Not Much Going On

The photos may show "not much going on" but when I think back to this past week, a lot of things did happen but not blog photo worthy. Where should I start? The "to do" list continues to have items checked off and a major project was finished this week. Finishing the repair of the lower living room windows and painting the frame. I installed the screens I repaired a few months ago and they look great with the new wood repair and paint job. I only wanted to see how it looked and still don't quite trust the dog (Walter) from tearing out the new screens while I am gone ... so they are stored in the garage. Plus when cleaning windows I see way too many jowl smudges on the windows from the hounds and dog.

Stella had the screens tore out the second day we moved here as she DID escape out the front windows while I was talking to a new neighbor in the front yard. Walter did his anxiety attack chewing that he use to do, on the windows. I say "use to do" because different places he has chewed, like the corners of that coffee table or my bed footboard, no longer show signs of bulldog wood chewing residue on the floors. He would do that when I would leave the house.

He is still a great dog though and is the protector of the house, me and the hounds. It is amazing what he can hear while he sleeps, waking up and sprinting to the point of possible intrusion in his mind. He will get demanding with a short loud bulldog bark when the water bowl needs refilled or when he wants to go out the patio door. I have never had a breed that craves as much individual attention as Walter.

Henry is just Henry. Laidback, never does anything in the department of damages but is quite stubborn. In fact really stubborn, just like his basset hound DNA says he will be. 

Watson is still a playful puppy at two years five months old. He gets really excited, hopping up and down as he heads for the patio door ... after he hears me say ... "lets go pick up dog poop" ... I know, weird. He also does not damage anything inside or outside. He has always considered that love seat "his chair" and will get up on that whenever I tell him "get up in your chair" ... that usually happens when he is trying to squeeze into a very small space on the couch where there is just no room for another dog or hound.

I've been tweaking things in my budget, services, back to what I eat, and things around the house. It is not because I am running out of money but it's because I hate wasting money on the small stuff. Cars are not included in that calculation. Playing craps at the casino is also not in that calculation either. LOL So I made it official this week and so far after a day, afternoon and night of college football yesterday I must say my Directv cancellation has been a success. I have mentioned this before I think.

A few weeks ago I picked up a $32 GE indoor antenna, stuck it to the window to the left of the tv as a test to see if it worked. It did. After scanning for tv stations, I had 62 different channels where the antenna had a 60 mile range. Of course to me I didn't like the look of that so I moved the antenna to the wall behind the tv and pulled in only 42 channels. Many of those I had no interest, so I adjusted my remote to get NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX ... all in HD quality. I didn't load those channels for news or tv shows ... they carry almost all, but not quite, the college and pro football games along with some other sports I like.

Just like Verizon a couple of years ago ... you have to fight ... yes fight over the phone to cancel a service. Since September 18th I have had to call 4 different times, with calls ranging 20 minutes and longer to get my Directv service cancelled. I will not find out if that worked until the 27th since they will not cancel my service until the last day of my billing period. THEN I will get the automated email confirming cancellation.

When I would tell the computer receptionist what I wanted in two words as they requested "cancel service" that would automatically send me to the loyalty department where out of nowhere they come up with all these great deals reducing the amount of money I would need to pay ... to keep me as a customer.

Each time I had to tell my reasons for cancelling. Each time they put me on hold four to five different times "while I check your account". Each time they would tell me they had more deals and before that they would offer program packages that I was not interested in. Can't they hear "all I watch are sports"???? Then don't try to sell me a movie package. I even "begged" three different calls to cancel my Directv service. I have to stop talking about this, I feel my pulse rate rising.

Around the house I have tried to use my Swiffer duster more than I normally do and that has worked out very well. I vacuum like always because that is one thing I enjoy doing, similar to mowing the yard in different patterns. I am making an effort to pull a few weeds I see every few days when I am outside and since rain is not in our dictionary anymore ... I am watering the perennials, the rose bushes and other flowers outside that I don't remember their names. That is also working out well.

I am not on a diet but I seem to be always adjusting what I eat. People don't like to hear this because it eliminates what are considered healthy foods but I feel best on high fat, no more than 88 grams of protein and carbs that barely reach 100 grams per day. I tried going back to a healthy diet with carbs, less fat and the same amount of protein but I always have the same results ... some indigestion, a little stomach bloat and always feeling hungry. The only thing is, bicycles like carbs and from what I have read, it would take 9-24 months for my body to feel good using fat as an energy source when riding my bike 20 miles or more.

Compared to others, that is nothing to complain about.

I would not say that Watson is a possessive type of hound but he likes to drag all the chews he can, next to him sometimes. All three of them growl at times to keep the other two away from what they have but overall, they are pretty nice to each other when one will take what the other has. He evidently has not figured out that I no longer have the AC on and there will be no cold air coming out of that wall register ... but I have a feeling, sooner than I like, there will be hot air coming out of that register. I will once again have to ask him to move so we can heat the room.

Under that carpet is nice light color hardwood floors from 1958. I know because in each of the three bedrooms I have pulled up a corner of the carpet to see. Yet I like feeling the carpet under my feet when I get out of bed and am barely awake than I do tile or wood floors. I am not sure the original light color wood floor would look good with the darker laminate floors in the hallway leading to those bedroom. If I decide to remove the carpet ... that is not only a project but a HUGE project where I might not like the finished product. Let me know your thoughts on if the difference in wood color would matter.

Walter really isn't much of a sports fan.

Henry doesn't care and doesn't realize good college football games were on the tv yesterday. 

Watson and I ask the same question at times, as you can see it on his face ... "Is this all there is to retirement" ?????

Walter is letting me know that although the football games are about an hour old, it's lunch time and he needs to be fed. 

I almost forgot and only noticed when I was proofreading the post. I like to use my iPad Pro while watching games to see the stats of the game I am watching or scores of other games. Yesterday I clicked the "photos" to find 55 older ones I had either taken or uploaded to the iPad. I did not realize how good the photos are taken with the iPad camera. Can you tell which ones I took with my phone and which ones I gook with the iPad?

I don't know if I have ever seen more perfect weather than what we have experienced the past three weeks or so and will for the next 10 days at least. Windows open 24/7, no AC turned on, day temps in the mid 80s and sleeping temps in the 50s. I have been having some of my best sleep, according to the sleep app I use, in a long time. Weird dreams are few and far between compared to the past. The hounds and dog still rotate dog beds and sleeping spaces during the night.

The leaves are starting to turn colors, the yards are starting to go dormant and unlike my yard so far, some of the neighbor's have been covered with fallen leaves. I will have some later in November at the latest. 

I still think about selling this house and moving. With even more new border rules from DC, moving back to the southwest seems like a distant memory and won't happen. Add on the water issues if you live outside of town or in some small towns, that cements the decision not to move back closed.

I am still sniffing around the area where I use to live where my circle of convenience of 2 miles or less would be increased to 8 miles or more ... most things I need would be more than 8 miles. I can't help but think of making a profit on this house while the market is hot, downsizing into something more manageable as far as house and yard size. Of course it seems from the sales listing I see up north ... all the old houses that have been remodeled are gray walls, white trim and black handles on the kitchen and bathroom cabinets. I was told by an agent that is referred to "millennial gray". Well, whatever it is called I am not a fan of that.

Yes, I know for me, the hounds and dog this is the best place for all of us. It is just the way I am wired, possibly passed down from my dad. We did not move a lot but as a coach in high school, a spring did not go by where he was looking at other towns, a new team to coach and schools that he might be interested in. He seemed to be always looking which I confirmed in a conversation with him many years later.

He too, also loved trading cars and we had many. More than once on a Saturday he would tell my sister and I ... "get in the VWs and follow me" and we would return with three different cars. He didn't have a computer to do all the research in the 1960s like I do but he had time to look around, mostly at the smaller privately owned car lots. Sometimes he would splurge and buy a brand new car from the dealership.

So maybe the apple does not fall far from the tree, as they say.

With this place it is just not the profit to be made by selling the house now, that is a factor. I have mentioned many times and even posted photos in the past of what my backyard looks like after a lot of snow melts or the spring rains are heavy and often. I have heard all kinds of suggestions from landscapers, friends, blog readers, family ... but the next door neighbors that have lived here for 60 years all say the same thing.

"people that have lived here before you did that and nothing changed." Or the one I like best ... "when we were kids we used to play in your backyard after it flooded because it was like a lake" ... I am at 486' elevation with the Ohio River four miles away and like my mailman friend says ... "that's Evansville, everybody's yard has standing water after a heavy rain" ... he is in his 50s and has lived here his whole life.

As usual my mind wanders, too much, thinking about options whether they be cars, trucks, food, moving, buy or sell a house, etc .. at least I am not in my trade cars mode ... I like what I bought July 31st and am approaching two months of ownership ... in some cases that feels like a lifetime when it comes to me and car/truck ownership.

So it's "NFL Sunday" ... the hounds, dog and I will explore the backyard together, we will eat a little and watch at least the Colts game. It's too nice of weather to stay inside so an afternoon bike ride might happen today instead of a morning ride. Yes I do catch myself thinking,  "I am watching a game on the tv in HD quality and it's free" ... feels good. It took me years of "cutting the cord". 

Another beautiful morning in "the tropics of Southern Indiana" ... enjoy the rest of your weekend.