Up late last night

2/18/07 Sunday
Last night I lay in bed with thoughts and designs for the greenhouse running wild in this mind. After laying there thinking for an hour or so I decided to get up. The brain was running at a high level and I want to take advantage of these moments of lucidity. I drew up some preliminary blueprints which helped me sort out some ideas. Then I went online to research ambient ground temperatures. What I learned was exciting. A study done in Houston Texas showed ground temperatures at ten feet deep to be in the mid seventies. Don’t remember the exact temp but it’s written in my notes. At fifteen feet or so the temps were down to 66 degrees. The neat thing I learned was that the ground temperatures are colder in the summer and warmer during winter months. I don’t know what the exact ground temperatures are here in West Texas but they won’t be too far from these. Why there hasn’t been much done in the way of underground greenhouses I don’t know. There could well be a lot but I haven’t been able to find it. There was a university project I saw a mention of from Utah but in that they built an experimental greenhouse in Bulgaria or some other foreign country. I looked but there were no details available that I could find.

So perhaps this is a ground breaking concept I am putting together. There is some complexity in the design I am creating that will grow as I learn more about greenhouse agriculture. The potential benefits that come with being able to control the temperature and the greenhouse environment at an extremely low energy expenditure and cost, especially out here where 110 degree temperatures are not uncommon, are fantastic. It is exciting for me as I contemplate the possibilities.

Anyway, I was up till 4:00 this morning working on it. I woke up with my mind still strong and on the subject three hours later at 7:00. Cherie has been suffering a headache for three days now, probably from a sinus infection. She had a hard time at church because of it, really drained and just not feeling well. Kevin wasn’t there today so they put our class with Steve’s. I enjoyed being back over with the class we had first attended when we came here. Really miss those guys.

In the course of the lesson they talked about Jesus pointing out to the Pharisees that despite seeing His miracles they still didn’t believe. That led to how similar it is today regarding peoples ability to believe in miracles. I raised my hand and stated that I was guilty of that because despite the amazing events of my life that most would consider to be the miraculous hand of God I was still plagued with doubts. “I must be blind or something” I said. Part of me fears revealing these doubts because I want to fit in and to be well thought of but despite that I will be honest no matter the cost.

I had started taking the toilet seat apart in preparation to put the new hinge on it. Looking at this worn out used up decrepit piece of junk I had to kick myself. There is cheap and then there is stupid cheap. I was being anal (Pun intended) when I decided to try and cheap my way to reuse this toilet seat. Cherie is in Midland as I write, getting a new toilet seat. She’s also going to pick up some steel wool I can use to plug the hole where the plumbing goes through under the kitchen sink I just put in.

The patch I put in the kitchen wall disappeared overnight. Don’t know if it was the rats, just know it’s gone so I am working on that. This is an example of the cost of not doing a job right in the first place. When I made this hole while removing the baseboard back when we were painting and putting in the flooring I didn’t fill it in. Don’t remember why but I’m sure it was because I was in a hurry. Now it’s turning into a project. I did such a good job putting the baseboard back up, sealing it thoroughly with caulk, that it caused some damage pulling it loose again.

I am exhausted tired from being up all night and am fighting to not fall asleep as I write this. On top of that I had a bad slow down that came on fast. It was one of the physical ones that affects my balance and ability to walk. I remember having these back when I was living on the streets. As I walked, stumbling often because I wouldn’t know where my right foot went, I was fearful that a passing cop would see me and arrest me for public intoxication. I am so grateful those days are over. It was an incredibly hard time when I would be happy if I was able to get a dollar hamburger in a day. I wandered in fear, not knowing where I had just been and forgetting where I was going to as I was going to it. Then there was the fear of being jumped by other street people or the kids who did it for fun. All of this stress and fear tied my brain up to where it was a major task to formulate a sentence and for that matter to even be understood when I spoke. I am so blessed to be where I am and to be in as good of a shape as I am now. My life is a gift and one I have no intention of wasting.

I am tired but need to cut some firewood for tonight. Cherie just called looking to find the Ace Hardware store. As I tried to look up the address in the phone book she found it. I have cleared up a bunch so will get back to fixing the hole in the wall and will run out and cut another dead branch out of the mulberry tree. The Daytona 500 is just coming to an end. Looks like Mark Martin will win. I hope so. Nascar is one of the few sports I have an interest in.

The pendulum of this mind is swinging again, never predictable and always off beat. I noted in the previous entry that I had cleared up and would get back to fixing the hole in the wall. Never did get to that. In fact things swung to the other extreme. Got so bad I had to be careful walking so I wouldn’t trip and fall down. I’d say I went down to a three on the bob scale. Part of this equation is that I may be getting sick. Feeling real nauseous with a serious acid stomach. Cherie was quite cold but I felt warm so she took my temperature. It was way low, 94.6

Well we are moving on up. Oh yeah, we’re living in luxury now. We have a new toilet seat to pamper our fat asses. Don’t even need a seat belt in order to stay on it. Is that special or what. I know I should have recorded this for posterity but I didn't take a picture to share this precious moment in our lives. Forgive me ok?

I managed to cut some firewood despite being in bad shape. Have to be careful when using a chainsaw during a slow down as bad as this one. Cherie told me that there would be a great sunset when she got home from Midland. She was right. I took the camera out and snapped a bunch of pictures while I cut some wood. They are too great for me to just post one so here ya go.

I am having a hard time keeping my eyes open right now and have drifted off a couple of times here. We are going to have a busy day tomorrow and for that matter for the next few days. Part of that is because there is so much to do before we head to Ohio. It’s hard to believe that is only three or four days away. I’m struggling to keep going so give up. Y’all have a good night and I’ll see ya tomorrow.