Abstract: Spidra screwed up and instead of planting her raised beds today, she has to wait until tomorrow to get help shoveling out all the dirt and rebuilding them. Yay.

Paper: Yet another setback on this raised bed project. The pins that hold the parts together (they're kinda like Lincoln Logs) are larger than the total height of the bed but have a tendency to go down farther into the ground than they should because the ground is very soft right now. Many times during the assembly, I had to pull the pins up and try not to pull them *too* far up or they'd pull out of the bottom pieces.

When I had the beds fully assembled, some of the pins were still too low. And now they'd be harder to pull up because not only did they have the weight of all the boards on top of them but there was soil in the beds. Still, I didn't want to have the top pieces falling off because there was so little rod to go through them. So I piled the dirt high in the middle of the bed, exposing some of the boards. I pulled off the top layer of boards so I'd have more pin to get my hands around and pull. Some pins weren't budging at all. Others got pulled, but too far. And since there was soil in the bed, it immediately pushed the bottom board outward so that the hole was no longer flush with the others. The bed didn't collapse or anything. It's just not very structurally stable without the pin going through all 4 corners evenly. This happened at one corner on one bed and two adjacent corners on the other.

Major *facepalm*. Not having the pins rise high enough was nowhere near the problem that not having the pins go all the way through to the ground is. No matter how tempted I am to forget it and just plant the bed up, it's foolish to do so. It's got a structural vulnerability now that will probably result in a collapse down the line.

So I have to get someone to help me shovel all the dirt out of the beds and then I can put the pins through properly. Then shovel all the dirt back in again. I feel horrible that I have to ask someone to help me once, not to mention helping me a 2nd time because I screwed up. Luckily, my brother is willing to help out so tomorrow morning is D-Day for shoveling a metric asston of dirt.

The raised bed kit was delivered Oct. 26th. Each delay on this thing is driving me nuts. Not only am I antsy to plant, I've got $150 of Annie's Annuals stuff that's been in pots much longer than is good for it.

On the good side, I don't have to be working out in this heat wave anymore today. And I had a homemade coffee milkshake to enjoy.

Actually Sox, I did prefer the complete explanation he gave me (esp since he basically was telling me to hold off on treating it), but yeeps. I think he was just a bit awkward because he knew he was giving me a one-two that would make me unhappy. Conversation basically went:

Me: Gee, I am worried about this thing on my lip.

Dr: No need to worry, I am not worried about it. It's a longincomprehensiblemedicalterm.

Me: Oh good, so you won't need to cut it off?

Dr: Oh no, we can't cut it. We need to... uh... burn it off. Quite painful actually, etc etc.

Yikes, Burrell! I'm not a fan of painful medical procedures that involve burning. You know, unlike the vast majority of humanity who love it.

Ugh, just heard that a baseball coach I knew from Little League committed suicide. Not a close friend of mine, but somebody I've known at the ball fields since Emmett was 8. He had chronic depression and was switching meds and something went awry.

I feel so sorry for his son and family.

I got medically burnt once. The smell was disconcerting. You might want to distract yourself from that.

Ginger, much peace and strength to you and your family. My condolences.

I got medically burnt once. The smell was disconcerting. You might want to distract yourself from that.

Carmex (or some other strong-smelling lip goop), applied right under the nose. It really does work, at least for me.

Carmex (or some other strong-smelling lip goop), applied right under the nose. It really does work, at least for me.

If only they'd told me there was going to be cauterising. But I don't think I was getting out of that without trauma. There are some things that shouldn't be done under local.

There are some things that shouldn't be done under local.

You are correct. Then again, I am the fool who refuses novacaine when at the dentist. Every filling I've ever gotten has been done without anything, let alone a local.

I am so tired, both physically and mentally. The mental portion is only going to get worse. Someone please wake me up somewhere around January 31, 2012. Thanks.

Every filling I've ever gotten has been done without anything, let alone a local.

I did that. Once. Only once.

edit: Fortunately Marathon Man hadn't come out yet.

edit: Fortunately Marathon Man hadn't come out yet.

LOL

You guys are braver than I am.