So Fall is finally upon us. Here in the South, the temperature has dropped to the point where the mosquitos are actually a little more fierce. That’s right, it was too damn hot for even the mosquitos to eat. Some of the female, less-hateful-of-the-electric-company persuasion, or otherwise sane folks still are running the A/C at around 75-80 during the day. Sissies.
I’ve had stuff going on.
Masonry
I became a Master Mason a few months ago. I’m trying to be active, learn my work, and see what it’s all about. There are parts of it that I find fascinating, and there are moments where I feel rather nonplussed. I wonder what it was like to be a mason in the 1950’s, or the 1850’s, or the 1750’s. Either way, I have found it to be morally instructive, pleasant to have adult male company, and empowering to be trusted and asked to help with projects.
Some people in our familial circle like to read and possibly buy into various conspiracy stories. Once you become a master mason, it is interesting to go and look online at all of the absolutely crazy things that people have written about the fraternity. I wish we were 1/1000th as organized, energetic, or enterprising as these folks would have you believe. Once someone finally convinces the nutter that it’s a bunch of old dudes organizing spaghetti dinners and raffles, they push those goal posts back. I could go on. The conspiracy folks make much ado about nothing.
Truck
So I have dropped my truck off to get the clutch changed out. I am nervous about this. The old truck does not use any sort of hydraulic or electrical system on the clutch mechanism. It is purely mechanical. It is rough. I have learned how to drive a standard on this truck. I’m programmed to be wary of anything transmission related by my father. We always had beater cars, and the moment there was a tranny issue, that was curtains for the vehicle. We’d still put another 40,000 miles on the car, but we’d be miserable doing it.
Now, I know that this is a different set of circumstances, but it still makes me feel worried. The shop should be receiving the clutch kit tomorrow morning, so the truck will hopefully be done by the end of the day. I also hope I can figure out how to drive it all over again. Plus, not having a dependable vehicle at your beck and call is just plain unnerving. I’ve been riding a bicycle around locally. I cannot believe I used to ride a bike as much as I did. I’m old and fat. I want to start biking daily, even once I get the truck back.
Baseball
I have been coaching a men’s baseball team. We have won two games this season. We have had some issues with discipline that I had to step up to and deal with. That was unnerving, but I learned a lot from the experience. We played, and won on Halloween weekend. I thought about dressing up as Charlie Brown. I feel like a blockhead sometimes, so it seems right.
Work
Work has been work. There have been some challenges and some projects and some developments that give me anxiety. Some of those have improved. Some haven’t. Some things are great. Some aren’t.I feel like this is a bland enough response to that prompt.
Other
I need to go through at some point and make sure that I ain’t doxxing myself in any of this. I don’t believe that I say anything especially crazy or identifiable, but someone who is privacy conscious should do that as a matter of habit.
Oh! I also managed to snag a Halicrafters S-38B AM/SW radio. It seems like it’s in great shape. I’ve been experimenting with it a bit, and I want to find a way to build a more permanent shortwave antennae that is not too noticeable in the yard, nor a lightening risk. I have plenty of tinkering to do. I also have been learning about the struggle of finding vintage ladies automatic wristwatches. It is rather surprising how difficult it can be to find what you are looking for. I’ve also been fiddling about with antique Parker fountain pens, specifically the 51. Numbers are appearing to me as patterns, specifically 1969 and 1946.
Our gardens are looking OK, and now is the time to really start figuring out what the hell we are going to do about winter. Those two to three weeks of sub-fifty temperatures wreak havoc on plants more than the twenties do elsewhere. It makes no sense.
The girl and the dog are doing just fine. Life goes on.
I will try to add some more content, and do an overall update on this site soon. Keep your eyes peeled.