The news today is that all you are going to get is mainly news. I stopped to ask at the casino where I might post a small sign about a room to let, and first person I talked to wants it for herself. She’s taking a look tomorrow afternoon. From there, I was in the shop to find out the very make and model of miter saw I own is obsolete. Even the Home Depot staff don’t know the tool from just a year ago. I priced the replacement blade. It is $44. You might say that isn’t going to cut it with me.That means the birdhouses will have to wait. At least I now know there is such a thing as an 8-1/2” circular saw blade. I’m not a tradesman and I didn’t know that before. Wallace called from up north to say it is cold and he’s doing a lot of chasing around getting ready for the operation. Admittedly I have not been following the weather up there but the few snippets I’ve seen show it is terribly cold. That winter I spent in Montana was enough for me. It was below zero at some point of every day from October 12 until March 28. I’d rather live in Texas.
Nothing certain yet, but I can tell I may have been bumped from my Friday show at Jimbo’s. When I dropped in to inventory my equipment, I noticed the Karaoke people adopted the methods I use for storing equipment that I don’t want to pack home each week. That means that’s it for me with one possible exception. There is generally not enough cash coming in to justify a big show. And that Karaoke rig is huge and heavy. Friday is prime time, so if they don’t make money, or can make more money elsewhere, they will bail. Otherwise, I’m out of my house gig. Sigh. That’s show biz.
Strange dream from the past department. I was in grade six and the teacher decided for Arts class we would make pottery as homework. To me, this was an outdated skill that amounted to playing in the mud, although I was sure “my brother would be good at this”. There was no kiln or potters wheel, so I made an ashtray. A girl from row one (in those days the pretty girls sat in their own row) brought in a beautiful pink pitcher with raised flower designs, so beautiful the teacher asked if he could keep it. Until the dream brought all this back, I had never questioned whether this girl could possibly have made that object by herself. Patsy Dvernychuk, that was her name.
Alaine called this morning to warn me not to use the chain saw. Too late, babe. All the work is done. Yes, the blade slipped off twice, but I dismantled the saw and put it back. She was worried about me using it while I was alone. Alone? Um, Alaine, I don’t have much choice. The few people I know that get any work done don’t live around here. Then I got the facts. It seems a few months back her husband used the saw and had some dangerous problems with it. Yes, gang, you should know what you are doing around power tools. When the blade slipped I was, for the record, wearing a hard hat, leather work gloves and safety goggles.
The yard is attacking again. The forest is growing back. This confirms the observation that most of the flora are weeds, albeit pretty-flowered weeds. There is no need for the elaborate sprinklers of the former owners. It is a sandy soil so you can question its suitability for a garden. It is black but not ordinary soil like the west coast (where, as O’Rourke points out, if you step in it bare-footed you’ll grow more toes). It is such a nice forest, and probably the largest patch of natural growth left in this entire district. That’s why I’d like to plant a natural Florida hedge along that roadway.
That’s all the excitement for today. Wait, there is one more item. In the last ten days, the volume of food that Pudding-Tat will eat has doubled. She can’t have kittens, she’s the same size, still sleeps all day and the landscaping around here is paradise for prowling and exercise. So what’s up?
