And the rains bring... spiders

Ugh. I figured when I finally got the pest control people to the house I was home free. I forgot to take into account the rain and critters wanting a dry spot. The past week it seems like I've been invaded - in the house and outside. The worst was when I saw a spider that I swear could beat up my cat. I can't stand them, but the bigger they are, the more freaked I am. I am fair though, if they stay outside, that's cool. But, I have called the pest control folks and they'll be back on Monday.

But, in an effort to ensure no more invade my space (I've killed several in the house in the past few days), I'm trying the sonic pest control devices that you plug into the wall. I've pretty much got one in every room. I'm not sure they really work, but I'm willing to give anything a go at this point.

Everything but the kitchen sink....

That's what it's felt like these past three weeks. At the end of June I headed to a conference in Washington, DC. It's been a while since I've been there and I enjoyed being back. Good roommate for the conference, which is always a plus and I got to visit family and friends as well, a huge added bonus. The conference was so-so, which was disappointing, however, with all the walking I did, I didn't have a lot of guilt about not working out. I walked A LOT. And, I did stairs. Steep escalators freak me out, so at the conference center, I used the stairs instead of the escalators. Since the exhibitors were on the lower level, there were a couple of days I did this more than once. Actually, I was pretty proud of myself. They didn't kill me, so maybe I'm not as out of shape as I thought I was.

Got back the Thursday before Fourth of July. I worked that Friday, then took the following Monday and Tuesday off. All told, I was probably in the office one day in a two week period. I'm not feeling guilty. The conference might have started on a Friday, but it went through the weekend to Tuesday. And, no comp time for the weekend conference time. Which is standard and not something I choose to dwell on. It just is. I'm terribly grateful that I get professional time to attend; I have colleagues who aren't supported in attending this conference, so they don't go or they use vacation.

My days off were spent doing a lot of little things. The Monday basically was set aside for all the repair folks to come, starting at 8:00 am. Who does that to themselves on a day off? But, I was desperate to have an A/C unit that didn't sound like it was preparing to take flight or was going to blow up. I now have that. I'm one happy camper. The mechanic showed up bright and early and didn't have to cut the sheet rock. This one actually felt the wall and could feel it hitting the wall. So, outside he went. He gave the pipe a really good yank to pull whatever was vibrating away from the frame and then moved the A/C unit itself a bit more from the house. Ahhh... it now makes the noise it's supposed to make.

The A/C guy was followed by the guy to repair the crack in the sheet rock in my bedroom ceiling. Alas, his English skills left a lot to be desired (read - he didn't have any) and I sent him away the first time because all he could say was "drywall" and for the life of me I was so focused on the A/C repair and the door ding that I forgot about the crack in the ceiling. Fortunately, the builder didn't. He was on his way over to mark the areas (he found more, which I'm not sure is a good thing or a bad thing) and tell the guy what to do. So, that guy was here about 2 hours doing that. The door ding repair guy arrived about 1:00. Thankfully, he spoke English (as did the A/C guy). Then, the painters showed up about 3:30. Well, the texture has to dry for about 12-24 hours. So, I asked if they couldn't come back the next day after 3:00, as I had to take kitty cat to the vet in the morning. They said yes. Of course, their English skills were lacking as well. Sigh.

So, kitty cat got a new scratching post, one of the cardboard ones, which she adored. Had catnip in it and she was all over it. Sounds cute. I got it for her on Friday. She liked it, it's much cheaper than her traditional scratching post (we've now gone through three), so I was happy. I thought it was cute that she rubbed her head and whole body on it and she used it to scratch. This is good, right? Umm... not really. By, Monday night her left eye was looking red and the skin above it was a little raw. By Tuesday morning, she just looked sad.. red eyes, red ears. I took my time getting ready to go as the appointment was at 11:00. No rush. The minute she saw the carrier, she was under bed. It's like 10:50. The vet isn't far, but if you've ever tried to coax a cat out from under a bed you'll know my dilemma. It just isn't done. In addition to said irritation, she was also in desperate need of a pedicure (thanks to a tendonectomy her front claws have issues and I can't always trim them). She's only beaten me once and I couldn't have it this time. So, with great guilt, I resorted to the fly swatter to get her out. She hates it. I did not hit her... just swooshed it a bit near her. She came out and then tried to hide in her favorite dining room chair. I could get her out from there. Yes, she screamed at me the whole drive to the vets. Naturally, as I was leaving for the vet, the painters showed up. I told them I couldn't stay. They said 12:00. I said how about 1:00. They said okay. I'm still waiting. Maybe I should try to improve my Spanish since apparently contractors don't see a need for their employees to communicate with the people they serve.

I did not like the first vet I took her too. I loved this vet. They aren't trying to sell all kinds of products or services. They trimmed her nails and then the vet gave her a good once over. She also looked at the not really healing bald spot on her tummy (yes, the same one from February) and it had little red dots. So, something was definitely bothering kitty cat. This vet did what I think the first one should have done. Gave her a shot of low dose steroids. I swear, by that night she was looking better. I did take up the new scratching post. I'm going to give it a couple of more days for her to recover, then I'm going to dump the majority of the catnip out and see what happens. At first I thought either the cardboard or catnip was causing the irritation, but now I'm wondering if something wasn't already causing a problem and I provided a really good all round scratcher with the new scratching post. At any rate, not only does she look better, but I do believe she's perkier. I thought after the fly swatter incident and the trip the vet, she'd be mad at me for the rest of the day. Bless her little heart, she wasn't.

I'd hoped to do some flowers for the yard and in containers while I was off, but while I was enjoying beautiful weather in DC, it continued to rain here, straight through the Fourth. So, I did stuff in the house. Now it's the middle of the summer and I'm reevaluating what kind of planting I'm going to do. But, I still got a little rest and some things taken care of on my days off. Now, I just have to get the painters back.

I hope it lives....

Well, yesterday, I planted a tree. Literally. My little Peach tree was not very happy in the pot and I realized it needed to planted... sooner rather than later. I knew it wasn't cut out to be in a pot, unlike my Colonnade Apple tree, and didn't plan on leaving it there for this long. I'd hoped to get it planted after firming up ideas with a landscaper. Alas, I've not heard from the last landscaper I talked with. I'm going to call her tomorrow and see if we can't get together in a week or so. Over the weeks and after some thought and some reading, my goals for what I want her to do have changed, but I still need a little help. The yard doesn't look really good in this picture. I wasn't sure for quite a while where I wanted to plant it, but yesterday this is the spot that called to me. It's slightly off center in the yard, but I can see it from the living room. It's also in the middle of the large dead spot in the yard. But, said dead spot is filling in.

As I said, I planted the tree. Dug the hole, filled in the dirt (used Miracle Gro's soil for trees and shrubs as I think it needs all the help it can get), and used the fertilizer tablets that came with it. I must have done okay, because it survived the storms that rolled through this morning. I'm terribly pleased with myself for getting it planted and hope that I didn't kill it. I did learn, however, that maybe I not geared for planting trees. It's made me re-think all the flower beds I'm envisioning back there. Not that they shouldn't be, just that I shouldn't be the one doing them. At least not by myself. I have no problems doing the actual planting, but I'm smart enough to admit when I'm not the best person to do something, that's why I have a lawn service to do my edging. I can mow, but I can't edge worth a dime. And, I'm not sure I'll be all that good at putting in a flower bed, let alone a lot of flower beds.

I've also realized why one wants the garage in the back of the house. It's much easier to have a potting place in the garage if you don't have to lug everything to the back. Course with a garage in the back, you have to lug mulch to the front, so I guess lugging is involved no matter where the garage is.

At any rate, the Peach tree is ensconced in the ground, my first permanent landscaping in the back yard.

Midnight service calls.....

The A/C saga continues. It's still vibrating in the wall in my bedroom and is driving me and the cat nuts. So, I asked the builder's rep to get the service people back out there. Usually he's pretty good. Apparently, he told them to set up a time with me. They called me last Wednesday afternoon and said they had some available THEN to do the call, was I available? Ummm... let's see... I'm at work, I told them. Oh, they say. Can we, oh, I don't know, schedule an appointment time I ask. Okay, they say. All our mornings are taken. How about Friday after 3:30 I ask? Okay, we'll see you then, they say.

I called them before I left on Friday. Yes, I was still on the schedule. I treated myself and stopped by Corner Bakery on my way home (one sandwich is lunch and dinner for me). And, I waited. I called at 6:00 pm to see if they were coming. Yes, however, they have been running till 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning they say. (I'm not kidding). So I asked if I was expected to stay up until 1:00 in the morning for the technician. No, I'm jut telling you that's how late they've been running. All I could think to do was say thank you and hang up. Totally insane.

Here's the kicker. The technician called me at midnight to see if I was still available for the service call. Uh... no. What are they thinking!? How effective is a technician who's been working all day going to be? And, the unit is outside and it's dark! I'd rather him not be relying on a flash light in the dark. I could understand this if the unit weren't working, but it's working; it just has some issues.

Personally, I think the darn A/C unit was installed sloppily and they don't want to deal with it or me. And, I'm afraid they may have to cut into the sheet rock to do away with the vibration. I don't want that, however, if that is what has to be done, I certainly don't want them doing it at midnight. I won't even go into the safety factor of letting a strange person into one's home at midnight.

I'm very curious what the builder is going to do now.