One Might Think It's Still Winter...

This morning, I woke to snow. An inch and a half had fallen in the wee hours, a fine, powdery snow that erupted into blizzardlike cascades with the slightest breeze. Throughout the region, schools were delayed or canceled, cars spun out, garbage service was interrupted, and widespread panic ensued.

"Winter has returned," many a meteorologist grimly announced.

Evidently, meteorologists don't know how to read a calendar... I was under the impression that spring didn't officially start until March 20, so the winter they claim is returning hasn't actually left yet.

The snow was mostly gone around here by noon, though it lingered in shadows and on mountaintops, and we saw attempts at flurries this afternoon. I wouldn't be entirely surprised we got a dusting tonight, though I'm sure most people around here would be.

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Last weekend marked the first time I've ever used an ad jingle to remember a phone number. Grandpa's living room carpet was pushing 40, and looked it. A sad, lumpy fabrication in dark green that resembled nothing so much as algae on stagnant water, it was worn through to the backing in several spots. It had to go. For some reason, last weekend was the time we decided to do something about it. So, our uncle (Mom's brother, who in many ways is the unofficial caretaker of Grandpa as age turns him into someone who needs a caretaker) called Empire, after we all spent some time thinking about the ubiquitous ads on TV and singing the phone number to be sure we had it right.

We had it right, evidently. On Tuesday, a rep was supposed to come out between 11 and 1 to show what they had. Since Uncle Bob was busy, Mom, my sister and I volunteered to be there. (As I said, Grandpa isn't quite who he used to be, and between that and hearing issues we figured someone ought to be there to be sure he didn't wind up getting pushed into something he didn't need.) We got there a little before 11 and expected a long wait past 1, with some manner of excuse. We also expected a quick-talking, oily young salesguy steamrolling us into a high-end product and extras Grandpa didn't need or couldn't afford. We were proven wrong on both counts. The lady who showed up was middle-aged and more of the soft-sell kind. We said what we were looking for (low-maintenance, good at hiding stains), and she brought up some sample boards. After a brief explanation of what cost what, she left us to pick out color and product while she measured the space to be carpeted. We wound up going one level up from the cheap sale stuff, in a nice neutral gray-brown called "Milky Way."

When could they install? The ads say next day, but that never happens - it's a popular color so it's sold out, or they only have one installation team, or they don't work on days ending in a Y. Again, we were surprised. They could indeed come out on Wednesday, and they'd handle everything from furniture removal to hauling off the old carpet and putting everything back. They were supposed to call an hour before they left the warehouse. We asked them to call us instead of Grandpa, because he doesn't hear so well and we thought we should be there while the carpet people did their thing. (Well, "we" excluded me, as Wednesday's a work day, but the rest of the family would be there.)

There was a bit of miscommunication on the time - we asked them not to do it before 9, so we wouldn't be fighting rush hour traffic - and who to call - us or Uncle Bob (who wasn't there, but who had called Empire originally, so his name was still on the sheet.) Bob called at 8 to say Empire was on their way, and the whole family had to hustle to get over there. Evidently, the carpet installers had been told to do it first thing in the morning. But it all worked out, and in about 3 hours Grandpa had a new carpet. He's very happy with it. I'm looking forward to seeing it on Sunday, when we're supposed to get together for a family lunch.

All in all, I have to say I'm impressed with our vicarious Empire experience. So I suppose sometimes ads are useful.

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In other news, the Mighty Taurus came home this afternoon. (Yes, it's still the only car in the household with studded tires. Fortunately, I didn't need them this morning.) The shop finally found a small coolant leak that only activated at a certain engine temperature. Though they officially saw no cause for the rough starts, since those happened only on a warmer engine I'm hoping against hope that the temperature-sensitive coolant leak was directly related, and was fixed at the same time. They also changed out the oil, because we needed the oil changed anyway. As for the RPM dip, they claim it's only when the AC's on and it's "normal." I've been driving that car for several years, and I think I'm a fair judge of what's "normal" and what isn't - and that RPM dip sure as heck isn't. Anyway, that's another near-two-hundred bucks out the tailpipe for that...

And I still have to change the wiper blades on the darned thing. (I have new ones - they've been sitting in the back seat for almost two weeks now. It's just such a pain to wrestle the things on and off...)

Oh, and a month and a day after Mom's stairway fall, she's doing much better, but isn't completely over it yet. She still gets dizzy on occasion, especially when she moves her head too fast, and she still gets very sore around the ribs and midsection where she hyperextended on the way down. It's just going to take a while...