I am glad you have your Perth memerabilia. Those paperweights are pretty.Quote:
Originally Posted by nswef
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I am glad you have your Perth memerabilia. Those paperweights are pretty.Quote:
Originally Posted by nswef
Got all my weekend chores done tonight except for a few loads of laundry. Wanted to have a relaxing two days off where it's not spent cleaning a good portion of each day. I even decorated a little for St Patrick's Day.
That’s great! I’ll do that sometimes, too!Quote:
Originally Posted by Klunick
Normally I will just do my boys' bathroom on Friday night but got on a roll and kept going. Would take breaks now and then to watch the hockey game on TV. It was somewhat enjoyable than powering through multiple chores to get done early afternoon so the entire day isn't spent cleaning.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tradd
My brown cat, disabled for several months, has completely healed. He now comes downstairs on the regular to hang out with us all. He is now more affectionate than he was even before his illness.
It remains a mystery what injury kept him lethargic for several months. Poor kitty, He just needed to heal on his own.
Here he is today, hanging out.
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Wow! That is so great!! Did you ever have any idea what his illness was from?Quote:
Originally Posted by iris lilies
My rave of the day is, I said no! This is like a kid telling her parent she went potty by herself.
The BIL saga continues.
Well, after 16 months of him doing very well at his job and never once asking us for a penny (even though he had to figure out how to make ends meet on a cashier's salary), he has had a stumble--some of it bad luck and some of it bad decisions. He got fired from his job. His hiring manager seems to have been very sympathetic and liked him, but she left and was replaced by a manager who either "had it out for him," or was not going to tolerate an employee undermining her. We suspect it was the latter. Simultaneously his landlord decided to change the apartment from a shared roommate situation into a single family apartment. So he also had no place to live That was the bad news.
The good news was that he got another job and room right away. Bad news is he didn't have an income for a couple of weeks in between and his unemployment for those weeks is mysteriously somewhere in the system, so he doesn't have money for rent for March. Plus he's sick as a dog--some respiratory illness and he was sent home from work yesterday so that's another day he won't be getting paid. He is freaking out that he is late with the rent--afraid the landlady will kick him out. We told him that she can't do that, and that any reasonable landlord will give a few days' grace given the circumstances.
But he was looking for us to cover the rent--$1500 (for a crappy basement room with several other people in the house.... housing is ridiculous here!!).
We said no. We promised him that we would never let him sleep on the streets or go hungry, but he has to deal with this on his own. I hope it works out for him, but we really can't afford to bail him out. I'm sure he doesn't understand that, but that's his problem. My son asked if we were going to offer him the camper for a few weeks, and we said no to that, too. My daughter and DH and I are joint owners of the camper. It's not ours to give away. Please pray (if you pray) that things do work out with his unemployment and room, and that he doesn't get fired again (I don't think he's doing too well at his latest job).
What a tough situation, Catherine! I am horrified at the rent he pays for a room in a basement, shared housing. Wow. Is he old enough for senior housing yet, and is he on a waiting list?
Our cat was under veterinary care, being treated for arthritic pain. That was not the problem as it turns out. He was under the weather for 6 months. It was probably a torn muscle or damaged disc.
catherine, I am so glad you said no to this current BIL crises.
Please read the movie reviews thread, I made a post for you.
Your BIL is very fortunate in that low level jobs are begging for workers.
Yes, being 61 he is eligible for senior housing and I have a call in to a nice place now (rents start at 1100) and am expecting a call back. He is in the queue for affordable housing, and he actually has a "in" of sorts--my son was on the board of the Burlington Housing Trust, but they, of course, are not allowed to favor anyone. The only thing they can is be aware that he is waiting (like everyone else.) They say it can take 2 years to get a place. That rent is, indeed unbelievable. He went to see a place out of town but 20 minutes from work. He said it looked abandoned. Black paint over some windows; no landscaping and grass and weeds growing wild. The studio he went to look at was so small that he didn't think he would even fit in the shower. But... he is actually reconsidering taking it at this point. It's $865. I am hoping he can get through the year OK. when he turns 62 in January, at least he'll have social security and he can continue to work, although that will reduce his SS a little.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tybee
The reduction is not that bad--I took it 63 and kept working, and they don't take away any of your social security until you hit the earnings level--for this year it is 22,320, and then for each 2 dollar you earn over that they take away 1 dollar in benefits, although you get them back at the end. Plus, if he years where he earned zero, they will replace those years with what he earned, meaning his social security will go up a little each year he works. Not much--mine went up something like 15-20 dollars a month. But it all helps.Quote:
Originally Posted by catherine
I agree - tough situation, catherine. Sending prayers.
Good luck, Catherine. I hope it works out for BIL, and congratulations for standing firm on not bailing him out. I'm sure that wasn't easy for you.
Made $30 on Facebook Marketplace by selling a tool for metalsmithing I hadn't used in a while. Dropped off some clothing to the consignment shop in town - not the greatest because they take 60% of the selling price, but it clears out my closet a little bit. Dropped off some still-pretty-nice expensive hiking boots back to REI that K. can't wear anymore. They'll take them as a trade, so he got $54 on his Co-op account to use for other things.
I'm going to do a minor repair on my cool little tent that I bought from REI about 8-9 years ago and post it on Facebook Marketplace. This is the same tent I took on all my summer trips out west before I moved to NM and it makes me a bit sad to let it go. In reality, I ceased to be able to crawl in and out of a pup tent several years ago. I just have to think of camping a different way now; someday we hope to get a small trailer to pull behind the pickup truck.
Wednesday night I "attended" a free Zoom webinar sponsored by Grow Native Massachusetts on "The Secret Life of Native Bees." The speaker was one of those delightfully geeky, brilliant, passionate people who has found his niche in life, and he was such an enthusiastic and engaging speaker that the time just flew by. It was a really excellent experience.
There is another webinar next week that unfortunately is not free, but given the quality of this week's webinar, I might just fork out the $38. Next week's topic is "Landscaping with Natives."
Sounds great, rosa! Nothing better than a good topic led by a passionate instructor. Last night DH and I went to the our local lake organization's headquarters where there was a presentation about the implications of phosphorous delivery into the lake by the tributaries during the summer 2023 floods. I definitely didn't expect to be entertained by that topic, but I was! And they served great home-made desserts, too!Quote:
Originally Posted by rosarugosa
Giving credit where credit is due:
The Chinamen!
I feel like I have stumbled into an alternate world where “Made in China” means top quality.
i have this new collecting hobby that I hate to confess to, but there it is. Anyway, I am currently buying Blythe doll clothes and accessories and the Made in China stuff is designed and sewn impeccably. The materials are real, not polyester and they are scaled down appropriately.
These items are cheap! The only downside is, I have to wait weeks for every shipment.
The shoes are splendid minatures. The shoes are to die for.This pair has a tiny pocket on the side that snaps shut with a tiny magnet closure. If you could smell these shoes you would smell real leather. They cost $8.
Attachment 5764
I fixed the dripping faucet in 15 minutes, replacing the spring and washer!!! Thrilled to have the materials and the tools necessary!!!
Woo hoo!
I admire you for this, I have no ability to do this.Quote:
Originally Posted by nswef
How are you with toilets? Ours has stopped being able to flush all the way and we have to resort to filling up a bucket from the tub and pouring it into the toilet to get everything to go down. We've checked everything we can outside at the septic system, and have plunged it and snaked it out to no avail. It seems to be a problem just past the the 3ft reach of the short snake and before the first part of the septic tank just outside the outer wall.
I hate that at this point we might have to hire a plumber to figure it out...
I only do faucet washer replacement!!!! All the rest of plumbing scares me!!!
No expert on toilets, but ours is balky sometimes. We have 2 and if one is flushed , the other is slower...the well pump might be the difference. Also if you have a stack coming out of the roof you might run a hose down it to see if it has a clog.
Does it flush ok using the bucket? Seems that would indicate that a blockage on the outflow isn't the problem, or at least not all of the problem. The water inlet between the tank and the toilet bowl may be plugged/limed shut. If not enough water is getting into the bowl fast enough, it won't work properly.
My thoughts exactly! It takes a certain amount of water to force waste past the bowls trap. If adding a bucket of water clears the bowl, the first place I'd investigate is the tank.Quote:
Originally Posted by early morning
I might suggest taking off the lid to the tank to see if there is water coming through the flexible fill line into the tank and if it shuts off too early before filling the tank to the right level. I really dislike plumbing problems, but a fill valve kit and flapper are not that hard to replace and not very expensive. Another possibility would be to turn the shutoff valve off, disconnect the fill line from the tank, then turn the water back on to make sure there isn't a plug further upstream of the tank itself. My amateur guess of things. UTube is my friend for adjusting and/or replacing the fill valve kit.
But yes, the tank needs to fill to the appropriate level to clear the bowl and that's a place I'd look and easy to check if you haven't already.
Shout out to my husband who got a tooth extracted yesterday and didn't act like a baby when he got home. :cool: We all know how men can act when they don't feel well. Like they are on their deathbeds. My husband was a big boy about the whole thing. I didn't even have to make him a special dinner last night. What we were having was soft enough that he could eat it without any complications.
I'm impressed he could eat anything! I had two broken teeth extracted recently and I think it was about 3 days before I could eat anything remotely dinnerish!Quote:
Originally Posted by Klunick
I was too, actually. Figured ice cream for dinner was on tap. He took some OTC pain meds and seemed to do the trick.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tybee
Our friend who does home maintenance repairs came over today to check out the toilet - we started ruling out all sorts of different scenarios and looked at some YouTube videos; it was ascertained that there was an incomplete clog somewhere between the toilet inside and the flush out pipe just outside the outer wall. In a house like ours (hand-built 25 years ago by a guy in his twenties who LOVED to use recycled materials), things like how he set up the plumbing can be pretty unorthodox. Other weird things like the vent pipe to the outside is pretty wonky with a 90-degree turn to go out the wall (instead of a straight shot up to the roof) that has no screen to prevent a bird from getting in there... Plus an entire new fancy complicated septic system was installed just before we bought the house makes diagnosing things not as straight forward as it would be in a suburban neighborhood.
Anyway, it cost us a whopping (ha!) $80, lol. I love employing our local handy people - getting a plumbing company out here would have cost a couple hundred dollars, I'm sure.
Way to go, Siouz!
Glad you got it fixed!
This is not a rave exactly it’s just funny:
This morning, DH got a call from someone in our old neighborhood asking about how to turn on the water for the community garden there. DH was once in charge of the irrigation system, but hasn’t had responsibility for it for several years now.
But here is what’s funny: the guy who called is the former water commissioner for the city of St. Louis.
That is indeed amusing, IL.
I earned a little money this week, for the first time in months. I manned my friend's little bead store in our village for 5 hours yesterday (I have no idea if any of you remember, but I used to manage a bead store for nine years long ago back in Michigan, so it's a no-brainer pick-up job for me). I was about 2.5 hours in when it started to hurt there sitting - her chair is better than the one at my old job, but not great. By four hours in it was pretty painful and difficult to make it through until 5pm, but I did it. I told her this morning I could do some half days if she needed to leave and pick up her son, or possibly just one day per week. We'll see what happens - I have a lot of doctor appointments coming up to find out what sort of treatment/surgery is in the cards for me. The best time of the day for me is from around 10-2pm, and after that, I'm toast.
Then this morning I did an on-line Zoom focus group for the jury selection process for a court case coming up in a different county. It was the second time I've ever done this, but the first time doing it via Zoom. It was really interesting, and I made $125 for 3 hours of my time! I will look for more opportunities like this. Meanwhile, my disbility case is being reviewed by Social Security. All I need to do at this point is send all my medical notes/clinic documents to my law firm and wait.
Lots going on, SiouzQ! Congrats on being able to work a bit and good luck with all the medical stuff!!!! Thanks for keeping us updated!
Giving a positive shout-out to the individual at work that handles insurances, etc. Went for a meeting yesterday to cover re-enrollment forms (had some changes) and, while there, was given additional information on things to do to prep for retirement! Should get my new little to-do list done this weekend. Hardest part is going to pick an actual date, as they need/want to know that several months in advance.
retirement on the horizon!!! Yay!Quote:
Originally Posted by happystuff
Woot!Quote:
Originally Posted by happystuff
Nice, happystuff!! There's nothing like having a check-off list with a firm end game in mind!! Congrats!