Bird Feeder Carnage

Something, or someone, destroyed my bird feeder overnight.

At first I assumed the creepy deer were back again.  They raid the bird feeder a lot in the winter.  They sometimes knock it down, but it stays in one piece.  The thug squirrels take out the feeder sometimes as well, at least I assume it was the squirrels that pulled it up onto the garage roof once.  I guess it could have been desperate raccoons as well.

I went outside this morning to feed the feral kitties, and saw the bird feeder on the ground.  Again.  Assuming it was the deer, I went over to pick it up and refill it.  Annoying, but it happens.

This is what I found:

My cool lantern bird feeder has been murdered!

The bird feeder has been destroyed -- there is no saving it.  Glass is smashed all in my flower bed.  The metal frame is bent.  Even the plastic around the solar light that sat in the top was smashed.

So now I'm not sure it was really the creepy deer.  They would have to have been seriously pissed off deer to have done that much damage, and some of the glass was embedded in the ground.

I don't know which is worse, frankly: the idea that there are pissed off deer capable of thoroughly destroying a metal bird feeder scampering around the neighborhood, or the idea that some miscreant was in my back yard breaking shit for fun.

Either way, I am not amused.  

R.I.P. cool lantern bird feeder!  

What Does It Mean?

Normally I don't remember all that much about my dreams.  I might vaguely recall part of it that is totally confusing, or just a feeling.

This morning I remember the whole thing, and it was strange.  Not bad, just...odd, for lack of a better word.  It was peaceful and relaxing overall.

I was mountain climbing with the three other people -- none of whom I actually know.  This is odd for starters because, while I have gone hiking in the mountains, I have never strapped on gear and decided to literally climb a mountain.  And we were climbing in just regular t-shirts, shorts and sneakers.

I was with 3 other people, but they weren't people that I know.  There was one guy who was like my partner/friend/buddy-to-make-sure-I-didn't-kill-myself.  I don't know where he came from, as he isn't even anyone I recognize in passing, like having seen him at work or on television or anything.  Then there was a woman with short, curly blonde hair and glasses -- like groovy glasses.  I remember thinking she looked like a picture from an old yearbook.  There was another guy as well, but he didn't even have a face, that I can recall.  He was just like " random place holder guy", but he seemed to know the most about what we were doing.  Well, all of them knew more about mountain climbing than I did.

We got to the top without any problems, and sat around checking out the view for a while.  It was just bare rocks on the top -- no trees or snow or anything.  A few wild flowers were growing between the cracks in the rocks.  We could look down over a mountain range at the trees below.  It was sunny and warm.

Magically, a picnic appeared and we had lunch.  I mean full-on picnic with a blanket, basket full of food, dishes, etc.  None of us had backpacks, or had carried anything up other than ourselves and we each had a bottle of water.  No one else was up there with us.  It just appeared, and we were all like, "Oh yeah!  It's time to eat lunch now!" and just started eating and chatting like it was perfectly normal for a fancy picnic to appear out of nowhere.

After that we just hung out on top of the mountains for a while.  The picnic magically disappeared, and we were all comfy just lying on the warm stones, feeling the gentle wind blowing over us, watching birds fly overhead.  We stayed up there lounging and hanging around until someone realized it was going to be sunset soon, and we should head back down.

We were repelling down, which was trickier than climbing up -- and that's when I woke up.

My phone woke me up, and I have no idea how the dream ended.

Now, I've tried looking up dream interpretation websites.  They all seem to agree that mountains represent obstacles, and climbing it is overcoming it.  Climbing down seems to mean giving up, or depression.  None of those seem to fit with the happy feeling of the dream.

None of them say anything about climbing a mountain and having a magically-appearing picnic with three people you don't know.

So that was weird.  But I did wake up in a really good mood, feeling very optimistic today.

Garage Door Drama

My garage door has been broken for just about a year now.  I have no idea how old it is.  It may very well be older than I am.  (The former owner very nicely left a washer and dryer here when he moved out.  The dryer, which I still use because it works, is older than I am, the washing machine not far behind.  And I really mean nicely too, as I owned zero appliances or furniture when I bought the place other than some chairs and bookshelves.  But I digress.)  All I know for certain is that he had to repaint the door, as lead paint was chipping off, when I bought the house three years ago.

The door always looked a little rough.  The panels that should be flat are kind of concave.  The paint is flaky.  Who knows how many years the door has been there, guarding the contents of the garage. It has done an honorable job, as there is still legible chalk graffiti on the wall, written by a former owner, proclaiming their love for Shaun Cassidy in a big pink heart.

About a year ago, the poor door opened for the last time.  The screws holding on the bottom of the door literally rusted off, and the very bottom row of panels fell off.  Everything has gone in and out through the side door since that dark day, for fear that opening the poor old door again will cause it to totally collapse.

Poor old door, still working hard..even if a little tilted

For Christmas, my father got me a new garage door.  Awesome present!  He ordered it from Lowe's, to be installed by December 2nd.  A different company that specializes in overhead garage doors will actually be doing the installation.  I was very excited!

So the installation company calls and says they will do the installation at 8am on November 14th.  I remember it specifically because my father was going to have to come over to watch them because I had work and was bringing in a gigantic birthday cake for a coworker, so this was just inconvenient timing.

Meanwhile, Lowe's had called and set an installation appointment for Monday the 18th.  Um, okay.  As long as someone shows up with the door.

The morning of the 14th comes around.  I'm getting ready to leave for work, my father had just poured himself a cup of coffee and was waiting for the installers to arrive.  His cell phone rings.  It's the installers.  They aren't coming because Lowe's did not send them the door yet. Fantastic.  

Monday morning, repeat scenario.  This is the date that Lowe's had said the installation would take place.  I leave for work, my father is waiting at the house.  No one ever shows up.  He eventually leaves and calls Lowe's, where he has to leave a number and a message because no one can talk to him right now.

He eventually speaks to the store manager.  The manager tells him that no one from Lowe's should ever have called to set an appointment for installation to begin with, as they don't do that.  He also was able to tell that my door had not even been finished yet -- they were still building it. 

Say what?  So the door isn't finished, and no one from Lowe's should have called to make an installation appointment, even though someone totally did, and you also gave your installation company the wrong information as they obviously thought they were supposed to have had a door to install on the 14th.  I'm not feeling too warm and fuzzy about this whole process right now.

A couple days later Lowe's calls to find out how the installation went.  Are you kidding?  The door has not been installed.  You have not even built the door yet!  How can you think it was installed when it hasn't been built?

The beginning of last week, it might have been the 26th, we get a call from the installation company.  They are going to come on December 4th to install the door.  Sure, whatever.  I'll believe it when it actually happens.  Who knows, maybe Lowe's actually has built the door and will have shipped it to them this time.

This past Saturday, November 30th, my father gets a call from Lowe's.  They leave a message asking how the installation went.  Seriously?  How can your internal communications be this poor?

So there may or may not be a garage door being installed tomorrow.  Who knows?  We shall have to wait and see.

Meanwhile, last week I picked out a color and style for new siding.  I gave the contractor my choice last Monday.

They were here yesterday to start work.  They have finished the demo, and are already about halfway done putting up the insulation and siding.  In two days!  Less than a week later!  

Maybe Lowe's should talk to them about organization and communication.  

Things might get really interesting at my house tomorrow if the siding guys are here and the garage door actually arrives.  I've got one long skinny driveway and a very tiny backyard for all of them to work in.  Good luck, gentleman!