A Welcome Break

I worked on the drip irrigation watering system from about 10 AM until 7 PM, with just a short lunch break and a few stand-up breaks, such as this one where I'm enjoying the ice cream Cynthia bought at Mallard Ice Cream after her trip to the farmers' market.

It was only 50 F/10 C when I started work. The plastic tubing is very rigid and hard to work with at that temperature, and the instructions recommended soaking the ends in hot water before trying to insert fittings. There were no instructions for keeping the water hot. Instead of hot water, I used my heat gun -- the green thing that looks like something out of Star Trek.

The sun was dodging in and out of the clouds all day, and the wind was blowing intermittently -- I was constantly changing my clothing to stay comfortable. My back was hurting long before the end of the day, and my hands and fingers were rough and sore. I ran out of plastic tubing and was forced to stop, whether or not I wanted to -- I did want to.

After a delicious dinner prepared by C, a very special bottle of beer, some aspirin, and a hot shower, I'm feeling very satisfied, but I wish I had enough tubing to finish the job tomorrow.