It started out indifferent. When I got bored of what I was doing this morning, I decided to try clearing up some cluttered space in the back room, to make room for a package that’s on its way (even though it won’t be here until next month, as it’s coming from the other side of the world). While I was at it, I realized I needed to do something about the way the blinds on the window were partially broken, letting in extra sunlight. (Previously, that hadn’t been a big issue, as I’d blocked off the lower half of the window with bags of assorted stuff, but that had been the clutter I was un-cluttering.)
Since this room has been routinely ten degrees hotter than the rest of the house (in warm weather), despite having the same number of vents as my bedroom, which has always been the coolest room in the house in summer, I figured the window had to be the problem, so I thought I’d measure it for a curtain rod, and put up some of those super-heavy light blocking curtains.
While I was up there with my face right up at the top of the window, I saw that the window was actually open a crack at the top.
Not enough to see daylight, but enough to let in the hot air.
No wonder it was always so freakin’ hot in here!!
I don’t even want to think about how long it’s been like that.
Of course, in the past, I always kept the door to this room mostly shut, just barely propped open, so it’s only since March that I’ve been trying to use it for human habitation, so it could be worse. But I still feel like such a grade A moron.
Obviously I closed it, but in trying to pull the blinds up to get a good look in order to make sure I was closing the window properly, not only did I accidentally pull the blinds off the wall, I actually managed to break them.
So, on the hottest day in a long time, I had managed to break the blinds stopping the afternoon sunlight from streaming into the house, and I had to go out to the hardware store to get more blinds. Because of my arm, I don’t like to drive on sunny days, so I called my brother to see if he would drive me.
When I called him, he told me that my parents had called him–I’m not sure why they hadn’t called me, as well–and told him that they had gotten the bad news back from their veterinarian. I didn’t ask for the details, so I don’t know if they’ve already said their goodbyes to their cat, but it sounds like it’s inevitable. Well, they had taken him to see the vet because he wasn’t eating, so it’s not a surprise, but it certainly adds to the general lousiness of the day.
Anyway, at the hardware store, we look at the blinds for a while, unsure of what the heck to get, and eventually I pick a very nice-looking lined number that looks more like a tatami mat than blinds per se. And I skip the curtains, in the hopes that I won’t need them now, ’cause I don’t want to have to install the hardware. It’s a “wait and see” thing. While we were there, I also picked up some stain for the deck at the back of my house, because if I don’t get that thing stained or painted soon, I’m afraid it’ll start to rot, and tomorrow is supposed to be about 15 degrees cooler than today, the coolest day we’re going to have in more than a week; if I don’t do it tomorrow, who knows when I’ll do it. (Probably not until September.)
Once I get home with the blinds, I start trying to install them, and after a little confusion and staring at the instructions in befuddlement, I realize that they expect the window frames to be constructed in a completely different manner than mine are. I tried to cobble something together based on their intended method for a while, then I said “#$*!@ this! I’m just going to nail it in place!”
So I did. I got a hammer and nails and nailed it up. And that worked.
Of course by that time, I was completely exhausted, drenched with sweat, and needed a bath so badly that I couldn’t bring myself to clean up my mess first.
After my bath, while my dinner was cooking, I stupidly thought to myself “hey, while I’m doing stuff, why don’t I quickly adjust that shelf I’ve been wanting to adjust?”
Said shelf is not easily adjusted. We’re not talking those wooden shelves on pegs here. This is a metal jobbie that needs crazy adjustment and really has to be emptied and turned upside down, or at least on its side, to be adjusted properly.
My dinner was done long before I was finished with it–and my dinner takes 20 minutes to cook–and eventually I really did have to empty everything off the shelf and turn it onto its side. And even then I didn’t quite adjust it as far as I wanted, because it wasn’t cooperating.
And I was so exhausted by the time I was finished that I didn’t manage to get everything put back on the shelf properly; some of it’s just stacked up on the other shelf I was emptying this morning when all this started.
Worst of all, after all this, I bet I’ll be so sore tomorrow that I won’t be able to do the deck after all. Ugh…
You must be logged in to post a comment.