This is the first Saturday to come after two days where I was engaged in a work-type activity. Therefore, I had lots of incentive to not procrastinate, and I didn't.

I got out to WalMart fairly early. It was drizzling when I went out to the car, it let up for most of the drive, but was back to actual raindrops when I got there. Luckily, I got a parking spot next to the last handicapped, so I didn't have too much of a hobble to get out of the damp.

I got what I needed and a couple of things I hadn't listed, but needed anyway. When I left, it looked dry and an incoming customer said it was just misting a bit. Well, when I went outside those were awfully big drops of mist. Anyway, I decided that I really didn't want to unload six bags of newspapers in even that "mist," so I headed back towards home. Wouldn't you know, as soon as I headed that way it was dry again. I looked at the cloud positions and decided that I just might be able to get rid of the papers after all. And when I got to the recycle center it was dry as a bone. Just as I started dumping the first bag into the bin a man appeared and grabbed a bag out of the car. He was helping me! This has never happened before. I mentioned that I saved the bags and he commented on them becoming an endangered species. I think he also noticed the large quantities of duct tape holding key parts of the bags together. But at any rate, it was a very nice thing to give me a hand and I thanked him profusely.

I luppered at Arby's and finished Elaine Pagels' Beyond Belief. As I neared the end I came across a fair amount of information that will be integrated into my Chritisanity (history of) lectures, the next time that I teach. (How's that for a positive attitude?) Next on my geek book list is a re-read of the portion of Ian Wilson's Before the Flood in which he talks about Çatal Hüyük. (Hurray! I got the right codes for those non-English letters!) I've read the book and it is quite interesting. However, the author is a journalist, not a historian. So what? you say? Well, he gives his "take" on the available information, but doesn't mention any other opinions/interpretations. But, his chapter on this will give me a starting point for trying to give a balanced narrative.

Yard Kid is coming tomorrow afternoon. Good. He can help me clean off the point where Omni Pinnacle (Katrina trash removers from Atlanta) decided it was easier to dump tree parts there than take them away. I hope he can also get the downed telephone cable (about an inch diameter) off the area I try to keep nice. He's pretty strong so he should be able to haul it to a spot further down the road by a half down tree the parish will probably never get around to removing. That's okay--it's more important that they get the ditches and streams cleaned and de-snagged so there's someplace for rainwater to run off. With the help of YK I can keep the parts I see from my house fairly clear.

So, it's been a moderately productive Saturday and I got a bunch of little stuff out of the way. I also bought a pattern for a jacket. I decided that with my current activities I need another lightweight casual jacket. I've got fabric. All I have to do now is get the table to the point where I can clear it off so I can cut the thing out!