Send My Conscience Home in a Taxi

There's always at least one task on my to-list that I really really don't want to do. Usually because it requires sitting down for an extended stretch of hours and figuring out what the fuck happened so I can then figure out how to fix it.

Back when the house nonsense started I applied for a grant being offered by the federal government to make your house more energy efficient. Since I was going from UN-insulated wooden box to an insulated wooden box I figured I would qualify for at least some money.

Well that was a whole Prime Minister ago, and after two extensions and lots of missed targets I finally got the final energy audit done this summer. Something went wrong though and the application was never completed so I sat down today and dug through a stack of email attachments to figure out what was missing. I think I'm on the right track, so wish me luck I can get it fixed. A few bucks to offset the money pit would be very very useful.

Next on the donwanna list is compiling the full list of contracts and bills and fix-it work that has had to be done. If I can get a comprehensive list together of what has and hasn't been done up to today's date it will be easier to add to it as things go forward.

***

Nothing yet from the city inspector. I spoke to the permit-wrangler and he left a message with her on Friday, so hopefully she gets back to him this coming work week.

I haven't done much in the basement while I've been waiting to hear back, so that means I have time to finally put my living spaces in better order. Lots of moving furniture and cleaning up cat puke. Finally made homes for a stack of pots and pans that have just been living on top of the stove. And I finally installed the new front door lock that's been sitting in a drawer and waiting for me to deal with it for um, about 18 months.

***

My sister got an email from a woman in Australia who said her DNA test with ancestry.com showed a match. I'm pretty sure my mother told me we had relatives in Australia but I don't know how we're connected with the little info I have. I had an old free version of ancestry that didn't have much info on it, so I upgraded to a paid version and now I just need to find time to start adding stuff to it.

I have an aunt who is charge of remembering all the family members and how everybody is related so once I have a skeleton together I'll reach out to her and see if she can fill in things like how many kids my cousins have, because I have no clue.

It's a project I've been meaning to get around to for pretty much years. But maybe I'll have a little bit more free time this winter.

***

Physio still going really well. Crossing my fingers I'll be back to normal in a couple of months.

Welp, it has been a week.

I didn't really plan ahead for the day after NaDruWriNi, so I had to drag myself out of bed to work on Sunday. I woke up to a message that my dad was in the hospital. The medical issue was dealt with promptly, which is good. Thursday they announced they would be sending him home the next day.

Problem being, he has been getting weaker really fast and after almost a week in bed we were worried he wasn't safe to go up stairs on his own - they live in a two-story row house. So his wife rented him a bed and equipment to set him up in the living room. Since I'm the only family member who doesn't work Fridays I went over to haul furniture around and make space for the delivery. Their 100+ year old house has a staircase that gets narrower as you get higher, something I discovered while hauling a marble-topped fucking table up the stairs. (They've lived there for 30+ years and they have SO MUCH stuff.)

But room was made, bed was installed with no issue, and today the rest of the family showed up to finish organizing, hang a privacy curtain, and install some child-gates and locks. He was wobbly and exhausted when he got home on Friday, but reports are that he's a lot stronger today after a good sleep.

***

Meanwhile I got a call from permit-wrangler that he was showing up at the house on Monday with the inspector and to have the blueprints available. Last I heard she (the inspector) was going to talk to her boss about what could be done. I haven't heard anything back, but I'll follow up on Monday so cross your fingers for me.

I haven't done anything more in that basement room since I figure I'll wait to see if I have to rip it all out first. So today was spent trying to sort out my shit on the first floor. I'm trying to make enough room that I can empty out the storage unit, because that will save me just under $300 a month.

***

I spoke to a friend who spent the summer dealing with a broken ankle and he gave me the name of the physiotherapy clinic he goes to - which just happens to be barely a block from my house. The woman I met with came to the conclusion that the plantar faciitis is actually healing just fine - but that at some point my achilles got involved, and that's what is now causing the majority of my problems. She's been treating that for the last two weeks and holy shit, it is SO MUCH better. I'm still using the cane to protect the plantar fascia because that's not 100% yet, but already have so much less pain. Halle-fucking-lujah.

***

Goths Against Fascism are raising money for the National Immigration Law Centre this weekend. So listening to tunes after a day of hauling my own furniture around.



As I posted elsewhere, I would like my times to be less interesting now please.