Good news first, right? First and foremost, I officially have internet service in the t!ny h0use. I could get enough wifi from the barn owner’s house to at least do my work, so that was convenient to get me started, but obviously we needed our own service. We don’t get most types of internet out here so there aren’t a lot of options – wireless broadband or satellite are about it. Last Monday the first provider came out, the one the barn owners use, and they couldn’t get a clear line of sight to any of their towers, even running a pole 30′ up in the air. I admit, I started to sweat a little bit. Your mind immediately goes “what if we’re in some weird dead zone where literally nothing will work and we can’t get internet at all omg”. Well… if you’re me that’s where your mind goes anyway.

The technician from that company was super helpful though, and recommended another company for me to try. He used to work for them and said he was pretty sure they’d be able to get something set up for me. I went on my phone and made the appointment before we’d even finished our conversation, and they scheduled a technician to come the next day. Many props to second company for ease of experience. The first company required that I email them so they could call me to ask me questions, so they could then email me an application form, so I could then email it back so that they could then schedule a tech to come out in a week. Second company I went on their website, entered my info, and the appointment was made on the spot for less than 24 hours later. Plus no installation fee and cheaper monthly rates.

So their tech came out the following day, was able to get service (not quite as fast as I was hoping for, so he made sure to call in to let them know what speeds he was getting so they could adjust my monthly plan appropriately and not overcharge me for speeds I couldn’t get). Now I have a little dish on the side of the house (didn’t have to go up on a pole thank goodness) that can see a little tower a few miles away, and it’s enough to get decent internet. I can stream netflix and live streams and stuff anyway, and that’s all a girl really needs. Internet service: check.

I also got a few more little things for the house.

Your eyes do not deceive you, that is a purple rug. Or, according to the website, “dusty purple”. I got it for the reading nook ultimately, but until we get something for the bedroom it’s living in there. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about the color but I actually do like it, it seems like a good peaceful color for a reading nook without being boring gray or white.

The rug was also joined by a beanbag, which also will ultimately go in the reading nook but for now is serving as my only piece of living room furniture. At least until January when our couch shows up. It gives me somewhere to sit that isn’t the bed or the porch. I did drag it up to the loft to make sure it fits in the reading nook and indeed it does. I think I might get a second one so there can be two up there, for the ultimate lounging experience.

Keen observers might see the other acquisition in the above photo. That’s right, I got a robot vacuum.

I’ve been dithering back and forth on one of these for years. At first they were all expensive, and I couldn’t really justify the purchase. Now though there are robot vacuums in every price range, and some really good “budget” ones too. I spent a couple days researching to figure out what options I really wanted/needed, then reading reviews and watching videos before I settled on the Coredy R500+. AND, Amazon has a coupon for it right now that dropped it from $190 to $138. I figured for that price it was definitely worth a try. Even if all it did was help pick up some of the dirt so that I didn’t have to sweep as often, it would be worth it.

Turns out I’m kind of obsessed with this thing. It’s pretty basic, and I only want it to run when I tell it to, so I haven’t played with a lot of it’s features. I swear I’ve probably spent at least an hour watching it work so far though. Right now I’m running it every 2-3 days and it REALLY helps keep this place cleaner. Between myself and the dogs we track in a lot of sand and grass and bits of hay and shavings, plus there’s always dog hair. This little guy, already affectionately named Monster (because we did have one incident where he CLIMBED OVER MY BARRIER and got stuck under the bed, entangling himself in a charging cord in the process), is fantastic.

Mostly I’m just questioning why it took me so long to buy one of these things. For how cheap it was, I’m pretty impressed. Anything that means less time spent cleaning is a total freakin win in my book.

The dogs love it perhaps a bit less than I do. Well… Stewie anyway. Quinn, per usual, doesn’t give a single shit about it. Stewie was very distrustful of it at first but is slowly getting used to it.

Monster might be my favorite purchase of 2020, right after Pivo.

I haven’t bought anything else since last week, nor have I even given any thought to what else I need to get. For now I’ve got the things I actually need to live here comfortably, so I need a break from 1) spending money 2) thinking about this all the time.

Plus – ready for the bad news? – I’ve got a bigger problem now. On Saturday the SO and I discovered a leak under the house. A steady drip drip drip drip, and an obvious accumulation of water in the barrier that covers the bottom. Thats… not good. It certainly isn’t supposed to be there, anyway. I’ve contacted the company through our warranty person, but I’m still waiting for some resolution. Clearly there’s a major leak in there somewhere, but that’s about all I can tell.

In the meantime I turned the water off to the house. Once the leak stopped dripping I turned the water back on at the source, but didn’t actually run any water inside the house, trying to see if the problem was originating in the incoming water supply pipes, or if it was something related to the water draining out. Within minutes of turning the water back on at the source, the drip was back. So, I think the problem is with the water coming in. I turned the water back off.

While I wait, I have no water in the house. Luckily, because of the incinerating toilet (which obviously doesn’t require water), this isn’t as big a deal as it otherwise might be. I can go up to the barn owner’s house to take a shower, I have re-filled bottles of tap water for brushing my teeth and washing my hands, there’s a washing machine at the barn, and I grabbed some disposable utensils and plates to use for now. It’s ultra-annoying, but survivable for the short term. I will rapidly lose patience with this situation if they take much longer to come fix it, though, that’s for sure. I don’t really even know what they’ll have to do. I assume it will involve getting under there, peeling back the barrier, removing insulation, and finding where the problem is. Sounds like a massive PITA and not a small job.

Never a dull moment around here.