Sleepy Sunday

Ok, it's been a long day and an extremely short weekend, but it is time for a major update on things ongoing.

Grandma first. No new news there, much. She is continuing chemo for her bone cancer, even though there is no help for the rest of it in her plasma and immune system. She is having a small rally, eating a little and brushing her hair and the like, but we know each day is precious. She is at the point where she is so compromised that a good head cold setting in could do serious damage.

Mom ... well, she and Amber are going at it. Amber is not behaving as she was raised and Mom is letting her know that the thin line keeping her in Mom's good graces is about to be crossed. Amber thinks life is screwing with her, but as she is not quite 23 yet, she has a lot to learn about life f--king her up. For those who do not understand why she lives with Mom, long story short is she goes to college in MI, and lives with Mom to be close to school. Staying with the 'rents is apparently not a good idea, because we would expect her to pull her weight and get a real job, too. Oh, well.

Mom is getting the bills from her hospital stays and the gallbladder surgery. They must think she is made of money or something, because the bill for the one-hour-long gallbladder operation was almost $13,600! Good grief.

What I said earlier about Terminix ... well, when Amber moved back in, she brought bedbugs with her. She swears she didn't but Mom has never had any bug problems in nearly 50 years of home ownership. So, without talking to Mom about HER house, Amber called in Terminix to deal with the problem. Granted, Amber paid for it, but it is MOM'S house. Mom was livid to say the least. They have done the treatment, but everything is still packed up in the basement Mom can't get down to and back up because of her knees and the stairs, and Amber doesn't want to go down and find the things Mom needs.

Multiple times now, they have been supposed to be back out for the checkup after treatment so that everything can come back upstairs. This has been going on for at least two months. It is MICHIGAN, and it's getting colder. Mom wants her winter blankets, so she doesn't get the flu or pneumonia. So what do they do? They have twice that I know of just plain not shown up at all. With five cats that have to be boarded for the day, this is not exactly cheap. There has been at least once that they have called to cancel. According to the manager for the Genesee County, MI area, there is a "communication problem" between the dispatchers and the technicians.

In addition, a couple weeks ago, the Terminix guy came by and said he was there to do the "perimeter spray." This was not in the contract. Mom told him so, and told him to go away. He calls the manager, who tells him there isn't enough in the account to cover it, and more money would have to be coughed up for the perimeter spray. Mom again had to tell the guy to leave, the perimeter spray had not been contracted, and since it was HER house, they could leave.

She is at the point of writing letters to everyone at the company that is a bigwig, as well as contacting the BBB. If that gets no action, as embarrassing as the whole thing is to her, she is going to contact the media and help/let them do an expose on Terminix and their poor customer relations/service. She says, other stuff first, and if that does not work, media can have at. At least then, she says, they can cover more than lead in the water.

Here - a six-day work week has just ended and a four-day is commencing tomorrow. We get this Friday and the 30th off as unpaid leave because the plant is apparently updating software and we cannot be running the machines while that is ongoing.

The store is coming along, and if I had more time to work on it, it would go much further. I have probably fifty different suppliers who want me to carry at least some of their products. This is a good thing, but what a huge store it will be when it is done. For crying out loud, who do they think I am, Wonder Woman????

I will have non-electric heat here probably next weekend. I have saved up almost enough for a kerosene heater that puts out up to 23K BTUs, which is more than enough to heat the house. It is tip-safe, starts with batteries and piezo switch, so no electric to get it going. A full tank will do 8-12 hours of heat, depending on how high I run it. It may cost about the same overall to heat this place but it will not run up the electric, the cost can be spread over each week, and if the power goes out, I will still be warm.

Despite it being October, my house tomatoes are still producing like crazy. I have close to 20 different-sized tomatoes going on the plants now, with nearly ten more left in the freezer for the winter. The ones on the plants now will join them as they ripen. Freezing makes the skins come off easier when I want to use them. Dunk in room-temp or hot water and the skins just slide right off.

So that is what's going on, other than I will be taking a bit of a lay down in a bit. It's been a long, rough week, all the chores and running are done today except for showers and putting away laundry and having some dinner, so I am going to get some rest for a bit. Hugs and love, all.

Halloween remembrance and apology

Sorry that I have been not on posting here again lately. Between work at the J.O.B., work on the webstore on Bonanza, and just life in general, I have been whipped. Some depression going on as well, so it is difficult to make myself do much of anything. But ... a fond memory for y'all today, as I get over a six-day workweek, all so we can have next Friday off for them to do software updates at the plant. I will try to get better about posting again, I swear.

With Halloween only a few weeks away, I am reminded of a cute story from my childhood.

Mom always gave out apples to the trick or treaters. NEVER candy. Always a bushel of apples by the door for them. She didn't think the kids really liked them that much, until one year, she decided to make chocolate chip cookies for the kids. I had gotten "too old" in her mind to go out trick or treating, so I was home. Most of them, as usual, were pretty happy about something other than candy. One little boy, however ...

Coming down our rather longish driveway (fellow MM grads will recall the house and drive, lol, especially those of you who TP'd the house a few times and Mom just left it there to rot), a little boy about 8 or 9 or so is bringing his extremely little (4 or 5 years old) brother with him to the door. As they are walking down the drive, Mom does a loud whisper, "Quick, go get two apples from the fridge!" Without saying anything, but wondering what the hey, I did it, and gave them to Mom, who promptly gave them to the boys.

After they left, she turned to me and said, "Thank you. I heard them talking as they came to the door, and the older one has been here before. He was telling his little brother, 'You'll like THIS house! They give out APPLES!'" How can you possibly disappoint a kid like that? Answer is, you can't. So I gave up a couple of school lunch treats and two little boys got a thrill on Halloween.

Those were GREAT times, I'm tellin' ya.