March Marches On

Geraniums by the Front Door

Yesterday (Monday), I picked up the groceries I had ordered, did another clearing session in the garage, filled both the recycling bin and trash bin to the brim, took them to the curb for trash collection pick up in the morning, watered the front garden (especially the newly transplanted fountain grass clumps), did some laundry, cooked fried rice for lunch and pancakes with sausages for dinner.  In between, I chatted on the phone with neighbor T, friend R, and cousin V, watched a little news, paid the gas bill, and checked the video chat link in preparation for video chatting with my daughter when she returns to Berkeley.  It was a sunny and warm day, too, with a high of 79F.

Today (Tuesday), is another warm day (high of 75F), but, cloudy.  When I went to bring the empty trash cans in, I noticed a service technician from the Gas company replacing neighbor T's gas meter.  I had spoken with T earlier in the day and she hadn't mentioned anything about getting her gas meter replaced, etc.  Anyway, I greeted the service technician and, being nosy, asked him if he was replacing everyone's meters.  He said no, they had detected a problem with T's meter and he had come to fix it.

Then, he asked me if I knew who lived there, saying he had knocked on the door, but, no one answered the door.  I said I knew who lived there.  He said that although he was able to fix the meter and the gas company's lines, there is a leak in the part of the pipe that goes from the meter to the house and that is the homeowner's responsibility to fix it, but, he had to shut off the gas for safety reasons.  Just then, another gas company technician drove up to check on things, too, and I said I could call the neighbor's daughter (T's daughter usually deals with household repairs, etc., because T is unable to do so; her husband took care of everything when he was alive and now, her daughter tends to things).  So, I called T's daughter K and took the phone out so the gas company technician could speak to her and explain the situation. 

Afterwards, I took the phone back from him and went inside (and wiped down the phone with a disinfectant wipe!)  A short time later, T called to thank me for calling K about the gas company technician's concerns and K called, too, to thank me.  They will need to get a plumber to come out and fix the leaking pipe!  I told both T and K that, if T needed any hot water, etc., to let me know (we both have gas stoves, water heaters, and furnaces), I could boil some and take it over, but, K said that her mother would be able to manage with the microwave.  Fortunately, it is not that cold at night now, so T should be able to stay warm without the furnace being turned on.  

I picked lemons, curry leaves, a lone red chili pepper, and some oranges from the garden, today. But, didn't do anything in the garage.  Instead, I looked through this week's grocery ads that came in the mail, replied to blog comments, and, cooked dinner - sauteed chicken thighs, broccoli side shoots picked from the garden, and savory rice (rice cooked with vegetable soup powder).  It's only the second day of this week's meal plan and both meals were changed from what was planned, as we ate leftover pancakes and sausages for brunch!  LOL. Later, daughter and I watched a movie together - "Oliver!" on a VHS tape that I have in my collection.  Afterwards, I washed the dishes (some by hand and the rest in the dishwasher).

I also spoke with cousin P after playing phone tag with her all day and I chatted with friend R.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- Weekly curbside trash pick up
- Being able to contact neighbor T's daughter so she could speak with the gas company technicians
- Disinfectant wipes
- Garden produce
- Telephone chats with family and friends

Today's joyful activity was watching a video/movie with my daughter.

Plans for tomorrow include gardening with M and some garage cleaning.  

How is your week coming along?  What are your plans for Wednesday?