*In Arnold voice* Get pumped!

New Project: Rid Home of Mice

Began suspecting mice invasion about a week ago. Suspicion all but confirmed by appearance of tiny lozenge spaced dark objects noticed on kitchen counter while preparing today's lunch. Baited mousetrap with fifteen year old el-cheapo Walmart peanut butter. Set trap in the one spot mice invariably succumb to temptation. Checked trap maybe an hour and a half later. Found dead mouse in trap. Disposed of said mouse. Rebaited said trap. Returned trap to said location. I wait.

Last time this happened I disposed of six or seven mice before all was said and done. We'll see how it goes this time.

Good luck, Decrepit!


Another idea is the ole bucket of antifreeze with a small ladder up to a platform baited with cheese or something. We catch dozens upon dozens in our tool shed that way

Chocolate works much better than cheese. PB is good, but messy to use.

Kitty cats work, too.

Our cats got worms from eating mice.

New staircase to the balcony on the back of the cottage. Third one to be installed since '77 when cottage was new and I hope this one will last. I used impregnated wood this time and did it more like how it's supposed to be done instead of creating my own "solutions" so hopefully I don't have to redo it in ten year's time

Forgot camera though so no pixies for mALX yet.

I think I remember that last mice incident!

Don't worry he'll get pics eventually.

And mouse problems suck.

Urgh, I don't want to see pics of the mice in their traps, lol.

Rid Home of Mice: UPDATE

After a dry period during which I began to wonder if that first mouse I caught was a one-off, another was found in the trap on my last check of day yesterday, made on the way to bed after shutting down the 'puter. Two down, XXXX to go.

As to pictures, rest assured there will be none. In that regard (and many others) I'm an ancient relic who hasn't owned a photo capturing device since the film SLR days. I still own one of those. A rather high quality SLR. It sits in a closet rusting away. Hasn't been used since around the turn of the century. Just not worth the bother any more. I sometimes think to acquire an el-cheapo digital camera. They do come in handle at times. Then I start adding up features I'd demand it included and soon find myself investing more than I'm willing to spend on a device that wouldn't be used often enough to justify its existence.

The tree that fell on the garage a few weeks ago


New staircase:

Angle one
Angle two
Angle three

These were what I was referring to guys. Sillyheads.

And I have a digital camera.. but I don't use it. I use my phone more often than not. It's got a pretty good camera in it.

Oh, there is never just one mouse. N.e.v.e.r!

Same with me on the pics, but it hasn't been that long since I took some. I took pics of my dogs and cats in the last few years, but that is about it.






Holy Cow, that tree probably knocked it off its foundation! I LOVE the steps, in fact = they look exactly like the steps a building crew added to my front porch; right down to the hand rails! Awesome job, and thanks for the pics of it !!!! I always love seeing your work!

Nice work on that garage! Um, mirocu's stairs, not the tree's handiwork.

Probably not, it's not that big. Plus it fell right where the whole buildup is strongest instead of on my Thujas where it actually leaned towards. So all in all, I'm not complaining one bit!


Thanks, mALX! Wish I could take credit for the sides but I bought them since I needed impregnated wood and they had those ready so I figured why not. I did put it together though and I even used a level


See post above as to why I don't complain about what the tree did

Today's projects:

1) PLANNED: Grocery Run. I've not been overly happy with Ken's Thousand Isle Dressing lately so bought a bottle of Kraft today. Not expecting miracles, but it can't be much blander.

2) UN-PLANNED: Relieving myself after lunch, the toilet tank activation handle broke due to age and erosion. Made a second town run, to Home Depot to buy a replacement handle.

3) UN-PLANNED: Remove old tank handle & install new handle. I swear it came with about as useless a set of instructions as can be imagined. In the end I pretty much winged it via trial and error. Luckily this ain't rocket science. Smashed my thumb good hammering in the new handle. Very tight fit. Boy did it hurt. No lasting harm done, it seems. <knock on wood> Yeah, I'm lazy and a first class procrastinator. But even I don't dawdle overlong when the toilet doesn't flush.

4) PLANNED: Signed up for 2019 Dental and Vision plans. I was very nervous about this, having had the same excellent Dental Program since the mid 90s. But the government in its wisdom decided to do away with it, forcing us military retirees to go elsewhere. As to Vision Care, I lost that several years back with the switch from Tricare Prime to Tricare for Life. I just hope I made the right choices.

Today's project: Cardiology Appointment

This was a long scheduled periodic check-up type appointment, little more than a formality since I had nothing sinister to report. It's also the last day I'm allowed to take my daily (generic) Plavix dose until after next Thursday's Colonoscopy. That too is, so far as I know, nothing more than a formality though something might be unearthed during the procedure. Despite my many health complaints I've always had a rock solid digestive system that never gives me a lick of trouble.

I've not yet written/sent my annual Holiday Season letter. I'm down to three old military friends who get the same generic letter. (My brother gets a card.) Laziness is my only excuse. This year's letter will be short of sweet. Likely no more than a paragraph wishing them well.

Also need to get my bro a present. That's normally easy, but I'm thinking for once to get him what for me is an expensive gift...a new TV. His might have gone belly-up within the past week. It is an ancient 23" tube set he's had many decades. If it's given up the ghost I'm much more savvy on modern TVs than he, so will likely be able to get a better TV for a better price that he would. Neither he nor I can afford super good stuff, but he doesn't need more than at most 1080p, cable connection, and maybe an extra connector or two. Doesn't need SMART capability though it's lack might be hard to find this day and age. Doesn't have to be all that large either, though I hope to convince to go at least 32". This assumes he hasn't already bought a replacement. I won't find out until we touch bases at the end of the week.

Yesterday's projects:
1) At long last wash and dry clothes at Laundromat.
2) Grocery Run to include picking up meds and diet needed as prep for Thursday's Colonoscopy.

I procrastinated way too long between Laundromat visits. In consequence, I had eight loads to wash. Basically, almost the entirety of my wearable wardrobe. Plus bed linen and tons of handkerchiefs.

My plan was to drive straight to the laundromat. Once done there I'd swing by Walmart for food and Colonoscopy stuff. In between I might pay a quick visit to my brother to check out his TV situation.

Only, things didn't work out as planned.

Backing out of the driveway my passenger side windows were so fogged I couldn't see if the coast was clear. Lowered the front passenger window. Backed onto the street. Attempted to raise the window. Nothing happened. That window was stuck in its lowered position. I altered my plans, adding swinging by our local auto repair shop after putting away groceries. I later realized more change was needed. I couldn't let my car set in Walmart's lot with its rear seat area full of clothes and a window down. Ended up doing laundry, driving home to drop off said laundry, driving to the Auto Shop to touch bases, driving to Walmart for groceries, returning home, putting away groceries, eating lunch, and finally putting away laundry. My brother showed up for a visit at the tail end of all this.

Today's projects are simple. Drop car off at the local repair shop (already done). Hopefully pick it up with working passenger side window by day's end.

Tomorrow's projects will be to follow day-before colonoscopy instructions, and find out the exact time I need to check in on Thursday.

As to the colonoscopy, I highly doubt anything will be found amiss. Despite my many health complaints I've always had a rock-solid digestive system. But ya never know.

Christmas blanket is almost done.

https://imgur.com/a/PnriWfM

Warmy!

Today's main project is to survive on chicken broth and water, and drink gods-awful NuLytely liquid in prep for tomorrow's Colonoscopy. Boy is there a LOT of NuLytely to drink. Boy does it taste bad!

GL, colonoscopy sucks and that bowel cleanser *really* sucks.

You have to drink Nyarlathotep?

<nods> I have to drink roughly 1.3 US gallons of the stuff. Instructions are to down the first half beginning at noon in 8oz doses at 10min intervals. That's already done. I down the second half via the same procedure beginning 1800hr. Took over an hour to complete the first round, as it will the second. Yuk!

Have to take laxatives at 2100. Not looking forward to that either.

I had a Colonoscopy maybe 23yr ago. I don't recall the prep for that one being anywhere near as torturous. Course I was appreciably younger then, with a hardier constitution. Still, I think I'd remember a taste as foul as NuLitely even after all these years.

You are braver than I am, taking a hammer to a toilet! My luck, I'd have hit the toilet instead of my thumb and had to go out and buy a whole new one (then pay a plumber to install it, )

Oh, and I've tried Ken's a few times and never been satisfied with the results. It was never bad, just never good enough.










What a sweet and thoughtful present !!!








Bless your heart! And you still got all of that done! That is pretty amazing; I think I'd have had to let some of that be put off for another day, lol. You must be tenacious! (I'm not, the first kink in the day usually makes me put EVERYTHING off till tomorrow,









Oh, it is gorgeous!!!







Jello would probably be good to eat at this time. Also, try drinking it through a straw so it bypasses your tastebuds.

I buy Ken's, because all the other salad dressings here are bland as crap, or taste like Mayo mixed with something else.

Ranch doesn't exist, the Italians are all full of too much sugar(low fat dressings are always ful of sugar) and just taste awful.

So I practically live on Ken's Caesar and Italian.

And thank you mALX! Got about half a ball of yarn left to finish it, will be doing that tomorrow.

Yesterday's Colonoscopy went well, not that I remember anything about it. No noticeable aftereffects either. Not yet at least.


<nods> Ken's isn't my ideal store-brought dressing, but compared to the other major contenders it's usually a clear winner. Not sure I've tried either Ken's Caesar or Italian yet. I'll try and remember to do so.

Thank goodness that is over! Really glad all came out fine!

https://imgur.com/a/VOy0NUh

Blanket is done!

Just with both ends were nice and neat, not just the end.

Wow, great job on that blanket. That is a lot of work, I'm sure! Love the color and it looks nice and cozy.

Thank you! Just wish, as I said, both ends were even.

I think I tried to stitch loose on the cast on and it tightened up as I went. It looks sloppy lol.

Forgot to mention one tiny project that took way longer than it needed to. Not this past Saturday but last Saturday evening I typed and printed out a brief Holiday letter for the three old military pals I still occasionally touch bases with. Stuck 'em in the mailbox that Monday morning. Checked mail mid day. Two had been picked up. One remained in the mailbox. Gave it a quick look over. Nothing amiss so far as I could see. Stuck the letter in the mailbox next morning. It again wasn't picked up. Gave it closer scrutiny. Still saw nothing amiss. Next day was Colonoscopy prep, day after the procedure itself. Forgot all about the letter until yesterday (Sunday 23 Dec). Stuck it in the mailbox this morning. It was picked up! Gonna arrive late, but what can ya do?


Well, it's not like I had much choice. I absolutely had to pick up requirements for Colonoscopy prep. I suppose I could have held off on laundry, but everything was already loaded in the car when the window motor gave out. And I had to get the ball rolling on car repair so I could make the drive to and from the Colonoscopy (or rather my brother's house) without freezing (or worst) in the process.

Eating nacho cheese flavor Ramen Noodles and iced tea. Think I'll copy and repost this in the food thread as well.

A semi failed project:

Yesterday I drove to town for a medical appointment. Afterward I drove to our big mall for a 2019 wall calendar. (My bro gives me a wall calendar at Xmas each year, but the past several years the ones he picks all restrict their day-by-day section to a tiny area at calendar bottom.) Searched for the seasonal calendar shop that annually rents space there this time of year. Couldn't find it. Asked a security guard what was up. He said that for some reason the Calendar shop didn't participate this year (and that a LOT of people have asked about it). That left me no recourse but to buy the Calendar at Barnes & Noble. Talk about a lousy selection. Very little appealed to me, and those few only marginally. Finally settled on Llewellyn's Witches' Calendar 2019. The good news is it was half price (as the specially store would have been by now). More good news...I had enough left on a Gift Card my bro gave me last Xmas to cover it. So not a total loss, and in any case I depend on my wall calendar to remind me of important events more and more as my ability to remember things longer than a few minutes fades into oblivion.

My bro just called. His new TV arrived. We both decided it was a bit late in the day for us old timers to start setting it up. We might do so when he gets home from work tomorrow afternoon, depending.

Setting up a TV can sure be a project. Ugh

It's done. Bro's TV is up and running. Took long enough! Had to rearrange part of his bedroom in the process. Also, instructions were so vague it took quite some time before I figured out how to bypass the internet setup screen (which is where the TV defaulted to) and get to the cable-box and other connection options. Once we got that far the rest was smooth sailing.

For a $200US 1080p 40" TV the picture's not half bad. Certainly far and away better than the tube set it replaces.

WOOOOOOOOOOT !!! Now your Brother will be spoiled by the huge screen, lol.

I hope he appreciates it. Time will tell.

While at Wally-World the other day waiting for a medicine prescription to be filled I wandered into its entertainment section. They had a 65" 4K UHD set on display that looked stellar. Not the best such TV I've seen but darn good. A big plus, it had built in 4K upscaling. (The image shown on screen was, I'm sure, true 4k UHD.) That TV was, if memory serves, around $900US. Way out of my price range...not that I'm interested in a TV set for myself. Still, that's a lot more bang for the buck than what I paid for my current 47" inch 1080p TV (which has excellent image quality at its native resolution).

Almost forgot to mention I recorded some Transport Fever footage the other day showing off a new mod that offers camera positions not provided by the game. Intended to have it posted on YouTube by now. Only, my video editor/renderer recently updated to a "new & improved" version. I can't make heads or tails of many of its functions now, which puts the project on hold.

Today's projects (thus far):

1) Grocery Run this morning.

2) Prepared this month's internet purchase State, County and Local taxes due for posting tomorrow. This was an especially tricky month as for one purchase I owned the entire tax, for the other only County and Local tax. The form's not designed for that, so I have to wing it and hope for the best. (Thankfully my BIG purchase, bro's new TV, is the one that added on State (but not County/Local) tax at time of purchase.)

3) Prepared this month's City Utilities payment, which I'll drop off at City Hall sometime between Wednesday and next Monday.

Upcoming Projects:
1) Transfer upcoming medical appoints and other important events to my 2019 wall calendar.

2) Assess Real Estate & Personal Property this Wednesday in preparation for renewing my car tags.

3) Get new car tags during next Monday's errand run.

4) Prepare Transport Fever ride-along video for posting at YouTube, exact time frame unknown.

You have to pay taxes on internet purchases after the fact?

Confused. Usually that stuff comes out at point of sale.

<nods> My state doesn't have anything worked out to automatically collect taxes on internet purchases at time of purchase. Except sometime within the past two years State but not Country or Local sales tax began to be applied to SOME but not all Amazon.com purchases.

The state requires us to go online, look up current state, county and local tax rates, print out a form, fill it out by hand doing the math on our own, then snail mail payment to the appropriate government department. The procedure is complicated as they want tax paid by amount owed. If you owe over a certain amount you pay monthly. Owe less and pay quarterly. Owe even less and pay yearly. How the heck is a poor private citizen supposed to keep track of all that?!?!?! I just pay monthly as needed regardless of amount owed and hope for the best. (They've not yet complained.) Too, the form does not account for State but not County or Local tax collected during purchase, so I end up scribbling all over the form to account for that. The kicker is it's more or less on an honor system. So far as I know the state has no way of keeping track of our internet purchases.

Geez. No wonder you're posting it here; it IS a friggin project to pay taxes where you live!

Project:
Am in the process of uploading a new Transport Fever Ride-Along video to YouTube. There not much to this brief excursion, just a short train ride between two Railway Passenger Stations. Scenery is pretty simplistic, mostly woodlands to either side of the tracks. It's filmed utilizing a new released mod that offers a number of additional camera placements. I confine myself to its side-view placement, it being my favorite despite some quirkiness on a train-by-train basis. I'll link it when ready, either here or in another thread/sub-forum.

ADDENDUM:
The video is now uploaded and processed. A link can be found in our "What are you playing?" thread.

Yeah, Decrepit, that sounds like a major hassle and a half.

I'd be moving away to somewhere more.. convenient.

Then again, paying taxes by snail mail is just.. archaic and inconvenient after living here, where you can do it on your phone in five minutes or less.

Am in the process of creating another TpF Ride-Along video. All vid clips are in place, as are transitions and titles. It should have been ready for upload today, maybe yesterday. Except I hit a brick wall. Beyond those titles, I can think of absolutely nothing to say! What little comes to me is abandoned when I realize how trivial it is while typing it out. This sort of video doesn't need much in the way narrative imo. Despite that I like to include it.

Forgot to mention I bit the bullet and ordered this year's Car Tags online rather than visit the DMV in person. They should arrive any day now. This is my first year to do so. Hope nothing goes amiss. <crosses fingers>

ADDENDUM:
Doh! While fruitlessly attempting to caption my WIP TpF video while ago I noticed I'd put a Front Brake Car at train rear rather than the appropriate Rear Brake Car. I've since launched the game and bought the correct car for use at train end.

Thursday morning ADDENDUM:
While not pleased with much of it, text has been added to my WIP TpF episode. If all goes well the finalized video will be uploaded to YouTube NLT tonight.

My state decided to pass a law making Amazon add taxes to online purchase, now that item I want now I need to take in item purchase + shipping and handling + taxes= No that {beep} item cost me more monies and that makes me sad.

They reversed a SCOTUS ruling that required a business to have a physical presence in the state for the state to collect sales tax.

You can actually blame Amazon. They got huge and it's too big a sales market for states to not want a piece of.

I pay 25% on most things.

My car tags arrived in today's mail. Or rather my new physical license plate (with new number) with tags attached arrived. That's a surprise! Didn't cost me any extra I'll not complain. The new plate is already mounted.

While at the car I searched through my dashboard compartment. Found at least five expired proofs of insurance, two expired registrations for my car, two long expired registrations for an older car belonging to my parents, a proof of insurance for that older car, and two old work name-tags from my days in retail sales. Also found a magazine my brother recently lent me on the floor between the front passenger seat and that door. I'd been wondering what happened to it!