The last remaining wall-to-wall carpeting in our house is in the living and dining rooms. Polly and Donna have ripped up most of it, exposing the bare concrete pad our home is built on.
 |
 |
A few days ago Donna had a father/son contractor team over to give us an estimate on poured concrete flooring. We decided to go ahead with it. They’ll be back to start the job tomorrow. Included in their price: removing the furniture, putting it back afterward, and hauling away the old carpeting and padding. They would have ripped it all up, too, but Donna and Polly have already done most of that.
When our dachshund pack grew from one to three we put up extendable child gates across the entrances to the living and dining rooms. The gates have mostly done their job … that is when we remember not to leave them open. Their final duty will be keeping the dogs off the fresh concrete flooring for the three days it’ll take to harden and dry. That’s the easy part. The hard part’ll be keeping them away from the contractors as they work. We may have to lock ’em in our bedroom for the day.
Although the flooring guys are moving the furniture, it’s on us to first remove books, china, and glassware from cases and cabinets, and that’s what we’re doing today. Most of that stuff is going in the garage. There are times we hate having an adult child living at home. There are times she’s a godsend, like today … we’re getting too old for heavy manual labor.
During a follow-up session with my cardiologist a week after the cardioversion procedure at Tucson Medical Center, I learned to my relief that it worked — my heartbeat is regular again and I can go back to twice-yearly visits. Tell you what, when a doctor tells you there are problems with your heart (in my case, arterial fibrillation), that’s all you can think about, and you start feeling all sorts of strange sensations in your chest. What’s imaginary and what’s real? Who knows? A little reassurance from a cardiologist goes a long way.
Last week’s elections saw the defeat of right-wing attempts to take over school boards in several states and cities, a welcome return to sanity. It wasn’t a clean sweep — book banners and know-nothings remain entrenched in many districts, notably in Florida and Texas — but it’s good to know that when given a choice most voters remain in favor of exposing students to knowledge and truth. Republicans’ first reaction to that? Attack direct democracy and take away our right to choose. Of course.
Who needs a dog photo? I do!
