Another Repair! Wooden Steps!

I was stepping down the steps (I only have 2) on my back porch when part of the wood gave way! Of course I attribute this to all the rain that we have been getting in the Philadelphia area - in fact we have gotten quite a bit of rain in the last few months!

I would guess that the back porch is at least 10 years old and the whole back porch is made of wood and I'm really thinking how grateful I am that it was just the steps and not another part of the porch that gave way! (I just thought about this as I was typing this blog post!)

So now I have another repair that has to be done! I wonder how much it is going to cost me? No matter though because it is a repair that has to be done!

Mentally I'm going to have to remind myself to step carefully when I use those steps!

I Can Feel The Chilliness Of The Air!

I can't believe that it is getting so much more chillier than what seemed only a few days ago! The first official start of the autumn / fall season is next week but I just wasn't prepared for it to be coming so soon! Time is going by so quickly!

Once I found out that the temperature would drop to the 60's during the night I wondered about my thermostat! If the temperature dropped to the 60's then it would definitely come on and that would mark the first time that the thermostat would be coming on since last spring!

Of course I worry about my heating bill being too high (something I have to work on!) and I didn't want the heat to "kick" on too soon! But then again I don't want to freeze in my own house either!

Keeping in mind past records of my heating bills, the winter months are the most expensive - as my heating bill has been as high as $300! (There was a grant program that I applied for last year and got.) So I just want to delay the heat kicking in for as long as I can!

But this is the perfect time to do some reflecting though because after seeing the devastation that has occurred in Texas over Hurricane Gustav, I realize that I have a lot to be grateful for!

And I VOW to become a Millionaire!

Air Conditioner On!

Today is the first day this year that I have turned on the air conditioner. At 1 o'clock in the afternoon it was already 88 degrees in Philadelphia and the heat index made it feel like 100 degrees! That is HOT!

So as much as I want to be able to conserve energy - my energy bill be damned! I am going to be comfortable!

On the bright side at least this gives me more incentive to earn more money so that I will be able to pay my electric bill!

I do have to thank The Adsense Consultant for helping me with my adsense! The adsense payments won't be issue for at least 2 weeks but at least I know that I will be getting a payment this month!

I LOVE Windchimes!

I LOVE windchimes! - But not too many of them!

I was reminded of this when I went downstairs to wash the dishes and I could hear my windchimes outside! I used to have two of them but one just fell apart after having it for something like 20 years - LOL. I have it in bits and pieces and I want to put it back together again.

The windchimes that I have currently hanging outside are of little sharks! I got this particular windchime in Atlantic City. (I definitely have to take a picture of them so that I can post it here).

I love the sound of them! And hearing them lets me know if its windy outside.

Power Outage!

There was a power outage in my area early this morning.

You think that I would be used to this and not get myself in such a panic when this kind of thing occurs - but I wasn't and I did!

The first thing about this outage was that it occurred so early in the morning and it was a Saturday - meaning weekend - morning at that. I wondered if anyone else in my area was having this problem - but it was so early in the morning that I thought "who would be up at this time of night?".

I went to check my circut breakers (thank GOD I had purchased a flashlight a few weeks ago and the batteries were still good!) and they all looked fine. Then I went into the kitchen to get something to drink and noticed that the light in the refridgerator was working! OK, I thought that THAT was weird but since it was a new refridgerator I thought maybe it was one of those new "fangled" refridgerators that didn't need electricity in order for the light to work. Then I noticed that the clock on the stove was working (it had the wrong time on it but that was because the knob had broken off and I never adjusted it to the right time) and so I thought that that was really weird!

The lamp by the front door wasn't working but the lamp in the livingroom was working? OK more weirdness!

I looked outside to see if one of my neighbors who always has a light on had any lights on and I didn't see any lights on. So I thought well it must be at least happening in my block!

So I called the utility company and their number to report outtages. Imagine my surprise when I was able to talk to a real live person! She asked if I had checked my circuit breakers and I had told her that I did. ("Checked" meaning I looked at them and they seemed alright - BUT I DIDN'T TOUCH THEM!. She then got a technician to call me and he asked about the situation and I told him about the electricity being out. Since it wasn't a life-threatening situation and I told him that, he said that a truck would be dispatched as soon as someone got there. About 2 hours later the truck arrived but then it left! 'OK' I thought, 'it must have to do with just my house if the truck drove away! While I was on the phone with the utility company again I found out that several other people had reported outages in the area - which I was relieved about because it meant that I wasn't the only one! But as I was talking on the phone I looked out the window and noticed the guy looking at my meter. I hung up the phone and went out to talk to him and he said that there was indeed a problem. It was then that I told him that I had partial electricity. He said that there was a problem with the electricity in the area and that some - not all - of the houses in the area were affected.

Of course the problem was fixed (as you can tell by my being able to post this blog entry) a few hours later and all the power is back on!

Before this I had visions of old electricity in my 100 year old plus house and of expensive electricians and expensive electricity repairs!

I was so jumpy after that I took a nap!

Heating Emergency!

Yesterday I noticed that it was a bit cold in the house! Not unusual because the kitchen is always cold (I have to have the whole kitchen insultated). But then I noticed that it was cold throughout the entire house. The upstairs is usually warmer than the downstairs but not yesterday!

It felt like there was a window or door open somewhere (the temps are in the 30's to low 40's range) so I'm checking doors and windows - even the ones in the basement. They were all closed and secure. Okay so the next thing was to check the thermostat - which is set to 69 degrees. The temperature of the house was 65 degrees. So I'm thinking to myself that maybe it just hadn't "kicked" in yet to warm up to 69 degrees. So I go upstairs for the night.

I notice that it is getting colder. The air feels cold and everything - like the furniture is cold to the touch. (Do you know how it feels to have to sit on a cold toilet seat - LOL!) I thought maybe the problem could be with the radiators so I decided to "bleed" one - a lot of air did come out but after that nothing because it remained cold to the touch.

I look at the thermostate (actually its a thermoter-like thing that's shaped like a clock) and it says 60 degrees!

So now I go down into the basement to check the boiler. It looks alright to me. I thought that it could be a simple case of the pilot light being out - but the pilot light wasn't out.

Since by then it was around 9:30 at night I couldn't call the people that installed the boiler (which I was able to get with a grant and didn't have to pay a thing for them to come out and look at it) so I had to wait for the next day. (Note here: I am so grateful that this occured on a weekday instead of the weekend!)

I called the people up and they sent a guy out that looked at it.

Guess what the problem was?

It seemed that the guys that installed the heater put a mismatched connector to one of the lines! The new guy replaced the connecter and now the house is slowly but surely warming up!

Thank Goodness!

Dish TV

I love being able to have Dish TV! It is an added expense and another bill to pay but I love it! Because I don't keep "normal" hours I don't have normal TV watching hours - plus I tape a lot of things and watch them at a later date.

One of my neighbors has both satellite TV and regular cable TV - wow! I aspire to that one myself!

Having all those channels has really spoiled me to the point that I just can't see myself not having it!

There is a big battle going on between cable and Dish TV - they both want your business and they don't mind saying bad things about each other. I even had one guy from my local cable company knock on my door and talking to me about getting cable again. It seems the company wants people to subscrible so badly that they are sending their people door to door!

I also know that a lot of people can't afford to have it and I am so grateful that I do have it. Mind you there are still some things that I watch on my local TV channels but its nice having the choice of what I want to view!

So Dish TV goes on my list of expenses that I want to enjoy!

Laundry Day!

One of the things that I am truly thankful for is my washing machine that is in the basement! It is a Maytag and I'm sure you might remember all those commercials about how dependable it is - and it is!

I have had this washing machine for over 20 years now and so far it has been working great! (My dryer pooped out on me some years ago )-:

I was thinking about this today when I remembered about doing my laundry yesterday. The washing machine has that dial that spins around to facilitate the washing process and I must have turned it too much because it wasn't spinning. As I was doing laundry yesterday the clothes soaked for about 3 hours because the dial wouldn't turn - but hey - at least I knew that the clothes would be clean! Of course worrier that I am I worried about the machine being broken and I loath to have to get a new one mainly because I can't even remember how that machine was able to be put in the basement. So I thought as long as the machine was still working I could stay down there and turn the knobs until it finished its cycle. But guess what? As soon as I said that and left the machine to its own devices the dial worked again! Oh for joy! My washing machine is back to normal! I hugged and kissed it!

I HATE the thought of having to lug my laundry to a laundromat!

Thank you God for all the things you have provided me with!