coons are taking over the joint

Okay, I think raccoons are cute, especially when they’re small.  And there’s no shortage of raccoons in my neighbourhood.  But when I leave my house and a raccoon comes up to me … that’s outta line.  I found myself trapped one night between my backdoor (that I freshly locked) and a curious junior raccoon.

rain, rain go away

When it rains, it pours. And apparently when it pours, our basement leaks. And it doesn’t seem to be coming in through a crack in the foundation wall – instead, it just seems to be slowly seeping up (?). Not good.

The downspout at the front of the house extends a good 6 feet away from the house. So does the one at the back – or at least part of it. The downspout was split with a Y connection so that some of the rain would be channeled away, and the rest went into a big wooden rainbarrel. But the people who sold the place took the barrel with them and covered that half of the Y with a plastic grocery bag. Nice.

That didn’t quite explain why foam came out of the full downspout at the back, instead of water.  Further inspection revealed that the Y was put on wrongly – with water spilling out everywhere and heading straight to the foundation.
But a few minutes in the rain with a screwdriver and heaps of female ingenuity got it to drain properly. In a perfect world, that will be the end of that. But it’s not a perfect world – so I won’t hold my breath.

Maybe it’s time to bite the bullet and hire someone to remove the excess soil (it was recommended that we dig down 6 inches to reduce soil-wood contact… an invitation to termites) and re-grade the yard.

Does my life sound mundane enough?

Dell is Evil – or – “How to Get Evicted inTwo Easy Steps”

So my sister finally got her first computer, a Dell.   Mom encouraged her to get it – even lent her the cash.  I think my sister had it for one day when my mother realized that it and its packaging were evil.  My sister hid the computer after mom started punching it, and then left the apartment to run an errand.  While she was gone, mom threw an assortment of items off their 5th floor balcony (bicycle, stuff like that) and brought all the computer boxes and styrofoam packing out onto the balcony and set them on fire.

A 911 call later and she was admitted to the hospital for psychiatric evaluation.  When my sister got home, the locks were changed and she and mom are no longer welcome to reside in the apartment in the long term.

Maybe my sister should have bought a mac.

my how time flies

Look – it’s July already. How did that happen? So busy with the move, Pride, unpacking, sorting stuff out, trying to just relax… The tv is hooked up – which pretty much means that the remainder of the unpacking process is suspended. Reception isn’t as good as it could be, though… and I’m not too happy with where it’s located, but hey – I can lounge on the couch and watch crappy summer programming and relax.

I, apparently, am already late on paying my municipal tax bill. But I tried to set it up online and my taxroll isn’t recognized as a valid account. Great – so I’ll have to remember to call the city. It’s amazing how many things a person has to remember to do when they move!