No Runs, No Hits, A Gagillion Errands,....
Dec. 4th, 2020 08:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
captainsblogYesterday and today wound up the repositories of all the assorted chores I needed to get done this week. The first and most anticlimactic of them was the dreaded "safety inspection" of our gas meter, which caused all the earlier agitas- first when we were fined for not scheduling it and then further delayed by not answering a confirming phone call. They rescheduled for a morning-long window yesterday- anytime from 7:30 to noon, they said. This time, I set an alarm to be sure I was up in time (forgot to actually turn it on, but the dog took care of making sure I was up even earlier), cranked my phone volume to 11, made sure Eleanor had it in hand when I walked Pepper, and leapt to attention when the 800-numbered call came in at 8:28 a.m.
By 8:45, the guy was here- and by 8:47, he was gone. The "safety inspection" took all of 30 seconds; he didn't even have a flashlight on his person and maybe touched the pipe below the meter once. The fine has yet to come off the account.
----
That gave me exactly enough time to wrangle the kittens and a fresh poo sample to take them to their rescheduled 9:00 vet appointment. Ostensibly, they were there only for a second round of one vaccination each, but it still took just as long and cost more than twice as much as their original visit. We also got confirmation of something we'd been wondering about: Boz (the orange guy) had put on virtually no weight since his first visit almost four weeks before, while Zini (in all black) now outweighs his brother by almost half his body weight. Z does look bigger overall, but the doctor said he's already developed a bit of a paunch that could have him into Fat Cat territory before long. (I wondered how he could be hogging his brother's food because they eat out of a two-station feeder, but Eleanor said she'd seen his boorish behavior- sticking his kisser in one side while pawing at Boz to keep him away from the other.) The recommendation was to end the current on-demand feeding arrangement for the two of them and to get them on a schedule like everybody else.
Which, unfortunately, also means keeping them separated during feedings like everyone else. Zoey and Michelle have been eating in separate rooms for years because the younger one would otherwise shoo Evil Cat away from her bowl. It's been an adventure keeping the kittens out of their wet food delights at the morning and evening feedings- and now I have two MORE mouths to feed at the same time in two different places with a completely different kind of food. Plus a third midday kibble drop for the little ones. Plus the dog's feeding. Boz is getting a little more at each serving for now until he catches up.
One working theory here is the possibility that they may be only half-brothers with different daddies. Their litter was a rescue by the city shelter, so Mama was probably out and about in a neighborhood someplace with all her pheromones on display for the entire male population of the block.
Maybe we can go on the tv to figure it out:
They seemed pretty pissed this morning that their overnight snack tray had been removed- both of them have learned to nibble on my fingers to get the attention of their waiter- but the midday deal went okay today and I'm about to arrange the first evening DoorDash for everyone.
----
After finishing with them, I headed to Rochester for a just-long-enough set of two appointments- one with a court on Microsoft's new Zoom-like platform, and one with a very nice new client- then heading straight to our mechanic at the end of the day so they'd have it first thing today to complete the annual ritual of inspection and winter tire placement.
I'd checked in with them in person a week ago to see if the current front tires (all-season) and/or the previous year's rear snows would need replacement, and the owner gave them a once-over and said they'd probably be okay for one more winter. That was not the story I got this morning, though- neither would even pass inspection. So I thought their recommendation was to leave the current, fairly new summer tires on the back and put new snows on the front. I've never been able to get four snows for this car all at once, so that sounded like "the plan" for the winter.
Soon as I got it on the highway after picking it up, though, I knew something was wrong: JARVIS was shaking and shimmying all over the place on dry pavement. I called, and discovered I had it backward: they'd moved the good all-seasons to the front, and put new snows on the back. I'd always understood that the tires on this car were different sizes in the front and back, which is why the dealer never rotated them back when we had coverage for that. But no- he assured me they were all the same size....
but, I forgot to remind them, they do NOT require the same inflation. And that, we believe, is the problem. Most of the weight in this car is in the back- most of the powertrain is back there, and it's rear-wheel-drive. The rears have always required about 7 psi higher inflations than the fronts. But all they did when putting the new snows on was move the rear tires, on their wheels and with the same overinflation, to the front. So they should be able to sort that when I go back Monday, because, yes, the damn thing also needs a brake job with persnickety Mercedes engineered parts that couldn't be ordered in time today.
At least the damn dealer's not getting a dime out of me. Yet.
----
In between all that, I worked a bit. Mostly from this desk. No fixed appointments at all next week until Friday, which should help getting backlogged Things done. Except that one return to the mechanic at some unspecified time Monday to complete the work from today....
because them's the brakes.
By 8:45, the guy was here- and by 8:47, he was gone. The "safety inspection" took all of 30 seconds; he didn't even have a flashlight on his person and maybe touched the pipe below the meter once. The fine has yet to come off the account.
----
That gave me exactly enough time to wrangle the kittens and a fresh poo sample to take them to their rescheduled 9:00 vet appointment. Ostensibly, they were there only for a second round of one vaccination each, but it still took just as long and cost more than twice as much as their original visit. We also got confirmation of something we'd been wondering about: Boz (the orange guy) had put on virtually no weight since his first visit almost four weeks before, while Zini (in all black) now outweighs his brother by almost half his body weight. Z does look bigger overall, but the doctor said he's already developed a bit of a paunch that could have him into Fat Cat territory before long. (I wondered how he could be hogging his brother's food because they eat out of a two-station feeder, but Eleanor said she'd seen his boorish behavior- sticking his kisser in one side while pawing at Boz to keep him away from the other.) The recommendation was to end the current on-demand feeding arrangement for the two of them and to get them on a schedule like everybody else.
Which, unfortunately, also means keeping them separated during feedings like everyone else. Zoey and Michelle have been eating in separate rooms for years because the younger one would otherwise shoo Evil Cat away from her bowl. It's been an adventure keeping the kittens out of their wet food delights at the morning and evening feedings- and now I have two MORE mouths to feed at the same time in two different places with a completely different kind of food. Plus a third midday kibble drop for the little ones. Plus the dog's feeding. Boz is getting a little more at each serving for now until he catches up.
One working theory here is the possibility that they may be only half-brothers with different daddies. Their litter was a rescue by the city shelter, so Mama was probably out and about in a neighborhood someplace with all her pheromones on display for the entire male population of the block.
Maybe we can go on the tv to figure it out:
They seemed pretty pissed this morning that their overnight snack tray had been removed- both of them have learned to nibble on my fingers to get the attention of their waiter- but the midday deal went okay today and I'm about to arrange the first evening DoorDash for everyone.
----
After finishing with them, I headed to Rochester for a just-long-enough set of two appointments- one with a court on Microsoft's new Zoom-like platform, and one with a very nice new client- then heading straight to our mechanic at the end of the day so they'd have it first thing today to complete the annual ritual of inspection and winter tire placement.
I'd checked in with them in person a week ago to see if the current front tires (all-season) and/or the previous year's rear snows would need replacement, and the owner gave them a once-over and said they'd probably be okay for one more winter. That was not the story I got this morning, though- neither would even pass inspection. So I thought their recommendation was to leave the current, fairly new summer tires on the back and put new snows on the front. I've never been able to get four snows for this car all at once, so that sounded like "the plan" for the winter.
Soon as I got it on the highway after picking it up, though, I knew something was wrong: JARVIS was shaking and shimmying all over the place on dry pavement. I called, and discovered I had it backward: they'd moved the good all-seasons to the front, and put new snows on the back. I'd always understood that the tires on this car were different sizes in the front and back, which is why the dealer never rotated them back when we had coverage for that. But no- he assured me they were all the same size....
but, I forgot to remind them, they do NOT require the same inflation. And that, we believe, is the problem. Most of the weight in this car is in the back- most of the powertrain is back there, and it's rear-wheel-drive. The rears have always required about 7 psi higher inflations than the fronts. But all they did when putting the new snows on was move the rear tires, on their wheels and with the same overinflation, to the front. So they should be able to sort that when I go back Monday, because, yes, the damn thing also needs a brake job with persnickety Mercedes engineered parts that couldn't be ordered in time today.
At least the damn dealer's not getting a dime out of me. Yet.
----
In between all that, I worked a bit. Mostly from this desk. No fixed appointments at all next week until Friday, which should help getting backlogged Things done. Except that one return to the mechanic at some unspecified time Monday to complete the work from today....
because them's the brakes.