Author: Polgara

My Day of Laundry has turned into my Weekend of Laundry. Seriously, I did TEN loads yesterday, and 11-14 are currently occupying the washers and dryers downstairs. I’m *almost* done, but there’s still two blankets, one couch slipcover, one winter jacket, and the linens from my bed. Damn good thing I picked up two extra rolls of quarters at the bank yesterday! Sheesh.

However, the reason I had so much is because I finally cleaned out my closet yesterday, and I managed to cull four bags and a box worth of clothes to go to Out of the Closet (which I also did yesterday–it was a very productive day!). All the winter clothes that I had left went into the wash (some moths were discovered in the closet, so I’m taking no chances), and anything that doesn’t fit after a stint in the dryer will also go to OotC.

Now, in the bad news department, my living room was invaded by termites yesterday afternoon, when the sun got hot enough to drive them from the wall and onto my couch (which is right under the window where they live). The rest of my afternoon was spent in a depressed funk, for several reasons:

1. My landlord doesn’t “fix” the wall, he patches it up. It started with the rains about three years ago that got into and destroyed a lot of my south wall–cracks, holes, you name it. Even the AC unit nearly came crashing down. But instead of finding where the water was coming from and fixing it, they just patched up the visible damage. This has led to years of leaky windows and, yes, termites, which I’m sure is making the damage that much worse. I fully expect the ceiling to cave in some day.

2. I live in a rent-controlled city, which means that I’m currently paying only about 2/3 of current rents, which means I can’t afford to move, unless I want to move somewhere that would increase my commute by about 30 miles.

3. Money is tight enough that I can’t even really replace the couch. (Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the part where the couch is under the infested window/wall, so when the sun forces the bugs out, they crawl all over my couch). The couch is old (and has a wooden frame, which I try not to think about to hard) and hurts my back, so I rarely even sit on it anymore. What I’d like is a convertible love seat–the full sized couch is so big, the only place for it is under that window, but a love seat is small enough to go in the middle of the room without overpowering it, and hence, away from that cursed window. I should just toss the couch and live without until I can find another solution, but I’ve never lived without a couch, and it just seems so, I dunno, college student-y. I’m too old to not have furniture without feeling like a failure.

So, that was yesterday–some triumphs, some defeats. Also, I need someone to empty my dustbuster for me. I can’t bear to see all those termites in there.

I was up and outta bed at 7am this morning. Why? Beats me. Trouble woke me around 6:30 and I couldn’t go back to sleep, and worse, I was wide awake, so I figured what the hell, I’d get up. Had myself a cup of tea, and NOW I feel sleepy. *sigh* Whatever.

I actually have a plan today, but it’s a plan born of necessity. The mountains of laundry and dishes are calling to me too loudly to ignore, and singing backup are the fridge and car that desperately need clearing out.

And maybe, if I can motivate myself and decide I’m willing to risk it, I may attempt to hand-felt one of the bags that’s awaiting felting. I bought a bucket (eat it, Walrus!), plunger and strainer last week specifically for the task. I fear failure, which would suck considering the work that goes into knitting one of these babies up, but the machines downstairs aren’t very good at felting–the water doesn’t get hot enough, and the wash cycle is so short it takes at least three washes to get the job done. At a dollar a wash, that’s a lot of quarters to waste.

An example of a purse waiting for felting:

We’ll see. Given the amount of laundry I have to do, it might just be easier to keep throwing the bags in with the rest of the laundry until everything is properly felted.

And I should probably get started, otherwise I’ll be wasting my early 7am start.

I’m trying to decide what to do about my eyes. I need new contact lenses and new lenses for my year-old glasses–my prescription is way out of date, and focusing on a computer screen is becoming harder. I also have $800 to kill from my pre-tax medical spending account, so money is not the issue. The thing is, I haven’t really been happy with my optometrist. He’s nice, and I’ve been going to him for seven years, and he’s within walking distance, and I even know his assistant’s name, but my prescription rarely seems, well, right. My optometrist back home always got it right, but this guy? Hardly ever. My latest pair of glasses took me six months to get used to, and I wonder if my eyes were affected by trying to get used to the wrong prescription.

So yes, I’m thinking I need a new doctor. But, I’ve known this guy for seven years. And it’s hard to go out there and find a new doctor–there’s not even a guarantee that new guy/gal would be better. I’m almost inclined to hit a LensCrafter or Pearl Vision or some other big chain of impersonal care.

I don’t know. I’m undecided, but I have a time limit–five and a half weeks, to be exact–and I need to make a decision and act on it before then. Phooey. I hate making decisions. And breaking up with doctors. Well, and breaking up with anyone. But that’s a whole ‘nother post.

22. I graduated from Umass Amherst with a degree in English Lit and a minor in Classical Civilizations.

23. I would’ve majored in Classics, except it required four semesters of either Latin or Greek, and I was tired of languages.

24. I studied French for four years in high school and two semesters in college. I suck at it.

19. I love to play pool, and I’m not half bad at it. I used to play in the basement of my dorm, usually around 2am when all the guys who’d been monopolizing the table finally went to bed. If I don’t get enough practice, though, I can suck pretty spectacularly.

20. I won a pool tournament once, also at my last company. First prize was a Batman mug, because they expected the winner would be one of the Vice Presidents.

21. My favorite drinks in college were fuzzy navels and Bacardi Breezers.