A snapshot

Posted on by accordingtohoyt

I have stuff I need to write to you about, but not right now, since my head is keeping tabs of about ten things that need to be done. So, I thought I’d post a snapshot of my day, so you get an idea, and also so maybe (if I survive this) in ten years I can look back and go: “wow that was effed up.”

We have carpet installers doing the hallway and stairs, right now. I’m sending out final questions before deciding on a painter. We just had faucets installed, which means I have a dishwasher again. (yay) So, there’s a load of wash going.

I have some stuff to do for my comics publisher. After which we’re going to move the glass table top from the van.

Meanwhile, I’m washing my painting clothes, because I managed to run out. After which I get to put bathroom #2 back together.

Then two donation runs in the van, which means son and I need to fill it. Then a storage unit run. And a post awful run.

And then if I’m still standing, I get to seal the shower stand.

I’d really like to post at instapundit tonight, but heaven only knows if I’ll be awake enough to do it.

Oh, yeah, also all my joints hurt right now, because going up and down in altitude drives the automimmune bonkers.

Tomorrow is about the same. I’ll try to find time for a real post!

Pray for me.

119 thoughts on “A snapshot”

    1. Just try to make sure they are the real ones. Apparently there’s a lot of counterfeit dried cherries out there.

      Oddly enough, Costco store brands tend to be real stuff. I gather their olive oils were about the i ones made from real olives. I’m guessing they do a lot of vertical integration so aren’t getting theirs from the mafia.

      1. Costco manufactures nothing itself. Costco buys direct from manufacturers or first-level distributors. It’s real stuff so long as their buyers are on the spot. Some things start great and deteriorate as suppliers change (eg. their “ugly socks” — used to be great. The last batch I bought, I returned for having giant seams in the toes, and that’s on top of for 3-4 years now they’ve used shitty yarn with no stretch in the weave.) Some are just rebadged major brands — frex Kirkland batteries are Duracell, only diff is they seem to cycle through the warehouse so much faster that you don’t get as many that are starting to age out (or why I’ve had a lot of Duracells leak, but very few Kirklands leak).

        1. FWIW, I get good life from Duracells by keeping the packages in the fridge. in the shop. I’ll move a working supply to a storage container in the house fridge. I also have a spreadsheet for battery replacement. Stuff like the house thermostat and smoke detectors get swapped yearly at Std time switchover, while flashlights in the vehicles go a couple of years.

          I’ve lost remote controls to long-forgotten AAA cells, and one D cell flashlight before I did the spreadsheet, but it works for me.

          I was getting better (I think) life from Duracells than Kirklands. YMMV. Void where prohibited. Do not drive with the windshield shade in place. Warranty void if opened.

          1. Yeah, heat is bad for ’em, and naturally cold slows down any reactions in progress. I’ve concluded Duracell’s own warehouses must be somewhere hot (but Kirkland-branded don’t spend as much time there, probably due to faster turnover) as I’ve had so many Duracells leak that I won’t buy ’em under their own name anymore. I go through a lot of AA and AAA, being in all sorts of gadgets, and the cameras won’t work with rechargeables. So… Kirkland bulk batteries. (Eveready test out as better batteries, and I’ve never had one leak, but can’t conveniently get ’em at a bulk price.)

            I’ve also found you can substitute cheap AA for expensive C, if the socket will hold the smaller battery well enough. (There probably exist adapters, but for a stationary gadget like a clock, I don’t bother.) Same voltage, same length, and seem to last about as well.

            1. I’ve had very good success with low self discharge rechargables. They used to be Eneloops, but I think Panasonic bought the brand a while back. Just don’t he research to make sure you get the ones made in Japan.

              I’ve got a case of them, and just cycle them through the charger anytime they run low.

              And I’ve left them in remotes, in a few cases, for almost ten years with none of them bursting.

              1. The Eneloop name is familiar, I think I have something from them, though it might be 7AH gel cell batteries for the UPS. I’ll have to look into rechargeables for AAAs. Seems they’re the go-to cell for compact LED flashlights and IR remote controls. I have a long retired Vizio HandSpring that went through AAAs like they were candy. If I actually needed the HS, I’d rig a AA battery pack.

                The Vizio TV remote got clobbered by a leaky forgotten AAA cell, though the Dish universal does most of the functions. OTOH, the Dish one needs a working Vizeo remote to get some functions to work, so for things like switching inputs, that’s done at the TV. The corrosion hit a contact I really can’t get at.

                I buy the Duracells from Costco. No idea if they’re warehoused elsewhere before Costco gets them, but problems usually only happen if the cells are forgotten. OTOH, the last leaker was some ChiCom AAA that came with a low-end flashlight, and I was able to clean the contacts.

                We only have one radio that needs C cells, so I’ll buy a 4 pack every year for it. I’m using fewer and fewer 9V batteries now, smoke detectors and older style RF remotes, like for the Sleep Number mattress and my 20 year old laser level.

              2. Yeah, world of difference between Chinese and Japanese batteries, especially in rechargeables. (Project Farm did a comparison test… Chinese were all crap.) Won’t buy Chinese if I have a choice. Have never seen Eneloops so branded…?? Panasonic stuff is usually pretty good, tho.

          2. For anything that’s going to sit for a long time, I run lithium batteries rather than alkaline. They’re spendier, but cheaper than new devices. Stuff I use more often I use Eneloop rechargables.

    2. I take Diclofenac for inflamation. It doesn’t seem to do a damn thing but it keeps my doctor happy. It’s a little pink pill and since my brain refuses to pronounce Diclofenac, I just started calling it Pink Def. Doc was not amused. (Why don’t physicians have a sense of humor? Is it not true that life is but a joke?)
      My personal prescription for flame-ation is Red wine (lots) and Chocolate. Has worked for centuries!

      1. I add some honey roasted peanuts to my wine and chocolate.
        Jimi Hendrix was quite a philosopher!

  5. You wash your painting clothes?
    I just keep using them until the layers weigh too much and the joints don’t flex anymore.
    Then you just give them a final spray painting with silver paint and put them in the yard sale as modern armor for cosplayers.
    |-)

    1. StayPuft the painter in Texas (Gilbert was his real name but he wore white Tyvek suits all the time) had boots so coated in paint they looked like clown shoes (especially as the paint was Bright Red)

      1. Drill vent holes. Install battery operated fans. I know, I’m having way too much fun playing with spare electronic and electrical parts in my workshop today.

        1. I had to do that to my welding helmet. Otherwise, sweat would run into my eyes and I couldn’t see the puddle.

          1. I just ordered a 3M grinding helmet with a filtered fan setup for that reason. Plus earlier this year I had a ricochet that managed to sneak past my eye protection as the earmuffs put them out of position. Spendy stuff, but cheaper than a new eye.

            1. If you use one of the ones for water cooling, you can make them blow even colder air, though you may get condensation that way, depending upon the water temperature.

              1. I’m thinking of something like an air flow system for a spacesuit life support pack. Thermal control and rebreather circulator. You could operate in vacuum, hazardous atmosphere, and up to 30 feet underwater. Of course like all technology, you need an energy source to power it. I was watching a presentation that was talking about neutron decay and how much energy is released by that and it occurred to me that Heinlein’s shipstones may have been powered and charged by neutron decay and generation. I seem to recall him mentioning somewhere in a story about some group that tried to open one up to see how it worked and ended up with a nuclear-level explosion.

      2. So, umm, I know it *sounds* crazy, but I’ve been having some good luck with red light therapy to control mild eczema.

        1. I bought one of those for the Mrs., but she won’t use it.

          There are a bunch of papers supporting Red Light Therapy at nih.gov, but they appear to have no curation at all. I wouldn’t be surprised to see papers on crystal therapy or cupping there. On the other hand, the device wasn’t that expensive, and none of the creams, lotions or powders the doctors gave her did any noticeable amount of good.

          The last dermatologist just blew her off with “dermatitis.” Well, yes, that’s certainly a specific diagnosis…

          1. There are plenty of papers that show effectiveness, but most of the devices you see for sale are nowhere near powerful enough to do what those papers describe. Energy on the order of 7 Joules/cm^2 (in the range of 100 or 200mW/cm^2 for a few minutes) is the effective dose.

          1. I think the affect is somewhat mild. It’s soothing for sore muscles, for example, but it’s not going to help a sprain much. It reduced my daughter’s acne *significantly*, which is a big deal for a teenager, but it was a pretty mild case.

          2. And, like I said above, therapeutic levels are 10X the power of most of the devices for sale.

    3. My current painting outfit is a pair of overalls that were used to move storage batteries for one of the solar systems. A lot of acid had spilled when they were shipped and the first pair of pants was rendered unusable. I did a partial clean, but the holes in the overalls said it wasn’t good enough. However, they’re intact enough to let me paint.

      The only problem is that the border collie puppy thinks the holes mean it’s fair game for chewing. I’ll be thrilled when she’s done teething.

  6. Stop your whining and get to work!

    I’m talking to myself, not you Sarah. I’ve still at least half a cord of wood left to split but it raining!

    None the less I’ve noted the first yellow leaves on the trees, the geese honking and high above practicing their formations for their southern flight, -40° weather’s just around the corner…

    OK dangit self, as soon as I hit the post button, I’ll head outside and play with some sticks!

    Honest Injun!

    1. The monarchs started moving in two weeks ago, and the sycamore trees have stopped shedding bark. That means the kites will migrate soon, and autumn is creeping in.

      1. The goldfinches are raiding my coneflowers for seed; they’re migrating, because they are not there in the winter.

        Also, my Japanese anemones are blooming.

          2. Oh, we have to have one last hot spell to sweep in during the Tri-State Fair, then fall comes in officially. There has to be a night of cold-front storms or it’s just not the fair. (Which explains why last fall’s weather was so confused – no fair, so no good temporal checkpoints.)

          3. Spent several weeks in the southwest earlier this summer. Ah feel yore pain.
            (80s here, feels SO good!).

      2. We’re in North Carolina currently and the goldenrod has just started blooming. Maybe I’m wrong my memory says the bloom is usually over by now. Cool summer?

      3. We went into a fall weather pattern bit over a week ago… supposed to heat back up but nothing like it was. About a month early for all this.

        1. S. Willamette Valley is in Fall pattern. Not wet (really need it). Still hot days, but not anywhere near as hot, low 90s at worse. Much cooler nights. To the point that I’m keeping only the bedroom window and one other back window open to ensure house gets cool to keep it cool during the day. Days have been windy too, which means doesn’t feel as hot as thermometer’s say, even though there is no chill factor. A lot of smoke in the air. Not near as bad as last fall, but then the closest fire is further away.

          Starting to see leaves start changing colors. Our Japanese Maples are getting the red and gold tinge edge, but not yet changing.

          1. I have been seeing color in tree leaves for over a month. Odd. We haven’t had a drought. Perhaps they are otherwise stressed.

      1. Picked all the grapes today… one vine and it’s young (but trying to take over the world) so got about half a gallon. Small and seedy but tasty, so… jelly, methinks. Didn’t expect ’em ripe this early. Sweet crab already threw most of the usable fruit on the ground (really short window on that one), bigger apples won’t be ready til October. Chokecherries done a month ago. Wild plums ready in a couple weeks. Corn is done, tomatoes going into OMFG mode. I need a bigger freezer.

  14. Soooo, St. Joseph the Worker or St. Jude? *innocent kitty look* I just want to get the Attn: part of the address correct.

        1. Perhaps Saint Frances Cabrini, patron saint of immigrants. There’s a story about a man at her canonization who remembered Mother Cabrini boxing his ears for behaving badly. Now, how many people can say they got smacked by a Saint?

          This too shall pass. I join with the others here in thanking you for what you do. Were this site not here, I would not have lasted through this insanity. At best, the wife would have thrown me out, at worst she would have killed me. We must all hang together or, assuredly, we will all hang separately.

          1. Arius got smacked by St. Nicholas at the Council of Nicea, supposedly, but that’s a real small-t tradition…

            1. Makes for a great alternate verse for the Christmas carol song, though:

              He sees you when you’re sleeping,
              He knows when you’re awake,
              He knows if you’ve denied the divinity of Christ,
              So if you’re an Arian, DUCK!

  16. I feel the pain – we’ve been renovating and painting the den for the last two weeks. Maybe if I have another paying client by the end of the month, and can afford the vinyl flooring and the beadboard for the ceiling (as well as paying Roman the Neighborhood Handy Guy to do the install) , we’ll have to move out the heavy furniture again so that floor and ceiling can be done…

  18. Sending you prayers. Our tomatoes are in and I’ve spent the day canning, bathed in hot steam, filling jars. I’m going to harvest every scrap of food from our garden this year. Things might get grim this winter.

    Hopefully you’ll have energy after your move to keep lighting your candles against the darkness. Your dispatches bring me much needed hope.

    1. $SPOUSE just started the second batch of tomatoes to dehydrate while I was on puppy diversion duty. After lunch I power raked a few trailer loads of pine needles away from the fence. We’re hoping for a wet fall and winter, but that doesn’t seem to be the way to bet.

      Overnight lows are around freezing, so the tomato plants get a couple layers of frost cloth inside the greenhouse. If we had grown any summer squash, the plants would be up by now–a week or so early, but weather has been weirder than usual. “Normal” weather seldom applies here east of the Cascades.

    2. Goofed up, moderation..

      $SPOUSE just started the second batch of tomatoes to dehydrate while I was on puppy diversion duty. After lunch I power raked a few trailer loads of pine needles away from the fence. We’re hoping for a wet fall and winter, but that doesn’t seem to be the way to bet.

      Overnight lows are around freezing, so the tomato plants get a couple layers of frost cloth inside the greenhouse. If we had grown any summer squash, the plants would be up by now–a week or so early, but weather has been weirder than usual. “Normal” weather seldom applies here east of the Cascades.

  20. Prayers, Sarah! Thank you for your writing — it helps many of us stay sane and hopeful.

    1. Yes, indeed it does. Sanity and hope are in short supply these days. Sanity, hope, AND insight are rarely found in the same place even in saner times.

  22. Wishing you a safe move to your new location. Let things hold together long enough that you can get the most critical things there, and don’t have to lose too much in the process.

    For me and mine, I’m just hoping that things will hold off long enough for us to get through our fall conventions. I’m very uneasy about putting down money on events for next year — yet we have to keep moving forward, because we have to keep money coming in, and our little business has been one of the few things I’ve actually had a modicum of success with (as opposed to the standard office job, about which the less said, the better).

      1. I hear you on that. Being stuck with a house you can’t unload is not a good position to be in anytime, and certainly not when things are coming unraveled.

        That’s why we’re figuring on staying where we’re at and hoping to ride things out. At least our mayor and our governor put the brakes on the riots really fast last year, so I have hopes that things won’t get too bad.

        1. Yes. Trust me. Being stuck with a house one can not unload due to local circumstances, not overall housing market, sucks. Been there. Done that. We hang on to it and sold it eventually, but dang, it was not fun. Stupid Owl.

            1. The less said about that thrice and goodly God Damned owl and the magnificently empty brained animatronic ‘people’ who championed i, the better.

          2. That hit our family when Dad was transferred back to the [redacted] office from Detroit, in 1960. In a recession. The neighborhood lived and died on autoworker’s fortunes at the time. No idea what the current situation is, but the neighborhood (Saint Clair Shores) looks intact.

            Took an extra year to sell that house, and Mom and Dad scrambled to keep food on the table and bills paid. It helped that Dad was handy with tools and his FIL was a small scale contractor who was eager to help his eldest daughter’s family. The “new” (1903) house needed some work right away.

        2. To be fair, I don’t thing Colorado is going tos top selling. We’re just selling to either outright leftists or people coming from more oppressive states.

          1. I’ve seen more and more stories of people complaining that “Investors” and corporations are buying houses and futzing the markets, especially “Starter Homes” so mayhap you’ll get lucky and one will snag your CO place.

              1. Think pension funds. When interest rates are forced to zero and stocks are at pre 1929 depression levels, and a plan has a required return, they’re going to look for some source of yield. Think of it as a late stage in the everything bubble.

                As for home prices, interest rates are zero so the “affordability” goes up since most people calculate the house price as a payment not a total amount paid. I suspect you’ll find the ratio of payment to income hasn’t shifted much, Second, The US has an echo boom of people moving through the economy. Starter homes make a lot of sense as an investment since the demand is likely to be fairly high.

                It’s a good business and I thought very seriously about doing this on a small scale during the 2008 recession, but a mix of not wanting the hassle of managing the property and my wife not wanting to profit off other people’s misery stopped me. Goldman, inevitably, bought them by the truckload and has made money hand over fist. I’d rather rent/buy from Goldman, who has skin in the long term, than from some house flipper, yet we have a problem with Goldman and not with the house flipper.

                Want to blame someone, blame the FRB for 30 years of capping real wages. Yeah, the banks benefit from it, but it’s the government that made the decisions that got us here. Ask yourself where Obama got the money to buy a $10MM house below sea level on the Vineyard.

            2. I’ve seen that, too, and it’s been worrying me on a lot of levels. My house is exactly what those pirates are looking for so I’m sure I could unload it at a decent price but finding a new one wherever I end up landing? That may very well be one of the reasons I haven’t been sleeping lately and damned if I know what to do about it. The other levels it’s worrying me on are what’s going to happen when enough young couples and families find themselves in rental hell to these companies and unable to grow economically and where their anger is going to take them politically.

              1. A lot of those ‘investors’ are not renting the properties out, just sitting on them.

                1. Good to have another piece of information about the situation. It’s still low of these crony SOBs to do this but I have no idea what, if anything, can be done without making the situation worse in some way.

                2. Unoccupied homes, even if they have someone mowing lawns and trimming plants, become Zombie homes. Who knew that homes have to be lived in to prevent deterioration? Or rather heaters or dehumidifiers have to be ran. Fresh air circulated in/out. One of the reasons that if we do decide to move on, why bother fixing the place up. What we’d do isn’t probably what the buyers want. If the buyers want it to sit, well then, oh well.

                  Yes. We are in a similar boat. Sure we can sell for close to, if not over, $400k, easily. Replacing it (and with 4 cats and a dog, we aren’t renting easily, if we were willing to pay rental prices) OTOH, unless we build, won’t happen. We’ll sit on our $800 (rounded) house payment, $2.1k (county only, don’t pay city) property taxes, and $550 yearly house insurance, thank you.

                  Five of the 6 nieces have their piece of the dream, all 3 have recently purchased homes. One here in Eugene, and 4 in Portland/Vancouver metro.

              1. You really shouldn’t have a problem selling. You’re selling a desirable house in a desirable area and money is cheap. I wouldn’t go overboard on the staging and fixing but set a fair price, take it or leave it, and sell quickly. There’s a real risk the stock market will go off the wheels before the end of the year. Overvalued markets with no breadth, after a large run up in commodity prices tend to do that, or at least they’ve done it every time these factors have been present. On the other hand, the market continuing to go up is the “max pain” trade and there hasn’t been a run up in debt so it might get delayed for a bit. Not a prediction, just a risk assessment. Things suck and you don’t want to get stuck.

                The rest of the risk is, as you know, political, not that that helps. Nothing you can do about it and best to not worry about it if you can. I’m pretty good at not worrying about things outside my control — I’ve worked at it over the years or I’d be dead — the wife, not so much. Still, sufficient to the day be the evil thereof. Sell today and run away.

                  1. October is the traditional month for crashes. End of fiscal year, etc., On the other hand, the FAANGs keep going up and costing me money. Urgggh. China is still declining, if it accelerates then Katy bar the door.

                    I wish you the best of it, it always sucks, and we’re praying for you. Here’s to us, that’s like us. Damn few, and they’re all dead.

                    You could do the Italian thing and bury a statue of Saint Joseph upside down in the front yard.

                    1. Ack! Ack! Ack! NO!

                      No witchcraft! Definitely not trying to blackmail God’s foster dad! Eeek!

                      Get the statue of Saint Joe and VERY POLITELY set him in a window!

                      I mean, he tends to be incredibly long-suffering, understanding, and patient, but NOT THE YEAR to go and threaten somebody nice who has connections, ya know? Even for folks who don’t get stalked by Messengers.

                    2. Most of the Catholic supply stores now have Saint Joseph moving kits that include a cute little statue that explains no, really, disrespecting a saint to blackmail him into helping you is bad- but his entire thing is that he’d really like to help, so just ask.

                      We sold a house while my husband was at school, so having St. Joseph next to my kitchen sink to talk to and help me sell the place helped a lot.

                      He now rides in the van with us. Next to the “good luck” cat.
                      (I tried to find one of those tiny trios with two gesturing for good luck/avoiding misfortune, and then the little black kitty gesturing for money, and none were small enough for a dashboard. /sad)

  23. Prayers on the autoimmune issues. Get some sleep, sounds like you need it.

    Had lunch with mom. Took a nap (being up at 5 AM does that). Then spent a couple hours untangling mom’s EWEB balances. Not there yet. Missing information. OTOH finally got her to understand why EWEB is telling her that her “payoff balance is >$500”. She is on their Budget Balance plan. Fixed amount a month regardless of the actual bill. When the bill is > than the fixed payment, for a few months, payoff balance builds. Not saying their balance is wrong, but can’t verify it because information is missing. Plus the new format is a PIA to follow and you have to do the math yourself. No handy chart showing, even prior month accumulation to the payoff balance.

    1. Oof. Sounds like the “easy-to-use” new format for my insurance bills. You have to go to the back of the third page to find the “If you pay by the month instead of in a lump” numbers, add those together, add THAT to a different number, and then you know what you owe. None of which is explained on page one. Pave one, which says “Payment due:” and the other (fourth) number. Grrrrrrrr.

      1. Yes. Essentially 4 sections.

        1) Shutoff payment amount (the accumulated amount owed).
        2) Last “billed”, amount required to pay – payment received, budget balance owed (not paid), current billing, total summary
        3) Break down by utility type (electric, water, waste water) on how the amount required to pay is going to break down (why?) and total (which, duh, matches amount required to pay)
        4) Actual charges by utility type (and other last year/last month usage comparisons for water and power) but no totals.

        So technically the information needed can be gleaned. IF all the statements are there and accurate. It took me a bit going back and forth figuring out WTF they were doing on the “improved” statement, and I freaking dealt with figuring out what clients were doing with forms for informing their clients (including utilities) for a living. (If not paying using Budget Balance, it is straight forward, no problem. Using Budget Balance OTOH, OMG!)

        1) June statement is MIA. Mom does not have a copy, nor is there one on the portal.
        2) July statement, section #2 June “billed” $0, $0 paid (which based on the payment summary, different section, is false), $165 owed this billing. So this is wrong.
        3) July statement also didn’t show payoff value (had to be something).
        4) July statement does show comparison usage for prior missing month.

        Is the payoff wrong? Doubt it. Was already trending negative in May because of watering, and June wouldn’t be any better. But comes under IDK because there is missing information. It is up to them to prove that value. Based on the information I have, they are $100 over what it should be. There isn’t any penalty or cost to using the Budget Balance method, so it isn’t that.

        Once I get the information needed, I will suggest some changes. Have to do it under her account but will sign it in the message. I legally have access to the information on the account, not just have access because she gave me her user name and password (full disclosure … I set it up for her). I’ve had access since dad died. Note, they’ve been on this account since 1963. Back when, even though mom probably set it up, dad was the only one on the account. Mom had “his permission” to discuss the account (when all this “security” got put in place), but not the ability to take him off the account and give me permission to legally talk with them, after he died. It came down to “Oh great, now she’s bawling. What part of he has died don’t you understand?” Not the only utility we had to deal with this way too. Hey, every time I call and get asked whose name a utility is in for us after 42 years, and over 32 years in the same house, heck if either of us know!

  27. Thursday we put in an offer on a house and had it accepted in just over two hours. If all goes smoothly, we will be moving in October sometime.

    After reading Sarah’s saga of having to prep her current abode for sale, while having work done in absentia on the new one, I am very very grateful we have been renting this house for the last 14+ years, and can just walk away after wiping down the counters and maybe scrubbing the stove clean. 😉

    (No, I am not going to bother to shampoo the 20+-year-old carpet, or try again to bleach out the stains around the worn-thru-porcelain finish in the kitchen sink. They will be remodeling the whole inside anyway, so they can sell the place.)

    Even more delightful, our new house had lingered on the market for a while due to some pretty garish room colors etc. We had the video walk-thru Thursday way-too-early-in-the-morning, and the seller had taken the hint and repainted much of the interior in a pleasant neutral shade that we can easily live with. So there shouldn’t be much of anything to update when we get there.

    Sarah, I hope your house sells quickly and for a goodly profit to justify your current efforts!

    Take care!

    1. Who cares what color the walls are? You’re going to cover them with bookshelves anyway, right?

      1. I mentioned in passing to a neighbor who is a realtor that I had considered re-painting my office a rich shade of teal when we had to do some sheetrock and floor work in the office. She turned some truly fascinating colors as she contemplated the prospect.

      2. Some of them. But not more than six feet up, so a nice light taupe is friendlier than grape purple or bounce-me-off-the walls pink. The latter was the color of the kids’ “rumpus room”. I would have painted them myself, but so glad we don’t have to go to the expense and labor now.

        Said room is going to be my woodturning shop, as it has the sliding glass doors to the walk-in basement, which will make it easy to haul the wood chips out to the compost heap or wherever.

  28. I was re-reading your post and just realized: Autoimmune going crazy changing altitude… You’ve got the bends! Well, maybe microbends anyway. My left knee has those: a change in barometric pressure of over an inch and it swells up. also I get those dizzying feelings when I try to touch my toes. Which is why of course I discourage myself from such inane indulgences. I prescribe red wine, dark chocolate, and a lounger.
    doctor’s orders!

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