I got up bright and early. Well, early. The cable guy was coming to change out our receiver because our two years was up and it was time to decide on another plan or to downsize. Downsizing didn't save us money because non-bundles are treated as a la carte and is decidely more expensive. Tom wanted to go back to Vonage, but I wasn't that happy with them and whenever the computer went out, so did the phone. Not to mention the turnover time between getting the cable phone shut off and the Vonage hooked up. We lost the whole "promotional" period last time and never saved a dime on their intro plan. Not to mention their $19.95 plan (this was years ago) cost us $31.00 a month with all the hidden costs included...such as Wisconsin fees and taxes and such.
We're going to be spending about $25.00 a month more than we are right now but we get all the premium channels and a DVR, which I'm thrilled about since the vcr won't rewind without popping the tape out anymore. If we had taken the lower package we would have paid about $5 more a month for the same package minus the premium channels, which I could live with because we have a fantastic library, but Tom knows that I never just sit and watch tv; I always knit, crochet, draw, peel potatoes, sew, shuck corn...you name it. So he's looking at it as an investment. Of sorts. Plus, we don't do anything for entertainment and he takes his vacations away from home (deer hunting, fishing, etc) so it's company for me while he's gone.
When I got up, first thing I did was pop a load of clothes in the washer to hang out on the line before I saw that we had a wind advisory. I had to wait for the phone call to confirm the appointment so I couldn't hang them out until I got that, and once I did, I didn't have time to hang them out before the guy pulled up out front. It took him less than 15 minutes, including tracking down why our premium channels weren't showing up. He showed me how to use the DVR and then was out the door. I left by the back door to get the clothes out on the line.
And almost got blown away by the wind. I watched the load closely and they got nearly dry in less than an hour but started pulling off the clothes pins so I hurried out and took them down. I've got them on hangars and the wooden rack drying. My dryer isn't working efficiently anymore so I'm not using it for anything beyond de-linting or fluffling winter stuff. And it's not winter yet. I have room in my bedroom now for the racks so I plan on not using the dryer anymore unless there is an urgent need.
The wind is gusting up to around 40 mph. While I was out hanging out clothes a gust blew the shirt out of my hand (I had one clothes pin attaching it to the line so it didn't go anywhere) and it blew the birds out of the neighbor's tree. It was funny to watch them fly against the wind to get back in the tree. They stayed away from the bird feededr while the clothes were flapping but congregated as soon as I brought them in.
We haven't seen Miss Piggy for several days. I think it's too cold for the toads and they're hunkering down for the winter. I'm inclined to do the same except we haven't seen the end of hot days yet. We've got a cool week ahead of us but I know before October we'll be back in shorts and the windows all open. After that I'll start putting plastic on the windows, getting the reflectors out for the heat vents and getting the throws and blankets out. And the winter clothes. I need to air them out first. I don't wash them anymore. I used to whenever we changed seasons because they smell like the attic or the basement. Now I just hang them on the line for a day or so and they freshen up. They were clean when I put them up so there's no need to clean them again. Just air them out.
I've got tomatoes cooking on the stove. I don't have enough to do a lot with so I'm making some spaghetti sauce and hope that's enough for tonight. If not, Zach and I will have sauce-less spaghetti (which we prefer anyway) and leave the sauce for Tom. I have to cut the corn off the cobs (that he got from a co-worker) and freeze it before it goes bad. I just can't eat corn on the cob every day and the guy gave us plenty. So as soon as I'm done with the tomatoes, I'm doing the corn. Next autumn should be a lot busier with blueberries (I hope) tomatoes, corn, green peppers, green beans, peas and lots of lettuce. And even more the year after that. I hope.
I've got the living room to clean so I'm going to get busy with that while the tomatoes cook. Tom likes to sit at the dining table and watch tv so it gets very cluttered on the weekend with his stuff. To the degree you can't see the table anymore so on Mondays (or Tuesdays when we have a three day weekend) I clean. I've given up having a table4 that looks like a table. It's the way he was raised, I guess. I never say his mother's table cleared off, except for the few meals we ate there, then it was right back to being cluttered. They are a family of pack rats as well.
I'm putting off the deep cleaning until tomorrow since I have to catch up today. The car is dead until we can come up with a new battery (and I hope that's the problem, but I doubt it) so I'm stuck at home until at least Sunday because he works on Saturday again. Except the books are due back at the library Friday so if I can't renew them I'll have to take the truck and do that before he leaves for work. I hate having one vehicle. And we never seem to have two for any significant length of time before one of them is down.
He'd better get it fixed before the 25th because he's going up north bow hunting for a week and I won't be left behind without transportation for a week. We have no stores here besides a convenience store so no way.
Well, off to get some stuff done and the tomatoes cooked.
TTFN
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