I took a couple of days off from work. And me and Laura went to a park in the northern part of the city. That has a lake and we rollerbladed twice around the lake. Each lap was 5 miles. It was a gorgeous Indian summer day and all the leaves were changing colors. I had to study the lake from a couple of vantage points, skating on the hills above the lake. The water was serene. And I had to stop at the damn where the water was spilling over into a big concrete basin before falling down into a stream below. The water and the sun were mesmerizing. There were a few bikers and some young mothers pushing their young kids around the lake in strollers and wagons. One older guy was sitting on a picnic table with a muffin a big coffee and a newspaper. I liked his approach to the park. There were a few people fishing in the lake. And I was loving life. By the time we finished rollerblading we were pretty hungry and thirsty. So we found a bench hidden behind a bunch of trees and sunned ourselves in the autumn light. I had bought 8 liters of orange Gatorade at the dollar store. And I mixed one of them fifty with water. Then we cracked out the yogurt and grains. And washed them all down with Gatorade. Laura had to hear me preach for the millionth time: I said I eat once a day for health and twice for pleasure. And I said nobody should bother eating unless they are really hungry. One of these days I think that she is going to kill me for repeating myself so much. But the simple meal did hit the spot. And we did not have to stand in line to buy food at some damn chain restaurant that are so prevalent around the park. On the way home we passed the pretzel shop and I had to stop and buy some of those big fat soft pretzels that they make in the Southside. The kind that some people put mustard on. They have the same consistency of a bagel only with the addition of salt. This is the kind of treat that you can eat, even when you are not hungry. I can never pass the pretzel shop without buying some pretzels. After munching on pretzels we went to the Goodwill store to look for some used furniture that I can put in my finished basement apartment. I am really pleased that the floor paint that I put down there is holding back the little water leakage that occurs in some basements after it rains. I want to furnish it really simply because it is only a basement apartment. Ah, yes living underground. Now that I have the basement done. I’m wondering if I can build some kind of structure in the back yard to maybe use as an emergency bathroom. I was thinking about building an earth ship shed. I could dig down into the hillside and use old car tires for structural and insulated walls. I read a book about houses made this way. You put dirt in between the tires for support, and insulation. I always like to have a backup plan. The two upstairs tenants could always use the basement bathroom, if I was at work or away and there own bathrooms were broken. The extra bathroom would give me time to fix theirs. But now if I decide to rent out the basement apartment, I will have to build some kind of structure in the backyard to put an extra bathroom. That way if one of the tenants have a problem with theirs, I can offer them another option until I get around to repairing the problem. I’m not sure how the neighbors will take to me building a structure with automobile tires for walls. Hell if I build the damn thing large enough I could probably live in it. I could run one electric circuit out for lights and put a composting toilet in the back. I guess I will never stop dreaming about not working for anybody else and get down to the business of working for myself. We all work so much harder for ourselves than for other people.