Moo!

    A fellow named Moe Baddourah is running for city council here. His yard signs say, "Moe!" in large red letters on a white background. I absolutely am NOT going to do it, but am infinitely tempted to get a hold of red and white spray paint and turn them into signs saying, "Moo!" instead. Nothing against Mr. Baddourah; I'm sure he's a fine fellow and would be a credit to the council. Just more of my endless fascination with the impractical joke. Or reductio ad absurdum. Or the very, very, very silly. Maybe Chik-Fil-A would underwrite it.

On a horse with no name

    Yesterday, the HVAC guy came around and confirmed that my heat pump wasn't working. Last evening the landlord came around to let me know that he had delivered the check so that the dead heat pump could be replaced. And today the gentlemen are here to replace it. This of course means that I can't leave, but I'm taking advantage of imprisonment to make a pizza-free pizza at lunch time, which I don't usually get to do.
    It was one of my rare smart moves. I thought that the heat pump just needed a recharge. Normally, that would be done as part of the springtime/fall maintenance. The HVAC company doesn't normally start that until March 15. The landlady asked if I would be willing to wait and I said not. As it turned out, this was the right thing to say. The old heat pump is at least 7 years old; hopefully the new one will do at least as well.
    (As to the subject line: The heat wasn't hot.:))

STILL dumber than a brick

    I spent the entire winter freezing under two light cotton blankets with the thermostat set at 67. With my comforter sitting in the portable closet. Last night, I decided I was cold enough and pulled out the comforter. It smelled a lot like it had spent 3 years in a closet, but otherwise is in pretty good shape. Had my first comfortable night in ages. The Monkey liked it, too. So yeah, I'm dumb, but I catch on. Eventually.

Don't cuss over unspilt orange juice

    This morning at breakfast, I was moving the single-serve blender's cup, filled with orange/banana uh, beverage (puree with water added) and nearly tipped it over twice. But I didn't tip it over; nothing bad happened at all. Still, I had to let a cussword out. It's a commentary on long-term stress, I suppose. Then again, it would have felt fairly silly taking a victory lap for not spilling orange juice. Then again again, the way things have been going, I need to celebrate any victory I can find.
    Amityville update: I sprayed hell out of all the windows. Flies are fewer in number and considerably slower moving, but still coming. I also sprayed the floor lamp, fritzing it out. Hell, even I thought it was funny. For the record, three-way compact fluorescent bulbs cost twice as much as the lamps they go into. They do last longer, if you can resist the temptation to spritz them with bug spray. Oops.

Story 'bout a hurricane

    Uh, yeah. Taking somebody to dialysis as a squall line is going by is not on the short list of funnest things in life. I got a terrific parking place and thus was only outside for less than a minute and yet got as soaked as if I'd been in swimming. Dad no doubt was equally wet, though he looked pretty dapper. When it was time to pick him up again, we were boundlessly grateful that the storm had passed over and gone away to trouble someone else's evening.
    Meanwhile, here in Amityville, the fly infestation has not gone away with the exiling of all ripening fruit to the refrigerator. I don't know what's up. One suspects that there must be a dead animal in the vicinity, but I can't see nor smell it. Thinking of getting flying-insect spray and spraying the gaps of all the windows. That's how they got in in the past, though the insulation I stuffed in the cracks cut back on previous invasions. Or maybe I should just GET OUUUUUT!

Objects in mirror are filthier than they appear

    Yesterday, my sideview mirrors were totally fogged up, so I tried to wipe off the driver's side one. Turned out that it was not only fogged up, but also completely filthy. Soooo that move didn't work out quite as well as I expected. I eventually got it cleaned up enough that I could more or less see. I cleaned both of them properly when I got home. As ever, I realize that this isn't earth-shattering news. But the essence of humor is surprise, and I was certainly surprised. Tip: Clean your sideview mirrors every once and a while!:)
    Today will be the first experience of taking Dad to dialysis and picking him up in the rain. I am keenly looking forward to the weather forecast turning out to be wrong. As it nearly always is, these days, the chances are good.

Fruit flies

    Fruitflies are kinda cute. Flies that like fruit, not so much. If anyone out there REALLY loved the original "Amityville Horror" movie (well, maybe not original, but the one that wasn't the remake nor the sequels), especially the flies in the window scene, all you have to do to replicate it is take a pear and put it in the window to ripen. But remember to scrape some of the peel off accidentally first.
    Oh. my. gosh. I'm not sure I've ever seen that many flies. And all of them were gigantic. Maybe they were all pregnant and wanted to lay eggs in my pear. Too bad about that. None of them left here alive. Mind you, I'd love to have let them out unharmed, but flies just aren't that smart. Or maybe I'm not. Very bad day for my Jainist street cred. The pear is ripening quietly in the refrigerator now. At least no disembodied voice told me to "GET OUT!"