I’ve just been racing a tractor pulling a slurry tank

(Thursday 13^th September 2012 Signed on 17:39)

It all happens where I live. I really have been racing a tractor pulling a slurry tank this afternoon and I’ve been to the Garda station.

Let’s start with the tanker: the house where we live has a septic tank. The Irish Government have decided to comply with European regulations and have all septic tanks inspected. My septic tank is registered, but there have been lots of complaints in the press about the process. Many people view it as a “tax on rural Ireland”. They’re probably right but I believe in “render onto Caesar that which is Caesar’s”, so I registered early and will be helpful to whoever turns up to do the inspection.

With any kind of inspection or examination one always has concern that something bad will be found. In this case that might mean a new septic tank, which would be enormously disruptive and very expensive. If something nasty is going to happen, I would rather find out sooner than later, so I arranged to have my tank emptied and at the same time asked the fellow emptying it whether he thought it would pass.

I found two suppliers who empty septic tanks. Both offered good service (registered, etc) so naturally I chose the one which was slightly cheaper. I will comment, that it may be a dirty business but the people in it seem to be very easy and pleasant to deal with. I arranged for him to call at my house in the early evening, and to ring my mobile when he was on his way.

I had to collect my daughters from their school just before 4 o’clock and on the way home I dropped into the supermarket to buy a packet of cereal that I had overlooked in today’s shop. While I was in the check-out queue my phone rang. I could see from the display that it was the septic-tank man, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. Hoping that I was saying the right thing, I said that I was on my way home and that he should proceed there.

On the way home, on the way out of the town I drive through a tee junction (in front of the library for anyone who knows). As I  was in the traffic queue I saw an enormous 4 wheel drive tractor, pulling a proportionately large slurry tank crossing the “tee”. I said to my daughters, “I bet that is our slurry tanker”. They agreed, but we couldn’t be sure, and there was nothing practical we could do about it in any case, because we were waiting in traffic.

When we turned into our road (a long, winding country road), the tractor was nowhere in sight, but soon enough we caught up with the queue of traffic which had accumulated behind it. I was now “racing a tractor pulling a slurry tank”.  Fortunately he pulled over to let the traffic clear and to get his bearings before he reached my house, so I was able to overtake him and pull into my drive.

The driver was extremely skilful. Backing the tractor into my driveway and then around the corner of the house was like threading a needle.

The actual emptying was done quickly and efficiently. The driver said that the tank needed emptying and I would see that there was large proportion of solids in the stuff that he was pumping out. Yuck!

As he was leaving I noticed something lying in my front garden. I thought it might be his, so I walked over to it, picked it up and waved at him. The thing I had picked it up was a brown ladies’ handbag which had been discarded in my front garden. I realised that it might from a robbery of some sort. There was nothing to be done about my having picked it up, so I dropped it in a plastic carrier and took it to the Garda Station. The Garda looked at it, inspected the contents: a recipe, a cigarette lighter, a receipt and two Mass cards (For anyone who doesn’t know, a Mass card is printed to commemorate someone’s funeral).  I hadn’t noticed the Mass Cards, but the Garda seemed to think that they suggested that the bag belonged to someone local. The receipt was from a local supermarket (actually the one where I had bought the cereal just a short time before, and had the “Rewards Card” number on it, so it should be easy for the Supermarket to identify the bag’s owner for the Gardai. I left my name, address and phone number and went on my way.

(Signed off 19:13 800 Words, a little over 1 page)

Important versus Urgent

Recently, an aquaintance sent me a note in which he referred to "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen R. Covey. One habit he thought was particularly useful was: "Doing 'Important, Non-Urgent' things ahead of 'Non-important, Urgent' things". This prompted me to think more about this suggestion. I think it is a good one, and it appears in different guises in different places.

We are all guilty of doing the "urgent" but ignoring the "important".

Different people live their lives in different ways. Some people, procrastinate to such a degree that they
never do anything, important or un-important, until it has become extremely (maybe even, frighteningly, urgent). Then, galvanised by fear, they race  to complete whatever it is. Once they have done the task they heave a sigh of relief and subside into inactivity again, until the next crisis. These poor souls exist in states of worry (about what they should be doing), fear (about what they haven't done), and exhaustion (having forced themselves to do it). Very rarely do they enjoy peace, or the satisfaction of a job well done. I do not recommend this as a way of living.

The difference between "Important" and "Urgent" is crucial. Importance may come from within, or without. Most urgency comes from the outside. It is important to establish ones own priorities. We may not always get our way and we may sometimes choose to do things which we do not consider important, but if we have priorities, we can always return to them.

A final thought is to look for activities which create more options for the future. Which make us stronger, which allow us to deal with everyday tasks more effectively and allow us more energy and time to deal with the important things.

At last the rain has stopped

At long last the rain has stopped. It's Sunday afternoon, I've had lunch, though not done the washing-up, and mowed the lawn. We're ready for the summer now.

One minor irritation occurred while I was mowing the lawn. The oil filler cap on the lawnmower engine came loose and spilled oil on the outside of the engine. It was a bit messy, but no harm has been done. I checked the oil level and it is still above the minimum. I was planning to change the oil anyway, so now I have a further reason to do it.

Even thought it hasn't rained all day, the atmosphere still feels humid. I hope that doesn't mean that it is going to rain again, because I would like to walk down to the pub this evening. Talking of the pub, I've just been down to town in the car to fill up with diesel and get a new can of petrol for the lawnmower. I should have bought a bottle of oil at the same time but I forgot. There's no urgent need to change the oil, but it would be good to get it out of the way.

On the way down to town I say Benjy my neighbour walking, so I stopped to give him a lift. That's another reason for hoping it doesn't rain, he didn't have a coat.

Summer reading

My reading list this summer is:

• Head Strong and
• Rainy Brain Sunny Brain

Both of which focus on getting the best out of people, rather than "fixing problems".

Clear air

At long last the rain has stopped. The air is beautifully clear (which is unusual in Ireland). I've taken a few pictures which I will try to add tomorrow. I've just got back from the pub, so I'm going to curtail it here.

Still bats

I'm pleased to report that I still have bats around my house. I saw a couple at the weekend, and I went out this evening and saw another couple. When I've finished writing this, I'll go out and have another look, now that it is fully dark. I don't know if they are roosting in the trees or somewhere in the house. If it is the house, then it must be the roof but I have no idea where.

A new toy

It's Father's Day today. My wife and children gave me a "Sat-Nav". It's nice to receive a gift, and this one will be useful for the summer holiday. Personally, I like to review my route before I set out, and I will continue to do that, but this piece of technology will make the navigation en-route simpler and less stressful for everyone.

I couldn't resist taking it out this afternoon and seeing if it could cope with the minor roads around where I live. It passed pretty well. If it had a route then it detected that I had "gone off track" almost immediately.
That's good, because that's always a problem. I did manage to confuse it when it wasn't actually following a course and I turned up a bohereen (minor road) which it didn't recogise. I think that has to almost count as cheating on my part.

I'm looking forward to the vacation. I hope the sat-nav will play it's part in getting us there and back safely.

A Matter of Life and Death?

(2nd June 2012)
Is one supposed to enjoy a funeral? Probably not, but it is possible to enjoy, or at least gain comfort from, the support of friends.

A close friend died recently and I attended his funeral. To attend I undertook a long and quite difficult journey. It has cost me money that I would rather not have spent. Before setting out I grudged the time I was going to spend. Now the trip is nearly over (I set out to return tomorrow), I have changed my mind. I am glad that I came. The money and the time have been worth it.

Why do I think that the trip has been worth it? My friend Dave died suddenly and unexpectedly. He was middle aged. A middle aged man. Unusually, he was not overweight, and while many people would have criticised him for having an unhealthy lifestyle, nobody thought that he was ill. I found that I was quite shocked by his death. The funeral was attended by a large number of people. Dave was not a religious man, so the service was held at the local crematorium. The crematorium chapel was full to capacity and a large number of people were left outside. There "wake" was held at the pub where Dave drank almost every evening. I have not seen the place so busy for many years. I felt people supporting one-another. I hope Dave's family felt the same.
 
Community. What is a community? I don't know, but I felt it at the funeral service and at the pub afterwards. Not something it is easy to define, but something which is shared together, something which people feel together. I suppose, by definition, it must be something "communal". Whatever it is, having encountered it, I feel it is something good.

Pulling Teeth and "The Way of the Artist"

Once I had finished breakfast and the washing up, the next thing I did this morning was continue with pulling up the hedge stumps. For some reason I started comparing pulling the stumps up with pulling teeth. I find that a little strange, because; I'm not a dentist and I've only ever had three teeth extracted, and two of those were wisdom teeth which were removed in my late teens before they had time to cause problems.

After pulling my quota of stumps (I was aiming for 3, but actually achieved 4), I crossed the road to the garden centre and bought a roll of weed control fabric to use in London. Taking it with me will save me the trouble of locating a source when I'm over there.

I treated myself to a trip to Mallow. In some ways it was a disappointment because I didn't find the bookbinding materials I was looking for, but I found something which has proved to be a pleasant surprise. I was browsing in a bookshop when I spotted a book which a friend recommended to me a couple of years ago: The Artist's Way. I bought it, and have found the contents interesting. I think I may follow through what it recommends (12 week action plan), because it provides a structured way of doing some things I was considering anyway. For example, one of the things it suggests is writing "Morning Pages". By coincidence, the previous evening I had written a note to myself to "Write a certain number of words every day". Sounds like two ways of saying something very similar. And of course, writing this blog, and other similar activities all serve a similar purpose.

Going back to my roots?

The hedge between the front of my property and the road suffered very badly during the severe winter last year. Most of the hedge died, so we decided to replace it. I removed and shredded most the dead stems during the autumn, leaving the stumps in the ground. The advice we have from the garden centre is that we should remove the dead stumps and prepare the soil before planting the replacement hedge plants. So, the task falls to me.

This week I started removing the old stumps. There is no particular hurry, so long as the job gets done before spring. I don't know if you have ever tried removing a small stump, but it is hard work. Even with digging it out and then levering at it with a pick-axe it still takes a while. I have other things to do (and I don't want this to be my only occupation), so I have set myself an informal target of 3 or 4 stumps a day. So far, I seem to be running slightly ahead of my self-imposed schedule. With any luck I will have finished removing the stumps before it is time for me to depart for England.

Property Maintenance

I have tenants in the house I used to occupy in London. They have decided to move on at the end of the month. I've decided that I will "spruce the place up" after they move out. I don't think there is anything particularly wrong with the decoration in the house, but periodic planned maintenance is a good thing. If I live in the house then I will be able to work from early to late and should be able to get quite a bit done. I may also try to clear up the front garden for my old next-door neighbour.

Although this trip will cost me money, the pay-off for me is that I will be able to visit friends in the area.

"In pursuit of the uneatable?"

"The English country gentleman galloping after a fox - the unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible."

Oscar Wilde

I saw something unexpected today. Perhaps "heard" or "experienced" would be more accurate, because I didn't see very much at all. I saw (heard/experienced) a fox hunt. I'm not going to be drawn into the fox-hunting debate, either on the pro or anti side. "Hunting with dogs" is still perfectly legal in Eire, and I'm aware that there is at least one local "hunt". I've also learned that I don't always understand everything that is happening in my locality. Instead, I'm going to report what I saw, and leave it at that.

My house is a little over a mile from the town. When the mood takes me, as it did today, I walk down to the town. It's a pleasant walk, and today all I planned to buy was a couple of cartons of milk (whole and semi-skimmed) and the papers. That hardly represents a serious load, especially carried in a rucksac.

For part of it's route, the road runs parallel to the River Allow. On the way down, I noticed some unusual things. Cars parked at the side of the road in places where there are not usually cars, and a couple of small groups of men, all looking observant and some talking on mobile phones. I wondered what was going on.

Further along, the river comes closer and there is a steep wooded bank between the river and the road, as it passes through a small wood. As I entered the wood, I became aware of sounds coming from the wood. The sounds were: dogs barking and yelping, men shouting and cracking sounds (which I think were trees being struck with sticks). I crossed the road to look down onto the river. In the distance I heard the sound of a "call" (I'm not sure what the correct name for a the bugle or trumpet they use is). As I looked down at the river bank I could see a couple of hounds running around and sniffing the ground. While I watched, a man climbed up a track leading from the river bank. He said that they were trying to prevent the fox (I assumed they were hunting a fox) from crossing the road.

I continued to the town, and completed my errand. I wasn't at all surprised that there was nothing for me to see on the way home. When I was nearly home, I saw a car driving towards me, so I stepped up onto the verge. To my surprise he pulled into a field entrance a little in front of me, got out of the car and started talking on his mobile phone.

As I reached him, he finished with the phone,

"Did you get your fox?" I asked.

"Oh, we won't be catching any of those fellows today" he replied with a grin.

In the distance, I could here the sound of the dogs barking.

All I saw throughout the whole episode were two dogs and some men. No fox, no horses, nothing else.