dinner, falling behind.  It would be good to do the dishes and clean up the kitchen to catch back up.  Then do a bit more, like vacuum seal the salt and sugar jars and put those up, sweep, get the counters back in order, and who knows what else.  A few steps more than where I was at.  Later.

Not going to happen.

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As I was going about getting food for a meal and just setting up my waking time, I realized work was not going to happen.  I have micro and mini cramps all through the largest muscles in my legs.  From my calves on up, including my sweet cheeks, pain ripples when I kneel, bend, or stand up from those.  It isn't brutal, per, but in combination it is more than I wish to suffer.  So, today is a day off.  If I can sit and fold laundry, then stand and hang what needs that, I may.  Although, beyond the leg cramps, I am truly tired.  It is difficult to focus.

I never did find the screening for the worm bin.  However, I have an empty water jug which fit just about perfectly.  There are still, say, three to four inches to either side of the jug, lengthwise, to allow air in.  It is too heavy for the girls to move.  And it seems to be the perfect method for keeping them out, in the short term.

I haven't been able to find my router.  I just don't know where it might be.  There are only three places it has ever really been... the garage, the back cabinets, and the back hallway.  It is in a heavy plastic case, green I think.  I won't look more today, I... it drives me to distraction when I can't find something.  It's not the best.  I may end up buying a new, more powerful, one.  But it would be nice to have one, a much more powerful one, for a cabinet and one for simple freehand work.  Things do disappear here, from time to time, just not expensive stuff usually.  I'll keep looking, when I am doing better.

Oh well, a day off isn't a horrible thing.  Even if I don't, can't, get back to work until Monday, I can live with it.  I keep doing more, and trying to keep up.  I need time down from time to time, more than not at times.  All good.  Hmm, I think I could cook though.  I believe I have lamb shoulder chops ready to be cooked.  Baking them for about ten to fifteen minutes, then frying them to finish, works well.  It's more work... or fuss anyway.  I have learned to use aluminum foil in a 'glass' cake pan for easy cleanup.  As long as you don't run temps near aluminum's melting point, you shouldn't have a problem with poisoning.  If you think that way.  Oh, and I have what I need to attempt making mayo, and I just bought fresh artichokes.  I'd like to steam those and try it with fresh mayo, as a side to the lamb.  It's... a thought.

Later.

Darker, slower, later.

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It is difficult to push through the dark and cool.  More so when after a mild uptick the dark comes back twice as strong.  As well I am rather sore and stiff.  It wasn't that much work, but enough.  Two days in a row, doing as much as I can, and tinkering with other projects, have left me on an edge.  Even so, with the hand clippers found, and everything ready, I am hoping, perhaps, yet today, to get out and plant some or all of it.

I don't mind working to this point.  I'd like to push more.  I am doing more than my body would suggest I should.  I know that is the only way to get stronger though.  I know the sun would help.  At least right up until it became another sort of problem.  All good, then I'll work more inside.

What today?  Mostly just planting asparagus, rhubarb, and those bushes.  I doubt if I will get to the bushes today, actually.  I'll scratch those for now, because I have to do some work with them ahead of planting.  I'll plant rhubarb first, then do what of the asparagus can be planted.  If I still have energy, and light, I might dig where I will be planting the bushes tomorrow.  At least where those will be going, sod isn't so much of an issue.

Finishing the dishes and taking a shower are also on the list, as well as a review of laundry.  I don't know how much of it will get done, though dishes and a shower are higher priority.  I have sure enjoyed working as I can.  A bit warmer and sunnier would be nice, up to a point.  I'll do what I can with what I have.  Later.

The ghosts that haunt me now.

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Some things are truly with me now.  They have been with me, in significant numbers, for a week or more now.  It has been some time since their presence has been known, even as individuals.  Now?  It almost seems as if there are more dead in my area, than living.  They are showing themselves in many ways, most commonly as shadows.

Even when listening to music, I sense when the girls are near.  Their 'non-verbal' communication, that which they use with each other, I have learned to appreciate to some smaller degree.  Even without light, or with bright lights from the computer which should blind me to their presence in darker areas, or simply when they are coming up from behind... I often take note of them anyway.  Well... these... ghosts, spirits, or other things... they have been throwing me for a loop, taking the place of my girls.  Only when I reach down there is nothing there.

My dreams, too, seem to be filling with human and other loves, family, friends, even enemies, who are lost... of flesh.  If I suspect some of them are not from this time of flesh, for me.  Not a few, not many, hosts of hosts.  What is happening?  I really can't say.  Many, many many, here, now.  One of my cousins, while not here this time, one who recently visited... she is... remembered by some of the others.  Why?  I just don't know very much.

It is dug.

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The sod has been removed, along with many weeds and their roots... or what I could get of them.  Then I went back over it all, digging again.  I didn't double dig, and probably won't.  I will hit where I am planting, digging down more if needed.  Otherwise that is that.  It was a lot of work.  While it was much less than what I did yesterday, I was worn from working yesterday.  That is that for outside for tonight.  The cool is taking it out of me too.  The sun was out, not that it seemed to matter.  As I was coming in I checked the temp... right around 36~38.  Yeah.

After a break, I will get in and do the dishes.  Perhaps then a shower.  After a break from that, maybe I'll do some laundry... mostly just clothes to be put up.  Actually I think that is all there is to do regarding laundry... unless some of the older stuff needs washed, I never did end up checking that.  Dinner would be good too.  I just don't know what to make or heat up.  There is ham and bean soup, but... maybe not.

This week seems to be going fast.  I think it is more from wanting to get things done and not having the energy.  That is what eats times, if it causes grief as well.  We'll see, I'll do what I can as I can.  Later.

Take care.

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Can't say it will, can say we haven't been closer in a rather long time.  Just... don't be surprise.  Have a plan, some medicine, and take care.  Reminds me, I need to get water in and down, and do a few other things.  Yeah.  Really.

Ah, yes.

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I've been awake for about an hour, maybe two.  It's been a slow go at it.  Just that bit of work removing sod sort of beat me up.  In part because the cold has been making me move less and work less.  Without using muscles, those muscles shrink, maybe atrophy to some degree.  So I was a bit stiff and sore through the night on into waking.

Even so, I am hoping to get things together and get back out today.  The sun has been out, off and on.  Two hours?  I think maybe three hours now.  Yeah.  Well.  As I was writing this, I ended up doing this and that, then the machine crashed, I had to go to the bathroom.  Focus?  Both of us?  Never mind.  I mean, humorously for my part, something or other.

How does one know one should participate in a particular field?  For me, for example, woodworking?  Ah.  By who else seems to be involved in the field.  Now, of course, there are always exceptions.  Even so, you can sort of tell.  Find out what is, generally, right with those folks... and what is wrong with them... in the both good and bad sort of ways, then take a personal inventory.  Do you fit?  I do, to a degree.  There is room for someone like me, if I am more of the milquetoast variety.  Examples?

Hmm? Oh, just thinking.

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It isn't all my fault mind you.

More.

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While I had dug the asparagus bed well it has rained every day since then.  In one way I was surprised at how well it was still dug, but some of it had clumped.  Further, the dirt is much heavier being about as sodden as it can be.  Any more moisture and it would fall apart.

As it went, I was able to de-sod and redig about half of it.  Oh, and it is chilly out there.  Between the damp, the lack of sun, and all else, my fingers are chilled.  My body is okay.  Chilly, even very cold, sub-zero, weather doesn't bother me, unless my hands are wet or working with whatever might be cold.  Both, wet and working with the cold soil, this time.  Even so, that isn't what got me.  It was the dark, if anything, and the weight of pull the sod and separating the dirt from it.  While I didn't finish removing the sod, as a last effort, I did dig up the rest of the sod again, in hopes I can finish it tomorrow.

I am hungry, but not for ham and beans.  That is good from time to time, but not even daily.  I have hamburger thawed, but I don't feel like cooking.  I think I'll do a drivethrough somewhere.  Yeah.

I am hoping to do any laundry that is left, finish the dishes, and perhaps do some work with the cast iron.  Oh, and I'd like to find screen material to hot-glue to the worm bins.  While the worms don't get out, the girls... are curious.  Yeah, I'll get some sort of screen on there, tonight.  I did find a worm on the ground.  I know it didn't get there on it's own, or it wouldn't have been alone.  I am not interested in offering the girls another kitty litter pot, or live toys.

At least some things are going on.  I was surprised the sun is still, sort of, up.  It's a bit past 20:00.  It's more a heavy dusk, but how much of that is from overcast, and how much from the sun being over the 'hills', I can't quite be sure.  Still, it was easily bright enough for me to work, and still work for a bit I would guess.  If I could work.

Oh, as I think of woodworking, several tools I had heard of were brought to mind.  I have heard of the kreg jig, of various sizes, for... a very long time.  The problem with anything like that is that it is proprietary.  The screws, the drill bit, and who knows what else.  I hate "subscribing".  Now, I really hadn't thought of finding another way.  But, while looking at general tool instructions, build projects, and such, several videos popped.  And, yes, I am going to give the non-joiner method a shot.  I suppose if I had hundreds or thousands of holes, and was making money from it (saving money does not count), than... I might consider something faster.  But I don't so... I would at least like to give the diy jig a shot.

Yeah.  Later.

Well, a bit.

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Something to eat right out of the gate.  Ham and beans.  It works.  I left one meal out, in the pot, the rest I put up last night.  Yeah, I can get away with that in the very short run.  Then I checked some specialty items I had put in the wash last night.  I have been considering using microfiber wash clothes and towels for various things.  Before I went with better ones I bought cheaper ones to give a go.  Well, they had been put up.

As I was finding tools and such, I found these.  They seemed fussy, so I hadn't bothered with them, then the project ended up buried in confusion and exhaustion.  I gave them a wash, to begin using them.  They were dry.  I pulled one for use today.  I can't tell from one use if it will do.  I will know soon enough.  There are several issues with them, of course.  One is, they need to be washed with likes.  They work on a principal of being able to pick stuff up... through loops of the material, piled, which grabs dirt and moisture.  If you wash them with things that have lint, like cotton or wool or such, that lint will diminish the ability of the fabric to work, mechanically.  I'll see if it works as I hope.  The thing is, you sort of have to have a lot of them to be able to wash them as a special group.  And you need to dry them before putting them in to launder, and it will take a while to collect enough to wash on their own.  Lots of little complications.  I'll see if it is worth the effort.

Next I got a shower in, then set the dishes to soak.  There aren't that many dishes, I just don't want them to blindside me, as they often do.  Even the bean pot went in, pretty much right away.  With the fridge clean and being kept up, it's easy enough put foods up right away.  Next I plan to get out and work on the sod.  I think I can get much of that done.  If I run out of time, I'll simply put the rhubarb in, perhaps the bushes.  I need to find a trimmer, to cut the roots a bit, then soak them before going out to dig the holes for the bushes.  As to asparagus, I'll cut those roots, perhaps, a bit, but as they go in.  Yeah.

It's still dark and wet out.  Oh well.  I'll give it a whirl anyway.  Later.

Sigh.

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I simply don't seem able to push on through.  The weather is not helping, though maybe, at this point, going back on medicine is part of the problem.  It can take a day or two for that to have an affect.  I still think weather is the biggest problem.  It's just a bit too cool to kick off.  If it had been cool the whole time, that would be one thing.  But we had an early warm spring that went away.  You would think I would be over that by now.  Nope.

A bowl of soup, first thing.  Then a shower.  Then, hopefully, finally, out to sodding and then planting.  I think I can.  If I get that done, I really want to track down my router.  I have found all of my other tools.  I have want of that beyond simply figuring out what functions it has, or can have.  If it is static, there is a possibility a plunge portion can be purchased for it.  I am hoping to put together a nesting screen system by which to separate worms, from casting, from composted earth.  Worms will not overpopulate.  So, if I want more worms I have to, at some point, create more bins.  I have no idea how many worms, or of these particular worms, can live in an 18 gallon bin (if it isn't close to full, though nor should it be).  I am thinking that, perhaps, 1k~2k would be about maximum, for the amount of peat and paper I would be willing to have in there.

Yeah, lots of things on my mind.  Never quite sure what to hit first, when any particular thing will be tended, and such.  Feeding, and checking a few things, are on automatic.  The worms will get fed today.  Every two or three days, and about half a pound of shredded foods.  Though they seem, as noted previously, to be consuming paper too.  Interesting creatures.

I found some bubble warp that arrived with an order, a lot of it.  I figure, as I vacuum seal the two salts and sugar I will pack those quart jars wrapped in bubble wrap pockets, then stow them in boxes.  Hmm... mice tend to rip boxes down.  I might just put them in pockets and stack them in that way?  I'll... figure that out when I get to it.  I do hope, if I finish planting and find the router, to store and tend those items yet today.

Later.

Well, so much for plans.

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I am continuing to do little things.  Not everything even on that list, though some things randomly get done as well.  The weather, really, simply has me stymied.  No great worries, it will happen, weather, health, overdoing things, or a host of other problems will end up kicking my legs out from under me.  I'll get up when I can, do what I am able to do, and figure things out along the way.  As should be obvious, I really shouldn't be alive.  Some suggest, in ways, I am not.

I need to put the ham and beans up, though I may part the ham down plus separate beans for use with the hamburger.  I didn't finish the salts and sugar sealing, but it is ready.  I may take a look in the garage, to see if the router is out there.  Perhaps I used it and tucked it away out there.  I have kept up on cleaning, and am gaining just every so slightly... until I make a mess of beans or cook something else.  If it warms up I may do more cooking on the grill.  Some things, however, simply do not do well on the grill.  Meats and some vegetables, with or without a pan, might do well on the grill.  A small cast iron pan, some veggies, and butter, would go a long way.  Beans not so much.

I will most likely be getting to bed early.  Even though I haven't done much I'm hitting a wall.  Medicine?  Yeah, maybe.  If I still think weather is the major headwind I face.  No problems.  I will get a shower in, after checking for the router.  After those, I may do just a bit of research on my tools.  I would like to see if my circular saw will take dado bits, and whether that is worth my time even if so.  Perhaps just driving cuts, with a little care and maybe a minor jig, would do a better, safer, less expensive, job.

I am learning much, even if some of it gets lost in time.  Some of it comes back, or even if not fully, leads to future questions and then answers more quickly.  I love figuring things out.  Good night.

Little things.

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While figuring out how to get started, I am starting with side shows.

I am gathering my power tools.  Locating each, then putting them in a general area.  I would like to put them all together, and explore each so that when I go for a tool I will know which tool is which, and know it in their cases by their cases.  As well, as I begin considering working, I would like to explore each of my tools.

I bought each in it's own time, for specific considerations including price and particular specs.  I have learned more since then, though I probably was 'heavier' on any particular tool topic at the point of purchase than I am now... unless it was an immediate need... though even then I usually steeped well into research.  However, what I knew then and now...  Anyway, as I begin considering doing some woodworking and carpentry, I would like to review the tools I have.  I am not sure where my router is.  My biggest questions are whether it is a plunge router and what size collet it takes.  I know it runs on 120v/15~20a, easily.  I'll have to do more looking for it, however.  Not sure where it might be, exactly.

As well, I set up the salt containers for more filling.  I found the vacuum sealer and attachment for wide-mouth jars.  With the counters clean, and mostly clear, doing that, and the sugar, should be easy enough.  Eventually.  Ugh... it's difficult to get going.  I am doing these little things, and other small chores and jobs, in order to attempt to prime the work pump.  Oh, and I found the instructions for cleaning the oven.  I'll read that shortly.  Bleh.

I love doing something if I can't do what I want.  In time I will get all of it done.  I just added the ham to the beans, which seem nearly done.  In an half hour I may have a bite of that.  Just a nibble, as dinner will be coming.  I just want to make sure it is done, then putting it up for food for the week... then cooking hamburger, spicing that, and putting it up for the week.  I'll check the eggs.  If they are good, I  may boil what little I have left.  Yeah.

I'll keep at it.  Later.

Sort of?

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Yeahhes.  *blink blink*

Bits and pieces of this and that, if nothing big, are going forward.  A meal was had, a good one.  Meats were brought out to thaw.  Some that is thawed will be cooked later.  Food is more than just important, it is vital for work.  And, yet, it is work itself.  It gets deep, quickly.  I can go without food.  I simply cannot go without food and work, or well.  Too many details for singles, to be honest.  It takes two just to get one to work well.  Something lost in and to modernism.

Beans are cooking.  On cool to cold days, especially in dry areas, cooking beans is a wonderful thing.  Are beans keto?  No, not really.  But perfection is for another time.  If I am doing more work, I need to tiptoe out past keto a bit, from time to time.  The thing is moderation as well as the right stretch.  Avoid true sugars, go with natural starches and carbohydrates.  Beans, rice (whole), potatoes, and the like.  These are, like or not, real foods.  Mixed with a gooder portion of proteins (I don't count even rice and beans as a true protein... just a partial) and solid real animal fats, and these foods will do you well.  As is, I plan to use most of the beans with ham.  Some of them, however, will be cut out and mixed in after frying up hamburger.  The smell of cooking beans is a good thing.

Then again, I am a bit unique.  Beans, as a general rule with exceptions just to prove I am not wholly inhuman, do not give me gas.  Nor do most things which disturb most people's gastrointestinal workings.  Cabbage, from time to time, will.  Radishes, beans, hot food, almost nothing else does.  Overeating, actually, is the greatest risk.  It makes enjoying beans, and the cooking thereof, quite a bit more pleasurable.

I have the furnace at 74 F and it still seems a bit chill.  Even with the beans going, and the oven earlier, at 350 F, and... a persistent chill remains.  I am hoping that all these things, plus a shower, and I might warm up.  If that doesn't do it, perhaps working might help.

I do hope to get everything planted that I have today.  Which will require removing sod and digging down.  I spoke with my neighbor about the bird house that was blown over.  He thinks just burying it is the way to go.  Well, and rewiring with "bailing wire", or what passes for that these days, onto the heavy duty t-post.  The thing is I would like to scrape it, sand it, then paint it before putting it back together and then back up.  Perhaps a waterproof sort of paint.  I may trim some of the bottom off as well.  See if I can get to good wood quickly.  So, that won't happen today.  Though I might move it over to where it can be worked on more easily... and perhaps get it out of the rain.

A shower first.  Then on to work?  That is the hope.

Is there a better way?

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I don't care what it is that I am doing, I always wonder, in the back of my mind, if there isn't a better, faster, more sure, cheaper (less expensive), and/or easier way to do it.  Three might be other qualifiers for, in essence, optimization.  In many cases, with some limits due to scale, there is usually a trade-off.  Expense for speed, or strength for weight, etc.  You can have some of what you want, just not all of it.  How much strength does the item being produced need?  How much can it reasonably weigh, cost?

Is there, truly, a perfect way?  I honestly don't think there is, for example, a perfect way to make a dresser.  Add in time... not the time (mostly) to produce the good, but time as in the passing of large amounts of time... years, decades, centuries.  At one time, lumber was expensive.  But that no one had much wealth, it was offered in trade or procured as part of one's life.  You had help as you helped others, with some grants for rank and popularity.  Fifty years ago, wood was rather accessible.  It is, pretty much, all that was available but it was very available.  Today there are many sorts of items, but wood has become dearly expensive.  So, over time, things change as values and costs change.

Now, in a given time bracket, say over a decade, or maybe two, there are probably methods that are better.  Although one has to still plug in the variables and their priorities.  Cheaper, heavier, longer lasting, solid woods or other, just how exacting are you willing to be?  Or do you just want to make a simple dresser or desk?  Is it cheaper to just buy?  Easier?  Even if it is junk-in-waiting, $150 and immediate use, to many, beats procuring tools, the skills to use them, the materials to do the construction, and then the time to do it.

The same can be said of every activity in life.  From food production to processing... is it better to grow your own?  Cheaper?  When all is said and done, I really don't know... not about costs... certainly not with the time added in.  Though there is something to be said about using your time in real efforts rather than "making a dollar" with which to spend.  In a perfect world, where things only "get better (easier?)", earning the dollar is probably more sure.  But with any drastic change in the value of that dollar, the ability to earn that dollar, and so on... having real skills is far superior.  More?  I would say building your own life by using your own time to make things in, an grow things for, your own comfort and living, is far superior.  You aren't just a cog, you are.  Not because you think, but because you make it so.

A bit of this, a mix of that... I can't say working for a dollar is the worst, or is to be avoided.  I am, more, suggesting that mixing and matching, some of this and some of that, is the better way to go.  Learn to learn, and do.  Perhaps keep that day job, so long as it is of value, but do more for if that option goes away or the value disappears.  Who can work if they literally can't afford to work.  I have known many who have worked at a net loss, but that usually fixes itself much more quickly than not.

A perfect way?  For life, a particular project, foods to eat, or anything?  Well, don't stop looking.  If you find something that might ease something, and it doesn't cost too much or require too much care?  Go for it.  But don't expect, not here, not now, not in the future, to find a definitively best way.  Just find a way that is good enough for you, doable, repeatable, reliable, and affordable, then do it.  It's a fallen world, I don't think these things can absolutely be known.  I do believe it will be better, first in heaven, then after.

Raining, I think.

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Dark, cool, it's just how it has been lately.  No worries, I think I'll be able to figure things out today.  Rain seems to be letting up in the afternoon.  The sun has been making weak brief appearances as well.  Though I may attempt to work earlier, I'll simply want to have a rain coat on if I do.

I woke to a terrible racket.  I wondered if they were digging the phone line in.  Nope.  The water fountain, for the girls... cats... was too low.  I know it wasn't rumbling all night, just, at most, an hour or two this morning.  I filled it.  I'll have to pay closer attention.  Though, perhaps, that will just happen from time to time.  There isn't a really good, or easy, way to tell the depth.  I bet I can fix that without too much work.

With the dishes caught up and the tub/shower clear, getting a shower right away... or... as a first thing in a bit I mean... should make the rest of the day move along a bit better.  Oh, hey!  It looks like the sun is peaking out.  Anyway... a shower first.  Then some air dry time, maybe breakfast, and medicine.  Then to work.  If I can get a clear shot at things, I should be able to finish all the tasks that remain on my planting, growing, digging list.  If so I might just get to working on clearing gutters.

With those things done, I'll get back to housework.  I have been keeping up with where I got, at peak.  So digging further will be simple enough.  The kitchen and the main bedroom are the focuses.  Though, as I found, other things often either get in the way or work as change of pace.  The main back hall, for example, could be cleared and cleaned as I clean the other areas.  As well, bringing the back freezer into use, emptying and cleaning the main freezer while at it, might also be an ongoing task.  As well as any number of other small chores, such as getting the hoses in the basement, and the basement itself, back into order, might be another little thing.

While cleaning is good, I like to mix in other sorts of chores... if I can.  I would like to work on the bathroom and kitchen sink drains, work on the dripping faucets, spray for bugs and weeds when the weather deigns to allow the sun to shine, and perhaps polish some of my leather boots.

The goal isn't to work myself to death, it is to catch up, keep up, and advance... to a point where keeping up and doing other things is in the playbook.  Learning as I go, improving my home, organizing my life and tasks so as to simplify them and other tasks in the future.  Work, work, work, work, work.  It's not all I ever wanted, but it is a solid part of it.  I like to work, I like to do things, make things, improve my lot, learn, and experiment.  I may never know much, but I sure enjoy realizing how much I don't know.  *grins*

Good day.

Things are going.

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Outside, however, is at a standstill.  It is, and has been, raining.  Perhaps it has let up, I haven't checked in a bit.  I am still hoping to get out and clear the ground and plant yet today.  I won't do it in the rain though.  Probably.  ~~  As things turned out, by the time it stopped raining it was simply getting too dark.  I could have gotten a lantern of some sort going.  I simply wasn't in the mood for it.  I knew it would be wet and cold.

I did carry on with the dishes, and making several meals... keeping up on dishes the while.  As well, I worked on the laundry.  I put the whites through a second time.  I had set the washing machine to a setting I thought worked one way.  It seemed to leave the laundry sopping wet, so I had to wash them again anyway.  Those are in the dryer finally.  I haven't folded or hung the clothes from the last two loads.  I just... yeah, no.

I had the furnace jacked up to 74.  While that made life... better... it wasn't quite enough to kick over.  I'll keep at it.  A shower in the morning, then, if I can, rain or shine possibly, I'll get back to work.  Hmm... if I wake early enough I will try to make it to the post office.  Something that was supposed to be delivered to my home has not arrived.  Perhaps it, somehow, was sent to the post office... it's just unusual for that carrier.

I'll be heading to bed shortly.  I am back on medicines, and am actually feeling better, oddly, for it.  Or so it seems.  Whatever.  Good night.