Ooooh:::::

9/3/07 Monday
Labor day? Just another day to me. We got out and finished the cotton survey this morning. It’s a lot better in the morning coolness. Got back before 11:00. After Cherie fixed me the peanut butter on toast with honey mixed in I grabbed the chainsaw and headed out to cut firewood. Got to have it to stay warm this winter. I went to the pond, or tank as they call it here, that is a quarter mile down the road. I got permission to do this several months ago as there are a lot of good size trees and many are dead. Somehow my yankee mind thought they were mesquite trees. I don’t know where I got that idea but I walked all around examining the trees before I asked permission. When I got to cutting I noticed the wood was white and that there were no thorns. Getting out my knife I cut the wood and found it isn’t even a hardwood. That sucks. It means it will be crap as far as firewood goes. It’ll burn fast and probably creosote up the chimney. But it will make heat. Fortunately I have plenty of dead wood in the mulberry tree so I’ll get to cutting that.

I need to finish what I started over at the tank just to be responsible and clean up. I cut a huge limb that was hanging over the cotton field and was clearly in the way so at least I helped the guy out.

Janie, you would love this place as there are tons of dove taking shelter here. I could have gotten my quota (if they run quotas for hunting dove here) with a pellet gun. I’d guess there are fifty or more dove on this half acre plot. I can tell dove season started as you can hear shotguns in the distance, especially in the morning. That might be why there are so many here. It’s a safe haven and they’ve been fleeing areas active with hunters.

So I cut wood and carefully stacked the brush where it would be out of the way till the chainsaw wouldn’t start. It jammed up earlier and I couldn’t figure out why the chain was stuck so I loaded it up and came home to take it apart. Just as I started to I noticed the safety bar that is designed to stop the chain in an emergency. Nuts, That’s why. I did this last year also and of course didn’t remember so had to learn all over again. Now I think it’s flooded so came home after trying to start it till I got a blister. Besides I am already worn out. “I can tell you’re pooped” were the first words out of Cherie’s mouth when I came home. It don’t take much anymore. So I took a pain pill, got out of the soaked t shirt, and stood in front of the air conditioner. Now I’m laying down.

I haven’t been wearing the new brace for carpal tunnel I got the last time I was at the VA cause the lady said you’re not supposed to wear them during the day, just at night when you sleep. I don’t know about that cause it sure helps when I’m doing stuff that puts a strain on the wrist. My wrist is pretty painful now so I’m gonna wear that thing no matter what the VA lady said.

There was a news article online about Bob Woodruff, the ABC reporter who sustained a traumatic brain injury in Iraq. He’s back at work though he won’t do live reports. That’s because he has difficulty finding the right words and stuff similar to what I have to work through. It’s good to hear he’s back working. I will be too but it will take a while, mostly due to a lack of resources. He’s got a strong support system with his family and friends and the finances to provide the best care possible. Things are much better now for me in that regard. There is no family here for me but…I guess I should say there is no blood relatives who talk much less help in anyway with the exception of my sister in San Antonio who at least exchanges emails with me. We now have family in a manner of speaking with the friends we have met through this blog. As far as resources to get back to work that regards making this a working farm of some type. We can’t afford to purchase necessary equipment like a tractor or the supplies such as trees, irrigation, fertilizers, or anything else. Hell we can’t afford a lawnmower so it will be a long road for me to get to work. My job now is working to create my job.

This computer is giving me fits. The Microsoft Word program is tying up and bogging things down. I went online to see what I could find and downloaded a program from PC Performance that found 911 errors that did this. Great except I’d have to buy their $29.99 program to fix it. Assholes. Hate when they do that. Obviously I’m a bit frustrated. Time to start a fire to grill hamburgers. By the way there are no bees evident outside. They may just be all trapped under the house. I’ll look tonight.

What a journey to hell this just was. Went to post this on the blog and found the controls wouldn’t let me do certain tasks like click on the “open” button. Then the “system restore” was totally inaccessible. Nothing worked. I fought it for two hours with my temper growing ever shorter. Finally, after lots of effort, I was able to restart this computer. I then accessed “system restore” while the computer was still booting up and was able to do that. It seems to be better now. I think that program that found 911 errors and wanted my money to fix them did this to my laptop because I didn’t buy. The Word program I’m writing this with is still boggy.