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August 30, 2005
Sleep thief...
I stayed home this week instead of traveling to CT. It seemed the polite thing to do when people are moving in and out of your home, not to mention the possibility that something might go awry....might. So far so good.
It's been raining, however, which in my opinion is never really a good thing. All together now, "Rain is wet and I hate getting wet when I'm not planning on it".
Rain is also the latest sleep thief around here...rain and wind. Wind was making the shades in the bedroom fa-lap fa-lap fa-lap against the sill depraving me of sleep over the weekend. Fa-lap fa-lap fa-lap. I tried propping things up agaisnt it to prevent fa-lapping but I finally gave up in disgust and shut the window. The ensuing congestion caused increased snoring on my part so we both were disturbed. Nothing like sharing sleep deprivation.
Last night the rains came..not Katrina yet but she's on her way. The rain pouring off our roof (roofs)sounds like it could possibly bore a hole right through the porch isn't enough of a sleep thief...noooooooo, we have to add thunder and lightning to the mix. no, it wasn't the noise particularly, no it was the fact that every time lightning struck, the lamp on the TV table across the room came on...brightly. Damn gadgets...this lamp had one of the confounded contraptions that made the lamp base touch sensitive to turning on/off. It's not as tacky as the "clap on/clap off" things but close. Anyway...at least I can counter with another gadget which is a controller for x-10 gadgets on the rest of the lamps...I can lay in bed and with one button turn on/off the lights all over the house. Well all except that light across the room on the TV table. That one I have to push the button serveral times before it will shut off. Not what I want to do while I'm trying to sleep through a thunder storm.
Whaaaaat? You don't have those light modules all over your house? Well, they do work reasonably well especially when there is a discussion about who was the last one in the kitchen and who needs to get out of bed and go shut off the light. Whaaaat? you don't have those discussions? hrumph. (Ok, they work well before they wear out and need replacing)
The sun is trying to come out......it's still pretty damp out there BUT compared to those poor people in New Orleans and Biloxi, I guess I'll just take my cheese and whine elsewhere.
Have a good day all......
Posted by frani at 08:08 AM | Comments (1)
August 27, 2005
Politics smolitics......
I must be getting really really old or cynical or something. The Pentagon's list of military closures has been reviewed and acted on by a Federal panel which of course has overruled the Pentagon on several closures. Whew...thank goodness!
Yeah yeah sure sure whatever.........rejoice New England..rejoice South Dakota! Actually having spent quite a few months watching the submarines traversing the Thames River in Connecticut last year, I was thrilled to hear the sub base in Groton would be spared closure. On second or third reflection on the issue I thought it was all rather political on the Pentagon's part. Duh, silly me! It takes a while for me to catch on but I do...of course the Pentagon is going to ask for more closures than it really wants...of course the Pentagon is going to ask for closure of all the remaining facilities in New England ..Of course the Pentagon is going to garner opposition from any and all closures. So the politically correct thing to do is ask for the absurd, be denied and have the citizens be thrilled with half the bases in New England closed instead of all of them. wow, are we all lucky we were spared..huh?
Nope, no siree, Don (Rumsfeld) ya just can't pull the wool over my eyes..I'm wise to you! ..eventually.......
Posted by frani at 10:54 AM | Comments (2)
August 25, 2005
The way we were......
Wow... the more things change, the more they stay the same. "Back in the old days", our home had all but revolving doors in it. People were coming and going all day and night, take a number, state your name; I never really knew how many people would show up for dinner sometimes. It was entertaining to say the least. The last few years of consulting work certainly changed all that but I didn't realize just how much activity there had been around here until this morning.
Backing up....Last night at 9pm, our tenant called to tell us she took a job in Seattle. Well no surprise there, I guessed that when she extended her trip last week. Long story drawn out, she had someone who wanted it and one of old tenants just happened to call last weekend looking for a place, so I also had someone who wanted it.
As of this morning...The prospective tenants both had prospects elsewhere as of yesterday but they both wanted our apartment as their first choice once they heard it was available (remember 9pm last night). The emails were flying back and forth with former tenant Aaron; Colleen brought Emily in for introductions at 8am, Leo showed up with the quote for more work on the back of the house which I had changed my mind about unbeknownst to him. Liz popped in for Coffee and then of course Aaron came over to revisit the apartment he'd left behind 3 years ago to be sure he wanted to "come home". I'm, in the meantime, worried that we are going to end up with neither Emily nor Aaron as they end up forced into signing leases on apartments they had already verbally committed to. In between all of this, we are conversing with Leo, telling him I no longer want a deck but a cat door would be cool so the boys don't tear up the screens.
The upshot? Well, Aaron is coming home, Emily was only an hour late signing a lease on another apartment, Leo is more excited about plans for the back porch (no deck) with a little more creativity on his part and I do believe all is right with the world at the moment. We also discussed plans for the sunroom rennovation off the living room for which we'll need a permit, soooo stay tuned, there just may be photos coming up as we progress through all this. Oh yeah, Liz didn't get too dizzy caught up in the middle of this and she did get a fresh bag of coffee beans with the entertainment. Not bad for a morning's work.
Posted by frani at 02:59 PM | Comments (4)
August 24, 2005
Fall is in the Air.......
Ok..I'm about to freeze to death and it's only in the 60s. Sixty degrees in March is cause for breaking out the shorts and sunscreen; today I'm resisting socks and a sweater. It's just not right!
Ok, you people...Liz is just itching for a home for those geese I saw leaning up against her garage...Thank goodness she is just as unmotivated as I am these days; hauling them all the way down to my house just isn't in her plan, besides, I've seen them! The shingling is done and weather sealed..next is "fixing" the porch, shoring it up and refitting doors and screening. This is all on the back of the house anyway so now I don't feel quite so bad about what the "mowtheirlawneveryotherdaygardenfanatic" neighbors have to look at. The rotted shingles where the old deck had been were a bit on the eyesore side. Well, maybe a few flamingo may be in order when it's all done.
Whew...the coffee bean supply was getting on the low side; less than 100 pounds, doncha know...I don't know how we slept at night with so low a stash. Hey some of what we had available for roasting was Indonesian stuff...I am still partial to the Central American coffees, myself. Whew...the maillady brought 15 pounds today, maybe now I can sleep. Ya know, I really didn't sleep well last night but I suspect it didn't have anything to do with our coffee supply.
Oh Oh! I realized this morning that with Fall comes the Champlain Valley Fair and with that comes...YES!...Maple Cotton Candy!! I'm soooo excited! Yum..
Posted by frani at 12:43 PM | Comments (2)
August 22, 2005
Home improvement...
Demian asked if we had taken photos...ok here's one.
So, we have the shingles all up. Well, Leo does anyway. He was here this morning putting on some sealer stuff but then he disappeared. He'll be back, I have no doubt. He sure is neat though, cleaning up after himself as he goes along. Good job, Leo.
In other news..there isn't any.
Happy Monday, All and make yourself a good week.
Posted by frani at 09:07 AM | Comments (4)
August 20, 2005
There IS a God...
Bahahahaha this made me laugh out loud! See? It just does not pay to travel in the left lane!
BRATTLEBORO -- A Connecticut couple was arrested Thursday after police uncovered $3,250 worth of heroin and crack cocaine inside their car.
Michael Story, 32, and passenger Keana Thigpen, 20, attracted police attention Thursday morning when they were spotted on Interstate 91 in Guilford driving "in the (northbound) passing lane with no vehicles anywhere near," a police affidavit states.
pppsssttt...I was looking for anything pertaining to the beating we witnessed on the way home last night. hrumph..I think I should be informed of the outcome since they asked so many questions about me. it's not like they can't find me now, ya know. They can even send me a brithday card!
Posted by frani at 01:41 PM | Comments (0)
Interesting...
Reminds me of a Chinese Riverdance...for your entertainment
Posted by frani at 10:32 AM | Comments (0)
Adventures in Traveling...
We're home safe and sound.......dark and dreary here this morning and I have a headache but it's still a good place to be. Oh yeah, my tenant has been gone for a week or more and her dog, Molly, has been whining. Hmmm, too bad Knoel doesn't like dogs or I'd bring her down here.
So I resolved my "ethical" dilemma over the merging issue on I-91. I just couldn't bring myself to join the right lane last minute mergers, nor did I want to sit in the left lane for an hour. We got off the interstate and drove through scenic downtown Deerfield then got back on after the merge. of course I have no idea if the tie up even existed but we had a pleasant detour at any rate.
Each trip seems to have it's big event with accidents or road rage or something..this trip was no different. As we passed a rest stop in VT we noticed 3 guys out of their van. One was standing there, one was on the ground and one was kicking him...repeatedly..and laughing. I didn't find it particularly amusing and I called 911. *I* got quite the 3rd degree but I'd do it again. ......and noooooooooooo, we didn't stop and were not still at the scene...are you nuts??
I think I need to get dressed and check out the neighbors garage sale. Hey ya never know what trash of theirs we'd treasure, ya know?
Have a good weekend all....
Posted by frani at 09:11 AM | Comments (2)
August 16, 2005
If it's Tuesday, are we in CT?
Yup. Getting here has become an irritation lately. I suspect the more we drive the same routes, the more we experience the American driver with all his/her faults. Sorry for yet another traffic rant. I can't even begin to tell you how much the left lane huggers irritate me...us. Sunday, I even suggested that traveling down the far right lane at our desired speed would be unobstructed because the left lanes were so congested. I was right for the last 15 miles or so...we only had to pull left to pass once or twice. Geesh.........
We experienced a new phenomenon last week...curves. Yes I said Curves...traffic has actually been reduced to a standstill because of curves in the interstate. All three lanes, mind you, so it wasn't just one person with a curve phobia...3 times it happened during the last stretch going south and a couple times going north ...weird.
Now I have a question....here's the situation: two lanes of road backed up for 3 miles or more...at one point there is a sign that says right lane closed two miles ahead. ( so obviously you know you have to pull left to merge.) The right lane continues to move faster than the left...obviously because everyone is eventually pouring into the left lane causing it to back up. But after a while it gets a bit irritating to BE in the left lane and seeing all these people driving by you and merging left at the last minute at the front of the line while you spend an hour in that left lane...what do you do?
Just asking....just ranting...just getting very tired of I-91 and construction.
Posted by frani at 08:12 AM | Comments (2)
August 12, 2005
TGIF again..
Hmmm seems as though I've been a slacker all week. Probably has to do with the fact that I haven't done much of anything blogworthy. Um, that's not to say that everything I write IS blogworthy but ya know what I mean..right right?
Since we've moved north by about 20 miles with our new hotel, I've had a whole new area in which to find my essentials, Groceries, bookstores, hanging out. So far it's been ok. I thought I needed a kayak for the reservoir but I haven't found a rental place as yet. It would be kind of cool to hang out on the water checking out the lily pads and the geese. I do have an inflatable boat ( 4 man zodiac) at home but I don't have the 4 men available to inflate it for me whenever I want. ( ta da dum!)sigh.
In the meantime, I spent the week doing some real work, reading, visiting my college roomie and driving back and forth to New Haven and finding gas stations! ack $2.65 for medium grade gasline???? What's the civilized world coming to??
We are going home for the weekend though so I'm doing laundry and packing up. We're keeping the hotel room over the weekend becasue we are coming back on Sunday so it's an easy packing...yea!
Would someone please tell me that the Error 10 message we are getting on the car cd player is an easy fix...and mean it??
Have a good weekend all..........
Posted by frani at 08:43 AM | Comments (1)
August 08, 2005
hhhmmm.......
I never got to finish the happiness post for yesterday.
The ride down the interstate was uneventuful...unless you want to hear about redoing the first 25 miles. Yup...right before the Middlesex exit I asked if we got the garment bag of clothes off the bed. Happiness is remembering right before driving by that exit..next exit, 5 miles.
Then the next happiness...well first we had to endure 4 hours of trying to get the high speed access at our New hotel to work. After a few phone calls to the help desk and three different rooms, we finally moved all out stuff to a new room. We finally headed out for some food at 8pm...happiness is having an unexpectedly good meal....and working HSIA. Next time we check the internet access before we unpack completely...we can learn from these things.
I'll let you all know how it goes with the Little League Regional Championships this week...some of the teams are staying here...oh yea, MY favorite...8-11 year old boys...NOT. Actually I've been underwhelmed by some older kids here at the hotel...we'll see. I just may need to go exploring the area instead of hanging out here. At least they don't go to breakfast when we do....;-D BTW...Vermont beat Maine yesterday. 2-1.
Have a good day all........
Posted by frani at 09:31 AM | Comments (0)
August 07, 2005
Sunday Stuff...
Happiness abounds over at Buzznet...he's doing a daily happiness check for the month of august and invited others to join. I'm a bit behind. I'll hop in starting with Aug 6th...happiness is a phone call from Maura and Kieran. I might have mentioned before how much they crack me up.
The kitties received snailmail from the vet..."Here Kitty Kitty..tie for your check-up" Imagine my surprise when I called (they don't use the phone much themselves, must be a paw issue) and got in the very same day! ~Elmo lost more weight; he's down to 18.2 pounds! They got their shots, I gave them $156 and after we got home, Knoel disappeared for nearly 24 hours and ~Elmo left for about 12 hours himself..without breakfast! I'm never had them get that upset nor react that badly to their shots before. hhhmmm....
Actually it's been quite an animal filled few days. Besides the kitties adventures, we "saved" Lizzies Dog Sheena from certain death as she was being mauled...well actually she was loose and in another dog's yard who got loose and the other dog grabbed her ear while she was running away and we just happened to be there to catch her and escort her home. Then Jasmine next door killed a skunk in her yard..nice, the stench is amazing. Of course for some reason ~Elmo found a spot for his repose yeaterday where he managed to pick up skunk stench on hhis coat. Great. ..and now we have a new dog in the neighborhood..Pepper...she's an escape artist too but that's fine with me...nice to chat with the neighbors from time to time.
Well, it's early enough in the day to save a happiness entry for later. In the meantime, it's packing/traveling day so I best hop to it. Have a good day all and pick out something about today that makes/made you happy.
Posted by frani at 08:19 AM | Comments (1)
August 02, 2005
Country mouse/City mouse....
Dear Mr/Mrs Brown Mouse....
I witnessed your confusion as you popped out from under the hood of my car. Unfortunately, I too, was somewhat startled by you and your frantic actions as you ran back and forth across my windshield. I'll never forget the look in your eyes as you slipped from view off the handle of the rear passenger door of my car. Sigh...someone should have warned you of the dangers of "mobile homes"...they just aren't safe.
Fran
PS...I hope you got home safely but if not at least you fell off in front of the very same car dealer from where we bought your last home. Of course you realize those are all potentially mobile homes as well. Good Luck and I wish you well....
Posted by frani at 04:01 PM | Comments (1)