Bits and Pieces

Just a quick post to jot down what is going on around here, so that when I re-read this post five years from now I will remember.

My sister-in-law is having surgery today. I may post more about that at another time. It is cancer. The photo above was what I sent to her on f@ceb00k.

My neighbor's basement wall collapsed the night before last under all this rain. A crew started water-proofing their basement on Monday. What do you think? Co-incidence or was the crew responsible? Tough situation to be in. I am going to double-check my wall on that side of the house. A few years back I had a company come in and put two big braces on that wall using steel anchors that lead to a brace ten to twenty feet out into the yard underground. Water has pooled in the little ditches between our houses for years.

My daughter's car broke down. Same thing that happened about a year ago. It was a piston then, sounds like a piston, now. She said it is doing the same thing. When I told my appliances (that were breaking down) not to let word slip out to my car in the driveway that I was spending money on them, I guess I forgot to tell them that also includes my daughter's car. Cripes.

I had to go out to a couple of schools yesterday and work with my hands instead of my brain. It was hot and muggy in the wiring closets. The schools are not keeping their equipment cool AT ALL. I was sweating up a storm and guess who forgot to put on deodorant yesterday? Yep, that's right. Not a pleasant morning.

I won (sort of) four tickets to the Pitt$burgh z00. I visit a radio station's web site to read their lost & found (pets) and when they designed a new one, I could not find the l&f. I sent them a message asking where it was. They assured me it was coming and since I commented, they wanted to send me 4 tickets to one of three places. I chose the z00.

My work is switching from 26 pays to 24 this next month. I know it is easier for them to do, but I really looked forward to those two "free" pays every  year. Sigh.

Connected

Three hours in the hotbox yesterday. I had to stand on a chair. My back was about to give out. I grabbed an empty desk from the hallway. The secretary was more than nice and accommodating. I was about to kick the custodian. I guess his cleaning supplies were in the filing cabinet that I had to stand in front of to access this network.

He kept coming in while I was standing on the chair, opening a drawer getting a spray bottle out, then he would come back two minutes later and put the bottle back. Another few minutes there he was opening the drawer again, getting out (I swear) the same bottle. Then yep...two minutes later putting it back.

Finally I snapped at him, "Why don't you just pull out the whole drawer?"  He said "No, that's okay. I'll just work around you."

Once I obtained the desk and sat a little away from the filing cabinet he never came back. What a dork!

Then the speech therapist who was in the little room behind where I was working felt the need to tell me her life story. I heard all about her yellow jacket stings while she was mowing, all about her dogs, all about her daughter...it went on and on. I try to be polite but gee whiz!

I did take one five minute break and went out to the car and turned the A/C on me full blast. It saved my sanity, I think.

Anyway, I finally had success. I moved on to the next site after that and it was warm in the room, but at least there was some form of A/C running because this school had the equipment in the secretary's office. The secretary and principal there were also very nice.

I went home hot, dirty and sticky - but happy. Oh, the dirt accumulates over the years on this equipment. Needless to say nobody cleans it because they are kind of afraid of it. Or, I think that is the reason.

My chunky dog

Chong (a.k.a. Chunky) gives me a grin as I snap his picture yesterday.

I think I am going to be in a sweltering "hot box" today as I am scheduled to travel to a tiny elementary school where the only A/C is in the Principal's office and that is not where my equipment is.

To top it off, I have to stand on a chair to reach my equipment. Some insightful person perched the equipment high up on the wall behind a large row of filing cabinets. We may be talking "hours" and I don't think I am going to fare very well. I am certain the sweat will be dripping down into my eyes and to stand on a chair for a couple of hours is not the best position to be in for a lengthy period of time.

And I have to use my personal cell phone. I am thinking I will tell my home office I cannot get "service" out there. As I take this elementary down (dis-connect it from the Internet) they lose their building telephone service that requires the Internet to work. That part may last only a half hour or so, but the other stuff - more intense configuration will need me to converse with my home office and I don't believe the school will let me have their cordless telephone for that length of time.

I will see what "mood" I am in when I get out there and how much my back can take while I teeter on a chair and try to work in this hot box.

It will be me and grumpy cat today. I can already feel the headache begin.

My office is anxious to have this resolved so I cannot postpone it until Friday when the forecast states the temps will be in the mid-60's. Rats.