Act II

Posted on July 13, 2021 by Kelsey

Having turned 50 this year, I am moving into Act II of life. Well, I hope so, anyway. When I was a young lad, I wondered how I would make it alive to thirty. That has come and gone, and now I look at those folks who die at 70 or so, and wonder if I will make it alive till then. But if the optimist in me gets his wish, I will make it to 100, and this is only the half way mark! That would be nice, anyway.

I got a Leatherman in the mail today. I picked it up off a shop on eBay, and already I wondered if I got ripped off with a fake! There are scratches on the pliers from one use! I looked at reviews of the tool on YouTube, and given what I saw there about some of the quality control issues they have had, I can be proud to have only scratches in the black finish. The tool is guaranteed for 25 years, so I suppose if worst things come, then I can take advantage of that. And if I only live to 70, then that guarantee will outlast me anyhow!

Apart from the scratches, there is one other thing that kind of bothers me, and that is the drop of the pliers handle when I hold them by only one grip. Out of the box the pliers swivel was tight and even almost a bit difficult. Then later, it was loose enough to swing by gravity. I closed and opened them again, and they were tight again. I cannot figure out the cause, but I have checked for play in the joint, and found nothing either way.

So the best tool on the market is just a bit funny.

Despite all that, if it turns out to be a genuine tool, and holds up well, then I think I will be happy with it. The worst thing about living on a small farm, and likely a big one too, for those who do, is going out on the land and finding some little job that needs doing, but requires a tool to do it. I expect that the Leatherman will solve a lot of that trouble for me if I remember to carry it always. I have ordered some more tools for it, too, such as the bits and drivers, and will be setting it up on my belt as a near do-all. I am thinking of putting my leather crafting skills to the test and making a pouch to carry everything. I will be a regular Batman with a utility belt.

Took a shower before bed tonight. The new bed has new white sheets on it. I cannot imagine waking up to a husband stain on those! I don’t want to see the look on my wife’s face if one appears! I am thinking on payday we get a couple more sets of sheets for regular changing! Again, as someone on a small farm… Dirt.

It has been hot again today. It got up to 96 today at the high. It could be worse, but I think if the skies were clear, it would have been. Unfortunately the skies were not clear, but instead completely clogged up with brown smoke. We were like this all last summer. California and Oregon burned, and we got smoked over. Now, I am not complaining about this as a comparison of what is worse! Smoke is obviously way better than fire! But if they did not burn, we would not have the smoke, which would be much better for both of us, so that would be nice. If anything, it is a depressing reminder that people’s homes are being lost, and sometimes, even lives, and that is horrible! But it also does not bode well for the west at all. Smoke is no way to fight global warming. With the drought this winter, it was obvious this was going to be a bad summer. We got way too little snow for our averages here, and then the spring rain was next to nothing, too.

Now we are in summer, it is hot, and the rain still is not falling. I put in my own weather monitoring station so I would be able to see this first hand, and I have. The differences between this year and previous ones if stark. It is probably a good time to get out of the West.

For now, it is a good time to get to bed.

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Some Things Take Time

Posted on July 12, 2021 by Kelsey

We have lived in America for ten and a half years now, almost eleven. When we got here we moved into the guest bedroom at my grandmother’s house in Nevada, and took up caring for her and her husband straight away. It took us a long time to get on our feet because we put so much into looking after her and her husband. Hell, we were expected to pay all the household bills on a $1,200 a month income while raising four kids on it. Meanwhile they had more money, and lived high. One of the last symbols of the inequality is going out the door today.

We went out and got a new mattress and box spring. Today I tossed out the old set that had come from grandma’s guest bedroom in her house in Nevada, which she had bought cheap from a motel that closed down in the town there. I cannot believe we spent a decade sleeping on that ratty old piece of shit. But we got used to it, and never had spare money to get a replacement for it. So sleep on it we did. We finally seem to feel like we are no longer reassembling our lives from the move across the sea, and from the time spent in devotion to the care of my grandparents, that is one remnant of that period that I am so glad to see in the back of the truck ready to go to the dump tomorrow.

We checked Sam’s Club first, but they did not have what Missus needed in a sleeping slab, so we went into The Mattress Firm, and the guy there lead us to one. Missus followed his instructions to lay on it, and she said for me to come try it, but I said no. When she asked why, I said, “Because I can see the price.” Lead right to the $3,000 mattress? Forget it. When we explained what we wanted, he pointed us to ‘the value section,’ and we picked out a mattress and box spring that cost less than $500 with a mattress protector. Yeah, it is not the luxury line, but having money left in the bank is fairly luxurious, too. And at that price, we were left wondering why we did not sort this out sooner!

By the time we got the old bed out and the new one in, I was fairly tired, and fell asleep in the chair in the library for a couple of minutes, then decided to lay up on the new bed, on the new sheets and pillows we got to go with it, and though I did not fall back asleep, I feel a hell of a lot better! So, here is hoping for a good night’s sleep tonight!

Oh yes, the new set is higher than the already high up old set, so elevation sickness and fear of falling off are almost a thing. Missus used a stool to get up on it to try it out after setting the thing up. It’s kind of a laugh, but then, I like being higher up in the room when I sleep. I cannot even imagine sleeping on one of those low to the floor units.

I wonder if some of the pain in my hips is from the rat? I think I will be finding out tomorrow morning! I look forward to finding out! I look forward to sleeping somewhere that feels fresh, new, and clean! That’s not something I have experienced in maybe thirty years.

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Life On A Small Farm

Posted on July 7, 2021 by Kelsey

There are so many things I have learned on a small farm. Time was, I would end every week and some project with the statement,” Well, I’ve never done that before.” Whatever the project, I was doing things that I had never done before, such as installing a woodstove, or messing about with the electrics on the house, or plumbing. Rather than call in a pro, I would have to handle the project myself, to keep the costs down, and to get it sorted out. It takes a fair amount of ambition to get things done, and prevent expenditures, and it takes a fair amount of poverty as a motivator. Probably the latter did more to move my experience needle than anything else.

I have watched animals and their behaviors for years, now. Each has their own personality within a type. For example, chickens and llamas do not behave the same, at all, really. But strangely, human-like behaviors can be identified in both. Chickens in a flock are very much like school children in their tendencies to establish order, and find a dominant one. Llamas or stoic like an old man in many cases, though there are those odd blue haired old ladies too, who are just not done being young. You may know the type.

One thing I am pretty sure of is that either Stephen King, or Sam Rockwell, or both, designed the Green Mile character Wild Bill directly after a Billy Goat. The attention seeking, wanting to be the center of things, determined interest in what pleases our Billy is perfectly played out by Rockwell in the movie. I have never seen a more perfect character archetype. I think if there were an animal that showed an ego almost as much as a human, it has to be the goat.

Pigs exemplify intelligence, to be sure, though it does not come with much planning or forethought. It is more of an ability to work out an immediate problem, or the recognition of who butters their bread. They know where their food comes from, and they can work out something like how to get through a fence. But save the water in the container for later, rather than spill it all out and wallow around in it, they don’t get. Immediate gratification is the order of the day.

Farms and rural homes are the sprouting spaces of great philosophers and inventors, and I can see why. I am not one of them, because my mind occupies with lesser things. Still, there is a pragmatism to getting something to work and having it done rather than buying the exact correct part from a catalogue and having it done to original, or right. Unless of course it is a valuable antique that is being fixed. The screen door? Just put an eye-hook latch on it to keep it closed. Same with the broken lock on the bathroom door.

I see things differently from here in rural America, and having come from city life in suburbia, and stuck it out long enough for some of it to take hold, I think I begin to understand some of the thinking. While I do not believe that any God made anything, I get the sentiment of Paul Harvey’s “So God Made A Farmer. It acknowledges the hard and thankless work of the individuals that feed America, and much of the world. Still, I do not get the mind of a Republican, apart from to see that it is born in teaching a child that life is hard, ruthless, and thankless, and that it comes with no empathy, despite the often recited Biblical teaching to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It is self serving, which is the moral failing of that teaching. It does not recognize the actual feelings or experiences of another, but wants you to be good to others for reward. Some take that reward to a level of personal dignity, and I would most certainly be remiss if I did not acknowledge that. But that still does not raise to the level of empathy.

We find ourselves at a crossroads. We are prepared to remove ourselves from this particular bit of country life, and resettle in another space. The question is, where? The philosophical side of that begins to take shape in the above. Finding the answer, is most difficult. Where can a person live more to the left of the philosophical spectrum, but express themselves outwardly in their life to the right? In more generic terms, where are there Democrats living in the country? Along with lots of rain and seasons and moderate temperatures, and space for our llama family?

I am inclined to Maine, or to where we can have easy access to it, somewhere in New England. I know what grows me weary, and I like to think that if the good people of Maine can inspire Stephen King, then they are good enough for me. I would like an old farm, but in good condition. I mean, really old. I would like to have woods, and clear pasture on 40 acres or more. I’d like some sort of water access to the pasture. I’d like to have a winding country road leading to the house, where a kitchen hearth warms dinner.

I don’t ask a lot!

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Today’s Busyness

Posted on July 1, 2021 by Kelsey

The morning started out fine while I had coffee, made breakfast for Mrs., and read up on the news. Then my oldest daughter went out to feed the animals. She came back in soon and bee-lined right up to me and said “Bad news.”

Someone has dies out there. That is always how it gets announced. One of the animals has died, and she discovered it.

“Big Pig died.”

I was floored.

Big Pig is a 400 pound or more female Large Black Hog. She is not just a staple of the farmyard, she has been an anchor. She is one of the largest animals we have ever had, and she can devour just about anything. She could. She could devour just about anything. Poor thing was laying bloated and stiff among the weeds in her pen. She was not fully bloated, but on her way.

I tried putting rope on her and pulling her to get her up into the trailer to haul away to the dump where there is an animal disposal spot. That did not work out. The first rope broke, and then the nylon strap just tugged her skin from her. I knew this was not going to work out. She just weighed too much for me to muscle, or pull with the car or truck without doing something pretty gross to her. I messaged the local farmer I know, and asked if he was busy.

He finished up his business and soon came over. The pig had bloated more by then, and the heat was not being kind. It was nothing for him to lift her with his tractor, and he soon decided that it was better for him to drop her onto his farm than into the trailer and risk breaking the wooden planks that make up the bottom of it. Yeah, thinking on it, that is good! So he just drove off with her, and saved me a trip across town to the dump with a bloated, stinking pig in the trailer. Not that that is not a common sight in Preston, Idaho! I have been stopped at the light behind my fair share of cows in the same circumstances.

Naturally, I had unloaded the trailer of heaps of firewood, and the truck of heaps of wood I was moving from the shop to the barn, and got everything ready for that drive of shame. Well, at least that work is done. I can carry on from there when next I work on the cleaning up jobs we are handling this summer.

Pig’s death frees up a rather large pen, and allows us to rethink our property layout in ways that will affect it from the back to the front, all the way to the street. We now have space for a long drive that we can line with fruit trees if we so chose. I think it would be no problem to triple our current number of fruit trees, easily! But we will see. There may be far better ways to use the land than a driveway, eh?

Whatever the case, big changes will come. I won’t be replacing her. She was an expensive thing to keep as a pet. She was lovely, and like a big friendly puppy in many ways. I’ll miss her big brown, trusting eyes. But I have yet to see a puppy consume $1,200 a year in food! Especially food that is much cheaper than dog food!

Right, it is time to go to bed and put an end to this day. Glad for the help from the farmer. I owe him a day of field work for this one!

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Dizzy Morning

Posted on June 30, 2021 by Kelsey

Me noggin is not quite the best this morning. Feeling a little dizzy and out of sorts.

I slept upstairs with the fan on all night, set to low. You have to picture this. I blow the fan out the balcony door to take the hot air out of the house, and pull in cool air from windows about in other places. Right? So, the fan is three feet in diameter, and on high will clear the whole upstairs of hot air in minutes. It’s no toy. I got fed up a couple of years ago with going up to an overheated top floor and trying to sleep in that while it took all night to cool off. One big fan, and the top floor can be comfortably cool for the night half an hour after sunset, ambient heat and all.

I kept that fan on low the night through last night, which is great for white noise, and lovely on the temperatures. But this morning my head is spinning like the blades. Don’t know why. I don’t think it blew my soul out the door, but…

Anyway, I have been working on the garage the last couple of days, and trying to clean up the workshop. The heat has been oppressive, so my head is probably goofy to do with that. I think I need to find better hydration than Diet Dr. Pepper, too. So I will try drinking something more watery today, like water, perhaps with Crystal Light for flavor. It is a better thirst quencher. It has got to have less ‘whatever’ in it, too.

Today I will try to get a bit done again. Getting this shop space cleaned out is sort of key to a few other things we plan on cleaning when Missus has time off in mid-July. I think I better get the trailer emptied of firewood ready for a trip to the dump. We could sure use less stuff here.

Speaking of stuff…

My train engines arrived yesterday for the N-Scale model of the train I rode with my mom from Salt Lake to Denver when I was nine. The engine set for the California Zephyr on that leg is extremely rare. In a year and a half of looking, I have not been able to find one type of the four engines, the two middle ones, from Kato absolutely anywhere. I know there is a Broadway Unlimited, but I am new to this and don’t know about compatibility and likeness. Do they connect together, and are they alike enough to look correct together? So I have been looking out for these ‘B Units” for a year and a half, and while Kato lists them on their site, they don’t actually make them. Then I looked the other day, and a whole set of engines, A and B units, and all four required, came up for sale all in one lot, and I bought them. What’s better is they are the freight units, which apparently were also used on the passenger train, and these look more like the photos I have found of the engines on the Zephyr than the two A Units I had already bought. So, more accurate depiction! Great! They are a beautiful set!

Next trick is to get a controller, then I need to start setting up the base for the model, and get track to put down. I have not yet finished deciding on the design and where to put it. I have one idea in mind that I favor, but it will take up some space in my den. So there is more cleaning to do…

When the engines arrived, it was a little overwhelming to know that that part of the model is now a complete consist, accurate, and like what mom and I rode on. I’ll be making something of this for the memories.

Right, I have a baby goat that needs feeding, and Missus wants some breakfast. I am off to work on my jobs.

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The Right Tools

Posted on June 27, 2021 by Kelsey

One of the biggest impediments to doing a job is having the right tools for it. Sure, a good mechanic never blames his tools, but he has to have tool to blame in the first place. I picked up a couple of things today to help out with the yard work. They are a leaf blower, a hedge trimmer, and a chainsaw that all run on batteries. They are DeWalt, which I trust to last a long time and work fairly well, though I was blowing dust from the shop this evening, and notices a fair amount of static electric from the blower. It kept discharging through my hand. I will have to figure out how to manage that safely.

We used the leaf blower to remove old leaves from the stones along the front of the property, which cleaned it up really nicely out there. As Missus said, it was a job she did not realize needed doing till she did it. We used the hedge trimmer to cut up under the willow tree out front, which made it look a lot cleaner, too. Now we can fit the mower under it, adding to the appearance.

The chainsaw is only a 12 inch blade saw, and it also runs on the same batteries, which meant that I was able to buy the tool only, and save a bit, because who is going to use all three of those tools at the same time? We are set with two batteries, and since we are likely only to use one tool at a time most of the time, I think we will have a spare battery when needed. Also, the batteries from the drill set we have had for some time now work in these tools too, so we have more spares for emergency.

Anyway, back to the saw. It is just enough to do some light trimming without bringing out either of the big bas saws, and will handle those quick jobs, or maybe cutting some of the smaller firewood to length, though I suspect that the 16 inch saw they have will work even better for that. I don’t like starting up and killing the STIHL saws over and over for cutting firewood rounds down to the proper size. I would like to be able to cut, then move, then cut again. The battery saw would really simplify the Service Yard work where I do final length cutting on the wood before splitting it.

I don’t really want to talk about the weather and make it sound like I am small-talking, but with the heat this summer, and the dryness, it sure has been something. We are really reducing what we put water onto and looking at further ways to reduce water usage on the farm. There has been a heat wave on top of a drought, which has contributed to a much more severe risk of fire around here, though we are fairly treeless and likely to have more of a grassfire than a really bad wildfire. It is something to keep an eye on. I have been watching it too just because I was estimating last summer that this one was going to be far worse than the normal. I will have to gather some data to confirm it, but it sure seems to be the worse we have experienced here.

We are taking a break for the most part from our little farm, and not trying to raise much. I have potatoes in and they are finally starting to sprout! I am pretty thrilled about that! I was worried for a bit that they were not getting started, and that maybe I had not watered them enough, but we took a look earlier today and saw there were many more sprouts than I had seen over the past two days.

Apart from potatoes, I am working to set up our place so it is, uh… better. It is not the easiest to work because of things like only having a single outdoor spigot to access water. We have needed some new gates, and I am trying to get those this summer to make passage from field to field, and on and off the property easier. I have been updating the water supply containers for the animals so they are not at high risk, and so they are easier to manage and can go longer without having to be refilled. There is a lot to do. We are looking at more ways to make the place self-sustaining. It won’t have everything, but we are looking at ways.

I am frustrated right now. I have some work I need to get done, and I have had two different people come by and look at it, and what it needs. It is a septic replacement. The first guy was sure he could get a basic one done for about $5K. Then he bailed out. The second guy told me on the phone they cost usually between $4K and $10K. Then he came over and looked at it, and it was up to as much as $30K. After that, he walked off fast, and with his back to me, told me he won’t even look at it without a permit, which I have to get at around $1K just to have him give me the proper estimate. Well, at $30K I asked him how he wants payment, and he said sternly that he does the work, it passes inspection, and he gets a check. I am needless to say, uneasy about the idea that it could far, far exceed our bank account. I think he senses that and that is what sent him flying. I really wanted to know if there was a payment option, but he was on his way out the gate before I could ask, and I think that he gets screwed enough that he is not interested in it. But the attitude started out good, and went sour fast. It’s hard for me to say I would want to pay him. He may be good, but I don’t know it from what I was introduced to that day. No reasonable idea, with a range of $4K-$30K for the job? I mean, is that real, or a way of telling me he doesn’t want to do it? What are the alternatives? Guys like this know when they have got you by the balls, and they sure like to accelerate your pain when they do.

I can’t do everything, but some days I would sure like to.

Well, that vented… I think I will go to bed now. Golly! It is after midnight.

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Serendipity – A Train To Denver

Posted on June 21, 2021 by Kelsey

Today is Father’s Day. I was lucky to be loved today, and to be able to spend the day with some of my children. I was gifted a set of tools to work leather, which is very exciting to me because there are some basic projects I want to do, and I got an introductory tool set that looks like a lot more than enough to do what I want, and give me a feel for the craft.

Today I also happened to look on eBay and found the extremely rare train engines I needed to finish my consist for the model railroad I want to build. There is one train in the world I can model if I only have enough room to model one train in the world, and that is the one I bought the cars to, but then found that the full set of engines was nearly impossible to come by. It is going to be a model of the train I rode with my mom when I was nine years old from Salt Lake to Denver; the California Zephyr!

As fate would have it, the California Zephyr was absolutely legendary in America, with stainless steel panels and several dome cars for viewing outside the train. It was pulled from san Francisco with three engines to handle the steep grades along the way. The route from Denver to Chicago was pretty well flat, and only required two engines to pull it. But the Salt Lake to Denver leg was mountain grade, and required four engines! Keep in mind that the California to Utah leg is also mountainous!

The ride mom and I took came at a special time in my life, not just because I was a nine year old boy, and not just because it was the first time I had ever rode on a train, but also because mom was carrying my little brother at the time, and was not long married to my step-dad. We had travelled a lot when I was little, by bus, in cars, and I with my grandparents. I had even flown alone from northern California to southern, when I was only four years old! As fate would have it, a road trip together when I was in my early twenties would be the last we took together. This train ride was a symbolic journey to the end of a childhood that was just mom and me. It was the end of an era that I am still selfish about now, when I knew her as a relatively young girl herself. Echoes of the hippie that was my mom always called out, but this was a point in her life when she was changing, and growing up too.

It is stirring to have found this rare set on a day like today, when the magnitude of parenthood is already on my mind, and when I can take a moment to not only treasure my children and my role as father, and look back at my mom’s role as a single mom doing everything on her own. It was a pivotal point in my life, as we left behind the old “us” in Salt Lake, and became a family in Denver. Everything changed forever as we snaked our way through the Rockies, rode through the Moffat Tunnel, and descended down into Denver that night.

The seller of the engines promised he would be mailing them out, insured, tomorrow. I really look forward to receiving them! I look forward to completing the consist that will eventually become the model that will serve as a viewing pleasure, and a metaphor for the biggest transition of my young life. I cannot believe I not only found the PB-1 units, but in a whole set of PA-1’s and PB-1’s, making up the complete engine compliment for the most mountainous journey in the United States!

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Tomorrow Is Juneteenth

Posted on June 18, 2021 by Kelsey

Tomorrow is the first annual celebration of the newly created Federal holiday of Juneteenth. What is Juneteenth, you may ask? Well, let me tell you about it.

Juneteenth is the day that a Democratic President put a burr under the saddle of every racist in America who does not want blacks to be included in the national experience as full human beings, by allowing recognition for when whites improved themselves by no longer allowing themselves to lower others into slavery. Yes, Juneteenth marks when Major General Gordan Granger read General Order No. 3, enforcing the emancipation of all slaves in Texas, some of the last to be freed. The date was June 19th, 1865. The date was marked a year later, and has continued to be celebrated as Jubilee Day or Emancipation Day since.

For some unknowable reason, there are people who are against this as a holiday. Well, I think we can in fact know why they would be. But excuses such as “It conflicts with the national Independence Day,” or “we don’t need another summer holiday,” are ridiculous covers for the real reason. I don’t buy that crap for a moment. Why would anyone not want to celebrate such an event? Worse, why would anyone not want others to celebrate such a joyous occasion?

Our government is established on the foundations of The Bill of Rights, and on the Constitution. The Declaration of Independence establishes the idea that all men are created equal. I would venture that all women are too, but that is… No, that is totally related. But to stick to the point, it is an ideal that really needs to be fully extended, and in order for all to have justice under the government, and a fair shot in life, inclusion must be practiced. Failing that, if the government can belittle one, it can belittle anyone. Inclusion should be practiced for compassion alone, though, and not just to protect one’s own ass from falling victim to the treatment they have accepted for others.

I remember all the fuss over the celebration of Kwanza in the holiday season. The uproar against Juneteenth is no different. And any such disapproval will not be accepted within my realm. So, yes, I write this, and express my favor for the holiday, and for those who celebrate it. I express my desire to defend them and to include them. I also write it as a practice run for those times I may need to say it to anyone. Juneteenth is a national holiday that celebrates the maturity of the American ideal, and while it is not complete, it has taken a credible step that cost hundreds of thousands of lives for Freedom. To not celebrate it desecrates those who died to demand freedom for all.

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Feeling After The Shot

Posted on June 17, 2021 by Kelsey

I woke up this morning and felt pretty low. Not ridiculously low, but not great, either. At first I thought it could be because of dehydration, with headache, and soreness: the weather has been hot lately. But after a moment I realized it was probably the vaccine that was causing me to feel this way. Mrs. felt the same, so I concluded that it was definitely the jab that put me low. It is nearly noon the next day, and honestly, I think if I were to nap, I would probably feel fully recovered after. It is not horrible, but it is tiresome.

So, I had that nap. When I woke up, I felt like a villain in an old Batman show. “Pop! BAM! Wham!” It was me old bones a popping. I rolled over from my face, and the noise! Well, that was a bit much. I am still sore in the joints, but apart from that, I do feel a lot better.

Knowing that the first shot is not nearly as bad as the second is a real comfort. No, wait! I am doomed! That second one is going to require some time planned for laying about and doing not a damn thing! Gah!

I don’t know if there is any relation between how one reacts to the shot, and how one would have succumbed to Covid-19, but if it is by chance any indicator… Well, I am glad this is the shot, and not the actual virus. I don’t want to know at all what that is like. I am so sorry for those who have got it bad, and for those who have died or lost someone to it. In fact, my experiences here are insignificant compared to what others have been through. This is just my journal of the events I go through, and I cannot even begin to compare to others, and this is not at all meant to.

Well, summer is about here, though you would never guess that she has not already jumped on top and had her wicked way with us, and left us sweating and panting. I am not a heat fan. I am not an extreme cold fan, either, really. I think it is all rooted in my California birth and early upbringing. Temperate climate, that’s what’s for me! Instead, I live here where it is a desert in the summers and a frozen tundra in winters. How’s that?

It is not bad today. It is only about 90 right now. I am non functioning out in that temperature. But when 98 rolls around, that’s it! I’m dead. The only place that should ever be at or above 98 is either in the oven, or in the dining room of the house in winter when the fire is rolling and the snow is blowing. At 90, I can sneak out for little bits at a time and get some outdoor chores done. I don’t understand desert rats at all. How do people live in so much heat?

But what I wouldn’t give for some rain! I watered the potato crop last night. I needed it to get started, and hopefully that was enough to trigger them. When the farmer next door ran his irrigation line by, the wind was blowing and the water only hit a third of the potato crop. I had to make up the difference. With the drought going, it is kind of scary that it may continue on for a long time to come. Last year was dry. Winter was dry. There have been rains at the normal frequency this year, but they have been less than a third of the normal amount to fall.

Okay, there is my list of complaints. I am going to get up and move these stiff joints around and see if I can loosed them up.

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It’s Done

Posted on June 17, 2021 by Kelsey

Well, it’s done. Moderna 1 is in my arm and I am now counting down till number two. I sat there and watched Missus get her jab, and then complain that she felt it a little. Then it was my turn, and I got it, and never felt it but in the very slightest. I mean, it was not even a light pinch. I expected one, but never got it. I did not even get the anticipation or nervousness I used to get as a kid.

Now I speculate that since I never really felt this at all, when it comes time for number two, I am going to be one of those lucky ones who gets sick, has a high fever, and feels poorly for a full two days. Of course! What else could it do? Be as easy as this first shot? No way! Life is too full of a false sense of security. I am not going to fall for it!

Either way, I look forward to getting the second shot. I really look forward to seeing if I am magnetic, or if Bill Gates starts tracking me with his microchip in the shot rather than just using my cell phone or tablet, which I carry around and which I have paid for myself.

The world is strange. Well, not really. But the people are pretty damn messed up!

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