Almost the first day of winter

It's snowing in the township. 

 And on our drive and car.

The nerve!

We have the happiest sparrows for acres around.

In the morning the pear tree is full of sparrows,

waiting a turn.

The chickadee and the junco have not found their way back.

A fine Bazaar

For a couple of weeks I have passed the demure sign on the left,

announcing the Community Christmas Bazaar

to be held today, at our town hall.

Laura and I were there when it opened.

Our new road super had a hand in this.

Isn't he something.

We passed him in the hall, whistling while he worked.

There were more vendors this year,

everywhere we looked.

This is the township administration office,

converted for the day.

Someone you know is considering.

I bought ringing bells for our front door knob,

some more ornaments,

a Christmas sheep.

 I think Toby finds him extra interesting, so he's hanging with the stockings.

And some soap.

Now, this is scary

Dan and Joe came to fix the plumbing leak this morning. It was right there under the sink. Dan even raised the foot on one side of the dishwasher to make it level and stop the door from binding.

As I always do, I took a picture of them on their hands and knees, working. You know, illustrated stories. Didn't think any more of it until an hour or so later. I was visiting with a friend, and my phone made a new ping.

I took a look, and wound up appalled. My phone was offering to let me share a photo with an apparent Google circle entity at the location the photo was taken. That circle member was identified as the management company of my mobile home complex. 

Still baffled, as I could not make out the picture from the thumbnail, I tapped for the full offer, and there was a picture of Dan and Joe, fixing the leak. I would never have used the picture; it was rude. But, Google looked at a picture on my phone, associated it with the location and wanted to post it to their employer's Google circle.

And, that is frightening.

At my Thanksgiving gathering, one guest and I were chatting about the intrusion of intelligence into our lives. She told me that "they" listen to phone conversations, and then flood your internet with ads relating to subjects or products you might have discussed. I was skeptical.

After today, I think I will enlist a friend to help me conduct a test and find out if we're watching Home Depot and Victoria's Secret spots streamed down both sides of our computer screens after we chat them up.

I have one more subject for today. I cannot think of a category for this one. When Dan and Joe came in this morning, about nine, Dan complained it was cold. But, he complains about everything. I knew I'd just turned the heat up from my overnight 62 degrees, and blew him off.

When I came in from work at two this afternoon, Dan was right. It was cold in here. Sixty two and sinking. Management sent the dynamic duo right back. Joe ran back and forth for tools; Dan lay on his stomach in my small laundry room, testing out theories with volt meters.

Here is the conclusion. The red wire from the thermostat to "the board" in the furnace is shorted. "Some fool" probably stapled it down ( they could not pull it more than a foot out of the wall at the thermostat) instead of letting it lay loose "up there," and a probable nick has shorted through.  It cannot be fixed until tomorrow, when "Chip" can come a pull a new wire. Shame that fool stapled it down, else a new one could be pulled along the same route.

Dan and Joe went to the office and returned with two space heaters for us. They put one in the kitchen and one in the living room. After supper we turned them on, to warm up the house before bedtime. We promptly popped a breaker. We unplugged the kitchen heater; Nancy Drew located the breaker in a flash and put it back in order.

Looks like we'll be sharing the cat tonight.

Nancy Drew knows

There are two bathrooms in our new digs. Mine sprung a leak, and it’s not my problem.

In the old house, eventually I might come across a piece of plywood nailed down, and on investigating find it was to repair a leak that no one knew how to resolve in another way. It became my problem to ascertain the cumulative damage and find the repair people needed.

But, now it’s not my problem.

A while back I found water on the floor. I cleaned it up, and kept an eye on it. It didn’t happen when I used the shower. It didn’t happen when I flushed the toilet. I decided a washcloth I’d hung over the tub to dry had dripped, mopped up the puddle and forgot it.

Sunday we had company. Sunday evening I found a puddle. I cleaned it up and wondered if it came from the shower I took that morning. In the middle of the night the puddle was back, and by yesterday morning soaked the towel I threw over it.

I called management, and Dan and his helper Joe were dispatched.

Dan surveyed the puddle. He flushed the toilet. The puddle did not increase. He filled the tub with water and drained it. The puddle did not increase. He and Joe went outside and “pulled a panel.” No wet insulation. He came back in, mopped up the puddle and told me to be more careful.

The floor was dry all day.

I was home yesterday. My six year old battery went toes up; I had to wait for a jump. That failed. They sent a Jerr-Dan. Right in front of my house, the Jerr-Dan went toes up. Not my problem. Dan and Joe trailing about looking for a water leak helped ameliorate my car frustration. AAA sent a new Jerr-Dan and Dan and Joe left.

I did spend an hour at Goodyear, having my battery replaced. Got home five minutes before the kid, and counting the day a total waste, just hung out for the rest of the night. Bathroom floor was dry, until after a lovely supper of rigatoni in homemade chicken Alfredo. Nicely plated. And, we ran the dishwasher.

Nancy Drew looked at the puddle and puzzled, and realized the common denominator was the dishwasher on the other side of the bathroom wall. It ran on Sunday, after company, and ran last night, after supper.

I went to work today, after the long weekend plus Monday. I stopped at the office on my return and made an appointment to have Dan come tomorrow morning to look at all the towels in the bathtub. I’ll start the dishwasher when he calls to say he’s on the way.

July 20th was 19 weeks ago

It's over for another year. I have Saturday's back.The band uniform is at the dry cleaner for the last time.  Saturday's don't start for real until next week, though. It was Saturday when I went to bed last night. 

It was nearly noon when we stumbled out the door today to take on Saturday shopping. Miss Less Awake than I rummaged in the back end of the car for several minutes before she handed me the shopping bags. She won't carry "granny" shopping bags into the store.

Our market is one of those new build warehouse sized emporiums so beloved of millennials. It's simply a rebranded Giant Eagle. Too big for me; Laura heads off with the shopping list and I wait on the wrong side of the registers until she finally comes down the chute and is directed to a lane. "Please proceed to Lane 13!

This time Laura sorted out a red bag and a green, in honor of the season. Her best laid plans went awry; we still came home with a couple of plastic bags.

After lunch, we set out to find some more ornaments and the star to top the tree. I thought about this over the week and decided on a garden center. They specialize in seasonal decorations, and seemed a great idea. One block down the road I had a moment! Why was I heading across town when we have a fine nursery across the street.

We bought a wreath, all the rest of the ornaments, and a star for the top of the tree.

Toby is happy to keep watch over the tree now. No more hiding underneath.