Long, hot day.

I started working on the rear of the rv site because the front - is just more than I want to deal with right now. The rear was open land with lots of trees, yes, but nothing like the front.  I'm worn out.  I was on the machine all day long and I can tell ya, it ain't as easy as it looks. 

This is the type of work that I was doing at a younger age and - even then I still got worn out, but I only put in maybe 7 hours today.  I got lots done tho.  

Another hornet's nest was in cue as well, unbeknownst to me.  I don't know what log or whatever they were in, but they started swarming the Bobcat.  I high tailed it out of there back to my vehicle and hopped in my SUV before they could sting me and go into attack mode.  The Bobcat needed fuel and I hadn't eaten anything, so I mosied up to Applebee's for a spell, refreshed myself, went and got diesel and went back out there.

Dumped a coffee can worth of diesel on a large pile of trees and shrub and junk I had piled up and got it going  - a little.  I figured since there is a huge tree trunk in that mix already partially burned, I could get something going. Oh, I called the county as well, they want to know about controlled burns.  You know, in case it becomes uncontrolled lol. But I had a dirt ring around it that went well off in each direction, wasn't really concerned about a forest fire.

But, Brandon showed up anyway lol. He's my friend's fried who is a volunteer county firefighter.  Apparently the powers that be wanted him to come out and check that I wasn't fixing to burn down the entire neighborhood.  He ended up going out there after I left to put out the smoldering pile - I'm going to let that stuff sit a few weeks and dry out a bit and then try again. I have 5 piles out there now, they are all going to be set on fire on whatever day I get around to doing that.  I'm actually glad he went out there and doused that, I am fairly confident that nothing would have happened but you never know.

After I did all that I could handle - and getting bugs in my face all day long. Well, let's stop there. When I got back there, the hornets were no where to be seen.  But I was obviously disturbing lots of bug habitat because all kinds of - flying things - were trying to get into the cab of the Bobcat and do whatever they were going to do. I don't even know what some of those flying bugs were to be honest.  The hornets and the giant wasp were the ones that got me going pretty good, lol.

I also identified an area where Taylor could have a garden.  I want to know where she wants one, I'd like to plow it up and at least have it semi-ready.  

Covered in dirt from head to toe, I wished I had water out there to hose myself off at least before getting into my vehicle.  Arms looks like dirt piles, face, hair neck, everything.  

To that end, I just called one of the contractors and he said he'd get going on it -right away. I sort of expected it to take - months- like everything else takes around here to get done.  Nope, he was warning me it would take "48 hours" for some kind of whatever he was talking about to happen first.  48 hours? I guess he thought I was going to complain about it, I was like, wow, that's great! No rush.  You know what the really cool thing is? He quoted me $1,100 for it.  Now, that was a 3/4 inch tap, I'm wanting 2 inch so I'm guessing we're talking around 2k.  Still, I was amazed.  I had discussed my thoughts about this in previous posts on here a long time ago, thinking 3 to 5k, probably closer to 5.  

He was a bit taken aback with the 2 inch request.  Uhhhh, well, okay!  This guy has redneck written all over his voice lol.  So I'm getting water out there.  Had to do it sooner or later.  Just sort of didn't want to spend the money so soon, but it's a need that can't be ignored.  Electric can wait and septic will wait until much further down the line.  

Progress. It may be slow and it will be slow, but I am motivated to make this happen, however long it takes.  Lord willing......

Brownsville in the am.  It got late in the day, I thought I wasn't going to get a run tomorrow and was making plans to run the machine all day tomorrow.  I'm afraid I'll be working until my 70 hours are up again.  Maybe I'll get an Oklahoma and get it done in a day and have the next day off - I really need the time on that machine before it goes back.  

I'm still just in awe of all of these people I have known for decades that have all passed away in a very short period of time.  That just doesn't seem normal.  

Well, anyway, I need to get offa here. Dinner is soon and I just want to relax.  

 "my mother's kidney and liver are failing. they have her on a ventilator and lots of meds to help keep her In a coma and out if pain. .please help in anyway you can."

This is heart wrenching. I've known this person since I was in my teens.  Covid is unforgiving to people who are already fighting some other disease.  She was diagnosed with cancer almost at the same time her father was, another person I knew for 40 plus years. He succumbed to the devastating effects of cancer that had spread through out his body and was buried last week.

You read that right, he just died. And now, she is dying and there is nothing but an act of God otherwise known as a miracle that will help her.  Medicine only goes so far.  Can you imagine the agony of a family line losing 2 people in that short of a time frame?  Her husband is not dealing with this well, I also know him.  

If she passes, this will be 4 people that I have known since I was either a teenager or even in my single digit age that have died within the last several months. 

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I started this post last night.  8 hours ago, my friend passed away.  Her daughter was there with her, holding her hand until the last breath.  My friend's dad passed away less than two months ago. I've known both of these people since the late 70's.  Another friend passed away around 3 months ago - I knew him for about 30 years.  My cousin passed away something like 4 months ago.  I was not very close with her and she didn't like our side of the family.  We did talk on facebook messenger here and there but that was it. 

But all of this in such a short period of time. The daughter is, of course, in agony, a torrent of emotions overwhelming her as the reality that both grandpa and mom are gone.  

She had cancer but Covid came along and preyed on that cancer situation and took her life.  She was 52.  I may have to find the time to go to this funeral.  I would likely know many of the people that would show up, people I haven't seen or talked to in decades. I doubt it's going to be anything fun, but I feel the need to go.  I'm just not sure about whether I have to have the vax to fly - if I do I won't be going as it will take too long to drive there and back.  

May sound selfish, but I need not go into the reasons why I refuse to get the vaccination regardless of the consequences.  Mostly, my health and life are at stake and I believe the vax will do more harm than not getting it and getting Covid.  As far as I know, I have already had Covid anyway.  If I didn't have it, then what was it I had when everyone else in the house had it?  It appears as tho for domestic travel you need only wear a mask.  

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It's relatively early, 8:00 am Monday morning.  I'm going to spend the entire day working at the property. The homeless guy was asked by his regular person to go work with him, so I'm going it alone.  It is what it is. I wish I could at least take the dogs, but I can't focus on keeping them nearby and working at the same time. I will be mixing it up between the machine and the chainsaw all day long. I'm going to take the machine to the back of the intended rv park and start cleaning up the brush filled clearing back there.  No trees to have to come down at all.  I will work on taking down trees back there as well, the front can wait for another day.  It doesn't really matter, it all needs to come down so where I am working isn't really that relevant.  

But I was on Facebook - of which I am still under a 30 day suspension which is up at the first of October (and I make no guarantees how long it will be before I get suspended again, I'm not going to be nannied and mothered by a social media outlet) - and read of the passing of my friend last night, so I felt compelled to get on here and make some kind of entry.  Haven't been doing as many entries lately - but I have been rather busy. Work has been shoving the loads at me and of course there is the property. If it's not one, it's the other.  

This is part of an entry I was writing yesterday when I got distracted..." I would like to say that I have my "act" together with this project, but I seriously do not.  

The new chain saw that threw the chain the other day? I got home from work this morning and started trying to figure out what the deal was.  It took me a while to figure out that this brand new chain saw with a brand new chain that hadn't been used more than an hour and half? The chain was already bad.  

I've done a lot of chain sawing in my lifetime, never have I had that happen. Yes, there was ample suppy of bar oil, the whole thing was amply coated with it.  I wondered if they had put the wrong size chain on at the thing at the manufacturer.  

Whatever the case, once I realized the chain was binding up in the bar, I put a new chain on it and walaah, the thing worked fine.

So, I headed over to the property after messing with that thing for well over an hour - at least I know how to replace a chain on it now - and got to work.  I realized the bar oil jug was missing. James located it - on the front porch where I had absent mindedly left it the other day. 

A lady in a late model pickup stopped out front. Lots of people are curious what I am doing out there.  I walked up to her - she might have useful information, if nothing else, she's probably a neighbor and I want to meet everyone.  She went into the history of my property. Mr. Cook - the road is named after him - had a hay meadow going where all of these trees are currently at. What? Really? 

She went on to say she can't imagine trying to cut all of that down with chainsaws, she has an acquaintance that does land clearing - for a price of course.  $125 an hour.  

That's pretty expensive, I replied. She says, yes but he his very good at it and can get it done fast.  It's very tempting. If could spend a few thousand dollars and get a lion's share of that done quickly, I would consider that money well spent.  

But, I spent the money on these chainsaws. I gave up on it today. It's Sunday, I forgot the bar oil, I already drove today to finish out the Oklahoma route, fix the chainsaw, go over there, forget the bar oil - I just gave up..    "

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So there it is.  I knew this time was coming - when I would have to force myself to get up and get out of here and go to the property and go to work. I can't say it's been easy.  I could easily just sit here all day long, after all the driving I've been doing lately, and just call it recuperation day.  Easily....do.....that. 

But I can't. It's something that must be done, in my mind anyway. I went through all of this hellish stuff to get this property, now I have it, the time is here.  But I know I will be driving all day tomorrow - likely anyway.  I'm no spring chicken and I don't have the energy I once had, but, I think I can get it done, it will just take longer than it might if I were 20 years younger.  

I think America is in for some dark times with this current administration.  If Afghanistan is a taste of things to come, we are not in for a fun ride.  Congress is hastily determined to pass 5 trillion worth of instant debt.  I still sit in wonder at that amount of money - and who is going to get all of this money?  What kind of shady deals are going on that we don't know about? Who is going to get instantly rich off of all of this?  What kind of personal gains might these politicians be getting that we know nothing about?  Who is holding these people accountable? Who is going to oversee all of this ocean of money to ensure it is spent according to the purposes it was intended for and that it won't be rife with waste and fraud?  WHO is going to pay for all of this? We are already seeing it - it's going to be dumped on the backs of working Americans who are already paying taxes through the nose for everything.  I could show you one of my paychecks as proof of that statement....

My only answer is that whatever is happening, it is a spiritual battle and God is still God, still sitting on the Throne and still the Creator.  My only question is, is my name written in the Lamb's Book of Life?  Because everything else that goes on in this life pales in comparison to the answer to that question.  The reality of all of these people that I have known that have passed away bring that to the forefront.  

Whatever the case, time is slipping away and I must go to work.

G'day.