Two things are majorly wrong around here right now. Let me just list them briefly and get out of your way, because neither of us wants to dwell.

First thing wrong: The money is going out faster than it comes in. I know this puts me in the same boat with everyone else, and I have been through it before. After all, I do work in construction, and there have been times in my twenty-plus years in the business when we’ve had no money and no work and huge bills to pay. And yet, here we still are. It’s just that last year at this time we were on top of the world, and right now we’re on the bottom of someone’s shoe.

Second thing wrong: Not enough time. I haven’t checked, but I’ve probably written something similar during the same week every year. February is just too stinkin’ short to be called a real month. The first of March comes way too soon after the twenty-third of February, and that’s when all the bills are due. It’s just not right. We need a cushion, a few extra bonus days to build up a tolerance. Not that I want more February, of course. Maybe we could borrow two or three days out of July. We could use a little more July and a little less February, as long as March would just keep out of the way a little longer.

So okay, not enough money and not enough time. There’s one more thing I could complain about, were I so inclined. That would be this: not enough sleep. The phone rang too early this morning, and I’ve been dragging around ever since. By late afternoon I could barely hold my head up and keep my eyes open. Of course, sleep would be easier to come by if I had a little more time, and a little more money.