Still Not Fixed

Update on our truck as of Friday....front seats out and dashboard removed and sitting on the floor. No update today (Monday).

I got some more unpacking/donating/ tossing done. Have some more papers to go through, and more clothes.

We had a thunderstorm last night with torrential rain. Things are greening up, finally. Today I heard some cranes so I grabbed my phone and rushed out to the patio. They were circling around and calling loudly. I wonder if the former habitat that is now being filled in was their nesting place. Anyway, they flew away. 

Hubby was off Friday so we took some time to drive around, because it was sunny and mild. There are some interesting buildings along the river by Lawrence University. They are former factories converted into apartments and restaurants. We would like to explore the area more if we can figure out where to park. The Historic District around the University is really pretty. 

I edited my "Dreams" statement. I don't think my life has any more dreams. It just sets me up for disappointment. Unless we win a lottery we are never living in a house. My dreams of living with a view are fading. I'm hoping spring will cheer me up. I hope we can find places to walk that aren't a swamp. There seems to be a lot of swamps and flat, boring land with no hills around here...well....Fox Valley. Don't tell me "bloom where you're planted".

That's all the complaining for today. Need to vacuum the dead pill bugs out of the hall closet. I don't know why we have pill bugs. 

Feeling Better Today

 Today is a better day. Hubby and I are feeling better. His best friends from Helgesen sent him pictures to say hello. It would be great if they could all end up working together again.

There was a big bird sitting on one of the trees this morning. I couldn't tell what it was. When it flew I didn't think the wings were long enough to be an eagle. The wings were a bit short and wide. Later it was preening itself and I could see red tail feathers, so, Red Tailed Hawk! It was probably fluffed up against the cold, making it look bigger. Also, I'm used to seeing crows in those trees, so my judgement was off.

A bad picture of the bird preening

Sandhill Cranes

A flock of geese were flying over and around and around. The geese don't migrate anymore, they just hang around in the fields. Sometimes they seem unsettled, like some hint of migration is nagging at them. I'm sure they fly south if we get lots of snow, I'm guessing. I also saw and heard a large flock of Sandhill Cranes fly over. I love how they sound.

I got some lights up on the patio. Mostly just a rehash of what was up last year. My Feit Electric outdoor WiFi Smart Plug has disconnected from my Netgear WiFi Mesh Extender, so now I need to go outside and push a button on the smart plug instead of in the app on my phone. The lights are going to stay on all night because I'm not going out there in my jammies. Will try to connect tomorrow.

Oh, now I have it connected. I can only control it when my phone is connected to 2G. Since my phone is 5G and both my phone and router don't have a 2G setting, I decided to buy the Netgear, in which I created a 2G network to connect to. I know that plug has a way to set it to go off at a certain time, But I seem to have lost that setting. Once I have it set to go on and off when I want I don't need to keep my phone on 2G.

I thought these solar LED light bulbs would be cute but they aren't bright enough

Blue lights mess with my camera. Trust me the bulbs I bought are not bright enough.

Those bulbs.

That's all for tonight. I've been doing a little painting so I want to do some of that before I head to bed.

See You On Monday

We are leaving early tomorrow morning so I won't have time to post. I just heard and saw two Sandhill Cranes fly over! I don't think they are normally here this late. My petunias are still in full bloom. Next week we have some serious cold coming so that will probably take them out.

I have so much to do today and a lot on my mind. I didn't sleep well (about 5 hours) because I kept waking up. I wonder what I can add to my laundry to make my sheets smell fresher without actually adding a scent. I use unscented detergent because perfume gives me asthma, but unscented detergent is weird sometimes. Baking soda didn't help. Maybe vinegar? Oh, just sniffed my unscented dryer sheets...weird smell. That could be the problem. I have no way to add anything to the rinse cycle of my washer unless I use some type of dispenser, because I'm not going to stand there waiting for the wash cycle to end. 

Hubby is awake now so my day is busy now. See ya'all on Monday! 

Random Updates

My son-in-law is in the hospital now for outpatient surgery for that kidney stone. He was on antibiotics for 2 weeks to recover from the infection and swelling that happened when his kidney backed up. They put a stent in place to allow his kidney to drain around the 9 MM stone. My daughter is at the hospital now.  Updates later.

Yesterday I pulled all the bins and boxes out of the big closet so I can go through them. All that's left in there are a few clothes hanging and a bunch of books on the shelf. I was a little sore yesterday and hubby said I'm doing too much. I told him, "No, somebody needs to do it and you're doing the garage." My back was sore yesterday but today I feel fine, just discouraged.

The job situation is dismal. Apparently most companies like to wait until after the elections to hire, maybe even until after the holidays. It's a sad state in this country that companies want to jump ship and move operations to Mexico or other countries. They are just running from paying their fair share in taxes. I watched a clip yesterday of the traitor former orange in chief talking to John Deere. He told them if they move their operations to Mexico he will put $400 tariffs on everything they produce and they won't sell any of it here in the US. So John Deere said, if he gets elected they will keep their plants open here in the US, but if Harris is elected they are leaving. They announced earlier this year their intent to close 3 plants here in the US and open them in Mexico. What does that say about our country? Where are all those jobs and the booming economy we keep hearing about? 

Government, Hospitality and Healthcare/Education. Well, there you go. Manufacturing is loosing. 

My son-in-law is prepped and waiting now, time 10:35 am.

Back to politics. Hubby and I are voting for Democracy and for protecting the Constitution and for protecting Kosovo and Europe from the onslaught of dictatorship from Russia. But I reluctantly understand why people choose orange because they view him as stronger on the economy, as in keeping jobs here in the US and not watching them flee our tax system. It's complicated. I can't pretend I can understand it all or even debate or explain it. It is what it is. 

Right now I don't know how we will move forward in this mess. All I can do is continue to pack, so if hubby gets hired for a good job, we can move. Or maybe a good job will happen locally, and we can stay. But I need to be prepared. At least my spring cleaning will be done. Our lease is up the end of April, then our rent will go up AGAIN. Our rent was $995 in 2019. It might have been the same when we moved here in April 2018. It's now $1115, and I'm sure it will increase again in June. So, $120 in 6 years may not seem like a lot, but everything else has risen horribly. Insurance, Internet, FOOD.....need I continue, and his job is getting cut by SEVEN dollars per hour. That's $1120 less per month, like a whole rent payment. 

We keep dumbing our budget down. And it's not just us. My son-in-law is an engineer, he and my daughter (who also works) are paying for the house they built. He's putting one kid through college and the other starts next year. He is the hospital and his out of pocket max is $8000. My daughter said he hasn't had any overtime in years.

My daughter said they took him into surgery at 10:55 am

11:32 am, he's done. They had to break up the stone, it was too big to pull out. One hour in recovery and she gets to see him.

I'm happy my son-in-law's surgery went well and he can recover and not be in pain all the time. 

Here are some pictures, the first two are from today. I was going to bring more plants in but it's just too beautiful out. The other three pictures are Sandhill Cranes. They stop in to eat birdseed I put out for them.