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My thoughts released; a mind set free |
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These pages contain my thoughts, from meandering ideas and persuasions to deep cerebrations and serious mentations. Why, for what purpose? To release my mind and set creativity free. Somewhere inside the constraints of my mind dwells a writer, a poet, an artist who paints with words. In here I release those constraints and set the artist free. Perhaps, lost somewhere in the depths of thought, is a story or a poem, waiting to be written. 
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| Where does time go? I understand its passing is in proportion to our actions, pleasant time passes quickly, unpleasant time moves slowly. Mr. Einstein stated it the best, "Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity." That sums up how quickly time passes, but what about time vanishing? For example, there are still four days left to the week, so plenty of time to log in and write. But I'm busy, I'm tired, so I don't get in for a couple of days. That's alright, I'll catch up on the weekend. Those were my thoughts around March eighteenth. Now it's March twenty-ninth and my thoughts are, "Where the hell did last week go?" Sure, I've been busy and there's a lot going on, but still, a whole week missing. Yet, I can look back at various tasks for any of the missing days. I could recount each and every one of the days but yet they still managed to slip past as if they weren't days but mere hours. I could understand it if I had been spending those days with a pretty girl, as Mr. Einstein stated, but there were also a lot of tasks that were unpleasant. Not as bad as holding y hand on a hot stove, but still not enjoyable things; still, the days vanished rapidly. Perhaps time is speeding up? I mean, look at the global warming thing and how drastic the weather and climates are supposedly changing. Mind you, I'm not taking a side on this, not one way or the other. That our climate is changing, I believe it is. Why it's changing, I have my thoughts and opinions, but that's not the discussion here. The discussion here is time, not climate. However, it seems to me that time is also changing, going faster and faster. I'm not talking about measurements done with clocks and timekeeping devices; an hour is still sixty seconds. I'm talking about how much can be done in the time we have. And, since we measure time the same, even though it's passing faster, we cannot see it; not until it's changed a lot. For example, think of a candy bar that costs a dollar. As inflation grows, the price must either increase or the size decrease. But, imagine if you will, they don't make a big change. Instead, they shave off just a minute amount each week! The price still remains constant, but the candy bar decreases. However, since they are only shaving off an amount as thick as a hair each month, nobody notices how the bar is decreasing in size. That's my theory, and that's where I'm at right now. I'm looking at it and thinking, "Wasn't this candy bar a lot bigger a couple of years ago?" But, with nothing to compare it too, I can't be sure... |
| As I wrote yesterday, I do not like Daylight Savings Time, I don't adjust to it, and it makes no sense, there are still just as many hours of light each day, we save nothing. Sure, it gets dark an hour later, according to the clock, but it also gets light an hour later. All winter long, I wake up to darkness. But, by March, we finally get to wake up to the light of the sun. For me, it makes a big difference in my energy, how fast I wake up, and really boosts my mood. I mean, after four months of waking up before the sun comes up gets old and kind of gloomy. Then March arrives, with the sun slipping over the horizon, and by the Ide's of March, it's streaming in through the bedroom windows when the alarm goes off. So, what do we do? We set the clocks ahead an hour so I can once again get up before the sun rises. It's like getting a small taste of something scrumptious when your super hungry, but not getting to eat any. So it is with the morning sun; it will be close to another month before I gain back my morning sunshine! Now, to make it even worse, we have colder weather and precipitation for the next few days. It's below freezing once again, so it snows and seems like we lost a whole month with the time change. All in all, it's a bit depressing. And, why do we do it? I mean, for those who like the extra hour of light at the end of the day instead of at the start, let them get up an hour earlier, it's the same damn thing. Besides, the days are getting longer without any help from us; the sun rises earlier and sets later right up to summer. Anyway, enough griping about the time change. I'm not going to let it get me down, even though I have a long and difficult time adjusting to it. I'm staying positive and thinking spring. In fact, while out picking up a few things at the home store today, I saw they had bicycles on display. I looked at a few and decided to get one. It's a nice way to start getting a bit more exercise and it's fun. I even took it for a short spin around the parking lot before trying to fit it into the car to bring it home. The parking lot was clear, but it felt kind of weird riding a bike with the snow falling around me. It wasn't anything fancy, just a cheap hybrid with a bit wider tires. I liked it because it's good for riding on gravel as well as on pavement, so I can ride it almost anywhere. Of course, until the frost is out and the mud dries up I'll likely stick to riding on pavement, but once it's nicer, I'll explore some back roads and trails as well. |
| The little calendar states it's been three days but that isn't right. I suppose it's technically correct, but since I haven't gone to bed yet and it's still my Sunday night, I say it's two days since my last entry. Not that it really matters, but it's a matter of principle; especially today when they went and messed with time again. I know, there are quite a few people who actually enjoy Daylight Savings Time. I respect your choice and if this crap is your thing, then more power to you; seriously, if you can enjoy and look forward to people messing with time, I can honestly say, I wish I was among you. I, however, take the opposite side of the fence and say, "Bull!" Maybe, in the past, under the right circumstances, Daylight Savings Time may have served a purpose. Even so, it did not accomplish that purpose. No matter how you look at it, there is no changing time! I state this in fact. Throughout the year, the days either get longer or shorter, and there isn't squat we can do about it. Yesterday, we had 11 hours, 47 minutes, and 26 seconds between sunrise and sunset. Today we had 11 hours, 50 minutes, and 45 seconds despite the start of Daylight Savings Time. The increase is only minutes, the same as every year and it will continue until the equinox when the days begin to grow shorter. I repeat, we did not gain an extra hour of daylight! We had three more, naturally occurring minutes of daylight only because the days are getting longer in our location on the globe. Think about it, set the clock ahead one hour and you gain an hour? How? If that actually worked, we would constantly be setting our clocks ahead to gain more time to do the things we never have time for. In reality, I didn't get as much done today as I should have, I ran out of time sooner. For example, even though it was only seven o'clock and I had another hour before we settled in to watch our television show together, the change made it eight o'clock so I lost that hour. In fact, I've lost an hour all day! I actually got up earlier today, but thanks to the time change it was still an hour later. I went to bed at one-thirty, but when I got up, the time had changed so it was now an hour later and I had an hour less sleep. At seven I went out to close up the chicken, but it was now eight; she doesn't acknowledge the time change. Even now, it's my bedtime, by the display on the clock, but by my internal clock, I still have an hour left! It will take me a week or more to adjust, but in truth, I will be off until we return to real-time. I will adjust, but it won't feel right. Why? Because last night I lost an hour and I can not gain it back until October. Maybe I'm weird, but my internal clock cannot be reset. I can adjust to different hours of wake and sleep with some time, but the internal clock continues to tick by at the same time throughout the year; I cannot alter it. I can argue this is normal, however, because animals also cannot reset their clocks. I worked in the dairy industry for a time and the cows need to be milked morning and evening at the same time, changing the clock does not increase production, it would decrease it! The same holds true for poultry and egg production. I say, "It's time for this to end!" You may disagree, but I have known this for years and I argue, I am right in this. Don't believe me, look at the internet information, you will see the same, no argument for Daylight Savings Time but plenty against it. It's clearly shown that we gain nothing, but we lose a lot. For those who say, "Now it's light when I get home from work." I hear you! But, it's now dark when you go to work. And, in another month, it would have been light when you get off from work anyway. If you cant handle the shorter days we have this far north, move south, but leave that damn clock alone! |
| I reckon I better write this now or it's going to turn to five days again. Two days ago, when I wrote in here last, our snow was almost gone, I had most of the ice chipped away and the sidewalks were almost all dry. Even the driveway was drying out nice, but still pretty soft. We had a few places where the snow was piled that hadn't melted completely, and of course, in the thicker trees where the sun doesn't hit, there was still some snow, but the yard was all grass. Yesterday about noon, a storm system moved in. The prediction was for a few inches to a few feet of snow, depending on where the heaviest band of the storm was going to hit. "This is a real downer, man!" I thought as I read the forecast. But, we have had a pretty mild winter and in this part of the country, March is often our most snow month. So, I moved some items inside and put others in the garage before the snow hit. I made sure there was gas for the snow-blower and prepared for the worst, hoping for the best. By noon the snow had started, but it wasn't coming down hard at all. A few times during the afternoon it did get worse, but not for long and by four yesterday afternoon the snow had stopped. There was about an inch on the sidewalks that I shoveled off, and there was a light cover of snow on the driveway and yard, but most of it had melted as soon as it landed. "Not too shabby." I thought as I relaxed on the deck with a smoke. By six it was snowing again, but like before, hardly any was building up. With it cooler now, however, it was sticking around and things were getting white. By seven, when I had gone out to smoke after dinner, there was about an inch where I had shoveled earlier, and maybe a couple of inches total. I didn't foresee getting much more since the storm was forecast to be out of the area by midnight. With the sun out today and temperatures at least ten degrees above freezing, both my wife and I thought the snow would be gone again by the end of the day. However, when I went out at nine, it was snowing hard, there was at least another two inches of the stuff, and the wind was blowing it sideways. I looked at the weather app on my phone and it had not changed, so I looked at the radar and there it was, the system was rotating right above us instead of moving along its way. When I got up this morning there was at least six inches of the wet, heavy, and unwanted stuff to shovel. Everything is under a blanket of snow again, and it's looking like I'm back to ground zero for water and ice build-up on the sidewalks. I went out around nine and cleared the worst of it from between the house and the garage, then cleared the sidewalks and the patio. It's melting, but not as fast as I'd like. I don't mind snow, it's part of the winter season, but by this time of the year, I'm always glad to see it go. The part I really don't like is the season of wet, muddy thawing between winter and spring. |
| How does it happen? I just don't get it, there has to be some kind of time loop or something... I wrote in here on March forth, yet I thought I had only missed a couple of days? Let's see where the days went, shall we? Friday I was pretty busy working out in the garage and in the yard. We have a terrible ice build-up and with the warm temperatures, the snow and ice are melting fast. That's great, except we live on a hill and most of the melt-off is running down the sidewalk where it refreezes at night and makes a treacherous walk in the forenoons. Friday I chipped a trench so that most of the water would flow to on point and not all over the sidewalks. I also had to do some cleaning in the garage and organize things and discovered that the water was also seeping into the garage under the overhead door. This froze and when I hit the opener, it bent the support that attaches the chain to the door. So, I trenched a bit in the frozen gravel so most of the water could drain away from the garage door. Then I pulled the support off and tried to straighten it. Of course, it wouldn't ever be perfect again, but it did straighten pretty well. I also fabricated a bit of a brace to put inside of the brace to help keep it from bending again. Finally, I sprayed some oil, cooking oil to be precise, on the rubber seal of the door so if it did get wet and freeze, it likely wouldn't freeze down tight. By this time, it was getting late and I called it a day. I made dinner, relaxed, and was planning on logging in here later in the evening. But, I was tired and sore from all the chipping and shoveling ice chunks, so I ended up going to bed and left my blog for Saturday. Saturday we headed over to my mother-in-law's for the day and helped her out with some stuff. We had planned to be home by late afternoon, but we had a late start, and then she insisted we stay for dinner. My sister-in-law was also there and also wanted us to stay. In fact, she tried her best to convince us to stay the night. But, we had things to get done and had to be home. Even so, we didn't get home until almost ten and I was again tired and ready for bed. Sunday was spent getting more work done outside, busting up some ice, and trying to get more water away from the sidewalks. We also did a bit of shopping, made a nice dinner, and then just relaxed for the evening. I was still pretty sore from all the ice chipping and working out in the mud and slop, so I ended up tired and ready for bed about the time I should have been logging in here. Yesterday I moved some furniture and shampooed half the living room so we could put down the area rug my mother-in-law gave us. She had purchased it for her living room, but once it was down it was too small and didn't go with her decore very well. So, she had purchased a bigger one and had no use for the other one. She needed to get rid of it and insisted we take it home and enjoy it. It's nice, fits in the side of the room we have the desk and goes well with our miss-matched style. But, before putting it down, I wanted to get the carpet cleaned. But, it will take two of us to move the bigger furniture so I settled on doing this half since I could manage moving everything on this side by myself. After, I put fans on and set about getting it dried. Meanwhile, I worked on getting rid of some more ice and putting my ice fishing stuff away for the season. I didn't have any way of drying my pop-up fish shelter, but with the patio cleared and dry, I was able to set it up for a few hours in the sunshine while I waited for the carpet to dry. While that dried out, I took my wife's new bike out of the garage and set about putting the lights, mirror, and speedometer on it. By the time I finished, the girls were home from school and it was getting on to be time to start dinner. But, the house was a disaster with everything moved, so I had to put the area rug down and move things back to get the kitchen empty. Then dinner, after which, I put the pop-up shelter away, put the bike back in the garage, and then came in and relaxed for a while in front of the television. I fell asleep in my chair... Now, it's been a pretty easy day so far, but I'm not chancing it, I'll write this now just in case I can't stay awake later. |
| It was another beautiful Minnesota day, sunny, light breeze, and warm temperatures; this time of year anything over thirty is nice, but we must have hit forty this afternoon. I spent the morning working in the house rearranging a few things and doing a tad of spring cleaning. Then it was a light lunch and outside for a while. We still have some snow that's melting and a lot of ice built up around the buildings. I cleared the rest of the snow away from the house, which should cut back a little on the ice we keep getting over the sidewalks, but until the ice that built up over the winter melts, we are going to have slippery walks. If I had known how much ice was going to build up, I would have kept the snow cleared back from the house more, but even then, most of it is from snow melting on the roof, running onto the ground, and then freezing. I did chip away a bit more of the ice, but most of it's too thick to bust loose. So, I ended up chipping a trench to channel some of the water to one area of the sidewalk instead of it melting and coating the majority of it. It should help a lot, but there's still quite a build-up on each side of the sidewalk between the house and garage that's going to continue to melt onto the walk. Hopefully, if the warm weather holds, most of it should melt off this weekend. If the sun was a bit higher, it would speed up the melting a lot, but unfortunately, it's on the north side of the house and pretty shaded. Tomorrow is supposed to be a bit warmer yet, so I'd like to work on a project out in the garage. Anything but more shoveling snow and ice, and especially chipping it away. I can't believe how stiff and sore my arms are from working at this most of the week. I'm definitely out of shape! That's another activity I want to start now that the weather is nicer, going for an afternoon walk. I need to take off a few (quite a few, plus a few more) pounds, and walking sounds like a good start. I've already cut back on how much I eat, but I'm not seeing much for results since I haven't been doing anything much for exercise. But, that's another topic for another day. |
| Barely made it in here today, only a half-hour left. I had another busy day. It was super nice again, almost forty degrees out. The snow is melting fast and it's making a mess with all the ice build-up we had this winter. We would get some warmer weather and things would melt, but then it would turn cold and create a lot of ice. The end result is a lot of ice-damns so no place for the run-off to drain and with the ground still frozen, it pools up, refreezes, and backs up even more. So, with the thawing temperatures, I've been shoveling back some of the snow and chipping away at the ice. I'm talking six to eight inches of ice build-up in places, especially where the house and garage roofs drain. I saw yesterday that we had water backing up into the garage, and of course, it's cold enough at night to refreeze, which freezes the overhead door down In the process of it trying to open, the opener has bent a couple of the supports on the door, so today I set about straightening them and trying to reinforce them a bit. I managed to get them pretty straight and hopefully reinforced enough to hold, but if not, I'll have to go pick up some angled steel and reinforce them more. Once that was done, the next logical task was to try and get some of the ice and snow back from the doorway. I managed to get about four feet cleared out, but the melting is still draining towards the garage. I also trenched a bit so that the majority of the water drained into the yard, but the ground is frozen too hard to trench it properly. It's good for now, but it's looking like I have a few projects to work on besides the current list. Now, just waiting for the ground to unthaw so I can get started. I also have to replace some deck boards, but that will wait for warmer weather still. |
| I planned on writing in here last night after everyone went to bed, but I was too tired and went to bed, too. So, here I am getting this written while everyone is gone and I have some time to myself. I finally got out ice fishing over the weekend. It's kind of ironic, our fishing season ends at the end of February and I managed to fish the last two days. Now, I need to get a new license to go back out. It's also ironic that I had to put off going out because of frigid temperatures and arctic windchill and can't go out now because it's too warm. Well, I could go out, but I would have to pull all my gear and that would be difficult with the snow melting and the ice being slick and wet; too slick and wet to drive out there I doubt I could get back off the lake because the approach is a pretty steep incline. This is one of the times when I could really use four-wheel drive. Of course, even better would be a four-wheeler, but that's not going to happen anytime soon. Did I catch any fish? No! In fact, the first day out, Saturday, I drove out to a likely spot, set up, and got ready to fish. That's when I realized I had forgotten to get my tackle box out of the garage. I had everything else ready to go and loaded in the pickup on Friday but had taken my tackle box out to put a few things in. And, then I left it sitting there on the counter. Luckily, I had one hook in this knot-tying gadget I had bought and attached to one of my fishing poles, so I at least was able to fish. Even though I had forgotten tackle and didn't catch anything, I enjoyed myself and was out for about three and a half hours. I didn't head out until after my wife and two girls had left for the weekend, so it was after one in the afternoon when I got going. It was a cold day, only in the teens and pretty windy, but I got the pop-up fish shelter put up without any problems and once inside, was comfortable. By two-thirty, it was getting colder and I started up my portable heater and fished, with one hook, in just my Writing.Com hoodie I purchased in January. Sunday I went out earlier since nobody was home and the family wouldn't get back until about four. It was another cold day, barely in the teens, and even windier. I had a little more trouble getting the fish shelter set up, it wanted to blow across the ice, but I was prepared and had an anchor ready to secure it once I had the sides popped up. I put in a couple more, securing three sides so the wind couldn't blow underneath, and set up for some afternoon fishing. I was pretty cold when I got inside, but once the door was zipped shut, it warmed up nice from the sunshine without starting the heater. I fished and relaxed, enjoying the afternoon, but around one-thirty again, the sun was too low to keep the shelter warm and I had to start the heater for a bit. I fished, drank some coffee, and enjoyed myself. I finally decided I should head in around four-thirty. I took my time putting things away, but once I stepped out of the shelter, I froze my caboose. The wind had picked up and the temperature had dropped even more. But it didn't take long to put things in the truck, only about five minutes to take the shelter down and stow it, and then I was in a nice warm truck, which I had started as soon as I came out of the shelter. I'm hoping to get out some more, but not sure when. Today and most of the week is going to be very warm, getting up to fifty tomorrow. I do have cleats and a sled I can use to pull everything out, but it's going to be a sloppy mess on the ice. Hopefully, we get some cooler weather so I can get out a few more times yet this winter. |
| And again it's been five days! How is that possible, I only skipped a couple? And so it goes, I take a couple of days off from writing in my blog and it multiplies to five. I just don't get it... But that's beside the point. I've been busy, I finished up most of the projects going on in the house with my last entry, but still had a few things to do in the garage. I had planned on leaving them for another day and getting out ice fishing, but things don't always go as planned. In fact, it's been my observation that things tend to go any which way but as planned, especially over the last year. So, what exactly did happen that I missed five days instead of just a few? I really don't know, honest. I just got busy and before you know it, five days are gone. It all started Wednesday when I had to take my wife to work, then pick her up and take her to some medical tests. I tend, as you can see, to stay up pretty late so I can have my time here without interruptions and distractions. So, Tuesday even though I tried to get to bed a bit earlier, ended up a late night for me. I tried to go to bed early, but I couldn't sleep because I got used to being up late. But I still was up early Wednesday to see the girls off to school and to get my wife to work. Then, since I couldn't go out fishing without risking being super late to pick my wife up, I decided to get a start on the garage. I mean, how long can it take to clean out and organize a garage? See, our neighbor, a very nice fellow, gave me a base cabinet and countertop to put in the garage for storage and a workbench. But, I needed to clean and reorganize the garage to make a spot to put it. I had it all planned out in my head, I just needed to move things around a bit after I cleaned it up. But, as I said, things don't seem to go as planned very often. So, I cleaned and moved things a bit and then measured the area that the cabinet was going to go into. It didn't fit. I had to move a few more things, which of course meant I had to clean them off and out as well. But, that didn't work as well as I had planned, either. So, in desperation to get things to at least make room for the cabinet before I had to stop and go get my wife, I had to pull everything out of the back of the garage and start all over with my planning. By the time I had everything moved, it was time to stop, wash up, and then take my wife to her tests. The garage was a disaster, but I had everything moved to bring the cabinet in. The problem was, first of all, I didn't have enough room to bring anything into the garage. The second, it was starting to snow and the car was sitting outside. Now, a little snow isn't going to hurt the car any, but my wife had to go to work in the morning, which meant she would have to go out earlier to clean the snow from the car. Sure, she could do that, but I didn't want my project to make more work for her, so I needed to get things figured out. I did this planning while she was getting her test done. After we got home, I spent a little time with her then headed to the garage to get things set so I could bring the cabinet in. The only way was to move some of the stuff outside and open up a corridor to bring the cabinet in. I moved the car back some and moved items from the garage outside and soon enough had enough room to bring the cabinet in. Next, I swept up the area where the cabinet would sit and then started the pickup so I could go get it. By now, it was getting late, getting dark, and getting on to be dinner time. I drove over to the neighbors and guess what? Yep, he was gone; no way to get the cabinet now. So I drove back home, parked the pickup, and set about hauling things back in. While I was hauling, I made sure I left the room to bring the car in for the night, so I had to put a lot of the stuff in the area where the cabinet was going to go. Yeah, you see where I'm going, don't you? I did get things back in, I had room for the car and parked that, then came in just in time to eat a late dinner. I was beaten, I was tired, and of course, working in the garage, I was dirty. But, after dinner, both girls needed to take showers and or baths for school, so I had to wait to get my shower in. By the time the water heated back up, everyone was in bed and as soon as I was done, I went to bed and collapsed into a deep slumber. The next day I woke up so stiff and sore, I could barely drink my coffee. But after everyone had left for school and work, I got busy measuring and figuring out a new plan. Then, I saw the neighbor come home and was just about to go over and talk to him and get the cabinet when my phone rang. I had to run to town to pick up prescriptions. I wasn't going to miss the neighbor again, so I jumped in the pickup and went to get the cabinet. Of course, the neighbor likes to talk and visit, so it took a bit before I left. Not that I mind, I enjoy visiting with him and he always has a good conversation. But, after a bit, I told him I had to get to the pharmacy and left with the cabinet in the truck. After I got back home, I unloaded the cabinet and got it set into place. Now I could measure and figure things out for sure to know where everything would fit. Of course, it took a while to figure it all out and by the time I had a new plan, the girls were home from school. I finished up my planning and figuring and came inside to spend a bit of time with them. After visiting with the girls it was time to start dinner, which got done right about the time my wife got home. I had thought about just leaving the car outside since the garage was once again a disaster, but guess what? Yeah, it started snowing again right after the freezing sleet. I enjoyed dinner with my family, but they went back out to finish up in the garage so I could get the car inside for the night. Everything fit as planned, but it still took a while to move everything, so it ended up another late night. But, I had the job done! Well, most of it; I still have a few things to do, but not until it gets warmer out and we can move a few things outdoors. For now, however, the garage is done. The car came back in and I could finally go out fishing. But, I was exhausted from too much work and too little sleep, so I took a day off just to putz around the house and rest up. Besides, my back was very tight as well as my whole body being sore from doing so much. Yesterday I finally got out on the ice and fished for a while. Again, things did not go according to plan, but that's a tale for another day... |
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