Last week, I solved two household mysteries: Where Did the Other Saucepan Disappear To, and Why is the Stack of Frying Pans Too Tall To Fit Where It Belongs?

Today, I solved two *more* mysteries: What Does That Switch Do, and Why Didn't My Cell Phone Charge When I Plugged It In Last Night?

The internet access was on the fritz at the house thanks to squirrels chewing through the wire insulation on the lines. Two AT&T techs and many hours later, and we have working net again ( Read more... )

After three weeks of fighting with them and failing to receive phone calls that I was told to expect and calling for updates only to be told that I have to fax over some other piece of documentation that no one could be bothered to ask for before, Bank of America and I have finally straightened out the problem with the mortgage on my mother's house ( Read more... )

When I left, only a half-dozen plants in my garden had bloomed.

Not so when I came home:


( Read more... )

I'm in Denver on an 11-hour layover ( Read more... )

I've been saying that I wanted to re-arrange the guest bedroom (which these days is also Jacob's bedroom on weekends) for a couple of months now, and today John pushed me into doing it-- with the help of two teenaged lackeys (aren't you glad you came over for the weekend now, Darryl? Isn't it FUN visiting Jacob?) to do most of the heavy lifting ( Read more... )

"Week" is stretching it a bit, since I remember very little of the early week. I remember saying "F*ck this, I'm going home" at least once and maybe twice ( Read more... )

We have bats in our barn. This is no big deal; we've had them since we moved in. They eat insects and make it possible to actually sit outside, so we're comfortable with having bats in the barn ( Read more... )

Oh. My. God ( Read more... )

An open letter to the people who live in my house ( Read more... )