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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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| Yes, sometimes the best way to go is one day at a time. To look at more can be overwhelming, frustrating, and even depressing. Covid has made it difficult in so many ways and it's nice to look for a light at the end of the tunnel, but I find it's better to watch each step and push on through these trying times. In fact, it seems like even when a light shines in the distance, it's more likely a false sense of security than actual hope. I know there is a light at the end and we will come out of this, but it won't be the same world we knew when we entered a year ago. Some of the changes will be good, others will be bad, and there will be a lot of adjusting to all the changes. Right now, we are under quarantine after my wife was exposed to Covid by her thoughtless brother. She and our two girls were all exposed at the same time, but only my wife got Covid. Of course, after she tested positive she was told how long she had to stay home and was finally able to return to work today. I know I wasn't exposed at the same time as she was, since I was at home that weekend, but, the girls were with her and they are still under quarantine until February 8, as am I. How that works makes no sense to me and that's the darkest part of the tunnel, not understanding the system. It's like so many things going on during this pandemic. I read the news and it changes daily, hell sometimes two or three times a day. Also, we have our professionals that can't seem to agree on anything, including what they said the day before. Now I read that it may be good to wear two masks at that same time. Sure, if I suffocate and die, I'm sure I won't catch Covid. Of course, I'm sure they would find a way to link it or at least say it was due to Covid. What's next, they tell us to put plastic bags over our heads and zip-tie them around the neck to keep the virus out? Why doesn't the state issue us all hazmat suits to wear outside of the house? No, if a person reads much of the news and applies any common sense, they have to figure out that we are all getting a big pile of bull from so many of them. It's not news, it's what story to tell that will strike fear and confusion into the people. The sad part is, most of the people are buying it. They seriously don't want to know the truth, they just want something to stimulate them. Then, there are those who feed upon the crazy times we live in and they use it as an excuse to give rise to riots, even though most of them don't really don't care what they are rioting for. I think back some years ago when there was a big demonstration going o over a pipe-line. One of the guys that worked for me came in and asked if I thought it was a real offer he had gotten in the mail. He had a letter, no name but an east-coast address, that offered him $60.00 a day to hold a sign and demonstrate against the pipe-line. His question was, how would I even answer them, it has to be a gag or something. A couple of days went by and he hadn't given it much thought until he received a phone call from someone who was offering him the same deal and transportation to and from the demonstration. He was still sure it was a scam, and being a young man who had worked as a youth with the local police, decided to address this to one of the investigators. They also thought it may be a scam, but it wasn't asking for any money, and there was't anything to indicate otherwise. He was told if they contacted him again, to go for the deal and they would watch and see what transpired. They did call back, he agreed to demonstrate for them, and the next day he met a couple of other people who had also signed up to demonstrate. One of them gave him a check for 120.00 bucks for two days of demonstrating and they rode off to the site. They shared a room at a cheap motel at night, they provided food, and when he finished the two days, they gave him transportation back. They even had the signs made up for him 120.00 bucks plus room and board to hold a sign and make it look like a big mob of people were against the pipeline. In that two days, he talked to over a dozen people who had also been hired to do the same. He never did find out who, as far as organizations, was paying for all this, but it was enlightening to learn that half of what we see for protests and demonstrations is more of our broken political system. It leaves me wondering how much we are being blinded and are we, like lambs to the slaughter, following blindly? Even for us who put thought into our lives and use common sense, there is so little truth to hold to and so much we are blind to. How can we know what is truth and what is being fed to us as truth? How long can we stumble along in the dark, waiting for the light at the end, before we give up home and grasp at anything they offer us? |
| Interestingly this is today's blog entry, even though yesterday's was posted today. Part of the problem is my time is earlier than site time. The other half of the problem is, I don't usually get in here to write until around midnight my time. Tonight, however, the girls are already in bed and I'm enjoying a bit of peace and quiet over an hour earlier than most nights. Of course, I'm not complaining, and it will be nice having my entry done and getting myself to bed before the early morning hours' especially since I have to be up earlier tomorrow. In fact, I could get used to this very easily and quickly, but hey, let's not jinx this. I had a kind of slow day again, still suffering from dry sinuses and pretty sure an infection. I don't do well with dust, but had a pretty good dose of it a few days back that started my sinus issues. At the same time, the weather turned colder and much dryer, which also irritates my sinuses. Combined together and I was suffering a lot of sinus problems just from that combination. Now, with my sinuses already irritated and dry, I likely have an infection as well. I know this because I go through this every winter. My head, at least, is doing better. Not a lot, but I'll take anything. I didn't have the headaches through the day like I have since I smacked it. Also, I don't have the sensation of wobbling back and forth like I did the last two days. I'm still a bit dizzy and my his still showing a lot of bruising, but even this is less than the last two days. I also think some of the stuff is a result of sinus pressure as well as the head injury. I actually got to the shelving project I had started when I hit my head and finished it up this afternoon. Of course, nothing works according to plan, but it went pretty well with only a few minor adjustments to the original plan. I did drop one of the brackets and ended up having to pull the washer out to retrieve it. That would have been no big problem but the way they are set up, the dryer has to come out to move the washer. They are in a closet area along with the boiler unit, so it's a tight squeeze for everything. In the process of pulling the dryer out, the lint hose broke, so we had to fix that. Luckily, when we purchased the washer and dryer, we picked up all-new attaching hoses and lines but didn't need to replace the lint hose. I still had the new one in the garage and was able to get it replaced and everything back into place with little problems. Now, tomorrow, I should start on the next project, but my wife returns to work so it will be me and the girls home all day. That makes it difficult for me to do much. If I get involved with anything, they seem to need me for everything, so I try and not get too deeply involved, however, if I don't get involved and reserve my time for them, they don't need me for anything. It's crazy, that's for sure. I'm also thinking that I should try and get myself out for some ice fishing, the season is going by quickly and I haven't even used any of the stuff I purchased. That means, I need to help the girls through the day and get something started for supper, then when my wife gets home, maybe load up my stuff and go out for a few hours. |
| We had a change of plans today; actually, a couple of changes. The first, at the last minute, was my younger daughter's plan to stay at a friend's overnight. It was set up earlier this week, originally for Friday and Saturday. But, because my wife had tested positive for Covid, we talked to the friend's mom and let her know how everything was going, that my wife was done with the quarintine starting today, and let her decide from there. After all, we don't want to get anyone sick, and we firmly believe everyone has their choice to make. The friend's mom decided to stay on the safe side and changed the sleepover until tonight. Today, however, she was still concerned about exposure, so she cancelled out. Of course, we understand and support her, but for our daughter, it's still difficult to deal with. She did better than we expected, but we still decided to make it up to her by spoiling her a bit. She got to pick out some chips and pop, some candy, and rent any movie she wanted. She also got to stay up late, and just went to bed a few minutes ago, reading for a bit before she falls asleep. We had decided to let the older girl stay overnight at a friends house as well since it would provide my wife and I some time alone, something we have not had in months. That sleepover did work out, but it didn't help us any with the younger girl stuck at home with us. We didn't make any plans except to just stay home and enjoy the day and night alone, but still, it was a bummer for us, too. I was trying to remember the last time my wife and I had a night without the girls, but I can't remember the last time. We had also planned on cleaning out the laundry center and putting up more shelves, but I just wasn't feeling up to it today. I am doing better than yesterday, but not feeling like doing anything strenuous yet. I still get a bit dizzy from time to time, I'm a bit sensitive to bright light, and my head is still very sore. I have quite a bruise at the point of impact, and I'm still having pretty bad headaches. I really whacked it hard, and it's likely going to take a few days to get back to normal. |
| We made today an easier day, lounging around some and then taking measurements and looking at options for shelves above the washer and dryer. We need to create a lot of storage space, and that's one area that is really wasted. This afternoon we looked online at some options to get some more ideas and then drove into town to make our purchases. Of course, what was supposed to be easy became more challenging when once again what was available online and what was actually in the store didn't match. On a side note, I really don't understand how so many stores can be off so much on inventory. Of course, I looked for an item a few days ago they were supposed to have but didn't have any on the shelf. I asked and was told if the shelf is empty, they are all gone. I then left but decided to get the next best thing to finish my project and the same person who told me if there are none on the shelf, they're all gone had a cart full of the item I had asked about. Anyway, we had to change our design because the shelving we had first thought of getting wasn't there. However, the item we had originally wanted, but they didn't have, was there. Well, at least enough for the two full shelves. For the bottom shelf, we need to stay within 8 to 10 inches, with 8 being the desired width. But, we also need a shelf 4 feet long and the 8-inch shelving was only 2 foot. So, again we had to adjust the design and go with a 10-inch shelf for the bottom. Finally, we have a 15-inch shelf above the laundry but it's fixed in place and we are going with adjustable shelving, so we needed brackets for that one. But, they didn't have any; that's why we ended up going with two 12-inch shelves instead of 2 more 15-inch shelves. They also didn't have another 12-inch shelf to replace it, so we have to put that shelf on top and fix it in place, then put adjustable shelves under it. I know, it's sounding very confusing, and that's when my headache started, trying to figure it all out in my head while at the store. The only other option was to go to a different town, and see if we could find everything there. However, having been to the different stores in even the bigger towns, I find the same situation everywhere. Inventory and what they have in stock do not match. I discussed it with my wife and we decided together that we would very likely face a similar situation where ever we go, so let's just redesign it and make it work. I didn't do any more with it after making the changes and purchasing everything; I hope. I was going to gather up the tools I need, make some more measurements, and put all the changes into place to make sure it's going to work, but unfortunately, when I went to put the shelving in the car, I hit my head. It's a lift-up hatch and with the cold, it didn't go all the way up. Me, with a baseball cap on, didn't see that it hadn't gone fully open and as I stepped and bent forward, I ran my forehead into the edge of the gate, very hard. I thought for a moment I was going to go all the way down, but I managed to lean into the car and support myself as the world became very waving and unstable. I really couldn't see anything, just darkness swirling for about thirty seconds, then my vision returned, but not very stable, I had a hell of a time trying to focus. I also managed to jamb my neck up real bad, so it's painful to turn to my head as well as lift it up or down more than a little bit. My ears are still ringing, and I still feel a bit unstable. It took a while for my vision to stabilize, but that seems to be normal again. I'm hoping everything will be back to normal in the morning, well, except for the tennis ball-sized bruise on my forehead, that will be there for a while. As for my mental state, I told the girls that I knocked myself goofy. They said I was already goofy before I hit my head. I had to agree so I changed it and told them I had hit my head so hard I probably knocked the goofy right out and I'd be normal now. They both gave me the look and told me not to even joke about anything like that. |
| A cold day, good for working inside. Yesterday was nice, above freezing, sunny, and just a bit windy. But, the mercury dropped through the day into the lower twenties by early morning, and barely into the teens by noon. Steadily if fell, and now it's at 0 and still falling. The winds were stronger today, but have decreased this evening. By morning we will be sitting about -8 and we will not see more than single digits for a high. I wish I would have gotten more of the outside stuff done yesterday, but it didn't pan out that way. But, I did get most of what I needed to get done before it got too cold. We had to move our table to storage as well as a few containers of Christmas decorations, empty the recyclables, and do a bit of shopping. By the time I finished the recyclables, the delivery truck was just leaving after dropping off the table and chairs we had ordered online. The directions for the chairs were simple enough, but they should have labeled the hardware to match the directions. Even so, it wasn't bad to figure out and soon we had all the chairs put together and started on the table. The table was much easier, with just 8 screws to attach the 4 legs and it was finished. The quality was actually better than I had thought it would be; the chairs are comfortable and sturdy. The table is also nice and sturdy and it's the perfect size for our small dining area. I especially like the butterfly leaf built-in. Just unhook the two halves of the table, spread it apart, flip out the leaf and it's big enough for company. Then, unhook and spread, fold the leaf back into the table and it's compact again. Of course, once we finished, I had a lot of cardboard and packaging to take over to the recycle bin again. I just couldn't, after hauling and sorting in the cold, stand to pile it up and have it sitting around until we need to haul cans and plastic again. By this time, the temperature had dropped to single digits so it was a bit cold getting rid of the cardboard. With the truck already warmed up, it only made sense to run to the store and pick up a few things for dinner, so that was the final project outside. I picked up a few things we needed and the ingredients I needed for a big pot of vegetable beef soup. Like usually, by the time I had most of it in the pot, I needed more room to add the rest, so we actually ended up with a pot and a half of soup. That will have to be the next item on the list of things to get, a big soup kettle. Two days of being very busy and I'm shot. I have aches and pains from lifting and doing things I'm not used to, but otherwise feeling pretty good. I do have some sinus pressure and am a bit stuffed up, but not sure if it's a cold or just the dust from deep cleaning yesterday combined with the very frigid, very dry, arctic air that has moved in. I'm hopeful that tomorrow I will feel better. |
| Yesterday was rough, I felt like road-kill. But, as I mentioned in yesterday's post, my doctor informed, unofficially of course, that if I suspected I had contracted a stomach virus or bacteria, I could possibly stop it with a few shots of a good strong beverage. The idea is, if it's still in the stomach and hasn't gotten a firm start, the alcohol in a shot or two could kill it off. So, yesterday I seemed to have symptoms of catching a stomach bug. Last night, before retiring for the night, I poured a few ounces of brandy in a glass and sipped on it while I wrote in my blog. I refilled and repeated this a couple more times, not chugging it down, but sipping it slowly and enjoying it. After, I went to bed, went right to sleep, and slept sound until early this morning. I woke up in need of a drink of water and a trip to the bathroom, but I wasn't feeling bloated any more. I was still half asleep, so I couldn't tell you if I felt a lot better, but I didn't feel as miserable as I did when I went to bed. I returned to bed and went right back to sleep, waking up later this morning feeling fine. I had some coffee but didn't eat anything most of the day, for fear that if I ate, unsure if the food would settle alright or start the problems again. But by dinner time, I was starving and ate a healthy portion with no ill effects. In fact, I had a pretty full day since I was feeling better and managed to get quite a bit accomplished. I got a good start on a few projects that are kind of related, but now I need to create more storage to complete them. If all goes well, that's tomorrow's plan, to put shelves up in the laundry center. So, tomorrow, I need to haul the recyclables, then go pick up materials to build the shelves. Since the temperature is supposed to drop through the night and the day, it's a good time to do some work in the house. Once I get that part done, I need to do some organizing and work in the garage, so I'm hoping the cold snap is short and we get more mild temperatures for working out there. So, it seems, we have a plan. Now, if things just work out so we can stick to the plan... |
| So... What should I write about tonight? The subjects are endless, but finding one is tough. It doesn't help to be in quarantine, which you know all about if you read some of my previous posts. Thanks again, Ass-hole. Sorry, I'm still trying to get over the fact that he knowingly showed up when he was sick and exposed us all. But, let's not pick at that scab. No, I'm not calling him a scab, I was referring to the sensitive feelings I harbor about being exposed and the problems it has caused us with my wife testing positive the day after we discovered he had tested positive. No, a scab is too good to describe him, I would be more inclined to say that shortly after his birth they performed a circumcision and mistakenly, threw the baby away... So, my wife is still under the weather but doing a little better each day. Now, she's mostly just stuffed up and weak. She hasn't had a fever in five days. The girls are still doing well with no symptoms showing and I'm feeling like crap. I don't know what I have, but it's miserable. I've had similar a few times in my life, once after eating at a Chinese buffet and having to go to the hospital with food poisoning. The other times it was from using deli meat after the sell-by date and from a fruit cup that wasn't sealed; I have learned to check packaging and dates from this. I was going to say that this time, everyone ate the same foods, but that's not true. Last night, while writing here, I was kind of hungry. So, I looked in the fridge and seen some Colby-Jack cheese that was getting old. It wasn't moldy, but after a couple of bites, the taste was just off so I tossed it. I'm wondering now if the peppers could have been bad? Anyway, it's had me feeling pretty rough all day, and I'm already getting a step ahead on this. The last time I ate something that made me sick, I talked to my doctor about it. Since it was after the fact, there wasn't much that could be done, but she had me take an over the counter acid-blocker. She said that most stomach infections require a high acid environment to live in, so by reducing the acid, the bug dies off. She also stated, off the record, that most cases of stomach bugs cannot survive in alcohol. Her advice, off the record, is if it's caught early, like in the first day is to do a few shots and drown the bastard in alcohol. So, here's to you, doc-   |
| Now I know how Charlie Brown felt when he'd get a stomach ache. Only, it's my head that hurts and I still don't have this figured out. Yesterday we were looking at the girls returning to school this week but now that's changed. The school nurse called today to get an update on how things are going with our positive Covid results; my wife tested positive. She is in quarantine for ten days from the time of her testing positive. So, she is able to return to work, at the school, on Monday the twenty-fifth. The girls, who were exposed at the same time, didn't get sick so so we were told at the clinic that they would also be in quarantine for ten days from the day of exposure if no symptoms arise, therefore able to return to school this week. Now, we learn that they have to quarantine until Feb. eighth before they can go back. Yes, my wife can return to work at the school next Monday, but the girls can't attend until Feb. eighth because they did not get sick. Of course, if they had gotten sick they would need to be tested before they could return, and then it would be ten days after they tested positive. But, the nurse warned, if they test negative, they have to wait ten days and then test again. If the second test is positive, it's ten days of quarantine, but if the second test is negative, they still have to quarantine for ten more days. That's twenty days out if they test negative compared to ten days out if they test positive. What? In other words, if we take them in to be tested tomorrow, a positive will mean they have to stay home until Jan. twenty-ninth, so they would return to school on February first. But, if they test negative, they have to retest on Jan. twenty-ninth or after. If they test negative again, they still have to wait ten days before they can return to school, so February eighth. So, do we have them tested? If it's a positive, they can return to school by the first, but if it's negative, they can't return until the eighth. If we don't have them tested, it's still the eighth. This is all because they reside in the same house as someone who tested positive who can return to work at the school in a week? The girls are crushed, I'm at my wit's end, I seriously do not think I can do this anymore. Between the girls, distance learning, and a sick wife, I'm burned out. What makes it even worse, is they all come to me for answers I cannot give and since they cannot go anyplace to take out their anger, frustration, and stress, I get that, too. Then, it all switches and there are the tears and crying, the need for support and understanding, and again, they all come to me. What they don't understand is I'm in the same pile of crap trying to keep my head above the surface as well as holding them all up, too. The sad part is, I can't even tell them more than, "It's just as hard for me." For one, they don't understand how difficult it is for anyone other than themselves and what they are missing out on. Secondly, even if I could show them that it's even harder for me and could get them to understand, they would lose the only anchor they have through all of this. Meanwhile, here I am, trying to keep on keeping on, with nothing left to keep on with. The saddest part o it all, I can't even have a breakdown, there's no place to go because of the pandemic and my wife testing positive. Even if I lost it and called the "Help me I'm going psycho hotline, they would tell me to wait until February eighth before I come... |
| A new week begins and things are looking pretty good. I've written a few entries about us being exposed to Covid and my wife getting sick and testing positive. She's doing better, but not recovered; she explained that it was much like having the flu the first few days, but now it's just leaving her tired and feeling like a head cold. She's been free of fever for four days now and starting to have a little more energy. Her quarantine date is January nine-teenth and it's looking good. The girls and I are all doing well. The oldest had a tickle in her throat yesterday after spending the day at her friends for a birthday party; they know about our Covid but have all had it and wanted her to attend anyway. I was hoping it wasn't her getting sick, but today she was fine again. They have wood heat and it's very dry in their house, probably why her throat was tickling. The youngest has been stuffy, but that's been the case since early fall. She seems to suffer from allergies and now the dry air with this last cold snap has her stuffed up some, but no other symptoms. Well, she did have one, she couldn't taste very well last night. But, today I found out she had been snacking on those really hot Cheetos right before she ate, and I'm guessing that had her taste buds numbed. I am also stuffed up but have been off and on since fall. One of the causes is cats, my daughter's friend was around a bunch of them and I'm alergic. Also, like the younger girl, I have allergies and am sensitive to dry air. I haven't any other symptoms except for being a bit more tired over the last few days. But, I have been having trouble sleeping off and on, and I have been staying up quite late. Even so, I may be fighting this damn bug off, we all are. School reopens on Tuesday, and the girls are eager to be back. But, we still need to get it set up for them to return with ur exposure. My wife has done good to stay clear of us since she has gotten sick, we are practicing all the safety protocols and keeping everything disinfected. Since the girls and my wife had the same date of exposure, they have already completed the quarantine period. But, since my wife got sick a couple of days after the exposure, the girls may have to quarantine until Friday with her. We won't know until we talk to the school nurse again. The last we heard was if they have been free of symptoms and fever and have maintained a safe distance, they may be able to return on Tuesday if my wife hasn't had a fever in at least five days. As for me, I'm doing the things I usually do, just with a lot more work at home caring for a sick wife and cabin-fevered girls. I found a base cabinet to use in the garage at my neighbors and talked to him a bit on Friday. He came over and we talked a bit outside. I informed him of our Covid and we maintained a safe distance, but I haven't gone over to get the cabinet like I was supposed to on Saturday. I know he will come out and help load it, and since we are still quarantined, I don't want to put him at risk, even though he is alright with things; he, like me, figures it's going to hit us all sooner or later and isn't worried about coming in contact, but is respectful of others not to expose them. I'm thinking of stopping over tomorrow if my wife feels up to helping me lift the cabinet into the pick-up. But, then I have to rearrange a bunch of stuff in the garage to put it in. Since I've been kind of tired lately, I'm not sure if I want to start the project tomorrow or not. I could leave the cabinet in the pick-up I suppose, but then if I decide to go out and try my hand at ice fishings, I won't have room in the truck for my gear. Decisions-decisions... I guess, for now, I'll just sleep on it~ bnb |
| Here's an update on our quarantine status. My wife, who tested positive after being exposed by her brother who should have stayed home because he was sick, tested positive for Covid. Now, she is, with the rest of us in the household, quarantined until the 23. Up till today, she was the only person in our home who had gotten sick. Today, however, our youngest daughter of 13 complained about not being able to taste some foods, is very stuffed up, and could be running a low-grade-fever; I'll check her with the thermometer through the day tomorrow. Our older daughter, who was at a birthday party for the day, came home and complained her throat is scratchy. I will add here, that the family of the girl who was having a birthday party was notified that we have been exposed to Covid and have one person already sick and confirmed with Covid. They have recently had Covid spread through their household, been quarantined, and are now over it, so they wanted our daughter to attend anyway. So far, I'm the only one who isn't showing any signs. We will monitor the girls tomorrow and take them in for testing on Monday if they show any continuing signs. If they test positive, we restart our quarantine and go from there. The sad part is, they have been home since Thanksgiving break and school is finally opening up again this week. They are both very eager to be back in class instead of distance learning, they are missing so many friends, and I'm about ready to bang my head against the wall trying to help them with school, activities, and preventing them from going stir-crazy. Now, here's the part that really pets my Peeves, my wife, and the girls went to my mother-in-law's because she is elderly and very lonesome. No one has been going over to visit her, due to the increase in Covid. She would have been alone for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years' if it was up to the rest of her family. The only other family member with a viable excuse was my wife's younger sister, she had to stay home because she was self quarantining as a result of possible Covid exposure. After two weeks and no one getting sick in her family, she finally decided it was safe to visit, so she also was there for the weekend. My mother-in-law called her son and told him that my wife, our daughters, and my younger sister-in-law had come to visit for the weekend. He then decided that, even though he was very sick, should make a surprise visit; how could he not show up his two younger sisters? Or, maybe his intent, since he was sick and his wife was sick, was to make someone else sick as well. He strikes me as the type who would do just that. No matter, he ended up in the emergency room two days later with Covid. Don't worry, he was treated and released and is recovering at home. I know, I've vented on this the last few nights, but it really gets my Peeve and pets my goat. I know, that doesn't make any sense, that's because you didn't read my earlier post about Peeves and Goats, titled The Original Peeves Was a Goat! posted on January 6th. I think if you scroll to that entry, which is not very long, it will all make sense. Okay, I'm done now... unless I get sick, then I'll need more venting! |
| Yesterday I wrote about a possible Covid exposure but we couldn't get any concrete facts. My wife and daughters had gone to my mothers-in-law's to visit her. My wife's younger sister was also there to visit. On Sunday, shortly before they got ready to leave, my wife's brother stopped by even though he was sick. Wednesday, my wife came home from work not feeling well. She was feeling even worse on Thursday, so she called in and then set up to get a Covid test done. In the meantime, we heard that my wife's brother had gotten sicker and his wife had tested positive. Today my wife's brother ended up in the emergency room with Covid, and my wife's test results confirm she is infected. That's her brother, sick or not, he isn't going to take any precautions and could care less if he spreads his illness to anyone else. He refuses to wear a mask, he visits people he knows are sick, and he doesn't take the Covid pandemic seriously. Now he has exposed our family, my sister-in-law's family, and his elderly mother to Covid. So far just my wife has gotten ill with some flu-like symptoms, but she is out of work until she completes quarantine. The girls and I are doing fine so far, but with the school just about to open, they are stressed because they may not be able to attend until we all go through quarantine. It sounds like my mother-in-law is also feeling ill now, and with her being over eighty and having heart surgery this past summer, she's at high risk for Covid anyway. Hopefully, she doesn't get sick, but it's not looking very good. We are trying to find a way to get her in for testing, and hopefully, if she tests positive they can start her on something. I haven't heard of anyone getting sick at my sister-in-law's, but we haven't talked to her for a couple of days now. She is also at high risk. Why? Because one buffoon won't take things seriously and has no respect for anyone except himself. I just hope the cost of his stupidity isn't very high. The sad part is, no matter what the cost to anyone else, he will not learn from it. |
| Once again we got by pretty good for a winter storm, of course, it's not over until about noon tomorrow. However, the worst has passed us by and we didn't get much snow at all, less than an inch I would guess. It was warm enough to start as light rain, so it did get everything a bit icy before the glazing of snow settled on top of it. I took my daughter to a friend's house this morning to work on some schoolwork together and it was starting to mist out, by this afternoon when I picked her up, the roads were icy and slick. The worst we got was the high winds, but even they weren't as severe as predicted. Well, not for us here. The temperature did drop some, but not as cold as predicted, and now it's not looking like it's going to get nearly as cold as previously forecast. My wife ended up calling in sick today and we are once again wondering if it may be Covid. We never did get a straight answer to our question of her and the girls being exposed over the last weekend at my mother-in-law's house. She is over eighty and has recently had heart surgery, so we are really hoping the person in question wasn't infected over the weekend. She wasn't feeling well but claimed it was a cold and that she had been tested and was negative. But then she changed it to testing positive. Now, we aren't sure if it was her who was tested or if she was exposed to someone else. Every time we try to find out, the story is different. That's the problem with some people, they don't take any of this serious. I make my own choices about masks and what precautions I will use, but I don't make choices for others by going around anyone if I even suspect I may have been exposed. I figure it's alright to take risks with my own health, that's my choice, but I will not make choices for anyone else. As for the friend my daughter went to visit, they have been in contact several times since the weekend and the possible exposure. Even so, we contacted his parents and explained everything, they also figure if there was an exposer, it's already taken place, no sense in separating them now. However, with the school about to start back up this next week, we do need to have my wife tested to make sure we don't send the two girls to school and expose numerous students and staff if there is an infection. She called to set up an appointment today, but they never returned her call, so tomorrow morning we have to set up a test and then wait for an answer. If she does test positive, the girls will be devastated! they managed to get through the shutdown, but they have been talking and getting more excited about going back to school for the last two weeks. It will crush them to have to stay home and quarantine. Again, all because one person refuses to take any of this seriously. He thinks it's all just blown out of proportion and does not take any precautions for himself and does not respect anyone else's right to be protected from him. All we can do now is get tested, hope for the best, and wait for our chance to get vaccinated. lkj |
| I have my truck highway-legal again! My wife stopped by the local DMV and they were actually open again and took her without an appointment. She showed them the letter we received from the state that said we still needed to pay ten dollars to get the tabs for the truck showed them the canceled check and they took care of the rest. They informed her that a lot of people had the same problems with it taking three or more months to get anything back. So, she came home from work with two, pretty, red, and current stickers for me to put on the plates. The downside, we are under a severe weather warning until Friday afternoon and our warm weather is coming to an end with dropping temperatures starting, well about now. There is no prediction for snow amounts except that it could be as little as an inch or as high as a foot or more. We may see some freezing rain yet tonight, but it depends on how soon the precipitation and the colder air arrive. In other words, the National Weather Service gave the best forecast I have heard in a long time, there are a couple of fronts moving through and we don't have any idea what the weather's going to do beyond strong winds and colder temperatures. That means my counter project for the garage is kind of held up unless I can get some heat going in there. I do have a torpedo heater that would warm it right up, but I had let my brother use it and it ended up stored for a few years with fuel in it. It could be jelled and all gummed up. I suppose it's as good a time as any to bring it out of storage and see if it fires or not. I will run a cord outside and try it outdoors just in case it tries to fire and blows out a lot of sooty smoke instead. If the wind isn't too bad, I may be able to get out on the ice for a while, but since I'm walking out, if we get much for snow and the temperature drops too much, with high winds, I'm staying inside. The Clam shelter I have is pretty good for warming up and staying warm and I have anchors to hold it in place in strong winds, but I don't feel like working that hard to drag everything out through the snow and cold, set up in the miserable weather, then relax and enjoy a few hours inside the shelter only to have to go through it all again to get back. If the ice was thick enough to drive on, maybe, but walking... I'm in no shape! Of course, we have been getting very lucky with the snowstorms and maybe it will hold. If the forecast temperatures are accurate and the torpedo heater works, I may get my work done while the wind blows and once it lets up, go out fishing for a day. Again, it all depends on outcomes and time. Sunday is spoken for, my mother-in-law needs her meds set up for the following week, and the woman who usually comes over to do this got sick this week and has tested positive for Covid-19. However, my mother-in-law may have gotten things messed up, she may have not gotten sick but has come into contact with someone who has and may have been exposed to Covid. We will find out more by this weekend. Don't worry, if I suspect that I may have been exposed, I can maintain my six feet or more. I have a wireless keyboard and mouse and the monitor is big enough I can sit six or more feet back if I have too. Ya, I know, it's time to go to bed, I'm just getting silly now. |
| It took a bit of doing but I figured out how I want to install the countertop in the garage. I want it to be strong, but also not too difficult to take down and move if needed. I had thought about putting some base cabinets under the countertop, but they are much too expensive to use in the garage and I couldn't find anything used within driving distance. So, I took measurements today and set about designing a bench to mount the countertop on. Actually, I took measurements twice, since the first time the paper I had them scribbled on got used for scratch paper and discarded. The countertop is in two sections and measures over nine feet. It's not real heavy, but a solid frame for it would be pretty heavy and awkward to move. So, I am building it in two sections that can easily be separated and moved, if or when needed. I am also setting the height for a comfortable position for standing or sitting on a stool. Finally, and this I still have to figure in, is the legs all need to be different lengths because the floor of the garage is tapered toward the center. Hopefully, I can get the lumber to start building pretty soon. I may not be able to do much until the girls are back in school, but that's not the main hold-up. The tabs for the pick-up are expired and the new ones haven't arrived yet. We sent for them since the covid thing has everything shut down or messed up. That was in September, the tabes expired at the end of November. The check was cashed about a week after we mailed for the tabs, but nothing came. We contacted them and got a lot of run-around, but finally were told they should be in here anytime. That was in December! Today, in the mail, we finally got something back. No, not the tabs, but a notice saying that the wheelage tax had changed and we owe another ten bucks. I am not going to send it in the mail, it will be spring before we get anything back. Instead, I will have to make an appointment and go into the DMV and try and straighten it all out. So, until that mess is done, there won't be any driving the pick-up. That means no way to haul the lumber unless I can fit it into the car. It also means my plans for going out ice fishing are also on hold unless I can fit everything into the car. But, that also means dragging a lot of snow into the car as well. Oh, and since my wife uses the car for work, so it's either drive her to work, do my running, then unloading everything and running back to get her. But hey, I have all my ice fishing gear now, I'm ready to go give my new hobby a try, and I have the plans for the bench frame, I just don't have a vehicle I can drive... |
| Well, I'm trying to get things moved back a bit, I would like to get everyone settled in for bed my ten and sleeping by ten-thirty. If all works well, I should also be ready to go to bed by ten-thirty, or eleven at the latest. That's the plan, and tonight was the first try. It worked fine, but I got involved in a few other light activities around the site, so it's now twenty after eleven and I'm in here blogging. I still should be in bed by midnight, which for me is considered early. I'm trying to change things around a bit and overcome this trapped feeling I've been having for some time. I know that writing about it is a major way of dealing with it for me, as is talking to someone, as I tried to do earlier this evening. However, I'm not sure if talking will do any good, as the person I tried to talk to is also a part of the problem. The two girls we adopted are the other two-thirds; perhaps they are fourths, and life itself makes up the final quarter. I also know it is a lot of just me being who I am. I am an introvert without any doubt, in fact, I need alone time to function as much as I need sleep and healthy food. I have known most of my life that I need alone time. It's the time I need to escape life's problems and refresh and recharge. It's also when my creativity can flow and my mind can release; it's why I'm in here writing at midnight or after so many nights. The problem is I also need my sleep. I could adjust quite easily to being up all night and sleeping during the day, but with two girls at home and a wife, it's not an option. Besides, there are too many things I need to access during the day that aren't open at night. Today was another example of getting frustrated and throwing in the towel. First off, my wife decided this morning to take the day off to work on getting the girls social security cards updated. We have tried since the older girl was adopted early this past spring, but covid shut everything down. I, however, had started a project in the garage that I couldn't get finished because I need to figure a way out to rearrange things so I can install a counter on one wall for storage and workspace. I also have to figure out how to install the counter without spending a lot on base cabinets. I had got a start while my wife and the girls were gone for the weekend. I told her what my plans were last night after they got home. My wife, like the girls, has a difficult time organizing and sticking to a plan. Even when a task is started, they tend to get side-tracked and off on something else, just the opposite of how I work. So this morning, she's home and trying to find out what needs to be done to get the cards switched over. She finally got through to a person, got the paperwork printed off, gathered all the needed documents, and headed off to the nearest Social Security Office to drop everything off in a dropbox. But, when she arrived, the office is closed and there is no dropbox. She texts me about this, so I stopped what I was trying to do and found her a couple of numberes to call. A half-hour later, she again texts to let me know these are the numbers she called from home. Not much I can do about it, so I continue to move stuff around, measure, and try and work on my project. But, I have the girls who need to do distance learning, so I have to come in frequently and keep them on task. This means I stop for a break, come in, and get bombarded with questions that have nothing to do with school. By the time I get them refocused, my mind is reeling and struggling to try to find my last thoughts as I head out to the garage. Then, even as I find where I left off, I get a text. My wife, not knowing what to do, has decided to do some window shopping and wants to know if we need anything since she's in town. Sure, let me drop everything and look through the kitchen to see what we may need. Of course, as soon as I re-enter the house, the girls start in with questions about how much school work they need to do before they can stop. They also have to show me what they did already, what they are working on, and what their friends are doing, the whole time I'm trying to move around them to see what we need to get. Finally, I get another chance to escape to the garage and try and get something done. I measure and contemplate where things can get moved, what has to go, or if I can find a way to make it fit and still leave enough room to move. I get an idea and am doing some measuring and rethinking things, I may be able to make this work... The oldest girl arrives and begins with questions. I asked her if she needed something. Yes, your phone is going off... I left it inside because I was tired of it interrupting, now here it is, with her asking if I'm coming in now, can she be done with school work, and asking questions about everything in the garage. I end up back in the house, talking to my wife over the phone who is wondering if I want a specific bait box for fishing. We had looked at them when out Christmas shopping, but I wasn't sure what the best kind to get was. At last conversation, I told her I didn't need one right away, and I want to look around before I spend that much on a glorified minnow bucket. Now, right in the middle of another project, she forgets I said that and is ready to buy it, thinking I really wanted it. I'm done going to the garage, I'm frustrated and haven't gotten anything done, I've forgotten half the ideas I had gotten, and my head hurts. I decided to look online and see if I can find any cheap base cabinets and just do it the easy way. I found a few, but they weren't very cheap. So, I look online for used cabinets, surely someone must have remodeled and had some to get rid of. But even as I try and read about some, I'm asked to look up this or that for school. The youngest needs help with some math, and my wife is texting me to say she's done and getting ready to come home. My frustration levels are now very high, my head is splitting and I just can't try anymore. I sit and do nothing for a few minutes, but the questions continue to bombard me, now having nothing to do with school, just foolishness. My younger daughter is telling me funny things she seen in tik tok, and I'm ready to go nuclear! I head back to the garage and put most of the stuff back, even though I'll have to move it all again another day; a day that will likely go the same as today. then return to the house, and surrender a beaten man. I gave up and gave in, I would not accomplish anything today, so here I am for your every question and need. Of course, I don't say this out loud to the girls, but I sure feel it. I pour a cup of coffee and sit down, ready for whatever they may need. They both go to their rooms and it's quiet. Shortly after, my wife returned. I know because she stopped close to home and text me that she was getting gas before coming home, then she called when she turned in the driveway to let me know she was home and wanted help to bring things in. After she had to show me everything she had purchased, then once everything had settled down, she asked if I made any progress in the garage... |
| It's a new week and I started it off pretty well. I had plans to work in the garage this weekend, and today was the day, however, sometimes plans just don't work out the way we, well... plan. We need to make more room in the garage and we need more light. I started out with the light project since I dislike working in the dark. However, to be able to string a second light on the ceiling, I needed to move a bunch of stuff out of the way. One of the items is an old wooden table. It's in rough shape, but it's solid -- and heavy. My task involved moving a bunch of little things out of the way to make room to move the big, heavy table out of the way, so everything kind of got shuffled and created an even bigger mess. But, I now had room to install another light fixture and run the wiring over to the existing fixture. This involved working from a ladder and working a lot with my hands higher than my head, something that is rather difficult to do for extended periods of time if one is not used to it, which I'm not. It took a bit longer than I had wanted, but soon enough the garage was bathed in light. Next was installing a countertop that was salvaged from a remodel job. It's intended to replace the much too big, heavy table. Now ideally, this countertop would be installed on a base cabinet to increase storage, but I don't have a base cabinet yet, so I was going to set it up on a couple of plastic 55-gallon barrels I have. But then, the barrels are different heights, so even after digging them out of the snow and bringing them in, I didn't have anything to set the counter on. So, I took them back out. By this time, it was getting on into the late afternoon and I needed to get the garage back into some kind of order. I had already taken the table apart so I could move it, so I took that out to the patio, where it will be reassembled and put to use there. Of course, now without a table and no counter, there wasn't any place to put the chicken. Yes, you read that right, I said chicken, as in cluck, cluck and lays eggs. It's a story of it's own about how we came to have a pet chicken and I think I wrote on that a few blogs back. Now, I have the cage with the chicken on my sawhorses so she's up off the floor again. But, since I don't have anything to put the countertop on, I'll need to build a stand, which will be difficult because the chicken cage is on the sawhorses. Also, a lot of the stuff I moved, including the cage, is now where the countertop needs to go. Yes, I moved everything with good intent on organizing it as I put it away. You could say I ended up almost back where I started! Two differences, however, the table is out and there is more light. Oh, and another difference, I'm tired and sore from moving everything out and back again. Now, one of these first days, I get to move it all again so I can get that countertop put up, then rearrange and organize it all as I had planned on doing today. |
| I got my break and spent the day doing a whole lot of nothing. Well, the break started around 1:00 this afternoon, but it was a quiet morning and then everyone left except Hannah, our dog. I spent some time online, I spent some time reading, I spent some time watching a couple of movies, and now I'm here, writing my blog and then planning on going to bed. I haven't been to bed before one or two in the morning in a long time. I stay up so I can get some quiet time after everyone is sleeping, but here I am tonight in here before eleven o'clock my time. I'm tired and hoping I can fall asleep right away, but not sure since this is very early for me. But, I'm going to try and hopefully get a good night's sleep and be up early to enjoy the day before everyone returns. I had planned on working out in the garage today but then decided against it, knowing that I really need some downtime. Even so, I'm feeling kind of guilty for not getting anything done. I'm also feeling like I had a lot of opportunities to accomplish a lot and wasted them. But, at the same time, I know I needed a good rest and I got that today. So, hopefully, I'll be up early tomorrow, and then we'll see what the day looks like. For now, I'm off to bed; hopefully for a good night's sleep. |
| I made it through the week and now the weekend is upon us. It's been a rough week, but then it's been pretty rough since Thanksgiving. That's when the schools and many others shut down for four weeks. At the end of four weeks, like last spring, it was extended another two, but at least this time it didn't keep getting extended. Monday food and beverage joints get to reopen. The school will reopen on Tuesday the nineteenth so about two months of me being stuck here as a teacher's assistant and activity director. Only, nothing is open so what activities? The plan for the weekend isn't set yet, but tentatively, my wife and the girls are going to great-grandma's tomorrow and returning sometime on Sunday. It's to do some visiting and at the same time, I stay home to get a break from the last two months of trying to deal with two girls suffering from cabin fever, missing friends, and my attempts at teaching and helping with school work. We'll work out the plans tomorrow, but as I've come to anticipate from the last eleven months, there is nothing for sure these days. Now, my question; will this be a nice break? I'm looking forward to some peace and quiet, but it's only going to be about twenty-four hours. Just enough time to get adjusted to some peace and quiet and then it starts right back up. It seems, in my mind, like giving a small taste of a wonderful treat, but then not letting me have more. If the girls were going to school, it would be great, but now I get a very short break, then another week of the same frustrations. And, we still do not know for sure when they get to go back, on the nineteenth or if they wait until the twenty-second. See, they have hybrid learning here, so half the students go Monday and Tuesday, the other half on Thursday and Friday. We started like this, but a couple of weeks in, the kids with IEP's were able to go five days a week. Now, we don't know if they are doing the five days a week for IEP's again or not. I hope so, it works so much better for them with access to assistance at the school. As for my plans for the weekend, I thought about going out ice fishing but not sure if I should since no one will be home if anything happens. I do need to do some work in the garage, so I may plug away on some of that. Then again I may just login here and spend the day. Right now, I'm feeling so burned out, I don't even want to think about making plans. That, and it's been a long time since I could actually plan something and then follow through with it. |
| Not much to say tonight, just too tired. I ended up not sleeping much at all last night; I just couldn't fall asleep. Finally, after four, I did manage to sleep, but it was very uneasy and I woke quite often. I was up at seven-thirty and now I'm just feeling like a zombie. No not Rob, the other kind of zombie. Other than tired, it was a fair day today. I'm starting to burn out, I think, and really need a break, this distance learning is very difficult, and it's no help the school isn't even letting parents know what needs to be done. Also, the girls both have IEP's and need some special assistance with school. they have trained facilitators at the school, but unfortunately, with the school closed since Thanksgiving, they don't get the help they need and I have to fill that role as well as teacher and parent. Add to that the fact that the girls are getting burned out as well. It's also very difficult for them to try and learn with partial lessons delivered online and trying to interact with teachers through e-mail. They also miss the organized structure of school as well as interacting with friends and classmates. Of course, with them getting frustrated and me getting frustrated, it only complicates things more and we all need a break. Hopefully, if things work right, I should have the place to myself Saturday afternoon, night, and Sunday morning. That will help out; it will give me a break from the girls, the girls a break from me, as well as give the girls and my wife some time together. If things work out, I may even get out ice fishing, finally. That was the idea of getting the fishing shelter and gear, a place for me to get a break and relax for a while. But, by the time everything arrived, it was after Christmas; actually, the sled didn't come until New Year's Eve. I did set it up, I have my gear all ready to go, and now just need an opportunity. I would go out for a while now, but with distance learning and the girls IEP issues, I need to be here to help them when they need it, keep them on task, and since they have separation anxieties, if they are home and I'm out relaxing, they will text and call over everything and anything. One more week! Restaurants and stuff reopen on Monday, school opens again on Tuesday, but it's a hybrid model here. Half the students attend on Monday and Tuesday, the other half on Thursday and Friday, with Wednesday being a catch-up day for everyone. Before the school shut down, the girls did go every day as a result of their IEP's, but so far nothing has been stated that they will be starting that right away next week. So, they will attend Thursday and Friday. Hell, since Tuesday is back to the normal school, if you can call it normal, and since they attended five days a week before the break, I may just have them go on Tuesday and let the teachers figure it out. What are they going to do, bring them back home? I know, they will call, text, and e-mail. Sounds like a good time for me to go out fishing and put my phone on silent... The teachers had a nice break while I filled in, now comes my turn~ |
| What a day, and what a way to start a new year! I'm talking about the chaos in Washington that took place today. But, we have seen as much across the country over the last year. I'm not talking about legal assembly and protesting, even though I personally do not believe in it; I do support it as one of our important freedoms and rights. I'm talking about violence and the destruction of freedom that is spreading across our nation like cancer. It seems like that is the answer to any disagreement today, answer with violence. It's this concept that if I believe in something and you don't, I should strike with violence and destruction until I get what I want. Half the time, what is wanted isn't even justified, it's just sore losers and temper tantrums from not getting one's way. When I see people protesting because they believe in something or some change, I respect them even if I don't agree. They are exercising their rights to bring attention and thought to their issues. But, when I see a mass of people destroying property, burning, stealing, and inflicting personal harm and or death, I have one thought; terrorists! What else could you call them, they rise up in riots, they destroy property, and they use fear and violence to try and force us from our way of life. Today I avoided the news, knowing from the past year that things would not go the way they should, but tonight I read through the news only to confirm what I already knew. It doesn't matter if a person supports Trump or not, that is no longer the issue. As the president of our nation, his job should be to protect this nation from all enemies, foreign and domestic, as well as to use his power and position to bring all sides closer together, not drive them further apart. In my opinion, he has shown that the American people and our nation come in second to his own desires. It is also my opinion that he should have been addressing the crowds and asking them to stop and go home and when the rioting started he should have announced his decision to resign as a show that he does not support the rioters. It amazes me and it fills me with concern, for years we, as a nation, have watched as corruption and violence have spread in other countries. We cry in outrage at corrupt elections and we condemn those who fail to accept fair elections. We have even given aid to countries that have held elections and then seen chaos and riots have risen up. Now, we see our own country falling to the same violence and corruption. It seems we no longer need to fear a foreign enemy or terrorism from overseas, we face a much more dangerous enemy... ourselves! We the people, unable to maintain a more perfect union, do hereby use chaos and violence to gain what we want and destroy what our forefathers so bravely fought and died for. Can we stop it? Can we repair the damage already done? Can we come together as a nation and rise up and be great again? Or, do we continue to fight, to riot, and to destroy this nation until it becomes easy pickings for whoever wants to invade our shores with false promises of peace and unity. Perhaps it's time to bring back the Pledge of Allegiance, the original version;  |
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