In the garden, and RAIN!!! (2) by SIGNYM

Got a bit of rain this evening. Suppose to be dry tomorrow. I hope so. I don't relish going to the dentist in the rain.

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Monday, March 6, 2023 11:48 PM

Huh.... Maybe not so bad. I think I was further along with the re-org than I thought I was, but I just needed to get stuff out that was ready to go out and be put in its proper place.

It's still a mess, but at least it's a mess that I can navigate without tripping over. One more day should do it.

I just remembered I bought a few external hard drive enclosures on the cheap back on Black Friday. Now that I'll be setting up my aunt with a proper home network, maybe I still have an old laptop hard drive laying around with decent storage capacity since the laptop and desktop computers I put together for her last winter don't have the most space on them.

Not this week, but probably next week I'll be giving one of my two copy/print/fax machines as a loaner if I ever need it back since she's going to be taking all the family photos and said she wanted to start copying them in her down time, and it would be a good backup to store them until I make copies and send them out to everyone.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Tuesday, March 7, 2023 12:59 AM

Nice. I did have a 500GB laptop drive that checked out as good. It had a mystery Linux partition on it, but since I've never done much more than tinker with Linux I doubt it had anything important on it. I didn't have any documentation anywhere on what I might have been doing with it years ago. I probably just installed a Ubuntu release on there to boot up into and learn Linux and never got around to it. It's all formatted and ready to go to my aunts on Wednesday.

She wanted the 2-step aluminum ladder for her apartment, but my uncle spotted it and wanted it too. He let her have it, but I've got something better for her so they can both be happy. I took a 2-step thinner one that has a much slimmer profile when folded down so it's easier to tuck away from my friend's father in law that I thought would be nice to have in my pantry for the top shelf, but I forgot that it would block the pull out shelving I built in there so I'll need something smaller. I cleaned that up real good for her and we'll let my uncle have the bulky aluminum one.

I also cleaned up one of my alarm clocks real good to replace the one I accidentally gave to goodwill last week.

Pretty much done with what I'm going to do today. I really don't like that I'm up this late since I've really been getting up early and getting a lot done these last few weeks, but I was up late at my friend's place last night and with all the work that needed to be done today I'm on the late schedule again.

No big deal. I'll just wake up early tomorrow instead of sleeping in.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Tuesday, March 7, 2023 9:50 AM

Hope the dentist appointment goes well for you today, Brenda, and I hope you keep getting stuff done Sigs.

See you in a few.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Tuesday, March 7, 2023 1:02 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

You've been ripping thru your list of things to do, SIX!

I have to say, I find your pro-active stance with your g'ma and aunt to be a very positive example. Instead of wallowing in anger and grief, you made things better by stepping in and helping out. I was awed that you got your aunt set up in an apartment ahead of time. Most people would wait until events occurred before acting. Not only was that helpful, it was wise.

Over here, I've been mostly mired in daily chores and doctor appts, altho I did manage to get out and do some yardwork, and I plan to declutter during upcoming rainy days. (I'm amazed they're still predicting rain, usually the fun is done by mid-March but it looks like we might add another inch or two in the next 10 days)

I got out to that retirees lunch yesterday and had a good time catching up with the people who used to work for me, including the two recent retirees being honored. One of them mentioned a specific project that made me wince and reminded me why I'm so happy to be retired. Yanno, I absolutely LOVED working with (almost) everyone, and there were parts of the job I really dug into. Even reviewing data packets and being final QA and lawsuits and all the paperwork wasn't that bad. But the part that made me cringe was the constant firefighting. There WERE actual emergencies involved ... industrial explosions, large fires, accidental spills and releases. Those, I could understand.

But being a public agency meant that we had to respond to public and political pressure, and things became hot button issues that really weren't, and they were constantly popping up whenever somebody (industry group, public group, NGO, member of the board) got a bee in their bonnet about something. I'm glad that part is over!

I don't get out to Brea much, but on the way I saw a large stand(?) of pure lupine growing in a sandy bank by the side of the freeway, and it was lovely! I wish I could have taken a picture to show you guys.

Gotta run. Have fun, and get lots done!

Good luck with the dentist, BRENDA. I hope your weather stays dry.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Tuesday, March 7, 2023 1:15 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Hope the dentist appointment goes well for you today, Brenda, and I hope you keep getting stuff done Sigs.

See you in a few.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

Dentist should be okay SIX. Just getting my mouth measured for the denture.

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Tuesday, March 7, 2023 1:16 PM

Out for a bit of a walk in the sun and the off to the dentist to get my mouth measured for the denture. Not looking forward to that goop they use. YucK! Also have to cross their palms with some silver to get it going. Later peeps.

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Tuesday, March 7, 2023 1:17 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
You've been ripping thru your list of things to do, SIX!

I have to say, I find your pro-active stance with your g'ma and aunt to be a very positive example. Instead of wallowing in anger and grief, you made things better by stepping in and helping out. I was awed that you got your aunt set up in an apartment ahead of time. Most people would wait until events occurred before acting. Not only was that helpful, it was wise.

Over here, I've been mostly mired in daily chores and doctor appts, altho I did manage to get out and do some yardwork, and I plan to declutter during upcoming rainy days. (I'm amazed they're still predicting rain, usually the fun is done by mid-March but it looks like we might add another inch or two in the next 10 days)

I got out to that retirees lunch yesterday and had a good time catching up with the people who used to work for me, including the two recent retirees being honored. One of them mentioned a specific project that made me wince and reminded me why I'm so happy to be retired. Yanno, I absolutely LOVED working with (almost) everyone, and there were parts of the job I really dug into. Even reviewing data packets and being final QA and lawsuits and all the paperwork wasn't that bad. But the part that made me cringe was the constant firefighting. There WERE actual emergencies involved ... industrial explosions, large fires, accidental spills and releases. Those, I could understand.

But being a public agency meant that we had to respond to public and political pressure, and things became hot button issues that really weren't, and they were constantly popping up whenever somebody (industry group, public group, NGO, member of the board) got a bee in their bonnet about something. I'm glad that part is over!

I don't get out to Brea much, but on the way I saw a large stand(?) of pure lupine growing in a sandy bank by the side of the freeway, and it was lovely! I wish I could have taken a picture to show you guys.

Gotta run. Have fun, and get lots done!

Good luck with the dentist, BRENDA. I hope your weather stays dry.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

Thanks SIG.

Glad you enjoyed your lunch with your old co-workers.

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Tuesday, March 7, 2023 6:52 PM

Back from the dentist and all molds done for today. And that stuff is as grotty as I remember from high school. Going back next Tuesday for the first fitting.

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Tuesday, March 7, 2023 7:56 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Back from the dentist and all molds done for today. And that stuff is as grotty as I remember from high school. Going back next Tuesday for the first fitting.

As bad as back then?? That's pretty bad! You'd think they could have improved things by now!

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Wednesday, March 8, 2023 12:28 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Back from the dentist and all molds done for today. And that stuff is as grotty as I remember from high school. Going back next Tuesday for the first fitting.
As bad as back then?? That's pretty bad! You'd think they could have improved things by now!

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

Yes, it is. The only difference is that it starts out as a purple colour then as it sets turns white. One would think so but noooo. Yuck!

The only good thing was I stopped into the strip mall there and found another book in that little everything store that's there. Last time I came out with one book too. Time before that it was 2 books.

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Wednesday, March 8, 2023 12:28 AM

Got a call about a pick up game of mah jong tomorrow.

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Wednesday, March 8, 2023 1:03 PM

Couple of errands to run before my pick up game of mah jong.

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Wednesday, March 8, 2023 11:28 PM

Back around 4:30 from my afternoon mah jong and no luck.

Tomorrow is regular game and some errands.

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Thursday, March 9, 2023 7:43 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
You've been ripping thru your list of things to do, SIX!

I have to say, I find your pro-active stance with your g'ma and aunt to be a very positive example. Instead of wallowing in anger and grief, you made things better by stepping in and helping out. I was awed that you got your aunt set up in an apartment ahead of time. Most people would wait until events occurred before acting. Not only was that helpful, it was wise.

It's really been good so far. My aunt is in a much better headspace right now, and we've been getting so much done!

Every single bag of trash is either gone or in the can waiting to go. My uncle went on vacation so we were able to fill up his can for pickup yesterday and get some of the smaller furniture out on their lot. Put out two big dressers on Grams and somebody took one so I was able to put out a beat up old filing cabinet that I bought back when I lived there. Also got the neighbor across the street to let us put out 2 pieces, so in total we got rid of 7 pieces of furniture in one week. Last week I had cut up 5 bags of scrap wood and took them with me this time since I had room. I was only able to get one dining room chair in my back seat, so took that trash with me.

Put the last of the metal stuff out with the scrappers and was disappointed when they didn't take it on garbage day. It was a ton of metal, but mostly poles and some ancient, rusty jack thingamabobs that were very low to the ground and probably missable to the scrappers... especially after some dude came by and took all the garden tools my uncle didn't want that were leaned up on the side. So at one point I went out to try to re-stage things to improve the visibility and some guy came by and asked if he could take it while I was out there.

I got the auto shop behind me to let me dump the 3.5 gallons of ancient used motor oil and they took the random spare tire in the garage too. They love my aunt and grams. I met the 2nd in command and got a quote no a new catalytic converter. Installed it would be only $500! I'm not ready to do that yet, but when I asked the guy my dad uses what it would cost he told me the part alone is $500. Didn't bother asking my guy because he'd have my car for 2 months.

I got the sewing machine out into the garage as well as a large kitchen cabinet that my cousin was going to take but it was too heavy for him and my aunt to get out last week... so that's ready for him to take when he wants it. Also got the last large end table/cabinet out in the garage.

Went through all the photographs and separated the ancient unknown stuff from the modernish family stuff. 5 small totes of modern stuff to my aunts apartment, and 2 large totes of the old stuff I'll bring back home with me one of these trips.

All that is left in there now is two very large dinette cabinets that are going to be a real bitch to move even with 2 or 3 people (especially if we are trying not to damage them since they're really nice), a couch, a coffee table, the kitchen table (and the chairs that are now holding up TVs and lights instead of the furniture that I removed), my aunt's old bedroom dressers and an old chair of hers, and the grand piano.

We've also kept 2 mattresses and 2 TVs. Those will be the last things to go when we finally get everything out. I'm thinking 2 more weeks.

We brought everything my aunt is taking except for the things she'll keep from her bedroom to her apartment last night and I got her computer network set up with her two smart TVs. She's blown away that she can now watch streaming TV in her bedroom without a computer or any wires other than the plug in the wall. It turns out using her phone as a mobile hotspot is still prohibitively expensive, but it looks like we can get her a great cable internet plan for only $25/mo for 24 months, so next week I'm going to help her get that set up. We're cutting the cord and she's not going to be paying $126 a month for Satellite Cable anymore. If there's time while I'm out there next week I'm going to help her hang all of her wall hangings and the big clock she bought about 6 months ago.

She still talks about being alone, and from time to time she brings Grandma up, but she's not crying anymore, and she's looking forward to being in her beautifully furnished apartment and this all being over. I'm glad she's focusing on moving forward now instead of trying to cling to the past.

While I was over there yesterday I brought a Minwax swatch book and got the matching color for her new furniture. I've got that 2nd hope-chest back home now and I'm going to sand it all down and stain it to match her furniture and get new hinges and a lock mechanism on it. I'm not going to stain the inside though. That will be sanded clean and I'll put poly on the natural color inside.

Quote:
Over here, I've been mostly mired in daily chores and doctor appts, altho I did manage to get out and do some yardwork, and I plan to declutter during upcoming rainy days. (I'm amazed they're still predicting rain, usually the fun is done by mid-March but it looks like we might add another inch or two in the next 10 days)

I got out to that retirees lunch yesterday and had a good time catching up with the people who used to work for me, including the two recent retirees being honored. One of them mentioned a specific project that made me wince and reminded me why I'm so happy to be retired. Yanno, I absolutely LOVED working with (almost) everyone, and there were parts of the job I really dug into. Even reviewing data packets and being final QA and lawsuits and all the paperwork wasn't that bad. But the part that made me cringe was the constant firefighting. There WERE actual emergencies involved ... industrial explosions, large fires, accidental spills and releases. Those, I could understand.

But being a public agency meant that we had to respond to public and political pressure, and things became hot button issues that really weren't, and they were constantly popping up whenever somebody (industry group, public group, NGO, member of the board) got a bee in their bonnet about something. I'm glad that part is over!

I don't get out to Brea much, but on the way I saw a large stand(?) of pure lupine growing in a sandy bank by the side of the freeway, and it was lovely! I wish I could have taken a picture to show you guys.

Gotta run. Have fun, and get lots done!

Good luck with the dentist, BRENDA. I hope your weather stays dry.

You just keep doing what you're doing. Socializing is important, and you've got the fam to worry about taking care of too. Get done what you can get done during your free time when you're feeling up to it.

How's your health doing right now, BTW? Everything looking up, I hope?

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Thursday, March 9, 2023 7:53 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Hope the dentist appointment goes well for you today, Brenda, and I hope you keep getting stuff done Sigs.

See you in a few.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

Dentist should be okay SIX. Just getting my mouth measured for the denture.

I'm supposed to be doing that Monday morning for the partial since they really screwed it up the first time. I may have to reschedule that appointment though unless they can guaranty me that they'll have it first thing Tuesday morning. I've got to get back out to Grams early next Tuesday and I'll probably be staying until Thursday night since the lowering into the grave happens Thursday afternoon.

In the meantime, my buddy is going on vacation with his family and I've got to get his daughter's ceiling repaired and paint that room before they come back. If he gets everything out of my way before he leaves and I can at least get all the mudding done before I go to Grandma's that's going to relieve a lot of the pressure.

I hope they get your reline done right. My top was perfect, but the bottom was a complete waste of money so far. At least they're going to send it back to the lab and fix it free of charge.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Thursday, March 9, 2023 5:09 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Hope the dentist appointment goes well for you today, Brenda, and I hope you keep getting stuff done Sigs.

See you in a few.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

Dentist should be okay SIX. Just getting my mouth measured for the denture.

I'm supposed to be doing that Monday morning for the partial since they really screwed it up the first time. I may have to reschedule that appointment though unless they can guaranty me that they'll have it first thing Tuesday morning. I've got to get back out to Grams early next Tuesday and I'll probably be staying until Thursday night since the lowering into the grave happens Thursday afternoon.

In the meantime, my buddy is going on vacation with his family and I've got to get his daughter's ceiling repaired and paint that room before they come back. If he gets everything out of my way before he leaves and I can at least get all the mudding done before I go to Grandma's that's going to relieve a lot of the pressure.

I hope they get your reline done right. My top was perfect, but the bottom was a complete waste of money so far. At least they're going to send it back to the lab and fix it free of charge.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

I am getting the denture on Tuesday morning and it is an early appointment. But I will have the denture and eating will be easier for sure.

I hope you can get the work finished at your friend's before you head out to your grandmother's.

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Thursday, March 9, 2023 5:10 PM

Back from mah jong and a couple of errands. Not too bad a morning as I managed to get the booby prize which is 4th place. *L* I got my $2 back. Had a couple of decent hands which allowed this so not bad. Lovely bright day out but suppose to rain tomorrow have to see.

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Friday, March 10, 2023 10:05 AM

Finally nearing the end of the re-org project... At least as far as my living room is concerned.

Last night I was finally able to go through the last month's worth of mail that had come in since I wasn't able to get to my curio cabinet to go through it all until then.

This morning I've been sorting what needs to go into the garage. I've thrown some stuff away and I have a big box of stuff for Goodwill. This part is hard because there's a lot of nice stuff still, but it's nice stuff I really don't need and shouldn't have taken in the first place.

I've got quite a few totes that will be leftover, which is good. Two of them are huge and don't have lids, so at least one of them will be in my trunk at all times. I think I'll have it filled with painting gear. I'll probably put less often used tools in the 2nd one and put the standard always needed tools in the bucket with my two bucket tool organizers.

I've got a lot of small totes. I'm going to need to get out in the garage and start filling them up with my various screws and nails in an organized fashion. There's actually a lot of wasted space on those shelves and with all the new good nails/screws etc that I got out of the garage this week I'm going to need that space. Once they're organized in the small totes I should easily have a good spot for everything on that front.

While I'm boxing up stuff for Goodwill, I may take a moment to go back up to the attic and look at stuff I boxed to save up there. Except for about 3 boxes that I've rummaged through for computer parts over the years, I haven't touched any of that since Summer of 2019 when they were boxed up. I'm sure that I can get rid of more.

The garage is going to be a project this spring/summer. I've got that brand new fridge out there I need to swap in my house to get the old one out. I also have a nice stove that my neighbors gave me when I helped them move their stuff during their home remodel. It's not brand new and two of the burners don't work though. My oven seems to be working again and now that I've got the air fryer that doesn't really even matter anymore anyhow. My current stove is really light. This thing is a heavy beast. I may just get rid of it. Anything I move in and out of the kitchen always comes with the risk of marring or ripping that really nice new floor I put in there a while back, so I've got to weigh that in the decision.

Then there's all the projects that I've got to do... Building a kitchen table with the legs from Grandma's dining room table and restoring/reupholstering the two chairs for it... Restoring both hope chests... Building and painting the two missing kitchen drawers I have yet to get around to. At least all the good wood boards that I took I was able to stage in my nook for wood without it spilling out into places it doesn't belong.

I'm starting to feel a bit closed in again. Nice furniture has come my way at the wrong time. I don't even have my flooring situation started in the back porch and I've got it loaded with furniture and that TV Stand/Fireplace heater. And since most of my floors in the house are finished except for the living room hardwood, I don't really want to be moving furniture all over the place... And eventually I'm going to be restoring that living room hardwood and where the heck am I going to put the furniture while I'm doing that? Cramming it into the back porch would be the ideal solution, but even if I knew I could get it over there without screwing up the kitchen floor it wouldn't fit through that door to the porch anyhow since it's only 28" wide. It would have to either go downstairs or out into my garage through the front door that's 36" wide.

Oh well... Those are worries for another day.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Friday, March 10, 2023 1:25 PM

Out for my walk to get my taxes done and a couple of other things.

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Friday, March 10, 2023 1:37 PM

Almost there...

Got a huge Goodwill box with some of the stuff from my attic in there too.

Got a few goodies for my Aunt in another box, including a scale. I got a REALLY nice body fat scale with tons of options on it that I'll probably never use from my friend's father in law, so I cleaned up the basic one I've had for years to give to her since she's not going to take the monstrous one that my Grandma had and she would use.

At first I thought the expensive scale was giving me some sort of body fat index or something because the numbers weren't registering in my head. Last time I weighed myself would have been around early November and I was pushing 180 with all my clothes and shoes on. Once it gets cold out I tend to put on some winter weight. This scale was reading 153 and change. I thought it might be broke until I went up to the one in my bedroom and it said 153 as well.

Just the last week my friend and my aunt asked me if I've lost weight. I figured it was just because they were seeing me in a t-shirt instead of wearing a bulky hoodie.

I know I've been super busy recently, but I eat like a horse. If I weren't feeling good I'd be concerned that something was wrong with me. I'm not sure how you can lose 25 lbs in a little over 4 months without even trying to. If I figure it out, I'm going to patent it.

I think I'm going to take a break from the re-org now. My buddy is coming by in a few hours to drop off his keys so I can paint his daughter's bedroom while they're on vacation and after my aunt gets back from lunch with friends I'm going to walk her through setting up her new cable internet online. I've got some errands to run that I should just do now so I'm not trying to do that when I'm all tied up with other obligations. I can finish the living room tonight and get all the totes out to the garage for organization out there that I'll be doing on a warmer day when it isn't snowing.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Friday, March 10, 2023 5:22 PM

Back and in from my walk. Got spat on but now the sun is out. Taxes done and some grocery shopping. Inside chores done too. Having a nice sit down.

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Friday, March 10, 2023 5:43 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

I feel like I'm running in molasses. Doctor appts are using up any time leftover from daily chores, but I still have big scary projects that need doing ASAP. I had a kidney ultrasound yesterday as part of a battery of tests to try figuring out why they're failing. I snuck a peek at the posted results... normal. I also had a OET scan with radiolabled glucose to look for "hot spots" indicating cancer. Going to do my best to NOT look at those posted results, bc I often scare myself. I'm going to let the doctor scare me.

Upcoming, an ultrasound for cancer and a follow-up on the PET scan and ultrasound with my surgeon. A battery of kidney tests and a follow-up with my nephrologist. (If it's like last time, all of the test will be normal except actual kidney function, which will be worse than ever.) A routine cardiogram and follow-up with the cardiologist bc one of the infusions is cardiotoxic. And then a battery of blood tests and a follow-up with my oncologist. Plus I have an ENT appt and I need to pick up my glasses. It all kind of collided this month.

Well, back to running in molasses! I need to finish tidying up the kitchen before working on one of those big scary projects.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Friday, March 10, 2023 5:47 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Oh BTW SIX, one of the guys who worked for me told me his brother died just two weeks after being dxd with esophageal cancer. It sounds a lot like what happened to your g'ma- essentially asymptomatic except weight loss, then dx, then surgery, then the end. I guess if you gotta go, that's better than some.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Friday, March 10, 2023 6:39 PM

I'm sorry to hear about the health issues Sigs. :(

I hope they figure out what it is and get you back up and running.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Friday, March 10, 2023 6:46 PM

Finished my shopping and did a little more work on the Living Room. It won't get done today, but I'm just about to get there. My buddy came over to drop the key off and said he thought it was going to be way worse than it was and I told him he should have seen it 3 days ago.

Got to see if I'm going to be helping my friend paint this weekend at the rental, otherwise I'm going to get a head start on the mudding/patching at my other friend's daughter's bedroom. I've got to get that done in between going back to my Grandma's house. They'll be home next Wednesday, but I've only got until Tuesday early afternoon to finish before I have to go back out to Grams.

Should be plenty of time. Especially since she didn't want any accent walls, she wanted the room painted white, and she wanted the ceiling painted the same white, so I don't have to worry about cutting in anything but the baseboard, hall and closet door trim, and the small wall mounted TV.

Turns out he's going to replace her fan. The old one doesn't work. Bad news is that I'll be taking that down myself because he doesn't know anything about electric. Good news is that I'll have an easy time painting the ceiling without having to worry about the ceiling fan being up there.

Gotta see if I have any primer lying around. He doesn't have any, and I've got to give the mud a quick prime before painting since there was so much damage up there. Don't want any spots where the sheen is off when I'm done painting.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Saturday, March 11, 2023 10:40 AM

Got my aunt all set up for internet. All she needs to do is pick up the equipment and we're golden. I told her I could walk her through it over the phone but she's just going to wait until I'm out there. I told her I'll show her how quick I get it set up and what the cable company would have charged her $100 "installation" to do.

What a deal. She'll get 2.5 times my speed with the modem/router and a TV streaming box for 24 months for only $25/mo with no taxes or fees. We'll have to figure out something else in 2 years though since they raise it to almost $90/mo after the 2 years is up.

All up to date on the paperwork for now.

Going to try to finish the living room reorg now and eventually get myself cleaned up. I think I'll head on over to my friend's house and start repairing that ceiling this afternoon. If I start tonight and my other buddy doesn't need me tomorrow I could probably have the bedroom all painted and maybe even install that ceiling fan before I even go back to my Grams.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Saturday, March 11, 2023 1:16 PM

Out for a walk on a day that can't decide if it wants to rain or sun. It was raining a while ago but now the sun is out. Oh well. Need veg.

Also have to remember about the grotty time change over this weekend. ^%&&*^&&&^

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Saturday, March 11, 2023 1:18 PM

Another reason I am glad I kept my vinyl records. Just found out the lead actor Topol from the film musical "Fiddler on the Roof" died. As a rule I had musicals but I love "Fiddler". I bought the record years ago.

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Saturday, March 11, 2023 3:11 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Oh, thanks for the time change reminder!

BTW, my high school out on Fiddler in the Roof as the school play. It was an ambitious undertaking and they did a fantastic job. I loved it and remember it vividly to this day.

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Saturday, March 11, 2023 4:49 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Oh, thanks for the time change reminder!

BTW, my high school out on Fiddler in the Roof as the school play. It was an ambitious undertaking and they did a fantastic job. I loved it and remember it vividly to this day.

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

You're welcome SIG.

I saw stage production of it years ago. It was being done by a local theater group and it was very good as well.

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Saturday, March 11, 2023 4:50 PM

Back from my walk and I got spat on again today. Have to see if anymore rain arrives.

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Saturday, March 11, 2023 4:51 PM

Just found Robert Blake died. I used to love watching "Baretta" when I was in high school.

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Saturday, March 11, 2023 5:03 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Back from my walk and I got spat on again today. Have to see if anymore rain arrives.

This is the back end of the storm that passed thru. I haven't measured yet, but it looks like we accumulated another 1-1 2" of rain. But this apparently was a warm air mass, not a cold one, bc instead of being crisp and clear and breezy it's cloudy, dreary, still, and muggy.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Saturday, March 11, 2023 7:49 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Back from my walk and I got spat on again today. Have to see if anymore rain arrives.
This is the back end of the storm that passed thru. I haven't measured yet, but it looks like we accumulated another 1-1 2" of rain. But this apparently was a warm air mass, not a cold one, bc instead of being crisp and clear and breezy it's cloudy, dreary, still, and muggy.

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

Well the weather people did say that this river was heading for California instead of my way.

That's still not good for certain areas of the state to my understanding with all the snow coupled with rain comes massive melt and then flooding.

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Sunday, March 12, 2023 1:15 AM

Worked on my friend's daughter's bedroom until 11:30PM.

Patched that entire run of wrecked ceiling on the one wall first, then I had to uninstall the bad ceiling fan, the vents and all the outlet covers. By the time I cut in everything I could cut without getting dust from the mud on it, I was able to sand the mud. Still a little wet in the deep spots, but nothing I haven't done before. Going to need a few mud touchups tomorrow.

Painted everything including the ceiling one coat. The ceiling won't need another coat, but the walls probably need two more. I'm covering some pretty dark colors with white and it's not very good paint. I'll cut in once and see how it looks. Might just need to cut in 2 more times and give it one more coat with the roller.

Looks great. I'm exhausted......

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Sunday, March 12, 2023 10:57 AM

Well... Going to head back out there and hopefully wrap up painting today. Hopefully there's not too much mudding I still need to do.

I'll have to go back one more time to put all the vents and outlet covers back up. And I told my friend I'd pick up a new dimmer knob for the fan since the one he has in there is busted (We needed to turn the breaker off while I pulled the fan down because the switch wouldn't turn off when you pressed it in). I will probably attempt to put the new fan back up too, but those things are always a pain in the ass.

It will be nice having this done so quickly after they went on vacation and not having to worry about it. Promising I'd get this done was my Christmas present to her, so I'm glad she'll have a new room come back to when the vacation is over.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Sunday, March 12, 2023 1:53 PM

Just my lazy Sunday.

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Sunday, March 12, 2023 11:38 PM

The rain arrived today and will be here for tomorrow most likely.

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Monday, March 13, 2023 12:00 AM

Finished the bedroom after two LONG days. Would have wrapped up at 9:30PM today, but it was daylight savings time.

Ceiling needed 2 coats and the walls needed 3 full coats. Next time I'm painting for somebody else, I'm not doing it unless they buy good paint.

Going to pick up that dimmer switch and a new coaxial cable cover and install them tomorrow, and maybe do the ceiling fan too. I left all my stuff over there. One part because I'm exhausted again and didn't want to bother tonight, and one part none of the neighbors there don't know me and I didn't want people seeing me bring a ton of stuff out to my car from his house at 10:30PM on a Sunday night.

Now I should have no problem getting my house straightened up before going back to Grams, and even be able to have my Dad come over on Friday. I thought I might have to cancel that until getting all this done so quickly.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Monday, March 13, 2023 10:49 AM

Just locked in cheap internet for two years, 6 days before they were going to start charging me $54/mo for what I've been getting for only $20/mo promotional.

This time it's 2.5 times faster than what I had and it's for two years instead of only one year. It's the same plan I got for my aunt's new apartment.

I also found the secret to getting somebody on the phone who can help you out FAST. Don't call in as an existing customer for any reason. That will put you through the automated loop that you can only get out of by claiming you need tech support. (And then trying to get the person from tech support to get you to customer retention can be a can of worms on its own depending on who you reach). Call up and tell the system that you're a new customer and you'll get a friendly English speaking American on the phone who will be happy to get you right to customer retention.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Monday, March 13, 2023 10:53 AM

Alright... gotta get my rear in gear and get up to the hardware store to get that dimmer switch and white co-ax outlet cover so I can head out to my friend's place and wrap that bedroom up and get all my tools and materials.

Then it's back to the re-org project at home.

Hopefully I can get that done too before I go to Gram's tomorrow. At least inside the house. Still going to save the garage for another day since it's snowing for the 3rd day in a row here.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Monday, March 13, 2023 1:14 PM

Out for my walk and I am unsure about the umbrella thing.

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Monday, March 13, 2023 5:02 PM

Back from my walk and I got rained on but had my umbrella. Now that I am in the sun is out and all is dry. Oh well.

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Monday, March 13, 2023 6:52 PM

Installed a new light switch and got the ceiling fan installed.

Got all the other outlet covers up and the vents, cleaned up the mess and left the place otherwise exactly the way they left it. I wanted to vac up the room too, but my buddy didn't know where the vacuum was and his wife wasn't right there, so he said he'll do that before moving all the stuff back in the room.

It looks fantastic in the daylight. I knew it would and there would be no way any of those old dark colors were going to bleed through after 3 coats.

Got home and got all the stuff emptied out of my car and my batteries charging and going to start getting packed for Grams tomorrow. My aunt is so excited about getting her internet up and running and getting her clock and pictures all hung up in her apartment.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Monday, March 13, 2023 11:36 PM

Early dental appointment tomorrow then some errands after.

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Tuesday, March 14, 2023 9:52 AM

I'd like to say that I had a great night's sleep and I'm well rested... lol. I miss my naps. It's hard for me to sleep in these days though. I almost got up for the day at 5:30, but I was able to go back to sleep for a few more hours.

Main priorities are easy. Just washing dishes then getting cleaned up and packed for another few nights out by my Grams. Assuming I have time, which I should, I want to clear out the rest of the living room. That will give me Thursday night and Friday morning to make the place presentable when my old man comes by to visit.

We're going to finally get the last of the trash bags out on the curbs today, and get another 6 pieces of furniture at least out. Hopefully somebody grabs some of them because there are some pretty nice pieces in the bunch that will be going out first in hopes we can get a few more out there this week.

If my aunt is feeling up to it, we may pull some of the larger pieces out the front door right to the curb instead of taking smaller ones out from the garage. My tweaked back from rolling the ceiling the other night is feeling fine, so that's good.

When my aunt goes to work on Wednesday, I'll be going to her apartment to set up the internet and give her a sweet and streamlined network setup and make sure that both of her TVs behave exactly the same and aren't cluttered up with a bunch of pay-to-watch apps that she's not going to use. And hopefully she did what I asked and planned out where she wanted her clocks and wall hangings so I can get them all up while she's gone too. (I hate doing that about as much as I hate cleaning a bathroom, but it will make her transition to being in her own place a lot easier, I think).

I'll really be looking for things to do with the downtime this week because almost everything is out of the house then aside from the largest furniture pieces, the grand piano and the old Grandfather clock. It looks like my cousin may want that piano, which would be awesome if he can pay somebody to safely get it outside and down 12 stairs to his place without us having to worry about it. Otherwise we're just leaving it in the house unless the realtor says it should go, which means we're just going to be destroying it and getting it out in pieces. That would be a shame. I remember Grandma playing that all the time and having some church lady friends from her chior come over on occasion while she'd play and they'd sing.

Normally I wouldn't stay an extra night, but Thursday we put Grandma in the ground and I'm going to stick around for that before coming back home.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Tuesday, March 14, 2023 4:34 PM

Back from the dentist and the fitting went find. I go back next Tuesday to hopefully get the denture after another fitting.

Also got some grocery shopping done.

Now all I have to do is replace a battery in my alarm clock because that almost made me late but the bus not coming this morning did make me late. Luckily when I got to the office no other patients were around so I went right in.

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Wednesday, March 15, 2023 2:47 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Hey, it sounds like you're all forging ahead!

I'm halfway thru my various tests and appointments.

Some good news! They don't know what causing the pain and tenderness in my left side, but they do know it's not cancer. So I'll just assume it's scar tissue or something and deal with it best I can.

Had a blood draw and urine sample today and next week I see the nephrologist. Like the previous tests, I find it much easier not to sneak a peak at the results posted online. As long as I'm not showing overt signs of kidney failure I'm going to do what I need to do and let the docs deal with it.

Pick up my new glasses tomorrow. It's been quite a few years since I last had an eye exam and I barely squeaked thru my DMV license renewal so I hope this new pair will help me see better!

And today I THINK was the last rainstorm of the year... altho I think I said that a few rainstorms ago. You were right, BRENDA ... snowpack plus rain = floods. We dodn't havemuch of a snowpack here but I think northern CA got nailed. Altho there is still a lot ofsnow on the higher peaks up there. Haven't checked my rain gage bc it's still raining, but it looks like at least 1.5" so far. So according to my backyard, we're about 7" ahead of average.

I hope to report more actual progress later!

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" It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

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Wednesday, March 15, 2023 1:27 PM