For perhaps the first time ever, I'm very glad about the horrendous heat here in Texas. You might wonder if I've lost my mind. I have not. What I have lost, is a water heater.
Last week we noticed we had no hot water in the master bathroom. I should probably call it the owner's bathroom, or the main bedroom bathroom, or some such, but moving on...the next morning, when it was cool enough not to actually boil your blood in the attic, DH went up and took a look. Turns out the pilot light was out. Luckily, it has an automatic cut-off for that very purpose, so we didn't blow up or anything. Bad part about it, he couldn't get it lit again, no matter what he tried.
He came back downstairs and we resigned ourselves to cold showers, as it was a workday with no time to do anything about it that morning. And of course, being the geeks we both are, we immediately hit the 'net and started researching what could be wrong with it. Turns out it's a fairly simple do-it-yourself figure-out-what's-wrong and most likely a simple fix. And I'm very lucky that DH is very good with stuff like that (as well as lots of other things.) Me, not so much.
So it was simple, but it wasn't a workday evening type of job. We have two water heaters, one for the owner's suite and
one for the rest of the house, so we could still wash dishes, clothes,
etc. And we could, if we wanted to, go upstairs and use one of the guest bathrooms. But it turns out we didn't need to do that. It's so hot here that we don't really need the hot water at the moment. Even the water in the 5000 gallon holding tank out back is pretty warm, sitting outside in the sun all day. So all we have to do is wait for the cooler water sitting in the inside pipes (shaded and somewhat air conditioned) to flow past, and we can take at least a tepid shower. Yay.
And that turns out to be really good, because in doing further research, both online and in talking to professionals, we found out that we probably shouldn't fix it. Water heaters are guaranteed for 6-9 years. This one is about 18 years old. Why is that a bad thing? Why shouldn't I be happy it's lasted this long? Because everyone we talked to and every site we read said that when water heaters go, it's usually spectacular. At the very least, they tend to leak and cause major water damage. At worst, they explode!
So now we're looking into replacing not only it, but maybe the other one, too. The other one's iffy, 'cause it's in the garage, so if it leaks it probably won't cause much, if any, water damage. But the possible exploding part, that's a concern. At any rate, we're going water-heater shopping this weekend.
Meanwhile, as I write this, I'm waiting for the washing machine repair guy. It's on a totally non-related issue, and thank the Goddess it's under warranty, being as it's less than two years old.
Still, feeling a bit appliance picked-on this week.
Showing posts with label Household. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Household. Show all posts
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Great Weekend
This past weekend was a fabulous one for DH and me. We had a blast for three days straight, and it wasn't a long weekend or a holiday or anything.
We start our weekends on Friday whenever we can. I drive into work with DH and work out at the company gym until lunch, when we go out and eat together. In the afternoon I run errands or sit and read until he can escape, which he often manages to do a little early. Most Friday evenings are all about our Friday Feast (FF), in which we eat too much and occasionally drink too much.
We usually have our FF at home, either cooking something special or getting take out, but this Friday started with the first of what we hope will be regular date nights. We actually went out for Mexican food and Mexican martinis. We sat in a restaurant and everything! This was followed by beer and live music at a local pub. Dinner was great, but we got to the outdoor pub a little too early. The sun was still out, and as the live music was out on the patio we nearly roasted alive. But we're determined to make it work. Next time, wait 'til the sun goes down!
Saturday morning was filled with massive sales. We, or at least I, started at the Sew Much More warehouse sale. (DH napped in the car while I shopped.) It wasn't as impressive as I'd hoped, and almost exclusively about machine sewing and machine embroidery, neither of which interests me over much. I did snag a couple of handy accessories, though.
Next we headed over to the Citywide Garage Sale. My main objective here was to meet my fitness goal in the air conditioning. I also hoped to find some really cool jars to use as water glasses for my watercolor painting. No luck there (everything was either too fancy or too expensive, or both) but I DID meet my fitness goal of thirty minutes of motion.
After lunch we headed to the grocery store. We'd found an appealing grilled shrimp recipe we wanted to try, and while we were there we picked up some gorgeous salmon as well.
An evening spent cooking, grilling, laughing, and drinking WAY too much wine turned into a very late night of watching hilariously bad movies. We didn't go to bed until after 2:00 am, four hours or so after our regular bedtime, because we were having so much fun neither of us wanted to quit. (This was actually a bad thing, as both of us are night-owls who will stay up until dawn at the least provocation. We fight that proclivity and try to go to bed closer to 10:00, but it's hard. And we've been paying for it for the last three nights as we try and fail to get to bed before midnight. Well worth it, though.)
Sunday started late, not too surprisingly. We cooked up a yummy frittata for a late brunch, then spent the rest of the day being productive around the house and running a couple of local errands. We basked in the feeling of accomplishment from everything we got done, and then the weekend ended with fabulous fish tacos made with the salmon we grilled the night before. Culinary delight!
Something about the everyday stuff that made up this weekend was magickal, and I truly wished it would never end.
We start our weekends on Friday whenever we can. I drive into work with DH and work out at the company gym until lunch, when we go out and eat together. In the afternoon I run errands or sit and read until he can escape, which he often manages to do a little early. Most Friday evenings are all about our Friday Feast (FF), in which we eat too much and occasionally drink too much.
We usually have our FF at home, either cooking something special or getting take out, but this Friday started with the first of what we hope will be regular date nights. We actually went out for Mexican food and Mexican martinis. We sat in a restaurant and everything! This was followed by beer and live music at a local pub. Dinner was great, but we got to the outdoor pub a little too early. The sun was still out, and as the live music was out on the patio we nearly roasted alive. But we're determined to make it work. Next time, wait 'til the sun goes down!
Saturday morning was filled with massive sales. We, or at least I, started at the Sew Much More warehouse sale. (DH napped in the car while I shopped.) It wasn't as impressive as I'd hoped, and almost exclusively about machine sewing and machine embroidery, neither of which interests me over much. I did snag a couple of handy accessories, though.
Next we headed over to the Citywide Garage Sale. My main objective here was to meet my fitness goal in the air conditioning. I also hoped to find some really cool jars to use as water glasses for my watercolor painting. No luck there (everything was either too fancy or too expensive, or both) but I DID meet my fitness goal of thirty minutes of motion.
After lunch we headed to the grocery store. We'd found an appealing grilled shrimp recipe we wanted to try, and while we were there we picked up some gorgeous salmon as well.
An evening spent cooking, grilling, laughing, and drinking WAY too much wine turned into a very late night of watching hilariously bad movies. We didn't go to bed until after 2:00 am, four hours or so after our regular bedtime, because we were having so much fun neither of us wanted to quit. (This was actually a bad thing, as both of us are night-owls who will stay up until dawn at the least provocation. We fight that proclivity and try to go to bed closer to 10:00, but it's hard. And we've been paying for it for the last three nights as we try and fail to get to bed before midnight. Well worth it, though.)
Sunday started late, not too surprisingly. We cooked up a yummy frittata for a late brunch, then spent the rest of the day being productive around the house and running a couple of local errands. We basked in the feeling of accomplishment from everything we got done, and then the weekend ended with fabulous fish tacos made with the salmon we grilled the night before. Culinary delight!
Something about the everyday stuff that made up this weekend was magickal, and I truly wished it would never end.
Friday, April 13, 2012
[Pagan Blog Project] H is for Home Cleansing
Since we just moved into a new house (I need to change the picture on this blog), I thought sharing the
house cleansing I plan to do would be appropriate. It’s a fairly simple process, and it should
have been done before we moved in here, but after will work, too.
Start by cleaning EVERYTHING (floors, walls, counters,
windows, etc.) with some form of lavender in order to purify and to attract
positive energies. It can be simple
lavender water, it can be powdered lavender, whatever you prefer will work. Move widdershins as you do this, and perform
this chant:
Negative energy be gone from here
Only positive and good come near.
Now that you have cleaned the house, the next step is to
sweep negative energy away. Weather
permitting, open all your doors and windows.
After you do so, take your besom, thoroughly “sweep” out every room,
even the closets, even the garage! Again,
move widdershins. While you do so, continue
to repeat the chant.
Close the doors and windows.
Light a sage bundle (VERY lightly, you don’t want problems with smoke
inhalation!). Once again, moving
widdershins and repeating the chant, walk through the house, stopping at every
door, every window, and in every room to describe a pentagram with your
sage. Repeat the above chant if you feel
it is necessary. This last step will
finish the cleansing and protect against the return of negative energy.
After you have finished, do whatever you can to keep
negative energy away and encourage positive energy to fill the space. Burn rosemary incense, laugh a lot, perform a
House Blessing—anything you feel will keep the balance in the positive.
The house should now feel light and airy.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Retrograde Problems
Finally, we've actually been able to lease a house, so we won't be homeless come April. After two separate lease offers not working (the first wanted twice as long a lease period as we were willing to give, the second just never got back to us), we were getting seriously worried. Neither of us have rented in over ten years, and neither of us have rented in Ontario. We didn't realize just how difficult it would be find a place that would accept our two huge dogs.
Still, that's behind us now. As of two days ago, we have a signed and accepted lease agreement for a house not too far from DH workplace.
What was surprising to me was how much of an affect Mercury's Retrograde had on the process. I generally avoid starting anything new on retrograde days, and I'd never really noticed any problems, other than maybe general psychological 'blahs.' The same was true this time--we weren't starting anything, we were finishing it, or so I thought.
Then the trouble started. We simply had to initial a couple of changes on the lease we'd already signed, and send it back to our realtor. First, a small one--the pen wouldn't work. No problem, just replace it. Then, with three separate computers, we had problem after problem after problem with our printer/scanner. One couldn't see it at all. Another said it was offline even though we could see it wasn't. Etc, etc., etc.. When we finally got the six or so pages digitally scanned, the pdf document was too large for Gmail's limits, and DH was not able to log into his work account to do it from there. Okay, so we have to scan it again, and break it into two pieces. More difficulty. Aaaaargh!!!! (And all the time, our realtor is waiting at her office for the document, so she can send it to the landlord's realtor. This was going on between seven and eight pm, mind you.)
We finally got the document where it was supposed to be, but all that trouble was AMAZING. We're talking about two fairly tech savvy individuals, working with programs and equipment we've both used literally hundreds of times before, and with which we don't usually have any trouble.
The only thing I could figure is that the universe saw this as a beginning, not an ending.
Still, that's behind us now. As of two days ago, we have a signed and accepted lease agreement for a house not too far from DH workplace.
What was surprising to me was how much of an affect Mercury's Retrograde had on the process. I generally avoid starting anything new on retrograde days, and I'd never really noticed any problems, other than maybe general psychological 'blahs.' The same was true this time--we weren't starting anything, we were finishing it, or so I thought.
Then the trouble started. We simply had to initial a couple of changes on the lease we'd already signed, and send it back to our realtor. First, a small one--the pen wouldn't work. No problem, just replace it. Then, with three separate computers, we had problem after problem after problem with our printer/scanner. One couldn't see it at all. Another said it was offline even though we could see it wasn't. Etc, etc., etc.. When we finally got the six or so pages digitally scanned, the pdf document was too large for Gmail's limits, and DH was not able to log into his work account to do it from there. Okay, so we have to scan it again, and break it into two pieces. More difficulty. Aaaaargh!!!! (And all the time, our realtor is waiting at her office for the document, so she can send it to the landlord's realtor. This was going on between seven and eight pm, mind you.)
We finally got the document where it was supposed to be, but all that trouble was AMAZING. We're talking about two fairly tech savvy individuals, working with programs and equipment we've both used literally hundreds of times before, and with which we don't usually have any trouble.
The only thing I could figure is that the universe saw this as a beginning, not an ending.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
What HASN'T Changed?
Wow!
I've been subconsciously avoiding the web lately (my blogs, Facebook, everything!) because I've needed to focus my attention on so many other areas of my life. I hadn't realized, but the thought of trying to keep up with web stuff TOO was completely overwhelming.
I'm feeling better now, though. I feel more settled, even if many things are still up in the air.
As many of you know, we've been trying to sell our house, on and off, for about three years now. And with DH's new job last June, it became imperative that we do so. We cast a spell to make the house attractive to potential buyers--everyone LOVED it, raved about how wonderful it was, but no one made an offer. We cleansed the entire property of negative energy--we got two very weak and too low offers. Then, finally, in desperation, I cast an off-the-cuff spell to actually SELL the place.
This went along with the risky strategy to actually RAISE the price from the original asking price set in June. We'd never done it, our realtor had never tried it, but it was the only thing that made sense, for various reasons.
Within two weeks of raising the price and within three days of casting that last spell, we had not one but TWO very good offers! (I guess it pays to be careful what you ask for.) We accepted one of them late on the evening of December 30th, just a couple of hours before the secular New Year's Eve. I don't know if I've ever been so relieved!
Since then, it's been meetings and appraisal dates and what have you. Crazy! We finally met the conditions and can now consider the house "Sold" a couple of weeks ago!
We began the process of finding a new house the first weekend in January, as soon as we could after the holiday. We found two that we really liked, even if they were a bit farther from DH's job than we liked. We were weighing the pros and cons of each and trying to make a decision when we found out about "some job thing that cannot be mentioned yet." Because of this yet-to-be-announced change, we're once more in limbo, waiting to see whether we should buy a house or just rent one. More on that later, but whatever happens, we're committed to closing on this house (and therefore being out of it) by March 30th!
At the same time those changes are going on, we've started roleplaying again. I know that doesn't sound like a big change to most of you, but trust me, it is. DH and I both love it, and we hadn't done it for the last few years because we were in limbo. (Never mind that we're even more in limbo now!) But in the space of a month or so, we've got two games going. A one-shot this weekend, and a Shadowrun campaign to run indefinitely. And, let me tell you, it feels GOOD to be writing up characters and getting ready to play again.
I feel as if we're in a grand adventure in both our real and our fantasy lives!
I've been subconsciously avoiding the web lately (my blogs, Facebook, everything!) because I've needed to focus my attention on so many other areas of my life. I hadn't realized, but the thought of trying to keep up with web stuff TOO was completely overwhelming.
I'm feeling better now, though. I feel more settled, even if many things are still up in the air.
As many of you know, we've been trying to sell our house, on and off, for about three years now. And with DH's new job last June, it became imperative that we do so. We cast a spell to make the house attractive to potential buyers--everyone LOVED it, raved about how wonderful it was, but no one made an offer. We cleansed the entire property of negative energy--we got two very weak and too low offers. Then, finally, in desperation, I cast an off-the-cuff spell to actually SELL the place.
This went along with the risky strategy to actually RAISE the price from the original asking price set in June. We'd never done it, our realtor had never tried it, but it was the only thing that made sense, for various reasons.
Within two weeks of raising the price and within three days of casting that last spell, we had not one but TWO very good offers! (I guess it pays to be careful what you ask for.) We accepted one of them late on the evening of December 30th, just a couple of hours before the secular New Year's Eve. I don't know if I've ever been so relieved!
Since then, it's been meetings and appraisal dates and what have you. Crazy! We finally met the conditions and can now consider the house "Sold" a couple of weeks ago!
We began the process of finding a new house the first weekend in January, as soon as we could after the holiday. We found two that we really liked, even if they were a bit farther from DH's job than we liked. We were weighing the pros and cons of each and trying to make a decision when we found out about "some job thing that cannot be mentioned yet." Because of this yet-to-be-announced change, we're once more in limbo, waiting to see whether we should buy a house or just rent one. More on that later, but whatever happens, we're committed to closing on this house (and therefore being out of it) by March 30th!
At the same time those changes are going on, we've started roleplaying again. I know that doesn't sound like a big change to most of you, but trust me, it is. DH and I both love it, and we hadn't done it for the last few years because we were in limbo. (Never mind that we're even more in limbo now!) But in the space of a month or so, we've got two games going. A one-shot this weekend, and a Shadowrun campaign to run indefinitely. And, let me tell you, it feels GOOD to be writing up characters and getting ready to play again.
I feel as if we're in a grand adventure in both our real and our fantasy lives!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Who Knew?
I have a confession to make--I am one of the world's absolutely worst housekeepers. Combine this with my seeming inability to get ANYTHING done unless it's under pressure, and it spells disaster! Really. (And now throw in two long-haired, 100+ pound, "puppies"!)
So, imagine my horror when I found out we were out of temporary housing time and had to move back into our house before it has sold (or even gotten an offer!). I didn't really enjoy the two mini-moves (to temp housing and back) in one summer. I didn't enjoy fighting with the Residence Inn about their inhospitable pet policies. And I REALLY didn't enjoy Kai getting so stressed he started to get aggressive. But all of that, all of it, paled in comparison to. . .HAVING TO KEEP THE HOUSE CLEAN, really clean, LONG TERM.
As anybody who's ever had a house up for sale knows, you have to keep it spotless--make it look as if it is no effort to clean, or to keep clean. Eeeeeek!
You'd think the necessary pressure was there. And it is. But, unless you have a showing booked, it's in the background--laying there, stressing you out, yet never becoming acute enough to actually move you. My worst nightmare.
While we were not living here, we had a cleaning service come in once a week to keep things under control. Easy, if expensive. But actually being here, I feel much too guilty to allow that to go on. Still, it has to be done, and I know myself well enough to know I'm not very likely to keep up with it. What to do? What to do?
We decided to try a Roomba. I'd wanted one for the longest time (see the above paragraph about my housekeeping skills), and now I had an excuse! And. We. Love. It!!!!!!! It works! It really works! People complain that it's noisy, or that it leaves tracks on the floor, or whatever. But who cares? It actually does KEEP THE FLOORS CLEAN! Without any effort on your part. And with absolutely no stress!
And guess what? If you keep the floors clean, the rest of it follows--there is less dust generated for flat surfaces and there is less dog fur on furniture. And, because you have to keep the floor clear for the Roomba to clean it, things get put up! Did I mention that I LOVE IT!!!
I was completely astounded by this simple floor cleaning trick. How could I not know this? Why was I not told? Why isn't it written down somewhere? I asked my mother why she never told me, and her answer was, "I guess I just thought everybody knew."
MOM!!!! Where would I have learned it?!
Sigh. Who knew?
So, imagine my horror when I found out we were out of temporary housing time and had to move back into our house before it has sold (or even gotten an offer!). I didn't really enjoy the two mini-moves (to temp housing and back) in one summer. I didn't enjoy fighting with the Residence Inn about their inhospitable pet policies. And I REALLY didn't enjoy Kai getting so stressed he started to get aggressive. But all of that, all of it, paled in comparison to. . .HAVING TO KEEP THE HOUSE CLEAN, really clean, LONG TERM.
As anybody who's ever had a house up for sale knows, you have to keep it spotless--make it look as if it is no effort to clean, or to keep clean. Eeeeeek!
You'd think the necessary pressure was there. And it is. But, unless you have a showing booked, it's in the background--laying there, stressing you out, yet never becoming acute enough to actually move you. My worst nightmare.
While we were not living here, we had a cleaning service come in once a week to keep things under control. Easy, if expensive. But actually being here, I feel much too guilty to allow that to go on. Still, it has to be done, and I know myself well enough to know I'm not very likely to keep up with it. What to do? What to do?
We decided to try a Roomba. I'd wanted one for the longest time (see the above paragraph about my housekeeping skills), and now I had an excuse! And. We. Love. It!!!!!!! It works! It really works! People complain that it's noisy, or that it leaves tracks on the floor, or whatever. But who cares? It actually does KEEP THE FLOORS CLEAN! Without any effort on your part. And with absolutely no stress!
And guess what? If you keep the floors clean, the rest of it follows--there is less dust generated for flat surfaces and there is less dog fur on furniture. And, because you have to keep the floor clear for the Roomba to clean it, things get put up! Did I mention that I LOVE IT!!!
I was completely astounded by this simple floor cleaning trick. How could I not know this? Why was I not told? Why isn't it written down somewhere? I asked my mother why she never told me, and her answer was, "I guess I just thought everybody knew."
MOM!!!! Where would I have learned it?!
Sigh. Who knew?
Monday, May 30, 2011
Life Update, Part 1
A LOT has happened since my last post (which is why this is the first post in almost a month, lol!) Last time I was talking about "Little" Kai's 1st birthday. (There'll be more on that next time.) Since then, my fabulous, wonderful, astounding DH has accepted a job. As I write this, I'm sitting in the tiny little studio apartment which is our temporary housing until the house sells and we buy a new one, hopefully sometime within the next 90 days.
It's a bit crowded here, what with 200+ lbs of dog and their accompanying enormous crates, but the good news is the place is about a five minute walk from DH's new place of employment. Also good news--we just moved yesterday, but already the boys are greatly improving their loose-leash-while-together skills. And they're starting to become accustomed to living in a multi-family residence, as opposed to their own private space. That might take a bit longer--they're still a bit jittery when they hear a door open or voices out in the hall.
The cats are still at the house, as we thought the stress of moving, a new place, cleaning staff, and close quarters with the dogs would be too much for them. We'll visit them on weekends, and hopefully the close on both the old and new house will be fairly close together, so they won't have to deal with too much upheaval.
In the past month, we've been going through the whole "relocation" process, meeting with realtors (on both sides of the move), movers, repairmen, and so on. All this, and we're just moving an hour or two down the road. I'm not sure we've been treated this well even though we've moved three times over international borders, with two of those moves being across the continent, as well. It almost seems a bit silly to be making all this fuss, but I sure do appreciate it!
The house isn't quite on the market yet, but we're meeting with the selling agent this Wednesday, so it will probably be up by next Monday. At that point, all we can do is cross our fingers. And do a ritual or two, of course.
Here's hoping to a quick sale!
It's a bit crowded here, what with 200+ lbs of dog and their accompanying enormous crates, but the good news is the place is about a five minute walk from DH's new place of employment. Also good news--we just moved yesterday, but already the boys are greatly improving their loose-leash-while-together skills. And they're starting to become accustomed to living in a multi-family residence, as opposed to their own private space. That might take a bit longer--they're still a bit jittery when they hear a door open or voices out in the hall.
The cats are still at the house, as we thought the stress of moving, a new place, cleaning staff, and close quarters with the dogs would be too much for them. We'll visit them on weekends, and hopefully the close on both the old and new house will be fairly close together, so they won't have to deal with too much upheaval.
In the past month, we've been going through the whole "relocation" process, meeting with realtors (on both sides of the move), movers, repairmen, and so on. All this, and we're just moving an hour or two down the road. I'm not sure we've been treated this well even though we've moved three times over international borders, with two of those moves being across the continent, as well. It almost seems a bit silly to be making all this fuss, but I sure do appreciate it!
The house isn't quite on the market yet, but we're meeting with the selling agent this Wednesday, so it will probably be up by next Monday. At that point, all we can do is cross our fingers. And do a ritual or two, of course.
Here's hoping to a quick sale!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Back!
Sorry I haven't posted anything lately. Been super-busy with new puppy, long weekend, and upcoming dog show.
We now have Kai in Early Puppyhood Education, and Lance on Rocking Horse Walk (a group walk for puppies that have gotten too big for Puppy Walk, but are too young for Adult Walk). As well, both are furthering their crate-training, as they each have to stay in their crates while their 'brother' is participating in his own class.
Lance is also taking handling classes, so hopefully he will show better at this competition than at the last one! We're very excited today, 'cause he actually let us position him for "stacking" without sitting down on us! We're really hoping that by Sunday he will stack (stand correctly for his breed) on command.
We had a VERY frustrating long weekend. Don got Thursday the 1st (Canada Day) off, of course, and he took Friday also, desperately trying to keep from total burnout at his all-consuming job. Of course, Wednesday night we got a call from the people who were scheduled to seal our driveway, saying they had to come on Thursday. "On CANADA DAY???" we inquired. They assured us they were working on the National Holiday. Okay. We spent the morning clearing plants, grills, and so on off the driveway, and making sure the dogs could get to the side garage door so they wouldn't have to cross the driveway to get out to the yard. Then we waited.
And waited.
And waited.
We couldn't get anyone on the phone, so we eventually gave up and went to puppy class, which was also being held on Canada Day. Sigh. When we got back at around 8 pm, the team was there, taping the driveway. "You're not going to do this at this hour???"
"Yes, we have plenty of time before dark," they assured us.
And they did. Until their machine broke down. And the other machine didn't come until after dark. And their boss decided they had to quit.
That's fine, we thought. They said they'd finish the next day. No problem.
We spent most of Friday on the phone threatening law suits and complaints to the Better Business Bureau if they didn't actually get out there and do it. They finally, finally allowed as to how they could get out to us Saturday at noon. Okay, we growled.
We called again Saturday at 1 pm. This time, they were delayed by problems at ANOTHER job. We were assured they'd be there at 5 pm. We decided if they weren't, we were done with them. They showed up at 4:58 pm.
At which point we were informed that it would take 48 hours to dry, not the 24 they had originally told us it would take.
We didn't strangle anyone.
We now have Kai in Early Puppyhood Education, and Lance on Rocking Horse Walk (a group walk for puppies that have gotten too big for Puppy Walk, but are too young for Adult Walk). As well, both are furthering their crate-training, as they each have to stay in their crates while their 'brother' is participating in his own class.
Lance is also taking handling classes, so hopefully he will show better at this competition than at the last one! We're very excited today, 'cause he actually let us position him for "stacking" without sitting down on us! We're really hoping that by Sunday he will stack (stand correctly for his breed) on command.
We had a VERY frustrating long weekend. Don got Thursday the 1st (Canada Day) off, of course, and he took Friday also, desperately trying to keep from total burnout at his all-consuming job. Of course, Wednesday night we got a call from the people who were scheduled to seal our driveway, saying they had to come on Thursday. "On CANADA DAY???" we inquired. They assured us they were working on the National Holiday. Okay. We spent the morning clearing plants, grills, and so on off the driveway, and making sure the dogs could get to the side garage door so they wouldn't have to cross the driveway to get out to the yard. Then we waited.
And waited.
And waited.
We couldn't get anyone on the phone, so we eventually gave up and went to puppy class, which was also being held on Canada Day. Sigh. When we got back at around 8 pm, the team was there, taping the driveway. "You're not going to do this at this hour???"
"Yes, we have plenty of time before dark," they assured us.
And they did. Until their machine broke down. And the other machine didn't come until after dark. And their boss decided they had to quit.
That's fine, we thought. They said they'd finish the next day. No problem.
We spent most of Friday on the phone threatening law suits and complaints to the Better Business Bureau if they didn't actually get out there and do it. They finally, finally allowed as to how they could get out to us Saturday at noon. Okay, we growled.
We called again Saturday at 1 pm. This time, they were delayed by problems at ANOTHER job. We were assured they'd be there at 5 pm. We decided if they weren't, we were done with them. They showed up at 4:58 pm.
At which point we were informed that it would take 48 hours to dry, not the 24 they had originally told us it would take.
We didn't strangle anyone.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Amazing DogTrainers
I have to rave about the wonderful, incredible people we found who taught us how to train puppies. John and Sue Anderson run Dogs In the Park, a dog training facility in Guelph, Ontario. I've mentioned them in passing before, but this afternoon we were once again blown away by how effective their training methods are.
In the space of about an hour, we taught Lance how to behave around a working lawn mower. Up 'til now, we'd left him inside when we mowed the grass, but it made him (and us) unhappy, so we decided to try and teach him to stay away from it. At first we thought we'd teach him to be scared of it, but then we realized that might mean he'd bolt into the street if someone started a mower right next to him. He needed to respect it, not fear it.
We started out by "popcorning" treats until the noise didn't bother him. This didn't take long. Soon enough, he wanted to "play" with Daddy while Daddy mowed. We took care of this by commanding "Leave It", which Lance knows well, every time he got near it, and by feeding him treats when he moved away from it and when he payed no attention to it. Using this dual approach, by the end of the hour or so it took to do the lawn he was unconcernedly sitting about 30 feet away, content to watch the action.
Lance is pretty smart, but he's not that smart. If Don and I hadn't been taught how to teach puppies from a well-respected animal behaviorist (Sue Anderson), it would probably have taken either all summer or all manner of unpleasantness to accomplish this.
Thank you, Dogs in the Park!
In the space of about an hour, we taught Lance how to behave around a working lawn mower. Up 'til now, we'd left him inside when we mowed the grass, but it made him (and us) unhappy, so we decided to try and teach him to stay away from it. At first we thought we'd teach him to be scared of it, but then we realized that might mean he'd bolt into the street if someone started a mower right next to him. He needed to respect it, not fear it.
We started out by "popcorning" treats until the noise didn't bother him. This didn't take long. Soon enough, he wanted to "play" with Daddy while Daddy mowed. We took care of this by commanding "Leave It", which Lance knows well, every time he got near it, and by feeding him treats when he moved away from it and when he payed no attention to it. Using this dual approach, by the end of the hour or so it took to do the lawn he was unconcernedly sitting about 30 feet away, content to watch the action.
Lance is pretty smart, but he's not that smart. If Don and I hadn't been taught how to teach puppies from a well-respected animal behaviorist (Sue Anderson), it would probably have taken either all summer or all manner of unpleasantness to accomplish this.
Thank you, Dogs in the Park!
Monday, June 7, 2010
Ready for Summer
We moved our 'office' down to the basement yesterday, or at least enough of it to work for the next few months. It's SO much cooler down there, and we think it will save us tons of money on AC costs. We've meant to do it for the last couple of years, and not gotten around to it, but this weekend we decided to just do it. We moved the printer, the external hard drive, my laptop, and a few supplies. As soon as Don gets a docking station from his office for his work laptop, we'll be moving the monitors and keyboard down, too. Of course, for the last few days the weather's been too cool around here to worry about air conditioning. . . :)
Not that I would ever, EVER complain about cool weather, mind you! I spent this afternoon sitting outside reading, needing a jacket, but reluctant to go get one because I was enjoying being cold so much!
Not that I would ever, EVER complain about cool weather, mind you! I spent this afternoon sitting outside reading, needing a jacket, but reluctant to go get one because I was enjoying being cold so much!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Productive Long Weekend
Well, we didn't actually get any hiking done (in part thanks to heavier rainfall than predicted on Saturday), but it was a good weekend anyway. We vegged, got some chores done, got the canoe photographed so we can actually list it, spent a lot of time at the dog park (Lance's pano seems to have cleared up, and he seems to be back to being his previously happy-with-the-world self.), got a month's worth of meat smoked (Less cooking inside! Yay!) and, best of all, got the backyard arranged more to our liking.
That latter item doesn't SEEM like it would be important, seeing as we've been living in this house over 5 years and plan to put it on the market in September, but it is. You see, we needed to sell the house two years and a half years ago, and put it on the market just as the market fell to rock bottom. Sigh. So we've kind of been in limbo for the past two years, not wanting to spend any more money on the house, not wanting to start any new gardening projects, etc. Not to mention that the house isn't really set up for an outside deck/patio anyway, seeing as the driveway wraps around the left side, and there are no doors on the back or right side. Walking across the driveway to get to the yard has never been particularly appealing, so we dragged our feet doing anything about it before we needed to sell it, too. (Overall, though, it's a good thing it didn't sell then, as our lifestyle and desires have changed so much since we found Wicca.)
At any rate, we broke down and bought some patio furniture, moved things around so we'd have a relatively flat spot to set it on, and now have a little tiny patio at the back! Very exciting!
And we found a place for the puppy's wading pool (No, he's not spoiled, why?)where it won't kill the grass. Also a good thing!
(He still fits in it, but just! Still, he's all but through growing, so it should last him and his soon-to-show-up little brother or sister through the summer.)
That latter item doesn't SEEM like it would be important, seeing as we've been living in this house over 5 years and plan to put it on the market in September, but it is. You see, we needed to sell the house two years and a half years ago, and put it on the market just as the market fell to rock bottom. Sigh. So we've kind of been in limbo for the past two years, not wanting to spend any more money on the house, not wanting to start any new gardening projects, etc. Not to mention that the house isn't really set up for an outside deck/patio anyway, seeing as the driveway wraps around the left side, and there are no doors on the back or right side. Walking across the driveway to get to the yard has never been particularly appealing, so we dragged our feet doing anything about it before we needed to sell it, too. (Overall, though, it's a good thing it didn't sell then, as our lifestyle and desires have changed so much since we found Wicca.)
At any rate, we broke down and bought some patio furniture, moved things around so we'd have a relatively flat spot to set it on, and now have a little tiny patio at the back! Very exciting!
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| From An EeeBee Life |
And we found a place for the puppy's wading pool (No, he's not spoiled, why?)where it won't kill the grass. Also a good thing!
(He still fits in it, but just! Still, he's all but through growing, so it should last him and his soon-to-show-up little brother or sister through the summer.)
Monday, May 3, 2010
Alas, Poor Tofu
NOTE TO SELF: Don't close the refrigerator door when you've forgotten to close the cover to the butter holder.
The cover survived, albeit covered in cat hair (ick!), and the eggs did not break, surprisingly enough. The tofu, however, in its own SEALED package, did not fair near so well--package exploded, tofu leaped out, floor got all gross (double ick), toast and coffee got cold while I cleaned it up. . . Sigh. At least none of it got on the shelves! And I was able to get the cover back onto the compartment without breaking either! Yay!
The cover survived, albeit covered in cat hair (ick!), and the eggs did not break, surprisingly enough. The tofu, however, in its own SEALED package, did not fair near so well--package exploded, tofu leaped out, floor got all gross (double ick), toast and coffee got cold while I cleaned it up. . . Sigh. At least none of it got on the shelves! And I was able to get the cover back onto the compartment without breaking either! Yay!
Friday, April 30, 2010
I HATE Taxes (and Filing Systems, too!)
Very distressed today because I can't find any proof we filed taxes for 2008 OR 2007, US or Canadian. Sigh. I hope it doesn't come up before we move, 'cause I REALLY don't want to have to be searching all our filing boxes in the storage unit for them! And if they're not there, they are in the study, and Goddess knows we'll NEVER find them in there!
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