January 2020

The new decade started off with a few challenges, including illness and heating problems. See below for more explanation, and here for photos and videos that are mostly of the better times.

Vacation in Washingtonville (Rob)

Following a week of vacation time at our house in Endwell  during the week of Christmas, we enjoyed a week of vacation time at our apartment in Washingtonville during the week of New Year's Day. So I had a nice long break from work. Becky had to work a bit, and Alex had a bit of a break from school (therapy). We used a lot of that time to get settled into the apartment a bit more, and spend time just hanging out. You'll see several videos of us at a place called Billy Beez at the Middletown Mall. It's one of these elaborate indoor playgrounds for kids. A bit pricey, but worth it for the hours of bliss Alex got from it.

Stomach Bug Blues (Rob)

It continues to be a rough winter for sickness. We always share whatever is going around, and it seems we get the next bug as soon as we are healthy again. Instead of the usual respiratory virus though, we got hit with a bad stomach bug - norovirus perhaps. Alex seemed totally fine, then surprised us with projectile vomit as we were getting him ready for bed one night. He continued with the nausea all night, and for the next few days to a lesser degree. Also diarrhea. His normally endless appetite was gone for about a week, as was his energy level. He hardly left his car bed and was a sad guy. There is a pediatrician located conveniently across the street from our apartment, so we took him in just to be safe because we got worried. I took some family sick leave time. Me and Becky got the same stomach bug probably, but we both passed it in a day or two like people normally do. Finally, after a week Alex was back on his feet again and starting to want to eat and play more. 

Tractors (Rob)

Alex has had a series of seemingly random obsessions for as long as we can tell. One of his first was spoons - he always had to have a spoon in his hand for a time when he was still one. Eventually he latched onto cars and trucks, then Pixar Cars, then tractors. That's where he's been for the past couple months. I noticed that John Deere has a whole line of tractor toys that seem to be made for kids like Alex. Brilliant marketing. I'm sure this will fade and it will be onto something else, but I can't predict what that will be.

AirBnB (Rob)

Our first month in the AirBnB business turned out to be more successful than I expected. I had every weekend in January booked, although one person cancelled, and another one I had to cancel due to heating problems (see below). Depending on the circumstances, I can still get paid for cancellations. The following months are filling up quickly too. Anyway, I almost made enough from bookings in January to cover the mortgage and all of the guests have been great, so it's been a good venture so far.

Heat Problems (Rob)

For the third time, the new heater on our house went out (see April 2019). This time it was a different problem than the first two times, and this time it was a lot colder outside. Fortunately it was a part that I could replace myself, and the manufacturer honored the warranty and sent me the new part quickly at no charge. It was shipped over a weekend though, so fortunately I was at our apartment anyways. I did have to cancel an AirBnB guest because of it, and he wasn't too upset. Otherwise, I kept warm (or from freezing I should say) with space heaters and firewood (but that can only do so much) until I got it fixed. Fortuitously, I bought a space heater that I planned to use for the basement the same night the heater broke down. All appears to be in working order now though.