It was home improvement weekend, and it feels good to get so much done. I repaired (though it fell apart again, partially) our couch, built and installed a screen door, replaced a light fixture, wired up another light fixture and outlet, retaped some of the window screens, and carved a pumpkin. (That's home improvement because it makes me feel all warm inside.) Apart from the physical changes in the house, I cut myself twice, once badly enough to almost cause me to pass out (which is to say, not that badly, because I have some automatic psychological reaction seeing my own blood - other peoples' blood doesn't bother me). I electrocuted my left hand testing a fluorescent light (teaching me that it's a good idea not to leave open connections on wiring inside a conductive base), and burned myself cooking some of the pumpkin (made EXCELLENT curried pumpkin and also roasted the seeds).
Amazingly, I have no wounds to show for my screen door. All told, it cost the equivalent of $40 US dollars (wood, screening, nails, screws, hinges, latching mechanism I rigged up in my head but never actually implemented), and about two weeks to gather all the materials. (You can't exactly run down to Home Depot, you know.) It took about 4 hours to do it, and I did a perfectly half-assed job. Though not completely my fault that nails and screws here are very cheaply made, I was out the proper tools and enough wood. I only had enough money for 13 meters and I really needed 16 to do a good job. Since wood is a 1.5 mile walk away, I think I'll hold off on finishing it up until I'm in the area.
All told, I'm happy. It feels good to do manual labor and have something to show for it. But is that really what I'm here for? My students agree that maybe the owners of the house should be fixing it up, but anyone with a landlord knows what's easier.
I had some very vivid dreams last night - odd because I kept waking up, deciding I wanted to sleep more, and then continuing the same dream (although this shouldn't seem odd anymore, because I'm on mephloquine). I think, to some extent, I could control what was going on in the dream (is that lucid?) Fun stuff.
This journal entry has been brought to you by hard work, pumpkins and the opening and closing parentheses.
Peace
John
