Random Stuff

 There is always some random stuff going on.  Some normal but some not.  So a list:

1.  I solved the wristwatch problem.  It's hard to find a wristwatch that is both simple and readable.  I bought one that had a large display that was  easily readable.  But of course it came with features I didn't want.  I don't need a wristwatch with alarm settings, hourly beepings, or countdown or uptime timers.  But every manufacturer assume that I do.

When I received it, every feature was functioning except the actual time.  So I set the time according to the instructions.  That wasn't too difficult.  But a "chronometer" function beeped every hour.  And an alarm went off at Noon every day for 60 seconds.  Drove me crazy.

It is a foreign product, as most small devices are today.  The instructions can be hard to understand sometimes.  The watch has 4 buttons (A to D).  The instructions tell you which order to press them to turn on and off various features.  I tried to follow them for 2 weeks with no success!

The features are tiny little abbreviations in a corner of the watch, and I couldn't even read them with my reading glasses.  It took a magnifying glass (the kind you can wear on your head so both hands are free) to see the letters. 

I know how to follow instructions.  These were like "press B 2 seconds then press C to access "chronometer" and make adjustments as purposed".  Yeah, that's a quote.  I could never get the hourly single beep or 60 second beeps to stop.

Finally, after trying again and failing, I just started pressing the 4 buttons randomly in anger.  And it worked!

The chronometer and alarm were both off.  I have been delighted with the watch since then.  It shows me the time and date in a relatively clear display, and that is all I wanted from it.  I hope it lasts the rest of my life (batteries to be replaced of course) so that I don't have to struggle with settings again.

2.  It has been unusually dry here for months.  Here it is not yet even Summer and the lawn grass is fading and the soil is hard.  We normally have 17" of rain for the year by now and it is just 8" and nearly nothing for 2 months..  I know, things are worse elsewhere, but this is my yard and my plants.  

So I decided to actually water the lawn.  I don't normally do that.  I'm organic, and I accept that grass goes dormant in Summer.  But it isn't even Summer yet.  The WEEDS are even dying.  

So I took out my old lawn sprinkler to at least save the new meadow bed.  It leaked like crazy!  I allowed it because I have a lot of established plants in there and 36 more to add very soon.  But I needed a new one.  I looked up some garden sites about recommendations.  No sites agreed about the best.  So they are probably sort of either all crummy or all good.  I ordered one.  It will arrive Saturday.  At least (being new) it will probably work well for a couple of years.  So many things are just built poorly these day.

3.  The cold nights (and odd tiredness) caused me to delay planting my heirloom tomatoes.  I had too many 40's nights in May and that stunts them.  And after no rain for nearly a month, I can't barely get a shovel in the soil.  So I soaked the soil for an hour.  Tomorrow I can dig good holes and add good organic fertilizer in the soil before I fill it back in around the transplants. 

4.  I mowed the daffodil bed.  They had all died back sufficiently.  And I will spread mostly P and K fertilizer around to feed the bulbs.  Then cover it with black mesh landscaping fabric to smother the grasses and weeds that tried to take over earlier this Spring.  By next Spring, there won't be a living weed or grass in the bed!

5.  Given the failure of the old oscillating lawn sprinkler and until a new one arrives in a few days, I will be setting out some buckets near special plants.  I have some with small holes in the bottom. That allows the water to drip out slowly and get down to shrub and tree roots.  

More Random Stuff

Some good news:  My newest Mac Mini has mostly really tiny ports I am not familar with.  I looked them up, but I can't find the notes on what they are called.  Most of my stuff has USB plugs.

I bought a 4-multiplug device months ago, and it works but I needed 6 ports.  Hey, I discovered there were 2 more on the new keyboard!  I have "enough".  But I would rather plug stuff directly into the Mac Mini (seems  more direct).  But at least I don't have to keep switching the printer cord and camera cord.

The new keyboard is a bit weird.  It wants 2 ports.  It works on one port, but every few days it fails to communicate and I have to restart the computer.  The discovery of the extra ports on the keyboard means I can plug the 2nd keyboard plug in.  So far, no fails.

And I like the new keyboard (dasKeyboard).  The keys are slightly engraved, not stenciled, so they aren't wearing off like most have.  And there are the 2 USB ports.  It's black with white letters, which I prefer.  But it has an odd reflection that keeps making me think I have cat furs on my fingers.  Nothing is perfect, LOL!

I got my vegetable and flower seedlings outside several days ago to get them used to actual sunlight.  The area was dappled.  I carried the lettuce trays onto the deck for easy harvesting.  The seedlings stayed down for another day.  Later tomorrow, I will plant the tomatoes and peppers in full sun.  They will have had 3 days of partial direct sunlight.

Watered them thoroughly yesterday.  Had to change nozzles 3 times to find the most appropriate one for delicate lettuce leaves.  In fact, I went to a soaker nozzle for "next time".

The flower seedling need more growing time.  They look a bit weak.  A few days of dappled then full sunlight should improve them.  Besides, the place I want to put them has grass growing. so I need to dig that out or at least damage it a lot tomorrow. 

Every day my Federal tax form DOESN"T come back "insufficient postage" is good.  The State owes my a small amount, so I don't worry about that.  They don't penalize you about a refund.

The Mews are doing well.  Laz hardly bothers Ayla at all these days.  She is actually the hissy one.  And I don't worry about it.  Each of them lick foreheads mutually these days, so it can't be too bad.  Yeah, it took Laz a full year (nearly to the day) to " settle".  

A hiss is not the claw/tooth fight.  I'll accept a hiss.  Next challenge is the Tonkinese female kitten due for pickup in early August.  I so much hope The Mews accept her immediately.  Marley is definite, being so calm; Ayla has always gotten along "OK" with any female cat; Laz is so much calmer now and has 2 months more "calm" to experience.  It should be OK.

Yeah 4 cats is more than I expected.  Maybe I should have just gone with Marley and Ayla.  They like each other.  But Laz was a rescue.  Not the normal rescue.  But the breeder I've dealt with in the past DID literally reascue Laz from a bad home and was looking for a Forever Home.

I sure almost gave up on him a few times.  But on his Gotcha Day here, he changed rather suddenly.  Maybe memories fade or he finally realized it was a safe place.  Whatever.   Who knows with cats?  He is only 3.5 and I think mostly he just wants to play.  Laz an Marley wrassle happily and gently often.  So I think "now" he just wants to do that with Ayla.  

His attacks on her ended months ago.  Maybe it was status-seeking in his new home.  Ayla doesn't forget (and I don't blame her).  But lately, they meet, sniff noses, and lick foreheads.  I'll accept the peace as a good sign for the future.

My car made "hot metal noises" when I came back from shopping last week.  I noted there were drips under the car.  After it sat for a day, I opened the hood and set up a lamp under it.  I'm not a mechanic and Dad never taught me stuff about cars.  But I understand enough to know what basic parts are.

The stuff that dripped was water.  Yeah it could have been air-conditioning condensation except for all the hot metal.  So I checked all the fluids.  

Oil level was fine.  Windshield washer lever was low so I refilled it, but that stuff being low doesn't heat the engine.  The coolant reservoir was empty.  I opened the radiator cap (it was cold after a day).  It was filled.  So I added water.  Not coolant; I didn't have any.  But that should las a trip until I schedule maintenance work at the dealer.

You are going to laugh.  I bought the car in July 2020.  It has 500 miles on it now.  But you should have a maintenance visit after the 1st 500 miles and I was planning it for next week.  The manual said I should expect "greater than usual" oil usage, but it was the coolant that was low.  

I'll let the dealership figure that out.

Time to go to bed...

More Odd Thoughts

I was in a convenience store last night and the person in front of me used a credit card to buy 2 bananas.  "2 bananas" on a credit card?  And it took 5 minutes before his card was finally accepted.  Damn, he must being having a bad month or year.  I sometimes forget how fortunate I am.

I have a cigarette habit.  I only smoke at the computer every few days, so it is really more a habituation than an addiction.  I type; I smoke.  We all have some failings...

My State raised the tax on cigarettes by $2 a pack last month.  I understand the logic; more expensive means fewer young people can afford a bad habit.  I can afford the increase.  But I remember when a case of beer and a carton of cigarettes were both $15.  The cost of beer hasn't increased but a carton of cigarettes is $100.  

I wonder why.  Alcohol is more dangerous ( I hardly drink anymore - wine with dinner)  but I suppose it is more popular.  

I bought a new car about this time last year.  It had 79 miles on it.  Now it has 570.  I don't drive a lot, LOL!  The dealership sent me an email reminding me that my 10,000 miles maintenance was due.  I laughed.

I donated my previous car to a place that takes old cars and trains released felons the repair trade last year. It was a 2005 Toyota Highlander with less than 20,000 miles on it.  They even emailed to check if I misreported the milage.  Nope.  

I ruined a batch of bean seeds last week.  I usually presoak them a day and that works well.  But I didn't have the planting spot ready for them.  There were tree roots in the spot and I couldn't get them out as fast as I expected.  Tree-roots are tough.  I finally succeeded but the beans rotted.  Have to start that again.

I went out to get my mail (none) but I saw an envelope on the road.  2 houses away.  I wasn't sure it was legal for me to put mail in another person's mailbox (the post office has some VERY strange rules), but I did it anyway.  It was a thick envelope from a business.  

For all I know, it might have been just junk mail,  But it may have been a job offer.  You never know..  Or maybe I changed someone's life.  One of those things I'll never know about.

Speaking of which, have you ever wondered about what other people remember about you?  That neighbor you helped load a coach onto a trailer?  That roommate from 50 years ago?  I do sometimes.  So I do random acts of kindness.

Today is Lapis Lazuli's 1st Gotcha Day here.  He had a hard year adjusting, but better than his previous 2 1/2 years.  I think he is calmer the past couple months and will be better in the future.  Sometimes, all you can hope for is "better.  

I am mostly recovered from the fall off the extention ladder.  I walk normally.  The right clavicle will always be slightly annoying but it doesn't seem to prevent me from doing things.  The left thumb is weak but usable.  Well, I've been lucky most of my life and it could have been a lot worse.

I've had both my Covid shots with no problems, so I am probably safe from that.  I still wear a mask in public though.  I'm careful and willing.

I set up 2 sawhorses on the deck.  I have trays of lettuces to put out into sunlight for growth.  I will post pictures soon.  And the deck is even more convenient for cuttings than the basement is.  It is right next to the kitchen after all.  And it means I can turn off the plant stand lights.  They are fluorescent but that doesn' mean "free".

I think that is about all for today...

Random Thoughts

1.  I like mushrooms, but there are limited uses.  They don't go with BBQ, ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard,; just stir fries or suateed with butter or bacon fat.

2.  I always I have to examine my paper napkin before tossing it.  Sometimes I make notes on them while eating dinner and watching TV.  Well, they're paper and I always have a pen handy.  

3.  I love tomatoes.  I ran out of them and made spaghetti sauce 2 nights in a row.  I could have made a pizza, but I was too late to make decent dough.

4.  I showed pics of myself on the cat blog yesterday and one commenter suggested I should smile more.  It's not the first time.  People have mentioned that for most of my life.  I do not have a natural smile.  In fact, my "neutral face" is rather frowny.  No idea why, but I also don't blame anyone.  It IS a frown.  

It is almost funny.  I once practiced smiling looking at a mirror.  I can assure you, that does not work.  An artificial smile (I CAN do it but it looks worse).  I CAN be surprised at one occasionally, but it is rare.  Rest assured that I am actually a pretty happy person, enjoy my cats when they are on-or-around me, and like my life.  

Really, who could have have happy cats around and not actually be happy themselves?

5.  Last Summer was brutal on trees here.  I have Golden Rain trees on either side of the front of the driveway.

They look like this on the web...  Mine don't.

The flowers look like this and it is very lovely towards Fall...

But last Summer's drought about killed them both.  There are few leaves growing from a couple branches.  Most limbs seem dead.  I watered them daily through a 5 gallon drip bucket.  That's where you drill a small hole and let water leak out slowly so it gets down into the roots.  I probably didn't do it enough. 

But I'll see if I can get them growing again.  There are a couple branches leafing and a few shoots from the trunks.

6.  The Beech tree in the front yard is probably a goner for the same reason.  The top had already died years ago, but lower limbs continued to grow.  This year, I need binoculars to see the one small branch with leaves.  

It isn't all that tall and if it falls over by the usual wind direction, it won't actually damage anything; and it has no special value for shade on the house.  In fact it shades the lawn and the Saucer Magnolia tree, so I'm thinking losing it might even be a benefit.  I value all trees for producing oxygen, but I will plant a specimen close to the spot to replace it.

7.  My indoors lettuce garden is growing.  Not enough to take a picture, but soon.  The seedlings are 1' high and growing fast.  The heirloom tomato seedlins are about 4" high.  I will be trying to graft them to more disease-resistant roots again soon.  I usually fail, but I keep trying.  Commercial grafters say they get about 90% success.  I get none.  Someday I will learn what I'm doing wrong.

Which is why I always plant enough heirloom tomato seeds for regular plantings.  Better some than none.

8.  I'm trying something new with the pole beans.  An angled 6" wire mesh so the beans hang down though it.  The idea is to make harvesting easier.

9.  I planted cherry tomato seeds in an upside down pot.  I've done this before successfully, but not for a few years.  The idea is to hang the pot at least 8' above ground so that the tomato hangs down from the bottom.  No cage required, easy to water from the deck, and convenient to pick a couple of cherry tomatoes as I leave the basement to do yardwork.  

The pot didn't fit under my basement lights, so I found a gooseneck lamp around the house and put a high-lumens LED bulb in it.  That should help it grow for a few days.  The weather is warming this next week, so I will be able to hang it from the deck soon where it will get direct sunlight.  After that, it is on its own.  If it doesn't work, little loss; 2 seeds...

10.  I went shopping Sunday.  Some produce stuff at Safeway (great fruitsd and veggies) and some basic stuff at Walmart (they have really great prices on some brand-name stuff).  But I also wanted 2 specific flower seeds and a couple automotive items (heavy lubrication grease for the garage door opener tracks, and starter fluid for gas engines, so I stopped at one place (that had  neither) and another place that had one. 

I guess I have to go to an automotive store for the starter fluid.  Another trip tomorrow.  Always one more trip to get what you need, but I had milk and ice cream in the car so could tarry much.

11.  Got back home, fed the cats, put away groceries, made dinner.  Some dinners seem great in the mind but are boring in actuality.  The chicken, onions, and bell peppers were boring; needed some spices.  

The tossed salad was good.  Mixed 1,000 Island dressing with leftover Italian.  The new tomatoes and basement celery leaves saved the meal.

12.  I almost forgot to mention the Baby Fish!  When I got a new pair of fancy guppies months ago.  Some were born and I worked to net them out into a separate container and they grew.  The aquarium is covered with floating anachris plants, so the newer babies have places to hide and grow but kind of on their own.  I now have a couple dozen guppies.  The males stay fancy with red and black colors and delta tails.

Sometimes efforts work...

More Random Things

1.  I got my 2nd Moderna Covid shot yesterday.   What a STRUGGLE (I joke)!  Actually, I just drove 15 minutes to the shot center, was in and out in 20 minutes (and only that long because there was a required 15 minute observation period) and 15 minutes home.  Seriously, from the time I walked in the door to the time I had my shot and my vaccination card returned was only 5 minutes!

I had only the least sensation of any shot.  Well they DID stick a 1" needle in my arm, after all...  But at least that is all over for now.  When time has passed, I will get a Covid test to see if I had it asymptomatically last year.  If that would be detectable after the shots, of course.  I'm planning to have an annual physical in June; I'll ask about that then. 

I'm curious because I have felt oddly tired since last Fall and tend to lay abed for longer than I used to.  It might be several things.  Age, Covid itself, mere boredom from home-restriction due to the virus concerns, or even Season Affective Disorder.  I've had a mild problem with SAD for a couple decades.  

It varies.  Some Winters are mild and I am out more so little problem.  Other years Winter is harsher and I get less sunlight exposure.  I don't mind fluorescent bulbs and have "daylight" tubes in most fixtures, but I don't know if that helps much.  The only true sunlight is sunlight.  I know there are special bulbs available.  Everyone seems to have some odd minor problems...

2,  All the indoor seed-planting is complete.  Next comes some early outdoors plants.  Beets, spinach, beans, carrots, leeks, radishes.  My tomatoes will be a bit late as I got them planted late.  Some are for "normal" transplanting out and some are for grafting attempts.  I used to go to great lengths to plant heirlooms early with devices designed to keep them warm (wall-of-water cylinders and hotcaps), but I am convinced now that it doesn't seem to matter.  Tomatoes transplanted out "late" seem to catch up and possibly surpass the earlier ones.

My bell and hot peppers didn't emerge well this year.  They aren't any older than the tomatoes (which came up almost 100%) but some seeds don't store as well as others.  I may have to buy some pepper seedlings in May.

3.  John showed me how to drain the gas tank on the brushmower (and then of course I should add new gas).  And he told me I need "starter-fluid" to squirt into the carburator to get the engine running while new gas is pulled in.  Wait, does he mean "starter fluid" like some people use to light charcoal or some specific gas engine stuff with the same name?  I need to ask.  

4.  A half of an old tree in my neighbor's yard fell over into mine. It is substantial. Fortunately, none of it landed on the 4  small flowring trees I planted in Fall 2019.  Part of me says "sure I can cut it apart".  The sensible part says "call a tree company".  I'm not 35 anymore.  But I WILL wait until the backyard daffodils have lost their leaves and the bulbs are safely underground again.  

The tree guys do great work and they work hard, but they don't pay much attention to landscaping.  They have a goal.  Cut stuff up, drag it out. throw it into the grinder.

I'll call them when there is little to damage.  The fallen tree isn't actually causing an immediate problem.

Random Things

A few unusual things:

1.  I got a recall email notice from Chewy.com a week or so ago.  Turns out a bag of dry food I bought was a "possible recall" but gave a "lot #" to check on the back of the bag.  There was no lot # of the back or anywhere else I could find.  I called the manufacturer to ask where the lot # was supposed to be.  Their system was overwhelmed, so I left a message.  Along with the name/email/phone, I asked if some marketing idiot had arranged for the lot # to be printed on the top part of the bag that you have to rip off to open it.

A couple days later, I called Chewy to see if they knew where the lot # was printed.  They didn't.  You might think they had been asked about that previously and gotten the information, but apparently not.  On the other hand, I had a wonderful conversation with the Chewy representative about our respective cats.  She didn't know about cat-blogging and asked for the address, which she looked at on the spot!  She read the header (so I know she looked), and said it was a wonderful idea.  How a Chewy representative didn't know about cat-blogging seems odd.  But she said they were sending a new whole bag, so that was nice.

The manufacturer called back 2 days later.  She said the lot # can appear anywhere on the back of the bag but it is randomly placed and COULD be at the rip-off top in rare instances.  She assured me that it is intended to be seen.  I have my doubts that a modern processing plant would print the lot # randomly.  She did say that if the seller did not replace the product (that is the usual arrangement, I gather), they would.

It's  not like they would compare addresses, so I could get a 2nd free bag of food if I wanted.  But I'm honest.  On the other paw, I could give it to the animal shelter.  I may think about that.

2.  My parents had a Purple Martin (bird) multi-nest-site in the 70s.  They usually got nesting Martins.  When I moved here, I set up one myself (they are on poles in a cluster).  Martins like to be in groups.  Martins arrive from S America in March/April depending on weather.  Yearlings arrive first and are called "scouts, as they find artificial nesting sites first and the older birds find THEM and set up nests.  Here is a successful colony...

I got scouts several times but no mating pairs for a few years.  Starlings tend to take over the nesting sites (on the right in the picture).  Then a new design came out that discouraged starling.  I bought a new pole nesting system.  The entrance is crescent-shaped and starlings are well, "too fat".

I got scouts then too but no mating pairs.  I saw some successful colonies in the neighborhood, but none liked mine.  They like open fields and I had too many trees and even shrubs bother them.  I gave up, but the pole and nesting "gourds" remained in place because I had better things to do than dissemble it and sell or toss it.

So 3 days ago, my Good Neighbors asked if I would sell it.  Deb had this idea of sticking it in the backyard for their "swamp birds".  Well, I didn't want the thing, so I told them to just take it.  I mean they have been so helpful, it it wasn't of any value to me.  Deb wants to paint all the gourds different colors and hope they attract nesting birds.  

They refused "free" so I said $20.  Yesterday John said he would come over today and get it.  Hurray, junk out of the yard!  

3.  They both arrived and Deb showed me pictures of their new cat (to prevent me from trying to help John pull it up I suspect - she is convinced I am still too fragile).

I have a picture of the cat on my new iPhone XR but I haven't learned how to upload pictures from there yet (I bought a book to read about the XR and will study it soon).  But it is a nice little female black cats with a white bib, from a shelter.  I think she named it Olivia but now she pronounces it " O Love Ya".  

She has had cats before, but became excited for a new one after taking care of mine when I could walk or get to the litter boxes in the basement.  Not that The Mews came out often when a stranger was around, but I DID manage to hold Marley and Ayla at hallway length so she could see them.

Not that I would fall off a ladder deliberately, but if that resulted in another shelter cat being adopted, that was good "accidental" result.

4.  They invited me to join in their 25 cent weekly poker game.  Given their kindness, I assume it was for a fun activity.  But I'm not a gambler.  And I probably have no "poker face".  Besides, I can never even remember whether a straight beats a flush.  I probably have "tells" all over me.  That's death in poker.

I played "penny-poker" in college and usually ended with more pennies than I started with, but my winnings were from "high-low"; a game seldom played now.  That's where the best and worst hands split the pot.  I had NO problem assembling the worst hand!

So I told them I was happy to play Hearts, Spades, Cinch, or Gin Rummy (maybe even Bridge) 25 cents per hand.  They declined.  I play for pleasure of winning.  I am BAD when money is involved.

5.  I decided to try myself at some mild gardening outside today.  Parts of my garden and flowerbeds are over-run by invasive flowering vines a neighbor planted a decade ago.  Their's were on open ground so they mowed them to death when they realized they were a problem.  But they are in my flowerbeds and thriving.  MUCH harder to remove.

I attacked them in a raised bed today to test what my arms could still do.  It went well!  Hours later, I feel no soreness.  That is VERY encouraging.  Shovel and garden fork work went well.  I was able to dig out all the invasive vines (so far as I can tell).  There were some sapling in the bed I cut down last year but the stumps were still there.  I got most out.  

Enough to dig the soil loose and set up a 6" concrete remesh supported by a couple metal poles at an angle.  The point is that the metal mesh is facing the afternoon sun and the Romano pole beans will hang down for easy picking.

6.  John (The Good Neighbor) is experienced in gasoline engines and I am not.  I can fix a few things by logic, trial, and error, but he actual knows what he is doing.  I have a brush mower that I used once and could never start again.  I forget to drain off old gas in Winter and that causes problems.  Well, to be honest, I expected to use each one another time that year but didn't.  Gas gets "old" and accumulates some water as it sits.

After he collected the Purple Martin House assembly, he looked at the 2 machines I couldn't get running.  He showed me where all the parts were and what I needed to do for each.  I have a general understanding of gas engines, but it is more theory than practical.  John knows practical.

He showed me the detachable tube that drains the old gas.  He showed me where access is and where to spritz starter fluid into the carburator.  

So I have a good idea know about what to do.  John assured me he would be happy to help when I got starter fluid, but this is a case of "Mark Try First".  LOL!  But I won't hesitate to ask for help if I fail. 

7.  John has side-gigs repairing stuff.  He does it on the driveway, so I see sometimes.  Everything from refinishing old furniture to gas-powered equipment.  So I offerred him the old riding mower.  It smokes. He said that's not worth fixing (bad rings and I barely know what that is), but then he said he had an engine that might fit.  So he is welcome to it.  Otherwise, it goes to the landfill where some company takes working parts.

8.  I have my 2nd Moderna Covid shot scheduled for Wensday.  That will be a relief.  Based on past history of vaccines, I will not have reactions.  I'll still wear a mask and maintain social distancing though.  I could be an asymptomatic carrier.  I wouldn't know without a test for previous infection and I think the vaccine shots mess up the test.

That's enough "weird" for today...

Some Random Thoughts...

As I review my posts, I noticed something I have failed to mention.  I have been oddly temperature-sensitive since the accident.  I have normally kept the house at 72F daytime and drop it to 68 at night (having a heated waterbed has some benefits).  And in daytime at 72, in Winter just I usually wear light slacks and flannel shirts (cuffs rolled up).

Since the accident, I've felt cold.  I expect that is because I haven't been as active but it may be some reaction to healing as well.  I had to bump the temperature up to 74F night and day and even then, sometimes wear a sweater in daytime.  I should have remembered to ask my Dr about that.

Also, I notice that, even drinking about a gallon of water per day (yes, I fill an actual gallon jug), I often feel dehydrated.  I initially blamed the meds, but I'm not on any anymore.  What's causing that?  It's not like I spend the day eating bread or crackers...

It's funny how the accident stopped all my projects in mid-work.  I was in the basement and noticed one that I started THAT DAY!  Because I seldom drive far or often, my old Toyota car battery tended to get discharged.  So a few years ago, I bought a "battery-minder".  It is a smart version of a trickle-charger.  Starts and stops when needed and you can leave it plugged in.  

It kept the old 2005 Toyota running and I noticed the new Subaru was slower to start too.  My fault for not driving much (joke - I couldn't drive at ALL for almost a month).  The Toyota dealer said "well drive 15 minutes every couple of days".  But I don't.  So I have the battery-minder.  But you can't just slam the hood on the wires.  It has to come through the grill.

Guess what?  The cable doesn't reach the battery in the Subaru.  But it came with 2 different cables.  SO, I cut them to splice them together for enough length.  Now, you have to understand that, as willing (and usually successful) as I am at SIMPLE repairs, electrical tape is the bane of my existence (next to 2-stroke gasoline engines like on chain saws).  The stuff sticks to ME like flypaper and I can't get it wrapped neatly around wire splices.

But I had a bottle of "liquid rubber" and was applying it THAT DAY before I heard Laz yelling for help.  It is still there today.  I suspect it is "well-set" by now, LOL!  I feel up to completing that repair now and feeding the cable back through the grill to the battery.

NOW, I'll attack it with electric tape.  It is probably safe from shorts now with all that stuff on it. LOL!

And I won't have to worry about draining the battery again on lots of short errands...

Plus, maybe my best chess game ever against a computer!  If you follow this sort of thing:  I'm White.

A double-rook sacrifice...  I NEEDED a game like that!  LOL...

I continue to feel and walk better.  I'm still stiff when I first get up in the morning or have been sitting too long, but that goes away more quickly lately.  The stairs are easier and I can now carry things AND go up and down almost normally.  

I took the last of the prescription-strength 600mg Ibuprophen today, which is OK.  I think I can get along with an over-the-counter 200mg one 2x  a day.  I dislike taking meds; there is always SOME level of side-effects or consequences if you take them too long.

Random Thoughts

"EVIL":

1.  Moles and Voles are evil.
2.  Weeds are evil (poison ivy, english ivy, wild grapes, wild blackberries, invasive perennial flowers, mock strawberries, bindweed, thistles, those large plants with purple berries that stain your fingers [obviously I forget the name], and the horrid invasive vine that a previous neighbor planted and I can't find the name of either).
3.  Groundhogs are evil.
5.  Deer are evil too, but at least they are afraid to jump the backyard fence.  They just eat my front yard plants.
6.  The neighbor in the ugly McMansion across the street who mows his lawn a 7 am when I am trying to sleep is evil (even if he is a really cool guy otherwise).
7.  Both next-door neighbors are evil.  One set has a fallen over tree in the front yard and it has been sitting there for 3 years.  The other set tried to burn dry dead branches right under small dry trees and next to my wood fence.  And they didn't even have a garden hose in case things went bad (I told them to stop or I would call the fire department).  And I caught the husband using a weed whacker around my trees and shrubs 10' on my side of the property line.  "Death by weed-whacker" is an actual problem.
8.  The neighbor across the street and next to the McMansion is evil.  He and his girlfriend used to have screaming arguments at 3 am on weekends.  They moved out some years ago, but now they are back!  Who moves back to a rental place?
9.  Ryobi Tools - Its a string trimmer that won't handle grass or vines.  So I bought a replacement head with serrated plastic blades,  But I can't find the right size bolt to fit the drive shaft.  I've emailed Ryobi twice about the exact size and thread per inch, but they haven't responded.  They promised 48 hours.  Its been 5 days. As far as I can tell, it is either a 9/32nds or a 7mm reverse-threaded bolt and no one locally sells either.
10.  Neighbors 4 houses away who think that everyone within 1/2 mile wants to hear their outdoors music.

"GOOD":

1.  I have a Fall garden.  Beans, cukes, tomatoes, corn, squash, coles (brocolli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, kohlrabi), carrots, beets, radishes, and flat italian pole beans.
2.  Dug up some black-eyed susans in the garden paths and moved them to the meadow bed.  If they survive, great, but they had to be removed from the paths anyway.
3.  This one is a bit odd.  I plant my tomatoes through a red plastic cover.  The red cover supposedly reflects sunlight that tomatoes absorb best AND deters insects.  But it is hard to water the plants.  So years ago, I bought some plastic tubes that attach to large soda bottles.  You cut the bottoms off the bottles, sick them in the soil and you fill them with water from the hose and it slowly drips into the root zone.  Got them cleaned and installed yesterday.  Some drained quickly, others didn't.  But all drained eventually.  I'll watch the leaves to make sure they aren't wilting.  A lot faster to water the tomatoes deeply that way.
4.  The cheap electric mower is great for trim work, but only lasts 10 minutes.  Still, its quiet, and light.
5.  The cheap small electric tiller works great.  If you cut the weeds down first and till shallowly at first pass.  Otherwise, the tines get roots wrapped around them and it takes work to unwrap them.  But it is great in close situations and shallow tilling.

"ODDS":

1.  My new Subaru Forester is too fancy.  I don't understand half of the displays.  Better sit down and study the manual.  I thought it was tricky, but one of the things I noticed in the old 2005 Toyota Highlander manual as I was cleaning it out was how many post-it notes I had to things that confused me then.  So I guess I'll learn about these things on the Forester.  I especially need to learn how to NOT have the Forester shut off when stopped at traffic lights.
2.  The deck gets too hot for the cats' tender paws.  The composite deck material gets to 120F.  So I bought 3 12'x2' strips of outdoor carpet.  Turns out the Home Depot store guy gave me "a couple extra inches" on each strip.  None of which are exactly the same width.  So I have to do some extra cutting.
3.  Related to the above, I think I will get a cover over half the deck.  I would get a retractable Sunsetter awning, but my deck-to-roof distance is too low.  I would cover the whole deck, but I have smoker/griller on one end and that needs free "up-space" for the heat and smoke.

That's almost enough, but I came across a funny thing all writers will understand...

STEPS FOR CURING WRITER'S BLOCK:

1.   

LOL!

Random Thoughts

If the weather forecast says a 75% chance of rain, it won't.  But if it says 25% and you decide to cook something on the grill or decide to plant flowers, it will.

You can look at your riding mower tires every week and they seem inflated, the day you don't, they aren't.

Any typo you make is assured to be a real word that is embarrassing in context.  And I don't use autospell.

Lawn grass grows faster when the mower is at the shop for repairs.

If there is a spot of plants who die at the least time of inattention, they are ones you wanted to save.  If you didn't like them, they are impossible to kill.

Speaking of which, why is it that the slightest bump to a sapling you are trying to grow kills it, but chopping down a "junk one" only makes it regrow faster?

I am convinced the mailman sits at the top of the hill just waiting for me to go out and check the mailbox.  Because 10 minutes later, he always arrives.  I need to check the mailbox for a "secret sensor".

Poison ivy always knows where you don't think it is... 

Dry holly leaves are pricklier than you expect.

Never build one fence gate larger than the other.  The larger one will pull the posts over and make the gates hard to open.  On the other hand, the way to solve that is with a chainsaw or Saws-All run between them.

RoundUp kills wild blackberries.  And they curl down from the top.  It's a pleasure to see the next day when you don't want them. 

Iza won't poop in a litter box unless I am watching but always pees in them.  I think she knows pee spreads.  Ayla will come in from outside to use the litterbox and then want to go outside again.  Marley prefers going outside.

Marley hates walking on dry leaves.

In math, constants aren't, variables won't.

I can't tell which way to tighten things when they are upside down.

If I watch my hometown sports teams on TV, they usually lose.  Well, they usually lose anyway, but if they are winning, my watching them is the kiss of death.  I stopped watching the Washington Nationals baseball team a couple weeks ago and they have won something like 10 of 13 since.  Is this a marketable skill?

I like a dish brush that holds liquid soap.  The bottom half came loose.  I bought a new bottom half.  It was the top that was bad.

If I mailed myself a letter, it woudn't arrive.

I could put my car in an empty parking lot and there would be a new dent when I returned.

I have no luck at cards or dice.  I lose a 50-50% chance 75% of the time.  If all I needed to win a game of Yahtzee, and needed only 7 pips, I would get four 1s and a 2.  If I wanted four 1s and a 2, I would get all 6s.

Ayla is terrible at Backgammon; she only wins 1 of 5 games.

The car dealership sent me an ad saying I was due or my 100,000 maintenance.  The car has only 28,000 miles.  And its 13 years old.

Hope you enjoyed...

Random Stuff

It's cold here (for my area).  12F (-11C) twice this week, and another week of that to come.  That is close to record lows here and even then, it is usually just a night or tho.  Extended cold like that is very unusual.

Trump made a joke about "Global Warming" being (therefore) obviously a hoax.  Does he remember that this day last year, it reached 70F here?  Probably not.  I think "last week" is a vague concept to him.

I watched a retrospective of 2017 on MSNBC yesterday.  2017 was more depressing than I realized! 

I am beginning to hate the hawk that took up residence in my neighborhood.  My birdfeeder is becoming a deadly attraction to the birds.  Yeah, yeah, "nature", etc, etc...  But I want my small birds more than I want a hawk around.  I've seen it pick off 2 male cardinals, and it's not like I'm staring out the window all day.  I had 12 male cardinals around last Christmas.  The most I counted the past few days was 4.  I'm researching anti-raptor netting. 

New food thing I discovered!  Raw large deshelled shrimp tossed with garlic and cherry tomatoes, and olive oil.  Raw broccoli florets tossed with olive oil and lemon zest.    Set on a baking pan at 400F for 15 minutes.  Served with fried potato wedges with minced  shallots and garlic...

The neighbors have those new star shower lights.  Nice fir the first hour.  Then boring.  I like my stationary strings better. 

The garden catalogs are arriving.  Time to take out my seed tray and see what I need for the new season.  I want to buy a few grafted heirloom tomatoes to see if they are worth it, but companies that self them a few at a time have bad ratings and the good places sell them 100 at a time.  So I'll try grafting my own again.

Saw the movie 'Interstellar' last night.  It made no sense at the end.  I understood what they tried to do, but "FAIL"...

Am still trying to design a mailbox notifier.  Something that let's me know when the mailbox has been opened.  I could buy one, but that's not the point.  I want to figure one out myself. 

Can't seem to win at Scrabble online.  I win until my opponent suddenly gets a 7 letter 50 point bonus near the end. 

Waiting for Spring...

Random Thoughts

Someome who emails monthly hasn't for 3 months.  I checked the obituary pages.  Not there.

My sister will be visiting in a few months, lots of work to do.  I have plaster over spots where electrical work was done 2 years ago.  I better get at that.  And some painting to do.

It really messed me up having the old Mac Mini computer filled up last month AND Verizon shifting my email to AOL at the same time.  Bought a 4x good new Mac.  Took 40 hours in March not getting it working with the Mac Mail.  And then suddenly, one of their techs DID.  Hurray, and I deserved it.

A shipment of canned cat food arrived half destroyed so badly I took pictures and complained.  The shipper sent a new full shipment.  The replacement shipment came surrounded by bubble-wrap.  Smart people.  There were still a few dented cans, but not actually damaged.  Good.  They keep my business.

My old M/W finally died.  The replacement arced twice.  Burned a black hole right through a sweet potato.  No way I would tolerate THAT.  They accepted a return and I bought a lower-powered one.   Well, I M/W small amounts sometimes.  So it is slower but safer.

I planted 25 Astilbe flower roots in the front yard.  They are supposed to be deer-resistant.  The first night, some deer came by and pulled 2 up.  Deer don't chew, they grab leaves and pull.  So I replanted the 2.  They didn't actually eat them.  I may sit out hidden by my my front steps with my crossbow.  A few deer running around with a bolt in their flanks should discourage them from feeding here.  And if one dies on the front lawn, I know how to butcher one.

But there are sprays that activate when something approaches.  I might try that too.  Disassembling a deer takes some time and I don't need the meat.

Speaking of deer, there are actually some plants they don't like.  I'm collecting some for the front yard.   There are so many deer here, they are worse than rabbits and groundhogs combined.  A solution would be wolves, but who wants to face a wolf when you take out the trash at night?  I prefer to deal with herbivores.

My daffodils are at their peak.

I have some of 2 types planted last year and some of those planted new last Fall.  They didn't all bloom at the same time this year.  Next year they will.  And I'll add more this coming Fall.  The tulips and hyacinths didn't work out even protected in cages (from voles).  I think I will just cover the yard in daffodils.  They are immune to voles (toxic to rodents).

I played one of my best online chess games the other night.  The other player had beat me 2 times.  He is better.  But that game had such a great ending.  He even complimented me on it.  When you have it, you have it.  One grandmaster once said "Sometimes, I forget the opponent has good ideas too".   I won the next 3 games.

I have a windowsill planter full of baby bok choy.  I harvest leaves at a time.  None of those grocery store rust-infested junk.  And I have 6 celery plants I harvest leaves from too.  Only way to go.

I'm thrilled baseball season has started again.  I visit my cat friends more often then.  Football and basketball are too busy.  Baseball gives me time.

I planted wildflower seeds in a bed yesterday.  I spread compost out a 1/2" deep, scattered the large seeds on tip, then spread 1/8" compost around and scatterred small seeds over that.  That wasn't exactly the instructions, but it matched what  I read about the plants online.  I hope for serious wildflower growth.  And some perennial wildflowers I planted last year seem to be coming up.  I know my regular yard weeds and these aren't those.

More Even Randomer Thoughts

1.  Star Trek: Voyager joke - He was SO dumb, they called him 9 of 7...  If you get that one, let me know.

2.  So I was randomly checking out channels and found Star Trek: Voyager, and got the first episode with 7 of 9.  Watched it of course.  Cool about "being human and not".  And how one can not be either at some point.

3.  Then realized that they were showing the episodes IN ORDER, so I had to watch more.

4.  THEN realized that there were very basic themes like in the original Star Trek.  Really, I never got into Voyager at the time.  Loved Janeway and Tuvok et al, but couldn't watch a "voyage of the damned" so to speak.  Bad timing for my karma at the time.  I like it better now in my peaceable older age.  Makes more sense.

5.  Kes and 7 were both demanding the right to chose paths.  Kes to expand her conciousness and leave; 7 to return to Borg if she didn't like "human life".  Janeway was arguing opposite decisions for each one.  Fixed it, of course.  Kes left, 7 stayed.

6.  Then next episode, Betanna (sp) and 7 were both struggling with issues of aloneness.  One half Klingon and one trying out humanity.

7.  And BTW of the above, not unlike Fry and Leela on Futurama both "out of place".

8.  I understand them...

Random Thoughts

Sometimes connections occur to me.  Sometimes they make sense, sometimes not.

1.  I watched a new commercial a few days ago for Butterfingers.  It mentioned "crispety, crunchy".  And I immediately thought, no that should be "crispety, chrunchity", for logical verbal balance.  And sure enough, at the end, it said "crispety, chrunchity".  I may have missed my calling in life.

2.  My garden seeds finally arrived in the mail.  I have a boatload of new ones.  Well, my old seeds weren't going to last forever even refrigerated in sealed containers.

Sometimes, you HAVE to buy new ones even when there are still old ones in the fridge.  Germination rate is always important.

3.  I've been designing a new compost bin.  Yeah, any circle of wire actually works, but I like to build things and I put almost ANYTHING that will degrade into the compost.  Some of it attracts pests.  So it is time to make one they can't get into.

It is a 2-bin system.  The sides and back are hardware mesh wire, the front is removable slats.  I made one for a friend in 1992 with dado cuts for angled front slats.  It was amazing (and BTW, I saw it copied in a gardening magazine 6 months later) but it was some unnecessary work.  I figured out a better one.  But it is just the design right now, since I can't actually build it in the frozen soil right now.  But it is good to have all the parts figured out now.

4.  I clipped some azalea stems 3 years ago when I had a ridge leveled.  Some were white, some red, some purple.  They won't grow in the small planter cells, so I need to transplant them to larger ones.  But some bloomed a few days ago.

I have a corner of the back yard where nothing is growing but weeds; they will go there.

5.  The old perennial flower bed is going to become a cottage garden.  Random flowers that self-sow everywhere.  I have NO idea how it will work out, but there will be pictures regardless.

Random Thoughts

1.  It doesn't look like my neighbor is coming back to cut down that tree shading my flowerbed.  He has a trailer still sitting by the street that I know he wants to retreive.  So if it is gone one day and the tree is still there, I'll know I'm out of luck.  I dare not cut down the tree without permission.

2.  I had the sharpest lightening strike ever two nights ago.  There was NO gap between the lightening flash and the thunder.  And the thunderclap was SO loud and sharp it physically staggered me.  The cats vanished. 

I was sure a neighboring house had been struck, but went I went out and flashed a light around, I couldn't see any damage.  Not that I could see very well.  The torrent of rain was so strong and the wind swirling around so much that I was drenched instantly looking out both the front door and the back. 

3.  I finally had to update my Mac operating system.  It gets to where some programs just won't work anymore.  I hate that.  It USED to be that system upgrades added features and security.  Now they seem to restrict them.  Apple seems to be trying to force me in certain directions they think are socially sharing and beneficial.  *I* think they want to deliberately create a society where everything is shared with everyone else and there is no privacy. 

I've read some dys-utopian sci-fi books like that and that is not the world I want to live in.  I left Microsoft Windows 8 years ago because it crashed all the time and required a lot of serious security software.  But I've read recently that Microsoft is a lot more stable and Apple viruses starting to spread around.  It might be time to consider changing...

The general problem is that Apple is becoming more and more "control freak oriented".

4.  The specific irritation (and a good general example) is with the changes to Apple iPhotos.  For a decade, my camera has provided sequential file names to each picture (IMG 5223.jpg, IMG 5224.jpg, etc and iPhotos accepted them as titles.  No more.  They want me to give specific names to each pictures, plus locations, face names, and general subjects.  Like I have time for THAT?  And they are making it hard to not save my files of "the cloud".  I know what that is, I just don't trust them with that kind of access and control.

But what is driving me crazy right now?  The iPhoto program no longer shows the file name of each picture.  I have to go through a couple of menu actions to get that.  And I like having the main toolbar above the window.  It used to just stay there.  Now it won't.  I spent 1.5 hours today trying to find out how to get it to stay. 

I used to be able to look at the top bar and see the day/date/time, now I have to deliberately go look for it.  Sure, I can stick a calendar and a clock next to the computer and check my watch for the time.  But wasn't that one of those things the computer was supposed to free you from?

What's next?  When I change an autocorrect spelling, will it argue with me?  Will it tell me I am making an unwise statement in an email or blog comment?  Will it refuse to allow me to post a comment Apple does not agree with? 

I wonder when the monitor screen will become a camera that watches me as I post, to judge my sanity and mood.  1984, anyone?

Random Thoughts

1.  Why are the Summer Olympics being held in Brazil?  No offense to Brazil, but it is WINTER there!  They must have warm Winters...

2.  My neighbor appears to be moving out.  That will be a shame.  Not that we ever talked much, but he has been a good one.  Quiet (at least since he stopped idling his motorcycle a half hour in the driveway each morning at 5 am a few years ago), no loud parties, no barking dogs, and mostly absent.  There is no "For Sale" sign, but he might be doing what I would do:  Move out, clean up, THEN sell it.

3.  Last Fall,  after years of one side of the front lawn settling lower than the drainage easement along side it and flooding periodically, I had a landscaper add 2 truckloads of topsoil and raise it 2 feet.  It was part of a larger project involving removal of several trees and leveling a 6' high ridge in the back yard.  I roto-tilled the soil, added compost, and planted new grass seed (a high quality brand).  The grass is now dying (and the older part of the lawn is fine).  I hope there wasn't something bad in that soil! 

4.  Donald Trump is self-imploding.  YAY!  I have previously wondered if he was doing it deliberately to avoid the restrictions of becoming President.  But now I think it just comes naturally to him.  Republicans are starting to bail out all over the place.  And I won't call that "rats deserting a sinking ship".  I would call it sensible people trying to escape a burning building.

5.  By the way, what is bad about rats deserting a sinking ship?  It is a rational thing to do.  I don't even think CAPTAINS should go down with their ship...

6.  I surrendered to the cat claws.  I can't clip them (my hands aren't steady enough anymore and they resist)!   In spite of having scratchers they use and running around outside briefly, they were starting to stick to blankets towels and carpet.  So when the vet announced he was offerring clipping for $13, I brought Marley in yesterday.   He is far more compliant at the Vet, and there are 2 people to do it (one to hold and one to clip).  Iza goes in tomorrow! 

7.  I had a new bathtub installed end of May.  And the room needs to be painted.  I painted the entire interior of the house 15 years ago.  I haven't painted the bathroom yet.  Suddenly, the task seems daunting.  All that wall-cleaning, all that taping, all those drop cloths.  And all those accessories to be removed:  towel rack, TP holder, toothbrush holder, soap dish, light switch cover,  outlet cover, mirror!  I can't get myself to start...

8.  On the other hand, my garden is finally starting to produce!  I have home-grown heirloom tomatoes again.  I have heirloom flat italian beans again!  I'm getting carrots and zucchini.  I'm getting cucumbers.  I have some Fall crops started.  And the chicken-wire enclosed garden structure is keeping the squirrels and groundhogs out!

9.  I had been having constant battery problems with my 11 year old Toyota Highlander and my equally old riding mower.  The recommended batteries weren't lasting.  In Spring, I replaced them with ones recommended by Consumer Reports magazine.  Well, who would have thought that Walmart sold the best batteries for my 2 vehicles?

10.  I love the odd little butcher/deli/liquor store in town.  They were selling filet mignon whole for $8.99/lb this week.  They trim it to perfection and slice it to your desire (I like 1.5").  They normally toss the trimmings, but I have them save them.  I can get another whole meal from those with a little knife work (which I enjoy doing).  So I end up with six 6 oz filet mignon steaks for $4 each. 

They also sell frozen large deveined shrimp at $6/lb.  And they used to sell a Zinfandel (Twisted Zin) that I really loved but dropped it.  But they special order it just for me.  I get a case of 6 1.5 liter bottles for $10.  They really appreciate their regular customers.

11.  Speaking of local businesses, the barber shop I used to visit suddenly started wanting appointments.  But the barber shop close by them, that used to be busy as heck is now a no-wait place.  So I tried them.  Hey, I have dead-limp straight hair, I'm retired, and I'm not fussy.  Who COULDN'T cut that?  And they do just as well as the previous place.

Random Thoughts

My right knee is still bothering me.  As always, my complete understanding that many people have worse problems temporary or permanent, but this one is mine right now and it has been 3 weeks now.  It's getting better.  Walking straight forward on level ground is almost back to normal.  Any sideways pressure is annoying.  Stairs are hardest.  Hopefully, another week, and I will notice that I am NOT noticing my knee. 

Or not.  Stuff starts to get permanent after 65.  I expect one day soon it will just be normal again.  But that is apparently a weak part of me and someday it won't ever be "normal" again.  In fact, I suppose that if I could channel my 30 year old self, "none" of me would seem "normal".

Speaking of which, a lawn service salesman knocked on my door and (surprisingly) after I made it clear I was a D-I-Yer and we talked about the details of lawn maintenance.  He actually thought my lawn was the best in the neighborhood, and when I detailed my particular weed problems and what I was doing about them, he agreed I really didn't need his services.  But he seemed to want to talk and I wasn't busy so we talked (rare for me, I usually just politely tell door-to-door salesmen to leave).  He was about my age.

His son was a Top Gun pilot, he showed me a newspaper article.  He guessed my age 10 years younger (which wasn't just a sales trick; it's routine - "mature slow, age slow").  But when we compared ailments (it's an age thing), he recommended I drink diluted gelatin.  That seemed odd and I had to think about that for a moment.

Aha, gelatin is made from mammal sinews and tendons, and I had a "tendon" problem.  He is into homeopathy (using small amounts of a substance that causes the symptoms to be treated or using small amounts of supplementals with a similar nature to the problem)!  He suggested a book to read.  I ignored his idea out-of-hand, but I let him go on for a few minutes.  I was vaguely fascinated talking to a homeopathy adherent.  I finally begged off, as my lunch was waiting on the table, but I looked up the book. 

So, drinking gelatin made from tendons to strengthen tendons...  Pure nonsense.  Every respectable study I found in 15 minutes showed no results from it.  People believe the STRANGEST things.

I used my new Fiscar "Stand Up Weeder" today.

It's really cool.   You put the blades over the weed (really good for dandelions), step on the base, and when you lever the handle the blades close together and pull up 3" of roots, the plant comes up, and you slide the orange lever to open the blades and push the plant off the blades.  I bet I got out 100 dandelions in 15 minutes today.  Without bending over.  Not an ad, when *I* recommend a product, the manufacturer doesn't even know.  Think of me as a personal Consumer Reporter...

I watered the tulip/daffodil bed today.  We haven't had rain in 10 days, are forecast for MAYBE 1/4" tomorrow, and then none for another week.  But I mention that to mention that my sprinkler wasn't working right.  It would stick in one position.  So I took it apart a few days ago. 

Granted, that's not like taking apart a clock or a mixer.  But if you take some parts off something that isn't working right and clean and lubricate the parts and put them back together, it is amazing how often the thing starts working again. 

And the sprinkler worked just fine.  Yeah, I could have just bought a new sprinkler, but I really like this one.  It's called a "rain-dancer".  The spray not only moves back and forth, but it hesitates and reverses briefly, but ALSO fluctuates the force of the spray as it goes.  And even having taken it apart and put it back together, I have NO idea how it does it.  But it is working again and that is what really matters.

Not to say that everything went well.  There is a dial that aligns the spray to go full back and forth, only left, only right, and only 30 degrees in the center.  So... I was a bit careless when I turned it on and got a facefull of spray!  LOL!  I wiped off my face OK, but it took a while to get the water out of my ears...

The tulip/daffodil bed got a good hour of watering while I went around using the Fiscar thing to pull up dandelions.

Speaking of the flower bed, I planted 100 hyacinths in cages and not a single one as so much as broken the surface.  Either hyacinths are way fussier about when they are planted than tulips, or something was seriously wrong with the bulbs.  I'll bet that it was MY fault planting them late and that they needed more cold-time.  The bulbs seemed healthy and firm when planted.  Maybe their underground shoots are thicker than the 1/2" wire cages and they were choked.  I'm going to ask the bulb providers.  Or maybe they will just show up next week.  Or next year.

The garden is started outdoors.  Last week, I planted 4 broccoli seedlings, 2 purple cauliflower seedlings, and 2 dwarf cabbage seedlings.  And I planted seeds of radish, shallot, scallions, carrots, beets, kohlrabi, and spinach.  The snow peas are starting to reach the trellis and they will take off when they grab that.  The planted seeds are just starting to emerge.  I water those gently with a mister at first.  Some of those seeds are planted very shallowly (small seed - shallow planting).  When they have some roots developed, I can use the shower setting (which is about like a gentle rain) and that is a LOT faster watering!

It's good to see something planted and growing.

The flats of flowers are outdoors half a day now (to get them used to sunlight after the gentler artificial lights indoors).  Day temperatures are getting above 70F and the nighttime temperatures are at or above 50F, so they are getting  used to changes in temperatures.  A week of careful introduction to outdoor reality can really make a difference!

Busy, Busy

It's THAT time of year again.  The best time.  Planting seeds...

But that wasn't all today.  It was one of THOSE days.  Odd jobs...  Things that should have been done before.  I ahd all the cat-cards from Christmas stacked up and Iza trashed the pile.  So I stacked them (and lost some of the addressed envelopes with the cards) and got them up out of her reach.

But she is a real paper-chewer, so I had a pile of wasted printed paper I use for temporary notes and she chewed up those.  I better get her some jerky to chew up.

I tossed her mousies until she tired and wandered off into the bedroom to nap.

Saw Marley and Ayla snuggled up like spoons there.  Naturally, my camera was in another room.  As soon as I left to get it, Marley followed me out.  No picture of THAT!  I keep the camera in my pocket a LOT, but not that time.

Finished enclosing the garden.  I thought I had before, but I saw Marley in it earlier today.  He found a loose seam and was in enjoying the loose soil as a litterbox.  Quite frankly, I don't want my carrots fertilized by cat-poop, but I will sifting it soon for planting.

Getting near time to mow the lawn, so I'll drive the riding mower up on boards to clean the old grass clippings from under the deck, sharpen the blade, and then take out the spark plugs and such to pretend I know what I'm doing while I clean and gap them.  They are always just fine, but I have to look.  You do what you know to do and hope for the best. 

I suppose the mower would work better if it was worked over by pros.  And I know some good ones.  Every few years I go in for an "annual" tune-up.  Maybe next year;  the mower still works.

I think I need to pull out the chipper/shredder and see if I can start it.  Been 5 years since I used it and I have a lot of brambles to get rid of.  I could haul them to the recycling center in exchange for shredded mulch, but handling brambles is not fun.  Easier to shred then here.

Sanding plaster patches on the walls.  2 year old electrical work patches and I've ignored them too long.  You can ignore things a long time when you live alone.  But I will have family visitors some month soon and can't let those patches be unsanded, primed, and painted.

The front door and garage door need to be painted.  I've dithered about the color.  The new house siding is medium green and the shutters dark green.  The doors are white.  Should I paint the doors to match the shutters or leave them white? 

I've had a fantasy about painting that garage door a really weird color/pattern.  Like a 60's Warhol. 











 Kind of daring for me, and my "cat" would probably look more like a rat.  I can't sketch worth a tinker's dam!  Should I dare try?

If my front door wasn't surrounded by brick, I would love to have a round hobbit door installed...  But maybe I can make it look like wood.  Fantasies that will never happen...

The older shed needs a new roof.  I recall shoving 4x8 sheets of 1/2" plywood up there when I was 35.  I can't lift the stuff now.  But cut in half, I could manage that.  And conveniently, I half 1/2 sheets stored in the basement from what used to be the attic flooring (which I can't use for storage now because there is 18" of blown insulation everywhere up there) and THAT would be manageable for the shed roof. 

My azalea cuttings from last Fall before the soil ridge was removed are all doing fine.  Amazingly, 34 of the 36 cuttings (12 white, 12 purple, and 10 red) have taken root.  I'm not sure where I will put them all, but I sure have plenty to use.

Backyard covered with wild blackberries and english ivy and poison ivy.  I hate to use herbicides, but if ever there was a good reason, this is it...

That's enough for now.

Random Thoughts

Why does "cleave" mean both to join and divide?

I used to be a Republican in the 70s, but they left me, so I vote Democrat (usually).

Can it get worse than seeing Donald Trump running for President?  Sure!  What if he actually won?

What happens when the umpire in baseball throws the ball directly to the pitcher?  If the ump throws a wild toss, can the guys on base run?

Why is a mouse when it spins?  OK, that's an old Dad joke.  He never showed much sense of absurdity, so I always remembered that one.  BTW, the answer is "The higher the much".  It shows that even staid old engineers have an inner sense of humor.

Speaking of Dad, he once bowshot a front-facing deer just as it lowered its head.  The arrow got it right in the forehead.  Which wasn't immediately fatal, but crashing into a tree trunk as it ran away was.  Likely the only "deer death by tree".  Even Dad felt sorry for the deer.  What a weird way to go.  At least it was sudden...

Cleaning old bathtub tiles is awful.  I found this stuff that I tried today (Kaboom with Oxy-Clean) that melted the old stuff right off.  And dont worry, this isnt an ad; they don't have the slightest idea I exist.

And speaking of bathrooms, I found something that cleans the inner shower curtain nicely.  Any house vinyl-siding wash... 

I seem focused on cleaning right now.  You want to protect your hands from harsh chemicals?  Hardware stores sell disposable latex gloves 200 for a few dollars.  Want permanent gloves that are longer on your arm than the household-style rubber gloves?  Pond supply companies sell gloves that cover almost the entire arm.

Have outdoor planter saucers that hold water and breed mosquitoes?  The hardware store sells packs of "mosquito dunks".  Those are time-release doughnuts that last a month and contain a bacteria that infests mosquito larvae and kills them.  They are designed for small ponds, but if you crunch one into small bits, you can sprinkle a pinch into plant saucers each month.  Harmless to people, pets, and beneficial insects.

Most folk remedies don't work.  Moles don't eat bits of chewing gum put into the tunnels and die from their stomachs being clogged.  Dandelion root pulp does not clear skin conditions.  Sage leaf paste does not regrow hair (if the hair follicles are dead, they're DEAD.  Forever)!  On the other hand, aloe does relieve surface skin itches, and willow bark teas does relieve minor discomforts (we call the synthetic compound "aspirin").

Hair is almost pure nitrogen.  Add it to your compost.

Speaking of compost, if you are a kind of "natural" person, add pee.   It's mostly water, and nitrogen with other minor organics and minerals.  Composting microbes LOVE that stuff.  And it repels varmints.  You might want to do it at night, though, if you have watchful neighbors...

And more about compost...  "They" say never to add meat or fats to your compost pile cuz it will attract varmints.  That's only because most compost piles are open.  In one enclosed with hardware cloth, it is a good addition for trace elements.  Seriously, do you think dead animals just lay around unreturned to the soil?

You can snip a lot of perennial plants and stick them in soil to root.  I did that with pink, purple, and white azaleas last Fall, and some are flowering now.  At 1" tall.

Buy some childhood toys.  Did you use a top as a kid?  Buy one and learn to use it again.  Gyroscopes are neat too.  And get one of those cheap radiometers that spin around in the bulb in sunlight.  Don't get old...

Old crockpots work better than the newer ones.  Those removable inserts don't heat evenly.

Speaking of old stuff...  If you are as old as I am, you remember your parents having the Circus glasses.  They are still available on eBay.

Changing a waterbed mattress is harder than it sounds.  Emptying the old one and refilling the new one takes a LOT of water and that water doesn't warm up for a couple days.  And woodstain that is supposed to take 8 hours to dry takes 3 days!

A bucketloader that removes snow from your street in big piles is not as nice as a real snowplow that just spreads it on the side of the road evenly.

My Alma Mater men's basketball team was #2 and lost to an average team.  Then was #6 and lost to a conference team that had gone 0-13.  The will be lucky to stay in the top 10.

Donald Trump criticized The Pope for criticizing his idea of building a wall to keep illegal immigrants out (saying building walls instead of bridges wasn't "Christian").  I'm not discussing THAT, but Trump said ""No leader, especially a religious leader, should have the right to question another man's religion or faith,".  Wait, isn't that what religious leaders DO?

I once read that every deer thinks every hunter is a shrub and that every turkey thinks that every shrub is a hunter.  So turkeys are hard to sneak up on.  But every squirrel thinks every noise (like a very slowly opened window) is a hawk! 

Baseball season is slowly beginning in training camps in the southern US.  I've read that half the teams are predicted to get to the World Series.  I hope that is only true for MY team and one other.

The past 3 Winters, my car battery died routinely.  So I bought something called a "battery minder" that keeps it charged.  So naturally, THIS WINTER the battery is staying charged just fine!

I was re-arranging the basement and there were several bags of particular bolts and nuts.  For some project I never finished.  I hate that!  Now I label such bags with the intended purpose.

"Hints From Heloise" have some of the dumbest hints I've ever seen.  I read one recently about knitting covers to the tube tops of squeeze ketchup and mustard bottles.  WHAT???  Some people have no real lives...

I think I will make up some fake "Hints To Heloise"...  Good mental exercise.

Keep a last year's calendar on the wall.  Makes you think about what day it REALLY is.

Walmart is infamous for double-bagging.  Today, they hit a new mark.  High mark or low, mark I cannot say.  They double-bagged, alone in a double-bag, a 4 roll pack of toilet paper!  What did they think was going to go wrong with a single bag?

Grocery-store shoppers drive me nuts.  What is the instinct that makes them all leave their carts in the middle of the aisle?  Half of them are oblivious and at least apologize.  But the other half seem offended when I politely do the "coff, coff, excuse me please?" request.

Do you have some favorite observations or complaints?

A Week In The Life...

Some weeks, problems accumulate...

1.  Naturally, I had to order more cat food just as the snowstorm struck.  2 boxes of 8 trays total, scheduled to arrive Wed and Thurs.  Well, I had the driveway and sidewalk cleared of snow Sunday, but I didn't shovel the front steps.  Figured I would most of it melt and shovel the remainder Tuesday afternoon.  The first box arrived Tuesday morning.  UPS left it at the garage door.  So I pushed the box inside the garage.

I forgot about the box when I decided to drive out for some errands Wed.  Well, you would be surprised at how many cans of cat food an SUV can crush beyond use...  ARGHHH!

2.  The outside unit of the heat pump stopped working.  I'm getting normal heat via electrical induction from the inside unit (like an oven), and I suspect it isn't costing MUCH more than the usual heating (some normal furnaces routinely operate that way).  I have been trying a few things hoping the outside unit will just "start" again.  I shovelled the snow from around the unit where air comes in, scooped out accumulated snow inside the unit, poured hot water over the insides hoping some ice was preventing operation, pulled and re-inserted circuit breakers, etc.  No luck.

But when the block of ice inside the outside unit finally melts and it doesn't start working normally again in a couple of days, I will have to call for repairs.  I didn't call immediately, because I AM getting heat, and I know they take complete failures as emergencies first.  Besides, they always want to just replace the whole unit. 

3.  My automatic garage door openers stopped working.  The overhead door light just blied rapidly.  That probably means something, but I couldn't find the manual.  But it isn't THAT hard to just raise and lower the door manually.

So I checked the power supply, circuit breakers, spring attachments, possible blockages, etc.  No luck.  Finally, I followed the wiring down to the bottom of the garage door track.  Well lookee there!  There is a set of safety lights at each side.  If the light beam between them is blocked, the system shuts off.  One of them had gotten pushed off.  Well, I guess when I ran over the box of cat food, I also pushed it into the light beam device.  Took just a minute to get it clipped back on and aimed properly. 

At least SOMETHING got working again.

4.  I mentioned previously that I had set up a regular birdfeeder on a pole on the deck to feed the non-finch birds sunflower seeds during the snowstorm.  They emptied it today.  The stepladder is still buried under the deck snowdrift, so I figured I would just untie it and set it down flat to refill it, and them put it upright again and retie it.  Brilliant but dumb idea!

The instant I untied the last know holding the pole tight, a strong gust of wind hit.  So there I was holding the bottom of the pole while the heavy top started to fall over.  I couldn't hold it up.  The feeder can crashing down on the deck.  The wooden feeder broke into 4 pieces!  I said a few BAD WORDS.  But what is done is done, and you go on from there.

I took the pieces down to the work bench and set about regluing the pieces (with exterior waterproof wood glue).  It took 12 bar clamps (you can never have too many bar clamps).  The feeder is back together, but it has to set until tomorrow morning.  I started to put out a tray of seeds, but even with a brick in the tray, the wind was slowly pushing it around.  And even if I clamped the tray to the deck rails, the wind would probably just blow the seeds out.  Sadly, the birds will have to wait til I get up in the morning...

5.  The trash company didn't show up for regular pickup today.  I'm leaving it out by the street.  I recycle and compost so much that about the only thing that goes in the trash is used cat litter, styrofoam,  and chicken skin.  And I out the chicken skin IN the litter bags.  So I feel pretty confident that NO scavenger is going to bother MY garbage can!  LOL!

BTW, I drove out today and saw a neighbor's TRASH can knocked over and the contents spilled out.  It was ALL cans and bottles.  All recyclable.  Aw c'mon...  We get free street-side recycle pickup and you don't even have to sort it.  Are they ACTIVELY against recyclying?

6.  This one is a bit long...  My waterbed sprung a leak.  That happens.  I have a repair kit.  I've probably patched it a dozen times (the waterbed mattress is at least 35 years old).  I only noticed when I pulled the sheets up for washing and the edges in one corner were wet.  I pulled up that corner of the waterbed. I thought it was wet cat food at first (because there was some there), and thereby hangs a short tale.

Ayla eats only in the bedroom, and sometimes she decides on some odd places.  That morning she had decided she would eat on the bookcase headboard of the waterbed.  I sure don't argue about it.   It's not like she gets to make a WHOLE lot of decisions in her life, so I give her the ones I can. 

That afternoon, when I pulled the wet sheets up I found her bowl tucked into that corner.  WOW!  I sure didn't think there was THAT much water in canned cat food (and it didn't smell like anycat had peed there).  But the cause and effect seemed clear.  So I cleaned up the spilled cat food, wiped it clean, and stuffed an old towel down to absorb the water.

Well, THAT wasn't the problem.  There was TOO much water the next morning and the towel was soaked.  So I pulled the corner of the waterbed up (which is not easy - water is heavy).  And I found a strange little piece of sharp metal.  I can't identify it, but I assume it took a while for it to slowly wear through the waterbed mattress. 

I can't get a patch to hold in the corner unless I drain the mattress and remove in entirely.  And even that might not work.  So, after all these years, I think I will replace it.  It's OK, they aren't expensive.  $50 to $200 depending on whether you want baffles and lumbar supports etc.  But I'm used to the cheap kind with nothing fancy so I will stick with that.

There COULD have been a better time for this.  All my hoses are outside and too cold to uncoil without maybe causing a break.  But at least the forecast calls for 50F temperatures Sunday, so I can probably get one into the basement undamaged and let it warm up inside.   One of the problems with a waterbed is draining them.  That can take a couple hours.  And then you have to fill the new one.  Filling a waterbed takes about 30 minutes from the outside spigot, and it takes all day for the heater to warm the water. 

Fortunately, my basement laundry tub faucet has a garden hose screw fitting.  But my water heater doesn't hold enough hot water to fill the king size waterbed mattress.  So it will be a balancing act to get the heated and cold tub water mixed right so I can sleep on the new mattress the same night as I empty it.

I'm probably not saying this clearly.  I have to get up in the morning, drain the old mattress, remove it, pull up the old liner (old and worn out) dry the wood frame, set the new liner in place, set in the new mattress, fill it, get the water warm enough, and put the mattress pads and sheets back on.  My recollection from the last time (30 years ago) was that took all day.  So I will be in for a very boring (watching a waterbed mattress fill up is like watching paint dry), but dedicated day...

7.  I had a mouse invasion.  Marley caught 5 mice!  I initially blamed the snow for making mice seek shelter, but it might have actually been my fault.  Last Friday, when the snow began to fall, I brought a few tubs of planting soil into the basement to thaw out so I could plant leftover Spring bulbs in them for forcing by Spring.  There MAY have been mice nesting in them in the leaf litter covering the soil. 

I HOPE he caught them all regardless of how they got inside.  Probably.  There were 4 caught one day, I found a 5th in a bucket the 2nd, and none for 4 days.

Quite a week!