Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Water heater, garden, and foot pain

I spent some time last week potting up and transplanting my seedlings. I had wanted to do window boxes on the front of the garden, but couldn't justify spending the money. I used pots that I already had. I also potted up some lemon cukes that a friend gave me and he also gave me three rhubarb seedlings that I put in the garden. I have pulled the peas, turnip greens and the radishes, way too warm for them now. I did get about seven tasty pea pods off my four pea plants. I will replant those when it cools off again.

The baby zucchini rotted. There are a couple more there, I'm hoping to get at least one squash off the three plants. The tomato plants are spindly but have a lot of green tomatoes on them. I'm thinking of trying the eggplant seeds I saved from my last eggplant. They are supposed to be a warm weather crop. I also saved some pepper seeds that I can try too.

I rolled back the plastic on the sides of the garden and put the shade cloth on the top and back. Seems to be keeping the temp down a few degrees in there. I still have the fan running on solar power. I have no idea if that is helping any, but in theory, it should. I have also changed the watering from twice a week to daily. Soon I will have to up that to twice a day and get the misters installed.






The cukes in the hanger are doing well. Started those from seed. Nasturtiums are doing good too. 



Had an appliance crisis last Thursday. Woke up to a wet rug in the kitchen. The water heater crapped out. Thanks to Herb's and Keith, it got replaced and back up and running before I had to get ready for work. Yay! It was pricey tho. 



The previous owners had that compartment literally packed with newspaper and cardboard. Two garden carts full of folded newspapers and a box full of cardboard. The only good thing is that the paper and cardboard soaked up a lot of the water and it gave me a date when the heater was last replaced. The date on the newspaper was 2007. It was a definite fire hazard tho. What were they thinking? Granted, it was an electric heater, but still...I should have taken a picture.

It is now insulated with reflectix. Three layers between the door and the compartment, one around the compartment. I may have to put in an outlet so I can run a lightbulb to keep it warm when it gets really cold, but most likely it will be just fine as is. 

Keith did an awesome job and I owe him big time now. There was a tiny leak in one of the joints when I went out to finish the insulation yesterday. I put some CPCV cement on it. Hoping that takes care of that. If not, the joint will have to be redone.

Foot update. After being on my feet Thursday morning for the water heater repair, I went to work wearing my new Sketchers for work. BIG mistake. Thankfully I had the foresight to bring my Teva's with me. I was close to tears as my feet hurt so much. It was enough for me to start making calls to have it looked at. I am now wearing my Teva's to work as they have no back on them and are a lot more cushioned than my Merrells. I wrap the heel with sports wrap before I go to work, and stay off my foot as much as I can when I am home.

I had to have a primary care referral to see a podiatrist, so yesterday I had that appointment. I have the referral but have to wait three to five days to make the podiatrist appointment. Not sure why I have to wait that long with today's technology, but he said it was to make sure all the paperwork had been forwarded. So I am still looking at several weeks before I can get any input on my foot. In the meantime, I will just do the best I can with my Teva's and sports wrap. He did say it sounds like heel spurs tho. Sigh....The last time I had heel spurs I had to have them surgically removed. It was a very long recovery. I won't be able to work, and it isn't a disability approved illness. Not sure how I am going to survive if I can't earn a paycheck. This also nixes the post office job if it got offered. I need to find a decent paying job here in town where I am not on my feet eight hours a day. Those kinds of jobs are few and far between here in Quartzsite

I have moments when I wonder what my purpose is. I work my ass off for practically nothing, haven't done anything fun in a very long time, and have nothing to look forward to at this point. So, what IS the point? I had a purpose with Jake, then had an adventure for several months on the road, and was pretty content until I ran out of money and had to go back to work. My job is not a career job. It is hard physical work and pretty much controls my life. I work, I sleep, and that is about it. The schedule is ever changing and I can't make any plans for anything. That is no way to live. I haven't done anything creative since I started working. The job screws with my diet, my sleep, my exercise and anything fun I might want to do but can't because I am working or need to sleep before going to work. And the pay is barely enough to live on. If I didn't own my car and my home, I wouldn't be able to survive on what I bring home. I have no supplemental income, just what I earn from week to week. There has to be more to life. 

It has warmed up finally. Upper 90's during the day. I haven't turned on the AC yet and it looks like I won't have to for at least another week or so. We are having a cooling trend which will be nice. The house gets warm and takes a long time to cool down at night even when it is really nice outside. I setup the little swamp cooler this morning and we will see if that helps. It worked quite nicely in the bedroom last summer when I could close the room off, but I am now sleeping in my chair in the living room and I think the space might be too large for the cooler. I may have to get a bigger one. Of course any one I get will get destroyed by the calcium in the water. I was going to toss this one because I couldn't clean it up, but will see if I can get another season or part of a season out of it first.

I also have a fan out on the patio where I sit and read. That keeps the air moving at least. Soon I will get the cool tub setup and working. The nights are still too cold to bother since the water would cool down at night. Will wait another week or two. Although I have wished for it a couple of times.



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