Weekend work, busy week, a new investment strategy

Mama and I had a great weekend. I was able to spend all day Saturday working on the poles for the new pig pen, but when it came time to purchase the panels to enclose the area, I hesitated because I did not think we could afford the expense right now. So, I diverted my attention to getting a place set up for Mama to feed our cattle by moving a fence at the back of the chicken yard and adding a small roofed area onto the back of the pig building. I had almost all the materials on hand to do that. I just lacked a few 2x4’s. That seemed the bast course of action without spending the $200 or more for the materials required to complete the larger pig pen.

When I took the time to run to Lowe’s to get the 2x4s needed for the shelter I was shocked by the price. It was double what I expected to pay. I suppose the hurricanes and other storms that various parts of the US have been dealing with has driven up demand and thereby the prices for home repair materials. What would have cost me about fifteen dollars a few months ago cost me over thirty dollars Saturday. Needless to say, I bought only what I needed to complete the frame for the roof of the structure I was building. I will attach what roofing panels this afternoon. I should be close to what I need to complete the roof with the few panels I have left over from other projects, but this will use the last of all those extra items. Another projects that helps me clean up around the farm while making things easier for me and Mama as we care for our animals.  

I did not realize how much I had used my hands throughout the day Saturday until I tried to eat Saturday evening and I could not hold a fork properly. The muscles on my hand were so cramped up that I could not use my thumbs to grip the fork as I normally would have. Sunday morning, when I tried to write out our tithe check, I could not do so legibly so I had Mama write out the check. By Sunday evening I was able to take notes during the service, but the notes were not neat. I suppose I will be able to read them later if needed, but I rarely go back and revisit the sermon notes I take. Mostly, I take notes to keep me involved in the preaching and to add my thoughts to the topics being expounded. It helps me participate and it helps Mama look up the references I capture in my notes.

I came to the office this morning to get a colleague set up to teach an eight-hour class online. He will teach a class today and one on Friday for individuals that are clients of his specifically. That saves me the time and gets him some needed face time with his clients. I will be teaching classes tomorrow and Wednesday. Both of those are four-hour classes – more or less. Tomorrow will be a dual class. I will be at the Conference Center here in Decatur and there will be about a dozen company employees with me in that session. While I am instructing in person, the class will be broadcast to another twelve or so participant who will join us remotely. I am not sure how that will work out – especially concerning the audio for the remote participants – but we are going to try it out in order to get everyone in our company through the classes scheduled for this month.

The class tomorrow is an introduction to what we do, why we do it and who we are doing it for. Many of our newer employees and a few of our veteran employees have only a vague idea of the focus of our company and how that related to individuals working in the energy industry. Our mission statement, to make the world a safer place to work, has only a fuzzy application without understanding what we are doing to educate workers to be safe on the jobsite and at home. Tomorrows class should fill in some of those areas of misconception for our teams as to the relevance of what we do and what we offer to the workforce in general.

Mama will be prepping this week to go to trade Days with Kim Cantrell. At some point they are going to get together this week to get some crafts finished and to get a plan together as to what they are going to offer. Mama did fairly well last tine they were at Trade Days in selling her nails to passersby. I expect this weekend could bring some repeat customers. That would be encouraging to Mama.

I enrolled last week in a program that accumulates money for investment by rounding up every purchase made within a bank account. That rounded up amount is then invested in a fund selected by the investment program. It will not be much, but it will be something. That is all I need. If you are interested in learning about that program, send me your email and I will send you an invitation link. If you enroll from that link, I get $25 added to my account. You in turn can do the same thing if you enroll by inviting friends to join the program.

This is one of those times that every little bit counts.