Rusty's Ramblings

[Rusty Edge]

If anybody is interested in smart home stuff-

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/842479032/olarm-the-smartest-home-security-system?ref=email

This seems like a good value for Americans, and it's Nest compatible.

______________

Finished grubbing out the tree and shrub roots on the surface of my lawn from my uphill neighbor. The homes here are sort of built on 3'-4' terraces on this side of the street. More roots than I expected. I drank some wine to neutralize my back pain by relaxing the muscles. Bent my cutter mattock, but I got almost bent back into shape. Actually, the most useful tool was my Milwaukee Electric 18 volt sawzall. I rarely need the thing, but the big coarse blades come in handy for cutting an old couch in half , and cutting through roots and dirt. I'm impressed with the way the batteries seem to deliver full power up to the point where they suddenly stop, rather than fade away.

[E_T]

Good Voltage Regulation...

[Rusty Edge]

1) My wife told me that the fishing trip stuff got packed wherever for the way home, so I got all of the boxes out and inventoried, and did some redistribution.


2) My Mom needs me again. So, I have a flight booked. I guess that means freezing corn for use here soon, because my window is small, and I have a lot of people preferring it for meals. I'll have to get some tomorrow and see how it is in terms of maturity, tenderness, sweetness, etc. It means that my Summer is mostly over. I will have to start getting stuff done, simply because I will be out of state, or busy. Same goes for rescheduling stuff.

[Rusty Edge]

Things got complicated here with another hospitalization . I extended my stay. He's okay and back in the nursing home. I got to do some pruning, stump grubbing, and other yard work. Froze corn for my Mom here. Yesterday dealt with some legal stuff about separating the parents assets.     Mostly I am her driver. My brother deserves a break from this stuff, he hasn't been able to take a vacation this year because of it.
                             

[Buster's Uncle]

Looking after family like that = the right thing to do. 

[Rusty Edge]

Thanks. I think of you while I'm doing it. Oh yeah, I also cook when we are home and buy dinners on the road. The difference is that all of us are doing what we can. This is my third tour. My youngest sister burnt through all of her vacation and family leave, and my other sister has filled in so that I didn't feel guilty taking a spring vacation that was already paid for. She did another shift, too. I plan to fly home Sunday, stay about a week, then drive back here with my wife for 3 more weeks. My October is pretty full. My cousin will likely take up the slack visiting my dad again. After appointments with the doctors in early November, we hope to move him to this county, so that church people can help over the winter. We will have to wait and see.

SKYBELL allowed my wife to document that the 3 housecleaning were only there for 45 minutes, and it is a 4 person-hour job. She's happy, because she noticed they were cutting corners this week, and she feels validated.

[E_T]

Let your Brother get out and away for a bit...

My sister was always very picky as to what and if anyone that cleaned for her, cleaned and how...

[Rusty Edge]

I should update this thread. Completed the weeding, sapling removal and stump grubbing at my Mom's. My wife and I got my Mom through the nursing home selection/approval process. There's a nice one 5 minutes away. We got the lift/recliner chair, tv, mini-fridge-freezer, lamp, phone, etc. purchased.  My brother got a chance to go to a party on the west coast, he was very appreciative.


Meanwhile my Mom got things moving in the rehab place. My dad now has a helmet. They measured him and ordered a wheelchair. He has been working hard on transfers. My youngest sister is coming in from Seattle for two weeks the beginning of next month to attend the follow-up appointments with the brain and plastic surgeons, and to facilitate the move from the physical rehab facility to the new nursing home. So things are going great.


Here at home, we just had a wedding and seemed to distribute a cold. Being a procrastinator, I didn't get it until today.


Meanwhile my Alzheimer's Mother-in-law couldn't tell if one of her hearing aids was working, so she proceeded to burn through an entire package of zinc air batteries, and go to the standby of take it apart herself. Now a part is missing. The original issue? She needed to clean the wax off of the dome that fits in her ear. The model is old ( in terms of generations of tech, rather than years ), we may not be able to get the part. She doesn't have money for new ones that are grandma -proof.

[Rusty Edge]

I should explain that my youngest sister in Seattle used up her personal and vacation time early this year, but has now been granted a couple weeks of family leave.


I was able to get the hearing aid part from my audiologist. I put it in, but it still isn't working. There's a reason why electronics have covers. Oh well, I have an audiogram scheduled for myself on Thursday, so I'll see about it then.


I'm recovered from my cold. I have a bag of mixed crocus to plant. I guess it's time for outdoor winterization.

[Rusty Edge]

I've been focused on hydration, but I think I need to pay more attention to caffeine consumption, or else the timing of it, because last night I couldn't fall asleep until 5 AM, for no apparent reason. I'm pretty tired now, so I expect that to self-correct. Soon.

[Geo]

SKYBELL allowed my wife to document that the 3 housecleaning were only there for 45 minutes, and it is a 4 person-hour job. She's happy, because she noticed they were cutting corners this week, and she feels validated.

So, did the cutting corners part stop?
At least, I assume your wife took it up with the cleaning company?

[Rusty Edge]

The next time they did the same thing again, even though the boss docked their pay. My wife complained again.

Now we have a different cleaning crew from the same agency. They stayed the full time and did a better job. We'll see if they continue to do that or not.

[Rusty Edge]

As for the cleaners, this time we got a crew chief who was competent in English, and the owner of the service showed up, too. I should explain that the owner is a religious Costa Rican, and hires mostly other Costa Ricans. Most of them only pretend to understand English, and don't seem to good at following instructions written in Spanish. This crew chief is supposed to explain what we want to the other crew chiefs.


They asked about the kitchen and bathrooms, we assured them we were satisfied with those. Then we showed them the dust on some of the cabinets and under the edges of the furniture. Judging from their re-actions and the name of the previous crew chief, we must have got a problem slacker. Cats make a lot of dust, whether it's litter sand, hair, or dander. Right now we have six of them in the house.


They put in some overtime, and we're satisfied with the house now.

[Geo]

I assume it is hard to find English-speaking cleaners in your region?

[Rusty Edge]

I assume it is hard to find English-speaking cleaners in your region?

The workers for landscaping and cleaning services in this city are mostly Spanish speakers. I can think of one of each service that is English speaking.


The greatest concern isn't how well they clean, but can we trust people with keys to our home and opportunities to remove mail, jewelry, electronics, antiques, etc. I trust the woman who owns the service to screen them. She seems to be religious and hires church people who wish to become citizens, two factors that make them less likely to steal information or property from us.