Wanted

Roofer

Proficient, reliable, willing to work with me on an inexpensive bill.

My roof is leaking.  Has been.  I thought I had someone to help but it turns out he is far too busy with his legitimate business.  Yeah, I’m not really family but I was promised the family discount and payment schedule.  Sadly that also gets   I can’t even manage a return call this week.

me the family work schedule.

In case you’ve been living in even more isolation than I generally do, it’s been raining.  A lot.  With more to come.  And, as I just mentioned, my roof is leaking.  Every time I go into the room below the leak I remind the ceiling it belongs where it is and that it would be very unhappy on the floor.  Perhaps not quite as unhappy as I would be to come home and find it on the floor but I’m certain it would not enjoy it.  From its current vantage point, it can gaze out the window, watch the comings and goings in the neighborhood, fraternize with the birds that fly by.  From the floor’s perspective it would see nada.  Yes, better to stay put.

Which brings me back to how this started.  I need a good roofer who will come and fix it.  SOON!!!  Before my head explodes.

A Confession...

I grew up in the middle of nowhere.  When I was a kid, there were no lights beyond our house.  There was an abandoned amusement park surrounded by woods so there was literally nothing in the direction one of my bedroom windows faced.  Nights I couldn't sleep, when there were no scary things stirring in the haunted house where I lived, I could lie in my bed and watch for falling stars.  I fell asleep to the sounds of nature, with an occasional train whistle echoing in the distance when the wind and mist were just right.

Needless to say, moving into the city changed all that.  It only took a few months to "destroy" my yard and replace the scruffy grass with flowers.  One thing I missed tremendously were spring violets.  So me, being me, went back to that original house and dug some to transplant.  Twenty-some odd years later there are violets all over the neighborhood.  A good thing as I see it.  Just because one lives in a dirty, downtrodden city it does not mean one must do without spring beauty.

I also got a Praying Mantis egg sack that first year and have seen many, many throughout the years, another very good thing.

Today's Dose of Cuteness

The Mighty Quinn

Kya & Beau

My Evening

I was happily lounging at my part-time job this evening, having reached the point where things were settled and I could read, Joe Coomer’s One Vacant Chair, a most excellent book, when I heard dripping.  Behind me.  

I looked and indeed, there was water coming through the ceiling.  A moment later there was more.  And more.  I arranged the three trash cans at hand, taking out the liners to have more coverage.  I moved the cardboard box holding the recycled newspapers.  I moved the plastic mail bin.  No, neither of those was watertight but they were better than nothing.

I called maintenance and apologized for disturbing his evening but there was water pouring through the ceiling.  By then it was A LOT OF WATER!  He doesn’t really know me yet so he called a coworker to come check if I was serious.  Honestly, the expression on her face when she saw the volume of water pouring behind me while I stood in the dark, having turned off the lights because by then there was water in them as well, was the most priceless thing I’ve seen in ages.  It was classic!  She turned and ran, I’m guessing to return his call and say, hell yes, get in here!

I also called a coworker upstairs and asked if she could somehow stop the flow.  Um no, not entirely.  There was at least an inch of water on the floor so I’d just have to wait it out.

I moved all the electrical gizmos and the project I had completed earlier.  And then I went back to my duties, since of course that was then people decided to call and need assistance.  In the dark.  With a LOT of water pouring around me.  (I found the pic online.  It's not bad but there was MUCH more water coming through the ceiling where I was.)

It was down to a trickle when he arrived.  After checking upstairs to ensure the source was definitely off he came down to deal with it.  He decided to risk the lights so he could see what was what.  And then was amazed by the amount of water I’d actually managed to contain.  As in GALLONS of it.

Heh.  I bet next time I call after hours he just comes, without bothering to get someone else to confirm that there is truly a need first.  So.  How was your evening?

A Question

In the wee hours this morning, Harry attempted to convince me that he needed to be fed.  They tend to eat early but not that early.  And there is dry food available at night so he was really not starving.  Generally, if I can snag him and hold on long enough, he will relax and snuggle with me for an hour until it really is time to feed him.

I managed to capture him before he got the others stirred up.  He was purring as I drifted back to sleep.  Good, right?  Perhaps.

I was dreaming that I was sleeping.  And Harry wanted to eat.  And that I got him to curl back up with me for a bit.  We were in my bed, in my house.  Only the covers were all wrong which is how I knew I was dreaming.

So here’s my question.  If you dream you are sleeping comfortably while you are sleeping comfortably do you get double the sleep as you would if you were merely sleeping?

Tree Study

No, I can't decide which I like best.  That's why I kept playing with it.  Thoughts?

Original

Holga-ish

Zoomed

Modified Sepia

There Be Monsters Here

Happy Birthday Beau!

Can you believe it?  Beau is four!

Happy Weekend, All!

Ha!

Every now and then I stumble across something that doesn't completely suck.  Thank you, avast! for having the class that microsoft does not.  Go here to see what I'm rambling about.

Lookee!

 

I made a new friend.  His name is Harding.  He's a very handsome corn snake who seemed quite content to spend some time twining around my hand.

 

Yes, it really is my hand he's wrapped around!

Never Underestimate...

Howie is home! He needed an alternator. Gulp. It'll be okay. I will come up with a plan B for paying my property taxes. When the garage called to say he was ready they also gave me some bad news. The radio was no longer functional. Something about needing to enter a reset code and not being able to because the previous owner destroyed one of the buttons. Hrm. Okay. They are forgetting that this is Howie. He likes the radio on long trips. Soon as I hopped in I switched on the radio. Works just fine, as expected. Yay Howie!

Odd

This morning I noticed a mini bumble attacking a big bumble. Look closely and you will see him sitting on the other's head. What is that all about? There are plenty of flowers for them to share.

Enough!

Howie is dead. Again. The nice tow truck man got him started and sent us off to have the battery tested. The good news - the battery is fine. The bad news - the alternator failed the test. Fingers crossed for him please that it's only the wire connecting the two.  We're already passed the point where we can't take any more of this.

Hope your weekend started out better than mine.

Writers are Artists