It's a good news/bad news kind of day!

I PROMISE that this is the last day without pictures.

I had some time between two classes that I taught yesterday to drop the computer off at the Geek Squad which is in Best Buy. I had a great chat with the young man at the desk. It wasn't busy in the store (I went to a different one than I would normally go to). He was extremely nice, knowledgeable, and I felt confident that he could fix my problem.

Based on what I described as the problem, he suggested the hard disk might be toast. He popped it out and tested it - yep - dead as a doornail. It's not uncommon for a hard disk to fail. That could have been devastating news. However, the GOOD news is that I keep NOTHING on the hard disk except my programs. All my saved files are on several external drives and that is a good thing indeed. Trust me - I've learned over the years. I've had several hard disk failures and it's not pretty. Not that I have tons of super important documents, but it's still stuff that I don't want to lose. I really do need to do a clean up of those hard disks because there's a lot of stuff that I no longer need.

I chatted about adding more RAM to the computer. It already had 10 GBs, but he said for a reasonable price, I could bump it to 16 GB. Why not? So I drove to a computer parts store to buy the memory. The very helpful Geek Squad staff person gave me a print out of what I needed to buy. That was easy and I dropped the memory back at Best Buy.

I then went to my second class and on the way home, I got a call that the computer was ready for pickup! Oh - that is super service. Thank you Geek Squad - thank you Best Buy!!!!  The even better news???  Because I have a service plan with Geek Squad, it cost me $10 in labor to make this happen and less than $200 to buy the new hard disk and memory. That was GOOD NEWS indeed.

If the weather isn't too crazy (yes - another snow storm today and school buses are canceled all around and one school district has closed the schools), I'm supposed to teach again today and I can pick up the computer. That was just meant to be.

I talked to my Dad yesterday. The good news - I think they are liking their new phones because they have three of them now so I was able to chat with Dad while Mom listened. I think my Mom likes that part, but she would never admit it! The bad news - the local hospital could not find the hairline fractures in his pelvis, but after the X-rays were sent to a larger facility (because he was in a lot of pain and they didn't know why), they were the ones that determined the issue. Two fractures. He's got a walker and is grounded at the apartment. He says that he gave his truck keys to my brother because the mail keys were on the ring. That's his way of justifying that he's not driving.

He's got homecare coming twice a day to get him out of bed and dressed. I don't think he could get in his truck!!!  The good news? He's in the BEST of spirits. He walks up and down the hallway in the apartment building which is nice and wide, bright with windows at both ends. He needs a walker still, but is making good progress. Quite happy to be reading, watching YouTube, and learning. I must have got my sunny disposition and positive attitude from him. Thank you, DAD!!!!!!

The basement is a disaster. The demolition crew arrived at 9 AM. I'm sure they wanted to turn around and go back home when they saw the task ahead of them. The good news is that I took some time before they came and carried stuff that I need right now upstairs to the new sewing room. It's got huge windows overlooking the street. I'm thinking I might keep a sewing machine up there - it's bright, it's light and I LOVE it! Thanks to M for moving out so I could commandeer that space.

There's even a nice built-in counter (desk) that's about 10 feet long. At the moment, it's covered with stuff that I'm supposed to sort through. So I did take up a couple of tables. I've got a full-size cutting table for 2 big mats and my big ironing board is up there as well. I'm happy as a clam. I'm sure my neighbors are wondering why that big room is lit up so early (and late) at night! I could shut the blinds, but no way - I want to see out.

The bad news is that the floor was in bad shape. You could smell the damp, mildew, mold or whatever was there almost as soon as they started to raise the floor. They took half of the main room out - the water had reached that far. The floor in the storage room is gone. Part of the floor where the long arm sits is also gone and sadly they had to remove a part of the floor in the stash room. Basically, they had to rip up flooring from every room down there. You know what that means - eventually it will all have to go. I do NOT want to think about that. It's going to be a nightmare to move everything. The bookcases, the fabric, the long arm. It all has to be moved.

It'll have to be done in sections - there's no other way to do it. It's going to be extremely disruptive, but hey - it could have been a whole lot worse. I just thank my stars that nothing was seriously damaged. So if you were planning on coming to my house for a Sit n Sew - that isn't going to happen. I will continue to have the UFO workshop - we can sit in the living room for that. But sewing? Nope - I've got space upstairs for two sewing machines at one time and I think it would be a tad crowded for a Sit n Sew.

I'll share a video with you when I get my main computer back. The guys were extremely careful, neat and tidy and you should see the way they stacked everything. I had a huge laugh when I saw that. They were here for three hours and then gone. All they left behind were SIX HUGE FANS that are not nearly as noisy as the fans were the last time this happened. And one big huge dehumidifier. The bad news - I found a couple of scraps of fabric on the concrete floor. They had been sitting on the concrete for a short period of time. The bad news? They were very damp from the concrete! So we have fans for about 3 days.

Then we decide on what to do to reconstruct the floor. I wish I could have a polished concrete floor there, but I'd lose a lot of headroom to have radiant heating put in. That would be awesome, but not going to happen.

A quick note about food. The good news - I didn't gain any weight while away - god - how could I? I was so good at what I ate. The bad news? Last night, I was chatting with a lady who was a wee bit taller than myself and weighed pretty much the same as I do. She told me what she weighed. She's been told by her doctor that she needs to lose more weight? Seriously????  She's pre-diabetic and determined to not go on medication!!!  I can't believe that and hope that there are other factors that have made her pre-diabetic.

More good news - my neck is finally starting to feel much better. I have so much more movement before the pain kicks in. I can practically do a 360!  OK - so I'm exaggerating!  I really feel that the massage is doing way more than the physio is. I've lots of exercises that I'm supposed to be doing - I need to get better at that. I cheated this morning and while I went to the gym - it was not to do the spin class. My legs were tired after all those stairs from yesterday. According to the Fitbit, it was almost 80 flights and over 17,000 steps. Nope - I went to the sauna. I lay with a towel rolled along my spine and did some stretching. Glorious!!!!  I feel like a million bucks right now.

I was a wee bit stressed yesterday. How did I relieve that stress?? By yelling of course. First I yelled at the stupid woman who almost ran me down. I'm walking Lexi and I arrive at the T-intersection by the school. I'm at the crosswalk and wearing my bright NEON orange jacket. It happened to be school drop off time which I hate because no one pays attention. The two cars on the main street stopped, but the woman coming from the side street, seeing the other two cars stopped, decided she could go. I don't think so, lady. I stopped in the middle of the street as her car aimed for me and I let loose with a couple of choice sentences. Seriously - I'm not hard to miss in that bright jacket!!!

My other stress reliever was at someone who walks their dog on the path behind our house. They insist on letting their dogs off leash. Normally, I wouldn't care but when the dog runs up to our fence and then my dogs go insane and bark like mad - it bugs me to no end. So I yelled at her. I should stand out in the forest on the other side of the fence and accost these people with a camera in hand. I'm tired of them disrespecting the posted signs. If they want to walk their dog off leash - there's a park for that or do it early in the morning when no one has their dogs in the backyard.

I felt much better in both cases! But seriously - what is coming of the world?

I finished the audiobook. As much as I like John Grisham, I wouldn't recommend this book. It's called Gray Mountain. It's long and filled with a lot of "boring" details. And I didn't like the main character in the book and I didn't like the way it ended! You can read it, but I don't recommend it. I was a bit disappointed because I really like all of his other books. I went through my list of "next to read" books and found another one in audiobook format. It's half the length - can't wait to get started on that today.

Here's a review of the book that I found online. I really should like the book given the topic - people (big corporations) who don't respect the little guy (coal miners). I think the problem was that this wasn't what I expected from John so it took me a bit by surprise. The book/topic is frustrating because the big guys try to take advantage of the little guys. I guess I was looking for pure entertainment. The book is well written - just be aware that the topic is slightly different.

I think that covers the good news/bad news at our house at the moment. I've got a busy day and I'm so excited to get my computer back!!!

I have a quilt loaded on the long arm and I'll be down there quilting today. The quilt should be in the mail today, but I don't think that is going to happen. It'll go tomorrow.

On that note, have a great day!!!!!

Ciao!!!