Thursday

Thursday was yet another perfect summer day but, according to the weatherman, the last one. It was sunny and in the low 80’s with a light breeze.

I went to the Newburgh Grill and got the beef vegetable soup and a patty melt. I was going to get a gyro, but decided at the last minute on the patty melt.

Instead of walking at 3:00 p.m., I went home to wait for the cable guy. I swept the floors while waiting (I had apparently tracked in some mulch last night).

He called to say he was coming and I cautioned him to bring a new cable box. After last night’s effort, I was sure the cable box was shot.

He came in (carrying the new box) and I showed him the TV setup in my room. Caley was sleeping on top the book case, so the cable guy and the cat both scared each other!

He tested the line going into the box and said, “You have no signal!” I said that didn’t make any sense as the phone and the computer are both working. So, he traced the line back from the TV to next to the bed where it goes through the wall to outside.

“Here’s your problem,” he said, “Your cat chewed through the wire!”

Dammit!!!

He went outside and hooked up another wire. He tried to fish it through the wall several times, but failed. So, he got a fiberglass rod and finally got it in. I pulled on it inside while he pushed from outside and it finally came in.

Unfortunately, it knocked several hunks of plaster off the wall. I told him not to worry about it, I’d just patch and paint it. But he said he would just put an outlet cover on it.

Sidebar: He secured the bottom screw and then turned an app on his phone on that made it into a level!

He leveled it and screwed in the top. He joined the old cable to the new and the TV worked!!! He suggested I cover the wire with something to stop the cat from gnawing on it. Hmmm, I’ll have to think about that.

He left around 6:00 p.m. and I started dinner. I peeled three russet potatoes and cut them into cubes. I put them in the bottom of the Dutch oven and covered them with a bag of sauerkraut. Then I cut up some smoked kielbasa, put that on top the sauerkraut and brought it to a boil. Then I turned it to simmer and put the lid on it.

I went and watched the news until it ended. I kept checking the potatoes and when they were cooked, I fixed my plate.

I ate a delicious, hearty dinner watching Jeopardy.

Here’s the ironic part: When I checked the menu, I couldn’t find anything on that I wanted to watch! So, I watched a taped episode of The Treehouse Guys and went to bed.