Gotta get off my butt

4/15/09 Wednesday
I should get the seed starting station finished today. Of course I should have had that done months ago. I’ll need to build a frame for the HPS light in order to hang it from the ceiling. I guess the first thing on today’s agenda is to clean up the garage from last weeks sandstorm. I’ll put a dust mask on and set up my shop vac to blow air. That way I can get the layer of sand that’s on top of everything blown to the floor where I can sweep it up. It will be interesting to see how much sand there is so I’ll put it all in the wheelbarrow. One of the things I’d like to eventually do is collect this fine sand from all the places outside where it has gathered and made miniature sand dunes. I think the sand will be good to use with concrete for when I pour the curbs and other things like setting critical fence posts, the ones on corners that bear the loads of stretched fencing. If nothing else I need to gather the sand in order to fight how it encroaches and builds up on top of…everything. One of the jobs for the tractor will be to shovel out where the sand has gathered over the years, up to five feet high in some places. Speaking of that reminded me of another chore I must do quickly. I’ll write that on my to do list right now or I’ll forget. That task is to unbury the strawberries. They were covered by sand during the storm and the rain turned that into a hard crust. We lost some of them but if I don’t get off my butt we’ll lose more.

There is so much to do. I returned all of the fertilizer I bought from the Midland Farmer’s Co-op. I’d asked for ammonia nitrate and they gave me ammonia sulfate instead. That acidifies the soil and the nitrogen is not as readily available to plants. Ammonia Nitrate is hard to find because it’s what terrorists and idiots like McVey, who blew up the federal building in Oklahoma, use to make bombs with. I know there are places farmers can get it but don’t have a clue where they are. I’ll ask the old man, he’ll know. I don’t think he’s happy with me because I haven’t finished restoring Paco yet. That’s another project I need to make important. I keep planning on working on it in the evening but am often done in by the end of the day so it hasn’t gotten done.

What else? Don’t know right now. I’m a little slow again. I can tell by how hard it is to not only type but to figure out what I’m going to say. There has been a resurgence in the slow downs lately and I’ve experienced the disorienting sensation that comes with seizures a couple of times. I’d take a seizure pill and lay down and they go away without becoming a major event. These are such strange occurrences. My ears start ringing loudly, I get dizzy and lose visual focus, and sounds become amplified with particular ones, like the wind or voices on TV strangely coming to the forefront of what I hear. On top of that I become confused. When I had the bad ones back in Toledo Cherie had to guide me like a lost child and I didn’t even recognize where we lived. Those don’t happen any more and are evidently controlled by my medication, but I sure don’t want a resurgence of them. Mentioned it to Cherie to make sure it was known. If they continue I’ll probably have to go to the VA neurology clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They will probably play with the medication to get it right. The first stuff I was prescribed just doped me up badly I complained so they switched to the Lamotrigine that allows me to function much better.

That’s it for now. We were able to visit with Don and Cynthia yesterday. Depending on the doctors they might go to Lubbock today to prepare for the surgery. If not it’s scheduled for tomorrow. Don said the surgery might take up to five hours to complete. I enjoyed helping Genelle clean up her garage yesterday. It just feels good to help someone in need. She insists on paying me and then pays me too much. I’d rather do it for free but there’s no sense arguing about it. By letting her pay me she will ask for help, otherwise I don’t think she would. So the price of the ticket to help is to accept payment. For those of you who think it’s strange for me to not want to be paid for work this is an illustration of my attitude on life. For me it’s not the money one makes that’s important, it’s the lives you touch.



Ok, not so fast. As usual, when I downloaded the pictures from the camera I always keep with me in the truck I remembered something I thought would be good for the blog. When I went and got some poop from the old man, Whiskey, his horse, came up to visit. I think it’s name is Whiskey but am not sure. Despite having been born in Texas I have never been around horses before. Rascal and Trixie were in the truck and going crazy. The last time I brought them they were real nice around Whiskey but this time they weren’t. I had let them out of the truck and they went barking at him so I put them back when he stomped his feet to let them know to stay away. Horses are smart and I watched as he would come up to the partly opened windows of the truck to tease them. Then Whiskey came over to help me. He would kind of nibble on my arm with his lips, horse kisses I guess. And he wouldn’t quit, examining me from my toes to my face sniffing and kissing all the way. It got hard to shovel poop, actually impossible as he followed me and would stand right where I was shoveling. Then he went to biting my truck. Nothing serious, he started with the new handle I put on the truck door and then would bite at the trim and started to pull it off. I think he is used to being fed when someone shows up and was hinting that he wanted me to give him some kind of treat. I need to ask the old man about what is proper to give him. Don’t have a clue other than I’ve heard they like apples.

So now I’ve got to go.


Gotta go fix breakfast before I forget, and get to work. See ya next time.
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Ain't she beautiful?

I came in to rest my back a bit so checked the blog and email as I do. Looked at some old pictures and found some of Cherie. She just looks so good. It is so great being in love with her. Working on our fourth year and it’s still fresh. Hell it’s better now than when we first got back together.

I ate some bean dish that I made way back when for lunch. It shot through my system and rudely made me hurry to the bathroom. Don’t know how old it is but it’s worm food now. Threw that stuff right out. Not feeling to swift, a little sweaty. With the amount of noise my stomach is making I suspect I’ll be visiting the little boys room more. I’m pretty tired. Still have much to do and don’t seem to have done much, but I know I’ve kept busy. Got Cherie’s tulips planted and put up some lightweight metal garden fencing stuff with the hope it will keep the dogs out of it. Checked the mail and there wasn’t any. Cashed the check Genelle gave me. Suppose I should take a nap because I’m falling asleep writing this but it’s already 4:30 and I’ve got stuff to do.