Searching my brain to remember what I did Tuesday, July 4th… Must not have been anything too important…
Oh ya. Now I remember.
Started the day out by identifying stuff in the trailer that could go to the shed and spent a bit of time reorganizing the rest. Loaded the truck with the stuff for the shed and off the the property I went.
At the property I shoehorned the stuff I brought from the trailer into the shed. Here I thought all those hours playing Tetris in my younger years was a waste. Seemingly not so. Once I got everything in to my satisfaction (bar is pretty low here – f-it, good enough comes to mind), I once again donned my snake boots and armed with a bottle of water and the estimation of the GPS coordinates for the property corner posts Tom and I came up with, and a newly installed GPS app on my iPhone, I went in search once gain for the two northern property markers Yes, I know… I’ve had problems with run on sentences since high school. Anyway… once I got to the area I thought the NE corner should be in I set an alarm for 20 minutes as a reminder to get in out of the sun. As I was circling the area, in my mind I was comparing myself to a chicken on a rotisserie. Constantly circling so as to get evenly cooked (by the sun in my case). I passed through a few areas multiple times just to make sure I hadn’t missed it the first few passes. Kinda like looking for my glasses Sunday at Tom and Alicia’s. Alicia asked what I was looking for, I told her my glasses. Her response: You are wearing them. Yes folks, they were on my face… OMG, what is happening to me? Any way, back to the search for the property markers. Listening to my body, I gave up before the timer went off. Sat in the truck for shade and water for a few minutes, then drove to the area where the NW corner should be. Stymied once again. During this search, my mind was reviewing what I could do differently to improve the chances of success the next time I searched. A number of things were coming to mind.
Side note: I find it interesting that if:
You think: This problem is too difficult, I can’t solve it.
The result is, your mind provides you no solutions.
However, if you think: This is a difficult problem, HOW might I solve it or at least mitigate it.
The result is your brain starts churning out possibilities. Some good, some not so good. The more you practice, the easier the ideas come. The longer you contemplate a given issue and open your mind to a variety of possibilities rather than focusing on the first one or two that come to mind, ideas of potential solutions keep coming.
I have to believe this is a skill that can be developed should one chose and not simply an ability people are gifted with.
Headed back to the RV park to continue work on my to-do list and get cleaned up for the evening’s festivities. I noted that Rusty, Tim (her hubby), and Bob (the park’s handyman/grounds keeper) were relaxing under the shade canopy by the club house so I went over and discussed my thoughts on the WiFi solution for the park and got some input from them. As they were getting ready to throw some ribs on the grill, I decided to head back to the trailer and cook some food of my own. That was the first day I cooked food since I left home. I’ve generally been eating left overs from the fridge and freezer to this point. Once I got the potatoes and garlic in the pressure cooker, I turned my focus to “what can I do in the mean time”. Ahh.. there is this emergency exit window whose handle I broke shortly after arriving at the park. The replacement from Amazon wasn’t exactly right and there were no alternatives that I could find online. My previous attempt to modify it was a failure, and I knew what I wanted to try next. It should only take a few minutes. Ya, right. Long story short, after trying various things, a combination of parts from the broken one, parts from the new one, and a few other minor modifications, I have a working emergency window lever. I can now open that window to get ventilation, and close it from the inside when storms roll in (a function I was sorely missing last week).
By the time I finished working on the window and put my tools away, it was too late to take advantage of the hair clippers I found earlier in the day, and Rusty and company were having a potluck in the club house where the bathroom with shower was located. Going to the parade and community center without washing off a few days of sweat and grime was not an option in my mind. Time to test the shower in the trailer. That was an interesting but successful experience. I determined that clearly that shower will not work for Cheryl for several reasons. So, wheels are churning on various solutions. Only time will tell which solution I go with. Probably one I haven’t thought of yet.
After the shower, it was off the the parade. I videoed the whole thing (I think – sometimes I’m phone camera challenged). Decided to swing into the tavern to see who was in there. Tom left shortly after my arrival as he was not feeling well. Chatted a bit with Russ and Barbie. Then, off to the community center for the fundraising meal. Got there just in time to get an entry in for the door prizes. I did not win anything in case you were wondering. I didn’t stick around long as I really didn’t know anyone and hanging around in a large crowd of people without someone I know to talk to is not my scene. Striking up conversations in that kind of environment is not my thing. Ok, so striking up conversations with strangers in any environment is not my thing, but it seems to be easier to do in the Tavern for some reason. Back to the trailer I went. I was tired so I crashed pretty quickly.
After that verbose description of Tuesday’s going’s on, lucky for you, I was back to work today so not much to write about. After work I made some phone calls to family, did the dishes, knocked off a couple of other items off my todo list, then retired to the easy chair in the shade outside with my laptop and a pen and pad of paper. The objective was to “finalize” in my mind the arrangement and size of structures on the property so I could go mark them out. Once I had them marked out, I would mark out where I want to put the fence. My mind played hopscotch as I went from one related thought to another and I ended up researching roofing material. What roofing material I use plays a role in the slope on the roof which plays a role in rafter spans which plays a role in size of rafters, which impacts how much overhang I will have which impacts how much sun penetration into the living space at various points in the year, which may impact how large of a structure I want to build…. see how I connected the dots there… Anyway. At dusk I took Sasha for her night time walk, then started pounding on the keyboard writing what I thought would be a quick update…. oops.
Past bedtime. Night all.
Seeking Simplicity 