June 11, 2020

 

The sun is setting as I am in my easy chair tapping away on my laptop keyboard.  Knowing friends were coming to visit today, I was up with the sun.  So was Robbie.  Yes, every morning at 6 AM Robbie announces, "Smart cleaning mode" and  roars into action.  Well, not so much roars as hums into action.  Some mornings I hear the announcement.  Other mornings I snooze right on through all the action. 

 

Robbie has not locked themselves in the closet nor the laundry room recently.  They did try to eat a rug and it became stuck in the brushes.  That caused them to shout something about a wheel being winded.   They, also, decided to get caught under the hutch again and an error code was sent to my cell phone.  Hubby was the one that found them that time.  

While vacuuming under my bed, which they do every morning, somehow the brush caught the end of my earphones.  "Jammed brush" was the call that time.  Then they did not want to let go of the cord.  Guess they were wanting to listen to some music while cleaning.  That's where they are like me.  I really like cranking up some old vinyls on our old Sylvania portable stereo.  Nothing like some Elvis, Willie or Roger Miller to get the feet moving and the rooms cleaned!

Feeling great this morning I set to doing some extra cleaning in the kitchen area while Robbie vacuumed.  Stainless steel sinks were covered with spots that only a good scrubbing would remove.  That done I moved to removing the crumb buildup in the toaster.  Cleaned and polished the granite counter tops.  Changed Robbie from a vacuum to a mop attachment and set him back to work while I finished the kitchen.  Leaving Robbie to the mopping I moved to the patio.  Cleaned the 'so streaked and speckled I could not get decent photos' patio door.  Cleaned the glass bistro table top, emptied scraps into the worm farm and headed back inside.

By this time Hubby was up and sort of moving.  I grabbed a cold protein water, took a couple of sips and headed to the bathroom.  Always like to freshen counters, sinks and stool before company arrives.   I had not planned to dust but what the hey I was still feeling good so why not.  Now mind you this was not one of those take everything down kind of dustings.  No, this was a lick and a promise kind of dusting.  Still made the place look a bit better.  Robbie had long since completed the mopping.  I did the daily cleaning of  Robbie's dirt tray and put the mopping attachment away.  Grabbed the protein water and sat down in the same place I am now.  It was 8:30 AM.

The remainder of the morning I just took my time getting dressed.  Even painted my nails.  At 11:26 my phone rang and our friends were here!  We drove to a nearby pizza place.  Pizza, salads and garlic cheese bread was ordered.  Twenty minutes later we headed back to the apartment and enjoyed a nice meal.  Even nicer conversations continued until after 3:30 PM.  Linda needed to get home to get things prepped for the food truck she operates in her retirement.  Byes were said with the socially correct elbow bumps.  The friends from that other life walked away again.

That other life of thirty somethings making a living.  Building lives and families.  Or in the case of Sharon building a career and friendships.  That long ago life of hopes, dreams, and joy.  Also, the long ago life of hard lessons learned, of dashed hopes.  Some dreams became nightmares.  But for 95% of the time just really good living and loving.  Making friendships that have carried us into the evening of our years.  

The sun has set in the west.  It is the opposite side of our complex.  The shadows on the buildings have disappeared.  Shadows yielding to the twilight, to the evening of this Thursday, June 11, 2020.  It has been a glorious day.

Good health and safe travels,

Janice

 

April 4, 2020

Robbie vacuumed everywhere and did not get stuck.  What a great thing to have around to make life a bit easier now that we have the correct combination!  Now if my old mind will just remember the combination. Cause Robbie can out smart me by sneaking under the sofa and coming out on the rug.  Or he can push the bucket that is light and Robbie is strong and a bit of a bully.

Each day the dust bin has naturally been less full of fluff and stuff.  Hubby asked what was the really fine stuff in the filters.  The answer was simply "Us".  Probably a lot of our skin particles.  With all the vacuuming and the paths being cleared now it was time to again attempt mopping.  Here is a video showing Robbie with commentary from me.  As the saying goes, a picture is worth a 1000 words.

In the video I refer to the thing I sent.  That thing was a short video for our nephew who is a pastor in the Dallas area.  As this is Palm Sunday upcoming he is compiling folks waving greenery as would be done in Protestant churches here in the US of A.  The comment about a robot vacuum/mop for Suzie is because her house keeper can't come because of the lock down in their area, also.  Also, Suzie is my 80 year old sis who has has numerous back surgeries. 

How did it get to be 2:15 AM on 4/5/20?  Good grief it is long past bedtime.  So I will say night folks.  Stay in, stay healthy, stay loving.

Peace,
Janice

March 30, 2020

Our governor is on the TV right now.  Gov. Abbott says hospital beds are at only a 2% capacity as of today.  Persons flying or driving from other states with extensive outbreaks are to self quarantine for 14 days.  We remain in a stay home, stay safe order for our county.  Our county currently has 42 total confirmed cases.  Twenty-three of the people with confirmed cases are female and 17 are male. The cases include one person age 17 or under, 11 people in the 18-40 age group and 15 in the age 41-60 age group.  They also include 12 people age 60 and older. 

Hubby ventured out today to pick up a grocery order, 5 gallons of distilled water, a prescription and a package.  The stops included Sam's Club, a local water dealer, Walgreen's and the Amazon Hub here at the apartment.  All items were sanitized and put away as soon as he arrived back at the apartment.  Hubby said, "It's just eerie out there".  Very little traffic and very few people at any of the places he stopped.  Most folks he saw were wearing masks.  So there is that Covid-19 report from our little part of the world.

Unless a major catastrophe happens between now and 2:00 PM tomorrow, I will finally see a surgeon about repair of the hiatal sphincter.  I am not getting hopes up for surgery any time soon as elective surgeries are on hold.  Not sure I would want to be hospitalized at this time anyway.  Well, until my breathing gets a bit fore affected by the reflux.  Now there is that report on the condition my condition is in, yea, yea, oh yea.  Yes, I have been listening to Kenny Rogers' music a lot lately.

Andy Antenna

Two projects (maybe it was just two new toys) we have been doing are installing a better TV antenna and a robot vacuum.  The TV antenna is Hubby's project.  It is now installed on top of the bird feeder pole.  Before the install every time a vehicle passed our apartment the TV would pixelate.  We live next to a shopping mall.  Lots of vehicles!  The pixelation is pretty much gone with the new antenna that I christen Andy. 

The coax strung between Andy Antenna and TV needed to be longer to reach.  Another length required to go from the connector that comes through the outdoor to indoor area needed a different connector.  Thanks to all the Amazon workers out there that arrived today, Monday.  Hubby was able to finish the hookup.  The extra coax cut to length.  The antenna even has a remotely controlled rotor to adjust the direction for improved reception.  In addition, the reception is getting more channels.  Old movies, a country music station and others I have seen from afar.  Hubby has the remotes and I am not in need of them now.  Maybe later.

Robbie Robot

The robot vacuum, now named Robbie, is my project.  Why does a vacuum require being a project? To take advantage of features on the app.  It can be remotely controlled by a remote or by voice using Google Home.  The day it arrived, Friday, I just let it run using its pre-programmed route which is connected u turns and straight lines till contacting something.   I used the included remote controller.  Oh, my, the floor was definitely in need of a vacuum.  Robbie has a mop function.  Mop function requires a simple change from a dust bin to a water filled bin with a cloth on the bottom.  The mopping did pretty good in most areas.  I just have to figure out how to keep it off the rugs in the areas it mops.  I set a daily time for vacuuming and let the machine fully charge.  We learned some of the things that could keep the machine from operating optimally.  Things like a mat that would roll up under it, phone charging cables on the floor and table leaves under the bed.

Saturday with Robbie was when I setup the app up on my phone.  While I was messing with the app on the phone, Robbie just started his daily vacuum.  I had set it for 3 PM.  I stopped it so I could continue the app setup.  The app shows where the vacuum moves during the last use. The phone app can, also, be used as a controller.  The Robbie-to-phone setup was a bit slow due to the technician, yours truly, being distracted repeatedly.  Finally was successful.  I setup a 6 AM vacuum time for the next morning. Robbie spent the remainder of the day charging and hibernating as the app calls it.

Evidently Sunday was a morning of rest for Robbie as I failed to save the time for vacuuming.  I went ahead and let him do his thing.  But first I made adjustments I had noticed would help make optimal floor coverage.  Pulled dining chairs as an angle that could be maneuvered.  Wrapped up pesky cords, Tucked the sofa's skirting up out of the way.  Adjustments like that.  I missed the table leafs under the bed so had to help Robbie out of there.  I just let Robbie vacuum until needing a charge.  Robbie had vacuumed the entire apartment, even under the bed and sofa twice before needing a charge.  The dust bin had lots of debris but not so much as the last time.

Monday morning, today, I heard the vacuum start up at 6 AM.  When I finally arose and came into the living area Robbie was not on the charger.  He was not making a sound.  I spent the next 15 minutes looking for Robbie.  I finally turned to the remote and turned on the motor.  Sure enough there he was hiding under my chair in a tangle of cords between the legs of my chair and little table.  Before I walked to him to help he was free and heading for the charger!  I checked the map of where he had vacuumed and the living/kitchen area had been completed.  Except not.

Instructions call for the dust bin is to be cleaned after each use.  The bin and filters are to be left open to dry.  I have been faithfully cleaning after each use.  I found the perfect place to put them.  The window sill in our bedroom works just great.  That's where I found them this morning.  After I found Robbie hiding under my chair.  I don't know if Robbie was hiding in shame because his dust pan was missing or. . .  Was he playing hide and seek because he had just blown around the living room rearranging the dust. 

trumpet vine grabbing one of Hubby's amateur radio antennas

In addition to all the hide and seek, Robbie and Google Home are not speaking to each other.  Can't get the apps all connected up because I keep not knowing which 'device' the instructions have in mind when they just say device.  Oh, and the other app that became a third project for us is named Marco Polo.  We are using it to leave video messages for our family and extended family.  A nice way to give each other some encouragement during the stay home, stay safe timeline.

A couple of views from my chair out the patio door on this rainy Monday.  A cool front is predicted to push the clouds away so maybe some sun tomorrow for the doctor's office.

Ya'll stay safe out there in this world that is on loan to us.  Peace, Janice

metal butterflies and dragon fly.

part of the jars and glass insulators above the patio door.