White Lightning Axiom: Redux

Family Tree

Over the last few days, I've been putting in some extra time as a buffer. Today, we are going out to lunch with a co-worker for Dollar Pint Thursday. It will be our last Thursday beer lunch since his last day is this Friday. I briefly mentioned this before and could not say much. He asked me to be a reference for his Security Clearance check. That is the only reason I knew about it and really could not say anything to anyone for fear that if he did not clear, he would not get the job and then he would be in a bind. In any event, these lunches usually take an hour or so, but since so many co-workers are going to be showing up I believe that it will be a protracted gathering. My drop-dead time is 1615 (15 minute flex) every day and If I don't get a 40 hour week in, I get docked 4 hours of vacation. Yeah, I'm salaried. Yes, it's a peculiar arrangement. In any event, I plan on having 1 Pint and then getting my caboose back to the client location so I can depart at a rational hour.

Yesterday was great. I had an easy time getting from the voluntary work-release detention center to the manor. The interior of the manor was not melting or ablaze ... the AC seems to be doing the trick at keeping it somewhere between 85 and 75. At least I don't have to worry about the glass melting in the panes. After I picked up the kids, we decided to play a bit on the towers. The unfinished towers. It grind on me like a pebble in the toe of my boot. Once the Mrs pulled the Family Tank into the Auto Port, I asked her to look after the Twins while I pulled out my various power tools and went to town on the lumber I had stacked against the back of the patio. The kids were intrigued with what I was doing till I fired up the circular saw. Then they began to cheer me on as I cleaved the pressure treated 2x4s like a titan rending the Greek Gods in two. I banged and drilled and screwed and sliced till dusk had settled and the dark began to descend upon my little work camp. The kids and the Mrs were long gone and I had run out of lumber. All I had left to do was the two peak supports and the towers would be complete. The remaining work would be the retaining wall and additional sand. So close ... so close.

The kids were up late last night, but were fairly sedate. I felt guilty about having to run upstairs and shower off after coming back inside. After I saw them sitting there at the dinner table with their little slack-jawed expressions, I cast off my wet quilt of guilt. I think they are getting a bit tired from staying up till 2100 hours. That, and the hot days are probably draining them when they play outside. It's hard to go through flash-cards or do number/letters when they only want to snuggle and look at the pictures. It's nice to have a mental break once in a while. Traffic this morning, however, was NOT sedate. Apparently there was a small fender bender after the 309 exit westbound that backed up traffic for 5 miles. That chewed up 15 minutes of my day all so people could look at the pretty blinking police cruiser lights. At least the car pulled over to the shoulder instead of sitting in the traffic lanes.

# posted by mdmhvonpa @ 11:01 PM