Yesterday my sister-in-law (and more importantly, friend) told me about an incident where she exercises. A lady in the class was really ugly to another lady my SIL likes. The really sad thing is that it wasn’t necessary. My SIL was able to defuse the situation, but you can’t ‘unhear’ ugly, hurtful things.
When a person is being ugly for religious or political reasons, I just don’t understand the motivation. Being ugly will certainly never change anyone else’s mind on a subject. Being ugly to someone else can only be done to hurt the other person, and I don’t see a good reason for that, either.
Maybe I’m missing something, but life is too short for this. Keeping your mouth shut, unless it’s in the defense of someone else, is a good skill to practice – I think of it as a character-building exercise.
We’re home from my haircut and now I’m feeling newly confident about not ending up in Lower Slabovia while trying to get home from town. We’re having to go the back way because the bridge between us and town is completely gone now, with only a huge hole and a backhoe in the bottom of it. It’s been years since we had to go the back way. The last time there wasn’t even a street sign at the turn off and I just drove right on past it.
I asked my husband to drive me to the hairdresser so that we would be lost together if we didn’t get back. It is amazing what has happened to that part of Hwy 10 since we were last there. There is a whole housing addition going up with either duplexes or triplexes. There is another sign further out about ANOTHER new housing addition. On the other side of the road, the place that used to be a gymnastics place is now a Crossfit place. There is now a new auto sales place right before our turn-off to come home, so it’s now easy to see where we are.
Now I’m not worried about getting lost or having to go even more miles out of our way in order to get back home the next time I’m out. Confidence is very important to me, particularly on how to get where I’m going since my sense of direction skill was given to someone else when I was born. :0)
We’re leaving in a minute to get my hair cut. My husband is going with me today because we have to go the back way to get to town due to the bridge between us and town being demolished. My husband, being a non-trusting soul, went to see for himself that the bridge was really gone yesterday. He said there is just a big hole where the bridge used to be with a backhoe down in the bottom of the hole. We have no clue how long it will take to build the new one.
I know I can get to town just fine. I just don’t remember where the street comes out onto Hwy 10. I don’t think there is even a street sign to look for, so I’ll watch for landmarks as we come back home. After that, I’ll be good to go. I could use my GPS, but it doesn’t know where Greenwood’s post office is,(it’s been there for 10 years or so) and will routinely try to steer people into Greenwood Lake because of old OLD O-L-D information. (The lake has been where it is since we built our home 37 years ago.) Our town is obviously not a high priority for the folks who update the information for these things….
We’re starting to get ripe tomatoes! There was one larger ripe one this morning, but the bugs had gotten to it, so I had to pitch it. I gathered some cute little ones for us to eat celebrationally with our lunch today.
“cute” rather than substantial. The vines are pretty loaded. I’ll spray and fertilize the tomato plants Friday and keep my fingers crossed for more beautiful ripe tomatoes.
I checked our head lettuce plants and most are starting to bolt now. :0( The weather just got too warm too fast this year. I’ll salvage what I can and then see if there are any other plants I want to start when we are in town next.
This is my sister-in-law’s garden in Charlotte. They will be moving at the end of the year, so this is the last spring display they will enjoy. I’m so glad they – and Mother Nature – are cooperating to show them the proper send-off. So colorful and pretty! (If you look carefully above the hummingbird feeder, you can see a hummer!)
Beautiful combination of colors and different shapes. :0) “Happiness in a box.”
This is one of the two receivers that go with our new driveway detector that my husband installed yesterday. The system is solar-powered. The detector is along the driveway and both of the receivers go off when someone drives up. They make a very pleasant noise, but one that gets your attention. (I heard the one in the office even though I had headphones on, listening to YouTube when our plumber drove up.) We really like to be warned when someone is coming up, rather than just having someone ringing the doorbell or knocking on the garage people door, so this is a really nice problem my husband solved.
Rheem Tankless Water Heater
THING TWO:
Our plumber’s assistant came about a week ago and tried to light the pilot light on our regular backup hot water tank when our tankless system was showing ’13’. He was able to light it, but it wouldn’t STAY lit. He turned it off, so we were safe, but we were without hot water.
A person our plumber knows and trusts who works on tankless water heater systems came to look at ours. He cleaned contact points, and tested, and then was able to start the system. It worked for a minute or so and then the dreaded “13” displayed again. He said that the system needed to be flushed out. He called our plumber and told him what he had found.
Our plumber came yesterday and flushed out the system. He got the system to work, but told us it looked like things were on their last legs. He puts in a system that he trusts and says it’s the best one he’s ever found. So now we are contracted for him to order and install a new system for us in two weeks or so. Meanwhile, WE HAVE HOT WATER for the first time in a week! No more cold washcloth ‘baths.’ No more cold hair washes in the kitchen sink. I smiled and sank all the way through my gloriously hot shower and hair wash this morning. :0)
When I got to my computer and phone this morning, the first thing I did was text our plumber, thanking him for providing us with hot water and wishing him the best day ever.
The NEXT problem is the failing air pump on our mattress. My husband is handling that one, so I’m trying to be patient and keep my mouth shut….
In 1492 (more or less) we met and instantly fell in love. Because he was in the Marines and I was in junior high, high school, and then both of us were in college, we dated for 9 years.
We made it official in 1969.
54 years later, we are still together, and I only think about throwing him in a hole in the backyard SOMETIMES. We probably won’t celebrate ANOTHER 54 years, but we can try.
I really like Pinterest. I find wonderful things that make my spirits soar, make me laugh, bring me to tears, and more. What I wish could be different is that people pin things and don’t tell you who the source is or where they found it. If I want to use it, I am unable to do anything but label it “Pinterest.” I find that frustrating, because I would love to tell you the artist who painted the painting. End of rant.
We’re just back inside from working in our driveway. Each time we don’t have a lot to do, we spend a bit of time in the driveway cutting back the branches that are encroaching on the driveway, forming a ‘tunnel’ now in some places. I jump up and grab a branch and bring it down with me, holding it down as far as I can while my husband lops it off as high as he can reach. I then haul it down the driveway some to a clearer spot on the ‘yard-downward-side’ and try to throw it off the driveway as far as I can. It doesn’t take long for us to call it a day, but we can see the progress we’re making.
Today was a bit harder because there were lots of briars attached to the branches. We did as much as we could with the loppers. My husband, thoroughly pooped at this point, went to sit in the truck while I did a bit more with my hand-held cutters. I cleared off the driveway a bit more of the stuff he had cut. Then we drove the rest of the way down, put our now-empty trash can back where it lives, got our mail, then drove down the road to the church to turn around.
Seton
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The road in front of the church had ‘road closed’ signs in both lanes, so I guess the bridge demo is going full steam today. We’ll have to go the back way to get to town until further notice.
Another day with no hot water. I’ll tell you it’s quite refreshing to ‘wash’ with a cold wet washcloth and then wash my hair in the sink with ice cold water. It’s a good cure for being sleepy. :0)
Our plumber called yesterday with a technical question about our tankless water heater system. My husband had to go down to the basement in order to answer it. Our plumber is going to come and ‘flush’ our system, hoping to get it working for us again. He’s trying to get here today or tomorrow.
We haven’t heard anything from the mattress lady on the warranty for the air pump on our bed.
I’m down almost 12 pounds now, so I’m encouraged that my current efforts are bearing fruit (if you’ll pardon the expression.) I have a LOOOONG way to go, so I’m just quietly smiling a bit, but it’s good to know that if I just ‘keep- on-keepin’-on,’ I may live long enough to see the results I would like.
I’ve changed two things –
THING ONE – I’m eating breakfast. Nothing fancy, my husband and I are eating Cheerios, blueberries, and milk.
THING TWO – I’m trying really hard to not eat anything in-between meals, before I go to bed, or allow myself to get up in the middle of the night and snack because I can’t sleep. (this has been hard, but has been the biggest reason I’ve been yo-yo-ing, so I’m trying to be really serious about it). I now picture myself getting on the scale in the morning and hoping to see a lower number.
As a preliminary, I checked what I’m eating on MyFitnessPal.com. It basically decided I wasn’t eating enough, but I’m paying attention to what I’m eating, trying to increase my veggies and fiber. I’m eating some fruit, some protein, some carbs.
I’m trying to drink more water. My exercise varies all over the place from basically nothing to being outside in the garden, then doing yoga and/or my elliptical trainer, and cleaning the house, all in the same day. I’ll concentrate on trying to even that out over time. Paying attention to my eating is enough for now.
I’m disappointed. There was an unbelievable video on Pinterest yesterday showing a gazillion hummingbirds swarming several feeders. I laughed aloud watching them. I copied the URL so I could share it with you today, but no matter what I did, the URL wouldn’t embed. I finally gave up. I wish I could have made it work. I’m sorry. :0(
Today is the day the people are demolishing the bridge between us and town. We need to call in a prescription and go get it today, so we’ll go the back way for the first time. It’s been awhile, so I’ll pay close attention to the turn-off on the way home. I don’t think there is even a street sign there. I’ll try to find a landmark. Meanwhile, I’ll try to reach someone at City Hall to see if I can find out a ballpark estimate of how long it will take to build the new bridge.
We’re due for some rain today (yeah, I know. JUST what we need). We’ll get our errands done and then batten down the hatches for the rest of the day.
Peggy J. Hughes – FineArtAmerica.com – art; Anthony J. D’Angelo, quote.
Hoping for a quiet day here, and one for you, too. :0)
Since so many things that I consider important can’t be done today, or at least WON’T be, I find myself extremely lazy, not wanting to do anything.
We had a nice lunch and then I got sleepy. The next thing I knew, an hour had passed! I’m up and alert now (I think :0) ) and I just cleaned up the kitchen after our lunch.
I’m not even in the mood to go up to my art room and start something. That’s REALLY unusual.
Maybe something will grab my fancy while I’m here at the computer…
Good Thoughts-Riny van Gend de Zeeuw-Facebook-Buddha Heart
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No hot water – guy cleaned points and got the system started, but then it quickly switched to ’13’ again. He called our plumber, saying it needs to be ‘flushed.’ Our plumber has the special equipment needed to do that, and so we wait for a call from him.
Waiting on mattress air pump lady to get back to us about warranty. Once we get that info, we’ll decide what to do.
Husband has given up on trying to fix our driveway detector and has ordered another.
Water irrigation system for yard is acting wonky. Will trouble shoot when the other priorities have been addressed.
The county/city road people are demolishing the bridge between us and town TOMORROW. No info on how long building the new one will take. We will have to take the back way out, adding several miles to our trip, keeping an eye on the sign that is near our house, but in the opposite direction from the way we’ll have to go until further notice. Any service people will have to be apprised of this, also, assuming they can then make it up our driveway once they get here…
We just finished putting away groceries. We’ve stocked up so we have as little reason to go to town as possible until the bridge is finished.
The gang was almost all back together yesterday at Lunch Bunch. My husband stayed at the house to wait for the tankless water heater tech call/visit, but Kay and Bud were there, plus Linda, and me. It was a nice reunion after several weeks of disappointment.
We were all back in one piece and well. I enjoyed hearing what they had been up to and it was great to soak up all the smiles and laughter.
It was overcast when we got up. We ate breakfast and did our morning chores, opened up the front and back doors to enjoy the morning breezes and went into the office.
I looked out the window a few minutes later to see DARK skies and branches whipping around. We’re having quite a storm now! I shut the front door, but left the one to the porch open. How quickly things change!
The tech is coming sometime today to look at our tankless water heater. We are still without hot water and are hoping he can get it going again. If not, we’ll have to get another one ASAP and installed while having to resort to wash cloths and cold water hair washings. Happily, our machines, like the dishwasher and the clothes washer, heat up the water used, so we’re not completely back in the Stone Age.
On a happier note, the replacement battery pack we ordered for our cordless vacuum cleaner arrived yesterday. We got it installed and everything is on the charger. I’ll try it later today to make sure it works as it should. I’m delighted. I also got the full size vacuum cleaner’s filter back in and the clean canister put back on the machine. My husband took a large piece out to the shop and used the air compressor to blow LOTS of dirt out of it, so it’s almost like it has been to a refurbishment center. :0)
The lady who is handling whether we’re under warranty for the bed pump is to be back in the office Monday, so we should get an answer soon after.
Maybe we’ll get things back together around here one of these days.
We have a backup regular type hot water heater. We try to have backups on everything we consider important because we live at the top of a ridge line, up a steep driveway, outside of town and many times are ‘on our own’ during bad weather situations, etc.
Since our tankless water heater threw its hands up in the air and yelled ’13!” whatever that means and quit providing hot water a couple of days ago, my husband decided to light the pilot light on the backup heater so we would have hot water while we tried to find someone to help us with the tankless. After a lot of effort, we finally admitted defeat on getting the pilot light lit and called our wonderful plumber to see if he or his assistant could help us on their way home from work.
The assistant showed up very quickly. (He had to walk up the majority of our 650+ foot driveway because his tires don’t have a lot of tread and his truck wouldn’t come up.) H found that one of the hoses had a leak. He and our plumber worked together, got a new hose and installed it. He still couldn’t get the pilot light to STAY lit. On further examination, he found that several of the fittings and connections had simply rotted out after being in the basement over 10 years. He strongly suggested we drain it and get rid of it. We thought we would replace it, but our plumber said that the 40 gallon propane-powered water heater tank would cost over $700 now. OUCH! So, we’ve decided to get rid of the old one, and NOT have a backup system.
I had found a company who would send out a technician this afternoon. After talking to our plumber, though, we decided we would work with one of his buddies, rather than the larger company, who has a “come-out-and-look-charge-$89-then-leave-and-order-parts-to-come-back-later” routine.
My husband will stay home from Lunch Bunch today to wait for a call and for him to come. Our plumber got our model and serial numbers for the tankless. He said he would Google it and then contact his buddy about what to expect. I’m hoping that the tankless can be repaired. If not, we’ll order another one through him and have him install it. The super-expensive part of this installation was all the stainless steel routing of the propane to the system in the basement (which cost more than the system) and that shouldn’t have to be redone. It’ll be bad enough, though.
As this is only one of the challenges we’re dealing with lately, it’s a bit hard to keep a smile on my face. It’s easier when I think about all I have, and the fact that I’ll be seeing at least one good friend at Lunch Bunch in about an hour. :0)
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