I took a vacation day on Friday and did some things that I really needed to catch up on.

Before you are misled about the entire nature of the day, allow me to say I didn't really do very much work.

I had plenty of work to do and even had to fight off a couple of twinges of guilt for not doing it. But I had other things on my agenda, like blank lines.

In other words, I cleaned my slate completely and had an old-fashioned goof- off day. I did go by the bank to make my loan payment and I did feed and water all of my rabbits and water the dog, but that was about the extent of my work that day.

The rest of the time I slept late, ate a late breakfast, went for a ride and just generally did nothing.

Sometimes our minds need time to turn off that hamster treadmill and just think about nice things, like what is appropriate for a 10 a.m. breakfast, or which direction will I go to get to nowhere?

Thursday night I stayed up a bit late so I could be sure and sleep in a little. It is very seldom that I am up late enough to watch David Letterman. After watching the other night, I can't recall why I ever wanted to stay up and watch Letterman.

That was, until I switched over to Jay Leno, whose show is only funny during the monologue. I miss the Johnny Carson era. You know that a guy who has been married that many times must have a good sense of humor, not to mention a thick skin and a well-armored (or is it adored) wallet. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I was just getting out of bed when I got a phone call. Someone was wanting to talk to me about newspaper stuff. That wasn't too bad, but just to make sure I didn't have to do any work, I went ahead and got into the shower and put on my bibbed overalls.

I then proceeded to go 'out on the town.' I had lunch in a restaurant around 3 p.m. and then went to an area department store to pick up some necessities, like batteries and a deluxe two-ton come along.

Of course, the come along is for work, but I didn't use it that day, so I guess it's alright.

On Saturday, I went with some friends to pick up a giant air compressor for his garage, which one of my uncles had for sale. It was a big 60-gallon, five horsepower model that stood upright and had an additional 40-gallon tank to the side.

We loaded it up for him and delivered it as a surprise. He was concerned because it operates on 220 instead of 110.

I kind of felt bad about suggesting the compressor as a present for him after I felt like he wasn't pleased with it. I felt better after I talked to him on Monday and he had figured out how to wire his new compressor without too much aggravation. He seemed like he was pleased with the whole thing by then. That was a real relief for me.

Then on Sunday, I went to visit my parents after church. I typically attend a different church every week. That way, I get the full spectrum of opinion, but that's a story for another time. About two weeks ago, I took my father the chickens I had raised. After not seeing them for awhile, I got a look at them on Sunday. They are at least twice as big as they were when I had them. Their combs are already developing well and all are getting their characteristic feather markings.

The only problem I have now is that I can't tell which ones are roosters. No matter. When they get a little bigger I will be able to tell and then it will be lunch time for me. All of the extra roosters will be invited, but not to eat, if you know what I mean. I can already see little drumsticks when I look at their legs and roasted chicken breast when they walk in my direction.

Maybe I just have one of those one-track minds. I guess I just have a thing for raising critters. I think I mentioned before my father's advice on animals — don't feed anything you can't eat. I do stray from his straight and narrow path now and then, notable with my new dog.

I heard on the radio Friday that someone else in the county is raising rabbits. Perhaps I need to catch up with him or her and compare notes. It would be neat to talk to someone else who works with rabbits and see if they have the same problems and aggravations that I do. Perhaps we can even work out a trade.

As for now, I have some important goofing off to get caught up on.

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