I nearly Died Of Boredom yesterday while waiting for the plumber to come and install my new water heater. I'd been given the impression that they were going to call me morning-ish to give me an idea of when they'd be coming by, which would have been nice since then I could have gone and run some errands and gone to the library and maybe rented some videos or something... But by noon I'd received no phone call, so I called the gas company (who I was buying the water heater through) to see if they could get some sort of clue as to when they might be coming by. I finally got a call around 2:30, they actually showed up around 3:30 and didn't finish until almost 5. So my entire day (and my one full day off) I was trapped at home. I don't know how people who work regular day shifts do it. Do you just take the whole day off? Do you ask the plumber/electrician/whatever to call right before they come out? I know that not all jobs are the type that you can just leave at any time (mine for example.)

As funky as the hours I work are (2am-10am) I actually prefer working nights and the above is one big reason why. It's nice to not have to sweat missing work for stupid crap like that.

But now I do have a fully functioning water heater--40 gallons worth. It's going to be nice to not have to try to remember to check the pilot light before going to bed. I was getting a bit sick of cold showers on those days when I'd forgotten to check. I really don't need 40 gallons, but when you buy through the gas company you have a choice of 40 or 50, so what the hell. It was kind of funny though when the plumbers came into the garage and got a look at my existing water heater. "That's a relic!" they exclaimed.

However, today I'm having more luck with the installation of my new nifty gas lamp. I actually got a call from that contractor yesterday, setting up a time, and he arrived nice and promptly at 8:30 this morning.

I've been having a bit of a sore throat lately--nothing too serious (so I thought) or painful, but then I got a flashlight and actually looked at my throat, and saw that my tonsils were covered with big ugly white blotches. Hmmm. My mother took a look and made "Akk! Go see a doctor!" noises. Scowl. So fine, this morning I called the Family Practice guy whom I almost never go see, and asked if I could get an appointment that afternoon since I thought I might have strep. "We'll have to call you back and see if you can be worked in." Worked in. Gee that's swell.

However, the weather is utterly friggin' beautiful today--nice low humidity, just on the comfortable side of chilly, bright clear skies. Zeus is having a wonderful time galumphing around the yard. I'm leaving him outside as much as possible since I kept him in so much during the brutal heat of the summer. I'm leaving both doors wide open, in an attempt to clear out some of the stuffiness and occasionally Zeus will come inside with his chew-toy in his mouth and will look at me with a "Come play with me!" expression on his face. The dog is smart, so I drop what I'm doing and go play with him. It's the right thing to do.