This Happened

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Jan 26, 2022 12:28 am

Getting older provides its own completely unique and special pleasures. To wit: trumpeting to anyone in the vicinity your tremendous feelings of joy upon finding your lost teeth! For some this might mean dentures but for me it means my snoring guard. Obviously it's not really a set of teeth, but I call it my teeth anyway because it makes me have giant fangs of teeth. The passionate love I feel for this piece of plastic - this unbelievably freaking expensive little piece of plastic - is beyond measure.
I've gone for 3 days without my mouth guard and could simply drop down on the floor asleep at a moment's notice. Goodbyeeee

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Wed Jan 26, 2022 8:38 am

My wife has hit-and-run OCD, where she thinks she's accidentally run over someone with her car. Usually the slightest bump in the road while driving will trigger it. And yes, she has driven around the block, probably on more than one occasion, to make sure there's not a body in the road. This morning's trigger was driving a very short distance without scrapping the windows. It's -11 degrees (yes, that's a negative) this morning with a windchill bringing that down further, and she had to move a couple of cars out of the driveway real quick to allow the contractors access to the driveway and to remove the dumpster from in front of the house (yeah, it's gone after almost 2 full months!). One car had to be moved halfway around the block, to the library parking lot that's across the alley behind our house. The ice on the windows wasn't bad enough to keep her from seeing, but she's still paranoid that she ran over someone and there's a body lying in the road, or the police are looking for her, etc.

Just sharing.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Jan 26, 2022 9:48 am

Ohhhhhh I am so sorry she has to deal with this; I am very familiar with the phenomenon and have talked with others who experience it in great depth. Has she been able to see someone for ERP? It is THE gold standard for OCD treatment, although it took me a long time to find this because for some bizarro-world reason, it's not taught as such to psychologists and therapists, counselors, etc. Anyway, I have learned not to judge the relative desirability of symptoms, but I think this would be a very hard one to deal with. I have only done it a few times and each time freaked me out so badly because the life-consequences of having it happen are not cool, I did not wish for more! Your family has been under so much COVID-related stress lately, I wonder that it is not overwhelming to have to deal with the anxieties. I hope things improve.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Thu Jan 27, 2022 6:21 am

Tahlvin wrote: ↑Fri Jan 21, 2022 11:02 am Apparently there is a sink in stock in the style we want and the color we originally wanted, so fingers crossed that it doesn't arrive broken! The designer said they've had sinks arrive broken before, but never as any as bad as ours, based on the pictures she was sent by her crew.

So the new sink arrived at the contractor's, and it was in one piece, but they found a crack, so they cannot use it. So they have to order a new one, and we have no idea when it will arrive. Ugh.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Thu Jan 27, 2022 8:33 am

You would think people might understand the sink is delicate and prone to cracking and take some care when delivering?
Aghh.

I have a new phone and it's not even the newest type of phone it's kind of a mediocre new, but it is so fancy and doing so many things I cannot figure it out and I'm completely at its mercy and ruined by it.

The phone does not have a damn back button so I can no longer navigate this site or do anything. Instead some kind of animated whooping of pages in and out of my view is happening.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Thu Jan 27, 2022 9:20 am

The contractor look into getting the sink from a different local vendor, but it seems they all get their supply from the same regional distributor, and that distributor (or upstream from them) is the source of the problem, so doing that won't solve the problem.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:52 am

They finished the bathroom plumbing yesterday. We decided to test it by running some water in the tub. We later noticed a wet ceiling tile in the basement bathroom, which is right below the remodeled bathroom. Moved the ceiling tile and tried running some more water in the tub, only to find that the drain pipe for the tub, at a joint where a PVC pipe joined a metal pipe, was spewing water like crazy. So the plumber had to come back out this morning and fix the leak, and I had to send a picture of the ceiling tile to the contractor so they can get a replacement.

Meanwhile, the new kitchen sink is supposed to arrive sometime next week. The electrician is supposed to come early next week to finish up their stuff, at which point we should have a functional bathroom/shower. Assuming the sink arrives unbroken, then they should have the plumber back out to hook that up late next week, and they'll do all of the finishing work except installing the kitchen backsplash. And due to the mix-up on their end, the correct tile for the backsplash will not arrive until about 2/18, so they'll be out to install that around 2/21-2/22.

The end is in sight.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Sun Jan 30, 2022 11:23 am

Never say never! Qdoba until April!

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Tue Feb 01, 2022 12:11 am

It's February!

Post by **Mike** » Tue Feb 01, 2022 6:01 am

I'll participate.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Tue Feb 01, 2022 9:14 am

I'm reconsidering. The last thing that happened to me in January:
I ordered a Qdoba salad bowl and I was only able to eat 2/3 of it.

I don't even know who I am. Who was that? It just occurred to me now for the first time today that I have not even breakfast. What the hell is wrong with me?

The first thing that happened to me in February: I had to work for 2 hours straight very early this AM for absurd reasons, and I forgot that my youngest child was in the house and had to be taken to school so he just slept through it. A+ parenting.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Feb 02, 2022 7:53 am

1. Finally moved the ball down the road for work a certain way and then made a very great to do list with all the details of the things that have been neglected. Wrote it in my planner so that I would be all organized and s***. Immediately afterward lost my planner; still have no idea where it is.

2. My kid and I have a jigsaw puzzle going and we're getting pretty close to the end of the latest one but a bright orange piece was clearly missing and clearly had been flipped upside down when it landed because there was no bright orange anywhere on the rug. After searching around with foot and then with hand in vain, I decided I would vacuum because I would hear the piece pop into the vacuum and Murphy's law indicated that if there were a piece on the rug I would definitely vacuum it up. So I did and I heard the piece pop and I extracted it from my vacuum chamber and now we have no longer lost the piece! It was a little dusty but otherwise no worse for the wear from its journey of discovery.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Wed Feb 02, 2022 9:19 am

The kitchen sink arrived, and it's not broken, so it and the last countertop will get installed this afternoon, supposedly. The electricians did most of their finish work yesterday, and just popped back by this morning to install one more canned light over the peninsula, and to fix the wiring of the light over the sink, which had been accidentally wired in with the under-cabinet lighting and only worked if those lights were also turned on. So hopefully we'll get appliances and bathroom fixtures (mirrors, towel bars, etc.) installed in the next day or so, and we'll be able to use the kitchen and bathroom again!

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Feb 02, 2022 9:38 am

This is very exciting!! Also congrats on managing to hold it so patiently; I literally have to use a bathroom so many times per day. I don't know that I could manage all this!

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Wed Feb 02, 2022 11:03 am

We have a half-bath we've been able to use the whole time. We just haven't had a shower. So we've been getting by with washing our hair in a utility sink, and taking sponge baths and using made-for-camping body wipes. And for a kitchen, we have had our microwave, a crockpot, and a single conduction burner in the basement, with the top of our chest freezer acting as our countertop.

bralbovsky · Post by **bralbovsky** » Wed Feb 02, 2022 11:52 pm

Fridge died (warmer than room temp). Calling in a repair rather than attempting to replace, although dishwasher probably shot too, and a washer needs a new control board. The fridge being the most essential, it goes first.
Survived one cancellation. We'll see if terrible weather will cause further delay.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Thu Feb 03, 2022 11:13 am

You can now measure how crazy busy my life is by whether or not I have done the wordle and I have not done it I won't be able to do it until later this afternoon. And only that because I will steal a little time that I shouldn't be taking to do it, but that's when I'm going to eat so I figure the two can go together.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Fri Feb 04, 2022 1:50 pm

They'll be done with everything today for the remodel except for the backsplash and a couple little touch up things. But of course, it doesn't end without a few last minute surprises. Like hooking up the plumbing for the kitchen sink and testing it out, only to find that the lead and cast-iron drain pipe that's sat unused for over 2 months has corroded shut. That resulted in a 3 foot section of the pipe in the basement having to be replaced, and the liberal application of a drain snake to clear out the section in the wall that couldn't be replaced without ripping out a sizeable chunk of the new cabinets and drywall.

Post by **Mike** » Sat Feb 05, 2022 11:06 am

I don't know what classroom I'm in, but two of the walls have been painted by Sigma Tau Delta (English honor society, apparently). It's the names of authors ranging from Homer in the 8th century BCE to the still living Sherman Alexie. There are 36 names in total. Just 9 of them are women, and only 2 are people of color (Maya Angelou and the aforementioned Sherman Alexie). Except for Homer, they're all American or English.

If it weren't for Homer, I'd assume this was English-Language Lit. Or maybe it is, and Homer is an inspiration for later authors? Or maybe it's Western Lit? But in either case there'd have to be at least a couple steps between Homer and Shakespeare, right? It looks relatively newish... so I assume it was done in the last few years. It just seems odd for a modern college campus to be this lacking in representation. Or maybe I'm being naive.

EDIT: yeah, I just went back to look, and they signed it: ΣTΔ '21. So it was just last year.

bralbovsky · Post by **bralbovsky** » Sat Feb 05, 2022 4:04 pm

Seems to lack depth, at least include Chaucer between Homer and Shakespeare, Dante? seems pretty amateurish, maybe freshmen from a particularly narrow prep school? Back to Groucho: "I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member."

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Tue Feb 08, 2022 6:39 pm

We bought a pedestal for our washer. It was on sale. It is also a small washing machine...

It was less expensive than a normal pedestal.

FYI washing machines are even heavier when you have to pick them up instead of just tilting and walking them. My back is twitching.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Tue Feb 08, 2022 9:27 pm

Those pedestals are the most devious, sinister money-making scheme I have seen in many a year. True malice and shameless avarice.

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Thu Feb 10, 2022 5:55 pm

They said it would fit my washer. They lied.

I can fix it though.

Baby shower for my grandson at our house this weekend....neighbor came by to tell us they are burning 40 acres of scrub land so they can plant trees....3 days of living in a BBQ smoker, yay

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Thu Feb 10, 2022 8:40 pm

Imagining a string of marinated chickens and briskets hanging from a clothesline across the burning field...

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Sat Feb 12, 2022 3:08 pm

Woke up early and did the errands; sat down on the couch in late morning to finish the coffee.
Found myself being prodded awake by the hysterical dog at 2:00 p.m., after sleeping like a stone for no reason in midday.
Is this catchup from insufficient sleep during the week?
I still feel tired, like if I lay down I would fall asleep again.
Unpleasant.
Having a hard time facing the typical weekend experience: work all week and the house slowly deteriorates, and then instead of pushing back against the normal and getting things back on track, it's always a matter of deep structural failure. I can't get up and face "ignore all your other work and spend the next 4 hours fixing a deep structural failure".
But somehow I'm going to get myself fired up to do that here, because it's never enough to just do a little bit and try to do your best. There's always just, do your best and it's a failure, do your best and it's a failure.

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Sun Feb 13, 2022 8:53 am

Phoebe wrote: ↑Sat Feb 12, 2022 3:08 pm There's always just, do your best and it's a failure, do your best and it's a failure.

That’s practically my motto.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Mon Feb 14, 2022 12:40 pm

This happened. Working remote this week, I got a message from my coworker this morning, telling me that there was Valentine's Day flowers on my desk. He took a picture, and it was not just flowers, it was also a bag and a heart balloon that says I Love You on it. I ask did others get similar, he said no. I told my wife; it wasn't from her. I then ask my friend for help, Mrs. Darcs, who works two floors above me. The hero she is, she investigated the bag and returned with the findings: flowers, balloon, chocolate, and a plushie. No note.

At this point, I felt similar to when I was in high school and got a note in my locker from a secret admirer asking to meet up somewhere at sometime, like the cafeteria at 2 or something. The note stressed me out. And I didn't go, figuring it was either a prank or who knows who this might be but I'm a shy scared chicken, so I do what I do: nothing. And it was a prank. Not surprising.

So felt the same, stressed out. why, who, how will this affect work, will this affect my marriage somehow? And the obvious decision, as before: do nothing. I'll find time later in the week to grab the stuff, donate the plushie, eat the chocolate, call it a day. But the questions still nagged and it was hard to get work done.

Also, as it should've been expected, this created a bit of office intrigue! People were trying to figure out who could've arrived so early in the day, or the night before, to drop off flowers. They were all retracing their steps and also guessing who the mystery admirer was. My boss walked by my gossiping coworkers and they jokingly said it must've been from him. And he said, yes, he put the gift on my desk.

You see he brought a gift for his granddaughter to give to her after work, but he didn't want to leave the flowers in the car, so he brought them inside. He was going to put it in the conference room, but saw that my desk was getting sun. Figuring it would be best for the flowers, and knowing I was remote this week, he figured no harm putting the flowers there.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Mon Feb 14, 2022 12:59 pm

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Mon Feb 14, 2022 7:48 pm

Phoebe wrote: ↑Thu Feb 10, 2022 8:40 pm Imagining a string of marinated chickens and briskets hanging from a clothesline across the burning field...

Winds from the West kept the smoke away!

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 7:09 am

poorpete wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 12:40 pm Figuring it would be best for the flowers, and knowing I was remote this week, he figured no harm putting the flowers there.

Oh wow, he had to cover his tracks with some forethought, no? I'm sorry you have to deal with this potentially uncomfortable situation at work now, but at least he's trying to put a good face on it. You're all adults, so if he doesn't pursue you further, no harm no foul? He should have had a more believable cover story than "I did it for the health of the flowers," though

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 7:18 am

lol. He knows I work from home, his story makes some sense. But thanks for sowing some doubt seeds hahaha

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 7:28 am

poorpete wrote: ↑Tue Feb 15, 2022 7:18 am lol. He knows I work from home, his story makes some sense. But thanks for sowing some doubt seeds hahaha

Blink twice if you need an employment lawyer.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 8:01 am

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 9:32 am

Hmmm. I'm going to have to visit my tarot reader and interpret this.

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Wed Feb 16, 2022 9:19 pm

Shitty couple of days at work, shitty day of parenting.

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Thu Feb 17, 2022 12:59 pm

At the beginning of the year the students took a benchmark diagnostic of reading skills in history. They were given modest goals for improving their scores.

Today we did the mid-year version of the diagnostic test. And a huge chunk of them actually did worse this time around. They didn't put any real effort in to it, and it showed, and I couldn't get them to do any significant work on it. And this effects my teaching evaluations. So I'm fucked.

At least I now have proof of how bad I am at my job.

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Fri Feb 18, 2022 2:06 pm

Yesterday I saw one of my students walking across the alley from my trailer. He was supposed to be in my class that began a couple of minutes later, but he didn't come to class.

Today I asked him about it. After admitting that he left school without permission, he told me to "stop fucking stalking me," and the told me to "shut the fuck up."

My work here is done.

Eliahad · Post by **Eliahad** » Fri Feb 18, 2022 3:29 pm

Yup, that sounds like the student and not you. Also, they are probably glad that you cared to check up on them. They won't say that, though.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Fri Feb 18, 2022 8:44 pm

Akiva wrote: ↑Fri Feb 18, 2022 2:06 pm Yesterday I saw one of my students walking across the alley from my trailer. He was supposed to be in my class that began a couple of minutes later, but he didn't come to class.

Today I asked him about it. After admitting that he left school without permission, he told me to "stop fucking stalking me," and the told me to "shut the fuck up."

My work here is done.

Ahhhh I'm so sorry, that really sucks. I know that it probably doesn't feel like this but it's 100% about that kid and not about something you're doing wrong, and the best thing you could have done is (like Eli points out above) let him know someone is paying attention to what he's choosing without attacking him for it.

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Fri Feb 18, 2022 9:32 pm

I’m pretty sure that’s not how he sees it.

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Mon Feb 21, 2022 7:34 pm

I wish more parents were as concerned as you.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Wed Feb 23, 2022 8:18 pm

Tahlvin wrote: ↑Sat Jan 22, 2022 5:22 am
Tahlvin wrote: ↑Wed Jan 12, 2022 8:14 am We're a bit over halfway through a 2-month remodel of a large portion of our house (bathroom, kitchen, removing a wall to expand the kitchen, replacing flooring, replacing doors and trim). That has meant a lot of contractors coming and going, pounding and sanding, etc.). In addition to the general noise and inconvenience, I'm finding this also means we're having to replace or repair a number of unrelated things in the house. For example, the previously-seldom-used faucet in the basement utility sink, which is now where we wash our hair and do dishes, had the hot water handle strip because of overuse, so I had to replace the whole faucet. The workers unplugged our garage door opener in order to run their saws (our garage has just one outlet with two plugs, which are currently utilized by our temporarily relocated refrigerator and our garage door opener, so between the two they decided it would be best to unplug the garage door opener for an extended period of time). When it was plugged back in, the circuit board on the wall-mounted garage door opener fried, so I had to order and install a replacement for that. At least we could use the hand-held remote to work the garage door opener until the new wall-mounted unit arrived.

The latest SURPRISE GOTCHA was the handle on the storm door crapping out on us from over-use, with the door in the closed position. It seemed for an hour or so that the only way in or out of the house would be through the garage, and that replacing the latch mechanism would be a tricky exercise, since removing it requires that the door be open in order to access the screws needed to remove the mechanism. But thankfully, with a little finagling, I was able to get the latch to move just enough to open the door, then was able to remove the broken mechanism. Now we have a storm door with no handle or latch, but that can at least be pushed/pulled open and closed. And a new mechanism and handle should arrive in a week or so, hopefully.

Just wondering what the next big surprise will be!
The one thing I forgot was the pocket door for the closet in our entryway! The thing stopped working years ago when one of the plastic wheels on the track disintegrated due to age, so we always just left it open all the way. When we had tile flooring installed in the entryway about 9 years ago, the flooring guy installed the tile into the closet and in front of the pocket where the open door was, meaning there was no longer really enough room to close the door any more anyways. When the works started the demolition on this latest project, they decided to close the closet door in order to keep dust from getting all over the coats and everything in that closet. With the bad wheel and the tile affecting the height of the door on the track, the door became so stuck in the closed position that at one point, I couldn't even fit my fingers through the gap, and it wouldn't budget a bit. I had to take the trim and door frame apart and do some physical gymnastics (accompanied by vast amounts of verbal cursing) to get the door off the tracks and out of the pocket. And do you know how hard it is to find hardware that is compatible with the existing pocket door track that was installed almost 60 years ago?! The original manufacturer went out of business long ago. Thanks to the internet, I was able to track down one place in Missouri that cobbles together a few pieces from other manufacturers to get something as close to the original equipment as possible. Using that, and sawing a half-inch off the bottom of the door, and performing an additional round of physical and verbal gymnastics, I was able to get the door back onto the track and into the pocket, and get the door frame and trim back in place. So the good news is that we now have a working pocket door on our entryway closet after all these years.

I'd love to replace the entire pocket door track and mounting system with a soft-open and soft-close door, and replace the hollow-core door with a solid, six-panel door in order to match the rest of the doors we just had installed. But replacing the track on a pocket door will likely involve tearing a whole in the wall, which is plaster rather than drywall (the house is 60 years old, after all), so that's not something I'm keen on doing right now. Maybe at some point down the road...

Found the next big thing that wore out. The shutoff valve for the water line into the house. With all the turning off and on, it has sprung a leak. We noticed when a small section of basement carpet was wet when our oldest stepped on it. It apparently has been leaking for a couple weeks. The leak slows when we shut the valve, so for now we have no water at all, and hopefully we’ll be able to get a plumber out here tomorrow to fix it. Ugh.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Thu Feb 24, 2022 12:55 pm

Thankfully, the leak ended up being easy to fix: just tighten a nut on the valve. It being the only valve between our house and the water main at the street, I didn't want to take the risk of tightening it myself and breaking the nut, causing a much, much more serious flooding issue.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Thu Feb 24, 2022 2:18 pm

So are y'all finally done?

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Thu Feb 24, 2022 2:50 pm

They're swapping out the two doors today that needed to be replaced, then the final inspection will happen either later this afternoon or sometime tomorrow. The appliance place is coming tomorrow to swap out the doors on the refrigerator, which were dinged up a little during installation.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Thu Feb 24, 2022 8:42 pm

This is been an epic battle but hopefully you now have your dream kitchen and house.

I was making myself a grilled sandwich just now sitting here waiting for it to be done, and flipped it out and onto my plate but it slid right off and the dog was standing right next to me watching it happen and I thought, NOOOOaoaaooooo! And then the sandwich fell right on top of my slipper which is fairly clean so I snatched it up and now I'm eating my sandwich and everybody is happy and the dog got nothing. So not everyone is happy, but he wasn't supposed to have grilled cheese so the relevant people are happy.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Fri Feb 25, 2022 5:48 am

Tahlvin won Deathless. Whoa.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Fri Feb 25, 2022 6:43 am

I guess you'll never find out who the top 31 movie villains were, or any of the top 50 movie heroes.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Fri Feb 25, 2022 7:42 am

I blame wordle, putin, and winter break. But most of all I blame Tahlvin, for being so good.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Fri Feb 25, 2022 11:37 am

Here's what's crazy- I saw that Tahlvin's post about three hours after and that no one had posted anything. I thought, "Oh shit, that's how we lose. I better post something." But my son was asking me to help him with something and I thought, "Who am I kidding- someone will post up in the morning!" Ugh. I blame myself. And Tahlvin- for being so good.