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Crazy

Posted on February 23, 2025 by Kelsey

I went down to the city around lunchtime yesterday. I had several runs with Uber before the 3PM slow. Then I picked up with DoorDash and ran the dinner rush with it. Its higher tier finally got a chance to work its algorithmic magic and give me some better runs. So that was good. I was able to make $100 yesterday, a Saturday, after fueling the car up again. IT was a long time for it, but it will put some money in the bank, where I need it.

Nothing in particular happened that I really thing I need to journal about. I delivered two sets of flower arrangements meant for funerary purposes. The rest was all food. I got hung up at a couple of places because they were very busy. That is a lot of standing around waiting, and then I run the delivery, and almost nobody comes to their door till after I am gone. Nobody wants to talk to people anymore. When waiting at the restaurants, nobody there wants to talk. They talk to their crew just fine, but as the delivery person, they are not interested in you. So it is a lonely job. I spend my time in only one meaningful conversation all day, and that’s with my GPS, and she is crazy. Sends me in circles around parking lots trying to find her way out. She won’t do me the favor of just orienting north so I can tell for sure what direction she wants me to go out. So I get a little lost till I get moving in a committed direction. Yeah, she is nuts. So, since my only conversation is with a lunatic, I am doing my best to keep myself sane. Everyone else is just some transitional face in the flow of the day. And it’s not that I don’t think they are worth talking to. They don’t show any desire to talk to me very often, at all. There’s been a couple who will hold a decent conversation for the brief minute I am there. But it is not much over the course of days. If I didn’t need the money!

Today is Sunday. I will no doubt go down to the city again today. I expect it to be slow. But will it be a waste of time slow? There is only one way to establish that. I need the experience. I am tiered up on DoorDash to get better runs. So that might make a difference. I am also 30 runs away from levelling up again. I’d like to see what that gets me for deliveries. Again, maybe it is worth it.

I also need to rethink some strategies. I was offered a run in the city yesterday that had me waiting while the shop fixed up the food. It took them quite some time, but I waited it out thinking I am there to provide timely service. The app offered me to drop it for something else, and I refused that offer. So, I ended up waiting for a while with nothing to do. That was probably not worth it. I could have made more money by giving that one up and getting something else. I sat there, then when I finally got to go, there was no particular reward in it for me. There is no appreciation. The customers are not forming any kind of bond. They are just paying a tip out because that’s what they think they should do, and they should. It is a voluntary amount to pay for delivery. Not everything we buy and sell in this country is on such a payment system. But they do pay what they want for it. I accept because the app gives me more work and better work for taking everything it throws at me. So, I have to suffer the crap along with the good ones. But the customers generally don’t meet me or see me, except on their doorbell cams. That is intentional on their part. It is very transactional. No waves and smiles. Just drop and go. That’s what they want. I try to get the food there fast and hot. That is to me, my end of the bargain. Plus, the fast part gives me more time to get more work before I wear out for the day and go home. So, in the spirit of fast, I think I should drop the long waits and let someone else pick it up. I can wait somewhere else where I don’t look stupid there with nobody to talk to in the restaurant. My GPS never stops talking to me. She is crazy.

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Starvation Wages Feeding People

Posted on February 22, 2025 by Kelsey

I am flogging my guts out for pennies at the moment. Tough stuff when there is such a horrible job market. I have spoken to one who has put in 70 job applications and heard nothing back on any. Missus knows of another who has done 300, and it’s the same. No job to speak of. The whole job market seems to have evaporated. So, I am lucky to be able to do delivery driving, and I do enjoy it. I deliver in a university town, and I wonder what will become of all the young people studying there if things continue on like this? Maybe they will be okay at first as “young talent” has been the hot thing for years now? I am not advantaged with youthfulness. I am doing well after a lifetime of poorliness. I am doing something that comes easy, has no difficult hiring process, and is sort of on demand. I get work when I get it, and it is at the moment it is required.

So, yesterday I started out on Uber and things were good for a bit, then it got quiet, so I put Door Dash on, and it soon sent me from Logan to Smithfield for $4.50. It’s a long drive at 6 miles and takes up a lot of time when I could be doing shorter runs for the same amount in the city. But I took it because the apps don’t like to be ignored. Seriously, people! If you live in one town and are ordering food to another one three towns over, pay the driver a few more bucks to make it worth the time they are losing in the actual market. Make it ten, and it’s not bad. But this person is using their own fuel and car and time and trying to feed a family or pay rent or whatever. If you can’t butter your own bread for a sandwich, then pay appropriately for delivery.

I returned to Logan and went deep, almost to the other side, where there are a load of restaurants, and thought I would avoid doing that again. Boom! Another order to Smithfield, $5! Oh, thank you! So, I go. Get up there, and now I have wasted well over an hour messing about to try to get $9.50. Mind, I will be fueling up after, and then paying taxes. I am lucky to see a bit more than half minimum wage and less than that when I have to do repairs and buy tires, and take into account the high risk of the poorly laid out city I am driving in. But, hey!

While I am up there, I get an sandwich order, and I go to pick that up. They are not done making it, and it is going slow. The girl at the counter finally askes me to grab the customer’s drink from a cooler, then looks and decides that they are out, and she will check in the back. Nope. So, can I get hold of them and see if they will take a fountain drink instead. By now I have already noticed the bracelet on her says “WWJD?” Okay. Customer is okay with the fountain drink and Miss WWJD wants to give them a medium. I am like, “hey, you guys didn’t have what they ordered, at least let them have a large.” She is reluctant but says “okay.” Man, do the customer a solid, especially at the amazingly low cost of upgrading the size difference on a drink when you don’t keep your stock properly supplied. What has customer service come to? You want people to come back!

So, finally it’s back to Logan, and I am getting really pissed off now. So, I put on Uber, too. Uber offers me a quick $2.75 run, and I accept. Door Dash then sends me a $9. I have to reject it. Then, before I can do Jack-diddly-squat, here comes a $7 on Door Dash! WTF!? Where were all these when I was being hauled up to Smithfield for less? I do the Uber, and then log back in, and Door Dash has put me on probation for rejecting, and does not offer me anything for an hour. Unwritten policy, according to Reddit. I was probably screwed in all out of about $20-$25. That is a hard thing when I have busted my ass all day from lunchtime till after late supper just trying to break $100. I finally went home after ten with a couple of groceries that cost me more than what I have earned for the day, and I had to fill the tank. Even with this work, I am going backwards!

Is it worth it? I have not had a major repair yet. Ask me then. It feels like a drug addiction. It is not worth it, but I cannot live without it. It wants to punish me for not doing what it says, so I am being totally manipulated by an algorithm. This is not living. Yes, it can efficiently deal out the orders. But what does it do to deal them out fairly? This whole situation was just after earlier in the afternoon I was told by the app that Door Dash was happy with how many orders I have taken for them, and it would be prioritizing me for higher paying runs. Seriously? So, it can manipulate me! But then it sticks me with crap.

And I will be down in town around lunchtime today to do it all again. Just run with it? Trust the system? I suppose I will try and not think about it. But I can assure you that a person trying to survive in this town may only succeed because they would have to live in their car to do so and could be unburdened from having to rent a place. That would be alright.

Sarcasm aside, It is cutting it like a rusty, dull knife through a hickory stick. If there is progress, it is hard fought for. I forgot over the past several years what it was like to struggle.

Now, on the lucky side! The diet must be working out. I am doing pretty good as far as my joint pains go. I am not suffering the way I did over the past forty years or more. So that is a positive! I mean, it is not grueling work, but I am out of the car a lot doing pick-ups and drop-offs. It would have killed me a year ago. Inflammation would have knocked me off my feet after yesterday. It is six the next morning, and I feel like another nap, and I will be ready for another day of it. Impossible with the old me! The old me? The one from before, not the old one I am now. You know, me from days of yore!

So, I am going to try to get those last few Z’s in, and then get up, do some chores, drink some coffee, spend a little time with my wonderful family, and then get ready to vanish off from them and chase pennies, again. There are bills to be paid. Most of them probably subscriptions that were started years ago, and we have no evidence of except when the money vanishes. I do wonder how many people are broke off these stupid subscriptions and don’t even know it? Modern society is all about screwing people, making slaves of them, and them not even knowing it. The plug into the Matrix slips in unconsciously, and unconsciously do we endure it. I feel like I am being simultaneously stabbed by the needle at both ends. The money just goes, so I try to restore it working for an algorithm and doing drone work. There is no boss, no HR, and no complaints department. There is no care if I am coming up short, so long as there is someone who will hit the accept button and do the job in the moment. I have no Union. I have no recourse for any dissatisfaction. It’s just work, work, work. Or not. I don’t like it, lump it on home.

I take slow days off to make in my shop. I definitely need to up that ante. It’s my best hope! It’s that or try enjoying hunger.

I feel very fortunate this morning. It is below 5 degrees F out. Yet the house feels no less than mildly cool. This could be a lot worse. The forecast says we will be in much warmer temperatures by Monday, with them climbing still in the days after. Well, that’s great news as the firewood pile is pretty damn low, and I am cutting up wet wood to keep us fixed. I have some bigger logs, but the appropriate saw is not functioning properly, even with the newer chain on it. I need to get it fixed and ready to work. I am not well educated enough to do a proper job of it myself, but I have some ideas on what to try. It seems to be hanging up at the sprocket, and the chain seems to need a good proper sharpening, even if it is by hand. It is a pain in the butt, so is not having it working properly. I could really use it to produce wood from those big dry logs I have got outside.

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I Cannot Think Well Enough

Posted on February 19, 2025 by Kelsey

I have troubles organizing my thoughts. I don’t make arguments on Facebook or even on my own website here because I cannot get everything organized and put into a sensible order, then make a compelling argument. One reason is that there is just so much to include. Another is because there is so much I cannot remember. I look at Facebook and see a relative’s repost of a video of a girl in her class saying that Evolution takes as much faith as Christianity because she just cannot believe it. She makes the argument from surrender and ignorance because she is too lazy to actually learn and understand how we have come to understand evolution, so therefore, it all has to be intelligent design and a creator. But for me to try to argue against that requires so much more than I can put to print in just what I know, never mind the parts I do not know, which is such an overwhelming flood of information that could cause a guy to build an ark. Yet, metaphorically, that is what she does in the video. I am not sure what the video is trying to prove, in fact. I came away with the sense that it is just inspiring people who view it to give up on learning anything and just believe in the favored myth of the era.

That’s just one video. There are more videos, more writings, more podcasts, and more points of view to take on, and I am no Christopher Hitchens. Then there is politics, where it is easy to see that if the meek will inherit the Earth, then the oligarchy is trying to usurp it, and using Christianity as a tool to wrest it from them. And the further one dives into the MAGA mindset, the tighter the bonds of irrational stupidity are apparent. I feel helpless against it because I am of the McDonald’s generation that wants a Big Mac argument that will satisfy the hunger. But the problems with that are compounded, and the nutritional metaphor is overwhelmingly apt. It is not my responsibility to single handedly win that argument against society. But it is society’s responsibility to educate the young on the progress we have made as a species, and how we are moving forward away from our primitive selves to an advanced culture, and how to continue to build on what progress we have already made, and how to temper our growth so as to not destroy all of our resources.

But throw your hands in the air and decide that the truth of how we came to be is unknowable because you already know that someone or thing had to create it all. Decide on the argument that nothing could be without being made, then decide that it was all made by something that was unmakeable. Yet that is the whole argument of the video on my relative’s Facebook page. Do I address that and the flood of stupidity that will then come after that? I don’t even know where to begin.

Now, there are loads of other things that could be brought into this note on my lack of thinking ability, and in this case, it is not because I cannot think of it. It is not because it is irrelevant, either. But because I need to limit the scope of the not to the point. And maybe that is a part of why I feel I cannot think, because I don’t know how to set my boundaries. Maybe if I do that, I can also limit the supporting evidence that is required to make the point. Then I can worry about the scope of what I need to research and include. But honestly, I feel overwhelmed, and I have not even addressed the stupid video with the person that posted it. But then, I know that person to have a lifetime of absolute devotion to their beliefs, and they have always refused any actual knowledge. I cannot stop the one who insists on ignorance at full speed ahead.

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More Wood Projects and Looms for Sale

Posted on February 18, 2025 by Kelsey

Today was a Tuesday, and out of Uber and Door Dash I got one order today in Preston. It was for $6.75 at Wendy’s. It was not a good day for money, but it was fine for wood turning. I made two bowls from the Walnut branches I have. I will start making some to sell at the upcoming markets soon as these practice ones are for me and family.

Also, we have two Hairpin Lace looms to mail out again tomorrow. They seem to be selling like hotcakes.

It’s a pretty simple build that we have selling at $18, or about half the price of the metal and plastic ones online. They are on sale now for $10 each. I make them from cherry wood and bamboo rods. I will have to make more soon.

Handmade Hairpin Lace Crochet Loom for Open Lacework – Antiquary Artisan

I cut wood and split it today. I made enough for a couple of days. We seem to be headed to warmer days. So I think it should be easy enough to keep up with the demand for it for a while. I hear it is very cold in some other parts of the country, but not here. So weird.

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Selling Hairpin Lace Looms

Posted on February 18, 2025 by Kelsey

I made me another bowl today. I think in many ways it is better than the ones I have done before. There is still room to improve, and the important thing is I think I did from the last one. So, I think I know how far forward I can keep reaching to improve this little production.

I also cut some firewood and split it today. I am not feeling good about how dry it is, but I am pretty happy with it being there as opposed to not. It is still the cold part of the year, and perhaps it will be better than freezing! There is dry wood in the pile still. So, there is that. Also, on the topic of firewood, I keep seeing rounds piled up next to people’s driveways and houses and sheds. I think that is a good idea. I think that would be a great way of starting the seasoning of the wood for the year prior to splitting it ready to burn after. It seems like the rounds with the bark on, especially, would keep the water off the wood naturally. Then I could split them the year after, and then I could stack them in the woodshed ready for the winter to come. The rounds could pile nicely next to the shed, or along a fence line, and dry from the ends first, then in the middle over the summer after they are split and put in the shed. It seems like a good idea, and it would mean that I could get ahead on my prep by a year without having to do it all in a year, while giving the wood a good place to dry without having to build it. Doth that maketh senseth? Me hopest so!

So, here is an exciting topic. Missus identified a hole int he market for hairpin lace looms, and had me build a bunch. I made twenty or so, then she listed them on her Etsy shop and her website. Next thing you know, she gets an order for one. Then another. Then over the weekend, two more. She mailed those two out today, and this afternoon another one sold. We are in shock. I will have to make more. I will work on my production sills and try to make them better than the last batch was. But I will also think about ways to make fancy versions to sell at a higher price. We think there could be a market for premium ones, too.

Handmade Hairpin Lace Crochet Loom for Open Lacework – Etsy

I’ll check the stock and see what we have before getting to work on some more. It might be time to order parts ready up for the next batch.

Okay, so driving was hardly worth it on Monday. President’s Day did not affect the day in any way I can measure as I don’t have a previous year to compare to. Also, I just don’t consider it a major holiday. I made enough to refill the tank and then $30 more. But given the hours I worked, that was probably less than I made in high school when minimum wage was $3.35 an hour. Consider too, I have got to set aside for taxes yet. The weekend was pretty great. I will be working the days I am not taking the kids on school runs, which is Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I don’t see me going down there on the other days as I want to be sure to be around to get the kids on time. But I am lighting up Preston for those days. Well, I am looking for Preston to light up. Today it has not. At all! It has been really pathetic! I have Uber and Door Dash on, and nothing from either of them. Maybe tomorrow. But it did give me time to work in the shop. I will likely go out again in a few minutes to do some more. I still need to make for the fair. I still want to make me a plate, too. I think I will have to cut up a log then glue up the pieces for the blank. That would beat not making what I want just because the logs are too small around. So there is that job to work on tonight. It’s still above freezing out there, a little.

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Sunday Morning

Posted on February 16, 2025 by Kelsey

The fire is crackling and hissing at me from the open door of the wood stove. There is too much water on one of the pieces of wood in it. I say ‘on’ because the wood was very dry when I picked it up from the scraps of the sawmill, but it was snowed on before being brought in to burn. The coffee is half drunk, and cooling, but still tasty. I may go into Logan to drive today. I may not. I might find it more desirable to work in the woodshop. That is how it goes here now. Missus has new orders coming in, and with any luck they will keep picking up and I can retire. Well, maybe that is pretty wishful thinking. But as it picks up, we do hope to find it easier to pay for things and bills less of a worry. But for now, it is what it is, and we tighten the belt and prioritize. That’s that. We have a place to live that we are sure of, so everything else is just bills and food to keep up with. Oh, and that damned cat meowing at the window. Why he refuses to eat at the outside cat’s bowl is beyond me, so he is a nuisance.

Yes, if I go to town, I can fill the tank and make sure this week’s transportation is assured. I can pick up a few groceries, too. That would be quite nice. I also need to get some fuel in the cans for the tractor. The snow the other day demonstrated that in a moment we might need the thing operating. And that was relatively minor as needs go. It only takes a large animal dropping dead and it is more urgent. Other reasons pop up, too.

Okay, let’s do a bit of an assessment and breakdown of why yesterday was not nearly as profitable as the day before. First off, tips. People are not tipping very well. There are a lot of orders that come from McDonald’s or Burger King or KFC that get tips along the line of two to three dollars. On top of a $2.00 Door Dash base, that does not amount to much per hour. The day before the base pay was coming in higher. Five to nine dollars, because it was Valentine’s Day, I guess. Well, that’s the kind of money a fella can make a living on. But at the lower rate, the outcome is barely enough to cover the cost of the vehicle, and not much for the driver to live on. Far less than minimum wage. Valentine’s Day was a lot better, and I was happy with the work, and the pay, all things considering. It gave me hope. But back down to the standard, it is disheartening. I put Uber on, and got a ride down to Logan both days. The first one started in Preston, so I got a $30 bonus. The second one, yesterday, started outside of Preston, and did not qualify. It’s easy to tell someone has no ideal of the cultural landscape of the area. The ride started in Franklin, effectively just as far as Preston from Logan. So, both should earn the bonus as they are both in the same Uber desert.

I put Uber on this morning and will take up some work if someone rings me to go towards Logan. If they need somewhere else, then so be it. That’s fine. It’s a Sunday, so I doubt there will be a call. But I am open.

Missus is awake and excited as she has yet another order on her Etsy store for one of the hairpin lace looms. So now we are talking about how to expand our offerings for useful tools for weavers. Time for another coffee and to get into this. It might be time to do some more work in the shop.

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Not-So-Uber-Good

Posted on February 15, 2025 by Kelsey

I got another Uber passenger today. Effectively it was just about the same distance. but it was not in Uber’s little outline, so I did not get the $30 bonus, and with it all, I think I made about a third what I did on yesterday’s trip. Then I drove down in Logan and made less than half of yesterday’s money, despite a very similar amount of time there, and number of runs. Uber and Door Dash just were not paying out for them. So, I am back to barely earning enough to cover the expenses of doing the job. I don’t like that. It feels a bit foolish. I wish they were consistent, and they paid higher. But that doesn’t look like it is in the cards. There are still aspects I like about the work. I still like how I can schedule with Uber. But Uber has the nerve to send me on a six mile journey for $2.00. What the Hell? They trying to pay me a lot less than minimum wage by the time I have stood around waiting for an order to finish up at the restaurant and then spent the time finding some silly address. Take some townhouses I went to today. The doors and the garages are all side by side along a tiny little road. The doors have addresses, and the garages all have garage numbers. They are three digits. So there are two sets of numbers facing a person as they look for the correct address. They look the same as far as the numbering style, font, size, etc… But they don’t correlate as far as the actual number, apart from they are all three digit numbers. How stupid is this? Why do the garages have to be numbered? It just makes finding the addresses that bit more difficult. I feel for these people when they try to give directions to guests, or Uber drivers. It is completely unnecessary confusion. Who thinks this shit up? I hope they are paid well, so they don’t have to live there!

It was a fine old day before I left the house. Grandson spent the day, then his parents and sister came by to pick him up. After that, his cousin was by with her mom. We really got the visits today and loved every minute of it! So that was nice.

I don’t know what I am doing tomorrow. I should try a Sunday out in town driving. I could use the money. I have Monday, too, since that is a holiday, and some people are off. Since it is a university town, I think that applies. Maybe it would be a total waste of time. But who knows? I need to. I need to find out. I could do with some time at the lathe, or making a wooden box or something. There will come time for that on Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday, though. So…

I am tired tonight. So, I am off to bed. I am a bit bummed I did not get the groceries we needed when I was in town today. Another good reason to go tomorrow.

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Duber Driving

Posted on February 15, 2025 by Kelsey

It is bedtime at last. I got an alert on Uber today for a ride from Preston to Logan. I could not believe it! I have been logging in for something like three weeks now and not had anything. There is a promotion running for any ride starting in Preston, and it gets a $30 bonus. So of course I was going to take it. Turned out to be a young couple who had been in a wreck in town and needed to ride to the car rental. I am glad they were not hurt.

After I got them to the place in Logan, I stayed logged in and took what came up for the next like eight hours, till I got too tired to want to carry on. As it turned out, I made about $250 all together on Uber and Door Dash. It being Valentine’s Day there were flowers to deliver for the lovers and cake and ice cream for one for the lonely. There were lines of drivers in many of the restaurants. I took orders from McDonald’s and 7/11. I took orders to couple and families and college students in dorms. I think the snow helped, honestly. Logan kept me busy today. I have got to admit, if I could earn like this every weekend, I could do this job for my hobby job and then make all week in the shop for the markets and websites. It would be good enough. I plan to go in tomorrow and see what a normal day looks like bouncing between two apps like I did today. This was really promising. We don’t need a lot to live. We want to live a lot. I am happy with how today went, overall. It was not bad for starting when I felt like it, finishing when I felt like it, taking a break when I felt like it, and going like crazy when I felt like it.

All that said, I am tired now, and need some sleep. I look forward to the freedom this has bought me to keep the Door Dash app on during the week and take a few orders here and there in Preston, then spend the rest of my time driving the girls back and forth and working in my workshop. I think this could work out to keep us fed. That would be nice.

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First real snow of 2024-2025

Posted on February 14, 2025 by Kelsey

It snowed some before I finished up my evening chores, so I took these photos to document the first snow of the year. not 2025 as such, but the first sort of real snow of this season. We had some before, but it didn’t stay more than 24 hours. I think this one is going to stay maybe 48 or so. There is probably more on the ground outside right now, as it is later as I write this.

Pretty fair chance of more snow by the looks of this map of the western US right now.

I chopped up some of the wood that was lay out on the sawmill’s scrap pile today, and we have been keeping warm with that rather than taking from the last of the firwood pile. The wood is good and dry and is burning nicely. In fact, you can see some of it under the tractor bucket in the snow gallery up above.

There was only one delivery to take out today. I am going to have to go work in Logan this weekend.

Speaking of earning money, Missus had a sale from her website proper yesterday. WE have got to dig out what the person bought and mail it tomorrow. It was exciting to see something sell right off her website! She got traffic! And an order! No Etsy fees! So, this is great news! She has to ship out a weaving kit and it has to be delivered right down in Logan, funny enough. The order was placed by someone in California. So, definitely funny enough.

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Here Comes the Snow!

Posted on February 13, 2025 by Kelsey

I would bet that from the time I took this screenshot till the time I got it on my computer, cropped and saved it, then FOUND where it had saved it to, the storm had moved from the position pictured to on top of us. Or nearly. My computer being a pain in the backside!

Herre comes the storm. It promises at the moment to drop more than 6 inches on us before midnight. It looks like it could. It is on an easterly by a tidge north easterly track, putting it on us absolutely. As usual, it will be interesting to see how the forecast works out, however, I think this one will produce. It doesn’t look like it is going to fake us out, as so often seems to happen. We had one recently that was meant to drop a load of snow on us, and all it did was rain.

We have some firewood on the pile, but there could do with being a lot more. I could cut some up, or I could see about just putting a bunch where it can fit under the cover and cut it later. With this storm moving in fast, that might be a better option. I have badly cut boards that would be good to burn. They could do with bringing over then cutting with the circular saw. Much safer and easier to mess about with than the chainsaw. So that’s a thought. One way or another I need to go out, in the cold, and mess about with this. It is the in the cold part I am not looking forward to. But who wants the cold in the house? Not me! So, it has to be done!

That’s my plan for today. Also, keeping the delivery apps running. I am not making much at the moment. But I just need enough. That’s all anyone could really ask for, isn’t it?

It is hard to believe that the snow that comes today will put down on grassy fields. Our place is clear of snow. That is not a normal February here, to me. It happens, I guess. But I record these entries, so they are there as the anecdotal record of what the weather is up to. My weather station only tells a part of the story, after all. Also, Thomas Jefferson kept daily entries in his journal, and I feel in a way I am relating to him in a human way. And with that, I think the time has come for coffee and to begin to build courage up against the cold. Last mention: The temperature forecast suggests we will be free of what falls soon after. Again, we shall see!