More Hot

It is just shy of unbearable. That is, I sweat sitting still, but can't think of any alternative at the moment. Hopefully it will cool off enough to sleep later. No real news. I'm just trying to post every day for awhile. I keep thinking that if I just start doing it then it will become a habit. So I ask your indulgence to some blathering (or, more than usual) and no real content for awhile.

It's Hot

For the past 3 days it's been too hot here. I don't have any air conditioning in the trailer. It has taken until late July for the heat to strike, but it has. If it doesn't break soon, or if this is what 'summer' is here, I will have to move. The manager suggested I go buy myself a window air conditioner. I'm not going to buy my own air conditioner. I'll move someplace that has one already.

I have a wandering curiosity, if that hasn't shown itself already. The guy who lives with no money who's blog I linked yesterday has a website at:

http://sites.google.com/site/livingwithoutmoney/

It has many cool links on it, which is how I find most of my weird... err, interesting sites I end up following. A link there ended up with me going here:

http://www.peacepilgrim.com/

That has me reading the book put together of Peace Pilgrim's writings. Interesting stuff, most of it things I've been exposed to other places but nice to read again in one place. Interesting dichotomy to working with a Special Ops Army Regiment on post.

As for work, it was swap-over time again. Every few months the folks who are deployed change out. 'New' folks show up who have been gone, and familiar faces stop by to say a temporary good-by. It is a mix of feelings for me. In this job, the war isn't nameless and faceless. It's the guys I work with every day, who leave family - wives and kids - to deploy. For them, at least on the surface, it is like in Corporate America when someone would go on the road for a week. Make arrangements for the home site to be taken care of while gone, and tell everyone you'll see them when you get back. I watch them head down the hall with their gear, and mentally take time to put them in God's hands. The one's coming home get an enthusiastic 'welcom back'.

Fun Stuff

I've been a hermit lately. I'll catch up some today. First, over at Lloyd Kahn's blog he showcases YouTube videos of music he likes the latest is a cool vocal Jazz ensemble that performed in Africa last year. I really liked this video, helped by the fact that they are singing a favorite song of mine.




On another blog was a link to an article about a guy who lives without money. The article was soundbite length about a complex subject and person, so luckily the original blogger also posted a link to this guys blog.

http://zerocurrency.blogspot.com/

Going back a few posts, before he was traveling as much as in the recent posts, he gets pretty deep into some philosophy. I enjoyed reading it. No so much because I agree completely, or even disagree completely. Mostly it made me think. That's a good thing. And I am reminded of a theme of one of my favorite authors, Henry David Thoreau. Those who are so busy making a living don't have the time to properly LIVE, have time to think the deep thoughts that are required (I wish...) of a living human.

I'm roaming my list of blogs and catching up around the house this morning. I went out and hiked the past 2 weekends, and was a zombie in between. I'll write more, and maybe post some pictures, as I move through this weekend.

Bad Habits

I've picked up some bad habits while waiting for whatever it is I always end up waiting on. Today I'm sick, achy and watery eyes. Took the day off even though I won't have enough vacation days to get paid for all the time I'm taking off in September. I need to break out of the rut. Lori is back now, so work is still covered.

I've let financial details go. I've let clutter build up in the living areas, although not so much the places I've already inventoried. The places I've inventoried sorta seem like there is a place for what's there and everything goes in it's place. One of the side benefits to me of the inventory. I have gotten to where I just zone out. At work, when I should be studying and passing on-line tests, I zone out. At home, I just veg on the computer rather than do any organizing or playing with my backpacking gear or going out looking at this area of the country while I'm out here. A number of things have been knocking on the door of my awareness telling me it's time to wake up. One today was a guy sending me a private message on a message board I hang out on asking me how some of my gear works together. I couldn't answer him because I haven't been out lately and actually used it. That will change this coming weekend when I go out to the coast. Or, at least it will if I get off my duff and actually pack my backpack so I can leave from work Friday.

So, today I'll consume Vitamin C, straighten the house, sort backpacking gear, make some calls to settle some financial stuff, and get my associated body parts back under me to actually get on with my life. I also need to check in with my long term goals and see what parts of this phase of my life are working to plan, and what parts need changing up. I'm thinking that all this injury and sickness are trying to tell me something.

Just Normal Stuff

My co-worker is back from vacation. We started sifting through the stuff that piled up while she was gone. Easy day since the soldiers had a 4-day weekend and weren't in today. Tomorrow may be an entirely different story. Went and got groceries tonight. That is unusual in that I normally just eat out. I didn't stock up, since I'm trying to eat down my pantry. The problem is that I now only have 'ingredients' and have to actually cook to have anything to eat. So I got some frozen dinners and some quick side dishes. It's a start. I continued the inventory by adding in the items stored in the cabinet under the sink. Not as much of an ordeal as I was making it out to be. Two small cabinets that mostly have spices (which I won't inventory now) and one stack of dishes from my old set that I'm keeping around for, you know, those times I entertain. Which I don't do. It was a cloudy, misty, chilly day. I didn't even open the windows after work, and ended up turning the furnace on for just a bit to take the chill off. In July. They say it gets hot here in August, so we'll see.

Feeling Better

Today I haven't taken any painkillers, and I haven't had any spasms in my neck. It is a bit sore, so I'm being careful. I also feel like I draining some infection from my sinuses. Maybe that is one reason I've felt so crappy lately. The weather is again getting cooler, it is just a bit chilly with the windows open this evening at 7pm. I'll close the windows before going to bed. The weather this far north is very different to me, being used to Tennessee.

I did laundry today, and should do a couple more loads of bedding and towels and such tomorrow. I'll see how I feel. The new laundry baskets, collapsible netting, work well to carry things to the laundry room in the park. Larry's spot next to the laundry room, where I still parked today, is empty. I used to talk to him while I did laundry even if I didn't see him any other time. I do miss him, just knowing that there was someone here that I could stop and talk to.

I have started an inventory of my stuff. I want to get renter's insurance, and an inventory would be good. That's not the main reason I want to do this. Mainly it is a way for me to really take possession of my stuff. I've worked on the kitchen. I have 2 cabinets left to do. Then I move to the dining room, which is also one of the emptier rooms. It will get really interesting when I start the living room since that is where several of the plastic tubs of stuff live. At that point I will really have to come to terms with the things that I don't use on a daily basis. What is unpacked enough to be in the kitchen is by default the things I actually use and don't need to justify otherwise. This has helped me to clear out a lot of expired food, and organize a few things better. I try to make plans to inventory 'at least 5 things each day...' and other deals that I make with myself. It doesn't work. I have to be in the mood to do it. Luckily, I'm enjoying the results of the inventory, so I am making progress.

Stagnant

I'm still here. I injured myself again. I'm tired of pain. I reached to turn off the alarm one day this week and apparently pinched a nerve in my neck. It has been painful. Luckily the spasms are now controlled by regular OTC pain pills. I'm tired of complaining about being injured.

I'm on call at work. I've also been on my own since my co-worker is on vacation for the last two weeks. I've gotten 2 middle of the night calls. Handled both, one successfully. A lot of frustration on my part, so much that I just don't kin yet. The military does things their own way, and I don't kin their ways too well. I go back and forth about looking forward to the end of the year I committed to being out here, and realizing that I still have no plan B to go back home.

The one person that I got to know here in the park where I live, Larry, was acting stranger and stranger. Not scary strange, more like no one's home strange. I noticed that the door of his trailer was closed several days in a row, which is unusual in the non-air conditioned trailer. Before I could stop and ask the manager about him, the manager flagged me down to say that he was in the hospital. His family came the next weekend and pulled out his trailer, leaving the RV spot empty. The manager flagged me down last Wednesday and said that Larry had passed on the night before. My one friend/acquaintance out here. Change, and more change.

My hiking trip had gotten rescheduled from this weekend to next weekend when I realized that I was going to still be on call. The day after I rescheduled it I pinched the nerve in my neck. The weather here is nice, although the no rain issue is going on a bit too long. I don't mind that my grass has pretty much died, less to mow. Being in a coastal area there is usually a breeze so the heat is tolerable. In fact, last night was the first time I could have left the windows open all night, and this morning I really didn't need the sweat shirt that I usually start the mornings with much less turning the furnace on for a bit to take the chill off.

Maybe I'll write tomorrow more about other things going on. I'm trying to make plans, including a plan B for moving back East. I'm trying to get organized. Mostly I'm trying to stop hurting myself.

Still Alive

I am back in the land of the living. I went back to Nashville for a weekend to celebrate my Dad's 90th birthday. I flew out Friday and flew back Sunday. In the middle I loaded what little was left at the house that I wanted to keep, and in the process put my back out, and then locked up behind me and left. It's in the hands of the Realtor now. The Realtor I can't seem to get hold of since I left.

I nursed my back for a few days. I had just gotten to where my ankle wasn't bothering me, then the back went out. I was fussing that I was so tired of my body hurting. Thursday night while laying in the hammock I realized that for a few minutes nothing hurt! I'm on the mend now. I need to get back to being active so that I don't injure myself again. The week before I left I had started back on my walking routine. Next week I start again. Maybe even today if I get over to Mt. Rainier and do a short hike like I want.

The Artisan bread was a flop. I hadn't baked any more since it had been really hot here the week before I left. Yesterday I tried again from the same batch of dough I made up a couple of weeks ago. Major fail. I had hoped that the time would have muted the salt flavor. It didn't, in fact it was worse. That's all I taste. And, it still didn't rise, just kinda oozed accross the bottom of the casserole. I did use a lot of oil on the bottom of the pan before I put the dough in, but it still stuck. I think I'll go back to my bread machine. In the winter I may try this again, and I'll follow the directions next time.

Fail... Almost

I am working on making the 5 min Artisan Bread. Last night I made up the main dough. 3 cups (more or less) King Arthur bread flour, 3 cups (more or less) King Arthur whole wheat flour. A package of quick yeast and a tbs. (yes, tablespoon) of salt (more or less), dissolve these two ingredients into 3 cups of tepid water. That means I put a cup of water into a Pyrex measuring cup into the microwave for a minute twice, then added a cup of water from the tap. Then I put the bread flour in, and then the whole wheat flour in. Added more warm water since it's supposed to be a soggy dough (I've seen the video - Google it as if I look all the links up I'll never get this posted). I put it in my largest Pyrex mixing bowl, and it was too much dough to transfer into anything else I had once it was mixed up. I put a towel over it, let it sit on a counter for 2 hours, then put the entire thing towel and all into the fridge.

I came from work today. Discovered that the towel was a Bad Idea. The dough was stuck to the towel. Got it unstuck, and it turned out not to be quite as much a mess as it originally looked. I cut the towel off by using a serated knife to cut the dough. Took a section of dough 'the size of a grapefruit' and formed a sort of ball with it. Oops, was supposed to flour hands. Well, my dough is still a bit on the dry side, so a little flour and all was unsticky again. Since I had the flour out again, I just sprinkled some on the correlle covered casserole that I planned to bake the bread in. On the SimpleLiving.net site some had said that was a good substitute for the pan of water in the bottom of the oven while it bakes to make it 'crusty', just cover it in something. I cut 3 slits in the top of the bread and left it to rise about an hour. Oops, guess it was supposed to be let it rise and then cut the slits as when it rose (what little it did) it kinda oozed into the slits. Oh, well.

Cooked it for 40 minutes. Actually logged back in to verify the temp. Hmmm, guess that was supposed to be 450 for 10 minutes, then 400 for 30, not 370 for whatever and then 400. Oh, well.

40 minutes later I had a flatish looking brown glob of bread in the casserole. Discovered that some flour on the bottom of the casserole didn't substitute well for the oil I was supposed to use. Being an anarchist doesn't always work well with bread recipes. Chipped enough up from the bottom to cut a small piece of bread. Wow, what is there is actually good.

The rest of the dough is supposed to get better the longer (up to 2 weeks) it's left in the fridge before forming into the ball and baking. Cutting the slits AFTER letting it rise. And putting in an OILED pan of some sort. Baked at 400 for 40 minutes. Tomorrow I'll get it.

I put some butter on the still warm bread that I finished chipping up from the casserole. I'll most likely eat the rest of it for dinner. Oh, and the salt can be cut back some, too. And, I think I'll work on a half batch of the main dough, using 3 cups of flour instead of 6.5.

Yeah, that's right. I don't cook. I'm too much of an anarchist sometimes.

Home Again

I'll talk a bit about my trip back to Nashville, but first a quote from a blog. I read several blogs, some more often than others. Blogs give me a chance to explore other ways to live, try other ways on for size. One I read is Zach Aboard at http://www.zachaboard.blogspot.com/ . It is a Mom who writes about raising her son Zach while the family lives on a sailboat in a harbor. The quote is in the story about how one of Zach's 'friends' is the 'Queen of England' and he wanted to have high tea with her.

"...Lately Z’s been spending a lot of time with the Queen. And one day he got this idea that he really wanted to have tea with the Queen, not just regular tea, but High Tea. And he wanted it make it and serve it himself. One problem... we didn’t have a proper tea set. After browsing the internet and toy store options, I was told that none were fit for the Queen.

So we did what anyone expecting royalty would do. We went to Goodwill. Rows and rows of mismatched and long forgotten china just waiting to be snatched up at $0.50 pop. He picked out the perfect set, stripes and flowers and gold and blue, and finally had a proper High Tea with The Queen."

If this doesn't make it easier for me to donate things, thinking that some child will need it to have the proper items for High Tea with the Queen, then I'm hopeless.

I went back to Nashville for a week. Got lots done. The house is pretty much empty. The sheds almost gleaned of what items I intend to keep. I go back this next Friday to spend Saturday, my Dad's 90th birthday, with him and then fly home Sunday. Again I'll take two large suitcases, empty, and bring back what will fit. Then, that's it. The house is on the market. I have 2 storage units in Nashville, a 10x20 and a 5x10. Hopefully in September when I go back I can consolidate it all into the larger one. But, the major moving is over. For now.

Back here I have been able to start studying the material to pass the tests I need for work. I wasn't able to concentrate before. I've mostly slept since I got home but I did make some chili to take to work for lunch, and I will make muffins as well. The walking program starts again tomorrow, or maybe tonight if I feel ambitious. The cats were fine when I got home, the caretakers having done their job. They have even settled down from the wrestling and wall climbing for the most part. They curl up together more than they used to. Calm is being restored.