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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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| Well then! That's the first thing that came to mind, so I wrote it. See, it's a good thing to be logged in here and writing this so early in the day, but I had not intended to log in here and write this. With this site, 750 Words, however, once I log in I have to either write my 750 words to get credit for the day, or I have to return but will have a "break" recorded that shows just how long it took me to write this. Since I like to keep tabs on how long I take to write, as well as my typing speed, I don't want to foul up the log with a "break." I had intended to log into WDC and check out the anthology to see if I can upload my items yet, or if I missed the deadline. But, instead of clicking on WDC's shortcut, I clicked on 750 Words and here I am. So, I guess I will have this done shortly after noon today, and posted in WDC before one this afternoon. Then, I will check out the anthology before I move on to other tasks I want to complete today. I do need to check the van and see how it functions, I may, or may not talk to the mechanic about other possible problems that would cause the issues we are having. It depends on time and what happens when I try the van, as well as when I try the van. If I don't talk to him today, I can talk to him tomorrow, or wait through the weekend and talk to him next week. This has been going on for so long, it really doesn't seem to be pressing, even though it would be so great to have the issues fixed and now that we can run the van without having all these problems all the time. I also want to set up one of the bikes for a stationary bike for the time being. It's quickly becoming nice enough to take the bikes out and enjoy a nice ride, but both Rhonda and I need to get back into riding shape. I'm talking about a bicycle that one pedals, not a motorized cycle. Since we have not ridden for over a year, we need to condition our bodies to the task. One way is to build up some muscle for peddling, the other is to just toughen up our butts. We learned this a few years back when we first started riding. We didn't have bikes that fit us very well, but they served the purpose. We started out with a short ride, but even that was enough to leave us tender and sore. Slowly we built up our butts and could ride further and further. Then, we had an opportunity to purchase a pair of bikes from some friends that fit us much better, and were geared for long tours. We were in a little better shape, from riding the old bikes, and ones we had these, we set right out, like we usual. Only these had different seats, and once again, we suffered from not being conditioned to the current seats. We did purchase better seats, and with time we were able to ride further and further without making our butts hurt, but it took time. Chaffing was still an issue, one we never did totally solve, but the comfort of the seats had been mastered. Now, we have not ridden since the fall of 2012, and it's going to be like starting all over from scratch. Sure, the balance is there, and we still know how the bikes will perform, but the legs will have to be built up before we can ride any distance, and the butts will have to be conditioned to the seats again. Therefore, I will set one of our bikes up as a stationary bike, and we can spend a little time each and every day sitting on the seat and conditioning our butts while we work the pedals and begin to build up our legs again. Then, once we are ready, we can take the bikes out and ride around the neighborhood a little, to further condition our legs and butts, since riding stationary is not the same as riding over uneven ground, bumps, corners, and hills. The setup we have to make a bike stationary is pretty simple to put on and off, so it will be no problem to take the bike out riding or use inside. By riding around the neighborhood, we get to adjust to bumps and corners, as well as working our legs better than on the stationary set up. Once we master this, we can take the bikes a short distance out of town, up and down some hills, and continue to build up for the long rides again. Now, since this entry is now over 750 words long, I can post it in WDC and check out the anthology, then move to the next task at hand. |
| It's about ten here in South Dakota and I should be getting ready for bed, but instead I'm just getting in here to write again. Not that this was a bad day, it was just a full day and I didn't get a chance to get in here and write earlier. I was up early again, for my day off anyway. I had the alarm set for eight thirty, and woke just before it went off. I had a cup of coffee with Rhonda in bed then got up and started some breakfast. After breakfast, we did a Bible study to start our day off right, then took the dogs out for a little while. When we came back in I gave Rhonda a had with the dishes, since we had kind of put them off yesterday, and then we did a little work outside on the asparagus patch. After that, we got ready to go for another walk, since it was such a beautiful day. We walked for about an hour and fifteen minutes, with the dogs. After we got back we sat out for a little bit, then I started dinner while Rhonda did a little housework. When dinner was ready we took a relaxing seat in the living room and enjoyed a movie while we ate, then fed the dogs, did up the dinner dishes, and took the two dogs outside. When we came back in, we took a shower and then enjoyed a drink while we finished watching our movie. Now, we just came back in from taking the dogs out for the last time tonight and I got on here while Rhonda got online for a bit. Another wonderful day coming to an end, and she returns to work tomorrow, but I still have one day left to relax and enjoy myself. I do have some things I need to take care of, and hope to get some of them done tomorrow, the rest on Friday after work. The diet is going great so far, and we have both been logging foods, exercise, and calories all week. Today I reset my profile and entered my current weight. I was a bit surprised when I got on the scale to see I was up to 270 pounds, but then when I logged into Myfitnesspal, I seen my last weight from last fall was at 258, so I only gained back twelve pounds through the fall and winter. Also, I always weigh first thing in the morning, right after I make my first trip to the bathroom, and before I eat or drink anything. Today it was after I had enjoyed three cups of coffee, eaten breakfast, and had two glasses of water. I know that bumped me up some, too, so I figure I maintained all fall and winter with only a ten pound gain. Since I haven't been watching my food intake very much, and have been a lot less active over the winter, I found that to be kind of reassuring. I mean, with only a little effort, I could have maintained without any gain at all, and that's something to look forward to once I have my weight back down where I want it. It's still a beautiful night, only kind of windy out. It had clouded up earlier this evening, and there was a forecast for some rain tonight, but when we went out with the dogs, it was still nice, hazy but the moon and stars were shining through, just windy. From 77 degrees this afternoon and now only down twenty three degrees, which is not a big temperature fluctuation for this time of year. I hope it stays nice all night, as far as the temperature goes, but a little rain would not bother me at all. It's not all that dry out, but it's drying fast on the surface and still frozen down a little ways. some rain would help get rid of the ground frost and clean everything up. But, rain or not, I'm enjoying this nice weather and loving the change from below zero or at the most just a little above, to fifties, sixties, and even seventies. Now, it's about time to check the forecast for tomorrow and then maybe have another drink before turning in. I will let Rhonda decide if we have another, or just turn in, since she has to work tomorrow afternoon. I have my seven hundred and fifty words written for the day, and with it, my journal entry is complete. |
| I'm even later getting in here tonight, but only because of a very full day. Today was day one of my days off this week, and it was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the temperature was warm, and the winds were mild. I woke up at eight thirty, to no alarm and then enjoyed my first cup of coffee in bed. I know if I was up how could I still be in bed. For that matter how did I get up at eight thirty, when the alarm was set for, if I didn't get up to an alarm? First, lets look at the alarm issue. I have an application on my netbook that turns it into a very nice alarm. It's suppose to wake the device from sleep, if it's set right, but since the setting pertains to a tablet, I don't have the capacity to use this function on my netbook. The application does, but the netbook does not have the required settings to make this possible. So, what I do is set the application up for the various times we need to get up. This is the nice part, I can set multiple alarms, so I set one alarm to go off at three in the morning on Monday, Friday, and Saturday, of each week. I have another set to go off at five thirty on Sundays, and yet another set to go off at three in the morning on every other Thursday. These take care of the days I work, and I don't have to fuss with anything for the every other Thursday I have off, or for the Tuesday and Wednesday of each week that I have off. I just make sure the application is set, then switch it over to night mode, which dims it down to a low pitch, and I'm set for the night. However, since my netbook still provides ample screen illumination, even with it turned down very low, it lights up the bedroom quite a bit. It would make a fine night light, only I don't need one. Enough light filters in from the rest of the house to provide just the right amount of light for me to make my way when I wake up, yet it's dark enough not to disturb me. I tend to sleep pretty light, and sounds and light can keep me up, or make my sleep even lighter. I have a difficult time falling asleep as well, if it's too light or too much noise. This means the netbook keeps the room to well lit for me to fall asleep easily. But, if I put it to sleep, the device is not capable of being woke up by the application. Instead, I set the display to turn off after just a few minutes. Problem solved, right? Wrong. For some reason, the monitor will not turn off when the application is running, either. I can switch to another application and it turns right off as set, but not to the alarm application. And, even if the application is running, once it's not in the forefront, it will not trigger the alarm. Weird, I know. I also realize there may be some settings I can tweak to get around some of these, once I better understand the device and the Windows 8 system it came with. It may even work better with the Windows 8.1 upgrade, but my particular device is not supported at this time for the upgrade. I had problems with my device not starting Windows after an upgrade and had to utilize the extended warranty to replace it. Instead, I have found another manner of getting around these issues, and that is to create my own power plan that does not put the computer to sleep at all. Then, with the application running, I switch it over to night mode and when I'm ready to go to sleep, I manually turn the display off with the key designated this function. I have a small piece of tape just above this key, so I can find it by feel in the dark, if needed. With everything set, I turn the display off, but the device is still running. When the time comes, the application sounds the selected alarm waking me from my peaceful slumber. I then reach up and locate the touch pad and with the movement of my finger the display turns itself back on, showing the application screen so that I can turn the alarm off, or snooze, if the function is selected. I don't set a snooze function, but do have a second alarm set so if we desire to snooze we can either use the secondary alarm or set the function. Now, everything is set, and I have a very nice, programable alarm application and don't have to mess with any changes for different days, or days off, etc... When not in use the application runs quietly in the background, and if I do turn the device off, with a swipe of my finger and a slight tap on the screen, it's running again, still set and ready to go. But, the power setting I set up for using with the alarm does not let the computer sleep. The only way to put it to sleep is to push the button or close the lid. The power button puts it into hibernation, and to turn it off, I have to use the on screen control. This makes it almost impossible to mess anything up. But, and here's the only weakness to my set-up. All this is set for the device being plugged in. When the device is on battery, the power plan will let the device go to sleep after an hour, and it will hibernate after two. This is to prevent the battery from being drained too far if I'm running on battery and forget to shut it down. This is why the alarm, which was set to go off and wake me this morning at eight thirty, didn't go off. I wanted to get up and get a full day in, but I forgot to plug the compute in when I put it in the bedroom. I checked the weather, then set the application up, from where it was running in it's background mode. I don't quite understand how it all works, but with Windows 8 the application can be open, but once it's not in the front, it kind of hibernates so that it doesn't draw power and resources. Sure it does require a minimum amount to keep it running in the background, but it's not active and does not require much. So, I bring it to the front, knowing this must be done to ensure it will go off at the required time, then I turn the display off, and go to sleep. This morning I woke at eight thirty to no alarm, which was fine. But, I wondered why the alarm application had failed. That's when I realized the compute was turned off. It had been used on battery for quite a while the day before, and then I had forgot to plug it in that night to charge it and to make sure the alarm would work. It had gone to sleep but must have run out of battery power before it hibernated, and shut down as a result. Tonight it will be different, and tomorrow the alarm will sound. But, if I don't finish this entry and get to bed, it may not do much good. |
| Getting in here a little later tonight, it's just a little after ten. I should have done this earlier but I was shot so I took a nap instead. Then, it was time for Rhonda to get home, and we spent a wonderful evening together sipping brandy and listening to our favorite songs. Now, it's time to get this entry written and then it's off to bed so we can get up early tomorrow and make the most of our two days off together. It was another nice day, but a little cooler than yesterday and the wind picked up a bit this afternoon. Still, pretty nice; a beautiful spring day. We are suppose to get a little rain tonight with a slight chance of some snow, but not anything much, and I doubt it will even stay as it lands since the ground is beginning to warm now. I think if it did snow it would melt as fast as it hit the ground, but still, another sign that winter just does not want to release us from his frosty grip. But, hang on as he might, it's now a losing battle. The sun has risen too high in the sky and brings too much heat for old man winter to keep his icy grip on us. With each new day the sun drives him further away as spring slips in to fill the vacancy. By Wednesday they are saying we should see seventy degrees. Not that the warm sun kills old man winter, he just retreats further and further towards the poles, waiting and watching for the time when the sun retreats so he can move back in and once again grasp us in his icy fingers and breath his frosty breath over the land. But, for now, he has retreated far to the north and is moving further northward with each new day. Tomorrow we will have sun and warmth, Wednesday even more, with showers moving in by nightfall. Rain will wash the last traces of winter form the land, drive the frost from the ground and bring blooming flowers and green grass back. Spring is my favorite season, the end of the long cold winter, the renewal of life and the hope and warmth that it carries after the long, bleak and emptiness of winter. Of course, living most of my life in northern Minnesota, winter was just that, long, cold, and empty. Even so, we enjoyed the snow, spending long hours outside building snow forts, sliding and sledding, skiing and just looking at the beauty of the frost and the icicles. It wasn't my favorite season, but I didn't mind it, except for the extreme cold we would get. But even then it was time to stay inside around a blazing fire in the fireplace, enjoying family and sipping hot chocolate while plying games. Now, I work a great deal of my day outside. I'm a security guard and even though our little shack is heated, it's not anything comfortable, and going in and out all day means I don't want it real warm inside. The time spent outside is cold, since it's difficult to do much with too many clothes on. The wind here in South Dakota seems to never stop, and the last winter was one of the coldest on record. Not anything like being a kid playing in the snow and then going in when I would get cold. Now it's not fun and I wait longingly for spring. Not that I don't enjoy winter at all, I like to get out and enjoy the snow and the beauty of the white landscape, I like to go ice fishing and just spending time outdoors, but it has to be warm enough to do these things, and the last few years have been too cold for much of anything. When the temperature barely reaches into the teens with a ten mile per hour wind or higher blowing, it's difficult to spend any time outside without suffering frostbite. Then, having to work out in it takes more away from wanting to go out and spend any more time in it than one has to. And, I should add, these were the more temperate days, we had more days that did not reach the teens, and often dropped below zero, with winds gusting into the fifties and even sixties most of the last four to five months. That said, I'm ready for spring, and longing to get out camping, hiking, fishing and just enjoying a quiet fire on the patio again. I want to be able to go outside without having three layers of clothing on, and then still having to watch for frostbite. I want to drive with the windows down, not with a weeks supply of food and extra warm and dry clothing in the vehicle. I want to bask in the sun and feel the heat on my face, not wrap my face in a scarf to keep the skin from freezing and flaking off my cheeks, and I want to wade out in the lake and feel the cool water engulf my body, not walk out on the lake, frozen solid with three feet of ice, and have to huddle in a shelter to fish through a six inch hole. I hope we can have a nice spring, an even better summer and then a long warm fall, and then, a mild, short winter. |
| What a beautiful day! It hit sixty degrees, lots of sunshine, and very little wind. Tomorrow is suppose to be a little cooler, a little windier, and some rain, but still, pretty nice compared to the weather we have been getting since November. The rain will clean things up, so I don't mind at all, and it's a nice change from freezing rain, sleet, and snow. That's what we have been getting since the beginning of March. Also, a little wind is nice to dry things up now that the snow is all but gone. The rain will help bring the frost out, and that will dry up a lot of mud, too. Then, Tuesday back to some very nice weather again. Well, if the weather forecast is correct, it hasn't been very accurate at all lately. I think they have dice they roll and call out what ever weather is face up! I worked today, as is normal for Sundays, but we also started providing double coverage today. That required some adjustments to the schedule, but I still start at the same times, but will stay later if needed. Normally Sunday is a short day, and I get done at noon, but now I have Rhonda coming in at eleven, and if it's busy I stay on until it slows. Next Saturday also has double coverage, then it switches to Sunday, Monday, Friday, and Saturday from that point on until some time in the fall, usually Labor day. We split up the hours some, but I took most of them, so I will work eleven to five on Sunday, my regular shift on Monday and let Chris pick up some extra hours, then Friday I pull a twelve hour shift, Saturday I pull eleven hours. Of course, that won't kick in full force until mid May or later. For now, it's on a, "As needed," basis, so I may have to juggle things around a bit on the schedule depending on what is required. On the opposite side of these long shifts is the bonus for all the extra. I get more hours per week, and I get three days off each week. Unless of course, I have to fill in for someone. After last summer, I'm planning on really enjoying any time off, and three days should provide me ample time to get caught up on a lot of reading, reviewing, and writing. I also want to get out and do some touring on the bikes and some camping. My wife and I started riding bicycles a few years back, and were for a while doing about ten miles or more daily, or almost daily. We did make a few longer trips, the farthest was about fifty miles, maybe just a little more. Last year we didn't get a chance to ride at all, or do anything for that matter. We barely had time to keep the grass mowed. It was a terrible year for having any free time, being short handed at work and needing to cover so many shifts. Every time I hired another guard and finished their training, I lost someone else. Some of the new trainees didn't pan out, and some of the old crew just up and quit. Of course, they were all getting pretty close to losing their jobs for lack of doing things right, missing work, and a few other infractions. But, it worked out, instead of having to fire them, they quit and saved me the trouble. I only had to let two of them go one my first day as supervisor, and the other at the start of last summer. He was a pretty good worker, but had a few little things he just couldn't correct. I warned him numerous times, but then in the end, he had a big infraction and had to be removed from the site. We were set up to have six guards from spring until fall, five the rest of the time, but as it worked out, we pulled half the summer with three, the other half with four. Right at the end of the fall season, we finally put on our fifth person and had a full crew up to the first of December. Then we had one person quit, but it wasn't too bad pulling the winter shifts with four, and we put on our fifth around the end of February. Instead of needing six people this summer, we should be able to get by with the five, since everyone is able to pull extra hours if needed. Last year I had two people who had other jobs, so they were very limited when they could work, and one was also very limited how much he would work. He only worked Saturdays and Sundays, and only the first half of each. Of course, the first half of the day is the slowest part, so it wasn't very much work for him, but the person working the afternoon and evening had the busiest time of the day and worked their butts off. He worked another full time job and told me he was a supervisor over their. He could only work the weekends as a result. My wife worked with a person who also worked a second job at the same place and new this guy. She revealed the truth that this person was just another worker, no supervisor at all, and he only worked four days a week, not five. I don't know why he felt he had to be dishonest, but he did. I had already come to realize he wasn't a very honest person anyway, and this kind of indicated that he wasn't cut out for security work, so when he had to quit for health reasons, I wasn't disappointed. I was a bit surprised to find out he wanted to come back to work for us again, however. He was gone for almost a year, never filed any paperwork with me, didn't keep me updated of anything, and then showed up a couple of weeks ago to see if he could have his old position back. He still only wanted to work the weekends, the same shifts, and must have thought I would just cut out someone else's hours so he could have them. He never did come talk to me about it, just left a message a couple times. Well, it's time to finish this entry and relax for a little while before turning in for the night. I have to be up at three again tomorrow morning, but then get three days off. |
| Just made it in time to get in for today. I'm two hours earlier, so it's only ten here. I can't believe I almost forgot to log in. I already started my entry in WdC so I could make sure I get it in before midnight their time. Here it is only ten, well a little after. I was going through songs on the computer and setting up Rhonda's Mp-3 player with her, and done forgot about anything else. I always enjoy listening to all our favorite songs and singing along to them with her. I do find myself quite surprised by the variety of music I have collected. I really can't say I have any one type of music I listen to, there's a little of everything. Other than setting up her music for her, I really didn't accomplish much today other than work. It was a nice day, sunny and warm, but the wind was blowing real hard and made it feel kind of cold. It was way to windy to do anything outside, with gusts up around fifty mile per hour, so I put off working on the truck for another day or two. Maybe even three or four, depends on how things go. I will have Tuesday through Thursday off again next week, and the forecast is for nice weather most of the next week, so I may just wait and work on it then. I got home and had some lunch, then tried to work on my poem some, but just could not get anything to flow. I had come up with an idea last night, but was so tired I couldn't do anything with it. I did get my word processor open and wrote down what I had, but even in that amount of time, I lost my train of thought and didn't get much down at all. Today, when I opened it, I seen just how tired I was. I didn't get much of anything down, and it didn't even make sense. I tried to bring the idea back out, but I just couldn't get it. I ended up just scrapping that idea and trying to work from scratch again. I did finally manage to get a poem written, but it's real short and not quite what I was hoping for. But, at least it's something new I created. I'll have to add it in at the end of my post. I barely got done with the four line poem and found myself nodding off in my chair, so I got up and fixed myself a cup of coffee. Then it was in to my email and then online. Only I just could not keep my eyes open. I nodded off a few times, then got up and fixed another cup of coffee. This helped enough for me to stay awake, but I was much to sleepy to do any creative work, and even the little bit of posting I did was kind of difficult to get down without having a lot of typos and repeats. I don't know why I'm so tired today, I did sleep well last night. I suppose I'm still tired from the night before when I couldn't sleep at all. I maybe got three hours of sleep all night, and not more than ten or fifteen minutes at any one stretch. Last night was better, I got to bed on time and slept well. I had a pretty good day at work, but busy. Then home and a relaxing day here. I'm going to be a little short on sleep tonight since it's getting so late, but I should still get enough rest for the night if I sleep well. I think this adjusting over to getting up early is the biggest problem with my writing, or actually, my inability to write. I'm usually too tired, and when I do have time off, I'm kind of out of sync. That's why it's important for me to stick with this change in sleep patterns, so I can get accustom to the hours I work and not be so tired and out of sync. It seems to be working, but it's taking a long time to break myself from being up half the night. But, I know I can do it. The winter was also a big damper on anything creative. It was just so long and so brutal. We didn't get a lot of snow, but we sure did get a lot of foul weather. We had blizzard and winter storm advisories most every week. Even with out the heavy snow it was bad with the wind. Even a little snow makes a mess with it's drifting to winds forty mph with higher gusts. Then to top off the blowing and drifting, wind chill advisories almost constantly. It seemed like one nice day a week, or at least nicer day, then it was either snow and blow, or sever cold and wind. A lot of the time, it was both. But, now spring has finally arrived and the weather is looking good, so with some good sleep, and sunshine, I should be writing up a storm. "Reading soothes the soul, writing sets it free." |
| Once again I managed to get in here earlier. I want to get this entry out of the way now, and hopefully after I finish I can work on my poem. I've been wanting to create something for the last two weeks, and yesterday I finally got something going. Actually, I've been wanting to get some writing done for a long time, but things just haven't been working out very well. Two weeks ago I set a goal to write something, a story or poem preferably, but anything would do, as long as it was newly created. I didn't get anything written that week, so this week I repeated the goal and again things did not work out very well. I did finally get some writing in yesterday, but not a story or poem. I ended up just going with my thoughts and writing a long entry in my journal. How long, over three thousand words. But, it's not the same is creating something from my imagination, as I had wanted to do. The entry was more factual of my habit of staying up too late and not getting enough sleep. I also wrote how this wastes time for me, and how it makes me less productive. It just comes down to me not getting enough sleep, wasting too much of the mornings, and not being able to write when I'm so tired. Of course I went more into the details of how I came to be a night person, as well. I felt better after writing this long entry, but not as good as I would have felt to see a new short story or poem added to my portfolio. But, since nothing was bubbling up from the deep springs of my imagination, I went with it and at least felt like I had given it a good try. After all, by writing this long entry, I had hopes that just maybe an idea would surface and I would complete the goal I set. But, no ideas, no inspirational ideas, just the same rut I've been stuck in for some time now. Not that I feel discouraged by it, I know it's a rut I gouged out by not getting enough sleep, stress from work, and a lot of other little things. I also know, from past experience, that I can climb up out of the rut just as fast as I fell in it. That was the idea behind my subject yesterday in my journal; my thoughts on how to overcome my sleeping in late on my days off and wasting the mornings, and my not getting to bed early enough on my work days, leaving me so tired I can't write. I didn't really focus on the solutions, but instead looked at how I came to this habit, and why it's so difficult for me to break free from it. My logic is to find a solution to the problem, one needs to understand how the problem was first created, what feeds the problem, and why does it continue to be a problem. Actually, the answer is simple; go to bed early and get up early. The saying my grandmother told me so often, "Early to be, early to rise, makes a man feel healthy, wealthy, and wise." And, it's true, getting to bed at the correct time, getting up early, and getting enough sleep does make a person feel healthy. It also makes a person feel more content, and of course, a person can think much clearer if they have a good night sleep. Of course, my grandmother was born and raised on a farm, farmed most of her life, and had no problem getting up at the break of day. She also stayed up late enough to watch the news and weather, then it was off to bed. I also remember her taking a short nap in the afternoon. She would sit in her rocker and read the paper, then tip her head back and take a short ten or fifteen minute power nap. So, problem solved then. I just get up early, which is easy since I need to be up at three in the morning for work. Then, after I get home, I get my self to bed nice and early, planning on around seven hours of sleep. That seems to be a nice rounded number of hours of sleep for me. I can do well on six, but I do better with seven. Eight is nice, but in the past I have found myself waking up after seven more often than eight, unless I'm ill or just haven't been getting enough sleep. The problem is, however, sleeping. I get up early, as I mentioned, and then I plan on getting to bed early as well. But, it seems more often than not, something comes up and I find myself up later than I intended. Other nights I am off to bed around eight thirty, but then I don't sleep very well, and spend half the night tossing and turning, jumping up and running to the bathroom, or just trying to get back to sleep after every little noise wakes me. I tend to not sleep hard until the early morning hours, and of course, this is the time I now get up for work. Instead of changing my sleep habits, I find myself stuck in the old habit of staying up late, sometimes midnight or later, then up at three or three thirty. I do pretty good up to about noon or so, then I start to get real tired. By this time, I'm home and trying to read or write something, but instead I'm dozing in my recliner. I have tried sitting at the desk, the table, etc... to keep from nodding off, and it does help, but I'm so tired I can't think straight. So, I go and take a short power nap, after all, it worked for grandma. But, I don't nap well. In the past, I had great difficulty taking naps at all, even when sick. But now, with my short sleep cycles, I find I can take a nap. It takes a bit for me to fall asleep, but I do. I don't often sleep very hard, and I wake up to various noises around me. Even so, I can fall right back to sleep. By the time my thirty minute to an hour nap is done and the alarm is going off, I'm finally sleeping sound. So, instead of waking refreshed and ready to go, I only half wake from my deep slumber, groggy and unable to think, except about sleeping just a little bit more. Sometimes another half hour, sometimes I'll sleep for another hour. But, hitting the snooze disrupts my sleep so I don't rest well, and if I don't use an alarm I'll sleep for three or four hours. I'm now rested, but I still can't really focus and concentrate well after all the napping. It takes me a long time to get woke back up, and by the time I finally do, it's the time I should be going to bed. Only now I'm finally awake and just starting to feel like I can get something done. I suppose I could stay up and write, read, review, or what have you, until I again get tired and sleep for another three hours or so before work. I'm sure this would work out fine for me, and I would likely get a lot done. Well, in the past I have done just this, when I was alone and didn't have to schedule around much. But, I'm not alone now, I'm married to the greatest gal this side of the Rockies -- and that works from whatever side one is on, since to me, she's just the greatest. We have a wonderful relationship and are very close. She is very much in tune to me, and supportive of me, but she does not share my sleep habits. She does best to get up early and get to bed early. She can take a short power nap like my grandmother did and jump up and tear right into things. But, when it's bedtime, she's either going to bed, or sleeping where she sits. She just nods right off when she gets tired. If she doesn't get to bed early, she has a terrible time getting up in the morning, but once she does, she's ready to go. This wouldn't be a problem, she could go to bed and I could stay up and write, right? Wrong. She can sleep in the chair next to me when I am on the computer, or watching a movie, no problem, but if she goes to bed and I'm not there beside her, she can't sleep. Strange, I know, but that's how it is. She tries to sleep, but if I'm not there beside her, she barely doses off then wakes up and sooner or later gets up to see if I'm ready to come to bed yet. If not, she sits down in her recliner and dozes in her chair. But, I know she's not sleeping sound, and don't like keeping her up, so it's off to bed, whether I can sleep or not. I even tried taking the laptop in to bed so I could get some more work done, but the clicking of the keys keeps her awake. She just needs to snuggle and then she sleeps fine. So, simple solution, sure. The question is, how to make it work. I know the answer to this, too. I need to get up and not take a nap, then get to bed on time and do my best to sleep. Even if I don't sleep well, I need to repeat this over and over until eventually I will reset my internal clock and start waking up earlier and falling asleep earlier. And, if life doesn't interfere with this plan, this is what I intend to do. How long it will take, I don't know. For a while I know I will not sleep sound, I'll be tired and want to nap, but eventually I will change my habits and start feeling better, getting more done, and find myself back where I used to be -- up early and enjoying the day and early to bed for a good night sleep. |
| I'm getting in here much earlier today, but still not as early as I should have. One day, I will get this handicap overcome and, I know, be more productive. For now, I'll take what I can and enjoy it the best I can. I'm enjoying my last day off this week, I had three. Of course they raced by faster than the neighbors trash carried by the gusting north wind. Seriously, their trash is always blowing over here, and it's often when the wind is gusting and blowing hard. Just as with their trash blowing into my yard, I would like to see the rapid passing of my days off come to an end. But, I know this is very unlikely, in both cases. One I can do something about, but it doesn't seem to do any good, the other is beyond my control, and falls under a form of relativity; enjoyable time will pass rapidly while unpleasant time will drag by slowly. So, if I enjoy my time off, it will pass rapidly, and if I'm miserable it will pass slowly. I chose to enjoy it and must therefor accept it's fast passing. Even so, there are some things I can do to make better use of this rapidly vanishing time. One is to be more organized. This alone would provide me much better use of the time as it passes, and I would accomplish more if the most desired activities and waste less time on undesirable activities. Also, I could get my butt up and out of bed sooner. This would provide more time and more opportunity. As it is now, I get up around three or three thirty for work, except Sundays when I get up around five or five thirty. On my days off, I like to sleep in and often do not get up until ten or later, wasting the entire morning. Of course, I also tend to get to bed late -- all the time. I have a real difficult time going to bed at night, I always have. this results in me getting way to little sleep and running myself down through my work week. Therefore, when I get a day off, I sleep in to catch up. Only, being so run down, I don't just catch up with a full night's rest, I oversleep and end up feeling groggy and out of it for at least the first hour or two. Why then, you wonder. Because I know I'm in serious need of sleep, and I also know if I go too long without getting enough, I'll get sick. So it's a wicked cycle I have created and become addicted by habit to. Even knowing this is not enough to break the cycle. Why? Because I have been doing this for so long, it has become almost as natural as breathing. There was a time when this was not the case. As a boy my brother, little stinker that he was, liked to stay out late, sneak out, and do things in the dark of the night. Me, I didn't want to, I preferred to go to bed when it got dark, sleep the night and be up with the sun. But, being my older brother, I went along even when I didn't really desire to, just to be with my big brother. Peer pressure is a powerful thing. Of course, even if I didn't want to and tried to stay in bed and sleep, he would pressure me and not give in until I agreed. Then, after I had grown older and moved out, it was similar with friends. Only now it was staying out to party and have fun. Not all the time, but often enough. I still did well at getting up early for school, but on weekends, I began to sleep in a bit later. Then, after school, I kind of got my routine back to normal, except on a few occasions when I would go out. I was married, had a child on the way, and had a good job. I worked mostly Monday through Friday, eight to five. I enjoyed the work, enjoyed being able to get up for work without need of an alarm, and even was up at six on the weekends. Well, except once in a while when I had been out drinking late the night before. Even then, however, I was up by eight. Then I enlisted in the service of my country and was soon up at five to the bugle and going through basic training. After basic, it was off to tech school and this was the beginning of my demise. As a new student, we had our classes at night. From midnight to seven I had to study and listen in class, then come back to the dorms and sleep while my roommates went to class. They were just past halfway through and went to class from eight in the morning to three in the afternoon. So, I would get done and back about the time they were leaving, sleep until they returned, then do homework, and hang out with my buddies. Soon, they had graduated and moved on, I was now halfway through and attending class in the mornings. I had moved my young family to the base, was living in an apartment off base, and getting home around four or five after class and drills. My wife of the time was good at sleeping in and staying up pretty late, and our one son had also adjusted to her routine. So, I would get up early, go to the base and they would sleep in. I would get home, eat supper, then spend time with my family until eleven or twelve, then after they went to bed, I would dive into my homework and studies. Next, it was off to a regular base for regular duties. By this time, I had begun to adjust to my late nights and getting few hours of sleep. At first, my duties started early, around seven and if I had continued, perhaps I would have returned to my natural routine of going to bed with the sun and getting up early. But I ended up injured, and on special duty for a year while I healed. Since I couldn't do much, I was not very useful during the day. Instead, they had me assigned to mediocre tasks in the afternoons. I would go in around five, work till midnight, then return home and spend a little time relaxing before going to bed. I would still get up around nine and things worked out pretty well. Once I healed, I had transferred to a new division and since I had more training and experience than a lot of the new personnel, I was assigned to the swing shift. I worked from four in the afternoon, until our duties were complete. I had to be in by three for inspections and drills, then worked until eleven or later. Often we would be done and home by midnight, but there were also plenty of nights it was closer to three or four when I got home. I still got up at nine each morning, unless I had the day off, then I would sleep in till ten. I also had friends now, and we would party and have fun on our days off, often until the early morning hours. I began to reset my internal clock to be up late at night, even all night, and then sleep for three or four hours and do it all over again. Of course, on days off, this meant I was in dire need of sleep and I would sleep in late, often getting up around noon. Exit the service and back to regular jobs most of the time. But, I had reset that clock over the years of service, and even though I was now often up at six or even five, I still had great difficulty in getting to bed before midnight. Like I had mentioned, all my life going to bed was hard, I always wanted to stay up and enjoy life. But when I was younger, everyone else went to bed around dark and there wasn't much to do except my brother of course. He slept in till noon every chance he could, I was up with the sun. The ability was there, it just needed to be brought out and developed. Over the years, there have been jobs that required me to work afternoons and even late into the night, and from the time of my leaving the service, these were always more comfortable than working in the morning. I had no trouble working late, but it was now difficult for me to get up early. Of course, I still continued to be up late most every night, and I continued to go on few hours of sleep, catching up on days off. Then, I landed a good paying job, but it was working twelve hour shifts. It was difficult to adjust to, but I was doing fine, starting at seven in the morning and getting done at seven at night. I still ended up going to bed kind of late and needing to sleep in on my days off, but I was beginning to get a routine going. My previous job had me working days, afternoons, evenings and even nights as needed, so there was no routine or set hours for me. Then, I was placed on nights. I worked seven at night till seven in the morning. I worked with my brother and we got along great, the work was busy enough to make the night pass quickly, and most of the time we got to go home right at seven. But, some days we had meetings and had to stick around until eight or even nine, go home and sleep, then return by seven that night. No problem, I was accustom to doing just this. I would get home, eat a light snack and visit with my wife. I had a new and improved wife now, the kids all grown and things were nice. I would get up around three or four in the afternoon, visit with her for a little bit, then off to work. Of course I seldom got to bed in the mornings until ten or later, and again, I ran on about four or five hours of sleep, catching up on my days off. One week was three days off, the next four, but I would sleep most of the first day away. The problem was, she was used to sleeping at night and worked days or afternoons. So, she would be ready for bed, and I was ready for work. I was just not used to sleeping at night, and would end up staying up until two or three in the morning. Then, I would finally be able to go to bed and sleep, and of course, not get up until noon or so. Eventually I ended up working solo. Not for any other reason than the company really wasn't good to work for and they could not keep workers. Being short on help meant we just did not have anyone to work and often pulled extra days, and worked short handed. On nights this meant we didn't have two people on, just one. I worked opposite my brother now, and with only one person, there was no time for breaks or anything. For twelve hours a night I was on my feet, running and working straight through. There was no breaks, no lunch, and stopping by for a shot of coffee or a quick bite here and there was about it. Of course, our job was set this way, but with two or three people, there was time for one to break while the others worked. Now, that was not possible. It didn't take long for me to be fully burned out and completely exhausted. About this same time I had children living at home again. Grown now, and even more work than when they were younger. They also did not provide any help but just made more work for both my wife and I, and I found myself often woke up sooner than I should have, or not getting to bed when I should. It was difficult enough for me to try and sleep during the day, but with more noise and things going on, it became all but impossible. I went for long stretches with very little sleep, until eventually I became sick. I didn't know what I was sick with, but I was just always sick. I was in for tests and sometimes it seemed like one thing, then another. I also became depressed and started having frequent panic attacks. I eventually came close to having a full breakdown, and instead of going to work one night, I told my wife I needed to go to the hospital. I just could not go to work, I was having a panic attack, I was confused and unable to determine what day it was, and just could not see through a fog that had settled around me. All I wanted to do was run off and hide someplace. She had seen how little sleep I was getting, she knew I was having a difficult time, and she knew I was close to breaking down, so she took me to the hospital, they ran some tests and asked some questions, both of her and of me, but not together. The next thing I know, I'm in the hospital, on the psych ward and working with some doctors and psychiatrists. I was put on some medications to make me sleep, I was getting some rest and I was talking about the things that were driving me insane -- my job. The bottom line was just no sleep, to much to do, to much pressure at home with children and their problems, and I needed a break. I was home in two weeks, things changed with the kids and with work. I could not work nights, by my doctors orders, and I was beginning to get back to my old self. But, kids don't always think about more than self and soon the stress was back. I was taking medication to sleep at night, so I was at least getting enough sleep, but very troubled sleep most of the time. Work was still the biggest problem, since the day shift was much busier than nights, and there were only two of us, compared to four when I started. Add to that the second person was new, and I was training them while trying to do the rest of the job as well. It was starting all over, and I knew it was just a matter of time before it got to be too much. Being on my feet so much was beginning to cause me problems. Part of the job was checking tankers, so it was up and down the ladders on the side of the trucks for twelve hours. Inside the bay there were steps, steep and slippery from liquids, so even then it was still up and down all day. My knees were giving me trouble, my ankles were always sore, and I would wake with terrible cramps even under the medications. Then, the person I was training decided they had enough and told me they were going to quit. I would be working alone again, and I talked to my boss. He said he couldn't do anything right then, because he was taking vacation, but he was sure the company would have someone hired within a few days to a week. Of course, he never did much to help anyway, but any help is better than none. Now, I was looking at none, he would be gone for two weeks, and the new guy would not be in the next day. I was feeling a panic attack coming on, needed to get away, and then my wife came in. She had found out a position was opening where she worked, and I was likely to get the job. Under the panic and stress, I went to talk to my boss again. This time to tell him I was quitting. I had informed him I was going to quit at least two or three times, but he always asked me to wait until he got another person hired and trained. They never lasted that long. So, I told him I was done, went and changed cloths and left. I went in to talk to the person about my new job the next day, but they had called my previous employer and been told that I had not given any notice, just up and quit in the middle of the day. I didn't get the job. Over the next few years I did some odd jobs, and self employed work, but nothing that helped me get back to working during the day and sleeping at night. In fact, if anything, I became more and more set in sleeping in and being up late at night. Then I landed a job as a security guard and found myself again working my old shift at night. I would go in around six and get done around ten thirty, come home and be up until midnight, or later, then sleep in the next morning. My wife was working a changing shift, some mornings, some afternoons, and some evenings. She put in to work the same hours, or as close to them as possible, and I soon became fixed on this routine. Now, she works for me, and I work the morning shift, she the afternoon. We have the evening together, and when things work right, the same days off. But, my morning shift requires me to be up at three in the morning. She gets up with me, but usually goes back to bed since I tend to keep her up until I get to bed. I've been trying to break the old cycle and adjust to my new schedule, but it's been a very difficult task. Currently I'm doing good to be in bed by ten, and get my five hours of sleep. I get home but now, for some reason, I can't function like I used to on the short nights, and find myself in need of a nap. But, old habits die hard, and when bedtime comes, I'm just getting going. I did attempt to stop the naps, but it doesn't make any difference except I'm just more tired the next day. I'm still up too late, and just try and function with less sleep. I'm not throwing the towel in yet, I'll keep trying to adjust to this schedule and learn to get up early and get to bed early. But, with summer closing in, it's going to get more and more difficult to sleep early. If there was just some easy way to reprogram my internal clock, to set it back to where it was in my childhood. I would love to go to bed earlier and be up with the sun on my days off, then adjust it back a few hours for the days I work. I could handle going to bed by eight and up at three. That's seven hours of sleep, more than I usually get and more than enough for me to function on. Just need to learn how to adjust that damn clock -- and people say modern electronics are difficult to set~ |
| Time to get this entry done, unlike yesterday when I almost forgot to even write one. Day two of my three days off and I enjoyed another relaxing day. Tomorrow another winter storm moves in and once again, I wonder... How can we have winter storms if winter is over? Wouldn't it be a spring storm? Just my thoughts, but I tend to rationalize that it must be winter to have a winter storm. It's like having a sale, in the spring on winter clothing, it wouldn't be called April's Winter Sale. No, it would be April's Spring Sale, with winter items clearanced out, or something similar. No mater, it's still a storm that could produce a lot of new snow, cold temperatures, and high winds. It's just all wrong, everyone knows March winds bring April showers and April showers bring May flowers. Not this year, instead we get March winds bring blizzard conditions with ice, snow, and frostbite. April winter storms, term from NOAA not me, bring more snow and ice, and maybe a few snowmen and snow angles. May may or may not bring spring. It didn't last year, we just moved from winter storms to summer storms. Damn weather service just skipped spring, but then they skipped spring a few years in a row now. It all started a few years back. We had a fair summer and fall, but then late fall provided a wonderful Indian summer that lasted well into December. We didn't see snow for Christmas and enjoyed temperatures in the fifties and even sixties in January. It was a very uncommon winter, and we saw very little snow. What snow did fall soon melted off, and more often it was just nice temperate weather until spring. Spring did bring some rain, but not a lot. Things had dried out very well, and a lot of people began to say drought. But, we still got small amounts of rainfall, usually at night and crops did very well. It was just a very temperate year, all the way up to that fall. Then we got the bill for the wonderful weather. Either it was the bill, or it was punitive action for all the people who complained about the wonderful weather, the lack of rain and storms, and the high yield harvest they ended up with. Sure a wonderful year, but around these parts, if there isn't standing water up to your back door, it's too dry, and it's either too hot or too cold, to calm or too windy. I have come to understand that around here, the weather is never good, and people complain and want just the opposite of what they are getting. Well we did. That fall it turned cold, we had snow a week before Halloween, and it didn't go away until late the next spring. Very late, at that. I have pictures of the snow, both falling and what was on the ground. We were running out of room to shovel it, and we had a pile in the back yard from the patio and sidewalk that was at least ten feet tall, maybe twelve. It was not just a small, high pile, it was about fifteen feet across at the base. This was not the only pile of snow, however. We also had a huge bank of snow between the garage and the shed, and another huge bank of snow along side the shed. We also started building a snow fort, from new snow that fell and drifted by the patio. We had snow banked up to the windows all around the house, and had a pile in the front yard that extended from the house to the street. Not only did we get snow at least once a week, but after the snow would end, the wind would blow and we had to shovel the same snow over and over, every day. It would warm up to the teens and the wind would howl as the snow fell, then it blew even harder and the temperature would drop below zero until the next batch of snow would hit. I had to open at work at least once every schedule as a result of the snow storms and guards not being able to make it in, and often I ended up staying for most of the second shift. I was working the closing shift at the time, would drive home in a blizzard after closing at night, get called around three in the morning and have to turn around and drive back in to work in the same blizzard. The spring was more snow and cold, then it turned hot, very hot and very humid. This brought severe thunder storms and heavy rains. If it wasn't raining, it was so hot and humid a person would work up a good sweat just sleeping. Then more wind and storms. We lost trees, branches, and seen a lot of flooding. In fact, we had one road left to get into or out of town here. And, that had water over it, a few inches, but it was beginning to look like we would lose our only way in or out of town. Then, more cold, early snow, and a very cold winter. It hasn't ended yet, and may be like a year ago when we went from sever winter storms to severe summer storms. This whole last year is kind of like a copy of the year before, which was a copy of the year before that. Only, each year it gets worse, and has since that wonderful almost perfect year we had. I'm ready for another wonderful year of nice weather. I didn't complain at all, I enjoyed it. Sure it was hot some days, and it was pretty dry, but not so dry that it caused any problems. I may have been the only person other than my wife who thought we had a perfect year as far as weather, and as a result, look at what we have now. And, everyone is complaining, but that's all they know how to do. No matter what the weather, they are wining for something different. Me? Well, I can't complain about the weather, even though it's been a brutal winter. We survived it just fine, and we are ready for spring if we get one. If not, we will move into summer and hope for nice weather so we can get out and camp, hike, fish, and enjoy the summer. If the weather isn't nice, we will find other ways to enjoy the summer and make the most of what we are given. If nothing else, we can dance in the rain... |
| Tuesday, April 1, even though the date here will say this was posted on the second. It's only 11:24 here in South Dakota and that's no fooling. I know, bad pun; April 1, Fool's Day -- no fooling... Oh forget it then. Seriously, this entry is written on time and posted here, on time. I wrote it in 750 Words, then copied and pasted it here with just over a half an hour to spare. Not a lot of room, but it's enough. I would also like to add, that I did complete the monthly challenge in 750 Words for March, too. Now, here's today's entry: Time slipped and now the day is almost over and I just about didn't make it in here today. I don't know how else to explain it, except that time slipped, and the day is ending way before it should. The whole day has been like this, and every time I've looked at the clock, it's hours later than it suppose to be. Why? I have no idea, it just works that way sometimes. Today was my first day off for the week, and a good day. The weather was terrible yesterday, and we had a blizzard yesterday evening and into the early hours of the morning. But, even though the opening guard could not make it in for work this morning, he called late yesterday afternoon, after waiting to see what the weather would do. Once he was sure he would not be able to get in to work, he called, and instead of taking the whole day off, he just wanted to switch and work in the afternoon. This freed up the afternoon guard to work the morning and he agreed to this. So, for the first time since I've been the supervisor, I had bad weather hit, someone call in, and did not have to cover the shift myself. Then, early this morning the wind calmed and the blizzard ended. Possibly in time for the opening guard to have made it, but then again, the roads would have still been coated in snow over a layer of ice, with some pretty good sized drifts here and there. So, know the roads he has to drive, I kind of doubt it. But, the snow ended yesterday evening, although it was blowing so hard it was difficult to tell exactly when. The wind died early this morning, and we didn't get the foot of snow they said we could have. In fact, we didn't get nearly as much as even the most conservative forecasts predicted. We did get some small drifts, but they will melt soon enough and hopefully we can now have our spring. Spring weather or winter, it was a nice day off. I slept in, then got up and enjoyed some coffee. After, I installed a program I found online that has something similar to widgets, but they are all through open source programming. There are many of these available, much like apps in the Windows app store, or like the widgets where when Windows 7 came out. The only difference is the program needed to run them, Rainmeter. Of course, like some of the other open source and freeware, there is a risk of virus and other malware. But, one site provides only items created by them, and another scans anything submitted for distribution to ensure it's malware free. There was quite a bit to read through and learn to use the program and it's applications, but nothing real difficult. There are some basic programming choices to alter things, as well as options, and I searched for items with the options since I don't know much about any programming. But, the manual was very helpful and even guided me through a few of the areas of light programming. In time, I would like to delve in deeper to the codes and programming, since it's open to change and looks like it would be kind of enjoyable. The only downside was the fact that it took a lot of time to go through the manual and to learn how everything works. I also helped Rhonda a bit, and we did get a nice Bible study in, but other than that, I spent a great deal of the day reading and applying information on Rainmeter. Of course, the fact that I didn't notice how late it was, or how many hours I committed to this means I must have been both very absorbed and enjoying myself. It has been a long time since I have let myself become so absorbed in anything other than some of my tasks for work. And, that is without choice, whereas this was completely by choice, and based fully on my enjoyment of what I was doing. It felt good to get deeply involved in something I was enjoying and not fret over what I should be doing, or trying to rush so I could get on to other things. Even though I knew the day was slipping away, I could enjoy carefree my time and effort in this. I will have to write out my end of month report, and there are some things I need to do for work, but they are kind of on the back burner and enjoyment and relaxing are the higher priority for my three days off this week. I will get the things done I need to do, and I still plan on spending some time writing something. I'm thinking I will commit to a poem, but I'm not totally sure yet. I just know I wanted to create something last week and it did not pan out for me. So, I listed the same goal for this week and plan on succeeding this time around. Short story or poem is the idea, but anything written would suffice, with only one requirement, it has to be new, not something I have already started. Now, since the time is different, it's an hour earlier here in South Dakota, this post will reflect Wednesday's date, but it was written in 750 Words on Tuesday, April 1. Fitting, since this is April Fools Day. |
| Not so late tonight, but still later than I intended. That's alright, though, we can blame it on Obama. I needed to finish enrollment in the very non-republican, anti-freedom health care plan being enforced on the citizens of this country. Not that I mind having health care, I just don't believe the federal government should dictate who has to buy what. Today it's insurance, but it's opening the door to even more government control over the people of the United States. Also, anything the federal government gets involved with turns into a disaster. They should stick with the basics and let each state govern itself. Other than watching another bit of freedom vanish, today has been a pretty good day. Weather is the big item today, with yet another blizzard watch in effect. The forecast has changed constantly over the last few days, and we did not get half of what was predicted. Starting last night around eight or nine we were suppose to start seeing rain. By early this morning it was suppose to be freezing rain, then switch over to just rain again later in the morning. Then, thunderstorms this afternoon with more rain, turning over to snow by late afternoon. Instead of the forecast weather, we had mid thirties this morning, but the wind was blowing pretty hard making it feel colder than it was. Clouds early this morning but they cleared by mid morning and the temperature climbed a bit. The wind settled down for a while and it wasn't too bad of a morning out. By the time I got done work, at eleven, it was starting to cloud up some, the wind had picked up again, and the temperature was holding around forty. It stayed like this through mid afternoon, then around three the temperature began to drop and the wind increased even more. By four it was looking pretty dark and gloomy, the wind was howling out of the north at forty miles per hour gusting into the fifties, and by four thirty, snow began to fall. Now, at seven thirty, the snow is coming fast and the wind is blowing it all over. Visibility is less than a quarter mile, and down to near zero at times, the roads are coated in ice with an inch of snow on top to make it even slicker, and it's drifting over in places. Rhonda left work early and got home just as it was getting bad out. Around six, the guard scheduled to open tomorrow morning called, he won't be able to make it in to work until later. Normally, I would have to go in and open for him, even though I'm scheduled to be off. But, we have a new guard working and he lives right in town. He also is very good at filling in and working with everyone, so I called up the store and had a message given to him to call me when he went on break. He was fine with switching shifts with the other guard, so I do not have to drive in to work in the morning. This is the first time since I have taken over as supervisor that I have not had to drive in for a storm. Quite a few times I would close up at ten thirty and drive home in a blizzard, then get up at three in the morning and drive back in the blizzard, again. Not this time; I get to enjoy my time off and stay home, safe and warm. Like I said, it's been a pretty good day. I have three days off with Rhonda and did not have to forfeit any do to weather, and even though the weather isn't the best, I can sit and relax, listen to the storm, knowing I do not have to drive twenty five miles on snow covered ice, with strong winds trying to blow me off the road, and I don't have to spend my first day off shoveling snow at work, freezing and miserable. Instead I get to snuggle into the blankets and sleep in. Of course, I do appreciate the guards who are working tomorrow and I am really appreciative of the guard who switched out so I don't have to go in tomorrow morning. It's so great to have a wonderful crew finally, and I hope I can show them all my appreciation for their hard work and dedication. I'll have to think of something I can do for them, to show I do notice and appreciate their hard work. |
| Look at this, I'm logged in and writing my journal entry and it's not even evening yet. Normal for me is getting in late, too late, but once in a while I manage to slip in here earlier and today is one of those days. I worked today, but being Sunday, I didn't have to be there until eight. That means I kind of got to sleep in this morning. I also was in bed on time last night, and that's a big change, too. Normal for me is to operate on about four or five hours of sleep, and getting six or seven is a treat. But, I then end up so tired I have to take a nap or risk falling asleep while I sit and type. This being so tired also messes up how much I get done and really puts a damper on being creative. The bottom line is, I don't function well if I'm too tired. I do pretty good for about a half a day, then I'm shot. But, try as I may, I just have a very difficult time getting seven or eight hours of sleep most nights. Then, like I said, I end up napping, but don't sleep sound. This messes me up and I end up staying up later, and the cycle repeats over and over. Of course when I do get a couple of days off, I do sleep in, and that helps. But even as I get caught up on my sleep, I waste a big part of the day. Today is how it's suppose to work. I was in bed on time last night and got about seven hours of sleep. I had a short nap yesterday afternoon, too, so I kind of got caught up on some sleep and compensated for the few nights prior when I was lucky to get three or four hours of sleep. Then, I got up at five thirty this morning, but didn't get out of bed until six. I snuggled and enjoyed waking up slowly and just kind of lounging a bit. Work went fine, it was slower than the last few days, but busy enough to pass the time away. The weather was terrific, a beautiful spring day here, and one of the few nice days we have received since last summer or early fall. It's difficult to say, the weather has been so messed up. I do know we have not had any nice springs for a long time. Winter hangs in and then summer takes over, and we miss the period that should be spring. This years looking like more of the same, but today was an exception. We hit close to sixty degrees this afternoon, had a mild breeze, and lots of sunshine. There is a kind of haze in the sky, but the sun pushed on through and made it a wonderful day to work outdoors. Now, it's beginning to cloud up but it's still warm out. The temperature is suppose to stay pretty nice all night, but then drop tomorrow. We will also see some rain move in tonight, and it may or may not freeze and make a mess of things. The last report I heard was for rain all night, rain tomorrow morning, then snow and ice tomorrow afternoon until late night. If the weather does hit, I may find myself working a long day tomorrow, but hopefully I will get to bed early tonight and be ready for it. Then, if all goes well, I will have three days off to enjoy myself. Rhonda will also be off the same three days, and we will enjoy the time together, but if the weather is bad, I may have to work all day tomorrow and Rhonda may have to work Tuesday morning. All we can do at this point is watch and see what the weather brings in. No matter what, we will see some precipitation and colder temperatures again. But for now, it's still a wonderfully nice day out, I have my entry done, or just about. I'm still working on the monthly challenge for March and have to write a full 750 words each day to make the challenge. I already had some time to spend in WdC and I managed to get my mail cleaned up some, and after I get done here I'm going to work on some cornbread (we always called it Johnny Cake) to go with chili for dinner. I'm trying a gluten free biscuit mix and will add some corn flour to make the corn bread. I'm kind of just guessing as I go, but hopefully it turns out. |
| Sunday night, and it's getting down to the wire. I had a full day; worked this morning, took a nice nap this afternoon, did the next schedule and requested a day off after my nap, made dinner, and got in a Bible study. I also worked out a contingency plan for the next few days, depending on what the weather decides to do. Normally, I would work tomorrow and Monday morning, then have Tuesday and Wednesday off. But, I decided to take Thursday off and have three days off with Rhonda. Of course, things are still kind of slow at work, but picking up, so I thought this was a good time to take a day off. Also, it's spring time here in South Dakota, so the weather is mild and pretty nice. Well, normally the weather would be mild and nice. So far this year we have not seen mild and nice, just a repeat of the same weather patterns we seen all last fall and last winter. We get one or two nice days, but with very strong winds. Then, by the second nice day, things begin to deteriorate and soon the temperature is dropping and foul weather is upon us. We didn't get a large amount of snowfall, but enough to create blizzard conditions, and we have had a lot of them. When it's not a blizzard, it's freezing rain that turns over to snow, and severe winter weather advisories. Even those nice days I mentioned have often had wind chill advisories. Also, the temperature has been way below normal, often in the sub-zero range. Then, here comes spring finally and some much needed relief. Only, there really isn't much relief. Sure the temperatures have warmed a lot, but the wind continues to create very cold wind chills for us. Not frost bite and hypothermia cold, but still very uncomfortable, especially since the humidity is higher now. These are the nice days, like today and tomorrow. We made it into the forties today and actually hit normal March temperatures -- well, for early March. We should be seeing upper fifties during the day now, and lower forties at night. Instead we are lucky to make it into the forties by day, and teens at night. Of course, we still get quite a few days that do not even break thawing, and single digits at night with a few nights dipping below zero yet. But today was sunny and in the lower forties, but with a strong and cold wind that kept it feeling pretty chill. Tonight we are staying around freezing, and tomorrow we will be in the mid to upper fifties finally. Of course, the wind is going to be blowing pretty strong, but still, it will be a nice day. By tomorrow night, however, we will have clouds and even stronger winds moving in, and by midnight we are suppose to start getting rain. The rain will hold overnight and into Monday morning, but by noon the temperature will have dropped enough to start freezing everything and switch us over to freezing rain and sleet. By mid afternoon we will be seeing all snow, with winds in the thirty to forty mile an hour range with gusts as high as fifty miles per hour, possibly higher at times. The snow will continue to fall through the afternoon and evening, tapering off sometime Tuesday morning. Even then, we may see some light snow and lots of cold all day Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. So, starting tomorrow evening we will go into a winter weather advisory and by the early hours of Monday we will be under a blizzard advisory. Unless, something changes and the storm doesn't develop as strong as expected, or if it takes a different route. Anything is possible, and the last batch of winter nasties that moved through pretty well missed us. We seen the rain, the freezing rain, and even some snow. We had icy roads for two days and just enough snow that it needed shoveling, but not nearly as much ice and snow as they had just east of us. I'm talking ten miles east and it was double what we seen. So, there is hope that it does not hit this severe, but for now we just do not know. So, an alternative plan just in case we get a late spring blizzard. I will take Monday morning off, and have Rhonda work for me. That way she will have to drive in while it's raining, work the slowest part of the day so she won't be out in it very much, then come home before it turns over to freezing rain and the roads get too icy. I will work her shift, going in as the weather is just starting to get bad, but before it's freezing ice on everything. Rhonda will be home by the time the worst hits us, I will be at work, and the next person lives close so should be able to get in on time. I will drive home in the heavy snowfall, on icy, snow covered roads, with heavy gusting winds blowing snow. Drifting and near zero visibility is what's expected. Then, Tuesday morning I will go back in if the roads are not cleared yet. The guard who is scheduled to work lives in a remote area and has to take all secondary roads in to work. He will not get out if the snow continues all night until Tuesday morning. I will have a slow and difficult drive, but if the snow lets up and the winds die down, it won't be real bad. I have four wheel drive and should be able to get through the drifts and make it in to work, it's just going to take longer. By the end of my shift, things should be a lot better, and even with light snow falling and some blowing yet, everyone should be able to make it in again. The afternoon guard lives right there in town, so no problems for him, and the evening guard also lives in town. Only Tuesday morning then that may need covered. So much for my three days off, but at least I will still get to enjoy two of them. Of course, the storm may miss us, or we may see it end earlier on Monday afternoon or evening and I won't have to fill in on Tuesday and can enjoy all three of my days off. Right now it's too soon to know, and the way the weather goes here in South Dakota, nothing is for sure until it's happening. |
| Here I thought I was going to get in here this afternoon and get this written, then work on some writing and maybe even submit a couple of items for the anthology. Instead I'm up later than I should be and just getting in here now. Sometimes it just works out that way, and there just isn't anything that can be done about it. Today was one of them times. Even so, I am now running behind on sleep, going to get a short night again tonight, and already my attempt to try and get to bed on time is shot for this week. But, what can I do to change it? I planned things out as best as possible, but other things come up and there goes the plan. One thing that messed me up was the van breaking down. We had it in, thought it was fixed, and then found it still doing the same thing. Back into the shop, repaired again, and now we are back to two vehicles. Less miles, which means less money for gas, and I don't have to spend as much time running back and forth. See, with only one vehicle, Rhonda rides in with me in the morning, then returns home. She works the shift after mine, so she comes in later, and then I get to drive back home. Then, when she gets done, I have to drive back in to pick her up. This not only uses a lot more gas, but it takes up more of both of our time. Also, it's difficult for me to start something when I know I will have to stop to run into town. Even worse, once I go pick her up and drive her back home, it's time to eat dinner. Only we haven't started it yet since we are not going to be home. So once we get back, it's time to start dinner, then eat, and by this time, it's my bed time. Of course, I can't sleep after eating dinner, so we stay up a little while and let the food settle. This of course puts us behind schedule for getting to bed, and getting our activities done. But, with two vehicles, I drive myself in and then drive home after my shift. I don't have to run back in so I can work on my activities, and even start some dinner when Rhonda is about done with work. We had planned on eating leftovers so we don't eat so late, so dinner isn't anything big, not much time needed, and really doesn't mess up the sleep schedule, if it works out the way it's suppose to. Only the van not only acted up again, it got even worse. So, back to one vehicle, and the van is back in the shop. This time, it's change out the item that seems to be causing the problem, and it's not cheap. But if it fixes the van and we have two vehicles again, it's worth it. This morning Rhonda rode in with me, then came home. When she came back in for work, I got to come home. But I did have to stop and pick an item up first. Then, it was time to come home and once I got here I had a light lunch and set about getting ready to write. But, I needed to check my e-mail and send my e-report first. I got the e-report written and sent, then checked my mail and seen I had an answer to a problem at work with another guard. So, I replied to the e-mail, then called the other guard and talked to him. Once that was done, I was free to do what I wanted. I thought about logging in and working on writing a little, but it was already after two, and I had to keep an eye on the clock so I wouldn't be late picking Rhonda. Also, I needed to leave early so I could stop and inquire about the van. So, I logged into a couple of other sites, then got things ready to go and headed out. The van was done, so I left the Jimmy there and drove the van in to get Rhonda. It worked great, and ran better then ever. Soon enough I was pulling into the parking lot and drove around looking for a place to park. The idle slowed and soon enough it was running like crap again. Only, it wasn't quite the same as it was. I shut it off and went in, waited for Rhonda, then we left. Only the van barely kept running. I had to limp it off the road into a parking lot and it seemed like we still didn't have a second vehicle. I got out and looked, but there was nothing. I did unplug the idle speed sensor, and it ran worse. When I plugged it back in, it ran fine. I also noticed a vacuum line that was in very bad shape. So, since I was at Runnings Farm and Fleet, I went in, bout the hose, and replaced it in the parking lot. When I restarted the van, it ran fine and has run good all the way home. It idles fine and seems to be fixed, but we won't know until we drive it a while and see if it still acts up, or if it was a combination of the EGR and the idle sensor. Of course, I may need to replace that, too. Eventually we made it home, but we did need to stop and pick up a few things first. Since this gave us more opportunity to try out the van, it was a good idea, and we soon had our shopping done, and not long after, we were home and fixing dinner. Only, with all the messing around, I barely got home by my bedtime, and now I'm up way past it. Hopefully the van works good tomorrow and I can maybe sneak in a nap. |
| I'm getting in here a little earlier today; actually, it's a lot earlier than most days. Why, because Mother Nature can really be a bitch sometimes. I'd say bipolar from my observations and understanding of the condition. Here we are, almost at the end of March and spring is upon us. Robins are back, as are other song birds, the little furry critters are out of hibernation, calves are being born and winter is finally over. It's been a long, brutal winter for us, too. Not a lot of snow, thankfully, but plenty of arctic cold and strong winds making it feel even colder. But, it's only days away form being April and we all know that April showers bring in the May flowers. We also know that the March winds are suppose to deliver the April showers. Children clad in rubber boots and spring jackets should be out flying kites and playing in the mud and the puddles. But Mother Nature cannot make up her mind. Yesterday, we hit almost sixty degrees outside, and the wind was terrible. Let me phrase it this way, you better have a heavy duty kite and attach light steel cable to it. Oh, and forget about holding it with your hands, use a power winch and make sure any small children are well anchored to the ground so you don't lose them. Windy really doesn't describe it, but here in South Dakota, the term breezy is used. Of course, here in South Dakota, many natives not only use false terms, they actually do things completely ass-backwards. Even though the school system is advanced and they have the same general education as the rest of the nation, they tend to think of themselves as hicks and back-wood. Their macho, we are a special breed, we can do anything, and we do it our way attitude shows up anywhere and everywhere. But, this is another story for another day. I should add, however, that this is not a depiction of all South Dakotans, whether native or not, and there are some very fine people located here. As is the case most places, the good people seem to be unnoticed on the sidelines, while the loud morons are in the spotlights. Anyway, back to the subject at hand. We have been having a brutal winter. We see one nice day, but usually very windy and often snowing, then back into the arctic cold. This last month has repeated this pattern, only the nice days are nicer and the cold is not as severe. Even though we only get one nice day, usually windy, about once a week, the snow has all but vanished, the ice is melting off the lakes, and the ground is beginning to thaw. Robins and other song birds have been weathering the cold for near a month, calves and fawns are being born, and we are seeing temperatures near sixty at times. Then, it starts to rain a little, the temperature drops and we get ice coated, with an inch or two of snow on it. Then, it's below freezing, often near zero for the rest of the week, or into the next. Then another nice day, but windy hits, followed by more rain turn to ice and cover with snow. This is what I meant by bipolar. Yesterday we had sunshine and almost sixty degrees, but extremely windy. But, the sun melts the snow and warms the ground, the wind dries up the mud and water, and spring is near. Today, we seen thirty five degrees this morning, and rain. Great, we need a little rain to clean things up, drive the frost out of the ground, and turn everything green. Only, Mother -- I have bipolar disorder -- Nature does not just give us rain. No, she drops the temperature again and it's soon a nice thick coat of ice on everything. The moisture is still coming, but now it's no longer rain, it's these hard little ice balls that sting like hell when they impact ones face and any other exposed skin. Why? Because Mom's a blowhard, too. Yeah, she has to bring all this in with a nice wind of 30 to 40 miles per hour, gusting into the fifties and possibly even sixty mile an hour range. Also, she has to keep dropping the temperature to ensure the ice coating is not going to melt off for the rest of the day. In fact, she turns the painful little ice balls into great big fluffy snow flakes and decides to dump about a half foot of the stuff on the ice. Because Rhonda does not like to drive under these conditions, I took some time to drive her to work. Visibility was terrible, but it didn't make a lot of difference since going forty miles per hour was pushing it, and many areas we drove thirty or even less. In the twenty five miles we have to travel from our house to work, there were tracks from at least a half dozen vehicles that had gone into the ditches. We seen a couple actually go into the ditch, and seen signs where others had been pulled out. Even so, I was passed by these previously mentioned idiots, tailgated by them, I had some drive out from side roads right in front of me, and I watched from a slow and safe distance as they slid at stoplights and intersections. After I dropped Rhonda off at work, I had to run uptown, and took the side roads as much as possible. I seen vehicles slide right through red lights, run into curbs because they could not steer, and even run into other vehicles because neither one could stop or turn. As I approached the store, I witnessed a car trying to stop to make the same turn I would soon be making. But, since they were tooling along at thirty miles per hour, and driving like it was nice and dry out, they could not break to stop or even slow down. Instead of just driving past and slowing down, turning around and returning, they just tried to make the turn anyway. Bad choice for them, and luckily no other vehicle was coming at them, or parked in the area of the lot they eventually slid into. You see, they turned the wheels, but the car kept going straight. Then, they hit the breaks again, and the vehicle began to spin down the road, slowly crossing over the center line towards the lot they had wanted to pull into. Only they were already past the entrance, and entered the lot in the parking area. Luckily the curb and the concrete parking stops in the parking lot stopped them from spinning, and with two wheels in the lot on one side of these stops, the other two wheels still on the road up against the curb, they came to a full stop. Unfortunately they could not get the car off the parking stops, and likely tore up the underside of the vehicle quite a bit. But luckily for them, the police station and city hall are right there on the corner by which they stopped. In fact, as I crept slowly past into the icy lot, I seen a police vehicle pulling up and investigating the strange manner these people parked. I wonder? Were these some of the people I see posting in Facebook that reads something about South Dakotans can drive sixty five mph in a blizzard, and a little ice and snow doesn't hinder them at all? I bet they were, and being the special breed they claim to be, I bet they get a ride home from a friend or relative, jump in the pickup truck and do it all over again. Why not, they have four wheel drive now... |
| Guess what? Yeah, it's getting late tonight and I'm just getting in here. So, how did you know? Okay, for those of you who have not read any of my posts, that's sarcasm, based on the fact that I tend to get in here late all the time, and the few times I do make it before it's time for bed are the rare exceptions. It's just the way I work, I reckon. Anyway, today was my second day off this week, and it was a pretty nice day. Windy out, but nice. Let's see, it was 57 degrees outside, and the wind was blowing like a whore on steroids. But, that's alright, I didn't have to work out in it, Rhonda did not have to work out in it, and for those guards who did work today, at least it wasn't cold out with the wind making it worse. Even so, it's miserable to work in this kind of wind. One wrong move and guests paperwork is gone, whether it's them or us guards, it's just gone. Also, even if we hold on tight to the paperwork, trying to read and scan it in this wind is next to impossible. Finally, the dirt and grit just don't stop, our eyes are blasted constantly, and we are instantly covered in dirt and grit. But, that's the job, rain or shine, calm or hurricane, we do our job in all weather, every day, 363 days out of the year. Yeah, we get Thanksgiving and Christmas off, so I didn't writ that incorrectly. I guess we share a few things in common with the mail man, only he does not deliver on Sundays or any federal holiday, while we work seven days a week, and all but two holidays. I did get some things accomplished today, for a change. Rhonda cut my hair and I got my whiskers trimmed up nice. Hopefully soon I can actually shave and not freeze my face. It does feel good to have my hair trimmed up and my beard and mustache trimmed. I made us a nice dinner, we got a nice Bible study done, and I talked to the local mechanic about the problem with the van. We kind of had it figured out, but he confirmed the same. It's not very likely anything other than the EGR assembly, and he is going to replace it tomorrow. I just hope that is all it is and it will run nice for us now. It's going to be kind of expensive to replace, but if it fixes the problem, we should be further ahead in short order. First of all, it will get better mileage once it's running right, and secondly, we will not be putting near the miles on the Jimmy, which does not get very good mileage at all. We likely will have the parts and labor paid for in a couple of months just by what we save on gas. I won't even estimate what we will save on time. But, time saved will be awesome. We have seen how much more time we have with two vehicles, and the time is better used, because there is not interruption to run in and pick up the other person, as well as the fact that the time is at home, not waiting in town. I also rigged up a cloths line and hung a blanket out that we keep in the back seat for the dogs. It was full of hair from them, and with the wind blowing so hard, it was the perfect day to hang it out and get the hair blown off of it. I think that's about it, but that's still pretty good. I did want to get in here for a while, but that just did not happen. That's all right, though, there is still tomorrow, and with most of this stuff done and out of the way, hopefully tomorrow I can spend even more time in here than I would have been able to today. I need to do one more proofing of the items I am going to submit for the anthology, and I would like to read and review a bit. Now, however, it's time to relax, watch something on Netflix, finish my wonderfully bodied red wine, and then go snuggle up to my wonderful wife. Tomorrow we will see how things work out, and hopefully I will be back in here to get a few things done. |
| Another day about done, and here I am, just getting in here. Not that it was a bad day, it just kind of slipped away from me and now it's about over and here I am trying to get things wrapped up before I turn in for the night. But, I did have the day off and enjoyed it and I do not have to get up for work tomorrow, either. In fact, I have Thursday off this week, too. So, I suppose letting one day just kind of slip past isn't so bad, and maybe even what the doctor ordered. A day full of rest, relaxing and just chilling with my wonderful wife. I have one week left on the monthly challenge I took for March, and will have just six days left after I finish this post. I will still have to copy and past it in WdC, and since it's an hour later there, I will have missed today, but only by time zones. Here it is just eleven o'clock now. And, with today done in 750 words, I will have just under a week left to make my goal. I also have a goal in WdC for the week, to write something other than just my journal entry. I want to create a poem or a story, size not important, but something new. I have a couple more days off to get going on it, and I also need to find a solution to the problem with the van. Hopefully the weather is nice and I can look at it and try to find a way to see what item is in need of replacing. It would be even nicer if I can do the work, but I am kind of limited there, with limited tools, time, and having to work outside. Also, there isn't much I can even reach on the van without putting it up on jacks and trying to work from under. Even then it would be difficult to reach areas and components. No, A lift like in the shops is what is needed, along with more knowledge of how things work now. Even so, I will hope it's something I can do, and I can do some; limited, but not helpless. Not yet anyway. I also have to look tings over on the Jimmy and try to find what the problem is with that. I know more about the Jimmy, it's more in my time frame of knowledge. All the electronic stuff had not been added yet. Some, but not so much that I can't troubleshoot and make repairs. But, even though I have more knowledge of the Jimmy, it's put together so that it's very difficult to work on. There just isn't any room, and once again, a lift is needed to provide access to work form under the vehicle. Right now, that's about all I have on my list of things to do. Well, there is some stuff for work, but not anything too major or time consuming, and I have some bills to run through and send off, but again, nothing that will take a lot of time and resources. So, working on vehicles and trying to get them running better is the big task at hand and then some little things that are more common and won't take much at all. Of course, if I can't find the problem or do the work, the vehicles may not be much of a task, either. An expense, especially if I have to take them in to the shop to get fixed, but not so bad of a task. Now, I'm getting close to meeting my quota of words for the daily entry in 750 Words, and of course, my journal entry does not have a quota, but just what I decide to write, so that could already be done if I had not entered into the monthly challenge for March. But, since I decided to do my writing in 750 words to challenge myself and to push myself a bit, it really does not matter. No, in WdC I can write a lot, or a little, but here it has to meet the 750 words or it does not count for the day. And, that makes even just writing my journal entry a challenge. One I am just about to meet, and then it's off to do other things before I turn in for the night. I know, I'm not making a lot of sense. I'm trying, and thinking of things to write, but I'm tired and having a difficult time with my focus, and by the time I process an idea, my sleepy mid loses track of the idea and I have to scramble to try and get back to what I intended, and often I really don't even make it back but have to venture off in a whole new direction. Being this tired makes writing anything very difficult, just like it gets very difficult to read and understand. So, being past 750 words now, I will end this and save you a little confusing in my writing. |
| I may as well get this done while I have the time. I'm sitting in Hi-Vee using their Wi Fi and waiting for Rhonda to get done. She's working and will be done around five this afternoon, which means I have a loton my hands and not much I can do with it. The situation is, we only have one vehicle we can use right now, since the van is messing up. So, she gave me a ride in this morning, then went back home until it was time for me to get done and time for her to start. She drove back in, and I could drive home, but I have to come back in then, to pick her up from work. This not only burns up an extra hour or more of my time, but it puts more miles on an old vehicle as well as requiring more gas. So, I opted to stay in town and wait, save the time and the gas, and some money. So, here I am, looking around online and trying to stay awake. I was doing good, but now I am so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open. I suppose part of it is not getting a full nights sleep last night. But, I seldom do, and I had quite a good night. I mean, I was in bed earlier than most nights and I slept well. I also had a nice day off on Sunday, so I got a chance to rest up even more than usually, since I work Sundays. Another cause for being so tired may be that I have not eaten much yet today. I had some cold cereal and a granola bar. I also had mysef four cups of coffee already. I have been cutting back on my coffee consumption. I must have cut it in half, likely more. That's been a while since I've changed the amount of coffee, so I doubt that's the problem. I haven't been taking naps, either, so I can rule that out. Not that it matters, I have the next few days off, or should have, and that will give me time to get rested up. Hopefully we can get the van fixed over the time I have off, too. Then I can drive in by myself and home when I get done work. Not that I mind the company, Rhonda is a great lady and we get along wonderfully. No, I like the together time, but I don't like the waiting like this. The only other option is to put another trip on the Jimmy, and at fifty miles, round trip, I don't like that either. It's old and may not have a lot of miles left, so I don't want to run up extra if it's at all possible. Of course, the cost for gas is horrific, and fifty miles a day ties five days is 250 miles and the old Jimmy does not get the greatest mileage. Then, there's the time it takes. An hour of driving time, plus there's usually a waiting period before she gets out form work. Lets say about a a half hour or so. It all adds up, over the week to about seven and a half hours of time burned up, maybe more, and nothing done. No, I just don't like losing that much time each week. That's likely another reason I'm so tired, stress. Work tends to pile it up on me, and it seems there is always something going on I have to deal with. Now add this vehicle problem in and the stress is double. In addition, it's cold around here. We are getting a lot of cold air in the area, and when it does warm up, it's only for a day or two, snows or rains then turns cold again. Also, it's been very windy, especially on the cold days. Some sunshine on my bare skin would help so much. Yep, when I look at it all, I can see why I'm tired. There's another part to it, too. I am an introvert and require down time, spent by myself. This is where I go to write and create. It's time with myself that I can spend creating and sorting things out. Sometimes I can write a great bit and flex my creative muscles, other times, I just reflect inward and sort things out. Only, there just hasn't been any time to spend with self for a long time. And, that's the one thing I need most. Time to get things back on tack. |
| I've been putting things back on my laptop computer after doing a factory reset. It was running so very slow, messing up all the time, and just didn't seem to have enough memory left. I have a good antivirus and it couldn't find anything, I have an anti ad-ware program and it's updated and run frequently, and I have a tune-up program I use all the time, but none of them could speed up this older laptop, and none of them could restore memory. So, I decided to make some backups and then reset the computer back to what it was when I purchased it. After the task was done, it started up quickly and the first thing I did was to put my anti virus program back on. The first thing it found was my Windows 7 was out of date and needed some security updates. Of course, there have been a lot of updates since I purchased this computer. I clicked the install button and it did a search and found something like 89 updates available and recommended. I clicked the button to download and install them, and that took most of the rest of that first day, Wednesday. I had them all downloaded and installed about the time we got ready to head off to bed. I seen there was a notice on my anti virus, so I looked at it. More Windows updates had been found. I took a few minutes to look this notice over, and the log indicated the last batch of updates had downloaded and installed. Now, at this point my system needed additional updates, and these were the ones now indicated. I went into Windows Update on my computer and ran that, and it confirmed the same, another 185 updates were available, and required for security reasons. I should add here, I am not 100% positive on the exact numbers I am giving out, I didn't record them, but could look in the log file and get the exact amounts. I do know, however, that my estimates here are very close. So, with almost two hundred more updates needed, I went back into my anti virus program and once again let it download and install these needed updates. While my computer updated, I went to bed and slept. The next day, after work, I looked, and my system was ready to reboot. I shut down, restarted, and soon I was up and running. I was eager to start putting programs back on my computer so I could use it again. But, I soon discovered I needed seven or eight updates. These would not take long, so I downloaded and installed these. Again, I had to restart my machine. And, after it was up and running, it informed me I needed to install a service pack update for Windows 7. I did, and after it finished it restarted my computer and informed me I needed to update my Internet Explorer to 11. I followed the link, and soon enough I had the new Internet Explorer, too. Only, I had limited sleep the night before, needed to get to bed, and so just shut down and got myself some sleep. By Saturday, after work, I was once again ready to install my programs and start using my laptop. I did have to do some stuff on the van, so I started the computer, and after Windows was running, seen I had to install another eighty some updates. So, again I let my anti virus program do the work while I messed with the van. It took a while to complete, and by last yesterday evening, I finally had this last batch of downloads installed. Another shut done and start up, then check and see. Finally I was not getting any messages that my system needed updating. I downloaded a couple of the programs I wanted to install, activated Office 365 and reinstalled it, then did a backup of everything at this point. I wanted to have a complete back up of the system with the programs I had set up, and all the updates to Windows, so if I ever have to do this again, I won't have to take three days and over three hundred updates before I can add the items I want. I was beginning to wonder if the slowness and shortness of memory were all problems from all these updates. But, today I ended up with the day off and have been installing browsers and a few other items, and the computer seems to be doing fine. Along with my re-installing browsers, I set up to syn my bookmarks on Chrome and transferred them over to Firefox. I have been checking to make sure they are all here, and work. So, I decided, since I had logged in already, to write this up early today. Finally, I made my entry before bedtime. Even better, I'm back on my laptop. I still have a lot of installing to do, but the worst is over. I just hope, after everything is back on here, that it continues to run fast and not have all the problems it did in the past. |
| Last day of the week and once again I'm just getting in here and getting started when I should be getting to bed. At least tonight I'm not behind to the point of being up past bedtime, but I will be soon. I worked today, so I was up at three, and should have been done at ten thirty. Saturdays are kind of a short day now, and I was looking forward to Rhonda coming in and me getting to go home. She also would have had a short day and been done at four. But, about the time she should have been heading in to work to relieve me, she was calling and leaving a message for me to call her back. The van wouldn't start and she had no way of getting in to work. Yes, the van that I just worked on again, and thought maybe, just maybe, we had found the trouble and had it fixed. But, even though we cleaned up the connectors and had it running nice yesterday, it would not run today. The only thing that had changed is the temperature had dropped down into single digits overnight and didn't make it much into the twenties today. So, what to conclude? Temperature must also be a factor in what ever is wrong. For now, we still aren't sure what the item that's failing is, but it's a pretty good guess that cold temperatures make it worse. We will see when it warms up more and I have more time to look at some things. For now, we have it kind of down to about three things that are most likely the problem. But, what ever the problem, the result was the same, Rhonda was not able to make it in to work, so I was not able to get done at ten thirty. She did call another guard and had him come in early, so I was still out pretty early. But when I got ready to come home, the Jimmy wouldn't start. The battery was deader than month old road kill. I do have roadside assistance, but thought I would give my brother a call and see if he had jumper cables. He did and was over in a short time. We hooked the cables up and still could not get anything. I pulled the battery and he gave me a ride over to a part store to have it tested and it was shot. At least I was at a part store, so I was able to get a new battery and he, my brother, gave me a ride back to the Jimmy. We had the new battery in in just a few minutes, then I gave the key a turn and vroom, it was running. I have had some trouble with the battery a couple of times, even though it was a pretty new battery. There wasn't any labeling on the battery, except for one sticker that said it was shipped in 2012. I have no idea what brand, how powerful, or anything. But, it turned over twice as well as it ever has since I have owned it, and it started easier than ever. So, about two hours, or maybe closer to two and a half hours after I should have been driving home from work, I was finally underway. I got home and checked my computer, since I am in the midst of putting everything back on it. The last Windows updates were good, and when it ran it's check found seven more I needed to download. I should have kept count, and could look back through the log, but it's someplace in the lower three hundreds now. For the number of Windows updates I had to download and install over the last two days. I clicked to download and install and then enjoyed supper with Rhonda. After our supper, which was kind of early, but not too much so, considering what time I should be in bed most nights, we lie down and took an hour power nap. Oh, and before we ate, while the computer downloaded, we looked at the van and tried a few things to see if we could find the faulty component. So after our supper we took a nap, the got up and I started in on the laptop again and downloaded my Office programs and a few other items I had purchased. I didnt' install much of any of them yet, just downloaded and then ran a system backup. Just in case I have to do this again, I will have the basics on backup, along with all the updates. Well, I suppose there will be a few more, but at least I'll have the first three hundred. Now, it's time to shut down for the night, get to bed, and get close to eight hours of sleep. Well, by the time I get there, and get to sleep, maybe seven hours would be more accurate. |
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