Once again just not a lot going on here at the Secret Lair. And not for lack of trying! Spring has sprung…
…but of course in April that’s only sporadically a good thing. Temperature’s all over the place and the spring wind is always a factor. But complaining about weather in April makes you seem kind of an ingrate.
Still working on getting the shower online with my scrounged little Heater Buddy. Forced the small-room temperature to a new high two days ago…
…only to lose a lot of that very promptly to the cold walls and floor, of course. Entropy’s a bitch, but we have the resting temperature of the whole interior up ten degrees in just a week or so, and the shower is now officially online if not exactly a place you want to linger and enjoy an afternoon cocktail.
And the experience reminded me of why I need to be shopping for a new one of these…
This is the backup: Over the winter my twice-as-capable Mr. Heater bit the dust and I dragged this one – which I scrounged many years ago – out of storage. And it showed me, again, why somebody threw it away: When it gets fully hot the knob stops working and so you can’t turn it OFF. When you’re using it with the little disposable bottles that’s an actual problem. When you use it the way I traditionally do…
…it’s – not really an actual problem but still kind of a pain. I haven’t used either of them for serious purposes in years but I did need them this past winter for company and they kind of let me down so I should be looking for a new one.
Other than that things are going swimmingly. A bit too well, actually: Big Brother bequeathed me his second-best Kindle a couple of months ago and it has practically turned me into a shut-in. For a long time I blamed my increasing reluctance to spend time with books on a YouTube-addled attention span, but it kind of turns out that at least part of the problem is deteriorating eyesight: The Kindle is simply easier to use. And of course books are easy and cheap to acquire, which in my situation is actually more of a problem than a blessing, because with the new phone I have a functioning wi-fi if I want it and also self-control and time preference were never my very best qualities…
My wife uses a Kindle for exactly that reason. She can read normal books, but she has to wear “reading glasses” (simple magnifiers, five bucks at most pharmacies) and doesn’t like to.
I remain un-impressed with the Mr Heater brand, especially the Buddy model.
Mine quit working early on.
Yeah, not being able to turn something off could be annoying.
Reading became enjoyable again when I realized I could get LARGE PRINT books from any of the many libraries in our library system. Put your name in the queue and wait your turn. Sometimes as long as a year for a popular title. Hunger is the best appetizer, or sumthin’.
“Spring has sprung…”
Two previous days were 80 degrees. Today I woke to 28 degrees with 40 mph gusts and snow. Further north has a frickin’ blizzard warning. Yay, spring…