The Cantina Staring Back At You From The Abyss

[Brigid Barry]

I am trying REALLY hard to not use AC, and going with fans instead. Electricity rates went up 80% in my area a few months ago. So far I've been lucky with temps dropping down to reasonable levels at night. The problem is that I can't sleep if it's hot, and for me "hot" is pretty much anything over 70.

I changed out all the window treatments for cellular shades over the winter. Windows open and fans on at night, then (white) shades down windows closed during the day keeps the interior of the house about 10 degrees cooler than outside. May the trend continue.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Boo for high electricity rates!

Later the same morning, and got the room tidying and dusting done while watching/listening to the latest Ty & That Guy podcast (a special on John Carpenter's The Thing, third in their ongoing series about JC).

Now I should probably get some site stuff done before it gets too hot to type. Or think. (Not that my thinking improves at any temperature...)

 

[MaeZe]

... Saturday morning, slowly getting my day going. Tried to vacuum out the van in the bathroom but I need a different hose attachment than I have. ...

You have a van in your bathroom?

 

[Brightdreamer]

You have a van in your bathroom?

Well, the semi wouldn't fit...

Typo. Fixed.

 

[zanzjan]

Hope I'm not crashing a private party by posting here. If so, feel free to boot me out

We aspire to a high level of crashability here

I had a weird day. I got my first ever writing rejection, for a short story (boo), then I won a tennis match (yay) and then on the way home from tennis I was catcalled by a carful of callow 17-year-olds (hmmm). And it never happens when I'm with a man.

Is that a good day, a bad day or a WTF day?

IMHO, I'd call the first two positive. I mean, yes, rejections suck? But rejections happen, unless you never try in the first place, so I say yay congrats, first step on the jourhey! Mope a little, eat some chocolate, then loudly declare to the universe that you will not be discouraged so easily and send the story out again. Cultivate stubborn determination--it's one of the most essential tools in any writer's kit (-:

-Z

 

[MaeZe]

Oh dear, sounds like the neighbor's adult son is back on drugs. They are having a 'you can hear it next door' argument. I can't hear the neighbors because they are probably talking calmly. But he's very loud, pleading, whining, and a lot of f-bombs.

Judging from past events they are either kicking him out or he's begging for money. I think he was living in their motorhome which they might have sold last week. It's gone anyway and we've not had much mailbox/yard work face time to chat So I don't know for sure.

They're good at putting their collective foot down. They are minimal enablers at most. Minimal as in they have given him a couple of chances. He seemed to have cleaned up, had a job and was living with his girlfriend. But another toll taken by COVID, his income dried up, they got evicted (when evictions were supposed to be on hold mind you), and the kid plus the girlfriend's dad came over and dumped a few huge tarp-covered mounds of stuff in the front yard. A week later they finally moved the stuff out to where I know not. All that was more than a year ago.

I don't ask what's going on. We both brag about our kids, (their other son), and I'm sure they don't care to talk about this son except when he had a job.


On to better things. Yay the AC works! I only cool one room. Fans are sufficient elsewhere. I have another room AC upstairs but I just avoid that space when it's too hot. I am the only person now in a very big house.

I'd move except I love my house. The backyard faces a hundred-acre woods with trails and adjacent to that is the botanical gardens.

I'm resisting getting a roommate for ... reasons.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Boo for neighbor noise!

Hooray for hundred acre woods! (Do you have any problems with tiggers? I hear there's only one, but it's awfully bouncy...)

Saturday, later in the day, and munching on a sandwich dinner. Don't think it quite hit 90 here, but it came close; will be waiting for it to cool down before fetching the recycle bin and mail (if the mail is there; sometimes it doesn't show up until after 8 PM lately). Haven't accomplished much, save a little site work.

 

[MaeZe]

No Tiggers but we have a large array of other creatures from coyotes that howl at sirens to bald eagles that call from high overhead.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Saturday evening, that time of day where it's unpleasantly hot inside and pleasantly cool (but full of mosquitos) outside...

Sorta went downhill after dinner. Mom wanted bills paid, but has mislaid one, which I specifically remember handing directly to her to put with the other bills. (Not a big bill, but still a bill.) And trying to log in online got us locked out of the account for 24 hours because apparently they don't want their money. Then we found out that the downstairs light/plug in thing we had repaired recently (see also: recent saga about mythical uncle and fixing the weird-arse wiring fiasco in the basement, or making it marginally more usable) no longer works. Power gets to the light socket fine, but we get crackles and no power with the plug in. So that's our microwave and washing machine back on extension cords through the sibling's bathroom (see also: the person who wired this house was literally insane). We think something got yanked while the sibling was setting up her new ice machine. Accidental, of course, but very inconvenient, and one more thing for the sibling to howl about all day tomorrow.

Fun times, fun times...

 

[Unimportant]

Saturday evening, that time of day where it's unpleasantly hot inside and pleasantly cool (but full of mosquitos) outside...

Sorta went downhill after dinner. Mom wanted bills paid, but has mislaid one, which I specifically remember handing directly to her to put with the other bills. (Not a big bill, but still a bill.) And trying to log in online got us locked out of the account for 24 hours because apparently they don't want their money. Then we found out that the downstairs light/plug in thing we had repaired recently (see also: recent saga about mythical uncle and fixing the weird-arse wiring fiasco in the basement, or making it marginally more usable) no longer works. Power gets to the light socket fine, but we get crackles and no power with the plug in. So that's our microwave and washing machine back on extension cords through the sibling's bathroom (see also: the person who wired this house was literally insane). We think something got yanked while the sibling was setting up her new ice machine. Accidental, of course, but very inconvenient, and one more thing for the sibling to howl about all day tomorrow.

Fun times, fun times...

Oh, crikey.

We have a really old cottage (forties-ish at best) with original wiring, and it's.....diabolical. And every time an electrician tries to fix it, things work for like a month and then get Even Worse. There are extension wires snaking all across the attic. Four out of five of the light bulbs and pluggy-inny socket things in the kitchen don't work.

At some point, if we can actually get a Real Electrician to agree to work with us, we will get things fixed, but....trying to get one out here is like trying to find a unicorn to dip its horn into your bathtub. Sigh.

Sucks, eh?

We have, I think, had better luck finding a fencing company, but the bloke who came out and gave us an estimate quit the business three months later, so it appears we're getting his successor. I hope he's at least half as good/professional/personable. (I had joked at the time that AJ and Son ought to be Jon and His Father, but since Jon has done a runner, I guess we're back to AJ and Random Dude.)

 

[Friendly Frog]

There sure is a theme of old houses and crappy electrics.

I think one of the best things my dad ever did was updating the wiring in half the house during renovations when I was a kid. Of course, the bit he didn't do then has been on the fritz for a while. It is now three years that the attic doesn't have a working light. And the less said about the fuse boxes, the better...

To complete the trio of building woes, I am trying to get my dad to call someone to come and fix the chimney. Aparently there's a leak there somewhere. It's coming to the point where I want to yell: "where isn't there a leak!?"

 

[Jazz Club]

IMHO, I'd call the first two positive. I mean, yes, rejections suck? But rejections happen, unless you never try in the first place, so I say yay congrats, first step on the jourhey! Mope a little, eat some chocolate, then loudly declare to the universe that you will not be discouraged so easily and send the story out again. Cultivate stubborn determination--it's one of the most essential tools in any writer's kit (-:

-Z

Aw thanks! I didn't take it too hard. I know that most writers get a lot of rejections before an acceptance. I'm plenty stubborn already so I'm covered there

 

[Brightdreamer]

Sunday morning, too warm inside the house, too polleny outside the house.

Heading out to a store soonish to find a b-day cake for Dad. Also potato chips for the sibling (helps with the heat, or more specifically the cramps that kick in when one sweats too much salt out in the heat). Already got dinner - chicken salad - made up last night to chill, so that's done.

The yard needs weed whacking again, and mulch needs spreading, but that won't be happening until the thermometer is more reasonable, which may not be until Tuesday.

 

[MaeZe]

Don't try the weed whacking until it cools off!!!!

Figured it was a good time to do some inside chores. I changed the sheets on the couch I sleep on. But lots of things need to be shaken out. Well that should just be a minute or two outside, right?

I am currently on the partway done couch, absolutely exhausted wondering why I'm so weak.

My poor dog is stuck in the kitchen (with her pillow bed, a big fan, cold water and food) because I can't get the vacuuming done with her in the same room. She's so deaf and blind she doesn't understand not to get too close to the vacuum or the lawn mower. Poor baby.

 

[Brigid Barry]

My husband's old dog didn't care when the roomba smacked into him and vacuumed a dog shaped pattern on the floor.

I got nothing done off my list all weekend (ongoing family crisis), but I did go out and play with my new chainsaw today. In theory I'm cleaning up the yard, but I think I made more of a mess that I have to clean up now. It was too hot for that today.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Boo for heat and family crises!

Hooray for chainsaw juggling! (I mean, I'm assuming that's what you were doing when you played with the new chainsaw, right? Or did you go straight for the chainsaw bowling?)

Sunday evening. It is, as I type this, 6:43 PM, and my little weather station monitor thingy has the yard at 87F. (Indoors is about 81F.) So I may end up skipping exercise again. Dang it. Will need to at least do some stretching...

Shopping and dinner occurred. Dad wanted a chocolate cake (big surprise - chocolate is his favorite thing in the world, basically), but it took some scrounging to find one that looked edible at the store. Wound up with a decent one, though, complete with buttercream icing. And the chicken salad came out pretty good, so that was nice. (Having the extra chilling time seems to make it tastier; usually it only gets a few hours, but having made it up a day in advance paid off. Will have to try to do that again.)

Now I really need to try getting some site stuff done. Got four reviews backed up that I need to splice into the main site for the end-of-month update. (Again, nobody on the planet but me even knows it's there, but I do, so I want it done.)

--

And Monday, edging up to noon. Supposed to be about as hot, maybe a little hotter today, so we decided it would be a bad afternoon to drive to the shadeless shoe store. Dang it...

But we did get the weekly shopping in. And I found my Mountain Dew Zero at a store that usually doesn't carry it, on Buy 2 Get 2 Free. Don't mind if I do...

Trying not to be Exceptionally Discouraged by All The Things, especially as I'm pretty sure Canada has no need for someone whose chief skill is taking things out of boxes.

I suppose I ought to get back to site stuff. Three more reviews to splice in.

 

[MaeZe]

If you see someone bleeding in the store, it's fine to ask if they are okay, especially if said blood is dripping through their shirt sleeve.

It's not okay to then ask, what happened to their leg just because it has two very large bandaids on it.

The bandages on my leg are there because I have two injuries that are taking a very long time to heal. They used to be covered with long pants but I have adopted my summer wardrobe, ie the one pair of shorts I have that still fit. It's 90F out there, though I still manage long pants when going to work.

My skin is horribly thin and tears with the slightest bump. A day or so ago I reached for something and tore a bit of skin off as my arm scraped the corner of a cupboard. It was done bleeding for the most part so I didn't put a bandage on it. Bandages also tear my skin when I take them off.

So where was the one place I bumped my arm getting out of the car? Right over the fragile injury. Blood started dripping again and got all over my sleeve. But I was at the friggin' store and didn't want to drive all the way home to fix it then come back to shop. So, ef it, I just went in to buy the few things I needed. And I didn't need to stop to exchange superficial niceties with a stranger. It was nice she did ask if I was okay.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Hooray for kind strangers!

Boo for nosy strangers who started as kind strangers!

And it's later the same Monday. Didn't get quite as hot as threatened today, but still rather warm. Clouds are shifting in, too...

Didn't get much done except some logo work. I also see the Summer Sisyphus prompts are up, so I'll have to tuck those in the hindbrain to mull once the logo's dealt with (knock on plywood).

May or may not do the shoe run tomorrow. I'd rather wait until next week, but Mom was making noises about her own shoes needing more glue... (We both have to shop the wide shoe store. The joys of genetics...) We'll see if that happens or not.

 

[Friendly Frog]

*waves bubblewrap at Maeze* Having fragile skin sucks. My granddad's meds used to cause him to be black and blue at the slightest touch. We were all so glad he could get off them. He looked like he gotten beat up every single time. It embarrassed him badly to the point he rather sat sweating in summer in long sleeves than to have his bruised arms on display.

I hear you on the shoe thing, BD. I remember that trying to find wide shoes for my gran was a nightmare and a half. Aaand I expect the full weight of those joyful genetics within the next decade or so.

Really, I don't get why they make fasionable shoes all that narrow. But then I'm one of those people who think shoes should be comfortable first and pretty only second. I get the idea that is not a universal opinion.

~~~

We'll be travelling tomorrow. This week so far we had Mishap with Tickets TWICE, three incidences of Sudden Catastrophic Breakdown of House Technology, one Unexpected Specific New Covid requirement, and one Chauffeur Misstepping on a Ladder.

You know, it'd be nice to have a holiday just once where you don't arrive all stressed out merely by going on that holiday. Just... once?

 

[Brightdreamer]

Boo for travel Issues! (And I hear ya on shoes for comfort first, looks second... have never understood why anyone would hate their feet and back enough to voluntarily wear high heels, either...)

Tuesday morning, cloudy and cooler, though not in the house yet. Will probably try to weed whack after lunch unless it starts sprinkling. Otherwise, I'll be attacking logo work again. Knock on plywood, hoping to get this sucker cleared by the weekend so I can start story brainstorming.

 

[frimble3]

Boo for heat and family crises!

Hooray for chainsaw juggling! (I mean, I'm assuming that's what you were doing when you played with the new chainsaw, right? Or did you go straight for the chainsaw bowling?)

Sunday evening. It is, as I type this, 6:43 PM, and my little weather station monitor thingy has the yard at 87F. (Indoors is about 81F.) So I may end up skipping exercise again. Dang it. Will need to at least do some stretching...

Shopping and dinner occurred. Dad wanted a chocolate cake (big surprise - chocolate is his favorite thing in the world, basically), but it took some scrounging to find one that looked edible at the store. Wound up with a decent one, though, complete with buttercream icing. And the chicken salad came out pretty good, so that was nice. (Having the extra chilling time seems to make it tastier; usually it only gets a few hours, but having made it up a day in advance paid off. Will have to try to do that again.)

Now I really need to try getting some site stuff done. Got four reviews backed up that I need to splice into the main site for the end-of-month update. (Again, nobody on the planet but me even knows it's there, but I do, so I want it done.)

--

And Monday, edging up to noon. Supposed to be about as hot, maybe a little hotter today, so we decided it would be a bad afternoon to drive to the shadeless shoe store. Dang it...

But we did get the weekly shopping in. And I found my Mountain Dew Zero at a store that usually doesn't carry it, on Buy 2 Get 2 Free. Don't mind if I do...

Trying not to be Exceptionally Discouraged by All The Things, especially as I'm pretty sure Canada has no need for someone whose chief skill is taking things out of boxes.

I suppose I ought to get back to site stuff. Three more reviews to splice in.

You are thinking of moving to Canada? We have a lot of boxes here, too. And they don't just unpack themselves.

 

[frimble3]

If you see someone bleeding in the store, it's fine to ask if they are okay, especially if said blood is dripping through their shirt sleeve.

It's not okay to then ask, what happened to their leg just because it has two very large bandaids on it.

The bandages on my leg are there because I have two injuries that are taking a very long time to heal. They used to be covered with long pants but I have adopted my summer wardrobe, ie the one pair of shorts I have that still fit. It's 90F out there, though I still manage long pants when going to work.

My skin is horribly thin and tears with the slightest bump. A day or so ago I reached for something and tore a bit of skin off as my arm scraped the corner of a cupboard. It was done bleeding for the most part so I didn't put a bandage on it. Bandages also tear my skin when I take them off.

So where was the one place I bumped my arm getting out of the car? Right over the fragile injury. Blood started dripping again and got all over my sleeve. But I was at the friggin' store and didn't want to drive all the way home to fix it then come back to shop. So, ef it, I just went in to buy the few things I needed. And I didn't need to stop to exchange superficial niceties with a stranger. It was nice she did ask if I was okay.

By 'bandage', do you mean various sizes of Band-aids? Have you asked your pharmacy if there are alternatives? I have diabetic neuropathy, and periodically the skin on my feet breaks down - there are other protective coverings that don't pull as much on delicate, healing skin. Check if there's something new available.

 

[Brightdreamer]

You are thinking of moving to Canada? We have a lot of boxes here, too. And they don't just unpack themselves.

Not so much thinking of moving as wondering where I'd be able to go in the not-entirely-implausible event of coup or theocracy... (See also: All The Things)

Quick eye break - only so long one can stare at black and white lines on a screen - then back at logo work...

 

[MaeZe]

By 'bandage', do you mean various sizes of Band-aids? Have you asked your pharmacy if there are alternatives? I have diabetic neuropathy, and periodically the skin on my feet breaks down - there are other protective coverings that don't pull as much on delicate, healing skin. Check if there's something new available.

One was a large bandaid (3x4) because I needed a quick fix as it was bleeding getting out of the shower. Normally that one is scabbed over and doesn't need a bandaid. But the other one is a 3x4 nonstick pad that I have held in place with that stretchy tape stuff that sticks to itself but not to your skin. I change the pad twice a day and the stretchy tape stuff every couple days. That one is a nasty wound that is taking weeks to heal.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Boo for long heal times!

And early Tuesday afternoon, after lunch, and time to attempt weed whackin' if the weeds are gonna get whacked today... (Also past time for an eye break; getting black and white lines etched into my retinas here, but hopefully making something that, if squinted at from a distance, could possibly be called "progress"...)