hqueen's collection of Far From the Usual stuff.

[hqueen13]

LOL, Deb, I just wanted to get to the end of the week as fast as possible! Work right now is not the smoothest place, so I'd rather not be there. Plus I have LOTS of stuff to do at home that is WAY more interesting!

Just noticed that under my name it says <Insert Snazzy Title Here. Huh, that's new and different!

I have spent the morning working in the yard and getting things done, which feels great! Yesterday, L, one of the riding instructors brought over a BUNCH of plants she split from her yard. She brought me 3 different kinds of ferns (christmas fern, ostrich fern, and something else neither one of us knew, maybe new york fern, I think it is native too, and she thought this was native, it was a brighter green than the other two), two different types of perennial geraniums, and some kind of poppy thing that self seeds. Everything grows back, and she doesn't have any problems with any of them being eaten by deer. They probably won't be able to combat the big weed trees that grow through everything but the fact that the deer don't eat them is a good start! And they were FREE!

I put some of the geraniums around one end of the yard, she says that they grow so well that she pulls them like weeds. I might talk to her about getting more because they might make a good edger for the yard, along the fence, since they smell fairly strong and deer tend to stay away from things with strong aromas. I planted the poppy things behind the electric, and put two out in the main yard that were small, we'll see if the deer bother them or not. Since they were free, I won't feel too terrible if they get eaten. Disappointed, but not too terrible.

Tomorrow I'll get to the ferns and the second variety of geranium, plus try to split my Iris and the big grass bush. If the splitting doesn't happen this weekend then I'll get to it next weekend (or maybe the next, I actually have FREE weekends lately! Shocking!)

I also discovered that I think the squirrels have been into some of the Iris that I transplanted a few weeks ago. Little snots. Now I have to figure out how to keep them out, or if I should try to do something. I have some netting, but I don't know if it is worth it. I should probably put it out. I don't know how long I'd need to leave it. And I suspect I should probably put it over all the Iris that I transplant this week. I think I can take the stuff off of the one tree that is now behind the electric, so I can use that.

Ran over to the gun shop this afternoon to meet with a guy that was buying the other half's FNP .45. He decided to get rid of it since the .45 is so expensive, and if he switches it out for a Glock 19 he'll only have to deal with 2 different sizes of ammo (not counting the .22, but it doesn't count anyway!). It will make more sense to buy bulk cases of ammo when we will use more of it with multiple guns. Had fun bantering back and forth with the guys in the shop, they're great, and E, the guy that helped us again is really funny and fun to joke with.

Got home, planted the last two plants I needed to plant, REPLANTED the darn Iris, and then folded the load of clothes that was done drying on the rack. Now I'm chilling out for a while. We have tickets to a comedy show tonight, and the show starts late, which I am not thrilled about, but it is what it is. Tomorrow I'll do more work in the yard, and get the winter clothes switched into the trunks and the summer clothes out. 'Bout time I guess, I'm tired of tripping on the trunks where they sit in the middle of the bathroom floor. I'm just so glad the weather is nice and I can enjoy all this work!

 

[hqueen13]

Woke up lazy this morning since we were out so late last night (I dislike being out that late, seriously, my bed is calling me!). Finally got started in the yard after 10:00, and watered everything I planted yesterday with a little bloom booster (I have some left, so I figured I might as well use it up. I need to make some of the compost soup to use when I run out of the miracle grow because that is going to happen fast with the number of plants that I put into the ground!

Today I put in two of the other variety of geranium and 3 ostrich ferns, 4 christmas ferns, two of what I suspect are new york ferns, and one other fern that we didn't know what it was. That goes along with the 12 woodland poppy's that I planted yesterday, and the 7 of the geraniums with the variegated leaf. WHEW! I also clipped almost all of the weedtree sprouts, sprayed most of the rest, and sprayed down the yard once with the vinegar solution. I also clipped all the suckers that were coming up on the crepe myrtles. I still need to respray the weeds in the yard again, and will need to stay on top of watering this week since it is supposed to start getting hot, but that shouldn't be too challenging. I'll have to bucket carry water to about half the plants, but it shouldn't take more than one bucket or so to get it done, I can reach the rest with the hose. I'd still like to split of the grass bush and the Iris that I have, but that will likely wait until next weekend.

While I was clipping things in the back yard, I trimmed the hydrangeas away from the A/C unit again, and since they had such pretty blooms, I cut them up and put them in a vase. Its a lovely mass of blue in the vase now.

Got the oil changed in both vehicles, ended up buying a come-to-you car detailing package off of Living Social - $22.00 for a REALLY good detailing package. Both vehicles are SO dirty that it makes sense to pay for it (It'll cost $15.00 extra for the truck, but it is still worth it), and it'll save us a boat load of time. At this point the savings in our time, and the quality of the fact that they'll be putting a light coat of wax on it and everything, is great with me. Plus I can arrange to have them come do it while I am at work, which will save even more time in the fact that it'll get done while I am working! I love things that can do that for me! We definitely won't indulge at full price, but at the discount price it is worth it. Maybe now we'll be able to keep up with it and it won't take us all day to clean, wax, vacuum, do windows, wipe down all the surfaces on the inside, etc, etc, etc...

And now I wish that it weren't Sunday evening and that I didn't have to go to work tomorrow :/

 

[hqueen13]

ZOMG. I am getting SO sick of this half power thing. Since last year some time we have had one phase out of the 220 that has intermittently gone out. There is no rhyme or reason to when it does or doesn't happen. It isn't related to the weather (went out on Tuesday when it was pouring, and again on Friday when it was Sunny and 75). It was out ALL day Friday, and when I got home I called the power company to see what they might be able to tell me this time. Of course, about 15 minutes after I called, the power came back on, and 30 minutes later the guy shows up. I explained the situation, and he went and checked some things out, and came back to let me know that he wouldn't be able to fix the problem because the equipment doesn't belong to the power company, but belongs to the park.
The meter for this area is on the first pole off of the main road, accessible at the bottom of the driveway. Two poles up from that is a step-down transformer, and at that pole, the power for the house splits off, and the power for the barns and other things goes underground at that point. It somehow crosses the driveway, goes through a grove of trees (no clue how that hasn't been damaged over the years!), and then comes back up at a pole at the bend in the driveway between the barn and house. There, it goes to the barn, as well as the hay barn, and then continues above ground to some street lights, and then on down to two archery club buildings further back. This entire area that comes off of that one pole, through that step-down transformer is affected, so it is obviously something inside of that transformer.
The power company guy was very nice and told us that because the step-down transformer isn't owned by the power company, they can't fix it, it'll have to be the park's responsibility. However, the park doesn't want to fix it, and rightly so, they don't have any staff that has enough of a qualification to work on such a thing. We are unsure of how that would work because it isn't even like step-down transformers are sold publicly (Haven't seen one of those in the electrical department of Home Depot before!). It will take a specialized electrical contractor to fix it anyway, and I'm not sure of how many of those exist beyond the power company as it is.
We pointed out that the power supplied by the power company is the company's responsibility up to the building, being considered part of the delivery of power, and that whether the pole is privately owned or not, it is still the responsibility of the power company to get it to the building. After that point, it is some one else's problem. The very nice power company man pointed out that the meter is down on the first pole, and the rest of the property after that is technically privately owned.
I suspect what has really happened is that when the city owned the park ages ago, they had their own electrical crews to do high voltage work. When the park bought the property 10+ years ago now, nobody really gave a second thought to the equipment located here, not realizing that they were purchasing high voltage equipment that would need to be maintained by the state park. And so here we are more than 10 years later with a transformer going bad and its a nobody wants to do what somebody else should do kind of problem.
This isn't such a big deal until you realize that its going to be in the high 90's by Wednesday. And I have chinchillas. Me, I can tolerate the heat... its them I'm worried about. Plus we never know when it is going to be on or off, and so I might leave the house in the morning and things are just fine, and get home and the power could have been off for 7 1/2 out of the 8 hours I was gone. Bad bad news.
With one of the phases out my ceiling fans in the living room and kitchen don't work, the light/socket by the front of the living room doesn't work (and presumably the front porch light, all on the same set of light switches), my bathroom lights don't work, and my closet light doesn't work. The a/c, washer, dryer, hot water heater and dish washer all do not work as they all require 220 (with the possible exception of the washing machine, which we tried anyway). My kitchen appliances work, thank god, as well as the TV, our bedroom fan/light, the spare bathroom light, alarm clock in our bedroom, and another outlet in the living room. If I had to pick a variety of things that worked vs not working this is a pretty good arrangement, all things considered. However, the fact that we won't have a/c through this could be very, very bad.
The kind power gentleman did tell us that he put a request in with the 'Reliability Department' so hopefully they'll be out early in the week. I am just praying that they decide to have mercy on us and repair the issue (or replace the transformer!). Worst case I guess they'll diagnose the problem, and we'll have to figure out what to do next. The park is turning the power bill over to us this week, but I'll be a son of a biscuit if they try to pawn off the maintenance of the major equipment off on us. There is NO way we'll be able to pay for that. Thankfully, since it also affects the archery club's few buildings up here at the top of the hill (their clubhouse down the hill through the park gets its power from a different set of lines off of the road), hopefully we'll be able to get something done. The archery club is in the back pocket of the director of the park, so maybe that will help our cause a little bit.

All I know is that I am getting sick and tired of things half working. Hitting a light switch and getting nothing. I was going to soak in the tub like I almost always do on the weekend, but I suspect that will be postponed...

 

[Denim Deb]

That's rough. I'd hate to put up w/that myself.

 

[hqueen13]

Thanks Deb!
I actually got a call from a guy that works for the park, tomorrow he and the park director are going to get in touch with an electric company in the area that can do high voltage work and try to get them over there to get a quote. They are owning up to the fact that the transformer is theirs and their responsibility, so that is a good thing. I spoke with H, the barn manager, and she's going to take our chins for a few days until we get everything restored (I made her promise she'd give them back! She is so in love with them!). So we'll clean up their cage tonight and get them ready to go tomorrow. I'll bring in the two fans that we have to run in the house as needed, and the other half's boss offered to loan us two window a/c units, so that will be a good thing. With all of that we should be comfortable until they can get it fixed.

This morning when he got up, the nightlight in our bedroom was working, so he tried to turn on the a/c, and the unit made a humming noise which said that there was power getting to it, but not enough to run it. So that pretty much means as long as this intermittent crap is happening, we can't turn the a/c on at all, otherwise if the phase goes partially out, it could burn up the unit (and I am sure there is potential for fire in there somewhere!).

Oh, and the park offered to bring us a generator, though I'm not exactly sure what we're going to do with it unless they wire it into the phase that isn't working. Otherwise its no good since I need 220 on most of the big things that aren't working, like my washer and the dish washer!

Never a dull moment, I tell you!

 

[hqueen13]

So what the heck... I was about to leave work and really wanted to come home and my stomach started cramping. I decided to try to drive home rather than get stuck in the office bathroom with a personal issue...
Managed to get home and raced in the house and to the bathroom and ended up sitting for quite a while :/
I have NO idea where this came from. I don't believe anything I've eaten should be bad. I had leftovers for lunch, which was yesterday's dinner, so I don't know why that would have bothered me today. Dunno, other than that I've had raw butter. Dunno if that could go bad or not. I put DiGize on as soon as I got out of the bathroom, and ended up back in the bathroom only once more for the evening. We'll see how things go tomorrow, I certainly hope there aren't any more issues!

Otherwise the day went by quickly. I only hope the rest of the week flows onward as smoothly (with the exception of the issues this afternoon!)

 

[Avalon1984]

So what the heck... I was about to leave work and really wanted to come home and my stomach started cramping. I decided to try to drive home rather than get stuck in the office bathroom with a personal issue...
Managed to get home and raced in the house and to the bathroom and ended up sitting for quite a while :/
I have NO idea where this came from. I don't believe anything I've eaten should be bad. I had leftovers for lunch, which was yesterday's dinner, so I don't know why that would have bothered me today. Dunno, other than that I've had raw butter. Dunno if that could go bad or not. I put DiGize on as soon as I got out of the bathroom, and ended up back in the bathroom only once more for the evening. We'll see how things go tomorrow, I certainly hope there aren't any more issues!

Otherwise the day went by quickly. I only hope the rest of the week flows onward as smoothly (with the exception of the issues this afternoon!)

Did you maybe overheat? I get really sick if we do hay in the hot loft for too long without a break. Or now, in my old age, a stressful office day, or pregnant mares will do the job as well. Get some rest, and rehydrate yourself

 

[hqueen13]

Thanks Avalon.
Shouldn't have, it was cool out yesterday, and I work a desk job so I was inside all day. That's why I'm inclined to think it was food issues. I didn't butter my bread with the same butter I used yesterday. I think I'm going to pitch it just to stay on the safe side. It smells odd, but then raw butter does, so it is hard to tell

I'm find today though. I haven't eaten enough to have to go again, but I haven't had cramps or anything else odd. I've been drinking plenty of water (had to go for that reason! LOL)

Now back to your regularly scheduled non-TMI info

 

[hqueen13]

So I got a call from the girl we usually deal with at the park, and went over everything with her again. She told me that they'll have to call a couple electric companies (hoping they can find companies that deal with high voltage, they are rare) and get some quotes, and then they will submit it to some sort of 'Emergency Funding' "fast track" which like everything else dealing with the state is anything but fast. Once they submit it we'll just have to wait until they get approval, and then it can be fixed.

The other half's boss loaned us 2 window a/c units, so we got the one installed in the kitchen tonight. We'll put the one in the bedroom tomorrow. So the dogs will be cool tomorrow at least. We decided that we will run the window units during the day and shut off the main a/c so that if the power goes out while we are not home, the house will stay cool and the main a/c won't risk getting burned up. Its going to be an adventure, for sure.

Stomach was fine today. Must have been something I ate. I'm suspecting it was some raw butter, it must have been bad. Oh well. Could have been worse! The last time the other half ate something that didn't agree with him he had diarrhea for two days and a fever to boot! I consider myself lucky!

Browsing more wedding options today.... the options are dizzying! I have 2 options that we want to visit, one is a camp and the other is a B&B/working farm. The camp is obviously less expensive, but the B&B is a really good deal in and of itself. So we'll visit both and talk about the options and go from there. I would really like to secure the venue so that we can set a date, I'm sort of waiting on that. If we choose the camp it is possible that they'll require a date early in the spring due to their camp opening. So we'll see what happens. Too many choices though, I swear. Makes me all

 

[hqueen13]

So I get home today, and go to reach in my freezer bag to get out the bag with the meat in it that we ordered from the farm this week, and grab the top of the bag and manage to pierce the tip of my middle finger on the staple that tagged the bag as mine. The bad part was that I couldn't figure out which way I needed to move my hand to get my finger OFF the staple!!
Removed the staple from my finger and then went to go and open the freezer and find that the door hadn't been shut good and everything is thawed, but thankfully still cold. We had a bag of ice in there to use a couple weeks ago when friends were over and that might have been the saving grace keeping it cooler. We cooked the pork chops tonight, and will cook chicken tomorrow night, so I think we're safe. Now it just means that we have to take the freezer outside and defrost it AGAIN.

Never a dull moment, I swear!