Wednesday, August 31, 2016

a cute little lamp

I really think the shade is a little large, and I would rather it was tan instead of white, but this was the best of Lowes limited selection.  I'm the only one who will use it, so if it doesn't bother me...I changed my mind; it does bother me.  I ordered a nice tan/burlap shade, smaller than this one and it looks great.  I'll spare you the pain of a third photo...

They are going to re-pave our road!  It has been so long since any maintenance was done, the homeowners on the road (including us, before N died) have been buying gravel and filling in the worst of the potholes.  Cheaper than a broken axle.  I just hope they do the entire length of it, and not just past us (where they are unloading the machinery).   One of the neighbors complained to the DOH and sent photos, so maybe this time the squeaky wheel is the reason.

Quote for the day:  "Doing things that you are not supposed to do at work makes your vision, hearing and alertness much better."

Monday, August 29, 2016

Lamping along

This is just a tiny post to show you the lamp base mentioned in the post of Aug. 19th.
It is around 10 inches tall.  Tomorrow I will post a photo of the finished lamp.

Quote:  "Progress is made by lazy men looking for an easier way to do things."


Wednesday, August 24, 2016

So far so good

I am getting on top of the dreaded bill paying, I think.  I overpaid several of them, and I don't know if I will get a refund, or if they will carry the positive balance on into the future.  I am making progress in getting all accounts transferred to my name, greatly increasing the management of various functions.

The excellent news is, we sold the Toyota Highlander yesterday.  It eases my mind a lot, it was too expensive and too much more car than we needed.  I can't foresee any reason to have a car that seats 7.  It would be justifiable if there were 4 of us going out (like to dinner), but alas, now we are 3 and any of our vehicles can handle that many.  I even paid the taxes, and can only hope that income taxes will not be astronomical come April 15th.  Uncle Sam has a hard line about paying your taxes one month at a time (you can't) only if it is for the coming year when you can pay an estimated tax.

We changed our cable TV plan and saved a good bit there.  None of us actually watch much TV; I am probably the biggest user and I mostly watch the shopping channels.  I don't buy stuff -- I just like to watch and criticize the jewelry, clothes, cosmetics, and the hosts as well.  But only for short periods of time (20 min is about my limit.)

I still miss N very much, and I guess I always will.  I regret that we didn't make much use out of our time together, never knowing that it would be cut short.  It is ironic that his biggest fear was his heart, and he died of a stroke instead.  His mother did as well, but she was only 57 and once he passed that age he took it for granted that he would be like his dad and live to be 80. I wonder if he had time to realize what was happening to him, but I guess he did not, it was all so quick.  The doctor that was taking care of him in the hospital told me that his own father survived his 2 strokes, but that he really wished he had not, it left him so incapacitated for so long.  I would not have had N under that cloud, even if it did prolong his life.

Getting too morbid here.

It will be another 3 weeks until the carpet can be expected to be installed.  Then there will be all the transporting of everything in the LR and DR back into the bedroom and office.  R will take a day off work to help with carrying stuff downstairs, C would have to do it all himself, since I can't carry much on the stairs when I have to hold onto the handrail.  I didn't find the carpet in the color I really wanted, I guess it is too passe.  But the feel of this one beats the berber carpeting that was in there, very soft and dense.  It will be fine once the room is set back to normal.

 Thought for the day:  "To err is human, to blame it on somebody else shows management potential."



Friday, August 19, 2016

Auto Manic

I think we have found someone to buy the Highlander.  It will ease the financial end of the budget, although I wish it were more.  We still have the pickup and C's subaru, both are low mileage and paid for.

I got a small wooden lamp base from ebay which is for use on my bookcase headboard.  It needs a lamp package to get it wired up, and a shade, but a trip to Lowes will do for both of these.  It has neat inlays and I like it.  The bottom has a name (Wm. Willok) and a place (Elkhorn, Nebraska).  And it is dated 1954 and was probably a shop project done by an instructor.  Don't see many of these anymore, and of course the shop classes are no more, it is a pity.  I always wanted to take shop, but "girls" weren't allowed to, we took Home Economics, with units on sewing, cooking, and something else which I can't remember now.  It was felt that girls would be too much of a distraction in shop.  Maybe they were right.  I wonder if any of the guys wanted to take Home Ec?  Probably not.

I am too sleepy to continue this post. 

For today:  "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, misdiagnosing it and then misapplying the wrong remedies."

Sunday, August 14, 2016

More Rain

The Roto Rooter guys came on Saturday and dug a new drain line to increase the capacity of the driveway water drain.  They were scheduled to do it on Thursday, but it rained (heavily) and digging in mud is not the way to go.  I convinced them to come on Saturday, when a break in the weather provided a chance to dig before another long string of inclement weather.  I am so glad they finished the job yesterday (Saturday) because we had another Flood watch today.  So far so good.  I am really surprised that we didn't lose the power, especially since we haven't started dinner.  I think the gas range will still work, only it will need to be lit with a match.  I think.

And of course, with the way things have been going over these last months, the guy doing the excavator cut the water line that goes to the barn.  NO water in the barn is a class 4 disaster in the making.  But C went out and assisted with the shovel work to find the two ends of the water line, since the trench filled rapidly with water before we got the barn line shut off.  Makes it really hard to see what you're doing under water.  But it was repaired and all is well now.  Knock on wood.

The cost for all of this is horrendous.  And there is still the carpet, pad, and installation to pay for.  The guy came out and measured the dimensions of the big bedroom and the hallway, stairs, etc. and so tomorrow we can, in theory, go to Lowes to pick out the carpet.  I got one carpet sample from last week, but it is totally unsuitable.  In addition to being the wrong color, it has a rough surface and I want carpet where I can wiggle my toes.  We are going to put carpet squares in the computer room, which we will have to install ourselves, another fun family task.  We can't remove the big desk to make way for carpet, because the desk was put together in the room; and the doorway is too small to move the entire thing out.  Poor planning on our part...

Well, time to do the dinner things, chili for tonight, yumm.

Quote for the day:  "I always take life with a grain of salt...  plus a slice of lemon...  and a shot of tequila."


P.S.  Did you notice that I found another Hit counter over there?  I don't know where the number came from, I thought I had more like 38,000 views.  Oh well.  The price for this one was right.  (Free.)

Thursday, August 11, 2016

And the Rains Came

Well, my new crisis is that the entire ground floor of the house flooded in a torrential rainfall, all the way into my bedroom up to the fireplace.  I called a home disaster reclamation company (it was 11 pm on a Sunday) and they came out the next morning with all the equipment to vacuum up the water, then tear the carpet and pad out.  We moved everything salvageable upstairs (where it looks like an episode of Hoarders)  and the company set out a dozen or so dehumidifiers and blowers to dry the floor.  Now the reclamation has ground to a halt while we wait for carpeting to be installed.  This isn't the first time we have had this happen, but it has been 15 years or so.  Back then we did all the vacuuming with a shop-vac which was like draining the ocean with a teacup.  I estimate this current disaster to be around 500 gallons, based on how much water there is in the 50 gallon water trough.

And of course homeowner insurance does not cover surface water damage.

The cost of all of this is frightful.

I am really really tired.  And I can't find anything amid all the tumbled belongings.  Like clean sheets.  And underwear.  And everything in the laundry basket that was clean and isn't now.  Teach me to fold clothes and put them away promptly....

Quote for the day:  "If God is watching us, the least we can do is be entertaining."