Scouring the news. Grrr

Song of the day: “Black Pearl” by Bryan Adams, preceded by “Something Stupid” from Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman. Now this is what I call diversity, hah.

So let me drop the bomb without hesitation, Spanish political parties are as insane as any other government in the world. Let me explain why: The social party has come with a proposal to pay restitution to the descendants of the Moors, which got the choice “convert, or go in exile” and chose the latter. Now here’s the kicker, they are proposing to offer restitution for what happened…yes, hold onto your hat…what happened in 1492. Oh my gawd! That would be equal to the French paying restitution to Germany for finally throwing out the riffraff after the war, or the Indonesian people paying the Dutch for kicking their buts in the 1900s and taking back their country. Seriously, this kind of crap boggles the mind.

Next cute little bit; According to astronomers there is the disturbing news that for a while now there are less and less explosions occurring on the sun. Said scientists are afraid that the Sun might very well be dying, or DEAD…which, according to them, isn’t all bad because it would make our global warming a rather good thing (I don’t know how they can say this considering the heat isn’t our only problem, hah.) since it would mean that we are heading towards what could very well be an ice age. Aaargh.

Another nice tidbit, there’s going to be an increase in energy prices…so technically with the so called energy and money saving machines and light bulbs we’re going to pay less for more. Marvelous, how very Feng Shui. It almost makes me think that the governments discovered that if people were going to pay less they would decrease the government’s taxes, or something. Now that simply won’t do of course.

I also read a study where they say that newborns of mothers with stressful jobs often have the same shortage in their weight as newborns from smoking mothers. Huh? So does that mean they can just trank future moms during pregnancy, because otherwise her “way of life” is harmful for the baby. I mean, they are basically forcing everything else already, right?

But anyway, this revelation logically would lead me to the conclusion that maybe they made a slight error in judgment amount all those studies of smoking being harmful for babies, ´cause let’s face it, smokers are often people who have a tendency to be stressful. (which is the reason they smoke, right?) And, often smokers are of the working class so maybe the smoking theory was slightly biased. But no, this connection isn’t made. Hah.

In the UK the government can now take away ones’ kids if that kid is obese…Seriously, why not take kids away at birth while they’re born and put them in little children factories where they are prepared be useful little drones for society. *Sigh* (yes that was sarcasm for ya)

The European Union is planning to give a raise to all civil servants of 3.4 percent, and that while we’re in an economic crisis. Who, I wonder, is going to pay for that. Duh. I prefer to laugh about this sort of thing, ‘cause if you don’t, you have to cry. Hah.

The bird-flue is now and endemic in China, the Mexican flue is supposedly a pandemic and if the two mix, first one incredibly deadly, and the second contagious…why, you can say by bye. Then there is also the massive virus that is wreaking havoc in the Ukraine (it already killed over two hundred people, while at least a million are infected and yet I only saw one official notification of it) which apparently turns the lungs into charcoal. Why they would force anyone to vaccinate for the flue is a mystery to me if I think about it. Sort of defeats the purpose if there’s a risk of my lungs turning into charcoal, huh?

Yep, lots of wonderful things going on the world.

Now doesn’t news like that just cheer a body up? I mean seriously, who has time to worry about the economy with stuff like that going on. I sure don’t.

But enough about all that, let’s get on to stuff that is a little less depressing, shall we. What has been going on for the past couple of days? Edits, chores and laundry, of course, while at the same time we are preparing the expansion of the carport roof. What with the temperatures constantly dropping and the first rainy day behind us already, we figure we’re going to need it soon.

First, though, we replaced a couple of corrugated plates on the patio with transparent ones. Considering we need the metal ones for the carport’s expansion, we thought to take the opportunity to create some more light in the patio with the transparent plating. Worked out fine, allowing us to continue on with carport today. Last night I already put together the steeple, so today we should be able to put up the pillars and screw it all together.

While yesterday was miserable weather with thick, misty clouds and rain, at least there was no wind. Today, on the other hand, you can almost take flight in the wind. Yikes. It feels like ice on my skin, and that while I’m wearing a long sleeved T a thick woolen military sweater and a fleece body warmer. Aargh. Luckily, I got me some gloves during shopping, hah. I am using my electric stove for three days now, darn it, ‘cause my cabin is really cold in the evening. Even the poor doggies are clustering together for warmth during the night now.

Our tenant is slowly improving, which is grand to see. Walking (with help yet) is getting easier and more sure, and with a variety of exercises, she is slowly getting mobility in her arm back as well. Stupid physical therapists.

Projects in waiting are, another glass and wood wall for the living room this time, new stairs in the patio, along with a rock wall to cover the natural wall that is already there, and the new furniture for little brother’s room. Yep, still plenty to do…and I should get to it. Hah

Weird.

Song of the day: “Bop Bop Baby” by Westlife. That’s a first, I think. Didn’t have this one before.

It was a busy couple of days, and since I still don’t really have time, I’m going to keep it really short…I hope.

Yesterday involved some masonry, seeing as we needed another rock plant container down by the old bus/apartment, where the last of to remaining plants had to be placed. A nice big container built in one day, so it was a job well done.

Twenty-five, forty pounds bags of dog food were delivered so they had to be hauled down; excellent exercise for me. There was also some organizing and the like, which meant hauling building debris that was still lying about, up outside the gate.

Again, there was cleaning…it just never stops, does it…finally managed to clean all the kitchen drawers and decided to sweep the shelving to boot. Still doing proofreading, writing and…well then there was a slight family emergency that took up most of the night, (seriously, you don’t want to know) and the following morning.

Considering that we had already planned to do the groceries today, we were in a bit of a rush heading out, but luckily the actual groceries got done fast and everything worked out, leaving me only slightly worn down by the end of the evening.

All in all these were a strange couple of days and I need to hit the sack before I fall flat on my face. I know, a really boring blog, but it’s the best I can do at the moment.

Wind and almost-disaster. Aaaargh.

Song of the day: “You’re beautiful” by James Blunt. I positively dislike the song, but what can I say, it’s on the Itunes, and it’ll come by in the shuffle every once in a while, and then it’ll be stuck in my head for the day. Grrrr.

So, yesterday nothing short of a disaster occurred. The sawing table up and died on us. No, no, no. Not now. Not the sawing table; I still gotta make… Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!!! (that would be my response, in case you’re wondering, hah) Gawd, to be without the saw, would be like losing an arm what with all the projects going on.

Immediately big brother and grandpa set to taking the machine apart, in search of the problem, only to come to the conclusion that it wouldn’t be something they could fix themselves. (Insert another aaag, please) That was depressing to say the least; it meant that the next day they would have to start going past local mechanics in hopes that they could fix a twenty year old German machine that isn’t even built anymore.

Yesterday was a windy day, by the way. And when I say windy, I mean really windy: Winds that’ll rip your clothes of your body and make you freezing cold. By the end of outside work (that would be in the afternoon. Yesterday morning was pretty bearable with the warm sunshine) I couldn’t feel my extremities, I had a headache from clenching my teeth together (they wanted to chatter, you see), and I decided to waste money by turning on my little electric heater by the end of the evening.

Considering our tenant is feeling a little lonely of late, what with no longer going to rehab, we have also decided to wheel her down to the work terrace, where she has company and can sit in a windless spot with lots of sunlight. Rather than hauling her down and just plunking her somewhere (sorta like picking up and dropping off) we decided to make it a challenge. She rose to it beautifully yesterday, managing to mount the four steps up my porch and then walking towards the comfortable chair I’d set up in the corner.
With only a minimal amount of help she got settled and was proud as a fiddle about it.

Little sister and I worked on making a drawer section in the carport that grandpa would like to have for storing capacity. I think he was under the misconception that I was being fresh with him, or something. When I asked him if I could use a particular slat of wood of a rather hideous bluish green color (I didn’t know if he had any plans of painting the thing afterwards) I thought I was teasing or something. Apparently, he doesn’t entirely get the fact that if I offer to help someone out with building, I consider it their project, and try to keep my own (sometimes rather prominent) opinion on how it should be done, under wraps. I don’t start using my own judgment because that would only lead to frustration when the other person wants to have something done in a particular way.

But anyway, after that slight misunderstanding, little sister and I finished the first section of the box-drawer structure, both of us packed into thick clothes, hats, scarf and gloves. And more than willing to head inside after nightfall.

Computer work: Basically we’re just reading stuff at the moment, going over old material, making minor adjustments, etc. etc.
On to today: Yep, the wind went to sleep, thankfully. When I woke this morning it was blissfully quiet and sunny outside…which was somewhat of a relief after a rather violent apocalyptic dream. I’m gonna have to see if I can organize the description well enough for me to write it down one of these days, ‘cause it would be fascinating to see it on the proverbial paper. Hah.

So yeah, I had the rather brilliant idea to suggest to big brother that maybe he should check the electrical wire, which we had been using for the sawing machine…I know, why didn’t I do that yesterday? Well, it didn’t occur to me until late last night when I remembered that the dogs had chewed their way through it and that we had to repair the wire before using it.

I had already fully prepared for the departure of grandpa and big brother to bring the saw motor away, intending to do a good kitchen cleaning and then maybe my blog, when it became clear that the saw wasn’t the problem. But the power outlet (not the before mentioned wire, but still, I thought it rather brilliant of myself, hah) it took big brother a few hours to fix the problem, and then a few more to put the machine back together, but now it is working again. Yay. And best yet, it cost us time and not a penny. Hah.

Though I would have liked to head out into the sunshine, I was already up to my elbows into cleaning the kitchen drawers, so I stuck with it. Man, were they dirty, I think I’ve actually annihilated living organisms from the corners, hah. Within the hours that followed, I got seven of them cleaned out, organised and shut, which is somewhat of a relief since they’ve been bugging me for weeks.

Afterwards, I did manage to get out into the sunshine for a bit, and then hung a few clothes hooks in my cabin, to replace the nails I’d been using until now. So much better, really. Maybe now I won’t kill clothes by pulling them off too hard. Hah.

The sawing machine is back in one piece, so we’re all set for continuing with the ongoing projects. (I was seriously worried there, for a bit.) We are going to do some different stuff soon, though. What with our tenant coming down more often, we’ve decided not to postpone pouring a concrete path down the mountain, so that’s up soon. It’ll also be handy for pouring the concrete floor in the carport, but once the rains start (if they do this year, that is) we’re going to need a good floor there with a drainage system.

And now I gotta quite writing for today. There’re still a few corrections to the manuscript that need to be made, and I promised I wouldn’t take “ages” today. Hah.