Winter will start in about three weeks, but today was chilly enough to keep me inside most of the day. The only break in that was a trip to town for diapers, pads, and a 46 pound bag of dog food. The first two items are the result of surgery eleven years ago. My choice was to risk a permanent drip or die, and the risk of a drip seemed less inconvenient than death. The dog food is currently used in the kitchen. I quit filling the feeder on the west porch, and Shorty is eating inside the house. I think it's been over a week since I saw Jack, the "temporary" dog who showed up last winter. I think the empty feeder was enough of a hint to persuade him that it was time to move on. He was already disappearing for days at a time, so I assume he's found somebody willing to feed him.
Monday, December 2, 2024
This morning I had another session with my psychologist. I was pleased that I was able to come up with a couple of stories I hadn't told her before. Both were examples of how innocent and unsophisticated Americans were in the world where I grew up. One story was from Les Tremayne. Les was a star of real radio. If you were around before television became the dominant mass medium, you know what I mean by real radio. As a young actor in Chicago, Les was costar in a soap opera called Betty and Bob. One day some ladies from the vast radio audience came to the studio on a studio tour. Meeting the star of a favorite show was a big event for them. One of the group suggested that it would be wonderful if they could see baby So-and-so, Betty & Bob's offspring. Les said, "Well, here she comes now." He pointed at a young woman in her early twenties coming down the hallway. The ladies were very disappointed to learn that baby So-and-so was really played by an adult actress. Yes, it was a simpler, more unsophisticated time. The other story illustrating that point involved my own family. In our house we listened to Don McNeill's Breakfast Club, broadcast out of Chicago on the Blue Network. But Dad's Sister Lenore and her daughter Irma Lee, my cousin, came from Oklahoma for a visit. They were fans of Tom Breneman's Breakfast With Breneman, broadcast from Hollywood on NBC Red. Well, we were only about thirty miles from Hollywood. Lenore and Irma Lee wanted to be in the studio audience for a Breneman broadcast, so Irma Lee got on the phone and called NBC in Hollywood. As soon as somebody on the other end answered, she said, "Hello, Tom?" As if the star of a network show would be sitting at the switchboard answering calls. Yes, we lived in a simpler, more unsophisticated time.
Tuesday, December 3, 2024
Is it too early to start counting down? 106 days to spring. Winter hasn't even started yet, and already I've had more than enough. Looking out the kitchen window at 10:22 this morning I saw 32º on the thermometer. That's better than yesterday's 20º, but still too cool to suit me. The hump is February, when we often get lows in the single digits. Fortunately this far south we don't normally get that kind of Arctic entertainment for more than two or three days at a time. I'm enough of a cold weather sissy that I spent the day indoors and devoted too much time to internet play. Well, some of it was culturally beneficial and not a total waste of time.
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Today was too interesting to suit me. I wanted to take advantage of the good weather for sawing firewood, but was out of bar & chain oil. On the way to buy more I stopped at the shop where I left my non-starting splitter a couple of weeks ago. I found the place closed up, and nobody there. I went ahead and bought a gallon of the proper oil, then came home and did a Google search. I found the shop listed among local businesses, but no phone number. I posted about the situation on a local Facebook page, and went about my business of sawing firewood. I spent over an hour on that, and started filling a dog food bag with pieces small enough I won't have to split them. I left the bag nearly full to the top, and a little more cutting should fill it to the top. Tomorrow will be colder than today, but I'll saw with my coat on. This evening I found that somebody had answered my Facebook post with the phone number of the mysterious "small engine repair" shop, so tomorrow I'll see if I can contact the old man who has my splitter.
Thursday, December 5, 2024
I called the number of the repair guy, and the call went to voicemail. Considering what's often an answer when somebody is missing, I called the cops. I gave an officer the little bit of information I had, and in a couple of hours he called me back with the answer to my dilemma. He managed to contact the repair guy's wife, and she solved the mystery. It seems he went deer hunting out west, and should be back in the shop on Monday. I aim to be there and emphasize that I have splitting to do, and need my splitter ASAP. I did do something useful today too. I took the dolly down to the wood lot and fetched that dog food bag nearly full of wood. Nothing in the bag is big enough to need splitting, and I put the bag in the kitchen, ready to feed the stove.
Friday, December 6, 2024
This was my day to have some help. I don't yet trust myself to use the pole saw to take down more than one or two branches at a time. So to get low-hanging branches out of the way I enlisted my cousin Zack who is half my age and has enough muscle and balance to do the job. We took down about a half a dozen branches. The road down the lane to the wood lot is now clear for driving the truck down there. The timing for this is just right, as the forecast shows tomorrow and Sunday both getting up to about 60º, which will be OK for outdoor work. I hope to fill another dog food bag with small pieces, and maybe two or three bags. In December some days warm up enough to allow working outdoors comfortably, and I aim to take advantage of those days when they come.
Saturday, December 7, 2024
Pearl Harbor Day wasn't perfect, but it was pretty good. By eleven the outside temperature was above 50º and I got to work. First I trimmed all the twigs and small branches off a few of the large branches cut down yesterday. Next I fired up the chain saw and attacked some fallen dead branches, cutting them in pieces small enough to fit in a dog food bag, which I filled and hauled up to the house. Next I used the clippers to remove some small trees that were inconveniently placed, and dosed the stumps with Tordon so they won't grow back. My last outdoor job was a tour of the road as far south as the first turn-around loop. I need to get the road cleared at least that far so I can start using the truck to haul cuttings to the brush pile then turn around and go back for more. Saturday Treat Night dinner was enchiladas blancas at La Fiesta. Tonight's movie was Part I of Wicked. I was impressed by the overall high production quality, and the involvement of hundreds of people showed on the screen, in makeup, costumes, and special effects. The writing dealt with familiar themes without feeling trite, and the large cast carried off their parts very nicely. I'll be sure to see Part II when it becomes available.
Sunday, December 8, 2024
Taking advantage of decent weather for another day, I took the chain saw down to the wood lot and worked on clearing the road of fallen trees and branches. In a couple of hours I made it almost possible to drive the truck down to the brush pile, then go beyond that to turn around and drive back. Some of what I cut today will come to the splitter, when I have it back and working, and there are lots of smaller pieces that won't need to be split. Meanwhile, in the garage I still have more dog food bags full of stove-ready wood.
Monday, December 9, 2024
Ouch! One of my prescriptions has been costing me $45 for a thirty day supply of pills. Today it was $165.51. I phoned the insurance company to ask why the big increase, and was told that I've used up my cheap drug prices for this year. It's a good thing that my current pill supply will last until January, when my big discount will restart. I think my next appointment with the doc who prescribed that medicine will be in March. I'll ask him if we can reduce the dosage so I don't hit the big price jump next year. Going for pills was one of my two trips to town today. The other drive was to the small engine repair guy to get my splitter. I got it home early enough to start it up and split enough stove wood to fill a box that should last three or four days. My other project today was laundry. I washed bedding, sox, overalls, two shirts, and towels. I started with bedding so it could have the most drying time on this less than ideal day. It was cloudy and cool, but the sheets and mattress cover were almost dry when I brought them inside, and a few hours in the heated bedroom finished the job.
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Well, that didn't last long. I started splitting firewood and all was going well for a while, then the thing died and I couldn't get it running again. Apparently I'll be without it this weekend when the forecast is for good weather for working outside. Well, I suppose I can take advantage of the good days to cut more wood, and stack it for splitting when I'm able to do that again.
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
99 days to spring. I guess I can start seriously counting down now. I did a little work today, and some of it wasn't a waste of time. That would be bringing the wood from my last splitting session into the house. There wasn't a lot of it, so I brought it with two trips of the dolly. Maybe eventually I'll be able to split enough to justify using the truck. I went to the pharmacy to pick up some pills, and on the way there and on the way home I stopped at the shop of the small engine repair guy who recently had my splitter. Both stops were during his posted business hours, and both times the shop was locked up with the closed sign in the window. I tried phoning him and got no answer but voicemail. That's enough. Hiring this guy is too much work. I went to see another small engine guy who has fixed some things for me before, and arranged to take the splitter to him tomorrow morning.
Thursday, December 12, 2024
Today's most important activity was towing my non-running splitter into town and leaving it with Dave, the small-engine repair guy. This afternoon the outside temperature wasn't too bad, so I went down in the wood lot with the clippers and removed some inconvenient vegetation. I almost have the road ready for me to drive the truck down there and bring up a good load of firewood. The forecast says the weather will be good for that tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday.
Friday, December 13, 2024
After a slow start it turned out to be a good day. I spent way too much of the morning sitting in front of my bedroom heater, but this time of year that sure feels good. Then the phone rang, and it was Dave telling me the splitter was ready. I drove the Chebby to town and towed the splitter home, and unhitched it in its usual place behind the shop. I didn't waste any time starting it up and splitting all the wood that was waiting to be split. There was just enough to make one load for the dolly, and I had it all in the firewood tub by the fireplace by three. A grocery run for frozen veggies, canned soup, and other goodies used up the rest of the afternoon. This evening I did more of my ongoing project — catching up on past newspaper issues I haven't read yet. Sound like a waste of time? Sometimes I learn something. One of the obits I read this evening was for a good man I used to work with. If nothing else, crossword and cryptoquote puzzles in the paper give my brain a little exercise.
Saturday, December 14, 2024
Some of today's planned work got done, and some didn't. I took the truck down the lane to the wood lot with a couple of piles of pulled weeds which I dumped in the brush pile. I wanted to do some wood cutting, but the chain saw refused to start. So I piled some previously sawed wood in the truck and left it beside the splitter behind the shop. Splitting all that goes on tomorrow's agenda. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to get the saw running. For Saturday treat night, dinner was at the Chinese buffet. The movie was Moana 2, but I have no report on it because I fell asleep. It may have been very good, or not, but I didn't see enough of it to know.
Sunday, December 15, 2024
Best-laid plans... I never got around to splitting. I took the truck down the lane to where a pile of trimmings awaited.They came off the low-hanging branches Zack and I cut down. I had them loaded in the truck and was cutting a few more when Phillip spotted me and stopped for a visit. He had an old grinder on his trailer after picking it up behind my shop. It's one I bought for $5 at an auction years ago, thinking I would dismantle it, sand blast the pieces, and reassemble it like new. Eventually realism set in and I figured out that I would never get around to that, so I gave it to Phillip, my tenant farmer. The deal I have with him is pretty sweet. He raises wheat, milo, or other crops on my place. My only work is writing an annual check for a third of the fertilizer. He gets two thirds of the crops and I get one third. In a good year that pays all my property taxes and a good chunk of the house insurance. It sure beats work. After visiting with Phillip for a while I drove on down to the brush pile and unloaded all the trimmings out of the truck. I had planned to cut more firewood, but the saw still refused to start. It's just as well, because the truck ran out of gas. I had to hike up to the house and use the dolly to fetch five gallons of gas, a funnel, and a gallon can to dump gas into the funnel. By the time I got the truck back behind the shop, the afternoon was pretty well shot. After a phone visit with my brother and laying the evening fires in the stove and the fireplace, it was a half hour past my usual time to tie on the feed bag.
Monday, December 16, 2024
Driving day. I spent a couple of hours driving to Wichita and finding the Husqvarna repair shop and leaving my non-starting chainsaw. I told the guy I wanted 1 the thing fixed so it will start, or 2 to be told what I was doing wrong that kept it from starting. I added that we're in wood-burning season, and I need it. I'm hoping I won't be without it more than a week. I came home by way of the gasino and filled the Camry, so it's ready to go another 380 to 400 miles before it needs more. When I got home I started up the splitter and filled two boxes with stove wood. When my saw is fixed that will have all equipment working — truck, saw, and splitter. Then I'll be ready to get serious about building the wood supply, and clearing all the wood lot roads while I'm at it.
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
Another day of good weather allowed more outdoor work. I was going to take down more low-hanging branches, but I still lack the balance and the muscle to handle the pole saw. That can wait until I get some help again. Something I can do is handle firewood. I took the truck over in the trees east of the house, gathered wood I had previously cut, and hauled it to the splitter. I filled one box with stove wood and brought it into the kitchen, then split fireplace wood I'll bring in later.
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Today was later. I brought another dolly load of fireplace wood into the house. The afternoon included a drive to town for a couple of 2025 calendars and some groceries. I also phoned Dallas, who still has my wrecked 1915 at his place in northern Indiana. We discussed what it will take to get the thing ready to roll so it can get onto a trailer. Our friend Dave plans to go get it and bring it to McPherson next month. I still need to get the tractor parts off my trailer so I can bring the wreck on home from McPherson. I missed the midwinter Model T clinic there last year, for the first time in many years, but I definitely need to be there this time. I also need to clear some room in my shop for the remains of the 1915. The problem there is figuring out where to put all the stuff currently taking up space.
Thursday, December 19, 2024
I should have spent more time outside on a relatively mild day, but I got busy filing receipts. That's a job that takes at least twice as long as it should because of randomly jumping software that makes your work suddenly disappear for no apparent reason. What you have on your screen instantly moves far to the right or left, or up or down, and when you get it back on the screen it jumps again. Apple computers used to come with reasonably stable software, but perpetual churning of the product demands that as soon as you learn to use a program it becomes obsolete and the next computer generation renders it inoperable. It's infuriating. Welcome to the Digital Age, obsolete old man.
Friday, December 20, 2024 — 90 days to spring
First thing this morning was a drive to Four County Mental Health for another session with the psychologist. I used to have a problem with thinking of something to talk about, but not now. Just get me started and stand back. With 83 years of material, I can blather as long as there's somebody willing to listen. The official reason for seeing a psychologist is my problem with accepting my deterioration. Being unable to do a lot of things I used to do is a downer. I'm not seriously depressed, but it does bother me when I come across something I can't do anymore.
Saturday, December 21, 2024 — 89 days to spring
I spent the day being a cold weather sissy, staying mostly in my heated bedroom. The outside never made it above about 39º, and enough of it was below freezing that I wanted none of it. I took a morning nap until a little after noon, and spent a lot of the afternoon playing online. Saturday treat night began with dinner at the Pizza Ranch buffet. This week's movie seemed to be the least objectionable of the available choices. Can't anybody come up with something new anymore? Every picture I haven't already seen is a sequel or a prequel. This particular one was Mufasa: the Lion King. It's a Disney animated feature with the look of live action. The animals deliver spoken dialogue, but look very realistic. I was able to stay awake for most of it, but never came to care about any of the characters.
Sunday, December 22, 2024 — 88 days to spring
The outdoors warmed up to over 50º this afternoon, so I tried to split some wood. No soap. I could pull that rope all day, and the splitter would never even cough. I did bring in some wood that was already split and put it in the firewood tub beside the fireplace, and a box of smaller pieces for the kitchen stove. I also went down to the wood lot and brought up enough kindling to last a couple of days. In building the firewood supply I am dead in the water again. I guess the splitter will need to go back to Dave the small engine repair guy, and I'm waiting for the shop that has my saw to call and tell me to come get it. When I have that saw back and working, I think I'll take the other one to be repaired too. Something tells me I want to have two working saws so I'll have a backup when one of them fails again. It's a lead-pipe cinch that whichever one I use will fail and I'll need a backup to use at least until it's fixed. Maybe I should haunt the auctions and find a backup splitter too. That may be expensive, but it will be better than having no backup to use when one fails.
Monday, December 23, 2024 — 87 days to spring
On my way to shopping I stopped to see Dave, my small engine repair guy, and asked about bringing him my splitter again. He said sure, bring it. So I did. Something tells me he won't have it long this time. I'm still waiting for a call from the saw repair guys.
Tuesday, December 24, 2024 — 86 days to spring
I did lots of lying around wasting time, but late this afternoon Dave called and told me I could come get my splitter. He said tomorrow after 1:00 would be OK, so that's on my schedule. Dave said the problem was just a tiny bit of trash clogging a passage in the carburetor. I will need to be very careful to use a strainer whenever I fill the tank. Meanwhile, the dreary holiday season will soon be over. The dreary part is so many regular programs on public TV being preempted by "specials" I'd rather not see.
Wednesday (Christmas Day), December 25, 2024 — 85 days to spring
Two notable events happened today. Lori and Donna dropped in and left a box of Christmas candy, which I'll get to in a couple of days after I finish off the box of See's from my brother. In the afternoon I drove the Suburban to town and towed home the splitter. After it was unhitched and ready, I started it up and did some splitting. There wasn't a lot to split, but I filled a box that should last at least a couple of days. I brought that into the house to feed the kitchen stove, along with enough longer pieces to fill the tub by the fireplace. Meanwhile the ten day forecast shows highs in the fifties and sixties starting tomorrow. It feels like I've been waiting a long time for that. I've been through plenty of weather colder than what we're getting this year, but it seems that the cold bothers me more than it used to.
Thursday, December 26, 2024 — 84 days to spring
Two jobs to report. First was a trip to town for a new nut to fit the chain saw that needed one. A package of four at $2.25 each is pretty steep, but when you need something you need to do what you need to do. I filled the saw with fuel and oil and tried to start it. Naturally, it was an absolute no-go. When my saw in Wichita is fixed and I go to get it, this one will go for repair to give me a working spare when I need one. Today's other job was taking the truck down to the wood lot and bringing a load of kindling up to the house. I brought enough to last a week or two.
Friday, December 27, 2024 — 83 days to spring
Today's outdoor project was fetching a bigger load of kindling from the wood lot. It was another day of wishing I had a working saw. As things stand now, I drive the truck south until I reach a place where I can turn it around by a combination of backing up, going forward a little, going back again, until I get it headed north. Being able to remove some branches will let me clear a turn-around loop.
Saturday, December 28, 2024 — 82 days to spring
This morning I got some much-needed help. I'm too feeble and clumsy to operate the tree saw (an electric saw on a long pole) so Zack came and took down more low-hanging branches. He asked if I needed anything else, and I told him if I don't have a working chain saw before his Christmas break is over he can bring his and cut some firewood. Dinner for Saturday Treat Night was enchiladas blancas at La Fiesta, and this week's movie was Nosferatu, a remake of the 1922 silent classic. Think I'll need to see it again, because I didn't understand everything everything that was going on. That's OK, because it's a quality production I won't mind seeing again.
Sunday, December 29, 2024 — 81 days to spring
Today's indoor job was putting all my pills for the next three weeks in order. Outside I took clippers and a bottle of Tordon down to the wood lot and removed little trees that would grow up to be problematic. It was another good day for outside work, but the forecast says highs in the thirties will be here soon enough. I'll need to bring in more firewood.
Monday, December 30, 2024 — 80 days to spring
Bummer. Getting ready to use my loader tractor, I installed a new battery. But I was unable to do anything further. Getting up into the seat was a desperate struggle because I'm so feeble and clumsy. And once up there I couldn't remember how to operate the thing. I phoned Dieter and he said he will come tomorrow and help me figure it out. The other stone wall of the day was trying to use my printer. I have a manual downloaded from the internet, but I couldn't figure out how to navigate to the directions I needed. I suspect my age and my brain injury are making me stupid. Maybe eventually I'll figure it out.
Tuesday, December 31, 2024 — 79 days to spring
When you're stuck, get help. I phoned a friend who has a lot more experience with obsolete machinery than I have, and is young enough to remember what he's learned. I described how stuck I am, and Dieter took pity on me and spent over half the day working on my defunct tractor. He got it fixed well enough to start, and it will run while you're squirting starting fluid down the intake. The old thing has been sitting for at least two years, and he figures the carburetor has passages gummed up from sitting so long with fuel in it. He took the carb home with him, and will bring it back when it's cleaned out. It's good to know folks who believe in being kind to old people.
HOME
BLOG LIST
NOVEMBER 2024
JANUARY 2025