Journey to the Center

Over the weekend my husband and I tried to put in the new garbage disposal. It’s one of the things about this house that we just haven’t been able to get used to. Low water pressure? Fine, we’ll adjust. No microwave? Well, we have an oven. No disposal? Panic!

The reasoning behind not putting one in was sound - we’re on a septic system instead of sewer. Fortunately they’ve developed a disposal with septic in mind, so we went out and picked one up. It’s one heck of a disposal too: 3/4 horsepower with a 40 oz grind chamber. Not that we need all of that grinding power, but it will be nice to be able to just wash stuff down the sink instead of being super careful about catching scraps in the trap. And then the really gross part of transferring the ick from the trap to the trash.

After bringing this bad boy home, we came up with a plan of attack. See, the dishwasher was put in after the rest of the kitchen, so there’s some weird wiring under the sink (along with a switch?!?) to accommodate it. We figured we’d just attach the disposal to the dishwasher electric feed, do a bit of plumbing and be done. We’ve done electric work before. This shouldn’t be a big deal.

Wouldn’t it be nice if things went to plan? Just once, even?

So we started flipping breakers, trying to determine which of the lines fed which parts of the kitchen. There are 2 lines for outlets, the stove, the fridge, some more lines for other receptacles and the lights… none of them impact the dishwasher. So we start flipping other random breakers, leaving out the upper and lower floors. The last one on the list before we get to the last-resort-upstairs-breakers is the furnace.

Naturally, they hooked the dishwasher up to the furnace. Why on earth wouldn’t you hook two items that take 15 amps up to the same 20 amp breaker? What possible reason could you have for wanting the dishwasher to stand alone?

At least now we know why there’s a switch for it.

So we spent Sunday running wire from a spare breaker (Spare. Hah! At least now I know we’re not going to increase the water pressure in the house. Ever.) and hooking it up to the dishwasher. In moving the electric, we’d decided to pull out the old wires that weren’t going to be used any more and clean up our mess. Unfortunately, that didn’t go to plan either. It turns out that there are several more wires coming out of the furnace junction, and we have no idea where they go. We decided to leave that mess well enough alone. So we capped the wires and called it good. No fire hazard, no foul.

Next weekend, we’ll try setting up the box for the extra power and putting in the new plumbing. At least the old pipes are compression fit and easy to replace.

The Herd wandered through the yard today. I wouldn’t have noticed except for the buck who decided that the wheelbarrow was his mortal enemy.

At first it sounded as though a truck was trying to load something in the driveway. I assumed that the meter reader was here, but no car when I went to check. So I looked the other way, and what do I see but a buck trying to get the better of the wheelbarrow.

His battle went on for several minutes while he bashed the wheelbarrow against the post that will eventually corner our compost heaps. Back and forth it went, rocking in the ground despite the concrete footing. It’s a good thing we were so careful to get those properly planted. I would never have guessed they’d have to stand up to a battle with an elk.

Just when it looked like the elk was getting bored, he discovered he could hook his horns into the legs of the wheelbarrow and drag it around. He spent another minute pushing the wheelbarrow around and trying to pick it up. I don’t know if he strained his neck at all with that awkward angle, but it certainly didn’t seem to stop him from trying to lift and/or throw it.

While all of this play was going on, the rest of the herd munched away on the lawn. The only one interested in this guys antics was the other buck. I couldn’t tell if he thought there might be a fight later, or if it just looked like fun and was thinking about getting in on the game.

I stood there for about 2 minutes before the buck really noticed me. He stopped his play to look at me through the window, ready to run. When he decided that I wasn’t a threat, he licked his nose a few times and wandered off nonchalantly. It was almost as though he were a child, embarrassed that he’d been caught doing something silly but not about to admit it to anyone. Let alone himself.

See the rest of the set here.

My husband and I are looking at getting a dog. We’ve never owned a dog as adults, so I’m trying to get as much information as I can ahead of time. Sort of get a plan together so that we’re not too surprised when the dog comes home.

This has led me to the library, picking up every book that could be useful on the subject of owning a dog. Some have been helpful, others were just a skim and dump back at the library. I started this process by finally finishing Dr. Pitcairn’s New Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats. Interesting book, but has a few odd spots. I was unaware that cats would thrive on veggies and dogs should be fed oatmeal. In fact, I’m pretty sure that these are dead wrong. But overall, it was relatively useful and a good starting point. Add some judicious logic and you’re well on your way to actually knowing new things.

I then picked up Sue Sternbergs Successful Dog Adoption. Fantastic book, especially since we’re looking to integrate a dog into our 2 cat home. The temperament tests are going to get copied and used on every dog we look at. We’re looking for our perfect dog, not a dog that’s just good enough for right now. I don’t want to be trying to keep the dog and cats from chasing each other after the first few weeks. My husband was a little reluctant at first (there are lots and lots of tests), but most of them are pretty obvious and easy to perform, so he’s on board now. This will make things both harder and easier. Long term it will be a blessing, but short term its going to be hard to find a dog that’s right for us.

After that, I hit a couple of stinkers. The American Animal Hospital Association encyclopedia of dog health and care was an overview that can be summed up as “take your dog to the vet.” Nothing useful there for anyone who’s ever been around a dog, let alone believes in medicine that’s not strictly Western in origin. The second was The holistic guide for a healthy dog. Absolutely a dud. I tried so hard to read it hoping for something alternative but practical, but it was largely a listing of herbs and what they do. I have an herb encyclopedia for that, I was hoping for something with actual data related to dogs. Both went back after a thorough skimming.

While I was wandering in the library, I picked up Your Cat. Our cats are now eating raw food, but I wanted to see another vets opinion on it. It seems like the standard opinion cliche applies, but the author of this one actually worked in the pet food industry for a while so I was hoping for a bit more. Turns out this was a good primer on simple things you can do for cat health. There were descriptions of symptoms for the fairly common age-related illnesses and some debunking of common myths. I’m particularly interested in the fact that she runs her practice around reducing the instance and maintenance of diabetes in cats by feeding species-appropriate diets. There’s a fabulous description of the circle of crystal control due to bad diet.

Overall, I’d say I’m pretty disappointed in the options in dog books. I know just enough to be dangerous - you’d think someone would have figured out this market and written for it by now.