We have one of those washer-drainage systems where the washer dumps its water into a sink, rather than through a closed pipeline. We haven’t been able to do a “full/large” load of laundry since we moved in, since the sink would fill up too high and it was kinda risky. At first we thought this was because the sink was too small. Then as time went on, we realized there was a clog way down deep in there somewhere. We realized this because the sink began to overflow even during medium-sized loads a few weeks ago, flooding the garage a couple times. On top of this, the kitchen sink uses the same pipe, so whenever you used the washer you couldn’t run the dishwasher for hours, or even, really, use the kitchen sink much at all. The opposite also held true.

Anyway, the point is, after unsuccessfully mucking around with a store-bought “snake” and various drain cleaners, I finally called a plumber. The guy came, he used his professional strength super-snake and stuff, and the problem’s all gone. We can now do a large load of laundry and the water drains out of the sink faster than the washer can pour it in. I don’t know what the previous owners of this house were pouring down their drain to clog the pipes like they were, but it’s all gone now.

But you know what? It took the Roto-Rooter guy all of 10-15 minutes to churn that snake to the main line in the street, and for that it was $200. Now, don’t get me wrong…as always I understand why prices for services like this are as they are but sheesh. I was thinking it’d be around $100, maybe $150 at most. And of course, he tried to sell me some “special” drain cleaner for an extra $50. It should surprise no one that I said no to that one.

For the record, 15 years in that house in San Jose and our drains never clogged up once…even with all the cats I once had…so hopefully this is the only time we’ll have to fork over cash to a professional plumber-dude, barring some disaster like, oh, say a flood or hurricane or broken sewer mains.

A forum post asked the question “What song would you want played at your funeral?” I had to think about that one for a little bit. The usual moody or well-known songs passed through my brain, but eventually I decided that the song When I Die, by Blood Sweat & Tears, would be my choice. We used to listen to this band a lot while cruising the local hillsides, and I always liked this particular song.

If you’ve never heard it, you can listen to it via this YouTube video.

It fits my outlook on life and my overall state of mind on a day to day basis. Especially lately. ie, on the one hand, it’s kinda bouncy and jaunty, but on the other hand, it’s kind of….not.

I’m not scared of dying, and I don’t really care.
If it’s peace you find in dying, well then let the time be near.
If it’s peace you find in dying, and if dying time is near,
Just bundle up my coffin ’cause it’s cold way down there.
I hear that its cold way down there.
Yeah, crazy cold way down there.

Chorus:

And when I die, and when I’m gone, there’ll be one child born
In this world to carry on, to carry on….

Now troubles are many, they’re as deep as a well.
I can swear there ain’t no heaven but I pray there ain’t no hell.
Swear there ain’t no heaven and I pray there ain’t no hell,
But I’ll never know by living, only my dying will tell.
Yes only my dying will tell.
Yeah, only my dying will tell.

(Chorus)

Give me my freedom for as long as I be.
All I ask of living is to have no chains on me.
All I ask of living is to have no chains on me,
And all I ask of dying is to go naturally.
Oh I want to go naturally.

Here I go, hah!
Hey Hey!
Here comes the devil,
Right Behind.
Look out children,
Here he comes!
Here he comes! Hey…

Don’t want to go by the devil.
Don’t want to go by demon.
Don’t want to go by Satan,
Don’t want to die uneasy.
Just let me go naturally.

And when I die, and when I’m dead, dead and gone,
There’ll be one child born in our world to carry on,
To carry on.

Awesome:

1. inspiring awe: an awesome sight.
2. showing or characterized by awe.
3. Slang. very impressive: That new white convertible is totally awesome.

I was re-reading the last few entries and I noticed that lately I appear to like the above word far too much.
I also noticed that I need a proof-reader. There’s something about typing out a blog entry on the PC that makes me misspell, forget to insert words between other words, use bad sentence structure, change topic every sentence (kind of) without realizing how it’s going to “read”, and so on. No matter how much faster typing is than handwriting, unless you’re the Superman of typists, nothing matches the word-speed of the mind. And if you’re also a lazy typist who’s just trying to get something written so you can move on to something else, heaven help you.

My top favorite snack has always been beef jerky. My mother can attest to that one, from way back when she used to buy those pre-formed chopped and processed Lowery’s jerky sticks. There’s something just so tasty about meat with garlicky spices, marinated in some kind of soy-sauce based marinade, and then smoked/dried. I could eat beef jerky all day, every day, and there have been occasions where I’ve practically done so - such as when I order a couple pounds from my favorite beef jerky place (Mahogany Smoked Meats in Bishop, California).

Other favorite snacks are the usual “bad for you but oh so good” stuff like cheesecake, chocolate, and ice cream (Häagen-Dazs or Bryer’s strawberry), all of which I try not to eat very often, because we all know how doing so packs on the pounds…not to mention potentially speed up dental and other health issues.

Lately however, I’ve decided I have a new favorite snack - and it’s one that isn’t “bad” for you. Lowfat vanilla yogurt with chunks of fresh white peaches. Pineapple works too, but nothing beats the white peaches. It’s healthier substitute for ice cream, I suppose. Being summer, I buy 3-4 peaches a week and one whole pineapple, and then every day have a bowl of yogurt and fruit - either alone or with a meal. Added bonus: it helps my digestive system. Newsflash for people: you don’t need to buy Activa in order to get that yogurt bacteria. *rolls eyes*

There’s nothing revolutionary about yogurt and fruit - but I’ve never been a big fan of yogurt (except the expensive, sugary Yoplait styles) - and plain yogurt is absolutely the yuck - so this is kinda new for me. I buy a rather generic tub of the vanilla yogurt…since it’s vanilla, it still has some added sugar, but it’s not anywhere as bad as the Yoplait sort. Anyway, I’ll be sad when summer is over and white peaches become hard/impossible to get. Canned fruit isn’t the same…and while I’ve tried using other fruit, the white peaches are the best. If you’re wondering, yellow peaches/nectarines aren’t the same at all. I don’t like them nearly as much. White peaches rule. We should plant a tree in our backyard, like my parents had in theirs.

We have two kitchen windows in our house. The bigger one on the side-wall is covered by long, cheap blue curtains I bought at Wal-Mart. The smaller window over the sink, that looks out over the backyard, has been uncovered since we moved in. It doesn’t bother me much to have that one open to view, but since I tend to leave a kitchen light on all night, I wondered if it was possibly annoying to the neighbors…to see a light in the window all night. Or at least, so much of a lighted window. So I decided to cover it a bit. Being the cheap “I hate paying to decorate a house” person that I am, I just used an old pillow case to cover part of the top of the window and an old bedsheet to cover part of the sides. I didn’t try to do anything special with the hanging - only just stuffed it over the curtain rod. LOL

Thus you can still see outside w/out having to open curtains, but the amount of light the window casts outside at night is reduced. It looks chintzy, complete with scissored cloth edges at the bottom (hehe) but I don’t care. I was, however, kind of bothered by the fact it was all white. The kitchen itself is white enough as it is, all-white window coverings makes it even worse. But I had this old long cloth/table covering of my mother’s - she used to use it on her buffet table - and I thought, hey, that’d work. Plus it’s just cool, with it’s retro pattern of daises, white leopards and peacocks. I mean, if it has cats on it, I’m bound to think it’s awesome, since cats are, y’know, awesome. My “window treatment” isn’t something any Home Decorator is going to recommend doing, but it works, and I kinda like it. So there.

Btw, when did “curtains” become “window treatments” in home-decoration vernacular? It’s kinda like when they started calling used cars “pre-owned.”

Windy, cloudy, not-summery weather in June makes me “Blah.”

Baby-kitty definitely feels a lot better now. He’s bright-eyed, chipper, etc. The only odd thing is the past few days he’s developed an odd sound when he eats. It’s a “clacking” noise…it doesn’t always happen, but when it does, it’s loud - as if someone is whacking a small hard stick on a plate. I’ve watched him while he eats, and he doesn’t tilt his head or grind his jaw or anything like that - if anything, he slurps up his wet vittles faster and with greater ease then ever before. Maybe a piece of that tooth root the vet couldn’t remove is working its way loose and is “clacking” against his lower teeth sometimes? I don’t know, but it’s strange and kind of amusing. I guess as long as he looks/acts well and eats fine, I’m not going to worry about it - but it sure is a loud and freaky noise.

My thumbs….on the one hand seem to be getting better, but on the other hand they’re definitely stiffer and less bendable than they were before. Both the top joint and what I think is the carpometacarpal joint (see image) are still prone to popping out and “freezing.”

The popping isn’t happening as often, so that seems good, but the general ache/weakness of the thumbs, including the meaty part of the palm by your thumb - seems worse…ie, maybe they’re slowly healing, but healing poorly, if that makes sense. Ah well. So I’d guess I have early degenerative arthritis of the thumbs. Which is mostly irritating because it means I have to be very careful not to strain them w/the motions that bother them, so hopefully they won’t degenerate further from wear/tear, too fast. I guess what I thought was just a little strain/soreness from too much hand-usage during the house-moving process was more than “a little” - the fingers healed up fine, but it pushed the thumbs over some proverbial edge or something.

Sigh. Well, hubby and I are going to see the latest Indiana Jones movie tomorrow afternoon. Maybe that’ll bring me out of the grumpy blahs.