Doing what doc said not to do

10/18/09 Sunday
I’m frustrated. We bought a new battery for this laptop and it seemed to charge up just fine, but when I unplugged it so it would run on the batter it went dead. No power at all. It shows as being fully charged but there’s no juice available for the computer when I unplug the AC. This laptop has a new hard drive, new motherboard, new screen, and now a new battery, so I’ve been nursing it along pretty good. I think the problem may be with the motherboard but will have to go online to learn how to figure that out. When I put the motherboard in I presumed the battery was no good because having no power was the issue before it died. I don’t know. Perhaps it’s time to think about getting a new laptop but being frugal I’d rather see if I can fix this one.

We work hard to be frugal and also to not ask too much of others. Despite that some have judged us and distanced themselves. That hurts and was exactly what we worked hard to have not happen. We’ve been blessed greatly with other’s leftovers in many cases and are grateful for all the help that so many have loved us with. But there’s an uncomfortable line there, a line that is hard to see and a line that different people draw in different places so you don’t know when you cross it. And of course they don’t talk to you about it but you can perceive the change in attitude. I worry about that, perhaps too much, and probably in worrying cause the problem I wish to avoid.


Friday I went to the place that someone emailed me about regarding firewood. Nate, Cherie’s nephew, had put an ad in Craigslist about our needing firewood and someone let us know where people in Midland can take their brush and tree limbs. It was a great tip and there is lots of wood there. So I took the chainsaw and cut and loaded wood till I hurt too much to get any more. One of the pieces probably weighed close to a hundred pounds. That’s the one that did me in. I’ll unload the truck today. Then I'll cut and split the wood and stack it so it will dry quickly. There's plenty of wood already dry and ready to burn so by the time that's gone the new stuff will be seasoned. We decided to skip church to catch up on all the stuff that needs doing.






Yesterday I cut the hose that feeds our irrigation system while I hoed down weeds so that precipitated me doing a job I’ve needed to do all year. That’s digging till I find where the water line from the well comes in so I can tie into it, thus getting away from using a water hose, a real weak spot. So I dug. Then I soaked the dirt with water to loosen the rock hard clay sand mix and dug some more. Water soaked dirt is real heavy you know, so it took a toll on my back. I dug till I couldn’t dig any more and called it quits. I hurt so much that it was hard to reach over to the dresser from the bed and pick up this laptop. No problem. It’s what I do all the time.











And it’s what I’m doing this morning. I’m in a digging mode and there’s plenty of digging to do. So I dug the holes for the telephone poles I’ve been intending to do all year. Putting the telephone poles in the ground hurt a lot more than digging the holes for them. They are pretty heavy, one a lot more than the other as it was fresher and still full of creosote or whatever that black stuff is. But I inched it up higher and higher to my shoulder and then walked it higher still till it slipped into the hole. Then I came in and laid down, grabbing this laptop and discovering the battery won’t work. I can’t take a pain pill till 11:00 so have to wait, but now that I’ve laid down for an hour I can get back to work. Still lots of digging to do. There are so many things that the doctors told me I shouldn’t, or in some cases, couldn’t do. But I don’t listen very well and I refuse to lay around and do nothing. So I do what I’m not supposed to do all the time. That’s been the story of my life anyway so why change now. I’ve always enjoyed beating the odds. Time to work.
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It’s a high pain day. I’m paying the price for working hard. It’s 3:00 and I came in to take a pain pill and lay down. Feels like I’m wasting time. Plus I’ve had lots of the headaches lately too. They’ll stop me quicker than this back pain does. They’re not migraines technically but are common with brain injuries and sure do hurt as much or more than migraines. Pain pills don’t touch them but aspirin often helps.