| November 2009 Daniel Taylor |
November 2 (Monday) 2:00 pm
Apparently things have settled down between Boots and Buster, although I still have to keep my eye on
those two. Horace Lucky appears to be adjusting a bit better in his dealings with Fred and the others. I
haven't had to break up a fight in more than a week.
Poor Grace. I arrived home from errands on Saturday and found that grace had impaled her foot on a stray
wire, which was sticking out from the chain link fence that encloses her kennel. Poor thing. I do not know
how long she had been in that condition, but she had a small pool of blood underneath her, and she was
whimpering and crying, and when she saw me she starting wailing and moaning. Well, I had her freed in no
time, and she patiently allowed me to extricate the wire from her paw. I have observed her ever since, and
she seems to be no worse for wear. I have been concerned about infection, but she seems to be suffering
no ill effects.
Back to Horace -- I saw him running and playing with Taz and Grace and Grainger yesterday. Grace ran
around as if she was totally unaware of her injury, and Horace was obviously enjoying himself, barking and
chasing, and being barked at, and being chased.
Ah, things are right at Willow Oak!
November 5 (Thursday) 6:00 am
I am remiss for having failed to mention a recent incident. I rarely eat out, but occasionally when I go to
town I have breakfast at one of the favorite local establishments. A few days ago the manager of the place
refused to accept my money when I attempted to pay my bill. No amount of prodding would extract any
reason from him, and all he would say was "Have a good day, sir. You're okay, sir!" Evidently someone had
paid my bill, and I have no idea who.
All animals are okay. The daytime temperatures are in the high 60's and low 70's, dipping into the high 40's
and low 50's at night. North Mississippi climate is rather temperate, but we shall have a few pretty cold days
in January and maybe February. We had way more than our fair share of rain this past summer. I've had
another large oak tree topple over. At least I shall be able to use the tree for firewood next winter. I have
plenty of trees, so the lost of one tree goes practically unnoticed.
I caught Buster warming himself on the front porch on a sunny day recently.
| This little creature made its home just outside my house. |
| Buster no longer runs off into the woods, but he does like a little sun now and then. |
November 8 (Sunday) 6:30 am
Horace Lucky is slowly ingratiating himself to the other members of the crew. He doesn't find himself
needing to be constantly in my presence, although if I am outside he still must follow me around. I see him
outside these days running and playing with the others. He and Taz seem to especially enjoy each other's
company.
It appears that I shall begin work with Jackson Hewitt a week from Monday doing tax preparation work. This
kind of work suits me, seeing that I have developed an entire suite of fund accounting software, which is
currently being used in several school districts in the state of Mississippi. It will be seasonal work, but
there is a possibility of expanding the work into the rest of the year.
Stump Busters is doing much better than expected. We haven't really started to make a profit, but we are
able to meet the payroll for our hired hands and to meet our other obligations. I guess I won't be doing
much work with Stump Busters for the foreseeable future.
November 14 (Saturday) 11:45 am
I am back. Having used a computer for 20 years last weekend was the first time I ever did what I did: I
spilled coffee right into the middle of my laptop. I just got the thing back on yesterday. Close call -- all I
needed was a new keyboard. It could have been worse.
Since then I have made a bigger investment in Stump Busters. I bought a dump truck and wood chipper.
The TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) had need of someone with a dump truck and wood chipper to assist in
the clearing away of brush that has been cut from trees that stray too closely to their power lines. Larry put
Kenny to work with the chipper and found someone else to operate the stump grinder. Alas, the stump
grinder had a breakdown, which cost us around $1200 to fix -- all of the money coming out of my own
pocket. I have yet to earn a paycheck from Stump Busters, but we have expanded our business
considerably, so hopefully my investment will pay off in time. My only real concern in all of this is to
establish enough income to enable me to keep my animals. Of course, I want to be able to contribute to the
humane society.
I haven't heard much from the CACHS in a few months. With all the turmoil that has erupted over there this
past year, the hope is that operations there settle down to the real business of providing proper humane
treatment for the many abandoned and homeless vagabonds we have here in Alcorn County.
All of my crew is safe and sound. I've accumulated enough firewood to get me through the winter. I love
sleeping by the fireplace on cold winter nights! The experience is exhilarating, and I am looking forward to
several weeks of cozy nights surrounded my snoozing dogs and cats.
November 15 (Saturday) 6:55 pm
Tomorrow I go to work for Jackson Hewitt. For now we will only be doing holiday loans, probably at near
minimum wage. I do not expect to make a huge salary with JH for anywhere near the immediate future, but
perhaps during the off-season I might do some accounting work. After all, I wrote an entire suite of fund
accounting software, which is currently being used in several school districts in the state of Mississippi. If
JH does not work out in the long run, I do have hopes that Stump Busters makes enough profit to allow me
to retire from "active employment." I am not what you would call "materially involved" in the day-to-day
operations of Stump Busters, but I am a major investor, and hopefully my investment does pay off.
When I was younger I did such work as is done by Stump Busters. I operated a tractor for a grounds
maintenance crew, and I have experience maintaining heavy equipment. That experience is years in my
past, but we are not talking rocket science here. We have two major pieces of equipment, which Larry and I
would like to operate full time, but we only have one full time operator. We need another trust-worthy
person to operate our equipment. I may or may become that person, but at my age and with my health, I
probably should hope that another person can be found. In the meantime I shall continue in the road of
controller.
I have to do something to keep 12 dogs and 14 cats in the lap of luxury. I wish I could get to the point
where Willow Oak could be the home of others of God's homeless vagabonds -- even of the human variety.
I suppose that I could not do so by myself, but I would like to provide a home for abandoned mentally
handicapped children and adults. It is a sad fact that there are real, breathing human beings here in the
United States of America, even among the "good, church-going people" who have seen fit to abandoned
their God-given babies for no other reason than that those babies are not whole. It is a sad testament to
the extremely selfish nature of some of us.
November 18 (Wednesday) 6:15 am
Cold temperatures move inexorably forward. Smoky has begun to make his incursions into the house at
night. The outside cats usually do migrate to the warmth of the house this time of year. I saw one of the
BK's in one of the rooms last night.
November 18 (Wednesday) 5:40 pm
I left work early today. I had an "episode" at work: I became very faint and woozy. I have had that
experience a few times since my heart attack on June 23, 2008, but never as strong as today. I thought I
was a goner. I slumped over my desk, but I did not lose consciousness. I scared the life out of my
coworkers, but I recovered within two or three minutes. Nevertheless, the experience was scary for me, so
after regaining my strength I headed for home. I am better, but I have begun to have these spells, and
even though they are infrequent and rather mild, they are a cause for concern. I guess a doctor visit soon
is in order.
For now, I look about the room and see Tiger and Thumper curled up, snoozing comfortably on the bed
among a pile of dogs. Cougar reposes peacefully in my lap as I type, and Cleo is curled up asleep next to
the computer. Next to Cleo, lounging comfortably on a pile of books is Pinky. Beneath my feet, as always, is
Horace Lucky, and asleep on the kitchen cabinet across the way is Buster. I didn't get to spend any time
with Darkly and Buddy or any of the other outside cats, but I checked to see that they were all okay. The
only thing that occupies my mind these days is what will happen to them? What will happen to those among
God's precious creatures upon whom I have come to depend for love and attention and who so seriously
cast their dependence upon me?
November 19 (Thursday) 6:50 pm
I felt a lot better today. I even went outside and cut some firewood. I did not go to work today, but I shall go
in tomorrow. Hopefully, the fainting spell I had was not related to my heart problems. Perhaps it was due to
the change in weather or the pressure of being on a new job.
Stump Busters is doing well, but I am not needed for that other than to manage the money side of things.
Since tax preparation work is seasonal, and since I shall probably only be working with that until April 15,
perhaps I shall rejoin Stump Busters as a labor hand next spring. I could use the exercise and the
exposure to the out-of-doors. Stump Busters is in good shape financially -- we are constantly reinvesting
our profits into the business, improving the maintenance of the equipment and such. The hope is that by
next spring we shall be humming along with relatively few problems.
If I can just get through the winter with these cold nights ...
... yea, right! Like we have some really cold winters around here. The temps never get out of hand, but we
are due for a bad one. We've hardly experienced anything like "winter" around here in a few years. But I
am cold-natured, and with the blood thinner prescriptions that I take, any cool weather is rougher on me
than most people. Tuesday at the office, one of my coworkers was sweating and complaining about how hot
it was in the office, while I was sitting in my corner all wrapped up in my coat and shaking from being cold.
Well, there are nine dogs in my bed behind me as I type. Thumper is there, and I saw Boots and Smoky
nearby. Tiger is headed that way, and I shall too pretty soon.
November 20 (Friday) 7:30 pm
For a couple of hours this morning I felt very weak -- much like did right after having the stent inserted. At
that time one of the medicines I was prescribed, metropolol, turned out to be the culprit, and I felt this
morning much the same as I did when I was taking that medicine. But I quit taking metropolol more than a
year ago. Anyway, the sickness passed around 10:00, and I felt a bit better for the rest of the day.
I have read that metropolol is prescribed to patients who have suffered a traumatic event: the medicine
suppresses short-term memory. Anyway, the medicine slows the heart rate, and that can make one feel
light headed. I do not need the medicine since my heart rate is already pretty slow -- usually around 53
beats per minute. I took my blood pressure this morning several times and it was around 114 over 73,
which is good.
In the meantime I made an appointment for a cardiologist for December 10.
Also in the meantime, Cleo and Pinky are lounging on the desk near me right now. Fred is on the floor
between my feet, and Horace Lucky is asleep, curled up in front of the fire. I just counted 8 dogs and three
cats on the bed. Smoky is in my lap and Lightly, Pete, and Buster are sharing space on the kitchen counter.
November 23 (Monday) 7:00 pm
When it rains it pours. I spent nearly $2000 on repair parts for the chipper, and Larry and Kenny spent all of
Sunday working on it. Alas, just as they were finishing up the works, the big pulley that turns the wheel that
has the blades just snapped. Snapped into two pieces! Well, it only cost us an additional $500, with taxes
and overnight shipping. Luckily TVA didn't want to work us today, what with the rainy weather and all. In the
meantime Kenny went to work on a stump-grinding job we have at the park. It is a good-paying job and
ought to help us dig our way out of the doldrums.
Kenny expressed jealousy that I have not written much about him. Kenny is our dependable man who
operates our machinery. Kenny is a hard worker, loyal and dependable, and doesn't mind rising early and
working late, weekdays and weekends, rain or shine. Today, Kenny offered to teach me how to operate the
stump grinder. I responded enthusiastically, offering to teach him how to read and write in return.
Anyway, without Kenny our machinery would be sitting still most of the time, and we depend upon him
greatly.
All animals are snug and tight tonight.
November 26 (Thanksgiving) 8:00 am
Susie was born on December 20, 1951 and died on July 2, 2006. Susie was my sister. Among Susie's
favorite things was Macy's Thanksgiving day parade, and she watched it faithfully every Thanksgiving
morning. I was never crazy about the thing, but this morning my television will be tuned in to the parade in
honor of my sister, Susie. Among the things for which I have to be thankful is the fact that God chose me to
be Susie's brother.
I went to the job site yesterday and saw my dump truck for the first time. What a piece of junk the thing is!
Nonetheless, Kenny was there working and sweating away, and nine hours he put in. The chipper hummed
along nicely, mulching huge logs of cedar, turning them into tiny chips of a sweet-smelling savor, earning
money for our company.
Last night Kenny called and thanked me for mentioning him in my journal. At first I thought that he might be
a bit upset at what I had written about teaching him to read and write, but to the contrary, he was excited at
both the mentioning of his name and what I had said about his work ethic. He is equally ecstatic about the
prospect of learning to read and write! I think the boy dropped out of kindergarten.
That telephone call from Kenny put me into remembrance of another call I received from Kenny some
weeks ago. My phone rang at 6:00 am, and on the other end was Kenny.
Me: "Hello."
Kenny: "Hey, Daniel, what's goin' on?"
Me: "Nothing, what's wrong?"
Kenny: "Nuthin. Just callin' to see what you are doin."
Me: "Kenny, it is 6:00 in the morning."
Kenny: "Well, I was on my way to work and wanted to make sure you were awlright."
At that point I heard the voice of a child screaming in the background.
Me: "I'm okay, thank you. Kenny, I hear you children in the background. You are not on your way to work."
Kenny: "Oh, well I was just walking out the door."
Upon which I heard a female voice in the background: "Kenny you better get your lazy a## outta bed or your
gonna be late for work again!"
Good ole Kenny.
| Kenny has a sweet disposition, as can be seen in this recent photo his wife sent me on their wedding anniversary. |
November 28 (Saturday) 8:00 am
Yesterday was a gorgeous day, and the Stump Busters crew was out working. Well, for part of the day,
anyway. We are still in the hole financially, so we have to make up for lost work time (we lost three weeks in
September due to rain), so Kenny and his brother, Scotty, worked a few hours yesterday. I have created a
page on which to post stories and photos of the goings on of Stump Busters.
Temps dipped into the 20's the past couple of nights, and keeping warm has been a challenge. I have
plenty of wood, but it is mostly green, and green wood does not burn as hot as dry. All of this wood will be
well seasoned by next winter, but for this winter keeping warm will be a struggle.
I spent part of Thanksgiving day at Larry's In-laws. We had turkey and dressing and all the fixings, with
plenty of pumkin pie and a new dish: walnut pie -- very delicious. Larry's wife, Melinda, snapped a picture of
me holding the newest addition to the crew, Benjamin, son of Melinda's sister, Shea.
