What did you do today?

[C.J.]

My kids are in town visiting. We went paint ballin today. All the cool outdoor courses are weekend only so we had to do an indoor course. They’re significantly smaller so you’re a lot closer to the other person when you get hit. It stings a bit.

The paintball place is 5 blocks down the street from work. I was talkin to the guy and they will fill your air tanks for free. I asked him what if I was a carpenter and wanted a tank filled so I could use it with my nail gun. They will fill those for free as well. Nice! Free and right down the street I’ve been wanting to try that for some time now cus I’m wondering how long a tank will last. How many nails can you fire off before the tank is empty. Some tanks will hold up to 4500 PSI so I would think you should be able to pop off a full days worth if you were the nailer on a crew. I think I will peruse Amazon for a tank and a connector now.

 

[highup]

Imagine never having to hold your phone up to your ear again. I don’t even want to talk to anybody on the phone anymore if I don’t have my ear buds with me.

While driving does the noise cancelling eliminate or reduce the car sound to the person that you are talking to?

 

[highup]

A word of caution. While walking during a hot sweaty day, I came home to find my ear "holes" were black. I thought it was dark brain blood and freaked out. After minutes of fear, I realized the black rubber inserts were breaking down, causing a black stain. I quickly changed to clear ear buds and the problems went away.

I'm glad you survived.

 

[highup]

Sorry to hear this. Oh, FYI, your name is in the approval queue. Should I approve you? lol

I'd give it a yes.

 

[C.J.]

While driving does the noise cancelling eliminate or reduce the car sound to the person that you are talking to?

Yep. Some of the really good ones you can do just about anything and it will mute out the majority of the background noise pretty nicely.

 

[highup]

Yep. Some of the really good ones you can do just about anything and it will mute out the majority of the background noise pretty nicely.

I called my cousin at Christmas. We talked for 20 minutes. She informed me that they were driving home. I had no idea she was in a vehicle rolling down the interstate.
Impressive, and I told her so.

 

[C.J.]

Yep. Window up or down, doesn’t matter.

 

[zannej]

I didn't realize I forgot to post my updates. Must have fallen back asleep this morning. Bladder woke me up around 4am.
My week thus far:
Sunday we had massive thunderstorms. Power went out multiple times and stayed out for a few hours each time. When power was back on again the internet wouldn't work. Starlink satellite got borked. Gen2 version so it's discontinued. Setup phone as mobile hotspot and did troubleshooting. Decided fastest option would be to replace the old kit with a new gen3 kit (sold at Bestbuy and in stock). Knew I needed the longer cable and pole mount (since the mount mechanism is different on the standard gen3. I had standard gen2 but it articulated. Not so with standard gen3. The articulated gen3 was over $1k just for the kit without the longer cable and without pole mount adapter. Ended up costing over $550 for the whole shebang (at least $50 of that was sales tax). Set it for in-store pickup.

Monday I got up around 6am and started cleaning the living room. The mountain of bottles and trash Mom accumulated was in the way of being able to get the cable in for the new kit and get it over to where we wanted the modem. After 1pm my brother was nagging me to go to the store to get the new kit. Stopped at HD for a climbing harness and some zip ties for cable management. Ate at the local Chinese buffet. Grabbed a couple things from Samsclub-including fleece-lined pants for best friend (he's still feeling cruddy but no longer in such immense pain and he had to work on his usual day off). Then picked up the kit. Did that last bc I thought the box might not fit in the back seat, but it did.

Tuesday I got up around 7:30am and continued cleaning up the trash in the living room. I was still cleaning when friend showed up a little before 5pm to take down the old dish and install new dish. Brother came in and pulled the new cable from the inside while friend was pushing it through on the outside. Fortunately the new proprietary ends are easier to fit through holes. I got the cable over to the new location for the modem and unplugged the old one and moved it out of the way. Continued cleaning until just before 7pm. Back tapped out on me so I needed a rest. Mom was happy and said I could get BK shroom & swiss melts so I made a quick trip into town and back. Brother cooked for her so she was fine. I then racked tf out. She'd woken me up at 2am to have me set my phone up as a mobile hotspot for her. After I took a break from cleaning for the day I set up the new wifi info on Mom's computer so she could use it right away.

Today my bladder woke me up around 4am and I checked message boards and stuff. Saw that Bacpacker on homesteading passed and cried while reading through stuff. Went back to sleep til probably after 2pm. Got up and got food for Mom and resumed cleaning up the trash in the living room. It was dark by the time I finished. Asked my brother to haul out the trash bags. He said the burn pile was taller than him. He set it on fire to make more room. Nice warm bonfire out front.

Now I'm getting some rest. Need to get most recent pics for before and after but my back needs a break.
Before: the bottle mountain from hell

This was before I finished cleaning up all the bottles on the left side

I got all the trash out from underneath the furniture after this. I desperately need to vacuum though.
I kept some of the larger empty bottles/containers to use for storage.
Will have to get more updated pics later.
On the bright side, friend got cleared for closing on the house he's buying and asked me to help him start moving stuff over to it tomorrow. Also, Mom stopped throwing her trash over there since I got her some bags to keep near her desk to fill up with trash and I've been taking the bags out since brother won't do it.

 

[Floorist]

Finally got Medicare to ok my meds.

 

[zannej]

I got a little ryobi pet stick vacuum. It isn't very strong, but it did OK. Need to get a much stronger vacuum that can do shampooing and do some spot cleaning and stuff.
I don't remember my mother ever doing carpet shampoo and vacuuming and I don't recall if I have either. If I did it would have been a very long time ago. Need a really good one that can handle pet hair and stuff.
Anyone know of a good one?

I'd love to replace all the carpet in the house with vinyl plank at this point.

Vacuumed yesterday and helped friend move furniture and boxes over to his new house.
Most recent pics after vacuuming:

 

[highup]

That's looking a lot better now. Before shampooing, it want a much more powerful vacuum to be used first. Even if you have to rent something. I'd vacuum the living heck out of it first because you'd want to get every last bit of dust and dirt out that you can. Once your sure the dust and dirt are out, then do the cleaning.
The more cleaner you put on the carpet, the more of it you'll have to rinse out.

Also, after cleaning.... especially if you get it too wet, you will not want to be walking on the carpet until it's totally dry...... Not just the surface fibers, but especially the carpet backing. If the carpet backing gets soaked and you're walking on it, the backing will separate.... or delaminate.
So be absolutely sure the carpet is totally dry before regular traffic gets on it.

 

[zannej]

highup, thanks for the advice. Vacuuming up more dirt is definitely a good idea. I did not know that about the carpet pad. Good to know. I wonder how long it takes for the carpet to dry after shampooing. I also wonder if I can spot clean instead of doing the whole carpet. I may bring my shop vac in to get up some of the stuff in corners and spots the regular vacuum couldn't get.

Helped my friend move more stuff and he didn't secure his cat tree in the back of my truck. I was driving down the road and saw it starting to fall over (rearview mirror), hit the brakes and pulled into the center lane but it still flew out. Parish cop was directly behind me. He immediately put his blue lights on and I got out and he was smiling and friendly. Friend was behind the cop and pulled over to help me get it back in and lay it down so it wouldn't fly out. Cop waited until all the pieces were picked up (two pieces broke off) and then he took off. Friend was able to get the pieces back on.

was supposed to go pick up his trash can from in front of his old house and bring it to the new one but apparently they didn't do trash pickup today and it was still full. So, rain check on that. He's feeling a bit stressed because there were some unexpected charges-- they lied to him about not charging for the 2nd inspection. Plus someone on FB said what street he moved to and his stalker grandfather went looking for him and found him outside demanding to see the new house. Friend told him no and to eff off. That dude needs to get a hobby other than harassing people. And friend may need to get a restraining order.

He was messaging me while hiding the 4-yr-old in his office at work. People from corporate were visiting and he hasn't had a sitter since his mom has Covid and the kid's mom is in jail. Fortunately the kid was behaving himself.

My brother actually got to back me up when mom was pulling some bs today. She said she wanted oatmeal and I said we were out and asked if she wanted anything from the store. She said oatmeal. So, I went to the store, grabbed groceries, got gas, stopped briefly to see the trash can was full and went straight home. She started yelling at me that she'd asked me for oatmeal 3 hours before (it had been less than 2hrs since she mentioned the oatmeal). Brother said "No, she told you we were out of oatmeal and that she'd get it at the store". he even repeated back verbatim what was said. She then said "I had my headphones on so I didn't hear". Woman will ask me questions while wearing noise-cancelling headphones and then be mad that she doesn't hear my answer or be mad that she didn't hear me say something to her.

I'm probably going to take a nap soon now that kitties have started piling on my lap.

 

[Tile Tom]

The kid just won the regional silver gloves tournament in Boston Mass. He’s now ranked #1 in the North East & in the top 8 for 90# in the country!! Off to Kansas City Missouri in two weeks to take the National title!!!

 

[highup]

The kid just won the regional silver gloves tournament in Boston Mass. He’s now ranked #1 in the North East & in the top 8 for 90# in the country!! Off to Kansas City Missouri in two weeks to take the National title!!!
View attachment 20633

Holy smokes..... he's taking serious to the next level.
What this your "thing" at his age?

 

[highup]

highup, thanks for the advice. Vacuuming up more dirt is definitely a good idea. I did not know that about the carpet pad. Good to know. I wonder how long it takes for the carpet to dry after shampooing. I also wonder if I can spot clean instead of doing the whole carpet. I may bring my shop vac in to get up some of the stuff in corners and spots the regular vacuum couldn't get.

Helped my friend move more stuff and he didn't secure his cat tree in the back of my truck. I was driving down the road and saw it starting to fall over (rearview mirror), hit the brakes and pulled into the center lane but it still flew out. Parish cop was directly behind me. He immediately put his blue lights on and I got out and he was smiling and friendly. Friend was behind the cop and pulled over to help me get it back in and lay it down so it wouldn't fly out. Cop waited until all the pieces were picked up (two pieces broke off) and then he took off. Friend was able to get the pieces back on.

was supposed to go pick up his trash can from in front of his old house and bring it to the new one but apparently they didn't do trash pickup today and it was still full. So, rain check on that. He's feeling a bit stressed because there were some unexpected charges-- they lied to him about not charging for the 2nd inspection. Plus someone on FB said what street he moved to and his stalker grandfather went looking for him and found him outside demanding to see the new house. Friend told him no and to eff off. That dude needs to get a hobby other than harassing people. And friend may need to get a restraining order.

He was messaging me while hiding the 4-yr-old in his office at work. People from corporate were visiting and he hasn't had a sitter since his mom has Covid and the kid's mom is in jail. Fortunately the kid was behaving himself.

My brother actually got to back me up when mom was pulling some bs today. She said she wanted oatmeal and I said we were out and asked if she wanted anything from the store. She said oatmeal. So, I went to the store, grabbed groceries, got gas, stopped briefly to see the trash can was full and went straight home. She started yelling at me that she'd asked me for oatmeal 3 hours before (it had been less than 2hrs since she mentioned the oatmeal). Brother said "No, she told you we were out of oatmeal and that she'd get it at the store". he even repeated back verbatim what was said. She then said "I had my headphones on so I didn't hear". Woman will ask me questions while wearing noise-cancelling headphones and then be mad that she doesn't hear my answer or be mad that she didn't hear me say something to her.

I'm probably going to take a nap soon now that kitties have started piling on my lap.

You can spot clean and that might tell you how much further you need to go.
Sometimes when repairing a seam in a heavily trafficked area, I would go as far as getting on my knees, armed only with the shop vac hose, no wand, no nozzle. I'll go back and forth over the seam with the hose end acting like a scrub brush to such up the dirt and sand before I cut open the seam to make the repair. Once dirt and sand get derp below the carpet surface it takes a strong vacuum to pu it back out.
I use a 16 gallon vac with a 2 1/2 inch hose.... The more power the marrier.
Drying will depend on how much water, how high of humidity and fans will be your best friend. Lots of air movement and at floor level.

 

[Floorist]

If you are seeing old posts pop up in notifications as new posts, please say so. I need the backup.

 

[Tile Tom]

Holy smokes..... he's taking serious to the next level.
What this your "thing" at his age?

I used to fight when I was a kid too. Just not at the level he’s rising to.

He loves this & it’s literally our life. All of our friends are in different clubs around the state. We see each other almost every weekend at shows & competitions. We’re a small community but a very tight community.

 

[MSLI]

I don't remember my mother ever doing carpet shampoo and vacuuming and I don't recall if I have either. If I did it would have been a very long time ago. Need a really good one that can handle pet hair and stuff.
Anyone know of a good one?

The store bought carpet spot cleaning machines in my humble opinion are not worth purchasing. I like using a shop vac with the black sleeve filter. The home centers or Amazon probably sell a 10.00 hand attachment for carpet cleaning. I lent mine to a maintenance man years ago and never got it back ….Now all you need is two spray bottles, one with cleaning solution and one with clean water for rinsing. Bob’s your uncle, Red Neck spot cleaner and dog hair sucker upper with more power than you need, but the power that you want.

 

[MSLI]

My brother actually got to back me up when mom was pulling some bs today.

That’s where understanding can be helpful at mitigating conflict. Especially if the conflict is a minor problem.

To them ( your Mom) the problem is as real as the nose on their face. So if we focus on them and the infraction they feel, rather than our need to defend, we are engaging internal understanding, or internal strength ! ( that most people think is a weakness ) to share this understanding as an external understanding for your mom’s grievance.

Try it one time and take notice how it makes you feel after it’s done. Then share with us that feeling. As a byproduct, your mothers spirit will probably be increased and the grievance has a chance to melt away. She’s not going to be around much longer, and this could be a healing gift for both of you best of luck. It’s not easy because defense mechanisms are instinctual, so give yourself a break if you fall short, but give it a try.

 

[MSLI]

If you are seeing old posts pop up in notifications as new posts, please say so. I need the backup.

The only thing I noticed is not
receiving all notifications. If I notice old ones, I’ll let you know.

We appreciate the hard work Rusty