October 2011
Rita is welcome to ride along in the truck.  * * * Not much to report halfway through October. I took a quick trip to Oklahoma, and had a couple old friends visit Maine last week. So it's been a detached month so far. I did manage to get a decent shot while in Acadia National Park - one of my best photos ever. "Eighth Year In Dreamland"  I sold an elliptical machine for $80 - I got it for free on Freecycle a couple years ago - and I've sold a dvd or book or two. A set of double bass drum pedals for $125. Not much else going on. I guess I'm just enjoying the cooler weather, and trying to keep my head on straight. My thoughts are divided into five areas - none having to do with the truck directly - and they consume me: a) is there going to be another big layoff at work, b) when is Jose moving out, c) will I ever find the stuff that is missing or is it stolen, d) will I ever find the contractor who stole the $600 downpayment to work on my porch, and e) what about The Virginian. (or the Texan, or the Oklahoman, or .... ) Me? I can only control my own path. I take another step, then another, and carry on as if nobody else exists. And that's all I dare say about that. The countdown continues. The countdown is what I have.  * * * I am not pleased to announce what I got Monk for his 16th birthday: a litter box. Yep, after sixteen great years without a box (he's toilet trained), I have gone and confused him to no end by carrying him out to the truck every night and back inside the house in the morning. I tried all sorts of inventions to make the toilet in the truck appear like the toilet he was used to, but he didn't buy any of it. So I put a litter box in the truck. No prob. He performs naturally, like any other cat. But then when I brought him back inside, he was messed up and couldn't deal with the toilet anymore. I would set him up there, but he couldn't even keep his balance or anything. It makes me wonder how difficult it was becoming for him leading up to this. Anyway, I let it go for a week (pooping on the bath mat), and gave in. He's sixteen. He's been brilliant for sixteen years, and I guess it's time I make it easy on him, so we are now a litter-box-family like everybody else. There is a box in the house and a box in the truck, and I'm thinkig it shouldn't be such a big deal in the truck, anyway. He likes his box right up by the front door and that means "window" and that means "divided from the rest of the truck by a curtain" and that means I should be able to control the odor problem. Bless his little heart. * * * Fifty One.  * * * It is the end of October and New England had a record snowstorm this weekend which dumped a foot of snow and shut down power to millions. You can't have heavy wet snow when there are still leaves on the trees - that's a lot of weight, and then things break, and then you lose power. I moved back into the house on Saturday before the storm that night. All in all, I'd say I had a pretty good run in the truck this Summer - June, July, August, September and October. That's five solid months, and it feels just fine. I'll pop in and out during Winter, and get a few things done that should wrap up the shelving and storage - things that may actually be easier to do without me trying to live in there at the same time. (in other words, I can be sloppy and leave tools and screws laying around) The student drum kit is gone - $175. I officially do not own a drum set, and am not planning on purchasing one. First time in thirty years. Of course, I have a ton of hand drums, congas, bongos, shakers, bells and gadgets. That's really where my interest is these days. And I may now have time to pursue a few interests. The overtime hours have been cancelled at work, and now my daily shift is a simple eight hours. The company and the workload will suffer, and I'll miss the extra money, but that was a lot of sacrifice - ramming as much work as I could into a single day. Maybe the timing is perfect. Maybe now I can find some peace. * * * My Zero is $254,036.31. My Dream Sale Price for all my possessions is $290,073.79. November 2011 |