morning chatter

Good morning.
It's been a busy weekend so far.
My sister in Havelock NC made it through Irene. Lost power for several hours, but no damage.
Sunday of course, I cleaned the salon.
Back home, I woke up Craig, made us coffee, and read the paper. Then we hit the area big box home improvement stores, looking for something that might work for the grill. We did find some decorative punched metal sheets that may work. We've decided to hit the local auto salvage yards this morning. We've seen some plastic truck grills that we think would look better. I'll let you know.
Also I washed and waxed Craig's Honda Accord. Everything's waxed now except one more section of the mo-ho. Will try to get that done today.
We also vacuumed and cleaned the inside of all 3 cars.
After the busy day, we relaxed on the deck while I cooked a turkey breast on the grill with baked potatoes and corn on the cob.
And while I let Craig sleep a little longer this morning, I'm off to clean all the car windows......

good and hot!

Good morning.
The heat wave continues, and except for watering constantly, I'm lovin it!
Have been working in the yard, mainly in the early morning while Craig sleeps.
Many of my readers know, Craig is a car person. What I mean by that, is he gets personally attached to his cars. If we had the money and space, he'd still have every car he's ever owned.
He gives them names, he parks way out in the lot at stores. You get the picture. Well, he also has to make them special. I mean, they need to not look like any others. There needs to be something different. His Honda, he had the air foil thingy taken off and ground effects added. The PT Cruiser, he went on-line and found different tail lights. Even the mo-ho, which he named "big guy', he had a license plate with that name and it's on the front of the mo-ho. Sooo, you can guess where I'm going with this, yep, he had to modify the Kia also. He went on-line and salivated over all the things he could do to it.
He finally settled on the front grills....

Except for the silver trim around the top grill, both the top grill and the bottom grill were black. I thought of taking a pic after we had already installed the silver grill in the top one.

And here's the finished product. Silver grills and frames on the top and bottom. He even got a soul nameplate to put where a license plate would go. We don't need a front plate in Michigan, just a back one. Now his Kia Soul won't look like all the others. :-)
So with the searing heat, that's about all we got done yesterday besides mowing.
In other news, we're still getting an occasional venting into the house from the water heater. The fresh air thingy seems to be working okay, but it still sometimes sucks air in from the water heater vent. It appears we may have to go with another water heater with a power vent. They can't 'add' a power vent to our existing one. :-(
Anyway, it's time for another work week, and it looks to be another fairly busy one. Good, power vented water heaters are expensive.

why do cars have boots?

Good morning.
Spring like temps appear to be here for good, finally. :-)
The salon has been fairly busy this week with me also being booked today and tomorow.
I took the PT Cruiser in on Thursday morning. It's check engine light was on. Turned out to be some sort of sensor. While I had it there, I had them check on a "clunking' noise. They said I had a torn boot, and a bad ball joint. Does anyone know what the hell a 'boot' is? And why is my car wearing a boot? Anyway, it will be done this afternoon and I will pick it up today after work.
We seem to be replacing an awful lot of stuff on this car. I wonder if it's because we tow it so much. His 1998 Honda Accord has never been in the shop. It has it's original everything! Maybe Chrysler just makes crappy cars. :-\
Not much else to say, so it's off for my shower.
Have a great weekend!

free is good!

Good morning.
We've had a couple of good days temp wise. Sunday, sunny near 60, and Monday, rain and 63.
With Sunday being such a nice day, I cleaned/weeded another flower bed. I also helped Craig install the new locking mailbox and repaired some landscape lighting. Craig has numerous 18 watt landscape lights all around the back yard. With the 2 porch lights on day/night sensors and 2 sodium lights, our yard is lit up like a freakin ballpark! But Craig likes to look out at night and be able to see if anything is going on. The lights make him feel more secure. It's just another one of his OCD issues. :-)
Anyway, a section of lights were out and replacing bulbs didn't help. So he bought a new light and it didn't work either. So it had to be the wiring, so I traced the problem back to a connector. Replaced that, and now they all work. :-)
And of course, being Easter, Craig made a delicious Ham for dinner. Had plenty for leftovers, and froze the bone for making broth later.
Monday morning, while Craig slept in, I went online to place our free lunch order. Then I went to the doctor for my annual physical.
Looks like I'm going to live another year. ;-)
But I swear, every year, there's at least one thing that's off. This year, it was my LDL or bad cholesterol. They want it under 130. Mine was 133. Last year it was 124. the year before that, 114. Before that, 134.
Last year, it was Glucose. It's suppose to be under 99, mine was 101. This year, 97.
3 and 4 years ago, it was Neutrophils, or white blood cells. They want them between 48 and 81. I was a bit low at 47.9 one year, and 48.8 the other. This year, 55.1.
I'm beginning to think some things just tend to fluctuate. :-\
After my physical, I came home to find Craig had gotten up all by himself, showered and was ready to go. :-)
We did our usual banking and shopping, getting the stuff home in time to go pick up the Salons free lunch from Chipotle Grill. They had everything ready when I got there, and it was indeed all free. It would have cost $61.47 had we had to pay for it. Got to the Salon, and only half the staff was there. Called and got various excuses. One completely forgot, 2 others were on their way, running late. You'd think people could remember a free meal wouldn't you? Anyway, we ate our free lunch, and decided it was pretty good, but kinda expensive for fast food. Had we payed for it, we probably wouldn't go there again. So if they hoped to get new customers, it didn't work for our group. :-)
Back home, since it was raining, I decided to tackle the riding lawn mower. It was in the garage, so I'd be dry. After some work, I managed to remove the mower deck, and with Craig's help, got the blades sharpened. It was actually easier to get the mower deck back on. :-)
Then, since the rain had stopped and the sun was trying to come out, I suggested to Craig we should change Cruiser's tires. So we took off the snow tires, and put on the summer tires.
So, it's been a productive weekend, and now it's time for my shower. Not sure what's on the schedule for today, it's raining again, and looks like it will all day. I might have to take a day off and just play. :-)

another trip planned

Good morning.

Winter has settled in good. So far, not a lot of snow, just very cold. 9 getting up. High around 27. They are predicting a few inches today and tonight. We'll see.

We got the Kia in at 8am yesterday, and we were third in line with a collision issue. It looks like their body shop is keeping quite busy.

They said they'd call and let me know when and what will be done. Didn't hear anything yesterday, but like I said, they looked very busy. And fortunately, I don't need it back right away. Of course, that means Craig has to drive his 1998 Honda Accord, which up until this winter, has never seen snow. I told him by the time this year's salt starts to do any visible damage, he probably won't have the car by then.

Then we went to the bank, the post office, and the township offices. Craig needed to pick up a form the township won't mail out anymore. They want everyone to do it on-line. Well Craig needed to make some changes and didn't want to mess with any on-line problems. Craig's a little anal that way. :-)

Then a quick stop at Meijer's and back home.

Craig did laundry, and helped me scope out more places to go this summer. We booked another campground. This one up north near Boyne City at Young State Park.

We will be attending the National Morel Mushroom festival.

Now we've never ate Morel's, but They're suppose to be quite the delicacy. Should be a fun trip!

And it looks like a long weekend to Toledo, and Maumee Bay State Park which is having it's Harbor Lighthouse Festival and Toledo's Polish Festival.

The light house was built in 1904.

And it's the oddest looking of all the

light houses we've seen to date.

So we're still searching for more destinations, and waiting to hear from our Wisconsin camping friends, Tom and Dean, about another trip. hint, hint.

And maybe we can hook up with out Memphis friends, Mark and Craig, in Cincinnati or Columbus, on their way to or from their east coast trip this summer. hint, hint.

So the summer camping season is beginning to take shape. Let's hope the gas prices don't get a lot higher.

My poor Kia

Good morning.
Okay, I've finally got the strength to back the Kia out of the garage to take a good look at it.
Here's the pics......

Poor little Kia. :-(

See that bar pushing against the radiator? That's the 'bumper' support.
Surprisingly, it didn't look as bad as I remembered.

I can't imagine what it will cost to repair it.
And Lewis, considering I hit a concrete post, I'm lucky it didn't smash farther into the engine.

Any who, yesterday, a very tiny cleaning bug bit. I vacuumed, and dusted. I love the house when it's clean. I just wished I love cleaning. :-)

Then I took Garret's wise advice and played on the puter. I'm really hooked on a game called Might and Magic: Heroes Kingdoms. You play it on-line. It's free. I always like free! :-)

And Craig and I sat down and figured out what weekends we can take off this year. We actually booked 2 already! Our first trip in April, just a mere 12 weeks away or so is to Holland State Park. It's one of the more popular parks thats always too busy to get into, so off season is our only chance. We've also booked a June trip to Indiana Dunes State Park. You know we like this park because of it's proximity to Chicago.

Now we just need to figure out where else we want to go this year. :-)

Now time for my shower, wake up Craig, and take Kia in.

morning

Good morning.
As per my Sunday ritual, I've just returned from cleaning the Salon. It takes longer this time of year due to the messy weather being tracked into the Salon. I wonder if I could make everyone take their shoes off at the door. I could give them cute little footies to wear. :-)
I'm letting Craig sleep in as long as he wants today, because tomorrow I have to be at the Kia dealer at 8am and he wants to follow me in case the damage to the car causes me not to make it there. I can drive it, and there are no puddles of strange liquid on the garage floor. The bumper little metal bar that goes across the front is bent and pushed into the radiator bending that also. But apparently there isn't anything right behind the radiator. And the radiator doesn't appear to be leaking. And, I didn't dare open the hood that's crunched in the front for fear I may not be able to relatch it. So, I'll try and drive it to the dealer.
So anyway, I have to get Craig up very early tomorrow.
The week ended nice and busy, although next week is looking slow. We'll see if the phone rings a lot or not. :-)
Today, we'll lay low as Craig has loads of bookwork to do. Besides the weekly bookwork he has estimated taxes, and 1099's.
Me, maybe I'll do some cleaning, then again,maybe not.
So now, it's back to my games! :-)

Friday post

Good morning.
Well, it's been a busy week in the Salon. Craig has been mostly preoccupied with year end stuff, so not dwelling on the Kia too much. We take it in on Monday to get an estimate and hopefully fixed. The insurance adjuster is also meeting us there on Monday. I'm not sure what the purpose of the adjuster is. The company already okayed my choice of where to take it. I guess they want to make sure it's damaged before they let go of the money to fix it.
Anyway, the girl in the office said my rate will likely go up because it's an 'at fault' accident. I told Craig that if they raise our rates because of this little claim, I'm taking my business elsewhere. We pay nearly $3000.00 a year to this company. We have 3 cars, the mo-ho, the car caddy, the house, and our umbrella policy all with this company. They're making a lot of money from us, so if they try to raise our rates, I'll take my money elsewhere.
I hate insurance companies! :<(
Anyway, we'll get this done and get it past us.
And it's getting time to start looking and booking campgrounds for the up coming summer. I know, summer is still long ways off, but if you want any of the more popular campgrounds, they book up early. I told Craig yesterday, that if he wants to go anywhere for the 4th of July, we need to make that soon. I checked, and a lot of the campgrounds are 3/4th booked already.
And that's all for now.

another quick one

Good morning.
It's been a busy week so far with no let up in sight.
The phone is ringing off the hook at the Salon, and I'm completely booked for the rest of the week.
Also on Tuesday, we took in the PT Cruiser. It's been starting kind of slow, but not the type of slow when you have a weak/dying battery. And while they were at it they could check about the occasionally squealing belt. So we dropped that off on Tuesday. Wed. morning, they called to confirm it was the starter going bad, and the belt tension thingy need to be replaced.
So we'll pick that up today. We tried a new mechanic that was recommended by a customer instead of going to the dealer. So far I'm impressed with his quick response, and the price was very reasonable.
Also I've been going into the Salon early to damp mop. With all the snow, we're getting a lot of salt tracks on the floor.
And that's where I'm off to now!

our last nice day

Good morning.

The weather this week has been outstanding for Early November. It's been Sunny and mid 60's all week! To bad I had to work most of it. But it's coming to a quick end. Rain/snow showers are moving toward the area, and after a high of 69 yesterday, tomorrow is projected to be only 44.

I did get my hair done Thursday afternoon.

An hour gap was available, and that was enough time to get my hair cut and colored. And even as thin as it's gotten, I've decided to let my curl do it's thing instead of combing it straight.

On Friday we did manage to get out of work early. Craig's last 2 customers cancelled, and I was done at noon after starting at 8. So we took advantage of the last nice day we'll probably see this year, and Cut down more stuff in the yard. I'm about 90% done and very pleased with my progress.

I also went up on the roof to clean leaves and twigs off. As you can see in this in this pic of the house I took some time ago, we have a very low peaked roof. And, we have seven valleys due to the unusual floor plan. Soooo, leaves and twigs easily collect in those valleys and every fall, I have to get on the roof and blow them off.
Then I cleaned out the eaves troughs. I'll have to do that one more time once the rest of the leaves come down, but it should be a little easier then.

I also helped Craig change the tires on the Cruiser. He has snow tires for the winter that really help with traction.

Then we relaxed on the deck with cocktails soaking in the last of the warm weather.

And now it's time for a shower and my last day of work this week!

the weekend review

Good morning.
Well, this has been an expensive week so far and it's only Wednesday!
Besides deciding to buy a new car, we bought a new washer/dryer combo for the Salon.
A stylist from the Salon called yesterday morning to say the washer wouldn't work. I called a repairman and they said they could come in the afternoon. This washer is 13 years old, and does nothing but heavy loads of towels all day. It has had multiple service calls. Well, this time it was past saving, so we went out looking for a replacement. Lowe's had a Frigidaire, but the repair man said buy anything but a Frigidaire, so we went to Menard's, and they had a Maytag that would take 8 days to deliver. Not wanting to wait that long, we went to Home depot, and they had a GE they could deliver tomorrow. Sold! And they were running a 10% off all appliances! So that helped a little.
So, with Monday, the car, Tuesday, the washer/dryer, I didn't get any where near the stuff done I planned on.
But here's an actual pic of the new car...

I'm not in the pic because I took it while Craig was still sleeping.
While waiting for the repair man to assess the washer situation Craig did manage to mow the yard, and I did some repair work on the mo-ho.
Here's the bay door handle assembly we got and the broken one.

you can see the poor design on that little lever. And the improved wider design of the new one. And yes, there's just a little screw holding the lever on, and no, you can't just order that lever, you have to get the whole thing! Isn't that just a waste? I also replaced the dryer vent assembly, so the mo-ho is now whole again. At least for the time being.
And finally a flycatcher update.

Compared to the last pic you can see they're barely all fitting in the nest. I suspect they'll be gone by the weekend. The parents yesterday would fly up to the nest, but not land. They'd hover for a bit and fly away, as if to say 'see, you can do this, come on"! It was very comical. And boy do I have a mess to clean up after they're gone. Bird crap everywhere!

But now I must get ready for work. Another very busy short week with the holiday coming!

a new addition to our family

Good morning.
The last couple of days have been such a blur!
After cleaning the Salon Sunday morning, I came home, showered, woke Craig up, and while he showered, made our morning coffee. Except, we had no milk. So no coffee for us! So we went out and did some grocery shopping, came home, and then had our coffee, and read the paper. I went out to wash/wax his PT Cruiser, while he did laundry and bookwork.
I got the car washed, and vacuumed, and as soon as I was ready to wax, it started to rain, and it rained for several hours.

So, Craig had been interested in trading in my 9 year old, gas guzzling truck in for something more economical, especially since we sold our boat years ago and really have no need for a truck. My 2001 Ford Ranger 4x4, 14 city, 19 highway

So online we went.
He had seen a few interesting vehicles on the road and we started to check them all out. He really liked the mini Cooper, but it was to small and quite expensive. He thought the smart car was stupid, since it doesn't get that great mpg, and requires premium gas! He liked the cube, but I said no way! That was the ugliest car I've seen, and would not be caught dead in it much less drive it!
So we settled on the KIA Soul.

The dealer in Lansing had 12 in stock, but from the web site, they didn't appear to have one with the options Craig wanted. But I said let's just go , look and see if you even like it in person. Test drive it, and we'll go from there.
So by then the rain had stopped and I went out and weeded some. Craig fixed dinner, which was ham steaks, mashed potatoes, and asparagus.
Okay, flash forward to Monday morning. I'm thinking if we do find a car he likes, I better get the truck cleaned up, so as soon as it was light enough out side, (5:45am) I went out, washed him, cleaned out the interior, and waxed him. Damn! It looked real good for a 9 year old truck! I got done a little before 8. Took my shower, woke Craig up, made coffee, and off we went!
Well, to make this long story a little shorter, we bought a car! One exactly like the stock pic above. I'll try and get a pick of me and it today. It's about the same size as Craig's PT Cruiser. The color is called Titanium Metallic. It has everything! Even a free subscription to Sirius Radio.
They were giving generous rebates, and gave me way more for the truck than I expected. And none of the pressure to buy extended warranties and other crap. It was really a quick and easy deal!
We drove it home around 2pm. Spent the rest of the day checking out everything it has.
And so, that's why I missed my Monday morning post. But it was worth the wait, right?

3 crappy C's

Good morning.
That's right. 3 crappy C's. It's crappy cold, crappy cd rates, and Craig's crappy car. Read on....
It's another cold morning, with a high projected in the mid 50's. Didn't do a thing outside yesterday despite a near 50 day. It was very windy with the wind from the north, so it felt bitter cold. Instead, I took the front of the dishwasher apart. When you open the door, it feels like it wants to slam to the ground. It feels very heavy. So I assumed a spring helping the door close was broken. After some disassembly I discovered I was right. There's a spring on both sides of the bottom of the door. One is broke. So today I'll take it out and find a replacement, and I'll get 2 and replace the other one also.
We also moved a CD we had maturing. I swear I don't think the rates are ever going to stop going down. They were lower yesterday than just a few weeks earlier. We did find a money market acct. paying 1.55%. that was better than most banks 1 year rates so we'll let it sit there until hopefully some time soon, the rates start edging back toward some decent returns.
And then there's Craig's PT Cruiser. As we were coming out of the first bank, Craig noticed the fog lights were on. So he got in the car and fiddled with the switch and they went off. So on the way to the next bank, when ever he used his turn signal, the fog lights would come on but wouldn't go back off. Then when we got to the second bank, he shut off the car, and they came on again! Now his turn signal, lights, fog lights are all on the same lever, so apparently there's something loose inside of it. So this morning we take it in to have it checked out. You just know this is going to cost now don't you? Oh well, it's always something.
So that was was our day, and for dinner Craig cut up a sirloin steak and added it to a Beef Stroganoff Hamburger Helper. It was a tasty change from ground beef.

Creamy Potato Salad

As promised, and by request, Craig's delicious, creamy, Potato Salad recipe!
First off, there are lot's of different types of Potato Salads, and I like most all of them,(heck, I like most foods period!) But this is my favorite! It's easy and tasty!
.
2lbs cooked potatoes with skin on. (Craig prefers red potatoes, but you can use any kind)
1 cup chopped Onion
3 stalks chopped Celery
5 hard cooked eggs diced(with the yolks separated and put aside)
1 1/2 cups Miracle Whip, Fat Free
1 Tbs white vinegar
2 packets of equal(or any artificial sweetener)
mustard to taste(Craig uses about 2 Tbs)
1/8 tsp pepper
.
Put the first 4 items in a large bowl.
Mix the rest of the items in a second bowl and add the mashed yolks and stir.
Add the creamed mixture to the large bowl and stir.
Chill, and Enjoy!
.
You'd think Craig could at least smile for the camera!(he doesn't like his pic taken)

Oh, and here's a picture of his PT Cruiser all cleaned and waxed. Ain't it pretty!

And tomorrow.........more flower pics!(bet you can't wait, huh.)