Jim ¹ brought his tractor out this morning. We worked about six hours total, although some was with the tractor in the evening and Jim didn't charge me for it; I paid him for 4.5 hours work. We worked to put tarps up inside the barn to direct the water through a hole in the floor, since I can't afford right now to do more outside tarp, plus I want to see how the ones outside survive the weather for a while before I sink more money into them. My feet were killing me by the time we were done. Man, that tractor will be handy, as we can do some major work with it.

Went out just long enough to close the fuel bowl petcock on the tractor (Jim called and said he had forgotten to do that last night) and see how the tarps were doing inside, since it rained a good bit overnight. They seemed to be working pretty well, but it still irks me that the upper purlin and roof that we can't protect is getting wet. My feet still hurt, especially my right. Gave Jim some money to get nails and instructions that the next project I want to tackle is nailing the siding back in place that is loose or missing.

It's raining pretty steady. Jim took his friend Mark ² out to see that barn; I stayed home, but talked to Jim via 2m. ³ He said it looked like the tarps were working pretty well on the inside, but there were some leaks on the west side now that look pretty new, and for some reason there is still a leak on the east side where we have tarp on the outside.

Jim and I talked a couple times over the last week or so about when we would go back out. I was taking a break to get back into the groove at work with nothing else to worry about in the evenings, getting away because of the major tarp disappointments, and the weather has been cold and inhospitable too. We went out and worked 5 hours today; I did clean-up, and Jim readied the tractor by putting the scraper on and doing other maintenance. We moved the RR ties to the back, and Jim scraped the corral and cleared the thorn bushes to the north. I only paid Jim for 2 hours 5 minutes of work, as he said not to pay him for time spent working on the tractor. He also left his boat trailer out at the barn. It was calm, but pretty cold today, and sunny.

Apparently got the flu from food at McDonalds ⁴ on 10 January 04 (first symptoms felt on 11 January 04). No death could be too prolonged or painful for the person that infected me. This has put barn activity on hold (and everything else) for a while till I recover from this horrible chest congestion. Called Jim 13 January 03 to tell him I was sick and 16 January 04 to tell him I was still sick. Talked to Jim at length tonight about what wood was available for siding, as well as how we might use metal plates to splint water-damaged beams. I told him I would call about working again when I'm more recovered from my flu.

Worked out in the barn in the afternoon for 1 hr. 20 min. We took measurements to determine how much new siding I would need, and looked a little more about how to repair the south lean-to roof ⁵. It was cold but sunny, with snow on the ground. Tarp seems to be doing OK - no sign of anybody around the barn in the two weeks since we have been gone ⁶. It's been good to take a bit of a break. We plan on going to Lowes ⁷ tomorrow to buy siding. Talked to Joe Lesher ⁸ about who supplies their electric, and told him I wanted to have a service put in the barn. He knows an electrician we can use if Tipp wants some sort of certified guy (even though this guy isn't certified but he's friends with the Tipp inspector I guess).

Opted not to do anything today; I was tired, and it's very cold. Called Jim and told him I'd call him later this week, possibly to go look at siding, or those beams for the lean-to.