What did you do today?

[slownsteady]

Not medical advice but, if you are walking outdoors and you are solo and not stopping to chat with the neighbors, then you are not likely to spread the virus.......OTOH, Give it a couple of days before you start walking, Tuffy. You don't want to be halfway out and feel short of breath.

 

[zannej]

I hope you don't get sick & that quarantine goes smoothly, Tuffy.

I know I need to let my friend live his life, but it's frustrating when I see him making bad decisions & getting walked all over. He has given his girlfriend "one last chance" at least 10x now. The upside is that she is now taking her medicines & is being better at taking care of the baby. The downside is, it's very obvious she does not love my friend & that she only uses him to support her financially. She finally admitted to cheating on him (again) this time with the guy that was staying over there and babysitting. My friend was really mad at the guy, but the guy is only 20 & doesn't have much going for him. I think it was infatuation on is part- although he does still know right from wrong. The girl promised to marry him & be faithful & she keeps breaking her promises & cheating. Yet she badmouths his ex for having cheated on him repeatedly. Her priorities are not right. She thinks him confiding in his closest friends about her cheating was worse than her actually cheating on him. He bought security cameras to watch her when he's at work to see if she has boyfriends coming over. For awhile he was agonizing over how to keep her from running off on him & leaving him. That is no way to live. There is no trust. I don't think she will change for the better & I think she knows I'm done with her bc she hasn't communicated with me in weeks (although she started only communicating when she wanted something).
I just hope he doesn't end up dragging this out for years and letting his kids see the emotional abuse & thinking its normal or OK like he did with the last relationship. His daughter can barely stay over anymore bc she gets so upset by the girlfriend yelling at her father. Although, at one point they were arguing and the little girl offered to hold the baby so her father could "beat her a$$". The girlfriend has broken pots & pans on him but he's never hit her back. Since she has schizophrenia, it is only going to get worse over time & there is no way to repair the damage it does to the brain.

I had a lazy day again. Stayed up all night bc Mom woke me up in the middle of the night wanting something to eat but we didn't have what she wanted. Couldn't get back to sleep. So I got my sleep in the day. I made shepherd's pie again for dinner. It seems like she would eat that every day of the week without getting tired of it. LOL. If I had enough space in the pan I'd make a double batch. I've been having Mom's dog lick the pans after they cool bc he scrapes off some stuff that will take me awhile to scrub off when I wash them.

 

[Rusty]

Made treat bags for the grandkids yesterday and some extras for some kids who are sick.

 

[zannej]

Rusty, that's very sweet of you. I actually forgot it was Halloween. I was tired after cooking & racked out.
Today I got up early & cleaned litterboxes. Cleaning litterboxes for 16 cats is a mess. My brother set up the waterer for the kittens wrong so it dripped into their litterbox & turned everything to mud. I had to take it outside, use a scraper, & turn on the faucet to spray it out then scrub it clean with lysol wipes. The kittens were so excited about fresh $#!+sand. I don't know what it is with my cats, but if I start pouring out fresh litter, they will sometimes jump in the boxes before I'm done pouring.
Meanwhile, I also worked on more bathroom drawings. I need to tidy up the one for my bathroom and draw one of Mom's bathroom too. I need to figure out how to use a router properly bc I want to make a johnny cabinet for my bathroom. The particle board p.o.s I got was so crappy the doors wouldn't even stay on. I may use it as a guide for sizing and possibly ninja the magnetic hardware. What passed for hinges (metal pins that went into holes) was absolute garbage. Might use the pins for dowels though. I suppose I could use the shelves from it for wall-mount shelves or something as well. I'm thinking I could do plywood for the carcass and trim it out with oak or pine & then paint it. I need to figure out how to get a good shiny smooth gloss white to match the vanity. I also want to see if I can mimic the pattern on the vanity with the drawer face of the vanity. I'm considering making new doors for my bathroom's vanity-- they are rough plywood painted white & look fugly. I made the mistake of getting white hinges & they turned yellow over the years. I think I want to try going with soft-close hidden hinges. I saw a trick where a dado was cut on only one side of a door so it could create a raised panel effect when it slid into the rails (although the cabinet maker did that so the back would be flush against the cabinet instead of raised panel). If I use the router along the edges I should be able to get a raised panel detail. Wish I had the right jig & skill to do the cathedral style doors. Although, if I can get the softclose hidden hinges to work with my current doors I may just go with that.
Here's my bathroom sketch showing opposite walls. I need to do one of the tub/shower eventually. And hey, I managed to make a tub spout that doesn't look like a duck bill!

 

[Rusty]

Watch this and try not to cry.

 

[zannej]

That was a touching video. I still have my dad's badge somewhere... His last work vehicle was a crown vic but it was left in Guam. It was supposed to be an undercover vehicle but it said "police interceptor" on the back. It was the only crown vic on the island too. LOL.

Got my blood drawn for next Monday's checkup. Nurse was very good at drawing so I barely felt it. She hates getting blood drawn too so she's sympathetic and nice about it. One of these days I will stop being nervous about it. LOL. After that I racked out & slept until almost 7pm.

 

[zannej]

I got to meet the people my brother has been working with on his practicum for a degree in teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) down in Lafayette. They were all very nice & they were encouraging him to stay on in the program helping even after he gets all the hours he needs. I sat & played word games on my phone while he went in another room and tutored a student from Haiti. He assessed her abilities as higher than they'd thought but said she had difficulty conjugating verbs.

After that we went to a place I'd been referred to on Facebook Marketplace called Gulf Coast Ltd. I thought it was a store but it turns out it's a place where they do construction for commercial buildings. They do cabinets & such for hospitals & schools. They had some leftover materials from previous jobs that they were selling off. Facility was HUGE. It had been 5 buildings that they linked together in one massive building. The guy who showed us the materials loved the place & said it had an interesting history. They had a bunch of Formica and other similar type sheets (even some metal ones, but those were $80). There was a really nice shiny white sheet but it had damage on the corner. Guy told me it was garbage and that it chipped very badly & to avoid it. I ended up getting two plain white Formica sheets for $30. They retail for $90/ea in the big box stores. He said they can be used on walls (and that he has used them for that application before. I didn't find anything that would work for Mom's bathroom though.

 

[billshack]

I went to my cottage this Friday, found a huge spruce tree had fallen from a wind storm. I mean big 30 inch diameter at the base , must be 200 ft tall. I started to cut it up into fire wood. Three day later after one gallon of chain saw gas and 1/2 gallon of chain lube . I am only 1/3 done , so far 2 cords of soft wood and i cord hard. it brought down other trees. I am going back this weekend with a buddy to finish .

 

[zannej]

Bill, I hope you can make good use of the wood. I hope the tree didn't damage anything else.

I went for my regular checkup at my doctor. He recommended a nasal cleanser for my allergies, said I need to cut back on white rice, white potatoes, white bread, white sugar, etc. My "good" cholesterol was too low and my "bad" cholesterol was too high so he doubled my dosage of statins. My thyroid was too low again so he raised it by 50%. I have enough for a week before I get the new higher dosage medicine. My thyroid levels were fine until they changed the brand of the medicine I was getting. I wonder if the newer stuff is less effective for whatever reason, but the low thyroid could explain my fatigue. I also was told to walk for 30min a day. I may have to walk in place on rainy days. My blood cells, liver, kidney, etc all look good though.

 

[slownsteady]

Get yourself a decent rain jacket and walk! The rain won't melt you

 

[Rusty]

Internet was out for 3 hours. Talked to the family. They seem like nice people.

 

[zannej]

slownsteady, don't you know I'm the wicked witch of the west? LOL. I don't walk in the rain bc it tends to be a combination of water & cold. I get respiratory infections from being out in the rain. If I'm going to have to exercise, I want to be indoors & dry.

Took my kitten to get spayed. Almost didn't make it in time bc I got stuck behind 2 trucks going way under speed limit driving in the middle of the road so no one could pass. Then there was a vehicle accident on the road just before the turn off to the vet's office. I could see the office but was stuck in traffic. Got there & there was no parking so I had to wait for someone to move so I could park. Fortunately, about a minute after I arrived, someone left. Went inside & there were no staff at the counter. I signed in & waited 15 minutes before they even acknowledged me. Told them I had an appointment & had been waiting for someone to take my cat- they apologized, had me sign some forms, & a few minutes later they took her to the back. They called around 4 to tell me her surgery went fine & she was awake & doing well. I have to pick her up in the afternoon instead of morning bc my mother has an appointment in the afternoon. Meanwhile, the kitten's brother is losing his mind because he doesn't know where she is. They have never been apart before.
I got mom salad and cooked her a steak for dinner.

She was crabby with me because I was exhausted when I got home (thyroid is still low & will take awhile to build up with the meds) & didn't want to drive back into town to get mail. I got mail the day before and we can get mail tomorrow (technically later today) on the way to her foot doctor appointment.

 

[Rusty]

They wanted me to cook tonight. Scrambled eggs w/cheese and jalapenos, sausage links, hash browns and crescent rolls.

 

[zannej]

That sounds good, Rusty!
I found some Lobster Bisque at Samsclub that Mom likes. I went there yesterday to stock up on stuff. Needed cat food & bottled water. They only had 2 bags of catfood left.
The Chinese buffet is back open in full operation but with gloves, protective screens, and more cleaning going on. We didn't have time to stay in eat so we just got take-out. Owner was happy to see us as usual.
Last night caller ID showed a call from one of my brother's friends that my Mom absolutely HATES. She refused to answer & I was in the middle of trying to get food for her. My brother was in the bathroom. I heard someone trying to facebook call him. I tried to get the phone in time but couldn't bc my hands were full. Phone kept ringing so I finally answered. Turned out it was my best friend's girlfriend. They have no cell signal & their internet was out & my friend was having problems & needed to have someone there to take him to the hospital if he got worse. Paramedics had already checked him out-- something about his blood pressure. His gf isn't good at relaying info. My brother went over & spent the night. He's still there. I haven't heard anything from them so I don't know if my brother has signal. Friend had just switched to another cellphone company but it has very spotty coverage in town and no coverage out where I live. Hopefully he's OK. I also hope there's no chance of it being Covid related.
People around here stopped wearing masks (a lot of them refused to begin with but even fewer wear them now), refuse to keep distance, and glare at me when I'm wearing a mask. My go-to move is to start coughing whenever someone gets too close. That usually gets them to move away.
My allergy meds haven't been working well but I just found a stronger 24hr medicine at Sams so hopefully that will help. Thyroid levels still don't seem to be up yet. It's odd, but I can smell it in my sweat. The smell of my sweat changed when I first got hypothyroid & I sweat in places I didn't used to sweat-- like on my neck when I'm sleeping. I know the smell changed when my thyroid meds were working bc if I was noseblind to it, I wouldn't be noticing it now.
Meanwhile, I'm using a pillow as a mouse pad & my dog burrowed under the pillow. I don't have a computer chair so I sit on my bed to use the computer- have to keep my feet elevated so they don't get swollen.

As an aside from another thread, some things that should never be mixed: Bleach + ammonia (urine) and Bleach + acetone. The latter can make chloroform when kept cool but without ice and if exposed to sunlight it turns into gas. Both mixtures create highly toxic gases that can be lethal.

 

[slownsteady]

Bleach + ammonia = mustard gas. My mom almost killed herself many years ago when she decided that the floors needed an extra good cleaning and mixed the two. Luckily she stopped when she started to feel ill.She lost her voice for about two days.

Meanwhile....

I decided to purge the air from my hot water boiler heating system the other day. I really shouldn't start projects like that so late in the day. The first zone went well. The second zone had enough corrosion on the valve that I couldn't get the brass cap off, so I skipped to the next one. It started out okay but when I shut the valve, it did not fully close. My wife was at work so I was flying solo, but at 5:00 the local plumbing supply would be closed. So I was looking at a 25 mile round trip to the Home Depot. I emptied a 5 gallon bucket, put the dripping hose in and raced down there, hoping that I would get back before the water got too deep on the floor. I made it back home with just a 1/4 inch of freeboard remaining in the bucket. I bought enough boiler drains to replace the others that looked bad and was almost finished by the time my wife got home. Luckily it wasn't a cold day. So...happy ending.

 

[zannej]

slownsteady, I'm glad your mom was OK. I read about an incident at a fast food place where some chemical cleaners got spilled and mixed together. Supervisor made everyone evacuate but he didn't make it out alive. It's ugly stuff. I'm also glad you made it back in time to stop the water.

I haven't done much of anything today. Stomach is bugging me. I'm trying to motivate myself to be productive.

 

[Flyover]

Woke up today and the house was real cold. By mid-morning we'd figured out the furnace wasn't working. When I got home in the afternoon I started troubleshooting it, and by about 4pm I got just far enough to figure out it was probably the igniter. I didn't have time to do a hardware store run to buy a replacement since I had to get dinner ready, so we called a repair guy to come out. When he got here I told him I thought it was the igniter.

Aside from the fact that my house has heat again, the good news is that as he was packing up the repair guy said "You were right, it was the igniter! You want a job?" I got my laughs in before receiving the bad news, which was the nearly $200 charge for installing that $15 part.

I keep telling myself the $200 is also for not having to go to the hardware store, for not having to put myself through the headache of figuring out how to replace the part properly (I've never worked on a furnace before), for not having my wife pissed off and stressed out from having to watch all three kids while I did all that, for being able to sit down and eat dinner with my family, for supporting a guy who works to support his own family, etc. Sometimes remembering the hidden value makes it feel more worthwhile.

 

[Spicoli43]

Woke up today and the house was real cold. By mid-morning we'd figured out the furnace wasn't working. When I got home in the afternoon I started troubleshooting it, and by about 4pm I got just far enough to figure out it was probably the igniter. I didn't have time to do a hardware store run to buy a replacement since I had to get dinner ready, so we called a repair guy to come out. When he got here I told him I thought it was the igniter.

Aside from the fact that my house has heat again, the good news is that as he was packing up the repair guy said "You were right, it was the igniter! You want a job?" I got my laughs in before receiving the bad news, which was the nearly $200 charge for installing that $15 part.

I keep telling myself the $200 is also for not having to go to the hardware store, for not having to put myself through the headache of figuring out how to replace the part properly (I've never worked on a furnace before), for not having my wife pissed off and stressed out from having to watch all three kids while I did all that, for being able to sit down and eat dinner with my family, for supporting a guy who works to support his own family, etc. Sometimes remembering the hidden value makes it feel more worthwhile.

Good that it's working. I have been there with no experience working on gas furnaces. The $200 charge reminds me of a story about a factory engineer that retires and goes on to live his life, but is called back by the corporation because nobody can fix an old machine that they rely on for their business to run. The old engineer goes in, takes a long look at the machine, does tests etc., then marks the machine with chalk, indicating the part to replace.

The factory boss is happy, the machine is working, everything is good. Then the factory gets the old engineer's bill for $10,000. They send him a letter asking for an explanation... ???? He sends back a simple breakdown... Chalk mark... $1. Knowing where to put it... $9999. The bill was paid.

As far as my experience, the heat on the thermostat wouldn't turn on for more than a few seconds before shutting off. By the time I turned it on and went to the furnace, it would be off. I didn't know anything about it, but called my Brother in law, who has lived in snow his whole life. He said to go check the vent, which sure enough was completely blocked off by snow. The furnace shut off as a safety measure to block the gas from getting into the house.

Why the builder put the vent a foot off the ground in Montana goes along with why did they do a lot of things in this house that I'm still discovering.

So, that's the first thing you check if you live with snow.

 

[slownsteady]

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

Be safe, and don't forget that there will be another Thanksgiving next year in which the whole family can get together in a safer, more traditional fashion (hopefully).

 

[zannej]

Back when my brother worked at Walmart, he was assigned to the electronics department but was ordered to do the photo lab work (which was a higher paygrade) without the higher pay. He & my best friend were the only ones who read the manual on how to run it. Friend had moved on to another job at that point so it was just my brother working there. Since the rest of the employees didn't know how to do stuff, they kept messing it up and it was not functioning. He would have to come in and fix it almost every day due to their incompetence. Then his supervisor made a critical mistake out of greed. She blamed him for her work not being done (she was supposed to do inventory audits & she claimed it was his responsibility even though it wasn't). Halfway through his shift one day his handheld scanner thing stopped working. Then they called him to the main office & told him he was fired without even asking him about the audits. He did tell them that it wasn't his job to do them. Supervisor was trying to save her job AND get the Christmas bonus. Every year around that time they would get a bonus & it would be evenly distributed among the employees. The fewer employees there were, the bigger the bonus for each one. So every year just before the bonus, the supervisors would start firing people so they would get more $. Except the numnutz did't realize that my brother was the only one who could get the photo machine working. Not only did all of the overnight stockers call in sick (as protest to his firing) but the machine broke & they had to pay someone $5k to fix it. Took them 2 weeks to get it fixed. It broke down the very next day. They lost the income from being able to develop photos and had to pay over $100k to keep getting it fixed before they eventually replaced the equipment. We dropped by one day when the photo printer was still down & my brother told one of the supervisors that he'd fix it for $4k (but red tape prohibited them from hiring him to do it).

Took my friend to the eye doctor 3 days in a row. First two days the appointments took over 2 hours each. 3rd day they hit a roadblock. They need an MRI but they need to convince Medicaid to approve it. To quote the nurse "(he) can't see f*** out of that eye". He's essentially blind in it but it's not the eye itself. The eye has no structural issues or problems. That means it's neurological. Either eye stroke or aneurysm or tumor. None of them are good. They won't know what until he gets the MRI. Meanwhile it makes him feel dizzy, he's scared, & he can't drive since he can't see well enough (no peripheral vision, gets car sick & can't see in the side mirror). Doesn't help that his blinkers are out on his truck and his car needs a rack & pinion.

Only two good things going for him right now is that he got a new phone & his grandfather doesn't have his number so he can't call him 100x a day like he usually does. His gf is no longer coming and getting him when the grandfather rolls up in front of the house and lays on the horn. They all ignore him until he drives away. Sometimes it takes 5min sometimes 15. Old man will sit there pressing on the horn and hollering my friend's name. Sometimes it wakes the baby up, but they all go to the back of the house and ignore him. If my friend feels like talking to him, he can go out and tell him to f**** off bc he can't do anything for him until he gets the eye thing sorted out. Only reason his grandfather drops by is bc he wants my friend to do stuff for him-- like go to the store & get things or fix stuff on his vehicle.

Lazy day for me today. I was exhausted and needed to catch up on some sleep. Now taking Krill oil vitamin & stronger allergy meds bc the 10mg ones weren't working. Hoping the thyroid meds will start working.