I killed another mini chainsaw. I had gotten one that only lasted me one battery charge so I sent it back to Amazon and received a replacement. That one is now dead, but I’m just going to replace the little motor. It won’t be subject to intense cutting from now on, so it should last.

Meanwhile, the 14” electric chainsaw I used for the trunks is still going strong. I did get the chain changed and properly seated after putting it on with the teeth in the wrong direction. There was a lot of deadwood among the three lilacs. The heartwood in several pieces was totally gone. A couple of sections were like giant drinking straws, hollow all the way up.

Most of the wood is at the street awaiting next week’s pick-up, and I’ll haul the rest down later today. I could have kept some sections for firewood. They would have gone to the bottom of the pile to sit and dry for a few years. But since I still have most of a maple in the back, there’s no need for additional wood.

When I moved in 18 years ago, there were sections of what was left of a huge maple stacked behind the garage. I’ve either burned or shared about half of that wood. Some of it still needs to be split. I’ve cut back on fires for two reasons – global warming, and worse, I can’t drink.

Sitting around the fire in my back yard was when I’d drink alcohol – a bottle or two of some flavor of Mike’s Hard Lemonade or what I would call a rum slushy – rum and Bacardi mixers served in a mason jar and stored in the freezer in jars since I’d only sip on one before letting the fire die out after a couple of hours and toddling off to bed.

I’m not the sort to mix medications and alcohol and it seems that after every doctor visit, I get a new prescription for something going wrong. So no alcohol. So it’s the mixers and fizzy water until the last ones are gone from the freezer. Not the same, but I don’t have to worry that I won’t wake up. Besides, I’ve never been that much of a drinker.

I used to have some firm rules about my drinking – I didn’t participate in buying rounds, I had a 3 drink maximum depending on how long I was staying and if I wasn’t the driver. I’d only bring enough money for my own drinks including three cokes if I was going to drive myself home. I didn’t allow anyone to buy me a drink.

I personally have never been arrested for drunk driving. I admit I did once drive home drunk in a snowstorm. It was terrifying and I never did that again. There was no traffic and a couple of times I was going sideways. That memory is still so firmly in my mind, I haven’t forgotten the feeling in 30 years.

My son and my ex-husband have both been arrested and have even served jail time for drunk driving multiple times. My son rear-ended an off-duty cop. My ex took out a phone pole. My ex was even pulled over a few weeks after one stop for driving without his license after it was pulled for too many stops. It was the same officer who had had his license pulled for a prior offense and he had no idea.

So a word of advice – never drink and drive.

So now, my son has fallen and hurt his back. so he can’t help assemble my shed – yet again. There’s always an excuse. I don’t doubt he fell or that he hurt his back. However, he’s one of the biggest drama queens other than his father, that I have ever known. Where did I go wrong? Or is it just him?

I guess that I just naturally work through whatever pain. When I was in college, I had to finish a hike with not one, but two sprained ankles. This was way before any type of battery operated phone. No one knew where I was. I was alone and wasn’t anywhere that I could hobble to a phone.

I was in pain for days after that, but I made it across campus to class. People asked why I was limping and I didn’t want to admit that I had jumped a creek and landed with both feet in a hole. The hole wasn’t big enough for one foot, let alone two. I was just glad I hadn’t broken one or both of them.

If I hadn’t been able to hobble out, my bones would probably still be in that ravine and I would have my own episode of Unexplained Disappearances. “She was a quiet girl, but we really didn’t know her that well. She just up and disappeared one day. We thought she left for her parents’ home in Connecticut. It was odd that she left her stuff.”

Other painful episodes involved the usual female problems, a bad gallbladder, and assorted blood clots – DVTs – not congealed owies. Not to mention childbirth. Twice. And a bunch of misfires – not too many know about those, but the aftereffects were not great.

So anyway, back to the shed. It’s been two months since I bought it and two weeks since I took it out of the box because “I’ll be there Friday at noon. That should be enough time before I go to work.” So he said, except he didn’t show up because he was called into work and the next day, he was scheduled early. And he has this excuse and that one, and he made plans, and there was a concert, and…and…

Enough. so now, his back is hurt and he’s off work. I don’t know how he survives himself. He quit the job with the retirement, the holiday pay, paid time off, and the comprehensive medical plan to go back to working for pennies and tips and no insurance. Alcohol has seriously damaged his brain.

Alcohol dependence is not the complete issue. There’s a good chance his brain is doing an A-type misfire, but he’s never been diagnosed with any of the big A’s – Autism, ADHD. I can’t diagnosis him. My medical knowledge is bits and pieces gleaned from copying medical articles to send to doctors. That doesn’t qualify me to even say someone has a cold.

Some of the articles changed my perception of human intelligence, especially considering the recent pandemic. And don’t get me started on politics. The only thing I have to say is that when the Founding Fathers added a minimum age to be President, they should have added a minimum and maximum age as well, with term limits, for each of the branches of government. No one should be able to hold a public office for as long as their grandchildren are alive. End rant!