What did you do today?

[Zanne]

Try painting it sky blue? Don't know if it will work but allegedly they won't try to build on anything sky blue. Other than that, I have no idea.

Been prepping for hurricane Ida. Gassed up the truck, stocked up on food that doesn't need to be refrigerated or cooked, filled five 5-gallon buckets of water in the bathroom and a big tub of water in the kitchen. Been filling empty bottles with water for the cats. Early projections of the storm showed it going right over us but now it is showing it will miss us. Could still change course though.

earth :: a global map of wind, weather, and ocean conditions

See current wind, weather, ocean, and pollution conditions, as forecast by supercomputers, on an interactive animated map. Updated every three hours.

earth.nullschool.net

Hurricane Ida

Updated Sep 2 at 6:25 PM GMT-5

www.google.com

I'm southwest of Alexandria so out of the main predicted zone for now. But that doesn't mean my power company won't shut stuff off or lose power.

 

[PerplexedPlumber]

We must have seen the same gardening show - I've been planning a cabin with a sky blue porch ceiling. These wasps aren't aggressive until you open the vent cover. ; )

Stay safe - weather sounds rough, and flooding extensive. Post back and let us know if you're doing OK.

 

[Jeff Handy]

Yesterday we resolved a mystery. The bathroom exhaust fan would blow water into the bathroom when we turned it on. High five to the first person who guesses correctly, or close enough.

Depends on what is above it.
First guess is condensation from humid air condensing inside.

 

[Zanne]

The sky blue thing is something they say around here. I could never tell if it was an old wive's tale or if it actually works. It's not a matter of the wasps getting aggressive so much as them building nests that block stuff. We call them a-holes with wings around here. The ones here become aggressive if you get near them. I kill them every chance I get. I have friends who are terrified of them & my brother is allergic to their stings. So I kill them every chance I get.

Storm somehow took a surprising turn to the east and completely missed us. It was expected to go right up the center of Louisiana but it veered off to Mississippi. It did downgrade quite a bit. I have friends down south who got hit-- no power, no water, trees down everywhere. My frriend's gf's brother lives in Raceland. His car broke down right before the storm so he couldn't evacuate. He reported that his roof came off and rain was pouring in. The gf was updating me when our power went out and phone cut off. No real reason for our power to go out but they restored it in a few hours. My brain is still foggy though.

 

[Zanne]

Toilet spit up a little when I flushed it but then flushed fine. Must be something in the drain line. Just in case I'm having the septic tank sucked out because it's overdue. I found the # for the old jerk who serviced the tank in the past. Called & found out he died a year ago. The company still has his name though. It will be around $650 to drain the septic tank. ugh. They will come out tomorrow after they get their truck fixed. And mom just got a new laptop (albeit on sale and with a coupon). But getting this done is necessary. Good thing I scheduled my next dental appointment for next month.

 

[sawguy]

I would research the Rolex price guide for a better gift source.

 

[havasu]

I spent $1900 on a new pool pump this morning. Looking at my electric bill, my pool pump is costing $90 a month to run. The variable speed unit will run about $20 a month. In 2 years, I will have paid for the unit. It also means I don't need solar here, saving me $30K. Hell, I'm making money doing nothing. I feel like a Congressman.

 

[Twowaxhack]

I spent $1900 on a new pool pump this morning. Looking at my electric bill, my pool pump is costing $90 a month to run. The variable speed unit will run about $20 a month. In 2 years, I will have paid for the unit. It also means I don't need solar here, saving me $30K. Hell, I'm making money doing nothing. I feel like a Congressman.

The pump guy here on the forum says the variable speed thingies break a lot

 

[havasu]

Since the variable speed pumps average 1800 rpm vs. 3600 rpm, they tend to last longer. There is a 2 year warranty, and another year warranty since I paid with my Visa card.

 

[Zanne]

I miss having a pool, but I know it would be a lot of work to maintain and it would be one more responsibility I'd be stuck with because no one else in the house would do it.

Still no sign of my missing cat or my missing phone (phone disappeared about a day after the cat did). Hardest part is not having the camera from it. I've decided I'm not getting a new phone unless I find the old one first. I don't use a phone all that often except for as a camera.

Yesterday I snuck over to my friend's house while he was sleeping and painted the side of the microwave cabinet (I forgot some of it would be exposed next to the other upper cabinets that would be going in). I was going to do part of it, but decided to paint the whole thing. I need to get a 2nd coat on. Friend messaged me hours later thanking me.

The dog woke me up again so I'm awake and unable to get back to sleep.

 

[rickwhoo]

Thanks to the assist from wasps building a nest in the chamber of the soffit vent between the grilles and the flaps. If anyone has a good way of preventing wasps from building nests there, short of screen that would impair air flow, I would be very, very interested.

I made one of these with brown paper bags and it worked great... Amazon.com : 4 Pack Fake Nest Decoy Trap Natural and Safe Non-Toxic Hanging Wasp Deterrent Outdoor, Yellow : Patio, Lawn & Garden

 

[Zanne]

Wasps suck so much. I think paper bags would fall apart with the humidity/moisture here.

I felt like garbage Saturday. Slept most of the day & then my mother woke up in extra b*** mode. She was being extremely rude about stuff so after I got her food and gave her the butter for the potatoes I told her she could put the butter away her own f***ing self & went back to sleep. I was feeling dizzy and had a headache and just generally bleh. She usually gets b***y this time of year.

I'm hoping I will feel well enough to do something productive today.

 

[rickwhoo]

Wasps suck so much. I think paper bags would fall apart with the humidity/moisture here.

I felt like garbage Saturday. Slept most of the day & then my mother woke up in extra b*** mode. She was being extremely rude about stuff so after I got her food and gave her the butter for the potatoes I told her she could put the butter away her own f***ing self & went back to sleep. I was feeling dizzy and had a headache and just generally bleh. She usually gets b***y this time of year.

I'm hoping I will feel well enough to do something productive today.

Mine lasted for 4 years before falling off my gutter. They went thru 4 seasons of PA weather and I had no wasps at all.

 

[Zanne]

The wasps and all sorts of bugs are always around here. We've been getting a lot of centipedes inside for some unknown reason. If you bump them or squish them they let out a very strong odor. Never remember them being around before.

Got up fairly early & discovered the water wasn't working. Went out and the jet pump was humming but air compressor pump wasn't moving. I looked closer & the belt was broken. I took the belt, informed my family members, got my brother to go with me, went to O'Reilly's to get a new belt (they matched the # on the old belt and had one that was supposed to be the same size). Went to the grocery store & got stuff to cook tonight (microwave meals just in case there was no water). Got home, put the belt on, turned power back on to the pumps. It squealed and didn't sound right. I smelled rubber burning. Thought it was the jet pump but it turns out the belt was just a bit too long and was rubbing instead of turning the wheels.

Called the well repair guy but got voicemail. Called my friend and same thing. Finally got in touch & brought him out to look. We had to go back into town and got two different sized belts just in case. 48" one worked. But the piston end is knocking and the motor end is shaking. I'm hoping it will hold up because those things are expensive to replace. But we have running water for now-- albeit with air in the lines and the water is brown. I'm about ready for a nap.

My friend also helped me grab a bag of sweet feed for my cows so we could distract them while he messed with the pump. He's afraid of the red cow. He grabbed some stuff at Tractor Supply that was on clearance so I bought it for him as a "thank you" for helping.

 

[Zanne]

How is everyone doing? This thread has been quiet.

Still haven't gotten my hot water totally fixed. Friend has been sick with kidney stones and just feeling overwhelmed with life. His work hasn't paid him for the work he did 3 weeks ago & he thinks they are trying to fire him. His gf has not been working consistently. I had to pick him up from the ER the other morning. His ex moved in across the street (not directly across) but there are some kids that live on the next street over that keep coming through the back yard to pull knives on people and threaten them. They broke in to the house the ex moved into & my friend called the cops but they refused to do anything about it. Didn't care that the kids pulled a knife on him. The kids later came to his house and pulled a knife on his gf's nephew & threatened him (he was in the front yard playing). They better watch it bc even though they are tweens/early teens, they will pull that with the wrong person.

Friend's gf is livid about the ex being so close but my friend is happy to have his daughter closer. She can come over anytime she wants now. I am concerned that the brats from behind might try to threaten her. My friend might go to jail if that happens- although, cops around here do like him even if they hate his gf.

It's cold right now so I'm cuddled up with the kitties.

 

[BlueSkyHigh]

My life is so boring and thankfully so. Where do you live?

 

[Zanne]

I'm in rural Louisiana. My friend lives in the small town that is near the woods where I live. I'm out in the wildlife refuge area outside of town-- technically outside the town limits. I would not be able to live close to other people again. Too many thieves and dirtbags. A lot of them seem to gravitate toward my friend's gf and come over to mooch from my friend.

My friend is slowly converting his office (which was originally the kitchen on the 100+ year old house he's in) to a nursery for his gf's baby. I've been trying to help. I came up with the layout in sketchup. He told me he stripped the walls and is ready to put up drywall. I'm waiting to hear from him today. Yesterday I was exhausted. I need to see if I can get my body to cooperate to do some more cleaning today.

I got a bunch of my tools back from him the day before yesterday. There are still a few missing that I need him to find. One of my shovels was missing. I think the guy who did yardwork for him stole it. Guy broke my rake but refused to replace it. They had a falling out over something & the guy won't come back even though he owes my friend work/money.

He's got kidney stones right now so I don't think he's up to working on the water.

 

[Wrench]

I went inside the Assisted Living home for the first time in since July of 2020 and visited with Mom in person, in her "apartment". I was going to stay only about an hour. 2.5 hours later I had to leave. It was very good seeing her there. I have seen her outside of that place a few times, but not in "her" place. It was very good. And My youngest daughter, son-in-law and 8 grandkids are coming back to my area to live and today is the day they drove up for this being "the move".

 

[havasu]

Good to hear this.

 

[rickwhoo]

I bought a Google Nest Thermostat... Had to add a transformer to make it work.