Timmerov's Blog
do not call
why are telemarketers fighting so hard against the federal do not call list? it would seem to me that having a list of people who are going to hang up, get abusive, or otherwise waste their time would be to their advantage. is there really this tiny number of people who can be milked for so much money as to make all the misses and bad publicity worthwhile? or maybe when ab&c calls it's not really ab&c it's really xyz tarnishing ab&c's corporate image. or maybe ab&c is calling its own customers pretending to be xyz to find out who's not satisfied with their service to build a list of public relations targets. maybe i should write conspiracy theories.
kitchen update
insulation went in. drywall is going up. the cabinet man was here to make his measurements. it's starting to look like something. without the drywall it looked like a 2x4 forest. now we actually have to use the door openings to move around. presumably the drywall gets mudded and sanded which will make a huge mess all over the house just in time for garrett's 2nd birthday party on saturday. maybe i'll talk to tracy about his schedule.
total cost of kitchen so far: $29,965.98
kitchen update
the new kitchen passed rough inspection this afternoon. framing is done. the window's in. the old sink has a temporary home where the new sink goes. electric, gas, phone, and water lines are in the walls. next is insulation and inspection. then drywall and inspection. then cabinets, countertops, floors, and paint. no more fires.
we were looking at doors. can i put a $2,000
door on my ranch style home in suburbia?
total cost of kitchen so far: $23,410.98
sad day
the wheeled loader matchbox lost a wheel yesterday. it literally took us years to find one. and now it's broken. it traveled across the country in a carryon bag 20 times without a scratch. anyone have any suggestions where to find matchbox hot wheels sized construction trucks to replace this most beloved of miniature toys?
score!
i scored a goal with less than two minutes left in the game to send it into overtime. we lost. winning absolutely nothing. the puck saucered over the goalie like a frisbee and landed flat on the goal line. i lunged over the goalie and speared it in for my third goal in five games. i seem to be on a bit of a tear. hope it continues.
diana ross
sometimes writing up blogs, i feel like forest whitaker's character in phenomenon, nate pope, talking into his shortwave to diana ross knowing that she's not listening but sending out his messages anyway.
resume
looks like i might be job hunting soon. fortunately, my
resume's up to date. so, which of you employers wants to match alisa's salary? line forms to the left. ;->
kitchen update
we lost the sink today. the plan is to connect it to the plumbing for the new sink until the new sink arrives in a few weeks. the contractors have been very considerate about leaving us with a semi functional kitchen area and isolating the messy work area from the rest of the house. the good but curious little monkeys infesting our house can't easily get to the dangerous places and hurt themselves.
warm peanut butter
if you leave a jar of peanut butter in the car on a hot day while you go play at the park for a couple of hours, it will melt and you can drink it. quite tasty actually. you should stir it up a bit just in case. 'cause sucking down an unmelted glob is kinda gross. goes great with icy cold chocolate milk.
birthday
my birthday yesterday was great. we went to chili's and the family fed me a giant bacon cheeseburger. the boys helped me unwrap my presents: a new digital camera, a physics of hockey book, and some new dice. perfect gifts. the beautiful and talented alisa wore my favorite top and my favorite undergarments and sat across from me. i had a stupid grin on my face through the whole meal.
bad drivers
bennett's kindergarten has very well defined rules for drop-off and pick-up. between 11:30 and 11:45 am, take ticonderoga from bernardo. turn right into the parking lot. park. fetch child from classroom. hold hands when walking across the parking lot. turn right when leaving the parking lot.
so yesterday, the boys and i were leaving. there's a car stopped in the road blocking my car and another car. there are two empty parking spots just before where this woman stopped. and three empties just after. i'm thinking, oh you don't want to be there when i'm ready to leave. fortunately, mr dave, the security man, was there. i was a little busy with the boys but i think she unloaded a kid from the right rear car seat and immediately loaded her back into the left rear car seat. then she stormed out of the parking lot in clear violation of the posted 10 mph.
kitchen update
our bbq grill makes an attention getting woof! sound when you start it followed by a distinct rumbling whooshing sound. fire is so pretty jetting out of a gas line making a flame about 18" long and 3-4" wide at its widest. blacking 2x4's and drywall. rather hypnotizing actually. peaceful. tranquil. trance-like. reality seems so far away. spoiled only by a vague buzzing noise in the back of your head. like someone a great distance away yelling, hey dummy! there're flames shooting out of the gas line in your brand new kitchen! hey! hey! wake up! stop watching the pretty fire and put it out!
apparently, moving the dryer around each night and morning made a tiny leak in its gas line. when the worker flipped the circuit breaker on, his radio produced just enough static electricity to light the gas rupturing a significant hole in the line. after a few seconds of shocked disbelief, i caught up with reality and calmly shut off the conveniently located valve. it's fortunate the gare bear and i were johnny on the spot.
kitchen update
the deconstruction phase is complete. framing is complete. now we're doing less dramatic things like hanging the recessed lighting cans, running wires for outlets and switches, phone lines, plumbing. the contractors are going so fast they might end up waiting for the cabinet man. we'll just put them to work doing all those other tasks that we've been wanting done for years. for examples, the baseboards are going to look really shabby next to the new kitchen. the ugly fireplaces have to go. so does the acoustic cheese on the ceilings. ah, the adventure continues.
do not feed the ducks
there are just some acts that really bring out the asshat in me. take for instance the nice park goers tossing bread bits to ducks next to the sign that says, "do not feed the ducks". apparently, this rule doesn't mean them. maybe they like walking on duck poop. i feel like emptying my baby's diapers into the pond next to them to make a point. shocked outrage! what happens to that bread? most of it becomes duck doo. some makes more ducks that make more doo and eat more bread until they get their ducky version of dysentery and die - just like humans that have contaminated their water supply. would you want your kids to play in sandboxes with rotting diseased dead things?
kitchen update
everything but the kitchen sink has been demolished and removed. foundation has been poured. rough framing has been done. there aren't as many electrical wires strung about the room as there used to be. there seems to be new plumbing under the expanded floor. it's starting to look like something. the next milestone approaches. this one's more expensive than previous ones because now we have to buy light cans, switches, and other electrical paraphernalia whereas before we were buying cheap things like plastic pipes and dead trees.
junkbot rating
my junkbot master rating is 830. what's yours?
kitchen update
our usable kitchen space is now just barely enough room for the fridge, dishwasher, sink, and one cabinet. there isn't enough space to completely open any of them. some framing has been done so we have a rough idea of what things are actually going to look like. we're ready to pour concrete. we signed the contract with the cabinet man. still need to make those fish.
total cost of kitchen so far: $15,410.98
junkbot
my new favorite game
junkbot by lego.
virus
long ago, joe and i talked about "Manners™, the polite virus". the email text is basically, "hi! i'm manners, the polite virus. please send me to everyone you know." there is no attachment. it relies on your sense of humor to propagate. of course we never actually created such a thing. but now, maybe we should make a virus that works like sobig. if you open its attachment, it propagates to everyone in your address book. then it berates you, "i can't believe you were so stupid as to open this attachment!" and it continues to berate you, "hey, dummy! i could have deleted all of your files! i could be spamming orphanages with porn!", until you get virus protection software. it will helpfully provide urls to several. if you delay, it sends mail to everyone in your address book again saying, "hey sally, your friend bob is a nincompoop who opens unknown attachments that send viruses to
you. please educate him not to do that any more. thanks."
kitchen update
demolish has started. the old cabinets, floor, ceiling, and drywall are gone. the only things left standing are the sink, dishwasher, refrigerator, and 2x4's. we can see some of the fire damage from years ago before we bought the house. the work area is encased in semi-transparent plastic sheeting. it gives the whole thing a sort of giant aquarium look. this weekend's art project is to make some construction paper fish and tape them to the plastic aquarium walls..
kitchen
contractor showed up this morning demanding money and that we had better empty the cabinets before him and da boys showed up at 8:30 am tomorrow morning with the sawz-alls. gack. i better get to work.
total cost of kitchen so far: $9,410.98
