Life in a room of brick walls with no windows or doors

 That's exactly how my life is right now. No way around things, so I've been creating a project list of things to accomplish in April. I'm making raised beds for my garden instead of digging, in hops I buy enough dirt LOL! I'm taking apart a box spring my friend gave me, to recycle the wood from it. I'm saving 2 liter bottles to make garden pots, plant starters, & a vertical strawberry garden! I started with a recycled pvc pipe, pics will be on my garden blog.
  If life gets too the point you feel like your in a 2x2" brick room, with no windows or doors; make a list of projects you need to finish or have been wanting to do! With the weather getting warmer for most states, it'll feel better to get outside. Life has put me in this "time out" more often then not, naturally, it gets one down & out, but get busy, keep your mind focused on other things, only thing about the necessary things when you have to. You'll find life gets easier, and you'll learn to live with the small dull pain of what you're given to deal with. There are always options, cold weather, start making lists of things to do in warm weather, try new recipes, rearrange the entire house, or save that toward the end of the cold weather, & rearrange for Spring. Do something! If health issues get in your way, recruit help! The age shouldn't matter, depending on the task, just make sure the attitude is right. Don't bring someone over who's down unless your ready to help them fight their demons while your doing things you need to get done.

Kitchen Appliances

So, last night, I went to grab a popcicle out of the freezer to find it was nearly all melted. I had been water bathing a 21qt pot of some salsa, thought maybe it got too hot, nope. The freezer was still cold on the inside, & still everything else was frozen.
  I checked the fridge, it was not cold, nor was any cold air pumping out like normal when I've got the door open & something on the stove....so, I checked the breaker box, nothing was flipped off. I did find the one for all the small outlets, flipped it off, then on. Just an hour later, its still the same temp as earlier.
Last year, shortly after we moved in, the fuse IN the fridge burned out. I'm thinking its the same problem, I'm hoping.....so, if it doesn't cool down by 12/1pm today, I'll be calling my landlord to explain what's happened, how long, ect, and see if he can get an electrition out tomorrow to replace the fuse. Given that's the issue, I'll probably start looking for a replacement fridge, JUST so I don't have to deal with this in another 12 moths...have been looking for sites that might be helpful to see how often those fuses do go out. I found this one, pretty handy. It tells you how to check your fridge before calling anyone (wish I found it before flipping the breaker).

http://www.wikihow.com/Diagnose-Refrigerator-Problems

When there's a detour, find an alternate route

Well, toilet is fixed, yet, you have to press, hold, & wait till flushed.....bothersome, but next water bill will be MUCH cheaper! Fixed the hose problem, too! I have 2 garden hoses to get the length I want so it can go from front to back, all I had to do was switch & they don't leak at the faucet anymore! The joys of thinking out of the box!

When things break down...or mess up

Well, this month my water bill was doubled. I wondered why. Now I know.......my toilet. The throne of the house, was acting up. The chain kept falling off the handle, and getting stuck under the flapper. So, this morning, after getting woke up 2 hours before I wanted to by our wonderful dog.......the toilet wouldn't stop flushing. I looked, the S part of the chain got caught in the pipe under the flapper. So, I looked up online how to fix it, well, within an hour, I tried all of it....but 1. I didn't have any metal cutters, and it was before 9am, and I don't like to disturb my neighbors before then (because I don't want to be disturbed before then).
  Her boyfriend loaned me a pair of metal cutters.....snip, snip, chain broke loose. I used a chain link for hanging plants, and it works nicely! Now, since they're oval shaped, I don't have to worry about it falling off again! Unfortunately, the chain fell into the pipe...so, hopefully its small enough to where it won't cause any problems. But, my next bill will be cheaper!
Here are the 2 sites I went to for help.....

This is what my toilet looks like:
http://home.howstuffworks.com/toilet1.htm

These are a list of suggestions to retrieve your chain:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r22793911-Toilet-Question-Chain-is-stuck-in-hole


   I hope this helps someone who's having this issue, too!!