Allergies, Appliances and Playing Detective, a Random and Happy Tuesday Post

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It's time once again for a random and happy Tuesday, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked and Sandee at Comedy Plus.  

I had quite a day planned yesterday, and it mostly worked.  Mostly because i did, but there you go, right?

Joking aside, i was to go to Carl's get it started, go to Ms. G's and take care of the critters, go back and finish at Carl's, then pick something up at the store, go to Ms. D's, then to Ms. JAI.

Yes, it gets complicated.  Especially when i get to Carl's and find this.

He's back to no bag in the can.

You can always tell when he's been to the dentist recently by the fact is starts up again using dental floss.

Clothes tied up with dental floss.

And leaving it tangled up in everything, as he seldom actually removes the piece he's using from the rest of the floss in the container.

The washer, thankfully, was on a wash cycle so i dried everything in the washer and washed everything in the sink.

Of course, he doesn't go to work at 7am any longer, he goes in at 9am, so he wants to nap a while in the sleep chair when i arrive.  I told him i'd be running "an errand" and if  it was time to shower and i was gone, to just shower all his clothes, towels, etc., would be in there waiting for him.

He nodded that he understood, then picked up an extra pajama bottom to wrap around his pillow (he likes the feel of the pjs better than the feel of the pillowcase).  He stopped, sniffed the pj bottom, and dropped it on the floor with, "I guess I can just sleep on the pillow..."

It was time to turn my attention to making sure he had everything in the bathroom he'd need to shower and dress.  There were shoes scattered everywhere, but the three closest to each other were all left shoes.  The right ones were elsewhere.  My guess is he kicks off the left first, walks a few steps, kicks off the right.

He was also almost out of clean underwear.  He has almost 2 dozen pair, and as i say each week, i leave him with every pair clean except the ones he's in.  That's talent, i guess.

Once i was sure he could shower, i ran over to Ms. G's, just across the highway in the next neighborhood.  I got April and Sassy fed, squirrels and birds fed, everyone watered and litter boxes cleaned and brought in mail and newspaper.  The whole routine takes about 45 minutes and Carl must have awakened because as i was about to head back, he sent me a text message from his father's phone.

"Could ya bring back a biscuit or some granola?"

Um, there's no store between there and here, i have a busy day with no time to run over to where there is a store or a fast food place, i think he can make do with what's in the house.

In fact, do not feel sorry for him for my heart heartedness in not running such an errand.  For breakfast, he had two kinds of cereal, oatmeal, yoghurt, applesauce, orange juice and that's just what i saw after i got back.

I'm sure he had plenty.

Once done with breakfast, he was his usual chatty self as he got ready to leave.

"They called me in to work my days off last week and kept me late!  And I can't get two-step verification to work."

I asked what he's trying to verify.  "The work app."  Hmmm, can't help there, i told him.

He kept doing his usual allergy cough he does all the time and at one point confirmed my notion that i should only dry my hands on paper towels when i'm there as he grabbed the towel by the sink to blow his nose, then put it back.  Then he muttered, "Allergy pill," and wandered off to find one.

Once he had put his ice chest (i'd packed it) in the car, he asked, "What can I do?"

My answer, go to work.  "Going to work," he said, and walked out.  I knew that wasn't the end of it, and i was right as he came back in a minute later to grab some wet ones wipes.

"Need to clean the car," he said.  Good luck with that.

I did, for certain, get the room done.

Then i stopped at the store for something they were out of, and rushed off to Ms. D's.

Over the past two weeks since i've seen her, the whole world, or her portion of it, has beaten a path to her door.  Two relatives from "down on the bayou," one great nephew, one great niece, have come up here to attend the university.

While moving into dorms and getting settled, family members were in and out, up and about, and there was always a commotion.

Also, her daughter had come to visit, and they'd gone through the attic and the utility room, and look! she'd found the old stereo with a cassette deck in it, and could i help her figure out how to work it?

Sure i could, and i asked her what else she needed done now everyone was presumable settled and in their places.

"You can take the sheets off the bed, but I can't wash them, the washer's broken."

Oh, noes!

What happened?

"It's off balance, it was making an awful racket, a towel got on one side and it walked itself all over and it was a mess!"

Wait, i asked.  You were digging in the utility room, did you move or shift the washer?  They usually don't just suddenly come unbalanced.

"We may have."

Aha, i thought.  It's not broken, they moved it a fraction, just enough so it would rock a bit, and then it went sideways when the towel got on one side.

I went to the utility room, moved the washer back over to where it usually is, about a foot over, leaned it back and turned one of the little feet at the bottom and set it down, it was steady and didn't rock.  We ran some water into it and did a drain and spin cycle, and voila! it's working again.

She had been on the verge of calling a repair person.  All she needed was a janitor who is also a household disaster detective.

Yes, i also showed her how to get the stereo and cassette player to work.  She's got old cassettes she hasn't heard in years.

Ms. JAI was next on the list, and she was telling me, "I have no A/C in my car!"

Sounds like my life, i thought, as i don't have A/C in GusGus die Fledermaus either.

"I bought the freon, but I can't get anyone to come put it in, and I can't drive to the mechanic, it's too hot!"

Go to the mechanic first thing in the morning, i suggested.

"That's when I sleep!" she said.

Okay, then.  Meanwhile, what needs to be done today.

Floors is her standard answer, and floors it was this day, too.

But first, she had a splinter in her finger and it was starting to fester.

"I guess it will just work its way out."

No, it won't, that's a myth.  Time to put on my Dr. Mom hat.  Flashlight, check.  Cell phone camera set to magnify, check.  Sewing needle washed clean, check.

She sat and held the flashlight, i held the camera and needle and gently pushed the splinter back in the direction in which it entered.  It cooperated and now the area should heal up.

She was also telling me she had an electrical problem.

"The outlet in the garage where I plug in my toaster and other small appliances isn't working!"

I nodded sympathetically, and started dustmopping floors.  When i got to the guest bedroom there was no electricity in there, either.

Time to again put on the detective hat and see if we can figure this out.

The breaker had tripped, but it wasn't thrown all the way, just a little, meaning it's hard to tell.  And the whole thing has a GFCI plug on one wall.  I reset the breaker, she pushed the reset button on the GFCI, and we had juice again.

I warned her against plugging in too many appliances at once, did the cleaning, and managed to use back roads to get home, as the freeway was both impossible and impassable, there'd been another major accident.

These funnies cheered me when i found them yesterday, i hope they cheer you, too.

Have a blessed and beautiful Tuesday, everyone!

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It's my month to provide the prompts for Words for Wednesday.  Since it becomes Wednesday in some parts of the world while it is still Tuesday here, i am providing the prompts now so you can work on them and post them when it's Wednesday where you are.

This week the prompts are:

convince

education

slice

decide

craft

family

and/or the following phrases

beating a dead horse

on the ropes

wake up call

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Today is:

Bad Hair Day -- birth anniversary of Don King

Birth of the White Buffalo -- Lakota Native American rituals honoring the birth of the White Buffalo in 1994, signaling the return of the White Buffalo Woman (manifestation of the Star Goddess Wohpe), who gave them the sacred peace pipe

Dial the Phone Day -- the first rotary dial phone patent was applied for by A. E. Keith, John Erickson, and Charles Erickson on this day in 1896

Feast of Asma -- Baha'i

Gai Jatra -- Kathmandu Valley, Nepal (cow festival, celebrated in remembrance of all people who have died in the previous year; one of Nepal's most popular festivals with tourists)

Independence From USSR Day -- Estonia

Lemonade Day

Moon's Birthday -- Aztec Calendar (according to some websites, but i haven't confirmed it; if you want something to celebrate, this is as good as anything else)

National Chocolate Pecan Pie Day

National Radio Day -- on the day WWJ(AM) radio first signed on in Detroit in 1920, one of the earliest news broadcast stations

Revolution Day -- Western Sahara

Revolution of the King and People -- Morocco

St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Day (Patron of bees and beekeepers, candle makers, wax refiners; Burgundy, France; Cistercians; Gibralter; Queens College, Cambridge, England; Speyer Cathedral)

Stop and Smell Your Dog Day -- and, depending on the results, maybe even Give Your Dog a Bath Day

St. Stephen's Festival --  Budapest, Hungary (National Day for all of Hungary)

Thoth orders the healing of the Eye of Horus -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Urs Festival of Hazrat Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai -- Sindh, Pakistan (the grand three day festival of Sindh, celebrating this famous Sundhi Sufi scholar, mystic, and saint)

Virtual Worlds Day -- internet generated, as well it should be

World Mosquito Day -- commemorates the day Dr. Ronald Ross discovered the link between mosquitoes and malaria in 1897

Birthdays Today:

Amy Adams, 1975

Tara Dakides, 1975

Jan Allen, 1956

Theresa Saldana, 1955

Al Roker, 1954

Robert Plant, 1948

Connie Chung, 1946

Don King, 1931

Jim Reeves, 1924

Jacqueline Susann, 1921

Eero Saarinen, 1910

Edgar Albert Guest, 1881

H.P. Lovecraft, 1880

Eliel Saarinen, 1873

Benjamin Harrison, 1833

Bernardo O'Higgins, 1776

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"1812 Overture"(Tchaikovsky Op. 49), 1882

Today in History:

Hungary is established as a kingdom by Stephen I, 1000

The Dutch bring the first African slaves to the colony of Jamestown, VA, 1619

The Spanish establish the presidio that will be the town of Tuscon, Arizona, 1775

The Lewis and Clark "Corps of Discovery", exploring the Louisiana Purchase, suffers its only death when sergeant Charles Floyd dies, apparently from acute appendicitis 1804

Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" debuts in Moscow, 1882

Rotary Dial telephone is patented, 1896

The Big Blowup, a huge fire in the Northwestern US, burns 3 million acres, 1910

Adolphe Pegoud makes the first parachute jump from an airplane, 1913

Stainless steel is first cast, 1913

WJM,8Mk, Detroit, becomes the first commercial radio station to start daily broadcasting, 1920

UK becomes the first to use radar, 1940

Plutonium's weight determined, 1942

Launch of Voyager 2, 1977

George and Joy Adamson, the Born Free conservationists, are gunned down by poachers, 1989

The Oslo Peace Accords are signed in Norway, 1993

The Supreme Court of Canada rules that Quebec may not secede from Canada without federal government approval, 1998

As part of ongoing political reforms, the government of Myanmar announces it will end media censorship, 2012

Measles cases reach a record high in Europe with 41,000 infected in the first six months of 2018 and 37 deaths according to WHO, 2018

NASA confirms it is planning the Clipper Mission to Jupiter's moon Europa to take off in 2025 to explore the moon's oceans and find out if it can harbor life, 2019 

Misuzulu ka Zwelithini is crowned the new Zulu King at KwaKhangelamankengane Palace in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa, 2022

In a referendum, Ecuador votes against drilling for oil in Yasuni National Park, a world biosphere reserve inhabited by indigenous groups in the Amazon, 2023