Unsafe in Our Homes
Dec. 18th, 2025 08:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lil_m_mosesI was chatting with my coworker earlier this week about his radon mitigation system (which is not happy sucking up moist basement air in the winter), radon detectors, and the fact that our public library probably has detectors in their library of things. They do, and I'd never really thought to check our house, so I checked one out since our kid lives in the basement and we live above the basement. We're a couple of days in, and apparently it's averaging close to 4. Yikes: "the EPA also recommends that Americans consider fixing their home for radon levels between 2 pCi/L and 4 pCi/L"! Yay, potential lung cancer?
We had a bit of a warmup today, so I used a bit of my day to shovel ice off the driveway, as a getahead before the snow coming back in tonight. Managed to tweak my lower back again (after it had calmed down from last weekend's shoveling and snowblowing at aunt's and Mom's), dangit. But then I tried the ice scraper! Holy crap, that thing is awesome, and I'm kicking myself for both not buying one when we first moved in, and then for not actually using it for at least one winter after that. I was poking at crap with the shovel for 30 minutes, then the scraper finished the heaviest 15% of the driveway in about 5 minutes, including the shovel-clearing of the shards.
In happier news, I used part of my day off work to call my first choice* assisted living facility to see if they had any patio units facing the woods/field open up since I last visited 3 months ago, and they had one, plus another that would be ready in Feb, so I popped over to check them out, decided I really liked the currently-available one for her, and put down a deposit. Mom's going to hate me briefly for taking her out of her house, but the apartment is of a similar vintage and style to her house, it has a little patio she can sit on, and it faces the edge of some woods where they meet a field. Now comes the logistics of moving her in, which I'm endeavoring to do within a month. And tomorrow I need to check on the status of her long term care claim eligibility assessment, since we submitted everything a month and a half ago and I haven't heard back yet. Last time we got a quick rejection, so I'm hopeful this time will be a positive outcome, as it would offset a good chunk of her monthly costs there, and consequently ensure she can be cared for longer. Ironically, the Alzheimers helped her lose weight, which has made her healthier, and me limiting her sugar intake with my grocery choices has helped a bunch more, so I need to plan for potential years of care with increasing assistance needs.
* My first choice was Mom's second choice, but I get an odd vibe from her first choice and have talked to different folks there every time, versus the same folks every time over years at my choice. My actual first choice she didn't really like, so we ruled that one out early. I've learned to trust my gut on this kind of stuff. My choice is also nearly equidistant from me and my aunt (about 4 miles, would be only 2 for me but for a river in the way), while the other is more like 7 miles from me and 1.5 from my aunt. Mom's house is 15-16 miles from mine, and 11-12 from aunt's.
We had a bit of a warmup today, so I used a bit of my day to shovel ice off the driveway, as a getahead before the snow coming back in tonight. Managed to tweak my lower back again (after it had calmed down from last weekend's shoveling and snowblowing at aunt's and Mom's), dangit. But then I tried the ice scraper! Holy crap, that thing is awesome, and I'm kicking myself for both not buying one when we first moved in, and then for not actually using it for at least one winter after that. I was poking at crap with the shovel for 30 minutes, then the scraper finished the heaviest 15% of the driveway in about 5 minutes, including the shovel-clearing of the shards.
In happier news, I used part of my day off work to call my first choice* assisted living facility to see if they had any patio units facing the woods/field open up since I last visited 3 months ago, and they had one, plus another that would be ready in Feb, so I popped over to check them out, decided I really liked the currently-available one for her, and put down a deposit. Mom's going to hate me briefly for taking her out of her house, but the apartment is of a similar vintage and style to her house, it has a little patio she can sit on, and it faces the edge of some woods where they meet a field. Now comes the logistics of moving her in, which I'm endeavoring to do within a month. And tomorrow I need to check on the status of her long term care claim eligibility assessment, since we submitted everything a month and a half ago and I haven't heard back yet. Last time we got a quick rejection, so I'm hopeful this time will be a positive outcome, as it would offset a good chunk of her monthly costs there, and consequently ensure she can be cared for longer. Ironically, the Alzheimers helped her lose weight, which has made her healthier, and me limiting her sugar intake with my grocery choices has helped a bunch more, so I need to plan for potential years of care with increasing assistance needs.
* My first choice was Mom's second choice, but I get an odd vibe from her first choice and have talked to different folks there every time, versus the same folks every time over years at my choice. My actual first choice she didn't really like, so we ruled that one out early. I've learned to trust my gut on this kind of stuff. My choice is also nearly equidistant from me and my aunt (about 4 miles, would be only 2 for me but for a river in the way), while the other is more like 7 miles from me and 1.5 from my aunt. Mom's house is 15-16 miles from mine, and 11-12 from aunt's.
FU, Spectrum
Dec. 12th, 2025 10:42 pmlil_m_mosesOf course. Too good to last. I've had Mom's phone whitelist set up for a whole month, and then they change it. The whitelist could only have 48 numbers on it, which wasn't exactly a lot. Now they've helpfully reduced it to only 32. And I got a notification of the change today, which has already beenbeen done today, and got directed to a FAQ telling me if I didn't trim the list before the change that the existing list would be wiped out and I'd have to start over. Awesome. So she's definitely been getting more spam calls today that are ringing through. And remember, this was only ever a list of phone numbers; you can't even label them. Good thing I built a spreadsheet the week after I initially set it up.
Oh, and the option to have it email your voicemails with a transcription is also wildly unreliable - I won't get any emails for days, but there's a steady stream of hangup voicemails when I call in from her phone to clear them out.
Did I mention I worked another 50 hour week this week, basically half between yesterday and today? I DO NOT have time, patience, or mental bandwidth for this bullshit.
EDIT: haha, I'm a dunce. The email says this is happening a month from now. 🤦🏻♀️ 32 allowed entries is still pathetically small, particularly if you want to allow things like doctors and utilities to be able to ring through.
Oh, and the option to have it email your voicemails with a transcription is also wildly unreliable - I won't get any emails for days, but there's a steady stream of hangup voicemails when I call in from her phone to clear them out.
Did I mention I worked another 50 hour week this week, basically half between yesterday and today? I DO NOT have time, patience, or mental bandwidth for this bullshit.
EDIT: haha, I'm a dunce. The email says this is happening a month from now. 🤦🏻♀️ 32 allowed entries is still pathetically small, particularly if you want to allow things like doctors and utilities to be able to ring through.
Easy Efficiency
Dec. 8th, 2025 10:20 pmlil_m_mosesAs a followup, I replaced both main floor bathroom fans on my long Thanksgiving weekend, and it was indeed super easy. The master one got cleaned in the process, and its flapper similarly fixed because it was also upside down and defaulting to open. The new fans are about 10 dB quieter (advertised as 1 sone quieter), which is a crazy difference. The even crazier thing is that our master bath is staying about 5°F warmer overnight - it regularly got down into the low 50s overnight in the winter because it only has 1 vent and no return, has a partial cantilevered bump-out section, and has 3 windows. High 50s is still mighty chilly in the morning, but those 3 little washers make a big difference.
I also fixed the basement bath's shower door over the weekend. The glass had slid down in its side grip so much that the bottom glass edge and the aluminum bottom guard were eating each other every time the door opened and closed. I'd been putting it off, but it turned out to be a lot easier to fix than feared, due to the magic of self-tapping screws. Just picked new spots in the rail for the holes, put some shims under the door to hold it up higher, and 4 screws later it was done. Trimming the new bottom sweep seal almost took more effort.
And tonight kiddo and I fixed the basement bath toilet, which had a leaky seal on the flush valve. She got a lesson in some very basic and easy home repair, and we had a nice dinner out together after picking up the part and while Josh worked the closing library shift.
Next up:
Fix a newly slow, noisy fill on the master toilet (probably some debris in the fill valve).
Address the bathroom windows. There are honeycomb blinds on the windows, which we keep closed most of the time for privacy, but between the lack of circulation and the cold humid bathroom and even colder window surfaces, there's crazy mildew all over the window frames. I cleaned them a couple of summers ago and repainted them with mildew-resistant stuff, but you'd never know it - they're super gross. So the new idea is to put some decorative privacy film on the bottom section so we can raise the blinds halfway and hopefully have less, or less long-lasting, moisture collecting on the bottoms of the frames, and still be able to see out the top when we want to. We already run a dehumidifier in there in the winter, but it's not enough. We picked this film: https://artscape-inc.com/products/window-film-colored-stained-glass-new-leaf
Upgrade the kitchen under-cabinet lights. There are 4 (actually 3) existing fluorescent fixtures hardwired in around the kitchen and controlled by a single switch. They get pretty warm, they're mounted at the wall edge of the cabinets instead of the front, and one is missing and presumed failed, all of which add up to us rarely using them. I finally did the research last weekend and ordered all the parts I need from Armacost Lighting. The plan is to install 4 small power supplies on the existing line power connection points, each driving a chunk or three of continuous LED strip at a different stretch of overhead cabinets, plus maybe one across the bottom of the over-stove microwave since the built-in light is pretty far back and dim, and I'll have enough extra connectors and light tape.
That's the dream, anyway. The reality is that it might take me a while to get to all those. I was really hoping and kinda trying to get Mom into a care facility before the snow flew, but that ship has sailed, and it sure seems like the snow might stick around from Thanksgiving on for the first time in many years. I know which place I prefer for her; I need to call them again to see if they might have the room type I want for her available (facing the nature and with a patio), which they didn't 2.5 months ago. She's going to hate anything for a while, but this needs to happen. Between me and my aunt we've been doing this multiple weekly visits thing for 2 years now, and it's a lot (Mom lives 12 miles out of town, plus another 5 of 6 for me to get to that side of town) for one person parenting and often working long weeks and another who's 80. Mom's doctors have been telling me to do this for even longer than that. But she loves her house and land and I do hate to take her from it. I'll still have to go take care of it regularly, but it'd be a less regimented schedule, and less interference from and endless repeated conversations with her while doing it.
I also fixed the basement bath's shower door over the weekend. The glass had slid down in its side grip so much that the bottom glass edge and the aluminum bottom guard were eating each other every time the door opened and closed. I'd been putting it off, but it turned out to be a lot easier to fix than feared, due to the magic of self-tapping screws. Just picked new spots in the rail for the holes, put some shims under the door to hold it up higher, and 4 screws later it was done. Trimming the new bottom sweep seal almost took more effort.
And tonight kiddo and I fixed the basement bath toilet, which had a leaky seal on the flush valve. She got a lesson in some very basic and easy home repair, and we had a nice dinner out together after picking up the part and while Josh worked the closing library shift.
Next up:
That's the dream, anyway. The reality is that it might take me a while to get to all those. I was really hoping and kinda trying to get Mom into a care facility before the snow flew, but that ship has sailed, and it sure seems like the snow might stick around from Thanksgiving on for the first time in many years. I know which place I prefer for her; I need to call them again to see if they might have the room type I want for her available (facing the nature and with a patio), which they didn't 2.5 months ago. She's going to hate anything for a while, but this needs to happen. Between me and my aunt we've been doing this multiple weekly visits thing for 2 years now, and it's a lot (Mom lives 12 miles out of town, plus another 5 of 6 for me to get to that side of town) for one person parenting and often working long weeks and another who's 80. Mom's doctors have been telling me to do this for even longer than that. But she loves her house and land and I do hate to take her from it. I'll still have to go take care of it regularly, but it'd be a less regimented schedule, and less interference from and endless repeated conversations with her while doing it.