Post-Tornado Downpour.

  Basement looks pretty good, maybe slight moisture.

Yay. Jesse James was here.

   No more sewage gas.

Flush it.

    I don't read much anymore, books that is. But, presented with a best seller, and with nothing to do, I dove right in. The title is genius---TOO MUCH AND NEVER ENOUGH.  If I were to offer a succinct review, it would be that, wittingly or unwittingly, the title sums up the mentality of an entire family. Be glad you're not wealthy. Privilege can steal your soul.

Bathroom Bathos

     A sleepless night so, Blog, I might as well reflect on the depths to which I've sunk.   

     As assistance for Dave, one of the home adaptations we utilized was the installation of a raised toilet seat.The unit came with attached arm supports which were not needed in our bathroom  because the cabinet is close to the toilet on one side, the edge of the wall is  on the other side and grab bars, both horizontal and vertical are directly in front, at easy arm's reach. This was a very useful and worthwhile addition, a  much easier and more comfortable transition.

   Time goes on and I'm left alone in the house, with the disability toilet. I never wanted the armrests or handlifts because the area is tight and the space, made even narrower, was difficult to clean. As was the space between the rim of the toilet and the added riser. So, earlier in the summer, I ordered a new toilet seat from Amazon, hoping I ordered the right size and shape. If not, I'll  return it; it cost $49.  

   Being Amazon, the seat arrived promptly. I put the unopened box in the bathroom, with thoughts of replacing the old grime-collecting unit. But the more I thought about it, the more I  realized I liked the elevated seat. I  don't need the leverage, either descending or rising; it's just more comfortable. So I let things ride.

  Then, a week or so ago, the plastic fasteners attaching seat to rim broke, guess you shouldn't lean back too far. Don't cut your toenails on the john. So I said the time has come to make the switch. I've installed seats several times before. But this one posed a problem. The master builder who  installed it had used massive bolts to avoid any risk of slippage for the intended user. The bolts were rusty, and would not move. I sprayed them with WD-40, and Success!After a while I was able to loosen them. But not so fast. They were also screwed on underneath, in a most inaccessible location. I could not reach the wingnut or whatever without bodily risk. I figured I'd have to cut the long screws or bolts or whatever they were. A hacksaw would not fit , so I used just a hacksaw blade to try to sever the metal, but I found it slow going --it would probably take weeks, or months or never.So I had to rely on the master builder to remove the offending and now broken seat. Even that was far from easy,

Now the toilet has a nice new sanitary seat. I miss the elevation. It is amazing how over a period of 4 or 5 years, your body accommodates to certain positioning, and an unexpected drop is not without its downside, so to speak. Zounds!

 And the toilet seat I ordered was wrong. With the disability fittings, I couldn't be sure of the shape of the bowl.  And, in case you didn't realize it, Amazon has altered its formerly generous return policy---now it's  only 30 days. So anyone  in the market for an exquisitely crafted ergonomic toilet seat & cover, hit me up.

Virtue Signaling

   I'm so out of it. I first heard this term a few weeks ago, but it was used by my younger son, so I didn't pay it much heed, didn't know it was a thing.

   But today I find that Jim Gaffigan used it in his commentary, so I'm now aware of its societal prominence. It is real.

Unmet Schedule 2019

     The most egregious contempt of contract for home maintenance work took place last fall. It was before the holidays and I had the thought (or fantasy) of family gatherings which would include Dave. I wanted the yard to look nice in case he might come here or at least look in, from the driveway.

   I found a local company, Veterans' Contracting, and requested an estimate of what needed to be done. The owner, David Fiero, showed up promptly, surveyed the area and gave a glowing appraisal of how he could make the yard look good. It would include a last of the season mowing as well as removal of all debris, and even tree trimming. His estimate was rather pricey, I thought, over $300, but I decided it would be worth it. He requested half the cost in advance. He had 16 people working for him  and he could do the work the next day. No one showed up, so we resorted to the instant message route:  he could do the work the next day, then the next---you get the picture---he never showed up. 

    Not being born yesterday, or thousands and thousands of yesterdays for that matter, I had put the charges on my credit card. So I disputed the charge, which he did not challenge, and the charges were refunded. Thanks, Discover Card.

   David had warned me that his brother, or maybe he said cousin, had a similar business and to avoid him, as he overcharged his customers. Not long after, I saw Dwight's picture in the paper, being arrested, among other charges, for altering a check, adding an extra zero to the amount. Most of his victims had been quite enamored of his personality and appearance; he looked a lot like his relative David.

Amid his later reviews David had been charged for not completing jobs he had been paid for. But that's a civil matter, not for law enforcement, so he's not in jail, as far as I know.

Speaking of Schedules...

    When I decided to have the basement waterproofed, I called a company that advertises for business, ALL DRY Basement. A representative, Larry,  visited, sat at the kitchen table (as they all do) and explained their work and gave an estimate, handed me literature,asked for my email address and said he would contact me. He did not. So I called another company,  

I waited a few weeks and then called another company, BASEMENT WATERPROOFING, who completed the job

  When our lawn was overrun with ground bees or wasps or hornets, 4 nests at least, I called a company who advertised for business, AAA Exterminators and they were to call me back. They did not, so I used the services of THOMAS PEST SERVICES, who treated the nests.

The pipes from the removed walk-in tub are still in the basement,  adjoined to a faulty connection which can leak sewage fumes. I called Jesse James Contracting. He was to do the job last Thursday, but never showed up or called to say why not.**

I turned my attention to the partly dead maple tree which has branches looming out over the road as well as in our yard. I called KAYRA'S Tree Service. Anthony was to come out at 4:30 last Wednesday. Haven't heard from him.

I can understand busy seasons, and the need to accept a bigger opportunity, or work that is closer to the employees. I get why the single-job and rather low-cost work here may be back-burnered. I don't even mind waiting; we still have a little time before snowfall, I hope. But in the interest of good business, and because of the ease of communicating nowadays, I would like it if they contacted me. I hate waiting when the expected or hoped for does not occur.

**Of all those who "stood me up" the only one I tried to contact was about the sewer gas.  I'm not in desperate need of the other services, but would like no sewer gas in the house. He im'd back he could do the work Monday, August 31. We'll see.

        Monday, August 31, 2020   Jesse James showed up and did the job.  Now the basement should be free of odors both from musty/mold and sewer gas.What a relief

Happy to Oblige

     Near the end of July, the scheduler called from my doctors office. She was talking rather fast, explaining that the doctor would not be in the office for my scheduled August appointment. (What doctor does work in August?). In the same breath she offered a date for an appointment  on September 2; would that work for me? I said yes. She exclaimed, "It will? Oh my God, thank you."   She must have spent the day in a mesh of re-schedules.

Guess Who?

 The young child would make a statement, or answer a question. After speaking the words out loud, would then whisper to himself what was just said. This went on for quite a while. 

Strange Bedfellows

 Seems they resurrected Johnny Carson, gave him a lobotomy, and reconfigured him as a bobblehead clone.  

Man Against Nature

 Starting this morning, I've had to go outside a number of times to chase this dratted woodpecker off the front of our house. It's quite small, but the noise sounds like a jackhammer. I was outside when I first heard it, and, because it sounded metallic, and was echoing, I thought a chipmunk or worse may have been trapped in the trunk of my car. No. I checked under the hood. Nothing. And then I saw this bird---trying to destroy our house. I chased it away. It retreated to the half-dead maple tree near the house. Why not stay there, you little@#**%#.

One more driving lane/ signal gripe

     Exiting Route 40 enroute to Troy via Oakwood, drivers can turn right into one of 2 lanes. I believe the outer lane on the right side at the light going onto Oakwood was constructed for the vehicles who plan to turn right into the Dunkin's / Stewart's store, where that right lane ends.  The inner lane on the left is for the drivers who want to proceed on Oakwood toward the city. That makes sense to me.

   Often, as I wait in the left lane for the light to change, a vehicle will pull up beside me. When the light signals go, the driver in the right lane will speed up, cut in front of my car, and head directly toward the city. 

     Where is the pepper spray when you want it.

     

  

Sorta the same thing

   You know how when you read the newspaper, you read all the words, but don't bother to translate them into meaning. At least I do, from time to time,  especially with comic strips, advice columns and such. Today I finished reading an advice column, the  one with reader comments, Heloise probably. Turns out the reader was talking about the merits of intermittent fasting, and I read the whole thing as intermittent farting. My mind may be on vacation, my eyesight is not that great, but it made sense to me. 

Night Time

   Not much different from daytime, just darker. I go to bed. I say my prayers. To while away the time, I think of all the people who have been in my life. Most of them are dead.

Bird? Or Dog?

     Dorothy and I would occasionally put the theory into play, the theory that every person looks either like a bird or a dog. Based solely on facial structure and features, no bias as to the person's attractiveness. One of us would throw out a name, and we almost always agreed whether that person was either bird or dog. Breaking it down further, Dorothy was a dog, probably a collie. I was also a dog, but more like a spaniel.

FYI: A beetle person would be a bird. They're the same.

Sobriquets

"No," I defend my statement from my young critic. "That is not a Trumpian-like remark."  I use the term as a descriptor, not in any derogatory sense. When I say that one of my doctors looks like a beetle, it's because of his apparent work ethic in addition to his physical appearance------small, compact shape, economy of movement, most noticeable now that he's clad in mask and gown.

  Harking back to my early childhood, as well as recalling works of literature---think Angela's Ashes---I think it's an Irish thing. I remember hearing my mother in conversation with her sister and their mother referring to the hoi polloi and the mucky-mucks.  And of course to Harry Horsecollar. He was the hired man on a neighboring farm who, after his horse died, put the horse collar around his own neck to plow the fields. 

  On the drive "over home" to my grandmother's house, there was a smallish house quite near the road. It had a front porch, and near the end of the day, the people who lived there would sit on the porch. In those days it was the thing to do, watch the cars go by. They were always bundled up in their chairs.  Against the evening chill, and most likely to ward off mosquitoes. Besides myself, there is only one person left who would remember how my parents always referred to those folks; they called them the Potato Bugs. That house is still there. I drove past it last week. The porch was decorated with flowers and plants, but no people were sitting on it. Times change.

    

No Newspapers Delivered Today

 No paper, no Cryptoquip, no Cryptogram. I have only my Blog.

N.B. The papers were delivered late morning. Sorry, Blog.

The Flora part

 The lesser Hydrangea is starting to turn pink already. I thought that happened with frost. And I'm reminded it will soon be time to return the Spider Plants to the basement, where their condition will slowly deteriorate over the winter, with hopes they may be able to emerge next summer. The plants are not alone in that hope.

Flora ---and Fauna

  In the last day or so, some beast excavated a large hole beneath the steps of the deck. someone has been on the deck almost every day---it is not an abandoned site. Way too much displaced earth for a chipmunk, unless they're building a commune. Jason, from THOMAS, speculated that what had dug out one of the bee holes might have been a skunk, or a possum. So maybe that animal has moved closer to the bees' nests. I haven't smelled skunk odor, detest possums, maybe a woodchuck. But the  dirt is  piled so high....  Now what kind of exterminator to call? I hear there is a bear roaming the streets in Tomhannock;  I don't think it would burrow under the deck, but it could possibly dig into a bees's nest.  I suppose.

Fair Food

    My favorite food at the Schaghticoke Fair was from the Freihofer's booth. Time was they used to hand out free cookies, one to a passerby. They were fruit cookies, with raisins and such. I remember trying to score an extra cookie, honestly enough, by ushering my child, then about 4 years old, into the booth. Take a cookie when offered I told him. He had previously declined their offer. 

 The Freihofer representative asked him the fatal question, "Would you like a cookie?"  "No, thanks,"  he said, "I don't like raisins."   Curses!!

Driving----Lights, Lanes and Arrows

   No I have not had any issues with these topics, not yet anyway, but I wonder:

    (1) If the traffic signal displays  a yellow arrow, a driver making a left turn is cautioned that the light is about to turn red but you may complete your left turn, assuming it's safe to do so. Only in the last few years, since 2010 but later in these parts, has the FLASHING yellow arrow appeared. That means you can proceed with caution when making a left turn. The distinction is clear. Just ask anybody.

  (2) When driving from Mechanicville to the Clifton Park area, you exit the town on a 2-lane highway. Those lanes narrow to one. If you are in the righthand  lane, do you yield to the outer lane; if you are in the outer lane, which seems to just disappear, does the inner lane have priority. I can't recall seeing any signs or road markings alerting drivers, but I could have missed them. I'm concentrating on which lane is which..

   (3) If you're entering the city of Troy, and are at the Frear Park approach, and want to turn left there, there are arrows on the road surface marking a left turn. But the arrows clearly point directly to the exit, not the entrance. Why, one might ask. The markings have been freshly painted too.

(4)  This may be the most serious. I would like to post a picture, but since I'm a lone driver, can't do so. If you enter the Northway in the Clifton Park area, the sign is posted, "Do Not Enter."  The sign appears at each end of the Exit ramp, but that puts the sign directly on the left of the Entry ramp.  So it may well look as if it means don't enter that ramp.  It looks as if it means that entry ramp, but we know it doesn't. So we ignore it. That sets a pattern for our feeble attempts to interpret what is meant, and to obey or ignore depending on that interpretation. Could that type of ambiguity be responsible for so many of those accidents caused by drivers who cause the wrong-way accidents. Contributing factors may be  driver impairment, or obscured vision due to nightfall, precipitation and snowbanks. Next time you take the Northway to Albany, take notice of that sign to your left. It says Do Not Enter.

Bee* Finis * Reliable source says these are "not bees."

 

Dishwasher Wash

   We've always had a dishwasher. In our Schaghticoke apartment, we had a portable unit which we hooked up to the kitchen sink. Dave grew up with a dishwasher, so it seemed unnatural to him to wash dishes by hand.

  When we moved 

into a house, we had a dishwasher installed, and over the years have had several different models. The present dishwasher is a Maytag,and getting along in years. Its only fault is that the bottom rack has lost several of its spindles over the years, and others show some interior rusting, just on the rack.

  Even though there are only dishes for one anymore, and I usually run it only every two or three days, I like using a dishwasher.  The automatic washing and drying have to be more sanitary than using hands, sponges, dishtowels.

  But even though our present dishwasher continues to run fine, I avoid putting dishes on the rusted areas of the rack, where the rubberized coating has worn off. Because it is nearing the end of its life, as any actuary would concede, I considered buying a new dishwasher.But that is not as simple as it sounds, not like replacing a refrigerator for example. Of course, size matters. It seems most are 24 inches, but the space between the cabinets is 24 inches. I guess it would fit.There are many different choices not only as to brands, but as to operational features. I do not want a complicated list of selections. I rarely use the choices I have now.

  The biggest drawback after making  a selection is arranging for installation: there  are hoses and electrical connections ---somewhere. And of course removal of the existing unit.   It all seemed like such a pain. Then I remembered several years ago, the door latch malfunctioned, in a minor way. I bought a replacement part from Sears Appliance Parts, about $25 or so for a small part. I ordered online, installed it myself, and the issue was resolved. 

    That would be such a simpler solution, I thought. I found my Maytag User Guide, went online, plugged in the Model# and located the part I was looking for, a bottom dishrack. The price is $266.89 plus shipping.

Weird but kind of funny

 That would be the posts on Clifton Park Garage Sale site, and others, by Nick DeMartino.

    If you look up his "sales" on FB, you might also check out "No Afterlife."

Bee Story Updated

 Jason just left. I don't think the bees photograph well. Odd thing is last night something dug up the hole in the back yard--- possum? skunk?  

BEES

 Outside, near the front door and under  the bedroom window, is where I put the  pomegranate tree for the summer, outside, but out of direct sunlight. It is a potted plant after all. So it needs watering almost every day when outside .

 After I watered it the other day, I pulled a weed that was growing near it. Out swarmed a number of ground bees. I beat a hasty retreat. When they were somewhat less restless, I moved the pomegranate. I have a too vivid memory of a few years ago when I moved a stone near the front step and riled up a nest of those ground bees who retaliated by instantly attacking me. I fled into the house and slammed the door, but they followed me inside the house and inside my clothes and stung me about a dozen times. I remember after they  alit on the picture window, I was hesitant to use the fly swatter because i feared retribution from the survivors. So I just avoided the new ground nest.

  Last week, when Joe mowed the lawn, he discovered a nest of ground bees in th  yard. He marked it with a white stick. Stay away from this spot!

  I was out near the hydrangea tree a few days ago, and I saw bees swarming on the lawn---sure enough another nest.  Don't go there either. As I walked to the shed, I saw that  familiar sight---bees swarming around a hole in the ground. I'd seen the hole before and attributed it to chipmunks, but bees are in it.

Bees to the front of me, bees to the back of me, bees to the left of me, bees to the right of me. I called an ad I'd seen in the paper that day:   AAA Exterminating, and left a message. They have not called back. Today I inquired for recommendations on the local community page. A lot of responses, many of them offering home remedies. I didn't mean that but I see bees swarming so decided to try what seemed a novel approach:  Put a window screen over the hole, pour boiling water mixed with clorox down the hole. It's better to wait until dark when they are all in the nest. I waited until later in the day, but knew I wouldn't be able to see after dark. I boiled water, added a cup of Clorox, brought the screen out and gently slid it over the hole. A few bees were flying around outside it. I figured they couldn't identify me as the attacker so I poured the boiling mixture down the hole and stepped away. When I returned the screen was covered with bees, maybe trying to get back in the hole, maybe trying to destroy the murderous screen. The bees may be clean and sanitized but they look no worse for wear, only more agitated.

  Back in the house, I called another extermination company with an ad in today's paper. I left a message with the answering service. BUT with  today's easy and instant communication paths, it is difficult to receive a response from any of them.

Peaches At Last

     I have been scouting for local peaches and found some today  at BJ's Farm Stand in Mechanicville. I bought 3, and sampled one so far. It was perfectly delicious. I hope the others are the same.

   Even though I don't eat corn anymore, the corn there was such a popular item that I bought a single ear, just for old time's sake.  It may well have been the best corn on the cob I've ever had. Though possibly appreciated over a diet of carbs. I just hope I won't have to visit Dr. G. before our September date.

    

R.I.P. Shirley Murray Campbell August 18, 2020

   Still, when I go to say my prayers, I always have to preface it with the first prayer my mother taught us. I was in my white iron youth bed, Dorothy next to me in her brown high-sided metal crib, and our brother not far away. Our mother would go from one bedside to the next, and we would pray:   "God Bless Mommy, Daddy, Joseph, Mary Ellen and Dorothy, Shirley, Frances, Tommy and Agnes,* and Helen and Matt and Nanny."  

  * Thomas Michael was added later.

A Dream. I guess

    This morning, I brought the newspapers in, and, as I usually do, choose  one of them, skim through the news, read Dorothy's horoscope (because she always did), and work on the Cryptoquote, which appears in the Record, and the Cryptogram, in the T.U. The Cryptogram is not as challenging because it gives a single letter clue, whereas the Cryptoquote is a blank slate. When I started, almost a year ago, I found both difficult, but now I can almost always solve them. 

   I'd finished the first, the Cryptoquote, and moved on to the next, seated in the recliner chair next to the window. The next thing I knew, I realized I had died. I told myself it was just like my mother, lying in her chair. Geographically, the chair positions in the house and the directions faced were the same, I thought. 

    I had no discomfort, just a stark realization. I wondered if I could open my eyes. I hadn't known I'd closed them, but I was unable to see. So I thought about it, and then opened my eyes. I saw the  pen was in my hand and the uncompleted puzzle on my lap, so I finished solving it with no problem

"I find it kind of funny. I find it kind of sad. The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had."

And----In His Own Words...

    His brother once had to restrain him from punching his mother because she hadn't bought him the right clothes.   And he passed an important exam because the answers had appeared to him through a shadowy figure in a dream. 

Language Lingo

If you listen to news interviews, opinions, talking heads, count how many times you hear one of them say, HAVING SAID THAT.   So trendy, and meaningless and unnecessary.  

  Even more annoying than all media substituting AHEAD OF  for BEFORE.  Why use 2 words if 1 would do. 

     T'was the night ahead of Christmas.  Look ahead of you leap. Age ahead of beauty.   Two Years Ahead of the Mast

   

Leveling With you

 Most commonly, the liquid inside the glass capsule of a level is ethanol, a weak form of alcohol. ------I looked it up.

On the Level

 Our family bought very few things new; there was little money in those post-depression days. My father did have some tools,probably hand-me down or acquired used somewhere. He had a knack for detail and could build pretty much anything out of almost nothing. And anything he built or repaired was always "trued up." 

  He had a hammer, of course, maybe even 2, because I remember the difference between claw hammer and ball-peen hammer. He had a saw or 2 and when he at last became a home-owner, he built a work bench in the unused part of the garage. On it he had a vice, nails, screws, and of course screwdrivers and pliers and wrenches and such.

   I found tools dull and uninteresting, except for one. That would be the level. When I was really little, he had a level, brown with  green liquid center. I found that fascinating. Remember we lived then in houses with no electricity, and we didn't have many toys. Sometimes on a Saturday night, he would rig up the old radio to a battery and we could listen to The Grand Old Opry. The first radio I remember, a Silvertone,  had a green eye, a light over the dial. I think the light  seemed one and the same with the liquid center of the level.

   I have never been a collector, of anything, but I still have a fascination for levels. I've never bought any but there are several in the house, though not my father's. I was given one on a keyring once and I still have that, though it's no longer on the chain. But my favorite now is this compact steel-gray Stanley. You can assess the levels separately, both horizontal and vertical.   

    I even use it occasionally, not as a tool, but out of curiosity. Strangely enough, though this house was built on a shoestring and rumor was the builder would straighten bent nails rather than throwing them away,, every surface I've tested is perfectly level, floors, windowsills, even doorframes.  Go figure.  (A little off-center, the levels were on a book.

Lost in the Wild

 Attempted to uncover the Rose o'Sharon today. slow going...

Vocabulary Lesson.

 So there are reports of a derecho.  As if we are familiar with that type of phenomenon. Not as common as a hurricane or tornado, they say. No kidding. 

Return TO the Native

 Was intercepted at the P.O. today by an old classmate who asked if  I was the author of the Times Union Commentary article. He agrees with some, not all of it. He feels that drivers speeding through construction sites without regard for human life should be "shot."  He also went  on to say that, despite what some say about his remarkable effect on COVID in NYS,  Governor Cuomo should be "shot" for what he did to the nursing home residents.  Not only that, the cop who had his knee on the neck of George Floyd should also be " shot." Because that cop had worked with Floyd and didn't like him. When I pointed out that was an error in reporting: it was a different person who'd worked with  him. He said " a lot of people" said it was a true report. I interrupted to say he sounded a lot like "somebody else" with that remark, and we parted ways.

      For God's sake, parents, get your children away from this provincial and  close-minded area..

Fashion Forward

 So darn trendy. And 30 years old...

Apron Day!!!

A lot of noise out there at 7:30 a.m.  The apron must be getting tied on. 

Involved were a massive piece of equipment, a very large dump truck, and, as pictured, a compact-looking little roller. And then for the final touches, a worker got off the equipment and used a  TAMPER.  We'll have to tell Ben---just like the tamper he used to even out the snowplow ridges on our lawn earlier this year. Yes,Ben, it's called a TAMPER.

Alackaday

   I thought today would be a good day to eradicate the hornet's nest, or so I deem it.I had scraped it off, sprayed it with bee-poison, and then, seeing a few stragglers, scraped more of the nest off the eave. I fully intended to totally get rid of all traces of the bees and their home. I opened the window, scraper in hand, and saw there are still 2 or maybe 3 bees in the nest; they are spinning in a circular pattern evidently engaged in rebuilding the nest. I left them alone----for now anyway.

   There are so many vendors now advertising to sanitize your home, from sterilizing your garbage receptacles to cleaning your dryer vents. I regularly use bleach and hose to clean the garbage cans.

   I used to clean the dryer duct from time to time, but realized I haven't done so in a long time. How hard can that be even now.  I seem to remember undoing the wire closure which connects to the dryer, and then shaking or using the vacuum attachment to clear the hose to the dryer vent. But now, the hose is no longer plastic and easy to maneuver. It is made of metal, now mandated for fires safety reasons. And, besides being connected directly to the dryer opening, an elbow-shaped attachment joins them. That figures, because the rigid metal is unlike plastic in terms of flexibility. 

   I moved the dryer away from the wall, to provide me room to work.Dryers are very lightweight, no problem to move. I succeeded in detaching the elbow part from the dryer, and after a while was able to detach that part from the duct  part. I straightened the metal duct and tried to shake out what I expected would be an accumulation of dryer lint. Nothing came out. I couldn't find any vacuum attachment that would fit inside the duct, so I reached in, and found it not full of fluffy lint, but instead soggy thicknesses stuck to the sides of the duct. I scraped off as far as I could reach, but that's only a small section of its length. Maybe a lint removal specialist is not a bad idea after all.

Hopes Dashed

 Early this morning I saw road signs indicating work would be in the area, one lane warning to north of us. So I thought----maybe we're finally getting a new apron. Alas, not to be. Signs removed.

So I took some pics outside---the sky, Ma's gift of hydrangea bush, some tall phlox that Marilyn arranged in a cat's cradle, and a few others

EEK.

   No more sleep for me. the next call I make will be to an exterminator. I'm fed up with the wildlife around here. I don't dare open the windows because of fear the hornets will invade. The rodents are eating the riding mower out in the shed, chipmunks everywhere, a random woodchuck that lopped off the hostas by the well before they could bloom, and spiders in the basement.I guess it could be worse---David's neighbor warned him yesterday that a large coyote was seen on his (David's) lawn.

    I've been trying to clear out the basement, following the need to get stuff out of the way for last month's waterproofing, which by the way has at least limited results so far--no measurable water in the basement after Tuesday's deluge.

    But can't get smug about it, it being overcoming animal life.I woke up as usual at 2 a.m., looked out the window to see what looked like a full moon, so gazed on it for a while before returning to bed. I had just fallen asleep when I heard a strange noise; could it be the garbage pickup already? It is Thursday, isn't it? I peered out the window again, saw the trashcans standing undisturbed in our (botched) driveway. I knew it was a few hours too early anyway. So I went back to bed. I heard the scrabbling noise again, followed it to the bathroom. The cat was in there, a place she has seldom if ever gone. She was pawing at the duct in the corner of the room. A mouse ran out. Maybe pursued it, but being 15 years old now, the mouse had the advantage. Maybe took a right turn out of the bathroom into the hallway and to the kitchen. I saw the mouse run straight out into the bedroom---where I sleep. 

So that's it for the night.

   There are some unsprung traps still in the basement. We haven't seen a mouse in the house for at least 3 years. Mice traditionally seek shelter when the weather starts to turn chill, don't they?  I'm at the computer, hoping to hear the sound of a trap snapping---I just put one under the bed. It's now 3:30 and I'm feeling very sleepy...

Now You See It

    As I drove through Schaghticoke late this afternoon in a blinding rainstorm, I saw all the idle construction equipment on Route 40 across from the first house we lived in back in 1968. Our upstairs apartment looked across the street to the last house on Main Street where it met with School Street. That house had been there for probably close to a century.Some time after we moved, that house was condemned, and demolished, because the bank was eroding.  There was no evidence of such to us, or most likely neither to the family who'd lived there.

   Not much is being said, at least not on the Community sites, about the presence of major construction entities now at work adjoining the site of the demolished house. Word seems to be that another house or houses may be in similar jeopardy. 

    But I had the thought today of rain gushing atop the roadways, that the very foundation of Route 40 may also be in danger of washing away. Thus the massive amounts of equipment and materials.

An Embarrassment of Riches

     The only real-life person I ever heard use the term embarrassment of riches was Freda Stark, so I'll appropriate the term from her. to use in my all inclusive  List of Compliments Received in 2020. The compliments were from:

     1) My gastroenterologist

     2) Times Union editor

But wait, the year's not over yet.

Bees

    I don't want to feel compassion for bees. Last week. I knocked down a nest of hornets(?) from the eave outside our bathroom window. The small nest looked remarkably like a little sewing  kit we used to have. A  number of bees swarmed around the remnants of the nest for  a number of hours. I sprayed the nest with Hot Shot Wasp and Hornet Killer, but probably not a deadly enough dose, as I had to lean out the window and spray upwards. 

     The bees flew away, with several staggering back and climbing inside the broken nest. The next day, I scraped off as much of the nest base as I could. Again a few of the bees came back. Those loyal few are still here.

August 2, 2017

  Dave left for what was to be several weeks of Respite Care. He has not yet ever returned to our house.

Live Rescue

   I looked out my kitchen window, and saw something thrashing around in a bucket that had collected rainwater.I hurried out back and saw it was most likely a chipmunk, and one nearing the end of its struggles. It was no longer thrashing around, but its lips were still above water, gasping for breath. It may have been there for a long while--we'll never know. 

    I tipped the bucket and the chipmunk's apparently now-lifeless body streamed out along with the water.  It landed on its back. I used a nearby stick to turn it over onto its stomach, and to administer a few measures of CPR. It opened its eyes, lay there for about half an hour, and then crawled away. Probably to make a nest in the engine of my car, again.