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Saturday, August 28, 2004 During this last week, a wave of spectacular, bliss-inducing summer weather has settled in around these parts, leaving my little bod mighty happy. Despite that, a few nights of cold temperatures last weekend and the slow gathering of autumn color make it hard to forget that a colder season looms. Which has me starting to take on tasks that can't be put off any longer. After five years of a kind of punishment most non-lawn-care-company mowers rarely see -- near-daily use between April and October, plowing through 2+ acres of lawn -- the wheel/handle brackets on my power push mower began shearing in half. This machine has taken the load made for a much heavier unit and plugged faithfully away -- the engine continues gamely on, but the body is slowly giving up. Earlier in the summer, the handle tore apart and had to be replaced. This week I ordered new handle brackets and did the replacement work, essentially disassembling the rear of the chassis then fitting it back together. (It's amazing how lawn sludge has found its way into every cranny and seam beneath that chassis.) Today's project: pulling out the stovepipes and chimney insert for the coal stove, giving them their annual cleaning. A task I generally put off as long as possible, and for good reason: on the fun scale, it's right up there with circumcision. At least if one has to do it solo, usually the case here. 90 minutes of sheer, screaming pleasure, followed by a long shower, scrubbing blackened arms, torso and hair clean of coal dust. I've also, between bouts of making manual-labor whoopee, been trawling for someone to housesit here during the winter/spring, while I'm in Madrid. A process that got a bit wackier than I'd anticipated, in part because of the way numerous individuals expressed interest then disappeared, never to be heard from again. Finally, yesterday, a nice woman came to take a gander at the place. As I showed her around, we discovered she'd misunderstood the length of the housesit and will be moving out west in March. Two months, more or less, before my return to the States. Oops. So. One candidate down. Another shows up tomorrow, on the way back from a wedding in Maine. With a car full of females. Bet that'll beat the hell out of snorting coal soot. Madrid, te echo de menos. rws 6:22 PM [+]
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