I went out to put some items in our compost bin and decided that it needed a bit of attention. I hadn't been as diligent as I should have been about taking out the completed compost from the bottom of the bin, so it had basically turned into a tall pile of dirt with a little bit of biodegrading stew on top of it.
So I opened the bottom and started to dig. My back didn't like the whole process but I kept digging, and digging, and digging. Until I hit a root. A big root. About half way up the bin. Huh? I got on my knees and looked in the bin. Yup, that's a root alright. And it's big. Where the hell would it have come from?
A light bulb went on in my brain and I hoped it wasn't what I suspected it was. I quickly glanced to the back fence (about 3 feet from the compost bin) to look at the giant bamboo in the next yard. My eyes fell short and stuck on the three new shoots coming up into my yard.
Now, these are not small, finger-sized bamboo. These are the bamboo which you have to use both hands to gauge the circumfrance of. Giant bamboo. So the shoots were pretty impressive. Could one of them have made a beeline for my compost pile?
I got up, removed the screws which hold the compost pile to the ground, and turned the thing on it's head. The most recent additions to the pile spilled over easily and I was left staring at a root-bound pile of dirt with a tenacious bamboo sprout working it's way up the pile.
Oh shit.
For those of you who have never had to dig out bamboo... hope you never have to. The roots are thick and clumpy, not easy to cut through. I hacked at the pile with my shovel and took a hack saw to the big runner root, finding a second runner taking off in the other direction, and hacking it off too. Then I reset my compost pile and filled it with the recent bits from my kitchen. Stared at the three sprouts at the fence line and decided to deal with them later.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Out and about
It's odd being unemployed (excuse me, laid off). I always think (when I am employed and indentured to someone else's time for a large portion of my day) that I would love to have a few days off.
But here I am wondering what to do with my day. I make up tasks just to keep myself busy. Is that pitiful? Or just normal?
Some of it has to do with the lack of money. I'm fortunate in that I have another paycheck (not quite 80 hours worth) coming to me this week. And that I have some money I've been hording (not saving, mind you) for just a time like this. But after those two are gone - and they will go quickly - that's it. So to go to a coffee house and pay $1.50 for a single cup of coffee just so I can get online is ok for now. Maybe not next week though.
The other part is that I don't usually take the opportunity to go out much during my "regular life". I wake up at 5.30 in the morning, get to work by 7, get home by 4pm, relax, go to the gym, come home and eat, then go to sleep by 10pm. There is no opportunity for me to go out and have drinks with friends because 1)they want to start at 9pm, a mere hour before my eyelids give up the fight, and 2) I need to be completely sober (not even hungover) and ready to work with limb-removing power tools the next morning.
Plus, I think all my friends are getting older. Or more adult. Or something. When I want to go out I want to go somewhere and be a goof. Dance, drink, relax, have a good time, don't worry about consequences. Everyone around me has someone or someones they are responsible to: a spouse, or a spouse and kids. I know Luis wouldn't worry too much about me. As long as I returned home within 24 hours, he'd be fine. Bail me out of jail? He would. Come pick me up at a bar at 4 in the morning? He would. Make fun of me as a suffered from a horrible hang over? Yup, he'd do that too. As long as I made it home at some point.
I have a few friends who I think would be willing to go out with that level of commitment, but they don't live here. Or maybe they have changed too.
But here I am wondering what to do with my day. I make up tasks just to keep myself busy. Is that pitiful? Or just normal?
Some of it has to do with the lack of money. I'm fortunate in that I have another paycheck (not quite 80 hours worth) coming to me this week. And that I have some money I've been hording (not saving, mind you) for just a time like this. But after those two are gone - and they will go quickly - that's it. So to go to a coffee house and pay $1.50 for a single cup of coffee just so I can get online is ok for now. Maybe not next week though.
The other part is that I don't usually take the opportunity to go out much during my "regular life". I wake up at 5.30 in the morning, get to work by 7, get home by 4pm, relax, go to the gym, come home and eat, then go to sleep by 10pm. There is no opportunity for me to go out and have drinks with friends because 1)they want to start at 9pm, a mere hour before my eyelids give up the fight, and 2) I need to be completely sober (not even hungover) and ready to work with limb-removing power tools the next morning.
Plus, I think all my friends are getting older. Or more adult. Or something. When I want to go out I want to go somewhere and be a goof. Dance, drink, relax, have a good time, don't worry about consequences. Everyone around me has someone or someones they are responsible to: a spouse, or a spouse and kids. I know Luis wouldn't worry too much about me. As long as I returned home within 24 hours, he'd be fine. Bail me out of jail? He would. Come pick me up at a bar at 4 in the morning? He would. Make fun of me as a suffered from a horrible hang over? Yup, he'd do that too. As long as I made it home at some point.
I have a few friends who I think would be willing to go out with that level of commitment, but they don't live here. Or maybe they have changed too.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Not Summer Here
Seems like it is actually summer everywhere else in the country but here. I see news reports of the horrible storms in the Midwest, and all I can think is "man, at least they are having summer weather!"
Dang it!
I'm sitting in a TCFY cafe ("too cool for you", that is) up on N. Mississippi Avenue. It is one of the trendiest areas in town. It's been in the gentrification mode for a couple of years now. All the trendiest people live here. Or go to coffee houses, pretending they live here.
But it's 2pm on a Tuesday afternoon, and I wonder what all these people are doing here, not working, not in school. How do they support themselves?
I have an excuse. I am currently unemployed. Temporarily, that is. I deserve to have a few days off, lounging around, trying not to spend money, and at the same time trying not to spend too much time in the house. But who are these other people? They all seem to be in their late 20's/early 30's, all seem employable, all seem trendy. So what gives?
I don't remember ever being able to live that life.
On my way over here, I tipped my motorcycle over. Not over, but over on it's semi-side. Enough so I had to step off and lift it up. Luckily it was at a four-way stop in a not very populated area. Of course, I slowed down the two cars at the intersection, and looked pretty amateur to boot. But I didn't hurt myself (aside from straining my shoulders a bit much) or my bike, so it's all good. I think I was trying to take off from the intersection too slowly, or that the road was a bit slick (it's been drizzling here all day), and my moto just outweighed me. Again, no biggie, but a bit disconcering.
But it's 2pm on a Tuesday afternoon, and I wonder what all these people are doing here, not working, not in school. How do they support themselves?
I have an excuse. I am currently unemployed. Temporarily, that is. I deserve to have a few days off, lounging around, trying not to spend money, and at the same time trying not to spend too much time in the house. But who are these other people? They all seem to be in their late 20's/early 30's, all seem employable, all seem trendy. So what gives?
I don't remember ever being able to live that life.
On my way over here, I tipped my motorcycle over. Not over, but over on it's semi-side. Enough so I had to step off and lift it up. Luckily it was at a four-way stop in a not very populated area. Of course, I slowed down the two cars at the intersection, and looked pretty amateur to boot. But I didn't hurt myself (aside from straining my shoulders a bit much) or my bike, so it's all good. I think I was trying to take off from the intersection too slowly, or that the road was a bit slick (it's been drizzling here all day), and my moto just outweighed me. Again, no biggie, but a bit disconcering.
Monday, June 09, 2008
Wondering
I walked home from my post-race party last night. I needed the fresh air to decompress after the season, and a walk would give me some time to work off the beer I had consumed.
I've been thinking about my life and it's path again. I'm not quite as stuck as I was when I worked at MindSpring, but I've been feeling stuck again. I'm still challenged at work, but not in a good way. Right now the challenges come from our high-maintenance clients and from a couple of my co-workers. That's not the challenge I want.
I've started to wonder about moving on again.
I would probably stay in the same general arena - construction and cabinetmaking - but I need a new environment. The mood at my current job has been out of whack for the past month. Partly, I guess, because of the spectre of unemployment, but I also think the mix of people is off again.
Time to think...
I've been thinking about my life and it's path again. I'm not quite as stuck as I was when I worked at MindSpring, but I've been feeling stuck again. I'm still challenged at work, but not in a good way. Right now the challenges come from our high-maintenance clients and from a couple of my co-workers. That's not the challenge I want.
I've started to wonder about moving on again.
I would probably stay in the same general arena - construction and cabinetmaking - but I need a new environment. The mood at my current job has been out of whack for the past month. Partly, I guess, because of the spectre of unemployment, but I also think the mix of people is off again.
Time to think...
No work
Today is the first day in a year that I have woken up without the prospect of work. My company is feeling the effects of the crappy economy. Our customers are generally on the rich end of "Well Off", if not downright Rich, but even they are hording their money right now. Scary.
Not that I mind having the day off. My body is still wracked from a weekend of Dragon Boat racing. I feel like I've given more effort this year on the team. Or maybe my body is having a harder time keeping up. Regardless, I arrived home at 6pm after our post-race party and fell into bed. Woke up around 2.30am when some dumb shit called my phone, probably looking for a sober friend to pick them up at a closed bar, but went right back to sleep. Finally got up around 7.30am. So even if I had been scheduled to work, I probably would have planned ahead and asked for the day off.
One day off is ok, one week off is my "waiting week" to apply for unemployment, two weeks off and it's resume time.
Not that I mind having the day off. My body is still wracked from a weekend of Dragon Boat racing. I feel like I've given more effort this year on the team. Or maybe my body is having a harder time keeping up. Regardless, I arrived home at 6pm after our post-race party and fell into bed. Woke up around 2.30am when some dumb shit called my phone, probably looking for a sober friend to pick them up at a closed bar, but went right back to sleep. Finally got up around 7.30am. So even if I had been scheduled to work, I probably would have planned ahead and asked for the day off.
One day off is ok, one week off is my "waiting week" to apply for unemployment, two weeks off and it's resume time.
End of the Season
We ended our Dragon Boat season yesterday with a emotionally defeating flag miss. We would have come in 3rd in the race, which would have eliminated us from continuing anyway, but to miss the flag at that point..... heartbreaking.
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