5 April 2020 Sunday

In the background of the above picture you can see the snarled wiring that I am attempting to unsnarl. There is much electrical to be done. The are connections in the walls that aren’t in boxes and were covered up by sheetrock or wood paneling. Just wire nutted together and left dangling inside the walls. All of these stupidities are going to require that new wire be pulled in. What I have done in the interim is to make sure all of the wire nuts are tight and expose the wires. If there is a loose connection getting hot it will be visible and not burning behind the wall out of sight. In have worried every day and night that there is some connection unseen that will start a fire. Rewiring this house is high on the list of things that must be done soon.

Still don’t have the Corrosion Virus. I’m not rusting yet. Did not sleep well last night. My knee was hurting and burning all night. Decided this morning that it is indeed a gout flare up. The balls of both feet are slightly achy which is a definite indicator of gout. The “golden years “ suck. However, I am quite happy to have these ‘golden’ years, even if the price is some bit of pain. I‘m working with the full knowledge that “this to shall pass”. The Bible says that “to everything there is a season”. This is my season of gout. I don’t, usually, have these flare up unless I’m sitting around doing nothing but eating and drinking vodka. Seems every time I park my carcass in the recliner for extended periods I get a gout attack. Like the old saw “Doctor, it hurts when I do this.” Doctor replies,”Well don’t do that”. Good advice. I’ve got to end this sitting around crap.

It is another “Bright, bright, bright sunshiny day”. Today the wind is blowing 25+ with gusts even higher. There have been some so strong as to shake the house. Those, I’m sure, were closer to 50 mph or more. The strong wind and the temp above 35F is causing a rapid melting of the snow. Places on the property that were completely covered in snow yesterday are bare ground today. The ponds should be fully thawed in a week or so. Break up will be halted by several days of temps being just above freezing during the day and down into the teens at night. The halt will stop the running river under the house and I’ll, at last, be able to finish the last bit of house leveling. With the house level the new kitchen can be installed. Of course before that we must remove the ceiling sheetrock and do the necessary wiring to make the house electrically safe prior to the kitchen install.

I found an interesting fact today. On average there are about 7500 deaths a day in the U.S. These are completely unrelated to the COVID-19 “pandemic”. I spent 15-20 minutes on the web searching major newspaper sites trying to find out about yesterday’s death toll. I could find almost all of the hysterical rhetoric I would have cared to read but not a single word about the daily death toll. It is either so high that they are afraid to publish it or it is so low that they don’t want to give President Trump the credit or that the various government entities would have a hard time justifying all of this ‘House Arrest’. I did find that 95% of the deaths involve persons who are already deathly ill from some other disease. So in my common sense brain parts, I am thinking that it is the former reason not the latter. Why is there no body count like Viet Nam or all of the other military conflicts over the past 50 years? I did not find a single news story that gave that number. I’m starting to believe that the actual death toll is minuscule compared to the number of persons infected. Common sense commands you to know that there are tens of thousands of undiagnosed cases. And, also, that the majority of those with the virus are getting well without medical intervention, This is as Shakespeare said, “Much ado about nothing” as far as I can see. If you are healthy and under 60, your chances of dying in this “pandemic” are very near zero. Maybe I’m being paranoid but this does, in some ways, seem more about government control of people than control of an infectious disease. This seems particularly true at the state and local level. Just sayin’.

Much Later

Got off my duff and worked on Summer’s bathroom wall. She had taped and mudded the wall. Problem is she had no idea of how to do it. The remedy was to use the mud knife to scape the dried mud as smooth as possible and then use a wet sponge to smooth it out. I’ve been using the wet sponge method on drywall for decades. It beats all of that sanding by a mile. Of course, there are still an few spots to be sanded but you aren’t spending hours breathing in the sanding dust. A bucket of water and a tile sponge gets the job done,

I often feel like that guy in the old donut commercial. But instead of donuts it’s dishes. Take the dishes down, use the dishes, wash the dishes, stack the dishes, take the dishes down, use the dishes and on and on ad nauseam. We try, as much as possible, eat off paper plates. Yep, I am aware that some people think that it is bad for the environment. “You’re killing trees.” “Yes. But I’m saving water.” The next day someone is saying something different. You please one eco-wacko and anger another. There is no happy medium or common sense being applied. The truth is that there are more trees in America now that when the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. There are, also, more deer and lots of more of other game in America than when the Pilgrims landed. I’m surprised that more of them didn’t starve to death. Management of our natural resources has been seen as a critical need and it is being met. BTW, I am truly sick of dishes. Maybe I’ll just start eating out of the pot or pan. Laundry is a lot like dishes. Maybe I’ll try to find some paper clothes or just go naked. Nope. On second thought naked isn’t an option in Alaska. Could have done it in Florida but not here. Oh well.

I think I’ve sorted out why I am having this gout attack. I drank over a half bottle of really good red wine on Friday and woke up yesterday morning with a sore knee. Drank some more of it yesterday. I barely slept last night because of the pain and now have pain in the balls of my feet. Since the red wine is the only difference in my daily diet, it must be the cause. No more large volumes of red wine. I will miss it. Maybe I can have a glass now and then.

The washer is playing that pretty little tune that says that its’ job is done and that now it’s my turn.