What a week!


Unfortunately, it wasnā€™t a good week.

Home Fronts: We went down to check on Casa South and to fire our realtor. Sheā€™s been awful. Worse yet, now she says she lost our keys. They were in a lock box. How can you lose keys that were in a lock box?

While we were there we noticed a lot of trees down and standing water. There mustā€™ve been a pretty rough storm recently. Weā€™ll have to go back later to clean up the debris.

Thereā€™s one gigantic pine, at least 100 feet tall that scares the heck out of me. It died a while ago. Weā€™re waiting for it to come down on its own. Usually pines that tall will break off from the top and work its way down. But itā€™s so close to the house.

We had no internet at Casa South so Iā€™ve had to answer emails whenever I happened upon free wifi.

Computer woes and a smart man: I returned home to Casa North only to discover I had no internet at this house either. Oy!

To salt the wound, my computer was making dying moose sounds. Itā€™s been doing this for a long time and I knew Iā€™d have to replace it soon. Only I HATE even the whisper of having to buy a new computer. 

The expense. The software reinstallation. The colorful language I use during the transition. Husband and dogs make themselves scarce during this dangerous period of Maria-acclimation to new hardware.

To keep my old machine on life support, we blew compressed air into the casing to blow out the dust. Usually that helps, but this time it died right on the operating table. Then Greg did something remarkable. He figured out which part had died (the power supply) and did an organ transfer from an old computer.

It was the most amazing thing. He was like a surgeon, reconnecting all those blood vessels. I think Iā€™ll keep him a while longer. Any man who can save me money is a keeper.

Weather: Weā€™ve had up and down weather. Last week got up to 80, and this morning we dipped below freezing for a few hours. This time of year is always unpredictable. Canā€™t wait for March.

And a loss: The week ended on a sad note too when I learned a friend had passed away. I was looking forward to seeing him at a Christmas party, but he never showed. He was a kind, sweet man. Iā€™m going to miss his teasing and silly jokes. Itā€™s a harsh reminder to cherish those around you. You never know when itā€™ll be the last time.

Has your week been unpredictable?

My next post will be an update on the expense journal I told you about last month. January was my true trial month on the state of our spending and it was quite the eye-opener. I'll share some of the things we did to cut spending and come in under budget.

Iā€™ll do my best to catch up on your blog posts. Being without internet for so long has put me way behind. 



Comments

LD Masterson saidā€¦
I'm sorry you lost a friend. That's always hard news. And that realtor owes you a new set of locks if she doesn't come up with your keys. Not to mention travel expenses if you have to keep going down because of her ineptitude. Dig in.
Maria Zannini saidā€¦
Linda: His passing was unexpected. I still don't know the details. He lived alone so that's always a scary thought. I hope he wasn't alone when it happened.
Angela Brown saidā€¦
Loss of life is always a tender topic. When it happens close to home, the "feels" become a little extra. My condolences to you and all loved ones who benefited from having your friend's presence while on this earth.

The expense journal thing has me acutely aware that I really want this month to be FAR less expensive than what happened last month.
Unknown saidā€¦
Sorry to hear about the loss of your friend, Maria. You have some good memories of him, and you're right - those are to be treasured.

Also glad to hear that you won't need a whole new computer. I wouldn't mind one, but I'm so used to the ways things work with Old Clanky here.
Maria Zannini saidā€¦
Angela: It shocked me at all the incidentals I never noticed before. It was a real wake up call.
Maria Zannini saidā€¦
Marian: Old Clanky--I love that!

It's a stupendous amount of work to transfer my files. And software installations always seem to require a phone call to the company. I've never had an easy migration yet.
Rebekah Loper saidā€¦
Oh, it's been a week up here too! I do my grandparent's grocery shopping, and when Grandma mentioned the night she called with her grocery list that there was a leak under the kitchen sink and Grandpa was working on fixing it, I didn't know she really meant "the kitchen & dining room are flooded."

I walked in their house the next morning to find Grandpa vacuuming up said flood. With the regular vacuum. The kicker? They OWN a wet/dry vacuum. It's in their garage. Ugh.

And then today, right as I was hitting my stride and starting to accomplish things, hubby called to tell me I needed to come get him 'cause he needed to go to the workcomp clinic. Whoooooo.

At least we don't have to pay for any of that.

I'm ready for Monday to be done. And I need a vacation.

But YAY for successful computer surgery! My new hard drive has arrived, so I'm just waiting for my 'computer surgeon' to be available. Soon, soon, I will have my laptop back...
Mike Keyton saidā€¦
I hope you have a quiet and trouble free week, Maria, and that your old friend is looking down on you and creating merry mischief with your realtor
Anne Gallagher saidā€¦
I'm sorry about your friend. Sudden passings are always hard.

And I despise real estate agents almost as much as I loath car salesmen.

I hope your week ends on a happy note.

Looking forward to your budget news. I need to make a new one myself.
Maria Zannini saidā€¦
Rebekah: Oh, your poor grandparents! And then your hubby!!

They say God never gives us more than we can carry, but I think he gives some of us TOO much credit. LOL.

I hope your trials are at an end too.
Maria Zannini saidā€¦
Mike:
Re:...your old friend is looking down on you and creating merry mischief with your realtor.

Now there's a thought. I think he'd do it for me too. :)
Maria Zannini saidā€¦
Anne: It's not like we were asking a lot. We just wanted to be kept in the loop.

Every time we heard from her, she was out of town.
Hope things brighten up soon. We too had some bad news today of a friend passing. Made my husband and I feel very old.
Stacy McKitrick saidā€¦
I'm afraid the mainframe computer in my living room is starting to go bad (just from the noises that thing makes). I don't want to get rid of it, though. All my iTunes are on there. My husband would like to replace it with a laptop, except I don't think laptops are all that hardy. But my husband is the computer geek (as is my son), so I probably won't have much say in the matter. I hope he can just swap out the hard drive or something (and that he has a spare someplace in the house!). I'm sure that would be the cheapest route (and I'm all for cheap, too).

Sorry to hear about your friend's passing. Unfortunately, we're getting at that age... Ugh. Really sucks, doesn't it?
Stacy McKitrick saidā€¦
Oh, I wanted to add something about your real estate agent. If she's with a larger company, complain to the owner. We got an agent through a company we wanted to work with, but when she wasn't answering our calls, we went to the owner. He couldn't apologize enough and bent over backward to get our house sold quickly. It's worth a shot in any case, right?
Maria Zannini saidā€¦
Susan: I know what you mean. I just heard another friend lost her husband. He was younger than me.

So sad.
Maria Zannini saidā€¦
Stacy: I thought about talking to the owner, but at this point I just want some distance.

There are too many other realtors to choose from.

Jenny Schwartz saidā€¦
A tough week. Sympathy and (((hugs)))
Shelley Munro saidā€¦
Sorry you've had such a tough week, Maria. These things seem to hang out in herds.
B.E. Sanderson saidā€¦
So sorry to hear about your friend, Maria. :hugs:

I had a realtor like that once upon a time. I can't believe yours lost your keys. How unprofessional! Ack about your computer. Thank goodness you have an onsite techie and had some parts to scavenge from.

The week here is going pretty much how I expected it to. I'm busy getting ready to launch my book, so everything else is a blur.
Glad Greg slipped by the gauntlet to save the marriage. That isn't a story I wanted to read about. Whew.
Maria Zannini saidā€¦
Shelley:

Re: herds
True. I've had friends who've had it far worse than me so I have no room to complain. It's just been a headache.
Maria Zannini saidā€¦
BE: Greg is all self-taught, which astonishes me all by itself. He has the ability to look at something and extrapolate how it works--or doesn't work. I wish I had that ability.

But I had to eat crow with that computer because I'm always nagging him to get rid of his garage full of junk. Every so often he can pull from that junk and work magic.
Maria Zannini saidā€¦
Mac: LOL. This will be 40 years for us. Every year I threaten not to renew his contract, but I always do. :) I like his company.
Anonymous saidā€¦
You've been pummeled from all directions. Take my good wishes and hopes for an easier February!
Gwen Gardner saidā€¦
So sorry about your friend, Maria. *hugs* And Yikes! So much going on. Greg is really brave to do surgery like that. I use air spray, too, because my laptop heats up and starts making respirator sounds (not quite moose-like). You're reminding me that I need to back up again. Hope you can sell your house soon <3
Barbara Ann Wright saidā€¦
Good luck with everything. I hate the transfer from one computer to another, too. Thankfully, it doesn't happen often.
Maria Zannini saidā€¦
Marlene: Thank you. I hope the Fates hear you. :)
Maria Zannini saidā€¦
Gwen: Well, he had nothing to lose really. The machine was toast anyway, so there was no harm in trying a few things. He's a regular tinkerer.

I'm more of a smash, pummel, and wail kind of person. :D
Maria Zannini saidā€¦
Barbara:
Re: transfers
Once in a lifetime is too often for me. Gives me the willies!