VALENTINES DAY

 

I looked at the dates of my last posting and it really has been a while.   What have I been doing?   I went to visit my daughter and we spent five days just bumming around and doing some shopping.   We ate lunch out a lot….It is nice now that she has regular days off and can do things other than work during the week.

I am happy to report that Lucy, the cat, is well on the mend.   She had the remaining of her tubes removed and is currently sleeping under the coffee table.   Lucy still has the e-collar on so she does not lick her incision.   Hopefully that will be healed in a few days.   A few clumps of matted fur has appeared because she has not been able to groom herself.   Lucy always is perfectly groomed, and her appetite is back to normal.

We have been getting threats of snow and ice, but none of it has materialized today.   My worry is rain turning to ice.   The winter has not ben bad or Western PA.   I look at the snow pictures of Eastern Europe and I am amazed at the snow that appears to be about eight foot deep, with deep slices in it in the process of plowing the roads.   

This evening we went to Outback Steakhouse, we got there at about 4:15 and it was already crowded.   When we left about an hour later it was standing room only for dinner.   We went early because neither of likes to wait.  The steak was good and it is nice to go out to eat.

I have not planned anything for tomorrow but I am willing to be it may involve cleaning up.

INTERESTING WEEK

 

This has been a very interesting week.  On Saturday night Lucy our cat vomited, which is not quite unusual in our pets.   Usually they will do that on the newest and lightest color rug.

Sunday she was refusing to eat or drink at all.  Monday off  to the vet for her.  The long and the short of it was the cat had a bowel obstruction due to a fur ball.   I am glad I did not have to observe that. 

The cat has surgery and we brought her home today.   She is wearing a Elizabethan collar and has to restrict her activity, no playing, running or stairs.    She has a special formula for awhile and I hope soon she decided to ear her food.   

Currently she is asleep on the couch.  She looks happy to be home and there went the Income Tax Refund.

FINISHED PURGING THE BASEMENT

 

I can say now that the metamorphous of the basement is complete, unless I decided to go through a Round Two.   That may happen but it will not be anytime soon.  I think I have just exhausted myself mentally with the past few weeks of work.

Now I have to scan and copy the remains of our parents paper lives.  It is amazing what I have found, things I did not know exist because some of the boxes have been downstairs before I started on my genealogical quest.  

The things are all in good shape and that is because I have always had a dehumidifier, and kept the basement at about 60% humidity.   My next project will be to set up the computer and scanner in a place it will not be disturbed by cats.   The cats are getting elderly and are not really interested in jumping up, or perhaps, the have a bit of arthritis and are unable to jump.  

My long term plan  will be to tackle the attic next, but that will be in the spring because of the heat up in that space.   I do not know how hot it gets but I made a mistake one year and tried to store a few Christmas candles and they morphed into a blob of melted wax.   Anything stored after that fiasco is now virtually indestructible.

STILL IN THE CLEANING MODE

 

This weeks activities still involve even more cleaning.   We moved a lot of assorted things from the top of some cabinets and made an area, about six feet long, for Chuck to have a work area.   After all the things that were there were gone I was able to clean the windows and wash the panels for the window.

I took my books to Half Price Books and got a few dollars.  I know that is not a lot of money and actually they do not pay very much for your books.   I was glad to get them out of the house.  The main problem with those books is the fact that they were old and the lady said she would recycle most of them.

Also a stop at the thrift store for a drop off and then again home.

I still have more to do, and then there is the pseudo attic and it has boxes too.   I think a person should move every five years or so because there is nothing like a move to get a person to clean out their “special stuff.”

BASEMENT PURGING

 

This week I have started on moving things to their new final destination.   I took two printers and some random cords (where are the items to which they were attached?) 

Other things were clothing, and sort of odds and ends, plastic ware, cups and glasses.   A few books of uncertain source, a lot  of these things were in boxes that Emily brought home from college c. 2004.

I have reconsolidated things and eliminated about eight to ten boxes, and that was the first pass through.  

If the snow continues I should start on some remaining boxes this weekend.   I still have about twenty to thirty books and their destination will be Half Price Books.  

That is really the sum of my activities this week.   Other than cooking and eating out. 

I am starting a new blog. MY PHOTOS...FILM TO DIGITAL   this will require me to go through another few boxes and scan the best.   I have forty years worth so I suppose I could post a few pics per week, if not daily.

TRYING TO CLEAN OUT FORTY YEARS OF BOXES

 

I have decided that I need to clean out.  This was prompted by a discovery last week that the sewer needed to be unstopped and I was overwhelmed by the accumulation of junk (??) in the basement.  Why is it there?   We can’t throw it away, must be some inertia.   None of this stuff was involved in the sewage incident but the time has come to purge.

I went through a few boxes this morning.  The problem is what to do with this stuff.   If you have forgotten that it exists, do you really need it?   We have quite a few boxes of books from the past forty years.   They are either going to the used book store or the library for their sale.   There must be some other people who want these books, or perhaps I should dump them in the recycle paper bin.

If I check eBay I know I am done….When my sibs and I cleaned my fathers house after his death we wondered why he saved all this stuff.   I think I have it figured it out, he could not get rid of it.  I am feeling somewhat the same myself……………

I AM SORT OF A FRUGAL PERSON…

 

Actually, my daughter once said I was cheap.  I am not one to spend money if I feel that the value is not there.   Yesterday I went to Office Max to get ink for my printer.  

I have an Epson CX5000 and the ink was gone.   It is an old model but I had just set it up a few months ago because the previous HP model was (c. 2004) was not working.   

I needed black and the color printer colors.   What to my shock and amazement (and believe me it takes a lot to shock me)  was the cost of the four cartridges, approximately $60. What could I buy for $60,  I looked at some printers and I could get a new printer from $79 to $120, and some of them were wireless.  

Buy ink two times and I could buy the equivalent of the higher priced printers.   Printer ink is worth more than the printer.   Back to the drawing board for me.   I had a consult with the husband and only bought the black, I have not installed it yet, but if the computer tells me I can not operate it with out the other three I will not be surprised.

I have to look into a new printer and on my list is a wireless, so all the computers can use it, a laser jet printer and I will not have to buy ink.   I have to check the pros and cons of this upcoming project and the price of toner for laser jet.