I'm psychic! I got a note from the future co-mother-in-law to whom I had sent the silk veil. She has the hip scarf from Rakkasah, which is orange (I had forgotten what color it was), and she has purchased some other bits of practice costume, all in shades of brown and orange. The veil I selected to send to her is copper, orange, and yellow! I hope it will go beautifully with her other stuff, and will pick up the color of her hair. Wow. And to think I almost chose a red one.
I am so pleased!
The second dumpster has been picked up. I didn't think it would be as heavy as the first load, because this one has a lot less glossy paper and a lot more cardboard. But this load also came out to 1.5 tons (3,000 lbs). I forgot there was wood, metal, and huge old computer tape reels in this load, all of which is also heavy. That's 7,300 lbs of trash I've carried out, all by myself.
I am so proud!
I chatted quite a bit with the guy who came for the dumpster. His son, it turns out, is a roofer. So I'm getting another estimate on the roof on Saturday. He'll also give me an estimate for installing an exhaust fan in the attic, which will help the air conditioning situation enormously. Progress is being made, and I didn't even have to do anything for it.
I am so fortunate!
I found the mini-cycle that I had bought to exercise Jay that last year, when he was immobile. It's pedals on a small wheel, that you set up in front of a wheelchair or on a table to exercise legs or arms. It has a band that you tighten or loosen to adjust the tension. Jay was never really able to use it. I have set it up under the computer desk, and as I sit here, I'm pedaling like mad.
I am so virtuous!
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
#628 Feelin' Groovy
Missed yesterday's entry, because I was pretty busy.
I've got Piper and Roman together. Piper is a computer klutz, doesn't even know how to get to his email. Roman teaches computer stuff, and he's very good at it. So they had their first tutoring session yesterday afternoon, in Piper's office. I stopped in to see how they were getting along, and then left them to it.
Roman knows that Piper knows about my trials and tribulations with him, but he doesn't know how much Piper knows, or what he thinks about it. Piper knows that Roman knows that Piper knows. Roman knows that Piper is (or was) sort of interested in me. They have each assured me they won't say anything untoward. I can't stop giggling.
I had spent the morning doing some more basement stuff, stopped in to see how Piper and Roman were doing (and it was funny - while I was there, the phone rang, Piper answered it, and he said "She's standing here right now", and Roman and I looked at each other like "what? who? another one? who knows I'm here?" It was The Angel, Piper's cohort, who is doing my taxes. He's worried that I'll have sticker shock when he tells me how much estimated taxes I'll have to pay each quarter because of all the capital gains I'll have this year.)
After he had finished with Piper, Roman came here and admired the daffodils, and admired more how much progress I'd made in the basement, and when he saw the dirt that came out of the kitchen faucet, he changed the water filter for me! Wow! It wasn't easy. The threads were all coated with hard water salts, and it took some muscle to get it loose. Then we went out to dinner. (I did offer to cook, but he wanted to go out.) The first restaurant we went to was a bit of a drive, and was closed (the sign on the door indicated it should be open, but ...), so we ended up back in the village. The drive out and back was nice, because he had a comedy CD from our college years, and we laughed together a lot.
After we'd finished eating, we sat at the table for more than an hour just talking. It was really nice. We came back here for ice cream, talked some more, and he left a few minutes after 10. It's almost like we're starting over, and I like it. It's frustrating in a certain way, but without that certain thing, I don't feel used or taken advantage of, and I kind of like the feeling of being explored and courted. Like he has no other reason to spend time with me except - to spend time with me. That's not a bad thing.
(Of course, the devil in me is thinking that he doesn't need that certain thing from me, he's getting that elsewhere, and maybe what he's really doing is being faithful to her, and he's actually trying to let me down gently, and .... I've got to stop thinking like that! That way be dragons!)
(And yeah, I said I wasn't going to mention him any more, but it's just too large a part of my life to ignore or gloss over. The situation is where I am right now, and that's that.)
Today I kind of floated around. I selected a hand-painted silk veil from my stock to send to my soon-to-be co-mother-in-law, packed it up, and sent it to her in California by overnight mail. She had attended Rakkasah with me last fall, and got all excited about belly dance lessons. I gifted her with a hip scarf in exchange for a promise that she'd sign up for lessons when she got back to Ca. (and after Rakkasah had long worn off), and she did. She and a friend went to their first lesson last Monday evening, expecting to feel old and fat and clumsy, and it turns out that she absolutely loves it! (Heh heh. I knew she would. Apparently she lucked out and found an instructor who knows how to make it fun. It's all about how you feel moving, not what you look like. (Besides which, she's in terrific shape.))
The carting company called, and they sorta want their container back, so I spent the rest of the day throwing the last bits in. The final load was the dead humidifiers. They'll pick it all up tomorrow. There's at least one more container load to go, but that stuff is scattered all over the house, so ... maybe at the end of the summer, after I pull it all together.
And, I am now in email conversations with three online matches. Yes, I am worried that I may be toying with them. But I need something in reserve, in case, you know ... them dragons what might be there.
I've got Piper and Roman together. Piper is a computer klutz, doesn't even know how to get to his email. Roman teaches computer stuff, and he's very good at it. So they had their first tutoring session yesterday afternoon, in Piper's office. I stopped in to see how they were getting along, and then left them to it.
Roman knows that Piper knows about my trials and tribulations with him, but he doesn't know how much Piper knows, or what he thinks about it. Piper knows that Roman knows that Piper knows. Roman knows that Piper is (or was) sort of interested in me. They have each assured me they won't say anything untoward. I can't stop giggling.
I had spent the morning doing some more basement stuff, stopped in to see how Piper and Roman were doing (and it was funny - while I was there, the phone rang, Piper answered it, and he said "She's standing here right now", and Roman and I looked at each other like "what? who? another one? who knows I'm here?" It was The Angel, Piper's cohort, who is doing my taxes. He's worried that I'll have sticker shock when he tells me how much estimated taxes I'll have to pay each quarter because of all the capital gains I'll have this year.)
After he had finished with Piper, Roman came here and admired the daffodils, and admired more how much progress I'd made in the basement, and when he saw the dirt that came out of the kitchen faucet, he changed the water filter for me! Wow! It wasn't easy. The threads were all coated with hard water salts, and it took some muscle to get it loose. Then we went out to dinner. (I did offer to cook, but he wanted to go out.) The first restaurant we went to was a bit of a drive, and was closed (the sign on the door indicated it should be open, but ...), so we ended up back in the village. The drive out and back was nice, because he had a comedy CD from our college years, and we laughed together a lot.
After we'd finished eating, we sat at the table for more than an hour just talking. It was really nice. We came back here for ice cream, talked some more, and he left a few minutes after 10. It's almost like we're starting over, and I like it. It's frustrating in a certain way, but without that certain thing, I don't feel used or taken advantage of, and I kind of like the feeling of being explored and courted. Like he has no other reason to spend time with me except - to spend time with me. That's not a bad thing.
(Of course, the devil in me is thinking that he doesn't need that certain thing from me, he's getting that elsewhere, and maybe what he's really doing is being faithful to her, and he's actually trying to let me down gently, and .... I've got to stop thinking like that! That way be dragons!)
(And yeah, I said I wasn't going to mention him any more, but it's just too large a part of my life to ignore or gloss over. The situation is where I am right now, and that's that.)
Today I kind of floated around. I selected a hand-painted silk veil from my stock to send to my soon-to-be co-mother-in-law, packed it up, and sent it to her in California by overnight mail. She had attended Rakkasah with me last fall, and got all excited about belly dance lessons. I gifted her with a hip scarf in exchange for a promise that she'd sign up for lessons when she got back to Ca. (and after Rakkasah had long worn off), and she did. She and a friend went to their first lesson last Monday evening, expecting to feel old and fat and clumsy, and it turns out that she absolutely loves it! (Heh heh. I knew she would. Apparently she lucked out and found an instructor who knows how to make it fun. It's all about how you feel moving, not what you look like. (Besides which, she's in terrific shape.))
The carting company called, and they sorta want their container back, so I spent the rest of the day throwing the last bits in. The final load was the dead humidifiers. They'll pick it all up tomorrow. There's at least one more container load to go, but that stuff is scattered all over the house, so ... maybe at the end of the summer, after I pull it all together.
And, I am now in email conversations with three online matches. Yes, I am worried that I may be toying with them. But I need something in reserve, in case, you know ... them dragons what might be there.
Monday, April 03, 2006
#627 Running in Place
Another mostly wasted day, as far as the house is concerned, anyway.
Something went wrong with my Netscape this morning. I could get to websites, but I couldn't click on any links in pages and expect to go anywhere. Like, nothing happened. Which wouldn't have been so very bad, except that I had some bills and other stuff that HAD to be done online TODAY.
I shut Netscape down and tried to bring it back up, and it wouldn't start again at all. So I went to Explorer, and that worked, but then I discovered that with pure Explorer, I had no bookmarks, and no automatically filled in passwords. Ack! I'm supposed to know this stuff?
AOL was no help - no bookmarks (not the businessy ones), Internet through AOL is slow, and navigation is painful. (Note to self - when I finally get a working printer, print off the flippin' bookmarks list.)
So what with trying to figure out what went wrong, searching for updates, shutting down and restarting (believe it or not, IPLing this dog takes at least 12 minutes), digging up website names and passwords, it took me four hours to simply transfer money to pay the car insurance, and paying it.
That used up the morning.
Afternoon, I stopped by the spa to pay for this month, and get weighed and measured. Even though I hadn't been in there in more than two weeks because of the basement work and other scheduling problems, I have lost more weight and more inches. I can see it myself - the pants I'm wearing right now are sagging at the waist, and I have to roll them twice because they mysteriously got too long.
Then I took the flat tire to Mavis. They were willing to plug the hole (it was exactly on the line between tread and sidewall) but strongly recommended against it. Given that if it blew, it would happen suddenly, on the road, and I'd have to change it myself, probably at night, I waffled. (I need someone I can call when crap like that happens. Another reason to expand beyond elderly female friends and Roman. I can't get help from them.) I had bought the tires on sale, and had got like 30% off, so I asked if they'd sell me another tire at the same price as the original, and they said yes, so that's what I did.
** On the expanding contacts front, I forgot to mention what I did at the volunteer fair on Saturday. I signed up for RSVP (Retired Seniors Volunteer Program), where they farm folks out where needed, and a program where you advocate for children in family court cases (which really interests me, but it could be too consuming, we'll see), and Habitat for Humanity. **
By the time I'd made a couple more stops, it was after 5 pm. Blew the whole day again.
During the evening, Netscape mysteriously fixed itself. I'm beginning to think the problem was not with Netscape, but with the folks I dial into. The line had dropped before I left the house, and when I got home and dialed in again, and tried Netscape, everything was just hunky-dory.
I don't understand.
Something went wrong with my Netscape this morning. I could get to websites, but I couldn't click on any links in pages and expect to go anywhere. Like, nothing happened. Which wouldn't have been so very bad, except that I had some bills and other stuff that HAD to be done online TODAY.
I shut Netscape down and tried to bring it back up, and it wouldn't start again at all. So I went to Explorer, and that worked, but then I discovered that with pure Explorer, I had no bookmarks, and no automatically filled in passwords. Ack! I'm supposed to know this stuff?
AOL was no help - no bookmarks (not the businessy ones), Internet through AOL is slow, and navigation is painful. (Note to self - when I finally get a working printer, print off the flippin' bookmarks list.)
So what with trying to figure out what went wrong, searching for updates, shutting down and restarting (believe it or not, IPLing this dog takes at least 12 minutes), digging up website names and passwords, it took me four hours to simply transfer money to pay the car insurance, and paying it.
That used up the morning.
Afternoon, I stopped by the spa to pay for this month, and get weighed and measured. Even though I hadn't been in there in more than two weeks because of the basement work and other scheduling problems, I have lost more weight and more inches. I can see it myself - the pants I'm wearing right now are sagging at the waist, and I have to roll them twice because they mysteriously got too long.
Then I took the flat tire to Mavis. They were willing to plug the hole (it was exactly on the line between tread and sidewall) but strongly recommended against it. Given that if it blew, it would happen suddenly, on the road, and I'd have to change it myself, probably at night, I waffled. (I need someone I can call when crap like that happens. Another reason to expand beyond elderly female friends and Roman. I can't get help from them.) I had bought the tires on sale, and had got like 30% off, so I asked if they'd sell me another tire at the same price as the original, and they said yes, so that's what I did.
** On the expanding contacts front, I forgot to mention what I did at the volunteer fair on Saturday. I signed up for RSVP (Retired Seniors Volunteer Program), where they farm folks out where needed, and a program where you advocate for children in family court cases (which really interests me, but it could be too consuming, we'll see), and Habitat for Humanity. **
By the time I'd made a couple more stops, it was after 5 pm. Blew the whole day again.
During the evening, Netscape mysteriously fixed itself. I'm beginning to think the problem was not with Netscape, but with the folks I dial into. The line had dropped before I left the house, and when I got home and dialed in again, and tried Netscape, everything was just hunky-dory.
I don't understand.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
#626 Flat Tire, Flat Day, Flat Blah
Remember those new tires I bought three months minus two days ago? The ones where I didn't buy the extended warranty, because it cost as much as a new tire and I couldn't see that I'd really need it? Yeah, them?
Well, I got up and dressed and out the door this morning to meet the blind date for brunch (let's call him Dreyfuss, 'cause that's who he looks sorta like), and I didn't get out of the driveway. Flat tire. Yippee. I called his cell phone and left a message, then went to work on the tire. I got the spare out (a full-sized regular tire, thank goodness), got the van up on the jack, and then got stuck. I couldn't get the hub cover off. Not without hurting it real bad. I knew darn well I wouldn't be able to get the nuts off (why oh why do they put them on so tight?). And then on a hunch I checked the pressure in the spare - 15 psi. Should be 35. Razzelfrats! I gave up and called the Hairless Hunk.
He said he'd be over as soon as his wife got back from Poughkeepsie, about two hours. So I stayed by the phone in case he called. Six hours later.... The tire has a nice big nail in it, right in the side kind of between the tread and the sidewall, like where the tread is on its way to becoming sidewall. So the regular warranty won't apply. The Hunk says that Mavis isn't going to want to plug it because they'll say it's sidewall, but that I should argue with them and insist it's tread. If I win and they plug it, I should have them put that tire on the rear, and move the rear tire to the front (it's front-wheel drive).
My original plan for the day was to meet Dreyfuss in the morning, be home by early afternoon and work in the basement. I want to sweep and clean, and rearrange what's left down there so I can start moving storage containers down from upstairs. Rain is predicted for the next two days, and Roman is visiting Tuesday, and I wanted to be able to demonstrate SOME progress. So it looks like most of that got blown, too.
After The Hunk left, I called Dreyfuss. He never got the message I'd left on his phone. He said he had two messages, but mine wasn't one of them. So he thought he got stood up. Sheesh. I don't know whether he believes me about the tire or not. Three non-Roman dates in the past two months, and I've managed to piss all of them off, and all of it because of outside influences. Is Fate trying to tell me something? So, anyway, we've rescheduled for next Sunday.
To tell the truth, I don't really want to meet this guy, but I feel like I have to. I need to spread out and check out all the available local manpower. Otherwise I'm putting all my energy on Roman, and then when he doesn't call for a week, or has no time for me for two weeks, that makes me sad. And mad, because I feel like I'm wasting time. There isn't all that much time left. Women lose value fast. I do understand his class schedule makes things difficult. He wants me to wait, but mostly I don't feel like he's trying very hard. Maybe he is, but I'm not seeing it.
I need to feel like I'm trying, at least. Like I'm taking care of myself and my future, and not just wasting time. But it's probably an empty exercise, because I know who I want. At the same time, I need some appreciation. I want someone to flatter and pursue me. I need some validation. On the other hand, I am very much afraid that one of these new guys is going to develop a crush on me and I won't be able to get rid of him, and he will accuse me of toying with his affections, and that will hurt me, because ---- he'd be right. Maybe I'm not ready for this yet. I don't know.
Off to the basement. At least it's been warm lately. The daffodils have started blooming, and the underbrush in the woods is sprouting leaves. A pair of finches have taken over the porch light, and they seem very happy and excited. They sing and chirp to each other constantly, and they're never more than three feet apart. Spring love.
Sigh.
Well, I got up and dressed and out the door this morning to meet the blind date for brunch (let's call him Dreyfuss, 'cause that's who he looks sorta like), and I didn't get out of the driveway. Flat tire. Yippee. I called his cell phone and left a message, then went to work on the tire. I got the spare out (a full-sized regular tire, thank goodness), got the van up on the jack, and then got stuck. I couldn't get the hub cover off. Not without hurting it real bad. I knew darn well I wouldn't be able to get the nuts off (why oh why do they put them on so tight?). And then on a hunch I checked the pressure in the spare - 15 psi. Should be 35. Razzelfrats! I gave up and called the Hairless Hunk.
He said he'd be over as soon as his wife got back from Poughkeepsie, about two hours. So I stayed by the phone in case he called. Six hours later.... The tire has a nice big nail in it, right in the side kind of between the tread and the sidewall, like where the tread is on its way to becoming sidewall. So the regular warranty won't apply. The Hunk says that Mavis isn't going to want to plug it because they'll say it's sidewall, but that I should argue with them and insist it's tread. If I win and they plug it, I should have them put that tire on the rear, and move the rear tire to the front (it's front-wheel drive).
My original plan for the day was to meet Dreyfuss in the morning, be home by early afternoon and work in the basement. I want to sweep and clean, and rearrange what's left down there so I can start moving storage containers down from upstairs. Rain is predicted for the next two days, and Roman is visiting Tuesday, and I wanted to be able to demonstrate SOME progress. So it looks like most of that got blown, too.
After The Hunk left, I called Dreyfuss. He never got the message I'd left on his phone. He said he had two messages, but mine wasn't one of them. So he thought he got stood up. Sheesh. I don't know whether he believes me about the tire or not. Three non-Roman dates in the past two months, and I've managed to piss all of them off, and all of it because of outside influences. Is Fate trying to tell me something? So, anyway, we've rescheduled for next Sunday.
To tell the truth, I don't really want to meet this guy, but I feel like I have to. I need to spread out and check out all the available local manpower. Otherwise I'm putting all my energy on Roman, and then when he doesn't call for a week, or has no time for me for two weeks, that makes me sad. And mad, because I feel like I'm wasting time. There isn't all that much time left. Women lose value fast. I do understand his class schedule makes things difficult. He wants me to wait, but mostly I don't feel like he's trying very hard. Maybe he is, but I'm not seeing it.
I need to feel like I'm trying, at least. Like I'm taking care of myself and my future, and not just wasting time. But it's probably an empty exercise, because I know who I want. At the same time, I need some appreciation. I want someone to flatter and pursue me. I need some validation. On the other hand, I am very much afraid that one of these new guys is going to develop a crush on me and I won't be able to get rid of him, and he will accuse me of toying with his affections, and that will hurt me, because ---- he'd be right. Maybe I'm not ready for this yet. I don't know.
Off to the basement. At least it's been warm lately. The daffodils have started blooming, and the underbrush in the woods is sprouting leaves. A pair of finches have taken over the porch light, and they seem very happy and excited. They sing and chirp to each other constantly, and they're never more than three feet apart. Spring love.
Sigh.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
#625 Mud
I worked like a dog yesterday afternoon and last night after dark getting the last few heavy things out of the basement. Rain was predicted for today, and when the hill is wet, I can't get the handtruck or the cart up the hill, because my feet keep slipping in the mud. Week before last I went to my knees several times.
The container is now almost full. Just enough room left for the dead humidifiers, and a few handfuls of trash.
There's some kind of volunteer fair going on at the mall today, so I want to visit that. Tomorrow I am having brunch with a new friend, at his daughter's deli. Should be interesting. I hope it at least makes up for the other blind date I blew off for tomorrow. He got very indignant when I wouldn't/couldn't tell him why I wouldn't/couldn't go where he wanted to go. I probably won't hear from him again, but that's probably for the best.
Sigh.
The container is now almost full. Just enough room left for the dead humidifiers, and a few handfuls of trash.
There's some kind of volunteer fair going on at the mall today, so I want to visit that. Tomorrow I am having brunch with a new friend, at his daughter's deli. Should be interesting. I hope it at least makes up for the other blind date I blew off for tomorrow. He got very indignant when I wouldn't/couldn't tell him why I wouldn't/couldn't go where he wanted to go. I probably won't hear from him again, but that's probably for the best.
Sigh.
Friday, March 31, 2006
#624 Quick Friday
Had lunch with Piper today. Good conversation. Too bad there's no chemistry. Sigh.
I forgot to mention something from yesterday. I had not planned to open any of the eight huge boxes Jay had dragged home from the office when he left The Company. I had planned to simply load them onto the hand truck and take them out. But they were stacked four-high, and they were so heavy I couldn't even shift them on the stack to knock them to the floor where I could get the truck under them. So I ended up opening them and transferring handfuls of manuals to another smaller box roped to the hand truck.
I'm glad I did.
When Jay and I were "courting", I used to slip funny or romantic cards or notes under his office door when he wasn't in. After we were married, I'd slip cards or notes into his pockets, or briefcase, or into stacks of papers he was going to take to the office, so he'd find them by accident at some random moment.
In one of the office boxes, I found all those cards and notes.
I forgot to mention something from yesterday. I had not planned to open any of the eight huge boxes Jay had dragged home from the office when he left The Company. I had planned to simply load them onto the hand truck and take them out. But they were stacked four-high, and they were so heavy I couldn't even shift them on the stack to knock them to the floor where I could get the truck under them. So I ended up opening them and transferring handfuls of manuals to another smaller box roped to the hand truck.
I'm glad I did.
When Jay and I were "courting", I used to slip funny or romantic cards or notes under his office door when he wasn't in. After we were married, I'd slip cards or notes into his pockets, or briefcase, or into stacks of papers he was going to take to the office, so he'd find them by accident at some random moment.
In one of the office boxes, I found all those cards and notes.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
#623 Um, Well, Thursday
More time in the basement today. My back wasn't too happy about yesterday, so I took it kind of easy. The hauling company hasn't called yet asking when they can get their container back, so I didn't call them, either. There's lots more stuff to go in, and if I can keep it over the weekend, I want to.
I went through three moving company wardrobe boxes today, and have bundled more than 50 shirts in perfect condition (dress, casual, western, cotton flannel, wool flannel, and a few pullovers) for donation. Also three sportscoats (one 100% silk) with the tags still on them, and one suit. There's also a beautiful imported Harris tweed sportscoat which I have set aside. I'd rather give that one to someone I know. I'm not sure of the size, I suspect it was custom made on one of Jay's trips to Britain, so there wouldn't be a size tag, but I'm sure whatever size it is, it's a "tall". I don't know any especially tall men right now.
I don't know why after moving from Texas to New York Jay never unpacked those boxes. The shirts are all 16 1/2 to 17, which is the size he wore when I knew him. More oddly, in all the boxes of clothes down there, there are no pants, except those with suits. Odd because the pants were what he is most likely to have outgrown. He was skinny in Texas. He grew a little potbelly in New York. Very strange.
I have to get something to eat now. All I ate yesterday was a granola bar, and some carrot sticks. When I'm working, I don't feel hunger. Nothing at all yet today, and now that I've stopped working, I'm suddenly starving. I've got those "bagged" meals in the freezer. I think I might cook up a whole bag, and eat until I'm full.
I went through three moving company wardrobe boxes today, and have bundled more than 50 shirts in perfect condition (dress, casual, western, cotton flannel, wool flannel, and a few pullovers) for donation. Also three sportscoats (one 100% silk) with the tags still on them, and one suit. There's also a beautiful imported Harris tweed sportscoat which I have set aside. I'd rather give that one to someone I know. I'm not sure of the size, I suspect it was custom made on one of Jay's trips to Britain, so there wouldn't be a size tag, but I'm sure whatever size it is, it's a "tall". I don't know any especially tall men right now.
I don't know why after moving from Texas to New York Jay never unpacked those boxes. The shirts are all 16 1/2 to 17, which is the size he wore when I knew him. More oddly, in all the boxes of clothes down there, there are no pants, except those with suits. Odd because the pants were what he is most likely to have outgrown. He was skinny in Texas. He grew a little potbelly in New York. Very strange.
I have to get something to eat now. All I ate yesterday was a granola bar, and some carrot sticks. When I'm working, I don't feel hunger. Nothing at all yet today, and now that I've stopped working, I'm suddenly starving. I've got those "bagged" meals in the freezer. I think I might cook up a whole bag, and eat until I'm full.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
#622 Basement Progress
Six hours in the basement this afternoon. I cut up five mattress boxes, moved out a huge recliner and a small sofa bed, a 70s-era "bar", a huge Mylar and wood box kite, the remainder of the 9-foot Christmas tree, a twin mattress, and seven more large boxes of computer manuals (mostly AIX), among other things. Today was definitely a hand-truck day.
I was surprised to find, in one of the boxes Jay had brought home from his office, twenty-five large reels of computer tape - you know how they used to indicate computers in old movies by showing the refrigerator-sized tape drives? Yeah, those tapes. Some were so old they were in the old "piekeeper" covers. There were also a gazillion mini-reels. And what must be one of the earliest floppy disks. It's about 9 inches square.
Nostalgia.
I'm going to keep the floppy and one of the oldest tape reels.
I was surprised to find, in one of the boxes Jay had brought home from his office, twenty-five large reels of computer tape - you know how they used to indicate computers in old movies by showing the refrigerator-sized tape drives? Yeah, those tapes. Some were so old they were in the old "piekeeper" covers. There were also a gazillion mini-reels. And what must be one of the earliest floppy disks. It's about 9 inches square.
Nostalgia.
I'm going to keep the floppy and one of the oldest tape reels.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
#620 Tax Time
Late entry today - sorry, Daughter.
I spent the entire morning and afternoon pulling documents together for The Angel to do my taxes. First I couldn't find the 2004 taxes, finally found them filed in the wrong folder. Then I discovered to my horror that three 2005 1099-DIVs and one 1099-INT were missing. I had to go online to the company websites, get into my accounts (not easy), and reconstruct the dividend payments. Then I paper clipped everything together in batches, with covers describing and totaling each batch. Putting together the receipts for the 2005 estimated tax payments, I discovered that the amount that New York State has reported to the IRS as my 2004 state tax refund does not match the amount of refund on the filed form. I have no idea why it's different.
Something else very strange happened.
There was a huge stack of paper on the desk, and I pulled the desk chair out, turned it slightly, sat in it, and sorted the papers into five stacks on the floor: 1) bills to pay, 2) tax stuff, 3) investment stuff, 4) to be filed, and 5) trash. Along the way I found a letter saying that AT&T had purchased SBC, and that my SBC stock certificates did not have to be turned in, they were now effectively AT&T stock. I thought "Oh, I should note this in the online portfolio, next time I edit it", and I put the letter into one of the stacks - either the "to file" one, or more likely the investment one so I'd be sure to see it later, or maybe the "bills to pay" stack, since it was a "to do" item. I don't remember. Note that from the time I picked up the paper until I put it on a pile, I did not leave the chair.
An hour later, when I was trying to rebuild the 1099-DIVs, I figured then was a good time to update the portfolio listing to reflect the AT&T/SBC buyout.
Do you think I could find that letter? I went through every one of those five piles, each piece of paper individually, and that letter simply isn't there! Anywhere! It has disappeared. I wonder if maybe I somehow stapled it into one of those batches I subsequently delivered to The Angel.
I went to a Mensa dinner at a Thai restaurant in Beacon this evening. I like Thai food, but I think I need help ordering. I should have just got the Pad Thai, it looked really good, but I got fancy and ordered the Twice-Cooked Beef (a "special"), and it was like a whole pile of bits of salty beef jerky. Next time, I'll have to remind myself it's the veggies and the sauces I like, so I should stick to things with lots of that, and forget the meats.
Tired. Goodnight.
I spent the entire morning and afternoon pulling documents together for The Angel to do my taxes. First I couldn't find the 2004 taxes, finally found them filed in the wrong folder. Then I discovered to my horror that three 2005 1099-DIVs and one 1099-INT were missing. I had to go online to the company websites, get into my accounts (not easy), and reconstruct the dividend payments. Then I paper clipped everything together in batches, with covers describing and totaling each batch. Putting together the receipts for the 2005 estimated tax payments, I discovered that the amount that New York State has reported to the IRS as my 2004 state tax refund does not match the amount of refund on the filed form. I have no idea why it's different.
Something else very strange happened.
There was a huge stack of paper on the desk, and I pulled the desk chair out, turned it slightly, sat in it, and sorted the papers into five stacks on the floor: 1) bills to pay, 2) tax stuff, 3) investment stuff, 4) to be filed, and 5) trash. Along the way I found a letter saying that AT&T had purchased SBC, and that my SBC stock certificates did not have to be turned in, they were now effectively AT&T stock. I thought "Oh, I should note this in the online portfolio, next time I edit it", and I put the letter into one of the stacks - either the "to file" one, or more likely the investment one so I'd be sure to see it later, or maybe the "bills to pay" stack, since it was a "to do" item. I don't remember. Note that from the time I picked up the paper until I put it on a pile, I did not leave the chair.
An hour later, when I was trying to rebuild the 1099-DIVs, I figured then was a good time to update the portfolio listing to reflect the AT&T/SBC buyout.
Do you think I could find that letter? I went through every one of those five piles, each piece of paper individually, and that letter simply isn't there! Anywhere! It has disappeared. I wonder if maybe I somehow stapled it into one of those batches I subsequently delivered to The Angel.
I went to a Mensa dinner at a Thai restaurant in Beacon this evening. I like Thai food, but I think I need help ordering. I should have just got the Pad Thai, it looked really good, but I got fancy and ordered the Twice-Cooked Beef (a "special"), and it was like a whole pile of bits of salty beef jerky. Next time, I'll have to remind myself it's the veggies and the sauces I like, so I should stick to things with lots of that, and forget the meats.
Tired. Goodnight.
Monday, March 27, 2006
#619 I Need a hurricane
03/27/06
I got a shock today.
I had plans to do a lot of stuff on the house this year and next. I absolutely must replace the roof shingles, because they're curled and lifting, and there are leaks in three places. I want to resurface the driveway, because it's cracking, and sinking in several spots. I need to replace the deck - it's over 20 years old, made of treated lumber, and was never sealed, so at this point it's almost dangerous. I want to have the siding washed. It's dirty and moldy where vines had grown up it. And then sometime soon, a year or two or three, I want to have half the basement finished, with a lounge with wood stove, another bedroom, a sewing room, and a spectacular bathroom with a whirlpool.
The roof is the first priority. I don't know where I got the idea, but I thought it would cost maybe up to $5,000 at the very most, likely less. I've got that much saved up to do it. What's up there now is architectural shingles, very thick and made to look like cedar shingles. And they're lifting, curling, and buckling. Unfortunately, they are too thick to shingle over, and have to be removed before the new layer goes up. I asked for an estimate to replace them with the same type.
The Hunk says I have a big roof. It comes to "40 squares" (a square being 10x10 sections (feet?))
Materials cost will be $4,300, for 30-year architectural shingles and weatherproof underlining around the edges.
Labor will be $12,000.
Let me repeat that -- $12,000 labor.
(However, he also said something about $150 per square, which comes to $6,000, not $12,000. Did I misunderstand? Or is it $6,000 to remove and $6,000 to apply?)
Assuming no misunderstanding, that's, um, $16,300 total.
Actually higher, because I need something called a "cricket" built on the upside of the chimney to prevent future leak problems. He didn't figure that in.
Ack!
I got a shock today.
I had plans to do a lot of stuff on the house this year and next. I absolutely must replace the roof shingles, because they're curled and lifting, and there are leaks in three places. I want to resurface the driveway, because it's cracking, and sinking in several spots. I need to replace the deck - it's over 20 years old, made of treated lumber, and was never sealed, so at this point it's almost dangerous. I want to have the siding washed. It's dirty and moldy where vines had grown up it. And then sometime soon, a year or two or three, I want to have half the basement finished, with a lounge with wood stove, another bedroom, a sewing room, and a spectacular bathroom with a whirlpool.
The roof is the first priority. I don't know where I got the idea, but I thought it would cost maybe up to $5,000 at the very most, likely less. I've got that much saved up to do it. What's up there now is architectural shingles, very thick and made to look like cedar shingles. And they're lifting, curling, and buckling. Unfortunately, they are too thick to shingle over, and have to be removed before the new layer goes up. I asked for an estimate to replace them with the same type.
The Hunk says I have a big roof. It comes to "40 squares" (a square being 10x10 sections (feet?))
Materials cost will be $4,300, for 30-year architectural shingles and weatherproof underlining around the edges.
Labor will be $12,000.
Let me repeat that -- $12,000 labor.
(However, he also said something about $150 per square, which comes to $6,000, not $12,000. Did I misunderstand? Or is it $6,000 to remove and $6,000 to apply?)
Assuming no misunderstanding, that's, um, $16,300 total.
Actually higher, because I need something called a "cricket" built on the upside of the chimney to prevent future leak problems. He didn't figure that in.
Ack!
Sunday, March 26, 2006
#618 Going Postal
Surprise. According to today's Kingston Freeman newspaper, "Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" is NOT the motto of the US Postal Service. The US Postal Service, in fact, has no official motto. Turns out the words were written by the Greek historian Herodotus, describing the couriers who carried military orders during the war between Greece and Persia. Apparently it was the independent decision of the architect to add it to the (1913) facade of the James Farley Central Post Office on Eighth Avenue in Manhattan. Just decoration.
This little gem was in an article about how the local PO in Kingston is requiring that city addresses must begin using curbside mailboxes, just like us country folks, so that the mail carriers can shorten their routes by not having to walk up to every door, and can deliver the mail faster. Money-saving measure. No mention was made of delivering by vehicle.
I'm confused. The photographs accompanying the article show the (standard rural) mailboxes right up against the curb, facing the street. Now, if the carriers are still delivering on foot, wouldn't it make sense for the mailboxes to be at the edge of the lawns, facing the sidewalk, or between the sidewalk and the curb, facing in? If the carriers are delivering by vehicle, uh, does this mean no one can park on the street any more? Out here in the countryside, there's plenty of room between mailboxes, and nobody much parks on the roads anyway. But in the city, almost everybody parks on the street, and there's very little space between the mailboxes. The article didn't explain it.
Won't this enormously increase vandalism and mail theft temptation?
I don't understand.
This little gem was in an article about how the local PO in Kingston is requiring that city addresses must begin using curbside mailboxes, just like us country folks, so that the mail carriers can shorten their routes by not having to walk up to every door, and can deliver the mail faster. Money-saving measure. No mention was made of delivering by vehicle.
I'm confused. The photographs accompanying the article show the (standard rural) mailboxes right up against the curb, facing the street. Now, if the carriers are still delivering on foot, wouldn't it make sense for the mailboxes to be at the edge of the lawns, facing the sidewalk, or between the sidewalk and the curb, facing in? If the carriers are delivering by vehicle, uh, does this mean no one can park on the street any more? Out here in the countryside, there's plenty of room between mailboxes, and nobody much parks on the roads anyway. But in the city, almost everybody parks on the street, and there's very little space between the mailboxes. The article didn't explain it.
Won't this enormously increase vandalism and mail theft temptation?
I don't understand.
#617 Hibernian High
I spent much of today at the Lions Club Expo at the Hudson Valley Mall. All I bought was some socks at PayLess, but I had a good time visiting all the booths. Some were commercial, some were charities, some were government services, and a few were political.
I looked at a tiny RV, and I want one! Even for just weekend jaunts it would be so handy. I also picked up cards for a dog training club, driveway repair, stonework, sunrooms, and antique furniture restoration, and some information from the group fighting the plans to build thousands of condominiums on the Hudson just north of East Kingston. That really bothers me, too, for a lot of reasons. I ate late lunch / early supper at the Coyote Grill.
But mainly I went to see the Ancient Order of Hibernians Pipe & Drum Band. They performed on stage in the food court at 3:30, but then they marched throughout the mall, stopping and forming a circle at every open space to play some more. I LOVE bagpipes. I've loved them forever. Must be something in the genes. This group used to practice on Sundays in a garage someplace in Ulster, across the river and at least 13 "crow" miles from here, and because of the arrangement of the mountains, I could hear them clearly in my house. I used to sit on the deck to listen to them. That was back in the late 90s. They practice somewhere else now. I've missed them.
There were 10 today - 7 pipers and three drummers, seven women and three men. Two of the three drummers were women, and they were really good, they did the twirling and flourishing and spinning of the sticks (are they still called drumsticks when they have big fuzzy ends?).
Daughter, something I would really like - when my ashes are scattered, it would be nice to have one piper uphill, and one downhill, doing that haunting thing where they play back and forth. Of course I might not hear it, but it would still be nice. I'm sure there are some pipers in Scranton or Wilkes Barre. I'll bet any police or fire department will know of some. And don't ask permission of the park. Just do it. Give the other hikers a thrill.
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Dirty Dave is putting all of his old photos on disk, and he just a few minutes ago sent me some he'd found of me. The following are probably from the mid-to-late 80's, a Mensa outing. ( Could I have found a less attractive outfit? Maybe a sack tied in the middle?) I'd almost forgotten how thick my hair used to be. But I do remember that I'm no better with a boomerang than with a Frisbee. Duck!
I looked at a tiny RV, and I want one! Even for just weekend jaunts it would be so handy. I also picked up cards for a dog training club, driveway repair, stonework, sunrooms, and antique furniture restoration, and some information from the group fighting the plans to build thousands of condominiums on the Hudson just north of East Kingston. That really bothers me, too, for a lot of reasons. I ate late lunch / early supper at the Coyote Grill.
But mainly I went to see the Ancient Order of Hibernians Pipe & Drum Band. They performed on stage in the food court at 3:30, but then they marched throughout the mall, stopping and forming a circle at every open space to play some more. I LOVE bagpipes. I've loved them forever. Must be something in the genes. This group used to practice on Sundays in a garage someplace in Ulster, across the river and at least 13 "crow" miles from here, and because of the arrangement of the mountains, I could hear them clearly in my house. I used to sit on the deck to listen to them. That was back in the late 90s. They practice somewhere else now. I've missed them.
There were 10 today - 7 pipers and three drummers, seven women and three men. Two of the three drummers were women, and they were really good, they did the twirling and flourishing and spinning of the sticks (are they still called drumsticks when they have big fuzzy ends?).
Daughter, something I would really like - when my ashes are scattered, it would be nice to have one piper uphill, and one downhill, doing that haunting thing where they play back and forth. Of course I might not hear it, but it would still be nice. I'm sure there are some pipers in Scranton or Wilkes Barre. I'll bet any police or fire department will know of some. And don't ask permission of the park. Just do it. Give the other hikers a thrill.
-----------------------------------
Dirty Dave is putting all of his old photos on disk, and he just a few minutes ago sent me some he'd found of me. The following are probably from the mid-to-late 80's, a Mensa outing. ( Could I have found a less attractive outfit? Maybe a sack tied in the middle?) I'd almost forgotten how thick my hair used to be. But I do remember that I'm no better with a boomerang than with a Frisbee. Duck!
Saturday, March 25, 2006
#616 Questions 23 to 26
03/25/06
Continuing with questions from The Book of Questions, by Gregory Stock, Ph.D., Workman Publishing Company, Inc., $6.95. (If you like the idea, you should buy the book. Get yourself all the questions at once.)
23. While on a trip to another city, your spouse (or lover) meets and spends a night with an exciting stranger. Given that they will never meet again, and that you will not otherwise learn of the incident, would you want your partner to tell you about it? If roles were reversed, would you reveal what you had done?
I hate this question. I wish things were always so minor. Go away.
24. Are there people you envy enough to want to trade places with them? Who are they?
Well, I envy rich folks with all kinds of household help and the way always smoothed for them. And folks with lots of friends and involvements. And folks with large close happy families. But I'm not sure I'd want to trade places with them, because all that nice stuff comes with responsibilities and requirements and compromises that I'm not sure I want, not sure I could handle. I feel like all that nice stuff requires that I give up some of myself, and I am very self-protective. I guess it's because the way my life has gone thus far, the tradeoffs haven't seemed worth it. Disfunctional family, bad choices in friends, whatever. All I want is love and peace and quiet.
25. For an all-expense-paid, one-week vacation anywhere in the world, would you be willing to kill a beautiful butterfly by pulling off its wings? What about stepping on a cockroach?
Why the implied difference? Is a butterfly more valuable than a cockroach? Is beauty valid criteria? If so, should we apply that criteria to people, too? Is pulling off wings worse than stepping on? (Well, maybe. I'll give you that one. Torture, and all.) What's really weird is that if the cockroach were running across my kitchen floor I wouldn't hesitate to stomp on it, for free. But if someone put a captive roach in front of me and said stomp on this and get money, then I'd hesitate. Like the first cockroach is "guilty", and the second is "innocent". Weird, huh? But, in the end, I'd probably do both. To poor innocent insects. And I'd hate myself, and spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to bugs. Well, a while, anyway.
26. Would you be able to murder an innocent person if it would end hunger in the world?
Ho. So if I'd kill a bug for a vacation, would I kill a person for the world? First I'd have to decide whether ending hunger in the world is such a good idea. That's an even bigger question, a tougher question, than the one posed. Starvation is a natural population control. Even if you could redistribute populations by moving folks from overcrowded areas to wilderness areas, with adequate food supplies after a while the wilderness areas would start getting overcrowded. There would then have to be an increase in war or disease, otherwise the Earth itself dies. The alternate way to really end hunger in the world would be to kill all the excess people who live in areas that can't support them. So the way I see it, killing one person to end hunger would have to eventually result in the deaths of many more people, most of whom didn't contribute to the problem - "innocents", too. And probably even more of them than now die of starvation. Nah. I'd pass. But not for the reason you expected.
Continuing with questions from The Book of Questions, by Gregory Stock, Ph.D., Workman Publishing Company, Inc., $6.95. (If you like the idea, you should buy the book. Get yourself all the questions at once.)
23. While on a trip to another city, your spouse (or lover) meets and spends a night with an exciting stranger. Given that they will never meet again, and that you will not otherwise learn of the incident, would you want your partner to tell you about it? If roles were reversed, would you reveal what you had done?
I hate this question. I wish things were always so minor. Go away.
24. Are there people you envy enough to want to trade places with them? Who are they?
Well, I envy rich folks with all kinds of household help and the way always smoothed for them. And folks with lots of friends and involvements. And folks with large close happy families. But I'm not sure I'd want to trade places with them, because all that nice stuff comes with responsibilities and requirements and compromises that I'm not sure I want, not sure I could handle. I feel like all that nice stuff requires that I give up some of myself, and I am very self-protective. I guess it's because the way my life has gone thus far, the tradeoffs haven't seemed worth it. Disfunctional family, bad choices in friends, whatever. All I want is love and peace and quiet.
25. For an all-expense-paid, one-week vacation anywhere in the world, would you be willing to kill a beautiful butterfly by pulling off its wings? What about stepping on a cockroach?
Why the implied difference? Is a butterfly more valuable than a cockroach? Is beauty valid criteria? If so, should we apply that criteria to people, too? Is pulling off wings worse than stepping on? (Well, maybe. I'll give you that one. Torture, and all.) What's really weird is that if the cockroach were running across my kitchen floor I wouldn't hesitate to stomp on it, for free. But if someone put a captive roach in front of me and said stomp on this and get money, then I'd hesitate. Like the first cockroach is "guilty", and the second is "innocent". Weird, huh? But, in the end, I'd probably do both. To poor innocent insects. And I'd hate myself, and spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to bugs. Well, a while, anyway.
26. Would you be able to murder an innocent person if it would end hunger in the world?
Ho. So if I'd kill a bug for a vacation, would I kill a person for the world? First I'd have to decide whether ending hunger in the world is such a good idea. That's an even bigger question, a tougher question, than the one posed. Starvation is a natural population control. Even if you could redistribute populations by moving folks from overcrowded areas to wilderness areas, with adequate food supplies after a while the wilderness areas would start getting overcrowded. There would then have to be an increase in war or disease, otherwise the Earth itself dies. The alternate way to really end hunger in the world would be to kill all the excess people who live in areas that can't support them. So the way I see it, killing one person to end hunger would have to eventually result in the deaths of many more people, most of whom didn't contribute to the problem - "innocents", too. And probably even more of them than now die of starvation. Nah. I'd pass. But not for the reason you expected.
#615 Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth
03/25/06
Francois de La Rochefoucauld: "He who lives without folly isn't so wise as he thinks."
I got up and washed and dressed, and was already to go to the multicultural festival in Pine Hill, when something told me I should check the map. Yup. I got Pine Hill confused with Pine Plains. Pine Plains is reasonable. Pine Hill is not. So, no go.
Instead, I decided it was finally time to get rid of all the sharps left from when I was giving Jay Neupogen and anti-clotting stuff. (And I was good at it - the nurses always left bruises on his belly when they did it, and I rarely did. In fact, in the rehab centers, they actually allowed me to do it, very much against the rules.) So I went to the local hospital supply pharmacy and bought a special bio-hazard disposal container, transferred the syringes from the puncture-proof container I had been using to it, and then went looking for someplace that would take them. The nursing homes and hospitals have special days and times for dropoff, but rather than go home and call around, I just headed for the nearest hospital. The woman at the information desk called security, and an old man with a badge took them, right then and there, no questions asked.
That "no questions asked" sounds good, but since they ask no questions, they seem to assume the worst, like I'm an addict or something. I wonder if people who take insulin get treated so curtly.
I was invited to a "literary afternoon" next weekend - lunch, followed by a "reading", then a used-bookstore crawl. I had accepted, but this morning I found out where it was and I had to back out. One of the readers is someone I can't be around right now. I can't explain further, but since this functions as a diary for me, I wanted to memorialize the day I made this decision. Someday I may regret it. I'm already feeling torn about it. Going to it, even with a date, would certainly take an axe to my biggest problem these days, and I'm not quite ready for that yet. But maybe I should. I hate this.
This is also the second "blind date" attempt I've broken with this guy. I have a feeling I won't get another chance.
Back to the basement. I've got another container to fill.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld: "He who lives without folly isn't so wise as he thinks."
I got up and washed and dressed, and was already to go to the multicultural festival in Pine Hill, when something told me I should check the map. Yup. I got Pine Hill confused with Pine Plains. Pine Plains is reasonable. Pine Hill is not. So, no go.
Instead, I decided it was finally time to get rid of all the sharps left from when I was giving Jay Neupogen and anti-clotting stuff. (And I was good at it - the nurses always left bruises on his belly when they did it, and I rarely did. In fact, in the rehab centers, they actually allowed me to do it, very much against the rules.) So I went to the local hospital supply pharmacy and bought a special bio-hazard disposal container, transferred the syringes from the puncture-proof container I had been using to it, and then went looking for someplace that would take them. The nursing homes and hospitals have special days and times for dropoff, but rather than go home and call around, I just headed for the nearest hospital. The woman at the information desk called security, and an old man with a badge took them, right then and there, no questions asked.
That "no questions asked" sounds good, but since they ask no questions, they seem to assume the worst, like I'm an addict or something. I wonder if people who take insulin get treated so curtly.
I was invited to a "literary afternoon" next weekend - lunch, followed by a "reading", then a used-bookstore crawl. I had accepted, but this morning I found out where it was and I had to back out. One of the readers is someone I can't be around right now. I can't explain further, but since this functions as a diary for me, I wanted to memorialize the day I made this decision. Someday I may regret it. I'm already feeling torn about it. Going to it, even with a date, would certainly take an axe to my biggest problem these days, and I'm not quite ready for that yet. But maybe I should. I hate this.
This is also the second "blind date" attempt I've broken with this guy. I have a feeling I won't get another chance.
Back to the basement. I've got another container to fill.
Friday, March 24, 2006
#614 A Lost Day
I don't know what happened to today. It completely disappeared.
In the interests of paper-control, I have a new rule - all previous issues of magazines, newspapers, and newsletters will be thrown out when the next issue arrives, whether it has been read or not. So far it looks like it will work to make paper litter disappear, but it also looks like it could make days disappear, when three magazines and a newspaper arrive all in one day. I guess I'll have to learn to space them out a bit.
Odd, but I was very hungry today, and nothing seemed to satisfy me. There must be something I'm craving, some mineral or vitamin, some texture or flavor, and I can't identify it. I feel like I'm starving, and I stand and look in the pantry, the freezer, the refrigerator, and there's nothing there I want. In fact, most of it I actively don't want. I've been drinking a lot of water, and I still feel thirsty. (I always drink a lot of fluids, and it's rare for me to feel thirst.) Maybe it's salt. I'll lick some before I go to bed.
(It could also be that I haven't been hugged or kissed thoroughly enough in two weeks. When I think "What do I want, what do I want?" that's what I keep coming up with.)
To bed early tonight. Multi-cultural fair in Pine Hill tomorrow. I may, or may not, decide to go. I might feel more like filling the dumpster. But I may as well be rested, either way.
In the interests of paper-control, I have a new rule - all previous issues of magazines, newspapers, and newsletters will be thrown out when the next issue arrives, whether it has been read or not. So far it looks like it will work to make paper litter disappear, but it also looks like it could make days disappear, when three magazines and a newspaper arrive all in one day. I guess I'll have to learn to space them out a bit.
Odd, but I was very hungry today, and nothing seemed to satisfy me. There must be something I'm craving, some mineral or vitamin, some texture or flavor, and I can't identify it. I feel like I'm starving, and I stand and look in the pantry, the freezer, the refrigerator, and there's nothing there I want. In fact, most of it I actively don't want. I've been drinking a lot of water, and I still feel thirsty. (I always drink a lot of fluids, and it's rare for me to feel thirst.) Maybe it's salt. I'll lick some before I go to bed.
(It could also be that I haven't been hugged or kissed thoroughly enough in two weeks. When I think "What do I want, what do I want?" that's what I keep coming up with.)
To bed early tonight. Multi-cultural fair in Pine Hill tomorrow. I may, or may not, decide to go. I might feel more like filling the dumpster. But I may as well be rested, either way.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
#613 Over Two Tons!
Dean Koontz, Mr. Murder: "We sense that life is a dark comedy and maybe we can live with that. However, because the whole thing is written for the entertainment of the gods, too many of the jokes go right over our heads."
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The dumpster was collected, emptied, and returned early this afternoon. It was 1.5 tons of trash (mostly paper) on this trip. With the 800 pounds I got rid of a few months ago with the Hunk's trailer, and the 500 or so pounds last year, that's 4,300 pounds of trash extracted from the basement and elsewhere. I also donated 21 pairs of shoes and two large bags of clothing to the Salvation Army drop-box yesterday morning. Lots more clothing to go. There are two of those huge moving company wardrobe boxes full of Jay's shirts downstairs. I'll empty them this evening.
I didn't post yesterday. Took the day off. I had promised Roman that he'd be the first person in when the house could take company. Well, the house wasn't ready, but he was coming up this way to visit, so I decided to bite the bullet and let him in. The kitchen was still pretty cluttered, but it was a least halfway presentable. (It's halfway to where I want it to be.... At least one can see where it's going.)
He arrived about 3 pm, I showed him some of my treasures (he liked looking at my walking stick collection, and the ostrich egg, but was unimpressed by the caftan Omar Sharif wore in Hidalgo), and then we went into the village to meet with Piper. Piper is computer illiterate, and Roman is going to give him some lessons. Then we went computer shopping, just to see what exists. He's going to "build" a package for me based on my usual usage and needs. Then a long dinner at the mall, then back here. He left about 9:30. A nice evening. I hope we can do that more often. (He was appropriately impressed with the dumpster.)
I don't know if Roman is fully aware, but he is the first person AT ALL to enter this house, other than me, and the furnace service guy who got no further than the basement, in three years.
Daughter may be offended that he got in before she did. On the other hand, I wasn't informed that wedding dates were in negotiation with Hercules' mother until yesterday, so there!
Also, Daughter announced yesterday that their planned move to Pennsylvania is suddenly off. Hercules got a job offer from a company he knows well near where they now live in central NJ, which will save him several hours a day in commuting time (and costs - he had been working in the fashion district in Manhattan), so they have decided to stay where they are. On one hand, I'm happy, because they are now only 2.5 hours away, while Lancaster, where they were planning to move (Amish country), is 6 hours away. On the other hand, I dislike NJ. I'd love to see them somewhere greener, with clean air and pure water, and reasonable real estate prices.
Oh well, it'll work out. Somehow it always does. And I forgive them for talking wedding dates with the other future mother-in-law first - she teaches college in California, and her available windows of time are theoretically tighter, whereas I am theoretically perpetually free. (Although Daughter was surprised to find that I already have most of August booked solid, with events that cannot be moved, like a high school reunion and the first international Mensa convention, in Orlando, where my siblings live, so I plan to extend that stay to visit with family, too. Oops. Suddenly Mother has a life! How unexpected.)
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Household Hint: Mineral oil. Cool stuff.
Actually, I use the gelled baby oil, easier to work with.
If you have trouble with very hard water leaving mineral salts in the toilet bowl, drain and clean the bowl, dry it well, and then spread mineral oil in the bowl with a tissue. Wipe it down with another tissue to leave a thin coat. It'll make the next load of salts easier to remove. Renew the oil whenever you use a cleanser in the bowl. I forgot to oil the bowl back when, and that's why I had so much trouble with the salt deposits this time around. (Use only tiny amounts, especially if you have a septic tank!)
I have a stainless steel stovetop, stainless steel microwave/convection oven insides, and stainless steel sinks. If you've ever had stainless steel, you know that it isn't stainless, and burnt-on crud is impossible to remove from the stovetop without leaving scratches. Those minute scratches serve as sticking-spots for the next wave of crud. A VERY thin layer of mineral oil or baby oil (so thin you can't really feel it - like you just polished with it) helps to keep crud from sticking so tightly. Same thing for around faucets.
It has the added advantage of moisturizing your hands after all those cleaning products.
-----------------------------------------
The dumpster was collected, emptied, and returned early this afternoon. It was 1.5 tons of trash (mostly paper) on this trip. With the 800 pounds I got rid of a few months ago with the Hunk's trailer, and the 500 or so pounds last year, that's 4,300 pounds of trash extracted from the basement and elsewhere. I also donated 21 pairs of shoes and two large bags of clothing to the Salvation Army drop-box yesterday morning. Lots more clothing to go. There are two of those huge moving company wardrobe boxes full of Jay's shirts downstairs. I'll empty them this evening.
I didn't post yesterday. Took the day off. I had promised Roman that he'd be the first person in when the house could take company. Well, the house wasn't ready, but he was coming up this way to visit, so I decided to bite the bullet and let him in. The kitchen was still pretty cluttered, but it was a least halfway presentable. (It's halfway to where I want it to be.... At least one can see where it's going.)
He arrived about 3 pm, I showed him some of my treasures (he liked looking at my walking stick collection, and the ostrich egg, but was unimpressed by the caftan Omar Sharif wore in Hidalgo), and then we went into the village to meet with Piper. Piper is computer illiterate, and Roman is going to give him some lessons. Then we went computer shopping, just to see what exists. He's going to "build" a package for me based on my usual usage and needs. Then a long dinner at the mall, then back here. He left about 9:30. A nice evening. I hope we can do that more often. (He was appropriately impressed with the dumpster.)
I don't know if Roman is fully aware, but he is the first person AT ALL to enter this house, other than me, and the furnace service guy who got no further than the basement, in three years.
Daughter may be offended that he got in before she did. On the other hand, I wasn't informed that wedding dates were in negotiation with Hercules' mother until yesterday, so there!
Also, Daughter announced yesterday that their planned move to Pennsylvania is suddenly off. Hercules got a job offer from a company he knows well near where they now live in central NJ, which will save him several hours a day in commuting time (and costs - he had been working in the fashion district in Manhattan), so they have decided to stay where they are. On one hand, I'm happy, because they are now only 2.5 hours away, while Lancaster, where they were planning to move (Amish country), is 6 hours away. On the other hand, I dislike NJ. I'd love to see them somewhere greener, with clean air and pure water, and reasonable real estate prices.
Oh well, it'll work out. Somehow it always does. And I forgive them for talking wedding dates with the other future mother-in-law first - she teaches college in California, and her available windows of time are theoretically tighter, whereas I am theoretically perpetually free. (Although Daughter was surprised to find that I already have most of August booked solid, with events that cannot be moved, like a high school reunion and the first international Mensa convention, in Orlando, where my siblings live, so I plan to extend that stay to visit with family, too. Oops. Suddenly Mother has a life! How unexpected.)
-----------------------------------------------
Household Hint: Mineral oil. Cool stuff.
Actually, I use the gelled baby oil, easier to work with.
If you have trouble with very hard water leaving mineral salts in the toilet bowl, drain and clean the bowl, dry it well, and then spread mineral oil in the bowl with a tissue. Wipe it down with another tissue to leave a thin coat. It'll make the next load of salts easier to remove. Renew the oil whenever you use a cleanser in the bowl. I forgot to oil the bowl back when, and that's why I had so much trouble with the salt deposits this time around. (Use only tiny amounts, especially if you have a septic tank!)
I have a stainless steel stovetop, stainless steel microwave/convection oven insides, and stainless steel sinks. If you've ever had stainless steel, you know that it isn't stainless, and burnt-on crud is impossible to remove from the stovetop without leaving scratches. Those minute scratches serve as sticking-spots for the next wave of crud. A VERY thin layer of mineral oil or baby oil (so thin you can't really feel it - like you just polished with it) helps to keep crud from sticking so tightly. Same thing for around faucets.
It has the added advantage of moisturizing your hands after all those cleaning products.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
#612 Kitchen Is, uh, Usable, Sorta
I worked most of today on clearing out the kitchen. I won't have enough counter space for making cookies for a while yet, but at least I can move around in there and get the lower cabinets open now. And I cleaned a bit.
I spent several hours removing hard water deposits from the laundry room john. They must have changed CLR, made it weaker or something. It used to work, but I finally had to resort to draining the bowl and filling it with vinegar, and then scrubbing with a stiff brush.
The rolloff is so full I don't think I'll be able to fit the dead dehumdifiers in. They require special handing because of the freon, so I was supposed to put them on top. But I'm afraid now they will stick up past the fill-line. Next load, I guess.
-------------------------------------
The friend who is setting up the charitable endowment in my name is driving me crazy. She has decided that she wants the payments from the investment to go to "program", not "administration". I explained to her that if she gives $1000 restricted to programs, and someone else gives $1000 unrestricted, and if the administrative costs are 20%, then they will just use $400 of the unrestricted funds for the admin costs, so restricting the money doesn't accomplish anything. She says she understands, and that she agrees, and then five minutes later she's going on again about how difficult it is to restrict the money.
Then she complains that the charity I chose, Heifer International, has unusually high admin costs. I point out (over and over) that low admin cost can be simply creative bookkeeping, and that you can't compare admin costs without knowing what is included. Heifer does a lot of research to find the most effective locations for the programs, so is that considered "program" or "administration"? She says she understands and agrees, and then five minutes later she's complaining because Heifer's admin costs are so high. I got so angry with her this evening I told her to forget Heifer and send it to Doctors Without Borders. (DWB was my second choice only because they already get a lot of contributions.)
There were a lot of other points that we disagreed on, and I explained, and she agreed, then she went right back to as if she never heard me. She really ticked me off this evening. The kicker is that she keeps saying, in reference to restricting the money, "Well, I want to make sure that the money goes for what you and I both want", and I keep saying, "**I** don't want it restricted! I explained that to you. It's your money, and if you want to restrict it, fine. But it doesn't matter to me!"
You can be in the middle of a sentence, and she will interrupt or talk right over you. The woman doesn't listen. A long time ago, she was my fifth-level manager. Yikes! This evening I was so annoyed that when she interrupted and talked over me, I just got louder and kept right on talking.
I had to fake another call to get off the phone. By then I was shouting, and I was afraid of where it was headed.
I want to tell her to forget it. Leave me out of it. Most of her money will end up going to charity anyway, and I don't see why having my name on it has any meaning worth all this annoyance. But I don't want to hurt her feelings.
I spent several hours removing hard water deposits from the laundry room john. They must have changed CLR, made it weaker or something. It used to work, but I finally had to resort to draining the bowl and filling it with vinegar, and then scrubbing with a stiff brush.
The rolloff is so full I don't think I'll be able to fit the dead dehumdifiers in. They require special handing because of the freon, so I was supposed to put them on top. But I'm afraid now they will stick up past the fill-line. Next load, I guess.
-------------------------------------
The friend who is setting up the charitable endowment in my name is driving me crazy. She has decided that she wants the payments from the investment to go to "program", not "administration". I explained to her that if she gives $1000 restricted to programs, and someone else gives $1000 unrestricted, and if the administrative costs are 20%, then they will just use $400 of the unrestricted funds for the admin costs, so restricting the money doesn't accomplish anything. She says she understands, and that she agrees, and then five minutes later she's going on again about how difficult it is to restrict the money.
Then she complains that the charity I chose, Heifer International, has unusually high admin costs. I point out (over and over) that low admin cost can be simply creative bookkeeping, and that you can't compare admin costs without knowing what is included. Heifer does a lot of research to find the most effective locations for the programs, so is that considered "program" or "administration"? She says she understands and agrees, and then five minutes later she's complaining because Heifer's admin costs are so high. I got so angry with her this evening I told her to forget Heifer and send it to Doctors Without Borders. (DWB was my second choice only because they already get a lot of contributions.)
There were a lot of other points that we disagreed on, and I explained, and she agreed, then she went right back to as if she never heard me. She really ticked me off this evening. The kicker is that she keeps saying, in reference to restricting the money, "Well, I want to make sure that the money goes for what you and I both want", and I keep saying, "**I** don't want it restricted! I explained that to you. It's your money, and if you want to restrict it, fine. But it doesn't matter to me!"
You can be in the middle of a sentence, and she will interrupt or talk right over you. The woman doesn't listen. A long time ago, she was my fifth-level manager. Yikes! This evening I was so annoyed that when she interrupted and talked over me, I just got louder and kept right on talking.
I had to fake another call to get off the phone. By then I was shouting, and I was afraid of where it was headed.
I want to tell her to forget it. Leave me out of it. Most of her money will end up going to charity anyway, and I don't see why having my name on it has any meaning worth all this annoyance. But I don't want to hurt her feelings.
Monday, March 20, 2006
#611 Equinox
Monday, March 20. 2006
I stood an egg on end this morning, and it was very easy. Yeah, I know about all the people who say it's bunk, that you can stand an egg any time, but I challenge any of them to actually do it! I've tried, and I've never been able to do it at any other time of the year, and it's easy for me for several days around an equinox, and it's easier at the spring than at the fall equinox.
We did several experiments in Washington DC Mensa, and we all had pretty much the same experience. The eggs all went up with ease at about the same time, and they all fell within 12 hours of each other, and the difficulty increased for each of us at about the same rate.
So there. Challenge cast. PROVE me wrong. Don't say it's bunk just because you can't explain it. (It's kind of like ESP - you aren't going to believe it until you experience it, because until you experience it, belief is too threatening.)
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The container is almost full. I guess because the level is so high now, I'm having trouble keeping stuff in. I threw a bunch of telephone books on top of the listing paper, but there are still stray sheets of other paper escaping. I have asked that it be picked up on Thursday, emptied, and returned. I'm starting to enjoy this.
I stood an egg on end this morning, and it was very easy. Yeah, I know about all the people who say it's bunk, that you can stand an egg any time, but I challenge any of them to actually do it! I've tried, and I've never been able to do it at any other time of the year, and it's easy for me for several days around an equinox, and it's easier at the spring than at the fall equinox.
We did several experiments in Washington DC Mensa, and we all had pretty much the same experience. The eggs all went up with ease at about the same time, and they all fell within 12 hours of each other, and the difficulty increased for each of us at about the same rate.
So there. Challenge cast. PROVE me wrong. Don't say it's bunk just because you can't explain it. (It's kind of like ESP - you aren't going to believe it until you experience it, because until you experience it, belief is too threatening.)
------------------------------------
The container is almost full. I guess because the level is so high now, I'm having trouble keeping stuff in. I threw a bunch of telephone books on top of the listing paper, but there are still stray sheets of other paper escaping. I have asked that it be picked up on Thursday, emptied, and returned. I'm starting to enjoy this.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
#610 Green Eggs
I went to the annual "Green Eggs and Ham" brunch (combination St. Patrick's Day and Dr. Seuss's birthday) at NJKC's today. I'm usually late, but this year I got there on time, and still managed to miss the ceremonial reading of the book. I was so tired I kept almost falling asleep. Never did finish my champagne.
I'm not working in the basement today. I'm cleaning out upstairs instead, so I don't have to carry stuff up the hill. I was in bed by 8 pm last night, and asleep by 9, but I'm still very tired today.
I got a surprise when I left the house this morning. Among the last things I had thrown into the container last night were several stacks of listings and core dumps - the kind printed on the old wide continuous paper. The wind caught it, and blew several yards of it in streamers across the driveway and yard. It was looped four feet deep on the ground next to the dumpster. I gathered it all up and pushed it back in, but now that it's not neatly folded it's taking up a lot more room.
I'm hoping some magazines on top will protect it tonight.
I'm not working in the basement today. I'm cleaning out upstairs instead, so I don't have to carry stuff up the hill. I was in bed by 8 pm last night, and asleep by 9, but I'm still very tired today.
I got a surprise when I left the house this morning. Among the last things I had thrown into the container last night were several stacks of listings and core dumps - the kind printed on the old wide continuous paper. The wind caught it, and blew several yards of it in streamers across the driveway and yard. It was looped four feet deep on the ground next to the dumpster. I gathered it all up and pushed it back in, but now that it's not neatly folded it's taking up a lot more room.
I'm hoping some magazines on top will protect it tonight.
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