C.J. Cherryh's Blog, page 115
July 22, 2012
Walking for health…we has to…
It gets so very hot in Spokane it’s horrid to try to walk anywhere…and I am NOT a walking type. But Jane needs to…she really does. So…we made a try at it. But Jane got an acid attack about 3 blocks out and we power-walked back to get her home. OMG. There is a difference. We have decided that this probably is a good thing, but my poor legs are really protesting. What we’re going to do is stroll out about 3 blocks daily, then do exactly that until we can really put on the burn. It does cut down the time it takes to go walkies. And my new sunglasses help: Spokane’s summer sun angle is fierce, and if you don’t wear sunglasses it’s downright painful. To heck with fashion sunglasses: I picked up some polarized ones at a service station on our last trip, and I am guarding these against scratches and mischance: they are light, comfy, and really nix the glare.
So wish us luck. We’re off on another diet—this one reducing portion sizes considerably and doing the power-walk thing to try to get in shape to get back on the ice this fall.
Got one of the chairs…
It’s a little alarming. Lean back and all of a sudden it really goes back, but it’s very comfy. The relief to my lower back from shedding the former seat-set is immense. And it went to a good home, some generously-sized people who will, I think, find it very comfy. You need to be big to have that set work for you. Smaller-gauged people tend to settle to a center spot which just kind of sinks lower and lower as the foam conforms, and then your back hurts. But the mechanism is quite sound, and the fabric is in good condition, give or take a few kitty claw-punctures on the vinyl. No clawing, just itty-bitty-kitty punctures. It turned out the people across the street were having a garage sale—and we were able to offload both massive pieces right the day after we’d bought two replacements. We’re saving the curtains for the church across the street’s garage sale next spring, but there was just no place to store the chairs even for a week, let alone long-term!
The replacement of those black oversized chairs with much smaller-scale beige ones makes our living room feel much lighter, too, with more room. Granted the biggest thing in it is Shu and Sei’s cat tree, this is going to be much nicer!
July 21, 2012
Perhaps a little off-color, but Sei is pooping rainbows…
This is the first cat I have ever had who eats things: if it falls on the floor, even if it is not food…Sei will possibly nab it and eat it.
We had a strand of green corrugated Christmas ribbon turn up when we moved the chairs. Eight inches of green 1/4 inch corrugated Christmas ribbon. I chased that cat through three rooms and couldn’t get hold of him to prevent him swallowing that ribbon.
When I did finally catch him he was licking his chops and quite smug about it all.
24 hours later, yep…
July 20, 2012
The living room chairs finally gave out: ditto the bathroom plumbing…
False economy will get you in the end. The inexpensive living room chairs we got—have finally had the foam collapse in the seats, and gotten our backs so out of alignment we’re limping and gimping about and really feeling the pain in the evenings when we should be trying to relax. So, say I, enough. We bite the bullet and get these chairs replaced while we can still walk. THe only thing we’re going to miss is the cute beverage holders and the drop-compartment between the two seats.
Enter… as we finally leave to go shopping…the worst storm of the season, with torrential downpour. As we’re shopping, we come upon one store that was having a sidewalk sale, and had to get its sofas and chairs in—to the detriment of this central unit for a set of chairs that is, yes, two cupholders and a drop compartment that could not be more soaked if they had dropped it in the Spokane river and floated it a mile. Well, the thing had been a couple of hundred dollars—before the storm. Now it’s twenty dollars. Just been soaked. We can dry it out. It’s grey. We think. But we can reupholster it to anything, and if the foam goes bad, we can fix that too. The structure is there.
And after trying cheap chairs all over Spokane, we happen onto a Lazy-Boy sale in which we got two chairs that put the others in the shade. Comfy. Better cushions. It was our day.
Meanwhile Jane has been saving us nearly enough money to pay for, well, half the shopping trip: our toilet tank seal was going, and clever Jane knows how to do this. I had no idea how the tank came off. After much WD-40 and no little cussing, we have it, we have a new seal kit and float, and Jane nearly has it done. The bolts had absolutely corroded on, and to Jane’s utter outrage, whoever installed it had just used any old bolt and washer he had on the truck. We got a Kohler replacement bolt set for our Kohler outfit, and we will be better than before, and no more leak.
So no more limping about. And no more leak. Jane is so clever. I know how to plumb water systems for ponds and fish tanks, but I’ve never gotten into the porcelain end of things. We had a heckuva deluge as cold air met the muggy wet air that felt like 90 degrees and 90 percent humidity. Now there’s a chance our bargain console may dry out.
July 19, 2012
apropos of the spammer discussion…
I hope they take a little expertise off the street for a long, long time… as ‘t were.
New coffeepot, big success.
I don’t like glass coffee pots. They spill, they break, and the coffee overheats, etc. etc.
I have since about 2000 used the Hamilton Beach Brewstation, and liked its press-pour tech (coffee is held brewed into a tank-dispenser, and dispenses by the pressure of a cup against the trigger.) BUT—these machines clog (a tiny non-replaceable filter screen gets deposits nothing can remove.) And spill (a coffee grain gets wedged into the dispenser, and if you don’t notice it, and wash it clear, you get a full tank of coffee poured onto your countertop.
So—a wonderful machine with issues. I have replaced them about every 2 years.
Enter…finally…Cuisinart, which does a far better engineering job. Similar, but with a tank you can lift out and fill. With a deeper filter basket that does not let grounds loose in the system. With a very clean delivery system (you set your cup on a tray, push a button, a light comes on over the cup to show you where you are, and a neat float gauge shows you how much coffee you have left. There’s a clean cycle, which is run on simple white vinegar. And it makes good coffee. I investigated a Keurig system, but at my rate of coffee consumption, I could go through 10-20.00 a day in little cups.
Happy here. Cheaper than a Keurig, and so is the coffee. It will not create the number of messes of spilled water and coffee that the HB did, and Jane (who does not drink coffee) will be very happy too!
July 18, 2012
a new mail service has just delivered us a spammer whose first language is not English.
…and I must say, whose spam was not even coherent. If you are using ymail, and actually want to be a member of this site, please post and let me know. My default is to put ymail on the banned list, unless it proves a legitimate mail origin used by people who are not discussing red underwear. That was quite bizarre.
July 17, 2012
Downbelow Station now up on Audible.com
report from BCS, thank you. Btw, audible works on kindles, pcs, macs, smartphones and devices powered by android and the like. A nice audiobook makes long drives shorter.
July 16, 2012
And just to provide some reading material while we’re glitchy…
Another Martian rover—this one with the wildest landing routine since Mack Senett did films…
Martian Rover: even NASA calls it scary: the equivalent of dropping a Yukon on Mars
Domain may be glitchy for 48 hours…
I’m doing some long-postponed site upkeep—well, be honest, Lynn is—and it may take a while to propagate through teh interwebz, so be patient. If you can’t find us for a while, our electrons are busy tunneling to Alpha Cent and back, but will reassemble correctly in about 48 hours.
