A Little Labor On Labor Day

I was kidding myself. I thought for a moment I would actually go labor-less on Labor Day. But Lisa was determined to replace her new flag which just replaced my old flag. That not only meant that I had to mow the front part of the property but had to weed whack the front high grass around the flag.

As you can see by comparing the intro and above photos, I got it done.

That required dragging out the mower (the one Everett fixed) and also finding a working and charged weed whacker in the work shed (I must organize it this winter). Of course, Lisa had ordered one of those metal weed whacker heads from China which came without any directions and after searching the internet I could not figure how to take off the existing head so I could put on the metal head. I tried to use that as an excuse not to weed whack but Lisa wasn’t having it. So, I instead had to go back old school and put some more plastic filament onto the original spool. This took forever.

But, as I mentioned, I got it done.

Of course, Lisa bought a new longer flag pole (should I read into this?) but I insisted on going with the one I had jerry-rigged so that both top and bottom attachments spun an unimpeded 360 degrees around the pole, so I wouldn’t have to keep unwinding it every time the wind wrapped it up. Knowing that she could not get the new flag attached to the new pole without my help, Lisa gave in on that argument.

So Tommy got to keep his flag pole. That was a major win for me, because I’ve become very fond of my flag pole. I’ve put a lot of work into it. It can do tricks that store bought flag poles can only dream of. Experience counts.

When it is all said and done, it’s not the wand, it’s the magician.

Long may this flag and pole combination wave.

Of course, mowing the lawn (not a double entendre) took longer than I had hoped, but you have to move slow enough to allow all the small creatures in the grass a chance to get clear of those mulching blades. I watched a number of bunnies racing in and out of the high grass beltway along the fence line before me (which is why I leave that stretch high), so I didn’t want any collisions. The grasshoppers were flying from the grass before me like IEDs. And then there was having to mow that rise. You can’t just do it horizontally. You had to stand on the street and do short, one handed, perpendicular sweeps down and up. Another reason my right arm is stronger than my left.

I could hear “Let’s Do The Time Warp Again” playing in my head as I hopped laterally right to left with each down hill sweep from the driveway to the western edge of my property.

Does wonders for the back. Thank God for Aleve.

When I got back inside, Blue was grabbing a sympathy nap under Lisa’s latest acquisition to her art collection.

At least Lisa didn’t make me paint the wall before hanging it.

And once I did get my tired ass into my tired recliner, the two stayed attached until I called it a night. Too tired to read, so I binged (re)watched a few episodes of After Life with Ricky Gervais. Fucking brilliant.

The good news is that today is Tuesday. A short, Monday-less work week.

But I need to get moving, so I’m off to a kitty cuddle and my rounds.

You fine, five readers, down that third coffee and launch your work week.

But whatever you do, make today a great one.