Thursday Thirteen ~ 13 things I'm whining about

Thirteen Things about Pauline 13 things I'm whining about Break out the cheese, I'm about to whine! My weight – since getting the grandkids 2.5 yrs ago – I have gained 35 lbs. Yikes!!!! – but, the doctor wanted me to gain at least 10 – and I’m pretty healthy and still weigh less than most Maine women in their 50s lol No privacy at home – since getting the grandkids, I can’t even go to the bathroom in peace… but, before they came I was incredibly lonesome with The Captain gone to sea so much. My job – my job used to be my haven, things have changed so much it gets really tense… but, I still get treated well, good pay (better than most women in Maine lol – by about $6more an hour), help with insurance premiums, paid holidays and vacations, great co-workers. The price of gas!!! It costs me about $60 a week to get to and from work. My car is a gas hog - … but, it is 4-wheel drive and gets me up my steep driveway in the Maine winters. I miss my family – I have a son who lives on the west coast, a son and sister who lives in Arizona, a daughter and sister who live in Minnesota and I don’t get to see them very often – not even once a year sob, sob, sob. …. But, I have unlimited long distance phone service and yahoo for the internet email. My car is old – no air bags, no cd player and I drive for over a half hour each way to work and would love to listen to different programs on cd since they don’t make them on cassette tapes anymore boo hoo …. But, I do have a lot of tapes and my car gets me safely to and from work and I don’t have any car payments. My dog doesn’t want to travel with me anymore – I have to practically force her to get in the car – she’s getting older (and perhaps wiser – and doesn’t like my driving – see a previous post)… but she has been a faithful companion and guardian for the past 8 years and she still loves to see me when I get home. My house needs so many repairs! Both decks need to be replaced – a lot of wood rot, the kitchen door needs to be replaced – the double pane window in it has gotten moisture inside and always looks foggy and dirty, we get sand in the tub and sink from the well, we have no a/c and lots of lots of windows that don’t open…but, we have a roof over our heads, and a fantastic view. My closet is a disaster! I have way too much in it. A lot I can’t wear anymore – see #1, and some I just haven’t worn for years, some I should pack away for next winter, my shoe rack keeps falling off the door…but, I have an abundance of clothing and resolve to give some to good will – I guess you could say my closet runneth over. My husband is hardly ever home to help me with the kids or the housework or deal with the tenants or just to talk to and to hold … but, he is a hard worker, he loves and provides for us – he makes us laugh (when he isn’t pushing us towards excellence) My driveway (actually a shared dirt road leading down from the mountain that we share with 2 other families) is so full of potholes, my car is eventually going to fall to pieces…but, I never tire of the wonder of the narrow mountain road’s offering of wild life – deer, partridge, wild turkey, daisies, blackberries, pine, birch –totally awesome! Tenant problems! See a previous post here and pictures here – tenants can be nightmares! We have 11 rentals right now – one is empty and needs a lot of work before it is habitable again… but the others (well, one has a whiny tenant) are all rented with excellent tenants – they keep the places neat, pay their rent on time, don’t complain – most have been in the same unit for years. I’m not great with math but the percentages are definitely on the good tenant side. My computer at home is soooooooooooo slow – I have dial-up service and an older computer, I have trouble downloading or uploading pictures or even blogging much … but, I do own three computers, do have access to the internet so what in the world do I really have to whine about?

Wordless Wednesday - Our blue lobster

Thursday Thirteen ~ Weird things on my shelves

Thirteen Things about Pauline

1. A 3 point deer antler found in our woods.

2. A baton found in the basement of a rental house we purchased.

3. Three spurs and three horse shoes found in the Arizona desert by nephews while javalina hunting.

4. A small clear box with 66 porcupine needles taken from Mika's snout - along with a porcupine paw given to us by a friend of the Captain after hearing about Mika's adventure with the porcupine.

5. An old canister of pick-up sticks, 7 sets of Jacks - most old, a couple new, a book about how to play jacks and 3 jars of old marbles.

6. An old soap stone with flannel cover - used to warm the bed on cold nights.

7. A snake skin found in our yard

8. A rubber coated bottle, a round bottomed green bottle, 2 brown glass bottles, and a heavy metal cone-shaped item - perhaps from a torpedo - all caught in the Captain's net at one time or another.

9. A cow??? knuckle that Cling-On picked up while visiting in Arizona

10. A Pitch Pipe for guitar - No one here plays a guitar - or any other instrument as far as that goes.

11. An old wooden buoy - the kind that were attached to fishing nets years ago

12. Weird shaped branch, a wooden dowel, and 10 rocks - why? I don't know

13. Bear Bread - Native American term for tree mushroom - also known as Artist's Konk

As you probably noticed, I bunched stuff together - I actually had 56 lines I had to condense into 13. I probably could have had 13 per shelf. lol

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Wordless Wednesday Hiking

Airbags

Feeling a bit whiney today. I'm looking for cheese.
Airbags, hummmm? When are airbags supposed to inflate? My son was in an accident, his airbag did not inflate and he did hit his face on the steering wheel, breaking a couple of teeth - note: his teeth were not in good shape to begin with - but that is neither here nor there.
He wasn't injured bad enough that he was taken to the hospital - he doesn't have insurance and is pretty broke, so he toughed it out. His car was totaled - he hit a pole dead on. Anyway - a week or so later, he recieved a recall for the airbags in his car. So he called to file a claim, hoping to get his teeth fixed. What a run-around. From what I heard today from talking to a guy from GM - the airbags aren't necessarily made to inflate in all head on accidents. I don't get it - when are they supposed to inflate? I've heard of them inflating by tapping a car while parrallel parking. Aren't they supposed to protect you from smashing into the dashboard or steering wheel? I guess it may have something to do with how the accident happens - if the brakes were slammed on or not. Confusing. We're still waiting to hear back from them. We don't believe in suing for millions of bucks, but I feel fair compensation should be given. All he is asking for is to have a dentist bill paid, nothing else. Does anyone think the matter should be pursued? And if so, any ideas how to go about it?

Thursday Thirteen pictures

Here are the pictures for the TT. Makes me not want to be a landlord! Sorry I couldn't get the pics up with the TT, that pesky power outage! I tell you, the first thing I thought of was "How am I going to do my T13?" not "Whats going to happen to my food?" or "Ugh, no air conditioning!"

(posted by qtpies7)

Thursday Thirteen photos

I have photos to go with the tenant presents - My computer is very slow and I have dial-up service. I emailed the pictures and the 12 "presents" to qtpies7, and was wondering all day why she hadn't posted it for me. Some excuse - she hasn't had electricity since Wednesday morning. I'll whine for her, she can bring the cheese - and post the pictures for her mom when she can.