New Blog

 Despite my utter frustration with Blogger, I posted my very first post on my new blog: "Mountain Mama's Point Of View" Go check it out .... it has pictures!! 

Mountain Mama's Point Of View (mountainmamasview.blogspot.com)

Being In Charge

 Cujo here. I suppose everyone knows we have moved by now. Us dogs are happy to be here. This house is not very big, and I can see Mom from every room! Except the bathroom, that is. 

Us dogs are not allowed in the bathroom. I say that we are not allowed, but the day that man came from Dish to set up the TV's, Mom put all of us in the bathroom! She had to move the cat litter and all its alluring treats, as well as the cat food. She did give each of us dogs a treat, though. Mr. BoJangles took his in the bathtub. That left more room for the rest of us. Mom says the bathroom is a one-person room, but that is as it should be. 

Us dogs were happy to have TV again. Did you know there is a channel just for dogs? There is. Maybe Mom should have turned it on before she left us yesterday ......

Yesterday started out fine. Bo woke Mom at our usual time, and she shuffled to the door with us dogs in her slippers. She let us out onto the porch, and we all ran to the door to our yard. It was closed!! Bo barked for Mom's assistance, but she must have been busy making coffee. She always makes coffee first thing.

We all had to empty our bladders (a nice way to say we had to pee) and even though we all started barking, nobody came to open the door. We all peed on the porch, then went to the house door to go in. I was hoping my pee would dry before Mom discovered it. I peed on a nice-looking cardboard box. Eddie peed on some plants that were looking dead, and Bo did his business on the rug by the house door.

Mom didn't even notice. She was too busy drinking coffee and typing on her computer. This is our "quiet time". No TV, just coffee, and the sound of Mom's fingers tapping away. She will stop and read from time to time and rest her hand on my sweet head.

Quiet time is over as soon as HeWho is our Dad's feet hit the floor. He is a loud person! Even his sighs are loud. He sneezes, coughs and manages to bump things around and the quiet peace of the morning is gone until the next morning! He reminded Mom of the appointment at the bank with someone called a financial advisor. Mom told him that she remembered, and she headed off to have a shower in the one-person room.

When she got out, she asked us dogs if we needed to go outside. Toni did for sure, since HeWho is forgetful had not let her out. Mom opened the door and we all scrambled out. Mom came out the door and she saw the issue with the door to our yard. She scolded HeWho is our Dad. He was the one who failed to open it after he let Martha, the boy cat back inside. Martha is only allowed to roam the porch unless Mom and HeWho is our Dad are out in the yard. 

After she got through chastising HeWho left the door closed, she began an investigation. Uh-oh, us dogs were about to get in trouble. She saw that box I peed on and she immediately ripped it open and took the towels that were packed inside out. She examined the interior of the box and was happy to see that my pee had not penetrated the inside. As happy as that made me, I knew I still had to answer for peeing on the box. She found all the pees and a poop (not mine!!). She cleaned it all up and then she called us dogs in.

I told the others to prepare for a scolding. We were delighted when she scolded HeWho is our Dad instead! Now that I think about it, it was all his fault after all. She even asked him what he thought us dogs should have done. Mom was right! Of course, that did not apply to the entire day ...

It was my turn to be in charge. Mom announced this as they went out the door and to the car. She reminded all of us to behave. The gates were up at the bathroom and bedroom doors and it was nap time for dogs. Bo had different ideas. Toni Louise was only too willing to follow Bo's lead. They took the rug from in front of the door and used it to slide down the hallway. They did this over and over again until they loosened the gate at the bedroom door! I swear to you that Eddie and I had no part in their shenanigans.

Since the bedroom was accessible, I decided it would be a good idea to go in and hide. I know I was supposed to be in charge, but let's face it, I had already failed! Eddie stayed and hung out on the couch, watching the two miscreants run wild. Martha hid under the table to reach out and grab at them as the slid down the hall. Martha is annoying with this game he plays. While the others have nice thick fur, mine is sleek and he will manage to sink his claws into my flesh. It hurts!

I hid under the bed at the end were the covers met the floor. I kept hoping to hear the car come into the drive, but they were gone a long, long time and since I had eaten some dog food, I felt the call of Mother Nature. I had to go, so I pooped on the floor on HeWho is our Dad's, side of the bed. I had to, what else should I have done? I was not going back into the mayhem in the living room!

Apparently, Bo was hit with the call from Mother Nature. But he chose the couch for his relief! OH NO, I was left in charge, and it was MY fault for hiding in the bedroom. I could have directed him to the floor at least. When I discovered this after deciding to come out from under the bed and check on my charges, I wanted to cry! I just retired to my hiding place until I finally heard the crunch of tires and slowly made my way to the door.

Mom was not happy. She looked at me, but I could not meet her eyes. She told me how disappointed she was. I hung my head so low it touched the floor. She went about the business of cleaning up. She scolded Bo. How did know know it was Bo? Are there cameras in here that I don't know about? I think she may have eyes in the back of her head sometimes. She always knows who the culprit is.

I plan to be a better dog today! Mom made sure the door to our yard was open this morning and we are now cuddled against her on the couch. She assured me that she had no plans to leave here today, that is a relief, even though I would not be in charge two days in a row! Toni Louise is up next. She is pretty lazy and just watches all of us do whatever we want. She is not really a good choice to leave in charge of anything. Mom gives us all equal turns, though. Now that I think about it, she has never left Martha, the boy cat in charge, though. I wonder about that.

Guaranteed

 Guaranteed, what does that mean? I thought I knew what it meant, but I must be wrong. When HeWho ordered the new legs for my bed, they emailed him and guaranteed delivery on Monday, 2/7/22.

That is today! I woke this morning full of optimism. I was going to sleep in my bed tonight! All day long I waited to hear a UPS truck, or a Fed-X truck, or the USPS carrier with my package containing my bed legs. 

Not only did the package fail to arrive, HeWho likes to order stuff got another email. The new email guarantees arrival between 2/14/22 and 3/2/22. That is a wide window!

So, I ask you, which guarantee should I choose?

Heady With Anticipation

 Every day is like a surprise as I open unlabeled boxes. Not necessarily good surprises. Just so you know, 400 square feet is not a lot of space.

The bedroom will not be a challenge for storage as soon as I get my bed legs (should be tomorrow). A bank of 6 drawers under the bed will take all the overflow of seasonal clothes. The bathroom is a challenge!

The bathroom would appear to have lots of storage. The toilet sits at an angle with a corner cabinet above it. I was able to fit the litter box almost behind the toilet, nice and tucked away. But the cabinet is not deep enough to hold towels unless you get really creative with folding them. I ended up using an old CocaCola crate for the overflow of towels on the counter behind the toilet. Cleaning products and dog shampoo filled the cabinet under the sink, but the dog towels have no home.

The kitchen is the biggest challenge. The "pantry" is only 9" deep. I can work with that, but my cereal canisters will not fit. There is a cabinet above the fridge, but it is not tall enough to accommodate much and I need a step stool to access it. There is a space above that (ceilings are vaulted) and I was going to use baskets up there to store things I don't use very often, but the depth of the cabinet does not cover the entire space and my baskets want to fall behind the cabinet and onto the top of the fridge.

I will remedy that with a shelf .... one day soon. The cabinets in the kitchen are not wide enough for my pots and pans. There is one of those ugly light diffusers, it has gold metal straps holding the opaque panels in place. I looked under them and the florescent lights are ugly with wiring running on top of the finished ceiling. I want to eliminate the light diffuser and the lighting. I want to replace it with something more appealing to the eye and then be able to make use of the wasted space above the cabinets. There is 21" up there! Boxes, baskets, or bins can house whatever my heart desires to go up there. 

HeWho just looks at me and nods when I tell him these things! Then he reminds me that he is retired, and I told him I could make this work. I did say that, but I never said he wouldn't be put to work to make it work. 

The repairman for the washer said he would call with a time next week. The laundromat experience is really not for me! The place was clean and very busy. I remember when we put the new machines in the campground, and everyone went nuts over the $1.50 rate. You would have thought we were robbing them! A load of laundry, just a regular normal sized load was $3.50!! One must always remember how thrifty I am. I washed three loads of towels and clothes. I left the blankets and bedding the dogs vomited on here. They did not have one of those giant washers that would hold 4 loads there. All of the bedding is king sized and would involve many loads. It can wait outside on the porch for the washer to be repaired.

Our new address is an issue with shipping from Walmart. I am now waiting for a call to help me change my address in my account. I had my order all set to go, having found some space saving devices for the kitchen and their site will not recognize our new address. The person who initially called back could not get it done and now I wait. 

The day is sunny and still a little too chilly to tackle more boxes, but I should have a nice three-hour window of temps in the upper 40's later today. I can get a lot done in that amount of time. I need to find a place to store the queen bed we are sleeping on. As soon as those bed legs show up, I will be stripping that bed and moving it to its new home. I am heady with anticipation!!

Tech Support

 After another night in a queen bed, we set out to find the Verizon store to change our service from Sprint. I had my list at the ready. First the phones, then the Sears appliance store for a repairman to come out to fix my washer, another tale for another day. Then to Walmart to get a new router, a new litter box, a scratching post, and a few groceries. Most important was something for my raw hands. 

We have not had a lot of time to explore our surroundings, but I can navigate pretty well without Siri. HeWho cannot. He tells me that the Verizon store is in Murphy on the Blairsville highway. I said that I knew where that was, we passed it on our way here. 

Still, he relied on Siri. Had he supplied me the the street address I would have known which way to turn onto Highway 19. The address had NORTH right there in the address. But we turned SOUTH towards Blairsville. We rode on and on and then Siri proclaimed us to be there. We were not, we were out in the middle of nowhere. I told him we probably needed to be on the NORTH highway, but he kept circling back, like the store would suddenly appear. Then he changed to Google and it took us to the county social services building. 

Finally, he listened to the voice of reason (me, that is me) and we went onto the NORTH side and drove right to it. There is it was right next to a Walmart, and we passed a Sears appliance store. After the long visit to change our phones, we ate at a little place with hand patted burgers, then accomplished the rest of our chores for the day.

HeWho eagerly opened the router and was all set to get the Wi-Fi set up. It asked for a password, and none was supplied. He was flummoxed. He went on to finish getting the TV in the living room mounted to be ready for the Dish guy today.

This morning he called tech support, on speaker, as usual. This lets me tell him what he doesn't hear clearly. The man did not have a good grasp of our language and HeWho was very impatient, on the edge of insulting. He hung up on the man. Then I had to call Humana and tell them I lost my ID card. That call took over 35 minutes to change our address and order our refills, to be chastised for not ordering sooner and to explain to two different departments that we had moved and that is why I needed to change the address. 

I was in a foul mood myself when I finally completed my task. HeWho told me to calm down! At least I didn't hang up on the people I was talking to. I suggested he call the number for tech support again and listened as the nice man (I think it was the same man he hung up on!) walk him through setting it up. The man kept thanking him for his patience and every time HeWho managed to complete a step, the man praised him and told him what a good job he was doing. I had to remove myself from the room to laugh. 

We have Wi-Fi, and TV! We still have a mountain of boxes on the porch that fell over after HeWho was digging around and I still do not have MY BED!!

Pain and Suffering

 So, much has happened here in the past two days. I will be changing my blog to a different name soon, but, in the meantime .....

The internet is available through the electric company. Sounded strange to me, too. The wiring and hook ups were already in place, so no one had to come out. HeWho knows everything said we already had a router that should work. It didn't. The only way to get online was to sit in a corner near the actual hook-up and plug in manually. I wasn't thrilled about that set up. At the end of a long day, the last thing I want to do is sit in an uncomfortable chair and contort myself to be able to see the screen on my laptop.

Tuesday was not a day we could leave and go get a new router. Tuesday was the day the movers were bringing the truck filled with our belongings. I was supposed to be in my own bed Tuesday night. Monday the driver of the truck holding our stuff called to verify his arrival and such. He mentioned that he was driving a 53' semi. HeWho had made all the arrangements had made quite clear to the person putting this move together that a large truck would NOT make it down the sloping driveway on the side of this mountain. I know he did because I heard him, and the broker discuss this on the phone. He was assured that a 26' truck would be in use. Having already made two trips with loads of various belongings, the 26' truck would hold everything.

Based on everything the broker was told he quoted an estimate of $8,000. This was to include loading, dismantling the furniture as necessary and putting those pieces back together and moving all the boxes and other stuff as directed by the owner (me, that would be me). The movers came a day early to load, were in such a hurry that they forgot some things entirely and left one leg and a mattress support from my bed laying on the floor of the bedroom.

I was not happy with the service at all. I was even less happy when they called to say that we had gone over the cubic feet reserved and that bill was now over $10,000. The stuff still fit within the confines of the 26' truck. The crew that loaded took our belongings to Chicago and off loaded it onto another truck. This would be the 53' semi. I am assuming they were putting another load on with ours. Certainly their prerogative, as long as they keep in mind that our stuff would have to be off loaded to a 26' truck for delivery.

Delivery was set up for the Friday after the loading. One week. We arrived on Thursday. Movers called and delayed delivery until Saturday through Tuesday. We were okay with that since we had the flatbed trailer and the very full RV to unload. I made the unload area for the movers accessible and worked around it as I unloaded stuff. I made a rule to never go out and come back in empty handed. HeWho immediately broke my rule, preferring to make several trips for one item, then forgetting it because he saw something else and focused on that and would bring that single item in and go back for the original item he was supposed to be bringing.

HeWho can be quite entertaining, if predictable. When the call came Monday that our belongings were in a semi and the driver told him it would be an additional $1500 to put in a Uhaul and bring it to us, that temper that is so hard to ignite flashed bright! He called the moving company and yelled at them for a while, then the broker and left a message that was not nice. Nothing to do but to go get another money order or not get MY BED! 

The driver gave HeWho an address to meet him and give him the money BEFORE they would even consider offloading the truck. I get it, they didn't want to be ripped off, but neither did I. HeWho got lost and it took him an hour and a half to find them. He uses the GPS and sometimes if defies logic, but he will follow it no matter what.

When he finally found them (having passed the very place they were in his efforts to locate them), they were stuck in the mud, making the guy who owned that particular Uhaul place quite unhappy and then insisted that HeWho bring both money orders, which he did much to his wife's dismay. 

Then we waited and waited. It was a lovely day in with temps in the 50's. I was going to secure the canines in their yard and Martha, the boy cat in the bathroom while they unloaded. The temperature drops dramatically as the sun sets. This is when two men and a Uhaul show up.  No careful placing items where I told them to, it was a rush to dump the stuff as fast as they could. 

When they finally go to my bed, I presented them with the forgotten parts. Nowhere could they find the other 5 legs to my bed. The one man who spoke English told me he was sorry and suggested we simply put the bed on the floor. I vetoed that idea right away. It is an adjustable bed. The motors that raise the head and foot of the bed could not just sit on the floor. I had remained relatively calm until then. I went a little crazy then. I wanted MY BED! I have been sleeping on the edge of the queen bed with barely enough room to lay on one side, much less my back. 

I told the nice young man from Russia just how disappointed I was to have spent almost $12000 for a service that was shoddy at best. The estimate was way off, then to have to pay extra for their mistake was bad enough, but the fact that I was not going to be in MY BED was more than I could take!! And, furthermore, I am retired and have lots of time on my hands. I will be calling that moving company EVERY day, three times a day, until I get MY BED.

I really love that bed. I was so unhappy to have to set this queen bed back up and crawl into it with the 4 dogs and the fat cat. I think they should refund that $1500 I had to pay because someone failed to pay attention to detail and do their job. I also think they should have to pay the cost of replacing the parts to my bed. AND ... pain and suffering!

Home, Sweet Home

 I have internet!!!! This is so exciting, you have no idea. No TV service yet, depending on the internet connection to work. We have been listening to the radio. The entire home has speakers and the radio follows you from room to room. So, unlike the Waltons, we have yet to gather our chairs close to the radio.

Nights here are quiet, very still and quiet. HeWho swears he cannot sleep without the sound of a fan did just that the first two nights. I know I could have easily brought one inside but wanted to see just how long he would be able to do without it.

When we moved to the kampground 18 years ago, I sold as much of our furniture and big items as I could, knowing the living quarters were about 950 square feet and our house was several times more than that. Four levels and 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms. We went to 2 small bedrooms and 1 bath, Even though I had downsized our belongings, it was still hard to cram everything into the "house". But, cram, I did! 

So now we are in 400 square feet. HeWho has declared that there will be no additions. I laugh at that; we all know I will get whatever it is I want! Within reason and I am nothing if not reasonable. 

I have been slowly unloading and can't seem to find enough kitchen space. All the dishes currently in the cabinets had to be washed, since we didn't have water hooked up when we brought that load before. I have managed to put everything I unloaded away, and it has all been washed. My poor hands are so raw. they throb at night.

I immediately familiarized myself with the new washer, since I had four loads of dog vomit to deal with. I did a washer clean to get all the antifreeze out of the washer. Worked just fine and I tossed a load of our clothes in, ready for a day of laundry around unpacking. The first load was done and I put that load in the dryer and put another load in the washer, following all the steps carefully. Turned both machines on and went about my business of unpacking.

I heard the dryer buzzer and pulled that load out to fold ....... (sound of screeching brakes) discovered an error message on the washer. Searched to see if I could locate a service manual, couldn't and thought I would just look online. No Wi-Fi. A text to my go-to bestie and she looked it up. We spent all day draining the washer and then tried to "rinse and spin". Three times. It is the pump. I had to wring out that load by hand and let it drip outside before getting somewhat dryer, I just tossed the last of that load in the dryer.

The moving truck will be here tomorrow. A later post about that particular nightmare. I have readied the 400 square feet to receive the rest of my belongings. I am so excited to have my bed back in my life!

Dora, the adorable turtle has her appetite back and seems to love her new surroundings with so much light pouring in from all the windows. She has graduated from baby reptile food to big turtle food. She loves mealworms and tiny dried shrimp. She is currently on the kitchen counter and has been watching me cook and clean up. You all may think I am a bit wacko about this turtle, but I promise you, she has quite a personality. She will stretch her neck to follow my movements with her eyes. She likes to sit in the palm of my hand for a walk about to see everything. She will stick her neck out to be stroked and look straight into my eyes when I talk to her.

Martha, the boy cat, was the one I was really concerned about. He rode in the bed and was unconcerned about all the stops, did not try even once to get out. Upon arrival here, he headed straight inside to find his food and litter box in the bathroom. Mr. BoJangles did accompany Martha out to the fenced in dog yard. Martha easily scaled the 6' privacy fence in Missouri and this new fence is only 5'. He walked around and sniffed the air, then came back inside. It had snowed and he tip-toed through the white stuff. He seemed to be unimpressed. Today was quite nice out and he spent a good bit of time on the screened porch, exploring his new digs, then sauntered back in. 

The dogs, of course, already knew this new place, so were just happy to be here. I think they sense my contentment and take it from there.