I don’t take these things too seriously, but this one fits pretty well.
Personality tests
Pueblo and back again, a Geeks Tale
Well, it was. We drove up to Pueblo and our first stop was Wintronics. Dan needed to price stuff for a bid. This is our “local” hobby shop for all things electronic/geeky/techy . If you want Cat5, Keystones, cable ends, cutting tools, Klein tools, etc., they have it. Plus, the atmosphere is nice. Bottled water when you step in the door, and often food. Imagine a small cafe with computer electronic bits and you have this place.
After Wintronics, we went to ReXel. In comparison, this is the bare bones warehouse. Not a wide selection, but not as friendly either. Dan got his information and then we headed to Parkview Hospital to see Carl. I had forgotten how convoluted that hospital was. It would do the Winchester House proud! We finally found Carl. He was “indisposed”, so we drove over to Taco Bell for dinner. We talked and nibbled our way through dinner. Lots of ideas for 520 and some computer things. We headed back to Parkview and Carl was still unable to have visitors.
We headed off to the local car parts shop. Our license plate was doing its best to fall off. After that, we went to Home Depot to check some things out. We stayed longer than we had planned because a cloudburst worthy of flash floods thundered down. We’d have been soaked in 10 seconds. So, we looked around a bit more. Finally had more pamphlets than a 10ft tree and our closet pole.
This time when we got back to Parkview, there was this pink car right in front of us. It had a pink interior and Tinkerbell on the hood. Across the windshield was “powered by pixie dust“. I like Tinkerbell, but that was just wayyyy too much!
Carl was happy to see us. He is worried, in pain and just scared. Dan was doing the magic whammies on him again. We visited for probably an hour and then headed home. More laundry, then bedtime. Yawwwn….
Today I am going to catch up on all my computer stuff. Hopefully, I’ll even have a chance to write on a couple of stories. Dan is off today with Karen. She royally buggered up the network in Aguilar. I figure he’ll be lucky to be home by 9pm. Oh well.
Caio!
Busy, busy, busy!
Finally had time to post again. Here’s hoping I can actually type. I don’t know what I did to my hands, but they are so sore!
Sunday Dan and I went out to Pauline’s and got the “omygodsihopethisisthelastload” load. Barbecue grill, trashcans, dead tortoise and assorted boxes. I got covered in pine pitch trying to unload stuff at the shed. My hair was stiff with it. Therefore, we stopped back by the house and I rinsed my hair before Dan and I set off to Pueblo for the payday shopping trip.
We dropped off Blue with John and headed to Pueblo around 4pm. We got the shopping done and ate dinner at Applebee’s. We got back to Walsenburg around midnight. Unloaded the groceries and then tossed some laundry in the washer. Finally fell asleep around 3am. Not good.
7:30am came way too early. More laundry, (3 loads) and then off to 520 and construction work. We finished the OSB part of the closet except for the final fit on the door. We need to recess the hinges for a better fit. I also cleaned up the kitchen and bathroom.
We finally washed Brandy too. I hauled the tub to the center of the yard and we washed her there. Dan and I were both soaked. Took a bath ourselves and then had dinner. Gods it was a long day and I was a “drag ass” all day. Fell asleep twice while waiting for Dan.
Today we are heading to Pueblo to see Carl. Dan messed up his shoulder yesterday and so I will be doing the driving. Wheee…. sorta. Remember the sore hands…
A step on the wildlife side
Friday was suppose to be a lazy day. For who, I’m not sure. We started the morning with the discovery that Brandy had startled a skunk. She came running into the house and the pong brought tears to my eyes. We think that she barked at it when it was on the other side of the fence and that the fence took the brunt of it. Still…
We no sooner got her back outside when the phone rang. A computer customer turned dear friend called. Carl wanted Dan and I to stop by in the evening as he had a computer problem. We said yes, knowing that what he and his wife really wanted/needed was company. Carl is going into hospital on Monday for a series of tests. He has a tumor, back pain and some heart trouble to deal with and he is nervous. At 80+, and not in the best of health to begin with, we understand.
Once we finally got moving, Dan and I headed out to Pauline’s with some more stuff for her shed and to pick up anything that she needed moved. We ended up taking a truckload to the ranch. While we were there, the goats paid us a visit. Chandi, her dog so desperately wanted to herd them. He’s the right breed for it, but they aren’t good about being herded. On the way back from Pauline’s, we saw a roadrunner.
The afternoon was it’s own comedy of errors. John wanted to borrow Blue. We stopped to pick up LRT (Little Red Truck) after we’d paid bills and gotten the plates for it. However, Dan left the laptop on in LRT and so it wouldn’t start. Did we have jumper cables? No. Joe, the neighbor across the street that spends most of his day leaning on his fence watching the world go by hollered at us. In his hands were a set of cables. We jump started LRT, returned the cables and then dropped Blue off with John. At Safeway, we got some food for us and shampoo for the dog.
However, by the time we got everything in the house, and some chores done it was time to shower and head over to Carl and Maryjane’s. We arrived around 7:45pm. We sat and chatted for hours. Dan did energy work on Carl as those two talked about everything from computers to blind dates. Maryjane and I sat on the couch and chatted too. She is so worried about Carl. She’s a retired nurse, so understands more than most what may be going on with Carl. She also said that they’ve had lots of bears wandering through their yard. Living up in the hills, they do see more than the average person. If they are coming down this early, there is no food. Hungry bears are a bad sign, and show just how dry it is already. We finally left around 12:15am. Lots of hugs and best wishes combined with ‘please keep us posted and call us if you need us’. Dan and I also came away with that feeling we get when we’ve been “adopted”. We are the same relative ages as Carl and Maryjane’s children, who are all rather a long distance away. It wouldn’t be the first time, nor will it be the last. 🙂 We came home and literally fell into bed.
I woke up this morning with a headache. Some of it from all the energy work I did yesterday. We got a call from Carl at 9am. He slept really well last night. Set his alarm for 9am so that he could ask Dan something and then told Dan he felt so good that he was going back to sleep! That made both of us feel good.
Dan is off with Karen in Aguilar trying to fix various issues. When he gets back, we get to wash the skanky dog. I think I’ll go take a nap.
Soooo Happy It’s Thursday!
I am exhausted. This is the first day that Dan, Daniel and I have not been helping Pauline move. My Gods she has a lot of stuff. I knew she did, having helped in this process more than once, but you’d think she’d have gotten rid of some of this stuff somewhere along the way! Oh well. We have it almost done. In the course of all the packing and cleaning we did manage to get rid of some of the trash at 520. One of the previous tenants left mattresses and couches in the garage. Pauline let us put them out in one of the sheds. Wheee!
That of course meant that yesterday I cleaned out the shed area at the back of the yard. Moved everything out and actually found the brick and red sandstone slab floor. Also found an umbrella style clothes line that Dan may co-opt for an antenna rig. It is pretty cool. We also cleaned up the yard a bit since I must have moved a cubic yard of crud out of the sheds. Later this week we have to finish sweeping out the garage. That will be another cubic yard of crud. Whee…
We also got Blue up and running again. Blue stalled on us on Tuesday. We joked that he’d just had enough and decided to take a break. We think it was actually a vapor lock. It slowed down the whole process of moving junk out of the garage, but not by much. We are storing Pauline’s freezer and stove. Karen is in the process of buying her washer, dryer and dishwasher. We are using her fridge with an option to buy it as soon as we have some cash. Wheeee!!!!!!! We have a real sized fridge! Granted, we have to take out part of a cupboard to put in in place in the kitchen. At the moment it is residing in the breakfast nook area. After all the yardwork we did and moving stuff, we cleaned out the fridge. Something sticky and nasty had slid down the back of the fridge. Ewwwww! I took the scraper to it. After I washed it, Dan wiped it down with some bleach water. Daniel is happy as it means he finally gets his fridge back too.
Today we are suppose to work on the closet. I’m not sure either of us can even hold a teacup let alone a hammer or power tools. So far we’ve watched a few episodes of Babylon 5 and snacked on pie. :> Not the best diet, but oh it tasted good.
I’m also waiting to hear back about a job interview I went to yesterday. Crossroads needs a secretary. I think the interview went well, but at the same time, I felt I intimidated them a little. sigh… Hopefully, I’ll hear back soon as to whether I got the job or not.
I’m also trying not to be peeved with Big Morgan and Erin. Contrary to my request, they washed Erin’s diesel covered clothes in my washer. Now, if none of us had skin problems this wouldn’t have been an issue. However, I have allergies and John has excema and cellulitus. Not good things to have aggravated by diesel. Grrrr…. it will take numerous washings to get the washer clean enough to wash clothes in again. Stupid idiots. Morgan and Matt are more responsible than they are some times. sigh..
Oh… Before I forget. The deer are coming back into town. We saw a buck two nights ago right in front of me as I got out of the truck. He cropped the grass and then headed up the hill. We’ve also seen a mother skunk and her 6 babies. Reminded me of a fleet of ducks as they went down the sidewalk with their tails raised.
Drywall, perfume and thunderstorms
Yesterday was busy. I started off with giving John a haircut. He’s worn it long for the last 15 years and decided that it was just too hot to do so any longer. So, I gave him a nearly military haircut. Never thought I’d do that again! Oh well. He’s cooler and happier. We’ll all get use to seeing him with shorter hair.
Then Daniel and I drove up to Pueblo in Blue, my ancient F150 pick-up. We were heading up to get building supplies. Yes, I did this a few days ago with Dan, but this time I had to get the drywall. I also needed to get a birthday present for John and Daniel wanted to find something for his girlfriend.
First stop was at Lowe’s for paint. A 5 gallon bucket of paint. Funny bit was Daniel drooling over kitchen cupboards and the cool washers and dryers. He was like a puppy running around the store. Finally got out of there and headed to the Pueblo Mall. Now, for some people that probably sounds like a really cool place. When it first went up, it probably was. However, in comparison to the malls in Denver or Colorado Springs, it is very small. Upside of this is that it is just about all the Mall I can stand.
We found the perfume Daniel wanted to get Breanna as well as some silly flip flops, lip gloss and a little bag to hold them. I got John a hat that said Authentic ’58 and a deck of trivia ’58 cards. He was 50 yesterday.
Then we hit Home Depot. $110 later, we walked out with hardware, 12 sheets of drywall, 1 sheet of OSB and loaded up the truck. We stopped for a couple of dollar hamburgers and then headed home. We aren’t on the highway ten minutes when I see this rain curtain heading our way. I think “shit!”, as there is nothing but the OSB over the drywall. I drove as fast as my poor old F150 could go in hopes of missing the storm. No such luck, silly me. We got within a mile of this one curve when the rain hit. Downpour! I go to turn on the windscreen wipers to find that they aren’t working. WHAT??? So, barely able to see, I pull off at the exit and while the rain is thundering down on us and lightning cracks every 2-3 seconds I’m crawling under the dash trying to figure out what is wrong. You see, the wipers work, but don’t always turn off. John had the truck the last time it rained, and he just unplugged them when he couldn’t turn them off! However, he didn’t tell anyone! ahem… First I tried to figure out where the plug was. Then Daniel. Fifteen sweaty minutes later, Daniel and I finally plug in the wipers. We change places yet again and I start off home. BTW, the roadbed that we’d parked in had been dry, and now had 4 inches of standing water! We drove through 10 more minutes of pounding rain before we got clear of it. Daniel figured the drywall was ruined. I wasn’t too sure. 25 more minutes of dry weather and we got home. Dan and Daniel unloaded the truck. The OSB was soaked. However, thank Goddess, the drywall only had some damp spots. We put it in the front office to dry until we need it on Sunday. We were all exhausted. Drywall is heavy!
Later for John’s birthday we had steak, veg and German Chocolate cake. My stomach was upset, so I only had water although it all smelled good. John loved his presents. I gave him the hat and cards as well as a lap quilt and pillowcase I had made him. I had this cool bear fabric that I used.
Between rainstorms and loads of laundry I did some more sewing. I’ve been trying to make time to actually reacquaint myself with my sewing room and machine. Wheeeee!
Today we are finishing up the framing on the closet at 520 and hope to be able to drywall and paint by Monday. Wheeeee!
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Hot weather malaise
It is hot. Hot enough that I don’t feel like doing all the stuff I aught to. Granted, it didn’t help that I felt like lukewarm dreck for most of Monday and Tuesday. If I didn’t know any better, I swear that I slept walked and ate cheese! Oh I felt awful. I also managed to help Pauline pack part of her house and picked up my paycheck.
Wednesday Dan and I went to Pueblo and picked up building supplies to start working on the closet. We are putting a partition in to turn it back into two closets. Pueblo was like an oven. I was very glad that the little truck had air conditioning. At least by the time we got home it was cooler. I also did a ton of laundry. If I knew who was “eating towels”, I think I’d shoot them.
Today was busy. My parents came in around 2pm. I had opened up their house and made sure it was cooling off. Dan and I started working on the closet between babysitting Daniel’s dog, chatting with Pauline, running errands and answering a phone that wouldn’t stop ringing.
My parents took John and I to dinner at the Rambler. It was good as usual. Except for the way the waitress wrote the ticket. No Chez became No Che Z7.95, which made it look like my dinner cost $27.95! It took two waitresses and a cook to unbollux the register! At least my dad laughed rather than blowing up.
After dinner, we all visited for a bit and then I came back over to help Dan for a bit with the closet. Tomorrow, I take Daniel to Pueblo and we will go shopping for birthday prezzies and more building materials. Wheee….
Happy endings, birthdays,and background music
Friday was my last day at the D.A.’s office. Part of me was rather sad that it was my last day. The rest of me was glad I was getting out of that nut house. My replacement… Oh My Gods! She certainly was not hired because of her ability to work. In a week of “training”, she managed to learn maybe 10% of the job, and I am being generous. She spent more time yakking with the HR person who is a friend than learning the Job. On Friday, she wasn’t there 20 minutes when she started to complain about her back. She spent more time on the phone than she did working. She was gone by 10:30am. This left Pattie and I to do all the work. Pattie left for a job interview at 3pm. I was by myself most of the afternoon. The A.D.A. and the HR person asked me what I thought of the job, etc. I didn’t tell them much of anything, except that their file security was rotten. I pick up my paycheck on Tuesday.
Saturday was a lazy day. We slept in! Around 2pm, Dan and I went to Pueblo to do the regular payday shopping. It took forever! Not that there were tons of people or that it was hectic, we were just sloooow. We ate dinner at Chile’s. Yummmmm…. There was also a stop at Barnes & Noble. Yeahhhh!
Sunday was another lazy day. I think that my body did the whole “ok, I’m not working so now I’m going to flake out.” My feet were so sore! You’d think I’d run 90 miles. We spent most of the evening watching Babylon 5. It was also Erin’s 26th birthday.
Monday… Woke up with a headache. Finally got up around 10am. I wrote my articles for the newspaper, ran down to the D.A. Office to see Pattie. I helped her copy her private files and then headed off to Pauline’s. She is trying to move out of her house. I helped her pack about 20 boxes… I came home around 6pm. This headache and I are going to bed early. It is Jimmer’s birthday today.
In the background I’ve got Dan choosing the music… Freebird, Nightwish, Asia, Godsmack. A rather odd mix as he is looking for specific music. Good thing I’m not too picky.
Of skinny cats, quiet afternoons and work
Last night Dan and I went to Aguilar to see the Holzhauers. Carl is one of Dan’s computer clients. An older gentleman who messes up his computer from time to time due to age and unsteady hands. I went along, because 90% of the time it turns into a social call as well. Carl and his wife MaryJane have sort of adopted us. When Dan hurt his back a few months ago, Carl called every morning to check on him.
So, out we went. I visited with MaryJane, and Dan fixed the computer. We sat on the couch and watched tv for a bit. Their cat, a 20 year old tabby normally ignores me or hisses at me. Well, last night she decided that I was the perfect lap to lounge on. I petted the cat, which is about 5 pounds of scrawny fur. She purred. Of course everyone else couldn’t believe that the cat was sitting on my lap. When it was time to go, she hissed. Silly cat.
Next scrawny cat… Tosoto. She decided that when we got Brandy, that she was no longer going to stay in the house. Plus there were tomcats about. She always aborts, so we’ve never fixed her. Probably should have. However,… the last few days she has decided that eating was better than starving. She too now weighs about 5-6 pounds. I had been trying not to put food outside as we have lots of feral cats and skunks in the neighborhood. I ended up doing it anyway. sigh.
At work today, I probably goofed off more than I have in the entire month I have worked there. Partially because I’ve gotten most of the stuff caught up. Partially because we just took a break. The new woman who is taking my place is…. Umm… Not going to cut it. She may be intelligent, but has yet to show she is organized or competent in learning tasks. Most of the time when Pattie or I try to show her what to do she walks off and visits with the HR person who is her friend. Not the way to learn things. Plus, the HR person is having her learn how things are done in the Trinidad office. That would be great if they did things the same way in both offices. Oh well… It will be a right cluster of chaos after I’m gone and Pattie finds a new job. She has had enough of the assistant DA. In many ways, the proverbial is about to hit the oscillating blades.
However, we took it fairly easy most of the afternoon. No one rushed. At least not until the assistant DA called in a panic at 4:30pm. He’d forgotten to do some paperwork! Yet it was Pattie’s fault. grrrrrrr…. She got some of it done, but at 5pm, we left for the day. The rest will have to be done in the morning.
Now I’m waiting for Pauline to show up. Oh, and get my computer work done. Dan is backing up my files tonight as I am suppose to move over to a Linux operating platform. Wheeee!!
Picnics, towers and trains!
On Friday, it was Beth’s birthday. It was also Independence Day. Having a birthday then is like being born on Yule or Leap Day. We had cake with her and then Dan and I headed out to a barbecue that was more business than party. Pauline is living out with Mike and Gloria in the back of beyond in Huerfano County. Mike and Dan talked business while Pauline showed off the gardens and we “ladies” chatted about the “guys”. Got home around 9pm.
Next morning, we got up early and headed over to the San Luis Valley. This was suppose to be a day off to just relax. However, it turned into a tower spotting exercise. We found the one tower outside of San Luis.
We then headed across the southern half of the valley. I was reminded of the Extremadura in Spain. Interesting in that many of the first settlers of the valley came from that area. As we entered Antonito, Dan realized that there was a Steam Train! The Cumbres Toltec Scenic Railroad. We drove around the yard and then headed towards Chama. We climbed La Manga Pass. Not too steep, but beautiful, and just in time to catch the train as it crossed the highway.
Dan was excited. We took pictures and then headed down the road until the next time the train crossed the road. Dan walked down the embankment and got some good pictures of the train on the tracks.
After the train went by, Dan realized that a spark had started a small fire and stomped it out. We kept leaping ahead of the train to take more pictures.
We followed it all the way to Chama. I’ve always loved this train. Now Dan does too, and he hasn’t even ridden it.
Next on our wee jont… Pagosa Springs. Hadn’t intended to go that far, but… Oh well. Wolf CreekPass was the site of another tower, but we couldn’t gain access. Instead, we drove down the mountain until we found a place to eat our lunch. Right next to Wolf Creek. Hard boiled eggs, cheese, bread and salami. Yummmm….. Memories of family picnics. We got home around 9pm. It was a good relaxing day.
Sunday, we re-arranged the house at 520. Moved the bedroom from the front to the back. Oiled the floor and it looks so nice. We have a bookcase to build and then we can move the last of the stuff. Wheee….. Finished the evening off with a couple of episodes of Babylon 5.