A friendly wind drifting all the way from the ocean has made the temperature unseasonably warm this week, so I decided it's time to do some summer-ending fixing.

Well, "unseasonably" for now, with global warming and all that. It's supposed to be highs in the 40°F, with maybe sneaks into the 50s. Today was forecast to be pushing 70! Because it's warm enough to work outside without winter gear, I figured I'd make one more pass with the mower, getting leaves and long grass, if necessary, try to do some cleaning and get some furniture put back in place, and if I can find them and manage it, even attach the storm windows.

I usually come down for a day, but I find it hard to do much more than check mouse traps and mow the lawn. Maybe there's a little time for some dusting and running a Swiffer over the floors, but it takes too long to get here and back. I suggested to the missus earlier in the month that I should take some days to come down and do more in the time. I suggested a week, and she didn't disagree. It's been hard to find a week between family events, though. But with the break in the weather, I decided it needed to be this week if I was going to get as much of the outside stuff done as I wanted to do.

I did all the things I could to prepare the house for my absence. Laundry was done. Dishes were done. A quick turn at the toilets was done. I pulled out the mower and hit the yard for one last pass and to collect as many leaves as I could. I moved my motorcycle off to the side and rearranged the things it displaced, hopefully to still allow both Jeeps to fit in the garage. I put the lawnmower we'd brought from Wisconsin back in the Jeep to return it. I put the hand truck (dolly, if you prefer) in the Jeep, too, to help me move heavy furniture by myself. I put together some gear to maybe continue to do some computer work while there, too. I grabbed some toiletries and threw a few days of clothes in a bag. I gathered some coffee-making supplies and some microwavable food so I wouldn't have to figure out a 15-minute drive for a restaurant. I waited until everyone was home and settled, and took off.

As I drove, I realized the coffee I brought from home wasn't going to cut it. I'd grabbed a can of Café Bustelo, which is fantastic, but I brought a French press, which doesn't work so well with fine-ground coffee. So I stopped by one of the last grocery stores along the way and grabbed a little bag of ground coffee, and some creamer, since I was there. I grabbed a couple cans of soup, too, since I was standing there in front of it, and all the other stuff was kind of less impressive.

It was very dark by the time I got to the house. Only one of the outside lights worked, and it seemed to have a 25 watt (equivalent?) bulb, as it didn't really light the walk very well. so I had to trip the Jeep's lights every time I went to grab something from outside. I got the groceries, cleaning bits, clothes, bedding, and hobby stuff inside. All was well.

It was only 8PM, but it was really dark. I turned out the weak light and went out with my little flashlight. I turned it off and enjoyed a burst of stars. The nearest unobstructed lights are a few miles away. The neighbors have a few lights you can see through the trees, but they're not very bright. Even with the naked eye, I could make out the wisps of the aurora borealis. I tried to take a long-exposure shot from my phone, and the wisps turned out more visibly, but it's pretty granular. 

I rolled out my bedding, just a blanket and pillow, on the bed, figuring I'd sleep in it like a burrito. It is so dark and quiet out here, I was out pretty quickly, and didn't wake until the hallway started to light up.

I started making some coffee and then pulled out one of the Kodiak cup o' pancake I brought. Then I noticed the microwave is in fact a toaster oven. There's no microwave here! Well, there is one, removed to the garage because it's horribly nasty inside, after decades of serving a bachelor who seemingly never cleaned its insides. I'm fine, though, as often I only drink coffee for breakfast.

I made a few passes around the hardwood floor with the Swiffer. It got cleaner with each pass, but really needs something damp or one of the vacuums. The vacs need bags, though, and I don't have any wet Swiffer pads. I wandered about checking all the light bulbs. I knew I had to get a bunch for the lights outside (a dozen, it turns out) and in the garage (four there), and if I can figure out how to reach them, the two spotlights near the peak of the garage. In every room of the house, and nearly every lamp, there were burned out lights. More often, there weren't any lights in some spots! In the end, I needed 30 light bulbs (and it turned out I missed a few).

I "swung by" Menards. By that I mean I drove 30 minutes to the closest one. I grabbed a bevy of light bulbs, a toilet brush (because I couldn't find one), and impulse bought a slow-close toilet seat they had on special, because I keep forgetting it's not slow-close here, and keep dropping it. I also got some Swiffer wet pads and some other cleaning bits that I couldn't find at the house. Like there's one sponge for the kitchen, but I wanted another one for cleaning the bathroom counters. I couldn't find the vacuum cleaner bags I needed, so I tripped to the Walmart across the way. They had them. I also impulse bought an inexpensive set of sheets, so I wouldn't have to sleep between folds of a down comforter again. I stopped for a quick burger, too. I vacillated on getting some different groceries, but felt I'd spent enough already.

I got back and dug into swapping light bulbs. The garage was pretty easy. Two of the bulbs had things beneath that I could climb on to reach the bulbs. The other two needed a ladder, which was tricky to open in the garage. I realized I could probably use that to get up to reach the spotlights in the peak. I didn't get to that, though. Most of the outdoor lights have open access to the bulbs. As soon as I replaced them, they sprung to life! A few of the lights I had to use a screwdriver to open, and I only dropped one! Then I started indoors. I changed about a dozen lights, but more than a few wouldn't turn on still. The dining room table has three bulbs in it, so it isn't the bulb or socket. There are two on the stairs going up, but only one worked. I tried more than a few combinations of the switches around that don't seem to do anything. I'll get to the lights I missed today tomorrow.

I dug into the vacuum cleaners. I was surprised to learn a mouse had made a house in one of the vacuums when I opened it to check its bag situation and all the stuffing and stuff fell out on my freshly Swiffered floor! I grumbled, swept it up, took the vac outside and cleaned it as well as I could. Learning from the first, I started outside with the second, but it was clean inside. I wiped both of them down on their outsides and started Hoovering. I switched from the Eureka to the Kenmore because it's much quieter and stronger. I got all the floors on the main floor a couple times. I took moments and would apply some toilet cleaner, or give it a scrub, and then add some more. The toilets are just struggling with lack of use, so there's some build up left behind as the water in the bowl evaporates.

By then it was dark again. I decided to have some dinner. I have those cans of soup, but then found there are now bowls. There are pots, and I figured I could wash the dust and bugs out of one, and maybe eat the soup out of there, but never did. I decided to have a dinner of a couple beers and some chips. Between swigs, I took to the toilet in the main floor bathroom. I scrubbed it as clean as I could, in and out. I mounted the new toilet seat, and a bidet I had also decided I needed to have.

Since I was on a roll, and because I'd been kind of hot and sweaty and dusty all day, I decided to clean the upstairs bathroom, too, because it's got a corner shower, and because I put off cleaning the tub in the main floor bathroom, so I didn't want to use that shower. I gave that toilet a solid scrub and set about vacuuming all the bugs in the bathroom and shower. I gave the floor of the shower a quick scrub and sprayed what I could with the nozzle. I let the hot water run a bit to wash away the bits on the floor. When I returned, I realized the new bane of my existence is Asian Beetles. The little ladybug lookalikes are everywhere. They weren't as obvious in the daytime, but they're drawn to the lights after dark.

I took a quick shower. After, I realized I should have grabbed a pad or bit of rug for the floor right outside the shower. Between what dribbled off the door and me as I dried off, a bit of a slick puddle appeared. I mopped it up quickly enough. I thought to quick vac since I was there with one, but very quickly realized there is only one working light bulb on the floor outside the bathroom (where all the bulbs work). I decided to be done for the day, and considered the soup again.

Instead, I decided to dig out the laptop and tap out this thing to remember it later.

It's only 9PM, but it feels like midnight, so I'm gonna turn in and get an early start. There's a breakfast place in the town that I'll probably hit in the morning while I wait for the sun to get bright enough to make it warm enough to focus on the storm windows and furniture. I might return home after working all day, but since it gets dark at 5PM already, I might wait until Saturday morning to take off. We'll see how torn up I am after moving all that Amish wood around.