I read a book years ago titled “The Gamesman.”  It was one of those pop social/psychology works that probably isn’t particularly scientific but none-the-less provides an interesting and even useful framework for looking at and possibly understanding the world, especially the world of work.  My take away from that book, which still rings true 30+ years later, was that I am a craftsman at heart who kept finding myself drawn into the gamesmanship of the workplace for which, in spite of not liking it, I seemed to have some aptitude.  Today was one of those days were a lot actually got done but I didn’t seem to be the one doing it, i.e., not a craftsman kind of day.  At least I made a partial recovery when we got home from Lowe’s and I had things I could install: light bulbs, a curtain rod, and salt for the water softener.  Such days leave me tired but not in a satisfied way.  Some days are like that, but so far I haven’t had very many of them in retirement.

I fixed two of our toilets on Thursday, but one of them apparently isn’t completely fixed yet.  I awoke this morning to sound of water running.  The flap had not sealed, causing the tank to not fill and the water to continue to run.  I have no idea how much water ran into the septic tank, but it was more than should have.  To make matters worse, I wanted to start a load of laundry early this morning only to discover that we had zero (0) gallons of water softener capacity remaining.  The softener indicated that it was going to recharge today, which meant around midnight based on how it is programmed, so I decided to start the regeneration cycle manually.  That was at 7:45 AM.  The cycle finished around 12:45 PM.  Yup, 5 hours during which I could not do the laundry, or dishes, or much else other than flush the toilets.  That’s why it’s set to run at night.  More thumb twiddling.

I checked my e-mail to see what the latest chatter was regarding the RV rally / photo workshop we are scheduled to attend.  With the federal government shut down we won’t have access to Smoky Mountain National Park (or any other federal facilities) and there was some thought of cancelling the workshop.  The problem is that the RV park where all of us are staying doesn’t give refunds and our deposit is 50% of the total camping fee for the week.  Since SMNP is closed the RV park was willing to let us re-book for any time during the next 12 months (that they had openings) for only an additional $25.  I wish I had to way to make money for doing nothing.

Our specific interest in this workshop is to learn to more fully use our digital camera (Sony Alpha 100) and to learn something about digital image post-processing software.  From that point of view, being in the Smoky Mountains in the fall was simply a bonus.  While we like nature, and I have always liked doing nature photography, our objectives for the workshop don’t require any specific subject matter in front of the lens.

We also made plans (and reservations) to meet up with Linda’s sister, brother, and his wife after the rally/workshop for a few days of camping, so we were committed to going whether there was a workshop or not.  It turned out that some of the other participants had done the same thing, and the final consensus was that the rally/workshop would go on as scheduled, national park or no national park.  That was a relief, but everything was up in the air for about 48 hours while this got sorted out.

Keith came by today to cut/trim the lawn.  He usually comes every other Tuesday, and normally would have come next week, but we asked him to pull ahead to the end of this week so the yard would look nice for the open house /warming.  He saves Fridays for “make up” work in case he gets rained out during the week.  That’s happened to him a lot this summer, but he was here as promised and in spite of the threat of rain.  It spritzed a little right after he arrived around 11 AM and then stopped, allowing him to get the whole yard done.  He always does a good job, and took the extra time today to get his blower out and blow off the driveways and the deck; a nice touch, and much appreciated.  But this was work Keith did, not me, so it was his craftsmanship, not mine.

Keith was done about the same time the water softener finished regenerating, so I finally got my load of laundry in the machine and we headed for Lowe’s and Meijer’s for last minute household items and food.  We are trying to prep this event so that the only thing we have to get on Sunday morning is ice for beverages.  We stopped at Teeko’s coffee shop before heading home.  (At Latson Road and Grand River Avenue, between Brighton and Howell, we have a Lowe’s, Walmart, Staples, Meijer’s, O’Reilly’s Auto, Teeko’s, and lots of other small stores.)  Teeko’s has become one of our favorite places to get coffee.  They stock “green” (dried but unroasted) beans and roast them at time of purchase.  They have a very nifty air-roaster that can produce anything from a very light to a very dark roast, but never burns the beans.  They have a nice variety of beans from Africa, Central/South America, and islands like Sumatra and Hawaii.  They even keep some 100% Kona on hand (we have some at home).  This time we picked up a pound each of a Costa Rica Decaf and Organic Guatemalan Nueva.

Linda made a really nice dish for dinner:  Fresh beets roasted with balsamic vinegar, grape seed oil, and a touch of sugar and served over fresh kale, wilted and mixed with couscous.  I’m sure there were some other seasonings in there, but those were the main ingredients.  Roasted beets are a real treat.

Linda has been monitoring the weather forecast leading up to/through Sunday.  The rain never materialized today, but it was very cloudy and humid and the high hit 81.  Not Michigan’s October best, but nothing to be done about it other than turn on the air conditioning.  Thunderstorms are forecast for overnight, and based on the radar it looks like we will finally get the promised rain.  Tomorrow will be a big day, with final house cleaning and lots of food preparation.  She has some tasty things planned for Sunday.