Kevin's Hetero MFM Poly-Fi V

10:41 a.m., Wednesday the 8th

So the painters are here, they pretty much arrived at 7:00 a.m. sharp. Their plan today is to do all of the taping, and all of the painting of the ceilings. I think they're already started on the painting part. They are certainly nice, and pleasant enough, but it is still a damned awkward situation. Snowbunny and I are sitting at a foldup table in the garage, and it's likely to get hot in here. My stuff (bite guard holder, toothbrush, etc.) was thrown into a box and in general it looks like a tornado hit my room. I didn't even get a chance to take my bite guard out before all that happened, I guess I can do it later on after they leave for the day, but I'll have to dig through that box in order to do it. Meanwhile, Eddie is in his cage, and Rainee is in her carrier. They were doing fine for a while, but right now they're unhappy.

So the washer and dryer had two folding doors that were intended to close over the appliances. Yesterday Snowbunny removed those doors, and it looks like she isn't going to put them back (which is fine). She is going to fix up the area above the appliances, and I don't know, maybe she'll even add a curtain in front of them.

A lot of stuff is up in the air right now. This coming Monday, they're going to replace the water heater.
 
Wow, you guys really have a lot of work to do on the house. Painting sounds like a huge pain, but if you know you need it, it's still much easier to do it before moving in or when you just moved in.
 
11:34 a.m., Thursday the 9th

It certainly would have been nice if the painting could have been done before we moved in. What really depresses me, and stresses me out, is knowing that sometime in the future, we'll end up replacing all of the carpet. That, I think, will be worse than this.

Brother-Husband and Snowbunny have decided to get a second dog. This is something they couldn't have done in the condo, the HOA there had a rule that you could only have one pet. (Rainee was a special exception because we got her the title of: my Emotional Support Animal.) We will get the second dog (a female) as a puppy, and we'll have to go through potty training with her. We won't be replacing the carpet until that potty training is complete.

Our dining room has wallpaper, and will not be painted, other than the ceiling which is done. So, Snowbunny and I don't have to sit in the garage, we are in the dining room. Eddie is tethered (to the dining room table), and Rainee is in her carrier. They're both taking it very well at the moment.

Brother-Husband has been working his regular schedule at Lowe's, which runs Monday thru Friday. I guess yesterday was a really crappy work day for him, I hope today is better. Snowbunny works from home, I don't have a job (I am on disability).
 
1:42 p.m., Friday the 10th

So the painters are done, they departed an hour or two ago, they did a good job, we are just waiting for the last bit of drying to take place. Soon the arduous task of moving all the furniture back will commence.

Outdoor temperatures are really high right now, today it's supposed to get up to 101°, 100° tomorrow. Usually the swamp cooler works pretty good, but for some reason it is not kicking on right now.

Over the last few days, I have played two bot games against a 1400-point bot named Ali. I won both games, but the second game (in which I played as Black) was damned messy. But I don't know, a win is a win, right?

I think BH had a better day at work, still not great but better. SB has her share of headaches doing IT for Harborstone Credit Union (in Washington).
 
11:21 a.m., Saturday the 11th

So it turns out actually the swamp cooler is malfunctioning/broken. SB is thinking we will have to replace it, she is thinking maybe a heat pump (which can produce cool air in the summer). A guy is supposed to come out this coming Monday to give us an estimate. (Yes the water heater will also be replaced on Monday.)

In the meantime, SB got us a portable air conditioner, it is set up in hers and BH's bedroom, with a fan blowing cool air across the hallway into my bedroom. SB also set up a curtain in the hallway, to contain the cool air to our two bedrooms. Not a perfect fix, but better than nothing.

The furniture in my bedroom is now all back in it's proper place, and my laptop and I are set up at my desk. I think what I am hoping for most next is for the door to my attached bath to be installed. Also I don't know where my shampoo is (for the shower in my attached bath).
 
11:06 a.m., Sunday the 12th

I did another Chess bot game yesterday, this time versus Mateo (another 1400-point bot), and lost. I guess I was doing okay in the opening, but then I started making dumbass mistakes, and Mateo kicked my ass. Yay! and as the forum isn't very busy (so far) today, I'll no doubt be playing another bot game (versus Ali). Yay?

On the bright side, BH and SB did a number of key improvements on my bedroom suite. They got the hanger rods put up in my closet. They got the door installed on my attached bath. SB got the light installed in the attached bath. As a bonus, SB found the one pair of blue pants that I had been missing. And she helped me find the missing shampoo.

On the not-so-bright side, on this coming Tuesday, the electrician/s will come over (at around 7:00 a.m.) and do an electrical upgrade on our house. Which is fine in and of itself, but because the fuse box is right behind me here, this (damaged) desk, along with the cat tree and scratching post, will all (on Monday evening) have to be moved to the other side of the room. Yay!

SB didn't want me to have to get up at 7:00 a.m., so on Monday night, I will sleep in our guest bedroom, on an inflatable bed. I suppose I'll have to do without my attached bath here on Tuesday. Monday will be pretty busy too, they'll be replacing the hot water tank, and someone will be coming over to look at the swamp cooler.

After dinner last night, SB and I went shopping. We got some beer for BH (and some for his local friend), and I got some Irish cream. Also I got some extra shampoo. Soon I'll be trying out the shower in my attached bath -- the one real weakness in this house, it's not exactly a big shower, so I guess we'll see what it's like using it.
 
4:32 p.m., Monday the 13th

So at about 2:50 p.m. today, I tried out the shower in my attached bath. I was pleasantly surprised. I'm not saying there was a ton of room, but there was definitely enough. Of course, that's largely because of the detachable shower head SB added; it's very flexible. The point is, I'm super happy with my attached bath overall. There's still some things to be done. The cupboards under the sink need to be done. Handles need to be added on the drawers and cupboards. But even just as it is, it's really pleasing.

There is one other weakness in the layout of this house: the kitchen. It's rather narrow, with only enough room for one person in one part of it at a time. But there are two ways in and out, so that makes a difference.

Earlier today, from about 10:10 a.m. thru about 12:30 p.m., a guy replaced our water heater, the new water heater looks quite good and seems to work just fine (the old water heater seemed to be leaking). Then, a guy came over and fixed our swamp cooler. The swamp cooler needed a new motor, belt, and pulley. He worked fast; I'd say it took him less than an hour. We've been lucky so far to have really good contractors.

The swamp cooler doesn't seem to be running right now, which is odd considering the high outdoors (upper 90's). It's not too overly warm here in my bedroom, so, knock on wood. The guy who fixed the swamp cooler said it was a really good model, it was just old.

That guy will give us a quote on a heat pump in about 24 hours. I was confused why we're getting one, when we already have a furnace and a swamp cooler. So I asked SB about it, and I guess the heat pump is to supplement what we have.

Tomorrow the electrician/s will come over to upgrade the electrical systems here. About 7:00 a.m. is when they'll probably arrive.

I won yesterday's bot game versus Ali, but I wouldn't call it a clean win. Part of the problem was technical, my hand slipped and I ended up making a move or two that was not intended. Fortunately the computer let me take those moves back, but I was annoyed with myself that I did that. SB has Barn Hunt tonight, so dinner will be rather late and I don't know whether I'll be able to squeeze in another bot game. Whenever my next bot game is, it'll be me versus Ali again only I'll be playing as Black.
 
10:37 a.m., Tuesday the 14th

No bot game yesterday. Probably not today either, as the electricians are at work, the power is off, and my laptop has limited battery life.

It seems that the carpeting is going to get replaced sooner than I had expected. I think someone is coming over tomorrow to do measurements on it. I mean, maybe it's good if we can get it over with?

I forgot to mention about the shower in my attached bath. It has no tub, it is a shower only (which is not a problem). As such, it has no shower curtain; instead, it has two sliding glass doors.

No shower curtain! That's a huge, huge bonus. No shower curtain to molest me! Thank the gods.

The swamp cooler kicked on not too long after my last (above) entry, so stand down yellow alert on that point.
 
12:38 p.m., Wednesday the 15th

The electricians completed their work yesterday at about 1:30 p.m., I think. My laptop was shut off (automatically does that when the battery is depleted) for about an hour. Not bad.

I did play a bot game yesterday (me as Black versus Ali), and won ... but it was nerve-racking toward the end. I was playing well for a while, til I made a stupid mistake and lost a rook. Damn. I just barely managed to recover from that. Forget 1500, I am thinking 1400 is my limit.

The carpet guy came over today at about noon, and took measurements. Latest word from SB is that the carpet will be replaced early next month.
 
2:33 p.m., Thursday the 16th

So, BH and SB are about to go on a two-week trip to Michigan; if I remember right, their plane takes off on 7:09 a.m. this Saturday (the day after tomorrow). Latest word from SB is that she and I will go shopping tonight so that I have meals for the next fortnight, and so that Rainee has food to last her for the same. Eddie will be accompanying BH and SB on their trip, so it will just be Rainee and me here in the house.

I played a bot game yesterday (me as White versus Mateo), and Mateo kicked my ass. I'm not even sure how he did it, I was lost on what to do throughout the game, he outsmarted me on every move. Maybe I'm starting to get used to losing? I need to do so if I am going to be playing at the limit of my abilities (1400 and maybe 1500 if I get super lucky). We can only hope.
 
6:13 p.m., Friday the 17th

We actually got some rain today! first time in like for-ever. A little lightning and thunder too. Good stuff.

We shopped at Walmart yesterday, it is a Walmart Neighborhood Market and is within rather close walking distance. Unfortunately it doesn't carry alcohol, so I'll have to go on a somewhat longer walk, tomorrow morning, to get to the Albertsons where they do carry alcohol.

No choice.
 
Yeah, glad to have some long-waited rain!
 
3:42 p.m., Saturday the 18th

We have a couple more days of rain forecasted for the coming week. Let's hope the forecast is right! On Tuesday the high is supposed to be less than 70°. Wouldn't that be a treat!

Sigh. So as it turns out, the Albertsons in question was not at all far (going north on Juan Tabo) past the Walmart Neighborhood Market (which is on Menaul). The only problem is, I didn't see the Albertsons when I walked right past it. I went on, clear to Montgomery, where I finally ran into another Walmart Neighborhood Market, which miraculously did have a liquor section. I got some Fireball and some Jäger (depleting my cash fund down to $10.59), and started back toward home, feeling pretty good about my accomplishment. Then, when I got relatively close to home, I saw the Albertsons. It probably should have been funny, and I'm not as upset about it now as I was then, but at the time I wanted to throw myself in front of traffic. How does one miss a grocery store?!

Well the alcohol is in the freezer now, and hopefully drinking some of it tomorrow will help me feel a bit like less of a failure. I'm not gonna lie, I'm looking forward to it. A lot.

Meanwhile, BH and SB's flight got changed, I'm thinking so that they wouldn't be able to catch their connecting flight. So they had to cancel that, and instead are driving (I think in a rental) to Arkansas (where BH's cousin lives). After they visit BH's cousin, they'll fly to Michigan (as long as that flight doesn't get changed as well). They have their problems, I have mine. Honestly, I should be grateful things are turning out as well for me as they are so far. And in a way I am, but I'm still a little frustrated with myself ...
 
We're having our electric panel upgraded on Tuesday, which means no power from 8 am to 2 pm. But it will be a lot more manageable if the high is less than 70°. Fingers crossed!

It must have been a good exercise walking to the other Walmart at least. I've done things like that too, like walking in the opposite direction despite having checked the map beforehand.
 
I kept thinking I hadn't walked far enough, or that perhaps I was remembering wrong about Albertsons being on that street. Sigh. Overlooking a whole grocery store? I just can't wrap my mind around it. No wonder I have troubles in Chess.

Yeah we had our electric panel upgraded a few days ago, there remain just a few plugs and switches that need faceplates. Tuesday will be great if the forecast holds out.

How cool is it that we had another (afternoon) thundershower today? That wasn't even in the forecast, so, bonus.
 
12:26 p.m., Sunday the 19th

... and we got some more rain this morning. Perfect! I mean it's good that it didn't rain while I was out walking ... but we've still been getting lots of rain. I know July and August are "monsoon season" in Albuquerque, but wow! we are really lucking out.

I checked the forecast this morning, and it said 70° flat for Tuesday. Still pretty remarkable.

I've been enjoying my drinky-drinks. I've had a little of each today. What I do tomorrow, I'll decide when tomorrow gets here.
 
I didn't know it rained again this morning, because I got up after 11. That was nice!

The forecast says Tuesday has a 90% chance of rain, and pretty much raining the whole day, so there's a good chance of a cool day.
 
12:41 p.m., Monday the 20th

So today's forecast actually predicts a high of 68° tomorrow, no doubt because of the rain. And other factors, I'm sure. I'm going to enjoy it!

The Fireball is all gone, now I am working on the Jäger. Life is good.
 
2:42 p.m., Tuesday the 21st

I'm fresh out of liquor today, sigh. It was fun while it lasted.

So the forecast for today canceled the predicted rain, and the high is predicted to be 76°. Not as great as what it was saying yesterday, but still pretty darn good. Tomorrow is also supposed to peak out at 76°, with rain.

I played a bot game yesterday, versus Ali, and lost. I didn't play well in general, but I think my first mistake was leaving my queen to guard a central pawn. With the other queen on the opposite side of the board on the same file, it was bound to end badly for me.
 
Yeah, you really can't count on the forecast of rain here. It's still very comfortable today though. Our electric panel upgrade was quicker than expected - they finished it at about 12:30. There was no need to turn on the swamp cooler in the morning anyway.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top