Puppies are adopted out

2/15/09 Sunday
Well, I got the tiller loaded but did it by myself. I knew I would pay for that and I did but it’s no big deal, just a little pain so I took a pill. When I got the tiller uncovered I saw it isn’t a self driven machine like I hoped but a standard tiller with the tines at the front. It’s been sitting for a while so some of the rubber fittings are dried up and cracked like all rubber and plastic do out here in the desert so I’ll go through that before I try to start it up. Sure it isn’t as nice as the Cub Cadet machine but if the motor runs steady it will be an improvement. When we can afford it I’ll find an “authorized” service agent to tune up the Cub Cadet. The manual specifies that and I think is required to maintain the warranty. That machine is just too sweet to let sit.

Yesterday all the remaining puppies were adopted out at Pet Smart. When we took them into the store in a shopping cart a young boy saw Spot and instantly wanted him. We are keeping Ginger but Spot is the other one I didn’t want to let go. We discussed keeping him the whole drive to Pet Smart and at the store the debate continued. The boy listened to us as he petted Spot. Cherie told me “We need to go” mentioning something about being able to afford to keep Spot. With that I heard the kid say “I’ll give you a dollar. No I’ll give you two if you go” knowing that if we did he had a chance to get Spot. I looked up and saw he had his wallet out and was pulling out two bucks. That did it. It helped to know that wherever the puppies go they will bring joy so I let him go. Cherie escorted me out of the store to get me away from the puppies.

Most of the drip feed irrigation order arrived except the most important part. That is the 7500 foot roll of drip tape. Matt wasn’t happy and neither was I. I’ll need to go through the order and make sure all the other parts I ordered came in because we put our order in together.

There is much to do on this farm. I finally finished the tilling Friday, working with my headlight on till about ten that night. It went slow with the tiller going six to ten feet before sputtering out. Part of me wants to tear into it and try and fix the problem but after the fiasco with Cherie’s car I can’t trust what they call my “executive reasoning skills”. I ended up trashing her car trying to fix it. It’s frustrating for me for at one time I rebuilt motors and fixed all my vehicles and now have difficulties doing it. Actually I do ok with most stuff like replacing the U-joints in my truck but the ignition lock was beyond me. The mechanic who has Cherie’s car said it would cost over seven hundred dollars to fix and the car’s book value is only worth $600.00 in fair condition and they didn’t list a price for the poor condition it’s in. So it costs more to fix than the whole car is worth. I think I’ll takes Cherie’s nephew’s (Nate) offer to send the whole steering column that he can get for $75.00 and try to put that on. Then at least we can sell it or find someone in need and give her car to them. So we’ll tow the car back here and park it somewhere in the back where I can work on it and it’s out of sight so we don’t look like hillbillies or something. Actually out here it’s not uncommon to see multiple junk cars parked around properties. At least out here I don’t have to worry about city inspectors giving us fits about it like they do in Toledo.

Cherie loves the truck our friends are letting her use. It’s a 1998 Silverado and has lots of bells and whistles we aren’t used to. Things like electric windows, electric seats, and a CD player. Plus it’s got a V-8 so has more power than mine does. While it’s four years older than my truck it’s nicer and runs better. Sure it’s not pretty but pretty isn’t an issue with us. The windshield is cracked pretty bad but in Texas that doesn’t seem to be an issue with the state inspection. In Ohio a small crack is enough to fail inspection. Regardless it’s still safe so also isn’t an issue with us. Little things like the windshield wipers not working are probably not hard to fix but that gets back to my ability to make good decisions. Anyway, it will be a blessing to be able to buy the truck so keep your fingers crossed.

We are both going to skip church today. There is just too much to do and with Cherie working she hasn’t been able to keep up with house cleaning stuff so wants to catch up on that. Today I plan on mapping out and marking the garden plots in preparation for planting. The other thing we need to do is get a seed starting operation set up. I want to use the greenhouse for that but it’s pretty damaged from the wind so I’ll have to figure out how to repair and fortify it. Another big task is to start building trellises for what is called “vertical growing”.

Time to get to work.