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A new Quest

That sounds kind of funny, but it is pretty on par with the range of my interests.

Anyway, what it means is tha in addition to everything else going on here at the Mill, I have made another commitment.

The difference in this one is that it isn’t prompted by procrastination. One of the young ladies in my life (along with her siblings) started school this week. Even though she is the oldest, she was having the most trouble with nerves. Its a new year, with new teachers, new classmates, new set up on the schedule. The very idea of the unknown, and she found out that her best friend wasn’t going to that school this year. She was feeling a bit meh in these last few weeks bout the idea of going back to school. Sunday was just anxiety.

And this is where the life lessons come from people. She is right to be a little bit anxious. It is a normal reaction to the unknown, and very much in line with some traits of her mostly introverted personality. But, while we were doing our last pool day of the Summer, we had a good chat about how she successfully went to overnight camp for the first time this summer. She made new friends and got to get closer to her old ones. She realized that she could take care of her own daily needs. (Granted- she did have a really bad case of homesickness for a bit but that wasn’t the bit to focus on in this particular conversation).

But, “Issa, what does that have to do with your photo?!”

To kind of help her along I told her I’d do something that was completely new for me and start on the same day she started school. She said it can’t be easy (darn).

So, I started a certification on Beginning Korean/Level 1.

And, guys, it has been a long time since I’ve had homework, or quizzes, or tests! I spent yesterday just kinda getting the feel of things. Went through some of the first weeks lessons.

It wasn’t too bad. I know a bit in a really casual kind of way. My dad was in Korea several times during my childhood. My Husband was posted there for 8 years total in his military career. He’s there now with is first work outside of the military. This is another reason why I thought formally learning hangul would be beneficial. Whenever these quarantine and travel restrictions ease up, I do plan on making several regular trips to South Korea. I believe I mentioned before that as late as mid-October 2020, I was planning an international move to Korea. Things fell through– the Hubbs went and I bought The Bee Mill. I do love my Korean Variety Shows (Guys. I kid you not. I LOVE them. I am a bit behind now because my top favorite shows lost my favorite members– so I’m mourning LOL). Also dramas, historical romances, comedies. I’ve picked up quite a bit from just watching, but I would like to understand more. Not to mention, I love history and when I go to the Country, I’d like to be able to read it for myself.

Anyway, when faced with an international move, I figured I could learn as I go in country–a’la immersion. Now, I have to face this down for a young lady who is facing her own new experience. She’s going to check on me tomorrow–so I’d better have something done!

Oh, and I will be reading this post and the previous either later today or tomorrow.

I know. Y’all can’t wait, right!?

Let’s try another comments question: Anything anyone doing or planning to do this month that is new and a little bit frightening?

Issa LorenLeave a comment

An add to the Bee Mill

Some of you may have noticed that I’ve added an audio component to the previous posts! I thought it’d be a good idea in case some wanted to just listen rather than read. I do apologize on the way my voice sounds. It’s weird but I can’t change it.

I did not know when I started that it would create it’s own podcast. That was– Kinda weird for me to consider, but then I got a little bit excited about the possibility. The purpose of me starting this was primarily to write–so I will continue to do that first and then record the audio of the writing.

Word of warning: I may or may not add some comments to the audio because I won’t be recording the same time as writing I don’t think… (well, maybe I should). Anyway, there is a big possibility of some addition, but not enough to completely take it off the rails of the posting.

If I do add a substantial bit, then I’ll make sure to update the post to reflect that.

Anyway, along the same lines– I got my Grandma’s bedframe from Overstock. I should point out that this is my first time ordering from them so I wasn’t too sure what to expect. I asked my brother to come by and help me move mattresses since he protested forcefully that I did the back room all by myself. His exact words were, “You live here now. You don’t have to do these things by yourself anyway.”

Ha!

I called this man to ask if he’d drop by just to move the mattresses and he says he can’t. That he has plans he cannot get out of. Okay. It’s a Friday. It could be a myriad of things.

As I am bustin my butt pulling everything out of the room, I take a break to check out the Insta.

And wouldn’t ya know?! There’s my brother. At Epcot. With a mutual friend of ours. Havin the time of his life!

Don’t misunderstand my issue here. It isn’t that he went or that he wouldn’t cancel to help me get a space ready for OUR grandmother. No. That’s cool. If could go to Epcot I’d probably go too. My issue is his not just coming out and saying, “Oh I have a trip planned for Epcot.”

Enough of the rant, back to the bedframe. So I get the mattresses mostly out of the way (BTW: No one can use either of those bedrooms or the guest bathroom at the moment). Start laying out the pieces to make sure everything is there. Looks like we’re all good. Letters match letters. None appear to be missing. I put together the bolts and washers to get the headboard attached to the posts… and something isn’t right. One side goes in–the other doesn’t. I take a closer look and the problem is fairly obvious:

I have two right side posts and zero left side posts. I go onto Overstock to see what to do and see there is a place to request missing parts. Alright. Seems pretty straight forward. Only, it isn’t. UGHH.

I go through and enter the order number and the product. Then come the fields where it asks for the part number. I look on the assembly sheet and there are no part numbers for the inventory, only quantity of what I’m supposed to have with a photo.

So I get onto the chat. And I wait. Finally someone answers me, asked the relevant information to find the order. Pretty much it seems like she is just working with the same form I was. Now, when you enter the chat they asked you to describe your problem so they can know moving forward. Is that just for looks, cause this person sure as all get out didn’t know what was going on. Anyway, this is why I am on the chat and not on the phone. I knew I was already irritated. I can be very sarcastic and that is more blunted with typing than speaking. And now you know.

Back to it. So I tell her the problem, and wait for a reply. And wait.

And wait.

Then I get a message from her saying “I can wait, but can you reply so the chat window doesn’t close out”

UHHH… what?!

I answered her questions. It’s right there in the text box. No screen needs to be left or separate window opened to reviews the last three messages. Her last message was “Thank you for your answers”.

Nothing else.

Ugh… why is it the small things that grate on the nerves? The result ended up being that she put in a message to the parts replacement people and that I should hear from them in 1-2 business days AFTER they get her message and it could be more than a week after that that they ship out the part. In the meantime- I have a mess at the Mill with half the house being unusable. I have people coming at the end of the month.

This is going to be interesting. I guess if worse comes to worse- they get to sleep with a mattress on the floor.

OHH.. did I mention that I also have another headboard/footboard on the way but will have no way to put it up until I get Grandma’s room all put back together. eeeeeeeeeeeeeee

It’s frustrating.

Anyway, if any of you feel like sharing a similar story (and by I similar I mean one that was super frustrating in the moment but you can laugh at now), feel free to in the comments 🙂

Issa LorenLeave a comment

The Alexa Chronicles

I have decided, after a day of arguing with this wench, that I would keep a chronicle of the shenanigans I go through with Amazon’s Alexa. I even made a sub category for it. I can’t be the only one who deals with the sass of an AI.

Right?

Anyway, Alexa at the Mill was the first of her kind in my household. Over the years I found no reason to have to deal with it–moving from location to location. Setup, take down, set up again. I’ve mentioned before how with military life, how I wanted to keep as little as possible which would result in valuable losses.

Now, I am here in my own house. No plans for moving permanently in the near future, so I figured a sound system would be nice for the television (where we only had a sound bar. Maybe more on that debacle later). Pair that with Amazon doing pre-order sales for the new Echo… I got a couple.

And, somehow, I got the AI that was hard of hearing, stubborn, and petulant.

Yesterday, I asked for music and got something I didn’t ask for. She seems to really like Seal, Travis Tritt, and some weird techno rock. These are the go-to plays when I request something– And that something is almost never any of those artists.

The one in the master likes to give me the silent treatment– until I complain online and then she straightens out herself and starts listening.

One annoying thing after the other. Literally, at 928 yesterday morning, I was yelling at her to just “SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO WHAT IM SAYIN”

Grr.

Freakin technology.

Issa LorenLeave a comment

Water in the Mill

It’s been raining.

A lot.

I went to bed the other night. All happy and content. In my bonnet and eye covers. The sky was rumbling out there in the dark.

Then I look up at the ceiling.

Only to find, with a certain sense of dread and resignation, not a large wet spot, but several spread out all along the edge of my ceiling. So a phone call was made to the insurance company.

First Home Insurance claim. Yay?

Anyway, they got the contractor/inspector out here yesterday to evaluate the situation. It’s not the roof, which is great. Also great is that even being original to the Mill, it is still in amazing condition. The problem now is:

“Where is the water coming from?”

It’s along the exterior wall, The A/C system is along the interior. It only gets wet when its raining.

So, now we are waiting for the call from the leak specialist to come out and figure out what in the world is happening. Until then, due to all the rain the forecast, The Contractor left me a dehumidifier and industrial fan to dry out the floor and the drywall (cause I don’t need a mold problem on top of everything else)

I am very glad I have insurance, AND that I insisted on a home warranty at Closing. So, even though its not exactly convenient, I know that its not going to actually cost me any more than my deductible out of pocket. It is a weight off the mind.

Also leads me to understand why some folks don’t keep up with home maintenance and at the same time not understand why some folks don’t keep up with home maintenance. Good insurance and a maintained warranty may cost a little bit up front, but when it comes down to it: knowing they are there and have you covered allows you to go ahead and find out what the issues are and fix them.

Anyway, since I am talkin about the Mill today, been thinking about what to do terms of landscaping. I am not a huge fan of high-maintenance areas. I also would like to increase the overall value of the house. I am seriously thinking of having some rock gardens put in… the walk way to the front door, around the porch, along the back fence line. It seems it is going to be a bit pricy so I think it may have to be done in phases– starting with the area in front of the main bedroom window. Over there is the air con unit and also the remains of some sort of fountain that, at this moment, does nothing but have an unsightly hole in the ground and breed mosquitoes. I am gonna start looking at inspiration ideas, but off the bat I am thinkin along the lines of Asian inspired. Zen areas are my kind of style. There also seems to be some squishiness happening in some parts of the lawn that are new and I should probably talk to a lawn person to get that corrected.

That is the mid-range term. In the short-term, today I will be buying headboards for the two guest bedrooms. They aren’t what I wanted to get, but due to stocking issues at IKEA and the repairs currently underway, I have to make some adjustments with Overstock. I wish I could hold off but I am having guests at the end of the month, so it would be a good thing to not have them sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Overstock is having a sale so that is a bonus. The original budget allows me to get both rooms for the price of one. So, its a win/win. Lord knows I may just end up liking it better this way.

Sidenote: YO! Why is it so hard to find bedframes with enough clearance on the bottom for storage?!

Also on the short term list (within the week) I will be having the cobblestones stripped, cleaned, sealed and re-sanded to get the area where the trash-bins are back to being tidy. Anyway, the contractor is on his way to check how the drying out process is going so I am going to have to close this out for today.

BTW: I haven’t lost sight of the fitness goals, and I do have some things to share (read: gripe and moan) on that front. Leaving it for a separate post though.

Adios folks!