SORRY I HAVE BEEN MISSING - DOUBLE POST - CANCELED CAR PURCHASE/BANK LOAN PROBLEM AND LAUNDRY BAG CORD AROUND AGITATOR

 A bit of a followup to my post of (can it really be this long) over a month ago.  

Two weeks after we went to the car dealer and then decided  - while at the dealer – not to buy the car and canceled the transaction, we received a letter from a bank denying our car loan.  This shocked us for two different things.  

First, we know what our credit rating is and it is about as high as one can have.  

Second – We had canceled the car purchase – without signing any paperwork for a loan – though the “finance manager” had told us she as entering our info that we had the loan.  

We wrote a rather extensive letter to the bank which had turned us down.  (One reason given my credit report was locked – something I had done with all of our credit reports long and ago and forgotten about  - which makes me wonder why husband's was not locked.)  And we told about all that went on that day and we had NOT applied for the loan!  Waiting to hear from back from same.  


NEXT– LAUNDRY FUN.  

I do three loads of laundry most weeks -clothes, towels, and bedding.  Dirty clothing, bedding and upstairs towels go in a large laundry bag in our upstairs hall closet.  Dirty towels from the kitchen and downstairs bathroom go in a smaller laundry bag which hangs on the basement side of the door to same in the kitchen.  I throw the laundry bags into the towels load to be washed weekly.  Something I always wondered about happening – happened.  The string from the downstairs laundry bag wrapped around the agitator in the washing machine and would not release from it – even after I cut the cord and only left a short piece in the washer.  Husband and I finally gave up on getting it released.  With much trepidation about the mechanisms in the washer getting the piece of the cord wrapped further around the agitator and breaking the washer completely I kept doing the laundry in the washer.  Two weeks later – MAGIC -  I found the piece of cord loose in the bottom of the washer – relief!

To prevent this from happening again – even before the piece came loose – I now take the cords out of the bag before throwing the bags in the washer.  Yes, it is a bit more work each week – but stops me from worrying about a repeat.

I no longer put the cord in the downstairs bag at all.  It is short now (since I had cut off the piece which was stuck) and I knotted the ends together.  Short of it being there having been a holiday that week and having used fabric tablecloth/napkins, there is not much put into the bag and the kitchen/bathroom hand towels are relatively small.  I have a medium sized safety pin which I use to attach the remaining small, knotted piece of cord to the bag so I can hang up the bag on the hook on the back of the basement door during the week to collect the laundry in it.  

I have a large safety pin which I use to push the cord through the channel of the larger, upstairs bag so I can hang the bag on the 3 hooks in the closet which hold the bag open to make it easier to throw the dirty laundry in the bag.  

Yes, it is more work than before – but having worried for 2 weeks about the possibility of having to repair our washer if the cord wrapped further around the agitator or needing to buy a new one and the cost and mess involved in doing so.  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

If it is not one problem – it is another problem!   While both of these problems wasted time, caused great annoyance – they are minor compared to what can happen in life.

Any one have a problem like either one of these – what did you do?

CATCHING UP FROM CHRISTMAS AND LEARNING NOT TO ASSUME ALL CLEANING PRODUCTS FOR A PURPOSE ARE THE SAME - WHAT AN ODOR!

 Ah, the swift passage of time.  Three weeks have passed since I last posted.  So much for doing better in the new year.  

Well, I did get all of the reenacting clothing washed and stored away – though I still have his neck cloth which needs to ironed – it is sitting on the dining room table as reminder to do so.

On Monday, the sixteenth, I set my desktop computer to start its monthly backup and I went to start taking down the ornaments from our Christmas trees. Our agreement is that husband gets the room to use for weaving (called his “loom room”) from mid January to mid December and I get it for Christmas for the other month.  He was at his desk and I told him what I was about to do.  “NO, NO! I am not ready yet for Christmas to be over and packed away!”  So our indoor Christmas decorations are still in place.  (We did take down the outside lights that weekend so neighbors would not think us crazy.)  

We have figured out how to deal with the window candle lights I like for Christmas (goes well with the house which is colonial in style) for the future.  I figured out that if we pulled the hope chest shaped DVD chest out from under the TV table I could carefully climb under and reach the windowsill as well as the electric outlet under the window and we can use the plug in candle lights we have from years ago  (in recent years before the current one we had switched to battery operated ones).  If I do this once next year and plug them into a timer which can be controlled from a cellphone, we can leave the lights in place permanently and husband can turn them off after Christmas.  We can continue to use the battery lights upstairs and turn them off after the holiday by hand.  

I am not the best at cleaning to begin with – and since Covid and being in the house most of the time, even worse. (So bad, husband has started helping me, though he says he does out of boredom.) Last Saturday night I was in the kitchen and decided to clean the bathroom immediately next to the kitchen – and I do mean immediately next to.  As I sit here at our kitchen table the wall in front of me is the shared wall with the bathroom which is a small “cozy room” and the kitchen wraps around it – the door to the bathroom is on the side of it and faces the “pantry” closet in the kitchen.  This was while I was waiting for husband to be ready to order take out for dinner our “Saturday night substitute for date night dinner out”  

BIG MISTAKE!  I had not been able to find my normal toilet bowl cleaner and the one we had bought had a LOT of bleach in it.  The kitchen reeked of bleach – especially by the kitchen table where we would eat dinner.  I closed the bathroom door to keep the smell in it, figuring that later when we were in the living room watching a movie (for Saturday night date night movie substitute) I would open the door and let the odor dissipate.  First thing husband does when he comes down to go out and pick up dinner as I say “NO, DON'T!” is open the bathroom door and let the bleach odor overwhelm us.  The odor did dissipate later that night.  And, yes, while out on a shopping run this past week I bought a bottle of the non-bleach toilet bowl cleaner I normally use – though it seemed to be the last and the company has changed it – but time enough to worry about that in the future.  

At the same time, while the cleaner had sat in the toilet bowl, I also “Swiffered” the kitchen floor – which I had done in the bathroom as well as I could (bathroom is too tight to easily use the Swiffer, a broom or mop in it) – the floors really NEED a washing – but we are always here and using the kitchen so washing it and letting it dry is not easy.  I also cleaned the sink in the bathroom.  

One semi clean place in the house.  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Two of them really, first, watch what your cleaning products have in them and second, it is not THAT hard to find a small amount of time to do something about cleaning.

WHEN ONE'S SCHEDULE GOES AWRY - BE PREPARED FOR CHANGE

Something we don't really think about planning for – but should.  Yesterday I pulled a muscle in the back of my left shin – OW!  I have done this before and it goes away so I (and my poor husband) are just putting up with it for now.  

I figured out the least painful – and safest – way for me to go up and down the stairs.  It happened on the steps outside our back door on our trip out for lunch – so I was walking about in stores for awhile before I had to deal with the steps again.  I need to keep my left leg straight as much as possible to avoid pain.  I never realized that there are so many things I do which I never think of as I do them.  

Apparently my left leg cannot be higher than my right leg – by which I mean – on the stairs I have to step up with my right leg and then pull the left one up to the same step -repeat.  Coming down the stairs I have to step down with my left leg and then with my right leg.  Basically if my legs are different steps my right leg has to be the one higher up.  When I forget – I am quickly reminded by the pain.  

When sitting in the house I put my left leg up on something – in the kitchen I use the single step that I keep under the table so I can climb up and reach the higher shelves in the  top cabinets (meaning anything above the bottom shelf).  Convenient to rest my left leg on – and since the step is at back end of the table (a couple of feet from where I am sitting) when I put my foot on it my leg is more or less straight on a slight downward angle – perfect for my leg.  (I am at the table as I write.)  When at my desk I have a file box stored under under it which serves the same purpose.  That leaves the car and our lunch out today as the problems – I tried to keep my leg in the air as much as I could.  

But how does this relate to organizing?

Well, it is laundry night.  Main laundry has to come down 2 flights of stairs to the basement from the hall closet outside of our bedroom.  I always tie the laundry bag closed and give them a shove down these stairs – so that was relatively easy.  I cannot do this with our basement stairs as there is a display of electric trains cars across from the foot of the steps – maybe 2 feet from the bottom step – and I don't want to damage them.  I was planning to ask my husband to carry the bag down for me – but being the nice person he is he figured out the problem and offered to carry the bag downstairs.  The bag for our downstairs laundry (towels from kitchen and downstairs bathroom only – unless we use a tablecloth or fabric napkins due to a holiday and that I could carry down the stairs and did.  

First load of laundry (clothing) is now in the dryer and second load (towels and laundry bags) is in the washer.  Later when he comes downstairs for late night/pre-bed snack I will ask him to carry the laundry basket down for me.  I will empty the dryer into the laundry basket and throw the second load in the dryer – it will stay there until tomorrow anyway  after it finishes running and hopefully I will be better by then.  I fold the laundry in bed while he is getting ready for bed (and usually a bit after in the dark by the light of the TV) so that is not a problem.  

I know that I often read about how important it is to have one's family throw the laundry in “the hamper”.  I don't use a hamper – I hang our big laundry bag at the bottom of the closet – 3 hooks in the closet and 3 rings on the laundry bag which line up with them and hold the bag up and open.  This holds dirty clothes, towels, bedding and anything else. When time for laundry take the rings off the hooks, pull the bag closed  - go to top of staircase to ground floor of house and  -  - push !  Gravity takes the bag down the stairs.  Any laundry which goes into closet before the bag is replaced, I just pick up and toss in when I put the bag back.  Downstairs I have a smaller laundry bag hanging on a hook on the basement side of the door to the basement.  Just take it down and carry the relatively light bag when I go down to put the first load in the dryer and start this load.  Laundry bags both go in the second load.  

Sheets and pillowcases are their own load when I wash them, as are blankets.  Some weeks I need to wash reenacting clothing also – and they can be one or two loads depending on if I only need to the “small clothes” - that is the period undergarments, socks, neck cloths and cap, depending on if all need washing or if there are main clothing items which also need to be laundered.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Sometimes things happen – whether an injury, an illness, not being able to do a chore on the day it is normally done (such as being away or involved in a problem which arises), or a myriad of other things which throws one work schedule off or makes it harder to deal with or equipment needed dies.  One should have some idea of alternatives (do the laundry the next day or have someone else do it if you can, get help and so on) that can be used in these situations.  Or one has to learn to think quickly on their feet to deal with things.

REARRANGING THINGS FOR BETTER USAGE OF SPACE AND BETTER ACCESS TO THINGS

 My apologies for my absence. I thought I missed a week – but I have never missed 2 weeks before. - EVEN WORSE - I NEVER FINISHED POSTING THIS ON MAY 6.

I have been doing some rearranging in our kitchen. As I have mentioned before about the organizing rule of “putting like with like” leaves open the question of what are like items. For example in the field of clothing is it all socks together and all underwear together? My husband pointed out to me about a couple of decades ago that this did not make sense. If I wear some types of underwear daily and some types of socks daily - I am opening two drawers every day. If instead of socks together and underwear together (which I had done since I was in my early teens) which meant I had to open 2 drawers every day. If, on the other hand, I consider types of items I wear just about daily- whether socks or underwear in the same drawer - and put the same of these items which I wear once in a long while in the other drawer I only have to open one drawer almost all of the days. Hmmm, I had never thought of like with like as wear daily together and wear rarely together elsewhere. It does work well.

In the kitchen I had changed several years ago from all of a type of items being together to putting what I use daily or almost so together and rarer used items together. Our everyday dishes – a set for 8 – was on two shelves in one of our 4 kitchen upper cabinets on the bottom and middle shelves (of 3 shelves). But there are only two of us. Every time I needed to use something from the middle shelf I had to get a step to reach the item. I now keep 3 dinner plates, our 2 lunch plates, some unrelated dinner plates that I use when cooking, 4 of our soup bowls (as sometimes they are also used for small serving bowls) and 4 of our small plates (for dessert, side plates, etc), as well as two of the same type of the unrelated plates smaller for use as utility plates plus since I have wire shelf to split this shelf in two I also have 2 small serving bowls. On the bottom shelf of the matching cabinet on the other end of the kitchen I have two each of the glasses we use (I like tall thin ones, he likes short wide ones), 2 mugs for hot beverages, some small glasses used for utility, measuring cups (wet and dry), two ice cream cups and some other similar items. I now can reach what I need to set the table for us without having to climb on a step.

But what about our other two upper cabinets? Well one of them is located over our stove – so very rarely used items are in it as I have to climb, not on my step, but on a chair to reach anything. So the good china and rarely used serving pieces/baking dishes are in it.

The fourth cabinet is next to eh 3^rd, but hanging at the same height as the first two – meaning I can reach the bottom shelf. This is the one in which I recently did some rearranging. On the bottom shelf I have some platters, 2 hot plates to put hot dishes or pots on at the table, and 3 serving bowls of the same size and shape with different designs – about minimum in size of the bowls we own. On the shelf above are other items used fairly regularly – the difference being that I can reach and take out the gravy server with the small pitcher kept in it (pitcher intended as for milk or cream when serving coffee, tea, etc, but more often used by me as an alternative gravy server which is why they are stacked together) and more bowls. In this case from my large bowls used for mixing and cooking, a wooden bowl bought to use for reenacting but replaced by a better one for same, and a medium sized serving bowl.

This setup worked well for us in the past as we did a minimum of cooking for the two of us as we ate dinner out 3 nights a week and lunch out daily. But since the pandemic life and cooking has changed.

Last week I thought to myself that I use that medium bowl on the second shelf of the cabinet at least once a week now – and each time I use it I have to climb on the step to get it down and then do the same to put it away. But it is rare that I use even 2 of the 3 serving bowls on the bottom shelf (they are bigger than my small and medium bowls but smaller than my large bowls. Mostly when I use one of them for the two of us I have made biscuits or rolls and need something to put them on table. Hmmm.

So I took one of the three bowls on the bottom shelf and climbed up and took the medium bowl from the second shelf out and rearranged the bowls on the second shelf to include the one from the bottom shelf and put the medium one on the bottom shelf – no more climbing to get it down.

In addition I have been using some pots which are kept in the lower cabinet, under where the bowls are stored, that I do not normally use with any frequency. It has been hard getting the wok in and out as it is in the back left side of the cabinet. In the front right side of the cabinet I have a 8 quart pot (just went and checked as I did not know how large it is) which normally sits unused in the cabinet except for cooking soup from scratch for holidays but I have also been using to make ravioli for dinner every couple of weeks during the pandemic. Behind it sits several items – some for baking, some for cooking – including a large round flat griddle with slightly raised sizes. These pots have sat in this cabinet for decades with no problems. But for some reason now that I am using the 8 qt pot it does not go back into the cabinet easily as the griddle is suddenly in its way.

I had taken the griddle out during the week – since it is rarely used I was going to move it to the basement storage closet (well, technically area where the gas meter is located in the finished part of the basement with walls and door to hide it). But then I started thinking again. I took it and put it in the back under where the wok goes and moves some smaller items where the wok goes to the other side where the griddle had been. It worked. The 8qt pot fits back into place in the front right of the cabinet (with smaller pots stored in it as before) and has no problem coming out and going back in. The left side of the cabinet has the wok in the back on the griddle and since it raised up slightly off the floor of the cabinet and some items which were there have been moved to the rear right, it can be more easily taken out and put back. I did have move one large pot lid to the small half shelf at the back of the cabinet over all of this – but it all works so much better now.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

What area of your home just does not work even thought it meets the “like with like” rule? What other way can the items be sorted to still be “like with like” just using a different standard of “like”? How or when or how often things are used is just as valid of making them “like” items as the items actually being the same kind of item.

MISSED LAST WEEK'S POST TO DUE TO EXAMS AND LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS DECORATING

 I hope that all had a good Christmas.  

Sorry I missed posting last week.  Having managed to get the paperwork (per my last post) to the county for our senior real estate exemption the day I posted last, I started on taking the courses I need to take – and pass tests about – 20 hours of classes and 10 hours of tests done online.  I passed all of them and can continue working in 2022.  I took them over the week and had planned to take the biggest of the tests on last Wednesday (12/22) evening but husband had something that had to be done – so I did not get it to it until last Thursday evening.  

I had managed to work at putting out our indoor Christmas decorations over the several evenings before last Thursday – small items which are put out in our kitchen, dining room, front hall and living room.  I skipped many of the decorations such as hanging (fake) greens along our staircase banister and small items due to time limitations.  I also had brought up all three of our Christmas trees (large living room, small dining room and small studio trees) and set them up earlier in last week – also in the evening.  One problem is that since it all kept in the basement and, in particular the big tree sections, much of it is rather heavy, so I have to carry up one of the 9 tree sections (plus lighter tree pole to hang them on) at a time and rest before going back down for the next section.  Then, of course they have to be arranged on the pole, extension cords setup to bring electricity to the tree (and of course the extension which runs up the tree with outlets in 3 different spots -  decided to fall off this year when I set up the pole and I had to wire that back onto the pole).  I did not get to work on the ornaments until the following day – Christmas Eve– and each of the 4 boxes also has to be carried up from the basement with a rest in between – though at least I can hang ornaments while resting.  Again, for the first time since we were married 40+ years ago, not all of the ornaments went on the tree.  Around the equivalent of a box of “lesser” ornaments (plain balls and such) did not make it onto the tree due to time limitations.  

December 26 (Boxing Day to those of you in the UK, Canada, and related countries) I went to work on my Teddy Bear Village.  Yes, I managed to get it set up.  I did some sections differently than in year's past to spread the bears around the 4 sections of the Village a bit more and leave some “breathing” room for the bears in the main section.  Husband guesses that there are 300 bears – I am pretty sure there are a lot less – maybe I will count them when I put them away.  Yes, that is the problem with having fun decorating – in a couple of weeks I will have to take down the tree and decorations downstairs and store them back in the basement (with many trips down and breaks between them again) and store away the decorations from downstairs.  The Teddy Village will stay set up until into early February and then it's residents also have to be stored away to make way for the Valentine Bears (much, much less of them).  

So, all of this diverted my mind from visiting all of you.  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Sometimes work comes first – such as my classes and exams.   Sometimes what one enjoys has to take precedence over work which can be postponed.  One has to know the difference between the two.  

As I sit here is it December 29 – I wish a good New Year to all.  Keep in mind that small changes and specific ideas are more likely to continue to be done throughout the coming year, as opposed to making resolutions which are too big or non-specific to be kept.   

BUYING A NEW VACUUM CLEANER

 We have several vacuum cleaners.  

There is an upright one upstairs  - actually standing up in the corner of the bedroom as there is no place to keep it.

There is a small wet/dry vacuum in the office upstairs.  (Why there?  Well a vacuum in the office is convenient as lots of shredded paper ends up on the carpet and it is easy to use for same (on the dry setting of course).  

There is another upright vacuum in the front hall closet on the main floor.  It is held standing up against the wall with velcro attached to the wall.  There is also a hand held vacuum hanging just inside the door to basement from our kitchen.  

The basement has a normal sized wet dry vacuum.

The garage/wood workshop has a BIG wet dry vacuum as it goes into clear pipes around the inside of the garage walls and the various standing power tools connect into it so that when the tool is in use one opens a small door where a short pipe from the tool meets the big one around the wall of the basement – this allows most of the saw dust to be sucked into the pipes and then into the vacuum.  

I have never liked vacuum cleaners since I was little – they make too much noise for me.  I use sweeping tools instead.  I have been very bad however, for a number of years and even more so the past year past during the pandemic, at actually using anything to clean the floors or to dust.  Does using the toe of a fuzzy slipper count as cleaning?

Husband had been getting more upset about how the house looks – he claimed that one could get lost in the dust on the floor.  He decided the problem was needed a better vacuum (at least he did not decide that what “we” needed was a better wife).  He has been reading and studying about the newer vacuums and what to buy.  

So last Friday we drove out to the Walmart over the county line as they had the stick vacuum he has seen on TV and he decided was what we needed.  The Walmart near us carries this vacuum also, but all the cartons looked open (should have been a clue).  

We took it home and he immediately set it up.  First problem – the commercials say it stands alone – it only does so if one removes the motor section and hangs it from a hook lower down on the stick – not a great thing to have to take it apart and put it back every time it is used.  He cleaned our kitchen and part of our studio with it.  Kitchen has vinyl floor, studio has carpet.  He tried to clean the air conditioner in the studio with it – using it without the floor cleaning piece – not as successful.  Despite their advertising it does NOT clean up to the wall and there was about ¾ to 1 inch of a line of dirt around the walls which it did not/could not pick up.  We had to dump out the dirt cup twice while using it (okay, there was at least 6 months of dirt on the floor).  Hair is not suppose to get caught around the roller – it does get caught. We had to cut the hair off the roller of the vacuum with a pair of scissors before repacking it.  Then again also, we both have long hair.  

He then took it upstairs to the bedroom and cleaned the wood floor up there with it.  Similar problems and even more hair caught under it and again the dirt cup had to be dumped twice.  We decided it was not for us.  We packed it and did so.  

He then started looking again.  The same company makes other similar vacuums – he decided we needed the next size up.  It actually stands on its own when assembled (no need to take the motor off), holds more in the dirt cup and so on.  He read the instructions online this time to avoid any surprises.

We bought the larger one.  Today we set it up and tried it.  Similar problems to the first problem and much heavier.  So we repacked it to return it.  

We never did get to the living room, or dining room floors – both wood, or the spare bedroom upstairs- carpet and only one of our studio was vacuumed as the other side is covered in “stuff” mostly as a result of canned goods and such being on my work table there  -  so other items were moved to the floor.

While he is the one looking for a new vacuum I realize it all my fault.  If I had kept up with the sweeping (I use a modern version of a broom that comes with replaceable pads which I will not name, although it works very well as opposed to these vacuums) he would not have decided that we need to get a new vacuum and we would not have gone through all of this.  I do use one of the hand held vacuums to pick up the debris left after sweeping.

Now, to be fair, I have had my eyes on a device which holds a bottle of cleaning liquid and vacuums it up  after shooting it onto the floor to clean it, which is used to wash floors. Problem has been that we don't like scents – especially floral scents – which its cleaning liquids have.  They now have a lemon scent which we can both probably deal with and we will buy same.  It is mostly for my kitchen floor which gets dirty of course, more than getting dusty.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK – Always take advertisements “with a grain of salt”.  I know this. Husband knows this and will make fun of people who fall for advertisements.  I knew these vacuums would not be as advertised, but hoped that they would be better than they were – he actually thought that they would be as advertised for some strange reason.  

What do you use to clean your floors?   Well at least the floors are mostly clean right now.

WHY ARE WE ROTATING THE DVD PLAYERS FROM ONE ROOM TO ANOTHER?

 Well at least I am back on schedule and on time this week.

Today we did some electronics organizing.  Huh?  Well, my husband told me that we needed to switch DVD players around the house.  I have learned that when he comes up with an idea such as this, it is much easier to just to go along with him and not ask why we are doing this.  

First we took out the DVD player which we use in the kitchen (it is actually located in our adjacent  craft studio – there is a large squared off arch between the two rooms so while obviously being two separate rooms they more or less continue into each other.   Our kitchen table is in the front of the arch (blocks part of the arch and part is still walk through – only place to put the table in the kitchen and it is a small table) and our kitchen TV is actually in the studio on a dresser in same, so we can watch TV at the table.  The DVD player is on top of a chest of drawers in the studio which is next to the dresser, but away from the arch.

We took the kitchen DVD player upstairs to our bedroom.  We then took out the DVD player in the bedroom (I put it on my chair in our office, across the hall from the bedroom) and we setup the DVD player from the kitchen in the bedroom – so far relatively easy.  Turned on the DVD player and it came on.  

We then went to our office and started to take apart the DVD player in same.  This was a bit harder than other two.  The DVD player sits on top of 6 foot tall bookcase.  The TV in the office sits on the highest shelf within the bookcase (which shelf is about 2 and feet tall in space above it).  There is a small hole cut in the back of the bookcase behind the TV for the wires to drop down behind the bookcase and come into the shelf.  AND to be seen while sitting at our desks the TV has to be pointed down – so there are small rectangle blocks under the back of the TV's base.  While I held the TV so it did not fall off the shelf – husband unplugged the wire from the back of the TV, climbed on a step stool, and pulled the wires out of the back of the bookcase and removed the DVD player from the top of the bookcase.  I set that DVD aside on my desk and brought over the DVD player from the bedroom for which the process was reversed – it was put on the top of the bookcase, wires had to be found hanging behind the bookcase and brought into the top shelf through the small hole (hardest part of course finding the loose hanging wire) and then the wire from player to TV plugged into the TV and the electric cord into an electric extension already there.  Turned on the DVD player and it came on.  

Back to the kitchen.  We now setup the DVD player from the office in the studio/kitchen and made sure it came on.

Now I finally asked the big question - “Why the heck did we do this?”  Turns out that one of the players does not take a USB drive and one of the other players also runs Blu Ray discs.   So the object of this project was two fold – we now have players  which take USB drives in 2 places he wants them and we have the player which runs Blu Ray in the kitchen.   

One problem was the need to do major dusting as we did this – on the drives themselves, the TVs and the shelves and other spaces where all of these items sit.  Husband did not wait for me to get a dusting cloth and instead started using paper towels – which, of course, are not that great for dusting.  

Part of the this plan, I am guessing, is that he got a hard drive for Christmas which records off the TV/cable and he has been recording some TV series which are on too late for him to watch and he will be able to plug the recorder into the 2 boxes which take USB and they are now both located where he would want to watch those shows and the Blu Ray is probably in the kitchen to be able watch same when we have our Covid substitute Saturday night movie dates while eating take out Chinese food – aka our Covid substitute Saturday night dinner out.  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Sometimes something makes sense to one person and does not make sense to others.  

This is true for husband's need to rearrange all of the DVD players and my need to use the dining room and good china, silverplate tableware, and good glasses for holiday dinners even thought it is just two of us.  

If your significant other feels a need to do something that is is not a major problem/expense and what he/she wants to do makes no sense to you – humor them and help them with what they want to do.  And if you feel the need to do something like this – they should humor and help you also.  One never knows when a small change which seems to make no sense is actually a great idea.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE HALF AN HOUR OF CLEARING THINGS UP CAN DO

 I have probably mentioned that my husband and I are crafts artists.  One of the reasons we bought this house is that there is a family room off of the kitchen through a large squared off arch. I could cook dinner while working in our “studio” and we could (back then) turn the kitchen TV around to watch it from the studio.  Of course like every other room in a house it becomes a mess and needs organizing – again.

Early last year I had been working on clearing it up – and then Covid-19 hit.  I stopped working on the room.  I ended up bringing my sewing machine into the kitchen to sew our masks – and of course the patterns and fabric for it were dropped on top of paper cutter on one end of a storage dresser near the entrance to the room.  It had already had my various embroidered and sewn items from when I lived with my parents tossed onto my worktable – along with projects in progress.  

When the room is maintained it serves its purpose well.  We can easily get to supplies, tools, books, magazines and storage. But when it is not maintained – well, you know that how it is.  

We were doing okay with the room basically usable and then this past Thanksgiving was approaching.  I wanted – no, needed to have Thanksgiving in the dinner as normal. In addition to wanting to make it as normal (and as nice) as possible, we need our kitchen table clear to be able carve the turkey, put things we will need for dinner and so on.  But when last May we had ordered food delivered we had no place in our small house to store the canned, bottled, jarred and packages of food in the quantity we had purchased it. Our dining room table was covered over with towels and the canned, bottled and jarred items were put on the table.  Food in packages was put into very large plastic containers on the floor and smaller ones on the table. There was no way we could have Thanksgiving dinner in the dining room as it was – but where to move it all – especially the items on the table?  

Of course, they could go on my work table in the studio - if was cleared off of course.  So I did a quick job of clearing items off of work table – some, such as husband's sewing machine, were pushed onto his worktable, others stacked on the chair I use at the table and items put on the floor.  My work table chair area backs to a wall with with some storage, so there was not a lot of room there.

This all worked okay for Thanksgiving… - for Christmas husband's weaving items including loom were added to what was stored in the studio - and Christmas…  and New Year's, but it has become a giant mess in the studio.  When doing some household sewing I had to lean over a good deal of the mess to get out a different color of thread – and managed to drop the holder on which all (well, mostly) the started spools are stored onto the floor – behind the mess.  Luckily I could read a spool of light gray and since it was a work item I was making, that was close enough to the light blue I needed.  

But this cannot go on.  It is one thing not to be able to use my work table, but not to be able reach and find the items I need is not alright.  But like everyone else I look and sigh and think  - oh my!

A couple of weeks ago I went to work on a laundry basket in our studio. It held various toys and other items husband's niece used to play with when she would come here one day a week for us to watch for her mom.  This is back when she was maybe 4 plus or minus – she is 19 now, she will not be playing these items again.  I went through the basket and sorted it out.  I threw out items which were, well, actually garbage even though she played with them - no, we did not give her garbage, but children, well they find items to play with which are not toys – for example, the first time she came for us to watch her it was just after my husband's birthday.  He had received a HUGE birthday card.  She loved it and carried and carried it around the house and drew on it – garbage – out it went. Some items are things we want to keep – such as toy train set of my husband's which she had appropriated, some stuffed bears and such.  They were put upstairs in “the teddys” room to find a permanent home.  The other items, mostly stuffed toys are not something we want and are not garbage.  They have been set aside so that when the corona virus is under control they can be donated as they are in excellent condition.  The laundry basket was washed and dried and put in the basement as a spare, well, laundry basket.  

This week I went to work on one corner of the room.  This corner has a bookcase with our needlework and sewing books, some related magazines, and the bottom shelf holds the cookbooks I kept after a purge of cookbooks about a decade ago (and no new ones added since),  It also has loose shelves – wire ones that husband uses to dry woven items on after he finishes them and wooden boards we use as shelves at craft shows.  Also stored on the floor here are a few plastic bags with framed cut paper pictures that my husband made and exhibits – though no exhibits in a few years.  There is room for all of this in this area while still allowing access to the book shelves.  But of course, until the area was cleared out of unrelated items which had been dropped there – the books shelves have not been easily accessible in years – the books and magazines which had been pulled out had been stacked on a Ellison cutting machine – so, of course the Ellison was not that easy to use as it could not be accessed.  Once the book shelf area was cleared out – the books and magazines were put away where they belonged.  The paper cutter mentioned before had also been moved to this pile (on the opposite end of the same dresser) to put our studio Christmas tree. It was put back where it belongs.  

In doing this I found a package of paper towels near my work table.  A mystery solved.  In January husband saw me replacing a used up roll of paper towels and asked how many more rolls we had (remember he thinks we use about 10 times more of everything we use) and I told him that we had at least 2 more rolls in both size sheets we have.  To me this means “we have plenty” to him this means “we are about to run out of paper towels any minute now”.  I reminded him that we had also bought a new package of paper towels, but of course could not find it when he asked where it was. So we bought a new package of paper towels – not the brand we like as it was out of stock – when we went out to pick up prescriptions.  As I cleared these items out of the studio I found the package of paper towels I knew we had bought under some of the mess and of course showed it to husband to show that I was right.  Both packages of paper towels are now in the basement in the area where we keep replacement paper goods.  

I plan on continuing working on getting the area around my work table cleared out so even if I cannot actually work there for now due it being a food storage area, I can at least get to and use the various supplies stored next to it in the corner of the room and under it without any problems.  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

It is amazing how moving something for temporary storage can cause problems that seem huge.  In less than half an hour  of work last night, I now can access my bookshelves and books, can use our Ellison machine and our paper cutter, and made a big dent in the clearing away of items temporarily stored  and blocking access to supplies and tools.   A HALF AN HOUR!  That was all it took.  Can't wait to see what the next half an hour of clearing away stuff manages to organize and clean up.  

COVID 19 #26 - PLAN NOW FOR THANKSGIVING APART FOR THIS YEAR

 Well, Thanksgiving is coming (in the U.S.A.) in 2 weeks.   Yes, family is important, but family staying well and alive is more important.  Please don't have (or go to) a big family gathering this year.  Have a dinner with those in your household.  

How about a long distance (or short distance if family lives nearby) extended family celebration on Zoom– perhaps even set up a monitor (yes, this would be exception to the “no TV, no computers,no phones at Thanksgiving dinner rule)  where everyone having dinner at your house can see the screen and have your extended family members do the same.  Make an agreement for what time to have dinner which works for everyone – then all can share dinner across the Internet and still be safe.  

Have Aunt Mary send a copy of her secret recipe for her pumpkin pie (will you find out that she uses the one on the can of canned pumpkin?).  Have Cousin Susie her recipe for the stuffing and so on.  Everyone can make the dishes for their family (or not as they choose – perhaps Uncle Dave adds a bit too much “fun” in his rum cake?).  If everyone has the same foods it will seem like everyone is eating together.  Or, just let everyone make the dinner they want – perhaps next year your sister-in-law's vegetable soup (a dish I always make for Thanksgiving) will be the new family favorite that no one has had before, but when she made it for the dinner she and your brother had with their children – it looked soooo good and her children asked for more – yes, more vegetables  - and then you will all asking her for the recipe.  

The holiday is something which can be celebrated across the miles -  or across the street – so that all stay safe and well.  I am sure that you all would prefer for grandpa Jack to be with you at future Thanksgiving dinners than this be his last one due to his catching Covid-19 from someone at the dinner.  

My husband and I used to have both families at our home for Thanksgiving dinner – it was “our” holiday.  10 years ago we had bed bugs – we have not have family join us for the holiday since.  I still cook the same foods for the two of us – just a bit less than I made for the families.  I set up the dining room with the “good” china and silverware.  I use smaller serving bowls than before, but we have a nice holiday.  We do this annually now – and I only suggesting your family and friends have this one Thanksgiving apart – so that hopefully you will all be alive and well for next Thanksgiving to be together again.  

I am writing this column now – 2 weeks before the holiday so that you have time to plan with your extended family to have your holiday apart, while still joining together in some way over the distance so all will survive the corona virus and are here to be there for next year.  

Me, I have to figure out what to do with the all the extra canned goods, bottle, jars, and packages which are currently residing on my dining room table – taking up the entire table plus there are 3 huge plastic boxes of foods,which might attract vermin if it was just out, stacked next to the table.   I figure I have to clear up my studio worktable and move the food from the dining room table onto it.  (This will also allow me to decorate the dining room for Christmas afterward which I never had a chance to do last year.)  Husband has said to have the dinner in the kitchen,but I know from the past we need the kitchen table for related things – such as carving the turkey.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

For the Jewish holiday of Passover one of the prayers is “Next year, may we all be in Jerusalem” - for Thanksgiving let us all stay apart and safe and say “Next next Thanksgiving may we all be at Aunt Anne's” (or wherever you normally celebrate Thanksgiving) and survive this pandemic to do so.  

A little planning is all that is needed.

Let us also remember on this Veteran's Day all of those brave people who have fought to protect their country in the various wars which threatened our country as well as, including those in other countries who share the memory of Armistice Day when World War I (the Great War) had it truce.  If not for them we would not be living in the world we have now (meaning of course the good things of our world.)  Tell a veteran (or two) that you appreciate their service.

COVID 19 #19 UTILITIES STILL OUT FROM ISAIAS, CLEARING OUT KITCHEN PANTRY AND I FOUND MY MISSING BEARS

 First a couple of updates on my last two posts -

In the July 30 post (2 weeks ago) I had mentioned that I was going crazy having lost an assortment of bear figures that I use in my “Teddy Village”.  (Don't think it that crazy that I have this village – it is the only place I can “visit” without a mask right now, and it is cute and fun to do.)  I have put off climbing under the bed in the spare bedroom (aka the Teddies room) both because of the logistics and because I feared not finding the bears there – and since my only thought was that they been tossed out –  I could not take them not being there.  I tend to put things in places that are logical when I put them there, but later do not come to mind when I am looking for them.  Last night on our way to bed I was looking around again as to where the bears might be – and my eye fell on a large, thick white cardboard box (I am guessing that is the inner box that some computer peripheral came in) which I call “the hill”.  It is used for skiing and sledding bears and in the past I would store those bears in it for the rest of the year.  My brain started whirring.  I touched the box – definitely something in it – but hadn't I seen the big skiing bear in the Christmas boxes when I looked there?  I removed the teddy bears riding in a train setup on top of it (not winter – no skiing or sledding) and carefully turned it over, took it to my desk, and opened it.  YES!!  The missing bears.  See – I put them where it made sense – right in the village itself in a safe storage box that I have looked at every day since they were stored!  Today the bears in the box that made sense (and there was room for) and the musician bears for the summer concerts in the part were added to the village and the rest carefully stored in a marked box with the other storage boxes of bears for next time I need to use them.  Oh – and my husband was right about two things (not unusual for him) – I did not throw them out and I would find them.  

In the August 5 post (last week) I was talking about Hurricane Isaias – technically only a tropical storm when it hit this area.  I explained how lucky we had been to get back our electricity that evening.  Around here there are still people (8 days after the store) who still do not have electricity.  Supposedly they are all suppose to have their electricity back by “11:59 pm” tonight, Wednesday.  I am guessing that the tens of thousands still will not have their electricity back.    In addition to electricity people have been without and some still are, without their natural gas.  (Here is in run through underground pipes to areas were it is available and may be used by those using it for heating and/or hot water.  We did not lose same and only use it for hot water.)  Our local cable/Internet provider which also provides a good percent of landline telephone service, as well as our traditional telephone company which also provides all 3 services also do not have all of their customers back online yet.  The stories one hears about people who have special needs and are suppose to have service to be restored quickly – people with medical conditions and are still waiting are especially upsetting.  Also people have live lines down in their yards that as of yesterday (today's news will be out tomorrow of course) which is terribly dangerous.  One man found an electric company employee working on someone else's outage and asked the employee to shut off the live line down in his backyard (dangerous both for someone or an animal touching it and dying or it starting a fire) was told it was a question of flipping a switch, but the employee was not allowed without a work order to do so!  And this company was brought in (and seemed good as they are in a neighboring state) because the last company did such a terrible job during Hurricane Irene and Sandy!   I hope that any of you who were caught in Isaias also, did not lose your utilities for too long a time and did not have the circus we have had here.  

Now, as to actually dealing with clutter and disorder – I think I mentioned that back in March when we went through our pantry closet (actually 3 shelves in our kitchen closet) we found, among other items, a half gallon jar which had been filled with, per the lid) Bisquick.  This is a good item to have as so many items can be baked with it.  Problem was it was dated 2017!  We did not toss it out as back then food was hard to find in supermarkets – but we did not use it either.  In the interim we purchased new (smaller) packages of Bisquick.  My husband suggested yesterday that I should dump it out and put new Bisquick in it and then we can easily use same.  I pulled the jar out tonight and dumped it out, wiped it out and washed it.  While doing so I looked at what else was on that shelf – in the back.  I found out that I had 2 started containers of dried basil – I combined them and they are in the container which was in my spice cabinet.  I found we have more sugar than we thought.  Worcestershire sauce – almost a full bottle (well it is not something we use normally).  Part of a bottle of vinegar.  Interesting items to have and have available for use that we did not realize we had (or had so much of).  I might even get some of the items on the dining room table into the closet where they belong.  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

It is important to remember that we are more resilient than we think we are.  Even those of who think we are weak can deal with and do amazing things when we have to.  Whether as trivial as missing inanimate “friends” or something as major as no utilities, somehow one can get through it.  When one thing after another hits us  - Covid 19, hurricanes, loss of utilities – we can get through it.  We take a deep breath and think about what to do to continue on and deal with the problem.  

I hope none of you were hit hard by Isaias. 

CLEANING, AND ORGANIZATION OR ONE CAN LOSE ONE'S TOYS

Have you found that time is passing slowly and too fast at the same time?  It does for me.  Like many others staying home during this Covid-19 pandemic I had big plans for the time we would be stuck home and made a mental list of what needs to be to done in the house and also of what I wanted to get done in the house.  Most of it involving either cleaning or organizing.  I am still inching along. 

I am not the best housekeeper in the world, but I used to be a lot better.  When husband was working full time – and out of the house --  I had a set a housework schedule.   I did housework on Wednesdays with the kitchen and the downstairs dusting and floors done on one week, then the upstairs bathroom, floors and dusting on the next, with the downstairs bathroom, dusting and floors  on the next, the upstairs dusting and floors done again on the 4th week of the month.  On months with a 5th Wednesday I would do tasks that did not need to be done as often. 

Then my husband quit his job – it was not a spontaneous choice, we had discussed it, set up rules (me - “You cannot be with me every minuted of every day or I will kill you.” and “It is not vacation so we cannot eat out everyday.”) and so on.  At first it all went as planned – we would eat lunch (at home) on Mondays and discuss the week ahead when I had things to do, he had things he wanted to do and when and what we do together or apart.  Housework was still done on a regular basis.  I still had several accounting clients so I was out of the house at least the equivalent once a week for work and he was working in his wood  shop making items for us to sell at craft fairs. First mistake I made – I used to go out for lunch alone on Fridays.  Mondays and Fridays I would run errands – and Fridays I would go out for lunch (inexpensively) by myself.  I called it “going out for lunch with the office” as I was “the office”.  First Friday he was home I offered for him to join me “this one time”.  Guess what?  Yes, Friday lunch out was added to our normal Saturday and Sunday lunches out and Friday dinner out followed along with our Saturday night dinner out and Sunday night take in Chinese food for dinner. 

This was about a year before the economic problems of 2008.  I lost clients as long time (and older) clients decided it was too hard to deal with their businesses, shut them down and retired.  So I was home more (and getting less done).  At the same time the price of gasoline jumped – high.  Husband pointed out to me that it made no sense for me to spend money on the gas to drive to the supermarket and for him to spend money on the gas to drive to Home Depot – separately – when both were in the same shopping center. 

Little by little this took over until we reached the point we were at before the pandemic – lunch out at Wendys 5 days a week, dinner out or Chinese food in – 3 day weekends, and spending almost all our time together.  Somewhere along the way I stopped cleaning the house on Wednesdays – or for that matter – mostly stopped cleaning it altogether.

I have been trying to catch up on cleaning and putting stuff away since we have been stuck home.  It is sort of working – not as regular as before, but getting done.  Much time is still taken up not doing anything.  We tend to stay at the table after lunch and watch TV a bit longer than we used to (or I would like).  I am am trying to get back to how I used to get the work done. 

Early in after Corona reared its head it dawned on me that if one of us became ill with it, we had no place for us to sleep separately.  We have a spare bedroom – with a bed – which intended as a guest room and was used as same 3 times in the earlier years in the house – all 3 times by my niece and once also by her brother, my nephew (they were small children at the time and could share the bed).  Since then my teddy bears have taken over the room – on shelves, pictures on the walls, sitting on the bed, and so on.  There are also older video games and such stored in the room.  Over the years our spare luggage and husband's out of season clothing moved into the closet in this room.  My dollhouse that husband made for me when we were dating is in the room.  Also in the room is spare things including a portable (analog) TV and a small wooden bench husband made (TV sits on the bench). 

Back in March the small floor space in the room was covered in bears and their things and the TV/bench.  In April when the thought of one of us needing to sleep in there came to mind, husband could not take any mention of either of us getting ill (not that he would be happy to hear about it now – but then it was no mention to be made.  Instead I told him that I had space in the trunk under the teddy bear village in the upstairs hall that used to be used for Christmas storage and I wanted to store items floating around the spare bedroom in it.  This process cleared out space to be able to get next to the bed and I also found stuff to use for the teddy village.  I thought I did a great job of making the room usable.

Two things this past month made me realize that I did not do such a good job.  When our bedroom air conditioner was not working I offered for husband to sleep in the (single) bed in the spare bedroom and I would make myself up something to sleep on the floor next to the bed.  He walked into the room and glanced around.  “Ummm, it will need a lot of work – it has not been dusted in years and if we slept in here we would get sick and be sneezing like crazy.  Also there is not enough room on the floor for you to sleep and me go to get up and go to the bathroom without stepping on you.  Not going to work.”  Okay, I tried – now I know I have to go in there and give the room a good cleaning.  Even worse for me, though, I had to move the teddy bear village to store in the trunk under it.  I had stored away the bears in the Christmas set up in the village to do so.  Well, now it was July and I went to set up an Independence Day village of bears and came up missing a bear that had been out for the Christmas village.  (These bears are figurines and small plastic toys not stuffed toys.)  As I looked for her, I realized that other bears were missing also.  I have looked everywhere for them – I cleaned up all of the packing, bears, and stuff that are used for the village during the year.  I went to the basement and unpacked and repacked all of the bears in the 3 medium sized boxes of bears from the Christmas setup.  I even took the village apart again and emptied out the trunk under it – no missing bears found.  My next step will involve clearing out and cleaning up the spare room some more.  At this point the only 2 things I can think of is that I shoved a box of bears under the bed or (horrible to think) I threw the box out!  So at time in the coming week we will see if the TV in the room still works and then – whether it does or not – we will move it and the bench out of the room so I have the room to lie down and look under the bed and hopefully find a box of missing bears with other items that I know are stored under there. 

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

I guess husband was right about not enough room for me to sleep and him walk in and out of bed if I cannot lie down and look under the bed.  I hate it when he is right.  Then again, if I had been more careful when I took the Christmas village down – I would know where the missing bears were. 

COVID 19 #9 PATIENCE WITH ERRORS AND DELAYS

I hope that all and their loved ones continue to be well.

This week in the wonderful world of isolated at home we have been working on two problems. 

First over a week ago I found that the hot water tap in our downstairs bathroom was leaking.  I tried to use the shut off valve under the sink – but of course it did not turn. I had to call husband to deal withit.  He could not turn that shut off valve either but, being taller than me, he could reach the bigger shut off – just for that sink – in the basement.  So no leak and no hot water in the sink in the bathroom off the kitchen.  Hands either had to be washed upstairs, in the kitchen sink or in cold water.  Since I would forget to wash my hands before coming downstairs to work in the kitchen and did not want to risk washing virus into the kitchen sink – it was wash with cold water. 

In normal times we would have gone to Home Depot and bought the replacement cartridge and fixed the sink – after much screaming and yelling about what was being done.  (It is not a household repair around here unless there is a lot of screaming and yelling.)  But we were not going to go out and look for the part in Home Depot.  Husband looked it up online and found that the Home Depot we go to did have the part and would bring it out to us in our car - but in looking to see this, he found out that there is a lifetime warranty on the cartridge and the manufacturer would replace it free – and by mail.  So I telephoned and they were mailing the cartridge.  Tuesday we had not received it and I called to check and it was traced and here at the post office – along the lines of  “a small world” the woman who checked for me happened to mention she used to live in this area – in the community I grew up and I told her that.  She then mentioned the school her children went to – and it was the one that my sisters and I went to – gee, they might have gone to school with one of my sisters (I am too old to imagine that for me as she would be, well, as old as my 91 yo mom). 

The cartridge arrived in the mail today and with a small amount of concern of everything going right – we now have hot water in the downstairs bathroom – and it does not leak – my hands are very happy not to be in cold water again.  Well, the isolation led to us saving the cost of the cartridge as he would not have looked online and found out about warranty on it if it was not that we are not going out.

Second – we have put off renewing our several medical prescriptions until now when they have to be renewed – will be out of one medication for husband on Friday morning and he did not like my idea of splitting up some old pills of same medication to make the correct dosage for him. 

On Monday during the day I telephoned our pharmacy – Walmart – about what arrangements they had for pickup as we did not want to walk into the store.  Around here,  Walmarts are not delivering and there is no pick up service currently in general.   They do have pickup service for prescriptions only (not even denture adhesive could be added). I was told to call before we come and then again when we are in the parking lot and we would pay at our car. I telephoned on Monday night and put in the renewals through the pharmacy's computer.    

On Tuesday (yesterday) we received a call that they were out of the strips for my Diabetes meter and it would take until “Wednesday” for them to come.  I told them that was okay – and then asked about same for husband – since I had listed his prescriptions first, he had gotten the last of the strips.  No problem, we had figured on going today (Wednesday) any way.  So far, so good.

Today I telephoned the pharmacy to check that the strips had come in.  They had, but now they were short one of husband's blood pressure medications and it would not be in until “Thursday”.  Okay, we can go tomorrow.  The employee was looking over the list of the medications to make sure all the rest were accounted for.  She happened to mention his insulin and the price - $141.  Problem – it is suppose to be $47.  I double checked that they only were filling same for a month.  (Our other medications are for 90 days, but he only wants one box/month's worth of insulin at a time since if something happens to our fridge it will go bad and is expensive (more than it appears from the copay for it).  It was for a month. 

So I telephoned our insurance company.  I got a very nice employee – he explained what it could be – I explained that the deductible had been met for the year.  He checked the records and agreed it should be $47.  While we were speaking there was an echo on his phone – whatever caused that made it so he could not call our pharmacy and he transferred me to another employee – with apparently notes about our discussion on our files as I did not need to give her the pharmacy's phone number again.  She though insisted the $141 was correct as it was for 75 days of insulin!  I explained that it was for a one month supply and the prescription is written for same – one month, one box.  She finally figured out the problem and called the pharmacy to change the price.  I then called the pharmacy to make sure it was all corrected.  So hopefully when I check tomorrow all the prescriptions will be ready and we will go and get them.

Third – Yesterday in the mail we received mail from our cable company marked “urgent” - so I opened it before sealing the mail in the “Tuesday” plastic zip bag for mail.  I left it open and facing the bag to be able to read it while it was in the bag.  It said that our cable would be shut off as we have not paid our bill.  Back last month when the cable bill was due we were short on money in our checking account due a timing problem to pay our cable bill.  Normally we would have gone and transferred money from another account – but if we cannot go out, we cannot easily transfer the money.  I tried telephoning our cable company to new avail, then we tried to “chat” online with same – to no avail until I went to what I had learned to do during the crisis – I went online in the middle of the night to chat with them.  A very nice employee when I explained the situation and asked for the courtesy of an additional week to pay the bill told me that he did not give me the time – there was an automatic 60 day allowance on payment of bills.  I checked with him again that nothing needed to be done and he said nothing – it was automatic.  So we paid our cable bill from last month and our cable bill from this month – together – earlier this month  - 30 days after the first bill was due and in time to be on time for this month's bill. 

Then yesterday I received the notice.  I tried calling the cable company to no avail – busy.  Meanwhile husband went online into our cable account online – it showed the payment and but had for an unknown reason a $10 balance.  I checked with our bank and the check had cleared our bank on April 11 – seems to me that it should have reached them timely if it was back to our bank by then.  I checked the notice – it mentioned a $10 fee if one did not pay by automatic payment – was this something new that they had done? 

 Later that night I again went on the cable company's website and turned on chat and waited for about 45 minutes.  I put in the background of what had happened and then asked about why I received the notice if I had 60 days grace on the late payment from last month and this month's was timely paid – and did I now have to pay a $10 fee for paying with a check instead of by automatic payment?  Per this employee - there was never a blanket 60 day grace period – same was for people who lost their jobs, was only offered through mid March, and people had to apply for it.  My check reached them – one day late, due per her May 8 and arrived on May 9 (mailed on May 3). I mentioned that we have been with them over 30 years and  NEVER paid late.   I was not charged for a fee for paying by check – it was for late payment.  She waived the fee.  She also said that she would let them know about the incorrect information I had relied on which I had been told during the earlier chat in case other customers were told the same incorrect info.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Everything now takes a bit more time and more checking to make sure it is correct.  Try to keep calm (I did with all of these problems) and be nice – so many people are so upset and on edge that customer service people appreciate even more when a customer is nice to them.  (And believe me, I can terribly nasty when something has gone wrong due to stupidity -such as employee giving incorrect information.)  I have also been sure to thank the employees for continuing to working for all of us to have the needed services/items and say that I hope they and their families stay well.

NOW WE NEED TO PUT EVERYTHING BACK TO WHERE IT BELONGS

In preparing for the old refrigerator to leave and the new one to come in - the first time - we had to make room for the crew to bring the fridges through the house.  Being lazy - plus going away in the middle - we left the house as it was after the first new fridge - until the second one was here and installed.

I am not so much talking about moving clutter as moving furniture and household items in common usage.  We have a small house. The new fridges had to come in the front door go to the left into the living room, close the front door, then double back in the opposite direction into the dining room through a doorway.  We took the floor mats out of the front hall - put in living room.  We have a standing chest for our good silver/tableware  - it blocks the doorway into the dining room.  It had to be moved - which we did, moving it further into the dining room.  A wooden box with husband’s reenacting gun stuff that is kept under the silver chest also had to be moved into the room.  We set up in the dining room a table which we take when go to reenactments to set up some stuff we put out for education and sales at events to put stuff from the kitchen/fridge on.  So this gave a wide pathway through the dining room into the kitchen.  What is on your fridge?  We have 4 magnetic pockets on ours - one each with stuff to take when we go out, one with pencils and pens (and emery board) and one with papers which we need in the kitchen - maybe a dozen recipes or package instructions and other items.  Magnets that hold our keys - 2 each.  Magnetic calculator.  Decorative magnets which hold small items.  On the front of the fridge we added 2 years ago a large dry erase calendar - we use it to keep track of TV shows we want to watch since seasons no longer run as long as they used to - held on with magnets.  Much of this went onto the table we set up in the dining room - the small magnets and the, oh, forgot to mention, the clippers I keep on the side of the fridge near the stove, held with magnets and potholders hanging on magnets went into a plastic basket that is normally next to the silver chest in the dining room - it normally holds items we have bought or received in the mail that we are concerned may have bed bugs and we need to heat in our Packtite heater until we have enough items to run it - this basket went into our studio behind the office with the magnets in it, and during the following week the items we wanted to heat were added.  (Doing laundry and running the Packtite as I write to you.) The food that did not actually need to be in a fridge - soda, condiments, beer (hey, we did not even know we had beer), and the like took over the one open kitchen counter area.  Our kitchen chairs were in the back room during the time(s) they were actually moving the fridges.  Things were so confused that the first time I went to cook after all this, I stuck my hand out (by habit) to grab a potholder - and there were not only no potholders - but no hook for them either and I could not for the life of me remember where they all went.  (I used a kitchen towel as a pot holder.)  If I had to write something down no pen or pencil, no paper?)  Leaving the house - where the heck are our keys?  A couple of days after the second fridge was put in place and we knew it was staying we started putting stuff back.  We also were adding back the soda, condiments, and such to the fridge - a little bit at a time to keep the temperature in the fridge from going up.  I filled plastic bottles with water.  It is recommended that the fridge be kept half full and we generally don’t have that much in it - and certainly we don’t now.  So bottles filled with water are going in.  We found out that the drawers stay a little warmer than the rest of the fridge, so husband’s insulin pens will go in there as too cold is more of a problem than them being a bit warmer than the food needs to be. 

Then it hit us.  Our reenactment unit’s big event at our headquarters would be on Sunday (this past).  We needed the table we had set up.  We needed access to 2 large box/benches that we bring for storage - and where the heck are the folding seats we have we bring with us?  So we did a lot of putting back quickly - the silver chest and goes under it, as well as what was on the table.  We broke down the table- the legs unscrew - and put the legs together in their carrier.  We took out the box benches to the middle of the room so I could sort through - make sure we had what we needed for this event and not bring things we did not - this including checking that we had money for change if we sold anything and setting my embroidery so I could work on the area I intended to stitch without taking out anything modern.  Husband packed a small loom he was taking with what he needed to work with it at the event.  This all went out into our van on last Friday - Saturday was to be rain and we did not want to load it all in the rain if we could avoid it.  Event went extremely well - hot day, but bearable, good sized crowd - no rain.  Everything from the event is back in place in the house.


Yesterday we went and visited my mom.  She has moved into what is called the “assisted living” building at the facility she has been in.  My sister’s plan had been for mom to go to same for a few weeks so mom would realize that she cannot be home alone and then move mom home with her and then into an apartment with aides.  Mom has liked it here so much that as of now we plan for to stay as long as the money can be found for her to do so.  (It is not cheap.)  It is the same group/agency as the one that runs the physical rehab she was in and it seems a wonderful place.  We had not visited since her move to assisted living until yesterday.  She has a small apartment - tiny main room with microwave and fridge and kitchen cabinets (no stove).  It is set up to put one’s own TV and attach to the cable.  It comes with a love seat and chair, as well as table and 2 chairs.  (My sister plans to bring the living room chairs from mom’s house and get her a drop leaf table.)  There is a good sized bedroom for one it is - another TV cable connection in same - she has a small TV for right now.  The bathroom has a walk in - no lip shower and seat to use in same.  Very nice, very modern, and housekeeping will keep it clean for her.  She has a key and locks the apartment when she leaves.  There are pull strings in case of emergency to get help.  Talk about an efficient setup that is nice.  Her meals are included so the cooking/fridge are just extra or if she wants to cook for herself.  The breakfast is served too early for her and instead they bring cold cereal and muffin for breakfast to her apartment.  There are trips - including shopping and entertainment trips that one can sign up for.  They will take her to the doctor.  Of course, she can go out with us whenever she wants and I am pretty sure she could call an Uber, Lyft or cab to go out if she wanted. Movies in a theater twice every day.  Other programs are in a large space which also functions for religious services.  My sister has decorating plans for it for mom with items from the house.  Husband and I were highly impressed. The halls look like one is in a hotel.  We were very impressed.  She has made friends already which is good as before she sat home alone.  The apartment is a model of efficiency and organization.

On the other hand the family now has to go through the house and deal with everything in it.  My sisters, their husbands and the adult children of one of them started last weekend.  (We couldn’t go as we were at the reenactment event.  I have to clear out the stuff left in the last bedroom I used in the house (and maybe in the other bedroom I used for awhile) and help with the rest of the house.  Since the house was hit by Hurricane Sandy the basement is empty.  I am actually glad of same now, as the toys down there would have been the hardest to go through and get rid of it.  I am not sure what is still in my old bedroom, but I think I can deal with it okay.  I let my sisters know that I embroidered a tablecloth when in high school and when I got married I could not find it  - I gave a description and told them that if they came across it to hold onto it for me.  I am lucky that one of my sisters has a plan for items that are not toss, donate or take - but try to sell as they are of value and will follow her suggestions.

Today the monitor we ordered for me came in.  I like it much better than the one we bought quickly at Walmart - it is squarer (more similar to my old one) and it can be turned vertical for when I am reading pages so I can see the full page.  We are not sure we may return the one we had bought for me or we may keep it in case we have another problem like this and need a spare monitor that is easy to move around. 

So last night - husband’s computer started shutting itself down while he was working on it.  We spent most of this afternoon pulling it out from under his work table, clearing off a space on the top of one file cabinets for it stay now.  We opened it and vacuumed it out.  (He read that too much dust in it would make it overheat and shut down.)  We then rewired everything so instead of connecting to the computer on the right side of his desk on the floor, it does on the left hand side of his desk on the file cabinet.  We may be getting rid of a printer that is rarely used and was where the computer now is.  Some small items have to be rearranged - including a label maker that may end up on top of our secondary printer and then be moved when that printer is needed.

Weather is very hot - over 91F today - and humid (thunderstorm tonight), plus everything we had to do - and I never even checked email yesterday - so we stopped at the supermarket while we were out and bought sliced deli turkey for us and potato salad for husband - added to bread in the house and turkey gravy we bought yesterday made a quick relatively cool dinner.  We normally have soup with dinner, but skipped it tonight.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Oh, so many this week -

Make dinner quick and easy, even if it costs more than normal dinner, when you need to.

Just because a facility is a care facility does not mean that it cannot be nice.  (Oh, I forgot, mom had her hair cut and dyed today - first time in year.  She looks 20 years younger than she did before - she is 90, but to be honest, husband and I both liked her hair better how it was.)  One has to be open to what help one needs as hard as it is to admit to needing it and moving to have the help.

Keep your computer clean - outside and inside.

Hurricanes have a good side - I hate to think what it would take to go through the basement and decide what to keep and what to get rid of. 

THE REFRIGERATOR SAGA CONTINES -

Well,, they delivered the new refrigerator on Friday. We had to set up the inside of the fridge “we don’t do that”.  I asked to have it leveled as it was to the eye extremely out of level.  When I put a small jar in it, it rolled quickly to the back of the fridge.  “It cannot be leveled.  The only way to do so is to remove the feet and then it will be sitting only on it’s wheels and when you try to open the door, it will roll instead of opening.  Husband leveled it after the crew left.    I telephoned the store shortly after the delivery crew left - we had found 3 big black lines on the front of it - not the door, the fridge itself.  The delivery manager was not there - apparently he left for the day before 3 pm - and I was told that he would telephone me back - “first thing in the morning”. 

During the evening and overnight we were checking the temperature in the fridge with a remote read thermometer.  It would suddenly jump to 45 degrees Farenheit, then drop to 32 (freezing) in the fridge.  There seemed to be no way to adjust this huge variance in temperature to below what husband’s insulin can be stored at and to over the maximum temperature food can safely be stored at. 

I waited until 9:30 am the next day and then called the manager as he had not called me.  He did not seem to know anything about my call.  He apologized as I explained the original problem, our dissatisfaction with the delivery, and that the temperature varied so greatly - continually.  Husband had checked and this - and most - refrigerators are suppose to have a temperature range of 34 to 44 degrees F.  He also told me that the delivery crew is only suppose to bring in the fridge, put on the doors, plug it in, turn it on - and level it.  Anything else we had to do.  Nice of them to tell us this when we bought it - if my 90 year old mom had it delivered she would not be able to deal with setting up the inside and would not be able to use the fridge until one of us came over and set it up for her - I am sure many other people would have similar problems.  I told him that they refused to level it - and the story about how it could not be leveled.  As to the problems with the refrigerator itself, he would exchange it, but they were out of that model.  I asked why they could not get one from one of the local locations of their store (a major national chain) - “it doesn’t work like that” was his reply.  I could have another one of this model delivered in a week - a week?!  He checked with his appliance manager and she had the other two models (from other companies) in stock and we could get one of those delivered.  Since neither of them had been acceptable - which is how we picked this one - we had to go in and remind ourselves of what we found to be problematic with the others.  We dressed and went in to the store.  After looking at the other 2 models again - neither would work (including that one of them was too tall).  So, we have to deal with this one for a week. We left the RV plugged in and its refrigerator running.  Coincidentally, we were going away this week, so we were only home until Tuesday morning, making dealing with this fridge a little easier.   

Monday night we emptied the RV fridge and unplugged the RV.  Biggest problem was husband’s insulin.  He gets them in what are called pens - they look like big pens.  He puts a new needle on the pen each time he uses it.  The insulin pens cannot go below 36 or above 46 in temperature when they have not yet been used.  Once they are used they do not go back in the fridge and can go to a higher temperature.  They can be at the higher temperature for 42 days maximum.  I figured that 2 pens left in the box plus the one already in use would be used in less than 39 days - so the pens are out of the fridge.  We then packed the RV with everything needed for the trip.


Tuesday we added the last items, turned on the RV battery and started the RV fridge.  Problem was that the light that shows that there is enough electricity in the battery showed that there was not enough.  After debate about canceling the trip - and we would be out the amount paid for the RV park site - I suggested that we go ahead going on the trip.  It was Tuesday and we were going to a farmer’s market during the day and we had planned to go a local major crafts festival that we go to annually on Wednesday. I pointed out to him that we could drive down, stay overnight and if the batteries were still not charging, come home on Wednesday and we would have gone to 2 places we were looking forward.  With the RV battery off we started on our trip.  When we were in NJ we stopped at the first rest area and checked that the batteries were being charged.  They were. 
                                           
Why did we have this problem?  First, the batteries are beyond the normal life - they need to be replaced  - between buying them and having them installed it will cost over $1000 and we keep putting it off.  Second - apparently running the RV’s electrical system on our home electric system at 20 amps does not have enough “juice” to recharge the batteries and to also run the RV fridge. 

We kept the fridge off until after we plugged in to the electricity (30 amp) at the RV park at night - warm soda.  Today when we out we again shut off the fridge to let it keep charging.  On our return tonight we again turned it on after plugging in.  Since tomorrow we will be in and driving around, we will live the fridge on and probably do so again on Friday when we go to a different farmer’s market and then drive home.

Yes, we will get home extremely late Friday night - really extremely early Saturday am - and then have the new fridge for the house delivered on Saturday - with the possibility of a very early am delivery.

So, early last week we were getting up, going down, and checking the temperature in the RV overnight after going to bed.  Wednesday night I had 3 hours sleep as I woke up early for work.  Thursday night we kept waking up in anticipation of the delivery coming.  Friday night I was up all night checking the temperature of the fridge - I slept an hour and a half in 3 separate half hour naps.  I was up early in the morning waiting for the call from the delivery manager and then making the call to him instead. Saturday night we continued to wake up all night to check the temperature in the fridge.  Sunday night I went to bed and had trouble falling asleep.  Monday night we went to bed after finishing packing and the woke up 3 hours after I fell asleep to go on the trip.  Today, Wednesday, we woke early to go to the crafts festival - so 4 hours sleep for me.  Friday we have to again wake early (for us) as we have to dump the dirty water tanks and be out of the site we are in by 11 am.  Then, anticipating the delivery on Saturday I probably won’t sleep - plus we have to unload at least part of the stuff from the RV when we get home, and possibly need to wake up as early 7 am for the new delivery.  This all works out to about 2 full nights of sleep over the week and a half that this is going on.  I hope husband plans to sleep in a bit tomorrow.

In addition our house is in a state of disarray. In order to clear room for the refrigerator to be brought in and placed in placed, we had to move things in our front hall (into the living room) the dining room, and the kitchen.  Part of this went into our studio behind the kitchen.  I have not been able to find even a pen and paper at times as nothing is where it belongs.         

Oh, and I tripped and turned my foot on my way home from work last Thursday - luckily that was the only injury from the fall and the foot felt better the next day.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -

Some matters take much more time to resolve due to the problems that arise in dealing with it - and with life.   If needed a quick cry - and then hopefully a hug from one’s significant other - then same cries and you hug them.  That is life. 

Hopefully the new refrigerator will work properly.

For those in the US  - Happy 4th of July.THE REFIR

REPLACE THE REFRIGERATOR?

Well the ants were resolve as of last week.  I have been very careful - I wash the dishes, etc immediately after we eat, then dry them and put them away, then dry the drying rack, dishpan and sink.  So far, so good.  (Fingers crossed.)

The refrigerator is a different story.  I have spent weeks now watching the thermometer in it - it is a remote read so I don’t have to open the door.  I understand that there is some play in the temperature of the fridge and I sort of know how it works.  For food purposes it has to be kept at 40F or less and for insulin related reasons it has to be kept at 36 F or higher.  It can go as high as 46F, but since the food has a lower top limit, I basically have to keep the fridge (house or RV) between 36 and 40 F.  I try to keep both at 38F and between 37 and 39F to allow some play or in case the thermometer is off. 

I know how to adjust the temperature - turn the knob colder if the temperature is too high until the compressor just clicks on, it if too low then turn the knob just warmer so the compressor clicks off.  I am at good at this.  In the RV I have been known to jump to the back when we stop for gas to make a quick adjustment. 

Recently our house refrigerator has been acting wrong.  I look at the thermometer and it is 37F.  I leave it.  I look again maybe 10-15 minutes later and it is 40F.  It should not jump that much that fast or without seemingly hitting any temperatures between.  It is then hard to get the temperature back down to where it belongs.  I am not adding large amounts of food at all, let alone food that is not already cold.  I thought I was just missing the adjustments and started setting the timer in my mobile phone to go off every 15 or 20 minutes to remind me to check the timer.  Still missed the jumps.  Husband and I have been discussing what to do.  For what a repair would cost, it would not pay. 

So we have been looking refrigerators online and in stores.  Since we have a small house, we have a small kitchen and a relatively small fridge.  When we moved into this house 30 years ago we owned a refrigerator that we had used in our apartment and brought that with us.  Sending the one that came with the house (from the prior owners) to the garage (which did not have electricity) where its main use was to have our, then, Christmas tree stored on top of it.  One July 4th week we were away and came home and found that while we had been away the fridge had died.  As we threw out most of what was in the fridge, we thought to and tried to plug in the fridge in the garage - it no longer worked.  So we bought a new fridge. 

For our apartment we had bought a 15 cu ft refrigerator.  Due to confusion the company that we bought it from took about a week to deliver it to us - and they delivered an 18 cu ft one - with an ice maker and told us to keep both when I called that they were wrong.  (Apparently they kept mixing us up with another customer which led to them claiming that originally they tried to deliver and I was not home - I was home and on the phone, by coincidence, at that time.  We bought the fridge in 1982 for the apartment.  I know this as I was working on a piece of embroidery at the time, worked on it all work while stuck in our apartment waiting, and it is, yes, dated 1982.  I am not sure of when we bought the first one for this house or its size.

When we had our house treated for the bed bugs in 2009 we found afterwards that the refrigerator which we had replaced that one with was no longer working.  Since we found several individual bottles of water in the fridge and its freezer which were not ours, so apparently the bed bug crew had stashed their water bottles in our fridge (it was a major heat treatment) and had been opening the doors all day - so our fridge died. 

At that time we bought the fridge that is currently in our house.  It is 20.9 cu ft.  Like all of our other ones it is white and a top freezer.  I did not particularly like a number of things about it, but we were in a rush and bought it - it has served us well.

Monday night we decided that we had to replace it.  We both looked online and found that there seemed to be 3 possible replacements of about the same size.  Tuesday we went to a major house/hardware chain to look at what they had. None of the 3 excited me.  They had oddly arranged shelves (all were actually from different companies - not just the same company with different nameplates) and such.  Husband had heard about fridges which allow one to set an actual temperature and the fridge will keep that temperature - not the usual turn the dial a little this way or that and stick a thermometer in the fridge to check the temperature.  I found one that was “only” $300 more than what we were looking at - or to look at the extra price another way - it added the equivalent of 50% more of the price to the price.  This was something he REALLY wanted.  He had given me measurements at home before we went out and this one did not seem that much larger in size and we left it in consideration.

We then went to the other major house/hardware chain to see what they had.  Basically the same, but the model that we had seen and husband was interested in, was slightly different - or at least it’s number was. 

We have bought large appliances from both in the past and based on same decided that we wanted to buy from the first company, but decided to go a different store in the chain which was larger and “maybe” would have something different.

They did not.  So I made the decision.  As much as I would hate the fancier fridge - it was side by side and I was not even sure a turkey would fit on the tiny shelves and we had to take it in stainless as white add another 50% to the price, it made sense for the problem we have with keeping the temperature in such a small range.  We bought it.  To be delivered and set up on Friday.

We then went home and measured the front door - it was about an inch too small, but we figured that they could take the fridge doors off as there was a measurement without same and it would fit. 

One thing husband had read about is that the freezer in this type of fridge has a small “door” to the main compartment which opens and closes to take cold air into the freezer and it makes the main fridge section warmer.  We have a small freezer in the basement - from when we used to grow vegetables and I would actually shop at sales to buy food and would store the extra in this freezer.  Now it is mostly empty  - when I went to see what was in it - everything had a date to use by in 2016.  I tossed them out.  I then took all of the items in our fridge’s freezer downstairs to the freezer. Only things I left in the upstairs freezer are some of those liquid filled plastic things that one freezes and puts with food or meds to keep them cold in transit.  I then turned the fridge’s freezer temperature almost all the way to the warmest temperature.  (We would need to move the frozen food to same anyway as it takes a day for the new fridge/freezer to reach temperature.

Overnight the same thought came to each of us - the fridge also had to pass through 2 doorways in the house - and they were narrower.  Then husband went downstairs and laid out the measurements of the fridge we ordered - it was huge!  It would not only block part of the entry into the kitchen from the dining room, it would also block access the (only) light switches in the kitchen.  I measured the old fridge and came in about 3-4 inches smaller front to back then he had measured.  We went back to the store and canceled the order. 

Now what to do?  Well, the fridge had been working okay since yesterday (Tuesday).  Maybe it would keep working - at least until we return from a trip next week.  The sale on the various refrigerators continues to July 10, so we could still get the price when we came back.  We looked at the 3 fridges in the right size and decided which one we would get - but we figured we would buy it after we returned from our trip.

Husband decided he wanted a chicken pie we had in the freezer.  I went down and took it out.  Temperature in the fridge was 37F - great!  I put the pie in to cook and was playing games on my cell phone.  I wanted a glass of soda - in taking out the bottle that was there, I notice we would need more and added a bottle - a room temperature bottle - to the fridge.  When I looked up again the temperature was 45F??!!!  By now we have several thermometers sitting in the fridge - the one we normally use seems to always be the odd one out.  In this case the others all showed the temperature to be 40F - could it be a thermometer problem?  We have spare of the remote read and I set that up and took the first one out - same problem.  Even with the temperature set to the coldest setting  - it was not getting colder, the compressor did not seem to be on.  We unplugged the fridge and then plugged it in again (it seemed to help twice before since the weekend).  No effect. 

Extremely s l o w l y the temperature dropped.  After dinner, we went out and ordered the fridge that we had decided to order next week. I don’t love it - but hopefully it will work and it is better than the huge side by side husband wanted - and it should fit through all the doors it needs to.  It is suppose to be here Friday. 

Now for logistics -

We have an automatic ice maker to old fridge - as we had one before, we had bought it again.  We are not getting one for our new fridge - we rarely use ice and end up tossing out the shrunken cubes that are in the freezer.  We can do it “the old fashioned way” and have frozen trays of ice in the freezer.  But we have to shut off the water to the fridge and get rid of the water in the line.  Husband found it and turned it closed as far it as it went.  I threw out the shrunken, dried cubes in the ice bucket and turned the ice maker on to use the rest of the water in the line up.  We either have much more water in the line than we thought, the ice maker uses much less water than we figure - or the water is not actually off and has a leak in the tap as we keep getting more ice cubes - right now they are just shells of ice, but they keep coming.  Just heard more drop.  We bought a “cap” for the end of the water line - just in case the water is not and cannot be shut off completely. 

Freezer, as mentioned, is basically empty.

That leaves our fridge section.  There is an open package of American cheese slices, an open package of cream cheese, 2 hot dogs, and 6 eggs in it. I have 2 of husband’s insulin pens in it.  If we cannot keep them below 46F, I am not going to worry about it as they will need to be used within 42 days - and they are 20 days worth, plus husband is in the middle of pen - so they should be used up long before the 42 days.  The rest of what is in there does not really need to be in a fridge “to keep” - soda, sealed bottles of ice tea, condiments (no mayo), and similar.  Our RV is currently plugged in to charge the batteries (done twice a month, just happened to be doing it now) and we will turn on the fridge in the RV tomorrow and put the food from the fridge in it until we can move it to the new fridge.  (Hot dogs could just be frozen and put in the basement freezer.)

I soooooo hope that this is the last of the stupidity that has been going on.  (Well, I do have to make a 3rd call to an insurance for our reenacting unit - so, still repeating chores over and over.)  I really cannot take any more!


THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

When one thinks that everything is resolved - something isn’t and will need to be dealt with and redone.

Oh, and things always break at the wrong time.

Oh, and when all these things are going on and one goes down to do laundry and pours water out of the dehumidifier all over the basement - the laundry can wait!