Must post

I cleaned the toilets this morning. That's my day so far.

Retired in Silver City

Today I made newspaper bricks for the first time. I ordered the nifty brick maker from Lehman's--the huge, wonderful everything-Amish hardware store in Kidron, Ohio. I've been there, wandered around and up and down and in and out of all the rooms filled with treasures you never even thought of needing for your home. Especially if you have electricity.

Anyway, I made ten bricks from a two-foot high stack of Wall Street Journals. I filled one of those white plastic buckets with water in which I soaked the newspapers "thoroughly." Then shoved the wadded mess into the metal frame, put on the mashing part, and by stepping on one handle and pushing the other with my hand, I squeezed and squished out the water. The first ones weren't very, um, brick-like, but I got better as I went on. It took me about 45 minutes to make ten bricks. Just to put that into perspective, the brick maker cost me $39.90 including shipping and handling. Wood around here is $200 a cord. I don't know how long it might take me to make a cord of newspaper bricks (actually, I may die first...). But hey, free papers, free labor, free dummy!

A satisfying occupation in an otherwise difficult morning of getting my hair cut too short on the neckline again.