Saturday December 13 2008

They've all been telling me how hard the wind was blowing down around Mesquite and Las Vegas. So..... we're not the only ones with bad luck. Bev and Brent's tree blew over on the neighbors house today. Apparently it will cost more than $1000 to get it off before they even see if the house has damage. I think she meant that is the deductible.

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SURPRISE!!!!!!

Or perhaps not.

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Guess what happened last night at our brand new house that we've only been in for about one month. Joe came in where I was watching late TV and said "Isn't it getting cold in here?" And real quick we discovered the furnace wasn't running. It had quit and we couldn't get it to go. I didn't quite know who to call for this, so called the gas company and left a message at 1 a.m. He soon called me back and recommended three places to call. The repairman Gary from All Tech in Pinedale called back and came over within an hour of me calling him. Very nice person. He got here at 2:30 a.m and crawled up his ladder into the attic and checked things out.

I really liked this young man, he seems sharp and he sure knew what he was doing. He found that there is no vent through the roof for the furnace. And also that any snow on the roof would obstruct any possible venting there. The open vent pipe is pointed at some kind of ordinary attic vent, but the fumes aren't venting out through that. They are venting into the attic. He could smell the fumes and said probably carbon monoxide is coming down into the house. That situation was combined with a line that was almost kinked that caused a pressure switch to turn off. Because of that the furnace is all full of carbon already and will be hard to get cleaned up. Also a union in a gas valve needs to be installed. There is also no platform under/around the furnace for a person to work from as there should be, he had to stand on the rafters to work. He says none of this is up to code. I’m surprised that the inspector didn’t find any of this.

Gene got the furnace running so we could stay warm (so we thought), and said he would try to come back Saturday or Monday and do the roof vent properly and clean out the carbon and make sure it is all up to code. He was really worried about the whole situation and us being in here with it in that condition. He took pictures with his phone of all that he found and will email them to me along with a report of all he found. He said the person who installed the furnace obviously didn’t know what they were doing. It's cost $120 so far – I don’t know what it will cost getting it all fixed and vented the way it should be. We will buy a carbon monoxide detector tomorrow.

It is apparently now up to me to contact the builder John Hilton and get the situation straightened out with him. For certain I don’t want Mr. Hilton to work on the furnace or his son or workmen either. I think it is imperative to have an expert doing the work, I’m going to request/insist that he pay for whatever it’s going to cost. And now we have a warranty which is probably voided by the bad installation. ?? It seems to me this is a pretty big ticket item, and with the way Gene described it, he is very worried that we could die in here. That may be dramatic, but possible under the circumstances. We've never met the builder/seller Hilton and I don’t know what kind of man he is, but I don’t want to be in a fight with him over it. I’ve had enough stuff going wrong lately and am not in the mood to deal with much more.

Gene didn’t come back or call today (Saturday). I’m sure he thinks the furnace is running and keeping the place warm. He got it running but once the furnace came up to temperature and cycled off, it wouldn’t come on again. That is probably the way it should work under the circumstances. It shouldn’t be running.

When he left apparently the way it sounded, he has commitments and his help is busy or unavailable, he didn’t say what. He said he would try to come back ASAP and make the whole thing right, but that it should be done today. In the meantime we are using the little natural gas fireplace and have the oven on with the oven door open. I don’t especially like that either. We have a small heater here. It’s supposed to get very cold - way below zero - so we're somewhat worried about the water lines. The wind is supposed to blow up to 40 mph - tomorrow I think.

I only slept about an hour last night. So am going to go relax now. I'll keep you posted.

Friday December 12 2008

Deer Outside the Windows

Joe's Bedroom

The Comforter Cover I Bought Him

is Too Warm for Sleeping.

First thing this morning Susan at Home Depot called and said they would bring up the new washer on Monday and take the broken one away. And they will also bring the fence parts that were back ordered when Curtis was here working on the fence. We will need the parts when Curtis finishes installing the gates next spring.

Joe went to the ranch to feed the cats. He had a burger for lunch at Boulder. He said there isn't much snow out there yet. Do you suppose we could have stayed there this winter?? I read on pinedaleonline that there was only 6 inches of snow at Big Sandy Openings.

Kay stopped by this afternoon to bring boxes for her artwork which we will pick up for her when we take the Mixed Media show down in Big Piney on Monday. We got to visit for a while. Her brother has been really sick with cancer.

I worked on getting every one's email addresses that I have received into my address book so that's updated now. And paid the bills online that have arrived lately. Yes.... the credit card one is pretty scary.

With the washer exploding and everything else that's been going on I forgot to mention that the car doesn't want to start on the first turn of the key as it always has since I got it. It will run o.k. after I drive it a little bit and then start up again after I've driven it a ways. Joe said it sounded like it needs a tune-up or something and to get an appointment to get it fixed. So I called yesterday and got a time for next Thursday morning - tried to get one sooner but no luck.

James and Kathy sent us some Omaha meat, so I decided we better have some company over to dinner to help us eat some of the meat. There isn't room in the freezer for any more. Maybe will do that tomorrow if people can come then. After tomorrow there is something happening every day and then I get chemo and won't feel like doing it.

This afternoon George, an old friend of Joe's came by to see him. They reminisced for an hour or so. He and Jim had been out snowmaching over in the Wyoming Range. It was nice of him to stop by. He's going back to Laramie tomorrow. I worked on the studio room for several hours again. It's a bigger job than I though to sort it all out.

I checked for that special full moon tonight, but it's too cloudy to see it. I did see it about midnight last night and it was close enough I suppose. Early there was a small rainbow halo around the moon, and later there was a huge ring around the moon. Pretty spectacular. I said "WOW!!" and showed it to the dogs.

Thursday December 11 2008

Last Look at the Ranch

Muddy Canyon The Day We Left

Today I put in a couple of photos I haven't used yet.

Sunny day, but with a cold wind. Guess we're in for some snow over the weekend. Hope the roads are good next Tuesday when we go back to Jackson for my next treatment - I do this worry wart thing worrying about it way before anything even happens.

Betty Pfaff and her daughter Kelly drove up from Kemmerer today so we could go to lunch together. She brought me an amaryllis plant to watch bloom through the winter. Charm was also invited to go along and we went to the Chinese restaurant. We had a really nice visit first at the house, and then at lunch. I was so disappointed - took the camera and forgot to have a picture taken of all of us. Then I spaced out taking one of them back here at home too. Been doing that a lot lately. I gave Betty a gift of a small painting. She has always been so generous with me, gifting and giving. So another one has a good home.

If you're keeping track, Joe did go to coffee again. This afternoon I went into the second hand store to see if they had a small side table, but there was nothing like that today. I thought I might find an interesting chair too, but most of the chairs were very ugly or too much in need of repair. I got a few cute serving dishes and an unusual basket. How come it's so much fun to shop for other people's junk? Then I went to the grocery store. I was also going out to the framers but spent too much time in the second hand. So maybe will go out there tomorrow. Still have a little bit of groceries to put away. Then I'm about ready for bed again.

Dining Area

A bench also came with the dining set,

so it will easily seat six.

The bench is in the entryway.

There is also a small bar off the kitchen

counter with two stools.

The sign at our turnoff onto Broken Hills Dr.

Maybe need to click on it to see it bigger.

Arrowhead is down about a block on the right.

Another very quiet day. Joe went to have coffee again this morning - he's going to get used to being in town and socializing. I'm sure the dogs like getting to go out. It was sunny, a little warmer but very windy again. I made several phone calls today that I should have done long ago. Did get started on the messy room and got the new file system set up - loading up the new file cabinet. Joe wanted to go to the Chinese restaurant tonight and so I didn't have to cook.

Tuesday December 9 2008

Pocket Creek - 15" x 22" pastel

Wow what a spectacular morning. We got about 3" or so of new snow yesterday and I thought it would settle down or begin to go off, but it didn't. Started off very foggy. There was frost on all the willows and trees creating a fairly land. It was 4 degrees for a low this morning and only got to about 24 during the day with a fair breeze and beautifully sunny.

We went over to Melita's this morning for the small painting group. The drive over was just spectacular as you go out over the Twin Bridges and along Pine Creek. There were deer along the road. But.... left my camera (and the grocery list) at home. I spaced it out and left it sitting right by the back door. I sure wanted to share the scenes with you and my words don't do it justice.

We had a great time together and Melita' fixed us one of her gourmet lunches - Caesar salad (one of the all time best salads/dressing I've ever had) and comforting carrot soup, with the most delicious herb buns. Dessert was a waffle basket with fresh fruit and vanilla ice cream. Also to die for.

The photo today is the pastel I began at the painting group last week and finished it up today. It's a scene about halfway from the ranch to Boulder. And I like this one, as well as had fun doing it. It was planned to have a herd of Angus cattle in the foreground, but when I got to where they should go in, I got scared that I'd mess it up so didn't put the cows in.

After the meeting I got my protime test at the clinic and tested good this time. I was going to get groceries and to the window shade place too, but it was late enough I just came home.

Nancy and Dick left for the winter this morning and Lois and Bud are going next Monday. We will miss them and wish them safe journies. Lois gave me her season Pinedale Fine Arts Council tickets for the performances that are coming to town in the next several months. What a wonderful gift! I had thought that for sure I'd be attending them, so this will ensure that I go.

Last night I got hungry for cake and made a marble cake with cream cheese frosting. I had never tried this before but had some applesauce to use and put it in the batter in place of some of the oil, and it sure turned out extra tasty and light. Joe took the dogs with him went to coffee again both yesterday and today, so don't know what he decided about the bad coffee.

Not all full Moons are the same. This Friday's is the biggest and brightest full Moon of the year.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/09dec_fullmoon.htm?list953085

Monday December 8 2008

The New Welcome Sign is Hung Up Now

Craig did it a couple of days ago.

Maybe of interest is that the siding is

some kind of cement, ..... or was it steel?

Anyway something more durable than

aluminum.

Across the Street Yesterday Evening

Craig Hanging the Guest Coat Rack.
Tayler took riding lessons for some years
and this was one of her trophies.
She gave it to me for the new house.

Had not mentioned that James and Kathy sent us a box of Georgia apples - four varieties. They arrived day before yesterday. Oh, the smell of them is just like being in the orchard. THANK YOU SO MUCH KATHY AND JAMES. This is a wonderful gift, but I will share some of them because it is almost too many for the two of us alone to use before they would spoil.

It's not very cold but we got a snowstorm today, more or less changing from heavy or flurries most of the day. It ended up being about 2 inches or so. The wind didn't really blow.

Today I had every intention of getting the studio room all organized. Not!

One of the first things I did was decide to wash my sheets and whatever else we had in the laundry and that could run while I was working on the room. As I was eating my cereal the washer started shrieking and howling and put water all over the floor. It was coming from underneath, not from any of the hose connections. I sure hope it doesn't harm the flooring. I was able to get it to spin and although it hadn't rinsed out the soap, I figured it got the clothes clean, so shoved them in the dryer. Then called Home Depot. To make a long story short, the young woman I spoke with said the warranty said they would not replace - only repair and gave me a name of a repairman here in Pinedale to call. I was practically in tears after talking to her but resigned at that point.

Then Lois called and said she would come and pick up her portable table that she left here after we had the art group here last week. I asked her and Bud to come to lunch and they said yes, so I hurried and made that turkey noodle casserole with some asparagus while they went to the clinic and then came on up. Joe and Bud had a pretty good visit, and Lois helped me get the lunch on. Bud said he could talk to Joe good, that most of the people any more weren't old enough to talk to. She brought us some of her extra hot house tomatoes because they will be going south in a week for the winter so we added that to the menu. We did have a nice lunch and get together. Sent some casserole home with Lois and Bud. Got that cleaned up and made the bed, and took a short rest. Then Joe cut his toe trying to cut his toenail and we were trying to get that to stop bleeding. I think I have talked him into going to the Senior Center pedicure person. I'm going to make us both an appointment because it's getting difficult for me to get mine cut too.

Soon it was time for Cheyenne to come by after getting off work and fix the laptop and get the email program going again and make sure the Norton Symantec virus control was doing what it should. It didn't take him long and he has it all fixed again. I sent some apples home for his family and to share with Bonnie and Craig. He offered to sweep off the walks. But I thanked him and said there wasn't that much snow out there. What a wonderful young man he is. AND THANK YOU FOR FIXING THE COMPUTER, CHEYENNE - I'M VERY GRATEFUL.

I called the washer repairman who is here in Pinedale. He gave me some good information, mainly that the symptoms I described were quite serious. So I called Home Depot back with my loud, angry voice demanded that they bring me a new washer and take this one back. I had a tirade for a while and the manager I insisted on talking to this time said he didn't have one in the store but would order one today and when it gets there they will bring the new one up and take this one back. So that's where that is for now. Have I said "Why Meeee??" before?? Acting like an agressive assertive b_ _ _ _ seems to work better than whining, at least for this time.

So, I made us a bacon and tomato sandwich for dinner. And after we finished eating the doorbell rang. It was Chris from across the street bringing Charm's package. I invited him in to meet Joe and he said that his roommate was cleaning off our driveway!! He has a 4 wheeler with a plow on it and did a great job of getting the snow off the whole drive. We got a little bit acquainted and I gratefully thanked he and his friend for being so thoughtful.

It turned out to be a day of difficulty and blessings. And the blessings outweighed the difficulties. I've been doing a whole lot of being thankful for all our blessings lately.

I'm going to bed and watch some old movies.

I very quietly confided to my best friend that I was having an affair. She turned to me and asked, 'Are you having it catered'?
And that, my friend, is the sad definition of OLD.

Sunday December 7 2008

Feeling better today than most of the time since the last treatment. I've been sleeping a lot. Probably catching up from when I over do. Joe's watching the weekend sports. Dogs are enjoying the sun on their deck at the moment. House cleaning today and glad I feel good enough to do it. It's very dusty here. When the mud dries up it turns into a very fine gritty sand. The neighbors here call it glacial silt. Charm said she ordered something for us from LLBean and gave them the wrong address - 18 instead of 19. So that's the house across the street. She called them and talked to a man named Chris who sounded very nice. He said all the packages end up at his house and he deliveres them around to where they go. So that will be an easy way to get acquainted with the neighbors.

The photos are more of the living room, may have put in similar ones before, but these are new pictures. The new desk and a nice matching file cabinet will go in the space behind the couch. There is quite a good sized area there. I am anxious for the desk to come and I can quit using the laptop on the dining room table.

Betty called and we had our usual good weekly visit.

GOOD HEAVENS: I accidentally clicked on this "Blog of the Day" and checked it out. Talk about blogging, this one is great!

http://willowmanor.blogspot.com/

Sally said they add a new photo on here every day through Advent. http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/12/hubble_space_telescope_advent.html

It was on this day in 1941 that Japanese bombers attacked Pearl Harbor. 2390 Americans were killed. Congress declared war the following morning, and the U.S. officially entered WWII. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said that December 7th was a date that would "live in infamy".