Just Another Day In Paradise

I stayed up too late again last night. This time I swept and moped my dining room and kitchen floor. I must have had a burst of energy or insanity because I went on to clean the front of my kitchen cabinet doors. I just happen to notice that the cabinet door pulls were Very dirty and went on to clean those. After using a nail brush to clean the door pulls I happen to notice my kitchen stove was looking shabby. The oven has a glass door and it was streaked with who knows what. I got out the ammonia and cleaned that. I tried to clean the back splash of the stove. The part where the florescent light, the clock, the oven settings are located. I say I tried because the stove is stainless steel and doesn't lend itself to much cleaning with steal wool or the like. I settled for a good try and left it at that. Then I noticed the rugs needed washing so I put those on along with my house shoes. PeeUU. I finally got to bed about 2:30 am. I am usually sitting right here at the computer doing research or looking at other peoples blogs at that time of night. This has got to stop.

My mother had her new windows put in her house today. She called me at 8:00 am to let me know that the installers were there. I tried to get up but wanted to sleep a little more. I did cover back up and tried to sleep. That didn't happen because my mind had already started to work. I got dressed and made oatmeal with apple and blueberries. I feed the two parrots and they had their screaming time. Parrots usually have two times of day they scream or get loud. When they first wake up and just before they go to sleep or in the evening. I finally made it to my moms house by 10:30 or so. I walked because I need the exercise. The installers at her house were the same men who installed at my house. Great pair of guys. I opened and closed all mom's windows and noted two small problems. One window only had a half screen. It needs a full screen because all of the windows are double hung. That means they open from the top and the bottom. The order form on her windows said that she ordered full screens. The other problem was one of the small tabs that you pull in to allow the window to lean in and clean it, it didn't spring back and the window didn't close properly. I told the installers and they said there was no problem.

I made my mom a salad for lunch and we ate. Then I walked home to make some banana pudding for my grandsons who were coming over. In fact when I got here they were waiting in the driveway. They had only been here for three minutes. What timing.

The window installers came to my house and checked out the problems I have with their install. Between them and my son I see now that my fears of more growing mold are out of proportion to what they need to be. My son told me that the new windows won't have the same condensation and water won't form on them so there probably won't be any more mold. He said I did need to replace my window sills because the paint is peeling off and there seems to have been mold growing in there. He also said that the wall paper that was on the facing around the window is where mold would have come from because mold eats paper. He said it needs fuel to live and grow and that paper was it's source. The installers told me virtually the same thing. If there isn't a lot of moisture in the air in my house then the windows won't sweat and so no mold would grow on them. So now I have to start thinking of how to replace the window sills.

At the Home and Garden Show I saw a local paint company that has a paint they developed themselves called 'ePaint'. Below is a quote from their Website. I got a coupon for one free gallon of this ePaint. When I get to the point of redoing the walls and area around the windows I'll pick up a gallon of this paint. I have until 6/1/09 to get it.
"Antimicrobial, Low VOC (volatile organic compounds), Low Odor and features a Limited Lifetime Warranty. This product contains Bio-Pruf™ antimicrobial agents which provide long-lasting inhibition of the growth of stain and odor causing bacteria, mold, and mildew on the paint film. "

I have bought paint from this company before. What I like is they make the paint right there. It's a small local company as far as I know. They have a nice Website. www.hispaint.com. I went two summers ago to buy some paint and first went to another company here in town and I about died of heat stroke in the building. I had to wait for them to match the color and I was using a wet cloth to try to stay cool. Later I went to get more paint but I went to HIS Paint instead. What a difference. They had air conditioning and they store was clean. I didn't have to wait as long for the paint to be matched. I'm looking forward to trying some of this ePaint. I am hoping it will help keep down any mold around my windows.

Today when I was telling the young man who installed my windows that they had left the metal frame from my old windows, I started crying. I have been fighting this battle with mold for about ten years. We didn't have the money for new windows before. Now that we have some money to have several windows put in, the thought of having mold on them or around them just is more than I can handle. I thought my mold worries were gone. I couldn't stop crying after I talked to the installer. I didn't realize it had been such a big deal until today and I started crying.

My son and his sons, who are young boys, helped me put my mother's furniture back in place. That was really nice. My son is a Chemist and is really busy with his job and building a new home. He is learning and teaching American Bushido-Kai Karate. My youngest grandson is leaning karate also. I have a wonderful son and he is a great dad.

I have another son who is really super too. More about him later because kitchen duty is calling.

Looking for Windows, Heating, Air Conditioning, Insulation, and Roofing

Just got back from the Oklahoma Home and Garden Show at the state fair grounds. I got there late and so only saw one building. I was looking for windows, heating, air conditioning, insulation, and roofing. I'm really glad I went because now I'm even more confused about windows. I had a company named Champion install several windows last Monday. I love the windows but they left a part of the old window which is aluminum and it plus my old windows had mold on them. I had cleaned the mold off but it kept coming back. I'm really worried that the part they left from the old windows will begin to grow mold again. In fact I am feeling very depressed and crying for no apparent reason. At the Home and Garden Show tonight I saw the man who sold us the windows and I told him the problem and he said that Monday he would have someone come out and check the installation and find out what the problem is. He called someone and I heard him say to them on the phone, "No, I won't." I wonder what it is he won't do? I thought to myself maybe he was told by the other person on the phone not to admit to any problem or they were wrong.

I have spent the last eleven years cleaning the mold and moisture off the windows in this house. I would love to have time to do other things. I have a cough that is very deep when there is mold on the windows. It gives me headaches. It's no wonder I'm feeling very depressed.

The windows that were in this house when we bought it were two sets of aluminum storm windows. There was a dead space in between them. That space would fill with moisture and then mold. I would have to leave one of the windows open in order to dry out the space in between. If it rained there would be a half to an inch of water standing in between the windows. I had to use so many towels to dry and clean these windows nearly every day it wasn't funny. I have put paper towels between the windows but that didn't help. When it is cold outside there is ice on the frames. I wanted to take off the outside set of windows but the screws holding them on were rusted. I have used bleach on the windows to clean the mold. It comes back every few months. I bought a chemical that I had to buy and use a hazard mask with a respirator on it. I had to buy expensive chemical gloves and huge plastic sheets. I put the plastic sheets up on the doorways with tape to keep the fumes out of the rest of the house. I have parrots and the fumes would kill them. I'm so sick of this mess I can't even begin to put it into words.

Now that I have expensive new windows and the installers left part of the old window I'm just sick. I went to the Home and Garden Show to find some other company to put in the rest of my windows.

I was looking for another source of heat for my house too. Last winter, 2007, we had an ice storm here and it knocked out the power to nearly all the homes in this city. We had nearly 600,000 homes and businesses without electricity Tuesday. There were 15 deaths. There were more than 100 reports of fires mostly from tree limbs crashing into live power lines. The sound of branches snapping under the weight of ice echoed through Oklahoma City neighborhoods. It was so loud that it would wake me up in the middle of the night. I was terrified that something would fall on one of the surrounding houses and they would catch on fire. Our neighborhood has trees that are 90 to 100 years old. Maybe more.

Interstate 40 west of Okemah, Okla. was ice-covered and four people died in one accident that involved 11 vehicles, including a tractor-trailer rig, said Highway Patrol Trooper Betsey Randolph. All 11 vehicles burned, she said. Eight other people also died on icy Oklahoma roads. A transient died of hypothermia in Oklahoma City.