Unexpected Free Afternoon

I believe I've mentioned before that my ahem retirement cough, cough covers the bills, but leaves little pocket money left over. To that end, I work part-time as a cashier at local grocery-slash-department store.

The point of this rambling narrative is that my old Navy injury, three crushed lumbar vertebrae resulting in permanent weakness and a galloping case of traumatic arthritis, decided that today was a great time to flare up. So after a few hours at the register, I decided to exercise a bit o' discretion and take the afternoon off.

I'm glad I did: it's a partly-sunny day, with broken overcast here and yonder. The temp's 49°, roughly normal for this time of year, and it's a beautiful day to sit in a chair with appropriate back support and read a book or two.

This evening another contractor will come by to provide a quote on drywall repair from the earthquake damage. The wheels of "disaster recovery" turn slowly, and we've just now finally been approved for our recovery loan. Strangely enough, it comes through the Small Business Administration, only after FEMA approves the original application for disaster assistance.

It's probably a good thing that the President declared the 7.1 magnitude 'quake a federal disaster, or we'd be stuck with whatever pocket change the State might have had available. Given the state of the State economy, I'm not sure we'd have gotten enough to fix anything.

Yes, Alaska by rights ought to be a wealthy place, given the abundance of oil. But successive Legislatures have spent like the proverbial drunken sailors, spreading the wealth far faster than it came in. When one combines that with our lack of a State income tax, and no sales tax, we're "suddenly" hurting.

The "suddenly" came as a surprise only to our Legislators; everyone has seen it coming down the middle of Main Street for years.

So I'll enjoy the quiet, the glimpses of sun, and the books. All y'all have a great day, too.

Sunday Afternoon at the Old Homestead

It's 14 degrees at 12:15 pm, with a north wind gusting from 10 to 20 mph. That leaves the wind chill around zero. I know that's still warmer than what many in the Lower 48 have been experiencing. We expect and have the clothing to dress for it, so it's not that big a deal when we have it for weeks at a stretch, in mid-winter.

The sun has been shining steadily since it got above the mountains around 11 a.m. It's awfully nice to see it on the fresh layer of snow we received a few days ago.

I finally gave in & got my truck cleaned yesterday; I was unable to get near it without the black road goo rubbing off. It's a combination of snow, brine, cinders, sand, ash, and dirt from the main roads. The grime was so persistent that I couldn't wipe it off the windows or headlights without soap & water, so I visited an indoor car wash. Tuesday, I'm having the interior cleaned, too. I'm just tired of looking at the grime that has accumulated over the rainy fall & now winter.

I find myself spectacularly unmotivated today, so I'm not going to fight it ... at least, not too hard.

I've finished my coffee, so now I'll see what my wife may have in mind for the afternoon. Thanks for stopping by. Update: what she had in mind was reorganizing the shelves, computer desk & storage in the office.