Bruce's Journal

[Ridgetop]

Ran out of fuel oil yesterday, discovered it about 8 PM. I swear the tank gauge said about 1/4 last week!!!

Hope you get warmed up soon!

 

[Bruce]

No problem. It was 64 in the dining room when we noticed. The display on the burner suggested it had been off 7 hours. Soon as I added the 15 gallons and bled the line at the pump the furnace restarted. DD2, lazy as she is, hadn't stoked the wood stove when she got home about 5:15. DW and I got home about an hour later. I didn't crank the stove because I didn't notice the temp right off. And at 7 we have Family Zoom with my So. Cal family, DD1 in Canada and DW's sister in Virginia. We do that on the couch near the woodstove so the cold wasn't really noticed until after that was over at 7:45.

 

[farmerjan]

Maybe you need to tell DD2 that if she doesn't pull a little more weight that there will be some consequences... even as a kid when we had the wood stove in the house, our job as soon as we got home was to make sure the wood box was full... you NEVER went up the stairs without an armload of wood... Mom used to make sure it stayed pretty stoked... but we still checked... it was part of being a family... and we were in school. When my parents got more incapacitated, mom's dementia and all, they had a pellet stove put in the house in NH and so there wasn't any wood to do. My DS used to go up to see them at least 2-3 times a year and he and "gramps" used to cut wood and he stacked it on the porch for them.... a couple cord at least... they filled the front porch and then dad only had to bring an armload to the porch when he was out in the garage and such to refill....
But if you wanted to stay warm, you did your part. You are too nice @Bruce, she would freeze here..... my DS used to help with wood when he was 8-10 years old and I had a wood stove in the one house.....

On road diesel here is $4.04 to $4.14 at the local stations... and was $3.69 at the Southern States when I came down from taking the meters to the farm. Off road was 3.39 at SS.....

 

[Bruce]

Can't disagree Jan. I guess neither of us wants to ride her. Not sure what to put out as a carrot or stick.

 

[Ridgetop]

Not sure what to put out as a carrot or stick.

Suitcase outside door?

 

[Alaskan]

Can't disagree Jan. I guess neither of us wants to ride her. Not sure what to put out as a carrot or stick.

A bit after eldest moved back home (yeah covid times. )... we were CLEARLY not on the same page...

I grabbed a notebook, and sat down with him, and made a list of things that **I** thought he should be doing (daily, weekly, etc.).

He explained how some stuff on my list he wasn't going to do... zero interest.

So we discussed how to figure out a way that we could both be happy.

So he now pays rent in exchange for NOT having to clean his room or clean the kitchen. (Both things I REALLY wanted him to do... but I said if he gave me cash I could manage to not be bothered by his super messy room, and no kitchen help).

But he DOES have to clean up after himself, and if he cooks for himself he has to clean up after.

That sort of thing.

We also covered how he was responsible for his car. If he wanted me to wake him up for work, I needed notice... etc. Etc.

I tried to cover all things that bugged me, and all things that bugged him.

It has been working well.

 

[Bruce]

She's still talking about moving out. Now maybe with a girl (20, 21??) she works with at the ski resort. Still not sure how they would get a lease with a job that is going to end in a month or so. She's house/dog/chicken sitting for 2 weeks starting tomorrow.

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Mr. @Bruce, sir!

I have intended to ask you: it seems that you have had several winter storms come through your area. Have you gotten much snow or ice with them? Any videos of you clearing your driveway?

Senile Texas Aggie

 

[Bruce]

No videos, not at all exciting. We got a snowstorm some days back. Hit 50°F today and a lot of the snow is gone. Good thing DW and I went for a snowshoe trek yesterday afternoon. Her new shoes now cost only $140/use

 

[Bruce]

Well sad news to report. Celene, the Splash Ameraucana, died Monday last week, 9 months old, never saw an egg from her. No idea why she died.



Today I lost the last of my original flock. Persephone was an EE, would have been 10 in June and was still laying last year so she had a good long productive life.