After getting back from our vacation I made an appointment with the eye doctor, figuring this would be the last of my appointments for the year. I went in on Tuesday morning and everything checked out fine, so that was easy.
The “last of my appointments” part, not so much. Debbi had noticed a little puddle of oil underneath where I park my car in the garage, and I confirmed that I have a small oil leak. So I’m taking my car in to get it fixed. Hopefully it’s just a leaky seal. Actually I’m not so worried about what it will cost, I just want them to be able to find and fix it. It’s worth some money to have some certainty that my car is working right.
I also talked to a neighbor about the termite inspection we had recently, and it sounds like we do have sights of termites around the building in the complex. Not really a surprise, since termites are a fact of life in the valley, but it’s something the homeowners association will have to deal with early next year. Again, it’s not so much the expense that bothers me, as the annoyance; if our building needs to be tented (and I assume it will) then we’ll need to clear some things out of the house, and find somewhere for both us and the cats to stay for a couple of days while it’s taken care of. Maybe we can find a hotel which allows cats, or maybe we’ll have to board them. Unfortunately most of our friends who don’t have allergies already have pets.
Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. I’m sure we can figure something out.
Meanwhile, we’re now in the holiday season, so I’m hoping after getting my car fixed I can focus on that and put other chores off until next year.
Fortunately, Jefferson seems to be recovered from his bowel problems of a couple of months ago. I’m still keeping an eye on him, but the symptoms seem to be nearly gone, and that’s a good thing.
Having the house tented is annoying, mostly because you have to get everything out of the house that could absorb the gas and trap it. They tent the house precisely because the gas will ooze through wood, paper, etc. and permeate everything, then dissipate harmlessly – as long as the tent seal is there to keep it in. (Oh, and you have to shut off the gas line to the house; turns out that the chemical reacts with natural gas to create a gaseous substance that’s corrosive enough to eat metal!)
On the other hand, the tenting works pretty well against non-subterranean termites. (The gas isn’t heavier than air, so it won’t penetrate a subterranean burrow; for that you need a slow-acting soil injection.) I’d offer you our upstairs room while stuff gets tented, but the cats couldn’t stay (and depending on timing, we may be … um, a bit busy :