Today is one of those days. We all have them, and we all have to deal with them. Even though I keep telling myself that many people have to deal with much more, I'm still grouchy about it. I think being grouchy should be a protected right in America, right along with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness... or feel free to be grouchy if you prefer.
It all started when I woke up at the crack of dawn. Well, it wasn't actually a crack, it was the whine of dawn. Olivia was whining to go potty. When Olivia the puppy has to go, she has to go NOW. So I got up to take Olivia off the boat, and of course Ruby and Chevy had to go too. Dealing with three dogs, two of which have to be lifted off the boat, is a challenge, especially before my morning shower and coffee. In my stupor, I got them off the boat, up to the yard, and back on the boat. I think.
Hmmmm.... I better go do a dog count.
OK, I'm back. I've got all three. Not short any, didn't bring any extras back. Back to the story.
Back on the boat, I started the coffee and went downstairs for my shower. There's a pile of dog puke on the bed. Olivia. I ignored it and took my shower and then drank my coffee. Later, I washed the upchuck off in the head sink and spread the bedspread on the foredeck.
I checked Al Gore's internets, including UPS. Yesterday I hiked to the marina office because I had expected mail from my St. Brendan's Isle mail forwarding service only it hadn't come. According to UPS, though, it was delivered. This was only slightly annoying as it's a mile walk to the marina office and a mile back. So I trudged to the office again and this time got the mail. Bills, bills, bills.
Three bills to paint the bottom of the boat. I was charged for every little thing done, including 1 1/2 hours to move the boat from the slip to the travel lift, $11 a foot to actually lift it, several hours to put in on stands, etc. etc.
There was a doctor bill for $600 for the ten minutes I saw him (I have no health insurance). I called the billing service and told them I paid a $300 deposit at the hospital emergency room. That was for the hospital, not the doctor, who bills separately. Grrrrr.... OK, here's my debit card. Can you take anything off because I have no insurance? No sir. If you paid it within 30 days I could have taken off 30%, but it's past 30 days....
Even a bill from Isle of Hope Marina for $67, when actually I had anticipated a check from them.
Isle of Hope charges 20 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity. I was billed $329.80 for electricity for the month of June, and $36.80 for July 1st and 2nd. That would be 1,649 kilowatt hours of electricity used in June, and 184 for two days in July. That's 55 kw per day for the month of June, and 92 kw per day for July. The average 3 bedroom home uses 30 kw per day. We have one small apartment sized refrigerator, one dorm room size, a ten gallon water heater, and three small A/C compressors. It seems impossible that we'd use that much electricity. I'll know for sure because we're also metered at Brunswick and I can compare bills. If the bills come out more or less the same, fine, but if they don't, Isle of Hope can expect a visit from me.
Let's see, then there's a letter from the Social Security Administration dated July 3rd telling me I had ten days to submit a special form. Today is August 7. That required a phone call.
The internet is slow.
It's 92 degrees and humid outside.
My back hurts.
Pamela won't be home until Wednesday night at the earliest.
No wonder I'm grouchy.
Let's see. I should look on the bright side and cheer up. Usually Pamela does that for me, but I'll just have to buck up and do it myself. Umm....
The dogs are all asleep. That's very good.
I have two hot dogs left. I've been eating hot dogs for dinner every night since Saturday because they're easy. That's a good thing.
I have beer! It's downstairs in the forward stateroom, but I have beer. It's a new kind for me too, Shock Top Belgian White. It's good.
Maybe I'll watch me some old movie westerns this afternoon. That would be very good.
And I see Joe Walsh is coming back, one of rock's greatest guitarists. That's great news.
Life is good.
It all started when I woke up at the crack of dawn. Well, it wasn't actually a crack, it was the whine of dawn. Olivia was whining to go potty. When Olivia the puppy has to go, she has to go NOW. So I got up to take Olivia off the boat, and of course Ruby and Chevy had to go too. Dealing with three dogs, two of which have to be lifted off the boat, is a challenge, especially before my morning shower and coffee. In my stupor, I got them off the boat, up to the yard, and back on the boat. I think.
Hmmmm.... I better go do a dog count.
OK, I'm back. I've got all three. Not short any, didn't bring any extras back. Back to the story.
Back on the boat, I started the coffee and went downstairs for my shower. There's a pile of dog puke on the bed. Olivia. I ignored it and took my shower and then drank my coffee. Later, I washed the upchuck off in the head sink and spread the bedspread on the foredeck.
I checked Al Gore's internets, including UPS. Yesterday I hiked to the marina office because I had expected mail from my St. Brendan's Isle mail forwarding service only it hadn't come. According to UPS, though, it was delivered. This was only slightly annoying as it's a mile walk to the marina office and a mile back. So I trudged to the office again and this time got the mail. Bills, bills, bills.
Three bills to paint the bottom of the boat. I was charged for every little thing done, including 1 1/2 hours to move the boat from the slip to the travel lift, $11 a foot to actually lift it, several hours to put in on stands, etc. etc.
There was a doctor bill for $600 for the ten minutes I saw him (I have no health insurance). I called the billing service and told them I paid a $300 deposit at the hospital emergency room. That was for the hospital, not the doctor, who bills separately. Grrrrr.... OK, here's my debit card. Can you take anything off because I have no insurance? No sir. If you paid it within 30 days I could have taken off 30%, but it's past 30 days....
Even a bill from Isle of Hope Marina for $67, when actually I had anticipated a check from them.
Isle of Hope charges 20 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity. I was billed $329.80 for electricity for the month of June, and $36.80 for July 1st and 2nd. That would be 1,649 kilowatt hours of electricity used in June, and 184 for two days in July. That's 55 kw per day for the month of June, and 92 kw per day for July. The average 3 bedroom home uses 30 kw per day. We have one small apartment sized refrigerator, one dorm room size, a ten gallon water heater, and three small A/C compressors. It seems impossible that we'd use that much electricity. I'll know for sure because we're also metered at Brunswick and I can compare bills. If the bills come out more or less the same, fine, but if they don't, Isle of Hope can expect a visit from me.
Let's see, then there's a letter from the Social Security Administration dated July 3rd telling me I had ten days to submit a special form. Today is August 7. That required a phone call.
The internet is slow.
It's 92 degrees and humid outside.
My back hurts.
Pamela won't be home until Wednesday night at the earliest.
No wonder I'm grouchy.
Let's see. I should look on the bright side and cheer up. Usually Pamela does that for me, but I'll just have to buck up and do it myself. Umm....
The dogs are all asleep. That's very good.
I have two hot dogs left. I've been eating hot dogs for dinner every night since Saturday because they're easy. That's a good thing.
I have beer! It's downstairs in the forward stateroom, but I have beer. It's a new kind for me too, Shock Top Belgian White. It's good.
Maybe I'll watch me some old movie westerns this afternoon. That would be very good.
And I see Joe Walsh is coming back, one of rock's greatest guitarists. That's great news.
Life is good.
Fantasies...whether living on a boat, a lake (our reality) or whatever one has, comes with a reality check! We’ve been cashing in ours “checks” for the past week…bad internet (bad modem), bad air-conditioner (bad expansion valves), leaking pipes under the sink…all due to the high calcium deposits in our water up here (all resealed, replaced and restored). So now we sit and enjoy the cooling air-conditioning, waiting for the heat of summer to break! We fish / work / play / ??? until about 0930 then scurry into the dark cool environs of the house until about 1730 to sneak out and test the “liveability” of our fantasy place on the lake. It seemed soooo much better as a fantasy…buy I will still take it over “the other realities”!
ReplyDeleteBeen eating too many dogs myself, though Sriracha sauce helps. Great Joe Walsh video. cool guy and fellow ham radio enthusiast.
ReplyDeleteDitto Richard...
ReplyDeleteHay Dave-- I hope your Pageviews don't crash at 100,000!!