Today

       Well, here we are again. What a boring day. At least out here in the country we have wildlife to keep us entertained. We've been sitting here watching the Pheasant roosters strut around.
      Since I retired I have been working on houses, doing apartment maintenance and taking care of my hayfield. Today I had to go to town and work on my son's rental house. Winter is coming on and his back porch needed to be fixed so it would stay warm.
       I spent all spring and most of the summer refurbishing the house but we forgot that we put the washer and dryer on the back porch which leaves water lines exposed to cold weather. The porch is glassed in but it is single pane glass and there is no auxiliary heat - yet.
       I went to town yesterday and measured, drew up a supply list and made a plan. I decided to take out four windows, put siding on the outside, insulate and cover the inside with plastic. I went to the local Building Supply and got four sheets of siding, three sheets of insulation board and a couple of two by fours. Then I realized that my feet were cold, I was hungry and I needed more tools. I headed for home, called the cook, parked by the shop and loaded tools. I ate lunch, put on my wool socks, put on my boots, thought of three more tools I needed and headed back to town.
       When I got to town I pulled up by the back door, unloaded the insulation board, got out my ladder and wrecking bar and began taking out windows. I got two out and decided I wouldn't have time to tear them all out and get it covered back up so I started cutting siding and covering up the window holes. I got both of them covered so decided to do one more. Big mistake. I should know to quit while I am ahead but I went blundering on and it took twice as long as the other two windows. I was under the gun because I needed to go to a meeting in a town forty miles away and be there before six o'clock. I should have known better. I got there on time, though.
       So, today I knew I had two more windows to take out and cover and four window openings to insulate. Then I needed to put plastic inside over the windows to add a little more heat saving. No problem. I got out my tools and found that I forgot to bring sawhorses to cut the siding on. I thought I would just cut it on the tailgate of my pickup. You would think that a man that has been working on houses for four years would know that it is better to go get the right tools to do the job than to try to Mickey Mouse something. I found that I had also forgotten my straight edge that I clamp on plywood to make a long straight cut. No problem - just use a long straight board. (Have you ever tried to find a long straight board? It is easier to drive home and get the straight edge.)
       I began to cut the siding freehand on the tailgate of my pickup. It went surprisingly well until I forgot where the tailgate was. Ziiingg! Now I also need a new saw blade in my saw and its battery ran down in the process.
      Well ...... as usual, nothing much interesting ever happens out here in the country. Just the usual knock off early for a leisurely lunch so you can round up a few more tools, saw blades, batteries, a straight edge, clamps and sawhorses from your shop. (Why didn't I just take the whole construction trailer up and save four trips?) Sorry to get your hopes up but we just keep on doing the same old hum drum things day after day out here. They don't call it Ho Hum County for nothing.
       And I like it that way.