A Funny Story

I picked up HannieC from gymnastics at 5:30 Tuesday, as is my regular assignment. When we got home, The Mrs's minivan was not in the driveway.

Me, CherkyB: "Uh oh. Mommy's not home. I wonder where she is."
HannieC: "Let's drive the tractor around!"

That's my girl.

HannieC ran inside and got some normal clothes on, we hopped on the tractor, and started zipping around in the back yard. About 10 minutes later, The Mrs. drives up. We wave hello and continue driving. A few minutes after that, The Mrs. comes over to the gate and stands there looking angry. We drive over.

Me, CherkyB: "What's the matter?"
The Mrs. (hollering, waving her arms, and turning all red): "I've got groceries in the car that I need to put away, and you're out joyriding in the yard!"

I'm starting to like the tractor more every day.

Me, CherkyB: "I didn't know you had groceries. Why didn't you ask for help?"
The Mrs.: "You wouldn't have heard me."
Me, CherkyB: "Why didn't you wave? You could see me, and I could see you. You could have called my cellphone. I have it right here, and it vibrates. You could have walked back here and gotten my attention. Why did you just stand here and decide to get angry?"
The Mrs.: "I'm too busy to try to get your attention."

No, instead we chose the path of an angry glare, which is always so much more attention getting from 100 yards away. Whatever.

So I prepare to put the tractor away, and I have HannieC opening the gate so I can drive back to the garage, and The Mrs. asks MaxieC if he wants a ride. I figure she means a ride to the garage. He comes over, and I hike him up onto the tractor. Then HannieC closes the gate and she and The Mrs. wander off to put away the groceries, leaving Me, CherkyB and MaxieC sitting in the back yard on the tractor.

MaxieC: "Let's go fast Dad."
Me, CherkyB: "OK son."

So we got to joyride around while the womenfolk put away the groceries. I'm telling you, this lawn tractor is the best thing that's happened to me since the king size bed.

MaxieC even was able to steer some. He can't turn very sharply or very rapidly, but he can steer. We went mostly at minimum throttle, and he did almost all of the steering.

We got the general contractor's bid today to finish up the non-plumbing work in the shower. Added to the plumbing bill, it's almost exactly $7k. This is without painting or the purchase/installation of the new shower door, where the sub we had chosen for that was the same one this contractor uses, so he is letting that guy continue to deal with us directly. Included in the general contractor's bid is some fixing up of misc. other stuff throughout the house as well, much like the plumbing bid includes some upgrades and work on other fixtures besides the shower.

I priced a home warranty today. It was $800. The price jumps significantly when you cross the 5000-sq-ft boundary. I'm just over that, though finished sq-footage is less. I'll reprice tomorrow at <5000 sq ft. I doubt they'll measure. Then maybe I'll get a bunch of the windows fixed and the stove igniter. And the dryer, which stopped working quite as well after the move.

I got the big news that I have to go back to my old site for a day long retrospective of the last project in a couple weeks. I may have to stay there two nights, as there is only one flight back that is late enough that I won't have to leave the retrospective early, and that one gets me back home at like 1am. It's also $80 cheaper for the flight if I come back the next morning, which will offset much of the cost of the extra night in the hotel. I had to get third-level management approval to go on the trip, as we're in cost-cutting mode even more seriously again, what with all the layoff and everything.