I counted 11 while I was taking the photo. It’s hard to tell, with all the reflections. Altogether, I think I counted 32 cats this morning. They were running around so much, it was hard to keep track of which ones I’d already counted.
Last night, my husband glanced out the bathroom window and saw the heat lamp was out. I went to check and found the cats have managed to knock the plug loose out of the power bar.
While there, I realized there was a cat using the heated water bowl as a butt warmer.
Even though I’d given them an early feeding so I could park the truck, they were out of both food and water! Even the broken heated water bowl we replaced, which had been full of ice and slowly melting, was down to just dregs. So I gave them another feeding, then rinsed out and filled the water bowls.
This morning, the water bowls were all empty again! Well. Except we have two outside that aren’t heated, so they were just solid ice. Both are in shade, so they never melted with the warmer temperatures. The cats were more interested in the water than the food!
I just got back from doing the evening rounds. We’re still at our predicted high of -3C/27F, but it’s so lovely and sunny out there, any ice and snow still on the sidewalk blocks are melting. The cats are just loving it. I think I counted 29. They needed their water bowls topped up again, too, though at least they weren’t completely out, this time.
With the warmer weather, I’ve actually seen a couple of visitors in the sun room on the critter cam. Once, a skunk, and another time, a single massive racoon. Hopefully, they won’t be visiting more often, and will stay in their hiding places when the temperatures drop again!
Overall, though, it’s been a home day for me, and I’m quite happy to not have to go anywhere. I might make a quick trip into town tomorrow, though, to get the last couple of things I wasn’t able to get on the stock up trip, and check the mail. The strikers might be back at work, but we’re still missing mail. At least my husband got his bloodwork requisition, even though we can’t do anything about it until after the holidays.
In other things, I got to see the first files from the new solar powered trail cam. I am quite happy with it. I won’t need to move the stand it’s one, for starters. I will probably need to reduce the resolution and motion sensitivity, though. I have it set to take a photo, then a short video, just like the camera it replaced. I was amazed by how well it picked up audio! With the other camera, it would have a recording of me right next to it, talking to a cat or something, and barely pick up sound. This thing’s microphone is so sensitive, I could hear the sounds made by the chain and sliding bar when unlocking and opening the gate, some 30 feet away!
We shall see how it holds up when the temperatures drop, though. That’s always the litmus test for the cameras!
She tried to get away from me but the rose bush slowed her down enough that I could stealth pet her. She liked it enough to stop and let me keep petting her and give her ear skritches.
She even started purring!
We’re not at the stage were we can get her into a carrier, but we’re getting there!
Today has turned out to be a lovely, warm day! The forecast ranged from 1C/34F to 3C/37F, depending on what app I looked at. It seems the temperature we actually hit was in between, at 2C/36F.
Even when I headed out to do my morning rounds, we were at a balmy -1C/30F. The outside cats were quite enjoying it, and were running around all over the place!
I even had several following me up the driveway when I went to check on the gate!
It’s been a while since I’ve had that many cats following me around.
With the temperatures expected to go above freezing, I made sure to break out the ice chipper to scrape the sidewalk, and the concrete in front of the sun room, clear of ice and snow, so that it would melt clear faster. Tomorrow we’re supposed to reach a high of 0C/32F, so hopefully that will be enough for the sidewalks to dry clear, rather than just ice over!
The truck was booked at the garage for this afternoon, but I headed out earlier, so I could stop at the post office before it closed for a few hours around lunch time, since I wasn’t sure how long I’d be gone. I even remembered to grab the empty water jugs for refilling, too. While opening the garage door to put them in the truck, though… well…
The middle of the garage door frame is slowly sagging. There is a metal piece attached to the top that is there to sort of guide the handle inwards, but as it slowly sags lower, I try to remember to push the door in a bit so the handle will clear the frame.
I forgot to do that this morning, and slammed the handle right into the frame. This is a replacement handle, too. I can now see how the old one got so broken!
So, we’re going to have to pick up another handle. No hurry on that. We don’t close the door all the way, anyhow, as one of the latches on the sides doesn’t retract far enough when the handle is turned. When the door gets closed all the way down, it can only be opened again from the inside, by manually pulling the cable to that latch. When we get a new handle, we should be able to just tighten the cable on that side to fix it, though I don’t know why it became a problem in the first place. The cable is as tight as the day I installed it, still.
Anyhow…
I’m more concerned about figuring out how to straighten out the frame, then support it to keep it from sagging again. Given the larger size of the opening, it would likely have to be supported from above
We’ll figure it out.
I made sure to give the truck’s engine time to run before I headed out. Everything was fine during the short drive to the post office, just like last time. I had a couple of packages to pick up, including some kibble the Cat Lady was able to get with coupons from Amazon for us.
From there to town, I kept an eye on the oil pressure gauge. It actually last longer than I expected, and I almost got to the garage before the needle dropped and the alarm started sounding – just as I had to stop behind several cars to wait for a tiny train to go by! It was basically about a block of driving with the alarm and warning lights going.
I was quite early to drop off the keys, but I also made a point of booking the truck for next week. That’s when the MAF sensor and block heater cable will be replaced. He has to order the parts in, first.
After that, I popped into the motel next door and had lunch at the Chinese restaurant there, before running a couple of errands. My appointment was at 1pm, and I got back about 20 after. He was on his own, though, and hadn’t had a chance to look at it yet, but I just wanted to grab the keys so I could put away my shopping bag.
Before I headed out, I mentioned doing errands, and he suggested I check out a nearby store. A customer had told him the entire store was 50% off today. I pretty much never go there – I can’t afford their prices, normally. About the only things they have that would interest me is clothing, and it would be a rare thing for them to have my size. Still, I figured it was worth taking a look.
Ha!
I got in the door, and that was pretty much it. There was a line at least 20 people deep, cutting through the area I would have wanted to look in. This is not a large store, so it doesn’t take much for it to get overcrowded! The other side of the store was mostly empty, but that was where the shoe and jewelry sections were – nothing I would be looking at.
So I left. I was happy to see how busy they were, though. For a lot of retail companies, these last few weeks of the year are what puts them in the black for the year, and it’s even harder for a small town like this.
After putting my bag in the truck and giving the keys back, I had a bit of time to kill, so I swung by the hardware store across from the store that was having the big sale. A hardware store is much more my style! I ended up getting a couple of small items, but mostly wanted to look at some of their equipment. They actually had some utility pumps in stock – and on sale! Not the sort of pump we need to replace our septic pump, though. One of the staff came over to help me and I showed him a picture of the pump we have, and he agreed that the one I was looking at was not what I needed. He admitted, he wasn’t the one who knew septic pumps (not a surprise, since the system we have isn’t really done anymore), but that was okay. For now, I was just looking at prices. I think I should probably consult with my brother about getting a new one. My SIL was sure they actually have a spare, somewhere among the things now stored in our barn, but I think I would prefer a new one, if I can swing it.
I was just leaving the store when I checked my phone and discovered a message from the garage had just come in. The truck was ready.
When I got there, we talked about the problem for a bit. All he did was take the sensor apart and clean it out, so he just charged me for labour.
It is going to happen again. Even if he replaced the sensor again, it wouldn’t make a difference.
The problem is, with the temperature fluctuations this time of year, moisture gets into the system, but doesn’t get a chance to evaporate completely. He suggested doing things like letting the truck run for about 15 minutes before going anywhere and, if I’m just running inside a store briefly, to leave the engine running. This would give it a chance to heat up enough for the moisture to evaporate. Meanwhile, keep checking the oil levels. As long as they’re good, we know that it’s the sensor again, not an actual problem with the oil pressure.
As he was telling me this, I could tell he was really frustrated. He’s mentioned to me before, that this is very much a GM thing. He doesn’t see this problem in other brands. Some sort of design flaw, is his thought on that. When I mention having it go off like this, it leaves you not knowing if it’s just moisture in the sensor again, or an actual problem, and he completely agreed.
Then there’s just the problem of driving around with an alarm dinging, warning lights and the onboard computer telling me to SHUT OFF ENGINE. It is really quite stressful.
Hopefully, cleaning out the sensor will do the trick for at least a while. I have to take my mother for a scan on the 1st, then a medical appointment on the 6th, and I sure as heck don’t want that alarm going off while driving with my mother!
As an aside, I spoke with my mother last night, and she asked about the truck. She is still talking about buying “herself” a brand new car. She doesn’t drive, of course, and anything she gets would have to be half in my name, as that’s the only way I’d be able to get it insured. I don’t expect her to be paying for the insurance (nor any other vehicle expenses), and it would be parked here at the farm, anyhow. I did try to warn her that a brand new car would be very expensive, but she’s okay with that. In fact, she’s almost excited about the idea. I really, really hope my brother has a chance to talk to her about that. She doesn’t have *that* much money squirreled away! As great as it would be to have access to a back up vehicle again – and a new one, too! – we would have to do something with her current car, just to have someplace to park it (which means it would have to be quite a small car!). Having to pay the expenses for two vehicles again, while having payments on the truck at the same time, would be very painful on our budget. *sigh*
Anyhow…
After reclaiming the truck (he’d even left it running, since I responded to his text so quickly), I popped across to the grocery store, picked up a few things and refilled a couple of water jugs. From there, it was a quick stop at the gas station, then home.
I’m happy to say, the needle on the oil pressure gauge stayed right were it was supposed to. It did seem to start dropping when I was driving slower on the icy gravel road, but still inside the acceptable range on the gauge.
Once everything was unloaded and put away, I got to do an unboxing.
Our new solar charged trail cameras were in!
The cats really, really wanted to see what was going on, too!
I was specifically looking for a camera where the solar panel directly powered the camera, with regular batteries as a back up. I settled on this brand, which came in a 2 pack. We only need one right now, so the other is still in its box.
I had to retake the photo of the outside of the boxes. When I laid them out on my bed, Layendecker leaned over and used one of them as a pillow!
Silly boy.
The camera comes with a tree strap for mounting, plus a USB cable for the first charging of the solar panel’s internal rechargeable batteries.
The USB cable is mostly hidden under a curious Mitsy in the photo.
After opening it up, it took me a while to find where the battery cover was. The clip is partially hidden by the cover, as it’s right near the bottom cover hinge.
One substantial difference between this camera and any others we’ve had is that it uses only four AA batteries. Most take eight. We did have one camera (that got stolen) that held eight batteries, but could operate on only four, if necessary. This one has room only for four batteries. They will only be used if the solar panel doesn’t have enough charge to power the camera.
The solar panel adjusts slightly, and it does not come off. The one we have now, the solar charger is a separate unit that can be removed, so the camera can be used on batteries only. I like having that option, if necessary, but the camera we have now is no longer available. The current camera’s solar panel angle cannot be adjusted, so there are trade offs both ways.
While the camera does have a tree strap, it also has the screw in port for a plate mount, which is what our current camera is on, now. This camera did not come with a mounting plate, while the old one did.
I find it really bizarre, however, that the screw in port is in the battery cover. I would have to either remove it from the mounting plate (which I have to do now, for a different design reason) or, in theory, open the mounting plate and swing the camera down. I wouldn’t want to do that, though, as it would put too much stress on the hinge of the battery cover.
I plan to use both the mounting plate already on the stand, and the tree strap to hold it in place. With the current camera, the top heavy weight of the solar panel is a bit too much for the mount, so I’ve got a small bungee cord supporting it. Over time, though, the bungee is starting to stretch out and not support as well. The solar panel on the new camera is not as heavy, though, so it might not be an issue. We shall see.
One thing about this camera is that it does NOT have a wide angle lens. The solar camera we have now is wide angle, which I really like. Without a wide angle lens, we will probably have to move the stand it’s mounted to. The base, with its weight to keep it from blowing over in the wind, is buried in snow right now, so that likely won’t happen until spring!
The USB cable is for pre-charging the solar panel’s internal batteries, which is recommended to do before first use. After going through the menu and setting up the date, time, etc. and putting in a memory card, I hooked that up, so it will be fully charged and ready for tomorrow. When I do my morning rounds, I’ll switch cameras instead of memory chards!
The other solar camera has been working again, which is good, but when it fell open into the snow, one of the cover clips broke. So there is just one clip holding it closed. That would make it slightly less waterproof, as condensation could get past the seal by the broken clip.
The non-solar sign cam is still working, but it’s quite a bit older and sometimes glitches out. Depending on how this new camera is, I might use the spare to switch out the other one. It’s under a tree, but it does get enough sunlight to support a small solar panel. Especially at sunrise.
Either way, we’ll still have a couple of back up cameras, if we ever have troubles again.
I look forward to seeing the first files on the new camera, and what the quality is like.
Which is rather fun and all, but it sucks that we need to have to set up trail cams as security cameras in the first place.
Today – the second day of Christmas – has turned out to be a lovely day, even with the wind. The last couple of days have been slowly warming up, but we have been hit with winds from the south, and they were pretty brutal at times. Today, the winds were milder, so our high of -1C/30F was feeling more like -7C/19F, instead of -17C/1F!
The outside cats are quite enjoying the milder temperatures, though there’s a crowd that prefers the isolation shelter more than anything else!
I counted a dozen cats in the upper level! Plus there was at least one, possibly two, on the ramp inside the entry shelter box. It is mostly the littles that are in the isolation shelter, I have noticed. The adults and older cats go in and out, too – you can see Stinky over in the corner on the right – but they don’t tend to stay in the cuddle puddles in the isolation shelter. I see them on the critter cam in the sun room, more often.
Judgement really wanted attention this morning! When I stopped to try and get pictures of the cats in the isolation shelter, he basically flung himself down on my feet and began rolling. 😄
Today has been a catch up day on things. Because it’s so much milder, we set up the drainage hose for the washing machine out the front door. My husband and I got our laundry done, then we did a couple of loads of cat beds and blankets, and the girls will be doing their laundry next. As long as the hose gets dragged in as soon as the last load is done, it will be fine. We don’t want it out there when we hit our low of -8C/18F tonight!
In between other things, our Christmas turkey got deboned and I made a stock for the outside cats as a treat after for after their evening feeding. They got the bits and bobs, too – we made sure to leave lots of meaty bits for them – and are very happy! When I made cat soup for the inside cats, I used some of the stock instead of hot water, to treat them as well. The inside cats were also very happy!
Then, this afternoon, I started getting some messages from the Cat Lady, with a rather alarming tale to tell! One of their motion sensor alarms went off and her husband went to check, thinking it was one of the cats setting it off. The next thing she knew, he was calling for her to call 911!
Long story short, a woman and broken into their cat garage (they checked the security footage, later), which is a separate building housing the rescues. She took some drugs, pet the cats and passed out. Then she went to the house, letting out the cats, broke into their garage and started going “shopping”, helping herself to jackets and ski pants, and a couple hockey bags she filled out of their freezers, before triggering the alarm. When the Cat Lady’s husband showed up, she was clearly high and there was a bit of an altercation. She was still there when the police arrived.
Everyone is okay, thankfully, but there was glass broken and other damage done. As you can imagine, they were pretty shaken by it all! Thank God they have security alarms and cameras.
This is not the only incident. A couple of days ago, my son from another mother, who lives in the city we moved from to come here, was involved as a bystander in what turned out to be a carjacking and kidnapping. Someone had come running to him in absolute hysterics, asking for help. This also ended as best as it could, and the girl that was kidnapped was recovered safe and sound.
The crazy thing is, the incident didn’t even make the news.
As for the Cat Lady, when the RCMP showed up (they are in a suburb, and are not covered by the city police), they basically didn’t care, it happens so often – and they are in what is considered a very good neighbourhood!
Living where we do does not exempt us from such troubles. Given that the nearest police are at least 20 minutes away, and chances are if we called 911 for the police, they might not show up for even longer, the properties out here are convenient targets. Still, even taking into account our vandal, it’s nothing like what’s happening in our cities. Even our small towns are seeing increases of crazy stuff like this. Sometimes, it feels like we were able to escape the city, just in time. We certainly had … situations, shall we say… that we had to deal with, but it all just seems to be so much worse now.
I’ll take living in the boonies, any day, even without all this, but right now, I’m just appreciating it so much more.
We had our non-traditional Wigilia dinner last night, so today, the outside babies will be getting some turkey bits, including the innards, for a treat. I’ll be deboning the turkey and making a stock for them.
Not right away, though. I don’t want to go anywhere near food right now. I’m feeling really gross and disgusting, even though I’ve washed up several times.
I discovered the septic back up the basement floor drain, today.
*sigh*
That’s what we get for falling behind on running the hose through the floor drain to the tank regularly.
For the past while, we’ve started hearing gurgling from the tub drain every time we flushed the toilet. Knowing that the main drain pipe from under the tub to where it turns and drains into the septic tank, this isn’t surprising. It kept getting worse, though. I checked the vent in the roof and it was clear of ice or snow, so that being a possible contributor was ruled out. I even plunged the bathtub drain. After a while, though, I finally decided to go into the old basement – something we don’t do often enough, but those stairs really suck.
Which is when I found the mess. Things were starting to back up through the floor drain.
Thankfully, it hadn’t been doing that for very long.
So I opened up the access pipe and tried running the hose we keep set up to flush the pipe through. There are two bottlenecks. The first is just a couple of feet from the access pipe opening. That one doesn’t usually get blocked, but it takes a few tries to get the hose through. The second bottleneck is about 5 or 6 feet through, so pretty close to the tank itself. The pipe in the floor is cast iron. At some point, it attaches to the more usual plastic pipe. I have no idea how long the cast iron pipe it, but I suspect the second bottleneck might be where the two types of pipe join. Either that, or it’s right before where the pipe enters that tank.
That’s the bottleneck that gets blocked.
This time, I couldn’t get the hose through at all. Normally, I’d run water while doing this, but when I did turn the water on, it just started backing up the floor drain more.
I could have set up the drain auger, but that would have had it sitting in water – something the instructions said to avoid, if possible. I didn’t think it was necessary, though. We have an old chimney sweep rolled up in the corner. It’s just thick, stiff wire with a brush at one end. The other end has the tip bent back on itself. That’s the end we push through the pipe. Using that, I was able to break through the clog. I could tell when it worked, because the floor drain started to immediately empty.
After getting the wire out, I was able to run the hose all the way through, with water running. Given the lengthy of hose I was able to get through, it was going all the way into the tank, and then some.
From there, it was time to clean up the mess I didn’t want going into the floor drain, then flushing that out. It’s a 4 way drain, but only two are used. One runs to the weeping tile under the new part basement, the other to the septic tank. The two unused drain sections run about 8 or 10 inches before they are blocked by concrete. All of these needed to be flushed out. Then the pooling water on the floor needed to be swept into the drain and cleaned.
One of our goals it to cover the floor with self levelling concrete to get rid of all those low spots. Considering the concrete walls themselves are crumbling, I sometimes wonder if it’s even worth it.
Anyhow.
All that got done and cleaned up, and a blower fan set up to dry the floor faster.
Once in the bathroom to clean up, I did a test flush on the toilet.
Zero gurgling from the tub drain.
So that was the problem all along.
*sigh*
Our own fault. We fell behind on the flushing of that pipe. I’m just glad it didn’t start backing up earlier, such as while someone was taking a shower or something.
I think I’ll be asking the girls to do all of our Christmas dinner today. Usually, we split up doing different dishes between us, but I just don’t feel up to handling food, no matter much well I’ve scrubbed up!
We had a turkey dinner yesterday, finishing off the last of our garden potatoes. Today, we’ll be having smorkchops (smoked porkchops).
Oh, and just to top things off, after messaging my family from the basement to let them know what happened, I put my phone in my pocket…
… and it fell out.
It has a wallet style case with a cover on it, which protected it to a certain extent, but I’ve got the moisture warning saying to let it dry before plugging it in. It’s now out of its case, all cleaned up, and sitting until the port is dry. It also has a screen protector, but there is now a small chip on the bottom – I have no idea how, as that spot should have been covered by the protective case. There is what looks like a small crack, but I can’t tell if that’s the screen, or the screen cover.
The phone still works, though, and it’s not interfering with anything, so I don’t care too much.
So… that is how my Christmas has been going!
I’ve been talking with both my daughters as I write this, and they are taking over all the Christmas cooking today!
My husband had just a few days left of his painkillers. With their new delivery driver, the deliveries are now on Thursdays. My husband would have been out by then, plus, Thursday this week is Boxing Day, so obviously, that wasn’t going to happen.
My husband called the pharmacy yesterday (Sunday) to ask about it. It turned out, for this week, deliveries were going to happen on Monday (today).
The problem?
His pain killers are considered “controlled substances”. Which means that he can’t refill them until he’s almost out. The earliest he could refill them?
Tuesday.
Given how things are, the pharmacist said she would try to call his doctor today to try and get his prescriptions delivered early, but she didn’t know if his doctor would even be working this week, or if she would be on holidays.
Well, I got a call this morning, and got good news! They got through to his doctor, she okayed the early refill, and we would get them delivered this afternoon.
We got the delivery shortly before 12:30!
Meanwhile, I checked the holiday hours for our garage. They were open today, so I called and left a message, though I did not expect them to be able to look at the truck on such short notice.
I left a message, then decided to head out to the general store and post office. It’s just a 5 or to minute drive away. Short enough to not trigger that oil pressure sensor and have it start screaming at me!
Since we aren’t going to be able to do the last minute shopping we originally intended, the girls wanted to do some baking, so I picked up a couple of dozen eggs and a few other things to tide us over, including a cheap (on sale) bottle of wine. We actually had mail today – a letter from the health authority for my husband – but there are still quite a few things we’re expecting, including a donation of cat food.
Ah, well.
After I got home and put things away, I tried to get a nap in – I’ve been really sleepy, lately – but wasn’t very successful. Then the phone rang. I kept it close, because I was expecting a call from the delivery driver, and it was him. I’d left the gate open already, but I headed outside earlier and used the time to do a bit of shoveling. The delivery driver even drove up into the yard, which was nice of him!
After bringing the meds in, I went to close the gate. On the way back, I found myself being watched, attentively.
There was eight at the time, but there had been more earlier.
When I came out this morning, I counted a full dozen cats in the upper level!
I also found the heated water bowl knocked over again, and hanging through the narrow opening under the window. This time, however the managed to knock it over, it was enough to push a corner of the window loose. The screws holding it are shorter, but still! I’ll have to find a longer screw that will fit the pilot hole to replace it with. For now, they have a small gap in the corner of the window.
This time, I took the heated water bowl out completely. After moving the cat bed out, I could grab the insulated box nest and remove it – with a kitten sitting on top, along for the ride, at first!
I had thought to put it in the lower level, but didn’t want to fight with the entry shelter box, so I put it in the catio, with the other box nest.
Then I put the cat bed where the box nest was. It’s slightly wider and overhangs the opening where the hammock and cat scratcher ramp is. Hopefully, it will stay.
I then took the smaller heated water bowl from the sun room and traded it with the one I took out from the isolation shelter. After securing the cord around the cross piece, I set it more into the corner, where the cat bed had been. Hopefully, this will give the cats more space to move around, and they won’t knock it down anymore.
Judging from the photo above, they are happy with the new configuration!
I could also see cats in the catio, sitting on top of the insulated box nest. There is exposed rigid insulation around all sides, secured with pieces of wood lath, so it would be like sitting on a self warming mat.
So that seems to be working out, too.
Meanwhile…
Once inside and settling at my computer, I saw I had a missed call note that I’d missed, earlier. The garage had tried to call me back while I was going to the post office!
So I called back right away.
We talked a bit about what was happening; he says there would be moisture in the sensor, setting it off. He completely understood why I didn’t want to be driving it with that alarm going off.
They are open on Friday, and he could fit me in that afternoon. I told him, we’re down to one vehicle, so when I come in, I’m stuck in town, and he understood. He probable gets that a lot, I’m sure. He confirmed that he would just be looking at the sensor (if he couldn’t get us in until after New Years, I told him in one of my messages that we may as well get the MAF sensor and block heater cord replaced, too), then said it would be no problem. He also assured me it would be okay to drive the truck into town – the alternative would have been to book a tow truck, and there’s no need for that.
So that should be fixed before the end of the year.
Yay! Something else to be thankful for!
Plus, since they’re right across from the grocery store, I’ll be able to get some of the things I wanted for New Years. It’s only Christmas dinner that’s going to be a bit different than planned, but not by much.
All in all, it’s about as good as it can get, under the circumstances!
While doing my morning rounds, I found the heated water bowl in the isolation shelter knocked down again. This time, they somehow managed to jam it into the narrow opening that’s there for them to access the second level. It had been full enough that I could see ice all along the inside of the plastic wrap around the bottom level, and ice in the snow below.
The hammock was also somehow off two of its hooks and hanging down over the entrance.
After cleaning everything up, I continued my rounds, then came back to see this hilarious boy.
There’s a freshly refilled heated water bowl behind him, but nooooo…. He wants to lick the frost off the window!
We’ve already reached our expected high of -7C/19F today, with almost no windchill at all. I expect things will get pretty warm in there, and the frost to melt away soon. Especially with the extra body heat of so many cats in there!
After my husband and I attempted to head out yesterday, only to have an alarm start blaring on the truck, then talking to our mechanic about it, I hoped to avoid it happening again today.
So, as I did my morning rounds, I started the truck part way through and left it running until I was ready to leave. Maybe half an hour. So the engine was warming up nicely, and the cab nice and toasty, when it was time to go.
You can’t see in the first picture above, but there was at least ten cats in the upper level. All the windows, including the sliding doors, were frosted like that!
What you can also see in the first picture is the heated water bowl, tipped over against one of the frame pieces!
The bowl is too wide to fit through there, though, and there was even still water in it. I’m extra glad I made the pallet floor open and covered with a mesh. I was thinking any litter kicked out of the box could fall through. I never thought it would allow water to spill through, rather than freezing on the floor! There must not have been much water in it when it was tipped, though, because I couldn’t see any sign of it in the snow under the shelter.
By the time I was done giving them food and fixing/refilling the water, only a few cats were still in the shelter. The more feral ones ran off. It was nice to see Kohl and Rabi together on the warm spot. There are five cats visible in the second photo, but a sixth is at the food bowl, out of frame.
While today was warmer than yesterday, the wind made it pretty nasty. Even as I write this, less than an hour before sunset, we are at -11C/12F – which is practically shorts and t-shirt weather for winter in this part of the world – but the windchill is -24C/-11F. I don’t know what the wind chill was this morning, but we were still around -16C/3F when I left.
Everything seemed fine, at first, but as I got closer to my mother’s town, I could see the oil pressure gauge slowly dropping. Sure enough, before I got there, the warning lights came on, the warning message “oil pressure low, shut of engine” showed up in the onboard computer display, and the alarm started sounding.
I knew the oil was fine. I knew it was just the sensor.
That didn’t help my blood pressure any.
I had left early enough that I intended to stop and possibly pick up a few last things for our own celebrations. Instead, I parked at the gas station.
I checked the oil, of course, and it was just fine, even though there was the warning light for low oil.
I took a picture of the dash before turning off the engine and texted it to our mechanic, but I didn’t even know if he was open today. I also messaged my brother, but he was on the road.
After a few minutes, I started the engine, and the pressure gauge was within normal range again.
I even started looking up local garages. One was closed, the other was closing soon, but the third was open later. I called them, but they couldn’t take a look. There was just one guy working (I had noticed their website had job openings listed before I called), and he was booked solid.
*sigh*
My brother recognized my truck as he was driving past, so he stopped by. We talked for a bit, he asked some questions, and basically said the same thing our mechanic did. It’s just the sensor.
We drove over to our mom’s place. For that short distance, it was fine.
My SIL had made some awesome sandwiches for our lunch. I had to chuckle, as my brother had originally intended to bring Timmies breakfast meals. The last time I was at my mother’s, while we were eating the food I brought, she told me how my brother would phone ahead to one of the restaurants in town, order a couple of meals for them, and pick them up before going to her place.
What I also know is that she would give my brother a hard time about this, mocking him for being “rich” and “fancy” by buying restaurant food all the time. My SIL got tired of it, so she now insists that she will make food for him to bring along herself, so my mother would stop basically calling him a snob (her Polish version of it, at least).
My mother cannot grasp the consequences of her own behaviour.
At least she liked the sandwiches. They were excellent. With her dentures (which she still refuses to fix, after having a tooth removed), we cut hers up for her to make it easier for her to eat. The sandwiches were made with these amazing pumpkin seed buns that only one place in the city makes. Delicious, but harder to bite through with dentures!
My SIL had also done her annual Christmas baking, and my brother brought tins of beautifully decorated cookies for both of us. My mother always complains about “it’s too sweet, it’s too sweet” (she doesn’t understand carbs, either), so he told her this was so she had something to offer people if they stopped by for tea. She actually showed appreciation for those, too, though when she did have one after lunch, she picked it apart and left behind part of the “sweet” middle. I think that had more to do with her dentures, though that’s not what she said.
*sigh*
The conversation was largely her talking about “history”, but of course only the parts that interest her. We just let her talk, as we’ve heard most of it many times before. Even my mother noticed, however, that she was losing track of her line of thought more often. The main thing was that she didn’t go off on any racist rants this time, which made it a lot more pleasant.
Eventually, she asked if anything was new with us, and my brother mentioned what my truck was doing. She wasn’t really interested in us, though, so that conversation didn’t last.
At one point, the phone rang. My brother was looking at the number while my mother was telling him to answer it. It was an unfamiliar number, so I answered with with my Hotel Receptionist greeting. Then laughed and hung up on the robot scam message. We talked about that for a bit – my brother got the same Canada Post “package held back for security reasons” scam call I did, the day the strikers had to go back to work.
Then the phone rang again.
This time, it was within our area code. My brother wasn’t going to answer, but I did, again with my Hotel Receptionist greeting.
I was answered in Polish, and recognized the voice. So I just laughed and responded “just a moment” in Polish and gave the phone to my mother. It was an old friend of hers, and they talk pretty regularly.
By then, my brother was needing to leave, and he knew I was nervous about the truck, so we got our stuff together and gave our goodbye hugs and kisses while she was on the phone, so she could have a good long talk if she wanted.
As for the drive home.
It happened again.
The pressure gauge was within normal range for about half the distance, but slowly dropping. Once it got past a certain point, it started dropping faster. By about 4 or 5 miles from home, the lights went on and the alarm started going off.
I’d messaged the family before I left, so the gate was open already and I was able to drive straight to the garage.
It’s one thing to know that the problem is just the sensor – and a new one, at that! – but quite another to be trying to drive with all those warning lights and an alarm sounding.
My plan was to go to my mother’s with Christmas dinner on Christmas day. I’ve messaged our mechanic, but if he can’t get us in on Monday, that likely won’t happen. I’ll have to call my mother and let her know. Her building is having a dinner in the common room on Christmas Eve, though, so she will not be alone for the holidays. My sister doesn’t celebrate Christmas, but I might ask her to visit.
Which means our own Christmas and New Year’s will likely be with whatever we have right now. I could drive into our little hamlet’s general store and back without setting off the alarm, but I they don’t carry the sort of stuff I was planning to get. I might still make the trip on Monday, though, for some other things I can get there, instead. Unless I end up in town and at the garage. The grocery store we usually go to is literally across the street, so I could get what’s on my list, there.
What a pain.
We’ve had this truck for a year, though, which means we might be able to look into trading it in for another vehicle, and get better financing.
Not a GM, though.
The truck itself is great. I love it. But these sensor issues are things that should not be happening, and having to replace sensors telling me something is wrong, when nothing is actually wrong, is not just a waste of money, but a major stress inducer. After all… I would never know if *this time* the problem might actually be real. We have only one working vehicle now. We can’t take any chances.
*sigh*
Ah, well, it is what it is. We deal with the hand we’re given.
But why does this stuff tend to happen all at once, and at times when it’s hard to get into a garage?
We had some bitterly cold temperatures last night – dropping to -24C/-11F, when I was awake to check. There was no wind chill, though. In fact, the “real feel” was slightly warmer than the actual temperature.
When heading outside to feed the yard cats, I found a whole crowd of them inside the isolation shelter – all in the top level, too!
Including the isolation babies. Both Kohl and her fluffy partner were in there.
With so many cats and one bowl in a corner, the littles weren’t able to get at the food as well, so I dropped a handful beside the fluffy boi.
With the cold, a lot of the food trays still had a lot of food in them. None of the cats, understandably, want to be outside eating, and even in the sun room, they prefer to huddle together in their various shelves and beds and under the heat lamp. I saw several through the cat house window, near the heat lamp in there, too.
The food bowl in the isolation shelter, however, didn’t have a single crumb left in it, and even the water bowl was mostly empty. At this point, I think the top of the isolation shelter may be the warmest place around!
The insulated box nest, however, seems to be in the way. I am considering taking it out and putting it in the lower level, where the little box is. We had to take the cat bed out from there, since they were using it as a litter box. Since this box nest is insulated, it would probably get used more in the bottom level than it is in the top level. The food bowl can then be put in the middle where the box is now, and more cats can eat out of it at the same time.
Moving the box nest will require moving the entry box shelter away, so I’ll save doing all this for when I have a daughter available to help out.
Meanwhile…
My husband and I had plans today. We were going to head to the nearer city, where he can go in to exchange his cell phone, as the 2 year plan is up. He doesn’t use it much, but if he simply kept it, we’d be charged almost $700 for the balance on the phone. Or, he can return it and get a credit, but would have no phone. Alternatively, he can exchange it, have another phone on a new plan, and still get a credit.
So that’s what we were going to do and, thanks to a generous monetary Christmas gift from my mother, we were planning to have an actual sit-down dinner date, too. It might just have been to Subway or something, in the same shopping commons as the phone place, but it still would be a fun and rare treat for my husband.
With the cold, we waited until things warmed up in the afternoon before we started heading out. It was -19C/-2F and the time we left. I went ahead to take out the shopping bags in the back of the cab to make room for his walker while warming up the engine a bit. Since we haven’t been able to get the block heater cord repaired, I made sure to run the engine a bit while I was doing the morning rounds, too.
Soon we were loaded up and on our way.
We got maybe 5 or 10 minutes out, when it happened.
The console started dinging, and the “oil pressure low, shut of engine” light started flashing. The oil pressure gauge had suddenly dropped right down.
We already had the oil sensor replaced from the last time it happened.
So I popped on the hazards and pulled over.
Of course, the first thing I did was check the oil level. We had an oil change done when the sensor was replaced, so it should have been full.
It was. Looked pretty clean, too.
I still added a small amount. It was a fight to get the oil cap off (thank goodness we keep a stool in the truck, or I couldn’t have reached it!), and one of the first things I noticed was the interior. It looked almost as if the black plastic was blistered.
It wasn’t.
It was ice.
So I added a bit of oil, then cleaned out the inside of the cap as thoroughly as I could before putting it back and running the engine for a bit before checking the oil again.
Definitely plenty of oil.
Well, we weren’t going to take a chance. Once everything was put away, we turned around and went home, while my husband messaged our daughters to open the gate for us.
The warning light did not turn on again, and the gauge stayed within the range it was supposed to.
The gate was ready and open for us, so I pulled straight in to the garage, stopping only to get the walker out for my husband before pulling the rest of the way in.
As soon as we were inside and settled, I called the garage and left a message describing what happened. Our mechanic called back within minutes.
He asked a few more questions, and he basically confirmed what I already suspected. Most likely, there was a bit of ice from condensation getting into the sensor and triggering that warning. Basically, the engine needed to warm up longer. He has seen this before, but only with GM vehicles.
Hmmm.
Since we know there is plenty of oil, he basically said, if it happens again, it’s not a panic. That was the main thing. The last time it happened, the truck turned out to be almost completely out of oil, even though there were no visible signs of a leak, nor were we burning blue. There is a separate warning light for low oil, and that never turned on. Replacing the sensor also took care of the leak, and the oil level has been steady, since.
Well, I’ll take this as a sign we weren’t meant to go to the smaller city today.
Tomorrow morning, I’ll be meeting with my brother at our mother’s for a visit. It’ll be earlier than usual, since he has to leave by noon, but this is his Christmas visit to my mother, as they’ll be visiting the grand kids for Christmas and New Year’s.
If the cold we got hit with last night is why this happened with the truck, though, it should be fine, tomorrow. We’re expected to dip below -20C/-4F for a few hours this evening, but start warming up throughout the night. By the time I should be leaving in the morning, we are expected to be warmer than we are right now. Long range forecast no longer says we’re supposed to get as warm as 6C/43F around Christmas, but it does still say we’ll be hovering around the freezing mark on those days. We will be doing our dinner on Christmas Eve. I will be setting aside a couple of meals and plan to go to my mother’s to have lunch with her on Christmas day.
Hopefully, the truck sensors will behave!
For the rest of today, though, it’s another home day, after all! I’ll be working on more garden analysis posts, instead. 😄
On a semi related note, a while back I wrote about how I was suddenly seeing ads on YouTube again. I ended up getting an updated version of Firefox and installing their adblocker, as it was the only one that still worked. I was still getting them on my phone’s app, to the point I could no longer play YouTube videos at all, they were so intrusive. Which meant, no playing background playlists to help me sleep.
Well, that has stopped as suddenly as it started. I no longer see YouTube ads on any browser I use, nor on my phone app. None of them had gotten updates, either.
Very strange, but I’ll take it!
Oh, this is too funny! I just got a message from the Cat Lady.
One of the cats they took from us was a muted calico we called Muffin. She was an outside cat friendly enough that we could get her into a carrier. She went to them to be spayed, get the usual vet checks, then go up for adoption. Instead, she bonded with the Cat Lady’s husband, and they are still inseperable.
Today, she is out with him, delivering Christmas bonuses and drinking Starbucks.
Muffin still hates the Cat Lady, for some reason – she’s never had any other cat behave like this towards here before. Muffin still tries to bite her, every day, even though she doesn’t have teeth anymore. But she adores the Cat Lady’s husband, attended Zoom calls with him, goes out to job sites, and when she has to stay home, sits at the window, crying for him all day. It’s got to the point that all these hardened contractors now look forward to seeing Muffin. Too funny!
Well, time to adjust my plans and see what I can get done, now that it’s turned out to be a home day.
The Re-Farmer 