Tag Archives: snow

If It Ain’t One Thing, It’s Something Else…

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My old Granny used to say, “If it ain’t one thing, it’s something else” every time something broke or quit working. I say it a lot these days!

In case you don’t know, I live in SW Missouri, and we’ve had a little snow and very cold temperatures recently. (This week it’s a bit warmer, thank goodness.) There’s still snow on the ground, and I’m almost certain our car is going to be stuck in the mud as the snow melts. I should have parked it elsewhere before the cold snap. (Shit. I can’t do everything.)

We have a private well, and the pressure tank is outside (in a wellhouse that used to be insulated). There are also exposed PVC pipes under the house, so there’s always a chance our pipes will freeze. This is a real pain in the ass every winter! We always have to run the water a bit to prevent the pipes from freezing, and there’s a heater in the wellhouse to keep things from freezing in there. Anyway, when it’s going to be below freezing, I turn on the cold water a bit in each sink and in the tub. If it’s going to be in the low teens and single digits, I turn on the hot water a little, too. I also turn on the heater in the wellhouse. I check everything multiple times during the night. I was doing so well…

Monday morning, the temp was 39 degrees. The sun was shining bright and warm. The high was in the 40s that day. I turned off the water and the heater in the wellhouse to give everything (pump, water heater, heater) a break. About an hour or so later, I went to use the water, and nothing happened. No water! Not a drop. No water in the kitchen or bathroom. I thought, Ok, I doubt the pipes have frozen, but maybe there’s a chunk of ice blocking one of the main pipes. So, I put my little heater on the pipes going into the water heater. (That has worked before when the pipes froze, but hadn’t been frozen for long.) The heater went for hours. Still, no water. Fuck. 

I texted our well guy. He said he would send one of his guys out the next day (Tuesday). That was yesterday, and just as our well guy promised, one of his guys came out to check our well. We were so hoping the problem was the control box on the pressure tank, or maybe a bad switch. It turned out to be the freaking pump!! That’s going to run about $4,000+ and counting labor, closer to $5,000. That will come out of our new house money. There goes the money for our kitchen cabinets. If it ain’t one thing, it’s something else.  

We are currently waiting for the well service crew. We have called on them before, so they are familiar with everything. They are quick to get things done when people don’t have water! This morning, they are picking up the new pump in Springfield. If all goes well, they will be here today to pull the pump and replace it. If not today, then tomorrow, but they really do their best to get to us asap.

Maybe one of these days, our luck will change. I’m so tired of fighting this house and all of the problems it throws at us. It’s depressing, and I don’t know how much more I can take.

This and That

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The house is coming along slowly. I wish it were going faster because I am missing or have missed some good sales on appliances, cabinets, and many other things. I can’t get anything until the drywall is up and the flooring is down. Then I can measure and decide what to get and actually have a place to put it. I have nowhere to store anything!! Ugh! I know. I’m trying to be patient. Really, I am.

Last night, I was working a jigsaw puzzle in the kitchen and listening to an audiobook when all of a sudden, there was a huge crash in the living room. All 3 cats shot out of the living room and went into hiding! Scared the living shit out of everyone. It was Dad. Poor thing fell down. He’s ok but it sure sounded like he landed hard. He took my fan down with him and spilled his meds all over the room. I had a hell of a time getting him off the floor. I told him if he would stop being stubborn and use his cane, he could avoid falling, at least cut the number of falls down. The next time he got up he was using his cane. Today, not so much. Still stubborn. I guess that’s where I get it.

I decided to take my chances and purchase a LegXercise machine. I know it won’t help my pain or mobility issues. Please don’t insist that it will, like so many people do, because I know more about my issues than anyone else. Anyway, I primarily bought the LegXercise machine to help the circulation in my legs. It’s not painful to use, but I am feeling a bit of added pain after using it for 2 days. I started at twice a day for 15 minutes each time. Today, I did it once for 15 minutes.

I’m going to try my hand this week sometime at making homemade enchilada sauce and salsa. I’ve made salsa before but it’s been a long, long time. The enchilada sauce will be a new experience. Thanks to a dear friend, I have a tried and true recipe to try! Wish me luck!

It appears that Old Man Winter isn’t finished with us just yet. Snow in the forecast this week will slow work on the house again. Thankfully, we have propane and we don’t have to go anywhere.

That’s it for today, friends. Be good, be safe, and try not to strangle your MAGA neighbors for they know not what they have done!

Update On All Things Sh*t

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Ok, not all things are shit. There have been some good things happening since my last post. Our new house is coming along. The house is wired, and the water lines and sewer pipes are in place and awaiting the next phase. The HVAC is nearly ready for hook-up. The insulation will be delivered on Wednesday. The next step will be the drywall. Such happiness and hope! I don’t think I can bear another cold ass winter in this old house!

Colder than a witch’s tit…

Which leads me to the shit part of this post. The weather has been colder than a witch’s tit. The last 2 nights were down in the single digits and tonight will be the 3rd. We always keep our water running to prevent the pipes from freezing. Running only the cold water always works. We have never run the hot water in the same manner and never had the hot water pipes freeze up. They say there’s a first time for everything and this was a first. The hot water pipes froze up, but hopefully not busted. It’s too cold to crawl under the house to check. Not that I could do it and Dad really doesn’t need to be doing it but he might insist if it were warmer. Anyway, maybe our contractor will check for us tomorrow when he comes. He wasn’t here today for his own reasons. 

Withdrawals suck…

Last week was a bad one for me. If you follow this blog you may remember me posting about my meds not coming when they should have which led to me having withdrawals. Now, don’t give me that “omg, she’s an addict” crap because I am not an addict. There’s a difference between being addicted and being dependent. I am dependent on my meds so that I can function. I had gone 3 days without my gabapentin, which has terrible withdrawal symptoms if you stop taking it abruptly. It was not a good 3 days as I had insomnia, massive sweating (in a 40-degree house, mind you), and heart palpitations. I had headaches off and on, and I was moody as hell. Wouldn’t you be moody on zero hours of sleep in 3 days?  I finally got my script in the mail but not before I got an emergency 10-day supply filled by a different pharmacy. Needless to say, I saved the 10-day supply in my “extras” stash. 

I think they need more training!

I blame the pharmacy for not filling the gabapentin automatically as they do the other meds I take. I had forgotten to order them myself because it was right before Christmas. I also blame the USPS. Even though I expected a delay due to the snow we got that week, I did expect my delivery when Informed Delivery told me it was out for delivery! But instead, it was 4 days later before it was actually delivered. The roads had been perfectly fine. If the mail carriers can’t do the job correctly, then they need to be replaced. Still the fault of the USPS. They have a lot of nerve raising the rates for every damn thing and then reducing the quality of service! 

Not much else going on…just trying to get through this cold spell. I’m wearing my Sherpa blanket hoodie, which I found on Amazon a few years ago. It’s been a lifesaver in this cold ass weather! I hope you’re staying warm…or cool, depending on where you are!

Have a great week, my friends!

 

 

What’s Eating Aunt Debbie?

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Well, let me tell you. PAIN.

Last week, I called in my prescription medications. I was waiting for my NP to approve one script that had no more refills and then I was going to call Walmart and have them ship my meds as I normally do.

Stupid me didn’t realize I was nearly out of my pain medication! That was late Friday. I started to panic because we were expecting snow on Saturday. I couldn’t go out and pick up my meds in person because I didn’t know how much snow we would actually get. I called Walmart yesterday to have them ship; they will go out today.

I had 2 pain pills left, one to be taken every 12 hours. So, I’ve had to ration. I took one Saturday night and my pain level wasn’t too bad. I saved my last one for tonight. I only took Tylenol Arthritis last night and my pain level is UP. With any luck, FedEx will come tomorrow! Usually, they’re pretty quick.

Then, I began to panic again because my daughter mentioned MLK Day and wondered if FedEx would even run today! I googled it and apparently, FedEx and UPS both will run, while the USPS observes the holiday.

The sun is out, trying to melt the snow and the road looks pretty good, but I’d probably get stuck in the yard if I tried to get the car out. (We don’t have a traditional driveway.) It’s 44 degrees at the moment but it seems much colder when there’s snow on the ground.

Wish me luck. I can’t function well with no pain meds to dull the pain.

P.S. Don’t think that I am an addict because I am not. There’s a difference between addiction and dependency. I am dependent on pain meds to be able to function. There is no euphoria involved. I have to make that clarification because “a friend” had accused me of being a drug addict some time ago. That person is no longer in my circle.

Throwback Thursday

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I took these photos way back in 2011. We didn’t have a lot of snow that year, just a few inches, but it was very cold! There was ice about an inch thick on the branches of the trees and we had huge icicles hanging from the eaves of our roof. When the sun came out, the ice on the branches began to melt. We could hear the ice crackling and the water dripping. The sun sparkled through the branches of the trees. Then it slowly froze up again. It made for some rather awesome photos!

My oldest grandson was almost 3 at the time. He loved being out in the cold, playing in the snow and going for walks. This was back when I was able to take walks. I sure miss it.

I wonder what Old Man Winter will bring us this season?

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