Sick & Frustrated

Sick for the 3rd time this month, such that I'm not sure if I'm sick again or still.

But I'm up helping Dad on the roof, because it's been raining and we're getting into rainy season and the roof is covered in tar paper but the tile still isn't up to protect the paper. And Dad's been doing this mostly by himself because I've been away and whatnot, and everyone else has been busy too. And roofing is not a one person job.

But I swear, between the drugs and the stuffed head, I am DUMB today. He's had to explain each task at least 3 times before I could make sense of it, and I just spent over an hour doing a section and it turns out I've been leaving out one tile on each row which pretty much means I have to pull them all out and do them over.

(The tiles overlap like fish scales - not only one side over the next but also they have to fit the right place over the rows above and below. So to remove one tile 7 rows down and 3 tiles in, I have to pull out everything from the top down to that row, plus all the sides. So to fix one tile, I have to pull out around 25 tiles [it would be more, but the piece is on an angle, so there are different #s of tiles in each row.])

This is all complicated by the fact that the tiles are all original and handmade which means 1) they're irreplaceable, so we're trying not to break any as we pull them out and nail them back in and 2) they are not all shaped the same - each one is slightly unique, so while it should be easy to lay them down, they usually don't fit neatly and you have to swap tiles around like puzzle pieces to make them lay in a straight line.

Next time we do the roof - hopefully not for another 20 years - I don't care about aesthetics. We're either using new, uniform, store-bought tiles or skipping the tiles altogether for something much much easier.

And hiring someone to do it.

Preparing this morning for a performance of "Dash and Daring" with the California Legacy Project * for the California Council for the Promotion of History conference in Monterey.

We're focusing on California's boom and bust cycles. It's a really good script, I think.

The photo at right was taken at China Camp State Park - a place which definitely does its share of promoting California History.


* warning - the site seems to be playing music on load now. This is new. (And not a good idea, IMO. I mean, it's nice music, but people should be free to browse sites wherever they are without fear of disturbing their neighbors.)

Fall in Grafton, IL

View @ Lookout Point 1PPD 10/16/09
Originally uploaded by jessajune

Last week, I went to Grafton, IL to see some friends get married. It rained for the early part of our stay, but by the end the weather was chilly but gorgeous. We don't get too much of the fall colors out here in California - it was a bit early for them in Grafton, but things were quite lovely. I've posted a bunch of pictures to my Flickr.

We spent a lot of time in Pere Marquette State Park, which is small but quite lovely - and the location that this picture was taken.

Rain

Rain 1PPD 10/13/09
Originally uploaded by jessajune

We had our first storm of the season this week! It was exciting. The chimney grate blew off my parents' roof and Dad and I climbed up in the rain and wind to put it back.

That may have been a large part of the excitement.

But I love fall and winter - looking forward to more storms of this sort. But for now I'm glad they've stopped, as I'm getting on a plane tomorrow.