what are you doing right now?

[chiver78]

heh. M informed me she's bringing amaretto. I said something yesterday about having run out the last time I'd had people over. S wants to try a pistachio martini. I may have to sample it. 😉

[Deleted]

Jan 2, 2023 11:13:59 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I missed my calling.  Should have gone into HVAC. 

When you mentioned there was a problem with the pressure sensor switch and the fan had to work too hard I immediately thought vent pipe.  

Well, I appreciate your making that guess. My skill in dealing with HVAC systems is limited to changing the filter and using my Nest app. I'm also happy to have "discovered" the flashing error code panel. It will make me feel a little more confident about troubleshooting next time a problem comes up. A local independent plumber said he once had a customer, an older lady, who was convinced by another firm that in order to repair a leak in her bathtub fixtures they'd have to replace all her copper piping. They charged her thousands of dollars but were kind enough to carry off all the copper.

I don't want to be that lady.

[countrygirl2]

Well, we got the car paid for and did a test drive all over.  It seems to run good and hubs said the transmission shifted well. They guaranteed the ABS system for 30 days so I told her to be sure and take it in if problems arise.

The lady at the sales had it fixed, they put on new valve gaskets as it had a small leak, and put in a new wheel bearing for no additional cost and came down on the price, she also included the sales tax in the price. So she ate $700 or $800 and came down a $1000 on the price once she knew it was for someone with no money. It is a local place, we thought about going elsewhere, but in a small town they have to have a good reputation or won't last long. She did not have to do that, I thanked her. It has been serviced pretty good along the way, so we are hoping she gets decent service out of it for awhile. It looks pretty nice too, no rust or anything. But with lots of miles can only hope it serves her well. She said today she had a job to go to already and 2 more applications in. She needs to keep her troubles to herself and not tell everyone at work. 

Like I said before, she looks bad, dark circles under her eyes, and she has lost a lot of weight. She kept thanking us, I don't know what to say except it's ok. I hope it helps her get back on her feet. We still need to get her out of the house and there is NOTHING here for rent. We finally got off the rental list as we were getting calls daily. We thought about the motorhome for her in town, but hubs said the propane heat would be hard to keep going and expensive.  In the summer would be no problem.

[countrygirl2]

I am washing more items. Hubs carried a bunch of Xmas stuff downstairs, we have some more. I need to take the red curtains in the bathroom down and the shower curtain and wash the red throwrugs and put all that up. I want to mop in there when I do and put my yellow rugs and stuff back in there.  The red sheets are off and washed, so need to make up the beds in there, want to clean that room, but that will be it for today.  

I did order a new rug for under the dining table and the front hall that match, it's a light green with creme and you can wipe it off, is stain resistant. Hubs said why if we are moving, LOL! Use them till worn out, well, they will never wear out and I'm tired of them. I had the one rug in Texas for years and the other here has been down 10 years. Want something new.

I'm still going to get blue and creme for the office. I can always use that type of thing anywhere.

I don't want to be like the old people that redo the house 30 years ago and never update anything, jeez, I like to change things up now and then. 

We will watch how prices go over the next year. If we can sell and buy something we will, if not, just stuck here I guess. We can't afford to take money out to put toward a more expensive house up there and live for many years. It's a darn hard decision. 

[andi9899]

Jan 2, 2023 14:14:58 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

time to relax with some hockey! I'm waiting on the curtains in the dryer to be done with laundry, everything else is folded and put away. Instant Pot has been started with some BSCB for the pups, and I've poured a glass of wine for the game. M and S will be here by the start of the 2nd period, and we are going out for sushi later.

oh, and I signed up for the Y. 1st month free, waived the sign-on fee, and no contract just a 30 day notice. $35/mo for individuals, like I thought. works for me. they have a whole bunch of classes, but I think I have a little work ahead of me before I jump in on one of those.

Honestly, classes are what have me going to the gym. Left to my own devices I'm incredibly lazy. Glad you're taking the first step. Keep us posted on how you like it.

[andi9899]

Jan 2, 2023 14:28:19 GMT -5 taz157 said:

I’m working from home tomorrow so I need to get my home office straightened up. It was a ground for “later” and now it’s “later”. DH and DD2 are napping while DD1 is painting in her craft room. I’ve started another load of laundry so might as well clean up my office while DD2 is napping.

I have one of those too. I've decided that every weekend I'm just going to tackle a project. We'll see how I do.

[mamasita99]

Jan 2, 2023 15:51:32 GMT -5 andi9899 said:

Jan 2, 2023 14:14:58 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

time to relax with some hockey! I'm waiting on the curtains in the dryer to be done with laundry, everything else is folded and put away. Instant Pot has been started with some BSCB for the pups, and I've poured a glass of wine for the game. M and S will be here by the start of the 2nd period, and we are going out for sushi later.

oh, and I signed up for the Y. 1st month free, waived the sign-on fee, and no contract just a 30 day notice. $35/mo for individuals, like I thought. works for me. they have a whole bunch of classes, but I think I have a little work ahead of me before I jump in on one of those.

Honestly, classes are what have me going to the gym. Left to my own devices I'm incredibly lazy. Glad you're taking the first step. Keep us posted on how you like it.

I’m a classes kind of person, too. Much harder to talk myself into breaking a sweat when I am by myself. Hope you enjoy the facility!

[Deleted]

Jan 2, 2023 15:28:21 GMT -5 countrygirl2 said:

I am washing more items. Hubs carried a bunch of Xmas stuff downstairs, we have some more. I need to take the red curtains in the bathroom down and the shower curtain and wash the red throwrugs and put all that up. I want to mop in there when I do and put my yellow rugs and stuff back in there.  The red sheets are off and washed, so need to make up the beds in there, want to clean that room, but that will be it for today.  

I did order a new rug for under the dining table and the front hall that match, it's a light green with creme and you can wipe it off, is stain resistant. Hubs said why if we are moving, LOL! Use them till worn out, well, they will never wear out and I'm tired of them. I had the one rug in Texas for years and the other here has been down 10 years. Want something new.

I'm still going to get blue and creme for the office. I can always use that type of thing anywhere.

I don't want to be like the old people that redo the house 30 years ago and never update anything, jeez, I like to change things up now and then. 

We will watch how prices go over the next year. If we can sell and buy something we will, if not, just stuck here I guess. We can't afford to take money out to put toward a more expensive house up there and live for many years. It's a darn hard decision. 

We've reinvented this house and furnishing many times over the years to reflect our evolving tastes.  We've ranged from soft neutrals to deep reds and golds and now grays and white with some colorful blue and purple accents.  We've lightened up the furniture too by moving to simpler shapes in lighter woods with glass or stone tops on tables.  We're fortunate to have some really talented reupholstery shops in the area that can transform a piece for a fraction of replacement.  Our love seat went from an overstuffed style with intense gold floral fabric to tighter seats and arms with cording in a soft neutral leopard print.  One of my favorite re-do's was taking a classic brown stripe wingback chair into a new era with silver burn-out velvet upholstery and brushed pewter nail heads.  

[TheOtherMe]

Jan 2, 2023 10:58:57 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

There's an 'Iowa nice'? 

I've heard of 'Minnesota nice,' but not 'Iowa nice.'  

Are there other states that are known to be nice? 

Definitely Iowa Nice.  We don't recognize Minnesota Nice.   

That's how not nice we are.

[Opti]

Crap. Doing laundry and was cutting back mums but now the new tenant is busy smoking on the porch. I hope he'll be done before I have to bring my clean laundry back, but there's no way I am going to cut down the other mums in a smoke cloud. 

Looks like rain the next few days, so today would have been good. 

[TheOtherMe]

I'm glad my nephew-in-law recommended the locally owned HVAC company in this small town when I moved here.  He grew up here and said that was who his mom always used.  

They have been in business over 30 years and have always come quickly when it's a problem and they put you on the list for routine maintenance.  Because we are so small, they call and ask if their guy can be here in 10 minutes.  That usually works.

They finally set up a service to put the salt in water softeners.  They keep track of when it needs salt.  The guy calls and asks if it is okay if he comes over.  While the salt cost is about the same, there is no service call, so it is cheaper than the people that came from Platteville to do it before.  

They have told me that my sump pump and all of the others in this neighborhood run a lot and need to be replaced every two years to avert a disaster.  That schedule has worked so far and disaster averted.  The battery back up also helps me have peace of mind.  They don't carry those.  I buy it and they install it.

They told me in the fall that my furnace will be needed a repair in the somewhat near future.  They did not recommend doing it then because it's a part they carry and they will get right out to do it.

I also like that their business model is not one with a subscription for quicker service.  They only accept credit cards on very expensive purchases and the customer pays the fee.  

I figure when the furnace needs replaced that will go on the Heloc.  

I also am guessing because it's just me, my water heater is still going.   I do know that is not going to last forever.

That stuff is why I have my Murphy Came savings account.  It is only used for home repairs.

[Deleted]

Shocker here-the generator guy didn't show up today! I give, I'm just going to have to leave the gate perpetually unlocked which is very dangerous, but we have no alternative. I stayed at home today waiting, but I can't waste all of tomorrow too. I'll just add chain the gate at 7 pm and unlock at 6 am to my to-do list. Not a happy person here but I can recognize when I'm screwed and quit fighting battles I can't win.

[Deleted]

Jan 2, 2023 16:41:03 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

They told me in the fall that my furnace will be needed a repair in the somewhat near future.  They did not recommend doing it then because it's a part they carry and they will get right out to do it.

I also like that their business model is not one with a subscription for quicker service.  They only accept credit cards on very expensive purchases and the customer pays the fee.  

I figure when the furnace needs replaced that will go on the Heloc.  

I also am guessing because it's just me, my water heater is still going.   I do know that is not going to last forever.

That stuff is why I have my Murphy Came savings account.  It is only used for home repairs.

Yeah, they sound like "keepers".  The local independent plumber doesn't take credit cards; I just have to remember when looking at the price that I don't get 2% back!  I was most unhappy when the last firm that replaced some of my windows allowed me to put the $1,000 down payment on my credit card but when the work was finished they wanted a check for $9,000.  Yes, I had it, but that was not mentioned to me when I signed up so I didn't get $180 cash back that I expected.  They will not be invited to bid on the work I hope to get done this year.

[daisylu]

Jan 2, 2023 17:37:56 GMT -5 soupandstew said:

Shocker here-the generator guy didn't show up today! I give, I'm just going to have to leave the gate perpetually unlocked which is very dangerous, but we have no alternative. I stayed at home today waiting, but I can't waste all of tomorrow too. I'll just add chain the gate at 7 pm and unlock at 6 am to my to-do list. Not a happy person here but I can recognize when I'm screwed and quit fighting battles I can't win.

Sorry you are having such a hard time with this.

[daisylu]

Just finished dinner. The collard greens were spicy, not as much as I feared they would be after sitting all night, but still spicier than I wanted. Good, though. Enough food left over for 2 lunches. I'm getting much better at planning meals for 2.

[mamasita99]

Jan 2, 2023 16:29:24 GMT -5 Opti said:

Crap. Doing laundry and was cutting back mums but now the new tenant is busy smoking on the porch. I hope he'll be done before I have to bring my clean laundry back, but there's no way I am going to cut down the other mums in a smoke cloud. 

Looks like rain the next few days, so today would have been good. 

I live on the 16th floor of a 25 story building, and when I’m on the balcony I can smell if Someone is smoking anywhere.

[empress of self-improvement]

Jan 2, 2023 14:49:23 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

heh. M informed me she's bringing amaretto. I said something yesterday about having run out the last time I'd had people over. S wants to try a pistachio martini. I may have to sample it. 😉

Just make sure Malarky isn't in drinking distance or you won't get any!

[countrygirl2]

I wish I had more prepped food frozen. There is left over bean soup and barbecue in the freezer. I had the beans, hubs, and DD the barbecue, that worked well. I have a bunch of sweet onions I added to the soup, so good. Think I will freeze the noodles, we had them twice, enough for now. Maybe the green beans and potatoes too.

Need to cook more quantities of items and freeze. 

I buy pillow slips to match each sheet set. So why oh why can't I find any to match or only one? What in the heck am I doing with them?? This has been going on forever, figure one day somewhere in here will find stacks of them. I don't use the top sheet, so may make the cases out of one of them. I finally just bought two white ones to go with all of them, LOL!

I do change out throw rugs and curtains that helps, but those rugs didn't bother me for a long time, suddenly they are, so time to change.  I also change out the throw rugs and towel sets plus shower curtains in bathrooms, that freshens things too. I have quite a few, so sometimes put the stored ones back up. 

Right now each time we go to the basement, something goes down there from the holiday. I put the bells up, a small Xmas tree, and some lights. Will take more.

Hubs said since he can't start on the house, he may put up the partitions in the basement. He has enough lumber to do the ends, the doors, and some drywall, so that would be good. Has to move my car out of the garage to have a dry place to work, no issue there. Sure would make the basement look finished and clean. We couldn't see all the storage areas then. I don't want people to see them anyway and I want just minimal heat in those areas. and I want the food storage area with no heat, then potatoes and onions can be stored there and won't be too hot and sprout.

[Opti]

Jan 2, 2023 18:03:48 GMT -5 mamasita99 said:

Jan 2, 2023 16:29:24 GMT -5 Opti said:

Crap. Doing laundry and was cutting back mums but now the new tenant is busy smoking on the porch. I hope he'll be done before I have to bring my clean laundry back, but there's no way I am going to cut down the other mums in a smoke cloud. 

Looks like rain the next few days, so today would have been good. 

I live on the 16th floor of a 25 story building, and when I’m on the balcony I can smell if Someone is smoking anywhere.

That sucks. I would hate that.

[countrygirl2]

I can upholster, I have several pieces and chairs in the motorhome, but you need a really heavy machine to do it with the added cording. The couch we have now is still in great shape. We got it from the lady that sold us the house along with hubs leather recliner.  It's at least 19 years old, they have paid a lot for it to still be looking good. It's at least 7 ft long, I'm guessing a new one would be $3k or more. I do like it so it should last a few more years.

I have the nail gun for it, the hammer for the nail head type, staples and other items so I can if I would.

[toomuchreality]

Jan 2, 2023 17:37:56 GMT -5 soupandstew said:

Shocker here-the generator guy didn't show up today! I give, I'm just going to have to leave the gate perpetually unlocked which is very dangerous, but we have no alternative. I stayed at home today waiting, but I can't waste all of tomorrow too. I'll just add chain the gate at 7 pm and unlock at 6 am to my to-do list. Not a happy person here but I can recognize when I'm screwed and quit fighting battles I can't win.

Bummer. I'm sorry.

[susana1954]

I have a service contract like what you have, @athena53.  Or at least I think they are similar.  They come out twice a year to service it.  The guy's grandmother and a lot of the rest of the family goes to church with me.  He hadn't cashed my check after a month so I told his grandmother on him.  Lol.  One of the things that the service agreement gets me is 10% off any other service that comes up, but it's not a maintenance contract.  

I know I've been blathering for at least a month how my new insurance includes the cost of a gym.  It is very much like Silver Sneakers, but Silver Sneakers didn't cover the big Y so close to my house.  Active Renew does, saving me $51 a month if I had chosen to be a member.  I signed up yesterday and went today.  I loved it.  I'll never be a gym rat, but I do enjoy walking and listening to music.  I also enjoy playing in the pool.  I ended up going to WM and buying a combination lock and an extra thing of deodorant plus I bought a beach towel at the Vera Bradley outlet.    Now I need a bathing suit.  I don't think I will find one in January, though . . . not one I can afford.

[cooper88]

It was pretty warm here today but really windy. I ended up watering some of my newer trees and that was it for outdoor activities. I have yeast proofing right now. Making strombolis for dinner and it probably won't be a late night for me.

[minnesotapaintlady]

Nobody here wants to go back to regular life tomorrow.  DS decided to go to town for the night in case the freezing rain gets bad and I'm debating not packing my computer up.  If school is off or a late start I'll just have to pull it all back out.

Wonder how late I'll stay up?  Probably really freaking late so that I'm kicking myself in the morning. 

[skeeter]

Jan 2, 2023 20:24:55 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Nobody here wants to go back to regular life tomorrow.  DS decided to go to town for the night in case the freezing rain gets bad and I'm debating not packing my computer up.  If school is off or a late start I'll just have to pull it all back out.

Wonder how late I'll stay up?  Probably really freaking late so that I'm kicking myself in the morning. 

How much snow are you supposed to get this time around?

[chiver78]

Jan 2, 2023 18:11:53 GMT -5 empress of self-improvement said:

Jan 2, 2023 14:49:23 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

heh. M informed me she's bringing amaretto. I said something yesterday about having run out the last time I'd had people over. S wants to try a pistachio martini. I may have to sample it. 😉

Just make sure Malarky isn't in drinking distance or you won't get any!

I can represent pretty solidly. 🤪

[giramomma]

Jan 2, 2023 20:24:55 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Nobody here wants to go back to regular life tomorrow. 

We don't want to either.

[andi9899]

Y'all it has been foggy all day. When I left for the gym you couldn't see very far. I usually take the highway but I have trust issues so I took the long way there and back. I still saw a crazy wreck on my way home. It's pouring now. It's supposed to taper off soon so I'm waiting for that so I can let the twins out one last time. Macy will not go out in the rain.

[andi9899]

Jan 2, 2023 20:24:55 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Nobody here wants to go back to regular life tomorrow.  DS decided to go to town for the night in case the freezing rain gets bad and I'm debating not packing my computer up.  If school is off or a late start I'll just have to pull it all back out.

Wonder how late I'll stay up?  Probably really freaking late so that I'm kicking myself in the morning. 

Same here. Except it will be in the 50s tomorrow so no snow. Hell, I work from home and I don't even want to go.

[andi9899]

Macy is laying in her safe spot while the rain pours and the thunder claps. I feel bad for her.