Activity Log: September 2019 to December 2019

This blog is not intended to be entertaining on any level. This is a log of the weather in the Mississippi Delta Region and beekeeping activity at my apiaries. I am beginning this log to help me keep up with year to year changes.

My blog has served fairly well as a log of my activities but it has too much detail. This log is meant to cover just the facts.

On August 30, 2019 I made 6 walkaway splits. It was 93°F and sunny. Extracted 5 gallons of honey.

On August 31, 2019 I removed a hive from a hunting camp. All the bees died. It was 93°F and sunny.

September 1, 2019 – December 31, 2019

• 9/1/19 to 9/7/19: Sunny all week. Day time highs of 99°F lows 94°F. Night time highs 73°F lows 66°F.
  • I was sick with a sinus infection for 4 days. 9/4/19 Extracted honey.9/7/19 started remodeling my workshop.
• 9/8/19 to 9/14/19: Sunny all week. Day time highs of 99°F lows 94°F. Night time highs 73°F lows 66°F.
  • 9/14/19: I sold honey at the FARMER’S MARKET. Day time high 94°F.
• 9/15/19 to 9/21/19: Sunny all week. Day time highs of 99°F lows 89°F. Night time highs 73°F lows 70°F.
  • 9/13/19 6 Queen Bees arrived by mail (will feed until Wednesday 9/18/199/17/19: Attempted to extract honey that was on the trailer since 9/4/19 – All (3 1/2) deep supers were destroyed by beetles.9/18/19 Placed 5 queens in earlier splits – 2 splits had been destroyed by beetles and an additional hive with one honey super on it was destroyed by beetles. Down to 25 hives.9/21/19 Went to the Farmer’s Market… It was mild weather but only 2 other vendors. I sold to all but one customer that came out… there was only 10 customers.
• 9/22/19 to 9/28/19: Sunny all week. Day time highs of 94°F lows 91°F. Night time highs 62°F lows 60°F.
  • 9/22/19 Continued working on my workshop remodel. 9/23/19 Fall Equinox
• 9/29/19 to 10/05/19: Sunny all week. Day time highs of 98°F lows 89°F. Night time highs 59°F lows 57°F.
  • 9/31/19 Bought a used 2013 Ram 1500 with 112K miles. Paid $14,400 plus tax, title, extended warranty. It’s burnt orange, in great condition, and I am super pleased to own it.
  • 10/05/19 Went to Farmer’s Market but no one was there, so I left. I also went by DR. D’s place on the drive home to get my wagon and saw that one of my splits has been taken over by beetles. This brings me down to 24 hives.
• 10/06/19 to 10/12/19: Started the week with a rainy night. Day time highs of 93°F lows 66°F. Night time highs 56°F lows 54°F.
  • 10/06/19 Finally got the yard cleaned up outside my shop. Still working on remodeling my shop. The break in the hot weather is very welcome. I have felt very tired lately – I hope this is from my recent weight gain and not my Thyroid flaring up again.
  • 10/07/19 Drew my first drawing in Sketchup – it was a 24x24x24 box for tool storage. I also started back counting calories today (my weight is 404.6lbs).
  • 10/09/19 Visited Dr. D’s and found that I had lost more hives to beetles and moths. three hives were very cantankerous. EXTRACTED HONEY 6 gallons of honey.
  • 10/10/19 My request to change my schedule at the Greenville property from 8, 8, and 4hrs Mon-Wed respectively to 10-10hrs Tue and Wed was denied – all my bosses claim they are okay with the change but that the other boss is against it. I’m very disappointed.
• 10/13/19 to 10/19/19: Lots of rain (rained Sunday though Tuesday). Day time highs of 79°F lows 53°F. Night time highs 60°F lows 44°F.
  • 10/13/19 worked on cleaning my shop – not much progress.
  • 10/14/19 I’ve drawing 4 drawings in SketchUp and feel like I am really getting proficient at it already.
  • 10/15/19 Downloaded Fusion360. Have not found it to be as intuitive as SketchUp but I will watch a couple of YouTube videos before I make a decision.
  • 10/16/19 Took mom’s brown refrigerator for repairs. Also cleaned out Dale and Linda’s storage room – it was very hard for Jen, so we ended the night by going out drinking.
  • 10/17/19 Jen went to Vicksburg with me. Sent out a few resumes today – mostly to jobs I don’t really want… just seeing what’s available.
  • 10/18/19 Jen and I spent the night in Jackson.
  • 10/19/19 Jen and I returned home around 1:00pm and took the rest of the day off.
• 10/20/19 to 10/26/19: Lots of rain this week. Day time highs of 80°F lows 64°F. Night time highs 56°F lows 44°F.
  • 10/20/19 Built frames for storage boxes – also built a bucket rat trap.
  • 10/21/19 Blueprint reading started today and will be every Mon-Tue for the next 4 weeks with a Forklift class on Nov 9th.
  • 10/22/19 Had a rough day at work and found out that my raise had been canceled due to red tape – I was very angry (though I kept it to myself) – had a few dizzy spells, maybe blood pressure, maybe just an inner ear thing.
  • 10/23/19 HR department, carelessly scheduled my meeting on my time off (for the second week in a row), so I’d have to work late. I’m getting really disillusioned with the Greenville property – still love the Vicksburg property.
  • 10/26/19 won best best costume at Preston’s party (my friend and Vicksburg boss) … I was a lion, Jen was a lion tamer.
• 10/27/19 to 11/02/19: Lots of rain this week. Day time highs of 66°F lows 44°F. Night time highs 56°F lows 34°F.
  • 10/27/19 I have 5 bosses – 2 at each property and one corporate guy. Today after talking to the head guy at the Greenville property, it became painfully obvious I was not going to get the raise and promotion I was promise
  • 10/28/19 Got a call from a well known tool manufacturer near where I live – I have a 2-3 hour interview scheduled on 11/06/19 for a Environmental Safety Engineer position. Of all the resumes I sent out, this was the only company I actually would like to work for. My faith in God is strong about my career decisions but God does not speak to me in any way that I can recognize. Because of this, I always pray that he only opens doors he wants me to go through and closes doors he doesn’t want me to go through. Looking at my notes from the previous week, this open door feels perfectly timed. I can’t help but feel cautiously optimistic. I only need 3 things to make me accept the position: Competitive pay, a reasonable schedule, and a direct supervisor with a sense of humor. Then again, they might not even offer me the job.
• 11/03/19 to 11/09/19:Mostly sunny with a rainy weekend. Day time highs of 71°F lows 47°F. Night time highs 53°F lows 31°F.
  • 11/03/19 Got mom’s refrigerator fixed, fixed her pantry shelves, tightens foot piece on her wheelchair. Repaired holes in vent closet in Lee’s room where raccoons had been coming in. Spent most of the weekend, laying around.
  • 11/06/19 I had my interview with the tool company and it went very well. The interviewing manager said he I was just what they were looking for. However, I was the 1st of 3 interviewees and won’t know if I got the job for a couple of weeks.
  • 11/07/19 I have a crick in the muscle just below my shoulder blade that hurts at about an 8 out of 10 scale.
  • 11/08/19 My friend, Tom arranged a email communication to get me a promotion at the casino. I sent a brief email the the VP of the company, suggesting I take responsibility for more casinos. Now I have to wait for her response. I’ll take whichever job comes up first and offers me a competitive salary.
  • 11/09/19 Taught Forklift class for 3 hours in the morning and then laid on the couch the rest of the day (weekend). My wife took great care of me all day and now the pain in my shoulder blade has gone away completely.
• 11/10/19 to 11/16/19:Mostly sunny. Day time highs of 69°F lows 33°F. Night time highs 45°F lows 18°F.
  • 11/11/19 While putting my shoes on this morning, my lower back inexplicably went out. I can’t stand up straight. Also, I have not received a reply from the Casino VP (that path may be a dead end).
  • 11/12/19 My back is still out but has improved about 10%, I am using my umbrella as a cane. Tonight I finished up teaching night classes, so I should be able to get back on my side projects as soon as my back eases up.
  • 11/13/19 Back is improving (I can now stand up straight’ish).
  • 11/14/19 I turned 46 today.
  • 11/23/19 Back still hurting -went to the doctor.
• 11/17/19 to 11/23/19:Mostly sunny. Day time highs of 73°F lows 50°F. Night time highs 49°F lows 31°F.
  • 11/17/19 Got a prescription filled for Valium for my back. Half of a pill and my back was fixed.
  • 11/22/19 The Tool Company called me and set up a second interview for 12/2/19
  • 11/23/19 Began 9 day vacation and began re-roofing my house (My son Lee is helping me).
• 11/24/19 to 12/01/19:Mostly sunny. Day time highs of 72°F lows 52°F. Night time highs 58°F lows 32°F.
  • 11/24/19 Day two of the roofing project was hell. Lee and I stripped off the shingles and old tar paper down to the wood decking. The wood was in good condition and very strong. My wife cooked Thanksgiving Dinner today since she is working Thursday. I was so tired by sundown that I feared I wouldn’t be able to complete the roof. Mom went into the hospital because she pulled a muscle in her leg and couldn’t walk.
  • 11/25/19 Lee has hung in there with me and has overcome his fear of heights. We finished stripped 1/5 of the roof down to the decking. We are working really hard but the work is going very slowly.
  • 11/26/19 Despite the expected rain early in the morning, we manged to work until 1:00pm before it started and got the bare roof covered with tare paper. I’ve had a panic attack and I am so stressed out that we won’t get the roof done by the end of my vacation.
  • 11/27/19 The Shingling is going slow. We have only put about 3 squares back on (300 sqft). I’ve conceded that I won’t get this project done in time.
  • 11/28/19 We finished shingling the 1/5 of the roof. I am defeated beyond words. We stopped at noon, due to exhaustion.
  • 11/29/19 Lee suggested we remove the asbestos tiles, one at a time with a pry bar. While this was tedious, it went 10 times faster than using a shovel. We cleared a 15′ wide strip in just 1 hour. We then covered it with tar paper and started the shingles.
  • 11/30/19 Rain – we took the day off – I never even got dressed. My brother David came over and visited me for an hour – we have hardly spoke over the past two years. It was nice. He offered to help with the roof when he gets a day off but I declined.
• 12/01/19 to 12/07/19: Mostly sunny. Day time highs of 62°F lows 47°F. Night time highs 51°F lows 30°F.
  • 12/01/19 After watching some YouTube videos on roofing, we figured out that we had been scooting on our butts and knees rather than standing and that is what has been slowing us down. Using tie-off ropes, we stayed on our feet and was able to go much faster. Though this information didn’t come until the last day of my vacation. We spent 9 days and completed only 1/4 of the roof. We will have to work on it on the weekends until it gets done. Lee and I have really bonded over the last 9 days. He stuck with me every step of the way and I couldn’t have done it without him. I was hoping I would have had more people help but I am really glad for this time I had alone with Lee.
  • 12/02/19 Had my second interview with the Tool Company. The interview was with 4 additional managers and the VP. I think it went great and I expect them to make an offer by the end of the week. As of now, I can’t find any down side to the job. Friendly people, daytime hours, private office, and even though we haven’t said any numbers, I expect/hope for a very competitive salary.
  • 12/05/19 Jen got a huge bonus at work. It was more than enough to cover our new roof. I feel very blessed.
  • 12/07/19 Worked on the roof for about 4 hours. Then Jen and I went to Jackson for the weekend.
• 12/08/19 to 12/14/19: 50/50 rain/sun. Day time highs of 71°F lows 46°F. Night time highs 43°F lows 29°F.
  • 12/08/19 Spent a wonderful day with Jen in Jackson Christmas shopping. Visited my mom in the hospital. She has completely given up. She has not gotten out of the bed all weekend and is requiring 100% care. Her biggest fear is that she will end up in a nursing home – she doesn’t realize she is already in one.
  • 12/09/19 I woke up this morning thinking about my mom. I’m afraid she’s not going to be with me much longer. It snowed today.
  • 12/10/19 Had 3rd and final interview with tool company. They were more interested in my Environmental skills than my Safety background. I still think it went well.
  • 12/12/19 The GM of the casino I work for in Vicksburg learned that I was planning on leaving for another job. She was super nice and asked if I could be dissuaded. I really appreciated that her and the team in Vicksburg want me to stay.
  • 12/14/19 worked on the roof all weekend. My mom is still going down – she refuses to get out of bed. I told my mom that since she wouldn’t try, that she was going to die. I told her I don’t want to spend these last days lecturing her and that I was resolved to make the best of these last days.
• 12/15/19 to 12/21/19: 50/50 rain/sun. Day time highs of 71°F lows 44°F. Night time highs 37°F lows 28°F.
  • 12/15/19 Mom seems to have had a break-through. She got up 3 times today. I am cautiously optimistic.
  • 12/19/19 Received offer from the tool company – 10% higher than I had hoped for. I, of course, accepted.
  • 12/21/19 Start 9 day Christmas Vacation.
• 12/22/19 to 12/28/19: 50/50 rain/sun. Day time highs of 71°F lows 50°F. Night time highs 60°F lows 43°F.
  • 12/23/19 After a weekend of rain we started back to work on the roof. We are only 1/3 complete.
  • 12/24/19 My dog, Mabel died today. We had been treating her for Ehrlichiosis, however, when she stopped eating we took her to a new vet and found out she had spleen cancer. The vet performed emergency surgery but it had already spread to her liver – we did not wake her from her surgery. My wife and I took it very hard. We canceled all Christmas events while we mourned.
  • 12/26/19 Still grieving Mabel, Lee and I went back to work on the roof.
  • 12/27/19 Blacked in the back of the house and prepared for a weekend of rain. Mom was transferred to the nursing home for more therapy (this is only temporary for a max of 70 days). I also sent a $100 check to a GSP breeder in Mount Vernon, MO for a new puppy – we will pick it up on 01-19-2020.
• 12/29/19 to 12/31/19: Sunny. Day time highs of 55°F lows 54°F. Night time highs 46°F lows 33°F.
  • 12/29/19 Turned in my two week notice today.
• 12/31/19 END OF LOG