Unsettlers

This book chronicles the author meeting three families who wanted to escape. They were against many things including government, taxes, and the grid.

One family set up some sort of community. They worked to grow food they could eat. They had a hard time attracting anybody to join the community long term. There was a rule that the community voted on things together. However the wife seemed to think she could overrule the votes. They had a neighbor who ran a cow farm that helped them out when they needed things like an emergency ride in a car to the hospital.

Another family focused on the young daughter. She was in a bad part of Detroit. She was not allowed to walk outside alone due to crime. She loved agriculture. She went to school for it. But she could only find a minimum wage job at a government place that was doomed to go out of business.

The third was about a family that strove to make money from their farming. It was rough. They lucked out when they could get businesses to buy from them. They also sold they produce at a market. Even though they had some sales, it was hard to make ends meet. They needed to adapt to sell the items that made the most profit.

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.

Delivery Man for Kit Kat

Momoko and Little Kat drove together to work today. Little Kat's car is having problems getting out of park. We plan to drop the car off at the shop tomorrow afternoon. Shortly after getting to work, Momoko called me and said Kit Kat was stick today. She usually receives Every Plate cooking supplies delivered to our house on Fridays. Momoko asked me to bring the goods to Kit Kat's apartment.

When I finally got out of bed, I planned to go to Jerry's subs and pizza. Kit Kat's delivery had already arrived. I called her up and we planned for me to drop off her packages. She said she was too sick to open the outer door to her apartment building. I gathered the Every Plate, her Chewy order, and another Amazon package. Then I drove to her apartment.

I had to make two trips to Kit Kat's building. The packages were heavy. I put everything down in front of the apartment door. Then I struggled as usual to open the outer door. I struggled and carried all the items up a flight of stairs. I rested them on top of a window sill. Then I called Kit Kat to open her apartment door. Her two cats came out to the living room to investigate. I did not stay long so I would not contract whatever disease Kit Kat had.

Beach Vacation

Momoko and I took a trip to the beach. It was supposed to be sunny. But it rained all day one day. We had an oceanfront room. They were renovating a beach bar outside. So there was a lot of noise every morning. The snack bar inside was only open in the mornings. A dude I met was bummed the indoor ice skating rink was closed.

We met a work friend who was also down at the beach. She had a hard time getting the room at her hotel she wanted. One did pop up last minute. But it was renovated to her dislike. The big couch was gone. Large tables gone. Balcony small. Tub gone. Shower with a temporary tension bar in its place. At least our friend showed us a place on the bay side with the best crab cakes.

Our hotel was good except the door to our room would not easily open at nights. I had to struggle each night. On the last night, I just went to pick up carry out. Momoko stayed behind and opened the door for me. The restaurant asked me if I wanted ketchup with my fries. I did. I also requested plastic utensils for Momoko's turkey platter. The hostess complained of having to walk back to the kitchen.

We went down to the boardwalk one day. They closed off 80% of the parking lot, making us to walk far just to get to the boardwalk. Momoko spent a lot of time inside a jewelry store. She got a new chain, a new pendant for Kit Kat, and a pendant for herself. We bought caramel popcorn and taffy for Kit Kat. Took a while to check out as the customer before us tried to pay with a $100. They had no change.

One night we found that Dairy Queen had southern gravy for Momoko. She got the chicken dinner. I got a $7 meal which included a sundae. It was not enough food for me. But Momoko gave me some of her copious fries she could not eat. On TV, we watched local drag strip racing. The winner raced the pro-outlaw after negotiating a handicap.

Minecraft at McDonald's

McDonald's has new combo meals featuring toys from Minecraft. This is in conjunction with the new Minecraft movie. I ordered two Big Mac meals so far. But both times, I got the Bic Mac Minecraft toy. I wanted something else. So I figured I might go to another restaurant.

I went to one by my brother's work. They were closed for renovation. Next I went to one by my old townhouse. They said they did not have toys for the combo meals. They did have Minecraft Happy Meals. I ordered one.

The guy at the window handed me one Happy Meal. Then he parked me. When the food was delivered, they gave me another Happy Meal. Both meals had the same Creeper toy. I liked it because it was not a McDonald's character. It was a character from the actual Minecraft game.