Drowned Cat!

Yes, I think I look a bit like a drowned cat in this lovely selfie. I hope everyone’s devices are ok and not broken due to this camera shattering image. I will survive. I hope you all will too!

Freshly Showered

Today was another enforced day off. And because my helper wasn’t available, I don’t know that I did as much as I might have had she come. I did do a few things, though. I feel like I am moving forward again, albeit really really slowly.

Most of the day was spent playing and surfing social media. Still haven’t made any new real connections, which is sad. But not surprising. Hope springs eternal, though.

The first productive thing I did was put in a load of laundry. I changed the sheets on my bed so I could wash those as well. Next, I emptied the back kitchen deep freezer mostly. I left the frozen ice pack like things in there as they weren’t potentially edible. In emptying it out, I found that I have a lot of frozen chicken that I need to eat up. And that pasta – I think I have 10 bags of that crap. Sigh. At least I have a grater and can add a lot of parmesan when the time comes to eat some of that. Six bags of English muffins and a pecan danish. I am still sad that the Freihofers discount store closed. Grrrr. I found two things to throw away – both from a few years ago. I recognized one as some soup that one of my guests brought me from their home. It was good, but not so good that I needed to save it. And the other was a container of something that another boarder/guest created and left in my freezer. I started to thaw it to try and figure out what it was, but the lid broke and I just chucked the whole thing. One thing did become clear, I need to make croutons again soon. I have three bags full of crouton makings. Maybe I will do that over the next few days since I will have time…

Tesla may surprise me and get the part in early. As it stands my appointment is on Wednesday. The scheduler also mentioned that the part might take longer, which would suck even more. Not that I mind not working. It is my bank accounts that mind. Sigh. All I want is a few weeks without special crap in the way that stops me from dashing. And no major expenses so I can whittle down the HELOC a bit. But the universe has other plans apparently. Double sigh. And of course, we hope that the part fixes the problem. My guess is that it won’t.

Back when I had another major life transition, I bought a used Passat. I don’t really know why. And of course I spent too much on it. And it needed work at least once a month. Yay VW. I had a joke with people who knew me then that every time I took the car into get something fixed, it was a minimum of $450 dollars. Ridiculous. This Tesla is feeling the same way. But considerably more expensive.

Believe it or not, I did some work around the house. I opened up the window in the blue room – which was a bit stuck. So hopefully if other guests try to open it, it will open easily. I also put some pieces of the bed frame together. And I decided to move the rug that was at that end of the porch/room to the other end. I think tomorrow I will try putting the frame together the rest of the way. I tried cleaning the floor under the where the rug was, but my canister vacuum had no suction for some reason. It could have died. I mean it is over 30 years old I think. Let’s see. I bought it when I was living in the Bay Area back in the 1990s. Which part of the 1990s I am not sure. Let’s say first half, which would indeed make it 30 years old! I’ve emptied it and washed the filter. Hopefully it will suck again. And I’ll do more cleaning on the porch tomorrow.

Tonight, I hope to get the trash together from throughout the house. I have already done the second floor. I just need to do the first floor, including the kitchen. Oh, and I need to find a rake (or something like that) for cleaning up part of the attic. And I will do the GLO cart tomorrow. Not that it is necessary for until the next dinner I guess (which is sometime in the future). Still, it would be good to have that done. I’ve tried contacting LJ, but all of her devices are overwhelmed. I will look and see if I can find a street address and will stop by and drop off a note if she isn’t there. Just a plan. Oh, and I hope to get my library book tomorrow.

Ok, I think that is all the crap I can type about for the time being. Hope you all had a lovely weekend if you celebrate weekends!

Tortoise Steps

I am getting a bit more forgetful in my dotage. Did I already write about the international circus festival only really being 5 days long and not 10 days long? The second five days are just shows. The first four days are competitions. I think I will get inexpensive tickets for some of those at some point. Soon I guess. I don’t know how well the tickets are selling for the competition aspect of the festival. In any case, that means I might only be in Las Vegas for less than a week. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I guess I need to look for housing at some point soon…Leaning towards airbnb.

Today has been a slow day. Mostly playing to be honest. I did do a little bit of work in the attic. And will do a little more this afternoon. And I will continue to putter on the porch. Luckily the heat wave has become less intense in my neck of the woods. I am hoping that my cleaner will come and become my painter today. She is actively seeking other employment which makes me a little sad. Oh, maybe I will suggest she talk to C at Water Street and see if maybe she can pick up some of her erstwhile clients and start a little cleaning business while she looks for other work. (She did come and did a great job prepping the stairs for painting – much better than I have ever done – and then the rain came.)

Who’s looking at Roombas again on Ebay? Won one! I should get it by Jul 1! Woo hoo! I bid on a second one, which I will certainly take if I win. More roombas better in my experience. So sad that I fucked around with non roomba cheap rip off versions. I haven’t gotten my refund yet from the second crappy one I fell for. I’ll wait another week before haranguing them. My guess though is that they will find something wrong with the return and offer me no refund. Fooled me twice. I deserve whatever I get.

It’s interesting (to me at least) that when I have a helper I am self encouraged to do more around the house. I felt that I made a lot of progress when Amberle was working here. She seems willing to do painting. Which thrills me no end.

Today, I also cleaned out the freezer. I tried to organize it a little too. I guess that means that the next task will be to clean out the deep freezer in the back kitchen. I need to find a table or something to put stuff on back there. Or I could just walk the extra 6 steps and use the regular kitchen…but that is for another time. Maybe tomorrow.

After finishing my last book, I haven’t started a new one yet. There is a second book by the same author featuring another set of characters from the same world. I have reserved it at the library. I will try to remember to pick it sometime next week. The question is, do I read another book in the meantime or just wait till I get the other one. I am leaning towards waiting.

Tortoise or Turtle

I got the frame set up a little. I will do more work on it tomorrow. It would be useful to have another pair of hands.

Tonight, more Chinese-esque food for dinner I think. Since I haven’t thawed anything else. And don’t feel like soup or pasta.

Forced Time Off

When I worked in catering, we folded a lot of these (better)

My accounts aren’t going to be thrilled, but life is that way all too frequently. The car is steering badly enough that I am only going to drive it if necessary. So no dashing. I don’t want to be fighting the damn car on every turn over 15° all day. Hence, enforced time off. Not optimal.

I thought of renting a car. But the days of the $30 per day car rental are apparently a thing of the distant past. At near $100 a day, not including gas, it really makes no fiscal sense to rent a car just to dash. Sure, I might end up $20 a day ahead but I would also be working and not doing fun, exciting things I could otherwise be doing. Like reading a book. Or cleaning the refrigerator. Or doing a bit more cleaning on the porch and in the attic. All things that I get to do in the next few days.

Well, the refrigerator is already done. I threw a few things away when I cleaned it. I know, shocking. There’s more I could probably trash, but I think I will let those things be for now. Mostly condiments – ketchup packages specifically. And I made coleslaw. I am going to let it sit for a day or two before trying it again. I think it needs more spices – dill and garlic perhaps. Who knows. I have yet to come up with anything resembling the perfect (to me) coleslaw recipe. But this batch is done for now and resting in the fridge.

This morning I went to the bank and deposited a few shekels. And I also went to the insurance agent to see about switching my home owners policy from Travelers to state farm. I might save $20 a month that way. Which adds up. I will think about it.

Do you ever look at a box and think to yourself – I have no idea what the heck is in that?!?

Today I worked on cleaning up the porch a good bit. I took out a chair that I really don’t like. Moved a table, moved the bike and pump and generally vacuumed and dusted a good deal. Is it perfect? Ha, no. Better? Sure! I even swiffered a bit. Tomorrow, the next steps in the attic. And maybe the wing will get cleaned. And maybe the area over the back stairs will get at least a lick and a promise. Not an actual lick since that space is disgusting…

The guy from All Pest came and took away the last trap. And he told me that the second squirrel escaped. That isn’t a good thing. Why he used that kind of trap, I have no idea. It was not a good one. So final tally – Augustus 2 squirrels, All Pest 1. Sigh. Except for peace of mind granted, I would mind the amount the help cost me. But I am glad that a) the raccoon is gone and b) the squirrels have been mitigated. At some point I will ask J if he can find the ingress point and block it. One day. Oh, and it looks like J might have snagged a piece of hardware I need to hang the light up in the corner I am going to move the day bed to. I doubt he still has it. I don’t think he is as much of a hoarder (well, I don’t really like that name – I prefer to think of me as a rainy day planner) as I am. If he doesn’t have it I will have to come up with a plan b of some kind.

Tomorrow, day two of working around the house. Maybe look for the documentation of the agreement I entered to pay off the debt I incurred while taking care of mom – her debt really. But I was so angry at the way that the nursing home got to take all of her assets before charging her the medicaid rate, that I just didn’t pay as much as they wanted. Grrr. At least I am paying interest free. And every day the money they receive has less value. Yay! I think I am about half way done. I might also take a whack at the cart on the website. Speaking of which, I need to update the website tomorrow as well. Yay! Things to do! Oh, and I might contact LJ and see if she really wants help with her phone.

Hopefully my cleaner will come back tomorrow and do some painting. Stairs, back entry and porch are the first three. Then the back stairs. If she can do all of that, she will be my heroine! (Not the illegal kind)

Tonight, I am going to have a chinese-esque dinner: egg roll, some dumplings, fried rice and a salad. That ought to suffice for me.

Taking The Day Off

I am taking the day off from dashing. Yes, my accounts would prefer if I didn’t. But I am just fed up with the car right now. And with dashing in general. I need a break. I might even take the next four days off. I have guests coming tonight. They are a nice friendly couple and easy guests. They have been here before so they know the house is old. And they don’t mind. I did add “old (1914)” to my listings so that people won’t be surprised that the house is not modern.

Honestly, I was thinking that as soon as I let the Airbnb open again, that I would be flooded with people wanting to stay here. I’m not upset that I’m not being flooded just a little surprised that I’m not. Oh well.

Maybe I will go to Janet Leath to ask about insurance. No, probably not. Maybe tomorrow. I think today I am not going to move the car at all. I have plenty of food, I have the guests coming (though they might be taking the bus and so have no car – I got that impression from L) and there is lots I could do around the house. I might take baby steps in two directions – the attic and the side porch. Time will tell. I might also do some computer stuff for GLO. And reach out to L and J about helping them with their tech.

I think the guy came and took away the two dead squirrels. I will look after lunch. I don’t smell them anymore, so that’s a good thing.

I looked. He not only took away the dead squirrels, he took the two traps as well. Not sure what that’s about, but I’m guessing they are almost done with me. Not worth the $600 imho. But I won’t give them a bad review because at least they came and got the dead squirrels. And the live squirrels. I guess I will just keep the trap up there that I borrowed from L.

The stairs up into the attic hadn’t seen any love in at least a year. Maybe longer. So I took a few minutes and gave them a sucky job. With a vacuum cleaner. Got the worst of the glunk off the stairs up to the first landing. First landing and beyond next time, whenever next time is. I have a goal of getting the attic ready to receive all the crap I lugged into the room at the head of the stairs by the end of the month. Because I have a guest in there on July 7 I think.

I had a hankering for these – I thought the internet said they were discontinued. But they aren’t!

My guests are in. I hope that they keep the shower curtains inside the tub! I forgot to say anything to them. We shall see, I guess.

I was going to have a quiet afternoon at home, but J called and asked if I would help them install a window air conditioning unit. I said of course. I finished folding the laundry and drove down to there house by the lake in Romulus. Nice little house with a lovely big barn behind it! Their AC unit was a lot less heavy than the one that I helped with the other day. We got it in, even though I made a little mistake and put the accordion thingies in before attaching them to the unit. But we got it settled happily. Woo hoo!

Then I came home and read.

Tonight, trivia! Long time no trivia for me. It will be interesting for sure. J said that G came last week and won – with J’s help. Interesting that it wasn’t Casa De Madeira. Anyway, it will be nice to be a little social.

Tesla doesn’t have the part I need anymore. And their manager is off at another service center until Monday. So, I have an appointment on Wednesday. Not thrilled that they couldn’t fix the car tomorrow. Good thing I wasn’t planning on dashing tomorrow. Now I won’t dash on Saturday either. Maybe Sunday. And maybe the next two days – at least one shift. Unless the car feels too dangerous…

Not our night at trivia. Oh well. It was still fun. And great to see P and J. And G helped a little too late.

Ok time to think deep thoughts! And have a Toast R Cake or two! So excited!!

A Razor Blade!

It didn’t occur to me. I thought I needed a seam ripper. And I know that there are several in the house. Where they are is anyone’s guess. Amberle probably knows. Grrrr. Last night I found that only one of my two suit/sport jacket pockets was cut open. I vaguely recall doing the first years ago (2019?). But the other one was still sewn shut. I couldn’t find my seam ripper so I took it to our local tailor. He used a razor. And the opening was not where I was trying anyway. Phew!

The whole day was not like that. The first dash shift was not awesome. And the steering on the Tesla was acting horrendously – after a great day yesterday where it was driving like normal. Sigh and grrr.

My cleaner said they/she would be here around 10 am. Or as it turns out, 2 pm. Better late than never. She came and did great work in the house and mostly in the kitchen. It hasn’t felt this clean in ages! I’m hoping she will come back and do some painting of the house for me – the front steps, the side porch and the back entry way. I think I have enough paint for all three projects. Who knows if she will be game or not. Time will tell.

Second shift was terrible. The steering was even worse. And one of my tires suddenly lost a lot of air pressure. I refilled it and did a dash to waterloo. And by the time I had gotten back to Mavis Tire, I had lost 7 PSI. Not good. Turns out it was an evil tree bit that embedded itself somehow in the sidewall of the tire. So, irreparable. $200 later, a new tire. With the other four new tires from 6 weeks ago or so. Needless to say, but I will say it anyway, I am not a happy camper with my car just now. And to top that off, this was the second tech who told me I needed new rotors and brakes. Fuck that. I will have to get rid of this car somehow and soon. I want to wait until after the robotaxi reveal in August – but I don’t know if my mental health will allow me to last that long. Or that the car will last that long, despite the GDF new tires and new front end which wasn’t enough to make the car happy…

Ok, venting done. I blame global warming and the phase (almost full) of the moon. I’ll sit down and do some math tomorrow and see what I can see. Part of me thinks that the tentative answer might be to up my HELOC. Not my favorite idea, but it is an idea.

Just wanted a pretty picture

To elevate my abysmal mood, I bought an artichoke to go with my leftovers from the banquet. It ws not a good artichoke. And I undercooked it. But life is better with artichokes of any kind than without them, imho. I also had a salad, the left over veggies, a few fresh fries and the steak from the banquet last night. Pretty yummy and definitely enhanced my mood a bit. That and that the cleaner did such a good job in the kitchen as previously mentioned. Always nicer to cook in a cleaner kitchen.

I am debating whether or not I am going to dash tomorrow. My accounts say that it would behoove me to dash. My car and my mood both suggest that dashing might not be optimal tomorrow. We shall, of course, see.

Time to continue to alter my mood. Happy Wednesday to those that celebrate!

Banquets are fun?

What is up with me being up so early generally? Is it an age thing? I go to bed after midnight and wake up around 6 am every day. Sometimes I go back to sleep for a little bit after playing and doing duolingo. Sometimes I don’t. Today has been a “don’t” day.

I’ve read more of my book. It has morphed into a crime drama. Still good though. I like the main character. And I also stripped and made the bed in the blue room. My guest left really early this morning. No, he didn’t wake me, I had woken up before he headed off into the sunset. I’ve also turned off all the lights – I leave lights on around the house for guests in case they have to go to the kitchen or something.

Did I mention that I love my grater?

I’m hoping to have no major expenditures between now and September. Though I am sure that won’t be the case. Part of the reason is that I want to see what happens at the August 8 Tesla event before buying another Tesla. Part is because I am spending money like water. Part is because I am a combination hoarder/spendthrift. Just like my mom. And like mom, I often make poor buying choices when I do spend money. Why couldn’t I have inherited the “ambitious/loves making lots of money” gene?

I am hoping that the trip to Texas in late July or Early August will not be super expensive.

First dash is done and it was ok. No second dash today because of the GLO fund raising dinner at Belhurst.

My cleaner flaked and didn’t message me. I had to message them. They want to come tomorrow and clean. One strike. They get three.

Tonight was the GLO benefit banquet. Honestly, it was ok at best. Let’s start with the space. It is a decent space. A little large for the number of tables we had, but it wasn’t too horrendous. I got there and moved the piano and sound equipment a good bit away from where it was. G was worried that I was touching stuff. I pointed out that I had been the Technical Director at the Smith for four years and could handle a teeny set up like they had. Easy peasy. The Belhurst had put in a dance floor, though G had not really made any arrangements to have dancing. Sigh. I will suggest that we start a committee immediately to plan the next one. Not at the Belhurst. We have to be able to do better.

The food was lackluster. The salad was ok. The soup was terrible. Really bad. Cold and basically mushy and inedible. Blech even. My entree of steak was good. A really large piece of beef. The chicken looked good. As did the salmon. And the dessert was quite tasty.

G had to be the MC because whoever usually did it was not available. I had to prod her a couple of times, but it all worked out. The whole thing ended much later than it needed to, imho. The music was ok – not great. I liked the soprano, I was not thrilled with the bass.

A real honest to goodness opera singer

I sat at a table with S and J, both of whom I have known a long while. And there were two people new to me – L and C. I think L might need some help with tech stuff. And J said he did too. I will be interested to see if either of them follow up. If not, I will follow up with them. Easy and fun. I like helping people with tech stuff – the tech support person in me has never died.

When we got ready to leave, the rain, it was a pouring down. I eventually was brave, put my jacket over my head and got to my car. There was a branch down on my route home – but it was easily circumnavigated.

Safely home, blog written. Time to chill!

Darn AC Unit Bit Me!

Yes, a darn AC unit bit me. On my middle finger. It was sharp where I wasn’t expecting it to be. Sigh. But I am way ahead of myself. Let’s start at the beginning.

Today’s first dash was terrible. I had 0 rides for the first 2 hours! 0! I spoke with one of my fellow dashers and he said he had seen a few new dashers go into places and leave with orders while he just sat there. Very strange. I have a thought – maybe door dash’s algorithm tries to give new dashers a very positive experience for their first dash. I have no other explanation. A McDonald’s manager said they had been steady all morning – again, I had received no dashes for two hours at that point. So weird. But…

It didn’t really matter to me. Not that I didn’t want the money. I did. And I do. But I started a new book and I am loving it! It is about modern Native American Culture in the UP. So great so far. Part of me hopes that tomorrow is slow too. Though I am only going to do one shift tomorrow – I have a dinner party to go to tomorrow night. Yay small talk!

I did a quick shopping at Wegmans. I got the makings of coleslaw – I will probably make that on the weekend. Speaking of which, since I have guests for a few days this week, maybe I will take a second full day off of dashing. Maybe Saturday. Oh, and the steering on the Tesla was remarkably normal today. Weird.

Lunch at home. Where I decided to open up at least the one room for Airbnb though the house isn’t really ready. Ready or not, though, someone booked for this evening. Nice guy. Riding his big motorcycle back home to the MidWest. Though his arrival meant that I needed to alter my dashing plans to accommodate his check in time.

Second dashing shift was decent. I had to cut it off a tad early because of the AC unit. But it was much better than the first shift. Despite a rainstorm that was so heavy that I had to drive at about 5 miles per hour with my blinkers on for about three minutes. And I had no rain gear ready to hand – all stowed in the frunk and the trunk. Sigh. The weather report didn’t say anything about rain…

Sometime in there, B asked me to help her son in law get a new AC unit into her house. I hadn’t realized they would also want help installing it. Sigh. So, after the decent dash, I stopped and headed to B’s. It was way easier getting the AC unit into the house and set up with two people. Three if you count the daughter who was helpful by providing tools and reading the instructions. And providing a bandage after the damn AC unit bit me. There was an unexpected sharp bit in the back. They need to make those AC units more user friendly for installation, imho. Oh well. We got it in. And I was way overpaid, given some cookies and even a meal to take home!

As I was leaving, I got a call from my guest saying he was fifteen minutes out.

Which worked out perfectly. I got home to find that J had removed the 2×4 that has been in the way for years and years and years on the porch. That was so good of him! And I had time to move some pillows, add some stinky stuff to the air, turn on lights, check for egregious cobwebs etc. before the guest arrived.

Nice guy – didn’t want to chat. He wanted to head downtown. I hope he has good fun down there. There are quite a few bars…

For dinner, I had a bit of pizza. I used what seems like pita for the crust though the label clearly says “pizza crust” on the package. Whatever. It was ok. Next time I go to wegmans, I will ask if they have boboli. And I need to think of some other things to do with pizza sauce so that I can use it up before it goes bad.

Now I am on the porch – I did my duolingo – german today. And I am writing this post. Then I am heading to my bedroom to watch the last episode (forever) of Discovery.

I had a thought. But I will only share it if it comes to fruition. It depends partly on whether or not the cleaner actually comes back as they said they would. I am leaning towards them choosing not to come back. Cleaning is hard work…

One of my meals from Frank’s place in Panama City Panama

My Sunday

Yes, it was my Sunday today.

It started with a dash shift. Dashing is so weird. It isn’t linear. For instance, today, the shift started off great. But in the end, it was only ok, fiscally. But I didn’t have to do a lot of driving for the money I did make. And I did have to skip one. I’ve skipped a lot in the past week. Sigh. I hope I start getting them back before I have to skip many more. Other days start out slow and the day end up being ok or even great. There is just no telling…

After a quick lunch, I pinged the person who said they would come clean and, guess what?! They actually came. A little later than I had thought. But that’s ok by me. As long as they clean and I don’t have to, I am a happy camper. They didn’t stay too long and are planning on coming back on Tuesday. And they thought they might be willing to do some painting. Maybe I can get them to do other stuff as well. Time will tell. They are much more interesting than I had thought at first. People will surprise one.

While they worked, I did a few things. I ordered my Gala ticket for the Circus event in Las Vegas in November. I still don’t know what the other 9 days of the event are supposed to be. I guess we will find out more as time goes by.

Speaking of events, apparently Elon has made some noise about the next Starship launch, saying it will be at the end of July. Woo hoo! I will be there for that, barring strange unforeseen circumstances. I don’t think I will be going to NC for Jack’s life celebration.

I finished The Fire Kimono. Fun read. I don’t think I liked it enough to seek out other books in the series. But if I stumble on one, I will read it for sure. No Idea what the next book in my paws will be.

Gotta pick a new book out before my dashing tomorrow. I hope this week is busier than the week that has just passed. My income depends on the busy-ness of the dashes. Sigh.

My week is looking pretty open at this point. I have the GLO dinner on Tuesday. And I might have to take the Tesla in again if the steering keeps giving me problems. But other than that, nothing on the books.

I just picked the next book I’ll be reading, while I was wandering – Fire Keeper’s Daughter. Looks like a really, really long read. The type is tiny and there are many many pages. Yippee?

My grater came! I do wonder why it took so long to come, though…Anyway, I am so excited! Tonight I will grate some parmesan. And make some more Caesar salad dressing. Tomorrow, grocery shopping. Again.

It will be breakfast for dinner tonight. I don’t think I have any waffles left, so I might have to use English muffins for my Eggs Augustus. Yes, no waffles. Took me a while wandering around the house to figure out that that was what I had left the computer to ascertain.

Ok, time to do some cooking! In a nicely neatened kitchen!

My caricaturist in Old Town Panama City, Panama

Yay Screens!

Today my friend and contractor/handy guy got the other screens and installed them in the windows on the side porch. Now I have six windows that open and have screens! How cool is that? Pretty cool, let me tell you! Next up, a couple of those magnetic screens that cover doorways so that I can get some cross ventilation going. I was told that the weather is going to turn scorching here in the next few days. Oooh, yes! In the nineties for almost the entire week. So glad I have these screens in!

Cute, don’t you think?

One dashing shift today that ended up pretty good. I was sad that one of my orders, the one from Tim Horton’s, was not sent off with everything it was supposed to have in it. And it was a big tip. Grrr. That actually makes me a little angry. I will tell the people there next time I see them.

After dashing, I had some lunch and watched some space stuff on youtube. So far no word from Elon or SpaceX when the next launch is going to be.

Off to see B for some pool. We both were shooting decently. I think we might have tied in games won. Or he beat me (which is more likely). I enjoy hanging out with B a couple times a month. Pool is always good. And our conversations are wide ranging. He also passed me the name of someone who is looking for a long term rental. I will reach out to them tomorrow and see if they are still looking. if they aren’t, I will think seriously about paying for the membership in the long term rental portal. Despite its religious ties.

Remember the ball picture yesterday? Well I tried the same thing with B’s table and there was a good quarter inch on each side of the balls. As I said, those pockets in Panama City were tight!

Next, I headed to Lowes to look for the hooks that I forgot yesterday. They had some gate type hooks that I think will work nicely! When I get around to installing them. I also looked at the screen things, but they were too expensive. I will order a couple from Amazon tomorrow. After I get my latest order in my hot little hands. I ordered a cheese grater! Don’t judge! I like my knuckles to remain un-grated. And I have some parmesan that is getting down to the rind. It will be time to make more Caesar dressing tomorrow, I guess. More food shopping. Sigh.

At home, I looked in on the traps. I found the third one – in a weird place, imho. It was empty. And the second trap, a sort of black box affair, also empty. The first trap actually had a dead squirrel in it. Since it is the weekend, I don’t think that the pest people will do anything about it until Monday.

The plans for the house are moving forward slightly. Phase one is almost complete. Phase two will be working on the grounds: taking out trees, paying for the damn abstract, paying for a survey, getting the curb cut for a second driveway. Phase three is electrification. At least a powerwall, if nothing else. Though I think that will entail an upgraded fuse box. I would like a digital one. And I might get a wall charger at the same time. From Tesla. More expensive, but I like the eco system.

It looks like the cleaner is actually coming. They wrote and said that they were borrowing a car and would be here when I was ready for them. If that works out, maybe they will be willing to help me more around the house. I have a few painting jobs. And the attic. And the orange room. And the red room. All of those can be done before I worry about Phases Two and Three.

Time to eat. More duck! (yay) And other stuff, I am sure. Oh, it turned out that I already had a jar of pizza sauce. So now I have two. I guess I will be eating a lot of pizza things over the next week. Do they still make Boboli?

Balls

Today I did one shift for Door Dash. And it was decent. Nothing really to complain about and nothing to crow about. A solid shift with not a lot of long trips or down time. Yay!

After my shift, I ate some leftovers for lunch and then ran errands.

First, I mailed the terrible robovac off to Ohio. The thing barely weighed a pound – which speaks to its lack of quality. I will buy a better one next time, for sure! It ought to get there by Monday. Who knows when they will actually get around to refunding my purchase price.

Second Stop, city hall. I was trying to get some answers to my questions, and I did! Question one (for Phase three) – can I get a cut in the curb and install a new, second driveway onto my property? Yes, I can. I need to give them some sort of drawing at some point – but since this won’t be until next spring (at the earliest, I am not too worried about it. Phase two, by the way is taking down a lot of trees on the property and starting the process of getting (sort of) off the electric grid. I am going to work on that this winter while the leaves are gone….

Second question (for Phase Three) Can I put a temporary storage shed on my property that is 16×25? Yes. As long as it is five feet from the property line in the back. Woo hoo!

Third Question (for Phase 5) – Can I turn my garage into a little house? Sort of – from the rules that Neil the city planner was looking at, the minimum square footage needs to be 500 sqft. I think my barn is maybe 169 sqft of floor space currently. Something to keep looking into down the road.

So, I am in good shape. As soon as phase one is complete – we are at about 80% in that area – I will start thinking about phase two. Anyone know a great electrician?

Next stop, my bank. I got a message in the mail saying that my checking account was being changed. I didn’t see any changes. But apparently the requirement of having at least $500 average daily balance in the account it new. I think I can manage that. I also found out that Community Bank doesn’t refund ATM fees when people use non-Community Bank ATMs. Poo. Lastly, I got some cash in case the cleaner actually shows up on Sunday. Since I don’t know them very well, I am prepared to have them not show up.

Last stop, Lowes hardware. I forgot to check my list. I am a dumb bunny sometimes. Usually I’m pretty smart…this time, oh well. I did get two of the three things done that I wanted there. I got my pain re-shaken so I can paint the front steps tomorrow afternoon. And I got some wood filler – it was white. Ooops. But I am going to be painting over it so I don’t really car what color it is. I didn’t do the third thing, which was to look for nice looking hook and eye sets for the bedroom doors. Darn.

And I forgot to put one thing on my list – check with Janet Leath and see if adding my house insurance to my car insurance would lower my costs a bit. Drat. I’ll get to it. One day…

I am reading a book that turns out to be a late entry into a mystery series based in 17th century Japan. I don’t know if I will rush out and read others in the series – but it is good to know that they are out there!

Tonight, bread pizza and chicken wings for dinner. With a salad.

Tight pockets

While I was in Panama City, I played a little pool. The tables were ok, but the pockets were really tight!