More In The Life

1.  Sometimes the silliness never ends.  I previously mentioned that the new lawn mower arrived without 2 simple bolts and 2 simple knobs (fancy screw-on nuts).  I called the company and gave them the model number and serial number they needed to send me the missing parts.  They arrived.  Well, "some" parts arrived.

They sent me one knob and a "camshaft adjuster".   So I called the company again yesterday.  20 minutes on hold with music that alternated between barely detectable and silent.  I got an agent.  I explained I had received the wrong "missing parts" and gave her the ticket number.  She got that right up on her computer and confirmed my name.

So she checked the details of the ticket and found the original person I had spoken to had mis-entered the model number.  She was very apologetic.  After checking with the technical support office, she confirmed the error and the correct parts.

As part of "customer service", they are sending me a 2nd mower blade along with correct parts (and we discussed exactly what those parts were).  I doubt the additional mower blade will be of much value.  I'm using this small electric mower for trim work, so I doubt the blade will ever need to be replaced or sharpened.  I did appreciate the offer. 

So in a week, I will have the correct bolts and screw on knobs.  I already have the handles secured with blots and nuts I bought yesterday at Home Depot.  Works fine.  But it leaves the bolt ends sticking outward where I am sure to catch myself on someday.  The knobs would cover that.

But the deal is that the bolts were missing to begin with, I had to spend 30 minutes on hold to get the initial request (with was a failure), had to call a 2nd time (20 minutes). 

2.  I have sometimes gotten leg cramps laying in bed at night.  I started eating a banana each day a month ago and taking magnesium supplements (both suggested in a vitamin book I have) and hadn't had any cramps at night since then. 

Until 4 days ago.  My right calf muscle suddenly cramped and it was worse than before.  I remembered that the muscle cream (Aspercreme - contains aspirin) said something about relieving muscle cramps and smeared some all over the area.  The cramp went away almost immediately, but the next morning the muscle was tender and painful when I walked for about an hour.  It actually felt that the muscle was ripped.

Then 2 nights ago, the left calf muscle cramped and it was worse.  The Aspercreme helped but not as well.  Walking around (which usually solves the problem) was only partially helpful.  I had to carefully sleep with that leg fully extended.  The next morning I was limping around an hour.

I feel fine again now, but that stuff is painful.  And it makes it a bit worrisome about what positions I sleep in.

3.  I had some kitchen stuff I wanted, so I went to Bed,Bath&Beyond with discount coupons in hand.  My pepper grinder had broken, a timer had failed, my corn-butterer broke, my wine bottle foil cutter wasn't cutting anymore, I wanted a small slotted spoon to get olives out of the jar, and I wanted a good wine-puller (one on those neat things that you just push on and the cork "magically" comes out).

Oh the hardships of life... 

But I discovered the BB&B prices were idiotic even with the coupons.  $25 for a good salt grinder? Or matching pepper grinder.  And even funnier, buying the 2 together as a set was MORE expensive than the 2 individual.  Those people are NUTS! 

They wanted $8 for a corn-butterer. 

So I went to Amazon and found the same stuff at half the price (but oddly, the corn-butterer at almost 2x the price.  The stuff I want doesn't meet the Amazon threshhold for free shipping, so they sit in my cart waiting for something else to add.

4.  My riding lawn mower collects grass clippings around the exposed belt drives.  Cleaning them all out is a pain.  But I have an electric blower.  I bought it to blow fallen leaves off the screened garden enclosure because last year snow collected on the fallen leaves and actually bent the metal poles supporting the top.  And then I blew all the fallen tree debris off my deck.  Sure beats sweeping.  So It occurred to me to try it on the grass clippings in the mower belts.  Worked great!

5.  I mowed my spring bulb bed.  Mowed the butterfly bed bed too.  The electric mower is impressive.  I plan to cover both to supress weeds.  This year, the weeds took over.

6.  Dug into the trailer half-full of compost.  Filled up 8 kitty litter tubs full in a yard cart.  But they were all soaked with rain in spite of a tarp covering the trailer.  So they will have to sit inside a week to dry out.  I need the compost dry so I can sift it through a 1/4" screen to mix it with peat and sand and vermiculite for seed starting soil next Spring.  The rest will go onto the butterfly bed to improve the soil.

7.  Cooked a lot yesterday.  10 chicken thighs marinated in leftover olive juice.  Baked in a roaster pan with 2 sliced lemons, 4 shallots.  Added a cup of olives and some cornstarch slurry the last 10 minutes.  Came out great!

8.  While walking off the leg cramp, I noticed my motion-activated floodlights were on.  I looked out a window and saw a deer frozen in place.  It was looking at my remaining hostas.  I finally snuck out the side door and ran at it yelling and screaming.  THAT got it moving away fast.  I should get my crossbow set up (stringing it is a pain).  Deer don't fear us these days; time to give them a reason.

9.  Need to replace the roof on the old toolshed.  25 years old, and shingles are missing, leading to rain dripping into it.  I originally just put 4'x8' sheets of interior plywood on top with shingles thinking that was good enough.  I didn't know about roofing felt then.  I can't lift whole 4x8 sheets anymore, but I can cut them in half and match the cuts on the roof.  THEN I'll add roofing felt and new shingles.  I have to remove the existing roof first though, and I'm not looking forward to that.

10.  I saved a few Sweet Flag plants from my pond renovation this Spring.  I put them in tubs of water.  One tub just died off for some unknown reason but I noticed there were tadpoles in the water.  OK, I'm a curious person so I netted as many as I could into a bowl of water and brought them inside.  It took a while the shift them from bowl to bowl until the mosquito larvae were gone.  But they are inside and I'm going to watch them develop to frogs.  I added some aquarium plants to the bowl for them to nibble on and put a pan splatter screen on the top (in case I missed a mosquito larva).