4 pennies

I got enough sleep last night, but still tired.  I got up late and barely had time to get ready. 

We went to work.  Pretty uneventful at first until a guy complained he lost some money in a machine.  He pointed at Soda #2.  Asked me to take a look at it.  I opened it up, it was fine.  I gave him the refund anyway. 

"Oh, it's this one" he said, pointing at the bottled vendor.  I opened it.  Horrific coin jam.  I managed to get out about half of it out, but I still had coins jammed in the track, and the unit. 

I got my tools.  I tried to open the door on the coin mech but it wouldn't come, and I didn't want to force it.  It's made of plastic and I was worried about breaking it. 

I finally asked Ron for his wheelchair.  He has two, the home wheelchair, 17 inches wide.  I can't really fit in that.  He also has his work wheelchair, which is 24 inches wide, and does work.  He got in his home chair and let me have his work one. 

I would have gotten a chair, but they are all bolted to the ground.  I sat in the wheelchair with my tools and opened up the very top part of the coin mech.  Lots of coins wedged in there.  I found some pennies: that's the problem.  I took everything out, then the middle part opened up for me.  I had a huge cascade of jingly change all over the machine and the floor, but I had pretty much gotten the coin jam. 

I closed up the coin mech.  It was OK.  I tried to put a quarter in the front, it wouldn't go.  Oh, yeah, I had that "mess" of coins stuck in the track.  There's a little chute that goes from the coin slot to the coin mech. 

I couldn't get it, so I used one of my picks.  That worked.  I got them all free.  More cascading.  I picked up all the change off the floor, finding a total of 4 pennies, and shut the machine. 

I tested it: worked.  I watched while other people used it: worked.  Good.  That machine is a money maker and it would be catastrophic to lose it.

About that time sandwiches called.  I ran out and got the delivery.  I stocked them.  I helped Ron.  I dealt with angry customers who had lost money in the vending machine.  I told them about the pennies.  I debated doing it but I thought they should know.  Your average person will not put pennies into a vending machine to sabotage it. 

Speaking of repairs, here is the repairman for Soda #1.  He had to replace the validator.  After he left, he had to come back and fix the coin acceptor.  But we got it all done. 

By this time, we didn't have much time left.  Let's take a moment to be grateful (and thank God, if so inclined) that I was told about the bottled vendor early on in the game, so I could fix it early.  That would have been awful to have a big time pressure on my back, fixing the machine. 

We took the money out of the vending machines, and Ron got a big bucket of quarters ready for deposit.  We left. 

We got to the bank and it was closed.  Who would have thought?  We felt pretty stupid, but a lot of people didn't know, they were pulling on the door handles and trying to get into the building. 

We called Alex the cab driver (bringer of vodka) and he came pretty quick.  I put the quarters in the trunk because I didn't want to wreck Alex's back.  I am used to handling them.  We went home. 

I took a nap.  I slept pretty well.  No cats, though. 

I had gotten pretty sweaty while working on the bottled vendor, so I took a shower when I got up.  Then we went to Denny's.  They didn't have enough servers, and a lot of take out orders, so our order was pretty slow. 

I had a breakfast sandwich and Ron had a senior menu item (which was free with the purchase of my meal, and 2 drinks).  My food was good and my pills liked it,when I took them. 

We had Gladys (the driver) to go home.  I like her a lot.  We got stuck in traffic but it wasn't too bad.  Ron had to go to the bathroom when we got home but I managed to get him there in time. 

Biscuit usually only gets one can of cat food a day.  But he was so cute when I got home, I gave him another.  He was begging.  He had a good time eating it with Baby Girl. 

When I got home, Torbie was in my bed.  That's awesome.  She didn't get up to eat, I guess she had enough dry food.  She is drinking a lot of water lately, and peeing a lot.   She hasn't lost any weight. 

The vet thought last year she might have kidney failure, but the blood test came back negative.  If she is, she is.  I'm not going to torture her with a lot of treatments if it is her time.  She is happy, she is enjoying her life. 

Now, when she doesn't want treats anymore we will talk: but she's happy now, she is an old lady (at least 13 per my vet), and I want her to have a good quality of life up until the end. 

I don't think horrid special diets, medications, and blood tests (she fights those so hard it takes two men to hold her down) are serving her.  She might not last as long but she'll be a lot happier when she does go. 

I had this whole thought process when she had that tumor on her foot a while back.  She came with it, actually, from the shelter.  The vet wasn't worried about it then, but it grew, she was chewing on it a lot, and it was bleeding.  We took it off and sent it for biopsy. 

I had some time to think, what would I do if it were malignant?  I decided I would not to any more surgery, or chemo, if she had cancer.  I didn't want to torture her.  I would rather let her go naturally (with good pain meds, of course), than a lot of invasive treatments. 

It turned out to be benign, and the doctor got it all, so no further issues. 

Torbie, at the end of it, is a pretty private cat.  She doesn't like people messing with her unless she's inviting the attention.  She doesn't even like to be picked up (not a deal killer for me, on adoption day).  So I try to respect what I see as her wishes. 

The other cats are fine.  Baby Girl and Biscuit are moderately bonded.  They don't sleep together, or groom each other, but they eat and play together.  They are only 2 years apart.  I don't think they will miss Torbie much when she does go. 

I don't plan to get another cat when Torbie does go.  Primarily because the HOA has a 2 pet policy and I am currently in violation.  Also because, as some have pointed out, my life is somewhat unstable.  Things will go to hell when Ron dies and I may need to rehome my cats.  I wouldn't want to, but I don't know what will happen. 

I didn't mean to get so depressing today.  Ron was so happy I fixed the machine, he gave me a bonus.  More than he would have paid the repairman.  I think he really admires the fact that I will roll up my sleeves, (commandeer his wheelchair), and get my hands dirty when something needs a fix.  My Dad tried to teach me how to take care of things when I was a kid, and I like to think some of that stuck. 

I'm an engineer's daughter.