The Teen folk were fine—couldn’t find an addy 10 blocks due north of them, but hey, you can’t find everything. We guided them in and they took the furniture with no problem.
Meanwhile I got a lovely hundred dollar discount from a reader who signed us as the person who referred her to Sleep Number, so I got some new sheets—the spendy ones that wick heat away from you and prevent ‘hot spots.’ You have to wash them on delicate and dry them on low, because they’re some space age thing that reacts badly to too much heat. But they are so nice and having a change of sheets that are already washed and waiting is a luxury I haven’t had in, well, since Oklahoma.
Weather’s still in the upper 80′, but nights are starting to trend toward fall.
And moving that large furniture out of the basement lets Jane and me continue on our reorganization plan.
Well, there’s a rarity for you. We were hotter on the wet side. 94F or 101F yesterday; I’ve got two online weather stations within a mile. I’m like the man with two clocks who never knows what time it is. But I’d expect better agreement than that!
The pond reached ‘murky’ again, but I don’t want to use the algae killer OR the sludge remover if I can avoid it, so we did a pond drain, which, let me tell you, is faster with 2 pumps. We opened the 2″ drain on the waterfall filter to lower the pond a foot, then when that reached its lowest intake, shut that down and used the pool hose on the other pump to do a drain with the 2000 GPH pump still running, so consequently instead of nursing a garden hose drain from 9 am til 3 pm, I am done draining in about an hour, to the point the fish are getting nervous, and have turned the auto-topoff back on, so the 2000 Gph is still running, minus a small moment to disconnect the drain hose and screw in the drain plug…and the fish will be oxygenated (yay! always a worry) from that filters little waterfall while the new water pours in via the auto-topoff. Sure beats draining via the 500 GPH pump and a garden hose.
I’m soaking wet—
Job 1: drain the pond [2 hoses, a drain tap, 2 pumps, take hose from gate valve to Matala drain tap connector] and wash the filter
Job 2: fill the pond: put in the drain tap, pull the drain hose, reconnect to the gate valve on the big waterfall, (30 feet of water-filled pool hose) —and turn on the water. Wind up the 75 feet of hose used for washing the filters.
Job 3: fill the pond back up to level (automated, thanks to the auto-topoff, once it’s turned on.) And go inside and fill up the auto-topoff barrel for the marine tank. Get it running. Pump has chewed its impeller blades off. Again. I find, amid the flotsam and jetsam on the counter, a viable impeller. I get the pump going, discover my feet are getting wet, because the end of the hose I’m trying to unclog has unclogged and it is NOT in the topoff barrel… I manhandle the full water barrel (on a furniture roller) over to the topoff barrel and use a 5 gallon bucket to move 32 gallons water from the water barrel to the topoff barrel.
Job 4: get Jane some tea and sympathy out front, where she’s been weeding. I start with a mug of ice water…and realize the freshwater tank is full of bubbles, ie, low on water. I fill 2 pitchers of tapwater and put in half a cap of Prime (water conditioner) and put that in, THEN deliver the water to Jane, who has been working twice as hard as I have…
Ah, gardening!
One of us soggy, the other dirty…
Are we having fun yet?
Soggy and Dirty? You need five more dwarves and a loyal minion to complete the set! 😀 Though a pair is also a set.
Soggy, Dirty, Gritty, Stinky, Drippy, Flaky, Filthy and Bob.
Guffaw!
What about Scummy, Nasty, and Muddy?
Seriously, being done with a task is one of my favorite feelings, especially when I’ve done a good job!
I vote for Grubby!
Hey, I can post! When I tried to log in from another computer, it refused, and told me I had to ask nicely for permission. Maybe it was just that particular computer… we shall see.
Your browser on that machine doesn’t have the “I know you” Magic Cookie.
What the heck is this???
http://seananmcguire.tumblr.com/post/61030012451/camwyn-itsfullofstars-the-space-station
Oh, yes. There’s a filk song entitled Carmen Miranda’s Ghost Is Haunting Space Station 3… and I did a little short story for it. Leslie’s an old friend of mine.
Any chance the lyrics to said song are available on line, or could be posted somewhere thereon? I think I’m going to have to read that one. Or maybe hear?
http://www.madmusic.com/song_details.aspx?SongID=2434
Oh, and is the story available to be read?
Not quite yet. I’m thinking about putting up some of my short stories independently on CC. I have the rights. 😉
Pleeeeeeezzzzeee *makes sad kitty eyes*