To Do List

So, it's spring and I have to make up my to do list. Not my wife's list, but my own. things I have to do, around the yard, house and shed. First I write them all down and number them.
#1 is, Make a list.
#2 is, Check list
#3 is, Revise list if I have to.
That depends on #2. Next is my wife's list which is #4. That can change daily.
After this list is finished, I use a black marker and strike out #1 because I've made my list.
Then I check to make sure I have all the items. If I have everything, I can strike out #2.
If I need to add to my list, I go to #3, make the addition and then strike out #'s 2 and 3.
You can never strike out #4. No explanation needed here.
After that I feel great because I already have 3 items off my list and I never even left my chair.

Heavy rain yesterday. I was waiting for that, to check on something. When there is heavy rain,

the back of my yard is like a swimming pool. It takes a while for the water to drain off. A couple of weeks ago, it so happened that the house next door was getting new roof shingles and drains. The house is two story, so the drain pipes are quite long, coming in 12' sections. One of them was just what I needed for a drain in my back yard. So, I dug a trench, 1' deep. Had to use an ax and chainsaw to get through the roots. Laid the pipe, put some mesh on the front and filled the hole at the front with gravel. Filled it all in and waited for the rain. When it did rain, I noticed that the only visible water was just above the gravel, which disappeared when the rain slowed down. Now I have to get a flat rock, write drain on it, and lay it at the top of the pipe. If there is ever a problem, like the drain getting plugged, people will know there is a drain there.

Yard Again

The compost bins are on the other side of the yard behind the poor excuse for a rock garden. It seems to want to collapse backwards. The rock garden is a mound of rocks that I threw some dirt on. Just rocks scattered about the yard.
At the back of the yard, along the fence are some old cement blocks. I got them when I enlarged the entrance at the back door. The entrance and steps were too tight to move a washer and dryer through. I couldn't reuse the blocks that I removed.
So I took these blocks and stacked them two high behind the garden. Now some soil to fix that up and it will be a work of art.
All this is cutting into my writing time.

Time For Hospital Food

The weather for this week is rain. I think all week. We had a couple of good days last week, where we were able to cut the grass. I wanted to cut it this week before I go to the hospital. There won't be much cutting afterwards.

Because of an enlarged prostate, I had to have an operation last Dec. So they cut a part of it out and that should have been the end of it. But, by Feb, it grew back. So I need another operation, which is on Thur. I was wondering if it is like the miracle of loaves and fishes, or is it because I'm so healthy. I won't be cutting off a finger to test that theory.

This pretty well wrecks my summer. For the first few days, I was only allowed to walk around the house. A few days later, I was allowed to go out on the patio. (But who would, in Dec.?) I wasn't allowed to drive for two weeks. No lifting for a few months. I'm wondering if this time around, the rules will be more stringent.

At least I know what to expect. The first time I go to the washroom, it will be really bad, but each time after will be less. All the chores, I lined up for the summer, had to be done in the last two weeks. Too bad, I like cutting grass. It will give me time to write my YA book.

Cut The Grass

May 29, 2010

I said that last Sat. I would cut the grass. But I didn’t. I waited till Monday. That was a mistake. The grass was wet and heavy. Filled up my green bin and the neighbours. Also half a garbage can. Garbage pick-up was in the afternoon. Guess what? He wouldn’t pick up the half-full garbage can. If it was in a plastic bag, he would have taken it. The bag would have been a lot heavier. It all depends on the person. A feeling of importance.

Haven’t done anything all week. Cold, windy and rain most of the time. Today is supposed to be nice and sunny. Time to cut the grass again. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain again. For sure I am not waiting till Monday.

Betty has to go for an eye appointment at 11:00, so that ties the morning up. Very windy again today.

Need That Soil

May 18, 2010
The plan for Friday was to get bags of soil at Wal-Mart for a $1.00. So we drove out there, which takes about 20 min. Guess what? No soil. Tried Home Depot and Canadian Tire with the same result. I also couldn’t get those fuses I was looking for. On the way home I thought the truck in front of me was making a lot of noise. So I turned off to take a different and found out it was my van that was making all the noise. Thought it was the alternator even though I had a new one 8 months ago. Called my private mechanic and got an appointment for Mon. morninMy wife saw an ad in a flyer for Canadian Tire and they had soil on sale for $1.00, Sat morning only. This store is right behind my house. So the next morning, my son John went and got 10 bags in his car. Later I went with the van and got 20. I was nervous about getting any more because of the noisy van. Spent the rest of the day distributing the soil. I think that job is done for the year.

On Sunday evening, dropped my van at the garage so he could have it first thing Mon. morning. I was glad I made it. John picked me up. He figured it was the steering. That’s what it was. And $740.00 later, I got my van back.

Today is Tuesday and its warm out. The plan is to cut the lawn. My wife would rather I paint the fence. But it is supposed to rain tomorrow. Then I would have to wait for the grass to dry. I may be able to paint some also.

Revealed At Last: Scotland Yard's Jack the Ripper Case Book

'PC.97J. NEIL reports at 3.45.a[m] 31st inst, he found the dead body of a woman lying on her back with her clothes a little above her knees...' So begins a vivid account on lined notepaper, by a Superintendent J Keating, under the heading 'Metropolitan Police'. The ink seems as fresh as a morning newspaper. Yet it is dated 31 August, 1888.

This is one of the police reports filed just hours after Jack the Ripper claimed another victim in London's East End. It is one of numerous documents relating to the Victorian killer which, after more than a century in the archives, are to go on public display for the first time.

Handwritten accounts from the scenes of the crimes, detectives' case reports, coroners' inquiry records, witness statements, photographs and letters will form the centrepiece of a major exhibition, 'Jack the Ripper and the East End', at the Museum in Docklands, London. Visitors will not be spared graphic descriptions, such as 'her throat cut from ear to ear', in the retelling of the bloody and gruesome crimes.

'They are absolutely ........

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/mar/09/ukcrime