Oh, by the way.

Well, about the repairs.

And so on Thursday, the plumbing company that the home warranty company uses here in town came over.  Only one plumber came this time.  Usually the company sends two, but in this case, it was one nice young man who had been assigned to make 11 calls that day.  They were that busy.

He was easily able to solve our slow-draining bathtub, and he made it so that we won't have that problem again.  We have too much hair, human and cat, in this house, to have any kind of mechanism in a tub or shower that catches and holds the stuff in the pipe.  Better that it just go on through, if it gets stuck downstairs in the big pipe, we have an outdoor clean-out.  Somewhere, we do.  We'd have to find it, it's overgrown now, but it is there.

We do not, however, have an individual outdoor clean-out for the kitchen sink.  The warranty company requires that kitchen sink stoppages be cleaned out from the outside, so you can't blame them for sink damage.  No snaking it from the inside, which i was afraid to do anyway, concerned i would push the onions further down the line and stop up more stuff.

Anyway, no clean-out for the sink, they cannot do it, not under the warranty.  They can, however, come back this next Tuesday with two people and a ladder and a machine and go through the vent in the roof.  That, and capping off the lines to the now completely irreparable dishwasher so we can remove it (the sink backup went into it and i will never be able to get it clean, and the pump was gone anyway) is going to cost a few of hundred dollars.

Meanwhile we have a big bowl in the sink that all water has to go into, and when it's full it has to be poured into a large pot, and when that's full it has to be taken outdoors and poured out.

Did i mention that Tuesday morning is also when i have an appointment to get some items on the Jalopy fixed?  Kevin has already ordered the parts.  The parts that need replacing would keep the Jalopy from passing inspection, so i'm glad they went out now, two months after this year's inspection was over, but still.  Yes, i could go until closer to the next inspection to get it done, but then the check engine light would stay on all of the time, and if something really went wrong with the engine, i'd never know unless i stopped to have them pull the codes every week, which i am not going to do to them they are already too nice to me for me to be bothering them like that.

Also yesterday, while i was waiting my turn to do laundry (yes, there are 7 adults currently in this house, we have to take turns), i heard a familiar dripping noise with a sinking feeling.  The A/C is stopped up and leaking again.

It's just the start of the leak, barely at all, but we have to get on this right now or we will lose the unit.  Yes, the warranty company would cover this, but for only $25 more than the deductible i can get Sweetie's old friend Kurt from where he used to work to come over and do it today, without having to wait a week to get scheduled, and he will also check over the whole unit and make sure there are no other problems.

The thing is, it could always be worse, and i know that, so i'm keeping up on my gratitude list, and remembering to breathe.  Also, to laugh.

"Mom, I have big plans for the 4th!" Bigger Girl told me.

What's up? i asked.

"I am going to see Jodie and Callie out in the country for a weekend of snakes, fireworks, and home-made redneck hooch!  And I promise all of those things will be had separately."

No matter what is going on, how can anyone not be grateful after hearing that?

Today is:

Adonia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (date approximate, but always in July, a ritual to honor Adonis)

Build a Scarecrow Day -- keep the crows out of that field of freshly growing corn out on the back 40!

Cherokee Green Corn Ceremony -- honoring maize goddess Selu with thanksgiving for the maize harvest; date approximate, as many towns set their own times to celebrate

Distressed Elves' Creditors' Day -- Fairy Calendar

Flag & Anthem Day -- Curacao

Freedom From Fear of Public Speaking Day -- as proposed by Beverly Beuermann-King, because you don't want to blow it when your big opportunity comes because you are afraid to speak out!

Hop A Park Day -- US (several years ago the Colleyville, Texas, Park and Recreation Commission started this celebration on the first Saturday of July, which is National Parks and Recreation Month; go visit a park today, or make plans to do it soon!)

I Forgot Day (the day to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, or other special days that you forgot during the first half of the year)

International Cherry Pit Spitting Championship -- Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm, Eau Claire, WI, US

International Day of Cooperatives -- U.N.

National Anisette Day

Palio di Provenzano -- Siena, Italy (horse race and pageant, named after the Madonna di Provenzano, whose church is in Siena)

Rebildfesten/Rebild Festival/American Independence Day Celebration -- Aalborg, Denmark (the town dresses in red, white and blue, celebrating with BBQ, American beer, and more; through the 4th)

Remember to Feed the Hummingbirds Day -- internet reminder to be nice to these beautiful creatures

Rockport Art Festival -- Rockport, TX, US (top artists from around the country line the waterfront today and tomorrow, with good music and good food to add to the fun)

Second Half of the Year Day -- because 2016 is a Leap Year, the second half of the year started at midnight

St. Swithin's Day (Patron against drought; of Stavenger, England; Winchester, England)

The Dam Experience -- Warsaw, MO, US (fireworks viewed from land and boat at the Truman Dam)

Tour de France -- through Sunday, July 24

Try to Find Your Slinky Day -- the weird holiday of the day!

Violin Lovers' Day

World UFO Day -- unfortunately, a real day observed by many around the world (on the "anniversary" of the UFO crash in Roswell, if such a thing even happened, which i doubt*) 

*i believe that if there's life elsewhere, it shows its intelligence by staying away from us!


Anniversary Today:

Prince Albert of Belgium marries Paola Ruffo di Calabria, 1959


Birthdays Today:

Lindsay Lohan, 1986
Ashley Tisdale, 1985
Johnny Weir, 1984
Jose, Jr., and Ozzie Canseco, 1964
Jimmy McNichol, 1961
Ron Silver, 1946
Vicente Fox Quesada, 1942
Richard Petty, 1937
Polly Holiday, 1937
Dave Thomas, 1932
Medgar Evers, 1925
Dan Rowan, 1922
Ken Curtis, 1916
Thurgood Marshall, 1908
Jean René Lacoste, 1904
Hermann Hesse, 1877
Thomas Cranmer, 1489


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Andy Williams Show"(TV), 1957
"The Lawrence Welk Show"(TV), 1955
"Finlandia"(Sibelius' Op. 26), 1900


Today in History:

Thomas Savery patents the first steam engine, 1698
Vermont  becomes the first American territory to abolish slavery, 1777
Charles J. Guiteau shoots and fatally wounds U.S. President James Garfield, who eventually dies from an infection on September 19, 1881
Twenty miles off the coast of Cuba, 53 rebelling African slaves led by Joseph Cinque take over the slave ship Amistad, 1893
Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi obtains patent for radio in London, 1897
The first zeppelin flight takes place on Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen, Germany, 1900
Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan are last heard from over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first equatorial round-the-world flight 1937
The first Wal-Mart store opens for business in Rogers, Arkansas, 1962
North and South Vietnam, divided since 1954, reunite to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 1976
The AbioCor  self contained artificial heart is first implanted, 2001
Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly solo around the world nonstop in a balloon, 2002
Planetoid Pluto's fourth and fifth moons officially receive the names Kerberos and Styx from the International Astronomical Union, 2013

What a Drip

"Uh, mom!  I hate to tell you this, but I just went down to the laundry room, and there's a dripping sound coming from the A/C closet again."

Yeah, i thought, i hate for you to tell me that, too, Little Girl.

Out loud, i just heaved a sigh and said, okay, and headed down there.

Sure enough, the A/C was dripping again.  The drain had reclogged.  So i bailed out the drip pan to make sure it wouldn't turn off, and called Kurt, the guy who works with Sweetie whose former job was in A/C repair.

It was a Saturday, so i didn't expect much.  Most single guys in their 20's, i figured, had weekend plans, so i was surprised when he answered and said he had nothing going and would be by in about an hour.  Monday after work would have been my best guess for the next time he would be available.

He ran by BigBoxHardware to buy a few things, and came prepared to clean the coils, the outdoor unit, and replace some of the drain to make any future clean-out easier.

While he worked, i dealt with the 13 kittens we have in the house.  They are a mess, with at least a few needing to be fed about every hour or so during the day.  Once you finish with some, it's only a few minutes until others start to beg.  It's a help that a few of them are starting to nibble the dry food and try to drink from the bowl.

Bigger Girl was running errands when it all began, and came home to give me my laugh of the day. 

"Mom, after seeing Miss Lizzie in the hospital this week, I've decided if I ever end up in a mental ward, I want to go to this one.  Their food looked really good, and it looked like it would be really easy to break out of!"

When i gave her an odd look, she said, "Oh, come on, mom, don't tell me you've never dreamed of breaking out of a mental hospital!"

As i laughed, Kurt came in.  He only asked for $80, but he had come on a Saturday when he could have been doing anything else, and he went to the store and bought supplies, and he saved me from having to try to deal with the warranty company again, so i gave him $100 that i scraped out of the food budget and scrounged from under the couch cushions.

All in all, it's been a week, and a new one starts today, and it's going to have a lot packed in, including an internal plumbing inspection.  That's right, i get to go for my first colonoscopy on Tuesday.

Depending on how this all works out, i might be the one hoping the food is as good at the hospital as Bigger Girl thinks.

Today is

Be Kind to Humankind Week:  Sacrifice Our Wants for Other's Needs Sunday

Birthday of Horus -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Discovery of the Runes/Odin's Ordeal ends -- Ancient Norse Calendar (date approximate)

Independence Day -- Uruguay(1825)

Kiss and Make Up Day -- a day begun by Jacqaueline V. Milgate to encourage people to make amends and repair relationships if they need to

National Banana Split Day -- some sites have it as Aug. 10

National Park Service Day -- US (legislation creating the National Park Service was signed this day in 1916 by President Wilson)

National Second-Hand Wardrobe Day -- pull out the hand-me-downs or thrift store purchases and wear them with pride!

Notting Hill Carnival -- Notting Hill, London, UK (through tomorrow, the 2nd largest street festival in the world)

Opiconsivia -- Ancient Roman Calendar, Vestal Virgin Festival in honor of Ops

Pony Express Festival -- Hollenberg Pony Express Station, Hanver, KS, US (reenacting life in the 1860's, including a real Pony Express ride)

Rumpleskunkskin's Bride Escapes to Heewigoland Anniversary -- Fairy Calendar (Fairy celebration, Goblins get grumpy)

Soldier's Day -- Brazil

St. Genesius of Arles' Day (Patron of notaries, secretaries; against chilblains, scurf)

St. Genesius of Rome's Day (Patron of actors, attorneys, barristers, clowns, comedians, comediennes, comics, converts, dancers, epileptics, lawyers, musicians, printers, stenographers and torture victims)

St. Louis, King of France's Day (King Louis IX; Patron of barbers, bridegrooms, builders, button makers, construction workers, Crusaders, difficult marriages, distillers, embroiderers, French monarchs, grooms, haberdashers, hairdressers, hair stylists, kings, masons, needle workers, parenthood, parents of large families, passementiers, prisoners, sculptors, sick people, soldiers, stone masons, stonecutters, tertiaries, trimming makers; Québec, Québec; Saint Louis, Missouri; Blois, France; Carthage, Tunisia; La Rochelle, France; New Orleans, Louisiana; Oran, Algeria; Saint-Louis, Haut-Rhin, France; Saint Louis, Missouri;`Versailles, France; Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Louis; against the death of children)

Whiskey Sour Day



Birthdays Today

Claudia Schiffer, 1970
Rachael Ray, 1968
Billy Ray Cyrus, 1961
Ann Archer, 1947
Regis Philbin, 1933
Sean Connery, 1930
Leonard Bernstein, 1918
Walt Kelly, 1913
Ruby Keeler, 1909
Clara Bow, 1905
Hans Adolf Krebs, 1900
Ludwig II, "Mad King" of Bavaria, 1845
Allan Pinkerton, 1819
Ivan the Terrible, 1530


Today in History

The Council of Nicaea ends with the adoption of the Nicene Creed, 325
The Children's Crusaders under Nicholas reach Genoa, 1212
The Honourable Artillery Company, the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most senior, is formed, 1537
Galileo demonstrates his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers, 1609
Hundreds of French settlers arrive in New Orleans, which had been founded only a few months before, marking its true beginnings as a city, not just an outpost, 1718
James Cook begins his first voyage, 1768
Alice Meynell becomes the first female jockey, in England, 1804
British forces destroy the Library of Congress, which then contained about 3,000 books, 1814
The New York Times perpetrates the Great Moon Hoax, 1835
Captain Matthew Webb becomes the first person to swim the English Channel unassisted, 1875
Kitasato Shibasaburo discovers the infectious agent of the bubonic plague and publishes his findings in The Lancet, 1894
The United States National Park Service is created, 1916
Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly nonstop across the US, 1932
US Army officer and missionary John Birch is killed by the armed supporters of the Communist Party of China, considered by some as the first victim of the Cold War, 1945
Zimbabwe joins the United Nations, 1980
Voyager 2 spacecraft makes its closest approach to Saturn, 1981
Tadeusz Mazowiecki is chosen as the first non-communist Prime Minister in Central and Eastern Europe, 1989
Mayumi Moriyama becomes Japan's first female cabinet secretary, 1989
The Tli Cho land claims agreement is signed between the Dogrib First Nations and the Canadian federal government in Rae-Edzo (now called Behchoko), 2003

Service?

My mornings start early, and yesterday was no exception.  It's no fun to start a morning by stepping into the laundry room, where the A/C unit is in the utility closet, and feel water.

It's happened for years, for many reasons, but i knew rain was not the cause, as it hasn't rained that much and i could hear the water dripping in the utility closet.

Ouch.  We live in a swamp, and summer can be awful without cool air.  Yes, people lived through summers here for years and years without it.  Yes, i'm pretty heat tolerant (until even i get so hot that my heart trouble bothers me).  Yes, we have limped through a couple of summers with only the one small room with the room unit A/C working and no central.  It's still not pleasant, and we are just not used to it.

So i put in the call early to the home warranty company to get on their list.  They then contact a local contractor, who is supposed to call me.

Only, the local contractor never called.  Not even a call to ask for information, much less to set up a service call.

We are blessed that Sweetie's work has an in house guy who used to work with an A/C company.  He comes each summer and cleans the outdoor unit, and tests it, and makes sure we are good for the summer, and for a lot less than a regular company charges.  When Sweetie told Kurt what was going on, he told us it had a simple solution, and offered to come by after work to fix it.

Now, i rather knew what the problem could be, or might be, because our old unit used to do this.  It meant a drain was clogged, and that it needed to be blown out and have some bleach poured down it to keep it clear.  When the old unit used to clog, i would dig out the garden hose, hook it up to the drain hose, and turn the water on.  That would clear it out every time.

With this unit, though, i'd never been shown how to access or clear the drain, which is a PVC pipe and not a hose, anyway.  So i decided to wait for someone to show me.

By the time Kurt got off work at 3:30pm, i still hadn't heard from the service contractor, but i hadn't canceled the call.  He came over, showed me how to clear the drain, put in the bleach, we changed the filter, and in under 20 minutes i had cool air again.

While bailing out the drip pan into the sump pump, we also managed to test the pump, and it worked great, also.  At least i now know it's still in good shape, if we ever do need it.

Instead of a deductible for a service call, i gave Kurt the $20 he asked for and told him that Sweetie will also treat him to lunch one day this week at work.  It's worth it, the deductible is much more than that.

Then i called the warranty company and told them, politely, that their contractor never even bothered to call me, and that i was not best pleased with their service.  Also that i no longer needed the service that day, and that it was a good thing, too, as i was not enjoying the symptoms i was beginning to have.

Today, i am very grateful that, although i spent a most unpleasant afternoon being so hot that i couldn't even cook, our A/C is working again, and i now know how to clear the drain myself, and keep it clear.



Today is

Always Live Better Than Yesterday Day

Cotton Candy Day

Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola -- (Founder of the Jesuits, especially revered in Spain; Patron of retreats, soldiers, and the Society of Jesus which he founded; Basque country; Bilbao, Spain; Bizkaia, Spain; Gipuzkoa, Spain; Guipuscoa, Spain; Guipúzcoa, Spain; Spiritual Exercises (by Pope Pius XI); Vizcaya, Spain)

Friendship Festival -- Lathrop, Missouri, US (this year's theme is "Mule Dynasty"; through Saturday)

Hachinohe Sansha Taisai -- Hachinohe City, Japan (one of the most elaborate neputa festivals, through Aug. 4)

Halifax International Busker Festival -- Halifax, NS, Canada (with  action packed, mind blowing shows from around the globe; through August 5)

Jump for Jellybeans Day

Ka Hae Hawai'i Day -- Hawai'i (State Flag Day)

Lammas Eve / Lughnassad Eve

Lithasblot -- Norse harvest festival with a "blot", or offering, to the gods, celebrated through tomorrow

Loki and Sigyn's Day - Asatru / Norse Pagan (aka Devoted Couples Day)

Maine Lobster Festival -- Rockland, ME, US (more fun than a lobster can shake a tail at; through Sunday)

Make Homemade Ice Cream and Invite the Neighbors Over Day -- summer's almost over, make the most of the days we have left!

Moby Dick Marathon -- aboard the last US wooden whaler, the Charles W. Morgan, Mystic Seaport, Mystic, CT, US (through tomorrow, from noon to noon, a marathon reading of Moby Dick in honor of Melville's birthday)

Mutts' Day -- because mutts deserve a day as much as purebreeds do!

National Raspberry Cake Day

St. Germanus' Day (Patron of Auxerre, France)

St. Joseph of Arimathea's Day -- Eastern Orthodox Church (Patron of funeral directors)


Birthdays Today

Eric Lively, 1981
Dean Cain, 1966
J.K. Rowling, 1965
Jim Corr, 1964
Wesley Snipes, 1962
Bill Berry, 1958
Michael Biehn, 1956
Evonne Goolagong, 1951
Barry Van Dyke, 1951
Geraldine Chaplin, 1944
Ted Cassidy, 1932
Curt Gowdy, 1919
Milton Friedman, 1912


Today in History

Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide, BC30
The oldest recorded eruption of Mt. Fuji, 781
Thessalonica falls to the Arabs, who destroy the city, 904
The Jews are expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree takes effect, 1492
On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus
becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad, 1498
Aurangzeb is proclaimed Moghul emperor of India, 1658
The Treaty of Breda ends the Second Anglo-Dutch War, 1667
Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers, 1703
The U.S. Second Continental Congress passes a resolution that the services of Marquis de Lafayette  "be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions[sic], he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States," 1777
First U.S. patent is issued to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process, 1790
Christchurch, New Zealand is chartered as a city, 1856
The first narrow gauge mainline railway in the world opens at Grandchester, Australia, 1865
The radio mystery program The Shadow is aired for the first time, 1930
Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius in Persepolis, 1938
First ascent of K2, by an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio, 1954
At Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, the first All-Star Game tie in major league baseball history occurs when the game is stopped in the 9th inning because of rain, 1961
The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy, 1970
Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover, 1971
NASA releases the famous Face on Mars photo, 1976
A rare, class F4 tornado rips through Edmonton, Alberta, killing 27 people and causing $330 million in damage, 1987
Georgia joins the United Nations, 1992
Fidel Castro hands over power temporarily to brother Raúl Castro, 2006
Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end, 2007