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WEEK 20 2021
Last Week- Sun- Mon- Tue- Wed- Thur- Fri- Sat- Next Week
Saturday - Warm and windy (45mph).
Oddly, when I went to do some mid-month bills and my ES payments I discovered that the IRS had deposited a bunch of money in my account. Weird. Well, I could tell that for some reason TurboTax was having issues this year - strange because I must have a bog standard income and expenses profile. Next year it'll be H&R Block I guess.
Anyway, it was enough that I could finally pay off my last credit card balance, so yay, Credit Card Freedom Day.
I used the IRS's online calculator, and figure I owe just a little on my SSI, so I paid that, and a little extra for my ES. Oddly they've changed the address for California payee's, first time I can remember that happening.
So that's done, until June.
Went into town for a few garden items, took my friends R&S to lunch at Korean Kathy's to celebrate, first time for me in a year I think!
Books so far, 2021:
Friday - Warm and windy.
Bob texted that there might be a decent Mars/Moon conjunction tomorrow, I'll have to get out to see it, weather permitting. We've actually had high clouds as well as winds, on occasion, strange weather pattern.
He says that a snowstorm and rain is predicted for Reno!
Dave stopped by briefly. He is emptying the office in Ventura as his lease is almost up, and returned a nice office chair, some books and such. I had volunteered to go down and get it all, but I think he wanted to get out of town and do a drive. He took San Francisquito Canyon, which is quite a drive in a F-150 truck. Said he enjoyed it.
Thursday - Warm and a bit windy. As usual.
It looks like the nursery called, but I thought it was spam and didn't pick up. I called back and we are on for delivery next Wednesday, and a guy to dig holes.
I took some time and laid out the tree locations for out front, though not the one tree for the back yet, I was beat by the time this was done. Basically it's simply down the center of the yard, 13' at closest to the house. Fruitless Mulberry have lots of roots, so you don't want them too close to anything. The ash can be a lot closer.
Wednesday - Slightly overcast, but warm and windy.
I had bought some drain pipe, the perforated kind, and I made a roller for one of the awnings, the one on the garage, since it goes crazy in high winds. It seems to work pretty well, though the lightweight pipe is bending in the middle more than I'd like. I'll add a screw eye into the rafter at about the center, and support it there.
But it is pleasantly surprising how much quieter it is without the flapping noise!
Prior to putting down flooring, there are some things to be done:
I did a bit of research on what type of paint to use on my baseboards, and basically came up with the same color as the walls, Swiss Coffee, in semi-gloss. The existing baseboards and trim all need painting, some need replacing, and there are some walls with none on them, here and there throughout the house.
Also I need to touch up the walls here and there, and the master closer and the washing machine room never got painted, so I need some more flat paint for those.
And the hearth should get it's oak trim or something. Basically it's just 2x4's, with broken tiles on top. Been that way since the 1990's I suppose...
I I go with the same stuff everywhere then I should demo the master bath surround. I already bought a bigger pry bar, some weeks ago...
Tuesday - Hot and dry again, 95F and 8% humidity.
I made sure to go out and water the tomato seedlings every couple of hours - they are still new. Toma toe's like heat, so once they are started well this won't be necessary, though I may come up with some sort of mister on a timer, to keep the garden cool enough that they can flower, pollinate, and have fruit. Maybe even some sort of limited shade as well.
This task probably involves running a tap from the spigot under the kitchen window. I can't really continue on the pavers there until I get the tee and pipe in there. There really isn't much more of the pathway left to do, it's about 11LF to the south, and about 4 or 5LF to the north of the french door step, just to be somewhat symmetrical.
The patio itself will stick out from there.
No call from the nursery guy.
Book #31 was The Death of the Necromancer (Ile-Rien #2), by Martha Wells. I had enjoyed the Murderbot series, so I thought I'd try one of her fantasies. This was quite good, I'll have to try some of her other novels. There are a fair amount free on-line from the library.
Monday - Hot and dry in the afternoon, and a bit of wind, but calm and pleasant in the morning.
I took the truck in to Scott's to get the oil changed and the tires
rotated.
S picked me up from there, and we went and looked at flooring and trees. I guess it's time to get that stuff done, now that the debts are mostly cleared. The nursery guy will call in the next day or two with some delivery options.
I had thought we'd be done quickly, but all this took a several hours, and Scott called that the truck was done about 11am. I bought us lunch at Dickies, then she dropped me off at Scott's and I headed home.
Sunday - Shopping in the morning with S.
The crowds were fairly normal, despite Mother's Day.
So it goes. I picked up a bit more cat food, but the pet food shelves were mostly re-stocked, which is good.
We went next door to Lowe's and I picked up a new 3/4 - 1.3HP swamp cooler motor.
As a Mother's Day thank-you I also bought Sheryl a couple of small plants she was eyeing - a Venus Fly Trap, and some Okra.
We agreed to meet up tomorrow and look at flooring samples and some potted tree's. I'm a bit concerned about planting anything, what with a drought probably on it's way, but it's not like that won't be a possibility next year, and the year after, and the year after...
It'd be nice if the state government spent some money on reservoirs, and
fire abatement, and electric utility backup, and ..., but that's not going
to happen.
