Let's Get Ugly

Yo, what up? Yeah, it's been a while since I wrote last, but that's just because I promised it would be.  And I keep my promises, or at least I do when the only action required is inaction.  If I'm honest, I've tried to write several blog posts in the interim, but I never felt 'inspired' enough to complete one.  Yep, lazy and rubbish. Quite the winning combination I've got going on.

In any case, here I am now to provide you with an exhilarating update of the thrilling saga that is my life. Not that my life isn't good - it truly is - but I'm not sure it makes for great reading. Actually, I'm pretty sure that it doesn't, and my largely-disused writing skills are unlikely to help.

Outside of work, which entails various things to do with the kitchen, office, and farm, I've been attempting to make my mark on my domicile. Frankly, I hadn't ever considered the amount of effort involved in essentially furnishing a home from scratch, to say nothing of the cost. Worse still is that I no longer like any of the furniture or decor I accumulated while I was in college. If you're anything like me, 'accumulated in college' is merely another way of saying 'useless crap'. (That may even apply to the degree that I accumulated in college, but I hope not...) From the $15 bookcases to the... um... well...  Okay, so it turns out that the only furniture I bought in college was cheap bookcases. And maybe a cheap computer chair. And I definitely don't like those anymore. Fortunately, I have generous relatives who very kindly provided me with some of the basics, and I've managed to gradually acquire most of the remaining essential items. (Except a kitchen. I still don't have a kitchen.) I was going to share some pictures with you, but it turns out that 1:00 in the morning isn't the best light for photography. You're in luck though, because I did get one before I abandoned the scheme entirely.

This is one of the dressers next to my bed (with its twin on the other side). It's the perfect height to serve as a nightstand as well, which is a welcome change after years of having a too-tall bookcase attempt to fill that role.

Alas, my walls remain largely bare. I have, of course, a clock or two in each room as required by my genetic programming, and two mirrors (one of which is pictured above), but very little apart from that. It's a good thing I didn't go with white walls, or it would start to feel very institutional up in here (though that may be appropriate, as I'm mostly crazy).

And now I suppose I should close. Even I'm getting bored.

(The Wanted)

Whispers in Blindness

Ah, so here I am again.  I feel like a relapsed Catholic at confession: "Blogger, forgive me, for I have sinned: it has been five months and thirteen days since my last post."  Fortunately, there aren't any admonitions in the Bible against neglecting one's blog.

In the many moons that have passed since I last graced you all with my online presence, absolutely nothing has happened in my life.  Either that or I can't remember any of it.  For my sake, I fervently hope it's the latter.  So rather than regale you with fascinating stories of my many adventures, I will whine.  Hey, I have to stick with what I know.

Here it is after midnight; Cinderella is crying in the garden beside her smashed pumpkin-coach, and I'm sitting at my computer in the office (in the basement of the center) because it is the only place I can access the internet.  Sadly, I seem to have developed somewhat of a dependency on the internet; if only there were others out there who suffer from the same affliction so I wouldn't have to go through this alone.  Anyway, my unique addiction aside, it would seem that the rather incredible display of thunder and lightning this afternoon has fried some of the networking equipment, rendering the internet inaccessible in most of the community.  Strangely enough, my heretofore-fantastic house has lost some of its attraction, albeit temporarily.  The trick in this situation is to accurately discern when the desire to sleep outweighs the desire to surf the 'net.  I suspect that the time shall be soon upon us, as my eyelids are beginning to droop ever-so-slightly.  Perhaps more telling is that this post appears to have lost the tenuous grasp it had on a point.  Oh well.  If I only posted my musings when they had a point, this blog would be even more bare than it already is.

While I'm on a roll, perhaps I should write the opening sentence for my next post: "Blogger, forgive me..."

(Ace of Base)

Dirty Laundry

Actually, my laundry is all clean now; it just needs to be put away.  So naturally, I decided to write a blog post to avoid it.  I even had great intentions of posting some pictures of my fantastic - albeit incomplete - new residence, but I just realized I left my camera over at Mop's and Pop's.  So much for that.  Someday, hopefully soon, I'll get some pictures taken and post them.  That requires me putting away some of the things I have strewn about though, so it could be a while...

Well, as I alluded to above, I finally moved in about three weeks ago.  I love the house, even without doors or a kitchen.  However, I've discovered that I'm quite reluctant to poke any holes in the walls until I'm completely certain where I want things.  Consequently, I haven't made much progress in putting up pictures, calendars, clocks, etc.

I should see a psychiatrist.

(Don Henley)

(Do You Get) Excited?

First things first: I've been a bad, bad blogger.  I went an entire month without posting.  In my defense though, I pretty much missed that month in my 'real' life too.  I still can't believe it's already August.  It's like the whole world is playing a cruel joke on me and pretending that the summer is almost over, when really it's the third week in June.  Stupid world.

Very well then, moving on...  I've discovered something interesting about the whole process of building a house: you get very excited about really small things.  Or at least I do (and I'm admittedly a poor yardstick for normal).  Today, for example, I got doorknobs in the mail - well, door levers to be precise - and it was pretty much the highlight of my week.  Rationally, I realize that they're only a small part of a much larger project, but it still makes me feel like I'm getting somewhere.  My other big moment this week was getting a light fixture on Wednesday, but that was somewhat tempered by the fact they only sent one and I'd ordered two.

So yeah, those are the momentous events in my life right now.  That ought to make you glad I haven't been blogging.

(Roxette)

The Waiting

I just had to fit in one more blog post for June.

Here I sit at the Center, waiting for the Sysco truck to arrive.  "Why are you over there at 6:00 in the morning?" you might be tempted to ask.  Well, this post will answer this question, which is clearly one of the most pressing questions of all time.

Our story begins several months ago, when our dear Sysco driver (toward whom I harbor no ill-will, ha ha ha) started coming at about 7:30 AM instead of 8:30 or 9:00 AM.  Well, being the extraordinarily wonderful person that I am, I started coming over earlier to meet him so I could write him a check.  And yet, I always seemed to miss him somehow.  After months of playing a losing game of tag, last month I thought, "Oh dash, I'll go over there at 6:30 and then I can't miss him."  I did.  He'd already been there when I got there.  HE CAME AT 5:FREAKING30!  As you can see, I've gotten over this completely.

Anyway, long story shor... um, long, I came over even earlier today and he hasn't been here.  I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for the possibility that he'll show up at 9:00, but it's not working.  The very thought makes me feel slightly homicidal.

(Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)

Stop for a Minute

There are people in this world who seem to thrive under pressure.  No matter how much you put on their plate, so to speak, their reaction is to redouble their efforts and increase efficiency.

I am not one of those people.

In fact, if you know me, you probably already know that my reaction to stress is precisely the opposite.  My brain has developed a unique method of ensuring stress doesn't kill me: it forgets everything.  Oh sure, I'll say I can do something and mean it, but in a few hours, it's gone to wherever memories go to die.  Chances are you've experienced this phenomenon if you've asked me to do something, for which I'm somewhat sorry (but not profoundly).  It's quite likely that some frustrated person will kill me long before stress does.

We're now to the part of my post where I tell you that I don't really have a point.  The impetus behind this post is that we're going grocery shopping tomorrow, and since I've been feeling a little stressed lately, I have this gnawing feeling that I'm forgetting something vitally important.  I just love that feeling.  So I'll try to forget about it and post some pictures of the progress on my new domain. ;)

Since the last time I posted pictures of the house (in which post I used the phrase "and call it good" about six thousand times), I've made some significant changes to my plan.  For starters, I'm moving the 'kitchen'.

This, you may remember, is where the counter that comprised my 'kitchen' was.  As you can clearly see, it's no longer there.  That rather large hole in the wall is what happens when you've had a long day and you just don't give a rat's ass anymore.  (There needed to be a hole there at some point so I can remove the pipes; I just chose the Sledgehammer Method of sheetrock removal.)

This is the room that will become the kitchen.  The fridge has always been in this room, so it just seemed to make sense to turn the whole room into a kitchen and make the hallway less congested.

The second major alteration to my plan is that I will actually be getting carpet.  So we've spent the last week removing the old vinyl tile that was underneath the 'crapet' (carpet is too nice a term to apply to what was in this house), only to be told that we probably didn't actually need to do so.  That was a really great moment.  You'll notice in the next two pictures the naked floor, covered only in a thin layer of glue.  Incidentally, that glue is still sticky, even after the billion years that have passed since it was applied.

And here are the re-finished closets and the painted wood paneling in my bedroom.  I've picked out the style of trim that I want, but I haven't managed to get any yet.  It can be difficult getting supplies when you live several hundred miles from a home improvement store.

Finally, after we removed the toilet and Crystal pulled up the linoleum in the bathroom, we discovered this:

If only you could smell it through your computer screen.  It's really a very lovely scent.  You can also see the damaged walls by the tub.  The bathroom may very well need more work than I originally thought.  Yippee for that.

Anyway, I think I've chuntered on enough at this point, so I guess I'll call that good. ;)

(Keane)

Bend and Break

This has not been a good week to be an Ag-Bagger on EskDale Farms.

It all started on Monday, when our trusty old bagger engine decided it had had enough of life and blew a piston. (Or something. I'm not a mechanic, and I only understand about every third word when such things are being explained to me.) Now, I never thought I was particularly fond of this machine. After all, I've spent many, many, many hours standing next to it, the radiator fan gently tousling my hair (ha ha ha) and coating me in a thin layer of green dust. But now it's gone, and I find myself waxing nostalgic for the Good Ol' Days, when Old Craphole and I would just sit and talk about how the hay was jamming and she was being a difficult pile of doggie doodoo. Perhaps I'm going overboard. After all, a new engine has already been located and will (God willing) be installed next week. And all will be right with the world.

Anyhoo, back to my story. After the demise of the original bagger, we decided to pull out a bagger that the Bakers loaned us (apparently with the condition that if we ever returned it, relations between our two tribes would become exceptionally chilly) and give it a whirl. Well, this whirl became more of a deadly cyclone. Mechanical problems abounded, with the PTO constantly attempting to break free and fly with the birds, a ball bearing that no longer wanted to be spherical, and a chain that was always half a link from failure. Even better, this machine was incredibly slow. While we are usually able to do about five loads per hour, this bagger caused a precipitous decline in effeciency, and our rate dropped to TWO LOADS PER HOUR. And those were the good hours when we weren't trying to fix yet another mechanical failure. Sorry, I meant the good hour. As we neared completion on the bag, it became fairly clear that the machine wasn't going to last through another bag, so we began looking for another option.

Enter bagger #3. The kindly Bakers allowed us to borrow their 'backup machine', which is much the same design as the other bagger we have of theirs, only it works. Astonishing, eh? Or at least it worked. Turns out something was wrong with the U-joint on the PTO, which promptly became a steaming pile of metal pieces. Oopsy. On the plus side, when the joint is fixed and the bagger is once again operational, we will be able to resume a normal rate of 5+ loads per hour, because this bagger is much much faster.

Anyhoo, that's why I'm sitting here writing a blog post after 9:00, instead of driving my beautiful hay truck all over creation.  Hopefully we'll be able to go before all the hay turns to powder.

(Keane)