Showing posts with label dry cleaner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dry cleaner. Show all posts

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Day 2179

I'm glad I didn't go to Florida now. The Orbital ATK Cygnus launch got scrubbed a few minutes before the scheduled launch due to weather problems. This is the same thing that happened when I went to Vandenberg Air Force Base. Sometimes I think that the only people who actually see these things are people who live nearby. There are so many factors that can cause a launch to be postponed that it's almost impossible to plan a trip around a date that was arbitrarily set months in advance. If you're on a tight schedule or can't afford to extend your trip, you're just out of luck.

I thought that the new dehumidifier was broken today when I moved it to another room and I couldn't get it to turn on again. It seemed like a circuit breaker had been tripped, but I couldn't find any breakers to reset. I was stumped. After spending over an hour on the phone with two different customer service representatives in two different states, I think I finally figured out what the problem was. Evidently the unit turns itself off and powers down when the desired humidity level has been met. The humidity target you set isn't stored in memory though and is lost whenever you unplug the unit. When I unplugged the machine, the humidity settings reverted to the factory default, which turned out to be higher than the humidity in the house. Since the machine wasn't being asked to lower the humidity any more, it wouldn't turn on at all. Odd design, if you ask me. It would have been nice if somebody put all this in the instruction manual. When I re-set the desired humidity to something lower than the actual humidity, the machine started working again. It's been working fine ever since.

I've really been having trouble getting Dot to her physical therapy session lately.When she sits up and turns to look out a side window, one of her rear paws stays in place and gets twisted. This is uncomfortable and Dot starts whining. I find a place to pull off the road and straighten her out again. She has very little nerve sensation in her left rear leg, so I don't even think she initially notices that one of her legs isn't moving with the rest of her body. By the time she does notice, it is usually too late. If Dot would just lie down in her bed during our journey, everything would be fine. She feels compelled to bark at people out the window every time we pull up to a stop light unfortunately. She got twisted around twice today and not surprisingly, we were late to our appointment. I'm perpetually late everywhere now.

When did dry cleaning get so expensive? I took two suits to the dry cleaners the other day and the bill was $31. This seems almost double what I used to pay. I'm glad I don't have to dress up for work and go out for lunch with co-workers anymore. I'd be broke. It puzzles me that economists continue to say that inflation is under control. Most of the things I buy regularly seem to have gone way up in price.

Work continues to be busy and somewhat frustrating. I hate it when someone I'm familiar with leaves a company and a new person is assigned to deal with me. Usually these new people don't realize that they'll get the best results if they just leave me alone. Team building exercises just make me mad, or in some cases very sad. They are so unnecessary. Chill. I'm going to do a good job. I just don't want to be part of your team.

Maybe things will return to normal tomorrow. The weather is still nice. I think I've got time for breakfast at my favorite restaurant. I may even get a haircut.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day
Watch of the Day

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Day 2178

Today was busy. I worked on two different website projects, got a new writing assignment, and tried to clean up the mess Dot made last night when she pooped on one of the larger rugs in the living room. At least the weather was nice. When we walked the dogs this morning, I saw stars for the first time in well over a week. Hopefully, clear skies mean warmer weather as well. It's going to take a long time for that rug to dry out after I hosed it down this morning.

I retrieved most of the equipment from the storage warehouse this afternoon for this weekend's Santa Paws photo shoot. This stuff seems to get heavier every year. Things that I used to be able to easily lift with one hand now require both hands. Last year I remember thinking I was too old for this sort of thing and here I am again, another year older. I can't even remember how many years we've been doing these fundraisers, but it's been quite a while. I try not to be grumpy, because this is actually a great fundraiser. My knees are shot though. My back isn't so good either. This isn't fun anymore.

Janet wanted me to take a suit to the dry cleaner for a Christmas party that required a suit for some reason. I continue to be amazed that all my old suits still fit. I haven't put a suit on since I quit going to that breakfast networking group a couple of years ago. I kind of enjoyed the novelty of dressing up and having bacon for breakfast back then, but the moment has passed. It feels odd to wear a suit now. It actually feels odd to wear anything other than my worn dog walking jeans and beat up hiking boots. I'll look nice for the party though. I managed to find decent looking wool suit in the closet that still didn't have any moth holes.

I watched the Orbital ATK Cygnus pre-launch press conference on NASA TV this afternoon while I was working on one of my websites. I kept thinking that I could have been at that press conference. Oh, well. Even though I'd rather be in Florida now, I still think I made the right decision. I couldn't really afford the trip. I didn't have time to make travel arrangements anyway. And it's been months since I've felt comfortable leaving Dot. When you're taking things one day at a time, you really can't block out a week to take a quasi-vacation. I'm OK leaving the house for a couple of hours. A couple of days, not so much.

Every time I turned on the TV today there was wall-to-wall news and speculation about the San Bernardino shooting. Two of the shooters have already been identified by police as a very religious middle eastern man and a woman from Qatar. Workplace violence? I don't think so.

Greta is today's Dalmatian of the Day
Watch of the Day