The Flu Strikes Random (As Does this Post)
Little voices cry out in the night. Frail, weary voices masked by coughing and sniffles. They radiate heat, yet complain of cold. They are scared of darkness though light does not relieve. They are tired but cannot sleep. Therefore, neither should I.
The flu sucks! It has come upon us with a vengeance filling little noses too uncoordinated to effectively blow resigned instead to sniff and wipe. They are raw and sore and it adds but one more thing to a long list of complaints.
We are down four. I feel it will not end there. I suppose in the grand scheme it could be worse thought I must admit, I’m thankful it’s not. We press on.
I dropped off my glasses at the eye doctor yesterday. Well, what was left of my glasses. Zoe woke me one morning last week in tears, “Dad, I’m sorry to tell you this but I broke your glasses. Zander and I were playing and I jumped on the couch and they broke. Dad, I’m sorry!!”
“Don’t worry about it, Zoe. It was an accident. Really, it’s OK.” (Truth be told, I was just glad it was my glasses and not the coffee pot—again.)
We then made a quick trip to Lowe’s. I was looking for a climbing harness. Yes, I believe you read that correctly, a climbing harness. The gutters on my house have not been cleaned in six years. They’re just too damn high and I have this morbid fear of heights. Paralyzing fear of heights, actually. I’ve actually come to a dead stop in traffic having let my mind wander just thinking of hanging Christmas lights.
It’s a sickness, really, and I’m seeking help.
Anyway, the harness. In addition to the gutters, I’ve also got a chimney that needs a bit of work on the flashing. It’s time to bite the bullet. So I’m in the store, I’ve found a harness and Zane finally asks why I need it.
“I’m going to clean the gutters,” I say will a false air of confidence.
Looking straight through my guise he responds, “Good luck with that, dude!”
I may just tether Zane and have him do the work.
WordPress hates my umlaut. In fact, it seems to dislike quite a few things I use in my posts: punctuation, capital letters, parenthesis, italics, mispelled words. The new can be very frustrating.
Zella went grocery shopping with Maura yesterday. They brought home these green cookies with pink frosty icing. Some sort of watermelon concoction. It was Zella’s idea. Maura had told her that she didn’t think that they looked very good to which Zella responded, “they’re gonna be awesome!”
There are two cookies left.
I share your fear of heights, specifically of standing on a ladder tending to the gutters, or indeed of painting the gutters, a job that I have successfully avoided for two years now, I’m just pleased that the last man to paint our gutters must have done a good job, I think we might be safe for another winter yet.
Gary´s last blog ..The Pennine Moors
Ed Reply:
November 11th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
The don’t look down rule is usually pretty effective. Usually.
I can’t reach my gutters with a ladder–even a forty footer. To get to my gutters I have to go through an access on the roof and then climb down to them. Or I could rent a boom lift at $275/day. The harness was only $75. Of course, my ER bill will probably run into the tens of thousands.
What do you do?
The flu has hit here too. We are over the worst. Here’s hoping you are too. Good luck with those gutters. You could always tell people that you got the climbing harness to pacify your children, as they were afraid for your safety when you mentioned having to climb all the way up there to clean the gutters.
)
Jenny´s last blog ..Stay Thankful…
Ed Reply:
November 11th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Are you kidding? When I tell my kids I’m going to strap them to the rope and let them do it–they actually get upset when I tell them I’m only kidding. Last time I tried working from a ladder Zane stood at the bottom shaking the thing.
I actually priced up some mobile scaffolding to do mine this year, I’m only talking about two storeys so its 25 foot or so, problem is the land at the front of the house slopes downhill quite steeply, quite quickly and I hate the idea of standing on top of a scaffold tower on wheels and then feeling it start to creep slowly down the garden, picking up speed as it goes.
Gary´s last blog ..A trip to Brid