It's the end of week one for our bathroom remodel job. I've been home more than usual as I've tried to be here while our carpenter is here although I probably didn't need to be. It's a new category of time killing since there's really no privacy as he has to pass through all my lounging areas. I feel like a doofus watching TV - even if it's serious TV - while he's breaking his back getting our bathroom done. I've offered to help every day but he says "that's what you're paying me to do".. I like the sound of that. Overall he's a really good guy and I don't mind having him on site.. With his labor and our "designer's" vision I think this will come out very nice - and then we can move (taaaaa daaaaaaa)...
Speaking of moving I see on today's national weather report that the Southeastern states are getting hit hard with a winter storm. So the two places we've been considering relocating to - Roanoke, VA and Charlotte, NC - are getting a bunch of snow and ice. So much for the frequent cheery weather updates we get from our friends and family down there - "It's 60 degrees and we're wearing shorts!!!" "Don't bring your snow blower down here."
No worse place for this kind of winter crap than the south - they're just not used to it. Folks in Minnesota treat such weather like a sun shower. I remember my first winter in Arkansas. It snowed and I drove off to school and there was almost nobody on the road fighting through the 2-inch killer blizzard. I think they canceled classes that day. I can remember growing up on Long Island where it had to be a foot of snow before they even considered shutting down. God, we were tough...(I miss my bathroom)...
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Random recap
I've been somewhat blogged out lately.. I try to stay on theme with my time killing exploits. There haven't been too many new time killing events to report unless you want to count the 2-hour dental appointment I had last week..Dr F ran into a few problems and I threw him way off schedule.. I could just sense the back up in the waiting room. Everyone must have had to read the old People magazines and the pamphlets on gum disease.. I am not sure what he ran into with my mouth but he did hook me up with something similar to automotive jumper cables (honest). A new way to kill an afternoon - and THIS was just the dentist.. Wait until my yearly medical stuff starts soon.. Remember last year's human torpedo story? I need to revisit that MRI place soon.
My delicate world will be disrupted the next week or so as we have our bathroom re-model job starting tomorrow. The first step of demolition is always a crowd pleaser. I need to break out the dust mask and figure just how much I need to be involved in this process.."Can I hold the flashlight for you? Should I shut off the water? Where do we throw this old toilet?? Do you need help carrying this 350 lb iron tub"?? I guess being Mr. homebody will have its advantages. This project would normally burn a bunch of personal and vacation days.
I am starting to outline a screenplay idea which is beginning to take shape. I wonder how much time killing that will be? I have some good resources (writer friends) who I can turn to should I get stuck.. Yes, I've been stuck a few times already. I guess this has affected my blogging energy but I'm hoping to make some progress and see if it's worth reporting on. I think my biggest challenge is writing dialogue. That's new to me. I have been reviewing some of my favorite movies/writers for inspiration.
Last night I couldn't sleep and I watched Albert Brooks' "Lost in America". I kept thinking - I can do this. Or should I say: "I can do this. I can plagiarize!!"... (fade to new scene)...
My delicate world will be disrupted the next week or so as we have our bathroom re-model job starting tomorrow. The first step of demolition is always a crowd pleaser. I need to break out the dust mask and figure just how much I need to be involved in this process.."Can I hold the flashlight for you? Should I shut off the water? Where do we throw this old toilet?? Do you need help carrying this 350 lb iron tub"?? I guess being Mr. homebody will have its advantages. This project would normally burn a bunch of personal and vacation days.
I am starting to outline a screenplay idea which is beginning to take shape. I wonder how much time killing that will be? I have some good resources (writer friends) who I can turn to should I get stuck.. Yes, I've been stuck a few times already. I guess this has affected my blogging energy but I'm hoping to make some progress and see if it's worth reporting on. I think my biggest challenge is writing dialogue. That's new to me. I have been reviewing some of my favorite movies/writers for inspiration.
Last night I couldn't sleep and I watched Albert Brooks' "Lost in America". I kept thinking - I can do this. Or should I say: "I can do this. I can plagiarize!!"... (fade to new scene)...
Monday, January 18, 2010
Our top story
I watched the Golden Globes this weekend. I can't remember ever watching the whole thing but in the spirit of time killing I tried to see the entire show. I was thinking it's like being a NASCAR fan as you are just waiting for a wreck. Unlike the Oscars, these awards allow the attendees to drink so as the show goes on there's more of a chance of someone having a meltdown. There was no meltdown (that I saw) except someone stepping on someone's gown (I know her name but I'm too lazy to look up the spelling). Chloi Sivigney????? That woman who is in that show about Mormons and polygamy - a real crowd pleaser.
I see a lot of movies so I had an interest in who won. This show includes TV too but there are many shows I've never seen (Dexter).. I was wondering how the media would handle this award show news but I did forget there were other things happening in the world. (Football playoffs, economy, failing-bank updates??) Oh yeah - Haiti. What a mess.
I notice the Today Show takes a similar angle on much of their daily reporting. Their preference always seems to be highlighting the "missing". There are always missing kids (usually in Florida) and they get the parents, uncles, aunts, neighbors to agree to an interview on their front lawn at 7 30 in the morning. It's always the same questions that never seem to help to resolve the problem. They took the same angle with this Haiti disaster as they rounded up a bunch of family of college students who were missing in a collapsed hotel. Very hard to watch as Meredith Viera was wondering who to blame for the lack of info and results. One of these students is from our town. It doesn't look good.
My grandmother used to travel all over the place years ago and always brought me back trinkets. One of the most memorable was a straw hat with the name Haiti weaved into the front. I can remember not having the slightest idea what it meant or what it was - I am guessing I was about 7 years old. It hung on my wall for a long time. I guess I could have asked or looked it up. My son sent me a video clip of a cruise we went on which stopped at Haiti. I can remember how hot it was there and that there were fires burning you could see from the shore. I wonder where my grandmother went when she was there? I should have asked AND I should have asked about this confusing pennant she got me from another trip -- it said Winnipeg. Years later I checked a map...
I see a lot of movies so I had an interest in who won. This show includes TV too but there are many shows I've never seen (Dexter).. I was wondering how the media would handle this award show news but I did forget there were other things happening in the world. (Football playoffs, economy, failing-bank updates??) Oh yeah - Haiti. What a mess.
I notice the Today Show takes a similar angle on much of their daily reporting. Their preference always seems to be highlighting the "missing". There are always missing kids (usually in Florida) and they get the parents, uncles, aunts, neighbors to agree to an interview on their front lawn at 7 30 in the morning. It's always the same questions that never seem to help to resolve the problem. They took the same angle with this Haiti disaster as they rounded up a bunch of family of college students who were missing in a collapsed hotel. Very hard to watch as Meredith Viera was wondering who to blame for the lack of info and results. One of these students is from our town. It doesn't look good.
My grandmother used to travel all over the place years ago and always brought me back trinkets. One of the most memorable was a straw hat with the name Haiti weaved into the front. I can remember not having the slightest idea what it meant or what it was - I am guessing I was about 7 years old. It hung on my wall for a long time. I guess I could have asked or looked it up. My son sent me a video clip of a cruise we went on which stopped at Haiti. I can remember how hot it was there and that there were fires burning you could see from the shore. I wonder where my grandmother went when she was there? I should have asked AND I should have asked about this confusing pennant she got me from another trip -- it said Winnipeg. Years later I checked a map...
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Glitch Bitch
Stuff breaks.. Stuff breaks or glitches all the time. Who cares? I guess I do when it takes up my valuable time. It seems that you fix one thing and there's something else broken to take its place. I like when things are in order and work correctly. Sometimes I can contribute to the correction and then there's the NEED for professional help. I have a thing about getting that "help"...I don't really want to wait for some tech to show up, enter the house and attack the problem while small talking about the snow. (the latest was the ice maker which requires another visit this week)...That problem has been diagnosed and I have it mentally corrected.. BUT there are gremlins just waiting..
The issues sound trivial but after all isn't that the basis of this blog?? Most of these fixes are garden variety, no big deal just get it done and shut-up projects..I know this. Today my car had trouble starting so I was housebound (poor me -- I had to watch football rather than go to the gym). The car will have to go IN probably the day the ice maker guy shows up and hopefully not the same day the carpenter and plumber come by to assess our bathroom fix... OK, maybe not a fix but a re-model that has been in the planning stages..I'm bracing for the dust cloud BUT longing for a industrial strength flushing toilet... yeeeeeeehaaaaaaa
I spent about 30 minutes tonight trying to correct a problem with my cable DVR - I won't get specific but those damn things are temperamental as hell.. don't EVER hit the wrong button or you will wind up recording 13 episodes of Hoarders while no other channel is accessible. I said screw it and shut it down hoping the cable elves would go to work overnight.. I decided to just work at my desk and pay a bunch of bills. I've paid my bills on line for a long time and it's very convenient and efficient. I always feel good about not having to write out checks. Today for the first time ever I logged in and my trusty Bank of America's site was DOWN.. Oy, do I even HAVE any paper checks?? Ok, I can hear my critics (it's temporary!!) I know but I need inspiration for writing...
Speaking of inspiration, take a look at a friend's new blog/site for aspiring writers:
http://screenwritersrehabbydbgilles.blogspot.com/
This will be my guiding light for my upcoming screenplay/movie "What the hell do I do now??"
The issues sound trivial but after all isn't that the basis of this blog?? Most of these fixes are garden variety, no big deal just get it done and shut-up projects..I know this. Today my car had trouble starting so I was housebound (poor me -- I had to watch football rather than go to the gym). The car will have to go IN probably the day the ice maker guy shows up and hopefully not the same day the carpenter and plumber come by to assess our bathroom fix... OK, maybe not a fix but a re-model that has been in the planning stages..I'm bracing for the dust cloud BUT longing for a industrial strength flushing toilet... yeeeeeeehaaaaaaa
I spent about 30 minutes tonight trying to correct a problem with my cable DVR - I won't get specific but those damn things are temperamental as hell.. don't EVER hit the wrong button or you will wind up recording 13 episodes of Hoarders while no other channel is accessible. I said screw it and shut it down hoping the cable elves would go to work overnight.. I decided to just work at my desk and pay a bunch of bills. I've paid my bills on line for a long time and it's very convenient and efficient. I always feel good about not having to write out checks. Today for the first time ever I logged in and my trusty Bank of America's site was DOWN.. Oy, do I even HAVE any paper checks?? Ok, I can hear my critics (it's temporary!!) I know but I need inspiration for writing...
Speaking of inspiration, take a look at a friend's new blog/site for aspiring writers:
http://screenwritersrehabbydbgilles.blogspot.com/
This will be my guiding light for my upcoming screenplay/movie "What the hell do I do now??"
Monday, January 4, 2010
2010
Wasn't 2010 a movie follow up to Kubrick's 2oo1?? I guess I could have confirmed that before writing it but that's one of the joys of this - just being lazy while killing time. Maybe I should write more about movies.. I am seeing more movies than ever - on TV and the theater. I always had a goal to see all the Oscar-nominated films before the big awards show. It makes it more interesting and now I don't have to worry about getting up for work the day after. So maybe I'll make that a new year's resolution (or revolution as one of my childhood friends used to call it)..
It's been almost a year since I "stopped working".. that is one of my many characterizations of my status. Depending on who I am talking to that can be - unemployed, retired, relaxing, job hunting (ha), disabled, house husband, time-killing. I don't feel comfortable with any of these really. Maybe I should call myself a blogger - but then I'd be one of a zillion dingle berries writing like this. I never have Twittered but I do have a Facebook account and I'm just not that into it. I do get a stray comment on my blog but not always in the comment section. I may get a phone call now and then OR an aol/gmail e mail. I've had some good feedback and some fair criticism. I have tried to keep my blog entries reader-friendly for those (like me) who have limited attention spans. I cringe when I see a 12-paragraph e mail..It's like reading a 5,000 word review in the Sunday Times.. I always feel guilty when I give up and blame it on blurry vision.
So it IS a new year and I am more likely to be house-bound while killing time and that is far less entertaining in winter. I am a bit of a nut and focus in on stupid things like house noises when it's 9 degrees outside. The walls creak, the boiler kicks, the wind howls and sometimes the power goes out. On New Year's day we had a refrigerator leak that hit our kitchen and seeped into the downstairs. Luckily we avoided real damage and just need a new ice maker. This will make about $600 spent on this piece of shit GE product.
So as we see each day getting colder and more slippery we are now thinking of moving south. Winter is now becoming more than an inconvenience. It's adding to my hermit status - which I don't need and now with football almost over there's nothing entertaining except for reality TV shows... You have Idol, Top Chefs, Iron Chefs, Survivor, Amazing Race, Project Runway, Dancing with stars, Dancing with non stars, people with 16 kids, people with 8 kids, dwarfs, dwarfs who make candy, mermaid babies, kids with giant heads, the 450 lb virgin (how odd)...God, get me outta this friggin coldness.
It's been almost a year since I "stopped working".. that is one of my many characterizations of my status. Depending on who I am talking to that can be - unemployed, retired, relaxing, job hunting (ha), disabled, house husband, time-killing. I don't feel comfortable with any of these really. Maybe I should call myself a blogger - but then I'd be one of a zillion dingle berries writing like this. I never have Twittered but I do have a Facebook account and I'm just not that into it. I do get a stray comment on my blog but not always in the comment section. I may get a phone call now and then OR an aol/gmail e mail. I've had some good feedback and some fair criticism. I have tried to keep my blog entries reader-friendly for those (like me) who have limited attention spans. I cringe when I see a 12-paragraph e mail..It's like reading a 5,000 word review in the Sunday Times.. I always feel guilty when I give up and blame it on blurry vision.
So it IS a new year and I am more likely to be house-bound while killing time and that is far less entertaining in winter. I am a bit of a nut and focus in on stupid things like house noises when it's 9 degrees outside. The walls creak, the boiler kicks, the wind howls and sometimes the power goes out. On New Year's day we had a refrigerator leak that hit our kitchen and seeped into the downstairs. Luckily we avoided real damage and just need a new ice maker. This will make about $600 spent on this piece of shit GE product.
So as we see each day getting colder and more slippery we are now thinking of moving south. Winter is now becoming more than an inconvenience. It's adding to my hermit status - which I don't need and now with football almost over there's nothing entertaining except for reality TV shows... You have Idol, Top Chefs, Iron Chefs, Survivor, Amazing Race, Project Runway, Dancing with stars, Dancing with non stars, people with 16 kids, people with 8 kids, dwarfs, dwarfs who make candy, mermaid babies, kids with giant heads, the 450 lb virgin (how odd)...God, get me outta this friggin coldness.
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