A stupid jury summons. I can’t believe that. It wasn’t that long ago that I was called for duty. I’ve sent a message to my boss to see what I need to do. Ugh.
Holy crap - the sky opened and beat the puddin’ out of my petunias! And the rest of the area, too. I had just checked weather radar that showed the storm missing us. So much for weather radar. 
Glad I brought in the electric blankets from the lines. And I shut the garage door. It was intense but I think it’s over now.
Neighbours down the street left a flyer a couple of weeks ago, inviting us to the ‘5th Annual Neighborhood BBQ’. Fifth? The first would have been in 2020. I don’t remember that one. I can remember the BBQs happening for a couple of years. I was doing something in the tent garage the first time, and they invited us. When the day arrived, it was raining torrentially. We didn’t go. We didn’t go last year, but I don’t remember why. Maybe it was raining? So the BBQ is this Saturday. Mrs. L.A. is going to make red potato salad (she said it’s her specialty). Just got a text from her saying it’s supposed to rain Saturday. But we’ll go anyway.
Well, it looks like I’m moving tomorrow!
I booked a room in Little Rock for tomorrow night, called the nephew, did my change of address online and will do one last swoop of the mailbox tomorrow.
Shit’s getting real!
Woohoo for moving! May it go well!
I feel less inadequate. We dug up the number of a plumber who helped us two years ago. He stopped by on his way home from the morning’s job. He had to remove an additional interior plate to get to the pilot, which was way back and he had trouble getting his hand into the aperture. He talked us though what he was doing, and since the unit is 19 years old, suggested a new one, which we’d already discussed. He said new gas water heaters have an ignition, so one doesn’t need to poke around inside them with the gas on and a lit match.
He suggested a 50-gallon tank. We have a 75. I like to take a bath at times that are proximate to my lovely wife’s shower or the dishwasher is running. What do you all think?
He wouldn’t let us pay him, so we tipped him $20.
We then took my set of studded tires, which are no longer needed, to Les Schwab to discard for free since they sold them to us. Now I can actually get to the hot water heater. On the same drive, we picked up my lovely wife’s Rx across town, checked Safeway for the peppers I want (no luck, but Fred Meyer has them, in theory), bought a small strawberry pot, and gassed the car. No garlic heads for planting, so if I can’t find one tomorrow, I’ll plant out one of the heads I harvested this month.
Did I mention that we dusted 3/4 of the house, dusted the blinds, and started a donation bag of things like old candles and coasters? Whee!
I’ve committed to my writing group that I’ll write for at least an hour tonight. First, though, I need to see if the remaining sediment has re-settled in the tank.
ETA: Oh, and I replaced a broken cover for the keyhole on my car. I’m Femme of the Day!
Dishwashers only use a few gallons of hot water and then usually recirculate and heat the water as they cycle.
New hot water heaters are much more efficient than decades old heaters, so will refill and heat the water faster while costing less money.
Our last place had a tub big enough for 6 ft tall hubs to stretch out in.
There was never an issue with our 50 gallon water heater doing it all at once.
Have a very safe journey, I hope things go as well as possible.
Is the courthouse accessible for you? While I didn’t mind jury duty, I refused to go to go to the Prescott courthouse because of the accessibility issues. On the few times I got called to duty there, I would just call the Clerk of the Court’s office and tell them my sad story and they would let me off.
While I think that serving jury duty is a very important thing, not missing out on work the first 90 days is equally important.
If only they made those things back when hubs and I first got together. We almost broke up because he kept “borrowing” my tools and then I couldn’t find them when needed. I bought a can of pink spray paint and painted all of my tools so all of his friends would see MY pink 5/8 socket in his tools. Now that we have combined our tools, it always amuses me to see on of my cheapo pink tools in his heavy duty workman’s tools.
Howdy Y’all! We broke fast at Pearly’s (Guy at the table next to us broke wind long and loud which made us giggle like eight year old boys! He apologized and I told him no problem and that now he has room to order the snausage gravy and bizkits which made him laugh.) and then went on a long ramble down some back roads that took us about sixty miles from da cave before we realized it. We started back and OYKW remembered a little meat and three that always had really good homemade cakes a couple of miles off the highway we’d gotten back on to drive back, so natch we just had to detour off and come back to da cave with a chawklit one. When we got home it was only right we sample it for QC purposes. They continue to live up to their standards I am happy to report. Nappage then ensued. Day drinkin’ then ensued. Later more cake consumption ensued.
BooFae and MOOOOOOM the senior center in Ye Olde Hometowne is where my Mom meant Frank, her second husband. The place was and maybe still is, a hotbed of senior romance! I am glad they met as they were so very happy together. As mom put it, he wasn’t the first one who tried, but he was the first one that had any sense. Both of them were quite the catch because they both could drive at night back then. The ability to drive at night is a desirable quality above all other qualities for the over seventies crowd. 
BooFae you get a twofer today! We resumed watchin’ Sandman and are glad we did. This season is really good so far. I was concerned because episode two [spoiler] had Dream goin’ to hell and I thought it was gonna be another hero goes down to hell to fight Lucifer and demons trope, but surprise surprise it was not![/spoiler] I mention this because I remember an earlier post from you about watchin’ Sandman.
MOOOOOOM you get a twofer as well! Did the pink tools come with sparkly ribbons? Was the pink toolbox covered in glitter? Are the tools lightweight so you won’t hurt your dainty wrist when liftin’ or holdin’ ‘em? If not, then Lowe’s is not doin’ a good job marketin’ to women.
Sticky_Buns maybe you can get out of jury duty because you just started a new gig. Normally I wouldn’t recommend tryin’ to get out of jury duty, but I think that would be a good reason.
red safe travels for Nelson and you! Let us know you got there as soon as you can. Nashville’s loss is Houston’s gain! I know you and sis will be happy to be near each other.
Lily I would say y’all have gotten your money’s worth out of that hot water heater. If you think a seventy gallon one would suit your needs I say go for it. We should probably do a deep dustin’ like that. We have a house cleaner but we don’t pay nearly enough to expect that of her. Maybe a room at a time as a goal. Then again we are master class RDOS sloths, so who knows.
JtC the story of the pink tools made me snort laugh loud enough that OYKW asked me what was so funny from the next room!
Stupid question: I get that it has something to do about retired life but Retired Days Of S?
It’s one of the seven deadly , you know, attributes.
Retired Drain On Society.
I’m a proud member and whoop it up every day 
Along with something else I bet she does every day!
Have you considered going tankless? My last apartment did that a few years before I moved and it worked for the four units in my building.
So for..reasons, they didn’t have a loader for 300 Middle Red, and they didn’t stick me over there till almost 6. 900 pieces and hotter than hell, I had to slow down. so I didn’t hornk in a package car. They did send help right at the end. I did my Senior Day shopping afterwards. I napped. Spot napped next to my head. Which was fine except at one point he started twitching. Face, ears, paws. Either he was possessed by Satan, or his was dreaming that he defeated The Vicious Chicken Of Bristol in single combat.
Beep
Something to do with your Permanent Record, no doubt.
That’s good. Spot would riot if I had to strike and the gin ran out.
Shelters are stressful. Everybody I’ve adopted bulked up after I sprung them.
Yeah, that was what I assumed but I wanted to be sure.
I like that better.
I’m not sure I’ll be able to retire. That’s the disadvantage of having children later in life.
If you have kids when you are young, you don’t know any better so everything they do as adolescents pisses you off. If you have children after you are older, you are more experienced and wise so you have better reason to be pissed off. (just joking, of course)
It’s the middle of the summer “Ghost Month” holidays, which are three to five days off for most companies. My school is already in summer vacation so it doesn’t change anything for me, but my wife has time off.
Just catching up a bit.
My ancestors on my mother’s side were all Scandinavian and mostly came over in the mid to late 19th century as Mormon converts.
Many of them crossed the plains to join the Saints in Utah and Idaho. Almost all 16 of my maternal g-g-g grandparents were converted in their home country and came over although a few were children of converts.
Two maternal g-g grandparents were polygamous and have 20 something children. The descendants of one of those made a huge family organization with several thousand people in my generation. A girlfriend in college was descended from another branch of that family which made us fourth cousins. I also ran into a random stranger on a plane who also happened to be from another branch.
They weren’t Mormon royalty (not the Youngs, Smiths or a half dozen other prominent families) and they were shuttled off to northern Utah and Idaho.
My father’s family also were converts and farmers but sent off to central Utah. His mother’s family got tired of life there and packed up and moved to Sacramento. His father abandoned the family and I only know two or three facts about him, and know almost nothing about his ancestors.
My dad grew up in poverty in the Great Depression in a shack behind my grandmother’s family house.
One of Wifey, RN’s patients gave her a head of ‘lettuce’ and a tomato. I think the ‘lettuce’ is purple endive. The tomato was the reddest, juiciest tomato I’ve ever seen. I had a purple endive-and-tomato salad with California Olive Ranch olive oil and Trader Joe’s balsamic vinegar, with a grind of sea salt and a grind of black pepper, for dinner. I was still hungry, so I had a chunk of Trader Joe’s Unexpected Cheddar. And cheap plonk, of course.
Too expensive. The house has been a money suck.
Between doing soccer research, sweating at the gym, and 2.5 hours at the field chasing 7 year olds, never got to post this afternoon, so the late-night final will be fairly long. Have dined and desserted, did some me soccer paperwork, and need to get my Firday shopping list done before bedtime. Also signed up to referee a couple of soccer games on Saturday morning, early ones so the heat doesn’t get me. Tomorrow will be several hours in the library putting 12 soccer teams together and hopefully keeping them fairly balanced along the way, so my posting may be scarce tomorrow. Still 78F now and back up to 90F on firday, so I think I’ll leave the AC on tonight.
And now 14 hours worth of catching up with this crew…
Taters, I have a gas water heater too, have never tried to mess with it, probably should have it looked at/cleaned out…sometime.
red, safe travels for both you, Nelson, and your household goods.
FCM, someday I’ll have to look in some of my closets/drawers…know I have stuff I don’t use anymore. But enjoy the new yarn.
Cookie, hope your health stays good. Best wishes to wife and a good appointment.
lily. sounds like a productive day…I can remember those…dimly…
With your cane?? 
boo fae. glad the union will support you in the style you are accustomed to living…at least for awhile.
Oopsie, you can write a whole bunch more than me in 30 minutes. Enjoy playing hooky!
Fruminous, I hope Izzy isn’t getting too overwhelmed with all that is going on. Sounds like you’re doing a great job with her nonetheless.
Sticky Buns, sometimes I wonder how I have made it this far through life without getting a jury call. Glad you were able to work around it.
Flyboy, enjoy the BBQ, whichever number it is.
JtC, glad you have tools handy, in case you have to whack hubs with a socket wrench one of these days..
Swampy, a day rambling and finished with chocolate cake; doesn’t get much better than that.
doggio. glad Spot emerged victorious from his dreamscape.
Sensei, my dad was 45 when I was born and worked until he was 65. so if he made it well into my 40’s you can too.And an interesting familiy history…an entire family reunion might require several hotels…
And it’s 10:30pm so I need to prepare for slumbering time. Take care all and I’ll check in come Firday.
I was 49 when SenBoy was born. I have friends who are retiring but it won’t be very soon for me.
Speaking of which, I was taking SenBoy and his friend down to the beach. We got into the minivan and I showned him a screw that had gotten into one of the tires.
I found it a couple of days ago. It was in sideways to the tread so I took a chance and pulled it out and have been watching the air pressure. I probably should have let it stay in and gone to the tire store to have them take a look at it, but anyway, it’s out and I’m not losing any pressure now.
I wanted to show him the screw and talk about what to do, passing along a bit of knowledge.
We were a hundred yards down the road and I asked for the screw back. Except he didn’t have it. And the reason he didn’t have it was he had threw it out the window.
As my wife asked me, why are boys this stupid?
I haven’t gotten that angry for a while. Of course, he can’t answer why he did it, but there is someonet about boys and groups that cause them to lower their IQs and wisdom scores.
the apartment complex has a gravel parking lot so it’s not easy to find screws. It’s even harder to find them when you keep going over the same area again and again rather than expand your search.
Littering is unacceptable, of course, but throwing a screw out the window?
No beach today and I’m reconsidering driving them to a friend’s house so they can do moutain biking tomorrow.
Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to heave.