My Leg is Missing

I barely heard the cracking noise and the next thing I see is my wheel barrel bouncing across the roof and no one is pushing.

It took me a second to get my wits. I looked down and both my gloved hands are on the shingle strewn deck and my left leg is missing from the top of my thigh down.

Looks like I just had my first accident. Fell right through the roof. At least it was just one leg. No blood and only a little bruising.

The good news is that I did clear off almost 300 square feet in about 2 hours, the bad news I was too tired to extricate myself out of the roof. I hate being stranded in the roof after dark. It sucks.

Here is the tool of the day. My Roof Bully. Which, as of tomorrow, will have another brother. I am buying a tool with a larger handle at a higher angle. I need to trade off a little to ease the pain on my back.

Dragon Fruit

Today's picture: My Dragon Fruit has bloomed.

Big as my hand and a plant covered with spikes.

It will be gone by the time I get back home from work.

My Eyes are Burning

My eyes are burning.

My back is giant knot and the Motrin stopped working hours ago.

No matter what I do the rotting road kill stench keeps penetrating every pore in my body.
The winds shift and the stench and grit are attacking my very being.
I want to dive in the nearest body of water to scrub and sterilize everything.

I hate the dump.

Load two of my second weekend of tearing off my roof. The Jeep is covered in filth, the trailer is filled with the black talcum dirt and I feel like I am living in my own private “Dirty Jobs” episode.

My roof is covered with three layers of material. The top two layers are the standard 3 tab shingles which have curled and lost most of their ability to withstand the hot California sun. The bottom layer is the stuff you find built up in far corners of industrial dumps. It’s a mix of glassy tar bits, dried bits of tar paper, razory shards of colored rock and fine silt.

The remains of the old rock roof blow all over. It falls between the cracks on the boards of my attic. It blows into the gaps in my screens and window and it move drifts into my neighbors’ yards like disintegrating dust devils.
It gets in your hair, down the back of your neck and likes to stick the my skin which is covered in sweat because my roof is about 15 degrees hotter than the 75 degree weather down under the shade tree in my front yard.

My redneck rig is loaded with about 900 lbs of the waste. You can’t pull it out with shovels, the stuff stacks like newspaper tossed into a pile. The only way to get is out is have my son stand at the end of the trailer yanking it off the tailgate by hand while I stand behind and push it in small heaps toward him.

Eight more loads to go. I need to pick up pace.

Someone needs to find a way to make dumps cleaner!

Ghost's of Cats Past

Good news:

Another male cat has taken the place of the gray one found dead under my Hibiscus.
A much smaller, all black male with a collar and a tag.
Woke me up about midnight with his loud caterwalling....

Good thing. I was getting nervous I would not be able to swear and use up my supply of Out on the smelly stains around my property.

Look at the Kitty Sleeping

What a great night. (sarcasm)

I get home late and get to finish mowing the lawn just as the sun begins to set. I move to the backyard and start sweeping up the remains of my weeding expedition in my side yard started the previous Sunday.

I turn to yank some weeds from the garden on my right and I spot the cat that has been spraying my garage, my car, my windows, and pretty much anything within firing range of a large male cat.

So I freeze and get ready to scare him off and realize he appears to be sleeping. So I give him a "hey" and he don't move. So I look closer into his Hibiscus and the Jasmine shelter. He is stretched out on his side just as confortable looking as can be.

Except for that line of ant walking across his matted gray fur and into his slightly agape mouth.

Kitty done died.

Looks like I have another mess to clean up. I was kind of wondering why my cats weren't doing their normal leg rubbing while I was working in that corner.

The Countdown Begins

I started this blog as a rant site about my neighborhood. Yes, I know, the title doesn't match the subject; like my life, change is inevitable and the subject is "a changing".

The new subject: New beginnings.

In the last 3 months I had two major changes in my life.
Number 1: I have finished a long and what seemed neverending task to complete my Bachelor's degree.
Number 2: I have accepted a new / old job and as a result I will be starting my life again in a new location.

Since No 1 is a done deal - almost (I will probably will be starting my Master's in the future) Number 2 will be the new subject.

The blog will chronicle the countdown to the big move which will take place in September of this year. Hopefully I can shut down, pack up and say good by to California with no regrets and as little anguish as possible.

So here I go...