Jul 16, 2004 16:10
back to the discipline of daily (or, at least, almost) journal writing.
Every morning this week I've awoke from a really weird dream. Today's had something to do with Rachel's neice Katie learning to talk, and me chasing my uncle down the interstate on a combine (or some other weird corn-related farm machine), with huge cornstalks on both sides of the road. I awoke feeling almost hung-over because of it. And because of it I havent been in much of a good mood lately.
So many thoughts that I've had, so many dreams I've dreamt, lost to the ether because I did not write them down.
Today I finally filled out the substitution form so that I can have all my requirements filled so I can graduate in May. I still hafta have a couple people sign it next week, though.
I start my job at Fleetguard a week from Monday. That'll be good. I hope they give me a paycheck on the 30th, but I doubt they will.
I've written a bunch of stuff on how to do my job for the new person who takes over, but today I started writing a document called "Advice for the new guy". it was inspired by a short story that I ran across the other day, that was basically that. I just wrote the same thing, but for my job.
Last night I made a list of things I want to buy once I get $$ from my new job. It was pretty long, but a lot of it was books and cds and dvds. I do want to get a laptop though. And some other stuff.
On tuesday we moved the fishtank into the living room b/c smatt had given me a set of shelves that was the perfect size for it. The shelving unit had this ugly pale laquer all over it, so I took it out to Rachel's parents' and sanded it down and stained it dark (red mahogany). So once that was done, we drained a bunch of water (about 2/3; about 20 gallons) out of the tank, into coolers, then lifted the tank into a rolly office chair and rolled it into the lr and hoisted it up onto the shelves. I was surprised at how heavy the tank was, even after all that water was gone. Aquarium sites said to basically allow that every gallon of water weighs 10 lb, so our tank should weigh about 300. But after 20 gallons siphoned out, it still had to have weighed at least 150. Maybe that was because of the rocks in the bottom.
Later that night, we went to Wal-Mart in Algood. A freak storm came, with (supposedly) 81 mph winds. It knocked the power out, right as we were checking out. Fortunately, Wal-Mart's registers have back-up power. Also, fortunately, I had decided on a whim that night to buy lamp oil for the lamp that my mom had given me about a year ago. That was fortunate because, when we got back home, yep, the power was out, and once we found a flashlight and some matches, we lit that lamp and it provided a good deal of light. But when we opened the door to walk inside, the cat must have ran out and we didnt notice it b/c it was pitch-black. So it took us half an hour of searching the house to realize that it wasnt there. Then we found it on the back porch and brought it back in.
Another story: on Saturday we had a family reunion at Fall Creek Falls, after which Rachel and Steve and I hiked down to the bottom of Cane Creek Falls (down the cable). Before we left we stopped by the nature center and Rachel read a warning saying to watch out for rattlesnakes and copperheads. We hiked down to the falls, then back up, and took the trail back to the nature center. Rachel was in front, followed by Steve, followed by me. I happened to be looking down, and as we were walking I noticed something moving right under Steve's feet. It looked like a root, of which there were many crossing the trail, but it was writhing, so I jumped over it. At that point I realized it was a snake. Once I passed it, I looked closer, and noticed that it was a copperhead, about 18" long. Rachel and Steve had walked right over it! You know that phrase, "if it was a snake it would've bit you"? Well, in this case it was a snake, and I have no idea why it didn't bite either of them. I'm surprised neither of them actually stepped on it. But good thing that it didn't.
Since there were others a ways behind us, we stayed there until it slithered a ways off the trail, so that if they walked up we would warn them. After a while, a man and his wife and daughter came by. By this time the snake was about 6 ft away from the trail, enough not to be an immediate threat, so I just told them to be wary of it as they walked by. But the man said, "we need to get that thing back into the woods." He then grabbed a stick that was not much longer than the snake itself, and started poking at it, trying to get under it so he could fling it out into the woods. Of course, this made the snake mad, and it started striking. Then it started slithering, back towards the trail, before it finally found a hole under a root to slither into.
Moral of the story: don't mess with snakes just to be macho. Just let them be.