-----------Ol' Squirt!--------
This has been a wearisome week, one where the laws of the land are superseded by the Laws of Murphy. Monday was... well, it was Monday! Enough said.
On Tuesday, we ordered a take-out meal from the Cottage, and just as soon as Carolyn put the phone down, it rang. It was Chris, stranded on Millard Street with a flat front tire while on her way to the used tire place to get a replacement for a back tire that was worn through to the air. Carolyn called and canceled the food order, and I went to help Chris. She was only two blocks from her destination on Fairview Avenue, and had money for only one tire. I took her to the used tire dealer, and they went out and removed the flat, brought it back, and put a new tire on the wheel. I loaned her my credit card so she could get another tire. She is flat broke and can't find any work except for a cleaning company an hour each night. It just barely pays for her gasoline.* While I was gone to help Chris, Carolyn was cleaning raccoon poop off the bedroom deck and the chairs on the patio below. The old boy (or girl) had the squirts. Just after getting back home, a thunderstorm hit Kingsport and knocked out my dsl internet service. They used to have a dial-up number we could use in emergency, but I quickly found they had discontinued it. The high speed line didn't come back on until Tuesday night.
Wednesday brought another thunderstorm that knocked out the dsl again for several hours, and just as I was getting ready to pay bills online. Some of them now will have late charges I will have to pay. Carolyn began taking stuff off her desk so that it will be easier to remove from the room for the carpet installation this weekend. My desk is a different story. On and around it is an all-in-one printer, another scanner, my full-tower computer and monitor, a keyboard and mouse, two usb adapters, a dsl modem, a router, an external hard drive, an external network hard drive, speakers, a graphics tablet, a Palm Pilot, a phone, two lamps, three receptacle strips, and myriad flocks of tangled power cords and wires that will all have to be marked as to where they belong. Some of this stuff hasn't been moved since 2002. The desk will have to be taken apart, a four drawer file cabinet will have to be moved out, two more two-drawer file cabinets will have to be taken from the closet, along with a large cabinet where paper products, disks, etc. are stored. It will take JoJo a half day to get everything out, an hour or so to lay the carpet, and an eternity+a week for me to get my life back in order.
Yep, this is a grand week!
*These other cleaning companies only pay a little over minimum wage, and that is why they get the jobs and Carolyn doesn't. She pays well over $8 per hour. If she cut back $2 per hour, it would sure help us, but her employees and their families would suffer. She did cut out paid vacations, and is considering cutting paid holidays.
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