Day 343

Another day. Sunday. Fair, but definitely not one of my best. Ended better than it started. Issues with someone who really messed me up today. Not the first time, surely won’t be the last, but, as usual, not necessary and frustrating as hell.

Had to leave a while to do other things, so I went into one of the nearby towns to do some errands. Picked up another 100 pounds of salt for the water softener, and finally have it full. Will have to check it periodically to see how long it lasts. Not really a big deal – salt is less than $6.00 a bag, but they are 40 pounds each and it’s clumsy to handle where the softener is located (in the well house). Small inside, and awkward, but got it done.

Spent part of the day grading papers – one of the things than comes from the subject I teach. Some fields– like math – are easy to grade, as they can use a scantron – a device that auto-grades using a punched rubric. My field requires hands-on and it takes a while to do for each paper. Part of the deal, but I do get tired of always having a load of papers to grade, even on weekends.

Also did some work on the tower base for the ham radio tower. It will be 60 feet tall when done, and I’m looking forward to it. The ground here is rock – all rock, and even the places with dirt only covers the rock with a few inches of soil. We had to use a heavy-duty jackhammer and it is tough on the body when one is getting older. Good, physical work, but the jackhammer weighs something like 75 pounds, so between the vibration and the re-positioning, it is a difficult job. I have a local ham (down the road – literally) helping, but I did some while he rested and it’s a job, believe me. If I didn’t already have an education, that thing would make me want one so I’d never have to work like that for a living. Built the feedline pass-through for the window in the station, so that is now done. Waiting on a few things to get the radio end ready for whenever the tower/antenna part of done.

Breakfast wasn’t, due to the conflict, and I guess that’s one of the things I really need to work on. When I am angry, or in this case, disappointed/frustrated, I either eat or don’t at all, and today was a don’t. Had some lunch of rice and beans (which I really like. Simple, peasant-type food and easy to eat). Had a relatively small bowl and while good, I was still dealing with the “issues.” I tend to always want things resolved, and when they aren’t, it irritates me to no end, and I don’t think it will ever be any different.

Dinner was a pizza split with KL, and it was thin crust, some pepperoni and it had red and green bell pepper on it. I was surprised that the peppers were so good, as I’m not a huge fan of most peppers. I don’t know if that is due to me liking them more now or I just didn’t care because of the above issues. Overall, calories today should have been good and the “exercise” was more than usual. My hip now hurts (old injury from motorcycle racing) and the left knee too (combo injury – football, motorcycle racing, and a skydiving issue). Going to be sore. Someday, when the decking is done here, I want a hot tub to soak in and to use to unwind where I can see the view.

Class tomorrow, and looking forward to it. Will have the department chair in my classroom on Friday, and I’m not crazy about that. I have been doing this a while and even though I know the reasons why (they have to do it with everyone, once a semester), I really don’t like it – never have. Will get past it and I hope the class shines that day. Have to wait and see.

Worked on the first book in the trilogy last night and today, and it is really, really close. Need to put the chapters out and have a look at it to see if all is okay.

Belt tighter now (one notch), so it looks like this is working. I’m not going to buy any clothes until I reach the end, assuming all works out like I hope it does.

Once again, it’s time to go. I just felt I needed to write something since I missed yesterday. See you tomorrow.

-Average Joe
Somewhere, USA