Cold Weather, Sealed Windows

I woke to the sound of dog toenails tap-tapping across the floor. My right shoulder gasped in pain as I attempted to drag myself from the depths of sleep ...... but when a dog's gotta go, a dog's gotta go......

So I stumbled along, flip flops on the wrong feet, to the back door, surprised to discover I had slept for SIX HOURS STRAIGHT!!!! No wonder my jaw hurt and my shoulder burned, I had been in the same position with my mouth agape and my arm flung over my head. This never happens. I am usually up every three hours or so with my old man dog, Oscar.

Painting and weather contributes to the shoulder stiffness. Supposed to get really cold this weekend. The rain last week revealed another leak in the roof and after only two trips for supplies, He Who repairs things on high seems confidant that he has fixed the problem. I will report on that later, after it rains again

In the meantime, He Who has never concerned himself with weather proofing the house before, has turned into a predictor of freezing temps and doom and gloom. He wanted to tape plastic over the windows. I suggested that he simply close the storm windows. It hasn't been that cold yet. My zinnias are still blooming, for heaven's sake.

So, he closed the storm windows and is still yearning to seal this place up with plastic. Today he actually started making the boxes to cover the air conditioners! I asked for them about 7 years ago and every year since. He will usually do some lame thing with a tarp and gorilla tape (duct tape is so yesterday, you know). He has even been known to try to wrap the window units with trash bags. The wind that funnels through here is ferocious and makes short work of ripping his solutions away, leaving pieces of tape flapping.

I suggested that a box be constructed and insulated. Said box could be screwed over the unit in the months that it is not being used. When needed, one could simply unscrew the box and store it until needed again. I was hoping it could be make long before needed and I could paint it. But, never you mind, better late than never.

Just one little worry here. Last night, before my SIX HOUR nap, I was up with my furry friends for one last trip to the grass. I thought it was really warm inside, as I was sweating. I took a little peak at the temp. It was EIGHTY-FIVE degrees in here! I had gone to bed early with a nagging headache (probably due to the excessive heat). I don't know that I want to be sealed up in the building all winter with no east access to fresh, cool air!

Okay, this is a secret. Sometimes, I wait until He Who is asleep and I open the window. Well, maybe not just sometimes, but more often than not. The window is on my side of the bed and I sleep so much better when the room is on the chilly side. He is none the wiser and I bet he sleeps better, as well.

Lesson Learned

Did you hear about the new app for your I-phone? Mole mapper. You can map the growth of a mole with this. Have I mentioned how much TV I watch in the winter?

Today I painted the kitchen walls. You will recall that I have been busy installing a new marble tile back splash. Now, lest you think I have lots of money ...... I bought three pallets of this tile off Craigslist for nearly nothing. We have already put it in the rest rooms and our own bathroom. It is a really nice tile, 4" X 16", with earth tones of the beige variety. It had some gray in it and I wanted to incorporate a slate blue color. It just didn't work and I brought home lots of samples, but just couldn't seem to lock into one I really liked.

I painted all the space in the living quarters with a creamy taupe color and a contrast in a deeper tone when we moved in. I have maintained it with the same colors because they are so easy to work with. But, I am ready for a change. With that in mind, I grabbed a piece of the tile and took it with me to buy paint. After much flipping through different colors, I finally settled on one I liked the best with the tile. None of the blues or grays seem to look just right, but this one did.

Got it mixed and brought it home. It is the same color I have had for years. So much for a change. On the bright side, I only need one coat to cover. So, there is that. Not to worry, I am going to put a pop of color in there!

I always check the "oops" paint. You just never know what there might be. My last can of "oops" paint was a bright orange. I can always use colors when I am making signs and in the playground. This is a very bright and happy orange and is now on the back wall of the kitchen behind the refrigerator. My kitchen is an odd shape that meanders through three different areas. It was originally the laundry room and has only one window. No outer doors in the room either, so not much natural light to grace this space. There was a door that led to the electrical room that houses all the breaker boxes and where the water from the well enters the building. There is a door leading outside just beyond this door.

I removed the interior door and gained a small wall space that has 12" base cabinets and a counter top. Above that I installed an old grid system that we used to display pager housings in one of our retail stores in a previous life. I use "S" hook to hang all my pots and pans on this wall that is 8 feet long. Frees up a lot of cabinet space. Above the grid I have a shelf that holds all the seldom used small appliances. Can never have enough storage, can you? That wall will be orange, as well. Orange seems to be my go to color lately. Used to be lime green.

The refrigerator is on the back wall in the dining area. All the main rooms sort of flow into each other. I do believe the term is open concept.

The internet has been finicky lately. I have had to reboot the modem three times just today. I need the internet to check the on-line reservations. Not so many this time of year, but still have to be able to check them.

When making a reservation, I assume that we all know that we have to offer some sort of deposit to secure the reservation. But, you know what they say about making assumptions .........

The last "reservation" I encountered had no such information included, but it did have other information in the area for the address. "Homeless". They wanted a primitive tent site. That is with no amenities on site. It is cold here and the last time I had some homeless people on a tent site with no amenities they ran extension cords to the surrounding sites and put a refrigerator and a couple of electric heaters in their tent. Oh, and they didn't pay. They appealed to the kindness of He Who is a big softie and stayed several weeks before I yanked all the extension cords and ran them off.

Not happening again.

Bye Bye Birdie

Still battling my demons of depression. Some days are lost to total inactivity. Some days are better and some days I feel downright good. Every morning I choose just one thing to complete. If it evolves into more activity, great; if not, I just sit here without any guilt.

Today is a good one and I will be installing the backsplash behind the stove. Yesterday I put the cabinet doors back up ....... wait, though, before you think that was ambitious, it was only two doors. I cooked yesterday, too!!

I will also do laundry today, can't cook, though. Tile behind the stove, then grout tomorrow, then sealer. Now that I think about it, I could make it be 3 days without cooking! Happy thoughts.

The last few days have been warm and I have managed to keep the wood stove inactive. Every year we argue about when to turn the heat on and build a fire. For whatever reason, that I cannot fathom, He Who wants our home to be freezing when it is warm out and sweltering when it is cool outside. All the while we are sealed in with artificial weather.

Anyhoo, a few days ago when I awoke, I heard some noise in the stove pipe. I alerted He Who builds fires.  He listened. but was doubtful that I had heard anything. He even looked inside the wood stove and proclaimed it to be "big pieces of soot" falling from the pipe. Sounded like some lame excuse a husband would give a wife if he didn't hear the scratching sounds himself.

Yesterday it was indeed chilly when I stumbled from bed and into the kitchen to make coffee. I gave the go ahead for a fire and the pyromaniac was giddy with anticipation. He opened the door to begin laying his wood and found two dead birds! I have been vindicated!!

Scary Selfie

Another selfie attempt. He Who has longer arms took the phone and took the picture. We look like cartoon characters.

I seem to have struck a nerve with my last post about pharmaceutical companies. While I do realize that we need research for better solutions to so many diseases and that is quite costly. The money has to come from somewhere and that is why the cost of drugs is so expensive. 

That being said, their profit margins would appear to be in the extreme. Greed? I don't know, all I know is that the advertising makes me crazy. The sales reps give the drugs to the doctors. The doctors then decide which of their patients might benefit from the drugs, weighing the side effects against the benefits of the drug. I always thought of this as another trial of the drug, using real people.

I always tell my doctor I want an established drug if at all possible. I don't want to participate in a class action suit in the future. But ....... if I had a debilitating disease that was not responding to the prescribed therapy, I would be willing to try anything. My dad told his oncologist that he would be willing to try experimental drugs. If they worked, great, if not, then, perhaps it could benefit the research.

Pharmacies cannot "take back" drugs. Upon leaving the pharmacy, the drugs cannot be returned, lest they have been tampered with. This applies to over the counter medications as well. If they do come back to the pharmacy, they have to be destroyed. A good reason to check your prescriptions before you leave the pharmacy. Open the bottles and look at them. If they aren't the same shape or color you have had in the past, question why.

Down from my soap box. I like to paint. I like the instant results. I have been painting my kitchen cabinets. My space is small, so I can only do a small section at a time. Needs two coats and the drying time is 24 hours since I am using oil based paint. I painted ceiling first, then started on the cabinets.

In between I worked on a new sign. Double sided. One side thanks the campers for coming and the other side is another attempt at directing traffic to the correct entrance.

Only time will tell if this sign is working.

I Can Still Rant

I realize that I am depressed and I should suck it up, get off my butt, and do something. Anything. Instead, here I sit in front of the TV. I was over 70 episodes behind in watching my soap. The Young and the Restless. Not anymore. I am fully up to date on the actions of Victor Neuman (I secretly refer to him as "sphincter", what with him being a tight a$$). See, I have not fallen fully into the depths of despair, I still have the ability to make fun of others. My specialty.

So, while I sit and watch the insane antics of the soap characters and put puzzles together on Jigidi as if my very life depends on the completion, it has come to my attention that the Pharmaceutical Companies are spending billions on TV ads.

These ads are sometimes 2 minutes long! Imagine the cost involved in the production alone, then the air time ....... then, at the end, they will tell you "if you can't afford your drugs, the drug company may be able to help." That's after they have listed possible side effects. I am willing to bet the advertising budget is so large as to be a hefty tax deduction. Suppose the IRS could offer the same deduction for discounted drugs?

The ads implore one to "ask your doctor if this drug is right for you", as if we all have medical degrees and are able to determine what drugs we need. Isn't it enough that the population has been glutted with antibiotics they didn't need? Doctors succumbing to the constant demand for antibiotics for things like the common cold has immunized us to the antibiotic and created super bugs.

Wow, I still have the ability to rant! I will rise now from my soap box and go scrape the window I painted yesterday ( my only accomplishment yesterday). I might just use my outrage to start on the cabinets!! 

Sad

Been awhile since I have been on here to write. I have been lurking around, reading, but not commenting. I have been in a solitary state of mind. Really not wanting to talk to anyone. Works out good, since He Who is not at all uncomfortable with companionable silence. He usually can't hear me anyway .........

I have watched endless hours of TV and played spider solitaire until I can't move my thumbs. I would say that I don't know the reason for my melancholy, but that would be a lie. I miss my Dad. He comes alive nearly every night in my dreams, and I wake everyday to wait for bedtime. I have toyed with thoughts of upping my dosage of meds, but I take enough as it is. Not to mention the fact that I doubt my doctor would be too happy if I self medicated.

So, after a week of this, I decided to snap out of it. A couple of nights ago, He Who is not a cook, decided to do just that. Bacon and eggs, his cure- all meal. The bacon was in the freezer and I heard the microwave come to life. I decided to offer no advice, thinking that he had it all under control. I didn't even give a thought to the mess he would be leaving. I even fantasized that he would at least offer to clean it up.

I sat here in this very spot, watching a sit-com as the aroma of bacon wafted into the room. Smelled good for a few minutes, then I smelled burned bacon. Why do men think that everything should be cooked on the highest setting? I called out (bellowed, really) to turn the temperature on the burner down. I have told him this before, that cooking bacon should be a slow deliberate process. He scrambled eggs for me and toasted bread, and served me where I sat. He cooked another round of bacon and did not serve me the half raw, half burnt slices of his first batch. He even brought me a glass of ice water the way I like it ...... three cubes of ice covered with tap water.

I waited until morning before venturing forth into the kitchen. The only surface not grease splattered was the floor. This is not as amazing as you might think. Oscar's senses may be dull with age, but, bacon he can smell. He likes to stand at your feet and hope for grease splatter as you cook and he was not disappointed. Bet his tongue ached after he scrubbed the floor. I got a pan of hot soapy water and resigned myself to the task at hand. There were egg shells to deal with. Some he put in the trash, some he left on the counter. I even found some pieces on the top of the oven door! He tries. All one could ask for!

Today he took me on an outing. To WalMart to pick up some necessities. He even took me out to lunch. I am sad to say the food wasn't all that good. A Mexican restaurant that was bland. I am not a big fan of spicy foods, but this had me looking at the hot sauce on the table to add flavor! The meat in the taco salad was flavorless. A soft flour taco held the meat, some shredded lettuce, a dollop of sour cream, topped by two slices of tomato and some cheese. No spice on anything, not even salt and pepper.

Still nice to get out. It is  a dreary, drizzling day. Matches my mood. I learned yesterday that a long time blogging friend died two days ago. Sad things seem to follow me lately.