Missed Out on Airlines Deal

I saw a TikTok video about a 50% discount on SouthWest flights. I checked online. It actually was 40% off my desired flight. I thought I had a month and a half to decide. After a couple days, I found that the deal had expired.

I tried another deal I saw online. It was just 20% off. Unfortunately, it was only for SouthWest employees. I ended up paying full price. I am expecting SouthWest to nickel and dime me to the tune of $35 per bag each way.

The only good news is that I can borrow my father-in-law's vehicle during my stay. I won't have to rent a car, which would have cost me $500+. I did notice there were cool cars available at the lowest price. Things like a Mustang convertible or a 4-door Jeep. Oh well. Too much money.

Food Melting Soon

Kit Kat has a service that provides her raw ingredients for her meals. She usually has the box shipped to our house on Fridays. She chooses from some meal options. They give her the recipe. And all ingredients are provided.

Yesterday Kit Kat was a bridesmaid for her college dorm mate's wedding. Her food package came. I was tired because I had just returned from vacation.I should have asked Little Kat to deliver the box to Kit Kat's apartment. But I did not.

Today we figured Kit Kat would come and pick up her box. But she got sick due to some wedding food. Momoko asked Little Kat to deliver the box to Kit Kat's apartment. Apparently Little Kat was booked. He was helping set up a new player for his D&D campaign.

So it was up to us. My brother, Momoko, and I went to Kit Kat's apartment. We brought up the box. But we left immediately to get lunch at Subway. I left my keys with my brother, who stayed in the car and left the car and A/C running.

House Search Redux

Momoko would not do any more driving. So I had to take the wheel. I went by McDonald's to order some new chicken tenders. The line was too long. And the drive through had two speakers that merged into one lane. I left and went to the first house.

Started looking at a house from the alley. It was a brand new townhouse. It had two carport spaces front to back. The whole neighborhood was new town houses. There was no grass to mow. It had a $50 HOA fee. At least it was an end unit.

Next I tried looking at a cheaper new house. It was close to the town house. It boasted mini-split A/C units in the bedrooms. And it had a leaf guard on the rain gutters. However when we saw the house, it was not a single family as advertised. It was a duplex. Nope.

Finally we looked at another single family house. It had a narrow but very deep back yard. It was built in 1830. That was big concern, as we just saw a Mike Holmes show that uncovered tons of issues in a really old house. This turned out to be moot. The house was on a totally busy street.

Afterwards, I went to a Sonic drive through for a SuperSonic burrito. We got there one hour before the place closed. I brought the food back to our hotel room. The ride back to the hotel was short. That means the ride from these places, which were all close to each other, was very short to Fuddruckers. 

Getting Lost on the Mountain

I was dreaming about winning the lottery jackpot. Then with the proceeds, I would buy a vacation house up north near a Fuddruckers restaurant. I had Momoko drive me to a few houses for sale. Today I took the wheel to see some more expensive houses. The last one was on a mountain road.

The GPS told us to take a road that had a covered one lane bridge. I skipped that road because it was hard to navigate. We were headed to the mountain road. Some guy in a sit down lawn mower came down a hill fast and almost came out on the street in front of us. We passed him and found the house for sale. It was too close to a busy road.

We went on and ended up by some faire grounds. Momoko entered the address of a restaurant by our hotel to guide us home. She later said her phone had a glitch. This mountain home was 10+ minutes from our hotel. However the GPS said it would take a half hour to get back there. I had to pull off the road for Momoko to calibrate the GPS. We essentially did a U-turn and back tracked to get back on the road we came from.

I am now safe in the hotel room. I plan to do some studying before the July 4 holiday. That way we can just have it be a travel day without any extra chores.  

The New Yorker Sales Pitch

I got an advertisement in the mail to subscribe to The New Yorker magazine. It is published weekly. Cover price is $10. They were willing to give me a 26 week subscription for $1 a week (total $26). If I ordered online, the price would drop to $21.

I don't know much about the magazine. But I do know a good deal when I see one. I went online to subscribe. Almost got to the checkout. Then I saw the fine print. They plan to use my credit card to automatically resubscribe me at $180 a year.

I detest this kind of sneaky practice. So much so that I am definitely not subscribing. They got so close. If they would only have had stand up practices, provided me with great content, I may have resubscribed at will. But no. They will never get the chance because of this underhanded technique. Shame on you New Yorker.

Water Under the Sink

Last week, I went to get some garbage bags from under the sink. The garbage bag box was soaked with water. The bags all fell out on the floor. I cleared half the stuff under the sink. There seemed to be water under and to left of the disposal.

I dried everything off. Placed the items in bankers boxes. Then I cleaned up the bottom of the cabinet under the sink. I emailed the family. Nobody noticed anything. Little Kat did the dishes. He said the water sprayer was leaking whenever the water was turned on.

I called the plumber who did our toilet. They sent out a guy ASAP. He confirmed the sprayer was no good. He said I should buy a new faucet. He said get a name brand like Moen or Kohler. I ran to Lowe's. There was one faucet that looked like ours. But it was some other unknown brand. I settled for a Moen.

Tried to call the plumber back. Had to leave a message. Ate lunch at Jerry's. When home, got a call back from the plumber. They said they could return this afternoon. I read my book, sitting by the winder, waiting for the plumber. A new guy came and spent 30 minutes replacing the faucet.

No Hot Water

Momoko took a shower and said the water was not as hot with the normal shower settings. Water at the sink was also not very hot. Later that day, I tried to take a shower. The water was cold. This morning I tried to press the button to light the hot water tank pilot. It did not work.

I tried a couple times calling the plumber that fixed out toilet last. They never picked up the call. Then I tried to call the guy who installed the hot water heater. Just got a message saying he is no longer a plumber. So I just googled for plumbers and chose a name I recognized. They gave me a 3 hour window this afternoon for a plumber to come.

After lunch I got a call from the company. They said the plumber was on his way, and would be here in 45 minutes to an hour. I just read my books. Three and a half hours later, I called the main office back. Nobody had shown up.

I stayed on hold for 15 minutes and hung up when the plumber showed up at the door. He said for $300 he could try to light the pilot. I asked him what would happen if he could not. He said something about me having to pay less. That was unsettling. But it was the end of the day. I watched as he did a few things and lit the pilot. I made sure I could replicate those actions myself. He said we should have full hot water in 1 hour.