One of the reasons I was glad the Puerto Rican posse didn’t
show up on Sunday was sand. I thought about it too late on Saturday. You see,
those railroad ties (or whatever the hell they are) are a hell of a lot deeper
in the ground than the landscape timbers will be. So, I needed something to
fill the void.
I called Angelo’s Landscaping (where I got the mulch and
then the dirt a couple of years ago) on Saturday around 1:00 p.m. But I found
that they close at noon on Saturday.
So, I was faced with a dilemma. I could go to Home Depot and
buy, like, 30 bags of play sand (even with help loading that would be a bitch).
My alternative would be to dig out all the dirt in the raised bed vegetable
garden. I’d have to replace it with my magic dirt mixture come spring, but that
wasn’t such a bad idea.
But, as you know and fate would have it, they never showed. So, Monday
morning, I called Angelo’s and asked what the smallest amount of fill sand I
could buy. They said one ton. So, I asked them to deliver it today, and make
sure they put it on the side where I had put out the traffic cone (or else I
couldn’t get in the garage).
Sidebar: I paid more for the delivery than the sand, but it
was worth it.
I went to Brighthouse at 11:30 a.m. I took in the cable box
and asked for a new one. She started giving me the rap about if it’s the signal
that’s a problem, it could wreck the new box. I told her a tech had been out
last week and replaced the line, so I’m pretty sure it’s the box that’s the
problem.
Then she asked if I wanted the same box, a newer box that
has more recording space (same price) or the newest box that allows recording
up to six shows at one time (for $5.00 a month more).
I said I’d take the newer box (because my 15 year old one is
fncked) but I didn’t need to record six shows at once as I don’t watch half the
shows I record now.
She said, “You realize you will lose any shows you currently
have recorded.” I said there are still some Mountain Man shows, a shit-load of
DIY shows and a couple of old Thin Man movies on the damn thing, but I was
willing to give them up to be able to watch TV again.
So she had me sign for the newer box.
Sidebar: It was weird. The damn box is like one half the
size of the old one, but it’s like twice the hard drive size. Technology!
I got a text from Vicky as I was leaving, asking me if I was
at lunch because she couldn’t find me. I explained I’d left early to avoid the
lunchtime rush (I still was three people back in line, BTW). She said she
forgot her lunch and thought she’d go with me. I said sorry, but did she want
me to pick her up something. She said, no, she’d just go to Wendy’s.
Since I was already at Farmington and close to Five Mile, I
went to Kroger’s and hit up their deli. I got a pound of some “Greek pasta
salad” and bought some more Ziplock one-quart screw top containers.
Sidebar: When my mother was alive, I had, like, 16 of them.
I used to take her soups and stews and stuff in them. But somehow they have all
disappeared and I only have three left. Maybe they all got pitched when they
cleaned out her fridge. I dunno…
I went back to work and ate my pasta salad while reading a
book. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad (the salad, not the book).
Back at home, the cold front was moving through. The sun
(earlier today it was bright, beautiful and warm) had disappeared. The wind had
picked up and it was starting to get chilly.
There was no sand in the driveway, BTW. But I had told her, “Today
or tomorrow is fine.” So, I wasn’t concerned.
I was entering the Kroger debit charge into the computer
when I heard a truck backing up. Sure, enough, it was my sand. He dumped it
spot on and it looks like just the right amount!
I watered the porch plants and the last two hostas
transplants. Then I got my drill and did three more landscape timbers. There
are only three left, and I thought I could power through and finish, but my
back said, “Oh, hell no!”
So, I buttoned everything up and went inside. Then I
installed the new cable box (it was still in the factory plastic). The hook up
was simple. It then took a long while for it to go through its initial internal
set up (it kept flashing changing codes).
But, finally the clock showed and I saw a live show!!! Hurrah!!!
But, there is a downside (and they did warn me). The new box
has the new TV menu (like Jake and Carla have), not the old, familiar one I
knew. The old one showed hour blocks of time as the header and you scrolled
down to see what was on each channel. This is more like categories: “Entertainment”
and “Movies,” etc. There was no instruction book, so it will take me a while to
figure out.
I heated up a bowl of the bean and bacon soup and made the
last ham sandwich for my dinner.
Then I watched TV (of course) until bedtime.
It seems like the outside house restoration never ends...does it ever?
ReplyDeleteI think when I'm dead...
ReplyDeleteI'm a fan of those quart and half quart plastic containers that come from takeout. I don't feel so bad when I have to pitch them because of tomato stains and whatnot. That and they're cheap.
ReplyDeleteI like it! I am all about using anything that works and is cheap enough that I don't feel bad when I toss it.
ReplyDelete