Relaxing Saturday

Today’s post is going to be predominantly photos. I’ll try to include some context for you. I was up with my alarm at seven and out the door by half past. I grabbed a McBreakfast and coffee for Theodore Complete on my way to his place. We met up and took his boat to fish. I tried the drone briefly at the launch even.

Theodore Complete caught all the fish on this day and I was a relatively terrible net person. This is a Goldeye, we’d never heard of it and had to phone a friend.

We had named three possible destinations to choose from for this adventure and rolled a d4, the number three was a re-roll. After rolling three threes he rolled a two and we were locked in for the Lake if it was calm or the Wabi if it wasn’t. We went up the river.

He also caught the second and final fish of the day. We laughed that it may have been the same fish twice. We’ll never know. I suspect they were different and this was a bigger catch.

One thing was for sure, the scenery was absolutely majestic. We even saw some wildlife in the form of a small black bear. I thought it was a statue that a homeowner put out. But when it sat down amd eventually disappeared I thought differently. It was a great adventure trolling up river and then back down again.

I got a number of bites and failed to set the hook on anything. My crowning achievement of the day outside filming with a GoPro on my hat was aiming at and hitting of the downspouts on a bridge with a cast. It made a satisfying dinging noise and my tackle landed in the water. We had a hearty laugh. I was getting deadly accurate with my heavy 1/4oz jig head and paddle tail by the end. We got off the water ahead of three.

STL Sister my BIL brought some unique USA chip flavours and we selected some only in Canada chips. We had an international chip taste testing. It wasn’t a competition and no blind folds were used, we just tried them. Big T missed it being still in the field. There were some interesting offerings.

Personally, of the fourteen flavours, I think I enjoyed the Lays Summer BLT the most. Only because you could progressively taste the various components as you chewed. I found that interesting. With a belly full of water and chips I was feeling better.

Big T and Jacko figured out what was causing the combine to overheat and eventually got back to it. I got a shot of them figuring it out even with the drone. The rad was plugged with dust because they didn’t clean the combine last year and soybean dust is persistent.

They did manage to finish the field around four in the afternoon and got all the wagons dumped and the auger out away.

This guy needs better PPE. They removed a lot of caked on dust, or at least transferred it. He looked like this for several hours, not sure how he could stand it. Jacko cleaned himself up right after.

My BIL took over the grilling duties while I did other things and he did a nice job of it.

Pretty healthy supper to follow up on the chips in the late afternoon.

Here is the whole gang set to enjoy a meal together.

My parents bought some classic desserts for us. So I guess not that healthy. We saw a Try Channel video where they had Vachon cakes and Big T was inspired. Apparently STL Sister had snooped these out and gotten into them previously in the day so some were missing.

We capped the day off with a fire and wiener roast. We invited a bunch of family to join us and had a nice evening. The starry sky was beautiful to behold. The Tugboat had a few beers even, something that has started to become uncharacteristic. Hopefully we get the chance to enjoy more nights like this.

The Journey

My day started rudely early again. Those fools next door were raging again at five in the morning. Luckily I’m leaving town for a spell and hopefully they’ve got it out of their system by the time I return. I tried to get back to sleep for a bit but eventually gave in and got myself ready. I descended to the kitchen and prepared breakfast and drinks for my guests. When the food was consumed and the dishes done I started packing. I had a good haul of stuff but felt I was missing something. This resulted in some aimless wandering in the house trying to discern what it was. I guess I’ll find out. Included in my items was the new plant I bought this week, too week to survive alone I figured I’d better bring it. The fact that it fit in the cup holder was added gold.

We got away at half past eight as planned and fuelled up our vehicles as we left with some more reasonably priced southern fuel. I took the lead on the highway and we zipped across to the big smoke. Once we got to the express lanes things started to be the opposite of express. It turned into stop and go and then just stop. Apparently there had been an accident the previous night that required an investigation and they closed half the highway. People respond poorly to that kind of thing. I found myself yelling at some fools. It was brutal right to our turn-off. Then it got extra crazy due to the setup in the collectors (Siri made me go there). You can see below a very slight glimpse of the tomfoolery that transpired.

The remainder of the drive was less eventful. There were a couple traffic snarls in expected areas. There was so much yelling at these spots that I was starting to lose my voice. I kept working on my licorice snack. I was jamming to my iPod from 2007 that I’d resurrected. The others went to Weber’s for burgers, something on their to-do list whilst visiting. My plan was to meet Booj in the Bay but he had to bail so I decided to fuel up one tank there and empty another instead. I got to have a long chat with a corn breeder on the phone for part of the journey but mostly focused on the tunes. It was like opening a musical time capsule. Without stops I got home ahead of the others, I won the race they didn’t know they were in. I had a quick meal and then headed to the field to see what they were up to. Apparently they were taking off the field of two row malt barley. I popped in for a second and the combine was overheating, not good. We had to head to town so Big T let Jacko take over and we headed in packed into one vehicle.

As much of an early start as we got off to, naturally someone else was faster. It helps when you have a harvest fleet. These operators had four combines in the field with a buggy, some trucks and a lot of wagons. They took off a large field completely in a couple hours. Very neat to see.

Dinner was a special treat. The last time I was up, I missed the famous pizzas by the Mayor. I would not make that mistake again. He made nine pies, it was likely one too many. My Sudbury Sister and the Irish Gal showed up just in time for the second wave. He made a variety as well. I think my favourite was prosciutto. The Beth-erita was the most intriguing and complex. It was nice to sit and chat with aunts and uncles I grew up around but haven’t seen often anymore. Another batch showed up as well with some cousins. That meant that the Big T got to dine with his three sisters. I dined with my two. We were there until fairly late before returning home.

By the time we got back I was feeling the early morning and long drive. I hung in for a few minutes but it was long after ten when I shut it down and made for bed. I get to sleep in a brand new Queen bed my parents bought this past week. Partly because I whined about the footboard on the old one and partly because I bought a nicer bed for them when they visit. Even though they didn’t use it last time. For taking such a journey like this on Friday the thirteenth I’d say things went pretty okay. It was a decent day, even if it was a long one.

Anticipation Day

The day started early and angry. Some complete idiot wailed on his car horn at 5am. One long, extended honk. I was pretty pissed off. Then just as I was nipping back to sleep the thunder started rolling in. Long, loud bursts shaking the house. During that the fools next door decided to watch something with super loud bass. I couldn’t win. I guess the universe needed me up at 5am. That was not ideal. In my waking stupor I apparently did a whack of French lessons and reviewed all of Twitter. I got my day going after that, around seven. Breakfast featured the usual suspects with a special guest appearance by raspberry lemonade. It was a positive. Work started at eight and I got busy right away. I had hour meetings stacked up at 9, 10, 11am and 1pm. I scheduled a lunch for myself a couple weeks ago or I might have had something else. I ate the last of the Gutfill Gumbo before my one o’clock. The fridge is getting emptied out nicely before I leave. After my afternoon meeting I ducked out to grab some Picard’s Peanuts for my family. I had nearly forgotten that I was supposed to do that. I hustled home and prepared for my two hour meeting to close out the day. At five I again ducked out, this time to get my hair cut. It was interesting. I was able to walk right in. I didn’t recognize the girl that was going to cut my hair, which isn’t surprising since I move had limited cuts in the last two years. Turns out it was the girl who I’d had a great run of good haircuts from. Someone else said her name and I realized it was her. She looked rough. Poor girl must have made some serious lifestyle changes since last we did business. And she started talking and sounded bad. She was saying stupid things and laughing strangely. I hope she is okay. The haircut was average. She did mention she couldn’t tell that I’d been getting COVID cuts and thought my last cut must have been there. So good job Mother! I got home and started packing, not long after word came through. STL Sister had gotten through the border and is in the country. They left this morning and after a quick stop here they are heading North, and so am I. They are going to arrive hours ahead of when I expected them so we decided to have a late dinner. That meant I should have a snack. I had some chocolate and this stunningly appetizing morsel.

I watched some YouTube and packed while I waited. All my leisure stuff is packed up and most of the clothes I’ll need. At about twenty to eight my STL sister and BIL arrived! They’d made it through the border smoothly. Being their first visit to the Harbour I gave them a tour and then we went to Boston Pizza since she has some kind of obsession with that place. They went with the namesake and ordered pizza whilst I had the other half of a dinner with a Cactus Cut appetizer. There had been some thai bites as their appetizer. The meal was tasty and it was fun to eat on a patio and have some laughs.

We returned to the Harbour and they got their stuff in the house. Part of that stuff was my birthday present. They elected to present it to me here rather than make me haul it all back from the Northlands. I had provided a list of things via an Amazon to Mother and siblings. These items are from the list. There is a ratcheting wire crimper, a wire stripper/crimper combo, and the real prize, a device to allow me to run my boat motor in the driveway. It attaches to the hose and pumps water into the intakes to simulate in water operation. I’m excited to try that and see if my motor runs.

There wasn’t much left to the day. I had shown them the big screen in the basement already and they knew where they’d be sleeping. We set our plans for the morning and got to bed. It was nearly eleven when I passed out.

Productive Hump

A storm ripped through early this morning, around four. It woke me up. It was a classic summer storm, continuous thunder and nearly constant lightning, mostly heat lightning. It was amazing to watch but I wanted to sleep more than watch it so managed to force myself to sleep and into a disturbing dream. It was twenty to six when I came to and since I had an early night I felt it an appropriate time to rise. I did my morning routine and then trimmed my beard. The fortnightly trim likely won’t happen until I return from my journey. Next move was to get laundry started and then prepare a beautiful breakfast. The cheese was messier than ideal but it was a lovely meal.

I was early for work so took the opportunity to Muse on something’s and got you fully caught up. Thanks for coming back. If you ever forget where you were in the queue, my STL sister and Mother use a neat trick. They throw a like on a post and it shows up red so they know they’ve read it. Try that. Anywho, my work day started a bit after eight as I wanted to wrap the Musing up before I switched over. The corn meeting continued but it was an information only section for me today. As such I put the meeting on my iPad to be more mobile. I put in some laundry and used the timer on my phone to keep things moving as fast as possible with that. I got email skinnied down and solved a few issues. At one point I was down to seven emails. I was able to take the meeting with me to the garage and did a little project late morning. It was so humid that I got soaked in sweat from just standing around. It was 28°C and feeling like 38°C, yikes. I came back in and around half noon I warmed up some leftover Gutfill Gumbo and had a short rest in my bed, all while still on the call. I really love that ability and the kind of call I don’t need notes for. The call ended after one and I took a few minutes to review the agenda and make mental notes before moving on to a crazy task.

It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity! When it gets this hot it is a danger to my health. Very high risk of heat stroke or passing out. As GRP says, “if you stop sweating, you’re dead!”

Despite it being dangerously hot and there being multiple warnings about heat and storms I decided I needed to cut the lawn. I forgot to get you a before picture but rest assured that it was a mess. Really disgusting. I did the back lawn in both directions. My blade isn’t great and I keep the mower high cause the lady next door asked me to. This means that I make a pass then come back on the same pass. So I did that one direction and then rotated 90° and did it again. Each blade of grass got four passes. It looks much better now. Towards the end I saw a light coloured twig start to take off across the grass. I got up closer and saw it was a big praying mantis. Biggest I’ve ever seen. Had to snap a pic of that. He watched me for a long time, probably pissed I destroyed his home. Sorry pal, I own it.

I quickly cleaned up the mower and overfilled it with gas. I blame my panting. I had to clean up my legs, wet grass is a lot messier to deal with and we’d had a storm in the morning so it was barely dry enough to tackle. But the forecast for tomorrow was not better. I sweated it out for a half hour and then brushed my hair and prepared for a meeting. My day wrapped shortly after that meeting. I rushed down to the kitchen and started my meal. The board wanted cardboard pizza but I figured I would dress it up some. I thinly sliced a chicken breast on a Great Value brand Four Meat pizza. It’s five now! Then I added a paltry sprinkling of shredded Tex Mex cheese before cooking. Afterwards I added some Cholula hot sauce and some Great Value brand Jalapeño Cheddar Cheese Crunchies over the top. It was magnificent. Cooked to perfection. The crunch that I added was amazing and the zip was just right. I’ll do it again, no question!

After dinner I went out and pulled a couple larger weeds that came thru the fence. That was a much sweatier task that anticipated. Next I tried to make Marvel Strike Force work on my Mini but it outright refused. I tried it ten times and then reinstalled and tried it five more times. That is enough replication to know it ain’t working. I’ll have to get a new device, maybe after my GoPro is paid off. Not long after I was prepping for D&D. Big session tonight as we try to escape the purple worm nursery. I have good news, we got out! And we turned a group of potential enemies into uneasy allies. We were all very surprised with how it went. I would say that plays out like that one in ten times, or less. We got back to our home base and rested and healed and then we levelled up! Huge night, we’re all level ten now. Next level I get an extra attack and will become a force. I’m excited in case you couldn’t tell. Bed was next up and I managed to conk out pretty quickly this time. It was ahead of eleven I think.

Comfy Tuesday

Good start to the day. I was awake and moving before half six and had myself ready to seize the carp ahead of seven. I made a snap judgement to go get McBreakfast and do that shopping I failed at over the weekend. I ripped into Walmart and dropped a $120 on stuff. Maybe not a stellar idea since I’m embarking on a journey of relaxation and discovery at the end of the week but I was strategic in most of my purchases. One in particular was not. I mentioned previous that I needed to get Q-tips. Well I bought the box of 500 that I needed and a back box. When I got home and went to stow the backup box I discovered under the bathroom sink that I’d done the same last time and thus I’d had a box of 500 the whole time! So now I have 1498 cotton swabs.

The work days started at eight and it started fairly fast. Emails were flying back and forth and then I joined a soybean call similar to the corn meeting from the previous day. The corn meeting continued today but was starting thirty minutes later. Good thing too, Canada presented their content first in the soybean meeting and I was called upon to add some colour and to answer some questions for the broader group. I was surprisingly prepared for that. Then I put the corn meeting on my iPad. So I had both going at once and I would mute one or the other depending on the topic and it’s relevance to me. Both meetings ended around one and that’s when I had my lunch. I had a Southwest salad that I cut up a leftover chicken breast into. That added a lot more substance to the salad and made it a meal. I downed a few pints of water at lunch to go along with the three I’d had already in the morning. I settled a handful of affairs in the afternoon before finishing my day with a customer call. That was fun. The customer seemed a bit nervous so im not sure what he wasn’t telling me. I took some extra time to poke around with questions but I’m not sure I got it. Either way, work ended for me at half five. I stepped out to see what nature was doing and saw that I missed a massive storm by a few miles. That is good as I’m hoping to be able to cut the grass before I go. It’s gotten out of hand.

The meal board told me to make Tugboat’s Gutfill Gumbo so that is just what I did. I wanted to use up some ground pork and refresh some of the cans of veggies so this was an excellent way to do it. What wasn’t smart was the leftovers it created. I’ll have to sort that out. While I was preparing this delicacy, BDP called and was driving home from my old farm. He said he would stop in if I was cooking something good. It was a hard pass when I described the dish. I’ll have to ask him what part turned him off. Ha!

I ate a bowl and a bit and it was a load. This batch was much spicier than usual so I had to take a short break. I reviewed my personal emails and read online. When I recovered enough, I climbed back into the helm and worked on the backlog of Musings. You dedicated readers know I was nearly a week behind and that would not abide. Around half eight I got a Snapchat call, didn’t even know that was a thing, from She. We had mentioned we needed to catch up and that’s what we did. We talked for an hour about nonsense, including Gorlak. I let her know about my journey and she caught me up on her progress in school. We had a couple of laughs, those are rare these days. It was half nine when she had to go dry her hair, something about a hair mask? Anyways, I did a bit more computing before finding the sack just ahead of ten and by my reckoning I was passed out shortly after the bells.

Monday Funday

Monday featured a late start. It was around half seven when I hit the shower. With such a late beginning I opted to forego breakfast. I got on my computer at eight and started cleaning up the emails that emanated from the weekend. I got everything prepared for a number of meetings that were on the books. I had my regular Monday meeting that luckily ended very early so I got to participate in all of it before jumping over to a semi-annual meeting with a larger NA corn team. That one was going to be multiple days and mostly an information dump. There wasn’t much in the way of discussion or planning, just telling everyone what was going to happen. I find that a troubling trend nowadays, groups break off and decide what is going to happen then tell the rest of us. No input from broader perspectives. It’s seen as more efficient and for those making the call I’m just it’s more convenient. Anyways, let’s not vent here. That meeting consumed the rest of the morning. I wasn’t going to have a chance for lunch with a subsequent meeting following that one so when we had a break around half ten I made a move. I used the fifteen minutes we were given to shoot down to the kitchen and cook a can of soup, Campbell’s Chunky Potato and Bacon to be precise. I also snagged a picture of last week’s meal board to show you how I did. Perfect score! But it was pointed out to me that my choices have devolved back into the easy to make slush that I was eating before I got the board, I’m just documenting it. I’m trying to have one reach meal a week and the burritos and coconut shrimp both fit that bill. Much more meticulous effort required to prepare them at least. Anyways, I’ll try to work on mixing in a salad once in awhile.

I hustled back to the meeting and ate the soup around eleven when it finally cooled enough to be enjoyable. I’m telling you, it’s a weird deal to be eating soup at that hour in the morning. But without breakfast and no chance until nearly three for lunch, sometimes you have to adapt.

I had my meetings after the big meeting and then I had a gap of time. Around three I did shoot out to grab a bit of lunch, I went to McDonald’s and got myself a Junior Chicken and a Skor McFlurry. I feel like the McFlurry cups used to be bigger when I was younger, they must have shrunk them down as they raised the price. Inflation is only going to get worse I keep reminding myself. I had a fruitful call at four and then was followed up by a call with my team member Brack and my closest colleague after that. By the time the dust settled it was six and I powered off the computer. I went to the kitchen and followed the instruction of the board and made a version of bangers and mash. I cooked some sweet italian sausages in the air fryer while I nuked a potato in the microwave. I inserted some butter into the smoldering spud and a pinch of salt before laying waste to it with a fork. I sent the photo below to a few people via Snapchat and She replied that she was aghast and offended by the sausage. I decided to bun them up with some cheese and mustard rather than just saw them up on the plate. I had a second such bunned sausage as well.

I was into my podcast epidsodes that piled up during the day and spent some time just sitting on the living room love seat and listening after I’d cleaned up the mess from dinner. After an hour or so of that I switched on the television and did some YouTube watching in the living room. Around half eight I did some squats, something I’ve started doing daily. I am trying for 25 squats but hoping for two reps of that. Around nine I met up with Ronny Ronks and we played some C&C: Red Alert. It took us nearly an hour to vanquish two medium level foes on separate teams. A year ago we were battling multiple hard level enemies that were on the same team. We’re rusty. We spent time chatting for nearly an hour after as well. It was a good catchup and time well spent. I came out of that encounter feeling more normal and much better about things. I hope he also felt better. It was nearly eleven when I tapped out for the day.

Tossed Away Day 2

Slept in later than planned and didn’t even make it to the truck this time before bailing on groceries. I was not in a great state on this day. I didn’t really get out of bed for a number of hours. There was no refreshing shower to wash the funk away. I just reveled in it. I kept the blinds drawn and just crawled away from the world. I had a number of things I should have done today but didn’t end up doing any of them. I just avoided everything. Around ten I got out of bed and fired up my computer. I played my MSC challenges for the day and sent some messages to Ronny Ronks to see how he was doing. We are supposed to go to a driving range but it was looking like that wasn’t going to happen any time soon, but I wanted to keep the conversation going with him. I played some C&C: Red Alert in his honour. It had been a long time since I’d fired up that game. I got up to get some water and ended up going to the basement instead. It was around midday when I got down there and I fired up Netflix and that was it. From maybe one until bedtime I lived down there. I skipped breakfast outright choosing to have something out of the microwave mid-morning and then I had some Stouffers Bistro Crustini Steak and Cheese paninis late in the afternoon. I didn’t take any photos for you, first time in a very long time that I’d not done that. It was a shameful waste of a day and I don’t really want to talk about it. Let’s agree to leave it at that.

Tossed Away Day 1

Woke up before six. Got showered and ready. McBreakfast. Started to get groceries but talked myself out of it. I really wanted to get eggs, chips and Q-tips. The rest wasn’t that required. I decided it could wait. Got home and ate my breakfast then caught up fully on my MSC challenges. First time in a month. Did some other internetting and researched a couple of things. Then I did some shopping for a GoPro9 and more and more I am thinking I will go for it. In the meantime I did some testing with the GoPro3 that the Chef lent me. I tested the new clip I bought with a flimsy cap. I wanted to see the angle it filmed from, feel the weight and overall what it was like. It worked well. I did a few tests amd took this screenshot from a short video I sent to a few people for feedback. The fisheye effect was the common theme so I looked into how to correct that. Either a newer camera or software. Another reason to buy I guess.

Around half twelve I took the cold large pizza from the fridge and went downstairs. At six I came up with an empty box. I had a Cameron Crowe themed afternoon having watched Jerry Maguire and then Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Jerry Maguire is good, so many iconic moments. A few people let me know how much they hated Tom Cruise when I shared my activities but I feel differently about it. Really enjoyed the movie. The other one felt like a more raw Dazed and Confused. Way more nudity than I remembered. I had the cold chicken bites from yesterday after that. I watched one more movie in the evening and then went to bed ahead of ten. It was ten thirty when sleep took me. Several items on the to-do list remained undone.

Unexpected Friday

I used the last of the eggs to make the shrimp so I had to shoot out for a McBreakfast. I’m becoming more comfortable with that it would seem, getting back to my old bad habits. I regret nothing. I had a conference call to start the day and one call lead to another and then another. I was tied up on the horn for most of the morning. I did manage to get a couple hours of solid work in before stopping at half one. I got my inbox pared down to under ten active issues again and I was glad for it. For lunch I ate the last of the burrito leftovers and then I lost all my drive. I deflated into a downer afternoon. I had some plans to go out to my old farm and grab their sprayer and take care of my property like I should but I totally whiffed on that. Instead I did nothing. Eventually I ordered some Pizza Pizza, I think around four thirty. It was a big order, the kind that will be two or maybe three meals worth of food. Minutes after finishing my order I got a call out of the blue from my colleague BDP’s wife. They were returning from the Big Smoke where they had been having a family vacation for the last few days. Two years ago, while doing the same things they stopped in my town for supper with me. I revealed my situation and they suggested I park my freshly ordered food in the fridge and go see them. I struggled with the decision for a few minutes before deciding it was the right thing to go. My food came shortly after and I crammed it in the fridge and then waited. They asked me to go early to get a table then showed up late. It was a quick dinner, happens with kids in the mix. Their youngest really wanted me to order a burger, he was unreasonably excited about it. I did just that, choosing the one pictured below, the Ultimate Bacon Cheeseburger. It was tasty but not as pictured exactly. The onion was on the bottom and I’m not sure it actually had peameal bacon. Nobody could see though because I inhaled that thing and crushed the super greasy kettle chips. I was full when the meal ended.

It was nice to see them but other than having broken conversation with the kids and watching them them (her) try to reign the kids in we didn’t cover much ground in terms of a catch-up. There was more work talk than expected. Not long after I came home and did some MSC challenges. Felt instantly tired when I sat at the helm. Not long after I watched YouTube after until asleep around ten. It was a fairly quiet night on top of a quiet afternoon with a blip in the middle.

Field Adventure

Breakfast was homegrown today and there was not a sense of urgency in its preparation. I was up early and took my time crafting a delightful repaste. I was down to the last few eggs when I started with no real plan to get more. Generally my food shops are guided by the Family Feasts but they’re paused for now so I’m off kilter. Making up for it were these supple breakfast samidges. It was a few minutes after eight when I made my way to the helm for a morning of effort.

Today was planned to be an adventure in the field. I was going to visit one of our internal locations and then visit with a customer for most of the afternoon. I’d locked in those plans and I was trying to find a couple hours in the morning to see another customer but they bailed basically when we were supposed to meet. Not much notice there. But I’m getting ahead of myself. The fires I stirred up yesterday seem to have caught and my morning turned from a leisurely drive to see some plots to an inferno of questions and emails. I had to push back my planned departure time and then I had to do it again. Eventually I had to cut out the visit to the internal site altogether. I left with only minutes to spare and the need to make up some time on the drive. I got a McLunch on the way out of town and drove for over ninety minutes to reach my destination. I went with a customer to some plots and they showed me how a favour I did for them in the spring was paying off and helping their business, that was nice to see. Then we convoyed to a plot where they wanted me to see a few things and where I wanted to chat about their portfolio and generally catch up. It had been over a year since I’d seen them. We exchanged some hot goss and had some good conversations. What they wanted me to see is pictured below, some Sudden Death Syndrome symptons on the right and a clear line where the next plot starts and there are no symptoms. The catch is that both plots are the same variety. There is a treatment difference. We walked all the way to the trees back there while trying to discern what it could be and looking for other signs of the disease. It was awesome!

We looked at some corn before calling it a day. They had to get home by a certain time to bring their kids places. I didn’t have that issue and seriously considered ripping down to the lake just to look at it. I was wishing I’d had thrown my rod and reel in. But I also had responsibilities this evening so I turned the truck towards home and pushed down hard on the accelerator. I got home around six from my outing and started into my dinner. The meal board wanted me to make coconut shrimp from the air fryer cookbook. I complied reluctantly. I used smaller shrimp than suggested because I wanted to use it up and that meant I had to do a lot more breading. This recipe has three bowls in the breading line so it took me quite a while to get enough ready to go in the basket. Then I prepared another batch while the others cooked. They look less burned in the photo below. They were perfectly done and I ate nearly everything you see here. The dip wasn’t the one suggested in the recipe but rather some chipotle mayo that I’d bought. It was adequate for the purpose.

After an exhaustive cleanup and with a gut full of shrimp I started to prepare for D&D. I thought I would be much tighter for time but it seemed to work out beautifully for me. I had some time to look a couple of things for future plans and answer some personal emails before converting my mind over to the game. We had a great session, we were still in the midst of our encounter and moved things along. One of the party pulled out a seemingly worthless spell to save the day. I was very afraid at one point having made a somewhat brash decision for my character. He was definitely in the crosshairs and got messed up really bad. I was able to limp away and get myself partially healed, avoiding death for now. I’m optimistic that we’ll be able to accomplish our goal and get the hell out of there next time. It will likely take us three sessions to do this encounter that is probably only supposed to take one but that’s the fun of it, you never know what is going to happen. I was pretty wired from the game so didn’t go to sleep right away, it was probably half eleven when I finally faded to black. Fun day!

Mundane Hump

I decided to outsource breakfast today, as such I got a McBreakfast to treat myself and conserve my eggs. I started work shortly after that and I’m not exactly sure what happened in the morning. It’s sort of disappeared.

I worked on some invoicing stuff, mainly raising attention to the lingering things clogging up my inbox. Since I’d started down that road I found other things to stir up. Generally I was a pain in the bum hole for anyone that hadn’t finished a task I needed done. Some have been dragging on for weeks and I was tired of it. I decided to hold some people accountable. Lunch happened late for some reason. I warmed up a measured amount of burrito leftovers and made a couple of wraps to try and fill the void.

Afternoon was meetings and actions from those meetings. Work ended at half five and I went to play HomeScapes instead of supper. Eventually made cardboard pizza while crushing Return of the King and playing the damn game. Around nine I finished the whole house, only to find there is another house! And a third area?! No thanks, I’m done. Cold Turkey baby. Light YouTube to coast to bedtime.

Forgetable Tuesday

To clarify the title, I’m not saying Forge Table Tuesday. I wasn’t involved with any forge table or related activity. I made a typo when typing out forgettable and thought that forge table sounded cool. It’s not a thing although googling it does bring up a lot of impressive looking tables that one would keep in a forge. There is a pretty kickass knife maker who’s brand is Forge to Table as well. Impressive looking stuff. None of this has anything to do with my actual day, I was just explaining the typo that some of you will have instantly noticed. Not that I’m a stranger to typos, most of my writing happens as fast as my little sausages can travel the keyboard and editing isn’t really a thing. Maybe if readership balloons up I’d take the time but this appears to be mostly for me and for some hackers based in Virginia, various Eastern Bloc countries and some parts of Asia, mainly Singapore. I mean, my family and some friends will check in once a week or so but mostly I’m the primary user of the site, which is fine with me. It’s my journal, but I make it publically available on the internet. Alright, enough stalling, I’ll talking about my mundane day. I was up by seven, had my normal breakfast, it was fantastic. I was aggressive on the French lessons and put myself high up in the league, hopefully I can coast the rest of the week. I started working at eight and got my teeth into a hardcore data entry task. I had to take a number from one spreadsheet and type it into another. A task that having two monitors is meant for. But couldn’t you have used V-LOOKUP to do that faster and more efficiently? Maybe, but the sheets are organized much differently and the names in the like column probably aren’t the same across the board. Plus, I love doing it this way. Toss on a podcast or my audiobook and just lose myself in the work. And that is exactly what happened. I did that the entire morning and made a substantial dent in the task before lunch. I did build in some breaks so that I didn’t lose myself completely in it. I put in a load of laundry I should have done over the four day weekend but “didn’t get around to it.” I had Siri set a timer for one hour each time I touched the laundry. That made me get up hourly to go change loads and eventually fold the clothes and then once to just stop and think about the clothes. Around quarter past noon I hustled to the kitchen to prepare my lunch. I warmed up some leftover burrito filling and wrapped up two of them. It was very quick, two and half minutes to cook, two and a half minutes to eat, a half minute to cleanup. For the rest of my twenty minute break I watered the flowers and then played a couple levels of HomeScapes. I fielded a call from the Chef during that portion of my break. It turned my planned twenty minutes into more like forty. I got back to work before a quick meeting with my boss to check in. I had one more conversation with a co-worker around four, otherwise it was data entry time. I stopped at half five, mostly done the entire task. I’ll double check it tomorrow to be sure. Dinner was prescribed by the board and was two packages of Our Finest brand Pad Thai. It took me a bit ot get that down with my chopsticks.

I watched some YouTube courtesy of the living room television and then went upstairs to really take on HomeScapes. The end is in site, I’m in the last area of the game and just have to complete one or two more days of tasks and it’s over. I can stop bleeding money into this game. I am scared to know the total I’ve invested at this point, I know it’s in the hundreds, I pray not in the thousands. I had meant to take a break at one point to pull some weeds under the deck but I could not be stopped. Well, I could and I did, around ten. The whole evening I was consuming the Two Towers. I will finish it tomorrow. As it was I found sleep around half ten.

Civic Monday

Sleep was more readily available and when I awoke at half six it stuck. I still languished in my sheets for a time but not so long as the previous two attempts to wake at a good hour. I got myself cleaned up and did some work on my MSC challenges, determined to close the gap today. After only a short bout with that and then with some YouTube I set my devices to charge and went to prepare a breakfast. Ever since I’d bought extra tomato when shopping for the last Family Feast I knew that I was going to end up making a toasted tomato sandwich. A much prized meal in my family. My late grandmother would painstakingly prepare these for the Big T. I decided to add some extra cruch with a bit of bacon. I used two and a half slices of tomato on each of the two samidges that I prepared as well as two and a half slices of bacon. My tangy Miracle Whip was out of advised range so I pivoted to bacon ranch salad dressing. I put on a health smear on the top and bottom of the samidges but it was completely a non-factor. Nothing can replace the tangy zip of Miracle Whip, NOTHING! I toasted the bread (leftover from my family’s visit) in the pan after I’d poured out the majority of the grease. I will say that this was an excellent way to start the day. Two enthusiastic thumbs way up.

With a charged belly and mind I returned to the task I’d started previously. I leaned into it with a renewed fervour and before noon I’d become a champion again. I managed to be perfect for another month. I think in November that will be two perfect years, many months to go before that happens. I cleaned up the two days worth of challenges for August while I was at it. Since I was on the computer and it was asked of me, I started work on a list of birthday gift ideas to share with my family. We’re officially in the month of my birth now, so they usually get pretty antsy for ideas. I’m probably hard to shop for. I prepared an Amazon wish list that will be reasonable in price and also give them a couple of options if they decide to go buy something the old fashioned way. Most of the ideas are practical, that makes it less jazzy but I’m still excited to see what they come up with.

It had been a few hours since I fed so when the computing was complete I made my way to the kitchen. I thought about making an elaborate meal that would take lots of time but I only needed to kill the amount of time it would take to charge my FitBit. I plugged it and more or less decided I was tied to the kitchen. I make a can of Campbells Chunky Butter Chicken and Vegetables soup with some crackers to make it impossibly thick. I also rolled up two slices of cheese with some mustard to have a mockery of the sandwich portion of the meal. I decided it was too beautiful of a day to be inside anymore so I ate my lunch on the deck. I didn’t see anyone else out, not sure what that’s about, maybe they all went away for the holiday weekend? I noticed that my grub situation isn’t improving but it hasn’t got much worse either. I’m not sure what to do about it. I also need to trim the big weeds around the fence again. The grass isn’t very long yet, I think it can wait a few more days. Then I should cut it before I go North and it will remain passable for the duration of my absence. While I wanted for the FitBit to charge I wrote up some Musings on my phone and did some light research on topics of interest, mainly the Leafs.

Rather than turn on the TV and waste another day of my life, I decided to bring my charged FitBit for an outing. I walked up to the mailbox to pick up my incoming mail. I had a package and some junk. The package was some pez candy I’d ordered previously. It had given me the range of August 2 to August 28, I’m glad it was on the front side of the range, probably delivered on July 29 since the mail hasn’t gone on the other days and today being a holiday. Since I’d just watched Jurassic World, I elected to put the first sleeve, strawberry, into Blue, the raptor from the movie.

I started doing some research and then I starting transferring my scribbles on a notepad into the computer and I realized for my next D&D character I need to decide on a character. I’m waffling between one and a multi-class of it and something else. I thought it would be easy to make them both at once and use the same backstory and pick one but it’s clear I can’t do that. It’s getting really complicated. I did that for too long before getting up to do the next thing. That was to dig my golf clubs out of storage for the first time in several years. Since 2018 it looks like. I went through all the pockets of my bag and found a few treasures. My cigar cutters were in there. I thought they were lost or stolen and replaced them a few years back. Turns out they were alive and well. Found four lighters in the bag too, not sure why. I took out a plastic bag filled with dirty balls, not sure the story there. Either way, it was a walk down memory lane.

All that rummaging and cleaning took time and before I knew it, it was nearly five. I decided to make a more elaborate dinner since I had the time and I was doing stuff today apparently. My meal board said burritos so I took the full path to make them. I cooked the chicken in the air fryer and warmed up some corn niblets and black beans. I pulled the chicken with a couple of forks and finished it in my new pan from the Chef with some burrito seasoning. While that was going I cooked some minute rice with chicken stock rather than water. It was reduced sodium rather than none like water so the finished product was saltier than my usual bland version. I stirred it all together in a large bowl with some salsa and wrapped them up as required. I ate three, one was smaller and put a full container in the fridge. Also have two cooked chicken breasts in the fridge now too. It was a tremendous meal, the portion size was filling, which means it was too big. I took some time to recover.

During my recovery time I played HomeScapes in my room on the Mini. I think I am in the final area of the game, close to 2200 levels in. I’m hoping that once I finish this area it’s over and just becomes side quests or random levels. I think I can hang it up at that point. After an hour or so I willed myself to go pull some larger weeds in the yard. I weeded everything in the front and on the North side of the house and then came back in for more HomeScapes. Hopefully I finish it this week. I listened to my audiobook, the Two Towers until bed at ten. I was asleep not long after ten, slowly getting bedtime back on track.

A Quiet Place

My night’s sleep was not a great one. I came to consciousness around seven but couldn’t be bothered to emerge from my bed at that. I watched some YouTube and wasted my life for a couple more hours. Close to nine I willed myself to shower and change my clothes. That was a refreshing experience but didn’t do much to shake me from whatever stupour has me in its grip. I went to the kitchen and made my typical breakfast around half nine and then made a third samidge for good measure.

While I was filling my guts I continued on the YouTube on the living room television. I eventually went to my computer and did some MSC challenges and worked on some writing. At some point, hours later I felt like I should watch something more productive. No thought of doing anything constructive entered my fool head. I started by watching a movie called Man on the Ledge from 2012. It featured an impressive cast. During the early segment of the film I paused to warm up some Stouffer’s Bistro Crustini Steak and Cheddar paninis. I overcooked them, something I didn’t think possible. They were paired with two pints of water, I was feeling some physical effects of malaise and wanted to eliminate dehydration from any potential causes. I watched another film after that but I’ve already forgotten the name. Towards the end of this one I warmed another set of paninis, Mozzerella and Meatball. At this point it was clear I wouldn’t do anything of consequence this day so I chose a blockbuster for my evening’s entertainment, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. I’d seen it once previous but felt I’d enjoy it once more. And I did. It’s darker and has some interesting themes and questions. Since it’s considered a popcorn movie, I made popcorn, seasoned with dill pickle seasonings. I’m not sure how a day where I did nothing could tire me out but by the time the movie ended around ten I knew I didn’t have much time left. I was asleep around half ten. It was a wasted day where I made my world really small and escaped the greater part of it.

All Chill

I didn’t have a great sleep. I stayed up much, much too late and even with some sleeping in, I fell well short of my sleep target of seven hours of restful sleep for the night. I was disappointed in that but worse was that when I lack for sleep I sink into depression. As such I didn’t get out of bed for a couple hours. It was probably ten when I crawled out and prepared to face the day. I had lofty plans for my breakfast today which involved a strip of leftover steak from last night’s family feast. It was an expensive cut so I decided to make sure it got the love and care it deserved. I used my new pan that the Chef got me for Christmas and warmed up the steak on a fairly low heat. Then I used the spacious pan to crack a pair of eggs. I’m not a sunny side up fan but felt I needed to be close to that to achieve the aesthetic I was after. You can see from the photos that I was in the ballpark initially. I also cooked up some breakfast potatoes I’d planned to make for Big T at some point. They really elevated things.

It was a filling meal. I packaged up the most of the potatoes and cleaned the dishes before finding my way to my computer to work on my MSC challenges. I have a good jag to wrap up for July and I’m fixing to make it seven perfect months in a row for the year. Between the heavy breakfast and the tedium of the challenges I felt like I could maybe steal a few hours of sleep back in the form of a late morning nap. That never materialized but I eventually ended up in my bed playing HomeScapes and rocking my audiobook. I returned to my computer from there and worked on a side project I’ve been wanting to finish. When it was done and posted I started working on my next D&D character. This is something that I’ve had on the back burner for months and finally started to take the next steps on. I sort of got lost in those last two things and it was dinner time when I next realized. I decided to warm up the leftover potatoes with the last three of the cheese smokies. I topped the potatoes with the leftover steak topping from the Family Feast. It is chopped up tomato, fresh herbs (basil, parsley, and some rosemary) with olive and balsamic vinegar. It ended up being a very tasty dish that filled me up to a dangerous level.

I got a strong desire to rest after crushing that huge meal way too quickly. I found my bed and played a lot of HomeScapes. I also did a lot of French lessons while watching YouTube. Not much else transpired on this day. I tried to find sleep at ten but it eluded me until shortly after eleven. Not a productive day but an excellent break from work.

Simpler Family Feast

Well on the day when I thought I should be up early I overslept and then today when I thought I should be having a long, luxurious sleep I was awake at half six. My brain and body combo are so stupid sometimes. I didn’t get out of bed for a long while. I tried to get back to sleep unsuccessfully. That devolved into watching more YouTube and generally internetting. Not the useful kind that I always think of later but just general stuff. Eventually the Chef called. He was all chipper about what he was going to get down in the morning and then his plans for the rest of the day. I was glad to hear it, I was more of a Debbie Downer about my prospects for the day. That’s the lack of sleep. After finishing chatting with him I got up, showered and dressed. I went to the kitchen and settled on having some Eggos to try and sugar rush my way into a more lively day than it had been so far. My short stack finished off the box and my fast. It was tasty and sweet, probably a tablespoon too much syrup.

With food in my tummy and a couple of pints of water to wash it down I returned to my office. I had a couple of tasks that I wanted to get down today. I’ve got a few for today and few for the weekend as a whole. I don’t want them undone by the time I get to Monday. Catching up on both Musings and MSC challenges is important to me and I tied into the cards first. I did a few days worth before switching over to Musings. I had them drafted out with bullets and just had to make sentences. I finished a few days before hunger started to creep in. It was getting close to one and I didn’t want a very late lunch as I feared it would mess with dinner plans. I wandered to the kitchen and was preparing to make soup when I recalled I had a mess of leftover sausages. Success! I bunned up three in the same way that I did when I originally enjoyed them. The casing was a bit of an effort to gnaw through but I got them inside me. Buying sausage buns on a whim has been paying off big time for me so far.

After pounding those down whilst listening to the Fellowship of the Ring I went back upstairs. I wasn’t clear on what I wanted to do now. I had more stuff to do on the computer but I was enjoying my book. I opted for HomeScapes and I threw some more money down the toilet by doing some in-app purchases. So stupid, I can’t stop myself. I rocketed through the game until suddenly I fell asleep. I could feel it coming on and was damn glad for it. Around half two I passed out and woke up briefly at three and decided to get back to it and eventually awoke at four. What a delightful nap. I wonder if the sausages played a role in shutting me down. Either way, I was in a good spot for our Family Feast night. I’d picked up the ingredients previously and was reminded to pull the steak out in the morning. I decided I’d even make sides this time. The Irish Gal picked the recipe and it was easily the simpliest yet. A London Broil. You are supposed to get a specific cut of meat but they didn’t have it at Walmart so I went with some top sirloin cap steaks. My sisters both go the top round london broil cut and I’m not sure what my parents got, not that though. The prep is rubbing the meat with garlic and adding salt and pepper then cooking it to medium rare (125F). While it’s cooking you chop up some tomatoes (and onions if you’re into that kind of thing) with some fresh herbs, olive oil and balsamic vinegar to top the meat with. You’re supposed to slice it all but I just did half, cause I can. It was a tasty combo. The fresh herbs I picked from the pot on the step definitely helped. The garlic didn’t really do much for any of us. Not sure I’d bother with that step, maybe finely mince some into the tomato mixture instead.

The Tugboat’s version of the meal.

Sudbury sister’s production.

Parents went the heaviest on the tomato portion.

The efforts of STL sister and my BIL.

I’m not sure why but I always look way more red in these photos. Anyways, everyone enjoyed the meal. It was essentially steak with some topping. And who doesn’t like steak? But the simplicity of the preparation was a relief for me, someone who like to make the meal quickly for the most part. I got the dishes done as we schemed about future plans. I made my way to my computer whilst still chatting as I was planning to get some Musings finished up before bed. That afforded me to share some birthday ideas with my sisters via Amazon. I’ll have to put in more effort apparently. Neither was very excited with what I’ve populated my Wish List with. But isn’t it my birthday? Ha! Anyways, I’ll try to come up with some doable gift ideas for them to ponder in the next day or so. I wriggled out of the call just after seven to get to some of those things I wanted to do, and then I did them. The rest of the evening wasn’t overly exciting and I planned an early bedtime.

Useful Thursday

There was a bit of an oversleep today. I blame the neighbour but it was more likely still recovery from the day in the field. I woke up to find that that Big T had called me moments before. I tried him but not answer, eventually getting him a few minutes later. He wanted to discuss an email I’d sent him the previous evening and we got into chatting about the farm and some potential plans to fix some buildings that are at a point where you have to knock them down or fix them. It sounds like they are thinking about doing one of each. It’s exciting when you replace a building, it feels like there is so much promise and potential. I hope they put some effort and thought into the design to maximize convenience for themselves. It has not been the norm on some stuff. It was nearly half seven by the time we finished up. My plans with a customer for mid-morning fell apart in the evening so I let others know of my change in plan and then set about preparing for the day. I was going to get out but just for the afternoon now. I got cleaned up and found the last of my breakfast leftovers. A quick pass through the air fryer and I was ready for work. I put in a few hours of work in the morning unexpectedly which involved mostly asking for missing information from different places. Hopefully I get some fired back to me while I’m away.

I was planning to be unreachable for the rest of the day and all day tomorrow so I threw on my out of office alert starting at eleven. I made a lunch and a couple of calls before heading out. I went to go see a customer to walk some of their seed corn fields and discuss things overall. They walked me through their plant and showed me upgrades and planned upgrades that they were considering. I took an inventory of some chemical they had and they made a few requests of me. Most of the time was spent on the road though. I was there at the perfect time to see most of the fields just starting to pollinate and the timing was right on. They were impressed with how in sync things were across every pairing. It was really cool to see. They were cutting one field after pulling it a few days ago. Seed corn production is a whole other animal and I’m glad the timing worked out so perfectly.

The fields were spread out over a good sized geography and we got to a few fields that are right on the lake. On the left of the berm is a field of seed corn and on the right is Rondeau Bay, part of Lake Erie. It was a very cool visual. The corn looked great too. We had some good conversation and it was a great tour, time well spent for sure.

I started the trip home around five and made a few phone calls that soaked up most of the time. One to a colleague who was also driving and wanted to touch on a few things and then I called to check in with my parents on a couple of things. I wanted to follow up on some questions the Big T asked in the morning and Mother had some issues with her Audible that I wanted to discuss. But what we really talked about was the Next Call episodes about a disappearance in my hometown. She was right into it and we had a great chat about it. Most of the conversation happened when I was parked in the driveway. Sometimes I don’t want to interupt the call so I just sit in the truck with it off like a fool and keep chatting. A lady walked by with her dog and maybe didn’t see me right away, I think it freaked her out. Eventually it was getting too sweaty in the truck and the conversation had run its course so I shut that down and went in the house. By now it was into the evening hours and I was supposed to make burritos. The chicken wasn’t even cooked. I decided that was going to be too much effort and instead opted for perogies. A quicker, easier meal. There was a part bag that was about the right amount for a heart meal. Maybe 4-5 too many. I used the air fryer to cook those up and then dressed them with some sriracha ranch dipping sauce and shredded cheese. It was a gooey mess. It was good but seemed to be missing something this time. Not sure what that was about.

I walked up to get the mail after doing the dishes so I’d at least get more than halfway through my steps for the day. When I got back I didn’t do anything of consequence. I meant to do some writing but ended up finding the couch and watching way too many The Wire clips again. This time I didn’t have the backstop of D&D to pull me out of that. I tried to go to sleep around ten but it wasn’t taking. I was too hot and then too cold. I was not in the mood to go full princess mode. After an hour of tossing and turning I put on some quiet fishing videos I hadn’t seen and still wasn’t able to get to sleep. I tried golf videos and that seemed to do the trick for me. It was after midnight when I finally fell asleep. Good thing I took tomorrow morning off, should allow me to sleep in.

Dragged Out Wednesday

The day started insanely early today. For some reason I woke up around five. I think I’d got my seven hours of rest that my exhausted body needed. It was fed and watered before bed and I suppose that helped. I’d showered before bed so that step was skipped this morning, that provided even more free time before work. I decided to use that time to make a big breakfast. That way I’d avoid my chorizo sausages in the fridge going off and have breakfast sorted for the next few days. I prepared the filling I use and made a tube of Pilsbury Grands and two tubes of Crescents. There was even enough to make a small breakfast burrito. I ate the plate on the left and squirreled the rest away for later consumption. They were very tasty. I managed to find a new way to roll them that made it even easier. I’m glad I took the time. I was also able to squeeze in three episodes of Superstore on Netflix before work. I realized I’ve got a couple more seasons to crush before I check that one off.

There was only one item scheduled for the morning and somehow that made time drag by very slowly. I did spend some time preparing for that item, it was a one on one meeting with someone on our Canadian Leadership Team to review the spring that was. My ducks were in a row and then I shared my notes from previous meetings with them to make sure they had all the information they needed to enable change. A customer called me up to chat moments after that ended and that brought me nearly to lunch. I spent the last fifteen minutes of the morning moving around the house to get some steps in. I went to door to check and see how hot it was out today and found that I’d received a package. The box was pretty huge for what was in it and it was quiet heavy. After using an old Grey Goose bottle to roll out my dough for Poor Man Kolaches and the Deuce Log I realized that there has to be a better way. I consulted KJMH for advice cause she’s the fanciest person I know in a kitchen. The Chef is the strongest but she’s doing more elaborate things. She suggested that stone was good. I learned that it doesn’t heat up the dough as much and I was excited about the prospect of the weight doing some of the work for me. It’s seriously heavy, a full on club. I went with green marble because it was the option I enjoyed the most of the three. I washed it twice and it’s ready and waiting for use. Storage isn’t ideal but I’ll figure it out.

I didn’t want to make anything elaborate for lunch and I had a bursting open container of leftovers from breakfast. I warmed some up in the air fryer and decided to try a pineapple flavoured Bubly with them. I’ve talked before about how I’m not a fan of the sparkling water. There is some kind of bitterness or something to the finish of it for me. That doesn’t make sense but it’s the best I can describe it. It’s put me off the stuff for years. But the hype is so high on this stuff and it is ubiquitous amoungst my friends. I took down the can along side the food. It was ice cold and pretty good. I commented to my buddies that it was the least worst sparkling water I’d ever tried. I have another can of it and two of peach that Mother left behind, claiming they didn’t have space on the return trip. I think it was a trap. After lunch I got back to work pretty quickly but hit a wall. I honestly thought that I was going to have a short power nap. I decided to just lean into it and see what happened while I was still in my chair and I nearly passed out, complete with a couple head nods. But to move to a more appropriate venue to nap would wake me up fully again. So that idea got shelfed. Mother sent me a photo of what she was doing and it looked a whole lot more exciting than what I was up to.

Photo credit: Mother. Kayaking on Pike Lake.

Once I was able to come back to life I started into creating some training material for one of my customers. I was invited to go to a “safety meeting” with most of the field staff. This is where they meet up and have a beer and catch up and have a nice meal together. I needed to get this training deck done so I could get it to the customer by the end of the month as planned. My invite came secondhand too. I was in the field yesterday and hope to be tomorrow so going and hanging out on a patio having a beer and laughing it up all afternoon wasn’t going to work well so I bailed on it. I felt guilty but I wanted to get things done. At five I decided I’d had enough, doing those presentations is a bit grueling. I wasn’t ready to eat again so I just started working on my MSC challenges for an hour. I went down to the kitchen at six and whipped up a dinner. I cooked a couple packages of Schneider’s cheese smokies in the air fryer and prepared a couple of buns by warming them, lining them with cheese and layering on some mustard. It felt lame to just have sausages so I also had green beans. This was all prescribed by the meal board. I thought it was a fun play on franks and beans. The sausages tasted more like pepperette than expected. It wasn’t a deal breaker but was a bit surprising.

After packing up the other half of the can of green beans and a lot of sausages I fired up the computer in the living room. I wanted to watch something to pass the time for an hour or so until it was time to start D&D. I watched too many clips from the show The Wire. Now I find myself wanting to re-watch that show, it’s so good. If you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favour. Beyond my own glowing opinion, it’s actually considered one of the best made shows ever. There is a Harvard course taught on it, not a lesson, a course, a semester of learning. Ya, it’s good. I forced myself away from that computer and fired up the one upstairs. I had a jug of ice water ready, tested my headphones, got my notes reviewed and readied and then squeezed in some more MSC challenges before go time. I was first player on and tested my camera. I’ve got it figured out how to run a camera for the game now, in case we ever decide to do that. The game got going on time and it was intense from the hop. A battle started and we got most of the way through it. We cleared out most enemies, mollified some very dangerous ones and are about to face a third, and much more dangerous foe now. This was only the first of the encounters we’re going to have in the coming months as we collect a few ingredients for some end game attempt. I’m looking forward to next week for sure. I did some light interneting for a few minutes before powering down. I got to my room to discover the neighbour was making a ruckus again. Thankfully it eased slightly at half ten so I could get to sleep. It was still loud but I was able to zen my way through it and find some rest. I assume I’m making enough noise that he realizes he can hear me and turns it down, maybe that’s just wishful thinking. Either way, the evening was so much more enjoyable than the day. Overall it was a decent day.

Field Day

I think it was the relatively early bedtime or maybe the excitement of going to the field, something different than the drudgery of the home office life. My alarm was set for quarter past six but it never stood a chance. I was up a few minutes ahead of the six bell chimes and got my day started. Having not used an alarm in months made me forget how they work, unless you turn them off, they gonna go. The noise was so loud and obnoxious to my now unattuned ears. That would have woken me up, glad to know it’s there when I need it. I did have time to sit and enjoy the view as it happened. I noticed an alarming number of grackles lined up along the back fence. I wonder what they’re up? Hopefully migrating south so I never see them again, dirty sky pirates.

I hustled up and got my usual breakfast prepared and chugged it. I regret that, it seemed to elevate my core temperatue a couple of degrees somehow. I should have just sat and enjoyed the birds a bit longer before tying into this molten hot delights. Nonetheless, I had to set about preparing for the day. I packed myself a lunch, carefully rolling up a wrap with ham, sliced cheese, and mustard. I also tossed in three cookies in a separate container and two granola bars. I used an ice cold Dr Pepper as the ice pack. First lunch in a long time on the road, it wasn’t fancy or healthy but I felt good about it.

Around ten last night I got a text asking me to pick up some tents and tables from my old research farm in case the elements were overwhelming. The forecast said that it would be very hot and humid. There was also a chance of rain later in the afternoon so we felt we should be prepared. My colleague BDP was running the show but seemed to have forgotten about some of the finer points of the task at hand. The task was of course digging corn roots to evaluate insect damage after washing them. He’d focused on the washing aspect with some hoses he provided and the tents and tables but he’d completely neglected the digging side of the equation. He had no shovels, tubs, bags, tags, etc. to properly group and label the dug roots. Luckily I brought snagged a shovel from the farm and some cutters to trim the plants down. He’d invited some academics to join us and they brought most of the tags and whatnot to keep the process organized. It was raining when we arrived but there was a work crew there to install amenities to a small cabin close by. They essentially created an adult sandbox and played with their toys the whole time.

What we were doing wasn’t playing and never would be considered as such. The rain petered out just as we were getting going. Our task was to dig eighteen roots per strip, targeting six at three locations spread across the six rows and the five hundred feet. We all agreed upon a pattern and started into it. We were putting three roots and a tag into old, used fertilizer bags and the summer help would whish them up to the washing area for cleaning and rating. A decent system, especially since we started with three pairs doing the digging. It should have been a nice straight forward task. For some reason the summer kids started putting two roots in a bag and then couldn’t figure out how the tags should work so instead of using six of them for a plot they changed to using one. I don’t understand their logic at all. I told them what the rest of us were doing and they didn’t catch on. Eighteen roots, six tags, six bags, three roots and one tag per bag. Felt easy to figure out, let me know what you thought in the comments.

When the sun came back out things got wild. The temperature in the corn jumped dramatically and so did the effect of the humity. It wasn’t long before I was feeling the strain. With eighteen plots and three teams digging it doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to surmise that each would be on the hook for six plots worth of digging. After four I needed a water break. I trudged out and to the truck. I was wearing shorts and a polo but I had my protective armbands on to make sure I didn’t get sliced up by corn leaves. Brack was my partner in crime and he and I took a good fifteen minutes to hydrate and cool down. In that time BDP had left to go get some pizza for lunch. That meant we essentially lost a digging pair, which means we all have to do more. That was not the realization I wanted as I was trying to recover from the initial burst of effort. We went back in and finished two more plots and then had some more water. We had switched from me digging the first three to him digging the next three and using his personal shovel. The kids did some shuffling of roles and ended up doing the extra plot. We finished the digging portion just ahead of lunch. I went to the truck to remove my arm sleeves and notices my arms were very yellow with pollen. It doesn’t show as well in the photo but it was insane. I used some Lysol wipes to clean the pollen off my arms, neck and face before going up the hill to lunch.

The pizza was very average to weak. I had three slices and some iced tea. Being out of the corn and feeling some air movement was more nourishing to me than the pizza. After discussing initial results we got the crew up and running on this part of the process. Keeping thing organized through the washing and rating of the insect damage. Once a system was in place, some of us slipped away to go to a plot around the corner to observe some significant damage from corn rootworm.

I was on a call from before we left until we were about ready to return, then I was on the phone again for a bit longer while Brack got a lesson on rating roots. There was a bit of a photo shoot too. My calls were of the confidential nature so I had to take them away from the crowd. I did manage to get out and see the other plot and damage was as promised, extreme and unprecendented. They flew their fancy drone and took some video and got some pictures.

Eventually it was time to load up some roots for future use and head back to the research farm to return what we’d borrowed. I was surprised to find the place locked up and abandoned at only half four. I guess they decided they didn’t want to work as long as I would have. We put everything back, unloaded the plunder, took a minor tax and moved on. By the time I actually got home it was half five and I was beyond beat. I stumbled into the house and saw I’d won FitBit, I hit all my targets. I still had my lunch and hoped it wasn’t spoiled. I warmed the wraps in the microwave for forty seconds and ate them, that was an awesome move. The cheese was partially melted and the ham warmed. I’ll try that again. I drank water by the liter and took what I realized was my first pee since leaving the house at half seven. That can’t be good for you. I was fed and watered but was sore all over, particularly my feet. I found my bed. I was listening to a podcast and passed out for an hour before preparing and properly seeking sleep. That day wiped me out. I haven’t done a spectacular job relating the heat, my feelings and thoughts, and the task overall but that’s all I can provide for now. It was nice to get out there and do something. I wonder how ofter I used to do that in my old role. I know I was more active but I suspect a day like today would have left me in a similar condition. I got to sleep somewhere around nine I think. Good times.

Muggy Monday

Great start time today. Eyes were open ahead of six and was up and running before half six. Breakfast started and ended early too. There was some guilt for no walking before work but I got a personal errand done before starting work at eight. Low turnout out for weekly meeting, we’ve officially entered vacation season apparently. As a result the call was relatively short which allowed me to join a stats call. This call was well, well, well above my head and has very little to do with my role but I was invited and I could continue my work on the side. The call was long and was more than just radio. It was an escape but also allowed me to learn a bit more about what tools they’re planning to use going forward. It’s high level stuff. There were some side conversations I got pulled into and I was able to schedule some meetings for August. It was a productive and interesting morning. Here is the customary Monday scorecard and you can see that I nailed it last week. I mean, the meals themselves are basically layups but I did them all. I probably have to consider raising the degree of difficulty on this project.

Lunch was a pretty basic affair. I bought some luncheon meat this week in preparation for some days out of the office and needing lunch on the fly. I recall my many years working the field when I just didn’t think about make lunches, preferring to fly from the seat of my pants. Now that I’m down to here and there field days I think ahead. I’ve got some smoked ham and sliced cheese rolled up in those wraps. The soup is potato and bacon from Campbell’s Chunky, just the soup you’d want on a hot, muggy summer’s day.

A portion of my Amazon order from last week arrived sooner than expected. It is a backpack/cap clip for the Chef’s GoPro3. I thought since he’d dusted the snowboarding helmet I’d try this as a mean to get a bird’s eye view of what I am working on. He didn’t seem to mind and for me it was only a ten spot to buy. I’ve got a part of an idea cooked up to try and this will be used in it. I have to do some testing to see what configuration works the best but I might have something to do on the long weekend, I’ll keep you up to speed.

I had a decent shaped meeting after lunch and that provided me with an action item to worry over. I tried to tackle it straight away, it’s for a meeting in a couple of weeks but I was asked to get it early. There are so many people on vacation right now that scheduling stuff is problematic. You have to be way out in front to account for changing schedules and availability. The rest of the afternoon was pretty quiet. The benefit of those people being out is a marked reduction in email traffic. I got my stuff done and realized it was half five so I powered down. I went to the main floor and it was a scorcher outside. I stepped out to water the plants and confirmed it. I decided to close the back blinds for the first time in six or seven years. It’s a less impressive view when you do this but it helps to keep the house cooler. I think I’m going to institute this daily around three in the afternoon to mitigate the sun’s influence on my home’s temperature.

With my less exciting view, a drained energy level, no direction at the moment from the meal board and a general malaise, I decided that I would just make something simple. I rammed four blueberry Eggos into the air fryer and warmed them up. I applied some butter and real maple syrup to my short stack before inhaling it. It was a dense but tasty meal that didn’t do much to fill me up. I sucked back a considerable amount of water along with this. It felt like a strange dinner.

There was something I was meaning to do in the evening but I couldn’t think what it was. After wandering around for a half hour, post dishes, I decided I didn’t know what I was supposed to do so I opted instead to do nothing. I did some reading, caught up on the news. Then it was nearly eight so I just focused on YouTube until it was time to go to sleep. Then I had the brainwave that I should mentally plan what I needed to pack for my adventure tomorrow. Eventually I passed out around half ten. Very mundane day.