"You gonna get another job?"...

[Volpone]

Today was an exhausting day at every fucking level. Worked last night, so I missed a call from the property management company I'm trying to hire. And didn't plan to get up until around 10am. Phone rang at 9:35. Business number. Now, because of the way my business number is set up I can either know it is my business number or who's calling. But I can't have both. So I answered, expecting the property management company. Nope. My new tenant. "The fridge isn't keeping things cold."

Now that's a punch in the gut on so many levels. It's a 2 year old fridge. But my previous tenants somehow managed to regularly break things that *should* be unbreakable. I'd plugged the fridge in to ensure it worked but, in my morning grogginess, I couldn't remember if I'd only checked that the light was coming on or that the fridge was actually running. (In retrospect, it was.) Had some breakfast and got my brain (and some tools) together and headed over, praying that the temperature setting had just gotten switched off. When I got to the car I remembered that I needed to take it in to look for a slow leak on a tire. Got there and the light wasn't on in the fridge. Breaker box looked fine. So I had to drag the fridge out to get at the outlet. It wasn't lighting up for the plug-in fault tester. But the quick hot-circuit "pen" would chirp, so I knew there was power going to the outlet. Off to Home Depot for a new outlet. After much sweating and cursing, the new outlet didn't work either. By now I'd plugged the fridge into another outlet although this had meant moving the renter's little freezer so I could plug it into another outlet because both appliances had those flush plugs that block the lower outlet if plugged into the top one. This makes me think the "white" (negative) connection came loose from an outlet before it. And the OCD German in me thinks it's the outlet that the freezer was plugged into and that the fridge is currently plugged into. And that I should take that apart and fix it. But I'm pretty sure I've got a power strip in the basement, so I'll just plug that into the good outlet, tuck it behind the fridge, and plug the fridge and the freezer into it. It should actually be a better solution than monkeying with the outlet.

But here's the fun part: The house came with laminate floors in the kitchen. Not a good idea in my opinion, because laminate floors are basically a step above papier mache for water damage. But it is what it is. Well, the only one with significant swelling was right in front of the fridge. And even that didn't look too bad. You can replace a bad laminate board by setting a saw to the thickness of the board, making some cuts in it and chiseling out the old one. Then you trim the lip off a replacement board (I should have some--as long as they didn't get water damaged in storage) and glue it into place. I did NOT do this because it sounded tricky and seemed unnecessary. So, you guessed it, in moving the fridge forward, I managed to trash that board and now I've got to come back and fix it.

While all this happened, my idiot renter that I'm getting rid of was back to his "please, please, can we stay? we really love it here" texts. And as god is my witness, if he makes me have to file an eviction to get him out...I'm going after him for every dime I can get.

Well, with that out of the way, it was time to deal with my tire. As late as it was, I really didn't think the dealer could get me in. Turned out they could. Since I was already late for lunch and there's a nice bar down the block--that had a big sign on the side that said "serving fish every day"--yay, being able to stick to my Lent promise--I headed over there for quite a nice meal and some good conversation. Then the dealer called up and said the tire was to worn to repair. Now, it was the same model as a pair they put on recently--and got the warranty on, owing to the number of nails I keep picking out of my driveway--I'd hoped to convince them it was one of the ones they put on. But I'd forgotten about the tread wear. So there went another hour and a half.

Oh, and I called up my property management company and the person I needed to talk to had already left for the day. So yeah. It's been a fun day.

 

[Volpone]

My real estate investing friend and I chat on FB messenger as a kind of support group. She refers to him as an "energy vampire." And boy did she nail it. I thought I was finally on the home stretch with him when he starts with this needy BS again today. I finally get a second to sit down and catch my breath and he's on again "can you call me at your convenience?" I text back "There is nothing to talk about. You need to be out by April 30. That is not negotiable." So he texts back some snarky thing and now I'm wondering if I'm going to wind up having to file an eviction after all to get him out. This is like the freaking Exorcist or something. "THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU! THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!"

 

[Lanzman]

*Knock*knock*knock*
Who is it?
Goons.
Who?
Hired goons.
Oh, okay. Be right there.

 

[Volpone]

Tired today. Wish I knew how to not worry. I hired a property management company. Still need to do a couple little things but the paperwork is signed and money and keys have changed hands. I worry that they don't know the properties the way I do and won't put the level of care into them. But that's kind of the point. Went back to my one rental today to solve the outlet problem--which wound up being a lot more work than I could imagine. And then I got to looking at the yard and the driveway. It rained a lot so I had my usual standing water in the yard and along the low side of the driveway. Realized I needed to do some more work on the driveway. Felt a little bad that maybe the new renter didn't understand what I meant when I explained the standing water. Also felt a little bad that she signed a lease with me and a week and a half into it she's going to be dealing with someone else.

But to be fair, she had a role in that too. If she hadn't got me nervous on getting the lease switched over and a few other things it wouldn't have caused me to freak and bring in a property manager. I've also got a broken window for a crawlspace at the other place (yes, the crawlspace has windows. That's another story) that I need to fix. Because it will be an easy fix for me and I don't even have an idea how the property management company will handle it.

That's another thing I worry about. How are they going to do a move out on my Problem Child? I need to get them what I have that passes for the move-out inspection. And maybe the rest of the move-in photos. But again. This is something he brought on himself by being an absolute energy vampire.

On a tangent, people live a lot different than they did 60--or even 20 years ago. A 1950s ranch house barely handles all the stuff modern Americans have. You see it on the "Sell This House" home staging show. I see it in my rentals. Part of the problem with my refrigerator outlet is that the renter has a small chest freezer. There really isn't a place for a chest freezer in that kitchen. So it's on the same circuit as the fridge. The outlet behind the fridge is piggy-backed off it. I think the negative wire for the fridge outlet got knocked loose in the outlet the freezer was plugged into when the freezer was plugged in. Decided since it was the same circuit and the freezer was in front of the outlet, the simplest solution was to plug them both into the same outlet. Not optimal because of surge power draw. But my lease doesn't say they can't have a chest freezer so I don't feel like I can spring that on them.

Well, that's about it for now. I kind of crashed today, after getting the outlet sorted out and the bad laminate floorboard replaced. I shouldn't say anything because I'll jinx myself, but replacing a laminate floorboard is a lot simple than I worried it would be. You drill some holes in the corners of the bad board (tape your drill bit to mark the board thickness so you don't drill down into the sub floor) then you make a few cuts with a buzzsaw (also set to the thickness of the board). Then you pry out the pieces of the damaged board. You cut the tongue off the end of your replacement board and you trim off the material on the edge of the non-tongue side that would otherwise lock it into place, and then up put wood glue on the edges, slide the tongue under the corresponding lip in the floor and then use a mallet on a piece of scrap to knock the replacement board into place. Hardly any cursing. But a decent amount of sweating while I worried about what could go wrong at each step in the process.

Ah well, I guess I'd better put away my tools, figure out what needs to get done tomorrow, and then get some dinner going so I can watch the news and "Jeopardy!"

 

[Volpone]

Boy, did I ever screw up when I picked my Problem Child a little over a year ago. All the drama, whining, lies, and manipulation is exhausting. I think I mentioned, the other day he was back to trying to get to stay. He would even pay his April rent--and the late fee--if he could stay. Dude, you owe the April rent and the late fee whether you stay or not. Offering to pay your rent 12 days late isn't a good persuader. So I was ignoring him and he texted "can you call when it's convenient?" And I was just "you can't stay. There's nothing to discuss." So he says he was just trying to let me know the neighbor kids broke one of the crawlspace windows.

Well I don't want to leave the crawlspace open to the elements for 2 weeks but I also don't want to have to deal with this guy anymore. There was a pretty big storm last night and he works for a tree service. The crawlspace can be accessed without entering the house. So I was just going to head over and fix it. I've got all the parts and everything. Be a 15 minute job. I can get it done while he's at work. Waited until 2pm in case he comes home for lunch or something. He's out, in the yard. HOW CAN YOU WORK FOR A TREE SERVICE AND BE HOME AT 2PM THE DAY AFTER A BIG STORM?!" I should've got out and talked to him, but I'm just so tired. I guess I'll get back to whatever else is on my list for today.

And yes, I know I'm acting chickenshit, but I'm just so tired of this guy.

 

[Volpone]

OK. One other thing: How, by the end of Lord of the Rings, Bilbo and Frodo don't feel like traveling much anymore. I'm old enough to get it. Easter is coming up. And it would be nice to see relatives. But I don't feel like driving 13 hours, losing a weekend, and then having to drive back and play catch-up.

 

[Volpone]

Bleah. "You're never going to have enough time, so you might as well do it now." First Easter without pets and where I live relatively close to where I grew up--well, only 2 states away instead of halfway across the country--and no pandemic. So I was planning to go visit family. Of course as the date got closer I started finding excuses: Gas prices, paying the tolls to get through Chicago, not being able to use a vacation day Monday. But I think I'm going.

Meanwhile, I found a house today that has potential (waiting to hear back on a viewing time from the realtor). Really more than I'd like to pay, but a fair value with today's prices. And I can just about swing it with some margin for error. Of course meanwhile I've got a new renter I'm still feeling out, a renter that is supposed to be leaving at the end of the month, and a brand new relationship with a property management company. So there are a lot of places where my margin for error could get gobbled up very quickly. And then there's trying to pull together the cash as we're looking at Easter weekend. But I think the fact that it IS Easter weekend is the one shot at getting this place. Gah. Life is scary. And I wish this broad would call me back about the showing.

 

[jack]

OK. One other thing: How, by the end of Lord of the Rings, Bilbo and Frodo don't feel like traveling much anymore. I'm old enough to get it. Easter is coming up. And it would be nice to see relatives. But I don't feel like driving 13 hours, losing a weekend, and then having to drive back and play catch-up.

I'm flying down to South Carolina tomorrow to spend easter with my daughter and grandkids. Haven't seen them since last June. Psyched!

Cocktails at LaGuardia at 7am LOL. Have to check in at our airport at 3am brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[Volpone]

OK. A ramble and revisit/rehash: Planning to go Home for Easter. But not as easy as it sounds. Around 10.5 hour drive. Say $200 worth of gas--about. Blowing 4 days. Time zone change so I get an hour on the way up and lose one on the way back. Get on the road at 10pm and get home at 8am Saturday-ish. Except I haven't packed. Or showered. And a nap would be nice. Get on the road by midnight and get in around 10am. But after showering my hair needs to dry before a nap or it will be unruly. So now a 4 hour nap puts me at 2am. And gets me Home around Noon Saturday. I work Monday afternoon. Couldn't get it off. Can take a personal day. Probably will. But at this point I'm wondering if I want to spend 21+ hours on the road and $200 of gas to spend a day with relatives. In cold and snow. Because Spring doesn't come to Wisconsin until around June.

Oh. So. Slow leak on a front tire. Looked repeatedly for the object but couldn't find it. Driveway of the current place is rife with hazards so I wisely got the warranty/coverage when I got 2 new tires. And 1 of the old tires was the exact same make and model as the new ones, so I was figuring I could buffalo them into giving me a new tire in the unlikely event the slow leak couldn't be patched. Got into the dealer "Quick Lane" after 2pm. Figured they'd say they couldn't fit me in so I'd have to come back but, amazingly, they were open. Since I hadn't eaten lunch and there is a decent bar & grill across the street, I decided to head over for lunch. The big "Fish served daily" banner on the side of the building cemented the plan, as I could stay true to my no "meat" Lent sacrifice. Good time. Nice time. Fun banter with the barkeep and the guy on the stool next to me. And the fish? I would never have ordered it except it was the only fish on the menu--but it turned out surprisingly tasty. As far as I could tell, it was a fried, battered/breaded filet, busted up and mixed with coleslaw and then wrapped in a tortilla with chips and tartar sauce. 23 oz Blue Moon to round out the deal.

Just as I was finishing up, I got a call from the dealer telling me the car was ready. Just kidding. They were telling me the tire was too worn to repair. Rats. Tire wear. That keeps me from bluffing them that it is one of my covered tires. It'll be another 90 minutes for them to get a tire in and on. So rather than have another beer, I spent some time at the local cemetery. Louisville is old enough that it has weird little backyard cemeteries. Technically the suburb I was in was called "Shively" and the Shively family cemetery happens to be between the Ford dealership and the pizza parlour, so I looked at the 100-200 or so headstones there. Lotta people died young in them days.

Well, hair's dry. If I'm going to make it to NW Wisconsin this weekend, I'd best get some sleep. Gotta get on the road soon. Ugh.

 

[Oerdin]

I had food poisoning today which was lovely. I got my wife to drive me to the ER where I got anti-nausia meds and an I.V. drip. The rest of the day was spent trying to sleep and sip on no sugar added coconut water. What a wonderful Easter.

 

[jack]

I'm flying down to South Carolina tomorrow to spend easter with my daughter and grandkids. Haven't seen them since last June. Psyched!

Cocktails at LaGuardia at 7am LOL. Have to check in at our airport at 3am brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Bloody Mary's are tasty in the morning. Who knew?

 

[Volpone]

Scrubbed the mission. Really wasn't supposed to happen. First off, I should've drove Friday, but somehow that didn't register in my brain. And then I saw a house I needed to look at (it needed a lot more work than the pictures showed and really wasn't...I don't like completely cookie cutter houses, but the flow on this place was a little funny and it had a lot of fiddly little details that were kind of neat but renters won't appreciate or take care of. But that tied me up for a bit. Woke up around 2:30 on my own, only to find that I hadn't set the alarm I distinctly remembered setting (or set it for 2:30pm, I forget). Decided to give it a shot anyway.

Then when I finally got on the road, I wanted to try an alternate route to avoid Chicago (and its toll stations--which is another story). I managed to forget the map I'd sketched (and my phone screen is so small that Maps is practically useless--harder without a navigator anyway). I also forgot the donuts that I'd planned to bring to eat on the way (and there's more on that too). When I stopped to gas up I realized I hadn't dropped off the check with the security deposits when I stopped by the property management company Thursday. So I've got all that going on. Then I almost immediately missed a turn on the way up and missed another turn in Indianapolis (two, actually, but I'll come to that). I was about an hour out of Indy and things still weren't seeming right and I decided to turn back before I started getting too close to the halfway point (and a gas refill).

Earlier this year, *something* hit the radio antenna on the car while I was on the freeway at night; hit it hard enough to knock it loose from its mount. As I was coming back I realized it had partially worked its way loose from my repair.

When I got home I had to decide if I wanted to go straight to bed or have a bite before getting a little sleep. Decided to have a donut. At that point I realized I hadn't even picked 2 donuts out of the box in the freezer to *have* ready for today, so taking an empty tub with would've been pointless.

And finally, my hunch was right to turn back. Indy is all torn up as they redo their freeways and in the detours, without my map, I picked the wrong interstate. Would've wound up in St. Louis instead of Madison. Finally, in confirming this, I saw that now Maps was telling me my alternate route would've added over an hour to the drive anyway--when I was plotting it, it looked like it was actually about the same as going through Chicago. I may have a brain tumor. I don't remember life being this hard.

 

[Volpone]

So. Chicago tolls.

I increasingly understand old people who do the pathetic "I'm old and don't understand these things!" Maybe it's true, but maybe they just don't feel like dealing with BS so they act confused. Because I'm getting almost old enough to use that.

Chicago makes you pay a toll to drive on US Interstate highways in their city. Between the 'Rona, and Defund the Police, and maybe equality/nondescrimination, they've done away with manned tollbooths with gates and places to deposit coins. Instead you drive through an area with a camera. Do not stop. Do not drive faster than 15mph. Once you're through...nothing happens.

Because it is really inconvenient to get to Wisconsin from Kentucky without going through Chicago, today I got online to do some research. No info on how many people are actually paying the tolls, but I did find out how it is supposed to work: You're supposed to go to the Chicago toll Website. Then you have to register to be able to log on and enter your plate number so you can pay your toll. There are probably other steps. I don't know. Because I don't remember my plate number off the top of my head, and I'm not registering for anything new online. Especially so some incompetent and corrupt local government can charge me for things I've already paid for.

But I got to thinking: What if I *am* old? What if I don't have the Internet? What if I don't have a smart phone? As far as I can tell, there's no way for me to pay Chicago freeway tolls even if I want to--especially living out of state. If I take the toll bridge into Indiana (I've since figured out the 2 nearby non-toll bridges and will spend an extra 5 minutes driving to save $5-ish) I get a letter with a photo of my car and my license plate going over the bridge and a bill. (I forget if there's a prepaid envelop or a preaddressed envelope or what.) With Chicago? Apparently nothing. So as far as I can tell, I'd have to be driving through Chicago and do something that makes a police officer run my license plate for there to be even a remote chance that I would have to pay the tolls. During my research I found there are Chicago companies (like a limo service) that owe hundreds of thousands of dollars in tolls. And what does Chicago do about it? Publishes their name in the hopes of shaming them into paying. :lol: Anyway, with all the other crime Chicago is failing to deal with, do they really have time to hunt me down for a few unpaid tolls?

That said, the OCD German in me is really bothered by the idea of just blatantly ignoring a law--even if it is stupid and badly executed, and petty, but the American in me..well, blatantly ignoring stupid, petty, badly executed laws is literally The American Way. I dunno. We'll see.

 

[Lanzman]

Becoming old: there's a quote that goes "once you hit a certain age, you become permanently unimpressed with a lot of shit." At 60 and counting I can tell you that this is most definitely true.

Unpaid tolls: One time back in the late 1980s I went up to New York to visit my parents. There was also a comic convention happening in Albany at that time (FantaCon) and I had arranged to meet my brother there so we could geek out together. I parked in a handy parking lot, but stayed past my allotted time. Came out to find a parking ticket on my windshield. Laughed, thought "I don't live here so fuck you," threw away the ticket and left. Never heard anything about it again. And now it's what, over forty years later? Cowabunga.

 

[Volpone]

Not a big factor, but still a factor in scrubbing my Easter homecoming plans, is my brother. I learned over a decade ago that there's nothing that can be done for him, so when he tells me what he's up to I just smile and say "oh, that's nice." When our Mom died, I made the mistake of mentioning real estate investing one too many times around him and he realized he could keep our parents' place if he rented it out. Since I was in Oregon, could afford it, and had no desire to quit my job and move back to Wisconsin to close out the estate--especially because that would likely mean that I would own a bar/bowling alley with no kitchen in a town of around 2,000 people and a house with my brother as my tenant--I wrote it off and walked away.

He asked me about real estate investing. I gave him what little advice I had. He proceeded to just do what he was going to do anyway. I said "Oh, that's nice." His plan to rent out the farm failed, so he moved to the farm and intended to rent out *his* house. I said "Oh, that's nice." Last I talked to him, his common law wife was living in his place and he was living on the farm and he made some crack about real estate investing. So yeah. Coming home for Easter. He asked me if I needed a place to stay and he should get the farm ready. I said sure and he revealed that it would need some cleaning because he hadn't been there in "5 months."

Now, old houses and cars, neither gets better by being neglected and ignored. And if you've just abandoned a house in NW Wisconsin since before Christmas, anything could've happened. The furnace could've died. It could've run out of fuel oil. The pipes might have froze. The roof might've caved in. You might have squatters (because I'll just bet he's never bothered to change the locks). The whole place could've burned to the ground. You have no idea. So yeah. I want no part in that.

****

In other news, I mowed the lawn today. I'm getting too old to mow an acre of grass with an 11 year old push mower. And my 11 year old push mower is getting too old to mow much of anything. I might just buy a new mower, but things have changed in 11 years. 11 years ago, you went to Lowe's and they had the push mowers all lined up. You had the low end one, the midrange one, and the fancy one. You had the house brand and a couple name brands. Maybe another display for self propelled mowers. The riders were probably parked out front. You picked the one that balanced your budget with the features you wanted/needed. I probably should've went up to the next price level, but all told, I did OK.

Well today it's 75% electric mowers. What's wrong with an electric mower? Nothing, if that's your thing. I hear there are some that will even run for up to an hour and are almost as good as a gas mower. Of course that doesn't do me much good, since it takes 4 hours to mow my lawn. And of course they stack the deck against the gas mowers to try to push people to buy the electric ones and quite frankly I don't have the energy to deal with that. So I keep my trusty old 21" deck push Bolens humming. Or at last operating. Mostly.

I pretty much ignored and neglected the bugger until last year, when I moved to this place and used it to tame a 1/2 acre pasture that had gone native. Changed the oil and the air filter at least once, but that's about it. Well it finally needed a new blade. And another new air filter. And a spark plug. I should also mention it has progressively lost screws and/or parts have worn out of tolerance. So I replace with whatever fits and works. The push bar is held in on one side with a masonry screw that actually seems to work better than the (worn out) factory screw (most of the factory screws have plastic wingnuts or bushings on them that have since cracked so they no longer keep the bolt from turning as you try to tighten them). There's lots of Gorilla Tape too. And I carry a pliers when I mow to replace wheels that fall off or tighten bolts. A bolt was missing on the push bar so I rummaged a replacement. That pretty quickly vibrated loose and was lost so I did another replacement. I Gorilla Taped over this one as well.

Oh, I should also mention last season it started overconsuming gasoline and underperforming. You'd fire it up and it would go "VRMMMM!..puttputt..VRMMMM!...puttputt..." and burn gas like crazy. This year I figured out it was crud in the gas tank and the cure was to never let the tank run dry and never fill it all the way to the top. This has--so far--kept the crud from getting down where the carb intake is. But as I was mowing, it suddenly died. I knew what this was. Sure enough, the wire had come off the spark plug. BUT!...I couldn't get her to restart. Monkeyed around with it and eventually got her running again. But now my worry was that it might not restart. But I had to shut off periodically to refill the tank. And sure enough, the next time I tried to start it, it acted up again.

Turned out the spark plug wire was a red herring. Getting knocked loose was what killed the motor the first time (probably), but the real problem was the wire on the "deadman's switch" on the handle (that kills the engine if you let go of it) had gotten out of adjustment. It was slightly too long so the brake that pushes against the flywheel wasn't fully retracting. So I mowed for about 2 hours, just giving the wire the occasional tug when the engine would start to die. But then that wasn't working too well and I realized the bar that the wire was attached to was starting to fail. Rust. Metal fatigue. Whatever. So I had to stop and bang that back into shape with a hammer. So it works again, for now. But for how long?! For! How! Long?!

(Oh, my friend I worked for called me on Easter and we had quite a nice chat. Later I called my brother and didn't get through. Got a message that his mailbox was full. So I called the dumb bitch that keeps FB calling me and got a busy signal. So I fulfilled my obligation on reaching out to lost causes.)

 

[Oerdin]

Wrt the old farm house. If no one is living in it and there is no market to rent it the. Why not just sell it and split the cash? No sense to continue to pay property taxes.

 

[Volpone]

I love my friend who roped me into a terrible job (but that paid very well and gave me a chance to play a lot of Solitaire on Windows 10 (for a lot of money)), but he's a pussy. He was my wingman in college. Should've been my mentor. But...we'd be in the bar and I'd be like "LET'S GO TALK TO THOSE 2 GIRLS!" And he'd be like "No. I think they're lesbians." And then some 40 year old guy would swoop in and scoop up both of them by himself. And that's the story of his life. Back when I was trying to do a motorcycle company (geez, that's another story that I haven't even talked about here) he had a food idea. It wasn't terrible. I mean, it wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible. Since I had an MBA he pitched it to me and I did as much preliminary research as one does for a friend that isn't paying you. I told him about all the problems but suggested a path to testing to see if the idea was at all viable. He never did anything with that.

Lately we've been talking about doing a Ghostbusters Ectomobile and I found a potentially viable car. Not, like, a '59 Miller-Meteor ambulance-hearse--or even a '59 sedan DeVille that a limo company could convert to a station wagon, but a nice '19 Olds Custom Cruiser wagon. He's waiting for me to get it.

Other day he wanted to be a pirate. Which...I can't believe, but I also didn't mention this in this thread, but I had a pirate underwear company idea for a few years. Still a chest full of camis and boy-shorts at the foot of my bed with "PIRATE CHEST" and "PIRATE BOOTY" emblazoned on them. But I digress. The point is, he wanted a pirate ship. I found him 3 seaworthy 40-60' gaff-rigged schooners at reasonable prices that are about within our skill-set to get to either of our homes. He lives on the Mississippi and I live on the Ohio, which feeds into the Mississippi. This leads to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean--big-time pirate country. But he's done nothing with this. Piss or get off the pot.

 

[Volpone]

Wrt the old farm house. If no one is living in it and there is no market to rent it the. Why not just sell it and split the cash? No sense to continue to pay property taxes.

Because my brother can NOT let things go. So it is a haunted house of memories of our childhood. It should've been sold 12 years ago. At this point it is worth so much less that it was then.

My brother has a bar that he has managed to slowly run into the ground. (He got someone in a few years ago who knows how to run a bar and seems to have breathed some life into it, but now he's gone, so we'll see if he learned enough to keep it going.) At some point he realized it was cheaper to have it closed than to have it open. But it was a bridge too far for him to understand that if someone offered to buy it from him for $1, he would come out ahead of losing money on a closed bar he owns. He's the monkey with a fistful of raisins, trapped in a gourd because he won't let the raisins go to be free (but can't actually eat the raisins because the hole in the gourd is big enough to allow an open hand but not a fist with raisins in it.

 

[Volpone]

Me, on the other hand, I'll cheerfully gnaw off my goddamned legif that's what it takes to escape a bear trap.

 

[Volpone]

"Poor soul, he was just too high strung." Or, I hate it when I lose the initiative. Did my morning chores. Had quite an enjoyable lunch and post-lunch nap. Marshaling the energy for the second half of the day when I see I've got a voicemail on the call I ignored while I was napping. Property management company. The new tenant says the washing machine drain is overflowing and they want to know if they have the OK to send someone out. Yes, they do. And man, I'm tired. I somewhat feel like that house is cursed, but I also somewhat feel like renters manage to break things that shouldn't be breakable. I know we ran a cycle on the washer when it was installed (it's a little closet so I sprang for an over/under so a renter wouldn't stuff their side-by-sides in it). So now I'm wondering if this is just leftover from my previous tenants being hard on things, this tenant is also hard on things, that house is just jinxed, or some combination of all three. Oh, and the floor there is laminate, so that's probably shot now. So I decided I needed to walk around in the sunshine a bit before launching into afternoon chores. But first!....

...There's a hornet buzzing around the ceiling in the back bedroom. So off for the flyswatter to deal with that. Gathered him up in TP and smooshed his little head in case he was just stunned. Still buzzing. So now I see a honey bee, trapped against the window. Off to the kitchen for a glass and a piece of paper to trap him to let him out. Of course the paper flexed and shifted while I was opening the back door and I had to finesse him out past the storm door. While I was doing that a *new* hornet let himself in. So I put away the glass and the paper and got the flyswatter back and swatted him. Now I'm well into my afternoon and I just want another nap. But I guess I'd better start making shit happen.