Month: November 2018

Today’s Notes
General: Focus on lighting, check roof vent, Computer desk, Internet, phone.
Theme:Maintain as little furniture as possible in grandpa’s house, need should drive what furniture is purchased.

The sugar bin, hexagon table and end table under the TV are still in the house. (We just never got to that conversation.)

Narrative: Had cereal and a hard boiled egg for breakfast along with some Dominican Coffee. Loaded a several baskets of clothes, mom’s bear bathroom items and the extension ladder into the pickup truck and drove to Grandpa’s farm.

We unloaded the stuff out of the pickup truck and I headed onto the roof. The roof looks like it’s on it’s last leg. The gravel is more than half gone and there are several pieces of asphalt roofing missing. Removed the cover to the dryer vent and cleaned more than a handful of twigs (Maybe a birds nest) and other materials from the end of the pipe. It felt like a large amount of air was traveling up the pipe, so that’s great! I noticed that the flashing around the plumbing roof vents was missing the rubber boot so I bought flashing materials from Lowes and placed it over the current flashing. It’s not perfect, but it will certainly leak a lot less having a 7″ cover over the sides of the pipe. I also raked the leaves from the roof to prevent the moisture from destroying the wood. We will have to replace the roof within a couple years and we can expect some damage to the wood to occur until then.

We went to Staples to purchase a couple filing cabinets. They had a 30% off sale going on with this “Black Friday” theme and purchasing a desk was actually cheaper than buying two filing cabinets. We bought a really nice grey colored desk (Matches the floor) that is 30″ deep (Rare these days) with filing drawers on each side for about $160.00. We also bought a new printer for Grandpa’s house since the printer at Nancy’s has failed and would cost more to fix than to replace. (We also bought ink, paper and a two year warranty!)

We bought a NICE touchier lamp with a reading light for WAY cheap at Lowes. I though we’d let Mom and Auntie try that one and adjust we buy next.
Auntie prepared a beef stew of sorts and we went to the farm for a nap while we sorted out what we’re going to do with the Ethan Allen furniture.

When we arrived at the farm the pheromone smell was overwhelming and the hutch was on the outside of the house. (Apparently it gets worse when wet.) We ended up moving the hutch way out in the yard to reduce the smell in the house!

Auntie showed up with mom and Tinker in tow to capture the cat. We heard the cat several times from inside the house but could never find her. Turns out she was locked in the closet when I put the mattress up against the door. (I looked several times for the cat in that closet.) Mom and Auntie left back for Grandpa’s house with the cat and Tinker in crates. Sheesh. At least we’re able to close mom’s bedroom window for a change. It was awfully cold this morning with the heat being blown out the window.

Asked mom to change the address on the bug service to grandpa’s address. (I’ll remind her again tomorrow morning.) Also tomorrow will be the first day that Meals on Wheels delivers to Grandpa’s house. (Wife thinks they will still deliver here.)

Mom wants to pick through the boxes of stuff that came out of the drawers of her furniture for things she needs, good plan. Maybe tomorrow?

Mom will get the delivery information about the computer desk from Staples for Grandpa’s on her tablet.
I think I finally finished with all the animal food now that the cat food is gathered up from mom’s room for the cat.

One final annotation, grandson and parents were with mom all day today, even tonight at 8:30PM they were still there.

To Do List (And it’s growing)
Take pictures of the tractor and tractor attachments/implements.
Bring large wire cage from Bunpkin for the cat tomorrow morning.
Buy hay for the cows, the grain is about half gone.
Grandpa’s Computer desk lamp.
Grandpa’s Chair Lamp.
Grandpa’s Bed lamp.
Grandpa’s Dust under the refrigerator with boric acid.
Grandpa’s Buy shades for all lamps going to grandpa’s farm. Thinking 4 of them? (Bedroom Em light, living room Em light, two gear lamps maybe?)
Grandpa’s sanitize, clean and move the four emergency power supplies from Mom’s farm. (Maybe, it is a little risky.)
Grandpa’s Buy TV stand or end table for Mom’s bedroom TV.
Grandpa’s buy curtain for Mom’s south bedroom window
Grandpa’s repair yard light over the house
Grandpa’s repair/install fire/smoke/CO alarm
Grandpa’s repair house patio door
Grandpa’s repair house windows
Grandpa’s repair wall outlet/receptacles in Ricky’s bedroom
Grandpa’s erect fences for the dogs
Grandpa’s clean grandpa’s shed
Grandpa’s repair grandpa’s shed roof
Grandpa’s replace property gate
Grandpa’s repair Auntie’s bedroom Air Conditioner Vent
Grandpa’s move the phone and Internet from Auntie’s bedroom into the third bedroom
Grandpa’s Construct a desk from two file cabinets and a door.
Grandpa’s Install emergency (battery backed up) lighting
Grandpa’s Install battery backup on Dish receiver (Maybe move it to living room)
Grandpa’s purchase / repair printer that has died.
Grandpa’s purchase a new computer
Grandpa’s Install a firewall and wireless router.
Grandpa’s Establish a VPN between grandpa’s Fortigate and Atlanta for remote camera adjustment / repair.
Mom’s Clean pile of bugs and trash from kitchen floor
Mom’s Turn camera over the dog runs to point toward the stalls.
Mom’s Set timers for mom’s house lights
Mom’s Lengthen the timer so that the camera over the runs, runs more of the day.
Mom’s Change the Wayne’s shed timer so that it comes on earlier in the morning
Mom’s Set mouse traps or bait in the trailer.
Atlanta Card for the drama department.
Atlanta take computer desk lamps that I bought for mom’s house to Atlanta.
Engineering: Remote bell for the gate.

Tomorrow: Floor lamps, Remote bell for gate, emergency lighting and backup power for TV.
Injuries: Arguments: Exercise: Feeling words: Travel: Noteworthy: Accomplishments: Purchases:

https://www.verywellfamily.com/feelings-words-from-a-to-z-2086647

From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT set clear goals for the day? No
Did I DMBT make progress to those goals? No
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT fix something today? Yes
Did I DMBT improve something today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
Did I DMBT be fully engaged? Yes
*Did My Best To

Today’s Notes
General: We had a frozen croissant and coffee for breakfast. Attached the horse trailer to Wayne’s truck and headed to Grandpa’s about 10 with an orange crate full of emergency lanterns and the power supply for mom’s bed. Disconnected the trailer and setup the dryer in Aunties garage. The vent goes straight up and into a roof vent. There was some stuff in the end of the vent that needed to be dealt with. Also I need to get onto the roof and check the flashing before it rains. The dryer does appear to be working and the washer needs 4×4’s to push it up just a little for my Aunt. (She’s pretty short.) Drove home to get laundry and returned with the one chick all it’s container components. We spent a good minute cleaning and resetting the chick’s cage in the third bedroom. We moved the wood furniture out of the house and into the wood pile temporally. At least until I can get help loading it all into the horse trailer and bringing it back to mom’s farm. I like the larger TV and it being on a stand in front of the window so that the window’s light is not on the screen. (It’s a good fit, we just will need a TV for the living room. (Mom wanted a bigger TV anyway.) She’s learning all the features of the “Hopper” and one of them may allow the wife to watch her two favorite shows. Mom and sis seem to have worked out the 9 dogs, although it sounds like a lot of work for me. The dogs are taking a toll on the doors though.

Auntie tested the cordless phone and it reaches the far buildings so we’ve brought mom’s cordless back for our use. Our siblings are making progress on Grandpa’s shed I’ll try and get pictures of that tomorrow. We’re back at the farm and had ice cream cones before working on the Cat.

Mom has enjoyed the grandchild for a couple days, they have been in Grandpa’s house almost all day today and a pretty good while yesterday. It is likely that the grandchild will be there again tomorrow as they work on Grandpa’s shed. We all had pizza together for lunch today at grandpa’s house.

The cat is an outside cat that comes and goes as it pleases through an open window.  Mom has enjoyed the cat joining her in the evenings and all she had to do was leave some food out.  For us it’s a problem because the window screen has a hole for the cat and the mosquito’s like to enter as well.  Now that mom is gone the cat has appeared the first night and partook in the food left out for her.  Mom wants to come over and wait for the cat which then leaves all 9 dogs in Aunties care for the duration.  There is no Dish TV anymore to watch so she would probably want us to be here with her.  We are hoping to catch the cat with a couple pieces of bacon tonight.  If I can cover the window before the cat can get out of it we’ll have the cat in the bedroom for mom to catch.  That all depends on the cat arriving and not getting spooked.  We should have had Nancy catch the cat on the first day!

The pile of bug feces on the kitchen floor has to be dealt with, but we need some masks before attempting to clean it. THD has good masks we hope to get in a couple days. We’ve set roach traps out to knock the roaches down a little. Mom has also requested an 80.00 inside and outside service on Monday morning we will have to pay for when they get here out of Nancy’s account. That is a large portion of her disposable income. I may have to move another $500 from Atlanta with the Florida Blue also being taken from her personal account this month.

Tomorrow: Anchor the washer and get a desk setup in the third bedroom. Maybe start working emergency power and lighting.
Engineering: Create a doorbell at the gate that’s a good 200′ from the house.
Engineering: Mom cannot simply change batteries in her sisters landline if they’re dead, the battery is wired in her phone. (No need for an AAA charger.)
Purchases: Need to buy an end table for mom’s bed, a small table with a drawer and a floor lamp next to her big chair at Grandpa’s.

Injuries: Arguments: Exercise: Feeling words: Travel: Noteworthy: Accomplishments:
To Do List (And it’s growing)
get all the dog/cat food out of mom’s house.
Buy hay for the cows.
Grandpa’s Buy shades for all lamps going to grandpa’s farm. Thinking 4 of them? (Bedroom Em light, living room Em light, two gear lamps maybe?)
Grandpa’s move two new desk lamps on the desk at Mom’s to grandpa’s farm.
Grandpa’s sanitize, clean and move the four emergency power supplies from Mom’s farm.
Grandpa’s Buy TV cart for Mom’s bedroom.
Grandpa’s buy curtain for Mom’s south bedroom window
Grandpa’s repair yard light over the house
Grandpa’s repair/install fire/smoke/CO alarm
Grandpa’s repair house patio door
Grandpa’s repair house windows
Grandpa’s repair wall outlet/receptacles in Ricky’s bedroom
Grandpa’s erect fences for the dogs
Grandpa’s clean grandpa’s shed
Grandpa’s repair grandpa’s shed roof
Grandpa’s replace property gate
Grandpa’s repair Auntie’s bedroom Air Conditioner Vent
Grandpa’s move the phone and Internet from Auntie’s bedroom into the third bedroom
Grandpa’s Construct a desk from two file cabinets and a door.
Grandpa’s Install emergency (battery backed up) lighting
Grandpa’s Install battery backup on Dish receiver (Maybe move it to living room)
Grandpa’s purchase / repair printer that has died.
Grandpa’s purchase a new computer
Grandpa’s Install a firewall and wireless router.
Grandpa’s Establish a VPN between grandpa’s Fortigate and Atlanta for remote camera adjustment / repair.
Mom’s Clean pile of bugs and trash from kitchen floor
Mom’s Turn camera over the dog runs to point toward the stalls.
Mom’s Set timers for mom’s house lights
Mom’s Lengthen the timer so that the camera over the runs, runs more of the day.
Mom’s Change the Wayne’s shed timer so that it comes on earlier in the morning
Mom’s Set mouse traps or bait in the trailer.
Atlanta Card for the drama department.

https://www.verywellfamily.com/feelings-words-from-a-to-z-2086647

From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT set clear goals for the day? No
Did I DMBT make progress to those goals? No
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT fix something today? Yes
Did I DMBT improve something today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
Did I DMBT be fully engaged? Yes
*Did My Best To

Today’s Notes
General: 2nd Day of moving mom. Had some coffee, no breakfast yet. Fed the cows. We’re still separating the stuff ON the furniture and the drawers inside. The hutch and dresser are so dirty I think our only option is to hose them down. Even then, there is a good layer of “Grime” that needs to be scrubbed off this stuff. Doug is coming some time this morning, I need him to separate the hutch and mom’s big dresser. We’re working from the back of the house to the front so that we carry dirty through dirty. (Which means mom’s room is first.) I’ve been unable to capture the cat, we might have to bring mom over here to catch her. I’ve laid roach hotels throughout the house and I’m getting rid of all the loose/open food I can find. I have gotten requests for items for mom’s dogs, if the item is worn out or cannot be cleaned I think it’s best to replace it. It’s going to start costing mom cash money to keep all four dogs, I don’t see any other way at this point. One thing we need to have a “Sit Down” about is all these memento’s. There is some justification to “Let them go” now before moving them to grandpa’s just to let them go later. The only place to store these items if we move them is rent a storage room. There’s not enough storage in the house for this stuff and grandpa’s shed will destroy them anyway. The good news is that the furniture seems to endure being washed and hand dried so far. mom’s large kennel is working really good as a washing stand since it’s basically a sturdy wire cage. We did get mom’s dresser and mirror cleaned, it’s at grandpa’s. The top part of the hutch was fairly clean, so that wasn’t too difficult either. The bottom of the hutch is miserably filthy and is still here. I meant to get the dryer working but, worked all day on the two large pieces. (Because I had paid help to move them.) My sister and I are both worried that we won’t be able to clean the wood sufficiently given it’s poor condition and we’ll end up with an infestation at grandpa’s. Google Foo also reinforces that conclusion. https://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/german.htm The current thought is to remove all the wood furniture from grandpa’s house and just buy exactly what she needs, nothing more or it will end up not being cleaned like this house. I have an idea to catch the cat, I’ve pulled the shade down over the entire window. The shade will let her into the room but she won’t be able to leap from the floor and clear the shade to go back outside. If successful the cat will be in the bedroom tomorrow morning unable to leave. I had an OH WOW! moment, the bottom of the hutch we could not clean is on the porch. It has four closed walls no ventilation. I went in there just a minute ago and the pheromone sent from this one piece of furniture is overwhelming!!! I am really glad that I didn’t move it!! Since I did clean this piece we now know that water and cloth is insufficient to get the scent (and probably feces) from wood furniture.

Tomorrow: Install the dryer.

From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT set clear goals for the day? No
Did I DMBT make progress to those goals? No
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT fix something today? Yes
Did I DMBT improve something today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
Did I DMBT be fully engaged? Yes
*Did My Best To

Today’s Notes
General: We are up, had breakfast and our coffee. Put collars on the three little dogs that can run fast enough to get away from us. We’re not taking the cat. Dryer is disconnected, but I can’t get to the hoses on the washer until the dryer is moved. I’ve done about as much as I can without having Doug here and they are more than 40 minutes late. Well, Nancy has a bed, TV and Dresser at Grandpa’s. We’re working cleaning drawers and furniture at Nancy’s before moving them. The washer is hooked up and running, but the dryer vent needs some engineering. (The vent pipe was totally clogged up for several feet.) I thing the next trip should be to get safety equipment installed in Nancy’s new bathroom. (From her old one.) The threat of rain pushed us into using our Ford Focus instead of the pickup truck so our third trip was quite a bit smaller than we had planned. We did bring the drawers for her chest of drawers, the rails for the commode and her safe. Found out after we had departed they wanted a roll of rubber matting and the large dog crate in the kitchen on wheels. I told them we’d have to bring them tomorrow. We went to Zaxby’s and got three chicken salads and returned to grandpa’s house to eat them with mom. I asked mom if she really wanted the hutch in the kitchen and the large dresser that was just full of memento stuff. (No clothes.) She didn’t say no, so I assume she was just waiting for me to say she couldn’t have it. 🙁 We struck a deal with Doug again tomorrow to help with Nancy’s large dresser / mirror and the hutch from the kitchen. Ricky wanted the hutch, I just don’t think mom needs the dresser. Both of them are FILTHY, full of bug droppings and their eggs. One thing both of us noticed about mom’s new bedroom. It’s VERY clean! My wife and I are both feeling the effects of breathing the dust from the dirty furniture. We’re donning gloves and masks tomorrow to stave off any serious ailments. (It can’t be good for two elderly people to be breathing this stuff.) We headed back to the farm and I fed the cattle when I got here. One good piece of information is that the neighbor seems to have worked out all the numbers and is planning on presenting a paper offer when his banker gets back from a trip. (We still need to have a lawyer look it over.) My wife and I looked at each other tonight and shared a feeling of just how difficult it is for each of us to be down here and live in a house infested with German roaches. FYI, they routinely crawl onto my hand while I am holding the mouse at this computer! We have to wash our hands and not touch anything. Even the refrigerator handles require us to rewash our hands as the refrigerator seals are a frequented place for them and their babies. I found bug wings in my drink today (after I had drank most of it) that probably came from the ice dispenser on the fridge. Nancy wanted her tub of dog food and I got all the way to the car before realizing the bugs had infested the wheel wells and were crawling on me. It’s going to be a miracle if we don’t bring a few bugs to Ricky’s. (It would have been terribly difficult to clean the inside of the washer / dryer that is now in Ricky’s garage.) The only idea I had was to spray the wooden platforms with RAID to kill them if they left the two machines. I did decide to try and use a high pressure air nozzle to clean the wooden furniture. (Still have to find one, or buy one tomorrow morning.) It started to bother me today that (in the 6 months we’ve been planning to move) none of this was cleaned beforehand. 🙁 I’ve not worked the networks at either farm or their cameras/lights yet. The well was fixed today, Ricky asked for cash to pay them which was a little awkward. The pickup truck ran well today, no issues. The trailer has a burnt out light, but otherwise did what we needed it to.

Tomorrow: Move the rest of the big furniture.

Injuries: Arguments: Exercise: Feeling words: Travel: Noteworthy: Accomplishments: Purchases: Engineering:

https://www.verywellfamily.com/feelings-words-from-a-to-z-2086647

From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT set clear goals for the day? No
Did I DMBT make progress to those goals? No
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT fix something today? Yes
Did I DMBT improve something today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
Did I DMBT be fully engaged? Yes
*Did My Best To