Bfth's Boring Blog

  Okay, I don't have a tail, but that's how I feel.  I'm spending more time than I should chasing down companies that I do business with following up on issues that I shouldn't have to.  Or maybe I'm expecting too much?  I'll let you tell me.  Landscaper:  Okay, as a reminder, the person who did the outdoor maintenance in PA (there's no lawn, but bushes and trees grow like crazy) was deployed overseas this year.  So he gave our business to another company, which was fine.  I tried to reach out to them via their website and got no response.  When I called, I did and in March the owner came out to look at the yard (there was still snow at this point).  In April, I called again because it was just about time for a spring clean-up.  He came back, accessed again but no work was done until a couple of weeks later.  It was still early spring, but he and his team came and put out TONS of...

  14 years have gone by.  Although chunks of this day have slightly faded from my memory (I don't know whether that's good or bad), I will never forget that it was a Saturday.  And that the following day I was supposed to sponsor Rayna at her confirmation at church.  (I thought that it was Pentecost, but I Googled it and no... but then Pentecost would have been Memorial Day weekend, so maybe they figured we'd have a better crowd the following week...Maybe they did.  I didn't go.) I wish it hadn't been a month and a half since I'd last seen you.  I wish we'd seen you more. I still can't understand why our having James pulled you and Emma away from family gatherings.  How it bothered her. But she had a son, who we never met.  Who wasn't at your wedding.  But her mother was and that was the first time we met her. File those under things that I will never understand. I wish you were still here.  You SHOULD still be here.  Why, Why, WHY ...

 David died on Sunday. I can't remember when we met.  I know where, but am not sure of the year.  It was at one of the annual Beatles conventions that we used to attend.  A place where you met people and became fast friends, not just because you were a fan, but because you shared a sense of humor and understanding. David had a wicked sense of humor.  He was one of those people who you wouldn't think was funny, but he was.  The fact that you might misjudge him as staid and perhaps "corporate like" made his antics even funnier.  He wasn't the guy that you expected who would do goofy things.  That is until you got to know him. And then... He had two partners in crime.  Or at least two that I know of.  They were Kelley (his amazing wife) and Duncan (his crazy friend...another guy who could look at you with a straight face and then do something so funny you would fall on the floor with laughter.)  When the three of them were togeth...

  To say that it's been an "interesting" week is...well putting it mildly, it’s the kind of week as Alanis Morrissette would say:  "Well, life has a funny way of sneakin' up on you.  When you think everything's okay and everything's goin' right. And life has a funny way of helpin' you out. When you think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up in your face." Let's start with the BIG one:   the plumbing issue in NJ .  I went to work on Tuesday morning (and so did my son, which is another update) leaving the door to the basement unlocked.  The subcontractors (with the camera) and the plumbers were supposed to arrive between 12-2.  They showed up at the front door (not the back) a little before 2.  Thanks to technology (Ring), I was able to tell them to go around back and that Mike (who was not there yet) would explain everything.  Meanwhile, my husband (who was in PA) used Echo Dot technology to listen in and advise once they...

 I hope everyone had a reflective and relaxing long Memorial Day weekend. Note, I didn't say happy because Memorial Day is not really a day to be happy. It is a time to reflect. It is a time to remember. It is a time where we think about those who died so that this country could continue to exist. Those colonists who fought for freedom from tyranny during the Revolutionary war. Those Union soldiers who fought so that people of color would no longer be enslaved. Those who fought fascism (definition:  populist political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual, that is associated with a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, and that is characterized by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition) in both World Wars so that we could continue to pursue life, liberty and happiness. To those courageous men and women, we owe a debt of gratitu...

  I thought it was over... I was wrong. Let me take you back:   https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2026/04/water-part-2.html .  That was mid-April.  Right after that I got my bill.  And it was the same as it had been since December 2024:  So I thought they were playing catch up.   Then I got my May bill: Okay, so it was only for a few days of service.  The next bill would be "truthful" Then on Friday, May 22nd I got this: That makes a little more sense.  And as always, I set up a payment right away.   Since it was Friday and this is a long weekend, my payment would go through on Tuesday, May 26th. But then on Saturday (of a long holiday weekend), I get this email: Take a closer look What?  Current charges $380.26, but Account Balance as of this reminder: $48.35?  Where is that charge coming from?  If I go directly to my account on their website: No mention of it there...no mention of ANY of it when I ...