Depression

cedarranch · Jan 25, 2002

I am sinking into a deeeep depression here. Last night just filled it in on top of me. It all started in December when it just kept raining every freekin' weekend. Can't seem to get anything done for the rain. Needed to use the backhoe to deepen/widen the ditches along the drive but it his hard to dig mud. It has been raining now for days. As I came down the drive last night one of my culverts was blocked and the water was running over the drive and washing it away. In the dark, in over 3 feet of rushing cold water I had to clear the culvert of the tree that had washed down from the mountain and blocked the pipe. Took about an hour. Then at 6am this moring I had to try and smooth out the wet gravel/mud drive with the box blade so I could get the kids to school and me to work. Blading mud is not fun. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif I guessstimate I have lost about 10 tons of gravel total due to the rains. The back yard smells of sewage since the field lines are under several inches of water. Sat/Sun/Mon are supposed to be dry but then more rain. The creek is flooded and washed away my bridge to the lower 10 acres Wednesday. And now to top it all off. The wife just called to say the top of a large tree has fallen covering the drive so I will have to walk to the house. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif
Talk about being overwhelmed!/w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif
I think I am just goin to find soemwhere to hide./w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif

TerryinMD · Jan 25, 2002

Ceddarranch,

Sorry to hear about all your misfortunes. /w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif

All that really matters is that you and your family are safe and sound. The rest is just stuff and can be fixed.

Terry

Knight9 · Jan 25, 2002

Cedarranch,

According to your website you were planning on adding a concrete wall to prevent gravel from washing away into the culvert area. I'm guessing this project just rose to the top of the list....after the regrading of the driveway of course!

Hang in there! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Kevin

Egon · Jan 25, 2002

There are them days or weeks when all seems to go astray but fear not, there is a sun out there and it will shine.

Egon

cedarranch · Jan 25, 2002

That one on the website was just one of three. Two with 12" pipes and one with about a 24" pipe - never measured it but I can crawl thru it. The big pipe was the one that got blocked with the tree and other crap. I had planned to replace the bridge with a culvert of 2-12" pipes, concrete wall on the other. Never thought this culvert would need any attention since I performed overkill on its construction. If I had the money I would hire a crew to complete it fast. But as money is now, I will be lucky to afford the materials. My wife and I grew up in the country and my Dad sure made things look easy. Gotta respect what the man did now. I have NO spare time. Every moment is consumed with one problem after another. Makes ya want ta go stick ya head in a hole!/w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif

cedarranch · Jan 25, 2002

/w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif, an optimist! You are right, /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif but I sure could use a break. Doh! No! I take that back! I did not mean break! /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

cedarranch · Jan 25, 2002

days or weeks when all seems to go astray 
Try months! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

TerryinMD · Jan 25, 2002

Cedarranch,

I was going to say this in my original post. Go out and buy yourself some economy-sized adult beverages. After you clean up the tree and other trash to get up your lane, find a comfy chair, have some libations, and contemplate your plan of attack.

It will all become clear as time goes along. Ya can only do so much based upon time and money. Manyana..... /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Go to this <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=off&Number=103064&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=7&fpart=>post</A> and click on the link.

Terry

cedarranch · Jan 25, 2002

economy-sized adult beverages
Need something harder than that./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif
/w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif I do have the half full bottle of gentleman Jack and some tequilla left over from Christmas!/w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif
Know any good drinkin' songs?/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

TerryinMD · Jan 25, 2002

Know any good drinkin' songs?

How 'bout "Whiskey River" by Willie Nelson?

Terry

cedarranch · Jan 25, 2002

I was thinkin' more along the lines of "That Smell" Lynyrd Skynyrd/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif or maybe "2 steps to the door"/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Boondox · Jan 25, 2002

Cedarranch -- One thing that seems to help me is to reward myself for accomplishing something particularly nasty or difficult. Sometimes it's just a beer. Now and then it's going to town for a movie. One summer it was a case of champagne. Whatever works. But you've got to celebrate those victories or it seems you never see the light.

Hang in there!
Pete

MChalkley · Jan 25, 2002

cedarranch - I'm a little ashamed of myself for being annoyed that I haven't been able to grade the road with my new beast because it's been raining most of the time for the past several weeks. And to prove it, I'd like to share my favorite "drinking song" with you. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

First, an audio clip of my favorite version of it from Amazon, here.

Being a Single Malt Scotch fan, I tend to think of the song as Scottish, but it's Irish.

Of course, a few decades ago, I liked Lynyrd Skynrd's "Gimme Three Steps" more than I would've liked "The Humour's of Whiskey". /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Let me know what you think of it...

MossRoad · Jan 25, 2002

"that smell" is too depressing. I prefer getting the kids and playing the "chicken dance" and run around the house flapping my arms. A good polka always does it for me/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

MChalkley · Jan 26, 2002

I didn't realize it when I posted the first message, but the second link also has a longer audio clip, sung by a different artist.

The whole song is pretty funny, if you understand the words, but my favorite verses are:

As a child in me cradle, me nurse with [from] her ladle
Was filling my [swillin her] mouth with a notion of pap [Pep]
When a drop from her bottle fell into my throttle
I stumbled and capered clean out of her lap

On the floor I lay crawlin' and screaming and bawling
'Til me mother and father were called to the fore
All sobbing and sighing they feared I was dying
But soon found I only was crying for more.

/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

TresCrows · Jan 26, 2002

Ceder, I can imagine somewhat your disgust. I hate rain too which is why I headed west to Arizona. Of course now I am stuck in the middle here in Kansaw and I could use some of your rain. In fact, by my standards it has not rained here in over two years and this year there has been no snow, no rain, no nuthin. It is becoming serious as people are out watering their grass and trees in January--I cannot beleive it. Earlier I had forcast snow and lot's of it--well--so far I am wrong though I still think the PC environmentalist/secularist are smoke'n something not healthy I have to admit I am beginning to worry. Of course, this area--the plains-- is just a desert with grass and long periods of drought are not unusual especially looking at tree ring research (what trees there are) that has been done. I consider that we are in the second year of a drought here and if it continues this summer without rain it will be disasterous for the farmers and us lawn and tree lovers.
Well consider this, you and your family have your health and you have a tractor and I am about to punch a well or two so all is well.
J

JJT · Jan 26, 2002

JR, How deep do you have to go to get good water?

cedarranch · Jan 28, 2002

I would sound drunk just trying to sing that song sober!
/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
My nephew called my wife friday and she told him our troubles. He offered to come help. Said he would work fer food. I took him up on it. We worked him to da bone /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif but fed him well! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif We managed to fix the drive, get both tractors stuck /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif Put a nice scratch on my pickup, /w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif found my bridge in the neighbors pasture, and got 4 of his cows out of the creek and back in his pasture - every notice a cow wants to do the opposite of what you want! [tounge] Managed to clean out the river rock that had piled up at the mouth of the culvert with the back hoe and spread it along the drive in place of the gravel lost. Does not match - but Nyla (the wife) says see likes the river rock better than the quarry rock! /w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif That is how I got one of the tractors stuck. Backed the zetor up with the Kelley B600. started digging away. Then the wet bank gave way. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif I was hangin' like a monkey from the ROPS while the zetor was positioned for lift off. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif Glad the camera is broke. Else my wife would have been posting pics everywhere! /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif

MChalkley · Jan 28, 2002

cedarranch - I would sound drunk just trying to sing that song sober!
 I think that's part of the appeal of it - I think it's outrageously funny, but I've been told I have a strange sense of humor... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Well, it sounds like you took the bull by the horns (almost literally) and jumped in (again, almost literally) and tore up some stuff (uh, yeah, almost literally). Sometimes you just have to "do something, even if it's wrong". But it sounds like you feel better for your efforts and, since the topic of this thread is "Depression", I'd say you made a whole lot of progress! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif