Perpetual Ruminations

Wednesday

Another day winding down, and I still have not finished working on the patio like I wanted to. My plans were to work and finish the patio during my three days off. I had intended to work on the patio yesterday for a while, then work on the employee evaluation so I could go in and get it finished. If I hadn't finished the patio by the time I stopped to work on the evaluation, I had planned to finish it today.

But, I had other tasks to take care of for work besides the evaluation, and since it was rainy and cold out, I figured I may as well work on my work projects and get them done. I couldn't do all of them, however. I needed to have the total yard traffic and had not gotten any kind of an update since the middle of the month. I also had to fill out a flow log and had not even started that. I did get the rest done, then worked on the evaluation and got it printed off. Like usual, it took longer than expected, and longer than it should have.

But I had it done in time, and then sent off a couple of faxes. Then I seen another issue that needed to get taken care of, so I had to make a call, then fill out more paperwork, and then fax that. By now, it was about time to head into town to do the evaluation. It was still misting out, so there really was no opportunity to work on the patio or anything outside. But since the evaluation was ready, Rhonda and I drove in to take care of it. She worked the guardhouse while I talked to the evening guard and went over the evaluation with him.

It was a good evaluation, and he seemed happy with his score and my comments. He did score high and I put him in for a raise, hopefully he gets it on his next check. After, Rhonda and I went and did a little shopping, then went and got a bite to eat. I had offered to pick up a hot chocolate for the even guard since it was so cold and wet, so we finished our meal and then took him a hot chocolate, before heading over to pick up a few groceries.

This did not take very long, and we were soon driving home. By the time we got here it was after nine and by the time we had everything put away, it was almost ten. We relaxed and watched a little television before turning in for the night. A full day, but I had not gotten to the one task I wanted to work on, the patio.

Today we got up a bit late, but still got a pretty good start for the day. We had not mowed the whole yard last week, just the area around the house so we could work on the patio. Rhonda wanted to get the grass cut, so she started on that while I worked on my monthly report. It took a bit longer than I wanted, but I got it done and went out to start work on the patio. But, the flies and mosquitoes were very thick and I noticed that Rhonda was having a slow and hard job at mowing. The grass was tall where we had cut it last week, and it was twice as high where we had not mowed.

This was part of the reason the flies and mosquitoes where so bad, and I decided I should start up the rider and get the grass mowed before working on the patio. Only I had to go so slow to cut anything. For one thing, the grass was way too tall, another problem was the moisture, the grass was very wet. Also, the mower needed to be sharpened. I could not do anything about the first two things, but I could sharpen the blade on the mower. I blocked it up and set to removing it, and then to sharpening it.

It took a while, since it was very dull. But it needs more than to be sharpened, it needs to be replaced. The blade is just wore out and needs to get tossed and replaced with a new one. But, that would mean a trip into town, and I wanted to get the grass done so I could work on the patio. So, I sharpened it as best as I could, then set about balancing it as close as I possible, and finishing the mowing.

It cut better, but the grass is so long and thick, and it's way to wet, so it still did not cut the best. It was also slow mowing, and it took most of the afternoon and part of the evening to get it done. It's not the best job, and will need to be mowed in a few days, but it's done. Only now it's going on eight o'clock. I had not written anything in WdC yet so I thought I better get that done. Also, Rhonda started the grill and a fire for the evening, so I can't work on much for the patio. I may still get a few blocks cut and put in, to finish that part, and I would like to work on the sandbox, too. We have two dogs, and they love to lay in the cool sand when it's hot out. It's also soft for them, and they can dig and enjoy the sand.

So, now that this is done, it's time to go back out and maybe get a bit of work done on the patio. But, I suspect that dinner will be done cooking on the grill by the time I get ready to work, and that means time to eat grilled chicken and potato salad. I know by the time I finish eating, I won't feel like doing much except relax, so it's looking like another day gone and still not a bit of work done on the one thing I wanted to get finished. But, I still have tomorrow, and weather permitting, I may just get it done yet.

We'll give it a hell of a try...