Perpetual Ruminations

Tuesday

It's getting late, a quarter to eleven here in South Dakota, so that means i'ts a quarter to midnight in WdC. This is just the opening to ensure I get this started before the day is up.

Okay, I started writing in WdC so I could get it logged as my journal entry for today, Tuesday, February 25, 2014. It's kind of funny, in a way, how I can write in here up to two hours past midnight my time and it still logs as the same day, yet in WdC, I have an hour left in my time zone when it's midnight there. Different coasts, and time zones is all it is, but it's still kind of funny how I sit right in the middle. Of course, in here, 750 Words, I think it's possible to set what time zone I am in, while in WdC, there is no way to adjust it for each time zone. Not that it matters for either, as long as a person is aware and can adjust or adapt to the different time zones.

Now that I have that out, I can actually write something for my journal entry. Only, it's late and I'm tired, so I'm having a little trouble with typos, and a lot of trouble with trying to think of something to write about. For starts, I can talk about my day. That's always a pretty good journal entry, my day.

Today is my day off. I get two days off one week, and three the next. This is my three day off week. Next week I'll only get Tuesday and Wednesday off, while Rhonda gets to have the third day off. It's nice we can switch like that, and the three day off week is sweet, to say the least. Also, if we want to do something together that requires us both to have three days off, I could take a day off with pay, since I have a few coming yet this year. Rhonda will have some paid time off coming in April.

But, that just establishes how our time off is scheduled, it has nothing to do with my day off. I had a good day off, but I am kind of sore, and that takes us back to yesterday and a whole different topic. Yesterday, after work, I stopped and purchased new spark plugs for our GMC Jimmy. We had gotten some bad gas with a high water content a few weeks back at a station we don't usually go to. It made the vehicle run like crap, of course, and it also fouled the spark plugs. Normally, running a few tanks of gas through will correct the problem, especially since I try and run ethanol enriched fuel in our vehicles. It works similar to the gas line dryer products as well as those designed to remove water from the fuel. Alcohol is the main component in both, just different types of alcohol are used. Some kinds, like the product Heat, use methanol, which can damage plastic and rubber components. Most fuel based cleaners for injectors, carburetors, and fuel lines, as well as additives to remove moisture are isopropyl alcohol because it dissolves so many types of impurities and is relatively safe for most plastics and rubbers used in a vehicles fuel system. Then, there's ethanol, or grain alcohol similar to the alcohol in fermented and distilled beverages. It also is relatively safe for fuel systems in a diluted stage, depending on the year of the vehicle.

Much of our fuel around here is mixed with ethanol to produce a less expensive fuel that is a little bit cleaner. Of course, for older vehicles, like the Jimmy, I have to use a very low ethanol blend, 15%. Years ago, when I was in the service, they started adding 10% to fuels to increase the octane rating on unleaded fuels. I started running this back then, as an alternative to adding isopropyl alcohol to my fuel to remove and prevent moisture problems. It has to do with the cold weather, and condensation that produces moisture in the fuel and in the vehicle tanks in this climate.

So, anyway, I ran a few tanks of alcohol blended fuel through the Jimmy, to remove the water. That part worked and the Jimmy should have run better, but it didn't. The water had fouled the plugs, and possibly damaged them. So I bought new ones and spent the afternoon changing them out. That fixed the problem with the vehicle, but it made my arms very sore. Partly do to fatigue, and the rest do to cuts, scrapes, abrasions, and possibly some minor frostbite.

So, today I'm feeling the effects of that work, as well as my back and neck aching from the strain and positioning I was in while working. But, I did get to sleep in, which has me feeling more rested than I have in a long time. So, I started out today stiff and sore, but rested and feeling good about fixing the Jimmy and not having to pay out fifty or sixty bucks to have someone do the same job.

Once I was up, Rhonda took me back to bed for some morning snuggles, cuddles and some time together that we have been deprived of quite a bit lately. After we got back up, it was coffee and conversation for the rest of the morning, which was only a couple of hours. It felt great to lounge around, talk to my wonderful wife, and just kind of waste away the morning. After we had drunk some coffee, I made us brunch and Rhonda helped, then it was an enjoyable meal and time for a Bible study. We didn't get very far in the Bible study, but we spent a couple of hours as a result of a lot of discussion about the subject we were on.

We also took the dogs out, played a bit with them, worked together on dinner, and watched some television. I did get online a little bit, but mostly just to check my email and see what new posts where in Facebook. I really didn't get much more time for that, after spending most of my time today enjoying a day of leisure and relaxation. Tomorrow I will have to get in here and try and get more done, but it was nice today, even if I didn't get in here for more than a quick look at my messages and to post this entry. It's been a long time since we could afford the time to splurge on the luxury of just taking a day off to enjoy each other's company, lounge around together, and just spend a day doing pretty much nothing.

Of course, we did do something, we talked, we spent time with each other, we cooked, we took the dogs out and exercised them, and I even pulled the electric fireplace apart and gave it a cleaning. We just didn't do much, except enjoy a day off together, without attempting to get as much other stuff done with the time as we usually do. It felt good to not have a list of pressing things waiting to get done, and to have to spend a day off working to get them out of the way. It truly was a day off, the first we have had the pleasure of enjoying -- and I will add, enjoying together -- in a long, long time.