Let's try a brief update*

Lots going on, long time since I last told you about it. No time now, really.

• The replacement "a" key was a bust, so I ordered a new keyboard for the laptop. Installed it yesterday. Am loving words with a's in them again. Again. Aging. Aggressive. Aggregate.
• Just in time, because I'm ready to write my big paper for that course work I've been avoiding. I saw my advisor on Tuesday. I haven't done jack about this thing aside from gathering some information, so I went in to tell her that I give up, I'll just take the F. She didn't like that idea. Told my sculpture prof the same thing and he freaked. My GPA is high - not 4.0, but something around 3.7high or 3.8low. Yeah, a zero would fuck that shit up. So my advisor gave me a pep talk and some direction and said "you've got 10 days." It's down to 8... well, 7.5 now. Last night I organized shit and wrote a rough draft outline. This morning I started reading the research articles I've chosen. As I suspected, once I get started I really get into it and regret procrastinating. I drive me crazy.
• Diva is home from jail, on probation, doing relatively well. There are more details about stuff with her, but I won't go into it now. She turned 14 last Sunday. And she's been wetting the bed every night for a week. My house stinks like sour piss. I HATE that!
• Which leads to the next bit of excitement around here: the washing machine broke. Diva broke it, actually. For those who don't know but want to, check the labels for "washing machine" to get lots of gory detail about my struggles with this washer. Diva failed to cinch the strap around the machine to hold the door closed. She put the strap on, but didn't tighten it. And she put an uneven load in it - one heavy thing and a bunch of light stuff. So of course it was shaking like Elvis. The door latch broke, but Superman fixed that one easily. However, the computerized control panel above the door also came loose and rattled around for I don't know how long. It now doesn't control shit. Superman looked up info about replacement parts for that, and can't figure which of the three things are the right one. The cheapest of these things is almost $200. Together he and I declared it totaled. It's been busted for about two weeks. He hopes to take it today to the place in town that sells used appliances to trade it for something that works. I've given him carte blanche to pick out a new one. He does laundry more often than I do anyway.
• In related news, I have been to the laundromat a few times in the past two weeks. I don't actually mind the laundromat most of the time, but I dislike the time and money it uses. This morning I spent almost $14 on the whites, Diva's stinky sheets from last night (I did three loads of her bedding yesterday morning), and the clothes Superman and I have dirtied in the past less-than-a-week.
• To make matters more complicated, the drain in the kitchen is leaking. Behind the wall. Into the wood under the vinyl flooring. The kitchen smells of rot, and has for a while. It took us a while to discover the source. Superman crawled under the house Thanksgiving morning as I was cooking the feast. Wow. Happy Thanksgiving. He turned off the water to the sink the day after Turkey Day and we haven't had the use of it since. Plumbers and insurance adjustors have been lurking around. Alas, the cause of the damage is not something our insurance covers, so it's all up to us. Superman and a good, handy friend of his say they can do it. His friend is one of these motivated, fired up people who will help get us going. They say they can finish the job (or most of it) in a day. Oh, I hope so! In the meantime we are using a lot of disposable "dinnerware" (Greg! Plastic utensils!) and eating out. Expensive! At Christmas time!
• I could go into a rant about Christmas, but I just can't afford the time. Perhaps after next Friday.

TTFN

*Turned out to be not too brief. No surprise there.

Ups and downs

Mostly ups right now.

I took the biggie exam in my research methods class. It was satisfactorily challenging, and by golly I was prepared for the challenge! Yep, I actually studied this time. There were a few things I didn't know, but only a few. I feel very confident about it. This is our second exam in this class. I scored 72% on the first one. (Ouch!)

This week I received the results of the two mid-term exams I took last week. It looks good, y'all, real good. On the theater exam I only missed half of one point. I'm pleased with that.

Amazing how something positive like good grades can boost my morale.

I turned off my computer on Tuesday afternoon and didn't turn it back on until half an hour ago. I knew that if I logged on even to check email I would get sucked in and wouldn't study as I needed to. So I'm now a teeny bit behind on some blogs and emails. Be patient, my dears.

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I heard from the therapist at Sproing's location. (What should I call the place? Funny farm? Mental health facility is too long and clunky.) The state mental health agency sent a representative yesterday to assess the child. They did a Cal-locus? Anybody know what that is?* Anyhow, he was assessed at a level 6 (whatever that is) which means that he officially qualifies to be admitted for inpatient treatment. This is particularly good from a financial perspective. Good ol' socialized medicine (Medicaid) will take over from here because the state mental health agency will officially admit him to the facility where he's already admitted. I know, red tape. But it's good news.

Sproing still seems to be under the impression that he'll be getting out in a couple of weeks. Nah, it will be more like three months. Or maybe two months now, since he's already been incarcerated for a month. He spent the first 10 days in the acute care hospital, and has been at his current location for just over two weeks. He might be able to come home in 2.5 months if he does the work he needs to do. So far he hasn't done much progressive work. We shall see. At any rate, the news about the boy is generally good.

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The news about the damned washing machine, however, is not so good. It's acting really funky now. Superman has the whole broken door latch thing in the bag now. He has ordered some extra parts so that when it breaks, he can fix it. He also duck-taped a tie-down strap to the machine. We have to cinch the door closed whenever we run the damned thing. That helps prevent the latch from breaking.

But this week it did a weird failure-to-complete-the-cycle thing. It wouldn't drain and spin unless I turned the machine off, then back on, then set it to the "drain and spin" setting. WTF? I'm ready to boot the thing to the curb. He says he's gonna work on it this evening to see what he can do to it. I'm gonna stay out of the way, 'cause damn.

*OK, just googled cal-locus and came up with CALOCUS. Now I know what to search for.

Random bits of this and that

Either my keyboard is wimpy or I spend too much time typing.

I may have blogged this one before. I love it. Twitch wrote this on our kitchen whiteboard. I think he got it from Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes comic strip.
Scheherazade helped me start up my computer yesterday. I didn't get the camera out in time to capture her licking the touch pad. She was, indeed, moving the cursor around. Usually she does her computing by walking on the keyboard. 

Diva gets the words "ketchup" and "syrup" confused. She knows what each one is, but often gets the words mixed up. Last night we had blueberry pancakes for supper. She said something about putting ketchup on them while reaching for the syrup jugs. Silly girl.

Indigo left early this morning. I miss him. We had a very pleasant visit. He thinks Superman is terrific for, among other things, his accepting attitude about my friendship with Indigo and my other blog buddies. Indigo and Superman get along famously.

My washing machine is currently washing a load of sheets. The replacement part came and Superman just installed it. He is my hero!

Once more, some familiar suckage

[insert big long stream of very naughty words here]

The [redacted] washing machine broke. Again. Same damned thing, the latch mechanism failed. Superman has already ordered the replacement part, which should be here in 3 days. At least this time he knows how to replace it. 

We know the underlying problem with the machine is that it gets out of balance with very heavy loads or if it's on a high spin setting. Superman tried to see what was causing that, but didn't figure it out. There is a note taped to the machine just above the control knob that says "Use Normal Setting ONLY" since the heavy duty setting is what messes it up. 

Today I told Diva to get the huge pile of dirty laundry out of her room and take it to the laundry room. She took it upon herself to cram all of it into the washer and set the machine to heavy duty. And you know the rest. When Superman discovered that he nearly blew is top. He screamed at Diva. He's so frustrated! I am too. He calmed down after about 10 minutes and was able to speak to the girl with composure. I don't feel so peaceful about it or her right now. She is now safely in her bed where I can't get at her to clobber or scream ugly things at her. Maybe I'll feel better in the morning. 

I haven't mentioned this to Superman, but I'm seriously considering buying a back-up washer. There's a place in town that buys and sells used appliances. I can get a plain jane standard washing machine for probably $100, or at least less than $200. The laundry room is really tiny, though, and I'm not sure where a second washer might fit. Hmmm. Fiddle-dee-dee, I'll think about that tomorrow.

While I'm on a whining streak anyway, I'll jump into this mess. Did I tell you our cars are acting up? I'm too lazy to check the archives now, but Manny is dead in the water. We suspect the starter motor. He absolutely won't start. Superman got another starter from the salvage yard today, but is having trouble installing it. 

The van is about to go belly up. Her (Bertha, as in Big Bertha) transmission is shot to hell. It still works, sort of, but makes horrid scary noises when doing so. The whole van shakes with a big clunk when she starts. Any day now it's gonna quit altogether.  And those are our two vehicles. That's it. I hope Superman can get Manny going again. I don't know what we're going to do with Bertha. There's no way we can afford a transmission job right now. 

I read over this and see lots of whining and complaining and worry. I'm not supposed to worry. I know it's more than useless. Time to take a deep breath and extend some faith. But shit. My faith extender is stubborn today. 

Maybe I'll just go to bed. I don't want to think about it anyway. 

Various and sundry

I spent the evening yesterday in the green room at our local community theater. I was at the ready with needle and thread. It was fun. The play is Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Most of the cast are children. The energy was exciting though not over the top. Last night was the dress rehersal. This morning they are performing for the local schools. Tomorrow night is the first public performance. I plan to go over there shortly and see what sort of costuming assistance I can provide. This time I'm taking my thimble. I forgot it last night, and my finger is consequently suffering. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Manny is on the fritz again.

Superman thinks ist's the starter motor. It won't start. Duh. Instead it makes this strange grinding noise. I said to Superman this morning if it is the starter motor, we should be able to push start the thing, bypassing the starter motor. We (meaning him and the boys) can push it out of the driveway and point it down the street (a very gentle decline) and I can start it as it rolls down hill. He agreed that if it is the starter motor, that should work. However, if it isn't the starter motor, we'd have a dead truck at the bottom of the hill and he wasn't going to push the damn thing back up the hill. Hmmm.  Good point. For now Manny will just decorate the driveway. We'll decide what to do with him in a week or two, or whenever it gets unbearable having only one working vehicle. 

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Just a quick note about the washing machine. I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired of the subject. Anyway, it is working, but seems to be having balance trouble. These front loading babies are supposed to spin beautifully without the typical out-of-balance shimmy that many top loading machines have. Well, something is screwy. Superman is talking about taking the back and top panels off to check the shock absorbers. I don't know how he'll check them, but I'm not going to fret about it now. My point, though, is that I don't know how much longer this machine will last. I paid a lot of money for the thing, and I expect to get more than 6 years out of it. Although I love the features, the recent performance is frustrating.

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You have met Sproing, right? He's my bouncing (you have no idea) baby boy, nearly 11 years old now. We adopted him as a newborn, brought him home from the hospital when he was 4 days old. If you compare the picture of me in the right sidebar to this blurry picture of him (he didn't hold still) you will notice that our skin tones don't match. 

The dear boy gets teased a lot in school because of his race and skin tone. He's very dark, and by some twisted standard within the black community (at least around here) the darker your skin, the lower your value as a person. I could go on and on about how wrong that is, but I'll resist. He also, of course, gets a lot of flack because he has white parents. People are always asking him if he's adopted. Frankly, he's sick of it. He said so this morning. According to him, this is what he now tells anyone who asks:

These people are not my parents. They are my limo drivers.

The entry I've been waiting to write

So last night I was in the living room cutting out the pattern for the dresses I'm sewing for this play at our community theater. Which opens Thursday. Yes, 2 days from now. And I just got the dresses cut out. But that's not what I'm here to talk about. 

Superman was at the computer, behind me as I was working. I've been thinking on these things the past couple of days, and I said to him "Superman. Do me a favor. Google 'Whirlpool Duet Repair.'" A few clicks later he said, "Oh look! Here's the repair manual! It's a PDF file!" Oh, for cryin' out loud. Why didn't he look this up earlier? Why didn't he find this when he was looking for the replacement part 5 weeks ago? I know Mimi has been wondering the same thing. 

Why didn't I look it up myself, or suggest it earlier? Well, part of my reason for not suggesting it was to wait and see what he would/could do. The dear man is very intelligent. Brilliant, one might say. But he doesn't think in broad strokes (or something like that). I was hoping he'd take the initiative. I got frustrated enough to break through my immobility and suggest a deeper search. Some of my hesitancy was intentional. Some of it was more laziness or fear or something deeply emotional. I'm not sure.

So he read the pertinent parts of the manual, looked at the pictures,  and went to tackle the machine. The thing requires a star head screw driver to disassemble the pieces. By show of hands, how many of you own your own set of star head screw drivers? I don't bitch too much when Superman buys himself stuff at the hardware store because frequently it is in my best interest. Yes, Superman owns a set of star head drivers. 

The part in question is the door latch mechanism, which is (not surprisingly) on the front of the machine at the door. I was so excited about him fixing my washing machine that I forgot to take any pictures of that process. It was really easy once he knew the trick to access the latch. There's a spring retainer ring that secures the gasket to the doorway... yada yada you aren't interested in that part. But he was so sexy and manly as he was repairing my machine! I nearly swooned. 

The machine has been vibrating wildly as it spins sometimes. That's what broke the latch this last time. I wondered if the springs holding the drum were the problem. Turns out there are 4 shock absorbers holding the drum in place at the four corners at the base, plus a couple of springs at the top of the drum. He took the back off the machine to check these. He looked. They looked like shock absorbers. Hmm. Then he replaced the back. Whatever. I got a picture of that. 

The back of the washer

The backside of Superman

Now I get to wash a load of clothes!!! Since the washer broke I've had the laundry lined up along the one long wall in my living room that spans the room from the kitchen to the hall. The kids have been dumping their dirty clothes anywhere along there. Last night I sat in that beige chair you see in this picture and sorted that laundry. There are now 6 full baskets waiting to be washed. 
There are probably at least 3 more basket's worth of dirty laundry in the kids' room and my room. Plus bed linens. And I need to sew up those dresses for the play. And cook supper. Yeah, I'm still on the computer. OK, I'll get this posted and move on with my day. Ta ta!

I'm still standing

Yes, I'm still here. I've been busy with all that life stuff. The time I have spent online I've been surfing other blogs rather than posting anything on mine. I have an interesting story to tell you, but I want to work on it some more. I'm not going to tell you now. In the meantime, here are a few random thoughts.

Superman is getting sick again. He gets sick a lot. It worries me. He had a flu shot last week and yesterday he started having some mild-ish flu-like symptoms. He is achy and has a stuffed up nose. He's also stupid the way he gets when he's sick. He isn't rolling around on the bed in pain or anything, he just feels generally icky. 

I took Diva to the ear,nose, & throat doctor today. She is now scheduled to have her tonsils and adenoids removed on Friday the 21st. We saw the doctor, he's a nice guy, it didn't take long at all with him. Then we went to see the gal who schedules the surgery. We waited in that little anteroom for over an hour. Finally we saw the lady who handles the insurance stuff. Then we waited for a few more minutes to see the gal who actually schedules the surgery. It was a long and boring morning. I would much rather have been here. Diva finally got back to school at 11:30, 2.75 hours after I picked her up from school. 

Yesterday was the lunch meeting with that women's forum thing I've been attending. I put on a posh frock and sat in a room with other women and it didn't even kill me. I mostly enjoyed it. The speaker yesterday was the neuro-psychiatrist at our hospital. I have met her before. 3 times. Because she has tested 3 of my children for learning disabilities and emotional problems. Yep, were're spe'shuul. Anyway, the doctor is a really nice lady, very smart, who had some interesting information on how memory works. It was good. And I ate some salad; very good for me.

C and S got a new-to-them truck. It's a little pick-up, a Ford Ranger I think. It's cute. Dark green. They got it for $800? Something ridiculously cheap like that. C casually mentioned that it needs transmission work. Hmmm. It was parked on the side of the road out front when Superman came home yesterday. As he approached our yard he looked at the truck and could tell the frame is bent. We shall see what we shall see. It's not my truck, they will have to deal. Looks like another character building experience. 

I have had something I have to do, somewhere I need to be every day this week. I hate that. I much prefer to have my days unscheduled. It's more peaceful like that. Of course in January when I start classes I'll be pretty scheduled, huh?

Earlier this week I bought myself a six pack of diet meal-replacement drinks. Like SlimFast, but the store brand. I put the unopened box on the floor under my bed. Earlier this afternoon I looked under there and noticed the box was opened. Two cans are gone. I'm pissed. Again. This happens all the time!

Sproing saw his counselor this afternoon. Superman took him. Superman told the counselor that Sproing sometimes steals little things, lies about all sorts of stuff, and bickers with his sister all the time. He told me the counselor kinda shrugged and said she didn't know anything specific we can do besides what we're already doing. Well, that obviously isn't working real well!! I have said it before (perhaps not here, I don't recall). Our kids are so extreme they befuddle the professionals. Or maybe we just have incompetent professionals around here. That's a possibility. There aren't a lot of local therapist/counselors who work with children. 2, maybe 3. Diva sees one, Sproing another. 

Our washing machine is still broken. Superman is waiting on the repair manual. He called about that. The supply house said that it is on indefinite backorder. The manufacturer has run out of manuals and is waiting for enough orders to come in to justify a printing. This is getting ridiculous. I'm still not sure what we're going to do. We could call the repair guy out again, pay him to fix it. We have the replacement part. Or we could spend $100 on a cheap used washer to use until we get the nice big one fixed. 5 or 6 trips to the laundromat would pay for a used washer. I'm wearing my last piece of clean underwear. Oh, the humanity!

It seems like I'm forgetting something really obvious, but for the life of me I can't figure out what it is. Eh. We'll let this do for now. Then I'll write up that other interesting story. Maybe I'll post that one tomorrow. 

Laundry related post

Do you believe it? You can actually buy a hand operated washing machine! Today! For more money than a lot of automatic washing machines cost. (What's up with that?) The wringer is sold separately. If you'd rather not use the ringer and are a handy sort, with lots of spare time and miscellaneous stuff lying around the home, you can do this:

Amazing.

Superman is currently washing a load of clothes in the bathtub. I am encouraging him by staying out of his way. Twitch, who washed some of his clothes the same way earlier today, taught Superman an easy way to wring out stuff. Thread the garment through the hole/rack thing on the soap holder until it is half way through. Put the two ends of the garment together and twist. I wouldn't recommend it for delicate knits. If there is a towel rack in the tub enclosure that would work well for larger pieces. I doubt a pair of jeans would fit through the soap holder. Let's hope the tile is stuck on there very well. I've seen those soap holder parts break and come unstuck from the wall.

The replacement part for the washing machine will probably arrive tomorrow. I have no idea what manner of excitement will ensue. Updates as the situation warrants. 

Superman frequently reads this blog (hi honey!) but had missed the last post in which I cast aspersions on his mechanical ability. So I read it to him. He took exception to my assertions. 

Superman: Give me one example where I have failed to fix what I took apart.

Beloved wife: The air conditioner.

Superman: That's different. I called in a consultant.

Um, yeah. 

Today he and I were discussing possible ways to make it easier to hand wash the family laundry. Not that I want to do this often, but as the Boy Scouts say, be prepared. Besides, it was a fun conversation. We have some 30 gallon plastic barrels that seal hermetically. I didn't know the seals were waterproof. Superman is talking about building a frame to hold a barrel, using a treadle or pedal system to rotate/agitate the barrel. We'll put water and detergent in the barrel with the dirty clothes, do some aerobic exercise with it for a while, empty the soapy water and refill with clean water for the rinse. I was looking for a roller wringer online when I found the above picture and video clip. The damned wringer will likely cost almost as much as the rest of the system. We've got scrap wood around here enough to build a frame. A few parts and supplies from the hardware store and we should be good to go. This of course is in the planning stage now, and most likely will remain in the planning stage forever. But sometimes it's fun to invent these things even if they don't get built.

Mixed bag

We found a source for parts for the washer, thanks to Mimi's reference. Last night Superman ordered what we need. He told me the part should be here within 3 days. The instruction manual to install the part will be here in approximately 3 weeks. I see a potential problem here. Aside from the obvious, let me just remind you that Superman is an engineer. A Georgia Tech graduate with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Yes, mechanical, as in machine, as in washing machine. If you think "Well, then, he should be able to figure this out with no problem," then you are very naive.

If you have been following this saga for any time at all, you will know that I love my husband very much. He is a wonderful man with many talents and abilities. However, when he attempts a project like this without benefit of an instruction manual he frequently breaks more than he fixes. Not always, mind you, but often enough for me to be nervous about this turn of events. Because he is a guy, and worse, an engineer, he will be sorely tempted to fix the machine before the instruction manual arrives.

Updates as the situation warrants.

On a closely related note, we are running out of clean clothes. I'm writing this at 7 a.m. and Sproing is getting ready for school. He cannot find a pair of pants that he's willing to wear. His distress is loud and dramatic. I can either do the pioneer adventure thing and wash clothes in the bathtub (fun, fun, fun) or load stuff in the van and take another trip to the laundromat. Either of these choices is marginally better than a root canal.

Peace has been restored to the home. Everyone just left for school and work.

Sproing had a traumatic morning. In addition to not finding suitable pants, the poor young'un has outgrown his shoes. He has two relatively new pairs of athletic shoes, neither of which fit is feet. He's been asking for new shoes and I, seeing that he has two pair in perfectly good condition, have brushed his requests aside. Superman discovered this morning that the poor boy can't get his feet into the shoes. Ah, I see the truth of it now. His feet are growing very quickly if he outgrows them before he can destroy them. We usually buy the Wal-Mart specials, cheap and not well made. They don't last long. Note to my childless readers: shoes are a major expense when raising children. 

We made it to October! This is very exciting. I mentioned that August is interminably long. September is hopeful, but much of it is uncomfortably warm. In October, the hope of September is realized. Cool temperatures! This morning the cup of water I got from the cold water tap in the bathroom was actually cold. In the summer we get warm water from the cold tap. Almost but not quite bathwater warm. (In Macon, GA the "cold" water is plenty warm enough for bathing, but way too warm to drink in summer.) Throughout September the cold water has been getting somewhat less warm. This morning, though, it was comfortably cool. This is one more reason fall is my favorite time of year.

In relaying my story of embracing the gay the other day, I realized that I was a fag hag of sorts in college. Well, technically a "fruit fly" since my guy friends were not of romantic interest to me. But I'll use the fag hag term in the general sense. I had a couple of guy friends, not close best buds or anything, but fellas I hung out with a lot. As I look back on it now, my retro-vision gaydar is maxing out on these guys. They weren't out, and I have since lost track of them so I don't know for sure if either of them has admitted to being gay, but oh, it's so obvious!

Shortly after graduation Superman and I were involved with a Bible study group in one of the big downtown churches in Macon where we lived at the time. I remember two guys, both of whom were very outgoing and musically talented, who I now suspect are gay. Neither of them was as obvious as my college buddies. I can't remember the names of my college friends, dad-gum-it, but I do remember the names of the guys in the Bible study group. I did a search yesterday for both of these men. I found references to both. There is very little information on one of the guys. The other one, T, I also found very little about, but in one source there was a profile. In the entry for "spouse" was the name Gene. As in Eugene, a guy! Yes! Superman laughed at my accurate gaydar. This is hardly proof, but it seems significant. I'd love to contact this guy and see what he's doing now. For that matter I'd like to talk to the other old buddy, too. The contact information I found was sketchy, and the phone calls I made based on the info were both wrong numbers. 

It's been a busy week so far. I can't remember most of what happened, but I know I have been busy. I took Sproing and Diva to their soccer game Monday night because Superman was sick. He usually takes them. The excitement of the game sometimes gets to me. So do the crowds. And the bugs and humidity. I'm a wuss. But I went and watched the game. The kids' team won, and Sproing kicked in the first goal. It went well.

Tuesday I did something, but can't remember what. Yesterday was the lunch with that women's forum group that I first attended last month. It was good, very thought provoking and stimulating. I learned a lot about various community services offered in the area. You know how I love to learn things. :)

And I have been trying to get here to write about it since Monday. Something always seems to get in the way. I got up early this morning so I could have time to write this. I can't quit you. Don't want to, either! I just get busy sometimes.

Friday evening

I am so tired.  Sleepy.  No energy.  Wiped out.

It's a rainy night.  Been raining all day.  Nice soft gentle rain.  With the window open I hear the drops plopping on the leaves of the tree outside.  Such a sleepy sound.  Such a sleepy Java.

My big exertion of energy today was to take a LOT of clothes to the laundromat.  You recall the grasshopper I pulled out of the washer on Wednesday?  Well, the load of clothes I washed next never finished.  The washing machine did the same thing it did last week.  The latch broke. Something more than just the latch is causing the problem.  I think.  Superman says he's going to look at it.  We can't afford the repair man again until after payday.  

So I gathered some of the laundry.  The stuff that was easy to access.  Mostly clothes and bedding from Diva and Sproing's room, and the stuff that has been piling up in our bathroom. Superman wore his last pair of clean socks this morning.  I've been commando most of the week. I shoved all those baskets into the van, stopped by the bank for some quarters, and went to the laundromat.  Fun times.  

I sorta kinda wanted to do the laundry this morning.  But this morning I was so sleepy I just couldn't budge.  I got up with the kids and took everyone to school.  I came home, checked email, then took a nap.  After I woke up from the nap I hauled the laundry out.  But by then it was almost time for the kids to get out of school.  I usually let the young'uns walk home from school, but today it was raining.  I had time to load up the machines at the laundromat before zooming to get the kidlets.  It was complicated and I'm too tired to write about it, but I ended up getting Superman from work then, too.

Meanwhile, back at the laundromat...  Nine washers full of our laundry.  Nine. At $2.50 per load. That's $22.50 to wash not even all the laundry we produce in a week.  I wasn't going to spend any more money to dry the clothes, not when it cost so much to wash them and I have a perfectly good dryer at home.  So Superman and Twitch helped me load the clean wet stuff back into the van.  The dryer is running now.  Superman will finish that up since I am too tired to hang with it tonight.

And now it is time for me to shut down the computer, turn out the light and go to sleep.  Because I am that tired.  

The bug in the machine

Let's say, just for the sake of the conversation, that as you are unloading clean clothes from the washing machine, you see something left in the bottom of the drum.  You carelessly reach in and pull out 

this.

approximately 2.5 inches (6 cm) long

Would you scream like a girl?

This'n'that

My teeth are so clean!  I love how my teeth feel after I've been to the dentist for a cleaning.  Yes, I saw the dentist this morning.  It's a lovely office, the staff is so friendly.  My dentist wasn't in today, so one of the other dentists checked my teeth.  I have a cavity, dammit.  I don't floss often enough. I go back next Tuesday to get it filled.  But right now I am full of teh happy for my dentist's office.  

It's beginning to feel just a little bit like fall!  Finally.  It is nearly cool today.  We're having a dreary drizzly day, the second in a row.  This is the kind of weather that induces me to go to bed.  It's a good day for napping or making whoopie.  Then napping.  We'll see what we can do.  Superman comes home for lunch.  Hmmmm.

Good news!  S got a job!  Yes!  He had an interview yesterday with the HR lady from K-Mart, and was hired then and there.  It's conditional on passing a background check; standard proceedure.  I'm thrilled!  He's thrilled.  C is thrilled.  There's a lot of thrill going on around here. 

 

I broke the washing machine.  S and Superman say that it wasn't my fault, that it just happened. On Monday I put a load in and started it up.  Evidently I got the thing too full or something, which is hard to do with a front loader like we have.  It seems to have gotten off balance though, and neither S nor I heard it.   S went back there to check on the washer's availability and found the dryer, which sits on top of the washer, was nearly knocked off the washer and leaning against the wall!  He put the dryer back upright, then noticed that the washer door was ajar.  The latch was broken.

It won't run at all if the door isn't closed, and with a broken latch the door won't close.  Grrr.  I called my washer repair man Monday afternoon, and he came yesterday evening and replaced the latch.  That's all that was wrong with it, just the damned latch.  This is the 4th latch that washer has had!!  The first two we broke by slamming the door too hard.  But everyone has been much better about treating in gently, so I don't know what happened this time.  The repair guy (yesterday's He-ro of the day) said he has never had to replace a latch on any other Whirlpool Duet washers, just this one. Strange. Gremlins or something, maybe.   Anyway, it works again (YAY!!) and I should be washing clothes right now.  Instead I am blogging.  

Do you recall when Manny's windshield cracked?  Well Monday I finally got a new windshield!  The window in the driver's side door shattered last week when I slammed the door too hard.  (Are we noticing a theme here?)  So we had to call the insurance dude about that, and Superman had them fix the windshield at the same time.  I have a new windshield with no big crack and no scratched and pitted surface!! It has been a joy to drive since then.  Sort of. Manny is having some starting issues.  Manny often has issues, you know.  He has issues with his windshield wipers, too.  Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.  So far they've always worked on high, so I'm not going to do anything about it just yet.  It'll do.

I got a text yesterday morning about 11:30 from Twitch.  It said to pick him up at 12:30, they were being dismissed early.  WTF?  No other info, nuthin.  I called the bus office to see what was happening.  The boss told me the power had gone out in the school building, not to worry, all was well.  When I get a cryptic text with news like that, I worry that there's some kind of hostage situation, or a dirty bomb, or a massive structural fire, or a major terrorist threat.  I'm a mother.  We do these things.  Thankfully I know where to go for info.  So Twitch got to come home three hours early yesterday.  He was very thankful because he was supposed to give a presentation in Economics class, and he wasn't ready for it.  Because of the power outage, he got a day's reprieve.  I'm not entirely sure he used it wisely, though.  He may very well not be ready for the presentation  today, either.  He is like that sometimes.  

It was pretty cool, actually, and I didn't have to worry about picking him up later in the afternoon.  We went out to Sonic for lunch, then came home and I took a nap.  It was loverly.  

 

I think that's about all I've got.  More updates as the situation warrants.  Film at 11.