Exhaustionized

More on the exciting world of Frozen North Living for all you southerners who've never experienced 40 below, or for you cheechakoes who are experiencing it for the first time: the water went out. At first we thought it was frozen, but it turned out we'd just run out. Whew.

We realized yesterday that our arctic entry, previously heated and now blocked off to conserve heat (we're still heating with wood, remember), holds several gallons of latex paint. Or what used to be latex paint, and are now squat metal-wrapped cylinders of solid latex ice. All those buckets are clearly labeled "PROTECT FROM FREEZING".
Um.

Meanwhile, back at the transportation facility, our truck, recently fixed, was diagnosed with bad u-joints. As in, ominous gravelly sounds issuing from the passenger side front wheel, and soon from the driver's side front wheel, too. Appointment with a new car vet, on this side of town (heh—we learned something!).

So Hans takes the day off work today (Monday) so the car can be fixed. He spends the day taking out the Monitor heater and putting in a new Toyo, with interesting sprays of No. 1 diesel oil occasionally livening up the living room decor mid-installation. Much yelling, mopping, grumbling, etc. Now the house smells like oil. Or rather, smells more intensely like oil (we never quite got rid of the oil smell from before). We call shortly before five to check on the truck's progress, and learn that the parts haven't come in so Jeff the fixit man hasn't been able to work on it.

Much frustration, thumping of handy horizontal surfaces. We reschedule for Thursday.

Because the car was out and I've been wiped out what with all the exciting catastrophes this week and last, I decided that there was no way on earth that I was going to make it in for the last KUAC Task Force meeting...but I get to make black sticky rice for dinner and the Toyo is now cranking out the BTUs. We're comfortably toasty, and that's a lot.

Oh, yeah. The water froze up for real this evening. At least the cats are now a lighter shade of gray, almost white in places.