Limits

I once spent 6 months doing intensive physical therapy for my back. The physical therapist was very good at what he did and surgery was avoided. Months can go by without me ever thinking about my back at all. Lately it reminded me that I'd better slow down. I've done more heavy lifting in the last week than I've done in months. At one time I'd have pushed myself to keep going. That's how I ended up in physical therapy. Once was enough. My back is just sore enough to remind me of my limits.

As if physical limits were not enough, I've come to the limit of my small engine skill set. The generator that I had such hope for decided to up and die. First I changed the fuel. Then I tore it right down to the points and condenser, but that didn't work either. It just had a new tune up kit put in, so I'm at a bit of a loss. The points looked like they were adjusted a bit too tight, but opening them up didn't do anything either. A friend will be coming over to give me a hand with it. His engine skill set is greater than my own.

The loss of the generator came at a bad time. With rain and cloudy days, my solar electric power is more limited. Some of my planned projects are energy intensive, so they'll have to wait. The generator would have allowed me to just push on.

Maybe there's a lesson here. If I'd slow down when the weather got bad, my back wouldn't have been under so much stress. When I was living on my sailboat I knew schedules were dangerous. I've only been home a few weeks and find myself trying to keep a schedule. On the boat I had to listen to the environment around me to keep from exceeding the limits of boat and crew. I should run my house more like I ran my boat. My back never hurt on the boat.

-Sixbears