electricity is strange

I think I might have blogged about this problem when it first occurred, several weeks ago, so I'll try to be brief. After a hard rain, the circuit that carries the outdoor and bathroom outlets went out. I tried everything, including carefully wiping the outside outlets dry. No luck. Then, after a few days, the circuit worked again. T'was a mystery. Well, a couple of days ago, we had another hard rain and wind and (you guessed it!) the circuit was off again. This time, I did NOT consider calling an electrician or asking my friendly handyman, Mike, to come by to take a look. I just waited and sure enough, last night, the circuit was working. Therefore, I have concluded that somehow when the wind blows just right (just wrong?) during a hard rain, water gets onto one of the outside outlets. This trips the GFI on the circuit. After it dries off, I can reset the circuit. Weird, but whatever works. At least I haven't yet needed an electrician.

Not much happening lately. One really big thing is that I finally (after 3 hours on the computer) found a reasonably priced ticket to England for my July trip. I've been searching for weeks - going on the Internet for hours at a time and not finding anything convenient. I'm trying to go as cheaply as possible, of course, but there are time constraints as to when I arrive in England, unless I want to pay a lot of money for a taxi. Anyway, I've booked a trip and that is DONE! It will not be a non-stop flight, unfortunately, so the trip will be longer. Going over, the stop is Newark, NJ, which is in the right direction and just a short layover. Coming back, the best I could get was through Cleveland, Ohio! Crazy, isn't it? At this point, I'm just glad I have it done. If anyone reading this knows of cheaper flights - DON'T TELL ME!

I cut my grass a few days ago - first time this spring. It was very long and shaggy. Now it is just shaggy. This is because I use one of those string trimmers to cut the grass. Did I ever say how small my front yard is? About 12x13 feet. I have a reel lawnmower - the kind that runs on people power. However, it needs sharpening and I just haven't found a place that will sharpen it. Maybe this summer, I will get it sharpened - or maybe not. It's almost more trouble to carry the mower through the house or push it around the end of the building (my place is in the middle of a row of eight townhomes) than it's worth. Anyway, I was the next-to-last household in our row to mow the grass this spring. We all have nice, trimmed grass now, although mine is not quite as even as some! "If I had my druthers," as my grandmother used to say, I would not have any grass out front (or anywhere else) and just put in ground cover and flower beds. Unfortunately, our homeowners' association, with whom I fight often, won't allow me to get rid of all the grass. I already have less than the approved amount. Yes, there is a rule about the percentage of one's yard that must be in grass! I'm hoping for approval this spring to enlarge a flower bed, but that will reduce even more my grass total, so I'm not optimistic about my chances.

After all our rain, today promises to stay sunny and will perhaps be warm. Unfortunately, I'll be inside all day at the hospital gift shop. Oh well, there will be other sunny days. By mid-summer, I'll be ready to go to England for some cool, cloudy weather!