Caffeine addicted MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
101

Holy cow.

Are there any programs out your way that help with energy bills or weather proofing?

My BFF just texted me to say that she has been told she has a “late start” tomorrow. She is due in at 10 instead of 8am. This allows the state to wait until morning to decide if the few people who don’t WFH really have to come to the office. It also means that BFF has to give up two hours of PTO or make the time up before Thursday.

I am so fucking happy I am retired and don’t have to put up with that shit anymore.

Back when we were young, we did much more grubbing around in the dirt for food and always had way too much, so about 25 years ago his folks bought us a food dehydrator for Christmas. We used it a few times and then carefully boxed it up and put it away until we needed it again.

While we were decluttering to move here, I wanted to get rid of it, but hubs insisted that we needed it.

He was right. Now that he is crushing his own grain to make beer just like the cavemen did, I needed a way to dry the spent grain so I could use it for bird food.

I remembered the dehydrator and he found it. Hurray for team effort! The yard flock will continue to be fed. I’m going to have to start growing sunflowers as well, black sunflower seeds have gotten almost as expensive as eggs.

102

Hello, Mumpers. Spoiler alert: it was a crappy day.

I went to the eye clinic for the appointment with the retinal surgeon. They ran tests. Then the doc came in and said she can’t help me. She doesn’t think this surgery would do any good, and the risks are too great. I hate eye surgeries, but a chance something could help gets my stupid hopes up. However, I was a big girl and did not cry.

So I walked, took the bus, and walked home. Got in the door and went to free my phone from my purse…and it wasn’t there. I searched. So I retraced my steps downtown (1.75 miles) and asked at the bus terminal. Nobody turned it in, and the kind rep said, “I’d hope you DIDN’T lose it on the bus, as then your odds of getting it back are really bad.” I searched a bus that went on the same route mine did, but nada. Two nice men helped me. I went to the mall and bought a new phone. I have a protection plan, but it turns out you have to submit a claim and then Verizon sends you a new phone. I can’t NOT have a phone, so I popped for a new one. Luckily, all my stuff transferred over.

I now have the sweet dog I’m sitting here to comfort me. Her person said someone else asked her if I’d be available to dogsit Apparently, reliable dogsitters are hard to come by. We’ll see, I guess.

JtC and everyone who needs a good chuckle over an, um, not-too-bright animal… My DIL sent me a photo of their under-brained border collie. They put up a gate to keep the dogs out of the kitchen/living room at night. Yesterday morning, they pushed it open. The dog lay in front of the closed half of the gate waiting for the already-open gate to…open. He watched the other dog walk into the living room and back out, and it still didn’t dawn on him that THE GATE WAS OPEN. He is the GG of the dog world and has single-handedly lowered the breed’s average IQ by double digits.

FCM, that’s a shame that FCD feels guilty enough to deprive himself of his share. I’m sure his dad wouldn’t want that, despite FCD’s belief. It’s too bad his mom can’t see that. However, kudos to you for having the wisdom to stay mum.

swampy, glad Pancake night was a roaring success.

Taters and flyboy, I lost internet for awhile, but luckily the power stayed on. God bless all utility workers!

Boo, stay safe and snug at home, and I hope your power stays on. If driving is bad, I’m sure your students would understand if you cancel class.

I understand. My sister used to work on one of the higher floors of the Sears Tower. A container of paper clips on the left side of her desk would be on the right side by the end of the day without her moving it. I never understood this. Maybe the building only swayed to the right?

doggio, has your subconscious seen Saving Private Ryan too many times?

103

I hope so too. I have a medium sized O2 tank for emergencies that would last about 6 hours, plus my portable O2 concentrator would last about 10 hours (and I make a point to keep it always charged) if my power goes out, so I have about 16 hours if the electricity goes. I can always head over to my daughter’s if an outage looks to be long lasting. She lives in a newer neighborhood where the lines are all underground so she’s much less likely to be without power long.

I canceled last Friday’s class when we were still digging out from the biggest snow we had had in over 2 years. No way I was digging out my car from behind the banks of snow the plows had made, only to slip and slide on iffy streets. My students are from India, Iraq and Afghanistan and I wasn’t about to imply that I expected them to wade through that mess either. Most of them had kids at home who were out of school anyway. 5 years ago I might have dug myself out but not wearing O2. Nope, not gonna unless it’s my grandbabies that need me. I have standards! Grandma-ing. Yes, move heaven and earth. Volunteer teaching? only if it is less than a couple of inches and traffic is moving well.

I looked into some kind of relief for the almost tripled natural gas costs since last year but since it is happening to everyone, there isn’t anything. The gas company has a monopoly from the state, they can get away with anything. It is even a new high efficiency furnace, installed last January. Imagine if it was the old one.

Somebody come along with something chipper~I’m depressing myself.

104

Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to heave.

“Ash Wednesday”

:open_mouth:
That’s 2 months of winter gas for me.

Apparently so.

{{{{nellie}}}}

105

Morning, mumpers! It’s 8c/46f with little predicted change today and mostly cloudy. Weather app says “For fuck’s sake, what’s up with all of these fucking clouds?”

{{{{{nellie}}}}}

Boo heating costs are astronomical at the moment! Ours has shot up massively and that’s with turning radiators down, keeping the curtains closed most of the time, and reducing usage as much as we can.

I have read but retained very little because I have many things going round in my head. Just had an email inviting me to an interview next week for the 4-month secondment that I applied for so that’s something else I need to put on my to-do list as it’ll need some prep work.

My car’s going in for it’s yearly garage visit tomorrow so I will need to be up early for that. I stupidly booked it in for 8.30am which means dropping it off 10 minutes beforehand. The garage is about 10 minutes drive from home so hopefully the local roads won’t be too congested. The schools are on holiday this week so at least I don’t have to deal with the ridiculous number of kids who have to be driven to school from 30 yards away. I’ll get a nice half-hour walk home though, that will be nice.

Right, better get another cup of tea and do some of what I apparently get paid to do!

106

Good morning. I hope it is, anyway.

Yes. I’m somewhat addicted to caffeine. I get a little stabby without my morning coffee. Otherwise, I get it during the day with unsweetened iced tea, and Coke Zero. Meh. It works.

So, we went to Indy (St. Vincent’s Cardiac Center) on Monday, so my husband could get an MRI for his heart. They told him that they don’t do this kind of test in our area (Terre Haute), anymore. I don’t understand that. But, whatever. His cardiologist said that this will tell him if hubs can have open heart surgery, or not. He said right now, he doesn’t think he’ll wake up, if they try to stop/restart his heart. Soooo, I’m a wreck. Hubs isn’t. It’s a wonder I’m not layin’ drunk 24/7, at this point. I’m stressed. Damnit.
I worry sick about him. I’d be absolutely lost without him, I know that much. Fuck, though.
Anyway, he’ll get the results at some point. His ‘consultation’ is on March 6th. They said they don’t know if the results will be in by then, or not.
If he has to get a pacemaker/defib/whatever, he’ll no longer be able to drive a truck. So, he’ll have to find something else to do, since he doubts that he can sit around home, and do nothing. That’s a worry, too. Always something.

We did stop at Firehouse Subs in Indy, since we were there. Talk about tasty! I had the Italian. Daaaang. So good! Of course, I was hungry, too. Ha!

Today, my agenda includes laundry, dishes. The roll-sucking can wait until tomorrow. I’m just not feelin’ any of this crap. Ugh.

I think I heard thunder! That’s always welcome! All the good stuff is to the north of me, which is a shame. Oh, well.

Have a great day, everyone. I wish you all the very best!

107

I don’t get the hate for folding fitted sheets - it seems pretty straightforward to me. Altho I admit the jersey sheets (like t-shirt material) are a pain in the patoot, whether fitted or flat because they stretch regardless. I mostly do mine this way, except I don’t lay them down - especially when I’m folding them right off the line. Maybe I just have mad sheet-folding skillz?

Finger food? Sammiches? Lots of plate-licking??

Our electric co-op here is amazing that way. In the almost 19 years we’ve lived here, the worst power outage was roughly 48 hours following a hurricane. Thankfully, it was in summer, so we didn’t freeze. Most outages last maybe a few hours, and they don’t happen very often at all.

We managed to get our oil tank filled in a brief period where heating oil dipped a little in price. It was still marginally obscene, but it should be good for 2-3 seasons, as we use the pellet stove and fireplace a lot. Plus we’ll pull out an afghan while watching TV if it feels chilly. All that knitting and crocheting came in handy!

Winter has returned - temps in the 30s this morning - but tomorrow it’s supposed to top 80! It’s also forecast to be overcast and chilly all day today, so no playground. I’ll just take the kids to their house and wait for their mom.

FCD has an appt on Moanday to see a grief counselor. Last week, a letter came from hospice with contact information - they sure know their “customer” base - and I urged him to go. He’s nervous about it but I’m hoping they can help him sort out his guilt.

I still keep in touch with my last boss from my gummint job - he’s retired now and was having a house built in Myrtle Beach. Apparently the builders screwed things up and he wasn’t happy with their recommended fix. But lawyers down there told him the way the law was written, building contractors are pretty much untouchable. So he ended up taking a $30K loss, and he’s staying in Fredericksburg. OUCH!! On the plus side, I’m hoping we’ll be able to get together again. We’ve been saying that for at least 2 years…

I should probably toddle down to the basement and get a fire going so it’s comfy when the kid gets here. Or empty the dishwasher. Or scoop the cat box. Yep, I should.

Happy Wednesday!

108

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 66 Amurrkin out and cloudy with a predicted high of 81 and mostly cloudy for the day. We shall procure comestibles this mornin’ and then get some fish ‘n chips from Long John’s Silver, this bein’ Ash Wednesday, which means eat fish. I’m not big on give ups for Lent, but we do try to do a couple of meatless days a week. I shall betake myself over to the church house around five p.m. to get stuff ready for the Ash Wednesday service at six p.m. OYKW will show up for the service. Whilst there I shall also take care of whatever else needs to be done before Sunday so’s I don’t have to go back again.

Nellie sorry about your phone and the crappy day. Here’s hopin’ for a much better day today.

{{{Ace}}} hope the docs figure out what to do for hubs soonest and if he can no longer drive a truck, here’s hopin’ he finds another gig soonest.

Everyone in the path of nasty storms stay safe!

Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, bother of bothers, I suppose I must needs purtify and don attire appropriate for bein’ amongst the great unwashed. This will be four days in a row I’ve had to do this. Life is bein’ so mean to me this week!

Happy Hump Day Y’all. A Blessed and Holy Lent to all who observe.

109

They’ve always had the option of delivered meals, and now, at least temporarily, it will be the norm. At this place, you’re charged by the meal (except breakfast, which is free), and have to place your order ahead of time so that food doesn’t get wasted.

Pretty nasty outside this morning: snowing and blowing and the worst is yet to come.

110

My mad troubleshooting skillz solved the mystery of the silent keyboard. There’s an on/off button on the back of the big speaker. Go me!!

Tobias and I are having basement time with Sesame Street. Good times!

111

Morning all. Woke up and put the sheets in the washer, they should be finished shortly and then do the Great Monthly Grocery Shopping trip (for the rest of Feb and March) this morning. Not much else on the agenda for today, so may try to work the swimmin’-n-sauna in before the 2pm soccer games. Heading for 78F so the gas bill (mine is $140 for this month) should get a rest.

Good luck to all the folks in bad weather’s path.

{{{nellie}}}. Did your lost phone have a lockout code?

Happy Ash Wednesday swampy

{{{ace}}}, best wishes for husband-unit.

boo fae, hope the car is still healthy. I took mine to the dealer last time, they provided a ride home but I had to Uber my way back (about 14 miles). Glad you’re in walking distance.

{{{BBBoo}}}, hope the power stays on; like your daughter my lines are buried so I’m relatively safe from problems (of course, when a tornado knocks a couple high-tension lines down…

JtC, life ain’t always fair, but you’ve done quite a good job in making the best of it, IMHO. Good luck with the weather.

OK, need to take sheets out of the dryer, double-check the shopping list and make myself appropriate for being seen by others at Kroger. All y’all take care.

112

Our propane bill has been running over $200/month, and the electricity bill has been running around $200/month or more. SWMBO keeps turning up the furnace (sometimes even to 80º – she just turns it up if it isn’t blowing) and insists on keeping a space heater running in the bathroom. I turn the furnace down to 68º when she leaves, and turn the space heater down to a lower setting. At least she sometimes remembers to turn the furnace down to 60º before she goes to bed. (I do, when she goes to bed before me.)

113

Reasonably long heaving today. I had a couple of supervisors asking about misssorts.Short answer, if the driver knows a business has moved, and doesn’t tell his driver supervisor or Dispatch.

{{{{Ace}}}}

114

From what I’ve read, it is even worse for all of you. Won’t it be lovely when it’s Spring and we can stop holding our breath when we open the utility bills?

{{{{{{Ace and AceHubs}}}}}} scary stuff to deal with~I’m holding good thoughts for you.

nellie~sorry about the eye news. I’m holding good thoughts for you too. And losing your phone is just the bite in the butt that you sure didn’t need. Always seems to happen at the worst possibly time. {{{{{{ for you too }}}}}}

At least they have not cranked up our winter storm warning. I’ll nip out, do my volunteer teaching and scamper right back home, not to leave again for 48 hours. I’ll be back home before anything has a chance to build up. I had a mug of hot Ovaltine last night just before bed just to prepare my inner spirit. I don’t mind hunkering down as long as oxygen concentrator has electricity and I have enough library books to read. If the truth is known, it’s easier to do without the oxygen than the books! I even have an oil lamp to read by if the electricity goes out. If you don’t hear from me for a day, I’ll just be doing my Little House On The Prairie thing here. I hope shoe stays snug and warm too-the same weather is expected to wallop her.

115

there is a swedish proverb that states:

when god brings death, the devil brings heirs.

philly will be missing the wild weather thingy, sigh, again. we are to have a spot of rain, then things pop up to the 70’s for tomorrow. sigh. nj did get a tornado yest., that was part of the spotty thunderstorms that happened in the afternoon.

116

I slept well last night, though Ms. Dog went into Impending Exciting Event mode whenever I turned over. I woke up at 4:45 but was able to return to sleep. We’ve had our morning constitutional, and I’m now sipping herbal peach tea with a splash of SF white chocolate flavoring. In honor of Ms. Dog, I’m using the mug with a black dog in the bottom.

Boo: Are you not on LIHEAP? It’s a state program, but it’s fully funded by a federal grant. I once worked next door to the Montana office for it. Just in case you weren’t aware, here’s the contact info:

To see if your household qualifies for LIHEAP or any of the DHHS assistance programs, go to ACCESSNebraska.ne.gov or call ACCESSNebraska in Lincoln at (402) 323-3900, in Omaha at (402) 595-1258, statewide at 1-800-383-4278 or visit a local DHHS office.

MetalMouse: Yes, my phone has a lock screen that’s password protected, though I usually just used my fingerprint. The instructions for the new phone says the fingerprint method is LESS secure, though. I wonder why.

Ace, I can see why you’re worried, as that’s scary stuff to hear. I’m sure the docs will take the most prudent course, though. I hope you can relax, as the stress can’t be good for you. {{{{Ace}}}}

FCM, that video showed me where I’ve gone wrong: I’m too short, and so are my arms. I put my fitted sheet right back on my bed after laundering. Luckily, I only have to fold a sheet when there’s company. I’m glad FCD is going to a grief counselor.

This is golden.

117

I’ll look into it. thank you, dear heart!

118

Mild panic when Tobias’ pacifier disappeared. He didn’t like the substiture I offered. I found it the 3rd time downstairs… under the throw pillow on the futon. So he got to sleep about an hour later than usual. Which means a shorter nap than usual. Oh well.

FCD is home - slowly but surely he’s getting his dad’s affairs settled. And the estate lawyer gave him some good recommendations regarding his youngest brother’s “estate” so we can avoid probate.

Meanwhile, I have an hour to chill.

119

So sorry about your eyeballs, Nellie.

Ace, so if DH gets a pacmaker/defib he’ll have to stop driving professionally? Is that a law where you live? I never knew that. Of course I’m not a professional driver. All they ever told me was I had to give up arc welding and MRIs. The worst part of getting a pacemaker was having to wear my arm in a sling for a month after so’s not to disturb the wires. Otherwise I felt better than I had in a long time.

Mom, that $$$ distribution is messed up, as I imagine you told FCD. His brothers should have told him so also.

Know a thing or two, those Swedes do.

There’s a tiny bit of snow on the ground this morning, so something happened last night, but the gravel trucks haven’t been out, so that’s okay.

We’re supposed to get 14 frozen, heart-healthy meals delivered today from some outfit that PacificSource contracts with. I never heard of such a thing. It’s supposed to be free, so when they called me about it I said “yeah, sure, why not?” The guy who called swore I wasn’t going to be obligated to anything.

My visit to the cardiologist yesterday wasn’t all that fruitful, except that he wants me to see an electrophysiologist. In Portland. Apparently there aren’t any such animals this side of the Cascades. :roll_eyes:
So anyway, I still don’t know if I want to go with the pills for the rest of my life or have a ablation. I’m not liking the pills 'cause they nauseate me .

I see someone else is about to speak, so I’ll get off the dias.

120

It’s precisely 32 degrees and the precipitation is rain and sleet. Dang, it is cold outside. check the car in for an oil change and of course it’s never just an oil change. The car needs a new oil pan which they don’t have in stock but it will be delivered tomorrow and the car will be ready for pick up Friday. In the meantime, I have a big.a$$ Toyota Highlander as a loaner. It’s quite nice and I really enjoy the heated seats but I really don’t want to have a car payment so I’ll stick with my 12-year-old Camry.