Small creature rescue

Saturday morning I heard what sounded like a bird stuck in my roof gutter: lots of chirping and scratching against metal.  When I went closer to the sound, I found it was coming from downstairs.  I opened the front door and saw a neighborhood cat trying to get something out from the spout of the rain gutter.  Once the cat saw me, it took off running.  The bird was still too scared to come out of the pipe.  I crouched down on the walkway and peeked inside the pipe.  I expected to find a baby bird, but instead I saw a bushy tail. I don't mess with squirrels.  Anything that scales trees that easily has claws I would like to keep a healthy distance from, especially if the squirrel is rabid.  At this point, my solution was let my paranoia win out for a while and wait for the squirrel to leave the gutter on its own.  It was quite clear that it could not climb up the vertical part of the pipe.

I tried to ignore it, but then I thought, "What if the cat comes back?"  This changed my plan from wait-and-see to scare-it-out-with-loud-noises by tapping and scratching on the pipe at the top to try and scare it out the opening.  All I did was terrify the poor creature further.  The scare tactics only made the squirrel more resolute to stay put.

Then I got the brilliant notion that I could force it out with a flood.  While I had no way of reaching the top of the gutter, there were small openings where the pipes pieces were joined together.  I poured a pitcher of water into the front openings which served very well in making the squirrel move around a lot, but it was still able to stay inside.  Now the poor critter was all wet so I could not let it stay in there and freeze.  Since a little bit of water was not a deterrent, maybe a lot of water would be.  I hooked up the sprayer to the hose and turned it on.  I was humane and pointed the water spray at the floor of the gutter, not directly at the squirrel.  My plan was to create a big enough gush to make a water slide that would force the squirrel out of the pipe.  This came very close to working.  The tail would come out of the pipe, but those claws held their ground.

I knew the gushing water must have scared the tiny critter so now it was really not coming out for a while.  I gave up on forcing it out.  Since it was not going anywhere, I felt the need to offer sunflower seeds while it cowered in fear all day.  I put a few on the edge of the gutter and a big pile on the ground in front of it.

I went inside and waited.  Having been obsessed with this squirrel all morning, my mind could not let it go.  I remembered my pleather gloves that I used in winter.  They were likely to be thick enough to protect me from teeth and at least minimize claw damage.  Now with bolstered courage and a new plan, I was ready to try again.  At first, my plan involved scaring the squirrel just right so that it would fall to the opening and either fall out or run away with its tail facing me when I grabbed for it.  It never fell out, and it darted back in before I could nab the tail.  Fortunately, the pipe was only barely big enough for my hand so that the squirrel could not get past my glove to bite or scratch me.  I finally just reached in and felt around until I found the tail.  Then I dragged it out only to find out that it was not a squirrel at all.

I marveled for an extended moment as I held by the tail the chipmunk that I had rescued from my rain gutter.  Awwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  All fear melted into sweet adoration of this incredibly cute chipmunk.  I set him down on my other hand and he dashed off.  I probably won't see that little guy around again, but I do hope to see more chipmunks in my neighborhood.  They are much more rare than squirrels around here.  And tons cuter!  I was glad I could rescue the poor guy from both the cat and the rain gutter.

Dvorak is a delightful distraction!

I've been messing around with Dvorak keyboard layout on my Ubuntu machine.  I must admit, it's hard to keep from grinning because it feels like a game.  I found out about the Dvorak layout from Wikipedia when reading about speed typing.  I found a great tutorial at http://gigliwood.com/abcd/lessons/.  I made it through about 5 lessons before I just had write down this ridiculous excitement I'm feeling.  I can already see how Dvorak is easier to type than QUERTY.  However, it is excruciatingly frustrating to type so much slower than I think.  Once I get the key translations down, I can handle the typing.  But I keep finding the sags in my concentration where I catch myself reaching for the old key (punctuation is tricky enough--try to cut, copy, paste when the x, c, and v keys are in different places).  That's why this transition has to be done slowly, increasing practices just a little each day.

I really love how I can learn this method of typing without any special equipment.  Dvorak uses a standard keyboard.  I could put stickers on my keys, but that would only teach me to look for the keys.  My aim is learn to type faster, not waste time looking back and forth between the keyboard and screen.

If you want to find out more on this crazy Dvorak layout, go to http://dvorak.mwbrooks.com/ or read the Wikipedia article.

Gardening at last!

I found a decent greenhouse at Sam's Club for only a hundred dollars.  I consider that a bargain for its size at 6' x 8' (1.8m x 2.4m) footprint with height enough to stand.  The really nice thing about the greenhouse was that it came in a nice little package that I could fit in my car.  I don't have a proper hauling vehicle, although my car gets the terrible gas mileage of one.  The greenhouse installed like a tent, including spikes to hold it down when the wind gets strong.

I repurposed the cardboard packaging into a raised garden bed inside the greenhouse.  The plot I am using is filled with rocks.  I dug down about a half foot for the base of the raised garden bad and sifted all the rocks out.  The first day I sifted dirt, I used my bare hands.  I found a lot of vibrant earthworms, but my hands were horribly dried out.  I left the greenhouse alone for about a week while I regained energy and cuticles.  The next time I sifted dirt, I used a shallow tub filled with water and a cheap colander.  I filled the colander with dry dirt, and dunked the colander in the tub.  After soaking it and swishing it around a while, I would be left with rocks and roots.  These I dumped outside the greenhouse.  Then I scooped up the dirt that sank to the bottom of the tub and put it in a container where I kept the sorted dirt.  I repeated this colander sifting process until I was thoroughly tired.  I still have dirt left to sift, but I had enough to mix in with my store-bought dirt.

I used the lasagna method to fill the garden bed once I set up the cardboard box.  I layered the bottom of the space with newspapers.  Then I put in a layer of really wet leaves that I composted over the winter.  Then I put in some store-bought garden dirt.  Then I put in some store-bought peat moss.  I put my hand sifted native dirt on top and repeated the layering with leaves, dirt, and peat moss.

Once I finished the garden bed, I planted seeds of baby carrots, beets, zucchini, and green onions.  I had about a 2' x 2' (0.6m x 0.6m) sized plot.  I had cut the greenhouse package in half, so I still have the other half to make another garden bed.  If the cardboard starts falling apart, I will shore it up with decorative stones.

I'm really glad I finally did this.  It took a lot of hard manual labor when I really didn't have much energy or willpower to go outside and do it.  Now at the very least, I can maintain this one garden bed and do what it takes to keep the plants alive and growing.  I realize that setting up a greenhouse at the dawn of a hot summer is not the best plan, but if I have to I can leave both doors open and hang a tarp over it to shade during the hottest part of the day.  I am really interested in finding either a solar fan or setting up a ridiculously overdone solar power grid to power a fan and misters.

After working with the greenhouse, I can see the real downer is that it has no screens.  It's either closed up and boiling hot, or open and filled with flying insects.  I have a roll of screen for fixing house window screens.  I'm thinking of McGyvering a removable screen door by combining the power of velcro and a hot glue gun.

My purpose is to stomp procrastination

I excel at one thing over all other talents: procrastination. If I got a nickel for every moment that I procrastinate, I would build a tower to the moon with my nickels...if I ever got around to it. Perfectionism hounds me at every turn. No matter what I am doing, there is always something else looking more fun, rewarding, or necessary. I have often received compliments on my work in the past, but rather than encourage me to continue practicing my talent, I have felt oppressed by the need to work harder until my life is completely drained of fun. That's the roadmap to Stressville.

Do I want to live my life in Stressville? Do I want to build a family there? Do I want to retire there? Of course not!

My heart breaks a little each time I want to take action and hold myself back, each time I want to speak up with the truth and stay silent. Heart ache is all procrastination will ever bring. Sometimes, procrastination can be disguised as a more noble cause such as sacrifice, fairness, and humility. Those can be useful qualities to possess, but in excess, they become oppression, injustice, and shame. Essentially, each time I procrastinate, I am voluntarily giving up a piece of my soul.

What can I do to counteract the negative force of procrastination? Increase my self discipline. If I concentrate on improving my self control, I will build resistance to the demoralizing effect of procrastination. I can build up one area of my life at a time: finance, wellness, intellectual pursuits, spiritual growth. The list goes on and on. Each area improved brings new strength to those areas I've already worked on. If I practice self discipline, eventually time will give me what I need and want from life.

Procrastination comes from impatiently demanding that time pay all the fruits of labor in advance and continually failing to contribute. Procrastinators are time moochers. My goal is to contribute my fair share for what I have already received and go even farther to exceed my own expectations of myself.  My purpose in life is to find the way around unjustified hesitation and take action towards being happy.

Dieting is a Gimmick

There comes a point when increasing self discipline when will can easily be broken. Ideally, willpower should only be used to set the stage for a successful change. My attempt to maintain an all raw food diet is not working out so well. The simple reason is that I ordered girl scout cookies about a month before deciding to embark on this fitness trial, and they arrived right after I started.

Eating fruit all the time is a wonderful treat. I really enjoy banana spinach smoothies. I love my amateur homemade guacamole. I feel like I have to pressure myself to keep eating fruit sometimes. I've grown accustomed to getting sweet healthy raw food at regular intervals. My kitchen is overloaded with an abundance of fruits, nuts, and vegetables. So when the cookies are just laying around, somehow my willpower completely overlooks the fact that they are not on my list. If I have one thin mint, then I have at least half a box if not the whole box. At that point, it's very difficult to want to keep preparing healthy meals. Cookies are ready to eat and pack many calories into an easy to devour package. Vegetables take time to wash, cut, and mix, and the will to keep up with all that can go out at any point if there are more convenient calories nearby.

I don't think the raw food diet is bad. I experienced heightened consciousness when I was making the transition to the eating style, and my digestion worked better than ever. The difficult part is saying no to social eating and long lasting energy. I love the smoothies, but they don't make a meal all themselves because doing so causes a major sugar crash. I miss the ability to go for four straight hours without getting hungry. The advantage of the raw food diet is you get to eat all the time. The disadvantage of the raw food diet is you HAVE TO eat all the time.

Instead of trying yet another restrictive diet, I will follow my gut and use the logic of how I will feel after I eat something to determine what and when I will eat. I'm calling this my "Brenda diet" because I find the excuse of being on a diet convenient when turning down donuts and cake at work. On the other hand, it's a diet specifically tailored to my physical needs developed by my own mind. I am the guru of my own eating plan so I don't have to fear being too far away from the source of information.

So yes, dieting is a gimmick, but if the purpose of a gimmick is to get you through the door, then dieting at least gets you through the first step toward consciously choosing health over lethargy.