Leaky Toilet Fixed!

 

Before

Something that has been bothering me the past few weeks is my leaky toilet. 

Here at Casa Tipton-Kelly, there is always something that needs looking after. Get one thing fixed and another thing pops up. Like whack-a-mole. 

I noticed a couple of weeks ago that there was a trickle of water seeping into my toilet bowl after I used it. Oh no. Here we go, another home maintenance project. This is the kind of thing that Bill always used to take care of. Yes, I had a live in handyman for over fifty years. Needless to say I was spoiled. Spoiled rotten some would say. When Bill started to lose his eyesight I had to start learning some basic handyman jobs. And you know me, this is not my milieu. I'm a charmer. My speciality is shopping. Not fixing things. 

I was especially reluctant to hire a plumber at random. For years I had a contract with a local service company but when their servicemen went on commission three years ago and I realized I was being taken advantage of, I dropped them. That's another whole story. I sign up for a service agreement at $260 a year but I'm still spending a couple thousand dollars a year replacing parts. I did a little research and found out the big home service companies when the repairman commission route. 

I thought I could fix this water trickle problem myself but to no avail. I replaced the ball. I replaced the flapper. I adjusted and adjusted and adjusted, and still a trickle of water seeped into my toilet bowl. 

During my research I discovered I had the old type of fixture in my toilet tank. What? Why is it everything I have "old", including me. Everything old is wearing out, including me. 

I checked YouTube and tried to fix it myself to no avail. I called my widowed neighbor and asked him to look at it. He's couldn't fix it either and only succeeded in breaking the arm to the floater ball. I don't need this. I got a new arm for the floater ball and had one helluva time getting the new it attached. One thing, it's all butch work. A long way away from baking pies for this sensitive gay guy. Finally I gave in and asked my neighbor who has a friend who is a plumber to install one of those new systems without the floater ball. He did that this morning and now my toilet works fine! 

After

Not a sexy story but another day in the Life of Ron On His Own. 

One day at a time folks. One day at a time. 

New Refrigerator Delivery

My new refrigerator that I ordered from Home Depot arrived yesterday. This is the second attempt at delivery. I had to send it back because as you can see it was damaged.

A new delivery has been scheduled for next Friday. You read that right, I wait another whole week for my new refrigerator. In the meantime, I've thrown out a lot of old food and the rest I've stuffed in the small refrigerator in my basement next to Bill's bedroom that was only used for his late night ice cream treats. I hope that refrigerator doesn't break down. To say I'm frustrated is the least of it. I've since checked the reviews on Home Depot appliance deliveries and no surprise, they're all bad. Maybe I should have checked before I purchased this refrigerator. The really frustrating part is that I'm dealing with Spanish speaking people at every turn, even when I called their Hotline to report that I was refusing to accept this damaged refrigerator. Finally, after not getting through to the girl on the other end of the line because her primary language wasn't English, I asked to speak to someone whose primary language was English. She told me she couldn't promise that. She did transfer me and she was right, This time I was speaking to a guy whose primary language was obviously Spanish. And like the girl (woman?), they were both reading from a script. They weren't really listening to what I was asking. I wanted to make sure that the upgraded water line that I ordered was also with the refrigerator. I didn't see it with the one that came yesterday. They told me if I ordered it, I would get it. Well, I didn't see it yesterday and I didn't want to send this next delivery back because the correct water line wasn't there. 

Life in the fast lane. But as Pat often says "It could be worse, we could be living in Syria." I've updated that "It could be worse, I could be living in Gaza."

It's bad enough we're living in the good old USA with the Orange Felon on a mission to destroy our country as we know it. Now I'm wondering who would deliver my refrigerator if the ICE goons descend on Delaware and start arresting these delivery guys who don't speak English. 

Oven Not Working

 

Local oven repair guys

One of the joys of running a household is the guaranteed breakdown of equipment to maintain our comfortable first world lifestyle. The latest repair here at Casa Tipton-Kelly is that our wall oven (GE Profile) isn't working. I haven't had French Fries for three weeks now.

I use my wall oven almost every day. Even during these hot summer days. 

I often make casseroles for myself (Bill only eats oatmeal, he has no teeth) which I freeze for future meals. I reheat those partitioned casseroles at a later date in the oven. And of course I almost always have oven baked French Fries. I also reheat my Royal Farms biscuits in my conviction oven.

It seems once I get one thing fixed, then something else crops up. Pat's having trouble with his central air conditioning in his Hamilton, Ontario penthouse. Thank goodness I don't have any problems with my central air conditioning (knock on wood)! Oh for sure I did have problems with my central air conditioner a few years ago. I had to replace the whole unit which was builder grade and only lasted about seven years. That cost me a cool $10,000.

Last year I had a leak in my basement wall where the sewer pipe goes out to my septic tank. Seems the seal around the pipe wasn't there and groundwater leaked in. That fix cost me about $2,500.

No car troubles.....yet. But then I have a Subaru Forester (2010). My second one. I had my previous Subaru Forester about twelve years. Traded it in just because I got tired of it and the steering wheel was starting to pull to the left. I didn't want to go down that route of fixing up patches. I figured I would trade it in while I still got a good trade in (I did, I got $4,000 trade in for a twelve year old Subaru).

My latest big expense is the eye drops for my upcoming cataract surgery next week. I get my medications through the VA but my eye doctor prefers a specific prescription of three brand name eye drops for the best results of my cataract surgery. I decided to bite the bullet and pay out of pocket for this expense. I'll have to pay that again for my second eye. I'm thankful I have the funds to pay for it. Whenever I feel "poor me" I think this is only a first world problem. I could live in Ukraine.

Life goes on here at Casa Tipton-Kelly.

New Microwave Oven Delivered -Damaged!

This morning my new microwave oven was delivered. 

The delivery started out well. The truck arrived at the ideal time, around 10 AM. Morning deliveries are best for me. 

From my computer desk in my home office, I can see any traffic that goes by the road in front of our house. 

As I was talking to Pat on FaceTime I see this huge truck out front. "Oh no!" I said to Pat. I don't want them driving up our driveway, which so many delivery trucks do.

 

I've had them stuck in the grass when they try and back out. 

Make deep ruts in the grass when they back out. 

Run over and damage my sprinkler heads when they back out. 

Run over and damage the flagstones that line the daffodil garden beds that line both sides of our driveway.

I've had it all folks.

"Get the dolly out guys and bring the box in that way!"

Some years ago I had a heck of a time getting one delivery guy out of my driveway, the wheels of his truck were embedded that deep in the wet ground along our driveway.

I managed to get out there in time to warn them. 

Three masked guys came in. Even masked I could tell they were all Hispanic. Language challenge here. 

They were pretty efficient in taking out my microwave after asking me to put a plush town on the cooktop and getting them a step ladder and removing my condiments from the top cabinet above the microwave so they could pull the plug and put the new plug in.

However it was all for naught folks. They couldn't get the new microwave oven in. The frame was bent. Someone obviously dropped the box the microwave was in. 

Try as they might they couldn't easily slide in the new microwave as the above video shows. They tried so had the one guy almost lost his pants.

After I refused to accept it and they took it back. 

I cancelled my order. 

My old microwave is back in place. 

My old microwave oven back in place. It's a GE Spacemaker. Although a little creaky, it still works. I'll keep it until it gives up the ghost. I like it better anyway.

The beat goes on.

My New Normal

 

Bill waiting for trash pickup last Friday, his big event of the day. Bill now brings the trash cans back, a job he used to have before his accident, thus bringing his life somewhat back to normal.

Here at Casa Tipton-Kelly we're pretty well settling into the new normal. 

No more staying up all hours of the night. I used to go to bed around 12:30 to 1:00 AM. Two nights ago I went to bed at 8:30 PM and slept through the whole night. I do get up early, usually around 5:30 AM. 

First job in the morning is to change Bill's dressing on his right leg. He has edema on both legs. That means his heart isn't pumping enough blood to his lower extremities. His right leg began weeping (seeping clear liquid) shortly after he returned home last month from rehab. His hospice nurse recommended dressing his leg wound. She also prescribed an antibiotic. Both measures seem to have stemmed any worsening of Bill's edema. The wound is still there but not as bad. 

Every third day I have to help Bill get a shower. Actually I have to undress him, lead him to the shower, soap him down, all the while he complaining, and dry him off, then dress him, again while he is complaining, and then help him upstairs to give him is daily morning medications and prepare is breakfast of oatmeal.

That is just the beginning of my day. The other day we had a dust up. The usual, he made a suggestion to try to "help me", but actually would cause me a lot more problems than "help" me. The very first time we had a big fight in our fifty-six year old relationship was over him trying to "help me." I do all the cooking and cleaning up in this household. Bill insisted that he wash the dishes. I told him I prefer to wash the pots and pans and dishes before we sit down to eat (this was way back when we did eat together).  He wouldn't hear of it, he insisted that I leave the dirty pots and pans in the sink and sit down to eat and he would clean them later. I didn't see how this would "help" me. I come from a background where my Mother always left dirty dishes in the sink, resulting in gray, cold greasy dishwater. I vowed when I had my own household that I would never leave a dirty dish in the sink and especially not dirty dishwater. Well, we had furious fight over who was going to wash the pots and pans and I won. Over the years we have subsequently had many fights (arguments) over the same thing, which is really about control.

This time Bill wanted to remove the bed from his bedroom and replace it with a table so I could put all his wound dressings on that table. I told him I already had a system and I didn't need to remove the bed (which he doesn't use anyway). He wanted to take the table, which I was using, and put it in his bedroom. Again, this really wasn't about helping me but Bill taking control. You should see us driving. For several years now I do all the driving. But Bill still can't help himself, he is the ultimate back seat driver. More than once I've told him "Bill, either you drive this car or I do but we can't both do it at the same time. We're going to have an accident."

The condition Bill is in now, very weak, he is in no position to call the shots. The best way he can "help" me is to let me do my daily chores without his interference. I understand he wants to help but what he is really doing is again trying to take control. So when he didn't get his way he threw a fit and went to his bedroom, refusing to speak to me. I took my brother's advice (he was our Mom's caregiver) and establish who is in control. He said "You can't let them run the show because it's going to bring you down and ultimately them down" or words to that effect. 

After Bill cooled down we had a conversation and now Bill understands the best way for him to "help" me is to cooperate with me. I know what I'm doing. He wouldn't get the care he's getting from me from anyone else. 

Once a week his hospice care nurse visits to check on him. Of course Bill gripes and complains because someone is coming into out house. This has always been a source of contention between us. I have to patiently explain to Bill that she (Caitlin) is here to help him and me. His alternative is to spend the rest of his life in a nursing home. Would he prefer that? Of course he doesn't. Sometimes one has to get one's attention. I have his attention now, for awhile anyway.

Today we take our daily ride, something he would never get in a nursing home. I will make his lunch for him as I make his breakfast. I will help him dress and undress. And every third day I will help him shower, and he will complain. My once solace is that I am glad he's here at home and in his way he does appreciate what I'm doing. I am thankful he knows who I am, although he is often confused as to what day it is. I think I have him talked into spending a week at the hospice daycare center sometime in the next ninety days so I can take a respite leave. He was adamant against leaving our home for any reason. Now I think he sees it would help both of us if I got a reprieve for at least a week. It's not going to kill him to spend at week at the home like setting of the hospice day care center. And I am wearing down folks, but managing. 

For those of you who have never been caregivers, this is what you have to look forward to. Of course every situation is different but all of them have one thing in common. It is very time consuming because you're taking care of TWO people, not just  yourself. And you're taking care of someone who can't dress themselves and requires multiple medications, keeping track of which is not easy. I know one thing, if I ever end up in a situation that I need a caregiver (and I pray I don't), I will be a lot more cooperative. It's not all peaches and roses folks, it's life.

Have a great day everyone!

Three Big Hits and Other Thoughts

This past week I've taken three big financial hits. 

Last week my anchor crown broke. Visit to the dentist Monday. Big bill. $$$$$$$$

Yesterday I replaced the tires and brake pads on my car.  Big bill. $$$$$$

On the 30th of this month I'm having the leak in our basement wall repaired.  Big bill. $$$$$$$

Thank goodness I've already paid for my flight and accommodations in California.  I paid those last year when I made the reservations.  

But you know folks, even though I'm whining about my recent spate of big bills, these are only "first world problems."  At least I have a steady source of money flowing into our household.  Social security, pension payments and income from my part-time job at the hotel.  I feel so bad for those government workers, Coast Guard, TSA and contractors who are receiving NO MONEY as a result of Trump's hostage taking to fulfill a campaign promise to his rabid supporters to build a wall that he said Mexico would pay for.  Can't give in to hostage takers like Trump because he'll just do it again. For the first time in his life the lifetime criminal Trump is faced with not getting his way by bullying and intimidation. His lifetime of criminality will be exposed soon. But here I go on a rant again (feels so good).

Back to life here at Casa Tipton-Kelly.  My big toe nail is slowly coming back.  Nice to have a new toenail. I'm going to lose my other toenail.  Two new toenails! Would like to have a new body and face.  I'm falling apart. Maybe in my next life!  You know the problem with youth?  When you have that fabulous, young, springy body and good looks you're too stupid to appreciate it.  As you get older and wiser, your body and looks let you down.  I'm a lot wiser now (still dumb in other areas) but my body (and looks) are failing me now. I guess I just have to accept I'm a washed up has been.  Hey! There I go on another rant.

My departure date (February 10th) is quickly approaching. So looking forward to our (me and Pat) annual adventure in sunny California.  Two weeks folks! A week in West Hollywood and a week in Palm Springs.  Hopefully I won't injure my self during this jaunt.  I will tip toe through the tulips in La La Land very carefully.

Out of Gas!

Emergency gas delivery this morning - thank goodness!

This morning I awoke to discover I was out of gas. No, not THAT kind of gas but propane gas to heat the house.

Bill (who gets up earlier than I do) informed me "the heater's not working."  I noticed that there was a chill in the house.  So here we go, more drama.  Already today I have scheduled to have the Safelite Autoglass repairman come and replace my damaged window shield.  What else can happen?

First things first, heat.  I call my propane gas company with is appropriately named "Poore's Propane" (what you are after you pay the gas bill).  I get a women on the phone who I can hardly understand.  She talking low and has that "girl" accent (squeaky) and a southern Delaware accent.  The Perfect Storm.

She advises me to check the meter on the buried tank outside. The cold outside.  Meter?  Where is that?  Another learning curve for Ron.  

I go outside (haven't eaten breakfast yet, I love these emergencies while I'm still half asleep in the cold), with my portable phone and look to open the lid to the propane gas tank.  Still trying to decipher Miss Valley Girl, I see a meter.  I twist my head and see that that the arrow is pointing to 5%.  Ummmmmm, she says it should be at least 50%.  Well, la de da, what do you know?  I'm out of gas.

She tells me she will put in an emergency call and the service man will be out this morning.  I HOPE SO.  The service man from Safelite Autoglass repair is coming out this afternoon to replace my cracked window shield. Thank goodness I screwed that appointment up yesterday because I had originally schedule for that guy to come out this morning.  I have a nice sized driveway but it's not big enough for both a propane gas truck and the Safelite van.  Mr. Needs a Lot of Service guys here.

I go back into the house and have breakfast and try to stay warm.  Thank goodness it wasn't really cold outside or there was snow.  The temperature this morning was 36 degrees.  Inside the house it was about 60 degrees but dropping.  Definitely chilly.

Another "thank goodness": I'm glad this didn't happen when I was out in Los Angeles which is where I will be next week.  Bill doesn't know what to do or who to call in situations like this.  I keep things running around here. My default position in life, Mr. Operations Guy. Some people are rock musicians, some others con artists insurance salesmen. Me, I keep the clocks running.

So the heat is on now folks and feeling mighty good.  I await my Safelite auto repairman while I try to get caught up on my e-mails and bill paying and blog entries.  

Just another day in the Life of Ron folks.