Mrrzy, good luck sorting that out. I'm told that what is produced these days is so much stronger than the weed of our youth that one has to be careful using it. I was a chicken, I never used it, and now it sounds like it's a riskier product than I'm interested in. Alcohol is the drug of choice here (though I'm off of that for a while also, just because.)
Patty, congratulations on the eBay refund! Did you try the CUs in the city that is on your mailing address? Las Cruces is larger and has a university, it is bound to have better functioning credit unions. There are some linkages between different credit unions (you'll have to ask your distant one how to connect with something closeby). Plus there are surcharge-free ATMs that seem mostly to be set up in 7-Eleven convenience stores and other credit unions. That said, my remote CU won't let me use their online form to link it to my nearby CU. I have to call them to do it (and I'll avoid "9"!) I can write myself a check and deposit it via a phone app, and that said, the phone apps are pretty robust.
There must have been reasons why you chose to rebuild the veranda versus patch it. Was the wood weak? You would have had to do regular repairs on it? Living in a construction zone is never fun but I bet you'll enjoy the outcome. When I moved into this house I had remodeling done, but I had a new garage built in the back when the existing one was enclosed in the house. I always enjoy puttering around the garage; it may be 500sf, but it's something I had built.
A friend who lives in the Davis Mountains of West Texas is at the point of replacing the furnace and AC in her home, and the local AC shop recommended five "mini-splits." That's what you're using now, right? Do you like their performance? Any tips I can pass along?
More snow fell on the icy crust overnight so it's pretty, but this morning is 33o, so drippy. Yesterday was a national day of mourning so may be the reason for no trash pickup (and no mail and a delay on your CU paperwork); we'll see if the bag at the curb goes away today. There's enough greasy stuff in it that raccoons or coyotes will eventually tear it up if it stays out too long. Unless I have so much stuff that the large Rubbermaid can makes sense, I put a bag out to save myself having to retrieve the can later.
A damp dog has decided to hang out next to my computer chair. Time for a towel to use on these two as the snow melts. For those of you who use FB, yesterday I posted a photo of the red cap my daughter crocheted on a whim for one of her chickens. I'd seen a photo of a different hen with a hat and sent it to her, and she decided to whip up a little one. The result? "She was quite offended." But it's a lovely photo.