viewSaturday, October 26th
I drove to do my morning poop today. It was kind of nice getting out for a nice long walk yesterday, but also took a lot of my day. I also am starting my 60 day Lingoda sprint today to see how quickly I can pick up some Spanish speaking skills before we get to Mexico. And I practiced my violin for the first time in a bit.
Leo went fishing and said the fishing here is really good and he should have an easy time catching enough fish to keep us fed. It's so good in fact that he had a bite within a few minutes and immediately broke his rod, so we need to get a better one before he can fish more. We both got a bit of DA work done and are continuing to live off of cheese curds and peanuts.
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viewSunday, October 27th
Most of our neighbors have moved out today. There are a couple of RVs across the way that seem to be doing what we'd like to do if only we had our RV. Had another class. Both of us got good sleep and got some work done. I added a donate button to our blog page (don't forget to like and subscribe). Nice quiet day.
In the evening, I drove out to poop. It was nice and sunny and I was enjoying sitting out in the sun and it was still at least another hour before sunset, so I was looking forward to doing some more sitting in the sun when I got back. I found the outhouse was out of toilet paper, so I started to drive into town to use the gas station bathroom. I had just got on the road when I got a call from someone at a campsite a little down the road from us saying that Molly had wandered over there. I told Leo about it, but I wasn't sure how long it would take him to get there, so I turned around and drove back. Leo had just managed to collect Molly when I got back, and I still needed to poop.
I went to Hardee's and used the bathroom there, intending to also get some food. While I was in the bathroom, I got a call from my stepmom to update me on my dad's medical condition (he was in a car accident), which stretched into half an hour. I ordered a couple of very small items of food for dinner at Hardee's, and it took the better part of half an hour to get my food. By the time I got back, the sun had already set and it was getting cold out. So I went back in and spent the rest of the day playing the new Factorio expansion.
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viewMonday, October 28th
Got another update on the Dimetrodon today. They have ordered a new cam and lifter for it, which they expect to arrive either tomorrow or Wednesday. Then once they get those parts, they can finally get started on the engine repair, and it will be another week or so to finish that. I extended our stay here at Elk Rock for another week. It's a nice campsite all things considered. The weather for the next couple days is supposed to be a bit warmer, then it's going to get colder and start raining. Might as well get used to surviving in the cold I guess.
It's been cloudy most of today. That is to say most of the sky has been clear, except for the part where the sun happens to be, so haven't gotten a lot of direct sunlight, which on the one hand is kind of a bummer, on the other, it means I can actually sit outside with my laptop and work. Leo was up working all last night and is still trying to get to sleep as of this afternoon, so hopefully if he gets sleep tonight, we can get a better fishing pole and catch some fish tomorrow.
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viewTuesday, October 29th
Hairdryer weather today. 80⁰ and extremely windy. Our tent seemed like to blow away. We'd thought about starting a cookfire, but who knew where cinders from that might end up.
I went into town to go to Wal-Mart to poop (sorry if that is too much information, but figuring out where and when to poop has actually become a significant portion of my daily routine). Leo got good sleep, and I thought he could come to Wal-Mart with me, but he made a valid point that we really ought not leave our tent alone with conditions being what they are, so I went alone.
While I was there, I got us some caffeinated beverages and some really serious ground spikes for the tent, as the the stakes the tent came with have proved completely unequal to the task of holding the tent down. I came back, made a mallet from a fallen tree and some branches, and solidly hammered all these spikes into the ground. I believe our tent could now survive a hurricane.
This windy weather is supposed to continue into tomorrow morning. Tomorrow evening it will be cold again and we will get more rain and thunderstorms. Did a little abstract algebra today. Hoping to do more and turn it into some DA work.
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viewRainy day
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Internet's been up and down a little, but for the most part it's been pretty reliable.
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Happy Halloween. We survived alright the rain last night. Though Leo said his sleeping bag was soaked and the dogs were hogging it, so he didn't get a lot of sleep. Today is going to be cold all day. Tomorrow will be slightly warmer. We are expecting more rain over the weekend. I called ATC and the parts that they needed to get started on the week-long repair job on the Dimetrodon that were very definitely going to be there by Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest are expected to arrive today. I'm sure I can expect them to begin work next week and maybe if I'm very lucky be done the following week.
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Monkey escaped today. He chewed through his harness and ran around the woods for several hours before finally getting tired and coming back on his own. While he was out, he treed a cat and flushed at least six deer. The cat got down from the tree and got away. Not sure about the deer. I managed to tie a knot in the strap that seems to be holding; hopefully it will continue to do so. Since he came back, Monkey has been sleeping pretty well non-stop with one notable exception.
Spider has been keening at something in the woods all day. I think he can hear the coyotes and wants to go make friends with them. I don't know how to explain to him that that's not a good idea.
I went to Wal-Mart and got us some electric heating pads. I don't know why I didn't think of it before. I guess I was too busy looking for something in the camping supplies while missing the much more obvious solution. Our sleeping bags are so much more pleasant now. Sometimes It's best to just think simple.
While I was gone, Spider and Monkey both escaped. They were in the tent and managed to push the zipper on the door open while Leo was sleeping. I drove back to see them both running along the road and they got into my Jeep without too much protest. The zipper on our tent flap has been giving us a lot of issues and is getting really hard to close without it splitting open. I hope it holds as that's sort of our main way of holding the dogs in.
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I was able to greatly improve the performance of our zipper pull by applying uniform pressure with my needle-nose pliers. The zipper is giving us a lot less trouble now.
Leo went fishing this afternoon, didn't catch anything, but said it was still a very nice peaceful and meditative experience. While he was gone, Molly went for a walk. I drove around the campsite looking for her, didn't find her. I asked someone at the neighboring campsite if they'd seen a beagle, and a little while later they came back with Molly in hand, said she'd just been wandering around. I logged 4 hours of DA work today.
I booked us at the house we stayed at in Hiawatha last year on AirBnB. The host remembers us from last year and had good things to say about us, so hopefully our BS reviews won't have so much of an effect. We'll move there on Tuesday. It will be nice to have a house again. You don't really appreciate having ready access to clean water and toilet and laundry facilities until you've had to live without them for a few days. Then you realize just how quickly civilization would fall apart without them.
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After bending the zipper pull a few more times, it has now broken completely. We're just gonna have to keep the dogs on leashes until we leave tomorrow. Why TF would you make such a vital component out of such thin, brittle metal and not have any backup?
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