Inside The Perimeter

Off to a stuttering start today.

It was a busy weekend of WLF choring this week as I prepared for the arrival of the spring/summer growing season. Chilly weather is still likely, and we could potentially get frost again (though I hope not), but I have started getting my gnat-riddled plants outside to harden them off. I keep harvesting radishes, so I’ve got that going for me.

Thanks to the damp ground caused by Saturday’s rain I was able to fill five yard waste bags with English ivy and tree roots. Unfortunately the City of Atlanta is still in this alternating recycling/yard waste pickup schedule (which I wouldn’t be surprised if the weekly pickup of both never returns) so the bags will have to sit in my carport for another week.

Saturday’s forecasted rain also kept me from walking with Betsy and Bella. They walked regardless, and I was the beneficiary of a delivered cup of coffee, which is always a pleasant surprise.

After choring yesterday I joined forces with Bonnie to skip driving to Acworth for Black Sheep, and to walk for our beers instead. We walked to Three Taverns Imaginarium, (Young) Augustine’s, and then to Argosy for a fourth beer and dinner. I’m sure the walking undid all of the caloric damage done by four beers and food. 🙄 It was nearly a perfect day.

Tonight? Moonlite hash? Dunno. First, a start has yet to be posted. Second, the thing that made yesterday “nearly perfect” was that my left eyelid has once again become irritated, looks bad, and is bothering me. So, we’ll see.

It’s Spring Tune Up week! I’m hoping for great weather, and improved health for it.

Hope you had a healthy and happy weekend.

It’s been real quiet around these parts this week so I am taking the day off from blogging.

Have a great weekend everyone.

I’m not in a great mood today. Why? Things…

Not much to report today as I didn’t do much noteworthy yesterday other than dealing with the clothes left damp by my now-broken dryer. Though the laundromat nearest the ITP Estate is now gone, at least I have one fairly nearby for emergency needs. I’ve added the dryer to the long list of shit with which I need to deal.

I did manage to put up a makeshift bean trellis yesterday that I need to secure better before the beans I planted grow tall enough to need it. The best part of this trellis is that I picked up the fencing for free from a neighbor who was throwing it out.

Dinner last night was a convenient noodle dish bought from Aldi which I enhanced by adding some lettuce and radish plucked from WLF. So far lettuce and radish have been the only edibles that I have been able to harvest.

My war on the abuse of the English language continues. I’ve mentioned how people have diminished the power of the word “super” by using it constantly, everything is “super easy” or “super fast”, and now I am listening to a podcast featuring a high school student who keeps saying that things are “super super easy”. 🤦🏻‍♂️

Tonight starts another quarter of German class and I am on the brink of giving up. During this past year I have become increasingly selfish with my time, so I don’t know if I want to commit an entire night for German classes anymore, especially if I am neither improving my skills nor enjoying the time spent doing it.

Oh well, enough for now.

Hope you are happy and healthy.

Is there such a thing as Good Wednesday? Nope! I’m back at work today and thankfully my two extra days off wasn’t a rouse to disable my login…

Though I didn’t get as much done as I hoped yesterday, I’ll explain, I did manage to get some much-needed chores done / further along. I spent about two hours dismantling and then chunking branches, mostly privet and some thorny things, which were lying in the back yard. A lot of these were made “debris” when I had the pine tree taken down in January (?). I spread the chips/shreds/chunks around non-planting parts of WLF. At a certain point I just get tired of doing certain chores, and two hours was my branch cleanup limit. While milling about WLF I was hoping to come up with a bean trellis; I did not, but need to before the beans I planted actually come out of the ground.

One of the other chores that I wanted to accomplish yesterday was blowing leaves and pollen from the carport and driveway. However, I also had another task which needed to be accomplished first — gutter cleaning — since it would create more crap which would require cleanup when completed. When it rained last week I discovered that the gutters were covered with those pollen-forming tassels from the trees, and that the rainwater washed over the gutters and dripped along the side of the house instead. Figuring that Best Buy would arrive at the end of their delivery window I popped onto the roof and carefully did the best I could to blow the tassels off using the leaf blower. I then finished the blowing job by doing the carport and driveway.

With the extension cord already out, I took that opportunity to use my little chainsaw to take down a couple of small trees which have popped up in the berry planting area. In the process I created more branches that need to be fed through the chipper/shredder…

After a quick lunch of a salad which had some lettuce and radish grown in WLF, in addition to store-bought lettuces, I sat around awaiting Best Buy’s arrival, which happened around 1:30pm.

With the TV inside the house, I took a shower and gave myself “a few minutes” to relax; “a few minutes” turned into a couple of hours including a nap.

I baked a pizza and drank a beer for my reward dinner.

My brother and I had a nice chat on the phone.

And finally, for my last trick, I set up the TV and confirmed that over-the-air programming is complete shit. The TV itself seems okay, though it has one feature that I don’t much appreciate — an always-on white light that is in the middle of the bottom of the frame. Normally I’d cover such annoyances with gaffer tape, but I believe this is also the area for infrared communication between the remote control and the TV. I expect that I shan’t use the TV again until I acquire some 4k HDMI cables this week and can hook up the stereo receiver and AppleTV box.

I expected to sleep solidly last night but had quite the opposite experience. I have been awake since 4:30am.

Have a good and healthy Wednesday, friends.

Is there such a thing as Good Tuesday? There is for me because I am not working again today! Fear not, I’ve not lost my job, I return tomorrow.

I spent all morning and a couple of hours in the afternoon doing WLF chores. I am slow. However, I did manage to make three tripods from sticks and twine, and do a little organizing. I also spent a few minutes talking with Betsy, who stopped by during her walk with Bella.

Last night I did a two-mile walk around Bold Monk Brewing in order to earn my dinner. I knew that I couldn’t run the trail so I did my own little walk about. The hash sat indoors to eat and I realized that I am not ready for that yet. On the way to see if I could get a table with Bonnie outside, the hare said she didn’t want to be inside either, so we wound up sitting with her and some others around an outdoor table.

My new TV is due to arrive today. I spent more on this TV than any that I have previously purchased, and still bought one of the cheaper brands available. In the end I realized that I will never be someone who spends top dollar for audio/video gear. Computer technology, well that’s another story…

Hope you had a healthy and happy Monday.

Tuesday Tale of the Tape: 181.6 pounds (-2.1 from last week’s weigh-in); it’s not Good Tuesday, it’s Great Tuesday! 😂

Is Easter Monday a thing? Even if it is not I am not working today! Woot! Well, I’m not working for “The Man” but I will be doing many chores for “Myself” today. After I am done pecking out this blog post I will put on my farming clothes and start tending to WLF, and the plants that I have killed. You may say that today WLF is Risen? You probably wouldn’t say that…

Yesterday was Sunday, and apparently it was some big religious day too? Anyway, Bonnie kindly took me and my bicycle to the Silver Comet Trail to meet up with a handful of like-minded (read “touched”) individuals to ride in very chilly weather. If you’ve learned anything about me in my fifteen years of blogging it’s that I am not a braggart, but I’m here to say that I fucking killed it yesterday — at least by my metrics. I covered thirty miles of riding in roughly an average speed of 16.8 mph. I’m too old and have always been too slow to ride professionally, no of that has changed, but this is the best I’ve ridden in a while — GODDAMN KNEE BE DAMNED! Oh, good thing I didn’t say that on Easter! The day was made even better sitting around post-ride and consuming delicious food and mimosas. My early rising and hard physical activity caught up with me however, and I was soundly asleep in bed no later than 8:00pm. I even slept “late” this morning, thirty minutes past Lowe’s opening hour of 6:00am!

The rest of my weekend was spent doing WLF chores, some of which I will have to correct today. 🤦🏻‍♂️ Today I am also going to try and make tripods out of sticks and twine; this ought to be interesting. In case you didn’t know, I was never a boy scout.

Tonight I’ll be attending the Moonlite Hash. Why when running is not an option? The weather will be perfect, and tonight’s ending is Bold Monk Brewing, a place I’ve not been to in some time.

Hope you had a happy and healthy Easter weekend.

Good Friday. No seriously, it’s Good Friday. For some reason that I shall never argue “XYZ Corp” observes Good Friday as a paid holiday, so I’m not working today! 🥳

I thought I’d be starting this Friday as I have many in the past twelve months by paying a visit to Lowe’s. However, the freezing temperatures and a demanding stomach convinced me to crank up the oven instead; I am currently baking a breakfast casserole while concurrently heating the house.

Later I will be going to Edgewood Retail District to pick up my new A/V receiver from Best Buy, so I always have the opportunity to visit Lowe’s then. While at ERD I will also be going inside Office Depot to use their FedEx service to send out a package, and I may also have to pop into Kroger and/or Target.

I was supposed to go to Kroger yesterday, but yesterday’s drivers drove me to cursing (twice), so I returned home instead of stopping at Kroger in order to avoid actual verbal combat. Much of this conflict probably would have been avoided had I not have to turn around and return home to pick up a mask. For some reason (vaccine? hope?) I left the house without bringing a mask. The conflict would have certainly been avoided if the other drivers had a sliver of courtesy and adherence to the law.

Yesterday I dismantled my broken television. Initially I was going to open it up to look at the area most people claim causes my issue to see if I would have the skill to attempt to fix it, but then one thing led to another, and it’s now completely in pieces. I should say that it’s completely in piles, some of which will be headed to CHaRM, some of which will be repurposed, and some of which will head to the landfill.

I made the decision of dismantling the broken television when I bought a new television to be delivered by Best Buy and they wanted $30 to take away the broken one. Best Buy has won the Paulie electronics lottery! Why? Because they had the same products and prices as Amazon, and I could schedule delivery of the television. I chose the free delivery option when I started to doubt whether or not I could fit a boxed 55″ television into the M6. I probably could, but I would hate to find out otherwise when I went to pick it up.

This weekend? I will be walking with Betsy and Bella tomorrow. I have to do a lot of chores, some for WLF, some for the rest of the ITP Estate. And, though it will be cold, I am planning to do a Silver Comet Easter Ride. *Somebody* needs to get his but in the saddle a few times before Spring Tune Up…

Have a wonderful and healthy Easter weekend, even if the holiday means nothing to you other than gorging on Cadbury Cream Eggs.

Today my knee is 100% pain free! I’m healed!
Notice that today is April 1st, so April Fools! Yeah, it’s a dumb joke, one which even less believable than the year that I wrote that I met a woman at Publix. I wrote that sixteen years ago? Holy shit, the joke is on me as I am still alone.
As the calendar now displays April I feel as if pain will be my constant companion, unless I do something drastic (again).

I “think” that I have finally convinced the insurance company to pay the orthopedist. Next on the list of annoying tasks is to convince the State that Sharpened Stone, LLC has been dissolved (for years!) so that they stop pestering me with annual notices about lack of sales tax filings.

The weather in Atlanta certainly isn’t fooling around today, it’s going to be a cold one. At lunchtime I am going to go out to WLF and put frost covers on the plants (looks like I was smart to buy these covers after all!) and I think that I will pull in the plants that are currently in my makeshift cold frame. My plants’ growth are already annoyingly stunted, this cold snap is not going to help.

I may be (finally) giving up on the notion of attempting to repair my tv and buying a new one today. Tomorrow the new A/V stereo receiver that I have ordered should be available for pickup at Best Buy. And because I am adding RAM to the configuration, the predicted shipping date for my desired MacBook Air is during Spring Tune Up (no bueno), so once I am guaranteed that it won’t arrive while I am away I will be placing an order for one of those as well. Money is being spent! Big Change is afoot! No fooling about that.

Stay warm. Remain healthy. Make it a great day.

March Summary

03/01 – ?, V, nothing 😢
03/02 – 185.0, V, house work 😐
03/03 – ?, V, yard work 🙂
03/04 – ?, V, walking 🙂
03/05 – ?, V, yard work 😐
03/06 – ?, V, walking 🙂
03/07 – ?, V, cycling 😁
03/08 – ?, V, yard work 🙂
03/09 – 183.2, V, yard work 😀
03/10 – ?, V, yard work 😀
03/11 – ?, V, nothing 😢
03/12 – ?, V, yard work 🙂
03/13 – ?, V, nothing 😢
03/14 – ?, V, walking 🙂
03/15 – ?, V, yard work 😀
03/16 – 183.6, V, nothing 😡
03/17 – ?, V, nothing 😢
03/18 – ?, V, yard work 😐
03/19 – ?, V, walking, yard work 🙂
03/20 – ?, M, walking, yard work 😀
03/21 – ?, V, cycling 😀
03/22 – ?, V, walking 🙂
03/23 – 183.8, V, nothing 😐
03/24 – ?, V, nothing 😢💉#1
03/25 – ?, V, nothing 😢
03/26 – ?, V, yard work 😀
03/27 – ?, V, walking, yard work 🙂
03/28 – ?, V, yard work, walking 😐
03/29 – ?, V, walking 😀
03/30 – 183.8, V, nothing 😢
03/31 – ?, V, nothing 😢

When one door closes, another one opens.
Sadly, that’s not always a good thing.

Yesterday I was pleased with myself for submitting all of my tax paperwork to my tax preparer. This task had been looming and nagging me since the beginning of February; door closed. And then late in the afternoon I received a phone call from the orthopedist office telling me that my insurance company has still not paid them even though weeks ago I had to spend time clarifying to the insurance company that my surgery was not related to an accident. And now the patient has to spend more time helping a doctor get paid by an insurance company; for fuck’s sake, door open.

While in the Greater Decatur area I popped into a couple of thrift stores, but came away with nothing. Surprisingly I was not the only one who made time on a Tuesday for thrift store shopping as both places were buzzing with activity.

The impending cold weather, as well as the showering pollen, has slowed my desire to do much with WLF. I did manage to spend a small amount of time planting some seeds which shouldn’t start germinating until after the frost pasts and checking on the current crops. I also added some twine to my pea poles in an effort to give them something up which they can climb.

To be honest I have no idea what I did last night, obviously it was nothing spectacular. I should have cleaned up and organized all of the gardening flotsam and jetsam that now inhabits the dining room and basement.

More of the same today, adding in a bit of cooking tonight and virtual Top Chef watching with Betsy.

Have a healthy and happy Hump Day.

Just a quick blurb this morning as Job #1 MUST be getting my tax paperwork in order to turn over to the person who does my taxes. Ooooh, faaaancy! Normally I have submitted paperwork well before this date, but hey, COVID SUCKS. And of course one of my financial institutions is having website problems today making it impossible for me to download my tax document. DANGEN!

WLF looks pretty decent and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the predicted temperatures don’t occur during the rest of the week. At lunch I pulled a small amount of English ivy and pruned some limbs whose newly-emerging leaves were starting to cast shade in my growing area. The indoor plants may also now be suffering from “fungus gnats”, an annoying pest which arrive when fungus forms on the tops of soil, and whose offspring have an annoying habit of eating the roots of seedlings and killing them. Argh!

Last night I proved that even after 22 years of living in East Atlanta I do not know all of the ins and outs of the nearby streets. I made a wrong turn on my walk to the start of the hash and added at least a quarter mile to the journey due to my error. The evening was fun and well worth the extra effort to get there. I walked the Turkey trail with Fagpipes and Debbie Does Digitz, and shared a wonderfully strange pizza with the night’s hare, Glory Mole (aka Bonnie). The pizza we shared is called the “Jackie O” and is a white pizza (no tomato sauce) smothered in arugula and lemon juice. It was delicious! I even managed to convince the hare to give me a ride home.

Knee status today is “meh”. I probably should consider not exercising for a day or two to see if I can convince it from stop being such a literal pain.

Okay, time to make the financial donuts… MMMMMMMM doooooonuuuuuuuts. 😋

Hope your week is off to a good and healthy start.

Tuesday Tale of the Tape: 183.8 pounds (0.0 from last week’s weigh-in); whew, I was certain all of the pizza I shoved into my piehole last night was going to cause a gain.