Gopher update

The score is Julie-3, gophers-3.  I have caught three gophers (well, technically 2.1), and I have set traps three times without catching any.  Last night was a new setting, but I think it will sit for a week before I can check it again.  Big, big storms coming through.

Guests at the 'new' house

Yesterday was a busy day with super guests.

BandN8plusKy!  Fun!  N8 had not been here yet, so we gave him the grand tour, including a walk around the back edges of the property.  He played Scout, seeing the holes for the field mice and pointing out signs of activity. Then he and B shoveled some gravel into the back of his truck. The gravel is destined for some perimeter of their chicken coop project. We also had some 5' metal stakes to donate to their anti-deer-in-the-garden project.  A bit of a challenge for N8 and I to get some OUT of the ground!  One broke when I was rocking it loose. Down went Julie on her bum.  With a squeak.

N8 also helped set our first mole/gopher trap. Update: I check the trap this afternoon and we got, ummm, at least part of one.  That's all I will describe because some of you dear readers are very sensitive sorts.

Our day also was designed around the OSU/Stanford football game starting at noon. Good friends Ed and Carol came from Salem - also their first time here, so more tours.  But a lot of food, TV, talk, more food, more TV, ending the afternoon on wine and chocolate chip cookies. Beavers lost. 

Carol had to get home to change out of her OSU shirt and into a Ducks shirt for their 7:30 game. A house divided.

A very good day. We are looking forward to future visits from them and more family and friends!

Ballot measure in Washington

My friends Paul and James live in Washington state.  February will mark 40 years that they have been partners.  I'm hoping R-74 will pass tomorrow so they can celebrate their milestone anniversary with a legal marriage!

And because Paul is in charge of his county's office of Marriage Licenses, he can get the first one in his county!

Burn baby burn

Yesterday was "Burn-The-Burn-Pile" day.

All.  Day.  Long.

I went out there at 8:00 a.m.  Came in a little after 4:00.

Sorry there are no before pictures but imagine the following.  In the middle of the pile are wood poles and, I think, railroad ties. The poles are from previous berry vines, about 6" in diameter and 6' long. Between the poles and ties I'm guessing about a dozen. Then throw in at the west side of the pile there are blackberry vines intertwined with weeds (some thistle, oh hooray).  At the east end are various yard clipping and leaves. On the north side was a bunch of crap: an "artistic ladder," some other wood things (like two lathed poles). 

Worst part was down into the lower northwest section.  I think the prior owner was doing some compost layers.  A pretty good job, really: some sod, layered with branch cuttings. But it didn't belong with the burn pile. Oh, and more berry vines roaming through the mess.

So now we will start a new pile.

More storage

Reconfiguring the house for proper storage, part 4 (or five or six or something):

Today was putting up some storage in the garage.  The previous owner had two flimsy "ClosetMaid" wire racks that are intended for "linen storage."  Interpretation: linen storage means light weight, a couple of towels! So I took one down, and I'm so sorry there's not a 'before' picture. It is all packaged up and ready to go to either ReStore or Goodwill.

The replacement is Rubbermaid's Fastrack system, supposed to hold some ginormous poundage. Not difficult to install, except I've been running into problems with any installation here because the wood is old enough to have to go back and make bigger pre-drills than the directions call for.

One finished rack:

There are five shelves, and room on the right side to add a hanging cabinet or tool hangers or ??? The step ladder in the picture goes back out to the shop. A 4' long rack will go on the other side of the garage (The racks in the picture are 4', but the overall system is 7'.)

We have already made enough room in the garage to park one vehicle, and we are getting close to being able to put both inside!

Guess I still owe a post on the grab rail fiasco. 

Short commentary on Livestrong

I know a few people are disenchanted with the Livestrong charity because of the latest events around Lance Armstrong.  I've never been enamored of Lance or a follower of any bicycle racing.  His work in setting up Livestrong, however, is admirable in that the mission has always been to support cancer survivorship, plain and simple.

I still STRONGLY support LIVESTRONG!

More non-exciting: cleaning

So it's taken me three days to do a thorough vacuuming of the house. What's thorough?  Not just the floors! I used the edge tool and the small brush to also go after cobwebs and the window troughs. 

Would you like to know the body count on picking up dead flies?  No?  I didn't think so.

The process can be a little slow when Sweetie is sleeping ('cuz I don't want to wake him, of course) or if he's watching TV ('cuz then I either work elsewhere or work around him during commercials).

But in the last three days we also got a new battery in the riding lawnmower, so the yard got a haircut! And I trimmed the birch tree back from the house some more and back from the driveway. And we got more items onto the new storage shelves in the shop. And - wahoo - I cleaned three toilets. The joy of retirement.

Surely the highlight was when I made cinnamon rolls Wednesday evening.  Luckily a small pan of 6 went into the freezer.

Oh and I separated a bunch of hostas and a day lily for B/N8.

We got hardware ( a whole $1.95 of materials!) so we could finally attach the new 'bowl' to the dining room light fixture. It turns out the old bolt had been sheared off, so I got to play with the extractor toy.  I mean tool.

Mike and his friend Jeff plan to torch the burn pile on Monday. The previous owners had a soaker hose out to the pile, so I located the connector end. My tarp had blown off the pile with the last big wind, so I got it pulled back over before the rains started again yesterday.

There's more but I know you appreciate getting the highlights.

A non-exciting update

Today's activities (Wednesday 10/10/12):
#1: I declared today a no-drive day. I've been driving about two hours a day OR MORE. Tomorrow is a trip to Vancouver. Friday is a trip to Salem. So today was no-no-no-go-go-go.

#2: Finally conquered grab bars in the master bathroom.  That will be a post all its own when I have a few more minutes.

#3: Assembled one of the storage racks in the shop.  I could have done both, but the second one had a 'crush' so it is going back to Lowe's tomorrow.

#4: Did a little bit of spraying, but it clogged up.  Need to get some more done, somehow, before the rains come in on Friday.  Mike was kind enough to disassemble and clear the sprayer.  Then fell down outside the shop and had to call me for help.

#5: Yesterday I posted free moving boxes available.  I man came and got a few last night, and then another texted about picking up ALL the boxes today -- I expect that person any minute now, and hope they have a big empty car or truck so they really can take them away. But a woman called about the packing peanuts, which I had her come to get because box-man only specifically said he was taking the boxes.  Or maybe it's box-person.

#6: Cleared out the Royal vacuum.  Mike said it didn't have a bag in it and was "packed with dirt." It did have a bag, but had become disconnected from the dirt tube.  Not too hard to clear.

#7: Little headache.  I think because I didn't drink enough water today.  And maybe from all the various dust.

#8: put the new license plate on the trailer.

See, not too exciting. But some plodding progress.

Awesome daughter

We moved out of our old house on a Thursday, and on Sunday my awesome daughter (with granddaughter) came to stay with us in the new house for almost a week.  If she hadn't, my life might have become a conversation like this:

"Hello boxes.  Yes, we've been good friends all summer.  I started packing all of you in mid-June, when we made the offer on this nice house we are now occupying.  And I continued to pack through July, when we listed and immediately sold the old house, and continued to pack through August as moving day approached. You were acquired high and low, through craigslist and (gasp) the cardboard recycling bin behind KFC/A&W.  Some of you were handled nicely by the movers, others were handled roughly, sorry.  I know, what part of a huge black arrow on each side of the box is not understand as 'this end up?' 

"But NOW I WANT TO SIT AND VEG and I don't care if you stay packed for THE NEXT TEN YEARS!"

No, no, thanks to my daughter, my wonderful driven daughter, the front room/sitting area is set up and the bookshelves loaded, the kitchen unpacked (and reorganized by her while hubby and I were out to dinner), and the master closet torn out and rebuilt.  I should have taken before-and-after pictures.  Oh, oh, don't forget the den episode: the movers couldn't get the roll-top desk into the den, so I was on the verge of switching den and guest room #2.  Actually, we were part way into the switch, as middle son and I hadn't taken the two twins out, and moved the roll-top in.

Lovely daughter said that just won't do, "I will just take off the whole den door frame so the desk can go in."  And she did! So even though the den isn't completely set up, we have the desks sited.

So much more, but it was a very productive week. Oh, and did I mention she did this while working (partly from home, but two days on the road for training in Portland), and the baby to care for, of course!

Thanks B!

wow, time to update!

I haven't been on here for quite a while! Soooo much to catch up on.
June 29 was my last day of work.  Paid work. I've been a-whirling ever since:
Sweetie's doctor appointments
Little sweetie (granddaughter) play dates
But mostly packing excess stuff, more packing, storing, staging, cleaning, thankfully-helped-by-middle-kid, arranging contractors (staging consultant, carpet cleaning, stove repair, door repairs, HVAC, etc.), rebuild 40' feet of fence, runs to the dump/recyle, spot painting, meeting with realtors (and finally getting agreement with Sweetie to list with one of them).  Plus continuing paperwork exchanges on the new house purchase.
Too bad the new A/C won't be in for another 10 days, because we will be pushing 100 today.
Gotta run. Need to shower and set off to this afternoon's baby shower!

It was the donuts' fault

Mike wrecked the truck Tuesday; he thinks it is totaled. I haven't seen it yet, but later today we plan to go get the personal stuff out of it.

Brooke said it was because his birthday is next week, and he wanted a new truck.  Well, he certainly didn't have to take out two other vehicles in the process!  Luckily no one went to the hospital.

But here is the true story:

On Monday, Mike went to his favorite donut shop. After selecting six donuts realized he didn't have his wallet.  They said, "That's okay, you're in here a lot so just pay us next time."

He wanted to make good on it sooner than later, and it was the trip back home that ended in all the smushing of cars.

Therefore, obviously, it was the donuts' fault.

Oh, add on to condescending

...AND the Jiffy Lube guys didn't reset the service display (maintenance

Condescending

I am going to complain about condescending men, after car-related encounters two days in a row. But I'm wondering now, are we women condescending in certain areas, too?  Any thoughts or comments are welcome!

Situation number one, Les Schwab Tires.  We have a tire that I noticed (a few weeks ago) had a bald outside edge. I finally took it in and ended up getting two tires.  But my interest was also in finding out why this one tire had the problem, not the others. The fellow who came out to talk with me (much later - 90 minutes?) seemed to have just one cause on his brain: it must have a misalignment, but because the bad tire is on the back, it must have been rotated from the front recently. So he was trying to pin me down on when the last alignment and rotations were.
AND THEN he tried a couple of upsales. "We might have to replace four tires.  The front have 10-32's [I think that's what he said, but I was honestly tuning him out] which is fine for tread. But with your four wheel drive, if one set of tires is balding and the other has good tread, it can harm your drivetrain because of the different diameters."  I'm staring at him, maybe gaping a bit. He might be thinking I am some dumb blonde, but I'm really thinking he's the dumb one. Time out buddy, it's not four wheel drive.  The Toyota hybrid means the gas engine runs the front wheels, and the electric engine runs the rear wheels. He backs off a bit, "All I know is the computer comes up with all wheel drive."  And then he asks if I've thought about getting prettier wheels. I say with emphasis, maybe too loudly, "It HAS pretty wheels."  He says, "Sure, pretty STOCK wheels."

Situation number two, Jiffy Lube. "You've been using 5-20W but Toyota requires 0-20.  We only have that in synthetic, so the oil change will be $59.99." Note that is why more than the current special for $19.99.  And my reply, "Funny nobody has ever mentioned that in the four years we've had the car.  Just go the next one up." I guess that didn't make sense to him, but I finally got through that he should use the closest grade conventional (non-synthetic) oil. And he had to caution, "We just have to let you know because it could affect your warranty." 

He should be happy I didn't put him through my usually environmental questions (how do they recycle the used oil, etc.).

Then insult to injury, they didn't even reset the 'maintenance required' message display.

Here's what the Toyota manual really says about oil:

Two months

Two months since my last post.

Two months until my last day at work.

Accepting the way things are

I am on my second read-through of the book "The Art of Possibilities" by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander. I seldom read a book a second time! The subtitle is "Transforming professional and personal life" but I cannot bring myself to categorize it simply as another book in the self-improvement genre.

Now I have to agree with one book review that the husband-wife authors have simple examples, and that the husband's life examples COULD be seen as egotistical, where he did amazing things. Yes, the examples are simple, but not EASY. We humans survive by repeating what has been successful for us, and breaking the repetition (to see new possibilities) is hard work; it is our nature to fall back on old patterns when times get tough. Which leads to an argument against the 'egotistical' review: the husband cites his own failings, and in those cases he went to his wife for help in changing what he saw as the problem, and yes, there were amazing results.

My only wish is that each chapter ended with a practice to apply in our own lives. Some chapters do, most don't. But that's also why the re-read is important, so I can design my own practices.

I also bought a copy for my boss. Of course this could be dangerous, but I did not approach her with an attitude of, "You really need to read chapter 6." Instead, my message was: I am very excited, got a lot out of it, and the book has something for everybody. (Admittedly, my dear readers, I pictured her in chapter 6 immediately ~ "Don't take yourself so damn seriously.")

One of my many lessons is around the "world of measurement:" central positions of assessments, scales, standards, grades, and comparisons. This leads to winning versus losing, hoping to get to a better place than where we are, but struggling with raised hopes and dashed hopes, seeing others as competition rather than as comrades.

There is much, much, more. My hope is to live it!

Travels and travails

Lovely daughter suggested I post about our trip. What should I highlight for week One?

• 1,400 miles to get here. The daily hours traveling: 6, 6, 0 (two nights in Sparks/Reno), 6, 3, 0 (two nights Yuma), 3.
• Got to visit Ralph (Medford), Mike and Mary Ann Reinecke (Lake Havasu City AZ), and met up with friends Tom/Mary, Tom, and Del/Sandy.
• Three casino visits; my start/finish amounts on the slot machines were $10/25, $4/25, and $10/$25. And I only played 10-15 minutes each time.
• We didn't exactly track the price of diesel, but I believe it ranged from $3.62 to $4.17.
• Did I mention Mike's grand entrance into Yuma? I was setting up (preparing to unhook the trailer) and he tripped over a hose bib. Resulted in a major hematoma / blood blister thing, plus gravel dents/scrapes through his pants.
• AND the next morning his Aunt Marilyn passed out in her home, falling and gashing her head. It took a while for me to clean it up before I could see that it needed stitches. Her friend Tom took her in, and the ended up in emergency all day. Of course they wanted to find out why she had passed out ~ Tom said it was the second time in two weeks she had fallen ~ but they didn't find anything. She got eight staples in her scalp!
• After a week of travel, today was laundry! So tomorrow the vacation starts?