Today the Wasps Won

I spent over an hour today at the oil change place.  Normally it is a 30 minute max visit but today was another story. I was down to 1% oil life and I plan on driving this vehicle until we are done with the majority of the messy work on the house.  No need to trash a perfectly good SUV so I will continue to drive this vehicle.  I currently have 258K miles on it so I know it can last until we are done with the house. The suspension isn't the best and I need a new AC compressor but none of that interferes with trips to the lumber yard or garden shop.  

It was early afternoon by the time I got home and started painting.  I painted the white trim and grey portion on the right side.  I climbed down and got R to help me slide the ladder over to the left side so that I could paint the white trim and grey portion on the left side before moving the ladder down two rungs.  Unfortunately a handful of wasps showed up and were buzzing around the top of the ladder.  I decided to stop painting and eat a ham sandwich in the hopes that they would go away.

The ham sandwich was tasty and it looked like the wasps were gone so I started up the ladder and got all the way to the top only to be met by two wasps who were very unhappy to see me.  So I hurried back down the ladder.

Watering plants seem to be an everyday chore now that we haven't had any real measurable rain in weeks.  I thought if I gave the wasps time to buzz off, that I could still get some painting done and move my ladder down before calling it quits for the day.  Unfortunately the wasps had other ideas and just would not go away.

Since I can't show you a finished south side, I'll show you a finished west side and some of the flowers that are just about to bloom. 

 Here is the pink hydrangea that we bought on mark down last fall.  It is only 2 foot tall right now but should grow to 4 feet and help to hide the gas meter. 

This is a pink coneflower which is one of the staples of my landscaping.  I have four plants that you can find throughout my yard.  Hostas, daylilies, coneflowers, and Knock Out roses.  They all do well with my soil and do not seem to be affected by the black walnut trees. 

Finished west side of the house.  I love this time of the day when the shadows of the large trees in the front yard are cast onto the front of the house.

 Fingers crossed that I can wind up the painting tomorrow because I would really like to finish putting rocks in the bed around the foundation.  I can't do that until I am done painting because the rocks interfere with the ladder sitting flush on the ground. 

Running Errands & Vehicle Maintenance Tip

Today was spent running errands, taking care of paperwork, and waiting on the phone for 30 minutes to speak to a benefit representative about our dental and vision coverage.

One of the small chores I took care of today was getting an oil change on my daily driver. I always use the same oil change facility so that if I ever needed paper work to verify my vehicle maintenance I know they have it all from day one. I have 270k+ miles on my engine and have always used synthetic oil. I always go 10k between oil changes because I use synthetic. So even though the oil change cost more up front ($57) I can go twice as long before I need an oil change and for me...time saved is money saved.

But why I bring this up is that currently Valvoline Express Care is offering up to $51 dollars in rebates for synthetic oil changes, Valvoline Professional Services, and Valvoline Additives such as injector cleaner or oil additive. But of course you don't need the injector cleaner because if you bought the fuel line antifreeze like I mentioned earlier, you bought the one with injector cleaner and killed two birds with one stone.I just filled out my rebate for $15 bucks. Today I used a $10 off coupon that they mailed to me because I am a regular customer. But I kind of screwed up. I did not know that my particular Valvoline Express Care also offered $10 off on Wednesday for ladies day. They said that had I come in on Wednesday I could have used my coupon and received 10 bucks off for ladies day essentially giving me a fully synthetic oil change for the price of fossil oil. Win some, lose some.

If I have mentioned this before, please bear with me because when it comes to oil changes, this is very important. Do not use any oil that uses a paraffin addictive. This causes a build up of paraffin on the valve train. The best way to remember which oils contain paraffin is with this little saying. "Mind your P's and Q's." If the oil brand name starts with a P or Q do not use it. I know a lot of people like using these two oil change establishments because they tend to offer the cheapest price when it comes to oil changes. I wonder why? Why chance doing damage to the second most expensive asset you own.

This is also the time of year to have an extra gallon jug of windshield washer fluid in your trunk. Search the Internet for rebates. Currently Prestone Bug Wash is offering a $2.00 rebate with a limit of 2 rebates. Offer is good until the end of the year. If I had not just purchased 2 jugs of Peak Windshield Washer Fluid I might have jumped on this offer. I still might because it doesn't degrade (go bad) and here in Michigan we use quite a lot of washer fluid in the winter.

Do not wait until you need washer fluid to buy it. Gas Stations and convenience stores are the last place to buy it. They know you need it so they price it accordingly.

The tax year is coming to a close so now is the time to drop off donations to Goodwill or Salvation Army. Make sure you get a receipt for tax purposes. I also take a few photos just in case there is ever any question as to the quality of the item I donated. R will take several boxes to Goodwill tomorrow plus a small computer desk that is no longer in use.