Irrigating Without Irritation

I was up on time, but also dragging after a paltry 5 hours of sleep. Monday night’s Viking game kept me up much later than usual.  I can handle being short slept every blue moon but I never like to get less than 7 hours. Still a little achy, I took a couple Advil before diving headlong into my exercise routine. After exercise I walked with Ykraps. It was a nice morning under mostly clear skies.

 After pouring coffee and delivering a cup to Mindy, I returned downstairs where I decided once again to sneak an extra wink of sleep. I slept for just ten minutes, but that little bit more felt terrific. By the time I changed into my running garb, stretched, and left it was 6:40am.  The four miles went fast. The first three miles were in complete darkness. The days are shrinking. It won’t be long before my entire run will be shrouded in darkness. However, in about four weeks we roll the clocks back. That’ll once again move the sun back into my run. A bit more on the sun… Nov 01 will be the latest sunrise of the year. That Saturday the sun will not rise until 8:01am. It’s the only day of the year where the sun rises later than 8:00am. That’ll be a first in Ohio, all brought about by moving the clocks back later than previous years.

 My eggs and fruit were ready when I returned. My lunch was packed too. I gave Mindy a little grief about the scant lunch resting in front of me. She must’ve been running short on time. Prepping lunches is something she often does the evening before. She countered that beggars can’t be choosers. What? Who’s a beggar? Our jabs were exchange in jest. I knew she didn’t mean it. I took a few extra minutes to bring my lunch up to par with most other days before heading up for my shower.

 I seriously thought about driving the BM’er but the weather forecast called for thickening clouds, especially during the late afternoon. The current weather was lovely. After getting Jacob on the bus I returned home to draft a note for Chris K., the irrigation guy. I left it tapped to the front door with details regarding the necessary changes/repairs. As I drove into work I decided that I would ask my boss if I could work from home during the later afternoon just so I could be there when the irrigation guys arrive. My goal was to minimize any return trips.

 My boss was agreeable to those terms. I planned to leave just before 2pm. The first half of my day went fast. As usual, we were quite busy. And since I was leaving for home early, I didn’t bother taking a lunch. I packed up my laptop and headed for home at 1:50pm. I made a quick stop at the Hilliard Kroger on my way home. There, I bought five pounds of ground beef, taco seasoning, and Tostitos for tomorrow’s potluck. I also picked up a dozen roses for Mindy. 

I was home by 2:10pm. I could see that the irrigation guys had already been there and gone as evidenced by the marking stakes being lifted. I could also see that they added an additional sprinkler head to the eastside of my front yard to cover the “dry spot”. Short of trying it out, that seemed to satisfy that particular concern. Before testing it, I went inside and got logged into work. While my laptop booted up, I ventured out back to see if they found and repaired the leaking sprinkler head by the pond. They should’ve. I marked it well. Yep – looked like they fixed it. However, I wouldn’t know for certain until I tested it.

 Before testing the sprinkler system I got settled into work. Once things were going well I set the watering controller to manual for zone #4 – mid-backyard. I could see that my leaking head was now launching water with the rest of the heads. I moved in for a closer inspection. All was well. Next, I moved the controller to manual for zone #6 – the east front & side yard. The new head was working fine and more importantly, covering the area of concern. Both of my issues were addressed. I returned inside to do some work.

 Around 4pm I decided to get a start on making my contribution to tomorrow’s potluck. I made 5lbs of taco meat. I planned to make a big batch of salsa too, but wouldn’t start that until later. Jacob got home before Mindy and was in a pleasant mood. Mindy got home moments later. Good thing – what would Jacob have done had I not been home t oreceive him?

 While Mindy & the kids got settled, I reminded then that I was technically working and would be until 5:30pm. Jimaken came by to pick-up Jacob for dinner around 5pm. I stayed busy until the end of my work day. At the end of the day I chose to remain logged in. At 5:45pm Mindy & I took Ykraps on his evening walk. Mindy made cream of chicken over rice for dinner. We added a can of canned chicken to the cream of chicken soup for a meatier mix. It was delicious! 

During dinner, Bella commented on how quiet it was without Jacob at home. She was right. It was quite peaceful. After eating dinner Mindy & Bella played Pick-Out-Sticks – a game similar to Milton Bradley’s, Operation. After cleaning up dinner dishes I got busy making salsa. First, I went outside to pick some fresh tomatoes and peppers. I filled a large colander with the fresh veggies. After washing the veggies I got out the Pampered Chef chopper and made quick work of dicing up each ingredient. Thirty minutes later I had a top notch salsa. I kept the number of really hot peppers to a minimum since this batch would be serving a large group of people. Mindy sampled it and said it was still too hot! Perfect! J

 Jacob was back from dinner with dad by 6:30pm. Mindy got the kids ready for bed around 7:30pm. We decided to let them skip a shower. Mindy read with Jacob while I read with Bella. She’s doing better than I expected given that she’s only been in school for maybe ten days.

 Mindy & I remembered to tune into House at 8pm.  I assume because of the 9pm Presidential debate, they ran a rerun. Not wanting to waste valuable time, I used the time instead to write/update my blog. At 9pm I rejoined Mindy in the familyroom to catch the debate. Being an NPR regular, I’ve heard most of the political rhetoric both candidates routinely espouse. I was very disappointed in how both candidates used questions from undecided voters to say the same old same old. Surely, these fine folks could see right through both candidates. They didn’t once answer the actual questions directed towards. I got the impression that these folks were in awe. Fact is, these people were being used. We became so bored with it that we turned it off. Wake up America! 

A final note on my new sprinkler system. I was very relieved to have the sprinkler issue behind us. Nothing’s worse than forking out big bucks for something special and having it cause more headaches than it cures. Hopefully now, I can sit back and enjoy it.