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posted by Raymond at Tuesday, September 02, 2008
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02 September 2008
Labor Day
Most of the U.S. looks forward to the first Monday in September because it's a day of vacation. For me, I take it at face value - I labor.
You see, my everyday job involves sitting behind a desk 95% of the time. I do not do manual labor to earn my paycheck. It's not that I mind earning my paycheck with the sweat of my brow, just that I don't have to at this juncture in life.
I do however, own 5 acres in the country - with 3 outbuildings and a pond.
I have a burn/brush pile about 10' in diameter and about 6' tall - and growing. My woodpile (to keep us warm this winter) is a very amorphous shape that looks roughly like overlapping circles approximately 15' in diameter and about 4' tall. They are both growing significantly. One due to the recent weather activity that has induced all sorts of limbfalls around the yard. The other due to me agreeing to take a fallen 36" diameter white oak out of someone's yard (sight unseen!!!).
The white oak is going to cost me 2 full days labor, a couple of lunchtime trips and a lot of backache. Oh yeah, and about $500 for a chainsaw that will actually be a lasting investment. The FIL's Stihl just ain't doin' the trick on the trunk. I have to cut wedges out of it since the 18" bar isn't enough to make a through-cut.
I may actually give in and borrow/rent/buy an hydraulic log-splitter since my 12 and 14 yr old log splitters (my sons) probably won't get it all done before it rots. There's still last summer's wood waiting for them.
The pond normally receives a raking swath with the weedeater twice a summer; but due to the drought, I got away with using the push mower to cut about 1/2 the circumference yesterday afternoon. The kids loved it because they were able to get some cool pics (they took nearly 800 over the weekend, so there oughta be something worthwhile) of the critters that live around the pond since I (temporarily) decimated the micro-environment of the pond bank.
We also hauled about 500 bricks to the lean-to on the workshop in hopes of one day using them to install a somewhat solid floor.
That said, Tuesday was a welcome respite to be back in the office. It allowed my muscles to recuperate in anticipation of my next day away. My joints, however, didn't fare so well. They creaked and cracked at every move.
You see, my everyday job involves sitting behind a desk 95% of the time. I do not do manual labor to earn my paycheck. It's not that I mind earning my paycheck with the sweat of my brow, just that I don't have to at this juncture in life.
I do however, own 5 acres in the country - with 3 outbuildings and a pond.
I have a burn/brush pile about 10' in diameter and about 6' tall - and growing. My woodpile (to keep us warm this winter) is a very amorphous shape that looks roughly like overlapping circles approximately 15' in diameter and about 4' tall. They are both growing significantly. One due to the recent weather activity that has induced all sorts of limbfalls around the yard. The other due to me agreeing to take a fallen 36" diameter white oak out of someone's yard (sight unseen!!!).
The white oak is going to cost me 2 full days labor, a couple of lunchtime trips and a lot of backache. Oh yeah, and about $500 for a chainsaw that will actually be a lasting investment. The FIL's Stihl just ain't doin' the trick on the trunk. I have to cut wedges out of it since the 18" bar isn't enough to make a through-cut.
I may actually give in and borrow/rent/buy an hydraulic log-splitter since my 12 and 14 yr old log splitters (my sons) probably won't get it all done before it rots. There's still last summer's wood waiting for them.
The pond normally receives a raking swath with the weedeater twice a summer; but due to the drought, I got away with using the push mower to cut about 1/2 the circumference yesterday afternoon. The kids loved it because they were able to get some cool pics (they took nearly 800 over the weekend, so there oughta be something worthwhile) of the critters that live around the pond since I (temporarily) decimated the micro-environment of the pond bank.
We also hauled about 500 bricks to the lean-to on the workshop in hopes of one day using them to install a somewhat solid floor.
That said, Tuesday was a welcome respite to be back in the office. It allowed my muscles to recuperate in anticipation of my next day away. My joints, however, didn't fare so well. They creaked and cracked at every move.
Labels: "Labor Day", work
posted by Raymond at Tuesday, September 02, 2008
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