Just an Excitable Board

Yeah, you're right -- I let her get to me. She also wants me to commit to having her down here one week a month. I don't have a problem with having her here on a regular basis, but I don't want to make a commitment because there will be months when it may not be possible, due to my travel schedule and other work and, yes, personal demands. I could then have her for a longer period. But I won't make the one-week-a-month promise.

Good luck with that.

Hang in there Charlene! Don't let her guilt you into anything. My parents were masters at that. It took me years to realize that it didn't matter what I did, I would always be wrong. Once I realized that it was much easier to ignore it. My blood pressure appreciated that realization.

As my friend Charlie told me - 'Whatever you do for your mother, it will never be enough.'

The more I "listen" to y'all, the more I realize how freakin' lucky I was with the Mom I had.

And now for my cranky rant today:
I've got a whole bunch of errands to run today. And it's raining AGAIN. The other day I asked my co-worker how big a cubit was, because I think it's time to start building an ark. All those years we had a drought are all being caught up in just a few months.

I swear, there's moss growing on my porch floor and chairs. I've never seen so many mushrooms in people's yards. We've got some at work that look like brain coral. Weirdest damn mushrooms I've ever seen. Big ol' things, at least twice the size of your fist with all squiggledy lines on 'em. They're a tan color and then they turn black & disintegrate with more rain.

Euuyyywww.

-- Lucy

It's raining here too. I bet it's rained more than half the year.

This article talks about October.

http://tinyurl.com/ycce8f6

I'm glad it's not snowing

We've had more than 6 inches of rain this month. My feet are nearly webbed.

BUT, today is beautiful! AND, it's a teacher workday. No kids!

It's not raining, but it IS overcast. Yesterday was gorgeously sunny.

Y'know, this "Mold Remediation" is a racket. The Mildew Man says he can't do anything until he gets a report from Environmentalist/Air Quality Dude. He gives me a list of E/AQD's and I call one. $295 later, E/AQD tells me the spores I have inside my home are the same as what's outside - Scooter and I are tracking them in. He thinks whatever mold I might have, I can treat myself.

Now here's the part I thought was interesting: he said NOT to use Clorox. Usually, it's a bleach/water solution. You mop it onto the mildew...and, allegedly, it kills the mildew, dries out and everything's dandy. He said what really happens is the bleach evaporates faster than the water, so you're left with wet surfaces that just encourage more mildew. Huh?

He'll send me a written report in two or three weeks. WTF?

Mildew Man says he'll wait for the report. He wants to sanitize my entire condo, washing down the walls & steaming the furniture, etc. EEK!!! I guess this ain't gettin' done before T'giving. (I'm thinking I might be firing Mildew Man.)

So today, I started ripping up the carpet and the vinyl myself. EEUUYYYYWWWW. There's LOTS of rotten looking stuff under there. I think I'm gonna call the contractor guy back out to replace the stuff rather than put fungicide on it. What the hell did I hire E/AQD for? Wasn't he supposed to FIND that stuff?

The bad part of this is the stackable washer/dryer's floor seems to have the most damage - it's right next to the "closet" where the A/C condensate line is that backed up and started the whole mess. Apparently, my condo inclines toward the center of the building and the water ran downhill, away from the bedroom and into mine and Scooter's bathrooms, including the laundry "room" (it used to be the linen closet) in its path. So they'll have to move out the appliance to do any work - NO LAUNDRY! AIIIEEEE!!! I'm sure most of one wall in the bathroom should be replaced, too.

Oh, and the building inspector for Decatur said there are exceptions to the Code and I may, indeed, rip out the tub and put in a shower. He knows these condos; he used to live here. I wonder how long *that'll* take, since I'll have to move into a motel so's I can clean myself up. FSM knows what I'll do with Scooter...

So I'm figuring, while I've got so much of the "stuff" out of the stuff room, now would be a good time to get Comcast out here & install a cable outlet in that room. Comcast said they can't do it because it's a condo - it's a "liability issue" - they might mess up somebody else's lines in my building. What a farce. I hung up on 'em.

I think I should get my HVAC ducts cleaned, too, before they put in the good floor.

I'll be working til I'm 80 to pay off the Home Equity Loan, but I'll have spiffy floors, a gorgeous shower and clean air!

-- Lucy

I asked the AC guy about having HVAC duct cleaning when we had one of our systems replace. His reply was that there are few times anyone needs to have them cleaned, that most of the duct cleaning is a racket.

Who knows what to do? I don't, but it did make me think.

Well, that's good to know. Another expense I can do without. Thanks.

-- Lucy

Another day, another root canal.

Oh yeah, and someone I'd set up an interview with today nearly two weeks ago decided that she won't be available for another two weeks. Do people think there are so such things as deadlines? Plus I paid almost $600 this morning for having something called Rust-X put in our boiler. And hey, you know your water heater's getting old, don't you, Mrs. Storey? It can get as old as it likes as long as it keeps working (kind of like me!).

Oh, no! Not another root canal!!

I've got the original contractor dude coming back out on Wednesday to look at the floors again - now that *I* have peeled back the vinyl and the carpet/padding just to see how disgusting it is under there. I don't think anything short of replacement of the sub-floor will help this mess.

Meanwhile, I'm still living out of boxes. I hate this. So does Scooter. And I haven't even looked at the floor in her bathroom...I bet it's nasty, too.

I'll be so glad when all this is over; I bet y'all will be, too. I'm a pretty boring conversationalist right now. LOL.

-- Lucy

Lucy, sounds very overwhelming. Everything is all jumbled up! It will be nice when everything is done, though. It's a no pain-no gain thing. I bet you can find a motel that will let you bring Scooter. If you call 'em and explain your circumstances, I'm sure they'd be happy to take your money.
Hang In There!