random thoughts - Day 1,993 - (Sunday) - today and ago

 On August 31, 2016, a stack of papers was signed and then I had a shiny new mortgage and a new address as I closed on the house in Lowell (The BungaLowell). Today, in a quick break from a cookout at Mom's, I took a couple people next door for a quick tour of my latest (still unchristened) new address as of August 1, 2025. The same amazing realtor helped me with both homes because she is great at her profession. Things aren't quite company ready at the new place but that was okay. 

Cake!

The cookout was fun. We filled my driveway with cars to open Mom's carport for entertaining. The dozen or so of us sat in the shaded back yard and talked and ate from a table heaped with salads, grilled items, pastries, and a beautiful birthday cake. At the end of it, I was stuffed. The pastries felt like a good idea at the time, but there was some regret later. I would probably do it again, but with more refreshing water consumed. 

For the evening's entertainment, it's movie night in the backyard at my friends' home. We tested the screen, equipment, and some snacks last night with Practical Magic. Throughout most f the movie I couldn't stop wondering why Sandra Bullock was wearing strappy little camisole tops while Nicole Kidman (and the rest of the cast) was swathed in long sleeve chunky sweaters. Hot flashes? Desire to show off toned arms? And now I want to plant as directed in the movie -- "Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Plant lavender for luck." First, I need a garden gate. 

 

random thoughts - Day 1,992 (Saturday) - hair and fridge

 

 A long-ago booked hair salon appointment came around today and I was off to Worcester. It was a nicer ride down (up?) Route 140 and a bit quicker than the drive from Lowell. The stylist is in a new space behind trendy, food-filled Shrewsbury Street. 

I misread the time and arrived 45 minutes early, which gave me a chance for a sightseeing tour around my old stomping grounds on a quiet-ish Saturday morning. I went over by Lake Quinsigamond for a drive-by of my first solo living apartment during the split with X1. I barely recognized the place with its new fenced in yard. I drove past streets where I remembered looking at apartments or where music clubs and fun times used to be had (Plantation Club!). 

In the salon it was peaceful and quiet and I got my 14-ish-week trim and my hair is now professionally blow-dried silky smoothness which will be immediately washed away the next time I put my head under the shower. 

Cracked.

A friend had mentioned appliances in a conversation this morning and I spent most of the salon visit thinking about my refrigerator which makes some weird noises and has a cracked produce drawer, a shelf with packing tape holding it together, no deli drawer, and some discolored scratches in the freezer and main compartment. Replacing the produce drawers in the existing fridge would have cost $100 and still wouldn't have fixed the noises, the shelf. or the icky scratches. 

I did a quick "appliance stores near me" Internet search from the salon parking lot and a few minutes later was at an appliance store I remembered from my time living in Worcester.  I marched in and bought a new refrigerator. It took about ten minutes. I told the sales person what I wanted (basic white, freezer on top), we visited the outlet room, I opened the doors of the four white units on the floor and said, "I'll take that one," pointing to the one with the glass shelves and squared off produce drawers. Boom. Done. The longest part was doing the paperwork and paying. It will be delivered on Thursday. 

The fridge purchase might seem a little spontaneous without my usual spreadsheet analysis and endless hand wringing, but I've been doing the mental gymnastics and thinking about it for weeks. I had looked online which was a good start for general pricing and availability of replacement drawers,  but not as  good as opening the doors to check features. 

The new one has similar features and with delivery and removal of the old one, cost about the same as the fridge bought last November for the house in Lowell. I never thought I'd buy two refrigerators in the space of about nine months, but I also didn't think I'd be laid off from a job and looking for another one. This is a year for big changes and I've been rolling with the ones I didn't initiate and owning and fixing the things I can control. I just hope 2026 has fewer big changes. 

random thoughts - Day 1,991 (Friday) - not much

The cooler nights have led to some solid sleep and for this, I am grateful. 

Despite being well rested, it was a low key day. Despite there being a loose plan for the day, after coffee, next to nothing was accomplished, or even attempted. There was a lot of sitting around and playing Words With Friends, texting with friends, and watching streaming shows. 

A breakfast bagel with cream cheese was had. Lunch of soup was had. The dishwasher was unloaded. Something was almost hung on a wall but I couldn't find the container of picture hanging thingies. Supper was fortune cookies because all the leftovers are frozen. I don't have a microwave yet because I haven't decided if I want a one-function microwave or a multi-function microwave /air fryer /toaster oven. 

Turkeys on the move.

Around the time I thought to walk to the mailbox, the limping turkey and her brood passed through my front yard, and soon after, four bearded toms arrived in the yard across the street. The two clusters of birds moved up the street and out of sight. 

A few minutes after the turkeys passed by, it began to rain, which lasted for several minutes. It was the perfect excuse to not trot to the mailbox for the one piece of "occupant" mail depicted in the USPS daily notification. It rained a second time when I had almost convinced myself to walk to the mailbox. 

And there you have it. A day of sloth. It was very easy to do not much. I'm quite good at it. 

random thoughts - Day 1,990 (Thursday) - tech and nostalgia

Another day, another follow-up with the surgeon from the broken wrist of winter 2025. Yay. Today's adventure involved driving from the new address, significantly further from the office than the Lowell address. To complicate things, Waze and GPS chose to mysteriously flake out and I was running on offline maps the entire drive with no live traffic updates. I knew something was off when the program had me starting from two streets away from home, but couldn't pinpoint the issue. 

Somehow, I arrived really early. There was time to relax with social media in the waiting area before my x-ray and two minutes with the surgeon. Surgeon said, "Looks good. You're healed. Do you have any questions? Come back in three months." On the way back, there was no actual navigation again. I even pulled into a rest stop to try and troubleshoot the problem without luck. Technology is great until it isn't and Bad Technology Karma is real. For me anyway.

The afternoon was spent in manual tasks that couldn't be screwed up by the absence of GPS. I finally retrieved the items from my Lowell house that had been stored in Mom's shed. Before the fetching and schlepping, there was the consolidation of packing boxes in my own shed, with several reassigned to the recycling bin. That made room for the snow shovels, skis, ski boots, snow shoes, beach chairs, and assorted flower pots. 

Turkeys surveying the yard.

The late afternoon delivered mysterious noises from the roof. No source was determined. Then there were weird noises in the front yard that turned out to be two turkeys walking around like a couple of land surveyors. 

The evening was invested in the second night of binging Bunheads on Prime, a series from 2012-2013 which was really good but lacked widespread viewership and was cancelled. Of course it was. I liked it when it was new and seeing it again still feels fresh. 

Ballet studio!

It has all the elements that interest me. There is comedy drama set in a ballet environment with actor-dancers who remind of dancers from my past. It was created by Amy Sherman-Palladino with Sutton Foster and Kelly Bishop in leading roles and the trademark rapid fire witty dialogue and several actors familiar to anyone who knows Gilmore Girls or  recognizes Sutton Foster from Younger. 

Kelly Bishop reminds me of one of my dance teachers and late in the one glorious season of series' existence, one of the ballerinas who reminds me of one of my nieces does roller derby, which sent me right back to one of the best years of my life. There is an episode set in Henderson, Nevada where another niece lives. It's been a great binge full of memories and points of nostalgic connection.

random thoughts - Day 1,989 (Wednesday) - getting stuff done

It was a day of getting stuff done. It was almost like a cloud of determination and motivation parked over my head. Knobs were removed from the brown chest of drawers and set in a plastic bag with the companion screws. Two drawers were lightly sanded before a trip was made to the local hardware store for paint, one knob in hand. I love having a local hardware store with helpful people. Unlike the big box store paint experiences in Lowell, today's paint team provided solutions and advice as well as paint. 

After returning from the store with a gallon of black paint for the dresser and its companion bureau and mirror, I logged on for the one-hour job fair prep webinar through the unemployment office. There is a job fair in a week or two. 

Before the rain.

As soon as the webinar was over, it was back to the carport and the drawers. The sun was shining and it was comfortably warm. The drawer fronts were sanded and wiped with tack cloth. There was a moment of panic when the lid came off the can and the paint looked navy blue. The painting began with my favorite painting tool, the four-inch cabinet roller and miraculously, the paint that looked blue when wet dried to a beautiful black. 

This all took next to no time, so the dresser frame was hauled outside using a mix of walking it across the rug, then setting it on a runner and dragging it across the vinyl. Getting the dresser down the stairs to the carport was a bit trickier, but it got done and the dresser frame was sanded, wiped, and painted. 

During the painting, there was a phone call from a recruiter who had reached out via LinkedIn on Tuesday about an open role. As we were talking, clouds rolled in and it began to rain, which had me holding the phone with one hand and moving drawers further under the carport with the other. The rain got heavier and the racket on the carport roof became so loud I had to go inside. 

I watched the rain while we discussed an interesting job. The angle of the rain shifted and a couple of the drawers got rained on, which  put me back outside wiping the rain off the drawer faces, which ended up with marks from the raindrops and streaks from the wiping. Errrrr.

When the call was over, another coat of paint was rolled onto the drawer fronts and the dresser. The front of the knobs were painted with a foam brush and set in a cardboard box where they looked like licorice macarons or little whoopie pie tops. 

A quick break with a trip for gas and air in the tires allowed time for things to dry and turned into an adventure. It took three gas stations before the tires were aired up. The first station, where I got gas, had a bizarre air nozzle I couldn't figure out and when it was over, I was out four quarters and all the tires had significantly less air than when I started. At the second station, I couldn't find an air machine. The third station had an air machine that cost $1.50 and I had to go inside to break a bill for more quarters. The machine had the same weird nozzle as the one that took the air out of the tires and the clerk, who had offered help when giving me quarters, was tapped for the assistance he had offered. He said the unfamiliar pump nozzles were old and I really missed my favorite air machine in Dracut with uncomplicated air nozzles. 

Back at the house, there was another quick coat of paint on the drawers and dresser. And then, suddenly, it rained again. What the heck? Instead of a rain dance, it seems me painting under the carport can break a drought.

Wednesday weekly reading.

After the walk for the mail, which was the usual weekly grocery store flyers, the drawers were brought inside. Before it got dark, the dresser frame was wrangled back into the house. Later, the flyers for Price Chopper, Market Basket, Family Dollar, and Friendly's were reviewed. Yes, there is a Friendly's here, and I still haven't gone for a Fribble. There were never grocery store flyers in the mailbox in Lowell and it feels very quaint receiving them now.

random thoughts - Day 1,988 (Tuesday) - new environs

The past few nights have been plagued with poor sleep due to my old frenemy sciatica. It's been several months since the last hellacious episode and things have been mostly okay, so clearly it was time for some punishment. At the glorious hour of 3:00 a.m., I had been reading stuff on my phone for two hours in an effort to take my mind off being uncomfortable. It was a miracle when I got out of bed for the day at 6:45. 

The days are taking on a pattern and flow. There is coffee with Mom, and then I return home with the daily delusion that I will kick ass and tackle the unpacked boxes of stained glass supplies and set up a work station and sand the brown painted dresser and paint it black and rip out the built-in unit and replace it with a freshly painted black dresser. One nob (out of eight)  was sanded with the block today and it worked great and then I stopped. The drawers will be taken outside tomorrow for sanding (updated daily delusion).

Solo evening crow.

The crows were busy in the morning launching themselves off the roof (noisily) and onto the lawn where they walked around quietly. Their feathers are glossy and pretty in the sunshine. In the afternoon, six crows gathered in the tree behind the shed making all sorts of racket. I like them. Later, one crow walked the front yard. 

Really what happens after the coffee is I get lost in a vortex of emails and then torqued up with job alerts from LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and a host of other job boards. Anything and everything for which I'm qualified is sent a resume. Today, there was an alert from the unemployment office about a webinar tomorrow to prepare for a big job fair in Worcester and I'm now registered. 

Mom and I went to the bank and the library so I could drop off books for their upcoming book sale. I didn't have a piece of mail with my new address on it so I couldn't get a library card today. Then we went to Price Chopper, which was pleasantly quiet at 10:30 in the morning. 

There was an item on today's calendar for a "walk-through insurance inspection." The inspector had called a couple weeks ago and on the phone had the personality of a rock. He arrived at the front of the house at 3:55, a smidge early for the 4:00 scheduled time. As I headed to the back door to greet him, he rang the bell, then immediately began banging on the door with the assertiveness of that early morning law enforcement raid across the street from me that time in Lowell. The banging was loud enough to drown out the doorbell. Dude, relax.

He was standing so close to the storm door I couldn't open it to let him in. He said "I'm Bill" and marched into the kitchen with a notepad in hand. There were rapid fire questions that felt like an interrogation -- "When was this built? How many skylights? How many bathrooms? What kind of heat? Where is the electrical panel. I need photos." Then he went outside for a lap around the house and by 4:05 he was gone. The telephone absence of personality was matched by the in person absence of such. He said the insurance company will probably have someone come out in another three years. I hope it's not him again. 

Evening walk, 8-26-2025.

There was Chinese food leftovers for an early supper and a walk to the mailbox at 5:40 pm. The lowering evening sun shone through the neighborhood trees. It's much prettier and more calming to see tall trees behind the house rather than tall houses. The night sky is free of city lights and filled with more visible stars than I ever saw in Lowell. It's nice.

random thoughts - Day 1,987 (Monday) - mail and kiki thoughts

Small artworks on shelves.

The box unpacking continues. Slowly. Today it was a shoebox of 4-inch by 4-inch canvases, mostly from the 4 x 4 For Education fundraiser at The Brush Art Gallery and Studios. Instead of banging a million nails into the walls, the pieces went on shelves. Eight were placed on the shelves set in front of the window last week to hold a couple plants, and two were set on the bookcase shelves. This could all change (and probably will), but for now it works. 

There was a speed walk to the mailbox and the mail forwarding is finally catching up with me. There were 13 pieces of mail today, nine of which were several weeks old to the Lowell address, bundled with a rubber band. Two were final utility bills due last week but I had already paid them. I was dumb enough to think the gas and electric companies would send the bills to the new address I provided, but that wasn't the case. One piece of mail in a red envelope with the new address was a card from the seller of my house wishing me happiness in the house his mother lived in and loved for 23 years. That was thoughtful and sweet. 

Kiki in a window.

At dusk creeping into dark, Kiki emerged from the bedoom and walked around the house meowing. Was she announcing her daily awakening? Lodging a complaint to management? Declaring war? No clue.

After a loop through the living and dining room areas, she sat at the front screen door meowing. So weird. If I approached her, or even looked at her, she ran back into the bedroom. Later, she climbed up onto a dining room windowsill and quietly looked outside. Even later, she sat nearby, watching me. What I wouldn't give for a peek inside her mind. 

random thoughts - Day 1,986 (Sunday) - at home

The day had no plans and it was good. Time was spent in the uncomfortable chair in the comfortable light and airy living room performing the weekly unemployment certification and submitting another job application. 

A spinach and cheddar quiche was baked. As it emerged from the oven and was set on the stovetop, magical and heavenly sunlight shone through the kitchen skylight, illuminating the baking dish. A piece was eaten for lunch, and the remainder set in individual portion containers in the freezer. The freezer is filling up and I take comfort in that.

The walls were measured for the tenth time, online installation instructions read and assessed for difficulty, and a floating corner TV shelf was ordered. Windows were opened for the air flow. The house was vacuumed. 

There were shows on Prime video and Woodoku on the phone. Suddenly, as keeps happening, it was 5:00 and time to think about supper. There was some fighting with a local Chinese food website as I tried to navigate the menu. It was impossible on the laptop, but semi-manageable on the phone. I get the concept of mobile first web design, but that doesn't mean it should be okay for the website to be total shite on a computer. 

Thanks to the viewing challenges and the bizarre menu organization it took a half-hour to find what I wanted to order. Once placed, the responder provided a 45 minute timeframe for the order to be ready, which was plenty of time to go for the usual length walk (15-20 minutes). 

Neighborhood gang.

Today I worked on speed. I saw the dog one street over who is always sitting politely in the yard while its human stands nearby smoking a cigarette and holding the other end of the leash. I said hello to big puppy and petted his head for a second before continuing on my way. The neighborhood gang of turkeys was lurking in a yard. 

As I was about three houses away on the  approach to my house, some 18 minutes after leaving and 15 minutes before the expected delivery, there was a car in my driveway. That's when I took up jogging for the first time in years. The delivery guy was heading back to his car with the big bag of food in hand. I intercepted him  and apologized for not being there when he knocked. There is enough food to last for several days, just as I hoped. And it was good.

Kiki emerged from her daytime lair and was ready for attention and face rubs. She seems to have relaxed and reestablished her routines at the new place and gotten used to the location of her litter box and food. 

random thoughts - Day 1,985 (Saturday) - home with Kiki

Saturday dawned and I knew what day it was, so that was refreshing. Kiki was cute and a little needy with demanding the morning face rubs and fur stroking and I was happy to comply. Then she disappeared under the bed for the day, as is her routine.

There were grand plans to get paint for the chest of drawers and long bureau, and start disassembling the built in unit. These things didn't happen. A few more boxes were unpacked, flattened, and set in the recycle bin. A few pieces of furniture were relocated from one room to another or from one spot in a room to another. The magnet mount mini blinds arrived and were hung on the back door. 

There was some lounging about in the increasingly uncomfortable arm chair and I can't wait for the sofa to arrive. Prime video. Wordle. Cleaning of the litter box. A walk around the neighborhood to get the mail. The freezing of vegetable soup. Unloading of the dishwasher. A walk around the yard to monitor the sunshine in an effort to choose a place to plant a peony in the ground. A brief and unsuccessful search was undertaken for the white and gold Buddha head that used to reside on the dining room table. There was consumption of Aldi Clancy brand potato chips which are thin, crispy, and delicious with the perfect amount of salt. 

My wrist feels thick and overworked and I expect less than delightful news at my appointment during the week. The winter ice storm broken wrist is becoming the gift that keeps on giving. 

Overall, it was a day full of mostly menial activity because I was too lazy to leave the house and partway into it I decided to have a day without spending any money. 

The evening included the usual level of worship of Kiki, the ruler of my world, who was a extra vocal and meowy, as if she needed to remind me she was there. She let me pet her, and she even sat still, perfectly composed, long enough and close enough for me to take pictures of her. Such a good, sweet girl. 

random thoughts - Day 1,984 (Friday) - time and stuff

I woke up thinking it was Saturday. I must have reminded myself a dozen times throughout the morning that it was Friday. Mom and I had a conversation yesterday about how fast time was blazing by and now I'm jumping ahead by an entire day. Ugh. I realized this morning my several Words with Friends games had been waiting on me for two weeks. Sorry everyone!

The living room has been mostly clear of boxes for a week and now I'm itching to get a couch of some sort. Days of internet searches of local furniture stores and online retailers left me with eye fatigue and items in shopping baskets all over the Internet. Wayfair has some nice small sofas/loveseats  that suit my current mood and design desire, which is mostly not non-descript gray or beige, and new. 

I was reminded during the move that 99% of my furniture is either from thrift shops or cast-offs from friends and family. The only piece that came to me new is a bookcase my niece built for me a few years ago. 

There was a trip to the outlet furniture store this morning to see a piece shown on their website. Of course, and it wasn't even a surprise, neither the specific sofa nor the the general style I was interested in were represented on the showroom floor in that location. If I wanted to trek a few miles down the road to Leominster I could see one in the showroom there. 

I went home to space out and think about furniture. My new best friend websites were consulted again, this time marking placement in the living room based on the dimensions. Prices, delivery times, assembly instructions, and add on assembly costs were analyzed. 

Coming soon to my living room.

Three contenders from the Ashley Furniture line were discovered on the website for the local outlet store, and I went back there mid-afternoon, screenshots at the ready. The determining factor  to crown the winner would be delivery time. The teal one could be at the store and then in my living room in about two weeks. The navy blue one wouldn't arrive at the store until the end of September. The charcoal gray with silver hobnails was suddenly out of stock. And just like that, the 68-inch teal loveseat/small sofa was declared the official winner. According to the colors of the long-time living room rug, it will work with the red-orange armchair and ottoman.

Now I can refocus on other tasks. There is still a lot of unpacking and organizing of artwork, stained glass supplies, and workstations, but some of that will be facilitated by progress in other rooms, including relocating the chest of drawers to the bedroom after pulling out the built-in unit. 

Dining room.

In recent household victories and personal bests, the dining room table has remained unsullied for four days now. The charger for the cordless drill was finally located in the box with batteries and small nightlights and fancy lightbulbs. The drill is now charged and the removal of the built in dresser/not dresser thing can commence. A paint can labeled "my bedroom" was found in a closet and is ready to be rolled into service in the soon to be empty alcove. A plan is being devised to paint the chest and its companion dresser and it all feels like another shade of progress.

random thoughts - Day 1,983 (Thursday) - leisurely day

In a Swanzey, NH
antiques shop.

It was another chilly overnight and morning and over coffee, Mom and I hatched a plan for the day. Later in the morning, under a cloudy sky, we headed north to Swanzey, New Hampshire to visit some antiques shops she knew about. In New Hampshire, the sky was bright blue with not a cloud in sight. 

There was a complex of buildings near the Cheshire Fair Grounds that let us park once and visit three antiques shops. The fourth shop on the site was closed for vacation. The shops were fun and interesting. There were lots of black lacquer and inlay pieces and some gorgeous woods. One shop had carefully curated displays that felt more like a museum than a store. 

On the way back home, we stopped at a thrift store we hadn't noticed on way up. It was cluttered with all manner of stuff. There were a couple old-timers in there, jeans hiked up under their armpits, aimlessly shuffling through the shop talking to themselves. It looked they were placed there by Central Casting and perfectly fit the quirky vibe of the shop of oddities.  

Hot dog and onion rings. 

Our next stop was for lunch at Little Anthony's in Winchendon. The place had a very casual, friendly vibe and it was crowded. Warm popcorn arrived at the table and the food was great. 

We ordered foot-long hotdogs on grilled buns with onion rings, which had an amazing light, crispy coating. The O rings were served with a horseradish sauce. I ate until it hurt and it felt like I needed a nap. Instead, I took a walk around the new 'hood and probably burned off one fried onion ring. But I didn't need to eat supper, so that was a bonus.

random truths - Day 1,982 (Wednesday) - chilling and not

The hint of fall that slipped in on Tuesday was full force today. It was chilly. Gray. I needed long pants, a long sleeve sweater, and socks. A blanket was added to the bed because I wasn't quite warm overnight and I'm not dealing with that again tonight.

The rain on the skylight.

As I sipped freshly brewed coffee in the living room, there were noises in the kitchen and something pinging at the back of the house. It was (much needed) rain playing percussion on the skylight and the metal oil tank enclosure. 

I popped over to Mom's with my cup of coffee and we chatted a bit before I returned home with the intention of taking a day to relax and not deal with any of the 10,000 details from moving. 

Every day there is an account that turns up needing an address change, including some that make no sense. For example, when I talked with the National Grid teams in mid-July about cancelling the gas account and transferring the electric account, they were provided with the new address. I thought the final bills would come to me at the new address, but they did not. 

My plan for an R&R day didn't pan out and there were rounds of calls to each National Grid division in attempts to get the final billing amounts and due dates. I couldn't access the gas account online because it was closed. There isn't much I love more than begging companies to let me pay them. And it takes forever. 

The rejection letters to job applications are rolling in, which is definitely preferable to hearing nothing. The day had more job posting reviews which, no joke, take forever to decode and decipher. It seems there is some HR rule mandating corporate jargon and banning plain language in a job posting. There are jobs I might have applied for, but I couldn't understand what the heck they were.

A sliver of the day was spent studying product descriptions for combination microwave, air fryer, toaster oven units (yes, all in one!!). And magnetic mini blinds for the back door. And a new curtain panel for the bathroom. The online cart is full but nothing was ordered. 

I really miss the days when it was possible to visit three or four stores in a town (like Bradlees, KMart, Sears, etc.) and see and touch curtains and go home with something. Now it's online or nothing, and sometimes my eyes feel like they will bleed from the screen fatigue. 

Soup!

The chilly day led to the first soup of the season/ new house/ new chapter, made with cabbage, broccoli, tomato, carrots, and mixed frozen vegetables. Later, I wanted to make a quiche, but the cheese reserves where chucked before the move and grocery store run was needed. When I returned with cheese and spinach, the urge to bake was gone. Maybe tomorrow. 

The chill made me skip walking today even though I knew it would warm me up to walk really fast. I stopped at the mailbox on the way back from the store and then parked the car under the carport and myself in the house with just procured cookies and butter pecan ice cream. No matter how chilly, it's always ice cream weather in New England.

random thoughts - Day 1,981 (Tuesday) - pizza and puzzles

As part of the Mass Save Energy Audit on Monday, the technician left two of the new and allegedly even better Simply Conserve 7-Outlet Advanced Power strips, which he said had better surge protection. The new strip has little sliders described as "Child Protection Covers" and a new outlet identified as "Master Outlet." The "angled space conserving plug" is set at the opposite angle of the old strip which isn't as convenient for where the outlet is relative to the TV. 

Router plug covers half
of the next plug. WTF?

The thing that makes the Simply Conserve power strip less than stellar, however, seems like a design flaw. The two "always on" outlets, designated for use by modem/cable/satellite and DVR/router are too close together to be used by my router and cable plugs. I can plug in one or the other, but not both. I learned of this flaw this morning when I disconnected the router, cable, and TV to plug them into the new power strip. I ended up setting everything back into the older, allegedly inferior power strip which is designed to actually function. 

This is a problem for me because the router doesn't work in the cable connection in the art/craft/currently junk room and has to run off a splitter with the cable. Wi-fi is a necessity for, well, life. It's needed for job applications, health care stuff, address changes, bill paying, and basically everything. And cable is needed for my nightly sanity. 

The rest of the day was less annoying. Sis picked up pizza and she and Mom came over for lunch. That was the perfect inspiration to clear off the dining room table so it could fulfill its destiny as a food consumption facilitator. During our lunch, there was a weird sound that seemed like a phone notification but was the back door doorbell. A neighbor I hadn't met yet was standing there and said she needed "just a minute" when I said we were just having lunch. She asked if I had seen a red truck around her house, but it seems like half the trucks in the neighborhood are red, so, maybe? Then she launched into a meandering tale of someone known to her entering her house and removing her washer and dryer set and replacing it with a lesser quality set. Ummm, come again? I suggested changing the locks, and she said they did that. Three years ago. And then gave keys to a few people. I repeated she should change them now. 

The "minute" turned out to be quite a long time, with side tales about working at Sears and someone's sone who hates her which is odd because everyone else idolizes her and her husband and thank the stars Mom rescued me somewhere into the saga. They actually know each other. Now I'll keep an eye out for a red truck across the street.

The three of us sat around the table for a couple of hours and talked. My sister works in a credit union and we traded financial industry war stories. We looked at the built-in dresser/chesser whatever it is in the main bedroom. There was a quick evaluation of options for removing it and replacing it with a functional piece of furniture. One of the big challenges is the trim pieces on both sides of the space that reduce the opening and will prevent sliding the 42-inch dresser into the space. Potential solutions are removing the trim pieces, attempting to shave off a half-inch from the side edges where the top overhangs the base, or placing the narrower tall chest in the space. Also, underneath the built-in unit is plain sub flooring, and the carpeting ends at the front of the unit. Ugh. This gets more complicated every time I look at it.

Mom knows someone who knew the neighborhood when it was established in the late 1980s and they said the shallow drawers were for jewelry, which, as a concept, has a very '80s feel to it. That would certainly explain the shallowness that is an impediment to fitting any respectable amount of clothing in them. The basic unfinished wood drawer interiors don't seem very jewelry friendly though, so maybe any soft jewelry linings were removed over time. Now I want to find original marketing materials for the neighborhood and see how the features were described.

Sun-scorched lawn.

The evening walk to the mailbox station allowed me to see the level to which my lawn has become fried by the sun and lack of rain. Oy. It's joining the houses on the other side of the street that have looked sun-scorched all month. I will not be exploring ideas to hydrate the lawn. I'm trying to figure out where to plant a peony. The grass is on its own.

random thoughts - Day 1,980 (Monday) - feeling fall

Today felt like the cusp of fall. The air was a bit crisper. It was warm without being summer hot. The denim capris were traded for full-length jeans. In a month and a couple days it will be officially autumn and once again, I've forgotten to have a summer. 

The morning was packed with activity. Trash and recycling were rolled to the curb. Four boxes and a big duffle bag were neatly stacked at the edge of the lawn near the street for pickup by Epilepsy Foundation. Coffee with Mom and Step-Dad was followed by an appointment for a Mass Save Energy Audit.

Fall on the horizon
and in the flower pot.

The energy audit was uneventful. The house is well insulated and there were no recommendations. The shower heads were replaced and a faucet aerator added to the guest bath sink faucet. Info was provided about converting from oil heat to a heat pump. 

Around 11:00, I swapped out Mom's laptop adapter with my own to test if she was having a laptop issue or an adapter issue. It was her adapter, and after checking the prices at Staples down the street, ordered her a new one from Amazon for half the cost. Then she and I went on an adventure to Leominster to check out a consignment shop for a sofa and curtains for me. The shop had a couple large black sofas. one in leather, the other in fabric. Both looked like they might overpower my living room. I saved a ton of money by buying nothing.

Back at home, it was back to the job listings and another application was submitted. It took about 1.5 hours for that one application (with necessary side quests). First, I popped over to my website to try and add a portfolio document, but couldn't remember how to add files to link to them. Then, I spotted a typo in my resume as I was about to upload it to the application system. Faahhk! It was updated and posted. The portfolio file was added to the application. Then the system asked for a cover letter, so there was a side trip to draft one as a Word document and then copy and paste it into the text block. So, yeah, 1.5 hours gone in a blink.

At 5:00, the light outside felt different than in recent days. Not as warm and golden. More like fall and less like summer. 

Around 6:00, I decided I wanted a potted mum from Price Chopper, where they were on display in the front of the store. That led to visiting the company website to register for their store loyalty program. Then there was a run through the week's flyer, where I learned they carry local beers (how did I not know this?). When I spotted pumpkin pie ice cream, it sealed the deal and I was out the door.

Chasing a flavor memory.

A yellow mum was chosen, which now resides on a metal stand at the front door. The evening walk to the mailbox required a cotton hoodie over the long sleeve shirt. A woman down the street was teaching a young girl how to climb a tree, which is something I never learned to do, partly because I thought I would get dirty, and when I was a kid, that was all the deterrent I needed to avoid an activity. Reading a book in my room or on the couch was my favorite dirt-free activity.

After fetching the mail, a bowl was loaded with pumpkin pie ice cream which was good, but not as great as my memory of my first taste of pumpkin ice cream.  Back in college, a boyfriend introduced me to it at Pinecroft Dairy once upon a lifetime ago. I'll be chasing that fall flavor memory for the next few months until it disappears and is replaced by some other seasonal flavor. 

random thoughts - Day 1,979 (Sunday) - time and space

Time continues to blast by and I can't believe this is already the third weekend of owning the house. Worse, it's still not set even close to straight, but there is daily progress. It seems it was better when I didn't really own anything. It sure was faster to set up a home when there was minimal furniture and decor to deal with. Decades of creating and buying art and being the recipient of countless family item handoffs and gifts make each move bigger and more stressful despite the downsizing efforts each time.

Evening cloud cover.

An evening walk under a cloudy sky provided a chance to shake the cobwebs from my cranium. I've already walked more in the new neighborhood than in all the years in Lowell. It makes a difference to be in a quiet neighborhood with connecting streets that form a loop instead of being on a dead-end street off a busy road with nothing but other dead-end streets. 

Today, there was headway in clearing boxes from the middle of the living room floor, three of which were plastic storage tubs that had been emptied days ago. Thanks to being different brands, they don't nest inside each other, making storage inefficient. With no sofa and a random assortment of oddly placed furnishings including an armchair, a cedar chest, a bookcase and some small tables, the living room is a very awkward space. The armchair was moved a bit closer to the TV, but now I can't see the kitchen clock to monitor the time. 

Table set with clutter.

The dining room with the oddly located hanging light fixture features a table buried under a layer of crystal candle holders, vintage barware, small artworks, a hat I wore last weekend, and other items in need of a proper place. When the table is centered under the light, it's jammed up near the back wall. When the table is centered in the space, the light hangs freely over vacant space and I have hit my head on it a dozen times, at least. Another charming quirk in need of a solution. 

Nearby in the guest room in the works, the pull out part of the trundle daybed was made up with a new mattress pad and a fitted sheet during the floor space test to check the whether the trundle crashes into the desk when rolled out. The bad news is, it does. It's really complicating the set up of the guest room/office and the day weighs a ton, so it's not as easy as just moving it elsewhere to check the fit.

The donation pile for the Epilepsy Foundation pickup on Monday includes four boxes and a duffle bag containing drapes, bedspread, towels. kitchen linens, clothes, books, and home decor. One of my friends keeps saying I should open a shop. If it didn't mean hanging on to a ton of extra stuff until I find a location, I might. 

random thoughts - Day 1,978 (Saturday) - chores and food

Earlier in the week I saw an event post about the Farmer's Market in town, scheduled for this morning, and this morning I remembered about it and went. As much as I love the idea of supporting local growers, unfortunately, my wallet is not as generous and has the ability to veto such decisions. The tomatoes were ripe and ready to be eaten, but at $5 a pound, they felt beyond reach. There was kale, but at $5 for a bag, again, out of reach. It turns out I shop at Farmer's Markets the same way I shop in stores - largely based on price.

Today's market had a singer with an acoustic guitar crooning from the shade of a tree. A couple vendors had vegetables and they were accompanied by vendors with honey, plants, mushrooms, baked goods, hand spun and dyed yarn, and others I have forgotten.

On the way home, I stopped at LaChance Furniture, around since the days when Gardner was a bona fide furniture-making capital. The furniture was lovely, but it was a sea of sameness that looked like everything I already saw a month ago at the chain stores. It was another sea of gray, tan, greige, and light blue upholstery and boring as all hell. The salesperson I chatted with talked up the superior quality and durability of the furniture, meaning it's possible to buy now and have the same expensive and generic furniture for the rest of my life. No thanks.

It was another afternoon of chipping away at the piles and boxes strewn around the living room. The desk was assembled in the room for future guests where it appears there may not be enough room for it. Sigh. Another day, another fit challenge.

The tape measure came out to test my theory on the possibility of ripping out the not so useful built-in bedroom dresser and putting a freestanding bureau in its place. The space is wider than I thought, and the long, low dresser would either be a perfect fit or a skosh too wide. If I could figure out how to charge the drill I bought, charged, and used once before it sat in the closet for years, it might already be yanked out of the alcove and the paint to cover the floral wallpaper behind it would be drying. It would be a wonderful distraction from the punishment of unpacking boxes and free up the space equivalent to the dresser presently stuffed with a ton of other stuff in the future art/craft room.

There is a donation pickup scheduled for Monday, and there are currently three boxes, a duffle bag, and a plastic bag with stuff including books, drapes, clothing, and housewares. Not to be confused with the boxes in the middle of the living room floor, these are stacked near the front door of the house they don't quite work with. There is one more day to add to the make it go away pile, followed by the potential for months of regret and replacement when it's discovered there were some miscalculations.

Supper!

Supper was another effort at getting used to an electric stove, which I haven't used since Tennessee. The rice cooked faster than the directions and stuck to the pan, just like it always did on the gas stove, so that was familiar. 

The rice was combined with plant-based protein crumbles, black beans, corn, hot salsa, red onion, green pepper, cherry tomatoes, grated cheese, and a side of corn chips. So delicious, and there are two containers in the freezer for future meals, and one in the fridge for immediate meals. I'm already looking forward to lunch tomorrow. 

After supper and a walk tot he mailbox, the chores shifted to laundry. Yay.

random thoughts - Day 1,977 (Friday) - changes

Kiki in a window.

The first sight of the morning, immediately upon awakening, was Kiki, who used to be uninterested in the world outside The BungaLowell, lounging on the bedroom window sill, looking through the screen at the front yard and beyond. This is the second time I've spotted her there in as many weeks and it's anyone's guess how many other times she's done it.

One potential theory is the difference in window coverings. In Gardner, it's cordless honeycomb accordion shades, which must be raised and lowered to control the light. In Lowell, it was all miniblinds, which remained down, but had the slats adjusted daily for light control. The Lowell windowsills were very narrow, barely able to hold a birthday candle, whereas the Gardner ones are wide enough to comfortably accommodate a Kiki. My concern is that she will somehow figure out a way through the screen and launch herself to the great outdoors.

The day's big human adventure was a trip to Fitchburg to deposit checks. Since the sale of the house in Lowell, I've had more paper checks come into my possession than in the past ten years combined. There were three just this week, representing a premium refund for the Lowell homeowners insurance policy and one for the flood insurance, and a refund of a duplicate payment of the Lowell quarterly property tax bill paid by my former mortgage bank from escrow and also as part of my closing settlement fees. 

The credit union was the most exciting part of the day and I dressed as if I was going to an office job just for practice. Later, there was a stop at Ocean State Job Lot for plants, but the most interesting ones were very tall sunflowers with three of four stalks in each pot and every pot had at least one broken stalk. I passed.

The house unpacking is at a complete standstill. Instead of working on boxes, I was at the credit union and then outside in the most pleasant evening air with the big yard scissors working on the hedges again. Everything out front has now had some level of trimming. Clearly, I need to invite people over to provide the proper level of panic and inspiration to make it over the finish line. 

Kiki at the screen door.

After the hedge trimming, while I was watching the new season of Wednesday on Netflix, Kiki parked herself at the front screen door and surveyed the view from her new domestic kingdom. Little Girl is making some big moves and changes these days. I couldn't be prouder. I wonder what goes through her kitty brain when she looks outside.

Also and speaking of changes, Catherine Zeta-Jones is barely recognizable this new season of Wednesday and it's not just the lipstick shade. I even did a Google search on the cast to see if it was still her playing Morticia. What's up Catherine? 

random thoughts - Day 1,976 (Thursday) - plastic and more progress

The absence of drawers in the bathroom sink area has been crippling. There were two very useful drawers as part of the vanity in Lowell which were the perfect size and depth for daily makeup and hair tools. The wall mounted medicine cabinet featured three mirrored doors and deep shelves that held all manner of skin care, dental care, and medicinal products. 

Another organization problem solved.

The main bathroom in the new house has a small, shallow medicine cabinet behind a large oval mirror. A tube of toothpaste takes up most of one shelf. The vanity has double doors to an open area under the sink and a lower counter to the right with an open area below it. I have zero guesses as to why the counter is a few inches lower that the sink counter or what the original intended use is. With no drawers the counter has been buried in makeup and hair brushes and cosmetic bags for over a week while I sought a workable  and convenient solution. 

The best option was determined to be a small cabinet and several nights have been occupied with searching online for the perfectly sized piece. The height of 25-inches available under the counter became a challenge when it was discovered while scouring product descriptions on hundreds of items that most cabinets seem to be 28 or 30 inches tall. 

Today, Mom and I took a trip down the road to Hobby Lobby and Marshall's to look for a cabinet for me and some artificial flowers for her. There were a couple nice cabinets that are too tall. On the way home we stopped in WalMart, and an inexpensive option was found in the form of a 24-inch tall plastic unit for $20. 

While it's not nearly as stylish as the too-tall options, the color of the plastic piece is perfectly neutral. The drawers are a bit deep and the unit is a smidge narrow, but it fits perfectly under the counter which is now cleared and tidied. I love a plastic miracle. And when I find the perfect wood cabinet in some antique, thrift, or consignment shop, the plastic unit can be redeployed to hold art or kitchen supplies. 

Let the trimming begin.

The evening was cool and comfortable and after the walk to the mailbox I grabbed the hedge clippers and loppers from the shed to start trimming the overgrown greenery out front. The mature plantings are growing against the house and encroaching on the walk, so something needs to be done. It's going to take a while and may require multiple stages, but at least it's started. 

random thoughts - Day 1,975 (Wednesday) - lunch and critters

Like many recent days, I woke up a little later than usual and still felt tired. There was coffee with Mom and email and a slow start to resuming dealing with the boxes. Time spent in the armchair surrounded by boxes and going through job postings online is time not spent finishing moving into the house, and that is the tightrope walk. 

View from the
lunch table.

There was lunch at The Old Mill with Mom, Sis, and one of my nieces for my birthday. The ducks and some gray geese were posing near the rocks when we arrived and our table overlooked a slow-moving, gentle stream. The dining room had several full tables and a waiter who was hopping busy. The conversational volume from the tables, combined with the acoustics, made us have to practically yell to talk and we joked how it felt like we were in a nightclub. 

The food was good. My lunch was wild mushroom ravioli in a creamy tomato sauce. Other meals at our table were a giant slab of fried fish and chips, teriyaki steak with potato, and chicken and pasta alfredo. Back outside in the parking lot in the 90-degree heat, we considered going to Mom's to play Yahtzee, but it was already after 2:00, and we were all full and tired and decided against it.

Back home at the ranch house, I sat around. It was 85 and stuffy in the house and I caved and finally turned on the two window A/C units. The game of "how long can I hold out?" felt less interesting when the air was closing in warm and heavy. And besides, it's my birthday. 

So cute!

Later, I took a ride to Aldi for a mini cheesecake assortment I saw there earlier in the week. It's eight of the cutest little slightly larger-than-bite-sized triangles of cheesecake on a tray. Two almost make a normal sized slice, so I had two and chocked it up to a birthday indulgence. 

Next door at Tractor Supply, the plant display in the parking lot looked dead and was still full-price. Inside, they had Halloween decor that included a skeleton rooster and a little cow dressed in a sheet like a ghost. They were almost cute enough to get me to open my wallet, but I remembered I don't need any more stuff and snapped back to reality. 

Around 6:00, when I was ready to walk to the mailbox, thunder began rumbling and I imagined being caught in a downpour and dashing back home soaked. The thunder stopped after about an hour, we were not delivered any rain, and the evening walk to check the mail finally happened. The pace was quick and I may start tracking routes and times and personal bests because I am that flavor of nerd no matter what day it is. 

Serious model potential.

Kiki emerged from her daytime napping ritual and ventured out to the living room. She puttered about and then posed on the rug like a model in a drawing class, which is a job posting I saw on the local community college website (for human models, not cats). Eventually, she slipped over to the open dining room window. She stretched up on her dainty little back paws, placed her front paws on the window sill, and looked and sniffed through the screen at the new world. So cute. Even cuter than a little cow in a sheet like a ghost. 

random thoughts - Day 1,974 (Tuesday) - exploring

Looking outside.

Since Kiki and I came to the new house, she's been confined to the main bedroom and attached bathroom so she wouldn't be overwhelmed by an entirely new space. A rug from Lowell is on top of the carpeting, the furniture is familiar, and her food station and litter box were located in the bathroom. Mostly Keeks stayed under the bed. Once, I saw her looking out the window with her little front paws on the sill. In Lowell, it seemed she never acknowledged the world outside The BungaLowell.

I made frequent trips into the bedroom throughout the days and the other day Kiki was lounging on the bedroom rug near the door and was startled when I entered. She launched herself under the bed when she saw me. Smart kitty always knows her hiding places.

Monday night, Keeks was meowing softly in the bedroom while I was in the living room. She seemed to be paying more attention to the magic portal to the living room through which I would appear and then disappear, and it seemed it might be time to begin introducing her to the rest of the house. 

Early exploration of the new habitat.

Tonight, I opened the bedroom door, and after a few minutes, Kiki ventured out to the living room. Then back to the bedroom. And back to the living room. And back to the bedroom. She began staying longer in the living room, slinking around the perimeter of the room and sitting briefly at the screen door looking outside. Her exploration expanded to the dining room and then the kitchen before she arranged herself on the rug facing me. In another few days or a week, I'll start adding the two spare rooms and the guest bathroom for her exploration and soon, she'll have her entire realm at her pretty little paws. Baby kitty steps.  

random thoughts - Day 1,973 (Monday) - mondaying

Monday rolled in like it always does and computer work with bills, address changes, bank balances, phone calls, and job search activities sucked up a chunk of the day into a void like it always does. There was an unproductive, circuitous, automated level of menu hell on three different phone numbers related to unemployment insurance in an effort to get an answer to a question not covered in the website or the FAQs. 

While trying to set up bill payment instructions on a new checking account, it was discovered that the Lowell electric account was not closed on August 1st when the account was transferred to Gardner, and I was being billed for Lowell through the 5th of August. The usage for those five days was equal to the entire month of September 2024, so who knows how low the new owners at Lowell had the A/C cranking. The billing is allegedly being corrected, but I'll believe it when the corrected bill arrives.

The job searching stuff is painful and time consuming. Looking for work is harder than working. There must be 15 different versions of my resume on the laptop now just from the past month. My eyes hurt after several hours of sifting through job postings. 

Shoes that were in my Amazon list for a year had a 50% price drop the other day and I pounced, but stupidly followed the "Based on hundreds of reviews your recommended size is [a half-size smaller than usual]". The shoes delivered yesterday, were tried on today, and are too small. The return request was entered, and of course, the price is back to the regular price and Zappos (now owned by Amazon) can keep their stupid shoes.

The next thing I knew, it was 2:00 and I hadn't eaten anything yet. Late lunch was leftover hot and sour soup with the leftover fried rice dumped into it. Not delicious, not awful. 

Light summer supper.

It was refreshing to return to unpacking boxes and sorting closets and cabinets even though my wrist hurts and now has a bruise next to the scar over the plate that the tendon rubs on. 

The late light summer supper break was cheese, crackers, cherries, and grapes. A cabbage sits in the crisper waiting to be transformed into a salad, and hopefully that will happen soon, but additional ingredients are needed. 

Tomorrow, when I drop off the Amazon return, deposit a premium refund check from the old homeowners insurance policy, and drop off a book donation at the library and get a library card, I'll get carrots and other veggies to go with the cabbage. I think. Probably. We'll see.

random thoughts - Day 1,972 (Sunday) - entertainments

 It was the annual family cookout at my Aunt's house and generations of us convened in the back yard under canopies and on the back deck near one of the coolest inventions of modern times -- a solar powered fan. There was a variety of salads and grilled chicken, burgers, and hot dogs and scrumptious desserts including a lemony trifle with blueberries and cake and cookies. 

Cowboy Caviar bean salad.

In the evening, I took a walk around the neighborhood to try and burn off some of the afternoon's excess consumption and a bowl of the "Cowboy Caviar" bean salad made for the cookout. It's a tasty concoction of black beans, red onion, green pepper, corn, and pinto beans (because I couldn't find black-eyed peas) tossed in a vinaigrette dressing.

It was another nice walk on the gently sloped streets. Three turkeys were spotted in a yard, and several crows. Flowers, decks, and front doors were admired. Some of the yard statues and figures were silently judged with one word - "why"? Some of the yards in the neighborhood have big rocks that serve as a focal point and now I kind of want a giant front yard rock.

View through the bevels.

In addition to coveting neighborhood rocks, other evening entertainment included trying to capture in pixels the distortion of the view through the beveled glass in the front door window. Despite there still being boxes in the living room, time was spent mentally rearranging the furniture, which would involve swapping a couple pieces between the dining room and the living room. I can usually keep myself entertained.

random thoughts - Day 1,971 (Saturday) - tired and lazy

This week has featured coffee with Mom each morning. We chat for a while, then, I grab a bag or box of my stuff that went to her house instead of into the moving box and return to the toil of setting up the house and looking for a job. Today hit a slowdown because I'm tired of unpacking and organizing but at the same time that I'm also tired of stepping over and around piles and boxes. 

Friends invited me to a concert in the park event, which was a great idea for a beautiful night. Because I screwed off so much all day, as it got closer to the event time, I still hadn't been to the grocery store for ingredients to make the bean salad for a cookout on Sunday. 

Part of the turkey gang.

I got to the store. Made the salad thing. Didn't go to the concert event. Ate Chinese food leftovers from the other night.  

Later, there was a walk to the mailbox, where I encountered a gang of turkeys lurking on both sides of the street. They let me pass without incident and I thanked them. Back at home, I sat in a chair and yawned for several hours, looking forward to bedtime.