VSG Maintenance Group
Recent Posts
on 10/7/24 3:16 pm
I left my 1997 washer and dryer in my last house as part of the sale. A repair guy told me never to get rid of them because nothing is made to last anymore and the old will always be better. It's called planned obsolescence and they do it on purpose to get you to buy a new one sooner. A washer that works for 40 years doesn't make them money like needing a new one every 10 years does... I generally think capitalism is a good thing, but that one component of it I do not like at all.
Feeling Monday tired kind of tired. No big crises at work, but lots of little details to handle and my brain is a bit fried.
I was thinking more about our lives as they existed in whatever we consider our before. I think mine has a clear delineation: before and after I went to Brazil at 18 as an exchange student. It was one year, but it changed everything. I had fun and some accomplishment in my high school years, but looking back, I always had the sense that I was marking time, waiting for something big to happen. So I got on a plane, flew 10,000 miles to Southern Brazil to live with people I'd never met, who spoke a language I'd never studied. Something big at last! And that's when my real life began.
I hope Peps made it home safely, after napping on the plane. And CC is enjoying her hair free home in the moments it remains that way.
Sand has to be the downside of living near the beach. When my Aunt and Uncle lived in Ipswich, one car was designated the beach car, so they didn't have to deal with sand in both cars. Liz, the two of you handle everything so efficiently and effectively, the kids haven't caught onto the fact you're growing older and could use some help. They are still looking to the two of you to help them. You indeed might have to clue them in a bit.
Our dryer stopped working last night. No surprise, because it is 37 years old. Yes, my washer and dryer are 37 years old. After about 25 years, I became very intrigued thinking about how long they would last. Apparently a long time, because DH is certain an easily replaced part will have the dryer up and running tomorrow. He sees no need to buy new ones if they still work. Perhaps they will rust out from the bottom one day. Or maybe they are immortal. Whirlpool should pay us to do a commercial.
I would be afraid of what I would see vacuuming at night LOL.
I am pretty confident our condo will be okay as the amount of rain and wind predicted isn't terribly onerous in that area. We are not on the open ocean, but on the intracoastal and we are on the third floor of our building. I am worried about some of our friends on the other coast. I contacted a friend who is driving down right now to Venice with his brother. They are going to stay in Virginia until after the hurricane comes through. If their place is damaged or there is no power/water, but our place is okay, they will go stay at ours..
Liz 5'3" HW: 219 SW: 185 GW: 125 LW: 113 Desired maintenance range: 120-125 CW: 119ish
That's true about worrying about poor health in older people. One of my BILs is thinner than I have ever seen him and I was worried that he had been sick. Apparently not per the other BIL - he just wanted to return to his High School weight (too thin IMHO as his face and neck and legs look emaciated).
Liz 5'3" HW: 219 SW: 185 GW: 125 LW: 113 Desired maintenance range: 120-125 CW: 119ish
on 10/7/24 10:16 am
Heading to lunch with my friends in a few minutes. Tiles guys are here. It's like Groundhog Day.
Oh no, I just saw Hurricane Milton is at a category 5. As if more destruction is needed in that part of the country. Liz, hope your place will be okay.
Not much else to report. Silly thing, but I may never vacuum during the day again. I bought a $10 LED vacuum light (my cordless doesn't have a light) and vacuumed last night. I thought with my daily vacuuming I was being thorough, but NO! The amount of dog hair and dust that is magically revealed on tile floors in the dark with a little LED light is astounding. I filled the oversized canister twice and didn't do 3 rooms. I vacuum daily! Areas I would have bet money were clean were covered in dog hair and dust. With the light on, they look completely clean. That's what counts as excitement to me and DD, why none of my life's stories (unlike Tom Lake) will ever take more than 15 minutes to tell.
Take care all!
Lately, I've been thinking a lot about my mother. As the oldest of her seven children, I was in some very lovely ways my mother's long-time confidante about her own before days, which I thought of as my "pre-history"--everything that happened before my parents had me or even each other.
Happily for me, my mother had a significant before days era. She was the eldest of two daughters of dairy farmer/small-town grocer parents. Born in 1919 before her own mother could vote, she went to college in 1936, taught school, then went to New York in 1939 to study music, and returned home to teach again. When America joined WWII she moved to St. Louis where she got an office job and eventually met and married my father after knowing him only a month. Then he went to Europe as part of the D-day prep team, and she was on her own again for a year before he returned.
Her pre-history experiences, adventures and perspectives made her extremely different from all my friends' mothers. In other words, she was my first role model. I grew up wanting to become, like she had done, my own person.
When my father died (at 68), I was single, and Mother and I started traveling together. She was always up for any adventure, and I discovered how big a flirt she was! A few months ago I found a news article about a long-ago high school reunion in which she described herself proudly as "a traveling widow." During that phase of her life, she loved living alone and sharing her before days stories with her granddaughters. Eventually, Alzheimer's happened, and she came to live with me and my husband for the last dozen years of her life.
Life has many phases. Like Yogi Berra said, "It ain't over 'til it's over." Thank you, Mother.
(And thanks to y'all for listening.)
ANN 5'5", AGE 74, HW 235.6 (BMI 39.2), SW 216, GW 150, CW 132, BMI 22
POUNDS LOST: Pre-op -20, M1 -10, M2 -11, M3 -10, M4 -10, M5 -7, M6 -5, M7 -6, M8 -4, M9 -4,
NEXT 10 MOS. -12, TOTAL -100 LBS.
I've not read Tom Lake yet and might wind up doing so. However, I have been to Ann Patchett's bookstore in Nashville. It's a lovely place.
ANN 5'5", AGE 74, HW 235.6 (BMI 39.2), SW 216, GW 150, CW 132, BMI 22
POUNDS LOST: Pre-op -20, M1 -10, M2 -11, M3 -10, M4 -10, M5 -7, M6 -5, M7 -6, M8 -4, M9 -4,
NEXT 10 MOS. -12, TOTAL -100 LBS.
Here I sit at the airport in Newark, NJ. Buster is all checked in and I'm at the gate. The guy at the check-in counter was trying to save me money and didn't want to check one of my bags because it was carryon size. The bag was Buster's stuff. I forgot I had a BIG can of hair spray in the bag, so TSA was a hold up. Booo.... But I was plenty early so it wasn't stressful. I am a fan of arriving home early, but the getting up at 4:00 am is not my idea of fun after a long and exhausting weekend of dog shows. Buster had a great start to the weekend, but it went downhill after he won Owner Handled Best in Show. C'est la vie of the dog show world!
It will sure be interesting to see how my weight is tomorrow. My new vial of tirzepatide arrived last Tuesday while I was already on my way to the airport. I only had 20 units to take with me. My normal dose is 63 units. I took the dose of Friday night (a day late). While I can tell it wasn't as strong a dose because I didn't have my "I really don't want to eat" day, I still have not had any difficulty with controlling portions or had any cravings. The med must have some type of "shelf life" in the system.
A few people mentioned my weight loss, which was nice. Some people I thought would say something, said nothing. Interesting how that works. Perhaps when one reaches my age it is more likely that weight loss is due to poor health than when younger and people are worried to bring up that possibility. Makes sense to me. But I feel like I look really healthy, but maybe I'm kidding myself. Who knows.
I am hoping for a loooooonnnnnggggg nap on the plane. And I am sure looking forward to being home!
Weight 120.2.
Nice night out with SILs. Though the restaurant was 25 minutes away the entire drive was on a really pleasant road. So easy to drive back and forth from.
We finished all integration of kitchen stuff yesterday - DH has a box of donations for things that will never be used again or were duplicates. I did a much more thorough vacuuming of the rooms we will spend the most time in - so much sand! I would really like to scrub the floors, but that will probably have to wait until next year. The windows need to be washed badly but they are mostly dirty between the storm windows and the regular window so have to be dismantled to some extent - they are not modern windows. If there is time and good weather this week, DH may do some of them. I did get some pictures mounted on the walls but the rest have to wait until I get some more supplies. I always had a lot of stuff as backup on my workbench, but DH is not that handy so only has what his father left behind. And his kids act like this is just a rental place so don't really take care of things. Now that DH is 70 they really need to start realizing that his capabilities are going to wane in the coming years and they need to step up to take care of more. But changing how kids step up is difficult as I see the same thing with mine.
It is going to rain today and I am debating whether to go back to my town for a birthday lunch with my SIL and BIL. I haven't really seen my BIL for quite a while other than a brief appearance at the wedding last weekend (he didn't stay for the meal). I hate driving in the rain and am tired of the drive back and forth from there but we shall see...
I may have found someone to fix my mailbox! The guy who took the remainder of my furniture thinks he can do it. I just asked him if he knew anyone who could as he works for the town and knows a lot of handy guys. He said he probably could. That would be another thing off he list! I'm not so worried about the alarm stuff - if they don't contact me that is their problem.
Time to think about a dog walk before the rain starts. Have a momentary Monday!
Liz 5'3" HW: 219 SW: 185 GW: 125 LW: 113 Desired maintenance range: 120-125 CW: 119ish
