Jasimo’s Blog

I normally don’t work a “9 To 5” lifestyle. Seriously, I don’t want to. But there are some days I get instantly thrust into it. I’m out here looking for odd jobs on an opportunity basis and not with a five-man army constantly trekking out every day doing sloppy work for its clientele just to impress their bosses who want the bottom line and nothing less — believe me, I’ve seen this A LOT! 

I was really meant to do yard work and landscaping related gigs. At one time, I was sealing sidewalks and driveways using liquid concrete while learning how to use this finicky squirt gun. Next time around, I might be washing off the mildew of patio furniture on an annual basis. Any useful time left over and I can be doing this blog and make ‘Melody’ drawings.

Right before Memorial Day weekend, is it any wonder the world needs me more like the fictional hero John Rambo? On a number of occasions, it’s like Colonel Trautman calling cry for help over a bullhorn… “Rambo! Your country needs you!” Then I get thrust into action saving the day for people in need of a good clean yard.

Anytime there’s a major storm or last minute fix, it’s often a crisis situation resulting in time spent to clear away properties smothered with tree branches and other unwanted debris, a.k.a. “trash”. That’s only a part of the process I faced that week, but the number of paying jobs in spurts were no exception. All this pretty much interferes with my planning for days out, whether on the road visiting small places or elsewhere within a ten-mile radius from my house. I give you these true stories about my week’s routine with the slightest bit of fiction thrown in…

SATURDAY, MAY 17TH

The day after the storm, almost at hurricane level and enough to cause three power outages in one night. Our community took a direct hit by a fast-moving storm with gusty winds and torrential rainfall, resulting in downed trees and debris. A good neighbor of mine asked me to clean up his property. The front yard was littered with small but noticeable debris from the trees located towards the ravine, an uncommon area to have such an occurrence. I can tell from the evidence that this storm packed an awful lot of mighty blows. The cleanup took over three hours to finish, but it’s likely I’ll return to tackle this again whenever a storm of powerful magnitude strikes once more since those trees shed an awful lot of twigs and branches almost every single day.

SUNDAY, MAY 18TH

Today was more active, as I mowed the tall grass from my yard without clogging the push mower. I received two calls from two people I work with. One homeowner living about six miles away has a property that requires a very nonstop amount of upkeep that is too hard to keep up. There’s an infestation of weeds growing all over the gravel driveway exposed to constant sunlight. Also, the leaves that shed from the magnolia tree were spread far and wide in several spaces. I confirmed a visit the following day. Another homeowner called me at the last minute before going off to bed, this time with a yard that was impacted by Friday evening’s whammy of a storm. Now with a tall order of gigs like these, I responded that I would have to come do cleanup later in the week. 

MONDAY, MAY 19TH

Talk about hitting two birds with one stone — one was the mama bird, the other a baby bird. Just as I left the house for my next yardwork gig, the neighborly homeowner who called me yesterday said her son was going to assume the duty of cleaning up the messy yard left ravaged from the storm because he wanted to mow the lawn. That spares my muscles from agony, but not for long. Upon returning home after undergoing seven hours of odds and ends landscape maintenance at the residence six miles away, I had to forego cooking dinner and jump on weedeating another property that periodically gets mowed over. I finished it less than an hour before total sunset (and I hate the dark!). Dinner at eight — chipotle bowl with veggies, chicken, refried beans and guacamole salsa. With too little time left before going to bed all stretched and worn out, finally.

TUESDAY, MAY 20TH

Same street, different house. Now, it’s time to weed out the weeds around the house. Upon arrival, I noticed that all the bushes were cut, leaving piles of clippings laying in the flower beds in desperate need of layers of mulch. But first, I have to spend an hour weedeating a jungle of a ditch right beside the busy road where cars zoom by going over the posted 45 speed limit. A lot of tiny weeds here and there and the clippings already blend into the messy state these beds are in. Occasionally, I could easily miss picking out a single weed. If there’s saving grace about today and yesterday, the weather was comfortable without the high humidity that normally comes by mid-May.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 21ST

Guess what? It’s raining. Nothing productive to do except go to sleep. I’m tired and that’s no joke. Then came the text message. It was from an elderly resident of whom I worked for earlier. She says come in next week because the ground is too soggy. Hope I make it in because my household has a million problems to take care of after Memorial Day and I really don’t drive a vehicle — I let a close relative provide the service of transportation for ten dollars double round trip.

THURSDAY, MAY 22ND

Yay! More free time! I haven’t walked the neighborhood in nearly a week, in a daily attempt to burn off half the calories from my world-famous chipotle bowls. Except now I was struggling to remove the unwanted vegetation growing from the storm gutter of my house. All the while I had to trim the maple trees back so that the branches won’t touch the house — brush fires are a real thing, you know.

FRIDAY, MAY 23RD

Spending a day in historic Smithfield, Virginia going to the ice cream parlor and doing plenty of walking for good health. The farmers market isn’t until tomorrow, but my wallet can wait another few weeks. I just needed a “vacation” because my life is confined to staying put in a single story house almost every day of the week. It’s a good thing that 1) the weather was very comfortable all week long, and 2) there wasn’t a cavalry of people roaming around the streets on the brink of Memorial Day weekend. Until rush hour… Here’s hoping I get to do more of this before I turn fifty, because I have nowhere to go and I don’t drive a car.

SATURDAY, MAY 24TH

Posted this article on Jasimo’s Blog. By now, everyone is going bananas and going FOMO at this very hour because summer vacation has unofficially arrived. As for me, I’m staying home today to plant my summer garden full of tomatoes and chili peppers.

And so that’s the life of one man seeking out to make an honest independent living. I recognize the pattern now… you get a tall order of jobs to complete before you can have fun. To rest easy later on, you live the hard way first. It just goes to illustrate that a work-life balance is essential and not the other way around. You don’t need a boss monkey-ing on your back… all you need is proper planning to run whatever lifestyle you want.

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