Good grief, what a day.

Right from the start, it was like everything was going wrong. Just little things, but so many of them!

Not everything was bad, though, so I’ll start with the cuteness.

Both water bowls were bone dry this morning, even though I topped the sun room one up last night.

I also chased a skunk out. The only reason I don’t think we had any racoons last night is because the water bowls were dry, but not dirty. The racoons always leave the water bowls so very dirty!

Of course, a dry water bowl is a warm spot, and the outside one was being taken advantage of by a cat I would really like to see more of. This is the one with one messed up eye, and he seemed to be warming his paws while I was putting the kibble out. He wasn’t sitting or lying in it, like I usually see other cats doing. Just standing in it. He didn’t run away while I put kibble in the tray under the water bowl house, either. When I came back with water, I watched him slowly, cautiously walk down the board we have as a ramp and move aside.

Meanwhile, I did a head count.

33! And I didn’t even see Sad Face anywhere! We’ve definitely got some strangers among us, but honestly, with some of the more feral cats that look so much alike, I really can’t tell which of them are new. Very few of them have distinctive features like one messed up eye.

After I finished with the water and went through the sun room to put away the container, I was very pleased to see One Eye in the sun room – that’s a first, that we’ve seen! He was moving slowly and cautiously, but he did not run off when I came in. Then, after I finished my rounds and came back to tie off the doors and go inside, I found him curled up on one of the cats beds, under the platform.

Before I started this, I did the evening feeding. He was still in the sun room and still moving about cautiously. I was actually able to reach out and put a hand on his back. He slunk away, but didn’t run away, which is very encouraging. The thermometer in the sun room was reading 18C/64F, so I do hope he comes back to enjoy the warmth, some cozy beds, food and water.

So that was one of the highlights of the day. I’ll take what I can get.

Among the things that went wrong today is, the toilet started acting up again. I was in the middle of doing several things at once, so the timing was frustrating! But I got it clear – I thought – cleaned up and went back to the other stuff I was doing.

One of those things was starting some pickled eggs for our Easter basket. I boiled more eggs than I was after, and only the ones that peeled the nicest got done. I ended up doing three different types; one with beet brine from our own pickled beets, one with turmeric and one with soy sauce. Those are now ready and sitting in the fridge until we put our basket together for blessing on Saturday. I won’t be taking it to church for blessing, since my mother gives me grief for having such a big basket. I should just have a tiny one, like hers. 🙄 So we will bless it ourselves.

Anyhow.

That got done little by little, with other things being chipped away at while waiting for the eggs to cool, then to cool down in cold water, etc. Finally, I was able to make myself some breakfast, which I ate in the cat free zone, aka: the living room.

Which is when my husband showed up to let me know that one of our daughters had been trying to plunge the toilet for the last 15 minutes.

I’m not sure what he expected me to do about it. He probably was just letting me know, but his timing really sucked! 😄

Once I was able to, I went into the basement to check on the septic pump. I know it’s supposed to take a long time for both tanks to fill, but between everyone’s water use, doing laundry, dishes and, of course, the phantom flush we still haven’t found the cause of, I know it’ll fill faster than typical. I turned it on only long enough to confirm I could here no water going through the pipe.

Meanwhile, my daughter used drain cleaner. We’ve got the “max gel” type that’s supposed to be able to handle the worst clogs, letting it sit for the maximum recommended time, and so on.

It didn’t work.

It will drain, eventually, but not enough for a proper flush.

Meanwhile, I still hadn’t been able to pick up more of that enzyme drain and pipe maintenance stuff that worked where the drain cleaner didn’t. The town where I knew they had some in stock is also where we went to get our taxes done last year, and we need to get those done so we can use my caregiver tax credit to pay for a plumber to clear the pipe that’s causing all these problems, and to get the pill switch replaced in the septic tank.

We just had one last thing to print out, from my husband’s medical insurance provider, which is not the same company that his disability payments come from. It used to be the same company, but his employer changed providers after he went on disability, so his disability payments still come from the original company, but his health care coverage is now with the new company.

So he logged on, found the information he needed, and tried to print it out.

The printer is in my “office” corner of my room, which is on wifi.

It didn’t work.

After trying several times, my husband finally saved it to pdf, put it on a thumb drive, and I tried to print it from my computer. Then we did it again, because the first file he saved was 22 pages! The correct file was only 4 pages.

Also, without health insurance, we would have paid over $8000 for my husband’s medications. That’s actually down from last year, since at least one of his meds, Ozempic, is now covered 100% by our province’s pharmacare program. His health insurance covers that one only for “reasonable dosages”. My husband’s dosage is so high, they won’t cover it. This is expensive stuff, even at lower doses. Gotta wonder about all those people taking it for weight loss!

But I digress.

So I open the file on my computer and try to print it out.

First, I kept getting “not responding”. Then it wouldn’t print, and just said “error.” What error? Who knows.

Now, I have printed things out since getting the new computer, and had no issue connecting to the printer at all. Now, suddenly, it just wouldn’t.

My older daughter came over to help out, since this printer is actually hers. We even tried to print direct from media, but for some reason, the option to print a pdf no longer exists! Just for photos. She kept trying with the printer, while I kept trying to figure things out in the settings on my computer.

Windows 11 really sucks.

Windows 11 control panel really sucks.

I tried troubleshooting it and, while it was going through that, a message popped up saying the troubleshooter has been moved and would soon not be available…

So… why was it even there as an option? And how are we supposed to troubleshoot something if we have to figure out how to find the new location for the troubleshooter it?

Not that it mattered. It “fixed” the problem, but in the control panel, it still just said “error” under the printer. Of course, we kept trying to print in between all these different things, and again, all it would do is tell us “error”.

Finally, I decided to try removing the printer, then adding it back.

Printer removed, select add device…

The computer couldn’t find it.

We went through so many different ways to try and add the printer back, but the computer just wouldn’t “see” it anywhere.

One of the options was “my computer is older. Help me find it” followed by a “next” button, but that didn’t work, either.

So we fussed with both the computer and the settings on the printers, and I kept trying again.

Then suddenly, it was there. The computer could “see” it!

I have no idea what I did that made the difference.

I didn’t care by then. I just selected it, and the computer installed and finally connected with the printer.

Then it was crunch time: would it actually print?

It did!

Sort of.

This time, I had a different problem. A problem I had the last time I tried to print something out.

The software printed on the page as if it were landscape, instead of portrait, squeezing everything to fit on one side.

It did this when I tried to print out a knit pattern for my daughter. No matter what I did to the settings, when it came time to print, it was turned the wrong way and squeezed to fit on side of the page.

After all this time fighting with it, I didn’t care anymore. The data could be read, and that was all I needed.

That done, I called the tax preparer and arranged to drop off our stuff, then finally headed out.

This town is about a half hour drive from us, so not too bad. The weather is nicer today, at least, though that wind is still brutal. At the tax place, I saw they had a drop box for all the people doing like we are; just leaving our stuff with them to work on later. We’ll get a call then they’re done. I’ll have to pick up the paperwork and bring it home for my husband to sign, but that’s the closest thing to a delay we’ll have.

Then it was off to the hardware store. I go here so rarely, I took advantage of it to just look around.

They have an excellent and well stocked canning section! 😁

When I got to the display I was looking for, I decided to get three bottles of the stuff. They had others for maintaining the tank itself, and even another brand of the drain and pipe maintenance stuff but, in the end, I stuck with what we already know works!

It’ll be so good when we can finally get a plumber to clear that pipe!

Then I kept wandering around the store. I did completely avoid the power tools section, though. Too many things there I want to buy! For me, being around power tools is a lot like going to a yarn store. I want to buy all the things! Power tools are a lot more expensive, though! 😄😂😄

It turns out it was a good thing I took my time. After I was all done and about to message my family to let them know I was about to head home, I found a message from one of my daughters. I’d used most of a flat of eggs for the pickled eggs, and she was letting me know she was about to finish the rest of them. So I made a quick stop at the grocery store for a dozen – I’ll be getting more at Costco tomorrow – and even remembered to grab some butter. I probably should have grabbed more; they house brand was on sale for $4.99, and not even Costco’s butter is that cheap. No surprise that they had a quantity limit! I decided to just get one, though.

When I got home and was pulling into the garage, I saw my younger daughter coming out. My husband had a prescription refill ordered for delivery, and they guy had just called to let us know he was close – something we requested, since our gate is usually closed and locked. So my daughter met him at the gate, and closed and locked it for me.

The girls kept fighting with the toilet while I was gone, and hadn’t had much luck. The honeypot was set up again! Since I got three bottles of the stuff, I want to use it in the drains for the tub, kitchen sink and laundry drain, too. For “slow drains”, the instructions say to use 8 oz, three days in a row. After that, daily maintenance is a couple of tablespoons, if I remember correctly.

Hopefully, it has done the job by now.

Excuse me while I go see if we are still stuck using the honeypot or not!

Well crud. Toni just puked a hairball on top of a sleeping Cheddar’s belly, on my bed. Who didn’t wake up until I cleaned the mess. At least he was on top of their big towel, and not directly on my bedding!

Ew.

I really want this day to be over!

The Re-Farmer