Mamma Said There'd Be Days Like This

1.  The countertop man says he won't have them ready to install until the 6th.
2.  At thirteen minutes past ten this morning, my life got very interesting, very fast.
3.  I re-chipped my front tooth.

These things only come in threes, right?  Right?

It Was A Reasonable Assumption

To save money, the spousal unit is doing some of the electrical work himself.

He:  I've turned off the furnace. (note:  it's 35F outside.  Practically a heat wave).

Me:  What on earth for?

He:  I have to re-wire the thermostat.

Me:  Oh...okay.  I thought you were going all weird and Scotch-Irish on me.

Caturday!

And To Make Things Really Peachy

The water main just broke.

I am hosting a tabletop exercise tomorrow with our Incident Command Staff, RSVP, the Red Cross, the EMA, and the county's largest employer.  There is no way in hell there will be enough water pressure to shower in the morning.

I Can't Find The Sam Adams, Either

Well, the project is on hold for 1.5 weeks until the counter-tops get here.  In the meantime, I'm living in the basement, Brian is living in the master bedroom, the cats aren't speaking to us and Babyface is a nervous wreck.

(Power tools do that to her.  She is also nursing an intense hatred for the contractor, a wholly inoffensive and hard-working young man).

I'm batching it tonight and wanted to make my recipe for Rice Cooker Beans and Rice to have for dinner, and as a nice, belly-warming lunch to have for the next three days. Everything was swell until I realized that the can-opener is somewhere in the spare bedroom behind a wall of old cabinetry.

Beans and Rice, sans beans, is just...sad.  

Notes On A Renovation, Week II

The distributor shipped the cabinets minus their glass doors.

Notes On A Renovation

Two more weeks.  The people cutting the countertops told the contractor that they don't think they'll be done any sooner.

The microwave, crockpot, electric skillet and coffee-maker are set up in the basement. I don't know which is more annoying, having to cook where I do laundry, or having to do laundry where I cook.

Just Because

Call Him The Kitchenator

I had to take a VITA class this afternoon.  When I got home the kitchen had been completely dismantled.

He even took up the old floor.

Caturday!

Remember, Rome Wasn't Built Like Your Mother

The contractor comes on Monday so we have been (very little me, a lot more he) packing out the kitchen. For the next fortnight I will be cooking on the electric skillet in the basement and doing dishes in the laundry room sink. It is quite possible that blogging will be affected, so I'm just letting you know.

The Drama Queen, like all cats, is a Republican.  She wants everything to be the same way it has always been, and her response to the relocation of the refrigerator was to leave a highly aromatic deposit on the floor in front of it.  I can't wait to see how she handles a bunch of guys in workboots and toolbelts tromping around.

I Swear On A Stack I Am Not Making This Up

One of the additional duties performed by Trudy*, our Administrative Assistant, is to record and release the telephone notices that go out to inform personnel of emergencies. Fortunately, this rarely happens, but Sunday night all staff got to hear her calm, competent voice letting them know that the Health Department would be closed on Monday due to snow.  

Tuesday morning our singularly clueless senior staff person came to find me with a worried look on her face.

SCSSP:  I don't have Trudy's name on my call-down list. Do you know if she got the message about the office being closed?

Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind

Inside of back and front doors.

Inside of window on the kitchen stairs.

It's more fun, I guess, when you have to dig for it.

Or at least it makes success a bit sweeter.

The Weather Channel says we got 3.9 inches.  My ass.

                                 

The cats have been yammering to be allowed outside.  My evil side wants to let them go and see if that overhang will fall on them.

We Are Not Amused

When Icicles Hang on the Wall

We still have power, we still have cable, and we still have Internet connectivity.  But the spousal unit went out at 0955 to blow out the driveway and by the time he came back in, 45 minutes later, another inch of snow had fallen.

I'm reasonably sure I could make it in to work tomorrow.  I'm just as sure that I would not be able to make it home.

Update:  12:07pm.  In keeping with the best traditions of Murphy's Law, our reverse osmosis system has stopped producing water.  Brian went over to the tiny village grocery store and came back with two jugs of the bottled stuff, but in true Captain Oates spirit I have offered to drink wine for the duration.

Update:  13:34pm.  I had to substitute this photo as being slightly more representative of what is happening outside.

Update:  15:45pm.  The county has announced that they're pulling all the plows off the roads in fifteen minutes.

Update:  16:02pm.  Bowing to the inevitable, the county has announced that non-essential county offices will be closed tomorrow.

Caturday!

Looking at the weather report, it's a good thing we stocked up on kibble.  I will be very surprised if our Internet is still up by this time tomorrow.

Quote of the Day

Among the crowd of relations near and far most families possess one relation par excellence, who stands out from all the rest by reason either of generosity, aggravatingness, or strength of character.  Sometimes this relation is an uncle; more often it is an aunt; almost invariably he or she is unmarried or widowed, because the single state naturally allows more time and energy for interest beyond the personal household.  ~ Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey