The Confident Power Pisser

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about connectedness. I'm alone 99% of the time. I'm not married, I have no children, I work at home so I don't have colleagues, I don't have any friends that live near by, etc. I'm alone most of the time. I've thought about that a lot lately and I've come to realize that I'm not alone. Physically, yes, I'm alone, but I don't feel that way. The people who have come into my life (and seemly gone from it) are still with me. The affect me constantly.

A few months ago one of my sisters emailed someone we both knew over 20 years ago. One day I get an instant message from her taunting me that she has a "secret". I tell her to SPILL IT and after she's had her fun taunting me about it, she tells me that she emailed this person and has received a response. In this response this person expressed how much of an impact I had on their life. My sister was like, "Isn't that cool?! I'll bet you had no idea!" I told her I was and wasn't surprised. Many, many times I have thought about people I haven't seen in decades and my sister confessed to having had the same experience. We both agreed that these people would probably be very surprised that we still think about them.

There are MANY people in my life. I may not physically interact with many of them any more, but they still affect me. I'm alone, but not. You see? I've been thinking about this a lot lately.

The other night as I was making beads I thought about someone I never actually knew. She was a psychologist who worked in the same building as I did when I was an undergrad at EDU. One day while at work, I excused myself to go to the bathroom. I was in a stall when this psychologist woman came in. I finished up and went back to the office. As I walk through the door, I'm laughing. Sue Ickes, a woman who worked with me at the time, is sitting at her desk. She asks me what's so funny. I then ask her, "Have you ever been in the bathroom with that dark haired psychologist that works down the hall?" Sue says with a half smile, "Yeah..." Then I say something like, "Um, have you ever noticed anything odd about her? You know, in the bathroom?" Sue starts to laugh. I say, "Don't you think she pees really loud?" She agrees. We laugh and wonder out loud to each other WHY someone would pee like this woman pees! It was impressive (I guess!). I called her the Power Peer!! Anyway, so I'm torching the other night and I'm thinking about this interesting encounter I had years ago with a woman I never knew and I'm laughing OUT LOUD!

This very confident pisser woman, whoever she is, still affects me. She still has me laughing! Over Thanksgiving my brother-in-law's "windsock booby demo" made me laugh out loud too. Both experiences were funny but one came from a woman I never knew 10 years ago while the other was with a family member and occurred recently. Both people had a similar affect on me in my life RIGHT NOW. I don't think people realize how much they affect one another -- initially and continuously. I certainly didn't until I noticed it in my own life. Not sure why I'm saying all this. I'm thankful, I guess, and want to express that. You may think your interactions with one another or with me are insignificant, but they ARE NOT. To all of you, THANK YOU!

BOO!

Wednesday, December 16th

I know. It's been a while. My only excuse for not blogging is that I haven't felt like it. Sorry.

I haven't written since September, aye? Well, let's see. Building a big bonfire over the wasp nest I had in my yard worked. I planted more grass there and although it was late in the season by that time, I did get some grass growing.



All the leaves fell down and my lazy self mowed 'em all over (and over and over) instead of raking and bagging them.



I did manage to install the heating cable on my roof. I believe each side took about 2 hours. Not a difficult project.





Today is the first day that we're getting significant snow that I'm guessing will stick around. It's a beautiful kind of snow too -- large flakes falling softly.



I'd say we're going to get about 6 inches.



I don't know if the heating cables work yet, but I will soon! I'll probably plug 'em in tomorrow. It's not really pretty -- the heating cables. They're difficult to see on the roof itself, but I have cables hanging off the back. I REFUSE to hire an electrician to install outlets near the roof! All the electric in my house has been replaced. I'm DONE with that! I'm just so done...



Yeah so, it's FINE! If it saves me from raking the roof off, it's FINE! If it works, it will be WONDERFUL.

So, that's what I did this fall to prepare for winter. Pretty much the minimum. I haven't been too motivated lately. I spend most of my time these days reading, sleeping, working and playing Facebook games. Yeah. That pretty much sums it up.

Kevin finally showed up to build my office desk last week. Here are the preliminary before/after shots.



I say "preliminary" because the countertop hasn't been installed yet. I was told that it will be another 3 weeks before it will be ready.

I put down the rug this morning. I bought it at Lowes (I ordered it online and then picked it up cuz I know from experience that what I want is NEVER available in the size I need it right there in the store). Yeah anyway, it's nice. It's green. Love green!



There's some burgundy in it too.



I have 2 office chairs -- a burgundy one and a green one. Initially, I had the green one upstairs and the burgundy one downstairs, but I decided I like the burgundy one better. So, I lugged it upstairs last night (and I do mean LUGGED. OMG, VERY heavy chair!). It goes great with the burgundy in the rug. I'm very happy.

My office isn't done yet. I need to replace the garbage can...



Garbage cans are always tough! I need a large one in this room. Those dinky little bathroom ones aren't going to cut it. The tall kitchen ones are ugly, imo. I can't hide this one in a cabinet like I can for the kitchen. 'Tis an issue, this trash can. I'm thinking I might build one. You know, buy some oak boards, stain 'em, cut 'em, glue 'em together into a box shape and then put some crown molding around the top and bottom. It sounds like a doable project for me.

The opposite side of my office is very much unfinished...



I need a dresser type piece of furniture in this spot because I need the drawers to store all my frit sample baggies.



I want a lamp. I hate overhead lights. I gotta have a lamp! But I don't want a lamp to sit on the dresser like I have now because I want a picture arrangement on that wall and a lamp would obstruct that. Right now, I don't have room for a floor lamp. Yeah, I know, it looks like I do. Just move the dresser over! Ah, but I really don't want to. Here's the area...



The door into my bathroom is right there (as is the door into the office). Moving the dresser would make that entryway small/narrow and I don't want that. I need a smaller dresser (but not too small!) and finding a small dresser is TOUGH! So much of the furniture sold these days is oversized/overstuffed/HUGE. None of that stuff is appropriate for my small house. It sucks! I'm not looking forward to shopping. I will do it though...maybe after Christmas.

Then I have this small area to do/deal with.



I need to buy something to put on that table. I haven't decided yet if I want a picture there or not. Still thinking about it. I suppose it would depend on what I put ON the table, which I have no clue about yet.

So, although I'm making progress in my office, I haven't actually done much myself (you know, other than pay for it). I've been such a slug lately! I haven't felt motivated at all. A year ago, I was gung-ho about house stuff. Kitty was right when she told me that if I feel like doing house stuff DO IT and don't feel guilty about not making beads because the motivation won't always be there. At the time, I was motivated and believing that I could someday feel UNmotivated was hard to understand. I get it now.

OKAY! So, I've updated my blog! Off to shower, clean beads, answer emails, slip in a few rounds of Bejewled Bliz, etc. You know, the usual!

Electrical woes – kiln & de-icing cable

Last night when I sat down to make beads I go to put my first bead into the kiln and notice a problem immediately. The kiln element is hanging down almost touching the floor of the kiln. Not good! I knew the element was going because I had to tuck it back into position a couple times within the last few weeks plus I saw a couple clips at the bottom of the kiln. It’s all very irritating. I can’t continue to make beads with the wire hanging like that in the kiln…



This is not unusual for my kiln. It happens about every 3 years. And because it’s not unusual, I keep a spare heating ring around for just such an occurrence.



I run upstairs, get the spare and switch ‘em out. I lose 500 degrees in the process, but no beads were lost and I can continue to make beads as usual. This is what a GOOD heating element should look like!



I let the heating ring cool overnight and (from experience) checked the electrical connection.



Yup, it’s bad too.



Thankfully, I watched my father fix my kiln once (both problems) and know how to do it myself now. I even keep everything I need to fix my kiln on-hand!



So, that was last night.

Since today was the first day in about 5 days that it hasn’t rained, I decided to install the de-icing cable. But before I started that job, I checked on my wood bees. Yup. The little fuckers are still there, swarming around like they still have a nest underground somewhere. It pissed me off! So, I took a shovel and started jabbing at it. That was a mistake. It REALLY pissed ‘em off! Two of them stung me. One on my back and another one under my arm. Although both sings hurt, the sting on my arm also got red and hot. The reaction went almost up to my elbow!



Normally, I don’t react much to bee stings but this one I did. I should probably be more cautious in the future with bees... ANYWAY, I was pissed! All that work I did last week to get rid of them did NOTHING. I decided to build as big of a fire over top of that spot as I could! BURN baby, BURN!!!!!!



Oh yeah! So, I let that pile burn as I installed the de-icing cable on the South side of my house. When the smoldering pile cools down in a few days, I’ll take a shovel to it and really hack up that spot!

Installing the de-icing cable wasn’t bad at all once I got used to being up on the ladder.



Unfortunately, the 100-foot cable I bought was about 20 feet too short. The cable needs to terminate INSIDE the downspout. If it doesn’t, all the snow and ice melt from the roof is gonna freeze there.



I measured and re-measured, but I didn’t account for the loop at the end of each triangle needed to connect the roof cable to the gutter cable. HHHH. It just SUCKS!!! I spent 4-5 hours putting that cable up only to take it down!



So now, I have to return one of the cables and buy 2 more.

Garbage…



Today sucked. I plan to spend the rest of the night playing games on the computer. You know, to make up for it….

Mirror smear, bees, grass and de-icing cable

This morning as I sat down to take my morning piss, I see something strange on my vanity mirror.



At first I thought the mirror was cracked!! When I got up close to it though, I was relieved to find that it was just a smear. The strange thing about it though is that I don’t remember it being there last night (and I made several trips to the bathroom AFTER brushing my teeth last night). I would never leave a big smudge like that on the mirror and I can’t believe I didn’t notice it.



To me, it looks like a foot wearing argyle socks and either a clog or slipper.



Anyway. A suspicious smear started my day today!

Last week when I mowed the grass, I noticed a bee hive. There hasn’t been a year gone by yet that I’ve lived here and I’ve NOT had bees! These bees are ground-nesting bees and I’ve had them in this same spot before. It’s a spot in the yard where an old tree stump used to be. It’s nothing that sticks out above ground and I only noticed it when I had bees nesting in this spot 5 years ago. Anyway, I’ve been stung by those suckers before while mowing and they HAD to go! So, I dumped some gasoline on that spot and set it on fire.



LOL. Notice my neighbor’s UNmowed grass? Yup. I haven’t touched it (and neither have they…)!



Anyway…I let that sucker burn for about 30 – 50 minutes. The bees were NOT happy!



After dumping gasoline, setting it on fire and letting it burn for a good while, I then flooded the hole with water. I kept that spot submerged for at least an hour. While keeping the spot under water I stood there with a pair of scissors and cut off as many bee heads as I could. After I got bored of doing that, I filled the spot with dirt and planted grass. It’s been about a week now and this is what the spot looks like now:



What’s shocking to me is that the bees are STILL there!



I doused their home with gas, I set it on fire, then I flooded it, and then I covered it with dirt and planted grass. OMG, what will it take for the little buggers to give up on it already!?? It’s frustrating. I want them GONE by the time I need to mow again.

Speaking of grass, this summer I’ve noticed a lot of these weeds growing in my yard:



I don’t know what they’re called, but I ABSOLUTELY HATE THEM! They’re like potholes all over the yard. So, about 2 weeks ago I went out in my yard and started digging them up. After about an hour or so of doing that I managed to chew up my yard pretty good….



Lots of bear spots all over the place. MAN! About a week ago, I spent $60 on seeding soil and grass seed and a whole day repairing the damage (plus morning and evening waterings every day since). Today is the first day I’ve noticed the new grass coming up. THANK GOD!



I think next summer I’m gonna weed-and-feed the really bad spots and maybe restrict my digging/manual weed removal to a few spots at a time. HHHH. What a mess!

A couple weeks ago I ordered de-icing cable for my roof and it arrived in the mail on Monday.



For those of you who’ve read my blog for any length of time know that every winter I whine about all the ice that accumulates on the eves of my house. Hopefully, this will take care of the problem. I figure it’s worth a shot! I plan to install it myself. Kitty brought her long ladder over and I’ve worked out my plan.



The only outdoor outlets I have are next to the sliding glass door (not pictured but on the far right). So, that’s where I’ll start the cable. It will terminate somewhere in the downspout. According to my measurements, I need 96 feet of cable per side. I ordered two 100-foot cables. Hopefully, I measured correctly. We’ll see!!

Right now, I have the cables stretched out in my side yard to straighten them out as much as possible before I install them.



I plan to install them this week or early next week.

No news from Tussey Mountain about the office cabinets I want installed. I waited a month before asking for an update, but still nothing. I can’t WAIT until my house is finished! I HATE REMODELING!

This is funny: Photo-bombing kitty!!

Pet Society, death file and office

Since I last wrote, I’ve been adding Facebook friends like crazy for Thelma…



So, the majority of my FB “friends” now really aren’t. I have no idea who these people are!



But I’m cool with that. I just hide their blab from my wall and it’s like they aren’t even there.

Because coinage isn’t a problem for Thelma anymore, she can buy pretty much anything she wants. And what girl doesn’t like THAT!?? This week’s theme in Pet Society is wizardry. Thelma pretty much bought all the cool new wizard stuff including the requisite clothes. I think she looks quite snazzy!!



Here’s the best part though, I’m not the only one who thinks so!! Earlier this week one of my, um, “friends” made this post on Facebook!



Oh yeah. Having coin is a lot more fun!!

A few weeks ago, I went into Tussey Mountain Custom Kitchen, the folks who did my kitchen (Kevin), to talk about having some more work done on my house. The project I have in mind this time is an office desk and cabinets. Here’s what my office desk area looks like now:



The desk was custom made for me by my dad. It’s a GREAT desk – not too big, not too small and constructed of high quality materials. I’ve always loved it and have used it daily since high school. The only aspect about it that I don’t like is that it’s gray and metal. What I want is a desk just like it but one that looks a little less industrial/corporate business. In addition to the desk, I want cabinets installed above it (the additional storage is gonna be awesome!). So, to really get what I want I need to hire out. Anyway, here’s the drawing Patty gave me of the proposed project:



I haven’t been given a contract yet because there’s still some pending details that need to be ironed out. Patty and Kevin have a booth at the county fair every year and the fair is going on this week so they’ve been pretty busy. Next week, I hope to get this project under contract. I want it all DONE before it snows. I don’t want a repeat of last winter with all that shoveling!

Since I last wrote, I also had my last will and testament drawn up along with a health directive. I can now die without worrying that all my assets will go to the state instead of my family. Yay! In addition to having a will, I’ve also started gathering up all my important papers so that everything will be easy to find in the event of my death. So far my pile includes the title to my car, the deed to my house, my birth certificate and my SS card. I still need to make copies of those plus gather all the information needed to close my online life, my financial life, to take over my frit business and close all my utilities. ::sigh:: I guess I have a ways to go yet before I can check off “death file” from my to-do list. Yeah, working on it… I’m glad I have a will now. That was the most important part!