Thursday 13: Cold Water, A Hole In the Wall, and the Mess That Keeps Growing

I almost didn’t write this Thursday 13 because what we have going on is basically nothing in the grand scheme of everything happening in the world right now.  But I didn’t post one last week, and I don’t want to skip another week. 

Most of my Thursday 13s are about whatever is going on in my little corner of the world, so I decided to go ahead and post.  I just want to preface by saying I know that these are very much first-world “problems,” and that we’re still pretty fortunate.  And I’ll try not to whine too much.

1.    We’ve known for a while that replacing our water heater is on the horizon.  It’s about 13 years old.  It’s also in the crawlspace, and we’re fairly certain all of the flooding didn’t do anything good for it.  So, while it was frustrating and unpleasant that the water heater finally gave out for good on Monday morning (why does everything happen Monday morning?!?), it wasn’t at all surprising. 

2.    Our current setup is an electric water heater and natural gas heat.  We’ve wanted to change to a natural gas water heater for a while now, but it’s a fairly complicated process.

3.    The “crawl” part of describing our crawlspace is extremely accurate.  It’s short!  The current water heater is a low-boy.  That wasn’t an option for natural gas.  (From what we can tell, the low-boy gas water heaters have gone on and off the market for years due to fire safety issues.)  So, switching to a natural gas water heater meant moving it out from under the house. 

4.    After meeting with the company, we decided to go with a tankless natural gas water heater.  Unfortunately, the tankless still has to be in the house due to our climate.  They also have to run more gas lines and more water lines. 

5.    The project started yesterday morning.  They told us ahead of time that we had to move some furniture and empty out one cabinet. 

A box of stuff from the cabinet is on the bench in the living room.

6.    Moving the furniture and emptying the cabinet already created a lot of mess and disorder.  The cabinet is the biggest one in the kitchen, and it was full.  The furniture is a big, bulky armoire with lots of things in and on it. 

Kitchen utensils are on a bookshelf in the living room.

7.    As always seems to be the case, existing lines and pipes weren’t up to code or had other problems, so the project has grown. 

8.    The company emptied out two more kitchen cabinets, a kitchen counter, and the bathroom cabinets.  They also had to drill a hole in the kitchen wall. 

Nick ziptied a piece of a cube shelf (the cubes are 13x13 to give you an idea of the size of the hole) to keep the cats from getting into the wall.  If you have cats, you understand the concern! 

9.    So yesterday we came home to a hole in the kitchen wall, the refrigerator in the middle of the kitchen, the washing machine in the middle of the room, lots of stuff moved off of shelves, and more things outside of cabinets than in cabinets. 

10. Today is looking a little better.  The refrigerator and washing machine are back where they belong.  And I did get to clean under and behind where the refrigerator goes without us having to move it.  Tiny silver lining.  Everything else is still in total disarray.  And we still have the hole in the wall. 

11. The company assures us that they’re still on track to finish up by tomorrow afternoon.  It will be so nice to have hot water again!  In the meantime, we both have access to showers at work.  Another thing that I know we’re very fortunate to have.  Yes, it’s inconvenient to pack up everything to shower at work, but it’s also extremely nice to have that available. 

12. Our plans for the weekend are to put everything away, get the house back in order, probably some fairly major reorganization due to the space we lost by moving the water heater inside, and work on figuring out how to fix the hole in the kitchen wall.  And, hopefully, to revel in the pleasure of having a nearly endless supply of hot water.  With any luck, soon I’ll be posting about some of the reorganization.

13. Since it seems like most Thursday 13s involve at least one cat picture (and to keep this from turning into a total whine-fest), enjoy the latest picture of Theodore.  I think he looks very majestic!  

How About A Sunday Sixteen?

Since I didn’t get around to posting a Thursday 13 last week, or the week before, I’ve decided to catch up with a Sunday Sixteen.

1.    The weather since my last Thursday 13 has been everything from snow to highs in the 70s. 

2.    Fortunately, the hyacinth survived the snow, and more have sprouted.

3.    The past few days have been warm.  It was even warm enough for shorts yesterday! 

4.    I know the warm weather isn’t going to last, but I am determined to enjoy it as much as possible while we have it, so I spent a lot of time outside yesterday. 

5.    Since this is time change weekend, we’ll at least get to enjoy more light and longer days even when it gets cold again. 

6.    The daffodils have bloomed.

7.    One lone tulip has sprouted.  There’s no flower yet, but I’m hopeful.

8.    There’s a little bit of green on the hydrangea I trimmed earlier this year.

9.    The forsythia is also starting to bloom.

10. Unfortunately, there is something in the yard that gives me a terrible rash.  It’s not poison ivy, oak, or sumac, but we haven’t been able to figure out what causes it.  It doesn’t even happen every year.  This is a rash year, though, so I’m currently sporting a calamine bandage. 

11. Since we’ve never been able to determine the cause, the dermatologist just always has me double up on allergy medications and wrap it in a calamine bandage.  If it gets too out of control, they’ll prescribe steroids.  

12. At this point, I’m pretty good at starting to treat it before it gets too bad, and we just take care of it at home without the need for a doctor’s visit and steroids. 

13. I know it’s not officially spring yet, but I’ve switched to spring-themed cards and stickers for my Chemo Angels buddies. 

14. Last Sunday, we saw the play Suffs at the Peace Center in Greenville, SC.  It was an excellent show, and one that I think everyone should see. 

15. We had voted in the primaries just a few days before we saw it, so it was especially poignant to be reminded how much so many brave women fought and endured. 

16. Finally, enjoy this picture of Theodore. 

What We Can Do: Write Postcards to Restore Fair Elections in Virginia

In case you haven’t heard, Virginia has a proposed Constitutional Amendment to be voted on in their April 21 special election.  It’s in response to Trump’s claim that he’s “entitled” to more Republican seats. 

Photo Credit Here

Governor Abigail Spanberger does an excellent job explaining it in this video.  (The video is short and definitely worth watching.)

Postcards to Swing States has a postcard campaign going on now to urge people to vote yes on April 21^st.  You can order the postcards in batches of 100 and are expected to mail them between April 7^th and 14^th. 

I’ve signed up to send 200 of the postcards because I think having this measure in place will help safeguard the midterm elections.  

Thursday 13: Much Better Weather!

This week’s Thursday 13 finds me much happier about the weather.

1.    We’ve had a few warm days that have been absolutely wonderful.  I know it’s probably not going to last, but I am determined to enjoy the warmer days for now.

2.    One of our hyacinths has even bloomed! 

3.    Some of the others have green shoots.

4.    Some of the daffodils have been sprouting too.

5.    These are in the front yard.

6.    These are next to the carport.

7.    I decided to try the milk jug greenhouse thing I’ve seen on Facebook.  If you’re not familiar, the idea is that you clean a milk jug (or similar container), put some drain holes in the bottom, slice it almost in half so you can access the inside, and plant seeds in it.  The idea is that the plastic jug serves as a greenhouse and keeps the seedlings warm enough to be outside and get an early start.  It’s also supposed to eliminate the need for hardening off seedlings.

8.    I’ve never tried it before, so I’m not sure if it works.  It sounds like it could, though, so I decided to give it a try.  If it doesn’t work, I can just use the potting soil for something else.  The seeds will be the only loss.  I started three of them (two different kinds of snapdragons and one zinnia) on Saturday.  I’ll let you know what happens. 

9.    In other yard-related news, I’m still working on the trimming/pruning I can do during the cold weather.  This is from about a month ago (before the first snowstorm hit.

10. Here’s the before.

11. And here’s the after.  I think I made some progress. 

12. A Thursday 13 doesn’t seem complete without at least one cat picture, so here’s one of Caroline.

13. And a few of Theodore.  

What We Can Do: Support RAINN

Unless you have been living under a rock, you’ve probably seen at least a few snippets of the Epstein files.  You’ve probably noticed that not much has been done to punish the perpetrators or support the victims. 

Photo Credit Here

There were horrific acts committed against children and young women, and it seems like most of the perpetrators are going unpunished.  Unfortunately, this kind of sexual violence is rampant.  If you’re anything like me, you’re feeling so much rage right now.  It’s hard to know where to channel it or what to do with it. 

That’s where RAINN comes in.  I know that educating yourself on what grooming and sexual exploitation look like doesn’t feel like much.  I know that donating to an organization working to end sexual violence doesn’t feel like much.  But it’s what we as ordinary people can do, and I’d rather focus on what I can do than what I can’t do.

Per RAINN’s website, they are “the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization and operator of the National Sexual Assault Hotline, RAINN’s mission is to stop sexual violence by supporting survivors, holding perpetrators accountable, and creating safer communities.” 

If you take nothing else from this post, I encourage (okay, beg) you to read about grooming here.  If you’re not familiar, grooming is defined as “the deliberate act of building trust with a child, teen, or at-risk adult (such as an adult with a cognitive impairment) for the purpose of exploiting them sexually. Grooming typically starts with friendship, mentorship, or kindness that gradually turns into manipulation, control, and sexual abuse or assault.”

RAINN also provides helpful information about advocacy at the local, state, and national levels.  One of their recommendations is to find and support your state’s coalition against sexual assault.  They recommend a Google search with your state and keywords such as “anti-sexual assault coalition.” 

For example, in North Carolina, it’s NCCASA, North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault.  They work on everything from legislation to funding and staffing rape crisis centers.  I’m not sure about other states, but NCCASA has a paid membership that is a great way to help support their work. 

I know these are tiny things, not even a drop in the bucket, really, but it seems better than just screaming into the void.