I mostly stayed home and faffed online. Oh, I did my piano practice and a little more cleaning and ran a couple of errands, but I mostly faffed. (And I did a workout, but that was early, before the tuner came).
(The tuner didn't get done until shortly after 11; it had been a while since I had the piano tuned and he had to "raise it a half step" - apparently when my piano goes out, it goes flat, this happened once before. By the time he was done it was lunchtime, and then the day was almost over....so)
He did remark that my piano was "a joy" to tune, he commented that the older instruments (mine is 90 years old) are so much better made. (And honestly: after my house, the piano is the single most valuable thing I own. It's probably worth four times, at least, what my car is worth right now). And yes, he verified the age for me: he has an app on his phone where he can type in the manufacturer and the serial number and it tells you when it was made.
I DID write a couple of time-embargoed posts for my just-slightly-over-two-weeks vacation that is coming up. (I leave on the 20th, get back around June 6th. Just so you don't worry if I seem uncharacteristically silent or absent).
My house still has a funky stink to it. I suspect this may be an early summer thing; I remember it from last year. Wet soil under the house, maybe, or just the humidity, or something. I did run out and buy a fresh filter for a mini air "purifier" I have that seemed to work in my bedroom last year. (My bedroom is the worst; perhaps because it's close to the end of the ductwork. I probably need to get the ducts cleaned, also).
I opened some windows for a while before the tuner came but that doesn't work so well once it gets hot, and overnight in a first-floor-only house, it makes me nervous to have windows open (and also you get noise from the street. It would be one thing if I were out in the country where I heard crickets and frogs, but here I get diesel duallies, and my neighbor with the loud motorcycle, and the random idiots who thing everyone else needs to hear their music....)
I have to go in for a bit tomorrow. My piano lesson is tomorrow afternoon but I think I will go in in the morning. (And sometime I need to mow the lawn before I go, and I probably need to call my friend Emily from church: she has teenaged sons - one has his driver's license now which amazes me because I went to the BABY SHOWER for him - and he wants to earn some money, and I need to get my lawn mown while I'm gone, so....)
One bit of news, something I was concerned about: My mom had to take a driving test this year (they make over-80s do it every 2 years in Illinois) and I was worried about
a. if she got a bad tester and failed
b,. if she got nervous and failed (I am projecting my anxieties here: I failed the road test twice at 16 because I had performance anxiety)
c. she failed the vision test (she has one tiny cataract but apparently it's not that bad)
d. the smashed mirror, which she never got replaced (and yes I ride her about that) led to the car failing.
And my dad doesn't drive any more: he has bad vision and also his knees are bad. So if my mom failed they'd be up a creek, and I live too far away to be able to help and I don't know what they'd do. There is a ride service in their town, and I suspect their neighbors (they have several good neighbors) would be more than happy to help, but....
It just makes it easier that she passed. The examiner didn't see the smashed mirror until the very end, and my mom dissembled like "yeah, we're in the process of trying to get that fixed" and the examiner said, "If I had known, I'd not have let you take it out" so....whew.
(The complicating factor: this is an adjustable mirror, it's a 2001 Toyota, but apparently the mirror used was either a year earlier or year later because the one the place got in to replace it didn't fit. I TOLD her to just have the place cut a mirror and slap it on there - *I* don't have automatically adjustable mirrors on my car and it is fine. I'm hoping I can work on her a little with that when I am up there this break....)
Other things planned for this summer: some dressmaking (up at my parents) and maybe also making another pair or two of "pajama shorts" - I have a lot of t-shirts I wear as summer pajamas, but the shorts I wear with them are wearing out.
And when I get back: update my ecology lectures, update my Policy and Law stuff, do some re-reading of the more advanced biostats stuff....
Laura and I have tentative plans to go to Canton for one of their "Trades Days" which seems like an excellent idea to me.
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