Good pride, bad pride

It’s 7:43. I am still rough, slow and the headache is still there. I laid down for an hour or so but made myself get up because there are things that need doing. Not feeling good is just an inconvenience. I fabricated a cover for the lawnmower Don let us borrow. It covers a hole where he had removed the gears for the self propelled drive. Don said he was going to fix it so I figure he’ll appreciate me doing it. Then I sharpened the mower blade. It didn’t look like it had ever been sharpened, which is not unusual. The blades still cut so most folks don’t even think about it. However, with the big weeds I was cutting it makes a big difference. Besides that it’s the right way to do things, take care of the equipment someone lets you borrow.


So with that done I started mowing. The mower handled the weeds just fine. I went slow and often had to pull the mower backwards over where I had just been to catch the plants that had been pushed down as I went over. Things were going well till I started to hear a loud clicking. I thought I may have run over a rock but pulling the mower back didn’t see anything so I proceeded. BAM !!! It stopped. I tipped it over to discover that the metal blade guard that runs across the front had come loose and hit the blade. Did a number on the freshly sharpened blade. I took it back to the garage to take a closer look. At some point one side of the guard had been unfastened and not reinstalled correctly. Looks like it had been set over the bolt that’s supposed to hold it.


The tension would have held it in place and it probably would have been fine for years but cutting the heavy weeds did it in. It’s pretty chewed up. The mower works fine without it but is more dangerous as rocks and things can get flung out. No danger for the operator cause it’s in the front. I’ll see if I can fix it later. It took a lot to get the mower started after that, probably because I had it on it’s side while I worked on it. I mowed in front of the house but finally had to call it quits. Just hurt too much. I wanted to get this all done today so I could return the mower tomorrow but didn’t make it. I’ll talk to Don at Sunday school. I think his name is Don but am not sure at the moment. That’s the memory thing acting up.

It’s almost nine. I think I will go out to the garage and work on the tiller some. It’s good to have the light bulb hooked up. I look forward to when I get the fluorescent lights I picked up at Habitat For Humanity hooked up. This picture is our burn barrel. I've hooked a shop vac I picked up at the landfill in reverse so it blasts air into the barrel. That sucker incinerates everything, even melting glass. You can see how it glows red.

I’ve missed quite a lot on this journal. Going through some pictures I see a couple I want to post. First are these showing how I covered the holes that the puppies have dug in the walls of their room. I used panels peeled off some doors I scavenged at the landfill. While doing it I remember thinking of the advantages of being poor.


When you don’t have much you appreciate more what you do have. When you don’t have much you learn how to be resourceful and make do with what you have. When you don’t have much pride becomes healthier. Now pride is the root of all evil but not all pride is bad. You can take pride in doing a good job. But those who are well off can be proud they are better than others and proud of silly things like how good of a car they bought or how much stuff they have. When you don’t have much it’s a little different. So I am proud of how I scavenge and make do with what I have. I often say “I do the best I can with what I have”. Is that wrong? I don’t think so. In my mind healthy pride is working to not be ashamed.


It been a harvest moon. I had to take this picture but it doesn't touch the beauty of it.