PIttsfield Errands

I picked up a Perennial Dark Purple Spiderwort today from a Pittsfield gardener who’d posted on Facebook.

Ron got backing paper for the three new watercolors at Miller Art.

Berkshire Coins gave us the bad news that our 1944 penny is worthless.

GPS failed us at this point but we got to Mad Macs and Route 8 for the trip home. Apple needs to advise us about Apple Care. The consultant suggested I upload my iPhone photos to Google Photos, so I set it up today. It’s currently backing up.

Before heading back home we got frappes and french fries at MacDonald’s. An ignorant woman standing behind us embarrassed herself by trying to correct the worker with a wrong list of ingredients in a frappe, which has no ice cream.

Gave Jett 2 CBD heart cookies. He’s still a mad dog.

Found Ron’s second pair of readers but we managed to misplace a tub of broccoli salad. Fourth Dimension.

Received a $125 Visa card for taking a survey.

Hurt my back, same place as usual, right side, lowest rib.

Pretty Much An Asshole

We had lunch at the Berkshire Food Project, then stopped at Greylock for a new card for Ron.

Turns out he had his most current card, which still works. The customer service person reset the PIN for him so it wasn’t a complete waste of time.

Then we went to the Registry to get him a replacement license. Turns out he had his current drivers license all along. He screamed at me yesterday out of frustration because we/I thought he couldn’t legally drive.

We stopped at Berkshire Transmission to talk with Mark about the truck defroster. He figures we can still use it, just turn up the heat. They don’t do that kind of work so he recommended a couple of shops near us.

We stopped at Great Falls and Walgreens in Williamstown. Once home, Ron announced that once again, he lost his license and Greylock card.

I was furious and disgusted. Took off with Jett to get CBD biscuits for him from Roxie’s, an errand I’d forgotten while we were in North Adams.

When we got back, Ron announced that he found his wallets. They were in his study. He didn’t misplace them, was just too lazy to look for them. He tried his usual, to involve me in a problem that he created himself.

It’s been humid and warm today and it’s probably making me cross. Definitely making me cross.

A Little Exploring Down South

Jett had his bimonthly grooming session in Peru yesterday so Ron and I drove around until, intrigued by the Becket Art Center, we stopped to check it out.

We also visited the Becket Atheneum.

Got lost on the way back to the groomer because the GPS was either not working or led us astray.

Before the trip to the groomer I did a stop at the Williamstown Food Pantry.

The dog and cat sitter that the people next door hired is fantastic. She takes care of animals on a part-time basis because she loves them and it certainly shows.

Trad Wifery

Had a conversation with our library director at Night Out about the new Makerspace.

I’m disappointed in her plans, which don’t include instruction or use of tools. She said she doesn’t want to compete with the FixIt workshops led by the rich people in South Williamstown.

Rather, she’s hired someone whose interests are in the same activities that the library has sponsored recently: fabrics, sewing, crocheting, etc.

Trad Wifery.

The closest real Makerspace is in Troy, an hour away.

It occurred to me that Andi wants to present Remedy Hall in a Trad Wife way and that’s the reason she consistently rejects my offer to help. I don’t fit the image.

Night Out

I realized last night that my eye doctor’s office didn’t bill correctly for my April visit, costing me $40 as a result. It’s a wonder it took me so long to figure this out.

Turns out, they were doing me a favor. VSP only covers standard eye exams and does not cover extra procedures. Rather than costing me money, they saved me a net $130.

I think a mouse was wandering on one of the kitchen counters last night and gnawed at a biscuit. Washed the countertop with a bleach solution.

We had a full afternoon. Drove Ron to the radiology department at North Adams Hospital for an ultrasound, stopped at the Salvation Army food pantry, then Town Hall for transfer station stickers, then to the transfer station to drop off recyclables, then to Hill Top Farm in Pownal for reasonably-priced soft serve. American cheese sandwiches and salad for lunch.

In the evening we attended the annual Night Out at the Spruces. Ron had a great time chatting with people. No veg provisions but free ice cream and popcorn.

Grilling

Yesterday I used the grill for the first time since Ron fixed it and it did great. Made veg burgers.

Was a quiet day. Worked on a new page for the Remedy app, a “a single UI view that hosts multiple specialized aggregation components instead of a traditional tabular report.”

Ron put up the photo of Falmouth beach under the mini split; it changes the feeling of our bedroom, for the better.

Admiring the photos from Saturday’s wedding of our next door neighbors. Huge wedding party!

Ron lost his wallet, again. The steam iron reappeared from the Fourth Dimension today, so maybe the wallet/s will as well.

Salad and biscuits for lunch. Ron and Jett are off on an errand.

Ron blames himself for not sticking with Peter and me until I pointed out that he has a good track record of stability in relationships and I do not.

He married a woman he hardly knew so that she could get treatment for a disability and served as a type of father figure to her child. He worked for the same company for 20+ years, earned lifetime pension and health insurance benefits as a result. He had a long-term relationship with an artist, an experience that he talks about on a regular basis, as recently as last weekend. He maintained and maintains friendships with people as far back as childhood, high school and college.

That describes someone who by many societal standards is a successful person.

Ron Fixes the Weber!

It took hours but Ron was able to install the cable connecting the grill to the gas regulator.

The main part had frozen and could only be moved after soaking it in a penetrant, B’Laster.

At Ron’s request, I ignited the grill with no problem. Can’t wait to try it out for actual grilling.

One of our local artists cleaned out her “vault” and offered her work for free! We stopped by this morning and brought home three handsome pieces to “spiff up” Ron’s office.

I heard from Andi about a database connection problem. She wrote later that the app is working.

The Founders

I worked all morning and into early afternoon on the Remedy app so I could drop Andi’s computer off at four.

In the meantime I found, got permission to use and ordered a copy of a fine portrait of “The Founders” from Walgreen’s.

Did a shop at Walmart for grocery items that we forgot or neglected to check on yesterday: butter, bananas, black olives, whole milk yogurt, day-old lemon cake.

Finished off leftovers at lunch and dinner. Did 15 or so minutes of exercise. Ron, as usual, insists on doing dishes. Good man.

Bennington

The weather gods were kind, only occasional drizzles.

We got a lot done in a scant three hours from door to door.

Ron got a haircut at Supercuts. I picked up plant stakes at Job Lot. Did a grocery shop at Aldi then dropped off recyclable tech equipment and picked up the barcode project at Staples. I was amazed at how good the barcodes came out.

Got to love Aldi. We’d made a mistake at the self checkout and the clerk who runs that area was able to fix it – remotely. Impressed.

Back home had last night’s leftovers for lunch. Ron put most of the groceries away.

Andi’s barcode reader arrived today so I dropped that and the book of barcodes off at Remedy. We tested both out, working fine. I aim to install the new software on her machine. This would have been Rugby’s 10th birthday so hard day for her and Dan.

Ron and I played fetch with Jett for a while and picked up trumps. It’s alternating between sun and drizzle. Ron is fixing the glass door which has an annoying socket screw.

Reprieve

Got a call from Hope at Grooming at the Grignons offering to reschedule our appointment for Jett’s grooming today because of road flooding and heavy rain. We were happy to put it off until next week.

Added Square to my phone to keep track of our appointments with Hope.

Ordered a book of bar codes for Remedy at Staples. Continuing testing and debugging. The Use Cases I worked out are quite helpful, surprised to find new bugs.

Broke away for a quick trip with Jett to Dollar General for Pepsi, tortillas, ice cream and cookies.

Jett has hardly been out at all today; chewed a roll of single ply toilet paper, out of boredom, I suppose.

Made a five-can casserole for lunch/dinner: black beans, refried beans, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, cheddar soup, frozen stir fry vegetables, cheddar cheese, tortillas. Baked at 350 for an hour. Everything but the frozen vegetables, tortillas and the cheese came from the Pantry.