Now I know how Joan of Arc felt
May. 18th, 2026 07:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwynYou know what isn't fun? Finding out you have a gas leak in your furnace. I had the plumber come out last week to look at a drain in my utility sink, which is next to the gas furnace and under the gas tankless water heater. Fortunately no drain problem (I was worried because it seemed to not be draining and I need to clean up all the cat stuff--and dog stuff, which I've held on to for too long when I should have donated it long ago), but the guy said as he was leaving that he smelled gas, but it had disappeared so he wasn't certain. I stuck my head back there and also had a brief whiff of it, so I called the gas company.
I guess they treat everything like that as an emergency even if you say you can't always smell it, so they sent someone out right away and he said as soon as he walked in the door "oh yeah, I smell gas." He was funny--very blasé about it all, but he worked on it for some time (while his meter beeped frantically and loudly the whole time OMG) and found that the threads were stripped on an elbow joint, which means it's been like that since October when it was installed.
Talk about nerve-wracking. I'm amazed that somehow my house hasn't exploded. This is the second time in the past few months that something could have burned down my house. Did you know that GFI electric outlets have a finite lifespan? I did not either! I found this out when I heard some racket from a GFI outlet in my kitchen and then this loud, terrifying pop. I had to replace four other outlets that were put in at the same time, at a fair cost, to avoid something like that happening again. Not that all GFIs fail as spectacularly, but they do fail I guess and it'd be great to not have your house burn down when they do—but apparently no guarantees! I'm also seriously side-eyeing the city inspector who signed off on the new furnace. I called the furnace folks and I was hoping they might call me back--I told someone what happened, but I would love to talk to the higher-ups more about it. I don't want to bust anyone's balls, but man, I think this is pretty important.
So that was fun. I've been trying to keep it together the past few weeks and mostly failing miserably--a lot of this stressful stuff might have been easier to handle if I didn't burst into tears on a constant basis. I just miss Blues so much. I keep finding myself starting to talk to him, and I tend to sleep really late because there's no need to get up and feed a cat. It feels weird to eat (especially a turkey sandwich, because he adored deli turkey and ham) without him pestering me endlessly to share. I'm barely going through my usual amount of milk and half and half because I'm not sharing it with him.
I missed the deadline again this year for signups for Into a Bar. I'm annoyed with myself, since I really wanted to do it this year so that I could get back into writing mode--it's a light challenge, low stakes, and so much fun that I felt it might really help. I owe two Fandom trumps Hate stories and I really want to start them, but I feel...shaky, I guess. It would be horrible to disappoint my bidders.
The reason I missed the deadline though is...maybe good? I don't know. I was heavily on the fence about whether I should get another pet what with my health issues. People are living up to 17 years or so with myeloma now, but the *average* life expectancy is still around 5 years, and often when it comes back (it does always come back after a remission), it comes back hard. But of course, Saturday night I drifted over to Petfinder...
I've always wanted a dilute calico (or tortoiseshell) and that was one of the types I am always looking at, but I figured the likelihood of finding a senior one was low since they are rare (I've looked at Petfinder sometimes and you don't see one anywhere at any age). But of course this exact time, there was a lovely senior dilute gal listed with a rescue way down near Chehalis, and the local gang, on our Sunday zoom calls, was like "do it do it do it" and saying it would be a mitzvah since she's 12, and next thing I know I'm trying to put in an inquiry. Petfinder just wouldn't work for me so I ended up using good old-fashioned email from their website and they got back to me last night. We set a time for a meet and greet for Wednesday, and it turns out this little gal is in Gig Harbor, actually, so since I live next to the ferry terminal, I can take the ferry over there.
I will let you know how it goes. I'm a nervous wreck about taking the ferry (it's the only ferry in a residential area and it's really stupid and challenging to get queued up for it) and I've never driven over there, only been a passenger. But it just doesn't make sense to drive over an hour south and then another hour north when I'm literally blocks away from the ferry. I still feel like I'm doing the wrong thing, I worry I could take a turn for the worse, etc. etc. But they say she's a total sweetheart and she's so pretty in her pictures. And I'm lonely.
Okay back to trying to de-doggify and de-cattify the house so she won't be overwhelmed if she does come home with me.
I guess they treat everything like that as an emergency even if you say you can't always smell it, so they sent someone out right away and he said as soon as he walked in the door "oh yeah, I smell gas." He was funny--very blasé about it all, but he worked on it for some time (while his meter beeped frantically and loudly the whole time OMG) and found that the threads were stripped on an elbow joint, which means it's been like that since October when it was installed.
Talk about nerve-wracking. I'm amazed that somehow my house hasn't exploded. This is the second time in the past few months that something could have burned down my house. Did you know that GFI electric outlets have a finite lifespan? I did not either! I found this out when I heard some racket from a GFI outlet in my kitchen and then this loud, terrifying pop. I had to replace four other outlets that were put in at the same time, at a fair cost, to avoid something like that happening again. Not that all GFIs fail as spectacularly, but they do fail I guess and it'd be great to not have your house burn down when they do—but apparently no guarantees! I'm also seriously side-eyeing the city inspector who signed off on the new furnace. I called the furnace folks and I was hoping they might call me back--I told someone what happened, but I would love to talk to the higher-ups more about it. I don't want to bust anyone's balls, but man, I think this is pretty important.
So that was fun. I've been trying to keep it together the past few weeks and mostly failing miserably--a lot of this stressful stuff might have been easier to handle if I didn't burst into tears on a constant basis. I just miss Blues so much. I keep finding myself starting to talk to him, and I tend to sleep really late because there's no need to get up and feed a cat. It feels weird to eat (especially a turkey sandwich, because he adored deli turkey and ham) without him pestering me endlessly to share. I'm barely going through my usual amount of milk and half and half because I'm not sharing it with him.
I missed the deadline again this year for signups for Into a Bar. I'm annoyed with myself, since I really wanted to do it this year so that I could get back into writing mode--it's a light challenge, low stakes, and so much fun that I felt it might really help. I owe two Fandom trumps Hate stories and I really want to start them, but I feel...shaky, I guess. It would be horrible to disappoint my bidders.
The reason I missed the deadline though is...maybe good? I don't know. I was heavily on the fence about whether I should get another pet what with my health issues. People are living up to 17 years or so with myeloma now, but the *average* life expectancy is still around 5 years, and often when it comes back (it does always come back after a remission), it comes back hard. But of course, Saturday night I drifted over to Petfinder...
I've always wanted a dilute calico (or tortoiseshell) and that was one of the types I am always looking at, but I figured the likelihood of finding a senior one was low since they are rare (I've looked at Petfinder sometimes and you don't see one anywhere at any age). But of course this exact time, there was a lovely senior dilute gal listed with a rescue way down near Chehalis, and the local gang, on our Sunday zoom calls, was like "do it do it do it" and saying it would be a mitzvah since she's 12, and next thing I know I'm trying to put in an inquiry. Petfinder just wouldn't work for me so I ended up using good old-fashioned email from their website and they got back to me last night. We set a time for a meet and greet for Wednesday, and it turns out this little gal is in Gig Harbor, actually, so since I live next to the ferry terminal, I can take the ferry over there.
I will let you know how it goes. I'm a nervous wreck about taking the ferry (it's the only ferry in a residential area and it's really stupid and challenging to get queued up for it) and I've never driven over there, only been a passenger. But it just doesn't make sense to drive over an hour south and then another hour north when I'm literally blocks away from the ferry. I still feel like I'm doing the wrong thing, I worry I could take a turn for the worse, etc. etc. But they say she's a total sweetheart and she's so pretty in her pictures. And I'm lonely.
Okay back to trying to de-doggify and de-cattify the house so she won't be overwhelmed if she does come home with me.
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Date: 2026-05-19 04:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-05-19 04:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-05-20 08:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-05-19 05:37 am (UTC)I'm glad you got brave, and are going to see the kitty! the ferry may not be a big deal, and you can enjoy the ride (and time savings). hope she's perfect, and you will have company again soon
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Date: 2026-05-19 11:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-05-19 06:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-05-19 11:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-05-20 02:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-05-20 02:09 am (UTC)Fingers crossed that you and the kitty hit it off. It's hard not to have a fur friend around.
no subject
Date: 2026-05-20 02:14 pm (UTC)I (as always) hope to hear cat updates. My current cat, Morwen, came to me as a kitten and is now seventeen years old. When I first got her (and her brother, now gone), I said they were my last kittens because I'd probably be in my seventies when they died and it wouldn't be fair to adopt kittens at that point. So I'd look at older cats instead. And now that Morwen is slowing down, I'll have to decide whether to abide by that decision.
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Date: 2026-05-20 04:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-05-22 04:46 am (UTC)