Covering the foundation of the barn Monday, 03-Mar-25 21:23:49 CET

Sunday, 09-Mar-25 06:57:18 CET

Barn floor finished

This week we impregnated the floor of the barn. That way the concrete will not absorb dirt so easy.

Monday 3 March

Today, I worked from home, and DW went to the office. In the evening, DD came to visit us!

Tuesday4 March

Today, I worked from the office, and DW worked from home. A neighbor went with me. DD also worked; she cleaned up stuff she had lying. This was really good.

I got the news that Mr Trump halted aid for Ukraine. While doing the dishes, I listened to the Ukraine: The Latest podcast. They started translating the program into Russian and Ukrainian. In this program, there was an interview with Elliot J. Cohen, a former counselor in the United States Department of State. It was interesting to hear what Mr Cohen had to say. He thought the meeting at the Oval Office was appalling, and he was ashamed of the US. Mr Cohen is the cohost of the Shield of the Republic podcast. One point was made: Part of the relationship between the US and Europe was broken in a way that could not be easily and quickly repaired.

Mr Trump held his State of the Union speech tonight. I did not listen to it but listened to others talking about it. It was long and tedious. The speech was interesting because it did not mention Medicare and Medicaid. It did not mention the ongoing crash in the stock markets.

DD made dinner for us! She made Rama's soup. It was delicious. We had a lovely family dinner with both DS and DD. I cannot even remember when we had that the last time.

After dinner, I started working on a new song. I wanted it to be about the state of the union.

Wednesday 5 March

Today, I worked from home for the first part of the day. In the afternoon, I was still working but doing it for myself. I want to improve my writing. It is challenging at times to provide value to the reader. My writing is valuable to me, but what is in it for you, reading my blog? There are occasional sprinkles of entertainment to be found here. Numerous story arcs begin, peak, and end. Usually, you would like to read the story in one consecutive story, but that is not how life works, I am afraid.

After lunch, DW and I started impregnating the floor of the barn. This is so that the concrete will be less likely to soak up dirt. First, I removed all the equipment I had put in the barn to work on the sheet metal and sidings of the foundation. I had dragged sand and sawdust into the barn.

Next, DW cleaned the floor with a special cleaning liquid. It did not look like the floor was especially dirty, but following the instructions would not hurt.

We applied a thick layer of the impregnation. It was easy inside the barn, but it dried much quicker under the canopy. When DW went to pick up the groceries from the cooperative, I continued to spread the impregnation liquid. It was hard to tell how it would be, but I hope it will be fine.

While DW worked on the floor, I dug out the grapevine plant. I could not finish that work. When I left that work, I filled the hole with wood chips because it would be cold that night. I did not want the grape to have cold feet.

In the evening, I brought DD to the train station. It was a quick visit this time, but it was really lovely.

I continued working on the song when I came home from the train station. I wanted to step up the effort a notch. This time, I did not want to be sloppy with the syllables. It wanted the syllables to add up to nice numbers. For that, I started to use Excel. I put a word in a row. I placed the following word in the subsequent cell if that word had one syllable. If a word had two syllables, then I skipped the next cell. I also wrote the words with syllables with spaces in between the syllables. It became more apparent how things add up. At the end of the line, I placed a little vertical bar on the cell border. That way, I could see where the lines ended. I was proud of my invention, but it was still cumbersome. It was better, but will it make me a better song?

Thursday 6 March

This morning, we were early. Actually, we were too early. DW slightly miscalculated how early we had to be, so we stood up, made the breakfast, and prepared all the preparations. Then, it was thirty minutes too early. Before lunch, I had a dip and had to have coffee. It became a long day. DW was later than usual. Too early and too late made me work a long, long day. I suppose my employer was happy about it.

In the evening, I continued on the song. I was not sure I was happy about it. That is the way it should be.

Friday 7 March

DW worked from home. I had a day off. I spent some time working on the song in the morning. When I gave up on the song, I started working on the barn boards and sheet metal. I finished the west side of the building. It was marvelous weather.

DW and I talked about the new place for the grapevine. We concluded that we need to defer the movement of the vine until we have a better overview of the yard around the barn. That means I will not continue to dig out the grapevine but let it stand where it is. I might need to set up something to hold on to that can stay so that when we move the sea container, the grapevine can keep standing where it is.

Today, DS had his birthday. We celebrated this with a dinner in the evening. He became 32 years old.

Saturday 8 March

Today, DW attended a course on dying yarn with Rose Madder. In the morning, I worked a little more on the new song. Then, I continued with the boards of the foundation of the barn. But first, I had a look at the wheelbarrow. It had a leaking tire, or is it leaking? I took off the wheel and placed it in the kitchen sink. It was supposed to be easy; pour water over and watch the bubbles at the spot of the leak. That did not happen. There was no leak. I have no idea how the wheel is losing the air pressure. Right now, there is no inner tube in the wheel. That makes it more complicated. I would need to buy an inner tube if I would like to fix this problem.

Then, I continued with the boards around the foundation of the barn. I placed boards on the north side of the canopy. This was when I discovered we had not received enough of these boards. I will try to make the most of the boards we do have. We have other similar boards, but they look slightly different, and I can place them behind the kitchen cabinet in the future. For now, I will try to use the remaining boards for the visible parts of the barn.

There is a little north wall that got the final touch. Next, I will put boards around the pillar of the canopy. If I have any boards left, I will use them on the west side of this little wall. At that point, the boards are consumed.

In the evening, I worked on the song. I finished the lyrics! The funny thing is that I made an elaborate scheme to ensure that I used the syllables consistently, and I missed two mistakes in the first line all the time. I kept that in the song. The words million and people have two syllables, and I had not seen that. The lyrics work for the rest, so I will keep it like that.

So, this text is political. I could write a love song instead. I fear it would go something like: "Love is in the air." Then I would be rhyming on that. "The world is in despair". Haha.

Sunday 9 March

In the morning, I worked on the barn. The first thing I did was to remove things on the south side of the barn. We had the trees protected with poles, and I removed those poles. It will be nice when the sea container is gone.

Then, it was time to mount the board around the pillar of the canopy.

	This is before extending the wood.
	This is also before extending wood and making the concrete block narrower.
	Here, it is possible to set up the board.
	The concrete block is cut off a little.

When this was done, we had lunch and went to the farm shop to buy a card for BIL. He was celebrating his birthday today. We biked to the farm shop, and the weather was terrific.

In the evening, I mastered the song State of the Union. I modified the instrumental track's stereo width this time with the Maximus compressor's help. I wanted the instrumental to have a slightly narrower stereo separation.

I exported the MP3 and tried it in the car. The bass was on the slightly heavy side, but I decided this was how it would be. So, I uploaded it to the streaming services!

Here are the lyrics in the table form I made to count syllables:

(Verse - Rap)

Vi gi lan tes

pur ged

a

million

people

from

the

vot er

roll.

This

el ect ion

was

sto len.

White

su pre ma cy

con trol.

One

vote,

one

voice,

that

is

how

a

fair

el ect ion

should

be.

We

don't

want

a

bil lion aire

bil lion aire

to

buy

the

de moc ra cy.

de moc ra cy.

(Chorus)

Wake

up,

stand

up,

we

got

work

to

do,

They

keep

you

bu sy

with

dumb

lies

poo.

Clench

your

fist.

The

pow er

is

with

you.

In

the

town

hall

let

them

hear

your

view.

(Verse -Rap)

Ev e ry

head line,

head line,

same

old

name,

what

about

the

Bills

un paid?

Fam il ies

liv ing

check

to

check.

Can

the

rent

be

de layed?

Doc tor

says

you

need

these

meds,

price

so

high,

you

shake

your

heads.

One

in

four

can't

foot

the

bill,

stand ing

there

with out

the

pill.

(Chorus)

Wake

up,

stand

up,

we

got

work

to

do,

They

keep

you

bu sy

with

dumb

lies

poo.

Clench

your

fist.

The

pow er

is

with

you.

In

the

town

hall

let

them

hear

your

view.

(Verse - Rap)

Home less

in

the

streets.

The

rich

are

play ing

golf

all

day long.

Poli ti cians

cut

their

tax.

Lying:

Home less

is

due

to

own

wrong.

El der ly

kick ed

out

of

nur sing

hom es.

How

aw ful.

A

storm

of

lies

and

mi se ry.

Acts

are

not

even

law ful.

(Bridge)

Are

we

just

stand ing

here

use less

and

pass ive?

Our

pain

is

get ting

ever

so

mass ive

The

rich

ex ceed.

You

numb

your self

with

weed.

Is

this

how

you

suc cumb

and

con cede?

(Chorus)

Wake

up,

stand

up,

we

got

work

to

do,

They

keep

you

bu sy

with

dumb

lies

poo.

Clench

your

fist.

The

pow er

is

with

you.

In

the

town

hall

let

them

hear

your

view.

(Verse - Rap)

It

is

dumb

to

heck le

ot her

na tions

free dom

of

speech.

While

oli garch

me dia

put

truth

and

hon or

un der

siege.

Thir ty

mill

will

lose

their

care.

Does

that

seem

to

you

as

fair?

The

next

dis aster

will

be

worse.

There

is

no

time

for

de spair.

(Chorus)

Wake

up,

stand

up,

we

got

work

to

do,

They

keep

you

bu sy

with

dumb

lies

poo.

Clench

your

fist.

The

pow er

is

with

you.

In

the

town

hall

let

them

hear

your

view.

(Verse - Rap)

Rob

the

poor,

give

to

the

rich.

Pain

with

the

flick

of

a

switch.

Day care

you

can't

af ford.

Your

kids

will

be

lost

in

a

snitch.

Oli garchs

di vide

us

by

race,

be liefs,

the

words

we

speak.

Truth

is:

we

are

all

same.

Let's

u nite

against

the

oli garch.

geek.

(Chorus)

Wake

up,

stand

up,

we

got

work

to

do,

They

keep

you

bu sy

with

dumb

lies

poo.

Clench

your

fist.

The

pow er

is

with

you.

In

the

town

hall

let

them

hear

your

view.

(Verse-Rap)

They

need

us

to

be

bu sy

while

they

dis solve

the

un ion.

They

have

no

mo rals

They

are

dumb,

spine less

and

in hum an.

They

need

us

to

fight

each

other

while

they

grab

all

the

mo ney.

They

have

no

sen se

of

hum or.

They

are

not

even

fu nny.

(Outro)

Wake

up,

stand

up,

we

got

work

to

do,

They

keep

you

bu sy

with

dumb

lies

poo.

Clench

your

fist.

The

pow er

is

with

you.

In

the

town

hall

let

them

hear

your

view.

Rise

strong;

we

got

so

much

things

to

do,

There

is

a

fut ure

al so

for

you.

A

bet ter

fut ure

al so

for

you.

 

It is slightly unreadable in this table form. I can transform it to regular text by putting the table content in, for example, Notepad++ and do the following regular expression replacements:

1. [space]+ with nothing. That removes the syllable spaces in words.
2. +$ with nothing. That removes the tabs at the end of each line.
3. + with [space]. That removes the tabs and replaces them with spaces so that regular sentences appear.

This is what the lyrics look like with this transformation:

(Verse-Rap)
Vigilantes purged a million people from the voter roll.
This election was stolen. White supremacy control
One vote, one voice, that is how a fair election should be
We don't want a billionaire to buy the democracy.

(Chorus)
Wake up, stand up, we got work to do,
They keep you busy with dumb lies poo.
Clench your fist. The power is with you.
In the town hall let them hear your view

(Verse-Rap)
Every headline, same old name, what about the bills unpaid?
Families living check to check. Can the rent be delayed?
Doctor says you need these meds, price so high, you shake your heads.
One in four can't foot the bill, standing there without the pill.

(Chorus)
Wake up, stand up, we got work to do,
They keep you busy with dumb lies poo.
Clench your fist. The power is with you.
In the town hall let them hear your view.

(Verse-Rap)
Homeless in the streets. The rich are playing golf all daylong.
Politicians cut their tax. Lying: Homeless is due to own wrong.
Elderly kicked out of nursing homes. How awful.
A storm of lies and misery. Acts are not even lawful

(Bridge)
Are we just standing here useless and passive?
Our pain is getting ever so massive
The rich exceed. You numb yourself with weed.
Is this how you succumb and concede?

(Chorus)
Wake up, stand up, we got work to do,
They keep you busy with dumb lies poo.
Clench your fist. The power is with you.
In the town hall let them hear your view.

(Verse-Rap)
It is dumb to heckle other nations freedom of speech.
While oligarch media put truth and honor under siege.
Thirty mill will lose their care. Does that seem to you as fair?
The next disaster will be worse. There is no time for despair.

(Chorus)

Wake up, stand up, we got work to do,
They keep you busy with dumb lies poo.
Clench your fist. The power is with you.
In the town hall let them hear your view.

(Verse-Rap)
Rob the poor, give to the rich. Pain with the flick of a switch
Daycare you can't afford. Your kids will be lost in a snitch.
Oligarchs divide us by race, beliefs, the words we speak.
Truth is: we are all same. Let's unite against the oligarch geek.

(Chorus)
Wake up, stand up, we got work to do,
They keep you busy with dumb lies poo.
Clench your fist. The power is with you.
In the town hall let them hear your view.

(Verse-Rap)
They need us to be busy while they dissolve the union.
They have no morals They are dumb, spineless and inhuman.
They need us to fight each other while they grab all the money.
They have no sense of humor. They are not even funny.

(Outro)
Wake up, stand up, we got work to do,
They keep you busy with dumb lies poo.
Clench your fist. The power is with you.
In the town hall let them hear your view.
Rise strong; we got so much things to do,
There is a future also for you.
A better future also for you.

For album art, I took the picture that Suno created for me. Quick and simple.

I noticed the song got a parental warning on YouTube. It is a dangerous song.

Here ends this week's blog. I wrote 2941 words this week. I made a song and finished the metal sheet of the barn's foundation. The floor of the barn got impregnated!