A Good Day

Posted Wed Mar 11, 2009 in Bloggish

The day started pretty early — I woke about 0500, rose, made coffee, and sat down at the computer to deal with email and plan my day. An email arrived late yesterday with the text and source for a proposal I’m part of. The primary had done about all he could (ran out of energy and too much time invested — poor choice for editing). So, I figured it was my turn.

I downloaded the files and stored them in the directories I set aside for proposals. By the time I’d done that, coffee was ready and it was about 0530. So, I snagged a cup and opened my editor.

The next couple of hours were spent just tweaking the text here and there, adding some words where appropriate, rearranging them to clarify the thoughts, and organizing to improve the presentation. I broke about 0800 to eat a bite, shower, and regroup for the next push.

By the time breakfast was over, I had more text to include from another co-researcher. I also had some references to track down and the bibliography needed some editing. I passed through the remainder of the text, integrating the new components into the story line to improve the presentation again. I edited the bibliography (much of it just dealing with some of the details of using LaTeX and bibtex — certain ways of doing things improves the rendering of the document).

By the time I completed all of that, it was after noon. I broke for a bite of lunch, then tackled my letter of commitment. I forwarded the draft to my boss, then decided to take a short break.

Wife and Young Son headed for the dermatologist. Young Son is still dealing with some skin problems so a visit to the doctor seemed appropriate. I used the time to deal with a couple other tasks that came in while I was working on the proposal. While dealing with these tasks, I stumbled on an article that John Ensign added an amendment to the inane legislation to offer DC a congress-critter that will require the second amendment to be recognized in DC. This observation substantially raised my spirits, because it seems our individual, enumerated rights are trampled left and right these days by the very body that is supposed to represent us.

Tasks done, it was about 1500 or 1530 — I don’t remember. In any event, it seemed like time to call it a day. I sat back and spent a little time reading and reflecting. Wife and Young Son returned, and Young Son said he’d go with me to the range. So, we loaded up a target stand (just one), I grabbed the .22LR upper for my Glock and the Ruger .22/45 Mark III and a couple hundred rounds of ammunition, and we headed out.

We drove to the unofficial range along the foothills south from Genoa. There’s a place along the Genoa fault that is protected and has a nice backstop. We set up the target stand at about 10 yards, charged magazines, and had fun taking turns working the targets.

Young Son finally got it about halfway through the session. Pistol shooting is mostly about sight picture and trigger control. That’s better than 90 percent of the challenge. His rounds began printing much better as he caught on. My work was about my usual, a decent group at 10 yards with a few flyers. I had more trouble shooting left-handed, so I need to practice more. That’s good information.

Cold, we drove to Minden to pick up our mail and a bite of supper. I went ahead and bought a tankful of global warming while I was at it. I’m doing my part to stimulate the economy, but the IPCC greenhouse-gas police will probably come knocking at my door soon.

On arriving home, I put away things and sat down with Wife to nibble and watch a little Clean House. She really likes that show.

As I reflect on the day, it was a pretty good day. I feel better about things tonight than I have in a long time. I helped get a good proposal out, regardless of whether we win the project or not. One of my senators “gets it.” That makes me proud of him. I got some range time with Young Son.

It was a good day. Thank you, Lord, for that.