Grasses

We cut down the three big grasses today. Took me two trips to the transfer station. Nice day to work outside, 40’s.

Made pancakes for lunch. Packaged soup for supper.

No word from anyone on our refrigerator situation. Called the warranty company, left a message for the appliance company.

Madsen Overhead Doors; Blood Donations

I called three overhead door repair shops today before Ron and I left for lunch at the senior center.

We expected one of the companies between 2 and 4.

After a quick lunch with the center director, we stopped at the blood mobile parked at the Congregational Church. Fortunately, they had cancellations so were able to sign us up and take our blood then and there.

We got home around 2. Shortly thereafter, a tech from another garage door repair company, Madsen, arrived and fixed our problems. Bolts were loose and the chain needed to be tightened.

Ryan plans to be here tomorrow to put in the new window sash.

I am relieved.

Frig, Kid Party

The frig is working fine. It was running too hot due to combination of ignorance and stupidity.

Never occurred to me to look for a manual so we could find the temperature adjustment, which was way out of kilter.

The repairman says that happens because of a power outage, and we’ve had a couple, although one was very brief and one was only a couple of hours.

I’ve been making a halfhearted attempt to clean the bathrooms. The shower head and neck came apart in the upstairs shower, but Ron fixed it.

We did a big transfer station run a couple of days ago: paper, trash, compost, recycling and the old coffeemaker. I managed to clear snow and ice on the deck between the door and the stairs.

The frig repairman said he might have a solution to the occasional sour smell in the upstairs shower.

The boys and their Dad came over on Friday afternoon after school to check out the toys.

Today we dropped in to the 6 year old’s birthday party at a bounce room next to a bowling alley. Nice spread and we got to meet the four grandparents! It was across the street from Walmart, so I was able to pick up a prescription and do a shop.

More House Maintenance

The furnace stopped working this past Monday and the owner of our oil company urged us to let them check it out rather than fiddle with the reset.

He detected a draft and discovered that the chimney pipe is badly rotted. The owner of the company he recommended checked it out yesterday and sent a crew to fix it today.

Who knows how long this pipe has needed to be replaced. We are told that we could have had a fire. After all the work and money that have gone into this house in the last year: that would have been the final blow.

We’re expected our first contractor to come back tomorrow to replace a couple of window panes as well as a mini-split/vent company owner to follow up on a visit by one of his people last December.

We have an appointment with a refrigerator repair person on Saturday. The frig temps are below what they need to be: about 42 degrees in the main compartment and 20 in the freezer. This was arranged and will be paid for by Liberty Home Guard warranty.

Meanwhile, MRS is rolling along and I’ve done about as much as I can on Warranty and even Major Units until I get some feedback.

Cold

I’ve been working on Warranty and got it to work, but yesterday I was in Summer sleep clothes and think I was chilled to the bone. Took a shower around 3:30, dressed warmly afterwards and felt great, but today at 5 I have no incentive to do much of anything but sleep.

Car Wash, MRS, Dentist

Met our new dentist and hygienist today. Think we are in very good hands. Requested that Mashpee Dental send them our records. Phew, glad that’s over.

Rinsed off the Corolla at Patriot Car Wash, which has several self-service bays that are as low as $4.

Launched MRS, fingers crossed. Continuing to work on Warranty.

Reattached the mailbox cover with a 1/4 inch screw, hope it stays put. Nice gent at rkMiles helped me out.

The crew boss from the insulation company did a quick evaluation of the bedroom cold problem. He thinks the interior wall under the windows is uninsulated and that’s out of scope for them. He explained what it would take to fix it.

Plumber was here from Ashley Swift on Monday. Thinks I should continue to pour disinfectant in the shower drain when it starts to smell.

I spilled about an eighth of a cup of Lysol on the upstairs bathroom floor and was impressed with how well it cleaned. Must do more.

Snow, Cold

We were looking forward to tonight’s BAAMS performance at Studio9 but decided to stay put. It’s been snowing since 2 pm and bitter cold. Afraid to drive, afraid to walk.

Yesterday we had lunch at the Berkshire Food Project: soup and their good cheese biscuits. Picked up groceries at Stop & Shop and made a stop at West’s.

I made veg and cheese sandwiches for us today with a nice loaf of bread brought home along with cookies and jam from the Food Project.

Ron drove me nuts yesterday, dour and in a fog. Turns out he’d forgotten a day’s worth of meds. He’s much better today, back to normal.

Aside from taking a shower, I’ve done nothing today but eat, read the news and catch up with emails. Hoping we can make MRS live next week. Found and fixed a bug in Warranty. Ron made us Gimlets: very good.

Power Day

Very cold today.

Plow guy cleaned the driveway this morning.

We dropped off at the transfer station, filled the car at 2.899/gallon at Cumby and picked up Ron’s lunch at the Senior Center.

Truck was fixed so we brought it home, $860.

Had a very productive conversation with SendGrid Tech Support. The engineer figured out my problem. Something I didn’t know about their application.

Ron is late putting laundry in the dryer, but at least it’s getting done.

I prepped carrots and added some to a spice cake batter. Almost done cleaning and peeling the contents of the giant bag from the organic farm.

Brought home groceries from the Food Pantry. Oranges and potatoes, dry goods, milk. Bought grated parmesan at Wild Oats.

Made invites for the boys to visit our toy collections.

Truck

The bad valve is under warranty but I authorized work on a strut and deferred work on power steering. Last work on the power steering was done 4 years ago by Cormier; they replaced a belt, so this problem is new.

Ron found my keys; they were in a jacket pocket, which both of us missed. Phew.

I found bugs in MRS, both code and SQL. Uploaded corrections.

I was going to clean bathrooms but opted to prep vegetables. Roasted some, steamed some, put some in a salad. Have leftovers. Disposed of a bunch of gone-by produce.

Made chocolate chip cookies, too, from a small mix. Used up a bunch of little margarine tubs from grab-and-go meals.