Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Fixed it!

I forget how I slept last night, but I reset my alarm to give me a little more time in bed this morning.  Biscuit climbed in with me and begged for his breakfast. 

Every depressed person should have a cat like Biscuit, they'll get you up every day. 

I took my pills and ate my protein bar, took my shower, etc.  We were going to work a little later so we missed rush hour. 

Interesting fact: #6's, six kids, are very noisy coming home from school, but very quiet going to school.  They seldom wake me up.  If I had to pick I'd have it that way. 

The husband/father of #6 was walking around in the yard, front and back, and whistling, after I got up.  I was glad it wasn't a day off because I would have been pissed that he woke me up. 

People, on both sides!  Don't realize!  I can hear them!  They talk, laugh, whistle, whatever, walking around right next to my house thinking they are invisible and unheard.  They're not. 

On the plus side, I do know whenever someone's in my yard. 

We headed off to work.  The driver was sweet, but lacked a lot of common sense.  She was a good driver, though. 

We got into work and I wrote the check to our program.  They get a percentage of our profits every month.  Then I went after the coin sorter. 

I took it out of the stockroom and set in on a table.  I opened the lid and examined it.  Ron had already taken off a plastic cover.  I set the cover on the table and got the toolbox.  I have an assortment of pliers, picks, and screwdrivers in the box. 

I couldn't find the jam at first, the middle part looked good, and the inlet.  I finally discovered the problem near the outlet. 

Last time I worked on the unit, I found a part that flipped up, allowing me access to the problem area.  Today, near the problem, I found another metal tab with a spring on it.  I poked at it, tentatively, and it came up.  I was able to access the outlet now (I was a couple layers into the machine by now). 

By outlet, I mean the area where the coins come out.  I would never work on the electrical outlet. 

I was able to poke and jab most of the coins out of the jam.  There were a couple left so I got my trusty needle-nosed pliers and used them to extract the coins.  Ha!  Gotcha! 

I double checked to make sure the path was clear.  It was fine now.  I told Ron I had fixed it.  He was happy and made a joke about paying me $65 for the "service call" (the going rate charged by our vending machine repairman).  I told him I'd take it in kisses. 

God gets the credit, of course.  I just went as led by Him. 

I put the coin sorter away and stored the toolbox.  I did snacks, didn't need much, and helped Ron with the bottled vendor. 

He still has difficulty lifting a case of water off the cart and putting it onto his lap.  So I help him with that.  Praise God my back is fine so I help when I can. 

I am always careful. 

I had already mailed the check, so we didn't have to worry about it.  Ron had already done sodas. 

We were done, and we still had over 2 hours left until our pickup.  Ron called to cancel the pickup, then called Chuck, who was out with a bad vertigo attack.  He wouldn't be driving today, at all. 

So much for our ride home.  Ron called 2 other cab drivers, but they were all well out of town. 

Well, crap.  We called Yellow cab and explained we could fold the wheelchair into a trunk.  That I would do it. 

They put it out for bid.  Basically, it comes up on someone's screen,  showing the details of the trip (how many passengers, pickup and drop-off, total mileage), and asks if they want the trip. 

Ron called a couple minutes later.  The driver was coming.  Good. 

I was delighted to see it was actually a wheelchair cab, so he could secure the wheelchair in the back without having to fold it and all.  The wheelchair weights 38 pounds, and it's a bit heavy for most.  He was a nice guy, and a very careful driver.  We got his number. 

We got home right as it started raining.  That was worth the cab fare, beating the rain.  Speaking of beating, the rain beat down on the house like it had been insulted.  It rained for hours.  I took a nap, so did Ron. 

I was so glad I had already taken out the garbage can.  The sideyard turns into a mudbath when it rains. 

When we both woke up we filed the online report (they want a profit and loss statement, in addition to the monthly check, and every quarter they want an inventory too).  We did that.  I did the inventory.  I need to get a spreadsheet program, though.  Not today, I have 3 months to get one set up and figure it out.  I will have some pretty simple formulas.  A times B = C.  Add up all the C's to get D.  Worst case I can buy a book. 

I'm a very visual learner. 

It kept raining.  Ron started (or kept) drinking and went back to bed.  He's been pretty quiet for the last week.  I know he hates having blackouts, he thinks they degrade him, and he hates it when I complain. 

I got ambitious for dinner and made some bean and cheese tacos.  They were filling and I was able to take my medication with them. 

Unfortunately, I was now out of medication in my pills-of-the-week counter so I had to "do up" 2 weeks of medication.  I did that.  Good thing I have a new appointment in 6 weeks or so.  Some of my medication looked a little low, the lithium in particular. 

I had a nice cuddle with Biscuit today when I got home.  He cries at the door when he hears us, and greets us when we open the door.  It's adorable.  I picked him up and cuddled him for a few minutes, and he let me. 

Most cats I've known have hated being held.  Or they would tolerate it, but they didn't like it.  Biscuit purrs so I assume he likes it. 

When I pick up a cat, I put my left arm under their back legs, supporting them, and I pet them with my right hand.  I hold them so they can get down whenever they want.  If they struggle, I let them down.  I don't want them to hate me. 

Of course I got white cat hair all over my black t-shirt, but I wear it with pride.  It's quiet, I'm going to go to bed early. 

Have a good one. 

1 comment:

Eric H. Bowen said...

Hello, Heather. If you need to get set up with a spreadsheet, I would recommend you try LibreOffice suite. It's open-source and free of charge. I do recommend that you send the development team a donation if you find it useful.