Another work week at the farm...

We came to Cullman to have another work week. The boys and I painted the shop but the color came out wrong. Probably need to apply a second coat. A lot of grass was cut. We did some minor work on the mowers and tillers. I even let the boys hunt the groundhogs. Max put a bullet in one of them. 

Mawmaw brought out all of the guns that Pawpaw has collected over the years. Most need some attention so I'll bring my cleaning stuff and get it done next trip.

The things to do list seems endless, but the constraining factor is how much time we can spend. We are beginning to see what that is.

Changing times

On April 3rd, Bev's father passed away. He was taking immunotherapy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma so it wasn't completely unexpected, but it was actually a bout with pneumonia which lead to this end. Just prior to his hospitalization, he spoke with me about the many projects that were necessary to keep the farm operating. He was concerned that Bev's mom had what she needed to continue to live there. We spoke about what needed to be done to maintain the equipment. He would speak about each tractor or area of the farm and what needed to be done with them. After a portion he would conclude with, "Now this is yours". I realized he wasn't giving them to me, he was giving me the responsibility for each. It was touching. I was reminded of a similar time with my own dad back in 1984 when he was dying with cancer.

The isolation required by the pandemic made visiting him and attending to him so much harder for Bev and Mom. They were taking turns with one staying all day and the other all night up until the very end when they were both there most of the time. It was exhausting for them. Then there was the funeral arrangements that had to take the COVID 19 restrictions into consideration. Finally there was a grave side service with just the immediate family. The community came and stood outside the fence at the graveyard.
 I'm making a log of my activities here so I can search them to see what I've done and to be able to reference what was done when.

So now I've taken on the task of keeping the grass mowed, the fields bush-hogged, and tools working. There are a lot of things to keep running.We drove up this Monday and started putting the mowers and tillers in order. I aired up the tire on the big trailer and transported the Big Country 6 wheeler to get new tires. The belt replaced on the John Deere. The blade removed and sharpened on the Murray. Next the Troy Bilt carburetor cleaned. Then the reverse gear sorted out. The pond grass was sprayed with Triclopyr. Then attention was turned to the shop. Years worth of accumulation were taken out and sorted. Years worth of sawdust was vacuumed up. Shelves put up. Peg board put up. And the process of reorganizing begun. We found boxes and boxes of assorted bits that evidently were purchased at the auction. The shop is down to a couple of corners that need sorting.

Next time I'm there I need to get the auto ramps for the zero turn blade changes cleaned up. Sharpen the blades on the old zero turn. Bush-hog some. Change the oil in some of the mowers with that new tool I intend to make and the 55-66. And perhaps get the boys to help me paint. I also need to collect the waste oil and take it up to Ricky Baker's. If all the grass in the lake doesn't die, I need to get it sorted out.

Meanwhile, I've ordered a part for the mower deck on the John Deere that I hope will keep the belt on better. Also still looking for those covers for the pulleys. Oil changing is something of a problem with so many small engines so I'm ordering a vacuum device to make it easier.

A new schedule for living...

Now that I'm about to embark on the Citizens Hospital job, I'll work a different schedule than Coosa. No more mornings to either sleep in or go hike or ride. Instead I'll have evenings after 7pm more or less and after 4pm on weekends. I am thinking I could resume karate for a time to rebuild flexibility and strength. I don't know if the lesson structure would be worthwhile to do that given the dojo's predilection for talking and ranting. They waste a  lot of time we could be working out. So I've given thought to the 24/7 workout place.This would also be a good time to enforce a good diet plan. I also want to continue to study.

Citizens Hospital

So after 15 years I'm making a change. The continued warning signals about cash flow and other considerations have forced me to pursue a position at another hospital. It seems the best thing to do considering my need for a secure work situation. With my age being over 60, I didn't want to wait for things to fail and have to go into a potentially saturated job market hoping to score a spot somewhere. So now I have a new position. Time will tell.

NO Half Marathon

After being dissuaded from going up Friday to get packet, I had to go this morning. Once we got up, I made the drive through a lot of traffic to get to the Boutwell Auditorium only to find the Kid's Marathon in full swing. Traffic was bumper to bumper. No where to park within many blocks of it. With time approaching 11am, I knew I'd need to get home in time to prepare for work. I thought it best to just abandon the event. With some regret, I won't be running Mercedes anymore. But I will probably get up and do the 13.1 anyway if not Sunday, then Monday to culminate my training. Then it is on to bicycles and hiking.

This morning I went out and did 11 of the miles within the time limit I allowed to do it before coming to work. I'm considering this enough especially since it rained on me most of the time and I was squishing along in my socks. Time to move on to the next phase of cycling and hiking to be ready for spring and summer.

100 days

I am in need of some standard to create a mark in time to aim for. It has been a difficult season to curb my appetites and get on track with my weight loss. Despite trying to do training for a half marathon, I've felt very tired and sore and unable to get my self under control. Perhaps by setting this date I can create a focus for my effort. It is nearly the right length of time to prepare for hiking this spring. I'd need the weight loss to do well.

Release

At Dr. Tropeano's today. He gave me the go ahead to PT myself and slowly build back strength. He said the arm looked good and I'm doing well with my recovery. So I can move forward from this point toward my normal activities.