Anyone care to join me in a happy dance? Motorcycling season (my favorite season) has officially begun. Last week we had two (2) good street washing rains and the temperature soared to 61 degrees yesterday. I got done work at 4:30 and Miss Behavin' and I were out there cruising by 4:50. We wound through the back country (all paved) roads, across the new covered bridge and on out to the bike shop in Jefferson where I picked up a new oil filter for her. I looked at new helmets for myself and just browsed there like some of you do in craft/scrapbooking shops.
I'm happy to say the new leather jacket I bought at the International Motorcycle show in cleveland is wonderfully warm. The sleeves zip nice and tight around the wrists keeping my arms warm and the main zipper wind flap prevents the wind from penetrating the zipper. The zip-out lining adds a layer of warmth. I was toasty warm with only a longsleeve t-shirt and my jacket. I rolled my chaps up and crammed them in my saddlebags just in case the breeze was too cold for my legs - I could pull off and slip them on - glad to say I was warm enough with my jeans on. Oh and the lined leather gloves I picked up when I was in Sugarcreek a month ago were toasty also. I can see now the difference between summer leather gloves and winter leather gloves! Live and learn!
I had her out riding for about an hour. She responded well and I was elated! The excitement of sitting astride her and starting her up . . . indescribable. Then there's the shifting, the cornering, the leaning and of course the camraderie of fellow riders low fiving as you pass each other!
I came home to change her oil and filter but couldn't get the plug (it's actually an bolt. why they call it a plug is beyond me) loose with my wrench. Matt was at rugby practice so I had to let it sit until someone could help me. I really hate being/feeling helpless. But Matt came this morning after I was at work to loosen the "plug". He called asking where the new filter was . . . he was doing the job for me . . . isn't he the best. As badly as I felt I needed to do it my self, he felt he needed to do it for me . . . I thought that was pretty thoughtful of him. And I really do appreciate it . . .after all, with the miles I plan to put on her this summer I'll get plenty of practice maintaining her.
Ciao
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
4 a.m. Furnace Woes
That's right. Furnaces . . . got have em, but who can figure em out? When it's frigid and below freezing the blasted thing won't come on; but let the temperatures rise and hover around 45 and the blasted thing won't shut off!!!!
4 a.m. and I awoke in a sweat - I thought what any 54 year old woman would think . . . hot flash, right? So I did what the average red blooded american woman would do and I threw off my pajamas and settled back in bed hoping that would cool my body down. WRONG. I continued to sweat and the bedroom was VERY warm. I listened and the furnace was running and running and running and running. I'm not the sharpest mechanical pencil in the toolbox, but I knew from the warmness of the air the furnace should be shutting off. So I climbed out of bed, found my robe and wandered through a VERY warm house. I went to the thermostat - it was set for 67 degrees but the room temperature was 85 degrees. My first thought was to call my dear son in law, my heating/cooling expert. Then I remembered it was 4 a.m. and perhaps I should check it out myself and call him as a last resort. Good plan, but where do I start. AHA! dear son in law showed me the manual shut-off switch on the front of the furnace. So down to the basement and into the furnace room I went. Hit the kill switch (sorry, motorcycle term slipped in) and the thing shut off! Ok. That was a good sign. Then I came back up and examined the thermostat. It is electonic (this should have been a clue) and the LCD (?) read out was very faint and the buttons used to adjust the setting were inoperable. I used all my strength (good thing I work out) and popped the cover off the front. Electronics need an energy source to operate, right? There staring back at me were 2 AA batteries! The thermostat has been there since we put the new furnace in somewhere between 5-7 years ago and the batteries were a well-kept secret! I went to my trusty junk drawer and retrieved some batteries, made the quick exchange, replaced the cover and tried the buttons - VOILA! they worked and were crystal clear - not faded. I returned to the basement and flipped the kill switch back to ON and I was back in business. It was still VERY warm so I opened the bedroom window so I could catch a few winks before the alarm went off at 5:30.
I've worked at my current job for 18 years. I'm on my fifth treasurer. And today, my work station was moved for the fifth time! The new treasurer asked what I thought and at this point I'm painfully honest. I told him - "It'll work. It's temporary. In a few years we'll have a new treasurer and I'll move again - that's why the maintenance men don't screw my desk pieces together - it saves them time when they need to dismantle it and move it." His jaw dropped to the floor before he chuckled and moved on. I'm probably a little bitter because he didn't take my concerns seriously. Offices have some very NOISY machines - copier, folder/sealer, postage meter etc. He moved the copier, fax and postage meter from our "work room" where all the machinery was kept to the main part of the office where we are expected to listen to them, concentrate and do our accounting jobs without error and have phone conversations with all the background noise. I explained my concerns and asked him to re-consider this plan - the problem is he didn't want to walk the extra steps to the work room. Or maybe it's one of the other girls that didn't want to walk and convinced it was a good plan. Who knows. But I'll be alright with it cuz IT'S TEMPORARY!!!!!!
Ciao for now
4 a.m. and I awoke in a sweat - I thought what any 54 year old woman would think . . . hot flash, right? So I did what the average red blooded american woman would do and I threw off my pajamas and settled back in bed hoping that would cool my body down. WRONG. I continued to sweat and the bedroom was VERY warm. I listened and the furnace was running and running and running and running. I'm not the sharpest mechanical pencil in the toolbox, but I knew from the warmness of the air the furnace should be shutting off. So I climbed out of bed, found my robe and wandered through a VERY warm house. I went to the thermostat - it was set for 67 degrees but the room temperature was 85 degrees. My first thought was to call my dear son in law, my heating/cooling expert. Then I remembered it was 4 a.m. and perhaps I should check it out myself and call him as a last resort. Good plan, but where do I start. AHA! dear son in law showed me the manual shut-off switch on the front of the furnace. So down to the basement and into the furnace room I went. Hit the kill switch (sorry, motorcycle term slipped in) and the thing shut off! Ok. That was a good sign. Then I came back up and examined the thermostat. It is electonic (this should have been a clue) and the LCD (?) read out was very faint and the buttons used to adjust the setting were inoperable. I used all my strength (good thing I work out) and popped the cover off the front. Electronics need an energy source to operate, right? There staring back at me were 2 AA batteries! The thermostat has been there since we put the new furnace in somewhere between 5-7 years ago and the batteries were a well-kept secret! I went to my trusty junk drawer and retrieved some batteries, made the quick exchange, replaced the cover and tried the buttons - VOILA! they worked and were crystal clear - not faded. I returned to the basement and flipped the kill switch back to ON and I was back in business. It was still VERY warm so I opened the bedroom window so I could catch a few winks before the alarm went off at 5:30.
I've worked at my current job for 18 years. I'm on my fifth treasurer. And today, my work station was moved for the fifth time! The new treasurer asked what I thought and at this point I'm painfully honest. I told him - "It'll work. It's temporary. In a few years we'll have a new treasurer and I'll move again - that's why the maintenance men don't screw my desk pieces together - it saves them time when they need to dismantle it and move it." His jaw dropped to the floor before he chuckled and moved on. I'm probably a little bitter because he didn't take my concerns seriously. Offices have some very NOISY machines - copier, folder/sealer, postage meter etc. He moved the copier, fax and postage meter from our "work room" where all the machinery was kept to the main part of the office where we are expected to listen to them, concentrate and do our accounting jobs without error and have phone conversations with all the background noise. I explained my concerns and asked him to re-consider this plan - the problem is he didn't want to walk the extra steps to the work room. Or maybe it's one of the other girls that didn't want to walk and convinced it was a good plan. Who knows. But I'll be alright with it cuz IT'S TEMPORARY!!!!!!
Ciao for now
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
RAIN, RAIN Glorious RAIN
This may seem odd to most of you . . . but it rained Saturday night and all day Sunday. It has rained most of today (Tuesday). If my arithmetic is correct 1 rainy day + 1 rainy day = 2 rainy days, right? And the bottom line of this math problem is that all the salt should be washed off the roads!!!!! Sing with me . . . Alleluiah . . . Alleluiah! So this means I'd better book out to the bike shop in Jefferson tomorrow at lunchtime and get my oil and oil filter and git r done so she's ready to ride.
I had lunch with my little buckaroo and his mom this afternoon. He wasn't exactly wearing cranky pants, but he wasn't all that loving either. I guess he didn't get to finish his nap. This didn't deter him from flirting with the cute waitress, however. There are some areas Grandma just can't compete no matter how cool she is.
The other big news is I finally finished the new Grisham novel. I confess to reading the ending ahead of time. I think I was on chapter 33 and couldn't stand the suspense so I read the last two chapters - 41 & 42. The ending disappointed me but I figured that if I went back and read the chapters in between it would make better sense. Not so. The ending still was a disappointment.
I've moved on to my first Jodi Picoult novel - Change of Heart. Not really what I expected - but I'm only on page 8 and keeping an open mind.
Ooooh Ooooh - almost time for the biggest loser! I've lost about 6 pounds in the past week and a half - 10 more to go!!! Been working out regularly - even signed up for a self defense martial arts class at the gym!!!! Gotta run . . . Bob waits for no woman!
Ciao
I had lunch with my little buckaroo and his mom this afternoon. He wasn't exactly wearing cranky pants, but he wasn't all that loving either. I guess he didn't get to finish his nap. This didn't deter him from flirting with the cute waitress, however. There are some areas Grandma just can't compete no matter how cool she is.
The other big news is I finally finished the new Grisham novel. I confess to reading the ending ahead of time. I think I was on chapter 33 and couldn't stand the suspense so I read the last two chapters - 41 & 42. The ending disappointed me but I figured that if I went back and read the chapters in between it would make better sense. Not so. The ending still was a disappointment.
I've moved on to my first Jodi Picoult novel - Change of Heart. Not really what I expected - but I'm only on page 8 and keeping an open mind.
Ooooh Ooooh - almost time for the biggest loser! I've lost about 6 pounds in the past week and a half - 10 more to go!!! Been working out regularly - even signed up for a self defense martial arts class at the gym!!!! Gotta run . . . Bob waits for no woman!
Ciao
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Daylight Savings Time and other stuff
It seems I only have time to blog on Saturdays. Not sure where the time goes during the week. Could be the fact that I work 40 hours a week, work out at least 4 days a week, have doggie duty several times a week for my granddog-daughter, babysit my buckaroo whenever I can and try to have a small semblance of a social life.
I have 1 load of laundry to dry, fold and put away. Will dust and sweep the living room/dining room and take my trash to the recycle center. Everything else got done during the week! If it doesn't rain I could start working in the yard picking up debris and tree limbs that landed during the windstorm a couple of weeks ago. I could go to the motorcycle shop and pick up the oil filter and oil I need to get my bike road ready. . .
I treated myself to a pedicure after work yesterday . . . complete with the pedicure chair with massage features! The poor guy earned his $$$ filing all the dead crap off my feet! My PedEgg doesn't do nearly as well as the professional tools. It was only $30 so I'm thinking I'll become a regular!!! Nothing feels better than soft pretty feet! And flip flop season is around the corner!!
Which brings me to my final thought . . . when we turn the clocks back tonight will I be an hour younger???
Ciao
I have 1 load of laundry to dry, fold and put away. Will dust and sweep the living room/dining room and take my trash to the recycle center. Everything else got done during the week! If it doesn't rain I could start working in the yard picking up debris and tree limbs that landed during the windstorm a couple of weeks ago. I could go to the motorcycle shop and pick up the oil filter and oil I need to get my bike road ready. . .
I treated myself to a pedicure after work yesterday . . . complete with the pedicure chair with massage features! The poor guy earned his $$$ filing all the dead crap off my feet! My PedEgg doesn't do nearly as well as the professional tools. It was only $30 so I'm thinking I'll become a regular!!! Nothing feels better than soft pretty feet! And flip flop season is around the corner!!
Which brings me to my final thought . . . when we turn the clocks back tonight will I be an hour younger???
Ciao
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