<p>Mod–this sounds pretty darn good for your S. When D went through this I remember something or other about the fact that sometimes “interviewers” are a staple but their vote is not equal…</p>
<p>dt–yes, deaths come in clusters of 3. Hoping my dear aunt is on the list soon as she needs to be out of pain.</p>
<p>Spent the day with my BFF of 30 years. She is 8 years older and not really healthy. (she walks her dog a block and I walk our D’s 3-5 miles). I love her totally. She is the only person in my life who had a poverty stricken childhood and we say things that no one else (esp. my H ) understands. Yet we both moved out of that. Today when she told me the same story word for word…so upsetting. I know she is under a lot of stress as her house inspection to sell was today…but still. She will be moving to be near her S soon and I will be BFF less. =(( </p>
<p>Missy, I’ve always marveled at the notion of Columbus Day…and yet always enjoyed Canadian Thanksgiving and its 3-day weekend Of course, its not CALLED Columbus Day there Basically, I’d like the day off, but to honor something completely different ;)</p>
<p>Mcson is working all kinds of overtime this week in order to take Friday off for a “fall tour” adventure up to Toronto to visit his friends who’ve scattered. It occurred to him that winter is around the corner so he should take advantage of decent travel weather. He had an entire site encoded by the time I went to bed. He’s definitely picking up speed big time. I’ve never seen the other guys get as much done in 15 hours </p>
<p>Canadian Thanksgiving was rushed but nice. Mcson ran a lot of “grandma intereference” to get her to stop fussing and sit down and relax while we did the work. Mom’s bf’s sister was quite amazed at his helpfulness (he really did do a lot of the prep and set up work.) I joked that he was a “leave em wanting more” kind of guy, but I know there’s some truth in that…that he knows he won’t see her the family Xmas (he’ll be in SF) and that once he heads west, he’s not likely to be around much at all.</p>
<p>Keeping my fingers crossed for modason. Thanks for the update.</p>
<p>Would love to read 1493. I read something yesterday about how Columbus was not a person we should be celebrating anyway. </p>
<p>dte- I have also known so many people losing family/friends lately as well as so many I know who are seriously ill including our own boysx3. My prayer list is very long these days.</p>
<p>I am also heading to the lake today. Meeting four friends to relax, read, hike, eat fabulous food and drink wine for three days! The weather should be good with temps in mid 60’s to 70. Sadly the boats are all out of the water and the dock is being taken out tomorrow. We can still kayak. </p>
<p>I feel like I am spinning my wheels with little projects…landscaping, gutters, repair water softener, etc. One of the side diamonds fell out of my ring and now that needs repaired. I had the exterminator here a few weeks to plug holes so I don’t get mice this winter and I am happy to say it has been a success to date!! :)</p>
<p>D2 took her final CPA exam. She is anxious to get the results as she thought it was a bit more difficult for her as her prep time wasn’t what she had planned. It seems having a new husband and a new job keeps her a bit busier than expected. She is currently the only female in her little work area. As a result she has been asked to participate in some recruiting events/dinners. She was also recruited to play for the company soccer team. Couldn’t believe that she said yes! </p>
<p>D1 has expanded her social networking and has been very busy which means I have the silly dog more. She is dating more and I believe one young man is really interested. He is sending flowers and arranged to have new tires put on her car and then he detailed it for her while she was out of town for the weekend. Will be interesting to see what happens.</p>
<p>Keeping Modason in my thoughts and prayers! </p>
<p>Now I know why I’m looking forward to retirement. There are too many days when I just keep repeating in my brain (I hate my job, I hate my job).</p>
<p>Oh, RM! I am sorry you are not enjoying your job. Is it possible to look for another position? It is not healthy for you to be so unhappy and upset. Sending you calming thoughts and prayers. Sending {{{HUGS}}} your way.</p>
<p>missy…yes, it is coed. She played defense and said they left her in for the whole game because she was faster than the guy forwards so they couldn’t get past her. Someone commented on her not being tired and another team mate responded by informing everyone that she was a marathon runner. Made me smile. ;)</p>
<p>I am not a happy camper at the moment. We have been having issues with our brand new super deluxe water softener at the lake. For some reason it quits working and the toilets fill up with rusty water that leaves stains that are hard to remove. 8-| We have had the plumber here three times since it is still under warranty and it was his suggestion for this softener. He says he fixed things again but now I am stuck emptying all of the water out of the toilet tanks and getting the rust out of there and the bowls and scrubbing forever before my friends arrive. Grrrrr…</p>
<p>Wanted to chime in quickly about weddings… I think you always spend more than you think you have or will and even a modest wedding over the dinner hour isn’t cheap. I am hopeful I have more than several more years ahead before I even have to think of that again, but we definitely had to draw the line on the guest count.</p>
<p>Handing Dandy in a pinch me found a foam cushion and cut it to size for the chair. Done - for now. 70 degrees here and took a really nice leisurely bike ride, went to lunch with a friend headed back to SF and got home just in time before the wind totally picked up. </p>
<p>RM - I am so sorry you hate your job. That would truly be draining mentally and physically. One would hope your experience would allow you to move to something you’d enjoy better - but then again, who needs advice when you really, a nice hug is all I’d have to offer - and maybe a bottle or two of good wine.</p>
<p>NMN - that doesn’t sound right. I wonder if there is a lemon clause or similar you might grab hold of. Seems to me if the thing has defaulted and caused issue three times in short order, there might be something just wrong with the thing and an other one wouldn’t do the same thing. If you are having issue with something under warranty and it goes out of warranty - are you then out of luck or is there an exception if there is continuing issue?</p>
<p>Go get bar keepers friend. It truly requires little scrubbing and they have soft scrub version now that I have yet to see it not remove crap with ease. Another friend used it to clean the fiberglass floor of a really old sailboat. The thing seriously looks brand new, and I got a bottle of wine out of the deal for lending her my Bar Keeper’s to see if it would do the trick with far less elbow grease. Works for me!</p>
<p>PS - thrilled D2 is playing soccer. She’s essentially a ringer!! Nothing like positioning yourself to be invaluable to the company from every angle you’ve got! And have you met the young man interested enough to detail D1’s car? Married 25 years, I don’t think my husband has ever washed my car except in the supervision of the children on a hot day when they were very young… and when my son used a brillo pad to get tar off my driver’s side door. So his supervisory skills were weak too :)</p>
<p>I know young men these days can be awesome. My d’s BF got her a spa appointment, ordered her favorite food, movie after she took the LSATS. because she was so stressed. My H??? nope. Shaw is an exception.
I know things come in 3 's but it is just going on and on. Even at work. stopppppp!</p>
<p>RM I hear ya, however you have to be there five days a week makes it harder for sure. Vacation planned soon? </p>
<p>NM, the suggestion may be too late to save you the elbow grease this time, but Iron Out (ascorbic acid) will clean those toilets up without you lifting a finger…just let it soak. Won’t hurt the septic. Ask me how I know You can get a big jug of the powder at most hardware stores. It will also clean up the dishwasher etc. in short order.</p>
<p>With the softener, assuming its salt, sometime the salt can get fused into a block and needs a stir to break it up…but I’m with Moda on making them bring you a new one if its failing. Perhaps in truth it wasn’t sized right for your volume of water usage and hardness and isn’t regenerating the media fast enough…there’s only so many things that can go wrong with them ;)</p>
<p>This is a topic close to my heart because we have really hard water and a pool that gets topped up from the well. I try to top up the pool at night to give the softener time to regenerate – I have an outdoor facet not bypassed for this reason. With the pool I have to be pretty vigilant to control metal staining, which includes softened and the hose-filtered additions, sequestrant, strict ph control, and occasionally an ascorbic acid treatment.</p>
<p>If your water is so hard (eg lots of iron) that the softener just isn’t handling it, there’s an additional filtering system you can add called the Iron Curtain…not especially cheap, but the effectiveness of the salt system is connected to the degree of hardness. Anyway, that might be more info than you want, but just so you know there are options ;)</p>
<p>Cheers to awesome young men and stunning soccer-playing, LSAT-taking women ;)</p>
<p>Missy, if its any consolation, mch has given up detailing my car because he considers the exercise pointless </p>
<p>Thanks for the hugs all. Good to have a place to vent at times. My boss it just an a**. No other way to put it and it’s common knowledge that he is that way. I just need to learn to let it go. I have a couple of friends at work that I can vent to as well which helps! </p>
<p>No vacation planned for us. We will be going to Cape Cod hopefully for a week in the summer and taking the kids and then grandkid as well. That will be fun! At least that is the current plan.</p>
<p>I’m up to my eyeballs with getting things ready for the baby shower. Still 6 weeks away but I have over committed myself on what I want to do so I’m busy. Cradle is done other than since it’s cherry my H wants to put it in the sun to redden up a bit. I’m about 5 inches away from completing the knitted blanket. Quilt is coming along. Starting the scrapbook that I want to use at the shower to have people fill in a “bucket list for baby’s first year”. Menu is planned. Invites are addressed and will go out in tomorrows mail. So much to do. D and I are going out this weekend and pick up the remaining items that I need for prizes etc. At least all this although stressful in that there is lots to do is fun.</p>
<p>I will be taking a few days off. Every time I plan something though something comes up at work with needing to be at a meeting with the customer that I have to cancel. Getting closer though so I’m just going to have to miss a meeting and let my boss handle it. He’s at them all anyway because lord knows NO ONE can do it the way HE CAN. That is part of my issue. Nothing it right unless he does it and I feel many times like why did I bother since he is just going to redo it. Then he complains that he works too much OT. Well let someone else do something for once. Yeah – might not be the way that you do it but will be done and it really COULD be okay. Between that and him yelling it’s beginning to get to me. I’m looking internal for a place to land other than with him. Just not much out there right now. </p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions kmc. The problem is that the rusty gunk isn’t there all of the time. It just happens occasionally. So far three times since August. I will get the powder ASAP! I now have the tanks pretty clear but the water from the taps was briny this morning when I brushed my teeth. I called the plumber again and they are shocked! 8-| They replaced the injector from the well last week and had me force regenerating yesterday. The salt is perfect according to them. They have gotten the softener manufacturer involved and they are also stumped. When the well water was tested it was very low in iron content. We have now contacted our builder about the issue. Hopefully it will get sorted soon. I am hoping it isn’t an iron bacteria! @-)</p>
<p>Making chicken wild rice soup and winter salad (pears, apples, craisins, cashews on lettuce with a lemon poppy seed dressing) for dinner tonight with my friends. I forgot to pick up a dessert so I may have to bake something.</p>
<p>Workers are here taking the docks out. Hard not to be out on the boat with mid 60-70 degree weather and beautiful colored leaves. </p>
<p>Saw that boysx3 was moved back to rehab! Such good news! </p>
<p>Thanks for the compliment. I wonder if ShawWife would agree. Heading to Bogota to be a management guru for a day. Will miss Shabbat dinner at ShawD’s Hillel as I will still be flying back but the next day I’m going to go with her to a big camping equipment basement sale – she gave all of her carefully bought stuff to ShawSon who will actually use it (and did already) – and then to shop for business casual clothes at an annual sale run by one of the fancy private schools she attended where the rich mothers and/or alumnae put for sale barely used expensive clothes. ShawD confided in ShawWife that she has to wear longer dresses because she is 5’9" and has a high waist and says that long legs combined with normal length dresses look risque on her (in a professional context). Interesting that she is so self-aware. </p>
<p>Water chemistry is out of my league.</p>
<p>Great news re boysx3.</p>
<p>This has been a very busy 6 months. In a couple of weeks, I’m going to visit ShawSon for a couple of days (Thursday evening to Saturday evening) and then will have to fly from there to London for a Monday AM meeting. He seems to need the emotional support. Lots of weekend stuff planned. Bat Mitzvah in DC, my final Bday party, visit to ShawSon, other stuff. I probably could have gone this weekend but had offered to go shopping with ShawD. I’m trying to schedule a weekend to visit my mother and I can’t find one until December.</p>
<p>@Missypie, there’s hope. ShawD did not get it at age 17 anyway. But she is now less than a semester away from walking around the hospital in a white coat and did chest compressions on a patient whose heart had stopped so a bit of self-awareness and maturity is a good thing. </p>
<p>RM, look hard. That kind of unhappiness is bad for body and soul. So many companies have people who work remotely. </p>
<p>Thanks for the boysx3 news, NM. Such a roller coaster for her family.</p>
<p>RM – I hope you consider an alternative job; you don’t realize working for a jerk is so soul-sapping until you stop and it becomes clear. Been there, done that. </p>
<p>This is my busy season, so I’m heads-down, but all is good. Found a contact management system we actually like and use, and it is already helping reduce the number of emails flying around. Yeah!</p>
<p>On the bad news front, the box elder bugs are starting their seasonal quest to find ways into the house, where they will make a mess and commit suicide in my water (tea, coffee) with ridiculous frequency. Today I must have had 200 of them on my front brick wall, basking in the sun. The vacuum grabs some, but not really enough, and I don’t want to use insecticides. My neighbor just has the Orkin guy show up. My inclination is to roam the creek with a chainsaw in hand and just take out the box elder trees. (But in the it could be worse… next door neighbors have a hole in their garage door courtesy of a rat that decided he wanted in. Shudder.)</p>
<p>arabrab–my H has tried everything to get rid of our box elder bugs that love our SW deck and frequently opened door as the dog likes to come in and out of the deck. I ignore them but when you said they are in your food—
15 years ago we lived in a different house and had a SW bath remodel done. For the next 2 years we were infested with lady bugs. They would be by the 100’s on our bedroom window and H would vacuum them and an hour later they would be back. When they landed on my body in the shower and then flew into my face when reading in bed I got on it.
I called company after company and no one understood the why. Finally ( and had a computer just a few years, managed to learn that the asian ladybug came over in cargo ships and had hit the East Coast and over years made it to the West Coast. They infested and built nests when the remodel was done. Once I got in touch with the right company they were able to get rid of them. They smell bad and they are NOT the nice garden variety.
But box elder bugs are simply annoying…opended a drawer the other day and one was staring at me from the ledge. Ick.</p>
Of course, its not CALLED Columbus Day there 
She is currently the only female in her little work area. As a result she has been asked to participate in some recruiting events/dinners. She was also recruited to play for the company soccer team. Couldn’t believe that she said yes! 
</p>
Sending you calming thoughts and prayers. Sending {{{HUGS}}} your way.</p>