"I have tried to know absolutely nothing about a great many things, and I have succeeded fairly well." - Robert Benchley

I've been thinking more about last night's topic - the difference between life for young adults/parents now and back when we were doing it, and how much of the difference is attributable to our income level and how much to cultural changes.

My parents and their peers had one car per family, most moms stayed home, eating out was saved for special occasions like parents' b'days, and dinners were typically casseroles. Now most moms work, two cars is the norm, eating out (or ordering in) is a weekly event at least, and meals are often purchased ready-to-eat. Very few mothers sew their kids' clothing or bake desserts from scratch.

We were something in the middle, but closer to my folks than today's parents. That is, the pace of change is rapid and those changes more drastic. For the better or worse? And is the change fueled by a rising income/standard of living?

I normally muck out the barn on Mondays but it has rained ALL week so the goats have been inside the whole time. That meant it was going to be pretty rank by Monday morning so I did that today. I really don't mind that job; it feels earthy and honest.

I close the barn overnight because we've got predators including mountain lions in the area. When I go out early - usually about 6:30 - to give Itzhak his bottle and all of them their a.m. serving of grain they can hear me coming as I open the gate. Itzhak and Stella are too small, but Sundae can stand up on her hind legs and peek through the opening in the door.
They are VERY eager to get grain!


I drove the truck over to Marta's and took pics of the truck in front of their cool old barn. Then to McDonald's this afternoon to use their wifi to get the pics from my phone to the laptop for editing. As I did that I realized I didn't have any pics of the reupholstered seat or the doors, so I'll get those and add them to the group.
If you're interested, here's a link to the pics on my Photobucket page. If you're not I understand. (And I have no way of knowing, so I'll pretend everyone has rushed right over there to oooh and aaaah over them.)

I also pressure washed the engine bay of the Mustang (Sally). It didn't have as dramatic an effect as when I did that to the '65 Falcon, which happened to have the same engine. But I still got a lot of oil and grease off, which will make working on it easier. Next up: replace the valve cover gasket and paint the cover so it's the correct Ford "Executive Blue" that matches the air cleaner and head.

Sometimes life weighs more than others. Often that has less to do with reality than perception, how we feel things are going vs. how they really are. It's felt heavy lately.
So I try to think and pray more for people whose life really is legitimately weighed down with heavy stuff, and that helps by restoring perspective. It will also help if we have more sunny days like this one, and that will happen with greater frequency as we move toward summer. It's supposed to be dry Monday and then again next Thursday. That constitutes a near drought by recent standards.

According to the State of Oregon one in 47 residents struggles with a gambling addiction, so the state offers treatment programs to help those individuals.
Or, they could just close down the several state sponsored gambling games instead of advertising them aggressively.

Pam's got dinner just about ready and I'M HUNGRY. I'm afraid that after a busy day and a full tummy I'll be falling asleep in my chair before the evening news is done.