Author: Roscoe Ellis

I am a fully retired Texan, Roman Catholic, Knight of Columbus, a friend of Israel. Half my heart is in the Philippines. The other half is in Northern Indiana. I also play Correspondence Chess. #MAGA

New Tool Coming

This morning’s yard work included some much needed pruning of a big fig tree in my back yard. There is much more to be done on that tree, including cutting off some big dead branches and one that is very much alive but is growing onto my roof.

My small handsaw was able to handle some of the smaller branches today, but to deal with the bigger branches I’ve ordered a bigger saw.

Amazon tells me that I should expect delivery this Thursday of my new tree saw: a Corona RS 7510D RazorTOOTH Heavy Duty Pruning Curved Blade Trimming Saw for Hand Cutting Tree Limbs and Branches, 18 Inch.

The City of San Antonio has scheduled a Brush Collection Day for next Monday. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some of those big branches off the tree and hauled around to the front curb in time for the City to haul them away.

Sunday morning metrics…

Once again all my bank accounts gave me good numbers when I checked them this morning. That does help me face the day ahead with confidence. Though I expect 2021 to be a rough year, financially, for most folks (and I expect it to get a lot rougher than most of them suspect, and soon) I seem to have structured my situation well enough to make it through without needing to make any hard choices.

This morning’s health metrics, on the other hand, were mixed. While my BP remains stable and very good, the bathroom scales did not treat me so kindly. Due to last night’s insomnia I’m sure, I’m three pound higher than yesterday. Time has proven that for me, it’s impossible to lose weight if I don’t sleep well. Here’s hoping that I sleep better Sunday night than I did Saturday night. My body will thank me if I do.

Lately I’ve noticed…

That my brain starts to shut down, my mental acuity noticeably dims in the evening about two hours before bedtime. And it’s interesting how that correlates to the two hours it usually takes me to become fully awake in the morning.

Sylvia wants me to give her a wake up call at seven o’clock in the morning on her work days. In order for me to do that in a responsible way, in order for me to be fully awake when I do that, I set my first alarm for five o’clock in the morning. My second alarm is set for six o’clock, just in case, but I’m always starting to rouse myself with that first alarm.

That morning routine has been natural for me for years. But it’s only recently, over the last few months, that I’ve noticed a similar pattern to my evenings. Though I like to think of ten o’clock at night as my “bed time,” it’s sometimes eleven o’clock before head actually hits pillow. But my eyelids start getting really heavy by nine o’clock most evenings. And doing anything that requires much thought after that is a risky proposition.

Saturday afternoon in the Roscoe-verse

Watching baseball games, watching monster movies, playing chess, tweaking the sidebar of my blog, and lightly dozing: yes boys and girls, this is another relaxing afternoon coming after an hour and a half of yard work in the morning. I can live quite comfortably with this kind of day.