This n' That

Up at 5AM, (Hazy, Hot and humid again) actually I did not sleep very well. Tossed and turned probably until 2Am or so, my back has been killing me of late, the kind of aches and pains I used to get when I worked...slept during the day then worked all night so rest wasn't actually a dep, refreshing, relaxing thing...now it's back or so it seems to be becoming add that to the fact I'm not sleeping and you can see where I'm headed...sighhh

Being "retired" isn't all it is cracked up to be, especially when you get more and more people demanding your time...to teach this...to track that...to go here...to bounce ideas/problems off of...to fix this or that...sometimes you can lose sight of yourself and what really is important in the world. Especially if you have a hard time saying "No".

Oh well, I have gotten some wash done, Thelma's sheets are hanging out on the line...washed them to freshen them up for when Dorinda arrives. They had been packed away in a closet in a plastic back for months. Plus I have cut my coupons and made my lists and checked them twice, so I will soon be out grocery shopping and going to the bank and of course buying my Lottery tickets (gotta have those!).

I did look at the paper...and I should not have been surprised...the letters to the editor page was filled with letters calling for President Bush's impeachment, calling for immediate withdrawal from Iraq, etc etc etc. I knew it would be, after his speech as the Syracuse Post-Standard is not impartial in it's coverage nor it's stance on things. Highly critical of the Bush Presidency and so forth. What amazes me is that everyone seems to criticize, tear down, anything the Bush Administration proposes yet the very same people don't have any solutions either, they know they hate the current track the country is on, the current policies and so forth, but when asked they have no alternatives. No solution to how to leave Iraq, yet leave behind a stable government and not chaos, no solution on how to fix the looming financial crisis with Social Security and Medicare, and so on and so on. If you won't talk to the other side, if you won't offer alternatives and willing enage in a civil debate, the polarization will just get worse. Too many it seems have closed their minds and no matter what Bush or anyone in his administration says or does it won't satisfy. Too many are content to sit on the sidelines and criticize and say I told you so rather than offer a helping hand or engage in a sane discussion.

Sad, so sad what this nation is becoming.

A Gardener's work never stops

Its 11 AM and already it is hot - 85 degrees, though it doesn't appear to be too humid yet...that will come later. I just came in from working in the garden...weeded the beans and built a trellis for the pole beans - tall branches I'd saved when they took the trees down and string, it should last this season. Next I think no more peas, they just don't seem to produce, so instead along the back trellis which is about 15 feet high and sturdy - chicken wire and 2x4's - I'll plant pole beans next year...maybe even this year if I get some enthusiasm.

The beans - yellow, green and italian are strange this year, at least I don't remember them growing like this...they are tall, leggy and leafy...still waiting for the blossums and the beans, maybe it is too early. Tomatoes are in bloom and some have little tiny tomatoes starting and the zucchini is just beginning to bloom, so things are looking more and more like an actual garden.

Woodrow the Woodchuck - I haven't seen him lately. Than again that doesn't mean he's gone, I had begun to think that before and then there he was muching on the grass (not the garden). Since then I discovered his burrow in the back shed and I have flooded it out once and blocked off all entrances to the shed - where he'd dug etc. and no new ones have appearred as of yet. So if I am lucky perhaps he has moved on to more hospitalble climes.

I've yet to cool down from my time outside...I've even had a cool shower yet still I'm hot, sticky and sweaty...yuck. Will have to get a fan to create a cool breeze...at least it is only 74 inside...that is what I keep the central air set at and it seems to maintain a good comfort level.

Later...

Hazy, Hot and Humid Musings

What else could I call this - it is going to 96 today or higher. We are about to enter another stretch of 90 degree days, started yesterday and expected to last through next Thursday. Right now it is 81 degrees outside and 74 inside (smile)...the central air just came on...

Everytime I hear it come on I think of the electric bill...sigh, Oh! the price we pay for comfort. At least I have a very good impression that the central air conditioner is in good shape. DJ was up from Florida a week ago and he checked it out (installs heating & cooling - primarily cooling for a living). The contacts were still like new, the coils looked good, the filters were fine (furnace - I use 3M Filtrete Ultra Allergen - they do a very good job and it cuts down on the dust etc), and he installed a cleanout plug for the drain pipe. All I need to do is pour a cup of bleach in the plug and that will help to keep the drain plug free of debris, mold and mildew. I need to do that too, now that I have the plug. The air conditioner was installed in 1998.

While he was here he also, replaced my kitchen faucet, fixed the kitchen sink so it doesn't leak and re-chaulked the tub/shower. It is so good to not have to use vise grip pliers and turn water on or off from under the sink..*smile* Why you ask? or maybe you don't care, but I will tell you anyway...it was a sort of Thank You for all the times I've mowed, shoveled or come to the rescue of his mother Alba. I look upon it as neighbors helping neighbors and this was just his way of saying how much he appreciated it. He also did similar stuff for another neighbor and of course his mother. In between he did manage to get to all the places he wanted to re-visit etc, so that was good as at first all he was doing was work and didn't seem like much of a vacation.

I see the last time I wrote in here it was March...mental note to post more often than every three months. LOL Let's see a lot has been going on...

- Teaching the parents how to use Quicken for their finances as well as solving computer problems they may have (once a week classes, usually stay for dinner and the whole process takes about 6 hours)

- Working on Finances both my own and Thelma's...bill paying, juggling, and now devealing into the murky world of Living Trusts, Health Care proxies and the like - Estate Planning actually. Had our second meeting with the Lawyers Office last Tuesday...took me weeks to gather all the information we needed and that was double the work as I had to do it for myself and Thelma. Now to research and fill in the holes and ... do the hard part figure out beneficaries, and who gets what. Initially it sounds good, simple ideas, easy to do, but when you start, it isn't as easy as it sounds. Probably why I've put it off for so long. Right now there is no will, no health care proxy, nothing, nada, zilch. In all other areas I'm a stickler for detail and documnetation, in this I've avoided it until now.

- Then there was Thelma's Tenant house (old ones left - repairs/sprucing up was done/new ones interviewed and new tenants moved in). I tried to avoid being involved in that, but in the end...I printed up the lease and other forms, and walked with the prospective tenants through the house on the final walk through before they moved in. Travis should have but he had an emergency/last minute teleconference call with Singapore.

- Took my truck in for routine maintenance and repair ($557.27). They did the usual oil change and rotated the tires, and also changed the differential fliuds in both axles and cleaned the fuel injectors and replace various filters as well recharged the air conditioning system. The truck was purchased new in 1997 and has only 52,000 miles on it. So I figure it was money well spent and I seem to do it at least once a year, spend a lot the rest of the time it is just oil changes etc. Though now...I probably should have the brakes checked as there is a vibration when I stop or slow down from high speeds. I'll go to Greeley's for that rather than take it back to the dealer where I bought it. Of course everytime you wonder if you really need all this done or not - what I should/need to do is take the truck to a diagnostic center and have someone check it out - tell me what it needs or doesn't need...impartial inspector rather than someone at the dealership. AAA has something like that, but I need to call and set it up. Costs about $89 and last about 1 1/2 hours.

- Of course continued to work on my garden...everything is growing...harvesting lettuce and peas...spread the pine mulch/chips I got from the men who took down Elanie's pine tree - the smaller branches were run through a chipper etc. and they dumped it all in my driveway - took me 5 days to move it all and psread it around my yard and gardens. These were the same men who took down the willow tree that had fallen on Alba's garage (riddle with ants). They also took down two trees on my side of the fence as well ($525), and so now there is a lot more sunlight in the back yard especially in the late afternoom etc. The trees were close (within 5 - 10 feet) of the house and though not diseased I figured it was best to get them removed...one was a maple, the other an ash and both were about 25 - 35 feet high. That was another project that occurred during the past three months.

I have 14 tomatoe plants and I don't like tomatoes. This year seems like everyone kept giving me the plants and I couldn't just let them die. Oh well the ladies next door will be making sauce...that I will eat...I just don't like tomatoes raw. I also have zucchini, beans (four varieties - green pole, green bush, yellow bush and italian flat beans), cucumbers, lettuce (red & green), parsnips, radishes and green peppers.

Hmmm I was going to upload a picture of the garden...but it probably was too big. Something I will have to check out later.

Seems that my weeks are spent running here and there...much too much and I don't have time to spend on the computer, my stories or my genealogy (there is a reunion coming up too!!!...arghhhh!!!). I have a drawer full of photos I need to scan and tabulate and print. I wish there was a way to print off my Family Tree easily...the All-in-One measures about 20 ft by 13 ft and printing that all on legal size paper then taping them all together doesn't enthused me. I did that once when it was 13 ft by 8 ft and doubt if I will ever again.

Well I'm about done for now...time for more coffee...and it is now 84 degrees outside...