Steady As She Goes
Tuesday, September 19th, 2023 11:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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57F and raining this morning! My kinda weather! I mananged to get to bed earlier last night and was outside before noon, but we weren't out long.
Two bags of groceries were on the stoop waiting for me, and now they're on the kitchen table, as the pets eat out there.
And the big news of today is that Tim and his kids are moving into a new house, out in Las Vegas, after living split up and in exile for a year and a half.
I'm having Amazon send him a ship captain's hat today, with a card that reads, "Steady as she goes, Captain!"
This hat references a lot of different things.
For one thing, he was telling me I was the captain of this ship, last January, after Dad died.
But last night he was texting to us that he hadn't been so excited about something since he was a kid and there was a present wrapped in gold paper from Sheila under the Christmas tree that he was consumed with curiosity about for over a week.
He said he doesn't even remember what the present was, but will never forget the anticipation of it.
Colleen joked that it was probably a sailor hat.
And that was a reference to an earlier time when someone (maybe Mom?) had told Kevin he was getting a surprise gift... and he got to thinking it might be a new bike!.. but it was only a sailor hat.
So.. a Captain's hat is a kind of sailor hat, but it's also symbolic of what he's accomplished.
And how did he accomplish becoming the captain of a new ship?.. Well, "steady as she goes," references how he steadfastly stuck to his plan this year.
So, it's not a gag gift. It'll have some meaning for him... about this year and what we've been through.
And besides, Colleen & Sheila are also surprising him by having beer and food delivered tonight.
So, the hat's just gonna be an extra touch, and I'm sure he'll wear it for a bit, as they celebrate.
Tim just texted some videos.
Looks like a really nice place!
No word from D313 this afternoon.
Just another routine garbage day here in Aurora.
Sheila & Colleen ended up being too busy to put together any kind of delivery of stuff to Tim today, and he wasn't texting most of the evening, because he was busy just moving.
But around 10PM, the sisters were chatting on a thread that just had the three of us, about getting him an e-gift card for WalMart, which has both groceries, and household goods.
So the three of us ended up each putting in $100.00, and Sheila emailed Tim the gift card for $300.00... which he discovered around 10:30PM and was very happy and thankful to get, saying it would all go to groceries.
He also did get the hat earlier in the day, and texted a photo of it on the mantle, but said nothing.
So... I'm glad that I threw in for the card... you know, just so he doesn't feel like all I got him was a silly hat.
However... hey!.. where's my housewarming gifts?
Okay, in other news my days off in October were approved.
Don't know if I'll still be there or not by then, but if I am, I've got the time off.
Today was also Darnise's second day. I had to help her out with a couple things, but otherwise she did fine.
She smokes! So I told her don't let Chantele catch her, but otherwise not to worry too much, because nobody's around when she gets to work, and her car windows are tinted anyway.
I told her I smoke too, and I'm not gonna rat her out.
She should be good to go by the time I leave Cloud.
I accidentally wore my slip-on loafers to work today!
I was worried my feet would be destroyed, so I did my whole routine in a different order, trying to save steps.
And somehow I got done faster than ever before!.. even despite taking time to help out Darnise.
And my feet were fine!
So, I think I'm gonna stick with that routine from now on.
When I take my smoke breaks in my car, I put the phone in it's dash mount charger and look at the camera feeds from here at home.
Today I was looking at the dog yard, and thinking... that area is really the area that should be all paved with bricks.
Brick or concrete steps connecting the back room door and the back porch door... and then that whole fenced in dog yard area just bricks... with a nicer fence.
It's too much to do by myself, and it'd probably cost seven or eight grand to have a contractor do it.
But if I did get a mortgage or HELOC for the full value of the house, I could afford to do it.
I'd be worth it because that space, as it is, is pretty useful.
The fence protects the back door from forced entry. It's the best spot to put the garbage & recycle bins during the week. And then it's always there for whatever dog lives here in the future.
And it's just like a nice... common area, outside the back room and the side porch that could act as a kind of patio, up close to the house.
I dunno... just thoughts on a Tuesay night.
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