Found a snowy owl down the street! So excited. Next time, I’m taking binoculars. Thanks to the people who told me where to look.
Category Archives: seasons
Product Review: Utilitech 1/6 HP Utility Pump
This past weekend, I had the unfortunate pleasure of using a utility pump to get water out of my basement. It was a good pump, but did not come with any instructions or trouble shooting so I was mostly wandering around blindly while inches of water came in through my basement. I thought it might help some people if I wrote about how to use it.
- The shorter the hose the better. I originally had 100 feet of hose attached to the pump, but that was way too long. I bought it that long so that I could run the hose out of the basement to the front, but my father pointed out that I could get a shorter hose and put it through the drain for the washing machine. Since the power cord was 10 feet long, I bought the shortest hose I could get (15 feet)/
- Sometimes the pump would not spin. This was because of silt that had gotten into the mechanism. By drilling the screws out and wiping each part down, I was able to get most of the silt out. Always make sure that the pump is turned off when you do that and try it out before you put the screws back in.
- Sometimes that even doesn’t work. The only way I figured out how to make the pump start working was to turn it out, put it on the floor, and then unscrew the hose until it started taking in water. Then you have to move very fast, angle the pump on its side and screw the hose back on. This way, it will start taking water up and through the hose.
- Make sure to give it time to cool down. It has a little engine and it is doing a lot of work, so put it in a cool place.
- Clean it completely after you are done with it.
Hopefully I won’t have to use this again anytime soon. However, we need to get a few contractors out to fix things in the house and yard.
I bought my pump at Lowes. It was located in the back behind the fridge/sink/toilet display against the back wall.
Dry Dock One
Sometimes I get to do really fun stuff because of work…on Saturday, under blue skies and with no wind, I got to go into Dry Dock One at the Charlestown Navy Yard and learn all about its history. Not only did we get to go into it, we got to spend about an hour wandering around, taking pictures, looking at fish and crabs, and climbing up and down the edges. It was awesome.
We found really interesting objects inside the dry dock (a skull!! How did that get there? Seems to be a prey and not a predator like I originally thought) and saw lots of numbers around us.
Most of these had fallen off of the walls as the epoxy used to secure them to the surface dried and cracked in the heat and cold. I sooo wanted to take a few home with me.
Then, we went into the Caisson…this is the thing that keeps the water out of the dry dock, and I was inside of it. It is actually very clean inside, which was slightly impressive. It is also impressive that so little metal is keeping the ocean out of that dry dock.
Next field trip may include the Chain Forge and the Rope Walk…and a trip to Lowell to look at their education program. Sometimes I love my job.
Halloween
We had our Halloween party last night since the bar we go to has their party on the Friday before the holiday. There were a lot of interesting costumes, but we were able to take 2nd and 3rd place in the costume contest with these:
Michael was some local, but American Gothic took second place (50 bucks!) and Macho Man Randy Savage took third (20 bucks). Overall a good night.
We also had other people hopping into the picture frame through the night:
While I did not place, I liked my costume a lot. I was Amelia Earhart and my boyfriend was Ernest Hemingway:
I could totally see Amelia wearing striped socks.
Tonight, we have already bottled beer and I am going to go have dinner soon. After that, pumpkin carving!! I love Halloween
Running
And not in the good way. I have been flat out running for the last few weeks. Not only did we have a housewarming party, we participated in a snow covered charity walk that didn’t go as well as we wanted it to. Because of the weather, half the members of our team were not able to walk…which really annoyed my Dad as it was in his honor that we were walking. However, if he had gotten sicker at the event, I would never forgive myself.
I have also had a presentation, 8 page paper (which turned out to be 7), 3-5 page paper (which is at 4 right now), 1 page response paper, lit review, children’s program, registering for my last semester of school and a few other things hanging over my head. People at work have been getting hurt (falling off of a stage, fake appendicitis, staph infection) and others have had family members die.
And I haven’t been able to spend any time on my costume 😦 I ran into Salvation Army today to pick up a “bomber jacket”, really just a red faux-leather jacket (for 6.99) and a Halloween store for a pilots hat and goggles and gun. I have my brown shoes, zip pants, and I might try to make a scarf out of an old t-shirt tomorrow quickly…not sure. I’m slightly annoyed that I’ve tossed out certain things and can’t find other things but whatever.
Paper is done, computer will be plugged in for school tomorrow, costume is mostly together. I didn’t get to make my Guinness cupcakes, but that is fine. I’ll make them on Saturday to eat with our pot roast.
Odd things people look for…
Oddly enough, the most popular posts on here have to do with living in East Boston and my costume choice for last year, a German Beer Wench. People are interested in the weirdest things.
Either way, my costume last year looked like this in the catalog:
This is probably the best picture I got that night…no one was really taking pictures since we were all too busy playing darts and drinking:
Not sure what I am going to be this year…maybe Rosie the Riveter…or a ’50s Vamp. It all depends on if I can find a costume for the boy since we’ve never dressed up together but probably should one of these days to get it over with.
What are you going as?
Milestones
In the past 3 days, I have had 3 milestones of various size. The first is silly and only means anything to me as this is my 100th posting here.
The second, is that I am a homeowner. We have already made our mark on the house by ripping down wallpaper and writing on the walls. Already have had the first drinks, the first family visit, and the first cooking in the house.
The third, is that today is my birthday. Today, I am 30…and I had a bunch of wonderful people come out last night to participate in a scavenger hunt that I made (apparently very hard) and then drink with me. They even bought me a ride on the carousel on the Greenway. I have not had a great year…but I think the tide might be turning. I feel blessed and loved and happy…and that hasn’t happened in a long time.
Today, I am going to go play skee ball, because everyone should do that as much as possible. And then I shall go to my Grandma’s house for dinner, presents, children running around, cake, and loveliness. Yeah!
Seek the Peak Re-Cap
So, I made it up and down the mountain without falling down once, which is actually quite an accomplishment for me.
The week began with some beer:
A sampler from Moat Mountain, lovely place to eat and lovely place to stay about 20 miles away from Mt. Washington and nice comfy beds.
Larry came along for the ride and the weather reminded him of traveling on the ocean with all the fog and rain.
The last of the snow from the winter…it wasn’t as impressive as last year since it was all gloomy when we went by in the morning. If we had come down the same trail (which we should have) the pictures would have been much better.
We made it up here in fairly record time for me. 4 miles in just about 4 hours…with the extra weather and some issues with breathing and a large group of people standing in the middle of the trail, so annoying.
A quick picture after we hit the summit going down Lion’s Head.
You can see how different the weather can be in just a few hours. It was lovely on the way down from the summit.
Remember, kiddies! Be Ice Smart! And remember to scream and wave your hands in the air while running away from large ice boulders.
I love $3 pint glasses!
But orgasmic, organic berries are even better!
Sandcastles in the Sky
We finally got to do something I’ve been wanting to do for a few years now…go to the sand sculpting contest at Revere Beach. It was interesting and then we walked up the beach for a bit with our feet in the water. Nice way to end the day.
A walk on the beach…
Tomorrow will be spent in the mountains, finally getting Cannon off of my list of summits and starting the summer hiking season, but the other day was spent at the ocean. It isn’t that hard, seeing as how it is across the street from us…but we don’t always get over there. There were a lot of interesting planes taking off and landing and a lot of clams digging into the sand.
Found this little guy on a large piece of sea glass…I have a large collection that I hope to make into necklaces once I get my stained glass equipment back.
Loved the light that was at the beach…
A Small Girl in the Great Outdoors 