Work is progressing on my new warehouse. I had to get a bigger one finally, and then I had to buy new shelves for it. Wal-Mart sells these cheap plastic shelves with pipe supports that are very strong and adaptable. They aren't adjustable, so I have to cut the pipes to the lower the shelves to the heights I want. At first, I used PVC pipe cutters, but that was tough work, since I had to keep sharpening them; even so I wore out 3 pair before I realised I should be using my Skilsaw. Wish I had thought of it earlier, it's so much easier and more efficient. I cut them just to fit the letter-size boxes I buy at Office Max. So everything is standardised and the supports are actually stronger when they are shorter, plus I can add more shelves to the top. A stepladder is needed to reach the upper shelves.
My children's fiction is now all alphabetised on one shelf and its catalogue updated on my computer. Ultimately the goal is to cut down on my library, but getting it organised was the necessary first step. I'll be bringing home a large box of books or two now that I can see what's what.
The other main project is fixing up a couple more computers I bought off eBay. This time I've added DVD-RWs after figuring out how to copy DVDs. There are very few movies I would ever want to see twice, but I have joined Netflix, a online/mail-delivery rental service for DVDs. I get a couple every week, and I may want to keep some. Just don't tell the FBI. More importantly, figuring this new twist out should make the computers sell better.
Other than that, it's mostly been work, despite a sinus infection that's lasted almost a month. It was only bad the first two weeks, when it was really draining (I mean my energy, but out my nose too... gross). Then I got a back pain flare-up, one of my yearly bad cases. It's almost gone now. Enough, anyway, for me to rent a lawnmower Friday and cut the grass. Someone stole Michael's mower, so I have to rent and only do it once a month, when the grass/weeds get really bad.
Poe and I went for a 90-minute walk tonight, the longest in a while. We're going to start going camping again, so we both need to practice longer hikes. We just can't do it with Jackson; he doesn't have the stamina. I'm still recovering from back pain, but it's much better and I'm back at the gym. It's worst when I sit in a chair for too long, like it freezes and straightening out can be intense. Went to see the movie Hero Friday with a friend and we were both constantly shifting around even in those comfy seats. I found out after the movie he's taking a jogging class at UGA and his back is hurting, too. Maybe it's finally time for accupuncture haha. I've been meaning to look up my old T'ai Chi master.
October 9-11 we will be camping, if not sooner. A respiratory therapist at work has been trying to get me to go on one of his big semi-annual trips for a few years now and I keep backing out. But I'm going this time. It may or may not be fun. He just makes such a big deal out of it. He says he's going to bring a chainsaw this time. Along with the dozen campers, adult and children, and sometimes llamas—— his sideline (children's parties and so forth). I'm a very minimalist camper. I never make a fire or carry a pack stove. Everything I eat, including canned food, is cold. Primitive camping is no time to be gourmet or gourmand. Freeze-dried meals I see at camping stores are even more laughable because they are so expensive.
Not everyone can survive happily on peanut butter and jelly like I do. Big Brother Big Brother is a reality show about a bunch of strangers trapped in a house together. is proof of that—— one of the big punishments on it is a week of PB&J. To me, that's normal life haha, though theirs looks much less tasty than mine. Tuesday is the finale. None of the players was that interesting this year. The guy I thought would go to the end has, based only on the fact that he is blandly cute and insipidly friendly.
I just trained a new tech, with the improbable name of Zach(ariah). He seemed like a slacker at first—— he dropped out of college and his last job was a bartender. But he surprised me. He was in the Marines for a year and is still in the Reserves. And he has won some tournaments as a Muay Thai boxer, some martial arts he studies here. The day after I finished orienting him, he left for Hawaii to do a 2-week tour. He seems to have more than his share of good karma. A rich father of a friend gave him an SUV as an unexpected gift. He moved to Athens because another friend offered him a place to stay. And I don't even know who pulled strings to get him this job, since he has no qualifications for it. But he progressed well after the first day, which was a very rough one. I thought he wouldn't come back, but he did and has taken off. The last tech I trained has done well as well—— Ingrid, a pre-med student at UGA. Poorly-trained techs are the bane of nurses in the ER, so I am quick to point out which ones I haven't been involved with.