Next, the water pump. Same thing, at first it worked then it just stopped. John redid the start up process all over again and it wouldn't start. Frustrated, he hit it with a wrench .... it started and hasn't stopped again.
Following that was the refrigerator. A week after turning it on, the refrigerator section kept changing temperature settings by itself. The food was either frozen or warm. Of course I thought John was fiddling with it and he thought I was doing it. $193.00 and 2 repairman visits later we had a new motherboard installed and it works fine.
But most frustrating of all was the computer. It started giving me fits... freezing screens... a gazillion pop-up "somethings wrong" squares. My geek friend Wendy looked at it and said the hard drive was dying a slow but sure death. She downloaded all my files she could, we ordered a new hard drive and recovery discs (since my computer came pre-loaded I had no software/operating discs). A week later it arrived and we started the reload process. HP was kind enough to not charge me for the recovery disc but unfortunately it contained the 4 year old software present when I bought the computer. For the past 2 weeks I have been downloading updates. The frustration of knowing which to install prior to another has been turning my hair gray.... but I've gotten far enough to do a blog posting so all's not bad. Wendy installed a new program that will enable her to access my computer when I'm on the road to help me if something goes wrong again. How cool is that! It's like that commercial on TV where this computer geek rides on the back of the kids going to college, so that they have computer help..... but Wendy is just a click and pass code away.
Our friend Ray had some surgery in Indy after we left him. I was in touch with Millie on a daily basis for a while but Ray is now home (motor home, that is) and improving daily. We were worried but he's getting back to normal..... he gave me a trivia challenge this week.... the origins of the seventh inning stretch.
There are some other bright spots too. Sydney got his summer haircut...... oh I forgot.... his clippers died and I had to order a new pair. Here he is on his morning constitutional on the path along the creek. He acts like a puppy again when his hair is short. It's sure nice when he goes swimming.... he doesn't drip water all over the house.
Some of the local wildlife are still around. Here are the Merganser Ducks and the Great Blue Heron frolicking in the creek beside our house.
We went for a music cruise down the Susquehanna River on the Hiawatha paddle wheeler with our friends John and Wendy (Hottie redhead according to my friend Ray). We always enjoy their company.
And of course.... I've been able to spend some time with my new boyfriend. Yes you heard me right. Every chance I get, I'm swooning over this guy.
Currently we are getting ready for a yard sale in 3 weeks. John has been helping the other John, to put a new roof on his rental property. Both of them are also helping another friend, Paul, put an extension on his woodworking shop. My friend Helen is moving to a smaller place so we spent a morning moving boxes and furniture. Next week, we'll do some more. We're also looking forward to a visit from my sister Erin in 2 weeks. In October we will be joining several other couples for a trip to the New York wineries.... chauffeur driven.... we're not driving.
Who said retirement is boring?
