Just a quick post tonight.  US/Mexico Border Wall Progress probably won't be updated for a while due to the current partial government shutdown, however border wall construction continues during this time.  It is just harder to document for the time being .

It has been 6 months since I have moved into my new place!  It is still a lot of fun and I am thankful to God who has allowed me to live here for the time being.  During these Winter months, I have had to put certain types of work on the house on standby or hiatus until it warms up and I can get more funds.  Gas and electric bills are a bit up there during the Winter and the cold makes it harder to do certain outdoors activities.

I still have some plans in the works and one is to start work on dehydrating again and in particular to make some jerky again.  I also want to start putting more effort into getting a roommate and I'm trying to decide what my next major purchase will be to help out in that regard.  I'm leaning towards getting a new washer and dryer, but I have not solidified my decision yet.

I've been playing WoW, listening to audiobooks, and just started getting into some online streaming of anime, older seasons of Dr. Who, or even a movie.

It really does look like Winter is the season of just taking it easy.  I am looking forward to getting back to work on the house late March to early April.

TAGS: none

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Day off today.  I seem to be off of Caffeine and sleeping pills.  I am sleeping much better now that I am increasing the amount of time I spend in bed so as to allow me to get the sleep I need in case I wake up in the middle of the night.  I am a far cry better than when I was getting on average maybe 4 hours of sleep a night if I was lucky.

I still want better ways to spend my time.  It is not that I want to be more productive.  I want to eliminate the things that take over my life in a bad way like caffeine or games or news.  None of those things are bad, but I don't want to worship them and have them take over my life and lead me into worse things, because these things tend to snowball.  The other purpose in eliminating these things is that it allows me to better enjoy and serve God.

Eliminating Caffeine also serves as a guide to repenting of other lingering sins.

Moving on.  My plan for today is to do laundry, read, and maybe do some house cleaning.

TAGS: addiction

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It is the end of January and, in one sense, I have not done too much regarding insulating the basement or done much around the house.  For one, the basement is a lot colder now and, for another, I'm poor.  I have been working on paying down my credit card debt and making progress on that front.  I actually hope to have it completely or almost completely paid off after my next paycheck in a couple weeks.  It appears that the gas stove really is helping with my gas and electric bills too!

I think I like the idea of having a Winter break away from work on the house.  That way I can work on relaxing things like reading, gaming, or cooking, or maybe taking up some new hobby.

Very recently I have made serious progress in eliminating caffeine addiction in my life.  I'd say it has been a couple of weeks since I last had Mountain Dew, coffee, or Mellow Yellow.  I still have light cravings and think that I can have just one drink, but then I remember the two most recent times I had just one drink and how it directly and quickly led me down a bad path where I gave in to other habits.  I also remember how the caffeine gave me headaches and ruined my ability to get a good night's sleep.

On a related note, I am working on going to sleep earlier so as to get the sleep I need.  I try to use the extra time in bed to have the time and opportunity to go back to sleep if I need more sleep.  Instead of giving myself 4 hours to sleep or 8 hours to sleep, I am trying to give myself 10 hours to sleep even if I don't sleep that whole time.  Doing so actually makes me quite a bit more productive and happier during the hours that I am awake.

I am trying to use my memory of how I eliminated caffeine in my life to work on eliminating other bad habits.

TAGS: none

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1. Basement (big project)
   
   • wall
     
   • floor
     
   • Install door to basement (R)
     
   • Seal AC/Heating in basement
     
   • Fix foundation sections outdoors
     
   • Insulate basement
     
   • Install Dryer (R)
     
   • Install Washer (R)
2. Seal porch (R)
   
3. Tune up deck
   
4. Roommate(?)
   
5. Get Lawnmower (R)
   
6. Get/Build Shed (R)
   
7. Unlisted item (R)
   
8. Remove two piles of branches
   
9. Tune up AC unit
   
10. Remove tree #2
    
11. Add humidifier to HVAC
    
12. Consult with flood zone inspector
    
13. ✔ (completed: 01/09/26) Gas Hearth installed
    
14. ✔ (completed: 12/19/25) Extend Gas lines (2)
    
15. ✔ (completed: 11/18/25) New water heater
    
16. ✔ (completed: 10/14/25) Remove tree 1
    
17. ✘ (abandoned: 10/13/25) Fix Bathroom fan #2
    
18. ✔ (completed: 10/11/25) Fix bathroom Fans #1
    
19. ✔ (completed: 10/10/25) Finish moving items from previous residence (✔ mats, ✔ clothes, and ✔ books from garage)
    
20. ✔ (completed: 10/03/25) Sewer
    
21. ✔ (completed: 10/01/25) Assemble two shelves
    

I'd say those are all of the really important things.

I'd like to be able to get all, or at least most of it done, within 5 years.

TAGS: home improvement, mini-review