A New Wishy-Washy Turn Concerning T-Hoe's Gas Tank Problem

Sometimes I wish the excuses I'm given would remain consistent! Farmer H is a master of excuses, especially where T-Hoe's needs are concerned. I'm sure you recall the problem with T-Hoe's gas tank not wanting to allow gasoline in at a normal pace.

First there was the excuse that he would have to get under T-Hoe and take something apart to replace whatever is clogged. Too much trouble.

Second, it was just because of Casey's pumps. SilverRedO did the same thing. Get my gas somewhere else. Like that station next to the Devil's Playground.

Third, Farmer H had an appointment with Mick the Mechanic to fix T-Hoe. But since he couldn't guarantee he'd be done by 10:30 so Farmer H could get to Illinois with his buddy for lunch and a merchandise-buying trip, he canceled the appointment.

Fourth, Mick was too expensive. That would cost a lot for labor, him taking so long. So Farmer H was going to get an appointment with the dealer over in Sis-Town.

Fifth, that's just too much time to spend sitting at the dealer waiting for the work to be done. Time that could be spent working on the flip houses. (Yeah, right! More likely fiddling around at the SUS2.5)

Sixth, we COULD get an appointment with Mick, but then I might not have T-Hoe one day, and I'd have to miss my town trip, because he would take so long.

Seventh, just go to Casey's. Use the pump farthest from the door. It has less pressure in it than the ones closer. So the gas goes in almost like normal.

I've had enough! I told Farmer H that I'm tired of (The Pony) taking 15 minutes to pump half a tank of gas every week. This has been going on since JUNE! That he needs to get an appointment with Mick for Tuesday. 

On Monday, we have the yearly meeting with our financial advisor. I will meet Farmer H there, then on the way home, he can meet me at Mick's and drive me home in SilverRedO. The work will get done on Tuesday. And Tuesday afternoon, Farmer H can bring T-Hoe home, and on my way back to town, I'll drop him off to get SilverRedO.

There's no need for me to miss a town trip. It just means Farmer H can't be carousing all over the county on Tuesday afternoon. He'll try to finagle his way into coming home at 4:00, but I'm demanding 2:00, my regular town time. T-Hoe should be finished before noon, anyway. And I'm sure Farmer H isn't spending his time after lunch working on flip houses. Otherwise, they'd be done by now!

A Small Victory

Careful. Don't ASSUME. You know what that does to you and me. This victory has nothing to do with Farmer H finally fixing anything. FRIG II's icemaker, and T-Hoe's gas tank, remain unmolested by repairman hands. No, this victory is more personal.

I don't remember if I have mentioned my toenail. I think I did, way back when I first started my leg therapy. Maybe before, about how gnarled and hooflike the great toenail on my right foot had become with my advancing age. How it was hard to clip, and in fact I bought new, longer-handled clippers for more force. Clippers that made me think of hoof-trimmers used by farriers, or Dr. Pol of TV vet fame. 

Anyhoo... I related how this toenail was an embarrassment for me during leg therapy, even though OT had reassured me that she dealt with much worse. And has even had several POP OFF INTO HER HAND when taking off compression socks. 

These compression socks, which I must wear all day, every day, for the rest of my life... are a pain in the toenail! It never ends! Compression, compression, compression! Pulling tighter with every step. With every wiggle of my toes. There's no getting away from it. OT said that some patients cut off the toes. Of the compression socks, of course! Not off their feet! But that only meant that the socks would creep up through the day, up the foot, to the ankle. And that would allow the foot to swell. 

Anyhoo... this tale is not about the great toenail of my right foot. It's about the great toenail of my left foot. A toenail which had no problem until a couple weeks ago, when it got a little hangnail kind of thingy on the medial edge. As with a hangnail on my fingers, I slathered it with triple antibiotic ointment to keep it moist and infection free. It takes longer for a toe hangnail to heal. Especially one shut away in a hot compression sock for 22 hours a day.

That left great toenail finally quit being painful, feeling pinched when the sock would press on the end. I kept up the ointment slathering after showering. Then a few days ago, I noticed that toenail (which was not hooflike at all, but like a standard toenail) was wiggly. It could flap a little, like a talking cartoon shoe. THEN when I was bent down scrubbing it in the shower, that toenail slid sideways a little bit. To the 1:00 position. I told The Pony about it. Who retched and stated a desire not to be informed further.

I didn't want to force that toenail to move. Just left it alone, so to speak, with ointment and care not to bump it or get a sock thread caught on it.

Well. This morning (Wednesday) in the shower, as I was gently scrubbing with only liquid shampoo and my bare fingers... that great left toenail slid up and off the toe.

I WAS ECSTATIC! 

One less toenail to worry about! If only the HOOF would do the same! My toe looks like a normal toe. Except with a see-through toenail. The depression of a toenail is still there. But smooth. 

Pardon me for not sharing photos with you. I really don't like feet. Not even my own. I will spare you this sight, in case you might have the same opinion as The Pony.

Good thing I'm not a songwriter or a poet. An ode might be in order.

The Anxious Doggy Daddy

Pepper's new collar has been doing its job. Well, Pepper has been responding, it's not just the collar. Today (Tuesday), Pepper's feedback response rating is 90%. We're so proud! 

Monday was stressfull for Farmer H. You'd think he was a proud new papa, from the way he carried on about Pepper. It started with a text at 11:58.

"Have you seen pepper says he was out of satellite area"

"I'll look out. Says battery is low."

We check on the phone app randomly, to see if Pepper has breached the fence, or where he might be on the property. I saw that the battery symbol showed an hour left. That was unusual. It's usually got 36 hours with a full charge. We take the collar off every evening, and charge it for an hour. It shouldn't have been so low at noon.

I went to the kitchen door and called Pepper. Jack came wriggling around the corner, thrilled to see me. He got pats while I waited on Pepper. The last location had been out in the Shackytown Boulevard area. I don't know if Pepper came from there, or out by the carport. But he DID come running. Both dogs got a treat, and I took off Pepper's collar for charging. I sent Farmer H a text so he knew that all was well.

We are not happy with that collar battery! THIS TIME, we think it might have been the slow internet on Sunday. Maybe the collar kept trying to connect, and when it couldn't hold the signal, it switched to the GPS signal. Which also wasn't strong, because of clouds.

Right now, it's 2:19, and the collar shows 9 hours left. We charge it around 4:00, so that's fine. It also has a strong wi-fi and GPS signal at the moment. Pepper is out behind the garage.

I know Farmer H has been checking on Pepper all day. He said he was going to keep an eye on the battery life. I tried to tell him that it's not the end of the world if the battery goes dead. Pepper doesn't know it's dead. Pepper still remembers getting shocks. He's likely to avoid those areas. And even IF he would leave our fence area, he won't go far. The worst that could happen, I imagine, is that he goes to the neighbor's house, where he may or may not make their dogs bark, and may or may not be seen by them. It's not like Pepper is a wandering Scarlett.

A Whining Update

It's Monday now. My sickness is progressing. It has been fairly mild, as colds go. Sunday morning was the worst, with chills and then burning up, though I didn't feel like I had a fever. Just an inability to regulate my temperature. My eyes were sensitive to the sunlight when I went to town. I had a few sniffles, but not enough to cart around Puffs. Some sneezes later Sunday evening. Now I feel a bit of nose stuffiness and ear crackling. A tiny bit of wheeziness in the chest. But sometimes, I forget that I am sick. I have hope, because Farmer H seems to be getting over his bout, and it's the eighth day for him.

Farmer H picked up Domino's Pizza for us on Sunday evening. So I still had that treat. AND (knock on everything wooden within reach!) I still am able to taste. I attribute our quick recovery to doubling up on the vitamins. They contain vitamin C, zinc, and quercetin, which fight the replication of a virus.

Farmer H made another trip down the 13 rail-less steps to the basement on Sunday night. He was going to one of the safes anyway, after a weekend of business at his SUS2.5. But he DID re-set the router and satellite receiver again while he was down there. And it WORKED! My internet is back to regular speed! Though still too slow for The Pony's tastes, and just the mention of it makes me reach for all things wood again. I might have a new complaint, about bruised knuckles from knocking.

Still no ice from FRIG II. Farmer H looked up fixes on his phone Monday morning, and says he will try some of them when he gets home.

We continue not to think about T-Hoe's gas tank issue...

Not A Good Day For Mrs. HM

Here it is, Sunday at 1:30 p.m., and Mrs. HM is not having a good day. The Pony was supposed to come out for a visit. We had plans to pick up Domino's Pizza (this is the last day of the half-price sale), and play Upwords and chat until Farmer H got home.

Those plans were ruined on Saturday, when I came down with Farmer H's sickness! He ruins everything! I didn't even get close to him, other than not moving as he walked past after coming in the kitchen door. I'd make his supper, and move to another area while he fetched it. I made sure not to touch my face after handling the TV remote. I told him a couple times to stop breathing (!) in my direction. Which he denied. He's been sick since Tuesday. And now I've got it. Maybe from being careless after touching the faucets, perhaps. At the kitchen sink, the bathroom sink, and the laundry room where I filled a pitcher for the dogs' water.

Anyhoo... I told The Pony on Saturday morning that I had a sore throat, and was afraid I might be getting sick. The Pony decided not to risk it. I was sad. Of course I didn't want to make The Pony sick. But I was disappointed. Maybe we can try NEXT weekend, except for the Domino's part.

Adding to my misery is my January-molasses-slow internet. It's been creeping along since Friday. I don't know what's going on. I get the spinny circle, or timed-out notices. Then it will work again in three or four minutes. It's not like when my HIPPIE locks me out for an hour. 

Farmer H says my slow internet is from the hurricane. I am doubtful. This is MISSOURI! No hurricane affecting us. The Pony snorted at that assumption. Said our internet comes out of Chicago. I don't know the source of that information. The Pony also pooh-poohed my (conspiracy) theory that everyone's internet is slow because the government is snooping around trying to catch a terrorist plot, or just generally spy on election shenanigans. The Pony says that is SO FAR-FETCHED, when my own local personal internet connection is likely the culprit, and not a nationwide scheme.

I had Farmer H go down those 13 rail-less steps to the basement, and re-set the router and the satellite receiver. It did not affect the speed of my internet.

Also, FRIG II's icemaker quit again last week. I have been surviving on a bag of ice from 10Box. Let's not even think about T-Hoe's gas tank issue...

Maybe An Explanation, Though Not A Pleasant One

Remember last week, when I saw a dog standing beside our gravel road, and he ran after T-Hoe like he was lost? I think he really WAS lost! Now Farmer H has provided a piece to the puzzle.

"Our neighbor put a picture on Facebook, asking if somebody has seen a dog. It's a DALMATION! Must be the one she said was Pepper, down by the mailboxes. She should be able to tell the difference in a Dalmatian and Pepper. It's got big black spots!"

"Well, she's only seen Pepper a couple of times, I think. The first time when he was new, and the next time when her husband said he makes their dogs bark at night. I'm still not convinced that was Pepper's fault, even though I know he went over there."

"I felt like getting on Facebook and leaving her a message. Like, 'Oh, is that the dog you said was mine?' But I didn't."

"So it's just a lost Dalmatian?"

"No. There's a picture of two dogs. One is brown."

"Wait! I saw that brown dog last week. Does it look like part German Shepherd, but with longer legs and shorter hair?"

"No. Not really. Here. I'll show you the pictures. Somebody out on the county blacktop road lost them."

"That brown one looks like it! Like the one I saw."

"It says he's part beagle."

"Oh. I could see that. But he's got longer legs than a beagle. He's brown and black, like I saw."

"It says that's the one they're looking for. She said there's a $500 reward, if that makes anybody more interested."

"It wouldn't surprise me if he's around here. That's why our dogs are going crazy at night, and Pepper has been trying to breach the fence down by the creek, and past the Freight Container Garage for the past two days."

"Maybe. Because he usually doesn't go down there."

"Wouldn't it be funny if we found that dog, and got the reward? It would pay for Pepper's collar. I don't think I'd want the reward, though. Those people must really love that dog, to offer so much to get him back. The one I saw had tags. If he's found, the people should be able to get him back."

"Yeah. They must really want him."

"If somebody was keeping him, the reward would make them likely to give him back."

As I type this at 9:30 on Friday night, Jack is barking in the front yard...

Forget Me (And Me Too) Not

Mrs. HM has ways of finding out things Farmer H would rather keep hidden from her. He's really not all that clever. Which I think you probably know by now. He's good at a lot of things, but keeping secrets is not one of them.

I might have mentioned a couple weeks ago that Farmer H forgot his phone. Left it on the nightstand when he left for town at 6:00 a.m. I didn't notice until mid-morning, when I heard it ring, and answered a call from The Veteran. Farmer H came home to get it after lunch.

Farmer H forgot something more important (to him) last Saturday. His MONEY! Yes. That's HIS money! The wad of money in a clip, that he carries in his front pocket. He's a cash business, you know. And besides, you never can tell when he might come upon a bargain on Facebook, or sitting in somebody's driveway. Farmer H needs his cash. I saw it lying on the dresser in the bedroom.

I was shocked that Farmer H didn't call me to see if it was here. Or arrange for me to bring it to him. I suppose he made enough sales to have cash on hand to buy items later in the day. Or he might have made trades instead. However he dealt with it, Farmer H did not come home until the regular closing time on Saturday.

"Did you forget something?"

"Yeah! My MONEY! I got my donut at Casey's, and I didn't have no money..."

I could see right away that Farmer H's mouth had flapped before his brain could stop it.

"OH! So you still get a donut every morning at Casey's."

"No. No. Not every morning. I just wanted one today."

"Did they let you have it for free?"

"No. I had money. In my billfold. Regular money. So I paid for it. But that's when I knew I forgot my money. I didn't have time to come home and get it."

I sure don't know why not. It only takes 10 minutes to get home. And five minutes to get back to the highway that he takes to get to his SUS2.5. I don't think the world would have ended if he was 15 minutes later, opening his store at 6:45 instead of 6:30.

But now I know that he's STILL getting a donut (every morning, I suspect), in addition to the banana and apple and protein breakfast bar and small baggie of animal cookies that I set out with his lunch.

I guess Farmer H will be more careful now about remembering his phone and money.