Freaky and Leaky

The dead black widow spider to the left is part of the freaky part of this blog. Standby for that. First, the leaky: So the pool opened very nicely this year and cleaned up quickly. We have been in several times and it is doing well. We have a small leak up on the solar panel on the roof - there is dampness up there that I can see from the ground at night when the water is not pumping up there. I have a friend who is more man than I am and goes up there and fixes my leaks for me. And now the little power washer I have is starting to go. I did some reading and it turns out there is a crack in the pump housing. I use it a lot to wash the cars, clean the house siding, wash the driveway and pool deck, etc. I think I just wore it out. Costco has a nice gas powered one on sale that I am looking at. It may be a combo birthday / Father's Day gift to me.

So here is the freaky part: Ashleigh found that dead black widow on the front steps the other day. That is the second one we have found here in the last 8 years or so. Ugh. The best spider is a dead spider... Anyway, I have the house configured with an X-10 system so I can control the house lights with a remote control. The other night, our bedroom lights were completely unresponsive to the remote. Just our bedroom. That is number 1. Then the outside sending unit for our wireless remote temperature thing stopped transmitting. (We have an inside clock that shows the inside and outside temperature). That is number 2. That same day, Lucie's cell phone could answer calls in the house, but no one could hear her. That is number 3. Finally, my wifi in the house would only work if I was in about a 5 foot range of it. Normally I can go three houses down on either side of us and pick up my signal. That is number 4. I felt like going outside and seeing what sort of alien spaceship was hovering over the house. Freaky stuff. Of course the next day everything was working again...