Sweating time

October 8, 2007 (5:33am)

66º F, Dripping, No Wind.

Good morning,

Everything is dripping outside this morning. Rain most of the night, but yesterday was a fairly dry day - just the high humidity and temperature. We set another record high for this time of year - - 88º F, about 30º F above normal. It really was hot. Didn’t do much and the sweat seemed to just pour out of this old body. Humidity is still high today and there is 60% chance of rain for the entire day.

On the way back from church yesterday, I noticed the leaves are pretty much past their peak for color. All of the maples are turning to various shades of brown and the birch/poplar trees are turning to their various shades of yellow/gold, but not with their normal brilliance. Will not be long until the tamarack will be turning their bright gold color in a barren woods. Seems the woods are close to being ready for the cold weather to come.

I finally got the wood splitter out of the truck and on terra-firma Saturday afternoon. I was able to attach the come-a-long to the lift arm and get enough slack to release the chain I had holding the splitter to the lift. Then I was able to lower the splitter 1" at a time until it settled on the ground. The real difficult part was to find a balance point on the splitter to be effective. I re-hooked several times before I found the right combination. Even then it took a couple of grunts and a tug or two on a chain by Margriet to get the job done. Glad to have that task accomplished!

I will set the splitter up in a semi-permanent position here. I really don’t see the need, at this time, to move it much or any for that matter. It will be placed next to the place I cut the logs, and the woodpiles. Still I will position it so it can be towed and moved if necessary. I probably will take off the wheels (one is flat and the other very soft at the moment) to be stored inside somewhere. No need to let them be exposed to the elements. For now, I will cover it with a tarp again, but probably make a frame of some kind to support it above the splitter, rather than on it.

With the splitter off, I could get the snowblower and the eating kitchen cabinet (picked up along the way) off of the truck too. Snowblower in the “carport” next to the back door of the main house and the cabinet inside the main house. The inside of the truck needs to be cleaned out. There is some hydraulic oil on the wood deck inside of the truck, that I really don’t know how to clean up. Not really happy, sliding around on a slippery floor. The wood splitter is also covered with the oil, after being turned in so many different positions. Yuk!

I really messed up when I bought the cabinet for the eating kitchen a couple of weeks ago. I measured the space several times, and for some reason, my head recorded 36" wide each time, even thought he tape measure said 33"! After we had started to put a finish on it, I discovered my head was messed up and we don’t have a cabinet shrinker! Don’t know what I was thinking at all. So .... on the last trip down to FISKLAND we stopped and picked up a matching cabinet - the correct size. Now Margriet has two cabinets to finish. We will use the “old” one, putting it on the wall opposite the refrigerator where the table is now. The counter top will be extended along the width of the wall there and use the extra length as a table to eat at, as well as other things. Might put a narrow cabinet at the end to support it. Also a rail under the front edge to support that.

There was a very tragic event in a small town, Crandon, to the south of us in Wisconsin yesterday morning. An off duty deputy sheriff went on a shooting rampage and killed 6 young people at a party. One of those killed was his ex-girlfriend. Apparently jealousy was the motive, but may never know, as the deputy was shot and killed later. All of the young people were either students or recent graduates from the Crandon high school, including the deputy. Apparently the deputy had just graduated from a two year program to become a deputy. Besides the 6 he killed (ages 14 to 20), there is one other student in critical condition in the Mayo Clinic satellite in Marshfield. One other law officer was also injured. Some of the kids are children of the teachers at the high school. What a tragic thing with apparently no warning signs. All of them were the “good” kids of the school.

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><