Musings on a Small Life

We're still here, taking it day by day on the COVID (roller) coaster.   Restrictions were lifted a couple of weeks ago in our region, though I haven't rushed to go anywhere. I'm too concerned about all the variants, and the people from regions like Toronto and Peel, as well as Ottawa, coming here to go shopping, get a haircut, go to a pub, etc. I DID go to Dollarama early on Sunday morning, the first time in any store other than a drugstore or grocery store since before Christmas.   Below: Derry last week, unimpressed that I spend so much time upstairs at the computer during the days.   I haven't had a haircut since the beginning of November, and by the time I feel comfortable enough to return to my stylist, my hair might be shoulder-length. I already can tie it back in a stubby ponytail. But that's just vanity, a small matter in the grand scheme of things. I had been out for a walk down to the swamp on the 15th (Family Day holiday) and saw the geese, above, on the ...

Two words: polar vortex. 🥶   Derry's BRIEF outdoor whiffies yesterday afternoon:   I'm struggling to remember last week; every day is like the movie "Groundhog Day" when you're working from home (WFH).   Oh, I did leave the house on TWO days: Thursday for groceries at a nearby discount grocery store, and then on Saturday morning to Farm Boy for a few specialty/other grocery items. Such excitement! We'd had snow squalls on Friday and Saturday, so my walk along the path through the swamp on Saturday morning was lovely. I hadn't been there since the very beginning of January.  I've come to realize, while WFH, that most of my snapshot-taking was on the way to the office or at lunch time around campus. Without that, I've got nothing. LOL. Sunday morning I continued my pre-spring decluttering; my garage is almost bursting, one half with junk (to be picked up at some point) and the other half stuffed with donations. (I hope that some charity will be pick...

I think I'm supposed to say, at the beginning of every month, "Rabbit, rabbit" for good luck. I'd never heard of this, but it's something a blogger I follow has mentioned before (" Older but better...? ")   I love this pic of Derry, below, from last Friday. He was bird-watching (juncos in the tree behind the fence), and turned his head to look at me.    That afghan still is in progress, but I tend to leave it out for him now, making sure I tuck the needles into the ball of wool and the ball down behind one of the accent pillows on the couch, so he can't get at any of it. He's a good boy, though, he doesn't bother with my knitting. There's nothing further on the roof. It's been bitterly cold the past several days (windchills down around minus 26C/minus 15F), so nothing further can be done at this time. Once the weather has warmed up I'll get in touch with the property manager again and find out the timeline for doing whatever it is...

Note: Comments are off for this post.   I just wanted to thank everyone for their support, I truly appreciate it.   I really don't have the "patience of a saint," it's that I absolutely loathe drama and conflict and I'd prefer to walk away than fight. I'm a "flight" person! LOL. I'll only turn and fight if there's no other viable option. Also, fighting takes a lot of mental and emotional energy and I'm pretty short on that right now, particularly as a close family member currently has a significant health issue to deal with and a lot of my energy is focused on that person, especially as, because of COVID, I'm not able to be there with them.   All that said, thanks to one of yesterday's comments, I now know that the shingles on the roof are architectural shingles and are supposed to be textured like that.   Pic from a Google search.   That eases my mind somewhat, though doesn't guarantee that my roof won't leak.   I still w...

For anyone who actually wants to know what the "next chapter" of the really, really bad roof story is, here we go:   It didn't take long for two (different) guys from the construction company to come out on Saturday morning, Jan 16th, after the leak in the guest room. They went up and put another "waterproof" membrane down on top of the one that had been put on the day before. One of the two guys DID come and look up in the attic for himself, saw the leaking mess and took pics. Neither of them claimed to understand how this could have happened, of course. (Do I look like I'm fresh out of the cabbage patch to believe that bs? But no one steps up and takes responsibility for errors and bad jobs nowadays, something I find especially frustrating and annoying.)   On Friday Jan 22 two of the same three guys who had done the prep work on the 15th came back to actually shingle the back half. I made my feelings known, though neither said a thing, of course. They did...

After yesterday's back-half roof repair, I now have a leaky guest room.     Unbelievable.   I opened up the attic hatch to see that the entire back half they redid is saturated from the rain we had overnight.     I have taken a slew of pics and sent them to the property manager and company president, and followed up with an email with all the pics for official purposes. I'm beyond words at the level of incompetence. I'm waiting to see what the property manager will say about this and what will be done. If this isn't addressed right away, and PROPERLY repaired, yes, I will be hiring a lawyer. Comments are off; what can anyone say? Just please send some positive thoughts for this!! Take care and stay well.

It's Friday January 15 as I type this and the roofers have just left. Yes, they were here! They actually did the back half of the roof, and supposedly will be back on Monday to do the front, unless it's too icy. (They weren't able to do the entire roof at once because it took too long for the frost to melt this morning.)   I was talking with one of the guys (not the foreman), and he was explaining that they had put a synthetic membrane down first (not done originally, or when they re-roofed about 15 years ago) and that the shingles now are a different type, will last longer. They don't slot together, they're all of a piece. So he assured me that the roof won't leak; at least the back half won't. (It hasn't anyway.) I told him that one of the issues has been a gap at the gable, allowing water into the master bedroom (front of the unit, over the garage), but he told me that they had wrapped the gable with the membrane and that it should be fine. (Fingers c...