Random notes…
Rose: The photo is of Paul’s chocolate rose. We’ve come to really like roses and this was one Paul wanted mostly for the name — it doesn’t have much scent. But the first year we had it, it didn’t really do much. The second year, we dug it up and put it in a fancy garden planter and moved it to the garden area near the herb garden. It now gets the required 6 hours of sun per day and is much happier. Last year it had two blooms. So far, this years we’ve had about six roses on it. This picture shows two of them.
Car: Not much going on. Getting right back into the swing of work. Paul had to take some time today to go check out tires — we’ve had three flats in two months. I think we’re now back on track.
Poison Ivy: The consensus seems to be that pictures B & C are poison ivy. Picture A seems right out of the fray. So, I’ll be particularly careful when around the vines in B & C from now on. Poison ivy is getting better now that we’re on steroids (Prednisone). Hopefully, it will be all gone by the end of the pills — but right now half way through it doesn’t look like it.
Garden matters: It’s been rainy so haven’t been out to do much in the yard. We got the buckets to plant the rest of the tomatoes in. The lettuce is starting to come up. Our blueberry bushes on the deck have given enough berries for blueberry muffins and blueberry pancakes and some for just nibbling. Those are pretty much over. The strawberries are still blooming and making fruit but we can’t seem to beat the critters to it. Guess were not fast enough.
Tour de Fleece: So, far I’ve managed to spin for at least an hour each evening. That’s better than I expected but then that includes the time I’ve spend fussing with the spool and the tension. I’ve now got it so that I feed the thread in and it doesn’t get yanked out of my hand. So, I’m at bit more at peace. I’ll post another photo of progress on Friday.
Reading: Been reading books for review in the August issue of SFRevu and Gumshoe Review. So far, I’ve read Exodus by Julie Bertagna, Written in Blood by Sheila Lowe, and Dead over Heels by Charlaine Harris. I’m about half-way through Underground by Kat Richardson. It’s certainly a good month so far in my reading pile. Except for Exodus by Julie Bertagna, they’re all series that I’ve been following, so it’s a really nice break after getting the issues up on line on the 1st, the holiday buzz, and the car problems, and the migraines.
So, that’s a quick update. I’m hoping to follow through on the spinning and get the rest of the gardening in this week. Along with the contract job and the usual stuff. Life is pretty good today in spite of the headache.
It’s me, the cat. Just thought I’d add my own 8.5 cents in (due to inflation you know). Getting the car taken care of was pretty easy this time. The first time was about a month ago. I came out on my way to work, got in the car, drove the quarter of a mile down the dirt road, and as soon as I turned out onto the pavement, I could feel something was wrong. So I pulled into a neighbors driveway (also a quarter mile long, so it’s not like they’re ever going to know I was there) and took a look. The right rear tire was totally flat. I guess I couldn’t feel it when bumping along dirt and stones at low speeds. Anyway, it’s annoying, but it’s been a few years since I had a flat, so I figure it’s about time. I pull the spare off, replace the tire, and find that the spare is only about half full. Remember it had been a couple of years? Well apparently, you need to check your spare tire’s pressure when you check the others. Doh! So I get some air at the first gas station (costs $1.50 for freaking air! What is the world coming too?). I go to work, head over to the tire place and sit in their waiting room for 3 hours while the car slowly moves through their queue of work. Again, annoying, but these things happen. Finally get the car back with the tire patched (and at no cost too!) and I figure that’s that. The next day, the same tire is flat again. Back on goes the spare and I sit for three more hours after work. This time they tell me they can’t fix it and I need a new one. $80 for a tire. Holy Moly! Well, again, it’s been a couple of years since I had to buy one, and apparently the cost of rubber has gone up too. Anyway, now I’m done. Brand new tire, and all should be right with the world.
Nope!
Last Thursday, I’m on my way to the doctors (where they’re squeezing me in before the holidays) to get my own poison ivy checked out. I’m in bumper to bumper traffic when a woman in the next car starts waving at me. I roll down the window (why do we keep using that phrase? There’s no handled to roll! Anyway …) and the lady informs me that my front-right tire is flat. Grrrrr! So, after finding a flat space to pull over into and putting the spare back to to play, I’m now twenty minutes late getting the the appointment that they were doing me the favor of squeezing in the first place. Lucky me, they take me anyway and my poison ivy is on the mend. Afterward … it’s back to the tire place (visit #3) where it takes 4 hours to get the tire patched. Grumble grumble, but yeah, that’s got to be the end, right!
Nope!
The very next day, we head off to the 4th of July barbecue. We have a very nice time, head back to the car, and find the front-left tire is flat. This is the third different tire now. Back goes the spare again and we have to hope for the best until today, since it’s a holiday weekend and all that. So this morning, I e-mail into work that I’m going to be out since I have to sit and wait for the car. I drive up to the car place, hand over the keys, and get them handed back 15 minutes later. What? How can that be? Looks like my luck finally changed and I was first in line in the queue. Turns out to have been a rotted valve stem, so the repair was free of charge and I’m out and about, wild and free. So, being the wild and crazy guy that I am … I go to work.
Where I find out my corporate manager has been replaced (I can’t pronounce the name of the new guy, and he doesn’t speak English very well either). And my government boss has also changed (can’t pronounce his name either). As you might expect, it went rapidly down hill from there, but as I’d prefer to keep my job, I think the fewer details there, the better. Besides, I’ve bored you long enough. But I bet it makes you look forward to Gayle taking back over again.