20 July 2010 Hand me the chainsaw and the cell phone

20 July 2010 Hand me the chainsaw and the cell phone


Sunday’s thunder storms dropped a 3 meter branch into the front yard. Last night’s dropped a much thicker and longer branch from the same tree. The source is some sort of hickory family tree. This tree borders the front yard and is close enough to the power, phone, and cable lines to cause me concern. There is a line of thunderstorms approaching now that is announcing itself with gusty winds. Bordering the driveway on the other side of the lines is a large pine that was poorly sited when planted by the previous owners. It may be time to look for reasonable tree removal services.

Regardless of future removal, there is chainsaw work ahead. I’m approaching the target dates to have my shoulders injected again. The last waltz with the power mower left me greatly uncomfortable. Planting trees as if they would not grow seems to have been a hobby with the previous owners. Someone should have told them they get taller and wider.

There’s thunder and rain arriving now. The dog will be most unhappy.

Gloria had the first of three synthetic synovial fluid injections this afternoon. She’ll get #2 and #3 over the following weeks. I hope these provide some relief for her.

During the ride into town we discussed the inadequacies of our cell phone service. Our current phones work here, just barely. No other carrier maps even marginal coverage here. Emergency calls on other networks could require driving or walking 3 miles to get a cell phone signal. However, while our current phones eliminate that risk, they have no signal nearly all the way into Johnson City. The point in having cell phones is to cover emergencies and ours don’t cover that need in a very necessary and commonly used travel zone. We’re truly at a loss as to what to do. We actually want phones that work as telephones. They’re getting hard to find and even harder to find for our usage area.

We don’t have any current contractual phone obligations. It’s time to start looking for something that will work here and cover the travel region we use most often.