Missed Connection

I went to visit my brother and family in Ohio. (I mentioned this a few times already.) Every other post this week I wrote before I left for my trip. As I write this for today, it is Wednesday the 9th. I got back yesterday (Tuesday). 

I was supposed to arrive home on Monday. 

(This is going to be a long one. So... TL/DR: I got stuck in Denver overnight for reasons.)

The last time I visited was for Thanksgiving. As I was leaving, my sister-in-law mentioned that I should return to see the 4th of July with them. (My brother loves setting off fireworks.) Okay, then...

I was set to return on Monday. Because the Long Beach Airport is small, it does not have direct flights to/from Columbus, Ohio. So, for my return flight, I was going to change planes in Denver, Colorado. I had a little over two and a half hours layover. (I was scheduled to land from Columbus at 3:10 and take off to Long Beach at 5:45.) 

I got to the Columbus Airport early. I got through the TSA line (shoes off). I found my gate. And then, because I had time, I went to find someplace to have lunch. I checked my takeoff time, and we were delayed. By a couple minutes. 

Me at lunch.

It was probably 1 o'clock (EDT). I took my time. Had a nice lunch. And then I went to find my gate again. At this point our takeoff was delayed again. It got pushed back a couple times, so instead of taking off at 2 PM as originally scheduled, we were looking at more like 2:30. 

But I had that 2 1/2 hour layover. I'd be fine... 

The gate next to us was headed for Nashville, Tennessee. And instead of getting ready to board, they got some bad news. Weather delay. And announcement after announcement was about having them reschedule connecting flights. I was sorry for their troubles, thinking they weren't my troubles. Ah... 

It was time to board. They had the first boarding group line up. (I was in the second boarding group.) They waited. And they waited. And they waited. Still, no call to start boarding... 

Finally, the boarding guy told those in line they might as well sit back down. It would be a while. 

Most of the passengers got out of line. We waited. 

"That alarm you heard is for a lightning strike. Because it struck within three miles of the airport, we are on a 20 minute mandatory delay. No flights can take off or land." 

I turned to find that it was now raining outside. Okay, then. 

After a while we got another announcement. We were going to start boarding soon as the plug that had popped out (my memory on the exact phrasing is fuzzy, so I may have incorrect terminology here) had been fixed. 

Hey, what? 

The announcer chuckled. "Oh, you weren't informed of this?" He realized that we hadn't been told why they had halted boarding, so he explained the problem. As they were getting the plane ready for us to board, they found a popped plug (?? or something like that). They called maintenance. Who were on the other side of the airport. Then, of course the lightning delay meant no personnel outside. 

But now it was all fixed. Finally, we were going to board. Hooray!

We took off sometime after 3:15. (My last texts to everyone letting them know I was sitting on the plane were at 3:15. Then I put my phone in airplane mode.) 

We got to Denver in good time. However, we couldn't land. Something-something weather. We circled for a while. Then the pilot explained that we could land pretty soon, but we were going to need to refuel first, so we were being diverted to Montrose. Montrose? What's a Montrose? 

It was twenty minutes away. And, we landed at about 5:10 PM (MDT).

Welcome to Montrose, Colorado. This was out my window on the plane. 

We could not get off the plane. So, everyone got into the aisle to use the restroom (including me). Hey, they said we could stretch our legs a bit. 

Remember my connecting flight? 5:45 MDT. According to my phone, it had been delayed to 6:10. When we took off at about 5:35, the pilot said it would take us about 35 minutes to get back to Denver. 

We landed in Denver at about 6:45. 

I took my phone out of airplane mode to find a text. My connecting flight to Long Beach had been rebooked. 9:15 AM. (Long Beach does not have late flights. My original flight had been the last one of the day.) 

Now, I did have options. It's not like Long Beach is the only airport. But LAX? Maybe John Wayne. I was tired. I'd get back late and then I'd have to figure out how to get a ride from the airport. I decided I might as well get a hotel for the night. 

First, I wanted to get my checked bag. Baggage claim was down an escalator and a train ride away. Did you know the Denver Airport has a train? 

I found a very nice lady in the baggage claim area (for bag issues), and I asked if I could get my bag. She said she could ask. My bag was checked through to Long Beach, and it was currently booked on a flight to Sacramento, and then somehow it would make its way to Long Beach. (It turns out that tag that they tell you to keep is useful for something.) She sent a request. Said to check back in twenty minutes. At twenty minutes she said to check back a little later. 

A little later she found me. Said she found a baggage handler who found my bag and had retrieved it. They just needed to find a vehicle to transport it back to baggage claim. This would take some time, of course. 

I was just so happy to get the bag. I needed to take my contact lenses out, and my stuff plus my glasses were in my suitcase. 

While I was waiting on the bag, I booked a hotel. My brother was kind enough to do some internet research and find me a phone number. I got my bag a little after 9 PM, and then I headed out to get a shuttle to the hotel. 

I didn't get on the shuttle until about 10:30. The shuttles weren't well identified. The one with the correct hotel name had the wrong hotel address. (Same name. One was on Airport Tower Road--where I wanted to go. This shuttle was for Gateway or Garden Park something or other.) When I finally identified the correct shuttle, I realized that it had come by three or four times. 

I got into my room about 11:30. The shuttle back was for 6:30 AM. (That was the only time they had available, but I didn't mind as I wanted to actually make my flight back. Early was way better than late.) 

I got a shower. For dinner they had frozen dinners available (for a very inflated price) in the lobby (microwave in the room). Besides snacks on the plane, my last meal had been at 1 PM EDT. I took out my contacts. And I got a couple hours sleep. 

My hotel room. Just what I needed.

The hotel had breakfast included. And then it was back to the airport. I was dropped off at the wrong airline, but one of the employees directed me towards where I needed to check my bag. I went to print a label for the bag, but that wouldn't work. Sigh. 

There was an available clerk at the bag drop off. I explained the situation. He said I had a bag checked. I pointed to my bag and said this was the checked bag. He understood, and he printed out a new tag. Then I was off to find the TSA line. 

(The workers I encountered at Denver Airport were so very nice and helpful considering the situation. This could have gone so much worse.) 

The line went quickly. I went through screening (shoes on!?!). The TSA agent said we could leave our shoes on. I double checked. Really? Yup. I found out (after I got home) about that rule change. 

Then it was back to the train and back to the C gates. But reversing my path from Monday after having a bit of rest and some food helped me mentally. (I was still fried, but a little less so.) 

I was way early. 

The flight home, day 2.

Better early than late. I texted the family. I ate another breakfast at the airport. 

But one thing just pissed me off. For the flight I missed, I had managed to snag an A group boarding. I was so excited. I'd get on the plane early. But for my rebooked flight, I was downgraded to a C group boarding. That that just... Because, seriously? (Had to be said.)

As we got ready to board (pretty much on time), the guy in front of me and I got to talking. He was on the flight with me from Columbus. (Truck driver. He was picking up his load in Long Beach and he would be driving it to New York.) He also had the same boarding issue. However, he had not been able to retrieve his checked bag. Apparently, it had made it to Long Beach ahead of us. 

I got stuck with a middle seat. Sigh. But the flight into Long Beach was uneventful. 

We landed around 10:30 AM PDT. And home is about 10 minutes away. (I commute farther to work.) 

I got home. Unpacked. And then fell asleep for about three hours. Still, today, Wednesday, I'm feeling a bit wiped. But I'm home. Yay!

Maybe next week I'll talk a little about the trip itself. Although, family, so it wasn't a big touristy thing. 

And now you know why I was a bit late visiting blogs this week. 

Rose Parade

Do you watch the Rose Parade? If so, look out for the 605 All-Star Band. They're #70 in the lineup. Anyway, I know some of those kiddos...

I don't work at all eight of the high schools that comprise the band, but I do work at a couple of them. (I have subbed for the band directors at one time or other. I've even written posts about those days.) So, yeah, I will know a few of the kiddos. 

Should be fun to see them. 

Bluesky Migration

As I pondered what I was going to rant about today, something weird happened on Bluesky. Suddenly it got a huge influx of new users. Not only that, a couple people I know online joined. And that got me thinking.

I don't know exactly when I joined Bluesky. My first skeet* is dated October 16, 2023. So, it was likely a day or two before that. When I first joined, I did not know what to do with the platform. It was new. A wide open space.

I am not an expert. I dabble. A little. I scroll. But, I have picked up a few things that new users might want to know, and so I'm including those here in the hopes that you'll join me. My user name is @zizirho.bsky.social if you do happen to find your way over there.

First, there's an unofficial ID check. It's #ProofOfCat. Post a picture of your cat with the hashtag (as well as the name of the cat and/or something interesting about said cat). Sadly, I have no cat, so I have not done this. Some users have posted pics of their dogs in lieu of #ProofOfCat. 

Next, make sure to set your feed to "Following". One of the problems in the other places is the algorithm will feed you posts that you might not want to interact with. If you keep it on "Following", you'll only see skeets* from those you are following. 

Until you have a robust list of people you are following, you can use the "Discover" feed. With the influx of people, several users have created "Starter Packs" to help newbies find good feeds to follow. They've also created a few starter packs of feeds not to follow, but they are labeled as such.

Not to follow? That brings me to one of the lovely things on Bluesky--the nuclear block.

If you block someone on Bluesky, you never have to think of them again. It blocks them so you never have to see them again. It also makes you disappear from their feeds, so they can't see you. One big issue on other sites is how those who want to harass you can find ways around a block to get back to you. Here, they can't. 

(If you hit "subscribe" on a starter pack, you are given the option of blocking that entire list. Useful tool.)

And finally, if you find a skeet* or a thread you want to "pin", you can "quote post" and put an emoji pin in it. That collects your pinned posts in a handy spot to find them again. (I haven't quite gotten the hang of this, but I'm assured it works.)

Oh, it turns out there are some other ways you can scroll. I found this while finding skeets* to add to this post: 

I'm rather surprised I had as much to write about as all of this. I'm hardly an expert. But I find that Bluesky is where I spend most of my time scrolling nowadays. I hope you'll join me. 

And another helpful graphic:

(If you're looking for a "what if?" post, I have suspended them. Temporarily? I'm not sure right now.)

*Skeet is not the official name. There's a debate as to what to call posts. Someone on the anti side advocated against in the perfect way to make everyone else adopt the term, so it's probably going to stay.

Ruined

Thursday (two days ago). 4 AM. There was a knock on my door.

"Fire!"

A neighbor's condo was on fire. Big, roaring flames. Smoke was pouring out into the sky. 

We stood, transfixed. 

"What's that loud sound?" This was from my landlady.

"That's the fire."

(I didn't know a fire was so loud.)

We stepped outside, but not too close. The firefighters had arrived at this point. Someone had a hose on the conflagration. Others had a ladder and had climbed up to the roof.

There was a group on the bridge, watching. One lady said she'd gotten singed. It was her home where the fire started. A charger exploded. Something about a generator?

Had everyone gotten out? Yes, the conversation turned to how all those effected had made it to safety. Well, almost everyone. Later in the day I heard of the lady's two cats who were missing. Apparently they got out (fingers crossed), but no one had seen them since. 

The flames died down. Eventually, it appeared that the fire was out.

For the next couple hours, I heard workmen, or at least their machines. They boarded up the sliding doors. I heard that various people came through, checking the cause, and setting things to as right as they can be for the moment.

I did go to work. After getting home, I got my own picture of the devastation. 

I focused on the tree in this image. Yup, the tree also sported some flames. 

(I had a post all set up with a pretty image of rocks surrounding a water feature in my condo complex for today. And then things got interesting. And I could make it work for R, so...)

And it made the local news: 

I fully intend to do something innocuous for X next week. Just a picture. No story. But I planned to do that this week too. And last week. And the week before. Sigh.

I hope you are having an uneventful Saturday.

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter

Five Dollar Bill

So, kind of a funny story...

For this A to Z thing, I don't prewrite most of my posts. I let work happen and pull stories from that. But I don't write about my subbing travails every day. Those other days are the days I can preplan, sort of.

Tuesdays are my "what if?" days. I totally write those in advance. So, it was Saturday, a week before April, and I plotted out my Tuesdays. It took most of the day. (I usually do this on a subbing day where the kiddos are working and I have time to ponder, but I'm on a long-term assignment right now. That means that I'm actually teaching in class so no time to just sit and ponder.) 

Then that Sunday I started thinking about Saturdays. I don't usually blog on Saturdays, so for the challenge, I find a picture of something that works for the letter, and I'm done with it.

This first Saturday, being an F day, was where I started. I thought maybe "flowers", but upon looking back, I did that the last time F fell on a Saturday (2019 for those who are keeping score). 

So, I decided to give up thinking about it and let the universe find me an F picture.

I was walking Buttercup at the time. 

This is Buttercup

Not two minutes later, I looked down in the foliage next to the path, and I saw this:

I picked it up, flipped it over...

...and started laughing.

It was a good thing no one was around, because I wouldn't have wanted to explain. 

Five starts with F. 

Done.

And that's how I play this game. I let the letters find me in the wild. 

(Sometimes I really have to work to get things to fit, but mostly the letters I need find me.) 

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter

Best Laid Plans

Right around Halloween, I started thinking about Christmas. Planning. I even found some yarny things that sparked my interest. 

And I started my Christmas shopping. 

(I used to do way more making of Christmas gifts, and that'll happen again in the future, but for the last couple years I just haven't wanted to.) 

For the most part, it's not hard to keep things a surprise. I do most of my shopping online. Shipping things to me is not an issue.

The only time I need to be cautious is when I am ordering things for my roommates. 

I don't have to be cautious, per se. I tend to be the one that picks up the mail. And when packages are dropped at our front door, I get them unopened. 

I decided this year I'd get them pajamas. (I think the major influence on this was a pajamas sale I saw at one of my regular online shopping haunts. I gave them pajamas a couple years ago for Christmas, and they were a hit.) 

I put in the order. I even got myself something so I could show it off as what came in the package. (Not that they were likely to question it, but I was being especially sneaky.) 

I watched the online tracking, and I knew when the package would arrive. (The tracking said Tuesday, but it hit the L.A. area Sunday night, so I knew it would arrive Monday.)

I got home from work on Monday evening, and I did my usual. After getting inside, one of the first things I do is get the leash and take the roommate's dog for a walk. As Buttercup and I were heading out, I saw my package right outside. I tossed it inside as me and the dog continued on our way.

Usually Luisa is not home yet, but she had stayed home sick. The other roommate is usually home (she's retired) as she was at that time. 

When Buttercup and I returned from the walk, my roommate admitted to an oops. And it was the last oops I wanted to hear.

Luisa had opened my package. 

Naturally.

The one time it made a difference.

The other roommate had asked Luisa if she was expecting something. She was. No one bothered to look at the name on the package. Mine. 

Sigh.

As soon as Luisa realized it wasn't what she was expecting, the package was put in my room. And considering how clothes are folded and packaged, I doubt that either of them even paid attention to what was inside.

So, I tried to hide my horror and hope that they didn't catch on. They didn't seem to, but we'll see. 

I mean, this is not usually an issue. Ever. The one time...

I just had to share this with someone. Because I can't tell them, at least until we exchange gifts. Then it'll be a funny story. 

The Warm Up

School officially starts tomorrow, but the continuation high school has been open for a couple weeks now, so of course, last week, the inevitable happened.

The assignment I got last week happened in the middle of the night. (That is, my phone alerted me at midnight that a sub was needed.) For Thursday's assignment, I found out about it at 6 PM. So, I had time to prepare.

I don't have a lot of time when I get up in the morning, so I make a breakfast the night before. I eat a hardboiled egg. But I no longer boil them. I use a little thing called the Egg Pod. 

As soon as I accepted the assignment, I went to "boil" my eggs. And I realized that it had been so long since I had used my little gadget that I had forgotten how long to set the microwave for. 

Luckily, the internet had that answer.

I mean, two months, and I've forgotten how to boil eggs? Apparently.

Then, I had to manage my school bag. I keep a bag to tote with me that holds the materials that I generally need for my day. I sorted through the thing earlier in the summer, but I had just purchased a new bag and I hadn't had a chance to move my stuff into it.

(I bought the bag online, and it just arrived that day. It has different pockets, so organizing it was going to take some thought.) 

I do like having a couple continuation high school days before the official start of school. It reminds me that I know how to do this, and I have everything set up. It's a warm up for the school year proper.

That's All, Folks

Summer vacation descended upon me like:

I was going along, working daily, and then there was nothing. Smash. Bam. Done.

The full time teachers filled all the summer school teaching positions, so there will be no summer school class for me. (Although, those teachers might need a sub to fill in for a day here or there, so summer school is not completely out of the question.) 

And I spent last week suddenly without anything to do.

(The last day of school was June 1st. My last working day was the prior Friday. My end of year stats post will go live tomorrow.) 

Whatever am I going to do with my time? I'm going to do my best to enjoy it.

Last Wednesday, I decided I needed to make a Target run. I mean, I didn't really need anything, truly. Although, I picked up a few things that would make a couple projects I was working on work better. 

As I was driving into the parking lot, I noted a restaurant nearby. Pizza enjoys this place quite a lot, and he was in Mr. G's class this past year. And Mr. G's class went to that restaurant on Wednesdays as their usual CBI. 

Nah...

While in Target, I hear my name called. I turned. And sure enough, it was three of the instructional assistants from the adult transition center with a couple students in wheelchairs. 

They told me some of the other students were in the Target. (I did not run into them.) We talked for a bit, and then they were on their way. And I was on mine.

I think I would have been more shocked if I hadn't realized it was Wednesday and knew that that class would likely be there. It was nice to see them. I'm sure I'll get back to that school next school year. 

Now I get to find other things to occupy my time for a couple months. The blog now goes on summer schedule for however long I'm not working. 

(Summer school starts this week, and I'm on the subbing list, so I could work. That ends the week of the 4th of July. Right after that, the alternative education center opens for the month of July. The continuation high school starts the last two weeks of July. And the first day of school is August 10th.)

A Small Favor

Could you all do me a favor? If you're on Blogger, could you check to make sure my comments didn't end up in your spam folder?

Lately, I've noticed some of my comments have not been appearing on your blogs. At first, I assumed they were being deleted (as all blog owners totally can and should curate their comments), but it's happened way too frequently for that to be the issue.

And, I'm finding many regular commenters in my spam folder. 

Comment is not spam. Middle icon marks comment as spam.

Comment is marked as spam. Check mark takes it out of spam folder.

So, if you wouldn't mind, could you go and double check. Thanks.

Molar, Cracked

I broke another tooth. 

The last broken tooth. I did not get a picture of this one.

I think it was Wednesday, but it might have been Tuesday. It was evening. I was sitting in front of the TV, snacking on ice cream. It felt like one of the chocolate chips (more a shard, really) was stuck between my teeth. But by the time I brushed my teeth later that night, I realized that it wasn't a chocolate chip I felt. 

Nope, what I was feeling was the tooth. A small piece of it had been shorn off. 

After last year's incident, I figured that the best way forward would be to take a day off work to deal with it. I cleared it with the sub caller and I made the appointment. 

I made the right choice. I was in the dentist chair for three and a half hours. 

The dentist took a look. Numbed me up. I wasn't sure if I was numb enough, so he gave me more. He pulled off the shard that had formed (which you couldn't see until I moved it as it fit in my tooth like a puzzle piece). Only then did I realize I had been numb enough as my tongue (which I didn't think was numb) didn't feel the hole that was left once the shard was removed. (The tip of my tongue felt it, but not the side next to the hole.) 

Ah well. Better to be too numb than not numb enough. 

The dentist drilled the tooth so that he could fit a crown over it. He fitted me for the crown. And then I left with a temp crown in place until my permanent crown could be fabricated. (You're reading this on a Friday. My appointment to put the permanent crown on was for yesterday.) 

Buy on Zazzle

These things go much easier (mentally) when I've been through them before. I knew what to expect. And that tooth has been giving me issues long enough that I knew this was coming, sooner or later.

So, now I have two fake molars, both on the bottom of my jaw. One on the right side (last year), one on the left (this one). Balance has been restored. (Yes, they are exact opposites.)

Leaky

We have a water issue at the place where I live. Have had for years. Whenever something goes wrong, water to the whole complex is turned off. Sigh. 

Two Sundays ago, at roughly 11 PM, we got word that the water to the whole complex was being turned off due to an "unexpected plumbing issue". I didn't think much of it and went to bed.

But, the water had not been turned back on by the time I had to leave for work. (This made for an awkward morning.) And it had not been turned back on by the time I got home from work. We did get an update: 

The plumbing vendor is on site working on the leak, and we don't yet know when the water will be able to be turned back on. It is a complex situation which includes the pipes from the laundry facilities and the City is also involved. Our property manager worked past midnight last night coordinating resources to mitigate the excessive damage caused by the leak, and is continuing to work to get it resolved as soon as possible.

Scuttlebutt was that maybe by 9 PM we'd have water. Maybe. 

So, I wimped out. I got a hotel room for the night.

I mean, if I have time to prepare for no water, I make contingencies. I have things set up to "survive" the duration. But with no warning...

We got an email after 8 PM that the situation was resolved and the water was back on. By then I was already set up in said hotel room, showered and ready for bed. So, we did have the water back by 9 PM. But only barely. 

I'm not sure if I made the right choice, but it made for a less stressful evening anyway. It was like a mini vacation right before spring break. 

(As you read this, I am on spring break.)

Follow by Email

Image has nothing to do with today's post...

If you're on Blogger and you have enabled email subscriptions, you already saw the notice that the service is being shut down in July. The notice went out in April (or was it March?). 

At the time, I was busy with a long-term subbing gig, and I really didn't have the time (or the desire to make a priority) to take care of it. But school is out for the summer, so now I have some time. And one of the first things I wanted to do was deal with the email situation. 

Although, it's not like I really have all that many email subscribers. The last time I checked, I had two (my brother and my sister-in-law). Was it really worth it to even have the email subscription thingy enabled? 

I got an email about follow.it (and then I got two follow ups when I didn't deal with it right then--because I wasn't going to deal with it until now), and I've noticed a couple other bloggers have migrated to that. I figured I'd give it a go. 

I went to download my subscriber list so I could import it, and I was greeted with a shock. I had over 1400 email subscribers. Huh? 

Figuring out how to transition things took just about as long as I thought it would. (I gave myself an afternoon.) I bumbled about, and when it came time to import my subscriber list, I didn't notice the "Download List" button. Instead, I clicked on "Import Followers". 

This mistake is what made me look through that list of "followers". I was being "followed" by email addresses that could not possibly be people. 

They were all outlook.com addresses, and the names on them were... Well, let me give you a taste: 

rosadobqrioswwz

rosadobwantoniosg

rosadocgsjosepdu

rosadodacarolinaga

rosadofhsandratpj

rosadofwastridyuk

All up and down the alphabet these "names" went. One or two, I can see, but over 1000 of these were there. I have no idea what purpose these random email addresses have in following my blog, but importing them into the new email service seemed like a bad idea. 

When I had deleted all of them, I was left with nineteen subscribers. 

Nineteen. Yeah, that's way more reasonable. Way more than I was expecting (and I'm grateful to each and every one of you for subscribing), but that number makes sense. 

But the reason I mention this, before the Blogger email subscription goes away, is for anyone I may have accidentally deleted in the transition. By now you should be getting the emails via follow.it. If you are not, the "Follow by Email" in the sidebar has been updated with the new link. 

(This is only going to apply to anyone with an outlook.com address. Any other address made the transition.) 

One More Thing

Three Wednesdays ago, I was eating dinner. Pasta with marinara sauce and turkey meatballs. It's a meal I've had many, many times. 

I was on the first meatball. I bit down, and I bit into something hard. I scrambled for whatever it was, and it turned out it was my tooth. 

I had chipped my tooth. 

My tooth. The penny is for a size comparison.

I have never done anything like this before, and I was freaked. But, as these things go, it's sorted. (I waited to post until it was sorted.) 

The first dental appointment I could get (they'd usually be able to squeeze me in, but COVID restrictions) was Monday. Then that Friday I got the notification I was up for my first vaccine shot. 

So, it was dentist Monday morning. Vaccine first shot Tuesday. And then back to the dentist this last Tuesday as that was the first appointment I could make where there was enough time to deal with getting a crown. (My permanent crown will be ready next week.) 

Everything kind of hit at once. Isn't that always the way?

The Bed Saga

Thursdays are #ThrowbackThursdays around here (when I have nothing else to say). Considering how this year has gone, I wanted to look back to happier times--last year. And, well, I was dealing with this. From May 20, 2019: 

My bed is trying to kill me.

— Elizabeth Arundel (@ZiziRho) May 15, 2019

No, not literally. Although, the concussion screams intent.

It all started about three weeks ago, on April 30th. I sat on my bed to put on my shoes, something I do every morning.

Thunk.

The bed fell under me. In that moment, I wanted to figure out what had happened, but I didn't have time, not if I wanted to get to work on time. So, I finished putting on my shoes, and I was out the door. I didn't think too much about it, other than some generalized worry, until I got home. That's when I went about ascertaining what broke.

The bed is what they call a Hollywood frame. It's just a simple rail. I've had this bed for about five years without a lick of trouble.

It turned out that the wheel had snapped off. I was able to glue it back together and place it back on that leg.

But that was a temporary fix.

I searched online for a replacement wheel. No local retailers carried it, but it was available online. (From wheel break to ordering replacement wheel took two days. I had to go to work and such.)

Alas, the temp fix was very temporary. The wheel continued to fall off at least once a day. Anything would jar it loose. I was very careful with my movements, but still it would pop off with a "thunk" when I least expected it. Or when I did expect it. It was a pretty constant thing.

Tracking showed the replacement showing up the following Tuesday, May 7th. But on Saturday, when I had time, I needed to deal with another bed problem. The rail was creeping out. An easy fix...

I stripped the bed. Then, by myself, I flipped up the mattress and box spring to lean against the wall. Then the rails. I tightened them. I put the bed back to rights. Since I had stripped the bed, I figured that was a good time to wash the sheets and such. Once they were clean, I remade the bed, and all was good, except for that wheel. I was good for a couple days, until the wheel arrived.

Only, guess what came in the mail just after I had finished putting my bed to rights?

So, this next bit is just sheer laziness. I didn't fix the wheel that day. I figured I could wait another week. What's another week, right?

Then, Tuesday night, as I was nearly asleep (and not moving at all), the wheel fell off again, and I was DONE.

After work Wednesday, May 8th, I stripped the bed, flipped up the mattress and box spring, flipped up the rail, and went about removing the wheel. You'd think this would be easy, but the wheel was attached via a long connector that didn't remove easily. Pliers worked.

The replacement wheel fit perfectly.

Before returning the bed to rights, I went to tighten the rails again. Only, one of the brackets would not. It popped off the bed.

Upon further examination, I found that the bracket had bent, just a little. But that little was enough so that it would no longer fit on the bed. And the rail needed that to support weight.

The bracket on the left is the working one. The bracket on the left has been stretched out ever so slightly, just enough to no longer fit on the rail.

Over the course of an hour, I tried everything I could think of, including hammering the bracket to bend it back. It was enough. I was able to reassemble the bed.

It was so nice to sleep in the bed without having random thunks in the middle of the night.

However, as I walked by the bed the next morning...

Thunk.

The bottom half of the bed had collapsed. The bracket failed.

Again, I went online to order a replacement part. (I did go out to see if I could find it locally. I could not.) But what size did I need? What did I need to measure? That took a while to figure out.

While I was waiting, though, the frame would not hold. There was nothing else to do but remove the frame entirely and put the box spring on the floor, like a teenager. Sigh. (Plus, I store stuff under there. All of it had to be moved out and stored somewhere for the wait.)

The replacement bracket arrived on the following Monday, May 13th. I worked up the energy to put things back together on Tuesday. I stripped the bed, flipped up the mattress and box spring, and brought the rails out.

I propped the two parts of the frame up against the box spring as it leaned against the wall. I started by attaching a bracket to the bottom half...

I'm sure you can see what's coming. If I had been thinking...

Yeah, so one side fell over as I was doing this, landing on my head. Hard. No, I didn't pass out, but it hurt.

And... The bracket didn't fit. It turns out that I had ordered the wrong size.

The gold-tone is the proper size. The silver-tone is just a bit too big.

(I spent an hour trying to figure out which size I needed. I measured. I even tried it on the rails before flipping up the bed, and it seemed to work. But when it came time to actually put things together, big fat fail.)

So, everything had to go back to how it had been. Back to the internet to order the correct size. Hopefully.

This time I ordered the part right away, although I spent a lot of time looking at the smaller size. Was this correct? Was I going to screw up again?

Tracking showed that the package would arrive on Saturday. I was out, so I wasn't thinking about the package delivery. I pulled my phone out of my purse to check the time or weather or something to find a text from the delivery driver.

He couldn't find my place. And I had five minutes to respond. The text had been sent a half hour prior.

(I know, you all have your phones set so you can hear them when you're out, right? I don't. My ringer is set for a good volume to wake me for early morning subbing calls. Soft enough so that it doesn't jar me awake. As I get very few actual calls or texts, I don't think about raising the volume the rest of the time.)

Then I got an email saying the delivery had failed.

Grrr. Was I going to have to wait another week for another day off to finally fix my bed? Was I even going to get the delivery?

But then, I get home to find the package. I guess the delivery driver found my place after all. Whew.

These brackets were smaller than the ones I had already on my bed, but they actually fit. Hooray!

And on Sunday, my bed went back together. Finally.

So, fingers crossed. Because if this bed breaks again...

tl;dr: My bed broke. It took three weeks to fix. 

Alas, this was not the final fix. There is a part 2 to this story. The duct tape solution kept things together pretty well. But then, in August, the guy who put my ceiling back together was kind enough to fix the bed once and for all. He drilled holes and bolted the bed frame together. And that solution continues to hold to this day. 

I'm so glad I don't have room issues during this stay-at-home time. That was quite the ordeal last year.

Powerless

It was just an ordinary Wednesday at the high school. They worked; I watched. I looked about for something, anything interesting to post about.

The day ended. I checked out. I headed for my car.

The hood of my car was open. It wasn't propped open, but it wasn't fully shut. I closed it, and I wondered. Had I accidentally popped the hood as I got out of my car that morning? I've never done that before. Was it possible?

When I went to start my car, I realized I hadn't accidentally opened my hood. Because, my car wouldn't start. And unlike when my battery has died (which it has done a few times over the years), I had no power at all. That's when I suspected...

I opened up my hood to be greeted by...

...a big gaping hole where the battery should be.

I didn't have any time to process this turn of events on my own, as one of the security guys noticed my distress, and he was standing with me when I opened the hood. He immediately called for the rest of the security team.

While they were talking about "the video" and how long my car had been in that spot (all day), I was contemplating next steps. I needed a battery. AAA has roadside battery service. So, I needed to call AAA.

The guys were concerned that something else had been taken out of my car. But I could tell that nothing was missing. I don't really leave anything of value in my car anyway, and besides, it didn't feel like they'd been inside the car. How did they gain access to the engine (as the hood release is inside the car)?

Waiting for AAA to arrive, another of the security guys was talking about insurance and police reports, and only then did it occur to me that I should probably call the police. I mean, one does call the police when one has been robbed, correct? And what is the proper term for this? Burgled? Thieved?

Security got word that they found the incident on the video surveillance. (The school has cameras all over.) The thieves were in a silver Nissan with no plates. Apparently, the whole theft took them five minutes. They reached beneath the car to release the hood. I was invited back to see, but I didn't really need to. I doubt I would recognize them, and I was waiting for those I had called, anyway.

AAA arrived. He was just getting started when the police arrived. The AAA driver made a comment that he does arrive before the cops, but I had called AAA first, so that really doesn't count.

The cop asked how much it was going to cost me to replace, and the AAA driver quoted him the price.

I gave my statement. The cop was surprised to hear that there was video of the incident. He asked if he could see it, and the security guy said, "Of course". It sounded like the cop had been to the school before, for he knew which office he'd need to go to for this.

AAA finished just slightly before the police were done with me. I was given a file number for my report, and then I was on my way.

I have been subbing a long time. I've been working at this school for years. This is the first time my car has been broken into. Still, I was nervous to return as I was already scheduled to cover a class there on Friday.

Friday came and went. My car was in the same state as I had parked it in. But I'm still going to be a little nervous for the foreseeable future.

Too Close

Considering how often I've covered for teachers who got stuck on jury duty (like for most of last August), I knew was about due to get caught. The summons wasn't completely unexpected. As always, I postponed to a more convenient time. Last week.

Our state is a one day/one trial state. I picked the week between the end of summer school and the beginning of the continuation high school, so I wouldn't be in danger of missing anything at all.

My reporting day ended up being Wednesday.

The hope is that I'll manage to duck getting assigned to a trial for the day. But, alas, at about 11 AM, I got assigned to a courtroom.

via GIPHY

We waited outside for nearly 40 minutes. By the time we got in, we had just enough time for the judge to inform us that the trial (including estimated time for deliberations) would take about a week before she dismissed us to lunch.

While I did not want to be assigned to the trial, I admitted to myself that it wouldn't be a hardship. The continuation high school wasn't to open until Thursday of the following week. I'd miss nothing.

After lunch, from our pool of slightly less than 30 (they took a pool of 30, but a couple had already been dismissed as they had conflicts with remaining a week), they called up 18. I was juror number 15.

As the usual questioning proceeded, I could tell a couple of jurors 1-12 would be dismissed. You just kind of know. As #15, that meant that I'd end up in the box.

via GIPHY

But, there was no way to get myself disqualified. Could I be fair in this case? Sure. There wasn't anything presented that I had any definite bias for or against.

At about 4 PM, it was time for the lawyers to get their peremptory challenges.

First, the prosecution bumped one. Then the defense. Then the prosecution...

Ugh. I was moved to juror #8.

Then it was the defense's turn again. He looked at the jury box and said he was okay with the jury as it was.

via GIPHY

Then it was time for the prosecution again. "We thank and excuse juror number 8."

via GIPHY

That was way too close.

As the judge instructed, I waited to celebrate until I had left the courtroom. But, as I was leaving, I heard one of the lawyers say for the new juror #8 to not get too comfortable. (And I celebrated again. The woman next to me as former juror #16 told me that getting off work for a week was going to be a problem for her.)

By the time I got back to the jury room (4:15-ish), the place was empty. Which meant I was done for the day. I checked out and headed for my car.

As I hit the escalator, I ran into the others from the courtroom I had just left also leaving. They still had their juror badges, so it appeared that they would all be returning the next day. I have no idea if the jury panel was complete or not.

But I was done. And I was quite happy about that.

Hopefully it'll be another few years before I have to do that again.

Things I Learned

...in small claims court.

As I promised last Friday, here are a few things I learned going to small claims court two weeks ago. In no particular order...

1. Being a small claims court judge must be much like being a teacher. He gave us instructions that some ignored. He explained things clearly, but some still could not answer him. I kind of felt sorry for him.
2. If you find yourself having to take someone to court, document everything. And have all the documentation in a logical order.
3. If serving court papers, make sure to submit proof of having done so at least five days before your court date. 
4. Be on time, but expect a long wait.
5. It is illegal to charge more than 10% interest on a loan. (Not our case. A case prior to ours.) 
6. Cases were heard by quickest to resolve first. (Of course if we could have come to a compromise, we wouldn't have sued...) 
7. When your case is done, leave. (Papers were mailed out after.) 
8. And then don't return, wailing how the defendant "threatened" you out in the hall. (Another case prior to ours.) 
9. The judge can only rule on the specific case brought before him. Leave other matters out of it. 
10. Everyone's an idiot in court. Take a deep breath and try to keep up.

Deluge Resolution

Last week we had our day in court.

In case you missed it, in late January, on a Saturday morning at 1:15, I was awoken by water pouring through my ceiling and onto my bed. (I explained it pretty well in that blog post.) Drying out the ceiling and putting the room back together has taken a while. (I gave periodic updates here, here, and here.)

What we have been waiting on is figuring out who's going to pay for it. Landlady has been fighting with the upstairs neighbors since it happened.

The people upstairs rent the place from the woman who used to live upstairs, but had recently moved to an assisted living facility. The woman's daughter hired a management company to oversee the rental stuff.

When the water incident happened, landlady contacted the management company immediately after the plumber left. (The plumber determined that the upstairs neighbors had to have overflowed something as he couldn't replicate the issue. He checked for a burst pipe and then if any of the fixtures in the upstairs bathroom were leaking. They weren't.)

The management company said the renters claimed not to know anything, so they were not at fault. He had no idea where the water came from, but it was not their responsibility.

Landlady went to the owner's daughter. She put her in touch with their insurance company. Insurance company said renters didn't do anything, so they wouldn't cover the issue.

And it's gone around and around for months. Landlady decided to sue. (I mentioned serving the owner the papers a couple weeks back.)

Small claims court is interesting. I learned a lot. Hopefully, I'll never need to use any of this knowledge again. But I figured I might as well jot it down in one place.

First of all, it turns out that "where else could the f***ing water have come from?" is a valid legal argument.

The owner of the unit upstairs did not appear in court. Instead, the management company and insurance company showed up. They said that since we couldn't prove the water pouring in was due to their tenants (the plumber only proved that it wasn't a burst pipe or a leaky faucet), they couldn't be held liable.

The judge disagreed. Once he determined that their bathroom is directly above my bedroom, he explained that the preponderance of evidence suggested that the only reasonable explanation was that something had happened in their bathroom. Putting the renters at fault.

So, the hole in my ceiling will soon be no more. But of course it'll take time before the insurance company pays out. (At least we now have a judgment. That should help, I hope.) And I'll have to move everything out of my room (I moved everything back in when it became apparent that it would be a while. It's been three months since I moved all my stuff back in.) It looks like we're in the home stretch.

As this post got huge, I'll save the lessons I learned for a future post. Because there were some particular things that I did not know before this whole thing. You may find it interesting as well.

Duct Tape: The Bed Saga, Part 2

Last time, I spoke too soon...

When I told my father all about my bed issues (see the above link), he interrupted my telling with, "Duct tape". Why didn't I think of that?

Where we left off, I had put my bed back together, and it was all good. It was all good? Nope.

Shortly after writing that blog post, I heard another thunk. Again from the bottom of the bed.

So, nine o'clock at night, I stripped my bed, flipped up the mattress, box spring, et al, and retightened the brackets. But this time I added duct tape to both sides, just to make sure.

That seemed to hold it. Although, I've been rather careful. The bed was not quite feeling secure.

I would have checked everything again last weekend, but I spent the entire holiday weekend in bed with a cold. I didn't have the energy to do anything more.

But this past Saturday, I couldn't hold out any longer. I needed to make sure everything was holding.

So, back to taking everything apart. I'm getting rather good at this, sadly. And just as I did this...

Thunk.

Yup, one of the new brackets failed. But, the duct tape held!

Well, if duct tape is the solution...

...I'm going to put a whole lot of duct tape on. Because I'm so done worrying about my bed falling apart again.

This seems to be working. It feels secure for the first time since this whole drama began. So, I'm tentatively optimistic.

I promise to have some new knitting projects soon. With the cold, I haven't been doing much knitting or taking of pictures. Because I have a new walking purse to show off. I just haven't had the energy to photograph it.

Full Evil

Last Thursday I went full evil. It kind of just happened. I'm rather ashamed, but here I am, putting it on blast on my blog.

First, I served papers on a sweet old lady.

I have mentioned the deluge that happened in my bedroom. Yes, there is still a hole in my ceiling. Getting the neighbors to pay for the damage, well, isn't happening. We've had to take them to court. The sweet old lady is still the owner of record. (She's moved to an assisted living facility.) Her daughter, well, if her daughter had taken care of business, we wouldn't be going to court.

Shortly thereafter, I called 911 on a black man.

I don't know if you've been aware of all the "Beckys" calling 911 on people of color who were minding their own business. It's a thing.

However, this man was lying in the street, twitching. It was a busy street. Traffic... Well, it was 6-ish.
And while he was in the crosswalk, he was far enough out in the street that he could have been hit. I don't know that he was having a seizure, but it sure looked like it.

On the bright side, 911 seemed to be aware of the issue, so I wasn't the first to call. Once the first responders arrived, we got out of the way, so I don't know how this all resolved.

It was once I got home that I realized how evil I had gotten. I need to be way more careful in the future.