3154 Change of season

Saturday, November 6, 2010

"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something."
-- Plato --

-----------------------------------------

It's kind of funny. Coincidence. I ran out of green quotes and had to start over from the beginning of the collection at just about the same time I ran out of Honeys of the Week.**

Also within the past week, I finally realized that I have actually moved. Yeah, I've been saying it, but it hadn't really sunk in that THIS house in NJ is my new home. This is home.

I had been bringing things down, but I had been bringing things like for camping. Like for an extended but temporary stay. Future thinking was like "this is where I'll store some stuff while I clean out the old house." The really important things, like the financial and insurance records, online passwords, photographs, the stuff you'd grab if the house was on fire, are still at the old house, and I hadn't really considered moving it all down here.

It was like on the top of my head I was moving in, but deep inside I hadn't accepted it yet.

There's a lot of things I'll miss about the old place, like the huge yard (1.3 rolling acres dotted with trees), the hawks nesting in the back, the doe parking her fawn under my bathroom window, snacking all summer on the blackberries along the edges of the yard and the mulberries in the back, the view all the way to Woodstock, the groundhogs and the foxes in the front yard, fighting wild turkeys to get down the driveway in the winter, the scent of the wild roses and locusts blooming in the spring, the thousands of daffodils along the driveway and around the house, the coyote packs having a loud party just below the hill, watching the shirtless Hairless Hunk mowing my lawn, the 2.5 car garage, the walkout basement.

On the other hand, driving to the movie yesterday, I saw at least one of every store I'd ever heard of along route 35. The shopping opportunities here are incredible! No more being satisfied with whatever one can find at the few local stores. No more driving 20 miles round trip just to find a decent pair of shoes or a selection of books, or 60 miles to find curtains of a certain color. One can actually comparison shop here, almost by bicycle!

I could get used to this.

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**Actually, The Man would qualify for HOTW status, but it would annoy him greatly if he ever discovered the post, so I won't. A friend, having met him, asked me if I thought he was handsome. I answered no, he's not particularly handsome, but he's definitely striking. She nodded, agreed, seemed satisfied with that description.

I haven't come across any other men who qualify. We'll have to be satisfied for now with the thirteen listed. I guess I'm very selective.
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3153 Workin' it.

Friday, November 5, 2010

The consumption of alcohol may lead you to think people are laughing WITH you.

------------------------------------------------------

I painted some walls yesterday. I figure I need to do the rooms that will be getting bookcases and heavy furniture first, so that means the living room, master bedroom, and dining room first. The rest can be done later.

I found the "local" (25 minutes away) arts theater in Red Bank, and today I saw the third in the Lisbeth Salander trilogy, Stieg Larsson's "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest". I figured I'd avoid crowds by going to the 12:40 pm showing.

This one wasn't as bloody and cringe-worthy as the first two in the series, but, again, you must see them in order, and the closer together, the better. I'd seen the first two, but I still got lost a few times.

The theater is really nice, multiplex, soft, semi-reclining seats, electric fireplace in the hall, etc. There were only six people watching the movie, but a real live usher with a discrete flashlight walked down the aisle at least three times, and at the end he stood at the door with a basket of mints.

A movie at the Upstate in Rhinebeck, where I had seen the first two Lisbeth segments, costs about $6 with the senior discount ($7 for you young'uns), and parking is free. Today I was shocked to find that parking in the town lot across the street from the theater was going to cost me about $2 in change (of course I had only two dimes - had to beg change for a $5 from a very nice woman in the lot) and the movie was $11, no senior discount. Wow. That's more than twice what it would cost me for a movie in Rhinebeck. That's expensive for an afternoon's diversion!

I've been buying things for the house - freestanding toilet paper holders, shower curtain and rod and hanger-uppery things, spring tension rods to hang temporary sheers, sheer curtains, cotton cafe curtains, mops, waste paper baskets, cookie sheets, on and on. I have been utterly amazed at the packaging. The cheap spring tension rods came in a long skinny plastic bag, which is expected, but the bag was denser and stronger than many shower curtains I have known, and the top, where the hanger/label closed the bag, was fastened with metal studs, not the staples one would expect. Everything fabric came in a dense plastic bag with a zipper!, and then was in a second plastic bag inside the outer one.

I'm making a pile of packing materials twice the mass of the items I bought. Of course, being me, I've saved the zippered bags. They've got to be good for something. I can't just throw them out.

Besides the landfill question, plastic is made from oil. Am I the only person who sees over-packaging as a complete waste?
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3152 Annoyed again

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

"The world is supposed to be full of possibilities, but they narrow down to pretty few, in most personal experience. There's lots of good fish in the sea-maybe! But the vast masses seem to be mackerel or herring, and if you're not mackerel or herring yourself, you are inclined to find very few good fish in the sea."
-- DH Lawrence --

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I am annoyed that the same people who are busily getting anti-Sharia laws onto the state election ballots see no contradiction in getting Christian-based initiatives onto the same ballots.

At least Sharia law applies only to Muslims.
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3151 Wedding entrance clip

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

An adventure without a dragon is not worth telling.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is cool. Simple, and celebratory.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_GaP5kCObo&feature=player_embedded]
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3150 Short Memories

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater. If you
give her sperm, she'll give you a baby. If you give her a house, she'll give
you a home. If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal. If you give
her a smile, she'll give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is
given to her. So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of
shit.

----------------------------------------------------------

Well, it seems like a lot of people with very short memories were upset because Obama wasn't able to undo in two years the mess that Bush created in eight.

Some good might come of this - maybe a few fear-mongers on TV and the radio will find nothing they want to talk about.
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3149 Sharing the water

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

"Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease
left a name worth remembering."
-- Theodore Roosevelt --

----------------------------------------------

I've been worried about Jasper not drinking water. I haven't seen him drink water since he arrived at the new house. He did drink some tuna can water, but that supply is rather limited.

On the other hand, I haven't seen him eat anything, either, but the food is disappearing from his dish. I have so many bowls of water scattered around, I wouldn't notice a drop in level.

I even closed the stopper in the tub in the master bath and put an inch of water in the deep end. He likes to play in water, and I hoped that would attract him to drink some. I heard him lapping water from the tub during the night last night --- which explains his confused expression when I took my bath this morning.

It was absolutely "Why is Mommy sitting in my water dish?"
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3148 Bad Night

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.”
-- Ghandi --

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Last night was a very bad night. I had a lot of pain on my left side, just below and under my lowest ribs, front wrapping around to the back. I think it's probably a pulled muscle, but I really got worried because I couldn't find a comfortable position. I was afraid the pain was more serious than a pulled muscle. I hope it's a pulled muscle. And that stupid tempur-pedic-style/memory foam mattress wasn't helping at all. I positively HATE it. I need a firm flat mattress. I may have to buy a futon tomorrow.

I felt a little better after I got up, and lots better after a late-morning soak in a hot bath.

The pain in my side was only part of it. Jasper was going through something, I don't know what, but he called all night long, starting at about 1:30 am. I could hear him wandering the house, "Mau? Marrrr? Mao?" I'd yell to him (and finally yelled AT him) and he'd be quiet for a while, and just as I fell asleep he'd start up again. It wasn't that he couldn't find the litter box - I heard him use it once. I was ready to throw him out the front door! I wouldn't - he's strictly an indoor cat, but I was getting desperate. With hard floors and no curtains and so much undecorated wall and no furniture, sound echos. It sounded like he was maoing into my ear.

He stopped when the sun came up. Between the pain and the maoing, the only sleep I got was between 6 and 9 am.

I don't know what I'll do if he starts that crap again tonight.
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3147 Hallowe'en-worthy bagpipes

Monday, November 1, 2010

Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread wending its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.
-- Isaac Asimov --

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I've always loved bagpipes. Some form of bagpipes are found all over the world, especially in mountainous areas, because the sound carries in mountains. The music varies by culture.

I like Macedonian bagpipe music, but the pipes scare me.


Once you get over the initial shock, close your eyes and just listen.
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3146 Hallowe'en scaredy-cat

Sunday, October 31, 2010

When you bite the golden apple,
watch out for the golden worm at its core.

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It's just a hair after 1 pm, and trick-or-treaters are coming around. A few. With adults. They seem to be going to particular houses, though. Not others. Not mine. I don't know whether it's a preview for relatives and friends, or that they just go to houses that are decorated. Oh, well. The bags of yummies I bought are Wise, not an off brand, and I already ate a bag of popcorn. So if I've got leftovers, I don't mind.

-------------------------------

Jasper may be the most timid cat in the world (well, probably third to Schmeck and Poli, Daughter and Hercules' cats). He's still not settled in. I'm sure he recognizes the living room rug, and the hall runner, he rolled around on them to show his approval. But every time he rounds a corner and sees a broom, or a stepladder, or a bucket, he startles.

He's spending most of his time in the bedroom. He has used the litter boxes (one up, one down), but hasn't eaten, not even his favorite canned stuff, and as far as I know he hasn't tasted the water. I had made sure to bring his old water dish from NY, and he has rubbed his cheeks on it, but won't drink. Not when I'm looking, anyway.

He slept on the bed with me last night, and woke me about once an hour all night, with a cold nose on my cheek, paw pats on my arm, tickley whiskers on my eyelids. He needs constant reassurance.

I'm afraid to start the washing machine. That'll totally freak him out!

----------------------------------

Later: Yikes! It's a few minutes after 2 pm, and I've already handed out 1/3 of the goodies! Jasper has locked himself into the upstairs bathroom.
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3145 Jasper has moved!

Saturday, October 30, 2010

You can’t prevent what you can’t predict.

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I brought Jasper to the NJ house with me today. I gave him the sedative from the vet. He was still very vocally unhappy and bloodied a paw on the carrier door, but at least we didn't have the slobber and seizure of the last car trip.

He has explored the new house a little, but he's still a little unsteady on his legs, so he seems to be content to sleep it off in the corner of the downstairs bathroom. I took him upstairs to show him my bedroom. He recognized the spread as the mate of the one he used to sleep on in the back bedroom in NY, purred loudly, kneaded it, and rolled around on it.

Even if the house is strange, I think he approves of the bed.

Having brought him to NJ, I can now spend more time here. Five or six days here and one or two days a week in NY should get stuff done. I think Jasper will be happier with that arrangement, too.

Daughter and Hercules left yesterday for Europe, a sudden business trip (yes, they left during that "suspicious cargo" airport mess), so that was the other reason to bring Jasper down now. I'm taking care of their house, bringing in the mail, and feeding their three cats while they're away, so not having to run off north every two days makes that easier, less worry.

I also brought down the small kitchen TV. It has a slot for DVDs and a small antenna. I had hoped that being so close to a large metropolitan area I'd be able to pull some broadcast channels from the air.

Well, I've got what seems to be a PBS channel (weak signal, keeps cutting out), NBC (also weak), an Italian-language channel, a Spanish-language channel, and what seems to be the info channel for some city government. I am surprised that's all I'm getting.

I was sorta hoping for CBS - so I could watch Survivor, The Amazing Race, and The Big Bang Theory. I guess I'll have to break down and get basic cable. Bleck.

On the drive down, I discovered that my GPS had somehow gotten wiped. All my favorites locations are gone, the simpery lady voice is back, it's been reset to factory everything. I am unhappy about that.

Bed early tonight. The car is still packed. I'll unload tomorrow.
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3144 Basketball has changed, too?

Friday, October 29, 2010

If you love something, set it free. And if it flies away, run after it and kill it.

-------------------------------------------------------

I just caught a few clips from a Celtics game on the news. Sheesh! When did basketball change?

I haven't watched a basketball game in a few decades. But I seem to remember that players weren't allowed to touch each other, certainly not on purpose.

These guys were practically tackling each other! They were grabbing and throwing and pushing each other, several instances in just the few seconds of the clips. And nobody was blowing any whistles.

What happened when I wasn't looking?
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3143 Hallowe'en goodies

Friday, October 29, 2010

"If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm."
-- Vince Lombardi --

----------------------------------------------------

A Mensa friend (the one I call The Hippie) was asked what non-gory horror movie scared him the most. He answered that "the only horror movie that's ever truly scared me was 'The Exorcist', which wasn't really gory--gruesome makeup and lots of vomit, but I've been to parties like that."

Cracked me up.

--------------------------------

I had asked for suggestions for non-sugar Halloween treats, and got several.

I really like the balloon one! A definite treat for little ones, and a bust for the too-old teens who shouldn't be out panhandling anyway. Love it. I could fill the porch roof with balloons, so it's festive, too. But right now I don't have the time to locate a helium tank, get it, fill balloons, tie on strings, etc., so I'll put that idea away for next year.

The little bags of pretzels and/or popcorn is nice. Parents would probably approve, too. By chance, I found cases of 24 bags of pretzels, popcorn, corn chips, and cheese puffs, at the A&P on special sale for only $3.xx each case. I bought three cases, so for less than $12 I've got 72 kids covered, and if nobody comes, I can eventually eat it myself - there's not much in a bag, perfect snack size. They'll keep....

Thanks for coming through, ladies.

--------------------------------

Daughter and I measured the new living room and figured out the wall area. I took the numbers to Home Depot, and the guy at the paint counter said two gallons would do it, two coats. So yesterday I painted the longest unbroken wall, one coat, and I've already used 1/4 of the paint. Either our numbers are wrong, or I'm putting it on too thick.

I haven't pained a wall in literally decades. Latex paint has changed since the last time I used it!

I remember when latex paint was new on the market. My parents first used it in the house in Ottawa, in about 1955. It was very weird. It was more like a gel than a liquid. When you tried to pour it out of the can, it wanted to all come out in one glop, like Silly Putty. You had to kind of cut off what you wanted. Spreading it with a roller was more like pushing it around on the wall and leaving a trail of paint. My father gave up and thinned it, and used a sprayer. We were digging paint out of our noses for days.

The stuff gradually got more liquid. The last time I painted a wall, about 1983, it was much easier to handle. Liquid. Nice. Thin, but easy to work with and covered well. I painted brilliant red and navy blue walls peach pink, and two coats covered it.

This stuff I used yesterday (Glidden) is very thick again. The roller was very heavy, even though I tried not to carry too much on the roller. And it dried MUCH too quickly. It was drying in the tray, and I was getting little glops of thickening paint on the roller that I had to flick off the wall with my fingernails.

I didn't get any bubbles in the paint or on the wall, but as it dried, it was like it contracted, leaving patches here and there where, if you looked very carefully, the original white base showed through, little pinpoint specks. But the coverage is good enough that I think a very thin second coat will do.

I'm tempted to thin it for the next wall, and see how that goes. Even if it just delays the drying a bit, that will help.

I also gave up on trying to find someone to mow the lawn. No Hairless Hunks there, I guess. So I bought a (mulching) lawn mower and did it myself. The grass was so long and so thick I had to use the highest setting, and move very slowly. I'll have to do it again in a few days, set lower. Luckily, it's a very small yard.

I'm hoping to take Jasper with me when I go to the new house tomorrow. If I can catch him. It's like he can read my mind. Disappears when he knows I want to put him in the carrier.
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3142 As the crow swims

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

A million seconds is 11 days
A billion seconds is 32 years.
A trillion seconds is 32,000 years.

A trillion is a big big number....

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I subscribe to several services that locate things near one, by zip code. Like Meetup.com (dinner groups, movie groups, groups for varied interests), local happenings, singles' groups, etc.

It worked fine in the mid-Hudson valley. I put in my zip, and asked for a radius of 25 miles, and found lots of interesting stuff to do. I could drive north, south, east, west, and have fun. Everything the zip code turned up was possible.

It wasn't noticeable in the valley, but apparently these services simply draw a circle 25 miles in radius around my house and give me everything there. And I could get to everything in reasonable time.

It's not working so well in the new house. I can see the lights of Brooklyn from my back windows about 15 miles away across the expanse of Raritan Bay and Lower Bay. Seeing is one thing. Getting there is another. It's about 45 miles driving, one to two hours depending on traffic, and over a bunch of bridges.

So when I put in my zip code now, and ask for people, groups, events within 25 miles, I have to scroll through pages and pages of things in Manhattan and Brooklyn before I find the few piddling things relatively local to me.

This crow don't fly, and especially not over water.

Social networking suddenly got harder.

--------------------------------

I got a call from the homeowner's insurance guy today, the one who found me the policy. The insurance company insists that this must be my primary home, not a vacation home. He said the adjuster had been out to look at the house, and they've decided it's not a primary home. I asked what brought the adjuster to that conclusion.

I don't believe it. The guy decided that I didn't intend to live there because I had no curtains on the living room windows.

Duh?
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3141 HOTW - Jay

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson --

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Honey of the Week (and the decade, and well, my life until I lost him) - my late husband Jay. We were still in honeymoon mode when he died.

I fell for him the first time I saw him. Photos don't convey his deep soft voice, or the graceful way he moved. At 6'3" and over 200 lbs. he was a big guy, but had been a competitive ballroom dancer before I met him.

1984, the year after I first met him:

1993, a year before we married, visiting my youngest sister in Florida:

1995. He loved beasties of all kinds, including his father's dog Pepper, here, who hated me and bit me several times:

1997, his last good year:
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3140 Trouble on the mountain

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Life is a slowly unfolding tragedy.

------------------------------------------------

The random green quote seems appropriate today. I was startled to find the linked news story (here) today about the effects of natural gas fracking in Towanda, Pa. (The article describes Towanda as in north west Pennsylvania. It's not. It's in north east Pa., about 25 miles north of where I went to high school.) Watch the video.

I know the area. I giggled at the statement about hotel rooms being full - yeah, there was, last time I checked, one small family motel and a few seasonal B&Bs. I had checked one time when I wanted to visit my mountain.

I know the people. It's always been rather economically depressed. The gas company's offers would be very attractive, especially in the current economic climate. The born-and-bred people there are very open and trusting. They'd tend to believe promises.

Well, perhaps three years ago I commented on how there was no cell phone service anywhere near my mountain. Last time I was up there, I noticed cell towers being build everywhere. I wondered why, because folks on the mountain (to the south of Towanda) would not be particularly anxious to get cell service. They wouldn't want their kids corrupted, and can't afford it anyway.

I guess now I know why. It's not for the people. It's for the gas companies. Nothing corporate is ever altruistic.
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3139 Whateverest?

Monday, October 25, 2010

Don’t believe everything you think.

-----------------------

Well, I feel better. I guess the "whatever" may have been just tired.

--------------------------------

The TV just mentioned that "world's longest cat" again (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/10/19/national/main6973903.shtml). I'm getting tired of hearing about Guinness World records in general.

He's not necessarily the longest cat! He's just a big one with an attention-seeking owner who decided to get him onto the list, and herself on TV! Don't pretend there are no longer ones out there. You didn't even look!

Many of the "records" are just plain stupid, like "most people bouncing balls at one time" kind of stuff. I think they need to just stop that crap. And it most certainly is not news!

If they want to keep track of records, it should be stuff that cannot easily be beat - like fastest runner in a timed race, or oldest person on a government census. Or if they're doing smallest horse or longest cat, they should at least make an effort to verify that it IS the whateverest in the world, not just the whateverest that bothered to send them a letter.

So, they should list Stewie as "the longest cat whose owner contacted us", not "the longest in the world".

Maybe I'm just a curmudgeon. I've always thought the same thing about the "World Series" - world? Who are you kidding? And Miss America/World/Universe pageants. Hey, she's not necessarily the most beautiful woman in the country/world/universe. She's simply the "best" (in your opinion) of those who are so vain as to enter pageants. I think there are many more naturally beautiful women (inside as well as out) that never considered walking on your runway.

Snarl. Spit.
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3138 Random thought

Monday, October 25, 2010

"[Abstract art is] a product of the untalented, sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered."
-- Al Capp --

-----------------------------------------------

Where did "hello" come from as a greeting?
Does it have anything to do with Hell being low?
Is it like giving people directions on where to go?
If so, is that a nice thing to say to someone?
Is "hi" as a greeting the opposite? Go high?

-------------------------------------

[Interesting discussion at http://www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/forhello.html. I found that after my musing.]
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3137 Crap. It's autumn.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

"Education... has produced a vast population able to read
but unable to distinguish what is worth reading."
-- G. M. Trevelyan --

-----------------------------------------

I have that heavy in the upper body weak in the thighs feeling that often means I'm fighting something off. I'd go to bed right now (7:35 pm), but The Amazing Race is on at 8 (or later due to football), and I want to watch that. It's times like this that I wish I had a TV in the bedroom (I do, but that one is analog only).

I left NJ last night without my cell phone. I called Daughter and asked her to check the new house for it. She found it on the outside porch railing. Eek. Maybe I was coming down with whatever last night.

This afternoon I went to Albany for lunch with Mensans. I may have passed whatever on to 14 other people.

-------------------------------

I am registered independent, and I always do split my vote. I don't think in 40 years I have ever voted a straight ticket. This year I think I will. One particular party has thoroughly pissed me off with their gloom, doom, lies, rewriting of history, and fear manipulation tactics, and I guess I have to send my small whispered message.

-------------------------------

Until about fifteen years ago I almost never exceeded the speed limit, and was mostly traveling with traffic on the highways. I've noticed the average speed on the NYS Thruwayhas been creeping up. When Jay and I were going to Albany for his treatments in the late '90s, 65-68 was the average speed. (You MUST move at the average speed, or you'll get run over, cut off, sworn at.)

When I started driving to NJ regularly to see Daughter in the early 2000s, and then more often to see The Man the past 4 years, it had been creeping up, and the past 2 years it seemed to have settled at 71-73. If you drove at 72, you passed very few cars, and very few cars passed you.

The past three weeks I've noticed a huge increase. The average speed now seems to be over 80 mph, with bursts of 85. The speed limit is still 65! Driving to Albany this afternoon, the entire mass of cars was moving at about 82. I stayed with traffic at that speed and didn't pass anyone. I tried to slow down, and had guys riding my bumper.

I really don't like it. Why are speeds going up? Where does it stop?

--------------------------------

Caught on NPR today: "...can be explained by three letters: QE2."

Um, that's two letters and a number, or four letters (Q E II), or five letters (Q E t w o).

--------------------------------

Ok, I've got a problem. In the old house, up a long driveway at the end of a dark dead end street, house not visible from the road, I haven't had trick-or-treaters in a dozen years. If it's still a custom in the new nighborhood, the new house is pretty much guaranteed to have many many. (I'll have to ask a neighbor for an estimate.)

I absolutely don't want to hand out pure sugar! What can I distribute that isn't sugar, isn't suspicious, isn't too expensive, and won't get my house egged?

I have NO ideas....
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3136 Getting Cleaner

Saturday, October 23, 2010

When you tell a child he or she can be anything,
they tend to hear it as they must be everything.

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My new washer and dryer have arrived. The washer is "High Efficiency" (HE). I didn't know that when I bought it. I chose this particular set soley because they were the only pair on which I could reach the top dials when they were stacked. Good- the washer uses less water and less electricity than the old styles. Bad - an ordinary load takes one hour! instead of the 20 minutes I'm used to. Yeouch! Same with the dryer. Almost an hour to dry an ordinary load.
Since I have no basement in the new house, the laundry area (and water heater, and storage) is tucked under the stairs. I stacked them to preserve as much storage space as possible.
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3135 A pleasant place

Friday, October 22, 2010

Happiness is not something you find. It’s something you make.

---------------------------------------------

Well, one thing that has surprised me about the new house and the area in general is how nice people are. It's definitely a blue collar enclave. The neighbors on either side have been pleasant and helpful. Today a woman walking her dog rang the bell to say hello, and to offer assistance finding whatever services I need, since she's lived in the area all her life. Turns out she lives five blocks away. I was amused because she had the dog leash in one hand, and a highball in the other, in a paper cup with a lid and a straw.

Even in all the stores, clerks and other customers have been nice.

I can't help but contrast that with my first few months in the current home, when I'd be standing in line at the dry cleaners, drug store, post office, and when it was my turn the clerks would look right over my head, address the person behind me by name, and that person would step around me and get waited on next. Like I didn't exist.

Today I unloaded the van, mailed a pair of shoes that I had to return because they were too small, bought some more groceries now that I have a refrigerator to put them in, mopped the downstairs floors, shopped online for fringe curtains for the arch between the living room and kitchen*, bought some, vacuumed a long oriental runner for the hall and a silk oriental for the living room, and laid them.

The vacuuming took a long time. Front and back, from several directions. A few years ago I imported some old used wool camel bags from Uzbekistan and Egypt, and something in that bunch was full of moths. I've had a terrible problem with moths ever since. I don't want to bring any into the new house, so I'm vacuuming anything that might carry moths, larvae, or eggs very carefully, and I'll vacuum them often for a while.

------------------------------------------

*The first time I saw the house, the interior walls were framed in, but there was no wiring, plumbing, or sheetrock, so one had to guess at what functions went where. The living room is in the south east (front) corner and the garage is in the north east (front) corner, with a door opening into the north west (back) corner room. So I assumed that room, with the door to the garage, was the kitchen, and that meant the south west corner, with an arch opening to the living room, would be the dining room.

Nope. The garage opens into the dining room, and the living room arch opens into the kitchen. When you sit in the living room, the refrigerator is practically at your elbow.

So I need to obscure that view.
.