21 May 2020 Thursday It is a pretty day. Sun in and out of the clouds and not too hot and not too cold.. Got up into the lower 60s. I spent part of the day on the tractor. Moving dirt to fill in holes and level parts of the area where Summer wants more raised beds. Also, picking up rocks and moving them to one pile or another. If rocks were dollar bills we would be millionaires several times over. We made a dump run, stopped at the grocery store and Summer wanted to visit a local greenhouse to get more marigolds to deter the aphids. We’re not exactly living ‘la vida loca’ or la vida es bella’.

The Republican Governor announced that Alaska would be open for business at 8:00 AM Friday. That is the good news. The bad news is that the Lib/Prog/Socialist/Democrat Mayor of Anchorage and the mayors of some of the other smaller towns are still delaying the opening of all businesses. What surprises me about this is that incorporated cities and towns are authorized by the state government. You can’t just plop down somewhere and declare yourself to be a town. You must be authorized and chartered by the state. This should mean that these incorporated entities must obey state law and directives as they exist at the behest of the state. Were I the governor I’d issue a demand to reopen Anchorage and if the various mayors did not comply I’d send in the the local Sheriff, the state troopers and the National Guard, if necessary. Screw the lawsuit route. We wouldn’t want the courts mussing about in that for which they have no interest or jurisdiction. Incorporated entities of this ilk are clearly a sub-entities of the state government and they are failing to comply with a lawful order. Oh! About lawful orders when did the US Constitution start allowing states and cities to abrogated the First Amendment? I was just wondering.

The tractor’s left axle oil leak is getting worse. I keep having to add gear oil every couple of hours just to make sure that I don’t break an axle or screw up the bearings or gears in the front drive assembly. This is a problem that absolutely must be addressed very soon. I still have 15-20 yards of dirt that I still need to move. We can’t really afford to spend 12-15 thousand dollars for another tractor. On the other hand, you do what you have to do. I guess I’ll just muddle along until I can find a stopping point.

I had every intention of crawling under the house and working on the house leveling. Now that the frost has thawed, the back of the house has settled back to its’ normal height. That left the center of the house higher than the back or the front. I need to lower the center and then make final adjustments and call it done. This will allow for the insulation and skirting back on the house. Insulation and skirting will likely eliminate the need to have the heat tapes on the pipes constantly turned on in the winter. This costs a lot of money for electricity in the winter. This will, also, allow for the kitchen to be completed and a bunch of other interior remodeling. BUT with all of the running around in town the day was shot before I got to go under. The house will, eventually, be finished. I hope to be alive to see it.

Well that’s it for me today. It’s already 5 o’clock over most of America which means it is VODKA:30. Buh Bye.