Just need to talk to my friends (221)

Good morning.

It's a beautiful day, but hot. Our weather man says at least 12 more days above 100. I'm hearing of people having almost equal electric & water bills - $800 to $1000. I'm here to say we can't do that. I have our water bill averaged and its a steady $145 a month. Every month the electric bill is less than $275 I celebrate! I keep the house fairly cool. I can't image paying those bills.

I've got two quick errand and DH doesn't know it but he's buying me lunch out! I'll be back and check on everyone.

Let's be safe everyone.

Hi all….stayed in bed and watched Uncle Buck…very funny.

Odds and ends to do today. Daughter returns from Alaska….hopefully very tired!

Everything is brown here….

Nanny - I'm living vicariously through you (camping). I'm a camper, but my s.o. is the opposite of that, so I don't get to camp much. Nothing like a campfire breakfast.

I'm glad you got everything with the RV sorted out even though it was expensive.

Beth - thank you!! It used to take me hours to get my hair to look like that. My hair has always been perfectly straight, no curl in it at all.

I hear you about the cost of athletic shoes. I spent $$$ on a pair of Hokas, but I'm so happy I did. They're so cushy, especially when doing dead lifts. I used to be a Mizuno girl, but not anymore. $240 is crazy talk!

Judith - I'm glad you had a great year. 🙂

eaglemom - My email was finally back to normal today. I missed a couple of things, but I'd been expecting them, so I sent out texts in the meanwhile, so no harm done. I don't know what happened. My s.o. (a software guy), thinks it was a denial of service attack and that they got overwhelmed. I'm not a computer person, so I have no idea.

I do like the idea of a purple tree.

I hope you guys had a wonderful lunch today. 🙂

HB - Thanks! Going to Rocky Horror every week was definitely a good time. I'll check out the Tim Curry interview (probably tomorrow, so that I can enjoy it).

Yesterday we made a Costco run, we were running low on a lot of things. It was kind of a zoo there, but then again it always is.

We did more fiddling around with the blog and navigation. It's almost the way I want it now. We managed to get my avatar from this site up on the blog in a corner (harder than it should be), so now if anyone goes there from here, they'll know it's me.

It rained last night and part of the day today. It's a sure sign that fall is on the way. Also, when I woke up, the heater was on - first time in quite awhile. I guess it was just chilly enough that it came on.

Good morning. Cloudy and calm this morning; we might get some rain this evening.

Beth— I wondered about a garage, too. Years ago, MIL who lived in an older home, had a freestanding kit one installed behind the house accessible via the alley. It was not terribly expensive; her 3 sons chipped in to cover the kit while MIL covered the concrete pad it needed.

I wonder if it would do the trick? My garage is very popular with the local mouse community. It might slow them down.

Judith— Uncle Buck? Seem like an interesting choice.

Lorita— I'm sorry your new car smell has been replaced by a less than pleasant odor.

Eaglemom— Those would be some cringeworthy utility bills. Water and sewer fees are getting higher and with set minimum delivery rates, there's almost no incentive to conserve. Water is especially annoying because it tastes and smells so awful. Mom is in the next town south with a different supplier (sometimes Philly which is excellent water) so lower prices and better taste. They can be unreliable in terms of fluoride— levels vary depending on the source which makes it hard to thread the needle for optimum dental protection.

Beth— OMG on the price of athletic shoes. They're crazy. My go-to for them is Nordstrom Rack. I treated myself to a pair of (kind of ugly) On-Cloud-somethings before my knee replacement. You won't get the professional fitting for considerations around pronation, but savings can be considerable. They're so much easier on joints, especially for trips to Costco or Wegmans with mom ricocheting about.

Gothic G— If the Costco isn't a zoo, is it really Costco? DH likens it to the arrival lounge at JFK. Everyone looks confused and a little angry. I once stopped in 20 minutes before closing to pick up some OTC allergy meds and it was so incredibly pleasant. I was even able to pull up to a gas pump without a wait. Amazing.

Nanny G— Welcome to my world. You are so right that structure and order are critical for function in ADHD. DS did improve a lot with age and maturity. My niece wasn't diagnosed until she was in her 30s and lived with us to pay off her school loans. She's a very bright girl and had created some structure for herself, but after watching her time blindness and forgetting things drove me to turf her to DS's psychiatrist. The self-knowledge has really helped her give herself some grace. Mom's still the worst of the bunch; I nearly pulled my hair out Thursday trying to get her to focus on what clothing she would need. Like herding cats. She has a tendency to pack for every eventuality— what if we decide to go to a really fancy restaurant, what if it snows, what if someone dies and I need to go to the funeral while I'm there?

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We had a great dinner with friends last night, but when the valet brought the car back, the dash was lit up like Christmas and it just wasn't right. DH was driving and got it as far as an access road to the Delaware and Raritan Canal Park in NJ (I wanted him to pull back into the restaurant lot). I called AAA and spent 15 minutes trying to describe where we were as the little stretch of road doesn't have a name really— I gave a cross street, lock number and nearby road and the tow arrived in under 30 minutes which was awesome. We crammed ourselves into the cab and the driver drove it back to our mechanic's shop. Poor DH had to straddle a metal stand for the computer but we made it back to our town and were able to get an Uber home in 5 minutes.

The tow driver and DH are thinking alternator. My money's on transmission. I hope they're right. I need to drop a key and note into the night-drop later explaining why the car is there.

Pot roast for dinner tonight. I'm glad I have everything to make it on hand. I hope all have a pleasant day.

HB

Oh Beth, that color is beautiful. So pretty. Those roses just make me smile, I'm not sure why, but they do. Thanks for sharing them.

HB just what you need, car issues. I'm glad you weren't alone when it happened. I keep AAA just for such reasons.

I think my two hour timer (for the eye drops) is bothering DH. For the last two days he's commented every time it goes off. I'm sick of it also. I have an eye appointment this week, we'll see what he has to say. This is week five of eight. Ugh. Today both eyes have been particularly sore, not cool.

On a much happier note, I'm loving the salt water hot tub. I'm not in it daily, but several times a week. I figured how to get the temp down to swimming pool water temp and stay there. Once its cooler I bet I'm in it more. Its amazing to me the difference in my skin, not drying at all. I'm still learning which knob does what but I've almost got it down. It is relaxing.

Time to get dinner going. Back later to check on everyone. Let's be safe everyone.

HB - Oh, yikes (about your car). That happened to me once, it turned out to be the alternator.

The worst was back when we had a Honda Insight (a gas-hybrid). We'd had it for quite some time, and then one day while driving, the whole instrument panel went dark. My s.o. wanted to pull over, but I encouraged him to drive home. Sure enough, once we turned off the car, it died, never to start again. The battery replacement cost more than the car was worth.

Nanny - I hope you and your DH had a pleasant evening tonight.

Lorita and Carl - I hope you both get some cooler weather soon.

Beth - your roses are so pretty! Like Lorita said, they're so fluffy!

eaglemom - I'm glad you're loving your hot tub. It sounds wonderful.

Today we both kind of puttered around. My s.o. made his spicy Thai vegetable and tofu dish. It's so good!! And I feel very virtuous eating it. 🙂

I saw an article about Burning Man today - it's next week, so the coverage begins. The article was about how high prices are affecting it. Like, Thunderdome won't be there this year. 😱 That's Death Guild's camp. They've been there for years and years. Some other well known camps also won't be there this year. I wonder if this is the beginning of the end for Burning Man? I think it didn't sell out this year either. I still feel like I have one more Burn in me - but not this year.

Heading home today. It’s cool and crisp this morning. DH had a lazy supper of copious leftovers. I myself had chocolate chip cookies 😂 and ice cream 😂

HB I hope your car troubles turn out to be simple and cheap

Beth, I often wish you could come visit and draft a flower garden plan at my house. Your roses are stunning ❤️

Eagle, hope you get some relief and good news from your eye doctor. 🙏

Have a lovely day everyone and be safe.

Good morning. Cloudy with rain later. Trees here are starting to change. There are a few yellow leaves on the cherry and the maple out front is starting to look patchy. The maple is kind of odd in that it doesn't change all at once but in random branches.

Lorita— You're doing better with the trash than I am. DH took the cans to the curb yesterday and I neglected to break down a couple of boxes for the recycling bin. There's always next week.

Nanny G— Safe travels. I'm sorry your SIL is so very irksome. She sounds like what I'd call "my b*tch eating crackers"— the kind of person who doesn't commit any real offenses against me but somehow annoys me more that people who do.

Carl— It's funny you mention a Model T. After our old hose was condemned, the county bought the property and knocked the place down. I didn't have it in me to watch, but my old neighbors shared some pictures. The house was originally some sort of farm building from the 1880s that was converted and added onto. Sometime around WW II, the owner added a boathouse/garage to the original building. This space was a constant source of surprises. We found a good-sized safe with the bottom cut out, 3 showers heads and drains as well as 2 toilet flanges. This made no sense until an HVAC tech came to service the burner and shared that that owner was the local scoutmaster who ran a small camp for the local boys— there were woods and a creek on the property which made sense. When they dug out the foundation of the garage, they found an old Model T chopped and used as filler in the concrete.

Beth— The roses are stunning. They look like one of those fancy Damask or English varieties.

Eaglemom— I am sorry that your DS is troubled by your reminder alarm. I hope you get a good report from the doctor given the discomfort (pain? I don't want to minimize it) and inconvenience of this doing regimen. Fingers crossed for you.

I'm glad you're happy with the hot tub. I hope it was worth the agita the process put you through. It'll be divine once the weather cools a bit.

Gothic G— DH and the tow driver are betting on an alternator problem. DS thinks it could be the onboard computer system. My money's on a transmission or clutch problem.

It's a shame when these kinds of organically created events become more commercial in spirit; it kind of ruins the vibe. It makes one wonder if it's better to live with the memories of how it was than revisit the current iteration.
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I slept until almost 8 which is unusual for me. Yikes!

My niece and mom are on their way home; if they don't hit any snags, they should be back around 4-ish. The break from being on call was nice. Even nicer, it'll give mom and I something to talk about aside from what she made for her most recent meal. LOL, I feel like my head's going to explode when she tells me in great detail how she prepared an entree that I made and set aside a portion to give her.

The roofer comes tomorrow morning. Once that's done, we can get the plumber back. I need to call the garage and the dentist for estimates on the car and a crown DH is getting this week as I need some estimates. Funs times.

I hope all have a safe day out there.
HB

Thank you for the vacation and garden pictures. Beautiful places, beautiful roses.

Drove over a screw this morning and had a tire going flat, so decided this was as good a day as any to put new tires on the Subaru, plus oil change. I was due for an oil change and planned to get new tires before winter anyway. Someone called in sick and the front desk guy was in on his day off, answering the phones and dealing with customers by himself. He was doing a good job of it, but he'll be exhausted this evening.

It's 96 and climbing here, heading for 100 degrees.

Talked to a man today who was just back from his half-brother's funeral. The deceased was 102 years old and was the last survivor of the crew of the Tide, a mine sweeper than sank the day after D-Day in 1944. Not many of the WWII vets left. He was a brave man. Despite having a ship sunk under him, he stayed in the Navy after the war and made a career of it.

Stay cool.

Good afternoon.

Everyone is so busy!

Beth, your roses are lovely. Do you grow them from bare root? I have seen that term at Home Depot Garden Department.

NannyG, the dam and lake look so refreshing and cool. I was supposed to visit Kentucky last year this time but I came down with Covid.

HB, it doesn't seem as if you got any rest during your mom-vacation. I hope your car doesn't require extensive repair.

Carl, when I see a screw in the street I always pick it up. I hope you get nice tires.

Lorita and Eagle, I hope you can stay cool. I visited Whichita Falls TX in 1978, temp reached 114 degrees!

Iris

Lorita I just saw a product called Vamoose on YouTube. It's four essential oils to deter mice. Are you already using this?

Iris