TGIF!!

Was back at the gym tonight after a nap. Walked over there in a sweater and a hoodie (sweater not necessary). Stopped off at McDonalds on the way home for a Classic grilled chicken sandwich and two double Quarter Pounders w/o cheese. (Ate the chicken when I got home and wrapped up the Quarter Pounders for microwaving over the weekend.) Been watching TV.

Hopefully today was the last of the holiday junk food at work. I may have put on a couple of pounds, but I'm still under 160.

Was totally surprised today to get a bonus at work. (It was better than last year's.)

Haven't even run the A/C today. Opened the whole place up when I got home from work, since it was in the low 70s. Perfectly comfortable for napping, with the fan blowing on me (as always). Supposed to get down into the 50s tonight.

(Tried to get rid of the flash.)

Watching Paula Deen cooking with Liza Minelli. What a treat! (Liza looks great, though she acts like she's sedated.) (Took a shot of the TV screen, but the flash landed right in the middle - should have taken at a different angle.) (Tired and I'm on vacation.)

My bonus covers my closing costs for the recent refi, but I'm thinking about redoing a bathroom. (Will cost more than the bonus and entail a plumber.) Want to get a new stone-topped vanity and a cool toilet and have the fiberglass tub enclosure reconditioned, plus a new tile floor. (The fiberglass enclosure is very low maintenance and I like it, and think a future buyer would appreciate it's practicality [no mildew, e.g.].) Also need some drywall work to repair damage from the apartment above. (But I'm still paying on the kitchen re-do and haven't even done the backsplash yet.) Just thinking.

I could stand to have this bathroom out of commission for a while, since I have two. (The other one is off my bedroom, and also needs work.) But I think having the public bathroom redone first would be smart. It's basically only cosmetic stuff. I'm not knocking out walls. (This apartment has a great layout for its size.)

Later personal

Watched a new show on SyFy tonight: "Three Inches." Liked it. It was the premiere of a new series [or was it? see here], almost identical to another series they aired this year, about young people with super powers working together to fight against evil ("Alphas"). See here.

Thursday night personal

A/C froze up again tonight. Here's the reason, I think:

Outside Temperature

• Outside temperatures below the thermostat limit will cause the coils to freeze, if the unit is running. An air conditioner unit's normal thermostat low is between 60 and 65 degrees. When you turn the unit to its lowest setting, the warmer air inside the unit mixes with the colder outside air, which produces condensation and freezes the cooling components of the air conditioner. You can expedite the thawing process by turning the fan on high and raising the thermostat to its highest setting, which is around 86 degrees Fahrenheit for some units.

  
  Read more: Causes of Air Conditioners Freezing Up | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_10011152_causes-air-conditioners-freezing-up.html#ixzz1hz4y3rhW
  
  
  I should not have been running the A/C at all today. The thermostat was set higher than the outside air temperature.  Meanwhile the coils inside have been unfrozen with the blow-dryer and I have the heat on now, set to 70 F. (It's not kicking in, and it shouldn't.)(I've learned a lot about air conditioning lately.)If my job gets outsourced or offshored, maybe I should go study to be an A/C repairperson. (You can't outsource or offshore repair people to India.)

Wednesday night personal

Back on an even keel after this past weekend, but no doubt will go back off the keel this coming weekend. Then the holidays will be over, at last. Thank Goodness.

Friday was crazy at work. E. was over here on Saturday night, then I was over at his place on Sunday night and much of the day Monday, since we both had the day off. Lots of alcohol imbibed (including Jäger shots) and general craziness but in a good way (Mondays are his only day off these days).

Last night we had a cold front come through and the temperature dropped down into the low 60s (tonight the 50s). Tonight the A/C froze up again since I left it on with the slider and windows open (and humidity is 70%). How dumb of me.

Was back at gym tonight but didn't walk there. Would have had to wear sweatpants on the walk and then change into shorts. Just drove instead.

Over the weekend I did get some things done. Did laundry and made a huge pot of vegetable beef soup with a frozen leftover bottom round roast (which I'm still eating, now at work for lunch). I also cleaned the slider with Glass Plus. It really needed it.

Later personal and "some ridiculous Washington standoff"

Earlier tonight I made chili and fried up some hot Italian sausage and will be taking some of that to work tomorrow. I work from 1 till 5.

Now I'm kind of watching "The Brothers Grimm" on SyFy, with Matt Damon and Heath Ledger.

So the House Republicans finally went too far and were called on the carpet by their own (not to mention the President). Hopefully the Dems will re-take the House next time and finally get rid of the filibuster in the Senate. People have had it with gridlock in the houses of Congress. (And they plainly see that the Republicans are the ones causing it and that all they care about is the "1%.")

Thursday night personal

Weirdest "House Hunters" I've ever seen. A young Parisian businessman has learned how to make cheese and is moving to Nepal to start up a cheese farm outside Kathmandu, Nepal, which entails buying the land, having a house, building a cheese factory, and procuring cows (and possibly also building roads). At this point, he's just looking for the land, which has to face north and be at a certain elevation (to keep the cheese cool) and have a water supply.

Meanwhile he has a Nepali girlfriend who speaks perfect English and has lived in New York City; and he's been learning the Nepali language. (Can't remember where they met.)

At the end of the show, he'd built roads, the cheese factory, a cheese-curing cave, and a barn, and had bought cows and was already making cheese and selling it to the hotels in Kathmandu. (It looked like he was making brie.)

(He bought the farm for $20,000 and is living with his girlfriend in a ramshackle building on the property until they build a new house.)

Wednesday night personal

Was at the gym tonight, after a nap. Opened up the inside A/C again - no ice. The problem appears to have been solved. If it iced up twice in one day before I cleaned the outside unit and hasn't iced up since then (Sunday), things are looking good. I'd been afraid I might have to replace the inside unit, or at least get a repairman in here. (I learned something about how central air conditioners work.)

'Cocaine ingested from rear end ends in tragedy'

From The Miami Herald here (http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/20/2555084/cocaine-ingested-from-butt-ends.htm) (includes video). I could could scarcely believe my eyes when I saw this. (And note how the link reads.)

Tuesday evening personal

A/C working fine when I got home. I opened up the inside unit just to check. No ice! Yay! So far, it appears I've fixed the problem by cleaning the outside unit. It wasn't that hard. From now on, I'll keep an eye on it. (And it's also probably best to clean it at night, when necessary.)

Having some of that tea my cousin sent me. Then off to Walgreens and the local convenience store.

Monday night personal

E. called a few minutes ago. He was fine, although he'd had a rough day off, as predicted. He'd just gotten home from Flanigan's after three beers with a lady friend (a customer). So he was home safe.

(The ramp from southbound I-95 west to the airport expressway (112) had been closed due to an accident, so he'd taken eastbound 112 and gotten off at 36th Street, where he got directions at a Denny's to get back up on 112 heading west to the airport. Essentially, he'd by then gotten lost (he admitted), but at that point also had to pee. (Too much iced tea.) He said he was cursing all the way but succeeded in picking up his passenger and delivering her back to her mom's in Aventura, but the traffic up there had been a complete mess and it took him an hour and a half to get through it and back (it being the shopping season). I advised him to henceforth think twice about volunteering to do that again (esp. his having only one day off a week), no matter the favor owed, and that the mom was just being cheap. The daughter could have taken a Super Shuttle home for under $30 or so and not put E. through that shit.)

Good movie, "The Haunting in Connecticut." (Why it had only one star, I can't figure, unless the arbiters of these types of movies didn't like the happy - but true - ending.) Now the next one, "Population 436." More typical ending - they escape the crazy, dangerous place at last, only to be hit by a Mack truck. Movie over.

Monday evening personal

Holiday Tea and Holiday Jam
from Stonewall Kitchen (good stuff!)

Well, I got home from work today and the A/C felt pretty good, but I just had to open up the inside unit for a look - and it wasn't frozen! Yay! Maybe last night's cleaning treatment on the outside unit worked. (And I didn't hear anything from the condo today about any complaints about the dirty water that flowed down outside the apartment below.) (If I'd done it in the daytime, there might have been a problem, but under cover of darkness, it looks like I got away with it.) (It was their dust that clogged my A/C anyway.)

Received a little present today from my cousin.

Poor E. Today, on his only day off of the week, he had to drive to Miami International Airport to pick up the daughter of a co-worker (he was returning a favor). I called him when I got home and left a message. He's probably getting hammered right now and will call me later. (Not really looking forward to that.)

Just had a hard-boiled egg and some citrus salad (and a cup of tea). Now I have to run to the grocery store. Looks like something good on SyFy at 9:00 ("The Haunting in Connecticut," based on a true story). Or there's Anthony Bourdain's new show ("The Layover," in Hong Kong).

Sunday night personal

Went to eat over at E.'s place of business and when I got back home, the A/C was frozen up again. Did a Google search - "my air conditioner keeps icing up" - and immediately came up with this:

1st I'm not an A/C guy, but I play one on t.v.... Check the coils on the unit that's outside to see if they're dirty or clogged... You should be able to see light from the other side when you look through them. Somebody else suggested the filter... that's a likely cause too!

(I'd already changed the filter today.) I remembered the last time an A/C guy was here - to unclog the drain pan inside - saying something about the outside unit possibly getting clogged up (he suggested with cat hair, perhaps having seen a cat in my apartment) and ultimately needing attention.

It was dark already, so I went out on the terrace, where the outside unit sits up against a wall, and shined a flashlight through the slits. No light coming through on the other side, at all. At first I panicked. But then I remembered I had a pressure sprayer that I used to use for ... what, I don't remember. After I'd jammed the blow dryer into the inside unit and started de-icing it, I filled the sprayer with hot water (a few times) and sprayed through the slits and down inside the back of the unit (where I couldn't spray through the slits). The water was seeping out a dark brown (and going downstairs - a no-no, but this was an emergency). I worked on it a good 45 minutes, at least, going over and over the coils with the sprayer. (Even when the flashlight was at last shining through, I kept going over them.)

I didn't see any hair on the coils, by the way. What was covering them appeared to be just particulate material. (Earlier this year, they resurfaced the patio - one floor below - and sent up a lot of dust as they were blasting away the old surface. This went on for days, if not weeks.) Hopefully, what I did tonight will help alleviate the icing-up of the inside unit and avoid or at least delay having a repairman come in (which entails taking time off from work) - or having to replace the inside unit, which aside from being old and maybe on its last legs, could become damaged by getting frozen up.

I just replaced the outside unit a few years ago, and replacing the inside unit would be even costlier. But it's going to happen one of these days. The thing looks really dirty and decrepit, but as long as it still works...

The issue here, by the way, is that if the air flow from the outside unit across the inside coils isn't sufficient, the coils will freeze up.

By the way, tonight at the restaurant, one of E.'s loyal customers who came in turned out to be the granddaughter of one of my dad's former bosses. We had a long chat.

I'm back

Been busy doing holiday stuff, like shopping, and also spending time with E. This is a good point to pick up where I left off, since I just had to unfreeze the A/C again. Today I also changed the filter. I've also been going onto Facebook, but that's really not where I like to let down my hair.

The holidays are not my favorite time of year. I find them overwhelming and get thrown off kilter. (I've just gotten over a cold.) But this weekend I managed to write out my Christmas cards and drove them up to the Post Office earlier. Meanwhile, all gifts have been bought and distributed. So for all intents and purposes, the holidays are over for me. I'm done.

The repair to the truck ended up costing me over $400 - needed a new ignition tumbler (or whatever) and a starter (the expensive part). Now I have a new key to the ignition. (The old key still unlocks the doors.)

Meanwhile, in the midst of the holiday hoopla, last Wednesday I closed on the refinance of my mortgage (below 4% for 13 years, fixed). The title company sent a notary to my office for signing the paperwork. That took about 50 minutes. Starting in February, I'll be paying $80 less a month (mortgage and taxes). (Meanwhile I just got in a bill in the mail for my old mortgage - I'll have to call them.)

Last weekend was crazy. I was over at E.'s one night and he was over here the next, drinking and staying up late and doing Jaeger shots. Too much. (And he had to go to work on both Saturday and Sunday.) He wanted a digital camera for Christmas, so I bought that on Saturday at Target. I had it all wrapped up with a bow, but he wanted to open it that night. (Which was fine with me.) We charged it up and learned how to use it - it's pretty simple to use, but has lots of features (a Nikon Coolpix, in plum). I'd also bought him a plum-colored wireless mouse for his laptop.

TGIF!!!

Glad this week is over!

Monday night, I noticed something was wrong with my computer (it all started with "searchqu" - see here). I was beside myself. I spent all night trying to clean it up and didn't go to work the next day (they were sympathetic, and I had the PTO). I ran different malware programs and the anti-virus. I thought everything was OK, but then found out I was unable to log in to an ING savings account (or another website that has a password on it). (The closing on the refinance is coming up soon, and I needed to put some extra money into my checking account to help cover closing costs). So then I thought something had messed up my passwords. To make a long story short, the computer ended up dead in the water - I'd reloaded Windows 7 and apparently (mistakenly) put a password on it, which I then couldn't remember. (I guess that can happen after having already taken my estazolam, etc.) I have no reason to have a password on my computer.

(I think the computer infection mess started after I'd opened up an email attachment from my uncle sent last Sunday - and usually I never open up his attachments. It was a PowerPoint with a bunch of pictures.)

Meanwhile E. got upset since he couldn't reach me at work. He did leave a message on my cell, but by then I was asleep in bed. (Didn't hear it ring.)

When I finally got up Tuesday afternoon, I returned E.'s call and apologized (he was relieved). I then talked to Dell (the manufacturer) and Best Buy (where I bought the computer) and ING (and had the money transferred over the phone). (Dell had said to call Best Buy, since according to their records my computer had been sold in Canada - long story.) Best Buy said to bring the computer into the store (a home visit from the Geek Squad would cost at least $200 - not that I would even want them here). So Wednesday after work, I disconnected all the wires and cables and drove the computer up there. After I was waited on (and there was only one person ahead of me), it took the in-store Geek Squad half an hour to remove the password, for $29.99. Such a deal! Now the computer works better than ever (I've had to reload stuff, run updates, restore files, etc.). (Meanwhile I'd hooked up the netbook and had been using that.)

Last night I drove to Publix to pick up some beer for E. (and a smoked turkey breast), then drove on down to Walgreens to pick up a prescription, etc. When I got back to the truck, it wouldn't start, and then the key broke in the ignition. I knew someday the truck wouldn't start - this has been a recurring problem. I'd even had it in the shop months ago (after it didn't start one night at Publix) to try to root out the problem, but the truck repeatedly started up at the shop - in fact, they spent an entire extra day starting up the truck and it never failed (and didn't charge me a penny in the end). This time, however, with half the key lodged in the ignition, it was definitely going back to the shop. (I think there's something wrong in the steering column, where the ignition switch is located.)

Meanwhile, I had to get back home with the 12-pack of beer, the turkey breast, my prescription and a box of vinyl gloves (to apply medicine) (and also a bottle of rum from a liquor box in the truck). So I walked to the bus stop across the parking lot, lugging all that stuff. (At that time, no more express buses.) An old guy I'd seen on the bus before was sitting on one of the benches and said a bus would be coming in 10 minutes. Then he asked me for a dollar. I'd left home without my cigarettes and saw that he was smoking. I asked him for a cigarette in exchange for the dollar and he gave me the last one in his box (I had to light it off his stub). That was a relief. The bus came five minutes later. Meanwhile, after praising me for being what he thought was a "good person" (nice to hear, and I returned the compliment), the guy had crossed the street and walked off.

I got a few stares on the bus, lugging my 12-pack of beer by its built-in handles as I was. Got home in a few minutes. (I could have walked - it's not even a mile - but not with all that stuff.)

(Wouldn't you know - the A/C was frozen again when I got home, so I had to haul out the blow-dryer. No problem!)

I decided to deal with the truck tonight, rather than put it off till tomorrow (as I'd planned). (I found out last night from Walgreens that it would be OK to have it towed to the shop tomorrow, since it's not their policy to have "abandoned" cars towed away from their lot to a tow yard.) So after work, I got off the bus at Home Depot (a block south of Walgreens) and had my spare truck key copied, then walked up to my truck. The new key worked. I then fished my AAA card out of the glove box and called them (and listened to all their recorded stuff as my cell was about die...). To make a long story short, the truck is now sitting in the lot at the shop with the steering-wheel lock locked and the keys in the mail slot. It was a short walk home from there (with the last bottle of rum - stashed in my briefcase-on-wheels - and a couple of bags of other stuff). (The place is about three blocks west, across the railroad tracks.) The shop is closed on the weekends, so I'll be hearing from them on Monday while I'm at work.

Meanwhile, I got back on Facebook during the Thanksgiving holiday. Ugh.