Observation on the day - strange happenings everywhere.

JUNE! New day, month and intention. Hoping to keep updating with what's what. You are now forewarned or, if I were a writer, foreshadowed, but since I'm a lawyer, this is disclaimer de minimus, cause I can. :-P Be thankful. It could be disclaimer Significante, which probably isn't a word or could be a Latin language.


FML 6/1/11


Day 32 of training and maybe one or two pounds GAINED !?!?!?!? I started this to boost my metabolism because it was stuck. Now it's stuck again at a higher number. Even after a huge involuntary deposit to the porcelain goddess, I weighed more than when I began.


Weiner's Weiner


Ok, I know it's almost totally outside my universe but Could NOT Be Ignored. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D, NY) has been unable to deny that the tweeted pic of a man's engorged and clothed

groin shows his underwear. Any lawyer worth her salt would have told him not to answer that question; who has original boxers? But, wait, why was Rep. Weiner answering any questions at all? Subpeona or no spilla, I'd say, unless the whole affair was meant to garner attention, which one might call successful after grabbing 45,000 followers for Weiner. BTW, you can't find the pic on twitter or fb anymore, so here - Um, um, um. Now, I wonder if this is real because, have you seen the man?


Groupon Frustration


No, this is not a reference to a huge pile-on of frustration. Groupons? You know. You buy them at half price and let them sit unused until, Oh, I don't know, the last two days they are valid? I can take solace in the reassurance that at least 30 others at the same place I went to did also. Mei Japanese Restaurant in Montgomery tonight was a zoo and I'd hate to see the place Friday, the very last day. Three servers scurried the floor like squirrels scooping up and laying down, talking quicker than even I could fathom, and I didn't want to spend ANY time talking. I picked a bad day to save my appetite for dinner. Of course, it wasn't voluntary. I ran, I got sick and I couldn't eat but decided dinner would be safe because it was just rice and protein and hours away from the crisis. I arrived at 6:30 and saw no food until 7 and didn't get up to leave until 8. Although the food was unobjectionable, all the hubbub about how hard they were working and how patient everyone had to be ruined dinner. Message: If you can't take the heat, literally stay out of the kitchen. Don't participate in Groupons if you can't keep up with the business. They are meant to introduce folks to your place so they will want to return after you make a Good impression. Am I asking too much, folks?

Yes I Know It's I-n-d-e-p-e-n-d-e-n-t.

I know, I should have been suspicious when the title for my blog was available, given that the whole world was already online. But, I have this amazing blind spot that follows me, my own personal practical joke, and it will. not. go. away!

I have tried everything. Yoga. Exercise. Meditation. Meds. I even tried conquering it with prayer and alcohol when I was young and dumber. New age types might say I should try celebrating it. Just how would a person do that when subterfuge is absolutely necessary to effective sabotage? So, yes, the title of my blog wasn't a word until I made it one.

If you stop by to visit, leave a note. If you have nothing to say, just let me know you were here. Then, when the shit hits the fan, I'll be, "All these people looked and didn't see a problem either!" and, "See, it wasn't so freaking obvious." Thanks.

--MK

The Rainforest That Is My Backyard

Meet my little friend, the Black and Decker HT012. If it stands, we will fell it; if it lays, we will kill it. I haven't thought too much about what I'll do next because the weather here blows so bad it's nearly impossible to plan but there will be some serious yard waste - heart attack serious. Took before pix and will post with the after. I am expecting miracles! - and hoping my back holds out.

Trouble is last time I met up with poison ivy, my face ballooned up and the rash was a sight for no eyes. The ground I'm clearing is at least six inches of ivy; most of it is normal but those damn poison leaves are poking up here and there. It's not good. And, there's the rain. Seems like every day has it's dose and the trick is to figure how to work around it and work fast enough to beat the new growth. I am not comfortable operating electric power tools in rain.

Wanna bet that whatever I do plant here dies? Eh, one problem at a time. Sounds like I need to have a talk with my attitude.

I'm going back in. If I don't come out, send help.

My Bathroom

So, the second floot bathroom is where all the mischief began. The water source to the toilet came loose from the wall the day after I tiled the floor, flooding the second floor, first floor and basement. A month later, after the dry-out contractor took his last fan away and I got past the funk, I was able to get back to work.

After glazing the tub, I stripped the window so I could finish it. It looked really good, hard to tell from these pix. I took them with my iPhone.

Next I stripped and finished the wood trim for the doorway. I said strip. He he he. Notice, there's a whole lot less paint, etc left over on the wood. Getting better with time.

Diane noticed the missing face plate. Details, details. Guess I'm not perfect.

Here are views of the other three walls when finished: the medicine cabinet, the window wall, and the mirror wall.

Glazin the Tub

Glazin the tub is nothing like praying the to the porcelain God; it's painting a new face on an old appliance. I did this myself with a brush-on epoxy paint. The tub was glazed once before the flood but, with moving it, the dry-out stirring up a lot of dust and dripping paint on it, the tub needed a new coat after the flood damage was fixed.

So, this is the final product. It doesn't have a perfect surface. If you could see this up close, you'd see brush strokes. If I were a perfectionist, I'd have a professional do this with a spray machine; it's the only way you have a chance at an even surface. And the fumes, forgetaboutit! But, this tub has never looked so good and, after all, I'm not going to serve dinner on it.

What a Waste!

Through some stroke of luck, my contractor put piping for the third floor laundry, toilet and sink at the top of his list. It might have something to do with him wanting to use the room to edit a tv show he's producing for cable - a cooking show. I am surrounded by genius!

Anyway, he broke through the stairwell to access the second floor bath pipes and this is what the waste stack looked like, crack, hole and all. Right there in my wall was this time bomb spewing gas! Here are the rest of the pieces from the wall. Just look at that joint!

Jamieson to the rescue: he not only ran all the plumbing from the second floor to the third, he replaced the whole waste stack. I was particularly impressed with his labels. What a nifty idea, anticipating someone would have to tear out that wall again to access the pipes. It better not happen while I'm here, though.

The Before Photos are Here

Go here to see pix of the house as it looked when I took possession: