It's been a crappy few days. It started out with my day off on Friday morning. I fasted and got to the doctor office when they opened at 8am for my blood draw. I had also been told that this office is walk in- no appointment needed for the blood draw and the mammogram, I also needed. The mammo tech doesn't get in until 9:30. Oh, ok, so just come back at 9:30? Yes. Went and did some shopping and went back at 9:20 to check in. Was told 3 people already had appointments, so they couldn't see me until 11:30. Oh good grief! So, you do take appointments then? Yes. Oh good grief! The first lady that checked me in at 8am couldn't have looked at told me there were already 3 scheduled? So, I made an appointment for it in two weeks.
At 4pm I get a call from my ARNP. She wants to talk about my blood work. She had recommended, due to being a baby boomer age group, that I be tested for Hep C, because as far as I know I had never been tested for it. Apparently I tested "reactive" for it. So, I need to come back in for another blood test for it. What in the world?! I really don't know a whole lot about it, but the most common ways to have gotten it was either through getting blood years ago or IV drug use. I'm a big fat no to both of those. Apparently most people have have had it for decades and not known. From my online research it also appears that about 20-25% of people who caught the virus are able to have their bodies healed it themselves, so they still have the antibody in their blood stream and will show a positive "reaction" with the first blood test, but then not show it in the second type of blood test. So, I guess I basically have about a 75-80% chance that I do have it. Fortunately, they have medicine that cures about 99% of it now, so I guess there is that to be very grateful for. I know my bosses best friend found out several years ago she had it. Eventually she was able to take the new drug when it came out and I believe that took care of it, but she went through a lot of treatment trying to get rid of it before that. She had had a blood transfusion about 30 + years earlier, which is what they think it was from.
So, I go back in this morning for another blood draw. I'm not sure how soon I will hear anything. In the meantime DH is being like WTH?!! how did you get that?!! - like I did it on purpose or something. They were able to get me in for a mammogram this morning, so at least I now have that out of the way.
Thursday late afternoon I had gone out to our property and during the half hour I was there, in the nice warm sunshine, wearing a t-shirt, my arms got attacked by "no see um" bugs. I must have gotten 30 bites on each arm. I got to spend the whole weekend itching like crazy.
Monday, April 30, 2018
Thursday, April 26, 2018
FIghting the good fight
SIL sent DH a message that on Monday she went by herself and checked out a retirement community. She said it was nice and parents could afford the base rent and to pay for some extra services they'd need help with. She then went and told parents about it and of course, just as I figured, FIL is back to his usual "oh, we'll be fine, it will get better for us" routine. She spent most of the day at their house trying to get them to make a plan, but no luck. Like she said, she can't physically drag them out of the house. She even called her dad the next day to ask him to go look at the place with her, but he wouldn't go. I'm sure she is beyond frustrated. I just sent her a message, mostly just trying to give her some moral support. I kind of know what she is going through, as my mom went through it with my grandma, who was so stubborn about it all. But, since it was only one parents mom had to deal with, Grandma really didn't have much choice.
I've suggested AGAIN to SIL about at least getting someone to come in daily and help with some things for a few hours. That's what we first did with my Grandma. Had a lady come in like 4 hours a day or so. She helped her bathe, cleaned house, laundry, and made her a meal. When she needed more help than that is when my mom made her go into assisted living. Which, by the way, was such a nice place! She absolutely hated it and was only there not even a month. She had her own little studio apartment, bathroom, little kitchen. She absolutely hated it and was only there not even a month. So, she had to go somewhere, so my mom found an in-home type care place. I hated it! LOL. Why anyone would want that over the first place, I have no idea. She was there several months, but my mom just didn't really care for the lady that ran the house much. My grandma really seemed to like one of her nurses, who worked there, a lot, and then the nurse decided to open her own home care place, so my mom moved her there and that's where she was for almost 2 years, until she died. I never did feel comfortable going there to visit her. I guess it's because it's in someone's home.
SIL just messaged me back that she'd like to call me this afternoon and talk about it. I figured she could use an ear to vent, at least.
Somehow I missed a work call just a bit ago and it was in voicemail. Then an email went out to everyone that our phone system is glitching and calls are going straight to voicemails. Ok, well, that explains that then. Apparently one of our manufacturer's wants to set up paying us via ACH. But it's through a 3rd party contacting me to set it up. Well, I'm not giving out our banking info until I confirm with our mfg. that is really them haha! Too much scams going on in this world. I'm sure it's legit, but better safe than sorry.
I've suggested AGAIN to SIL about at least getting someone to come in daily and help with some things for a few hours. That's what we first did with my Grandma. Had a lady come in like 4 hours a day or so. She helped her bathe, cleaned house, laundry, and made her a meal. When she needed more help than that is when my mom made her go into assisted living. Which, by the way, was such a nice place! She absolutely hated it and was only there not even a month. She had her own little studio apartment, bathroom, little kitchen. She absolutely hated it and was only there not even a month. So, she had to go somewhere, so my mom found an in-home type care place. I hated it! LOL. Why anyone would want that over the first place, I have no idea. She was there several months, but my mom just didn't really care for the lady that ran the house much. My grandma really seemed to like one of her nurses, who worked there, a lot, and then the nurse decided to open her own home care place, so my mom moved her there and that's where she was for almost 2 years, until she died. I never did feel comfortable going there to visit her. I guess it's because it's in someone's home.
SIL just messaged me back that she'd like to call me this afternoon and talk about it. I figured she could use an ear to vent, at least.
Somehow I missed a work call just a bit ago and it was in voicemail. Then an email went out to everyone that our phone system is glitching and calls are going straight to voicemails. Ok, well, that explains that then. Apparently one of our manufacturer's wants to set up paying us via ACH. But it's through a 3rd party contacting me to set it up. Well, I'm not giving out our banking info until I confirm with our mfg. that is really them haha! Too much scams going on in this world. I'm sure it's legit, but better safe than sorry.
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
What day is it and other ramblings
I woke up and was making DH's lunch and breakfast to take with him to "work" and I couldn't remember if it was Tuesday or Wednesday already. LOL. I was pretty sure it was Wednesday, so I was relieved to find out I hadn't lost my mind completely ;)
I finally got my Swagbucks balance to 2500, so I could cash in for $25 to my Paypal account. My other goal for this week is to get my M-Turk balance to $25. I'm only $11 so far. Not sure I will make that goal, but maybe $20.
DH submitted our receipts and bank draw form to our builder yesterday and he added his bill for concrete and labor. I have no idea how long it takes for the bank to process it. I know she said they use an escrow company for it. Hopefully builder doesn't sit on it too long before he turns in. I'd like to get the credit card paid in full by the due date 5/12. Then we'll also have the balance available again for anything else that comes up. I just marked the payments to me and the excavating company to be mailed. Builder told DH he always marks his to pick up, because one time he was waiting for a draw check in the mail and it got lost so he had to wait another 20 days to get paid. Well, he lives near the bank branch. I'm not driving 55 miles. I'll take my chance the check gets there and to the excavating company. If we start having issues, then I guess I'll go in and pick up.
Book club meeting for tomorrow evening was cancelled. No explanation why. Just an email saying it's been cancelled. It's really hard to get into this. It's either I don't like the book for the month, or the meetings get cancelled. This month's book wasn't one I enjoyed reading (I didn't even finish it) but it would have been nice for the get together. It was supposed to be held at the house of our newest member, who joined about 6 months ago.
My instruction manuals for my small kitchen appliances must be still in a box somewhere. While I found my egg cooker measuring cup and all is good with hard boiled eggs, I'm still having problems with my rice cooker. The online copy of the manual says 1 1/2 c water to 1 c rice. Google says that. I wrote that on a bag of rice I have. But the rice keeps turning out a bit under cooked. I even soaked the rice about 10 minutes before I turned on the cooker. I'm not much of a rice expert at all.
I'm also noticing this getting up an hour or so earlier every day has my butt dragging around 1pm or so. Ugh. Makes working all day hard. oh well, I'm sure I'll adjust at some point. Maybe I'll take a lunch break nap, haha.
Tomorrow is Thursday. I think I got this now.
I finally got my Swagbucks balance to 2500, so I could cash in for $25 to my Paypal account. My other goal for this week is to get my M-Turk balance to $25. I'm only $11 so far. Not sure I will make that goal, but maybe $20.
DH submitted our receipts and bank draw form to our builder yesterday and he added his bill for concrete and labor. I have no idea how long it takes for the bank to process it. I know she said they use an escrow company for it. Hopefully builder doesn't sit on it too long before he turns in. I'd like to get the credit card paid in full by the due date 5/12. Then we'll also have the balance available again for anything else that comes up. I just marked the payments to me and the excavating company to be mailed. Builder told DH he always marks his to pick up, because one time he was waiting for a draw check in the mail and it got lost so he had to wait another 20 days to get paid. Well, he lives near the bank branch. I'm not driving 55 miles. I'll take my chance the check gets there and to the excavating company. If we start having issues, then I guess I'll go in and pick up.
Book club meeting for tomorrow evening was cancelled. No explanation why. Just an email saying it's been cancelled. It's really hard to get into this. It's either I don't like the book for the month, or the meetings get cancelled. This month's book wasn't one I enjoyed reading (I didn't even finish it) but it would have been nice for the get together. It was supposed to be held at the house of our newest member, who joined about 6 months ago.
My instruction manuals for my small kitchen appliances must be still in a box somewhere. While I found my egg cooker measuring cup and all is good with hard boiled eggs, I'm still having problems with my rice cooker. The online copy of the manual says 1 1/2 c water to 1 c rice. Google says that. I wrote that on a bag of rice I have. But the rice keeps turning out a bit under cooked. I even soaked the rice about 10 minutes before I turned on the cooker. I'm not much of a rice expert at all.
I'm also noticing this getting up an hour or so earlier every day has my butt dragging around 1pm or so. Ugh. Makes working all day hard. oh well, I'm sure I'll adjust at some point. Maybe I'll take a lunch break nap, haha.
Tomorrow is Thursday. I think I got this now.
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Upcoming visit
DD and her DF are going to come for a weekend visit the weekend after next. Yay! We haven't seen them since Christmas. They are taking Friday off work, leaving super early in the morning to drive here so should be here by noon and able to stay until noon Sunday. It will be a quick visit, but I'll take it.
The weather has turned so nice. 73 today and 77 tomorrow. I'll take that too! Friday is supposed to be 82 - and I have the day off. I was also going to take next Monday off, but since DD is coming the next Friday I'm going to switch days and take that day off, instead. Making for some nice 4 day work weeks, too.
I've started watching Grace and Frankie on Netflix. Cute and funny. I am enjoying it. Probably because I am old now, LOL. I think I only have a week or two left on my Netflix subscription being paid for with the giftcard my DD gave me for my birthday. I will probably cancel again and not pay for the service for now. I need to find a new book to read. Everything I want to read is "on hold" and not my turn yet.
I'm feeling less pressure this week from work. I got the 1st quarter done last week, so no big rushes going on - and my boss has been off the last 2 days, so less emails to deal with.
I guess FIL is feeling a bit better, so of course, they and SIL just go back "to normal" in dealing with it...until another week or two goes by and something else happens again. At some point it will be something serious enough that they don't have the choice any longer and have to make the changes. It's kind of too bad they can't be more proactive and make some adjustments now.
The weather has turned so nice. 73 today and 77 tomorrow. I'll take that too! Friday is supposed to be 82 - and I have the day off. I was also going to take next Monday off, but since DD is coming the next Friday I'm going to switch days and take that day off, instead. Making for some nice 4 day work weeks, too.
I've started watching Grace and Frankie on Netflix. Cute and funny. I am enjoying it. Probably because I am old now, LOL. I think I only have a week or two left on my Netflix subscription being paid for with the giftcard my DD gave me for my birthday. I will probably cancel again and not pay for the service for now. I need to find a new book to read. Everything I want to read is "on hold" and not my turn yet.
I'm feeling less pressure this week from work. I got the 1st quarter done last week, so no big rushes going on - and my boss has been off the last 2 days, so less emails to deal with.
I guess FIL is feeling a bit better, so of course, they and SIL just go back "to normal" in dealing with it...until another week or two goes by and something else happens again. At some point it will be something serious enough that they don't have the choice any longer and have to make the changes. It's kind of too bad they can't be more proactive and make some adjustments now.
Monday, April 23, 2018
Back at it
Monday - already?! Those 4 days off went too fast, but sure felt good. Of course, I'm still trying to get through all my work emails from just two days off. I've at least gotten through all the important ones. Our weather has turned beautiful and in the 60's. Some 70's degree days this week coming. Spring is here finally. Thursday I just pretty much relaxed and didn't do much. DH was out at the property all day. Friday morning I dropped him off at the property and I went to the city to get some grocery shopping done. I also went through the car wash before I headed back for home. The drive from the property to the city took me about 40 minutes. There was some road construction going on, so if there wasn't that I'm estimating we'll be about a 35 minute drive from the city, once we move.
Friday the mixer trucks came and concrete pouring was started. The footing and walls are poured for the shop and the footings are poured for the house. This week they are getting the forms set for the house foundation walls and are supposed to pour Wednesday or Thursday, as well as the floor for the shop. Lots of concrete! At the end of the day on Friday I stopped at our town grocery store little deli and picked up some fried chicken and joes and took it out to DH and the 3 young guys who were just finishing up.
No construction work went on over the weekend, which was good, so DH could rest up some. He still stayed busy though. Mowed the lawn,worked on his drone videos and then in the afternoon he started on assembling the water yard hydrants system he is making. I just helped hold things and fetch things. It took us a few hours to get it all done. Yesterday was a rest day. He worked on his drone videos and pictures again, so that kept him busy, but sitting and resting for several hours. I got naps in both Saturday and Sunday, while he was doing that.
Then at 10pm last night the phone rings. DH is like "well, that's can't be good". It was his sister (an hour earlier where she is) to tell him about their parents. I guess FIL called her that he needed her to come over and help as he wasn't feeling well and too weak to take care of MIL. Since she got out of hospital recently, she hasn't regained any strength to even walk with her walker, so he has to carry her to bathroom and in and out of bed and to her chair, etc. SIL told DH she doesn't know what to do. She can't care for one of them, let alone both (she has a full time job) and if she even mentions that they it's time to put MIL in a care home, they both freak out. I told DH she needs to be in a care home! That's really all there is to it. But, what do you do when they both refuse? Then SIL mentioned something again about selling the house.....ya! we've all been saying that needs to be done for the past year. At a minimum those two need to be in a small one level house. As I mentioned in a previoius post about this situation - MIL is only going to keep getting worse than she already is. I think they all just want to keep thinking they've been able to (sort of) handle it as she is and she will just stay the same. SIL had to go up there one night, week before last, because MIL's heart was racing and FIL didn't know what to do. They called 911, but after the medics got there she stabilized so they didn't feel she needed to go to the hospital.
Friday the mixer trucks came and concrete pouring was started. The footing and walls are poured for the shop and the footings are poured for the house. This week they are getting the forms set for the house foundation walls and are supposed to pour Wednesday or Thursday, as well as the floor for the shop. Lots of concrete! At the end of the day on Friday I stopped at our town grocery store little deli and picked up some fried chicken and joes and took it out to DH and the 3 young guys who were just finishing up.
No construction work went on over the weekend, which was good, so DH could rest up some. He still stayed busy though. Mowed the lawn,worked on his drone videos and then in the afternoon he started on assembling the water yard hydrants system he is making. I just helped hold things and fetch things. It took us a few hours to get it all done. Yesterday was a rest day. He worked on his drone videos and pictures again, so that kept him busy, but sitting and resting for several hours. I got naps in both Saturday and Sunday, while he was doing that.
Then at 10pm last night the phone rings. DH is like "well, that's can't be good". It was his sister (an hour earlier where she is) to tell him about their parents. I guess FIL called her that he needed her to come over and help as he wasn't feeling well and too weak to take care of MIL. Since she got out of hospital recently, she hasn't regained any strength to even walk with her walker, so he has to carry her to bathroom and in and out of bed and to her chair, etc. SIL told DH she doesn't know what to do. She can't care for one of them, let alone both (she has a full time job) and if she even mentions that they it's time to put MIL in a care home, they both freak out. I told DH she needs to be in a care home! That's really all there is to it. But, what do you do when they both refuse? Then SIL mentioned something again about selling the house.....ya! we've all been saying that needs to be done for the past year. At a minimum those two need to be in a small one level house. As I mentioned in a previoius post about this situation - MIL is only going to keep getting worse than she already is. I think they all just want to keep thinking they've been able to (sort of) handle it as she is and she will just stay the same. SIL had to go up there one night, week before last, because MIL's heart was racing and FIL didn't know what to do. They called 911, but after the medics got there she stabilized so they didn't feel she needed to go to the hospital.
Thursday, April 19, 2018
4 day weekend starts now
It was nice to wake up (even it was too early LOL) this morning and not have to work today. I have tomorrow off, too, and will drop DH off at the property and then head into the city to stock up on some much needed groceries and supplies. The weather has gotten nice and sunny and really warms up during the day now. The ground at the building site is drying out quickly and the mud is going away. DH says the neighbor dogs have been great the past couple of days. They bark when everyone gets there. DH goes over and says hello to them all at the fence and then they have been quiet all day. Hopefully they stay like that from here forward.
They are getting the shop foundation walls ready to pour, which is supposed to be tomorrow. DH thinks he might go with that other guy for finishing the water well system. We'd save a little bit and it includes work DH was going to do himself.
I have another month left on my Netflix giftcard and haven't been watching anything. Earlier in the week I decided I'd better find something to watch so I started watching The Ranch. Pretty good. Kinda funny. I guess I'm a prude though because, really, it would be just as good, if they didn't find the need to write in the F word 10 times a show. DH and I haven't had time to get back to watching the new season of Bosch on Amazon Prime. Maybe this weekend we can.
DD hasn't had any luck finding a place to rent for the weekend to host a small wedding. Most places don't want a wedding held there. She found one that does hold small weddings there, but then wanted to charge her an extra $25 per person, after 12 people. Their guest list is like 25-30. She's like they will only be there a few hours! No one else is spending the night there. But she has lots of time to keep looking and she will find something.
Off to enjoy my peace and quiet sunny day with no work (well, other than house cleaning stuff). I have a book I really need to finish. It's the last one of the series and I only have it a couple more days via library e-book borrowing. It was such a long book, hard to finish in 21 days. I've have to read quite a bit every day on it. I don't want to almost get to the end and have it be gone from my ipad. I had to wait a long time to borrow it!
They are getting the shop foundation walls ready to pour, which is supposed to be tomorrow. DH thinks he might go with that other guy for finishing the water well system. We'd save a little bit and it includes work DH was going to do himself.
I have another month left on my Netflix giftcard and haven't been watching anything. Earlier in the week I decided I'd better find something to watch so I started watching The Ranch. Pretty good. Kinda funny. I guess I'm a prude though because, really, it would be just as good, if they didn't find the need to write in the F word 10 times a show. DH and I haven't had time to get back to watching the new season of Bosch on Amazon Prime. Maybe this weekend we can.
DD hasn't had any luck finding a place to rent for the weekend to host a small wedding. Most places don't want a wedding held there. She found one that does hold small weddings there, but then wanted to charge her an extra $25 per person, after 12 people. Their guest list is like 25-30. She's like they will only be there a few hours! No one else is spending the night there. But she has lots of time to keep looking and she will find something.
Off to enjoy my peace and quiet sunny day with no work (well, other than house cleaning stuff). I have a book I really need to finish. It's the last one of the series and I only have it a couple more days via library e-book borrowing. It was such a long book, hard to finish in 21 days. I've have to read quite a bit every day on it. I don't want to almost get to the end and have it be gone from my ipad. I had to wait a long time to borrow it!
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
It's sorta like Friday
DH got one little part of his yard hydrants done for free. It's hard to explain what he's actually doing, but so far everyone that understands it is like "oh, that's a neat idea". Basically he's reversing a pitless adapter that is used for a well pump and attaching it to the bottom of the hydrant. That way, if it ever goes bad and needs to come back out of the ground, he will just have to unscrew it and pull it up (it will be inside pvc pipe). Otherwise,you'd have to actually dig up the hydrant and DH wants to make things easy to take care of, as we get older. The 4 pitless adapters needed a hole drilled in each of them....through brass. He dropped them off with the fabricating guy, who built our gate skeletons, figuring maybe having a $50 bill or something. I think they had to be drilled with one of his fancy machines. He didn't charge DH anything :)
We are also getting another bid on finishing our water well. It's only been dug and capped off - still needs a pump system. A new guy just bought out this other local guy's well business. We had decided not to go with the local guy, (last summer when we had it dug) and used a company from the city. The local guy, from what we heard, was having lots of personal problems. Had actually went missing earlier last year. I guess they found him in Nevada or somewhere and then he tried to commit suicide. Very sad, but we just didn't want to get in the middle of drilling for a well and have him disappear or something. Any how, this new guy apparently gave the couple building on lot 7 a quote to finish their well with the pump and it was cheaper than the city company (who they used to dig their well, too). DH told him, sure, go ahead and give me a bid. If his bid is same or less AND includes the actual installing of the water lines (which dh was going to buy and do himself) then we will probably go with this new guy.
DH is getting total brain overload. He's lost his phone like 4 times this week. One time he set it on top of the car. Drove two miles, stopped and how I don't know, but the phone was still on the top of the car! He's only getting one $650 iphone (that I still have half left to pay off) so he better not lose it! Last night he left it in his jeans pocket and put the jeans in the laundry basket. We walked around looking for it. This morning I let the dogs outside, after he left, and didn't realize he left the gate open.
Lot's of work getting done this week. Concrete footings on the shop poured yesterday. It's busy out there so that is good.
I'm trying furiously to get the first quarter financials to my side job. Usually finish about 25th of the month or so, but she asked for them. Not quite sure I understand the reason....she said she's trying to figure out what to do with some money she inherited from her mom's passing and needs the financials for a bank loan. If you just inherited money why would you need a bank loan? LOL.
We are also getting another bid on finishing our water well. It's only been dug and capped off - still needs a pump system. A new guy just bought out this other local guy's well business. We had decided not to go with the local guy, (last summer when we had it dug) and used a company from the city. The local guy, from what we heard, was having lots of personal problems. Had actually went missing earlier last year. I guess they found him in Nevada or somewhere and then he tried to commit suicide. Very sad, but we just didn't want to get in the middle of drilling for a well and have him disappear or something. Any how, this new guy apparently gave the couple building on lot 7 a quote to finish their well with the pump and it was cheaper than the city company (who they used to dig their well, too). DH told him, sure, go ahead and give me a bid. If his bid is same or less AND includes the actual installing of the water lines (which dh was going to buy and do himself) then we will probably go with this new guy.
DH is getting total brain overload. He's lost his phone like 4 times this week. One time he set it on top of the car. Drove two miles, stopped and how I don't know, but the phone was still on the top of the car! He's only getting one $650 iphone (that I still have half left to pay off) so he better not lose it! Last night he left it in his jeans pocket and put the jeans in the laundry basket. We walked around looking for it. This morning I let the dogs outside, after he left, and didn't realize he left the gate open.
Lot's of work getting done this week. Concrete footings on the shop poured yesterday. It's busy out there so that is good.
I'm trying furiously to get the first quarter financials to my side job. Usually finish about 25th of the month or so, but she asked for them. Not quite sure I understand the reason....she said she's trying to figure out what to do with some money she inherited from her mom's passing and needs the financials for a bank loan. If you just inherited money why would you need a bank loan? LOL.
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
It's too early
I'm not used to getting up an hour or hour and a half earlier than normal. This is for the birds! DH spends all day at the property, so I pack him a lunch. Yesterday I went back to bed for an hour LOL. This morning he slept about an extra 15 minutes, so I just stayed up instead of crawling back in bed. I'll get this post typed up before I have to start work in 15 minutes.
It was 2 young guys setting the boards for the foundations yesterday. DH apologized for them having to fix his goof on the shop. They said it was no big deal and really didn't take them long, because the excavating guy did such a great job that the "floor" is so even and smooth, they haven't had to dig or fill at all. They will finish up on the garage today, I believe, while the concrete is poured on the shop. One of the young men said he was just going to camp overnight in his pickup, rather than drive the hour or so back to city. (brrr!). He told DH he had some hot dogs he'd cook over a little fire. DH got home as I was making dinner, a tuna casserole. We decided to take some out to the kid for dinner after we were done. I put the casserole and some green beans, all still hot, in a container and then put in inside a warming bag I have that holds a bigger casserole dish. It seemed to stay pretty warm the 15 minute drive. The kid was talking to our neighbor when we pulled up. He opened the container and dug right in and seemed happy and thankful for the little meal :) When I handed it to him I said if you don't like tuna casserole, don't feel like you have to eat it, but he said no, it was great.
For breakfast, I often fix DH an egg muffin sandwich, so this morning he had me make 2 extra. One to give the kid that camped out and one to give the other kid that was coming back to work. I figure bellies with some food in them work better than empty ones LOL.
Well, time to start work. Lots to get done the next two days, before I have two days off. I think that's the reason I haven't bothered taking like a whole week off (other than last Christmas) is because I really don't want to deal with all the catch up work I'd have to do!
It was 2 young guys setting the boards for the foundations yesterday. DH apologized for them having to fix his goof on the shop. They said it was no big deal and really didn't take them long, because the excavating guy did such a great job that the "floor" is so even and smooth, they haven't had to dig or fill at all. They will finish up on the garage today, I believe, while the concrete is poured on the shop. One of the young men said he was just going to camp overnight in his pickup, rather than drive the hour or so back to city. (brrr!). He told DH he had some hot dogs he'd cook over a little fire. DH got home as I was making dinner, a tuna casserole. We decided to take some out to the kid for dinner after we were done. I put the casserole and some green beans, all still hot, in a container and then put in inside a warming bag I have that holds a bigger casserole dish. It seemed to stay pretty warm the 15 minute drive. The kid was talking to our neighbor when we pulled up. He opened the container and dug right in and seemed happy and thankful for the little meal :) When I handed it to him I said if you don't like tuna casserole, don't feel like you have to eat it, but he said no, it was great.
For breakfast, I often fix DH an egg muffin sandwich, so this morning he had me make 2 extra. One to give the kid that camped out and one to give the other kid that was coming back to work. I figure bellies with some food in them work better than empty ones LOL.
Well, time to start work. Lots to get done the next two days, before I have two days off. I think that's the reason I haven't bothered taking like a whole week off (other than last Christmas) is because I really don't want to deal with all the catch up work I'd have to do!
Monday, April 16, 2018
Let's do a short week
I opened up a new post earlier this morning and realized I couldn't think of anything to say. LOL. DH is out at the property. The builder's crew was out Friday for a few hours and basically got the footings for the shop done. When DH looked at his drone picture he realized the corner towards the house garage looked off a bit. We went out and re-measured and sure enough it was off about 10 inches. The corner opposite it was right on. DH couldn't figure out how that happened, but when he was out there again yesterday with his buddy they figured it out. They were measuring off our side property line, but it's not at an exact 90 degree line to the front of property line. Anyhow, they were able to fix it this morning, fairly easy, because they hadn't staked down all the boards, so all is good. It would have made a difference on how close it was to the corner of the garage and where our septic tank is fitting in between.
It rained too much last night for them to have the concrete poured on the shop, as planned, but now supposed to be tomorrow. They have been spending the rest of today putting in the house footings. This is the front entrance. DH likes to send me pics, which is nice.
As long as they are working something, that's all that matters. The builder told DH on Friday that from here on out, there should be at least some work going on every day. We'll see.....Good news is starting Wednesday the weather is supposed to take a turn for the better. Sunny days and 60 degrees or better for at least a week. The whole site will look a lot better when they can get the foundations backfilled and all the huge piles of dirt gone. It looks like a bomb went off on the property.
Here's a weird thing. When we went out there Friday after dinner we noticed they had just left tools and things just laying there...in the open! Ok, I know this is a very low crime area, but still! Just leave a generator sitting there in plain site with a bunch of other tools? Saws, etc. Weird. DH decided to take that big waterfall pond shell we got and lay it over what he could. Plus, why would they want all that to get rained on? I don't get it. I'm sure DH probably asked them about it today.
I found my egg cooker's measuring cup! I was looking for something else in my cupboards and found it. The last two times I tried to make hard boiled eggs (with guessing/googling how much water) the shells totally stuck to the eggs. I just tried making 4, as well as using the piercing point that is on the measuring cup to poke the eggs. They turned out perfect. Shells came off slick as a whistle.
I think I am taking off Thursday and Friday this week to use up some vacation days. I was going to take Friday and next Monday, but my boss, as well as our Project manager supervisor will be gone Monday. Someone needs to be available for doing Purchase Orders. I'm the main person, my boss is my back up and if we are both gone (rarely/sometimes) then the PM supervisor is the backup. So, with both of them gone Monday, I need to be available. I need to get into the city and get my blood drawn for cholesterol test as well as mammogram. Neither need an appointment, so they say, so I'll get that done one of those mornings and then get a bit of grocery shopping done. Most likely there will be some more building supplies DH will need to pick up took, anyway.
It rained too much last night for them to have the concrete poured on the shop, as planned, but now supposed to be tomorrow. They have been spending the rest of today putting in the house footings. This is the front entrance. DH likes to send me pics, which is nice.
Here's a weird thing. When we went out there Friday after dinner we noticed they had just left tools and things just laying there...in the open! Ok, I know this is a very low crime area, but still! Just leave a generator sitting there in plain site with a bunch of other tools? Saws, etc. Weird. DH decided to take that big waterfall pond shell we got and lay it over what he could. Plus, why would they want all that to get rained on? I don't get it. I'm sure DH probably asked them about it today.
I found my egg cooker's measuring cup! I was looking for something else in my cupboards and found it. The last two times I tried to make hard boiled eggs (with guessing/googling how much water) the shells totally stuck to the eggs. I just tried making 4, as well as using the piercing point that is on the measuring cup to poke the eggs. They turned out perfect. Shells came off slick as a whistle.
I think I am taking off Thursday and Friday this week to use up some vacation days. I was going to take Friday and next Monday, but my boss, as well as our Project manager supervisor will be gone Monday. Someone needs to be available for doing Purchase Orders. I'm the main person, my boss is my back up and if we are both gone (rarely/sometimes) then the PM supervisor is the backup. So, with both of them gone Monday, I need to be available. I need to get into the city and get my blood drawn for cholesterol test as well as mammogram. Neither need an appointment, so they say, so I'll get that done one of those mornings and then get a bit of grocery shopping done. Most likely there will be some more building supplies DH will need to pick up took, anyway.
Sunday, April 15, 2018
Weekend update
Friday seemed to be a day "mess with One's money" day. LOL. I was done working at 12:30 and we headed to the city, with trailer in tow, to pick up a bunch of stuff. 4 stops scheduled to supply places. First stop was the water parts supply place. A friendly cat greeted us as we walked in the door and proceeded to want lots of love for about 5 mintues, then he was gone :). DH had gotten a quote on the lawn hydrants and misc fittings. We had plans to stop at another water supply place to pick up "pitless adapters", when DH asked the guy at this first place, hey - do you carry them? He did and DH said ok, how much (knowing what we were going to be paying at the other place) and he said $43. We were going to pay $108 EA at the other place!! Of course we took them from this place. Plus DH changed his mind and decided to only have 4 hydrants, instead of 5, so that brought down our cost quite a bit too. Instead of spending $540 on the adapters (for 5 at the other place) we spent $173 (for 4) at this place. Plus one less hydrant at $145 ea. I was happy. Other than the fact that we were there for over an hour. Not quite sure what took so long, but I guess DH was changing his mind on this and that.
I had gotten a credit card (with 2% cashback) for these kinds of purchases and we will get reimbursed by our construction loan, when we submit bills with our builder, for a draw. So, I charged this big bill on it. Then we were able to skip the other water supply place and go to the electrical supply place to pick up the electrical meter panel we had ordered the day before. Last stop was another electrical supply place where DH had ordered all the conduit he needs to lay for all the electrical wiring. The guy hands me the invoice to go pay with the lady at the desk, while DH and him go out to start loading up our trailer. I swipe my credit card and it declines! OMG! I said it just worked at the place we were at before here. She said "do you maybe have daily limit?" I'm not sure, I just got this card. Well, I went back out to the truck to let DH know, so they don't keep loading until I can figure this out and call the credit card company. I can't just write a check for this - we just used what cash I had left out of this paycheck to pay the rock delivery guy. I don't have $1154 - it's supposed to be covered by our construction loan funds. The credit card is through Paypal. Whenever I have had to call them about my debit card (hacked a couple of times over the years) it's been a very long wait on hold. Plus my phone was down to like 18%. Thankfully, I was not on hold at all. The customer service guy said it got denied because they deemed it a suspicious charge (and since such a large amount). I approved the charge and he released my card and I went back inside and paid. Whew!
It was after 4pm by then and we were pretty hungry, but decided to just head straight home, rather than trying to stop with the trailer and get food somewhere. I was just getting dinner started and DH wanted to go out to the property again as soon as we were done eating. He asks if I want to just stop and eat dinner at the restaurant here in town on our way, rather than making dinner. But, we need to save the money so we both decided I just keep making the scrambled eggs and hashbrowns I was about to start and save $20-$25 for dinner out. Willpower!
I woke up yesterday morning feeling pretty cruddy. Sniffles and a cough. Not sure if I was catching cold or allergies. And I was so tired. I ended up taking two naps yesterday and never really felt rested. I did help DH inventory all the conduit and elbows to make sure we got all what we paid for. I guess they forgot one elbow, but for $1.90 it's not worth a special trip 110 miles RT to get it! We spent the evening watching a few episodes of season 4 of Bosch on Amazon Prime. At first DH was like "I don't think I'm going to like this show" and then he ended up liking it.
When I first got up this morning I felt about the same but I'm getting better as the day goes on, so I think it's from spring allergies. DH is tired from doing so much lately. We were just going to veg out and relax in front of the tv all day, but then DH's friend texted, asking if he could go out to our property to pick up some more of the stones he got Monday. He's starting a little project yesterday with them and decided to get the rest. So, DH went out to help him load them. I decided this was a good time to get the dusting and vacuuming done. Also doing laundry and washed all the pots and pans in the sink and scrubbed out the white sink with Cascade dishwashing soap so now all the stains are gone and it's shiney white again.
Now, I'm off to sit on the couch and read for awhile. Enjoy your Sunday!
I had gotten a credit card (with 2% cashback) for these kinds of purchases and we will get reimbursed by our construction loan, when we submit bills with our builder, for a draw. So, I charged this big bill on it. Then we were able to skip the other water supply place and go to the electrical supply place to pick up the electrical meter panel we had ordered the day before. Last stop was another electrical supply place where DH had ordered all the conduit he needs to lay for all the electrical wiring. The guy hands me the invoice to go pay with the lady at the desk, while DH and him go out to start loading up our trailer. I swipe my credit card and it declines! OMG! I said it just worked at the place we were at before here. She said "do you maybe have daily limit?" I'm not sure, I just got this card. Well, I went back out to the truck to let DH know, so they don't keep loading until I can figure this out and call the credit card company. I can't just write a check for this - we just used what cash I had left out of this paycheck to pay the rock delivery guy. I don't have $1154 - it's supposed to be covered by our construction loan funds. The credit card is through Paypal. Whenever I have had to call them about my debit card (hacked a couple of times over the years) it's been a very long wait on hold. Plus my phone was down to like 18%. Thankfully, I was not on hold at all. The customer service guy said it got denied because they deemed it a suspicious charge (and since such a large amount). I approved the charge and he released my card and I went back inside and paid. Whew!
It was after 4pm by then and we were pretty hungry, but decided to just head straight home, rather than trying to stop with the trailer and get food somewhere. I was just getting dinner started and DH wanted to go out to the property again as soon as we were done eating. He asks if I want to just stop and eat dinner at the restaurant here in town on our way, rather than making dinner. But, we need to save the money so we both decided I just keep making the scrambled eggs and hashbrowns I was about to start and save $20-$25 for dinner out. Willpower!
I woke up yesterday morning feeling pretty cruddy. Sniffles and a cough. Not sure if I was catching cold or allergies. And I was so tired. I ended up taking two naps yesterday and never really felt rested. I did help DH inventory all the conduit and elbows to make sure we got all what we paid for. I guess they forgot one elbow, but for $1.90 it's not worth a special trip 110 miles RT to get it! We spent the evening watching a few episodes of season 4 of Bosch on Amazon Prime. At first DH was like "I don't think I'm going to like this show" and then he ended up liking it.
When I first got up this morning I felt about the same but I'm getting better as the day goes on, so I think it's from spring allergies. DH is tired from doing so much lately. We were just going to veg out and relax in front of the tv all day, but then DH's friend texted, asking if he could go out to our property to pick up some more of the stones he got Monday. He's starting a little project yesterday with them and decided to get the rest. So, DH went out to help him load them. I decided this was a good time to get the dusting and vacuuming done. Also doing laundry and washed all the pots and pans in the sink and scrubbed out the white sink with Cascade dishwashing soap so now all the stains are gone and it's shiney white again.
Now, I'm off to sit on the couch and read for awhile. Enjoy your Sunday!
Friday, April 13, 2018
Where's my money??!!
Last week I changed my paycheck direct deposit to go to my new bank account. Today is payday.......no money in my new bank account!! Great.......now I gotta figure out what's going on there. From my payroll login in it looks like the right routing and account number were entered. I can see the whole routing number and that is correct. I can see the last 4 digits of my account number and those are right. I checked with my DD to see if her paycheck direct deposit shows up in her bank account the morning of payday and she said yes, usually sometime during the night before and I said yes, that's how mine has always been with my old bank. I really don't need this aggravation today.
After our builder replied to DH that he should be out to start on Friday, DH sent a text back that while he (dh) knows he is an over-communicator, he does at least expect a minimum of communication back as to what is going on with our build. Builder called DH yesterday afternoon and said they are loading their truck and will be out this morning to get started. Then he says "is there power out there yet?". Ummm..no...when he were out doing the staking last week DH asked him about this and he told him he didn't need the power out their until he was done framing. OMG! make up your mind. Obviously he has generator to bring and use. DH is out there now (8am) and he's not even there yet.
This afternoon we will be running back to the city (I have a feeling lots of trips are on tap) to pick up the electrical meter panel, as well as some of the water line supplies we need for DH to make his hydrants. That is something he can make here at home.
My face is clearing up. Just a little bit left on one cheek. Hopefully it won't come back.
After our builder replied to DH that he should be out to start on Friday, DH sent a text back that while he (dh) knows he is an over-communicator, he does at least expect a minimum of communication back as to what is going on with our build. Builder called DH yesterday afternoon and said they are loading their truck and will be out this morning to get started. Then he says "is there power out there yet?". Ummm..no...when he were out doing the staking last week DH asked him about this and he told him he didn't need the power out their until he was done framing. OMG! make up your mind. Obviously he has generator to bring and use. DH is out there now (8am) and he's not even there yet.
This afternoon we will be running back to the city (I have a feeling lots of trips are on tap) to pick up the electrical meter panel, as well as some of the water line supplies we need for DH to make his hydrants. That is something he can make here at home.
My face is clearing up. Just a little bit left on one cheek. Hopefully it won't come back.
Thursday, April 12, 2018
Finding some cost savings
First off the day started with getting up about 45 minutes early because one of the dogs was puking. Nothing serious, but of course had to get up, clean the little bit up, and then just stayed up.
DH met with the electric co-op company guy at the property again on Monday. He had originally given us a quote last Fall. But, in the meantime DH had changed where he was putting the main meter panel box (or whatever they are called), which meant farther away, ie, more money to bring in. Based on the numbers the guy had originally thrown out, of the per ft price of the wire, DH was expecting the new/revised quote to be like $1000-$1500 more. He had already assumed this extra cost in the cost breakdown for "utilities" in our construction loan, so it would be covered. Well, he sent us the new quote at the end of the day yesterday and it was only $500 more! Nice. That helps. But, it has to be paid up front, before they will put us in the schedule queue to come out and do the work. Well, we are tapped out on cash right now, as we are paying the rockery bill and taxes.
I called first thing this morning to see if I could put it on a credit card. Yes, we can, but no, they aren't set up to do it over the phone. Grrr.. We wanted to get this paid asap, so that we get set up in the schedule to get out here asap. So, we had to make a trip into the city this morning to get that taken care of. While there we also stopped at the electrical supply place to order the meter panel box. DH ended up changing what we needed on that one too - less stuff on it........so you'd think it would be less than the one they quoted us last fall?! No, it was like $150 more. DH says "well, dang, that's not what I wanted to hear". Then the guy said hold on and got it down to about the same price as the other one they had quoted us on. They won't have it in until tomorrow, so we're going to have to make another trip in there to pick that up (and pay for it). That will just go on the credit card too, and then we'll submit with the excavator billing to our lender and we'll get reimbursed the electrical stuff and I'll pay off the credit card. This is a new to me credit card we got just to have for these kinds of things. It also has a 2% cash back on all purchases, so should be some nice cash back rewards coming our way.
We also stopped at the farm/feed supply store to get something DH needed. I could hear all the baby chicks cheeping, so of course I had to go look at all of them! I can't wait until next spring and I can get a few :)
DH is also changing his idea/plan for the 5 water hydrants he wants to install in various spots around the house, shop and property. He's changing the design a bit, less parts needed, so they will be a little cheaper now, too.
He called his dad last night to do his weekly chat. Get this! So that 5-6 days MIL was in the hospital? Apparently the hospital turned FIL in for "malnutrition" of MIL and he got a visit by someone from the state or something! Are you kidding me?! C'mon...she's 85 years old, has half a lung, on oxygen, has dementia (and a host of other medical problems) and has never in her life weighed more than 100 pounds, anyway. Of course she doesn't have a huge appetite and doesn't eat a whole lot most of the time. They guy dotes on her. Won't put her in a nursing home because he'd feel too guilty and wants to take care of her. DH laughed and said mom was an AWFUL cook (she was!!) - she probably eats better now than when she had to make all the meals. LOL.
DH met with the electric co-op company guy at the property again on Monday. He had originally given us a quote last Fall. But, in the meantime DH had changed where he was putting the main meter panel box (or whatever they are called), which meant farther away, ie, more money to bring in. Based on the numbers the guy had originally thrown out, of the per ft price of the wire, DH was expecting the new/revised quote to be like $1000-$1500 more. He had already assumed this extra cost in the cost breakdown for "utilities" in our construction loan, so it would be covered. Well, he sent us the new quote at the end of the day yesterday and it was only $500 more! Nice. That helps. But, it has to be paid up front, before they will put us in the schedule queue to come out and do the work. Well, we are tapped out on cash right now, as we are paying the rockery bill and taxes.
I called first thing this morning to see if I could put it on a credit card. Yes, we can, but no, they aren't set up to do it over the phone. Grrr.. We wanted to get this paid asap, so that we get set up in the schedule to get out here asap. So, we had to make a trip into the city this morning to get that taken care of. While there we also stopped at the electrical supply place to order the meter panel box. DH ended up changing what we needed on that one too - less stuff on it........so you'd think it would be less than the one they quoted us last fall?! No, it was like $150 more. DH says "well, dang, that's not what I wanted to hear". Then the guy said hold on and got it down to about the same price as the other one they had quoted us on. They won't have it in until tomorrow, so we're going to have to make another trip in there to pick that up (and pay for it). That will just go on the credit card too, and then we'll submit with the excavator billing to our lender and we'll get reimbursed the electrical stuff and I'll pay off the credit card. This is a new to me credit card we got just to have for these kinds of things. It also has a 2% cash back on all purchases, so should be some nice cash back rewards coming our way.
We also stopped at the farm/feed supply store to get something DH needed. I could hear all the baby chicks cheeping, so of course I had to go look at all of them! I can't wait until next spring and I can get a few :)
DH is also changing his idea/plan for the 5 water hydrants he wants to install in various spots around the house, shop and property. He's changing the design a bit, less parts needed, so they will be a little cheaper now, too.
He called his dad last night to do his weekly chat. Get this! So that 5-6 days MIL was in the hospital? Apparently the hospital turned FIL in for "malnutrition" of MIL and he got a visit by someone from the state or something! Are you kidding me?! C'mon...she's 85 years old, has half a lung, on oxygen, has dementia (and a host of other medical problems) and has never in her life weighed more than 100 pounds, anyway. Of course she doesn't have a huge appetite and doesn't eat a whole lot most of the time. They guy dotes on her. Won't put her in a nursing home because he'd feel too guilty and wants to take care of her. DH laughed and said mom was an AWFUL cook (she was!!) - she probably eats better now than when she had to make all the meals. LOL.
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Grumbling
This post is just a bunch of complaining, so feel free to skip if that's not your thing!
Still no communication from our builder. Zip. Nada. DH is fit to be tied. He got himself so worked up about it last night. Like he says: WE are the one's paying him. Don't think it's too much to ask to expect a 10 second text that says "Change of plans. I'll be out there to set footings on such and such day". At this point, since we already signed a contract with him, we are going to suffer through this shop build, but I have a feeling we're going to find a new builder to build the house. The shop is four walls, a conrete floor, and a roof with a one room bathroom inside. How hard should this be? DH says he doesn't want to spend all his time constantly having to be on someone and having to get mad in order to get him to make our job a priority. I said, well you are already mad and yelling about it, so might as well direct it at the builder! He told us 60 days to build the shop. Well, we are now on day 22 and the only thing accomplished is one day of site work.
Meanwhile, the folks down on lot 7, who started their excavating like 2-3 days before us, are way ahead, in just a little over a weeks time. The excavating guy took 2 days, the next day the builder showed up and set forms. That afternoon the concrete showed up. Day after forms removed and then excavating guy back filled. Builder was back next day, as well as a sub to start some plumbing/water line stuff. We're still sitting here with an open site. Plus, our builder told DH last week he'd be here Mon or Tues and they would need a sanican on site, so DH had it delivered. So now we've paid a week rental ($25/wk) that we could have waited to have delivered, since he's not out here yet. Our friend (who used same builder 3-4 years ago now) says he also just heard he picked up another job building some duplexes near where friend lives. I have a feeling we are just being put on the back burner.
I got a few comments/suggestions on what my face breakout could be. I'm leaning towards the rosacea idea. Sure seems to fit. Plus, sometimes the bumps do feel warm, like my face is hot. Not sure what is suddenly causing it. I did recently start eating a bunch of sunflower seeds as a snack the past few weeks. That's about the only thing different, from what I usually eat regularly. Maybe an allergy? It seemed to start when I made a batch of brownies a few weeks ago. Then it kinda cleared up and over the weekend I made chocolate cake (I've been craving chocolate lately!) and it's back. I'll cut out chocolate now and see if it clears up. Google also says it could be hormonal - maybe due to peri-menopause? I'm sure my hormones must be changing.
Finally, at about 11am this morning DH sent the builder a text that just said "we need some communication as to what's going on". He then texted back he should be out there Friday to start setting forms. Should?! Well, that's a definite answer. I get that subs are hard to deal with and schedule, but he's our main contractor and he's also known for almost a year now when we wanted to get started on this. We would have waited to schedule the excavator this week, rather than last week, while now the site sits there all opened up getting more muddy each time it rains. We'd have waited until tomorrow to have the sanican delivered. He's not paying the rental on it.
Edit: oh ya, and I forgot to mention DH's buddy. So, we have this little dump trailer you can pull behind a pickup. It's been pretty handy. We do have room to store it here at this house, if we had to, but DH also knew his buddy could use it off and on last summer for his various landscaping projects and since he has 14 acres, we decided to store it at his house all this time. We don't have to have it crammed in our little back yard area, and friend got to use the trailer whenever he needs it. Win for both us of us. It needed a chain welded on the hitch (or something like that). DH was going to take it somewhere last year to get that done, but friend said he would do it. Still waiting for that to happen! When DH went to pick up the trailer weekend before last no chain and locked somewhere in friends shop (friend was out of town). It's illegal to haul without the chain, but we did it anyway. So, we get all that rock, stones and timbers from that other guy and leave the loaded trailer at our property. We take what we want, gave some landscape timbers to next door neighbor. Friend said he wanted quite a bit of the rest of the stones left. (sure, like you wanted the cut down trees for firewood?!). DH knew if he just lets him come whenever, it will never get done. So, last Sunday he asked him if he could come out Monday after work to get what he wanted loaded in his pick up bed. That was the probably the only way to make sure it gets done! So, he came out, DH helped him load what he wanted (a good half of what was left - of course his big strong son wouldn't come help). Then DH did the lift on the dump trailer and dumped the rest in a small pile on our property and hooked our pick up to the trailer. Friend says "oh, I thought I was taking the trailer back to my house?" DH says no, I'll be needing it now that we are starting our house build. Friend says "oh, I was going to use it this summer". Well, sorry! geez. He knows the reason we got the trailer was for our build and landscaping. If it's not being used, you are welcome to come out and get it and bring it back when you are done. Are we just stupid and missing something here?
Still no communication from our builder. Zip. Nada. DH is fit to be tied. He got himself so worked up about it last night. Like he says: WE are the one's paying him. Don't think it's too much to ask to expect a 10 second text that says "Change of plans. I'll be out there to set footings on such and such day". At this point, since we already signed a contract with him, we are going to suffer through this shop build, but I have a feeling we're going to find a new builder to build the house. The shop is four walls, a conrete floor, and a roof with a one room bathroom inside. How hard should this be? DH says he doesn't want to spend all his time constantly having to be on someone and having to get mad in order to get him to make our job a priority. I said, well you are already mad and yelling about it, so might as well direct it at the builder! He told us 60 days to build the shop. Well, we are now on day 22 and the only thing accomplished is one day of site work.
Meanwhile, the folks down on lot 7, who started their excavating like 2-3 days before us, are way ahead, in just a little over a weeks time. The excavating guy took 2 days, the next day the builder showed up and set forms. That afternoon the concrete showed up. Day after forms removed and then excavating guy back filled. Builder was back next day, as well as a sub to start some plumbing/water line stuff. We're still sitting here with an open site. Plus, our builder told DH last week he'd be here Mon or Tues and they would need a sanican on site, so DH had it delivered. So now we've paid a week rental ($25/wk) that we could have waited to have delivered, since he's not out here yet. Our friend (who used same builder 3-4 years ago now) says he also just heard he picked up another job building some duplexes near where friend lives. I have a feeling we are just being put on the back burner.
I got a few comments/suggestions on what my face breakout could be. I'm leaning towards the rosacea idea. Sure seems to fit. Plus, sometimes the bumps do feel warm, like my face is hot. Not sure what is suddenly causing it. I did recently start eating a bunch of sunflower seeds as a snack the past few weeks. That's about the only thing different, from what I usually eat regularly. Maybe an allergy? It seemed to start when I made a batch of brownies a few weeks ago. Then it kinda cleared up and over the weekend I made chocolate cake (I've been craving chocolate lately!) and it's back. I'll cut out chocolate now and see if it clears up. Google also says it could be hormonal - maybe due to peri-menopause? I'm sure my hormones must be changing.
Finally, at about 11am this morning DH sent the builder a text that just said "we need some communication as to what's going on". He then texted back he should be out there Friday to start setting forms. Should?! Well, that's a definite answer. I get that subs are hard to deal with and schedule, but he's our main contractor and he's also known for almost a year now when we wanted to get started on this. We would have waited to schedule the excavator this week, rather than last week, while now the site sits there all opened up getting more muddy each time it rains. We'd have waited until tomorrow to have the sanican delivered. He's not paying the rental on it.
Edit: oh ya, and I forgot to mention DH's buddy. So, we have this little dump trailer you can pull behind a pickup. It's been pretty handy. We do have room to store it here at this house, if we had to, but DH also knew his buddy could use it off and on last summer for his various landscaping projects and since he has 14 acres, we decided to store it at his house all this time. We don't have to have it crammed in our little back yard area, and friend got to use the trailer whenever he needs it. Win for both us of us. It needed a chain welded on the hitch (or something like that). DH was going to take it somewhere last year to get that done, but friend said he would do it. Still waiting for that to happen! When DH went to pick up the trailer weekend before last no chain and locked somewhere in friends shop (friend was out of town). It's illegal to haul without the chain, but we did it anyway. So, we get all that rock, stones and timbers from that other guy and leave the loaded trailer at our property. We take what we want, gave some landscape timbers to next door neighbor. Friend said he wanted quite a bit of the rest of the stones left. (sure, like you wanted the cut down trees for firewood?!). DH knew if he just lets him come whenever, it will never get done. So, last Sunday he asked him if he could come out Monday after work to get what he wanted loaded in his pick up bed. That was the probably the only way to make sure it gets done! So, he came out, DH helped him load what he wanted (a good half of what was left - of course his big strong son wouldn't come help). Then DH did the lift on the dump trailer and dumped the rest in a small pile on our property and hooked our pick up to the trailer. Friend says "oh, I thought I was taking the trailer back to my house?" DH says no, I'll be needing it now that we are starting our house build. Friend says "oh, I was going to use it this summer". Well, sorry! geez. He knows the reason we got the trailer was for our build and landscaping. If it's not being used, you are welcome to come out and get it and bring it back when you are done. Are we just stupid and missing something here?
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
Frustrating Tuesday
The week is plodding along. DH got his friend to come out after he got off work yesterday and get a good portion of those stones we had picked up from other friends ranch. He took about half of them and a bunch of the boards. DH was happy with getting that unloaded and he was able to bring his unloaded dump trailer back home and now it's available for using for other needs.
The last word we had from the builder was late Friday. DH had let him know the excavating got done and was ready for him. He said he got delayed a day on another job last week due to weather, so would be out to set forms on Tuesday, rather than Monday. Well, here it is the end of Tuesday and no word from him. All's he has to do is keep us informed. Doesn't seem like that should be so hard. His communication sucks. The people on lot 7 got excavated a couple days before us and they already have foundations poured and backfilled and other work started now. We had to wait for a week just to get out builder out here (his first time ever seeing our property!) to stake the foundations, so the excavator would know exactly where to dig out. It only took the excavator guy one full day to do it all and now we're waiting on builder to come out and set the footings so then he can have concrete poured. Where is he? who knows..............
For some reason my face keeps breaking out. Not really pimples, but like small red blotches on my cheeks. It will show up on one side, be gone the next day or so and then show up on the other cheek. Then go away and show up on the other cheek, but in a different spot. I have no idea what is causing this. Never had this before.
The last word we had from the builder was late Friday. DH had let him know the excavating got done and was ready for him. He said he got delayed a day on another job last week due to weather, so would be out to set forms on Tuesday, rather than Monday. Well, here it is the end of Tuesday and no word from him. All's he has to do is keep us informed. Doesn't seem like that should be so hard. His communication sucks. The people on lot 7 got excavated a couple days before us and they already have foundations poured and backfilled and other work started now. We had to wait for a week just to get out builder out here (his first time ever seeing our property!) to stake the foundations, so the excavator would know exactly where to dig out. It only took the excavator guy one full day to do it all and now we're waiting on builder to come out and set the footings so then he can have concrete poured. Where is he? who knows..............
For some reason my face keeps breaking out. Not really pimples, but like small red blotches on my cheeks. It will show up on one side, be gone the next day or so and then show up on the other cheek. Then go away and show up on the other cheek, but in a different spot. I have no idea what is causing this. Never had this before.
Monday, April 9, 2018
Basketball fun
What a busy weekend. I'm still tired from it. Saturday afternoon our friends were in town for a basketball tournament their son was playing in, so we decided that would be fun to watch. He had two games, one at 2:30 and then next one not until 6pm. I was a bit surprised they charged $5 per person to watch, LOL. It was at the grade school down the street, so we just walked over. They were down by 20 points, but came back to win by a nail biter 3 point shot in the last 20 seconds of the game. Our friends son is HUGE. He's in 8th grade. 6'2" and I don't know how many pounds - at least 200. He's bigger than any adult male I saw at the games, LOL. Our friends have always acted like he's the next best thing to play football and basketball. They are counting on him getting a college scholarship. I'm sure not seeing it for basketball LOL. It will be interesting to see how he does in high school ball next year. He's so tall and big he could just stand under the net and probably block most of the shots, LOL. But he doesn't put his arms up. His dad kept telling him to, I heard his coach tell him to. He's been playing since 3rd grade, so not like he's new to this. The good part was when he was on offense and could (not very often) get the ball while he was right under the net he almost always drew the foul every time he'd try to lay it in and he is a good free throw shooter.
In between games we all came back to our house. Fixed boy a sandwich and then they all went out to see our property with DH. I stayed home and got my big dish of 4 cheese and bacon mac and cheese made up for dinner. I had made a chocolate cake earlier that morning, so then I got that frosted too. I figured that would save us all some money, rather than going to eat. We decided to wait and eat dinner after his second game, so dinner like at 7:30. They lost the second game, but still in the tournament to play on Sunday. Friends were supposed to bring a salad (at least that's what he told me in the text message) but didn't....if I would have known that I would have picked up a bagged salad when I went to the store.
BOY oh boy can those two kids eat! I would hate to have their food bill. The boy, I get - big growing teenager. The girl (16/almost 17) is very obese, which is sad, as friend worries about her future health. For dessert she had a piece of chocolate cake and a rootbeer float. Boy had TWO pieces of chocolate cake and a rootbeer float. LOL.
The girl is always so disrespectful to her dad. DH even told her to knock it off at one point towards the end of the evening. She told her dad to shut up. DH said "don't say that. That bothers me and is very disrespectful to your dad". She started to defend herself and says well, he doesn't respect me". Then the mom jumps in and defends her and says "well, there is some history there". Well, there's your problem right there. I said "well, you are lucky to have your dad and not my DH as your dad, because you would have only done that once and only once in your life!". There is no way his wife should be allowing her daughter to treat anyone, let alone her dad like that. But she just tells her it's ok.
They had to come back Sunday for another game at 11:30am. They had to keep winning to keep playing. We went to that game too.........and another $5 each! This just came out of our wallet cash, so not really part of my budget, once I get us cash, haha. I've had that $10 in my wallet for weeks and weeks. They lost by one point with 10 seconds left. The refereeing wasn't too great on that game. The ref kind of lost them that game with one very obvious missed foul and another called on them that wasn't. The opponent was 3 seconds in the key and a bunch of people in the stands were yelling it out and he was still there. He got like 10 seconds in the key. LOL, and ref never called it. Strange, because he was same ref the day before and did a good job. But they were fun games to watch. One kid on their team is super good and so fast. He was fun to watch play.
We then spent the afternoon out at our property. DH had to re-measure all the corners of the house, garage and shop as they all got torn our during excavating (even though he told him to at least leave a couple of pins for reference. What a PITA! Now trying stringing 200 feet of tape measure from front corner of property - over the top of a trailer (piled with rock) now in the way and a huge mound of excavated dirt in the way...and the wind blowing. We were not having fun at all. And I had told him to leave the dogs at home. It would be too muddy, as it rained hard all Friday night. Nope, we had to bring them. Then our neighbor came outside to do some stuff (their dogs were good all day!) and somehow 3 of his 4 dogs got out and of course headed straight for our dogs and all the mud!
The highlight was one of the bald eagles flew very low right over us. What an amazing sight.
We stopped at a low spot in the river on the way home and dh literally threw them in the river (they wouldn't go all the way in, as they aren't used to swimming yet) and that got most of the mud off. We didn't get home until almost 6pm - all starving. But I had to get these dogs bathed first. Black dog jumped right in the bathtub, so he likes baths now. Yellow dog was more hesitant, but he finally got in. Then I had to make dinner. I was pooped and my stupid feet hurt. I have these rubber mud boots, but they are a bit big (I think they were dd's) and no support and walking around on rocks and mud for hours made my feet hurt. I think my head hit my pillow and 9pm and I was out.
In between games we all came back to our house. Fixed boy a sandwich and then they all went out to see our property with DH. I stayed home and got my big dish of 4 cheese and bacon mac and cheese made up for dinner. I had made a chocolate cake earlier that morning, so then I got that frosted too. I figured that would save us all some money, rather than going to eat. We decided to wait and eat dinner after his second game, so dinner like at 7:30. They lost the second game, but still in the tournament to play on Sunday. Friends were supposed to bring a salad (at least that's what he told me in the text message) but didn't....if I would have known that I would have picked up a bagged salad when I went to the store.
BOY oh boy can those two kids eat! I would hate to have their food bill. The boy, I get - big growing teenager. The girl (16/almost 17) is very obese, which is sad, as friend worries about her future health. For dessert she had a piece of chocolate cake and a rootbeer float. Boy had TWO pieces of chocolate cake and a rootbeer float. LOL.
The girl is always so disrespectful to her dad. DH even told her to knock it off at one point towards the end of the evening. She told her dad to shut up. DH said "don't say that. That bothers me and is very disrespectful to your dad". She started to defend herself and says well, he doesn't respect me". Then the mom jumps in and defends her and says "well, there is some history there". Well, there's your problem right there. I said "well, you are lucky to have your dad and not my DH as your dad, because you would have only done that once and only once in your life!". There is no way his wife should be allowing her daughter to treat anyone, let alone her dad like that. But she just tells her it's ok.
They had to come back Sunday for another game at 11:30am. They had to keep winning to keep playing. We went to that game too.........and another $5 each! This just came out of our wallet cash, so not really part of my budget, once I get us cash, haha. I've had that $10 in my wallet for weeks and weeks. They lost by one point with 10 seconds left. The refereeing wasn't too great on that game. The ref kind of lost them that game with one very obvious missed foul and another called on them that wasn't. The opponent was 3 seconds in the key and a bunch of people in the stands were yelling it out and he was still there. He got like 10 seconds in the key. LOL, and ref never called it. Strange, because he was same ref the day before and did a good job. But they were fun games to watch. One kid on their team is super good and so fast. He was fun to watch play.
We then spent the afternoon out at our property. DH had to re-measure all the corners of the house, garage and shop as they all got torn our during excavating (even though he told him to at least leave a couple of pins for reference. What a PITA! Now trying stringing 200 feet of tape measure from front corner of property - over the top of a trailer (piled with rock) now in the way and a huge mound of excavated dirt in the way...and the wind blowing. We were not having fun at all. And I had told him to leave the dogs at home. It would be too muddy, as it rained hard all Friday night. Nope, we had to bring them. Then our neighbor came outside to do some stuff (their dogs were good all day!) and somehow 3 of his 4 dogs got out and of course headed straight for our dogs and all the mud!
The highlight was one of the bald eagles flew very low right over us. What an amazing sight.
We stopped at a low spot in the river on the way home and dh literally threw them in the river (they wouldn't go all the way in, as they aren't used to swimming yet) and that got most of the mud off. We didn't get home until almost 6pm - all starving. But I had to get these dogs bathed first. Black dog jumped right in the bathtub, so he likes baths now. Yellow dog was more hesitant, but he finally got in. Then I had to make dinner. I was pooped and my stupid feet hurt. I have these rubber mud boots, but they are a bit big (I think they were dd's) and no support and walking around on rocks and mud for hours made my feet hurt. I think my head hit my pillow and 9pm and I was out.
Saturday, April 7, 2018
Digging done
We have the foundations dug! The guy got it all done in one day. He had estimated a day and a half to two days, but a good portion of the house foundation had already got dug out, when the rockery guy did it to get the dirt he needed. DH is really pleased with this guys work. He's very meticulous, which is right up DH's alley.
This next photo is from the drone. It all looks huge, but DH says that's because the guy digs out from the sides way more than he really needs to
So, house and garage at the top of the picture, shop at the bottom. The builder says he's coming on Tuesday to lay the forms. I'm not sure when concrete will be poured. Then excavator guy will come back and back fill it all. At some point he'll dig our water/power ditches and do our septic system.
Today our friends are coming out as their boy has a couple of basketball games here in town this afternoon. They've got like a 3 hour break between games, so we are all going out to look at our property, then we'll go back and watch boys game. I think the plan is they will all come for dinner afterwards, or we'll just go eat at the restaurant here in town. I'm offering to make my 4 cheese and bacon mac and cheese, so if they all want to do that, that'll be cheaper than us going out. I"m sure they will probably opt to eat here, as they probably don't want to spend the money to eat out. We're really watching our dollars now.
This next photo is from the drone. It all looks huge, but DH says that's because the guy digs out from the sides way more than he really needs to
Today our friends are coming out as their boy has a couple of basketball games here in town this afternoon. They've got like a 3 hour break between games, so we are all going out to look at our property, then we'll go back and watch boys game. I think the plan is they will all come for dinner afterwards, or we'll just go eat at the restaurant here in town. I'm offering to make my 4 cheese and bacon mac and cheese, so if they all want to do that, that'll be cheaper than us going out. I"m sure they will probably opt to eat here, as they probably don't want to spend the money to eat out. We're really watching our dollars now.
Friday, April 6, 2018
Friday this and that
A friend of DH's called the other night, with exciting news that they have listed their home for sale and will be getting out of that $%#*hole neighborhood area we used to live in. They don't have it quite as bad as we did - at least in the sense that they do not have direct neighbors who are dealing drugs, as we did. They have some nearby, and their street/neighborhood is filled with the traffic/homeless, etc, but not right in their face. They live in the next neighborhood over from where we used to live and we met them, as he was trying to fight the drug issue, too. He and DH became fast friends. They have 5 acres, and are willing to wait it out a bit to sell, so they are listing their property only, to developers, rather than trying to sell as the home, with land. If nothing pans out with a developer grabbing it, then I know they will have no problem selling as the home on 5 acres (they just won't get near as much as money). Their plan is to move to Tennessee, live in a more rural area, on some acreage, and with their horses. He doesn't work due to disability and I'm not sure what his wife's work plan is - probably remotely, like I do. They also foster their 6 year old niece. I'm not sure how that all works if they want to move out of state and take her.
We've had quite a few friends leave our old area in the past few years. It's been interesting to see where everyone has chosen to go. We've had one friend couple retire and move to the big island of Hawaii! Another went to Idaho. One to Texas. We have another friend, (single guy) who's plan it is to move to our area, at some point. Just about all of them cite the extreme liberalism, crime and drugs, and decline in living, as their reason for leaving.
I just finished next month's book for book club. Finally, a book I really liked! It's called Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly. Definitely a book I would recommend. I had to reserve the e-book thru my library and it finally was available, so I had to read it while I could get it.
I started tracking my groceries/misc/pet costs mid January, because I thought I was going way over my budget amount of $650 month. The next 30 days were better, but still over $23. Since March 15th, I've spent $586 and I have one more week, before I get paid on the 13th. I went to the store yesterday for a few things, spent $21 and am hoping that is all I need to spend for the next week, and then my 30 day tracking will be up. Then I will have actually came in under budget $64. So, all in all, my budget of $650 a month is pretty close to what we are averaging. This is all our food, cleaning, health/beauty, pet food/snacks/supplies, medicines and fast food (I didn't include the nice dinner out we did in March - that is "entertainment" for us). Quite awhile ago we stopped going to Walmart for all our shopping and started going to a grocery store. It just wasn't so "huge" to shop around in the regular grocery store and not so crowded either. Well, I told DH the other day we really should be going to Walmart again - even if the only thing I do is run in there and get our steaks! I usually buy packs with 2 thin rib eye steaks. They are double the price for same thing at the grocery store! I usually buy 3 packs (3 steak dinners per month) and I ran into Walmart last time and just doing that saved $30 on meat!
Our new phone system at work is going pretty well. Starting to figure it out. The calls are coming thru my cell phone, but there's a delay from when I answer and say hello, to the caller hearing me. I usually have to say "hello, this is....." twice before they hear me. Then I got a call today that I needed to transfer to another employee. I was not able to do that from my cell phone before this new system. BUT, I couldn't remember how to do it. It was my first call needing that. I had the telephone system screen open on my computer and could see the "call" I was on and I just clicked on it and drug it to the coworker's name. Her phone rang, she answered (and she can tell it's me) and I said "hey...I have a call for you!". It worked. LOL. Technology!
So, back many weeks, when I started my tax return, just to get all the basic numbers entered and kind of a ballpark of what I would owe....I thought I tentatively owed around $1000.........oh no. Apparently I did not enter my side job income! how in the world I didn't get that number in there, I have no idea. I got my few expense write off's related to the self employment income listed, but not the income. Well, now I owe like $2000. GRRRR!! I didn't need that unexpected surprise.
Like 2 inches of snow this morning! But it didn't stick on the roads, due to all the rain before it. Supposedly excavating starting today - guy said rain, snow or sun. He was supposed to start yesterday and be done with it today.
.
We've had quite a few friends leave our old area in the past few years. It's been interesting to see where everyone has chosen to go. We've had one friend couple retire and move to the big island of Hawaii! Another went to Idaho. One to Texas. We have another friend, (single guy) who's plan it is to move to our area, at some point. Just about all of them cite the extreme liberalism, crime and drugs, and decline in living, as their reason for leaving.
I just finished next month's book for book club. Finally, a book I really liked! It's called Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly. Definitely a book I would recommend. I had to reserve the e-book thru my library and it finally was available, so I had to read it while I could get it.
I started tracking my groceries/misc/pet costs mid January, because I thought I was going way over my budget amount of $650 month. The next 30 days were better, but still over $23. Since March 15th, I've spent $586 and I have one more week, before I get paid on the 13th. I went to the store yesterday for a few things, spent $21 and am hoping that is all I need to spend for the next week, and then my 30 day tracking will be up. Then I will have actually came in under budget $64. So, all in all, my budget of $650 a month is pretty close to what we are averaging. This is all our food, cleaning, health/beauty, pet food/snacks/supplies, medicines and fast food (I didn't include the nice dinner out we did in March - that is "entertainment" for us). Quite awhile ago we stopped going to Walmart for all our shopping and started going to a grocery store. It just wasn't so "huge" to shop around in the regular grocery store and not so crowded either. Well, I told DH the other day we really should be going to Walmart again - even if the only thing I do is run in there and get our steaks! I usually buy packs with 2 thin rib eye steaks. They are double the price for same thing at the grocery store! I usually buy 3 packs (3 steak dinners per month) and I ran into Walmart last time and just doing that saved $30 on meat!
Our new phone system at work is going pretty well. Starting to figure it out. The calls are coming thru my cell phone, but there's a delay from when I answer and say hello, to the caller hearing me. I usually have to say "hello, this is....." twice before they hear me. Then I got a call today that I needed to transfer to another employee. I was not able to do that from my cell phone before this new system. BUT, I couldn't remember how to do it. It was my first call needing that. I had the telephone system screen open on my computer and could see the "call" I was on and I just clicked on it and drug it to the coworker's name. Her phone rang, she answered (and she can tell it's me) and I said "hey...I have a call for you!". It worked. LOL. Technology!
So, back many weeks, when I started my tax return, just to get all the basic numbers entered and kind of a ballpark of what I would owe....I thought I tentatively owed around $1000.........oh no. Apparently I did not enter my side job income! how in the world I didn't get that number in there, I have no idea. I got my few expense write off's related to the self employment income listed, but not the income. Well, now I owe like $2000. GRRRR!! I didn't need that unexpected surprise.
Like 2 inches of snow this morning! But it didn't stick on the roads, due to all the rain before it. Supposedly excavating starting today - guy said rain, snow or sun. He was supposed to start yesterday and be done with it today.
.
Thursday, April 5, 2018
In search of a bedding set knock off
Ever since we bought the queen sized bear log bed (in storage) a year ago (at a dinner auction)
I've been totally in love with this bedding set https://www.blackforestdecor.com/alpine-bear-bed-set-queen.html
$339!! and that doesn't even include about $40 for each of the two extra accent pillows in this photo. So over $400. Yikes!! I just can't pay that. So, all this time I have been in search for something "similar", that doesn't cost so much. You know - "get the look for less". The only thing even close I can find was this on Cabelas site, but it's been sold out the whole time. I don't even know the price on it. Cabela's Link
I've been totally in love with this bedding set https://www.blackforestdecor.com/alpine-bear-bed-set-queen.html
$339!! and that doesn't even include about $40 for each of the two extra accent pillows in this photo. So over $400. Yikes!! I just can't pay that. So, all this time I have been in search for something "similar", that doesn't cost so much. You know - "get the look for less". The only thing even close I can find was this on Cabelas site, but it's been sold out the whole time. I don't even know the price on it. Cabela's Link
I've looked and looked through various online stores to find a plaid comforter similar in colors. I can't find anything. I've tried to change my mind, to find something else I like. I'm sure that's what I'll end up doing, is finding something else, way cheaper.......and I'll like it way less. LOL
Finally - this came across an ad while I was surfing the web a couple of days ago: https://www.blackforestdecor.com/sage-creek-bear-quilt-bed-set-queen.html?utm_source=criteo
It's really not much like my dream bedding set, but I like it quite a bit. The bear paw prints on it match the paw prints that are on top of the end log posts of our bed.
AND best of all - it's only $70!!!! A couple of the same cute bear pillows would still be $40 each, but that is a way more reasonable amount to spend. I'm saving this link for when I'm ready for it. Now I can stop looking.
Finally - this came across an ad while I was surfing the web a couple of days ago: https://www.blackforestdecor.com/sage-creek-bear-quilt-bed-set-queen.html?utm_source=criteo
It's really not much like my dream bedding set, but I like it quite a bit. The bear paw prints on it match the paw prints that are on top of the end log posts of our bed.
AND best of all - it's only $70!!!! A couple of the same cute bear pillows would still be $40 each, but that is a way more reasonable amount to spend. I'm saving this link for when I'm ready for it. Now I can stop looking.
Wednesday, April 4, 2018
Stoked we are staked
DH met our builder and the site work guy out at our property yesterday. The builder staked out the foundations for the excavator guy. Excavator guy will be able to get started tomorrow. He just last week finished digging the foundations for the people that own lot 7 down at the end of our street and he left his equipment there, hoping he'd be able to get started on ours soon, without having to move his equipment. His bid has "transporting" costs to bring the equipment on site. I'm hoping since he's only had to do it once - he would split the cost with us and the other people? Probably not. LOL.
DH said it was pretty funny with the builder yesterday. He looked at the part of the house foundation that already got dug (we needed dirt for rockery backfill) and said it got dug too deep. DH said "maybe, but we can pull over other dirt from where the rest will get dug". It was one inch off, basically perfect. Then when he got to the shop he said the grade was 2 feet high on one end. DH said "maybe..." The builder measured it and it was spot on. LOL.
He's supposed to get done with the foundation excavation by the end of this week and then our builder wants to be able to come next week and start doing the foundation forms. I'm guessing then concrete the next week. Over the weekend we drove down to lot 7 to look at their foundation. I said that must be exciting for them to see that. It will be interesting to see what their house looks like. The foundation just looks like a big square, almost like I imagine our shop foundation will look. Originally they were just going to build on a concrete slab and to do that they were apparently going to pull back the river bank to level out their building site. Since we are using the same excavating guy, he was telling DH about this a couple weeks ago. DH said "I'm not trying to butt in or anything, but when we were looking at that lot and trying to figure out a building site, we were told we couldn't touch the river bank edge. So, just mentioning it, because I wouldn't want them to get in trouble for it..........". Well, they all must have figured out DH is right, as they changed to a foundation type and aren't digging back any of the bank edge.
DH has been planning to lay the water lines and electrical conduit himself all this time. His buddy has constantly said he would help him with this, the 2 years we've been planning it. In fact, I think he's the one who convinced DH he could/should do it himself, with his help. Of course when it comes down to it, he's busy with this or that and can't seem to commit. So, last night DH was totally stressing how he's going to do this by himself. The well guy says he needs to use 2 inch polypipe, which is pretty huge and will be huge rolls. I suggested DH call the guy who helped with the labor on the rockery and see if he might be available still (he said he just got a job a few hours away so would be gone for awhile). He probably won't be available, but he gave DH a great idea on how to go about this, so it was a productive call. It will make life easier on DH and he won't be so time crunched to get it all in, before foundations pour. I'll be able to help easily with the electrical conduit lines. It's the polypipe, for water lines, that would be too heavy and hard to work with, that'd I'd be no help.
Once DH gets through the water and electrical lines installation, he is basically done with all the big/hard projects related to all this. He'll just have the gate piers, which most of the prep work is done for that and landscaping, which he/we can do on our own timeline/budget. I had kind of forgotten what the gate will kind of look like. I had an idea in my head, but he reminded me of this picture he had saved and what he is basing his design on.
DH said it was pretty funny with the builder yesterday. He looked at the part of the house foundation that already got dug (we needed dirt for rockery backfill) and said it got dug too deep. DH said "maybe, but we can pull over other dirt from where the rest will get dug". It was one inch off, basically perfect. Then when he got to the shop he said the grade was 2 feet high on one end. DH said "maybe..." The builder measured it and it was spot on. LOL.
He's supposed to get done with the foundation excavation by the end of this week and then our builder wants to be able to come next week and start doing the foundation forms. I'm guessing then concrete the next week. Over the weekend we drove down to lot 7 to look at their foundation. I said that must be exciting for them to see that. It will be interesting to see what their house looks like. The foundation just looks like a big square, almost like I imagine our shop foundation will look. Originally they were just going to build on a concrete slab and to do that they were apparently going to pull back the river bank to level out their building site. Since we are using the same excavating guy, he was telling DH about this a couple weeks ago. DH said "I'm not trying to butt in or anything, but when we were looking at that lot and trying to figure out a building site, we were told we couldn't touch the river bank edge. So, just mentioning it, because I wouldn't want them to get in trouble for it..........". Well, they all must have figured out DH is right, as they changed to a foundation type and aren't digging back any of the bank edge.
DH has been planning to lay the water lines and electrical conduit himself all this time. His buddy has constantly said he would help him with this, the 2 years we've been planning it. In fact, I think he's the one who convinced DH he could/should do it himself, with his help. Of course when it comes down to it, he's busy with this or that and can't seem to commit. So, last night DH was totally stressing how he's going to do this by himself. The well guy says he needs to use 2 inch polypipe, which is pretty huge and will be huge rolls. I suggested DH call the guy who helped with the labor on the rockery and see if he might be available still (he said he just got a job a few hours away so would be gone for awhile). He probably won't be available, but he gave DH a great idea on how to go about this, so it was a productive call. It will make life easier on DH and he won't be so time crunched to get it all in, before foundations pour. I'll be able to help easily with the electrical conduit lines. It's the polypipe, for water lines, that would be too heavy and hard to work with, that'd I'd be no help.
Once DH gets through the water and electrical lines installation, he is basically done with all the big/hard projects related to all this. He'll just have the gate piers, which most of the prep work is done for that and landscaping, which he/we can do on our own timeline/budget. I had kind of forgotten what the gate will kind of look like. I had an idea in my head, but he reminded me of this picture he had saved and what he is basing his design on.
He's hoping to be able to use the lumber we get out of the trees cut down to make the gate. We'll see - just depends on how long it takes the wood to dry out.
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
I'll keep my own life, thank you
DH has always been the type of person who always thinks the grass is greener on the other side. And especially thinks all his life's problems would be solved if he was just rich. It's not greener on the other side and being rich does not insulate you from all of life's problems!
(multi)Millionaire friend sure looked tired and worn out when we saw and talked with him Friday afternoon. For one thing - it's a lot of work maintaining wealth! He's got a ton of things to keep track of and take care of. He said that ranch was costing him $100k a year to maintain. They have been living in a temporary condo (bigger than our house LOL) while they looked for a new house/property to buy. They bought a place, but found out a serious problem(s) that was not disclosed. So, back to looking. He said they found another place but the radon testing came out too high, so they backed out unless the owner wanted to mitigate it. Finally it all worked out, got mitigated and he told us on Saturday (we saw him again for a few minutes) they will be closing on that house now (only a 9,000 sf house....3000 sf of it is garage though).
And he's been dealing with a grandson who is on meth (and lives in another state). He's been trying to get him to go to treatment near here, so he and his wife can help him recover. The kids mom (I think the mom is his ex DIL, but maybe it's his daughter, I'm not sure) and her new husband are not helping. They think by smoking pot with the kid, they are helping him off the meth. OMG! Friend said he has driven to where grandson is twice, recently, because he said he was ready to go and then he backs out and changes his mind. He also realizes that he cannot force him into rehab, it has to be his decision for any chance of it working. So, all the money in the world doesn't even fix problems like that. Sad.
And then there's DH's buddy - the one with the wife and teenager problems. He constantly complains how broke he is, but takes two days off work (apparently he doesn't get paid vacation time) to go on a trip to visit family for Easter. The other day he and DH were texting, joking about something to do with phones. He commented they pay $270 a month for phones so his wife and kids can be on Facebook. Again, as with their auto insurance rate, I'm like WTH?! Are they just stupid? He doesn't even have a smart phone and so they are paying that much a month for 3 smart phones and one old flip phone?
So, knowing a snow storm is expected and knowing they have 3 mountain passes to cross Sunday, they do not start their 8 hour drive home until evening. It's snowing like crazy at the first pass. Accidents and the pass ended up getting closed. They had to spend the night at a hotel somewhere.....(so now he's had to take a 3rd day off work) and then make their way over 2 more passes. It sounds like they were all stressed out, fighting, crying, whining teenagers, etc. Just dumbness, I tell ya!
And my mom....it was one of her Granddaughter's (my niece) birthday on Saturday. She called MY DD to wish her a happy birthday. At first DD thought maybe she just dialed wrong, but apparently she just got confused who's birthday it was. Just another sign of her brain aging.
My MIL finally got to go home from her hospital stay Sunday, so that was a week's stay. She is one tough old bird.
(multi)Millionaire friend sure looked tired and worn out when we saw and talked with him Friday afternoon. For one thing - it's a lot of work maintaining wealth! He's got a ton of things to keep track of and take care of. He said that ranch was costing him $100k a year to maintain. They have been living in a temporary condo (bigger than our house LOL) while they looked for a new house/property to buy. They bought a place, but found out a serious problem(s) that was not disclosed. So, back to looking. He said they found another place but the radon testing came out too high, so they backed out unless the owner wanted to mitigate it. Finally it all worked out, got mitigated and he told us on Saturday (we saw him again for a few minutes) they will be closing on that house now (only a 9,000 sf house....3000 sf of it is garage though).
And he's been dealing with a grandson who is on meth (and lives in another state). He's been trying to get him to go to treatment near here, so he and his wife can help him recover. The kids mom (I think the mom is his ex DIL, but maybe it's his daughter, I'm not sure) and her new husband are not helping. They think by smoking pot with the kid, they are helping him off the meth. OMG! Friend said he has driven to where grandson is twice, recently, because he said he was ready to go and then he backs out and changes his mind. He also realizes that he cannot force him into rehab, it has to be his decision for any chance of it working. So, all the money in the world doesn't even fix problems like that. Sad.
And then there's DH's buddy - the one with the wife and teenager problems. He constantly complains how broke he is, but takes two days off work (apparently he doesn't get paid vacation time) to go on a trip to visit family for Easter. The other day he and DH were texting, joking about something to do with phones. He commented they pay $270 a month for phones so his wife and kids can be on Facebook. Again, as with their auto insurance rate, I'm like WTH?! Are they just stupid? He doesn't even have a smart phone and so they are paying that much a month for 3 smart phones and one old flip phone?
So, knowing a snow storm is expected and knowing they have 3 mountain passes to cross Sunday, they do not start their 8 hour drive home until evening. It's snowing like crazy at the first pass. Accidents and the pass ended up getting closed. They had to spend the night at a hotel somewhere.....(so now he's had to take a 3rd day off work) and then make their way over 2 more passes. It sounds like they were all stressed out, fighting, crying, whining teenagers, etc. Just dumbness, I tell ya!
And my mom....it was one of her Granddaughter's (my niece) birthday on Saturday. She called MY DD to wish her a happy birthday. At first DD thought maybe she just dialed wrong, but apparently she just got confused who's birthday it was. Just another sign of her brain aging.
My MIL finally got to go home from her hospital stay Sunday, so that was a week's stay. She is one tough old bird.
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