Break from Rain

 Next week, we're supposed to get a break from the rain!!!!  Do you know how exciting that sounds to me?   I doubt we see the sun, but....no rain will be a huge deal around here.

We could use a day without rain.

My dryer hadn't been drying well.  This usually means lint buildup somewhere.  I empty the lint trap religiously, so it wouldn't be there.   I decided it was time to vacuum the dryer out.  This time, I was determined not to slice open a finger on the sharp sheet metal edges when I removed the back.   I wore gloves.  

I pulled the dryer out and discovered the vent duct had fallen off the back.  Great.   There was lots of lint behind the dryer.  I cleaned it all out and vacuumed out the dryer itself, after removing the back.   However, and isn't there always a "however" in most projects?   However.....to get the dryer duct reattached, I had to pull out the washer to have access.  To pull the washer out of the small closet, I had to remove the hot and cold water hoses.  This is a cringeworthy task, I knew.   The hoses attach to the back of the washer via plastic threads.  These damage easily.   And, old hoses often have build up.  Unscrewing relocates that buildup and they might leak when put back on.

Sure enough, get done with the dryer, mop the floor where the washer was, push washer back in, reattach its hoses and both were leaking.  Changing out the hose washers did not help.  Off I went, to Lowe's home goods, to get new hoses.  They had a very small supply.  The shortest hoses they had were six ft. long.   Great, I thought, sarcastically.  But later, after installing them, color coded for a cheery look (and so I don't mix up hot and cold), I thought I can now pull out the washer to clean behind the dryer without unhooking the hoses. Good deal!

My snazzy new washer hoses

So my short cleaning job turned into an all day effort.  But that's life.  

Rainy days give me time for such projects.

There's nothing doing on any outdoor projects.  The cat yard muck sucks my feet under like quicksand.   It's clay soil.   Clay likes to hold water atop it and get all suctiony with too much rain.

A friend up in Sweet Home told me she has breast cancer.  She'd had no primary care doctor for some reason but her husband finally made sure she got in at urgent care for the lump in one breast that had been around awhile and grown.   It's cancer and in her lymph nodes.  She's scared.  I don't blame her.

I watched two name brand movies in part over the last week, on Netflix.  One was Kevin Costner's Horizon.  It was not a good movie.  I didn't watch it all and the parts I did watch I wandered away from frequently.   The other was Dune 2.  Another yawner.    I read the Dune books long long time ago and I think I liked them.   There was an attempt at a movie years and years ago that flopped and now the latest two part attempt that is pretty miserable also.   I hope they don't make anymore but that's none of my business. 

When I can't find a thing to watch, have no projects going on, am fed up with human nature, or am worn out and want to flop and watch, I turn on British Baking Show.  It's just so darn polite and civil.  Corny humor.  Contestants without anger and ego issues apparent on screen.  American reality TV encourages outbursts of outrage and anger and drama.  If you want to believe humans can rise above animal rage, drama, backstabbing, violence, self promotion, watch the Great British Baking Show.

But I skip on Gordon Ramsey.  He has enough anger exhibited in his cooking shows to outshout all the rest combined.  

Gigi had been very clingy and whiney of late.  But finally she coughed up three very long hairballs and feels much better.   

 I don't know how or why my very elderly duo of Tweetie and Slinko are still living but they both are.   I'm happy they are.  Tweetie's 17 so I'm quite aware her time left is limited.   But, she's still going, still eating, drinking, running around.  Slinko, on the other hand, sleeps much of the time now.