Recent Posts

That nickel allergy is a real bummer, Liz! But at lest you know what it is and can try to avoid it. Darned beans.

196. The new HVAC guy came today and I really liked him. He's the first to suggest at least one of the thermostats could be replaced under warranty (which given it would be about $2k to replace all three would be nice). Another he said maybe could be replaced. Then I would just have to pay for the 3rd so they were all on the same system. He also explained why my dad's rooms struggles so much to get warm. It's because the ductwork is buried in the concrete slab foundation and the heat that comes from heat pumps is not as warm as a gas furnace, so it never warms the ducting up enough meaning what comes out in the room is a good 15 degrees colder than what leaves the unit. The rest of the house is the same, but the main living areas have in floor heating which counteracts the heat loss. So Kimbled again for them cheaping out and not putting in floor heating in the whole house. *******s. The HVAC guy said when the time comes, I could replace the heat pumps with propane furnaces where the air comes out of the unit 25-50 degrees warmer, but I'm not sure what that would do to my propane bill for 3 units.

Anyway, I may do some chores today and walk Kirby, but no other plans. It was 71 yesterday which is crazy. Today should be 67.

Take care!

121.8 - back up a bit. I weigh more than Paula right now!

Still cold here, but at least it is 46 vs 31 at our home a bit more north. One more day with the extreme cold, then tomorrow should be a bit warmer and Wednesday be more seasonal.

We had an uneventful 4.75 hour trip to where we are staying in the Keys. We are on Big Pine Key which is 30 miles from Key West and famous for its little key deer. I have seen them previously but they aren't as prevalent as they used to be apparently.

The house here is really cute - on a canal with a nice screened porch with comfortable chairs which we can use when it warms up. Everything is on the second floor because by law homes have to be built on stilts here. There is a common area with lots of light, a nice kitchen, eating area and living room, then a small bedroom and bath to the right and another set to the left. Very small overall but functional for 2 couples. There is no insulation or heat so we are using 2 small space heaters that the owner had stowed away. They work really great! Probably a lot more efficient than the ineffective heat built into our AC unit. I am ordering one to come when we arrive back home.

So I made a mistake on Thursday and ingested a high level of nickel which kicked my allergy in. There was a chicken and white bean soup at the lunch after golf and I thought that if I removed the beans I would be fine. Nope - apparently nickel leaches into the soup. So I have blisters on 3 toes and 1 finger. Now that I know what causes it I can get them to subside in a few days if I don't have any more high nickel foods but it still takes awhile to the skin to clear. The foods that are the highest in nickel are beans, lentils and nuts. Some other foods are difficult but they are the worst. No taco salads for me! The last time I had a breakout was when I sneaked turkey chili and tried to eat around the beans.

Not sure what we will do today other than definitely take a good Justice walk. We packed a ton of clothes including our winter jackets, hats and gloves, so we would have stuff for both cold and warm weather.

Have a mild Monday!

They do like to come back to places where they like to hang out!

Tasty lunch! I am jealous that you could sit outside. It's another cold day here.

What a wonderful trip you are having with DH. Returning to a place and people you love and introducing DH to all of it!

I am sure you figured out the buses easily. At least you know the protocol in Brazil having been there before. When we went to Italy we didn't realize that Italians do not queue up. All us obedient Americans waited in a perfect line for the bus but when it arrived, the Italians who had been relaxing, jumped up and squeezed onto the bus ahead of everyone.