What's everybody doing today?

[winds-of-change]

Going into town to drop off a piece of mail that needs to be mailed right away. May take the recycle into town if I can manage it. Hubby is at church with the other men installing security cameras as our thrift store donations regularly get torn through and strewn about. It’s terrible and it’s STEALING. They leave a mess for us to clean up and often it gets rained on. Here is an example. The weather here is very hot and humid.

 

[DrJenner]

@Amish Heart sorry to hear all that. I hope he can overcome all of that, and that the spot turns out to be no big deal- pseudomonas is one nasty bug.

 

[sonya123]

Hey Snappy, I know those sputum cups, ha. I go to the lab for those often. Sorry your father in law isn't doing well. It is husband's mom's 90th birthday party in California, and he can't travel for it, and I know he's bummed about it. Saturday night she has requested the family go out to the dance place she goes to for the foxtrot. Then a party on Sunday.
And hey, Sonya....he will be 70 in a few weeks. And how old are you?
Super hot and humid this afternoon, so morning stuff can be outside, and then that's it. I have to take little granddaughter to swim lessons.

I am 58, hope your husband feels better soon and it doesn't get worse....

 

[sonya123]

So had another problem today, my phone stopped working. It just said " no service" when everyone else's was working fine. It's been doing this for a while but got to the point it stopped working.
Went to town again an hour away and got a new phone. Husband picked up the truck, no charge, they just tightened up some of the line and rechecked it. Hope it is ok now
Went to Aldi
Looks like it might rain soon.

 

[Wingnut]

Recovering from last night, didn't think I drank that much, but I guess I did, because I was hung over this morning... ugh. No home rehab work today, I'm gonna lie back down in a moment, lol. Took me until noon to drag my @$$ into the shower, and I didn't bother shaving either... no hot date today, no plans to go anywhere. Hopefully it rains later, chance of rain rose to 40%. Hope it actually falls today, we need it badly...

Anyway, I'm worthless for any kind of home rehab work today, no way I even try to do it, lol. Better to lie back and read a good book. I finished watching 'DANCES WITH WOLVES' yesterday, and then I watched 'OPEN RANGE'---two good films with Kevin Costner. He's good in those films, lol. Robert Duvall is good in the latter flick, but he's an old cowboy, so he fits into Western plots pretty easily. He's also in one of my favorite Westerns, 'JOE KIDD'---that's a great movie.

The good news is that my fridge is packed with leftovers, so whenever I finally get hungry I'll eat like a king, lol. I had a little of 'El Mexicano' brand yogurt drink to settle my stomach this morning, it's the 'Saborico' label which loosely translates into 'Rich Flavor'---good enough when you're hung over, lol. I have some Yoplait in the fridge, but I like the Saborico when I'm hung, it's quick & easy, lol. Back to quality time with the cats! Y'all catch a break today, lol...

 

[zannej]

Amish, I hope your husband gets well soon-- or at the very least that he doesn't get worse.

Left arm is protesting today. Went and got curbside order. Kitchen ceiling was dripping water from something. Not sure what but I can't get up there to look. Going to take a ladder and see if I can point my phone camera in there and see if it finds anything.

 

[Amish Heart]

Spent all day with mom in the hospital ER again. The manor called an ambulance this morning because she had chest pain and trouble breathing. Seemed to not be in pain when I was there, so that's good. The whole time, the doc never came in to tell me what the bloodtest and chest xray read, so after 5 hrs, I had to leave to do husband's IV at home. Told them to call me, but they haven't before, so we'll see. Called the manor and gave them a heads up as to what was happening, but she looked ok when I left. Bet they send her back soon. So husband is now all settled, I'm having coffee, and then it's time (finally) to grind that turkey meat up. Looks like takeout pizza tonight. Ha.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Got the generator running, filled it with gas and plugged in the heat pump. I turned on the AC...nothing. Whenever the heat pump tries to start it trips a breaker on the generator. This generator is 8.5kw with a 50 amp breaker. It should run the heat pump just fine. So I pulled out the factory breaker and discovered that it's actually only 38 amps! GD Chinese crap! The manual and their advertisement say 50 amp. So I pulled that generator out and put my Bobcat welder in its place. The heat pump and AC works fine now. Never ever buy a Lifan generator. Originally I bought it to run my well pump. Right from the start the 12 charging didn't work and the idle control didn't work. Then the electric start quit. Forget the warranty, the company wouldn't even sell me the parts to fix it. So it sat for about 3 years in the shed. I think I'll give the dang thing away or take it to the dump. After I drain the 5 gallons of gas of course.

 

[Magus]

Dropped $300 on home repairs and sweated all day. I'm going to stop drinking and just grow pot in a fish tank like in the old days.

 

[zannej]

Mountaintrapper, have you heard of an easystart or softstart for AC units? Apparently it turns the fan on first and then the compressor so it doesn't have too much amp draw at once. Can reduce the amp draw by 70%. I wonder if something like that would help. They apparently have them for tablesaws and power tools so they don't trip breakers.

Amish, That sounds very stressful and I hope your Mom will be OK.

Got notice that my friend's stove is ready to be picked up. Waiting for him to get off work so I can take him up to get it. Also need to get a dolly out and clean it up and find the old hinges for my vanity so I can take one as an example to Lowes to find the right size/style to fit the doors.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Mountaintrapper, have you heard of an easystart or softstart for AC units? Apparently it turns the fan on first and then the compressor so it doesn't have too much amp draw at once. Can reduce the amp draw by 70%. I wonder if something like that would help. They apparently have them for tablesaws and power tools so they don't trip breakers.

Amish, That sounds very stressful and I hope your Mom will be OK.

Got notice that my friend's stove is ready to be picked up. Waiting for him to get off work so I can take him up to get it. Also need to get a dolly out and clean it up and find the old hinges for my vanity so I can take one as an example to Lowes to find the right size/style to fit the doors.

Yes. I have considered installing one. The reason I haven't is I didn't want to burden my electrical system and cause the back up generator to start. It's possible that when I get the additional solar panels up I might be producing enough power that it won't cause the diesel generator to start. So far we haven't really needed AC, the ceiling fans work fine.

 

[dademoss]

Today was boring, Tomorrow will be more entertaining. Going to look at yet ANOTHER house, likely the last one till a new one pops into the system. It looks ok, 4 car pole garage and 3 other outbuildings. Meets ALMOST all the criteria, so we will take a peek. Laundry rooms looks a tad small, but at 2 loads a week is it an issue?

City Water, Propane heat and a septic. WBFP, and a nice .77 acre lot.

Biggest downside so far is getting out of the driveway is slow when the Baptist school starts and stops.

 

[dademoss]

Oh so slowly she defines the acceptable criteria for her, some of mine are flexible, some are not

She's never looked for a house before, so it's a time of learning . It amazes her when she peeks and I am reading Zoning Codes, Etc Etc Etc. She has learned a HOA if off the table instantly.

 

[LadyLocust]

Oh so slowly she defines the acceptable criteria for her, some of mine are flexible, some are not

She's never looked for a house before, so it's a time of learning . It amazes her when she peeks and I am reading Zoning Codes, Etc Etc Etc. She has learned a HOA if off the table instantly.

I looked into one place Hubby found. It had some CCRs so I got ahold of the realtor and asked for them to be emailed over - 9 pages later! It was insane some of the things that were restricted. I replied to the realtor kindly, that it was a nice piece of property and too bad there were 9 pages of paper that rendered it uninhabitable for more than 1 person.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Well this week has gone about par, the garden is doing okay, something is still trying to dig in any freshly planted soil, got the first cuc's today, small but definitely in the English cucumber line that the wife likes. We are running out of space for squash, wife made bread, used up what we had and I brought in 2 more... the plants on the south side of the house are definitely wanting more water than I can provide off the rain barrels.

Got word today that the insurance didn't cover most of the dental work I had done. I keep tinkering on the old truck, just when it think it's okay it will throw a pesty fault code, seems to only do it while the engine is idling. On the road or under full power it's fine.

 

[Wingnut]

Dademoss, you're spot on with your observation: never buy property with an HOA or POA, the gubmint throws enough regulations our way, yeah? No way I would ever willingly heap more upon myself...

I feel better now, I was just draggin' this mornin'... still no sign of rain, but clouds are stacked up over the mountains. It's frustrating to see rain falling all around you, but nary a drop right where you are...

Guess I'll be watering in the yard this evening, once the temp cools down a bit. I missed watering this morning, and I had hoped the rain would fall and make up for it, but no dice. This drought really sucks...

 

[hashbrown]

I went with Alexandra to show a 40 acre parcel to a client and came home to a Rat Snake in the chicken coop. It ate several egg’s including a porcelain egg. I figure he will have a hard time digesting that one.

 

[INresponse]

The last few weeks have been very busy. I am around just haven't made it to the computer much. Last weekend my son came up for 4 days and we worked on my old 2002 Avalanche to begin prepping it for him to drive for school and sports when he turns 16 in October.
While I was at work Friday I had him wash the outside. On my lunch break I handed him a garden hose and a shop vac, along with a brush and some soapy (Dawn) water and told him to soak the carpet and scrub it and suck out the dirty water and repeat until the soap suds no longer got dirty. Then rinse it with clean water and keep sucking that out for a few cycles. I told him to do the same with the cloth seats. Being in a desert it was mostly dry by the next day. I showed him how to change the oil, and had him wax it with a cleaner/wax just to protect the paint until we polish it and put some good stuff on it.

I logged into the Avalanche forum for the first time in about 10 years and had him sign up so he can look stuff up for repairs or upgrades or whatever. As soon as I logged in I noticed on one of my old posts my "signature" at the bottom mentioned Refinish Restorer, that is what brings the old faded, dullj plastic back to like new. I ordered a can off Amazon and it was here the next day, but unfortunately he was back home for football practice so I just tried a little on the bad spots to see the results. Very impressive, and that was just a tiny dab on a rag with about 10 seconds of effort.

I will let him coat the rest next time he visits. He will be very impressed with his efforts and the results.
It still needs some work, and a few parts, but I am impressed by how good the old girl looks.

Last night after work I swapped my trailer axles back above the leaf springs. I moved them underneath years ago for more ground clearance when driving off road but I haven't been camping in years and I plan to use my toyhauler for my T-shirt sales at the corner. It has a generator and protection from the wind so my heat press will work better. In a bit I will hook up a battery and see if the old generator will fire up. If not I still have the big roll around generator I can use this Saturday and I can clean the carb on the trailers generator on Sunday. It is dang hot right now here in the high desert. I wont do much work this evening but I will darn sure wait until the sun is behind the mountain before I go out there.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Brought the boat up to the shop a little while ago. Charged the batteries up and got the motor running. The trolling motor works fine too. Just need to clean up the inside of the boat and grease the trailer hubs. We'll take the boat out tomorrow morning and see how it runs. Gotta stop at the court house and get the stupid government sticker first. Better get one for the trailer too. This will be the first time the dogs have been in a boat, so we'll leave the fishing gear at home.
We're going to sell the boat, but we'll use it until it sells.

 

[LadyLocust]

Well this week has gone about par, the garden is doing okay, something is still trying to dig in any freshly planted soil, got the first cuc's today, small but definitely in the English cucumber line that the wife likes. We are running out of space for squash, wife made bread, used up what we had and I brought in 2 more... the plants on the south side of the house are definitely wanting more water than I can provide off the rain barrels.

Got word today that the insurance didn't cover most of the dental work I had done. I keep tinkering on the old truck, just when it think it's okay it will throw a pesty fault code, seems to only do it while the engine is idling. On the road or under full power it's fine.

Just a thought- not that you need anything more to do, but have you considered putting a bucket under either the bathroom or kitchen sink so you can use the grey water for watering outside plants? (You would have to use natural soaps). Some folks plumb their homes to reuse grey water, but if I remember correctly, you are connected to city - not sure if that’s still a possibility.

 

[zannej]

Got notice that my friend's stove came in. Loaded up a dolly, headed over to pick him up. Dropped off the dolly so the old stove could be removed (and also so it wasn't in the way while hauling the stove). Went to Lowes to pick it up. Tried to find some hinges for my cabinets but they were completely out apparently. Website said they had them in stock but there weren't any out. Got the stove loaded up and tied down securely (had to buy new tie downs as old ones broke).

Popped in to HomeDepot to get the hinges and found some flat magnet thingies to make the doors stay shut (they didn't have the self-closing ones that snap the doors so I want to make sure they stay shut).

Helped my friend as much as I could to unload and get the stove in and set up. Wiped the stove down and headed home.

 

[txcatlady]

I went with Alexandra to show a 40 acre parcel to a client and came home to a Rat Snake in the chicken coop. It ate several egg’s including a porcelain egg. I figure he will have a hard time digesting that one.

View attachment 111891

Those non digestible eggs make snakes very cranky especially if they can’t get out through the wire they came in coop by. I used golf balls in my nesting boxes. If I caught snake and killed it I made sure I got golf balls back. I also found golf balls everywhere around where poor old egg stealers died of a belly ache

 

[hashbrown]

Those non digestible eggs make snakes very cranky especially if they can’t get out through the wire they came in coop by. I used golf balls in my nesting boxes. If I caught snake and killed it I made sure I got golf balls back. I also found golf balls everywhere around where poor old egg stealers died of a belly ache

I don’t know how it will play out but this one is in the hollar where I put things I think might stink.

 

[Magus]

How to break snakes (and dogs/raccoons/possums from sucking eggs.
1 egg with a 1/4 inch hole.
pour out half the white.
replace with an even mix of ground habanero and laxative.
tape over the hole.

 

[Pearl]

Dademoss, you're spot on with your observation: never buy property with an HOA or POA, the gubmint throws enough regulations our way, yeah? No way I would ever willingly heap more upon myself...

I feel better now, I was just draggin' this mornin'... still no sign of rain, but clouds are stacked up over the mountains. It's frustrating to see rain falling all around you, but nary a drop right where you are...

Guess I'll be watering in the yard this evening, once the temp cools down a bit. I missed watering this morning, and I had hoped the rain would fall and make up for it, but no dice. This drought really sucks...

Easy there.... Hangovers suck!!

 

[Spikedriver]

Daughter and I had a nice afternoon. First we took our bikes to Ada Hayden park in Ames, Iowa and rode around the lake a couple times. The park has wide, paved trails perfect for biking. We discovered they are perfect for deer too, there was a doe that stood in the middle of the path and blocked our way. Eventually she strolled off into the willow thickets and let us keep riding.

Next we went a couple miles out of Ames to a county park called West Peterson park. Like Ada Hayden park, this is an old gravel and limestone quarry. It has several miles of trails, a beach, and access to the Skunk River. I had never been there, and honestly I feel cheated. It's a beautiful place. We saw more deer, many amphibians and crustaceans, and lots of birds. My daughter caught three bullfrog and a leopard frog by hand. If I'm ever starving, I guess I can turn her loose on the riverbank and she can bring home some frog legs!

After all that we stopped at a little ice cream stand that serves locally made ice cream. It was expensive but nice. I am worn out from biking and hiking but it's a good kind of worn out. See y'all tomorrow!

 

[sonya123]

Hashbrown, if the snake survives send it over to our chicken coop, maybe it will eat some RATS that keep wanting to live there.

 

[sonya123]

We had bad thunderstorms all last night, it kept waking me up. Then I had a scary bridge nightmare. Haven't had one of those in a very long time so I must be stressed

Need to pick more beans today. Started yesterday evening and got a large amount off just 3 plants ( filled up my little container) and we have 2 entire rows of them. They sell well at the market and we like them too, so no problems, just need to pick them.
Want to clean the house today, dogs are shedding like crazy ever since it finally warmed up a few weeks ago.
Day 4 of the diet, so far I have lost 4 pounds. Today is my favorite day of the diet, banana smoothie day ( bananas and fat free yogurt with lots of ice)

 

[Pearl]

Just a regular day!! Heading to work, Hubby already left. Heading out to feed and brush Buddy and water. It's hot already. Had someone write me a bad check the other day, stopping by their house first to get cash!

 

[UrbanHunter]

I'm off! Yesterday we made meat loaves, eat 1 freeze 6. So, this morning I have spent 4 hours doing laundry and cleaning the kitchen. I have plans outside, working in the garden and such, just too much to do and too little time. Tomorrow, I have a range day so I will need to get my gear together for that.