Ramblings of a rural(ish) geek

Things are looking better for the musicians. The LCCB gig in Fowlerville did happen. It went quite well -- there were lots of people at the concert, and lots of musicians in the band. The forecast for next week (2 concerts scheduled) is looking a bit iffy right now - showers Tuesday, although the long range forecast has them moving out midafternoon; and clear but a bit cool on Wednesday. This is, of course, subject to the usual drift as it becomes more clear which way the pressure systems are moving around the lake.

Also on Wednesday, an instrument outreach in Howell. Early afternoon, so I should have no trouble getting home in time to be on Belle Isle at 6pm.

We're still really, really short on rain. I watered the strawberries again, and pulled a hose over to the viburnums next to the garage because they were looking very stressed. It's raining now, but not very hard. I really wish it would rain decently -- a day of a quarter-to-half an inch of rain every hour would be good....

SA claims we should have the Camry back today. If zie doesn't call by 3:30, I'm going to call them, because it will take us 45 minutes to get there.

Salesdude called on Friday - "car is almost through prep, send me proof of insurance/registration, and I'll get your paperwork sent off to Finance and text you when they're ready". 30 minutes later, "Finance has your paperwork, they'll be ready for you in 45 minutes or so". The dealer is 30 minutes away, so off we went, old license plate in hand. A quick test drive (roundabouts, highway, backroads) to make sure it was the car we thought we were buying, a dozen signatures later and I was off in my brand new car! whee.

J has spent most of today detailing my old car, which is now his main car. He wouldn't touch it when it was mine, even though I would ask him to, but as soon as it's his, he's all over it. sigh. And after years of scoffing at the book I keep, now he wants the old one so he can put all that info into the car care application on his phone. I'm not sure where the old book is -- I saw it a couple of months ago, but I don't remember where.

DB says that the absolute silence when the car is stopped is the weirdest thing. J has ordered an Infinite Improbability Drive badge for it (a friend posted a link to it, and he's not wrong).

JK and I are theoretically "in charge" of the FCB rehearsal on Monday - the lead cat herder will be on vacation, and has given us the 'keys', so to speak. We have access to the attendance spreadsheet so we can do the layout. The FCB is still observing the 6ft spacing, 9ft in front of trombones, unlike most other bands in the area. The Safety Board has relaxed the bell cover requirement, though. Right now, the weather peeps are predicting rain for Monday evening. I hope that's a decision *I* don't have to make - it's well above my pay grade. :) We shall see.

We put a deposit down on a car this morning, and we may have it by next weekend. Test drove a Camry hybrid this morning, and liked it better than the Accord hybrid that we'd driven yesterday.

Not an actual commitment to purchase until we see the car, but sedans/small crossovers are selling fast, often before the dealers actually get them to the lot, and the deposit basically gives us right of first refusal. It won't stay on the lot for long if it's not what we expect - Camry and Accord hybrids are basically flying off the lots. It's a "lot basic" car in silver, but has a NotBlack interior, and that's more important to me than exterior color.

Demand is outpacing supply for a lot of reasons - pent up demand from last year *and* a shortage of computer chips at the very least - and we decided that this car already on the truck to the dealership was "close enough" to what I wanted to be OK. And if it's not? We can move the deposit to a different car, either on a truck or on the assembly line. (and yes, a brand new car - I'm planning on driving it for at least a decade/150K, and this way I'm not buying someone else's problems.)

Grey car is gone. They actually paid me for it! They'll get some of that back from salvaging the battery and the tires, but the demand for parts from a 2005 fleet car is pretty low -- I expect that it will go through a crusher and they'll sell it for scrap.

So now we're down to two cars in the driveway. And maybe my car will get back into the garage before winter. J found (through a net-zero solar consortium in A2) a contractor who is willing to install a solar system that they didn't bid. Permits are being issued as I type (theoretically - J went and paid for them yesterday after the contractor applied for theirs).

The poison ivy has mostly gone down - still lingering itchies, but that's because my immune system got all riled up, and it takes a while to dissipate.

No gardening to report - we've gotten enough rain that the gardens are too wet to work in. Just as well, as the last thing I want to do is make the itchies flare up again. I'd like to get through this summer with only one course of prednisone, tyvm.

No PT this week, but still errands tomorrow -- despite my best efforts, I still need to go grocery shopping every week.

The weather seems quite firmly transitioned to fall, so I guess I can think about doing more work in the basement. The problem there is that J somehow managed to misplace the good handset that belongs down there, and half the time when the landline rings I can't answer on the basement phone because the handset is dead. Or I can't find it, because he didn't put it back on the base. I'm sure the good handset is in the lab somewhere, but I'll never find it, and he doesn't care enough to go looking -- it'll show up in few months, when he goes digging in a random box for something else.

Headed out to PT in the old car somewhat early this morning -- I had to stop at the township office to drop off the summer tax payment, and it sometimes takes a while to get through that town in the AM -- dropped off the payment, got back in the car, pushed the brake pedal. And it went straight to the floor. "that's not good." Pull around the parking lot to the driveway, push the brake pedal to stop. Car slows, pedal goes to floor. "definitely Not Good." Drive home (lovely windy road with no traffic lights) hoping that no critter will run across the road, swap to my car, off to PT, to hopefully not be too late. Made it to PT only five minutes late, which was not too bad.

Do PT, text J from parking lot after (it's half-nine by then, he's bound to be up), run errands, come home. The brake line split. OK, the rust that was pretty much all that was left of the brake line split. There's a trail of brake fluid in the driveway where I came home. At least it happened in the parking lot of the township hall, and I could get home without really using the brakes; rather than in A2. OTOH, I do have a cell phone and a AAA card, so I'd not be stranded for very long, as long as I didn't hit anything.

PT says I'm progressing well, but they still want more strength and stability under load. Range of motion is probably as good as it's going to get, but being able to put something on a shelf is as important as being able to reach the shelf. No appointment next week (clinic is only half staffed due to holiday, and they say I can miss a week without problem), but scheduled through October now. More exercises, increased repetitions, regrouped reps (rather than 3 @ 10, 30 with no break).

Errands were errands. Grocery shopping was light, as I've pretty much filled all the holes in the pantry that I'm going to. Mostly perishables today, and bird and cat food. Spent less than $20 at Costco (I know!), since all I got there was veg. New MI apples are in at Meijer (w00t). Probably coulda got a couple more snack-y things, but it won't do J any harm to run out of potato chips before I go shopping next week.