Continuum

Continuum sounds so much better than never-ending. In this usage, it is the bonding of myself and my checking account with the house. Luckily, my latest interaction was not too expensive.

And I don't need to wear glasses while driving anymore!

On Friday, I went to the DMV and got myself officially anointed as a Wisconsinite. The line was long. The computer system (take a ticket and wait for service) was down, so they had folks going here and there, finding out who needed what, and getting them taken care of. No one in line was grumbling; they were talking and joking with one another.

I got to the service window and was given proper paperwork and apologies for the back up. I filled out the forms, came back and got my photo taken and my signature digitized lickity-split. Then back into the main line to get my driver's license and transfer my car's title to Wisconsin and get plates.

The woman who helped me at the final window also apologized about the computer outage. She got my temporary license fairly quickly (but the system took forever to print it out). But, after checking with several sources, told me she could not process the car title without a death certificate, since Steve's name was also on the title.

It was a tedious experience, but everyone was so pleasant and the fees were so reasonable, I came out feeling the California DMV could take some lessons on making its offices more tolerable places, for workers as well as customers.

On the way back, I hopped over to Menard's and purchased a vanity light, a couple floating shelves, an electrical junction box, a new doorbell, a couple CO/smoke detectors and a new kitchen faucet. I didn't get the sink or toilet, since I hadn't measured the powder room thoroughly enough to be sure that they would fit into the tiny space.

Michael Palin's sister?

That evening was, as most Fridays, Pizza Night in Ettrick. We watched "Brazil" by Terry Gilliam (the director's cut, which is about 40 minutes longer than the theatrical release). It was fun to watch the film after so many years, and it was still very funny and, if anything, even more relevant to the concept for governance and terrorism. One thing I had forgotten was the transcriber, who types out the transcripts of torture sessions in the Ministry of Information ( " N O  …  P L E A S E  G O D   N O  …  A H H  …  N O  M O R E  …  O H   G O D  …  N O  …  N O T  T H A T  …  A H H H H  "). Such a sweet lady!

When I got home, I turned on the furnace, which heats the home in mere minutes. Since I don't have a toilet on the main floor just now, I went downstairs to take a leak and noticed the little box at the base of the furnace (the condensation pump) was growling and churning. It was extremely hot but was not pumping any water. Luckily, the home inspector had shown me the main "off" switch for the whole system. I used it.

Saturday I went online and made a service request with American Home Service, from which I purchased a one-year home insurance policy. It didn't cover the plumbing problems, since they were pre-existing, but I'm pretty sure it will cover the pump, since it was working fine during the summer.

With the furnace unusable, the fireplace was the major heat source for the weekend, a job it did quite well (there's even a internal fan to circulate the heat). Patty is slowly getting indifferent to it as I'm getting more attached to it. When I first moved in, it was on the list for replacement, as it is brass (like all the cheapie lighting fixtures). Now, with the lighting replaced and the burgundy print carpeting pulled up, the brass front has its own charm, and I don't mind looking at it at all.

Now we move to discussing my sleeping patterns, which have been all over the place in the last few months. Starting last week, I've been getting to bed between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m., which means I've been getting up between 7 and 9 in the morning. This is a good thing.

This morning I woke up on my own at about 7:30. This was also a good thing, because at 8 a.m. on the dot I got a call from the furnace guy (who had been notified by AHS). He said he wanted to come over right away and I said sure, if you don't mind me being in my bathrobe.

Little pump that caused big problems.

He showed up, checked out the pump and announced it was so gunked up it couldn't clear the water out of its own reservoir. He didn't have a replacement on the truck, so he popped back to the office and returned with a brand new model, installed it, tested it and I had a functioning furnace by 9:30 a.m.

One of the best things about being on a sleeping schedule that matches the rest of society is that I get up, get stuff done, take a break, and it isn't even noon. It's almost like doubling what you can get done in a day. Being retired, I think I wallowed in the I-can-sleep-whenever-I-want a little too long. I like what I'm doing now, which is getting up in the morning and taking an afternoon nap if I'm feeling tired. And when I nod off in front of the TV in the evening, I take it as a sign that I should be up in bed, getting good rest. Works for me.

There's nothing much happening on the social front. The newsletter's gang of three (Aleysha, Cindy and myself) hasn't met yet, but then Jackson (executive director of the Center) has been on vacation for the last week or so, and we've all promised not to bother him while he's away on R&R.

The only thing that sticks in my head is coming up with a really great and extremely simple costume idea for Halloween. It can't conceal me, since I want people to recognize me at the bash and afterwards. The last simple costume I had was a Hawaiian shirt and a bottle of tranquilizers, going as a tropical depression. I don't know how familiar this term would be to folks in these northern climes, so I won't repeat it.

Again, any suggestions would be most welcome.

Now, off to get the car title transferred (I found a copy of the death certificate after some digging). I'm not sure whether they hand you the plates right there, or whether they get mailed to you, as with my new driver's license (it will have a chip in it that will make it compatible with the new TSA system being initiated at airports across the country).

How long before they just put the chip in your head, I'm not sure. Hopefully I'll be dead before that happens.