You all know how different our world would be without the 'girls' and the cats. Each of the 4 animals we have now, and any future animals we ever adopt, will always be rescued animals. Although we didn't get the girls from IDR+ (Illinois Doberman Rescue Plus), we love this organization, and support it wholeheartedly.
I got this video this morning, and I watched it, and it made me happy.
Be happy.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Hard to Explain
Last night was cold. By all accounts, the air temperature was somewhere near -17F, with West winds up to 30 mph, leaving the wind chill at somewhere around -70F. The car was safely in the garage (still no block heater, but getting it out of the wind definitely helps). At about 12:30am, Stephan got up to start the car, just for reassurance. He had a hard time getting back to sleep, and was just barely there when he heard a strange noise. He thought about it for a minute, then realized that the power was going on and off.
The noise was the woman's voice on our answering machine prompting us to reset the date and time. He made sure the water was still running in the faucets, which is wasn't. The town water pump is on a generator, which must not have kicked in last night. I'm not positive of the story there, but there wasn't water coming through the pipes.
We got all the animals buried under, around, and above the AMAZING down comforter that Aunt Florentine gave us last winter. That may have saved us last night, with how drafty our house is. I was too panicked to sleep, and just kept thinking about the many ways that things could go wrong.
This morning, about 4am, the power came back on. Stephan was back to work by 5am, and I had 3/4 clients cancel on me due to the cold, and other trials. When I came home early at 3pm, the temperature was still less than -11F, with 5-10 mph wind. I checked all the faucets, all were good. I tried to start the laundry, but... no water. The small plastic hose that runs along the basement wall had frozen.
Melanie, if Aunt Florentine's comforter saved our lives last night, the space heater you gave me for my birthday many years ago may have saved our house. I immediately set the heater up next to the frozen pipes, and within 60 minutes, had a load of laundry spinning happily.
I'm trying not to let this get me down. Tonight's temperatures and wind are supposed to be the same as last night. Hopefully we won't lose power. I'll be home all day tomorrow to monitor pipes, water, etc... but I am seriously running out of clothes to wash!
The noise was the woman's voice on our answering machine prompting us to reset the date and time. He made sure the water was still running in the faucets, which is wasn't. The town water pump is on a generator, which must not have kicked in last night. I'm not positive of the story there, but there wasn't water coming through the pipes.
We got all the animals buried under, around, and above the AMAZING down comforter that Aunt Florentine gave us last winter. That may have saved us last night, with how drafty our house is. I was too panicked to sleep, and just kept thinking about the many ways that things could go wrong.
This morning, about 4am, the power came back on. Stephan was back to work by 5am, and I had 3/4 clients cancel on me due to the cold, and other trials. When I came home early at 3pm, the temperature was still less than -11F, with 5-10 mph wind. I checked all the faucets, all were good. I tried to start the laundry, but... no water. The small plastic hose that runs along the basement wall had frozen.
Melanie, if Aunt Florentine's comforter saved our lives last night, the space heater you gave me for my birthday many years ago may have saved our house. I immediately set the heater up next to the frozen pipes, and within 60 minutes, had a load of laundry spinning happily.
I'm trying not to let this get me down. Tonight's temperatures and wind are supposed to be the same as last night. Hopefully we won't lose power. I'll be home all day tomorrow to monitor pipes, water, etc... but I am seriously running out of clothes to wash!
Monday, January 28, 2008
W. T. F.
Through a really weird twist, the room I sit in to blog has become the warmest room in the house, due to the wind coming solely in from the West. Our bathroom medicine cabinet is recessed into the Westward wall, and the toothpaste has frozen. We're beginning to doubt that any insulation exists inside the plaster walls.
Our solution?
Rum.
"Why's the rum gone?"
What's that from? Name it first and I'll send you a prize.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Oh the Promises I Break
I can't get Stephan to sit down long enough to tell me about the cattle drive again. But something more pressing is on my mind this morning.
Since we moved, we haven't had TV. We have a TV, but there is no cable, or directTV or Comcast, blah blah blah. The only option for those of us who live in Plevna is to have a satellite dish. This isn't a challenge, as there are three of them in various states of disrepair attached to the back of the house. There's also a very conveniently located co-ax box right behind the TV.
How do we survive? We watch movies. Lots of them. Every day. We also have a stash of about 18 that fill-in while we wait for the mail, but by now we have memorized all of them (Which is a real challenge considering one is a badly dubbed early 1980's Jackie Chan flick). For sporting events we have The Plevna Bar. We've even rented TV series like The Office and Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Then, there's the internet. I've downloaded a few shows from iTunes, I often watch YouTube and now What Kind of World Do You Want...
Here's what worries me:
(It won't embed for some reason, so click HERE.)
Why are the people who want to run the country acting like movie stars? If you have time to think of funny jokes, you have time to figure out Universal Health Care. I saw Hillary on the Tyra Banks Show, and I started barking at the screen. I don't want to know how they match color coordinated separates to create flirty spring looks. Grrrr. Ending now before the barking begins again.
Since we moved, we haven't had TV. We have a TV, but there is no cable, or directTV or Comcast, blah blah blah. The only option for those of us who live in Plevna is to have a satellite dish. This isn't a challenge, as there are three of them in various states of disrepair attached to the back of the house. There's also a very conveniently located co-ax box right behind the TV.
How do we survive? We watch movies. Lots of them. Every day. We also have a stash of about 18 that fill-in while we wait for the mail, but by now we have memorized all of them (Which is a real challenge considering one is a badly dubbed early 1980's Jackie Chan flick). For sporting events we have The Plevna Bar. We've even rented TV series like The Office and Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Then, there's the internet. I've downloaded a few shows from iTunes, I often watch YouTube and now What Kind of World Do You Want...
Here's what worries me:
(It won't embed for some reason, so click HERE.)
Why are the people who want to run the country acting like movie stars? If you have time to think of funny jokes, you have time to figure out Universal Health Care. I saw Hillary on the Tyra Banks Show, and I started barking at the screen. I don't want to know how they match color coordinated separates to create flirty spring looks. Grrrr. Ending now before the barking begins again.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Best Intentions
Stephan had two crazy-adventurous days Tuesday and Wednesday, but I'm waiting for him to get home (9:35pm) from work so I can quote him.
They involve a cattle drive, coffee, and a four-wheeler. How's that for a teaser!
They involve a cattle drive, coffee, and a four-wheeler. How's that for a teaser!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
What I'm Staring at Tonight
1. an external hard drive that thinks it's my laptop
2. my laptop with a new hard drive in it, with no Operating System installed
3. the MacMini, our home computer
I need to Clone the external drive (#1) onto the laptop (#2). I have Carbon Copy Cloner installed on the external drive (#1).
Barriers to success: the MacMini only has one Fire Wire port & I only have one Fire Wire cable. The closest second cable is a 180 mile drive to Billings, or a 5 day UPS delivery charge.
It feels like the stupid brain teaser about the goats and the wolves and the chickens that need to be transported to an island on a boat.
Uncle John, please email me... I think I need assistance.
2. my laptop with a new hard drive in it, with no Operating System installed
3. the MacMini, our home computer
I need to Clone the external drive (#1) onto the laptop (#2). I have Carbon Copy Cloner installed on the external drive (#1).
Barriers to success: the MacMini only has one Fire Wire port & I only have one Fire Wire cable. The closest second cable is a 180 mile drive to Billings, or a 5 day UPS delivery charge.
It feels like the stupid brain teaser about the goats and the wolves and the chickens that need to be transported to an island on a boat.
Uncle John, please email me... I think I need assistance.
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