TheCapeBlog

It looks as if we’ll be by ourselves, Ron, me and the mice.

The carpenter spotted deer tracks in the back yard and thinks they jump over the left side fence.

The motion sensor light went on this morning around 5 am, but I think that’s because I flipped the switch, which is on the downstairs bathroom wall (huh?) by mistake, not anything going on in the driveway.

The carpenter managed to get 12 foot boards inside via a window so he didn’t have to cut them – cool! He worked on the kitchen drawer and sympathized with my problems with the foam stuff – “it’s always a mess.” More demo; Devin was here for half the time.

The three of us did a tour of the basement. Dave says it’s in good shape but could use some “sistering” of cracked boards, some of which has been done.

I booked an appointment with Terminix for next week.

Have an appointment to close on the HELOC next Friday.

Stopped by the Senior Center and had a pleasant chat with our neighbor, the Executive Director. He signed us up for their newsletter.

Got some errands done yesterday – Aubuchon, Cumby, library (Ron found music), lunch to go from Pera. Drove up to the overlook on Sweet Farm so Ron could see it.

The work on the second story seems to have disturbed mice. The carpenter caught one and I spotted one in the kitchen.

Had a video meeting with a doctor about my eyes. She prescribed prednisone, which we had for Lizzie. I took the first dose early this afternoon. Picked up the Rx for me at Walgreens: 79 cents. Love my health insurance! The doc thinks I should start feeling better in 3 days.

Work is progressing on the bedroom. Dave the carpenter spotted charred boards; maybe a fire from a stove in or below that room (would be the coat closet)?

I booked an appointment with the assessor for Tuesday afternoon and a plumber for that morning to check out the hot water valve behind the washing machine.

Ryan was here to get snow off part of the roof.

Took Ron out to eat. Ordered online at one restaurant, found it was closed. The second was full-up: trivia night. We landed at our neighbor’s restaurant and chatted with them afterwards. Ron, who claimed not to be hungry, devoured a big Greek salad.

I tried filling in a hole under the kitchen sink with a foam spray but didn’t do it correctly, it didn’t stick. Bloody heck.

The drawer that we thought the carpenter had fixed came off the track.

Win some, lose some.

The electrician changed out the light in the upstairs hallway and wired the thing properly. The old light needed light bulbs that have since gone obsolete.

He also remounted the fan in the master bedroom. Got to it through the attic.

He’s found so much bad wiring that it sounds like it would be worthwhile for him to check out all the switches, once he’s done with the outlets in the “office”.

Barbara called; great to hear from her.

Think I may have unclogged the upstairs sink, finally. We’ll see.

Ron and I made a double batch of biscuits, thus using up the big box of Bisquick.

I got approved for the Green Loan from the Credit Union!

It’s snowing but not very hard, not yet.

Ron’s wallet is still missing.

WHAT THE WORKPLACE PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY ACT WILL DO
It’s time to say we’re not going to allow our government to tolerate abuse at work. Just as our government steps in with abusive families, our government needs to take action with toxic employers.

1. It gives targeted employees legal recourse for employers creating a toxic work environment with a focus on specific, common behaviors that a reasonable person would deem toxic. Right now, it’s perfectly legal to be abusive at work in the U.S., even though it’s illegal in most of the industrialized world. Employers simply have way too much power. Targeted employees will be able to:
   File a restraining order against the employee who violates this Act depending on state law.
   Call for an internal investigation.
   Bypass a rigged internal process by calling for an investigation by OSHA or a similarly charged state commission, with positions funded by employers themselves so they’ll stop passing the costs of employee well-being onto taxpayers.
   Sue the employer and/or individual(s) in violation of this Act directly for economic, compensatory, and/or punitive damages and attorney’s fees. Employees can also sue criminally and choose to anonymously publicly disclose the case outcome, removing employers’ ability to silence them with non-disclosure agreements.
2. It requires employers to acknowledge, monitor, detect, prevent, discourage, and adequately address incidences of psychological abuse. Employers will no longer be allowed to sweep abuse at work under the rug and pretend they’re following protocol while ignoring abuse or retaliating to avoid liability. They’ll be required to:
   Adopt and implement policies and training
   Conduct an annual anonymous workplace climate survey to monitor the prevalence of abuse in their workplaces
   Start third-party investigations within five business days and complete them within 30
   Take responsibility if the outcome favors the targeted employee, including minimally issuing an apology, reinstating work, and coaching, counseling, or disciplining the employee who engages in toxic conduct. Discipline may include removing supervisory duties or termination.
3. It doesn’t pretend this issue is only an individual one. It also goes after the root issue: the oppressive, dehumanizing system that reinforces positive stereotypes for men, white workers, and high-wage workers and negative stereotypes for women, people of color, low-wage workers, and other groups considered “other” by the dominant groups. It calls for organizational accountability: the quarterly reporting of the number of discrimination and psychological abuse complaints and discipline, workers’ compensation claims, absenteeism rates, termination rates, stress leave rates, attrition rates, investigation rates, followup action rates, the workforce gender and racial makeup, and de-identified wage and salary data by protected category to government agencies for public access.
   Workers deserve psychologically safe work environments.

I was put through changes last week trying to figure out how a check I wrote over two months ago could have been misidentified by Citizens Bank as “returned”.

Hadn’t heard from the recipient how it turned out, so I wrote to him yesterday.

As it happens, it was a check from another woman that bounced.

You mean to tell me that the bank couldn’t tell him the source of the rubber check?

I’m angry about this. Why was I blamed for someone else’s screw up? And no apology from the recipient, who I thought was a good guy, to boot.

Maybe because of looks – the usual.

And now he’s blocked me – guess some people can’t handle the truth.

The washing machine agitator was caked with black crud that smelled like soap.

I was able to pry off and clean the top but couldn’t figure out how to remove the agitator to soak the rest of it, so cleaned it by hand as best I could.

Express mailed more documentation for Ron’s car to GEICO. Thought we were done.

Lunch at the Spring Street Market and Cafe: grilled Green Machine sandwich stuffed with Avocado, Spinach, Provolone & Pesto Mayo on Olive Ciabatta; very good!

Got cash for Dave the carpenter, got back home and went right back to the credit union, realizing I’d forgotten to get cash for the plow person.

Without my thinking to ask (thinking is a challenge for me today), Dave gave me the measurements for carpet in the guest bedroom and hallway: thoughtful guy!

Conversation with Greylock loan officer about getting reimbursed for a downpayment already made on a project eligible for funding.

In the course of demo-ing the guest bedroom, Dave found more casing weirdness upstairs; he will fix it. Meanwhile, he was able to squeeze in an “add-on”, rehanging the bathroom door. What a difference! The room has 25-30% more useable space with that one change.

Now, why didn’t the former owners think to do the same?

We didn’t stay long, but I was still glad to visit this venue and try their Wassail cocktail, even though it was too “hoppy” for my taste.

It’s 3 am and already the plows have been by.

Dave and Devin came by yesterday to measure and consult on several “add on” projects: upstairs bathroom door, vermiculite removal, maybe a roof deck.

We watched the Bengals beat the Bills, which made me happy.

Ron has lost or misplaced his wallet. We looked in pockets, drawers, the truck.

I started moving boxes out of the sloping bedroom. From what I’ve read, Dave’s diagnosis of a cracked joist seems the most likely cause. He thinks the “bump” in the hallway is due to normal settling. His solution, to “ramp” the floor, is exactly what I’d thought of.

My cousin Rich was tagged in a FB post from what looked like a fabulous Robert Burns supper party at a house so large it accommodated a bagpipe and drum band.

We met with two home improvement people yesterday, a Trinity Solar rep and a contractor.

The contractor made a good case for the cause of the floor irregularities in the second story, a cracked joist. He’s available to work this week and I okayed his proposal last evening.

Updated the other two guys this morning. We’ll see how it goes.

Yesterday I prodded myself into the truck for a run to Stop & Shop, then the library and Provisions, then the transfer station.

We moved five more boxes from the garage to the house, all Ron’s stuff.

Watched three quarters’ worth of the Kansas City/Jacksonville divisional championship game.

Wassail tonight at a local pub I’ve seen dozens of times but thought it was just a seasonal motel. Worth checking out.

Submitted the following to the Department of Public Utilities this morning:

“Since November 24, 2022, over 8 weeks ago, I’ve asked National Grid to provide my bills and energy usage, either by mail, email or online. They claim it’s an IT problem, which they supposedly submitted for evaluation on January 3.

“Their website does not allow me to change my contact information, account status or financial transactions. Their website does not allow me to pay bills online. Starting January 3, I’ve made calls almost daily to their customer service department, but they haven’t solved this problem.

“I hope you can help me!”