Sunday...

    Today I volunteered again at the art gallery in town.  The show in which I entered will go until the second week in November, then they will have a photography show for amateurs and professionals.  I don't think I'm going to enter that one.  It has been a while since I've taken gallery worthy photos, and the photos I have on some of my wall galleries will need to be reprinted and properly framed in case they sell during the show.  Maybe next year....

     I was busy last week, more than usual, but with a lot of good things happening.  Unfortunately, I haven't gotten a job offer, yet.

    Some of the week was filled with the mundane ... food pantry, picking up prescriptions.  An awareness fair for domestic violence.  There was also another job interview, and Thursday's weatherization inspection that was both disheartening and hopeful.

    Disheartening in that the house was even worse than I was aware, and if I'd had an inspector as good as this guy was at his job, I likely wouldn't have bought the house because the bank wouldn't have loaned on it.  It's also disheartening because the "flippers" are a prominent lawyer in town's husband and son and you would think that they would have done a better job with that reputation expectation.  But oh well.  Maybe they fall under the shyster lawyer reputation instead.  Also frustrating is the fact that the natural gas heater I just had installed will have to come out because it is unvented, and the state has a restriction against doing work in houses with them as a sole heat source.  It just means that once they get the work done, the mini splits should work more efficiently to keep the house warm.

    Hopeful because the work to be done, once approved by the state Energy Conversation & Housing Rehab committee, will include a higher grade of attic insulation (currently R-13, should be at least R-38, but because I'm in climate zone 4, R-49 to R-60 is recommended) and basement insulation (also R-13, should be at least R-19).  They will also address air leaks throughout the house, and (knock on wood) repair the mini splits so that I can utilize them in the summer for air conditioning.  Currently they freeze up because the hoses were installed incorrectly.    The blower door air leak test was also very enlightening.  For a house this size, under 900 sq. ft., I should have no more than 600-850 CFM50 [CFM=Cubic Feet per Minute in a blower door test]. I had three times that amount, 2850 CFM50, which meant that 2850 CFM of air was leaking out of the house during the test.  I've been essentially heating the outside more than the inside.

    I started to contribute to Words on Wednesday this week but was at a loss for words.  Grief over Charlie hit hard again after a photo popped up in my gallery memories of his gotcha day.  Lavendar chamomile tea for the win.

    I've also gotten back into my Intuit classes for tax prep level 1.  Keeps my brain busy on something positive and not so much on the unhappy or worrisome stuff.  

    Stay paws-ative out there ... 💜 Ci