White Lightning Axiom: Redux

Yesterday evening was pretty mundane. Jacob did manage to get his hands on the fabric on the car roof and rip it down. I admonished him, to no avail. He just kept reaching up for it until I tucked it under the plastic molding. Little vandal. Alexis was having so much fun at the sand pit that she insisted that her coat was getting in the way. She unzipped it and put it aside on the east retaining wall. I chased her about for 5 minutes trying to get her to put it back on. Once again, to no avail. I can only hope that this is the hardest part of being a parent. Yeah, right. The hounds are more difficult than this. I did get around to chopping some wood. About the same amount I do every night. A little at a time. If I can keep it up, it should soon be done. My back does not hurt anymore and my shoulders are starting to get used to it. The only thing that hurts now is this weird surface pain on my right upper thigh. Really upper. Like, pocket location upper. Not an area that I appreciate pain. It wraps around to the lower back on the same side like some kind of flat muscle pull, but it is not the kind of discomfort I usually get with that. Maybe its glandular or some kind of lymph node infection. I don't know, but it is quite annoying and keeps me up at night.

On the potty front, Alexis did a good job while Jacob kind of missed the target. He tried and tried and nothing happened ... until he got into the bath-tub and the dam broke. Oh well, there is always tomorrow. Tomorrow. We have a bit of work to do then. After the kids had gone to bed, the Mrs and I were puttering about in the kitchen when the telephone started to give it's "I'm messed up" beeping signal. I thought for sure that the thing had finally bought the farm until we brought a cordless phone up from the basement. I plugged it into the phone jack and the electrical outlet and ... nothing. Hmmm, odd. I got a different phone and it worked just fine. This phone did not need an electrical adapter though. The Mrs pointed out at that time that the TV would not come on either. Initially she thought that we were having problems with the transformer again, but the clock on the stove was working. I went down to the basement to check the breakers and they all seemed to be on. As I thought about it for a few minutes, I remember being in the attic when I was laying out insulation and had stumbled over a loose connection box. When the kitchen area was renovated, they had to rewire some of the outlets and the way they did this was very sub-standard. If I had seen this mess before I bought the house, we may not have bought the house. The inspector missed it because of the location. I suspect that the wires in the connection box may have come loose and that is what the problem is. I dread going up to the lower attic because of the insulation that I will have to dig though, the nails digging into my back, shoulders and skull, and the distinct possibility that any fix that I attempt will end up being a multi-day task. There are always complications, which is why this situation exists in the first place. I have to address this though. The Mrs and I spoke about it and came to the agreement that the kids will have to be dropped off by 0700 Wednesday so that we can come home early and deal with it. I'll be in the attic sparing with the electric demon and the wife will be at the ready with a cell phone to call 911 and various bandages/splints. After we get this new task completed, we can pick up the kids. I really don't want them to hear my cursing and swearing as I pry nails from my torso and desperately try to hack up loose insulation from my lungs. If I don't post tomorrow, it's because the hospital does not have a internet ready room for me.

In lighter news, it looks like the PA Turnpike may be having an issue soon. The toll collectors union (part of the teamsters) have been working under an expired contract for the last year. They are getting impatient and are threatening to strike. The consequences of this are being addressed by the Turnpike commission as thus. If they can get enough people, they will charge a flat fee of 2$ for all exits on the turnpike. That does suck if you usually get charged less than 2$ of course. I would normally pay 1.60$, but since I have EZPass, it will not affect me. Did I mention that I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE EZPass? I think that this would spur more people to start using the service to avoid these kinds of inconveniences. Boy, do I just adore EZPass ... God bless EZPass. EZPass for President!

# posted by mdmhvonpa @ 6:43 AM