Todays Happenings

Today I had to go to see my Dr. to get a prescription refill, get some groceries to do some last minute Christmas baking, and several other things. I got the the store and did my shopping, then back into the truck with a nice amount to time to get to the Dr., enough time to spare that I could likely take some photos on the way with it being such a nice, pretty day with the sun shining and things melting. I backed out of the parking spot and went to go forward only to find that my back brake was frozen again and the back drivers side wheel wouldn't roll forward at all. I had to put the truck in 4 wheel drive to get it to move forward, and even then it was not easy. This has happened several times before and had, after a bit, managed to get it to brake loose. This time no way would it let go. I ended up having to drive it like that, dragging the one back wheel, all the way to my mechanic!! Oh, it's not all that far really, maybe 15 blocks, give or take a bit. I called a friend, Art, and asked him to drive me to my appointments, and he did.

First, to the Dr. and got the prescription phoned in... then never did get to the drug store to pick it up, so add that to the To Do list for tomorrow. Then off to the vet in the next town over so Cherry Chinchilla could have another exam. The vet said that even though she has not pooped yet, she is not seeming to be constipated, no build-up inside her and the, ummmm, 'exit' looks healthy. So she figured that the Critical Care that I am syringe feeding Cherry must not build up any poop, so all of it is used by the body rather than having things that need to be expelled. She wants me to start feeding Cherry some Timothy Hay (instead of the hay cubes I've been using), and some Willow branches for her to chew on. She also didn't like the idea that I feed the chinchillas each 1/2 a peanut every evening. They LOVE their peanut and will be most unhappy with me for not giving it to them any more. Oh ya, give Cherry some lettuce but not spinach was another thing as there is a lot of water in lettuce and until she starts drinking again, she needs the water.

As I was leaving the house this morning, the phone rang and I almost didn't answer, but did in case it was the plumber who was supposed to be here yesterday and still hasn't shown up or called. It was my older brother, T. He said he was on his way up from the coast for Christmas, under 2 hours from my place, so would stop by and take a look at my broken pipe problem. I phoned his cell a few hours later and he said he couldn't go under the house as he didn't have his coveralls and it was so wet, like it was raining under there. He didn't buy into what the guys from the city had said about that the lines could freeze up completely if the water was turned off, and he said no plumber could/would go under there with that much water. I gave him the number for the city yards and he called and had the guy come out and shut off the water. He also called a place where he used to deal when he was a contractor in this area, and they are sending a plumber out, he'll be here at 10:30am tomorrow. Finally something will be getting done with this flood problem. T thinks I may have to make an insurance claim due to the water damage done to the footings and such under my home, and he is worried about the danger of mould developing down there. One good thing is this hill I'm on is sandy soil so the water is more likely to run away than if the soil was clay.

Once back from the vet, I went to check on the truck and all is well with it. Larry (mechanic and something of a friend) thawed it and dried it so the problem should not reoccur. When I asked what I owed him, he said Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. How cool is that?? Major cool!!!

I went to the pet stores in town and what they charge for Timothy hay is out of this world. For a small bag of it, the prices run from $9 to $14. I need to find a farmer who will sell me one bale, and I'm sure it will be less than $10 for 45 to 60 pounds $9 as much as I really hated being robbed!!! When I went to feed some of it to Cherry I found that it is garbage!! It is not nice quality at all, but is all stem and no leaf. I am discusted with it, totally! I also need a bag or feed for the chinchillas and rabbit, but that has gone up $7 since the last bag I bought a few months ago and it was too expensive then. Now it's $30 for an 18kg bag of rabbit feed. The other choice is little bags, like 1 or 2kg, and they're around $10-15 each. Tomorrow I am going to the feed store to see what they have and hope they've got something better/more reasonalbly priced.

Then Art took me out to dinner, which I thought was very nice of him. All you can eat Fish & Chips. He had been drinking, and Oh ya, forgot to tell you, when he drove me to the vet his van started acting up and we barely made it back to town. His van is now sitting in the bay my truck had been in for the afternoon... so I drove him to the restaurant.

It's good to be home. I am thankful I have drinking water (in big jug) so I can still brush my teeth tonight, and water in a bucket so I can wash my hands and face. I have no running water in the house... or underneath it either.

I've heard lots of people say there is a reason for everything that happens. I can't help but wonder what the reasoning is behind all the 'stuff' in my life this week. Oh well, I'm still managing to keep laughing most of the time. It could be worse... I could be ugly. hahaha.