Anyonebutmeplease’s Neighborhood

.....Halifax Bank.  Well I closed my old current account today with the Halifax bank because I was so disgruntled by their new policy on overdraft fees.  So I walked and today I closed my accounts with them.  I feel much better.

I am however feeling a little bad today I dunno why, still strugglign to get my mandolin tuned and I think I need the bridge adjusting ot lower the action but I dont feel confident doing it myself.

So, for the last week or so, Penny's been dealing with the after effects of picking up an infection after having worms (ick).  But after a couple of days of antibiotics, she seemed to be doing pretty well.  And today was the first day back on the mountain after having had her put on a steady diet of bland food, antibiotics (which she will eat disguised in Gruyere cheese --- that's right --- not cheese slices, not cheese sticks, not peanut butter, Gruyere) and boring old leash walks.

She had a great time and ran and ran and ran.  As we were heading home, she still had plenty of energy and ran way ahead and I called her back.  She came running with something being lightly chewed in her mouth.  I think -- oh great, worm-filled coyote poop.  She comes up and I tell her, "Drop It!" and (somewhat surprisingly) she does.  Expecting to see some half-masticated turd, I look down and there is what is pretty clearly something's liver.  About 3" by 2" with what I was pretty sure was the gall bladder port still attached.  Mmmmm....yummy!

I think maybe it was a rabbit's -- though it seemed a little big (though honestly I don't know how big a rabbit's liver is...) -- maybe it was from a raccoon?

Anyway, Penny got some treats for dropping on command -- which I doubt were as appetizing as that liver, and she seemed quite pleased with herself all morning.

Happy Friday!

I've just gutted my entire house, right down to the studs, and am slowly rebuilding it. After months of nothing but demolition, I'm finally starting to reverse the process. My bathroom contractor is working today to get ready for my tile guy. The insulation guy worked yesterday, so the house is nice and cozy now. (Right, except that I have to put the windows back in.) On Tuesday, the sheetrock guy comes to start putting my ceilings and walls back.

Just as soon as I wrap up my work in the attic: 2 more ceiling joists to sister, one more ceiling fan mount to install, plus 3 more fixture mounts for other lights. I'd planned to sister all the 5 ceiling joists that need it this weekend, but Tuesday I created a little emergency. While trying to rip out a piece of planking in the wall that had bowed and split--thereby preventing the sheetrock from being flush--I discovered that two of my ceiling joists were actually resting on that plank, instead of on the exterior load-bearing wall. The reason? when the foundation failed in the 40s that wall bowed out about three inches, and the joists slipped off it.

Which is how I broke my nose. With all that weight on the plank, it was under a lot of pressure, so when I finally managed to pry it off the studs, it came loose at high speed and whacked me in the face. I blacked out for about a second, before that little quiet voice in the back of my head kicked in. You know, the little voice that whispers, "Maybe you shouldn't take that short cut," and "Get up and check the door." My little voice said, "Don't fall off the ladder."

I didn't. I managed to get myself down the ladder, my head ringing, and my dust mask filling up with blood. As I was just starting to wonder how badly I'd fucked myself up, I heard this soft groaning sound and looked up. Above me, the ceiling was sagging about three inches. Not terrible, but likely to become so.

This was at about 8 pm, and who was I going to call for help? Sure, 911 would take care of my face, but they wouldn't do anything about my ceiling joists. So I went out to my truck, grabbed the jack, and a couple of 2 x 4's on my way back through the garage. I slapped one 2 x 4 up to the ceiling with a pair of screws (thank you, trusty cordless drill), wedged the other one up under it, balanced on top of the jack, and cranked the ceiling back up to the proper height. Contrary to my expectations, it worked perfectly. After all, that little jack was designed to lift one quarter of my truck, so it was strong enough to lift one tenth of my ceiling.

Then I could worry about my nose. Luckily I still have a kitchen sink, so I went it and pulled the dust mask off. Blood, lots of it. I washed off a bunch of it, but I didn't have a mirror, so I couldn't really see what the damage was. I had half a bag of ice in the freezer, so I grabbed that, stuck it on my face and drove to my temporary digs.

I kept the ice on it for about five hours, and that seems to have done the trick. I have a bump, a bruise, and my eyes are a little black, but my nose is straight. I'm pretty sure it's broken, because I can feel it wiggle when I laugh, and my eyebrows actually hurt.

Episode 2 was me calling into work sick the next morning. Only I didn't stay home. I couldn't. I went to the house and crawled up in the attic to sister in the three joists that just couldn't wait for this weekend. Then I had to repair and replace the plank I'd originally been intending to fix when it bitch slapped me. I won the rematch. 

.....Ive pretty much done my Christmas shopping.  I went into Thorntons yesterday to get a box of alcoholic chocolate truffles for my grandad because I cant think of anything else to get him and the lad behind the counter checked to see if I looked over 16, im 35 for gods sake!  I know I have a youthful complexion *grins* but I dont look that young.

Looking forward to an hour away then im finished for the weekend, hurrah!

......I played it last night I started my book and hope to start lessons in January from a friend of a friend.  Just need to get a nice strap for it as my guitar strap doesnt fit the peg at the bottom.

I'm sure if Daz had of tried just a little bit harder he could have bought a more difficult wedding present for me to wrap.

Not much harder mind you.

There was a gift registry, he was going to the big smoke, so I said - go and spend about $100.00. And he came home with this weird mish mash of items. He was super impressed with himself because there had been 30% off everything and he was able to get a lot of totally random unrelated items.

I said - couldn't you have just bought one item?

He said - well I could've got the ironing board.

Easier to wrap no doubt, but not as easy to fit in the car.

So I've ignored it for two weeks but the wedding is tomorrow so I had to face up to it today. A lot of sticky tape was used. And I'm not sure a piece of curly silver ribbon is going to make it look better either.

But at least its crap they want.

So this is Emjays son who is getting married. My nephew. It is going to be a huge, long and hot day, that will start with a three hour drive for us to even get there. I'm planning on taking my swimmers to have a splash around in the motel pool between the service and the reception. That will hopefully be followed by a nap. And we have to fit lunch in sometime before the service and all stay clean. Lol, we have to get dressed at 7.30 in the morning, drive three hours in Lloyds old smashed up Magna, eat lunch, go to the service, fill in a few hours, then turn up at the reception still looking clean and fresh.

Don't know what that chances of that are. But it should be a good day and night. Big.

Emjay tells me I should wish for my children to elope.

i just wanted to thank you ladies (mostly ladies) - for listening to my recent man bullshit and offering thoughtful comments. they truly do help and i can only hope that one of these days, i'll have some insight that helps you through trying times. 

One of my favorite piano pieces is the Schubert-Liszt lied “Der Leiermann” from the song-cycle “Winterreise” (translated as Winter Journey), which describes a man’s journey as he leaves his home and travels through a winter landscape.  “Der Leiermann” is actually the conclusion of the song-cycle.  It’s haunting and beautiful and I love playing it, though – alas – I do not sing along.

Anyway, in contrast to the past couple of Christmases, our little pack is preparing for its own Winterreise – this year, The Beloved, Penny and I are going to go to visit the Beloved’s folks for Christmas.   That’s all good, right?  Lots of people travel for the Holidays.

Ours though is going to be something we’ve never quite tried before.  We’re going by car.  To Virginia.  From California.  Google maps says it’s about 2700 miles and should take about 42 hours to get there.

We haven’t really planned it out yet, but we’re conceptualizing the trip as 5-5-5 (5 days out, 5 days there, 5 days back).   We’ll obviously take a more southerly route and keep a close eye on the Weather Channel before we make some road choices.  Penny has done well in the car (and seems to settle when we hit the freeways) but has never had to do car duty like this.

Fortunately, we have a Garmin and wi-fi enabled devices and lots of websites that cater to finding pet-friendly lodgings.  Hopefully, we won’t need to stay in any mangers.

And so, I put it to you:

We leave in two weeks!

finally got a response from matt.

i hate him...no i don't...he said he thinks about me. that he thinks about calling me all the time but knows it's not appropriate. he wants to see me but understands it's not a good idea. not right now. 

i don't know how to take that. he's not supposed to care about me.

i sent him an e-mail back that was a little friendlier in tone than i've had in the past. i caved. i told him how much i wish he'd reconsider. i told him i went on a date and that the whole time i was thinking about how i'd rather it was him on the opposite side of the table.

he said he didn't come pick his stuff up that day a few weeks back because he couldn't make the drive there, and couldn't go into the apartment foyer. why not? he's the one that broke up with me...i don't understand.

he apologized for not having his mail forwarded.

*

shit. just got a text from dean...i don't want to respond to him, but i feel like i'm being rude if i don't. he asked me how my day was going...

does he really want to know? does he want to know that i've completely stumbled again? - that in all honesty, my feelings still lie with someone else?

*

when someone cheats on you, and breaks up with you because he "can't bear the guilt of it," and then sends you e-mails about how much he wants to see you and hear your voice and how much he thinks of you...how certain things remind him of you...is that normal? is it normal for a guy to feel that way and tell you about it even though he's the one who ended it?

i do want him to come back. i really do. his e-mails tell me that he misses me and wants me back, but i don't really think he does or else he'd come back. and i can't think that way or it'll drive me crazy.