Wednesday, 26 October 2011

While organizing some papers in (what will be) Isla’s bedroom this evening, I came across an issue of Popular Mechanics. It’s an issue I found while digging through a box someone left out on the curb last spring.

Here’s a short article regarding a new app for a smart phone:

Amazing! Never again will you have to ask, “How long was that chat with Dad?” From now on, you’ll know!

Also gaining buzz in the tech world:

I think this woman’s computer looks like those portable sinks that they set up at county fairs and outdoor concerts. Don’t you?

This issue of Popular Mechanics is from April 1959. That’s from way back when Dwight Eisenhower was President and Elizabeth II was Queen of England.

Thursday, 27 October 2011

First, here’s my wife’s new post about Owen – covering approximately the last six months of his life.

Also today, we finally set up our bed. I know it probably seems odd that we’ve live in our home for over a month and only just now got the bed set up, but there really wasn’t much impetus in getting it set up sooner. The mattresses on the floor are just as comfortable, really, and other things were standing in our way.

For one, Owen was sleeping in the room with us, and his cot took up too much room and didn’t give us enough space to get the room situated. He’s in his own bedroom now, so that’s great.

Secondly, my wife wanted to give the ceiling fan a thorough cleaning. It was loaded with dust from years of the previous homeowner being (evidently) a complete slob. So, we didn’t want to set up the bed and then have all that grime fall on it while we cleaned the fan.

This evening, then, I moved the mattress out of the way, set up the ladder, and removed the ceiling fan blades. Jennifer took them in the bathroom and gave them a thorough cleaning. I reinstalled them with the blades flipped (this hides the very unattractive wicker design). We then set up our bed which took about two hours. No kidding. It’s a very complicated bed, and the night stands are attached to it, so that adds to the work.

Anyway, getting all the pieces assembled has freed up quite a bit of space in our room. I am pleased that just a few hours of work can make such a notable difference.

Friday, 28 October 2011

Today, for the second time this week, I received a response to items I placed on Craig’s List. I’m not sure exactly how these people make their money, but it’s obviously a scam. This morning, a man named Ray Northam emailed asking it the item was still available. I said it was, and asked if he’d like to come buy and see it this evening or sometime this weekend. Here’s the response I received:

Thanks for the prompt response, I am quite satisfied with the condition .I am also interested and I will like to make an instant purchase, so kindly end the advert on Craigslist, I do not mind adding an extra $25 for you to close the advert on craigslist so that I can be rest assured that I am the prospective buyer, I would have loved to come take a look but I am a very busy man I am very sure you understand. I will also want you to know that I will be paying via Certified Check, and it will be sent to you via courier service due to the distance. You don’t need to bother about the shipment, as that has been taken care of…… So I will need you to provide me with the following information to facilitate the mailing of the check.

1. Full Name on the check
2. Address where payment will be sent to not p.o.box (because my courier service does not deliver to p.o box)
3. City
4. State
5. Zip Code
6. Phone Number

Once again, I will like to remind you that you will not be responsible for shipping as I will have my mover come over as soon as you have cashed the check .

Have A Nice And Rewarding Day Ahead .

I wrote back saying, “Cash only.”

He hasn’t written back. Yet.

Saturday, 29 October 2011

This afternoon, we walked to the Bay Street Grill for lunch. This is one of about a dozen places near our home that we wish to try for meals. Bay Street has a large banner outside that advertises $1 burgers, tacos, coneys, and fries on Saturdays. So, we figured today would be a good day to try them.

As we began to order, my wife asked what a coney is. The waitress replied that they don’t have coneys anymore (um…time to change the sign, then). My wife next asked if we could get meatless tacos, and the waitress then said, “Yeah, but it would just be lettuce and cheese.”

So…so much for the dollar menu options.

They still has some cheap options, though. Jennifer found a low-priced lunch, and I got the house salad with the dollar fries. Owen opted for one taco and the fries. Isla ate a few fries, danced on the bench and then hopped up on the table.

Bay Street has bingo on Saturdays, so if anyone wants to join us some future Saturday, we can all go over there for cheap food and a game of chance.

Sunday, 23 October 2011

Today I made several small improvements on our new home; the kind of improvements no one would probably ever notice unless I pointed them out.

First, I installed a doorstop on the bathroom door. Until now, if you opened the door, it would swing open and hit the cherry wood cabinets. There’s already a gouge in the cabinet from where it has smacked into the cabinet for years. But thanks to a very inexpensive door stop, the problem is solved.

While in the bathroom, I also installed a door lock, so guests can now feel free ease nature without someone walking in on them.

Meanwhile, down in the basement, I removed the hardware and wires for the land-line phone. When we moved in, there was a phone hanging on the wall right next to the dryer. Why someone would need a phone there, I don’t know. Soon after we moved in, I removed the phone from the wall and threw it away, but it wasn’t until today that I unscrewed the jack and snaked the wires back through the floor beams to get rid of all the useless wires.

We all took part of the day to clean some of the boxes out of Isla’s room. While in there, my wife commented on the bottom drawer of the built-in dresser. Turns out, that drawer didn’t close all the way. I had noticed that, too, right when we first move in, but I never bothered to worry about it. At my wife’s instigation, though, I decided to take a closer look at it today. I removed the drawer and – wouldn’t you know it – the previous owner had dropped some clothing back there: a blue bandana and a pair of women’s boxer-style underwear. Nice.

Later, in the kitchen, I removed the front panel of the built-in radio and installed wall anchors. I then screwed the screws into the anchors and, I’m pleased to say, the radio no longer jiggles – it sits securely up against the wall now.

Finally, this evening, I replaced the beige colored screws on the light switch wall plate in Owen’s room with white colored screws. Now the screws match the plate color.

All in all, if you walked through the house this morning and again this evening, you probably wouldn’t notice anything different. In reality, though, I made lots of tiny improvements.

Please email me if you need a bandana or women’s underwear.

Monday, 24 October 2011

Is there someone you don’t like?

I used that phrase today – I said, “I don’t like her,” and the person I was speaking with immediately corrected me and said, “You mean you don’t like her actions.” I dismissed this as splitting hairs, but he insisted there was a difference.

Okay, I guess there is a difference, but I than clarified that when I say I don’t like someone I just mean that I’d rather not be in their presence. Granted, there’s a big spectrum of dislike: from just simply finding someone boring or obnoxious, to absolutely despising someone with every fiber of your being. But, either way, I don’t want to be around them.

I think this is a good litmus test for friendship: If I willingly place myself in your company, then be assured that I do like you.

Tuesday, 25 October 2011

Today I sold a cabinet we had removed from our house. The buyer came prepared with a pick-up truck and some bungee cords. I had posted an ad for a large (>7 feet tall) cabinet and two smaller ones. The woman ended up wanting only the large one.

Getting loaded into her vehicle was a bigger ordeal than I expected. We barely squeezed the four shelves and two of the doors into the cab. We then laid the cabinet itself onto the pick-up’s bed and secured it with all sorts of cords. The downside to the bungee cords is that they have a lot of flexibility, so the buyer was worried that the cabinet would go flying as she drove. I couldn’t really see how that would happen unless she took off from a stop light at an immensely accelerated speed, but I guess it’s better to be overly cautious. We hooked more bungee cords over the top, and I wrapped some packing paper around the hooks to prevent them from scratching the cabinet.

We then laid the two large cabinet doors inside the cabinet, and I placed an unfurled cardboard box in between them to prevent scuffing.

Bottom line: The woman paid us $80 in cash. This, plus the money I received for the broken statue last weekend, means that we’ve already made $90 off of stuff the previous owner left behind. I’m gonna keep track of this and see how much money I can rake in.

Email me if you want to buy a bandana.

Wednesday, 19 October 2011

At work this morning, my Galilean thermometer changed temperature for the first time since I acquired it 6 months ago. Specifically, the center bulb dropped from the top of the tube to the bottom. Evidently, this represents a rise in temperature from 72 to 76 degrees. I guess the folks in the facilities department must have turned on the heat today.

I also decided to write to the folks at Lowe’s discussing my poor experience at their Maple Grove location (See Here). The stupid comment box on their website only allowed for a certain number of words, so I had to truncate and re-truncate the text until it fit. Even then, I had to leave out the final paragraphs of my comments.

Anyway, today I received a message from their customer service department. They are sending me a $25 gift card.

Thursday, 20 October 2011

Today I watched the latest Community episode, “Remedial Chaos Theory.” The episode presents the same five minutes of the characters’ lives replay seven times with slight changes.

I could see this coming. As soon as the pizza arrives, the character Jeff proposes a roll of the die to determine who should go downstairs to get it. Abed then notes that by doing this, Jeff is creating several alternate universes. We then see the die tossed above the actors’ heads, pass through some kind of portal, and land back on the table. This scene is repeated six more times and, each time, a different scenario plays out in which a different character retrieves the pizza in each ‘universe.’

Theoretically, Abed is correct that the die toss results in several parallel outcomes, but the implication here seems to be that it is only during moments of pure change that this happens. Instead, every action in every microsecond from every character (not merely the one playing with a chance cube) results in an alternate timeline.

But let’s not get bogged down in the minutiae. This episode, which hearkens back to one of my favorite Star Trek episodes (“Cause and Effect,” also featuring a game of chance), is my favorite Community episode in quite a while.

Friday, 21 October 2011

Tonight Owen is sleeping in his bedroom for the first time. It took us longer to get his room ready than we had hoped (we hoped to have it ready by the time we moved in), but now it’s all painted and his bed is set up.

Besides painting, we also had to remove large, heavy, built-in shelves from his room. Those shelves are now sitting in the garage awaiting their fate. Jennifer replaced the bulb on the ceiling fan, cleaned and painted the blades, and affixed glow-in-the-dark astronomy-themed stickers to the blades. She also cleaned the molding. I replaced a broken outlet. Yesterday we carried in his furniture.

I also finished installing the rest of the downstairs’ bathroom’s ceiling fan. The previous homeowner had the wherewithal to install a fan, but didn’t bother connecting the tube to an outside vent. So, basically, turning on the fan just meant blowing the air all over the basement, which, I suppose, is a great way to spread the mold. For the steep, steep price of $15, I was able to purchase everything I needed to connect the fan to another tube that then led to an outside vent. A small garden snake watched me as I worked. I think he (she?) likes the warmth afforded by the dryer vent as I’ve seen her (him?) hanging out by that part of our house on a few occasions now. I’m thinking of naming him ‘James.

Saturday, 22 October 2011

Today was a very full day.

The electrician wrapped up work in our garage while, at the same time, a woman stopped by to purchase the statue of St. Anthony that the previous home owner left with the house.

Later, we all attended a Halloween party at a local community center. Owen wore his Jedi costume, and Isla wore her duck costume. I next had a conference call regarding the book I am co-editing. In the evening, we all went to Sea Life at the Mall of America. Owen has wanted to visit this attraction for months and he saved up his own money. My sister and her husband met us there. Afterward, we all dined at TGI Friday’s.

Here’s an interesting thing about today: as of today, our new house is no longer where I’ve lived for the shortest amount of time. In February and March of 1990, I lived with my grandparents for 42 days. And, since today is the 42nd day of living in our new house, I have now lived here longer than I lived with my grandparents. It’s still one of five places I lived for less than a year, but it’s gaining ground quickly.

Tuesday, 18 October 2011

A few weeks ago, we paid a visit to Lowe’s and spent just over a hundred bucks. I gave the cashier a $10 off coupon. Getting back in the car, however, I noticed I had a 10 percent off coupon which, in the case of our bill, would have meant a savings of just over a dollar. No big deal, I thought. Jennifer reminded me that we could use the 10% off coupon next time we went to Lowe’s.

Today, I stopped at Lowe’s to buy some screws. I had the 10% off coupon in my wallet and I thought, hey, instead of using it to save maybe 10 cents on a few screws, I will ask them to apply the coupon to my bill from a few weeks ago, thereby getting store credit of a dollar, which I can then apply to the screws.

So I walked up to the customer service counter. A young girl looked at the coupon, then told me that if I use the 10% off coupon, the $10 coupon would no longer apply. “I know,” I said, “but 10% off is, in this case, better than $10 off, so I’d rather use that one.”

She began typing away at her computer. After a few moments, she looked up and told me it would be a couple minutes because she had to essentially refund everything on the list and then re-ring it. I chuckled at the crazy nature of this process – at Target, for example, the cashier would simply ‘zap’ the coupon then ‘zap’ the receipt and, viola!, the computer would state the refund amount and I’d be given store credit.

After about two minutes, during which time she had to manually enter every item, she announced she had refunded me the total. I signed on some crappy screen. She then said she would now enter in all the items again, this time applying the better coupon.

After another two minutes, she told me my new total. It was higher than my original total.

“Um,” I said, “that’s not right. I should have gotten 10% off this time.”

“You did,” she said, “but it looks like it’s not as good as $10.”

“Well,” I said, speaking slowly for the typical American math student, “since I spent more than $100, then 10% is more than $10, so my savings should be higher.”

She wasn’t sure what to say (math can be like that sometimes), so she called over her manager. He double-checked the sale and said that his employee was correct.He then noticed that the tax amount was higher. I was confused, so he explained that the taxes in Hennepin County (that’s where we were) are higher than in Ramsey County, which is where he believes West St. Paul (that’s where the original sale was located) is.

I laughed, and told them I would not be paying the higher price – especially since I didn’t buy anything in Hennepin County and therefore should not be taxed for it. He said he didn’t know what to do, but since it was obvious I wasn’t about to sign for the sale – and he probably didn’t want me to just walk away with my $100+ refund – he typed in some magic manager code that allowed him to adjust the price to the original sale price. Why didn’t he give me the better price at that time? Good question. Lowe’s has a low price guarantee, but they evidently don’t stand by it.

I then walked over to select the screws I needed. Lowe’s keeps their screws in little bags which I ABSOLUTELY HATE for two reasons:

1. I can’t tell if the screws are the right size.

No big problem here, I just poke the screws through the bags. On this occasion, I found the right size screws on the third try.

2. That’s not how many screws I want to buy.

I only needed four screws. There were ten in a bag. Those assholes.

I went to the self-check out counter. It was acting funny, so an employee came over and said she would ring me up. She farted around with the self-check out computer for a few moments while she canceled my transaction, then tried ringing me up on her computer, only to announce that she couldn’t use my coupon because I had already used it.

“No I didn’t,” I said.

“Did you just return something?” she asked.

“No,” I clarified, “I tried using it to get a lower price, but your co-workers couldn’t figure out how to do that, so I ended up not using it.

She then typed in a special code and gave me 10% off on the bag of screws.

Anyway, that’s my last time at Lowe’s. I heard on the radio yesterday that they are closing several of their stores in the near future. Now I know why.

Monday, 17 October 2011

Did you ever read Douglas Adams’ The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul? If you haven’t, don’t bother; it’s barely better than adequate (there’s a reason why Adams is better known for The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy). The reason why I bring it up is because there’s a moment in the story when the lead protagonist, Dirk Gently, becomes enthralled with a gadget (sorry, I don’t remember what it was – something unmemorable, evidently) – and I mean completely enthralled. The best line in the book occurs at this point. We read:

He had never before even guessed at the existence of such a thing. And to be able to move from total ignorance of something to total desire for it, and then actually to own the thing all within the space of about 40 seconds was, for Dirk, something of an epiphany.

I had  a similar epiphany today. Well, all except the owning part, which I’ll get to in a minute.

This morning, shortly after arriving at work, I checked on my favorite blogs, including Proper Noun Blog. She mentioned a local phenomena called “Little Free Libraries.” It was there that I was directed to a website about Little Free Libraries. She provided a link, but I was too lazy to click on it (come on, it was Monday morning).

A few minutes later, I received my daily email from AWAD. AWAD has over a million subscribers in tons of countries, so I was a little surprised to see a link to our local Star Tribune about…Little Free Libraries.

“Okay,” I said to myself (but not too loudly), “What’s the big deal here. I guess I HAVE to click on the link and find out.

Turns out, they look freakin’ awesome. Initiated by Stillwater-resident Todd Bol, Little Free Libraries are basically mailboxes on steroids that people install in their front lawns and stock with books. Passersby and other locals then come to the library (the whole ‘if you build it…’ thing) and check out books. They check them out by pretty much just taking them. But – on their honor – they’re expected to replenish the withdrawal with a deposit of their own, or, at the very least return the book when they’re done with it.

LFLs have popped up around the metro area, in other states, and even in Canada. More importantly, have I mentioned that, as of last month, I now have a yard? Yes, it’s true. And I have a corner lot, with a sidewalk wrapping around the west and south sides of my property.About three blocks away are several restaurants, a bank, and some place where people cannibalize Jesus’ body and drink blood, so my street gets a healthy dose of people parking and walking.

I so want a little free library!   My property is perfect for it!

Here’s the official site. As always, the only thing stopping me is money. I’ve considered setting Owen up with a lemonade stand for a few weeks. I was thinking at $50 a glass, we’ll have the money in no time, but I’m not sure how many people will be willing to pay that. So…for now, I don’t have one. But I’m putting a LFL on my wish-list.