House Hunting Again

Things have slowed down and sped up at the same time. The day to day things like high school stuff, grocery shopping, making dinner, doctors appointments, college prep, etc... have slowed drastically, which is a relief. My nephew has his class schedule for next semester but he needs to change one class because they signed him up for Survey of Math and he has already taken Calculus I in high school. He is waiting to find out his score on the AP Calculus test (not until July 9) so he will know which math class to add or if he doesn't need anymore math, maybe he can get a natural science core out of the way. 

The big goals have sped up. The porch cover was finished on my barn-shed. Gutters and water collection tank will be attached some time in the future. There isn't a desperate need for it since my water tanks are pretty much full right now and it is so hot that I don't want to go out there to do it. 

My mother and I went to look at houses for sale in the neighborhood close to where she lives. We weren't expecting to find any that would work for us but a couple of them did. We are going to put an offer in on one on Monday. The yard is not as large as I would like but there is a large Arizona room where I can make an "indoor dog park". It connects to the master bedroom and bathroom and then there is a walk-in closet and then the closet has another closet! I think I will have enough storage space. My mother will have the other half of the house including 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, dining room, and a big living room with a fireplace.  

 Big enough for my indoor dog park. Just needs a dog door.

The walk-in closet has it's own closet. I think that would be enough room.

The kitchen needs some style help but it is big enough.

I'm still looking for new listings though because one of those houses with the extra large lots is going to come up for sale one of these days! I just know it.

Luxury of Time

Nephew update:  He has a job at Mc Donald's.  I shipped 3 boxes and his golf clubs for arrival on Friday (Note to self, never ship golf clubs again.  Too expensive.)  There are 6-8 more boxes but I am going to wait to ship them until he asks for them since some things should be shipped straight to college in August.  His grandfather is trying to convince him to buy a laptop instead of a gaming computer.  I'm staying out of it.  That's about all I know.  He doesn't communicate much so I'm going to assume that no news is good news.    

This was mid-sorting.

Now that I'm not worrying about my nephew's whereabouts, meals, homework, screen-time, etc... my brain has so much time to think about all of the things I've been putting off.  I threw out all of the trash in nephew's room and put 85% of the stuff in boxes on the bed which I have left open so that I can find things.  I cleaned out any food that I bought for nephew and that I don't want to eat like Kraft Mac and Cheese and Hamburger Helper.  I'm going to drop it off at my tenant's house along with a big bag of dog food donated from the dog rescue and a table top bbq with leftover charcoal.  I'm really not the bbq type.

Today I took a half day off to wait for the water delivery truck to deliver 3,500 gallons of water to my new tank at the mobile home/barn-shed property.  The guy filled my 3,000 gallon tank, then put around 300 gallons in another tank.  Then I thought we could empty the truck into the 300 gallon tank but when it was filling, suddenly water started pouring out.  There was a 2 foot crack starting halfway around the tank.  Dismayed, I tried to think of how to save my water and ended up stuffing a plastic grocery bag inside so that it poked through the crack and slowed the leak to a trickle.  I wasn't planning on having to transfer water today but it was clear that it would leak out if I left it so I set up the pump and hose.  I suspect it got cracked when the neighbors helped my tenant get water when he was living here.  They took the tank in the back of their pickup and it looks like it was shoved out too many times.  The tank was very old and brittle so I'm not surprised.  I'm going to try to repair it and still use it for rainwater collection like I had planned.

Crack in tank with temporary plastic bag fix.

 While I was waiting for the water to transfer to the other tank, I dropped off 3 bags of clothes and 1 box of toys with a friend.  She'll find a new home for everything.  I stopped at Dairy Queen for a hot dog and drink and drove back to finish up the water transfer.  As soon as I pulled up I realized there was something wrong with the car and, sure enough, the passenger side tire had a side-wall gash.  Not wanting to use the cheap car jack on gravel, I called AAA.  I figured they would arrive by the time I finished transferring the water.  Unfortunately, they got lost and I ran out of drinkable water (I wasn't expecting to be there that long).  Next time I go out to there I must remember to bring reserves.  It was 105F out there.  Too hot!  I miss not having a refrigerator there since I moved it to the rental house but I will bring the fridge from my house as soon as I find a nicer replacement.  At least I had a window A/C which I stood in front of whenever I wasn't moving stuff around outside.

AAA arrived and changed the tire and I drove slowly to the tire shop.  A coworker picked me up so that I could spend 2 hours going through my email.  I'm going to have a lot to do tomorrow to catch up.  My coworker dropped my off at the tire store on the way home and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the tire was under warranty and they only charged me $10 for labor. That was a relief. I'm glad I am safely at home now and I have crossed a few more chores off of my list.

Here's a layout of my property so that you know what I am talking about.  This is not where I am currently living, it's just used for storage at this point, but it is where I hope to retire someday soon.  I put the water tank on the hill to use gravity to my advantage and for ease of filling.  Eventually, I would like to have all rainwater catchment but I don't have enough roof area yet.

1- Shed. 2- Mobile home. 3- Barn-shed (someday tiny house) 4- New water tank.

This is the memorial tree for my father that my coworkers gave me almost two years ago.  It has more than doubled in size.

Just a reminder that the rattlesnakes are nearby in case I forget. This was under the water tank when we tipped it up along with a fat packrat.

Next Items on the List:

-Bring food and bbq to tenant.
-Dog adoption event.
-Pick a day to go look at houses with Mom.

It's nice to be making progress.

If I Do, If I Don't

I took another half day off to take Jimmy-dog to the vet.  He had two appointments today, first at our regular vet for blood pressure and then to the surgery consultation.  They took 5 blood pressures and some were normal and some were high.  I'm beginning to wonder if their machine is broken.  The surgeon was not happy with the grainy ultrasound images that the other vet sent over so he had his own technician check the tumor.  Good news is it isn't invading the vena cava yet.  Bad news is with Jimmy-dog's heart murmur, the surgeon does not think he will survive surgery.  He would be willing to try surgery with an anesthesiologist which adds another $2k on to a $3-5k surgery with no guarantee that he will survive or that is will fix his issues. The cost is high but I had to think, if the surgery was free would I go for it? No, the odds do not sound good.

The surgeon suspects that the weakness in his hind limbs is from a different issue, a degenerative disk in his spine and it may eventually cause paralysis.  He came to this conclusion after feeling Jimmy-dog's spine and at one point Jimmy-dog yelped and turned to bite him.  So, I think we should focus on treating his symptoms.  His lack of mobility is his worst problem at the moment.  It has improved with pain medication.  Maybe there is more they can do to help him with pain management.

So, that's the Jimmy-dog update.  While I was in the vet office it was pouring rain outside.  I emailed the tenant in the mobile home and asked him if the gutters that we put up last Saturday were working.  He said they were 98% good.  It was so hot on Saturday that we just tacked the gutters up and he was going to add more gutter hangers later on.  He hasn't finished yet.  I even got my nephew to get up early on a Saturday to help hang gutters by paying him $10 and hour.  He is saving for an Alienware computer for gaming AND homework.  We only put gutters on one side of the mobile home, approximately 60', but any water collection will help.  Next step, gutters on the small shed, the barn-shed, and the green house.  The water tank that we connected to it was filling up.  It only holds 125 gallons and I told him that he should transfer the water to a larger tank now because we are supposed to get another storm tomorrow.  When I was there on Saturday, I noticed a new stain on the ceiling.  That means water leak.  That's another thing for my to-do list.  I don't have to do it myself per-se but I need to go out there and show him where the roof patch and tools are and perhaps supervise because I don't want him falling off my roof or anything. 

The back storage room where the cats used to be has been invaded by a mouse or mice.  That just kills me because we worked so hard last year to clean everything.  My tenant offered to bring two mouser cats that he had at a friend's barn.  I said an enthusiastic yes.  Maybe these cats won't disappear like my cats did.  So, now I need to organize the storage room again and remove anything that can be knocked over by cats chasing mice.  I want the cats to have easy access to all hiding places.  At first the mouse invasion kept me up at night thinking about what they could be ruining but now I have accepted the situation as helping me downsize.  After all, that was my goal for this year, right?  Get rid of stuff so that I can sell my house and move in to my tiny house after my nephew goes to college next year.  I just hadn't planned to tackle these jobs until it was at least in the 80's again.  But, mice wait for no one and I must go save my stuff and my sanity and get those chores done now.

Secret Project Reveal

My secret project is revealed!

Water is a big problem out here in the desert of Tucson.  A well would cost me $30,000 and I don't have that kind of money.  My goal is to collect rainwater but right now I don't have any gutters since I had my old garage demolished.  When my excavator guy was out here making a pad for the barn-shed, he had a water truck come out to keep the dust down.  That gave me an idea.  He said the truckload of non-potable water costs $150 and it can hold 3,500 gallons.  Water tanks are a few thousand dollars which I don't have and I needed something fast, so I thought, why not a pool?

I picked out a pool that is 15' diameter and 48" high.  It holds 4,200 gallons.  I needed the 48" height to comply with the Pima County rules for pool fences.  For above ground pools, if they are 48" then no additional fencing is required, I just have to lock up the pool ladder.

I bought styrofoam sheets to protect the pool liner.  The pool came with a flimsy tarp to use as the base.  My niece and I set it up on the old garage slab.

The water truck arrived on my birthday, just like I had planned.  It was great to see it fill.  I wanted to jump in.

It wasn't quite enough water to reach the pool filter holes but that's ok.  I will be relying on chlorine and the pool cover to keep it clean.

So, I have 3,500 gallons in my temporary reservoir.  I am hoping the pool lasts for 2 years.  It cost $350 plus $150 for the water.  When I get my gutters set up, I will use the pool for any water overflow.  If I don't need to have water delivered again, this project will have cost me $21/m for the next 2 years plus the cost of chlorine and probably a replacement pool cover when it wears out.  If I buy 3500 gallons next year too, my cost will be $27/m.  

This water will be filtered and moved to the water tanks connected to the house as needed.  The kitchen faucet has a Brita filter on it for filling the dogs' water.  I will continue to buy  bottled drinking water for me and my nephew.  He prefers Arrowhead while I am content with the cheapest generic water.  I rarely drink plain water, mainly I use it for cooking.

I am happy to have my water problem solved for the moment.  I hope it won't spring a leak or anything.  Now I need to get those other water tanks connected to the house.  My bathroom plumbing is going slowly but I did buy the correct connector hose for the toilet.  The one for the sink faucet was the wrong size so it is back to the store for an exchange and then on to the next project which is hooking up the water pump, water heater and water tanks.  It is slow going but there is actual progress every week so someday it will be finished.

Spending Money

I've been putting it off for so long but I finally spent some money on new tools.  I found some cordless tools online, specifically, a reciprocal saw for cutting out door and window holes, and a brad nailer.  Then I asked the opinions of some coworkers who, of course, has conflicting recommendations.  Then I went to Home Depot to look at the tools and hold them.  There were so many choices that I became quickly overwhelmed and left without buying.  The next day I remembered the reasons why I wanted the saw and nailer, for specific jobs, looked them up online again and ordered them.  I will have to wait a week for them to show up but for purchases like that, I prefer to read reviews and info online and not go to the store where there are too many choices.

I also started ordering components for the electrical system, the breaker box and breakers.  I know which wire to buy but I need to measure so that I buy enough.  And I bought an electrical tester kit which tests wire, outlets, etc...  It will be fun to play with the outlet tester in my mobile home.  At the same time, I am trying to figure out the best way to bring water to the bathroom.  I have a water pump outside but the outside switch isn't very convenient.  I bought a new RV water pump for either the mobile home bathroom or the barn-cabin's bathroom.  I also haven't decided where to place my water tanks for ease of access.  Next week the gutter company will come out and give me an estimate.  I hope it is under $1,000.  Straight gutters on the mobile home and the barn-cabin don't seem that complicated.  I'm not looking for anything fancy.

For hot water, I am looking at a 12 gallon water heater.  A lot of people like the instant hot water heaters when using propane but I have been happy with my 6 gallon electric water heater.  I plug it in 15 minutes before my shower and it is hot enough.  I'll let my nephew have a little more hot water in his bathroom.  I also plan to buy 100 ft. of black hose to put on the roof as a solar hot water heater.  I've never tried it before but it should work here in Arizona, land of the burning sun.

Packages are starting to arrive.  Some fun, most practical.  I bought some solar lights for the barn-cabin that are supposed to arrive tomorrow.  Those are fun although I'm not there at night so I won't be able get the full affect until I move there.  I really want to fix up the yard, put up fencing, a pathway, shade cloth and cool twinkly lights but I think I'm jumping ahead.  There is plenty of more important work to do.  Saturday we will be doing as much as we can with the mobile home bathroom and living room.  I hope we get a lot done.  I love seeing progress!  

Flat Tires Are No Fun

Today was very relaxing, except for my headache.  The weather was beautiful and I spent a little time in the yard trimming the trees, pulling weeds, and detaching the old Queen's Wreath vine from the shed.  The dogs and I took naps and watched new episodes of Hawaii 5-0.

I hope this week goes better than last week.  Last week started out ok but then went downhill.  On Thursday, I dropped my foster dog at the vet to get neutered and then headed to work.  I hit a big pothole very hard and wondered if it bent my rim.  I made it to work in time so I was happy and forgot about my wheel.  At 4pm I jumped in my car to finally meet up with the excavator out at my property and I heard thump, thump, thump, before I got out of the parking lot.  The tire was completely flat so I rolled in to a nearby parking space and called AAA.  They said it would take an hour to send someone.  I looked for the spare tire but didn't see it.  I could have looked in the manual but decided to walk back to work and google it.  Google told me that there is a cover that is removed to reveal a bolt.  The jack has an adapter that fits on it and when turned the spare tire descends in a basket from under the car.  I went back to the car and wondered if it was worth getting dirty so I decided to wait.  The tow truck guy showed up early and he managed to lower the rusty tire in a basket after a couple of tries.  Having the spare on the outside of the car is a horrible design especially when the car lives in snow.  This particular car is from Connecticut.  He jacked up the car with his professional jack and removed the old wheel.  The spare was small and needing air and he had a lot of trouble getting his jack out from under the car.  Then the cap for the air valve was rusted on.  Luckily, I had a leatherman tool that he could use.  I am glad that I waited for him to change the tire.  I learned a lot by watching him and I think I could do it myself next time if I had too although I would have to use the mini-jack that comes with the car.

I was sad that I missed my appointment with the excavator.  Maybe he will be available later this week.  I still had to drive to pick up my dog and then go back home.  The car and the spare made it without any problems.  The next day I spent most of the morning at the tire shop.  The tire was cut and unrepairable so I bought 2 tires.  The rim was slightly bent but the tire still held air so I didn't replace it.  The clerk mentioned that people can submit a claim to the city for damages caused by potholes.  I looked it up and the pothole has to have been previously reported.  I drove back to take a photo of the pothole and I noticed that the edges had florescent paint so hopefully it was a previously reported pothole.  The city website said to call for a claim form so I did and they emailed it to me.  I sent off all of the requested information and I hope they will reimburse me for one or both of the tires.

The weekend was finally here and I was pretty tired of new experiences and people but I had signed up for a Co-Op water conservation project in order to earn more points for my own project.  Resisting the urge to go back to bed, I gathered my hat, gloves and water bottle and drove to the rainwater harvesting project.  I picked this project because it was only 5 minutes from my house.  I must admit that I had fun.  We worked from 8am-1pm and installed water collection tanks.  We learned how many people it takes to lift a 1,200 gallon capacity tank over a block wall, how to move a shed by rolling it on PVC pipe, how to install what is called a 'first flush' which sends the first water from the roof in to a separate pipe which can be emptied in order to keep the tank water cleaner.  And we put a leaf screen at the top which is removable for cleaning.

I definitely need this set up on my tanks to keep the lizards and tarantulas out but first I have to figure out how to attach gutters to my mobile home.  I am really glad that I went to work on the project.  So far I have earned 10 out of 16 credits that I need for my own project, whether it is building rock dams or setting up water tanks, I haven't decided.  The best part was how fast all the work got done with a dozen eager and enthusiastic helpers.  And it was fun to be able to talk to people about outdoor showers, composting toilets, etc...without them thinking I was strange.

Tomorrow I am supposed to meet my handyman at Home Depot in order to buy supplies for my mobile home renovation.  I can't wait to see some progress out there.  Photos coming soon, I hope!

  

Doing the Rain Dance

Laundry done, week of meals made, floor swept, everyone clean and fed, now I want to relax.  Too bad I have to go to work tomorrow.  It didn't rain until late this evening but I finally got to see how my drainage trenches worked.

Not bad, but the water was getting a bit too close to the shed.  I'll have to do some more digging.  I started digging deeper trenches on the other side of the yard but it was hot and the ground was still hard this morning.  After I get all of this digging done, I get to do the fun part, filling it with mulch so that I don't fall in the trenches anymore.  The dogs think that all of this digging is fascinating and they have been doing some digging of their own, usually not in the right places.

What else did I do this weekend?  I went to visit my mother and helped her get her computer back on the internet.  I think the storms messed with the connection.  I brought some extra seeds too.  We planted tomatoes, green beans, and squash.  Tucson has 2 growing seasons for summer: pre-monsoon and post-monsoon.  I'm hoping my post-monsoon garden does better than pre-.  The tomatoes and green beans did well but not much else.  The corn was a big flop and it is on sale for 6 for a dollar of something cheap like that.  I don't think I will bother with corn next year.  Next year I will grow sunflowers for shade instead of corn.  At least I'll get a pretty flower.

Cholla Monster

The dogs woke me up at 5:30 am on Saturday so I decided to go out and tackle some weeds.  I worked from 6 to 8 and made some progress but the trash cans were full and it was getting hot so I quit.  I don't think anyone is going to complain about my weeds because most of the neighbors haven't cut theirs either.

I was able to find a place that can help me with my weed problem.  It is called the Primavera Foundation and they help people find work as day labor for such things as landscaping, moving, and restaurant work.  I can hire 2 people plus a supervisor for 2 hours for $260 including hauling the trash away.  That is much better than $600 (assuming the job can be done in 2 hours).  Or $13.25/hour per person.  I'm not really sure how that works.  I'll have to call them and find out which way is best for this particular job.

This cholla, prickly pear, desert broom tangle is what finally made me quit, well, that and the heat.  The other guy that I called for a quote called me back and said that he doesn't clear weeds anymore.  He does tree trimming and landscape design.  He asked what kind of weeds just out of curiosity and when I said cholla and grass he said, nooo cholla!  Ya, I'm not too fond of cholla myself.

So, my new plan is to wait until July or later and then hire some day laborers to clear it out.  I would hire them now but I would feel bad if they died from the heat while working in my alley.

Speaking of heat, I have been giving my plants and garden extra water and they look great but my water bill has tripled.  I found out that the water company has a rebate program for people who install gutters and rainwater collection tanks.  Supposedly, they pay for half.  I'm seriously thinking about getting gutters and rain barrels.  I know I'm not planning to live in this house forever but it might still be worth it with a rebate and a lower water bill.  It is on the list, but not for June.  June is full already and it is too hot to do anything extra.

It's New Dog Time

Yes, that's right. It's a new dog. One of our foster homes decided to stop fostering and he had around 15 dogs so they were begging for people to make room for one or two. One lady took four chihuahuas but then she already had over twenty dogs so what's four more?


He looks a lot like the terrier that I already have except scruffier. He will go to the groomer later this week and hopefully they will make him look handsome for the adoption event on Saturday.


I took my little dog to work today. He did very well and didn't bark or growl at anyone. There were only 3 other people there so I knew it would be a calm day in the office.

It rained all day and was cold. Not northern cold, just around 50 but it felt colder because it was wet. I had to take my trash cans and recycling to the road when I got home and I was very cold and wet by the time I got back home.

I hope I am collecting a lot of water in my tanks. I moved water around on Sunday so one tank was half full and the other was only 1/5th full. I couldn't see the tanks tonight because it was dark by the time I got to the mobile home. If I get to buy the house I am waiting for then I won't need the water but I'd like to have a reserve just in case I am here for another 5 months waiting for an answer from the bank.

Chill In The Air

22 degrees tonight. I tried to cover my Ironwood tree with a trash bag to protect it but it was like trying to put a porcupine in a bag. I should have just cut open the bag and wrapped it around. Well, it survived last year's freeze so hopefully it will survive this year too.

I got up this morning and went over to the RV to get ready for work. It was only 35 degrees in there. I started 2 heaters and sat in front of one until it got into the 50's so I could get ready without shivering. I decided to leave the thermostat on 55 so that the RV pipes won't freeze and so I won't have to wait so long for it to warm up in the morning.

In the mobile home I pulled out my oil filled radiator and set it up in the corner that is blocked off from the dogs. It kept the living room at 60 degrees. The sun usually does a good job of warming up the mobile home through the sliding glass door. Gotta love that passive solar heating.

The truck windows were all iced over this morning. I have a tiny plastic scraper that I use once or twice a year. I could have just poured water on them. I forgot about that. It's been a while since I had to deal with ice.

My pipe that froze and cracked last year is wrapped in insulation. I put a tarp over the whole water tank and pipe as added protection. I hope I don't have any water problems this time. Losing 200 gallons last year really put me in a tough spot.

They Like Me

I spent the morning with the mortgage agent answering all of his questions and signing forms. I did get approved so now I just need to check out the house again, talk to some neighbors and make an offer. My realtor did a search for comparable homes that have sold and I was dismayed to find that one sold for the asking price and the other sold for $10k MORE! That is hard to believe. Were multiple bidders driving up the price? So many of these houses have been sitting on the market for months and the prices have been reduced, sometimes 3 or more times. The house I want was just reduced last week by $8k. I sure hope there isn't another bidder for my house. I have continued to look online for other houses but I haven't found anything that I like more than this house. One of my coworkers says that I should look for a house for 6 months before I buy. I can't imagine looking that long. There aren't that many houses in the right location and in my price range that aren't trashed. Plus I don't have the time to look at houses every weekend. I'm tired of looking at houses already and I've only looked at 11. It isn't like there are so many great ones to choose from. It is more like I just can't find ones that meet my criteria. It is not fun looking at houses that I wouldn't want anyway.

When I finally did get to work today my boss bought everyone pizza. That was really nice. I was so hungry that I ate 4 pieces. I still need a few more documents for my mortgage, property insurance info, deeds to my land, 401k statements. I have almost found everything. The only thing missing is the description page of my second piece of property. I'm hoping I can get that from the recorder's office or something. I really have no idea where else to look.

No rain today but my water tanks are almost full from the storm that come through yesterday. It is very nice to have water again. Access to water makes this place feel so much more civilized.

What Else?

By 4:30 everyone else was gone so I decided to leave too. When I got to the door I saw that it was pouring rain and the parking lot had a nice river going down the middle. Unfortunately, I parked on the opposite side so I waited until the rain slowed and then attempted to jump the river and got my shoes all wet.


A few miles down the freeway I saw a brown cloud. Brown clouds are very bad but I forged ahead. Then it hit. It was raining so hard I could barely see the car's tail lights in front of me. Lots of people pulled off to the side to wait out the storm but I decided that moving 5 miles an hour was better as long as I could still see the road because I would come out on the other side of the storm faster. A few miles later the rain stopped and the storm had passed, or at least, I had driven out of it.

When I got to my road there were cars on either side of the wash. (For the non-desert people, a 'wash' is a normally dry creek or river bed that suddenly turns in to a raging torrent when it rains. Our wash was flowing and there is once again, a giant crater on one side. One car went through and made it. Another went through. And I went through. This is only the second day of rain. One more day and that road isn't going to be passable. It washes out every 5 years or so. I think this is going to be the year.

When I got home I found a flooded mobile home again. I had underestimated the amount of water that was coming in through the roof. The bucket that I had placed below wasn't quite in the right spot. My particle board floor and particle board entertainment center are acting as sponges right now. I soaked up the rest of the water with more towels and then had to go do a load of laundry so that they would get dry again in preparation for the next flood. Tomorrow morning I am going to try to get up early and go up on the roof to see if I can quickly patch the hole. I am also going to put the big 30 gallon trash can under the leak. Hopefully that will catch any water. I don't think my floor can take much more water damage.

Oh, and I guess the dogs were bored because they decided to re-decorate while I was gone.


Between the water damage and the dog damage, I don't know if this mobile home is going to last the Summer. Oh and I didn't collect any rainwater because both pipes fell away from the gutter. This monsoon season is not going as great as I had planned.

One Thing After Another

I was right, it finally rained today. I attached one dog door flap and then decided to take a nap. I woke up to thunder and thought I had better get up and put flaps on the other 2 dog doors. By the time I got my shoes on the wind was wailing and the skies opened up. The water started pouring in the dog doors. I grabbed some towels to block them off and then noticed that the water was coming in around the air conditioners. The water leaking in the bedroom pooled on the countertop and then trickled over the edge and got the bathroom rug all soggy. When I had blocked all the leaks with towels I looked out the window and saw that my 500 gallon water tank had blown over. I ran outside in the rain and saw that the faucet had broken off when it fell. I had to run back inside to get the pliers and then back out. By then I was completely drenched. I managed to get the broken piece of pipe off and remembered that I had a piece with a shut off valve in the garage. So off to the garage and I try to get the door open. It was really hard but I finally got it open. The water had washed away the bottom of the termite damaged corner post and lots of dirt and mud had washed in. I found the valve and screwed it on and dragged the tank back on to the platform. It took a lot of trial and error to get the pipe in the right position under the gutter. By the time I was finished the rain had slowed down and there was some blue sky. The other tank collected around 250 gallons. That means I missed out on 250 gallons. Oh well, I'm sure it will rain again, hopefully not as violently.

After I dried off and changed my clothes I started to clean up the mess. Just yesterday I had all of my laundry done. Now I have a big bag of wet, dirty towels. I found a leak in the roof too. It is where the chimney used to be. I don't know when I will have a chance to fix it. I should at least put a trash bag on the floor to protect it. That corned doesn't have any linoleum, it is just particle board. The dog run had been moved a foot. The shade cloth was torn off. A big branch broke off of the tree. 3 of the dog houses were over turned and broken apart. The jacuzzi cover was blown off. My to-do list just got a whole lot longer. I need another 3 day weekend.

No Rain For Me

I think half of Tucson got some rain last night. My coworker who lives central said she got a down pour. I heard some thunder in the distance but that is all. My new evap. cooler is working nicely. The only down side is that it only holds 4 gallons of water and that gets used up in about 4 hours. I need to either teach the dogs to refill the reservoir or buy a bigger evap. cooler. It has a timer on it so I thought maybe I could delay the start until later in the day but no, it just shuts it off, no delayed start. I looked up bigger coolers online today. The one with good reviews that holds 11 gallons of water costs $544! Wow. That's a lot of money. That's a lot of water too. I'm going to have to figure out my water supply before I buy that one. 11 gallons a day plus dog water plus shower water plus laundry water is a lot more water than I have been using.

When I got home today it did seem cooler. The hallway was cooler too. I guess that 4 hours of cooling does help. It was also only 101 today. Not quite as hot as 112.

Work was tedious because it seems that many people are leaving early for their vacations and all the interesting web sites are blocked so I am forced to clean my desk and file and try to think of some direction for my life. No, I still haven't figured it out. Maybe tomorrow I will have an epiphany.

Rain On The Way

Sorry this is late but Blogger was down last night.

When I opened the door this morning I could smell the rain. It isn't here yet but it is close and the humidity is rising. On Monday the humidity was 5%, yesterday 12% and today 22%. I can hear thunder in the distance. It also reminded me that my yard is going to stink for a little bit. The dehydrated dog pee will soon be...um...revived. It won't last long though. The storms get quite violent and will wash everything clean. Hmm...that reminds me, I hope I don't have any new leaks in the roof. I still haven't patched the ceiling where the old swamp cooler was removed. Hopefully the roof patches will hold.

My evaporative cooler arrived today! I filled it with water and positioned it at the end of the hallway so that it can cool the hallway and bathroom. It will help the air conditioner because hot air was getting in to the living room from the hallway. Of course it will only work for a day or 2 before I have to put it away until August. It is working so well right now that I want to buy another one so that I don't have to run the air conditioner in the Fall.

Only 2 more days of work until my 3 day weekend. Already it is filling up. I want to do some shopping on Saturday and get propane. On Sunday I am going to my friend's house to check in on her cat and do my laundry and someone who lives near there wants to meet one of my dogs. Monday is still free though. I hope to have at least one day to stay home and do some organising

Maybe Next Week

Well, the new air conditioner had it down to 89 degrees when I got home from work. I wouldn't say that was fantastic but it was an improvement. I need to buy some more heavy duty plastic to make some outside flaps for my dog doors. I have an inside flap but it still allows some air to come in. I used to have a towel covering the inside as well and that kept out the breeze but my cloth-loving foster dog removed those for me.

It was 111 degrees today and I decided not to take the trash out this evening. It costs me $5 a week for trash service but my can is not full and it is just too hot.

They say there is a good chance of rain for the Fourth of July. I am really looking forward to it. I'm not looking forward to muddy dog prints and wet dog smell but at least I will get some free water and the weather will cool off at least for an hour or so when it rains...then it gets hot and humid but I gotta take the good with the bad.

Just Too Hot

The new air conditioner arrived today! After much struggling to get the 60 pound box in to the mobile home and out of the box, I managed to get it in to the window. Whew. It was 96 degrees in there. I had some hot dogs. After an hour it was 85 degrees. I think this new AC will work nicely!

I am still looking forward to the evaporative cooler's arrival on Wednesday. I want to put it in the hallway for my poor old cocker spaniel who likes the quiet down there. No rain in sight so it should work for a little while. I believe it has a 4 gallon reservoir but I can spare the water since I will be checking in on my co-worker's cat this weekend and filling up my water bottles at her house and doing my laundry. I still have around 200 gallons in my own tank too. I have been getting 5 gallons from work everyday for the dog's to drink and that has really helped stretch out my water supply.

I have an extra air conditioner now so I could put it in one of the other bedrooms so that I can organise in a cool room. Maybe I can actually get something done on this upcoming 3 day weekend.

Upgrading

I am in upgrade mode or as some people call it, lifestyle inflation. I'm not technically supposed to be buying anything yet but with the weather hovering around 101-106F I am feeling some "needs", specifically, a need for a more powerful air conditioner. I looked online and found one at Home Depot for $200 for a 20'x20' room. That would be great for my living room. I wonder if they will have any in the store since it is so hot right now. When we had that week of freezing weather back in February, I went looking for a heater and Home Depot was sold out. Now we have a heat wave and I am looking for AC's. Maybe the stores will be more prepared. I mean, the freezing weather was not typical for Tucson but everyone knows it gets hot in the Summer every year.

I also was concocting an idea for more water storage. One of my friends mentioned a pool party and I was joking about a dog pool party so I started looking for above ground pools online. I found a pool for $150 that holds 2,000 gallons of water. I remembered seeing someone use a pool to hold their rainwater and I was thinking that it would be a cheap and easy way to hold some water compared to buying storage tanks which run about $1,200 for 2,000 gallons. You see, the only water delivery company that I found will deliver water for $120. I'm not sure what the capacity of their truck is but I am guessing 5,000 gallons. I'll have to ask him if he will deliver a truck load for $120. I only asked for the price for 500 gallons and he said $120. Then I asked for the price for 1,000 gallons and he said $120 because that was the trip fee and the water really didn't cost that much. If I bought a pool I would have 2,000 gallons plus all of my water storage tanks have another 1,000 gallon capacity. Of course it is going to rain any week now so I really don't have to buy a pool just yet. Maybe I can catch one at an end-of-Summer sale. It sure would be nice to have that much water. I could do laundry and clean and wash the dogs and even was my truck! Wow...that would be great.

Oh, and one more thing I could do if I had more water, I could buy an evaporative cooler so that my AC didn't have to work so hard and maybe my electric bill would go down. That would be excellent!

My Water Quest Continues

A coworker got some phone numbers for me for water delivery because her friends get water delivered. They said they get 1,000 gallons for $25. I was sooo excited. I called the first one, no answer, left a message. I called their cell number and someone with a heavy accent answered. At first she said yes, they could do it but when I told her where I live she said "Forget it!". Ok, so I know English isn't her first language but she almost made me cry. I am so desperate for water right now and she won't even drive 20 minutes to my house. I would even pay double or triple.

The second company got me the same results. She recommended calling the people I had just called. I was so disappointed. The last place I called is a larger company in town. They will deliver for $120. Wow, that's a lot but I thinking about it. I should only need one delivery before I can get my own $2,000 water tap from the water company. It will rain in a month too so that will give me more time. The problem is that the water that I have now is starting to smell bad and no amount of bleach is fixing the problem. It is ok to shower in but I don't like the dogs drinking it. Of course dogs will drink just about any old water but still I don't want to make them sick.

I could also fill up 5 gallons of water at the store's machine down the street. This would be an annoying chore every day especially in this heat but it would only cost me $1 a day. Our Summer rains have a good chance of starting within the next 4 weeks so that would be $28.

Maybe I will start buying 5 gallons a day and if it is just unbearable hot I will get a delivery.

Simple Pleasures

I got my trash cans today! They are very big. It is going to be a bit of a challenge to take all of my trash and the cans to the end of the road every week. I won't be able to put the trash in to the cans until I get them set up in the pick up spot because they would be too heavy to get in and out of my truck. That is still better than hauling dog poo to work though. And to be able to get rid of my recycling weekly instead of monthly will be great. It takes up so much room. There is so much to clean up around here. I need another long weekend. Maybe this will motivate me to clean the clutter now that I am paying for the service.

Work was so long today. I don't know why. The clock just didn't want to move. One more week until payday and then I can figure out a new plan to end my mortgage and my Home Depot bill. I got the Home Depot bill today but I am not sure how much I want to pay yet. I'm thinking that I can pay half of it this month and half next month. That should be pretty safe once I get my rent money for June.

I have 2 leads on water delivery plus the sky is looking a bit cloudy so I am hoping that I don't run out before it rains. With so many dogs, I can't survive on the tiny bit of water that I did before. These guys drink so much! Plus the added laundry and water for cleaning. Once I figure out my water supply problem I will feel so spoiled. I just can't wait to do laundry when ever I feel like it. And maybe I will even be able to give a dog a bath or even take a bath myself! What luxury!