Living would be truly great if one didn't have to spend so much time just keeping things maintained. But such isn't the case. While the film festival was going on, we are also trying to maintain, and in some cases, even get ahead.
First issue was health. Our granddaughter shared her cold/cough with us when we saw her over Thanksgiving. It wasn't debilitating, but it sure was persistent. You can tell how the news infiltrates our minds by the metaphor I started using. My body is mostly back to normal, but there are still insurgents hiding, taking advantage of any weak points they can find. Fortunately for you, the Film Festival kept me too busy to do a post on phlegm.
Last week we had the plumber out because the upstairs thermostat wasn't working. He fixed that, but while he was here he noticed a leak in the new water heater that he installed in September. (It's good to have the same guy come out.) The good news is that it's tiny and not urgent so it doesn't have to be done immediately. The better news is that it's still under warranty for parts AND labor. It's good to have honest workers. He could have overlooked it, but he didn't.
While I was cleaning things up (what I do instead of looking for something, which always leads to frustration because I never find it; but if I clean up, I'll find other things and get something done even if I don't find what I was looking for), I found the notice we got from Subaru last July saying the passenger airbag on J's car needed to be replaced but they don't have the parts yet and will notify us when they do. It's almost six months now. What originally caught my attention was the part that said
So I called the number and asked why, almost six months later I hadn't gotten a new notice, that it's really a hassle not letting anyone sit in the passenger seat. He got me a name and number of the local Subaru dealer. The dealer set up an appointment for January (since it was going to take a week or more to get the part and we're headed out of town.) But they called back later that day, and today J took her car in and got the new airbag.
I picked up some copies of Peter Dunlap-Shohl's My Degeneration at Blue.Holloman gallery at 36th and Arctic, and I'll do a post on that book before too long. Peter's been blogging about his Parkinson's adventure for years now, rendering it something like a superhero comic book about fighting the forces of his disease. You can see parts of it at his blog Off and On: The Alaska Parkinson's Rag which I've had in my Alaska Blogs list on the right for a long time now. It's a great book for anyone with Parkinson's and probably better for the people around them, who are trying to figure out what's going on.
I bought a mouse trap. I'm calling it my No Kill - No Catch trap. There's a very cute mouse who's moved in and runs around the living room and kitchen, and sometimes goes downstairs. So far, I haven't had my camera handy when I've seen him and he moves pretty fast.
Every website about catching mice said to use peanut butter. We only had almond butter and maybe that's too healthy.
The closest I've gotten to capturing him on the camera are footprints in the snow. But I'm not really sure if these are mice or not or how he gets from outside to inside. Maybe he opens the sliding glass door to let his friends in when we're out.
I've been trying to spend at least 30 minutes a day going through the boxes I throw things in to clean up when company's coming. When they're in the boxes it seems easier to go through them and toss things or put other things where they belong. My mom's house is a great incentive to clean up here.
And I'm looking forward to 2016 because I bought this planner that appealed to my current mood.
For each week, it's got a page with the following categories:
I'll let you know how it works out.
[Sorry for reposting - more Feedburner problems]
First issue was health. Our granddaughter shared her cold/cough with us when we saw her over Thanksgiving. It wasn't debilitating, but it sure was persistent. You can tell how the news infiltrates our minds by the metaphor I started using. My body is mostly back to normal, but there are still insurgents hiding, taking advantage of any weak points they can find. Fortunately for you, the Film Festival kept me too busy to do a post on phlegm.
Last week we had the plumber out because the upstairs thermostat wasn't working. He fixed that, but while he was here he noticed a leak in the new water heater that he installed in September. (It's good to have the same guy come out.) The good news is that it's tiny and not urgent so it doesn't have to be done immediately. The better news is that it's still under warranty for parts AND labor. It's good to have honest workers. He could have overlooked it, but he didn't.
While I was cleaning things up (what I do instead of looking for something, which always leads to frustration because I never find it; but if I clean up, I'll find other things and get something done even if I don't find what I was looking for), I found the notice we got from Subaru last July saying the passenger airbag on J's car needed to be replaced but they don't have the parts yet and will notify us when they do. It's almost six months now. What originally caught my attention was the part that said
". . .the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death."
So I called the number and asked why, almost six months later I hadn't gotten a new notice, that it's really a hassle not letting anyone sit in the passenger seat. He got me a name and number of the local Subaru dealer. The dealer set up an appointment for January (since it was going to take a week or more to get the part and we're headed out of town.) But they called back later that day, and today J took her car in and got the new airbag.
I picked up some copies of Peter Dunlap-Shohl's My Degeneration at Blue.Holloman gallery at 36th and Arctic, and I'll do a post on that book before too long. Peter's been blogging about his Parkinson's adventure for years now, rendering it something like a superhero comic book about fighting the forces of his disease. You can see parts of it at his blog Off and On: The Alaska Parkinson's Rag which I've had in my Alaska Blogs list on the right for a long time now. It's a great book for anyone with Parkinson's and probably better for the people around them, who are trying to figure out what's going on.
I bought a mouse trap. I'm calling it my No Kill - No Catch trap. There's a very cute mouse who's moved in and runs around the living room and kitchen, and sometimes goes downstairs. So far, I haven't had my camera handy when I've seen him and he moves pretty fast.Every website about catching mice said to use peanut butter. We only had almond butter and maybe that's too healthy.
The closest I've gotten to capturing him on the camera are footprints in the snow. But I'm not really sure if these are mice or not or how he gets from outside to inside. Maybe he opens the sliding glass door to let his friends in when we're out.
I've been trying to spend at least 30 minutes a day going through the boxes I throw things in to clean up when company's coming. When they're in the boxes it seems easier to go through them and toss things or put other things where they belong. My mom's house is a great incentive to clean up here.
And I'm looking forward to 2016 because I bought this planner that appealed to my current mood.
For each week, it's got a page with the following categories:
- Things I have to do but that can wait a day, or two, or three ...
- Small things I have to do before I can do the big things I have to do
- Things I absolutely have to do unless I absolutely don't want to do them
- Things people have been bugging me to do for a really long time
I'll let you know how it works out.
Steve, so much to reply to in this post! But I'll get to the matter of your 'cute little mouse'.
ReplyDeleteA boy, huh? You should hope. But our 'cute little mouse' of two years ago became 3 soon enough and when we finally did have to declare an end to co-existence with our Wall B and B guests, we found that more had been living between the floors of the flat we live in and our neighbour above. Yikes.
And to think our mice have it so easy compared to toughing it in Alaska. No freezing temps, LOADS of seed foods throughout the year. Few if any predators in the sky and way too few fox who will bother chasing them for the rubbish easily obtained elsewhere -- why hunt when you can shop?
But peanut butter? Such an American reply. Really! It borders on some sort of cultural stereotype. (oops) But mice eat grains. I read this PB nonsense on the intertubes, too, and tried it with traps. Didn't work. Read up on the lives of mice. Gave them names (remember, started with one 'cute' mouse). Bargained with food left outside.
Finally, I had to recognise nature was running its course right over our lives and foodstuffs. I won't talk about the horrors of war here -- I know you have your fill of that in the states.
What I will say is best of luck to you. Follow your bliss as they will follow the life of ease as long as their little mousy lives may have it through your graciousness. I think it’s why they evolved to look so damn cute. They lived with us for thousands of years but unlike dogs and cats, we never really took to them – but they certainly did us.
Sadly, you will face what we yearning-to-be always Earth-hugging liberals must: our inner conservative 'take no hostages' primitive, alter-egos. I finally bit that bullet and am now, once more, in possession of a mouse-free home.
But, alas, nature indicates not for long...