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It started off being a nice day, yes it did.

I got up at 08:00 and made coffee and read the paper... alone, Karen slept until about 10:30 or so.

Then about noonish, I decided that I'd better work on the back deck... the gas company is coming tomorrow to move the meter.

And I also need to give the garage guys room to work... so I took off about six feet off of the deck.

I had put the planking down with screws, in case that I had to remove them at some future date. Like now.

The screws are phillips-head... and they don't move. Well, I could get maybe every fifth one out with a screwdriver.

The rest of them I had to cut by pounding on the end of my pry-bar, wedging it between the decking and the CCA support. Worked, but slow as hell.

And it made my arm sore... I'm not used to pounding on things, just pushing buttons and keys, heh.

And then I had to move the wood planking to a somewhat safe place... more manual labor.

But I was feeling pretty good.

Karen came home from the store with supper, and I sat down and ate me some chicken breast and chicken livers... love them livers! I appreciate the chickens giving them up for me....

But when I tried to get out of the chair, plate in one hand and drink in the other, I had a lumbar spasm. Luckily, I was closer to sitting down that I was to standing up, so I just sat back down rather quickly and awkwardly.

I gave it about fifteen minutes, and I found that I could walk if I didn't move my back while I did... I feel like a little old man inching along.

But it's not really the pain... that's settled down some right now... but the fear of *more* pain. The pain from a lumbar spasm is tremendous, but, in this case, it didn't last long.

But every move that I make might bring on another spasm... I can feel it lurking there, waiting for me to do something dumb.

But I already did... I still had some stuff left to do getting the deck down, and I went out and did that... very, very carefully.

And I got by with it.

I'm seriously thinking about called my partner and having him come in at 07:00 in the morning... I'm not really sure that I can work like this. I'm gonna take a coupla muscle relaxers and see what happens, if it's not subsided in an hour I'll call in.

22:36...
And I did call in... I've only had one more spasm, and I was getting ready to sit down when that happened. But it still feels ominous I'll be much better off with resting it for a day..

And I'm going to take a long, hot shower and go to bed.

Eskimo: "If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?"

Priest: "No, not if you did not know."

Eskimo: "Then why did you tell me?"

All my life I have made it a rule, never to permit a religious man or woman to take for granted that his or her religious beliefs deserved more consideration than non-religious or anti-religious ones. I never agree with the foolish statement that I ought to respect the views of others when I believe them to be wrong

--------------Chapman Cohen, Freethinker