Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Woodsman

Well, jeez, it's been a week, although it hasn't really felt that way. What's been going on?

Last Saturday the Jeanners and I chopped down a tree in our yard. It was dead. We never saw it with leaves, so I have no idea what kind of tree it was. It was about 35 feet tall, and the trunk was about 15 inches in diameter. We only had one brush with death while cutting it down, which is pretty good I think. I've cut down a couple of trees with my dad, and we always had at least 1 decent brush with death. The last tree I cut down with him, a falling branch smashed the ladder that he had, moments earlier, been standing on. Nothing quite that exciting happened on Saturday.



Side note: we also cut down a tiny (alive) tree that was growing right in front of our porch, way too close to the house. Also took out a large, rotting stump that was growing right near the back of our house. It's nice to have all that stuff done, and now we have a bunch of wood to season and eventually use for firewood. Today I plan on using some of the old studs that we've taken out of the house to build a rack to get our firewood up off the ground so it will dry nicely and not attract termites. Also hope to make a dent in the large collection of branches in the back of our house that need to be cut up and bundled.

Jeez, enough about wood.

Had an inventory at work on Sunday night. It went very well, and then went over to the bar across the street (from work) with some folks afterwards. A good time. Our new store manager started last week. Seems like a decent guy so far, although he's pretty inexperienced.

The really big news is that PKP and T-Bone announced that they're gonna have another bambino, and when PKP called to tell me, his phone kept cutting in and out, and this effect caused it to be The Most Annoying Phone Conversation Ever. It sounded something like this:

"Hey!....news....Teresa....baby!...due in late...yeah....excited....baby...Finn..."

Cell phones are not my friend.

Today: I wait for the basement waterproofing people to show up so they can make our basement shed water like a good basement should, I'll probably watch some LOST, I'll cut up some sticks, maybe make a trip to the grocery, do some dishes. Yeah!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Afternoon

Well, it's now 4pm. I got home from work a little while ago and watched LOST while eating popcorn. The show is starting to get down to the nitty gritty. I'll be glad when it's done.

It's a beautiful, sunny day outside. I should really open a window. The house is usually about 10 degrees colder inside than it is outside. I'm hoping that the same is true during the summer, but my guess is that the heat of the sun is just gonna warm the stone up and the inside of our house will be kinda like an oven. Awesome!

The Jeanners and I made some decent progress on the bathroom last week:





A bit more trim to go, and a radiator cover, and some electricity, and maybe some built-in shelves, and some refinished floors, and paint and then it will be good to go and we can move on to the bedroom.

But anyway, life is good. The Jeanners and I have been watching BIG LOVE in the evening, which is pretty good. Also been enjoying some delicious G&T's. Been reading a very good book about the Columbine shooting. It's called Columbine. That seems like a pretty good title. But anyway, it's very well written and even the Jeanners is getting sucked into it. And usually she only likes to read books about ponies and rainbows and stuff. Actually, she can barely read. It's time you all knew.

The "a" on this keyboard isn't working very well. Have I missed any A's?

Yesterday, something smelled like pee.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Seasons Change, People Change

Remember when there was a lot of deep snow on the ground?

That was fun.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Lawn Mowin' Man

Tonight I bought a lawn mower, weed whacker, and some gas cans. I would also like to take this opportunity to point out that I used to professionally mow lawns. I was never very good at doing the trimming, though. Perhaps I will be better now that I'm no longer 15.

Also found out today that my boss got the ol' shit-can yesterday. As in fired. Pretty sucky. He's a good guy, and he's got a new baby daughter, and in my opinion, he didn't deserve to get fired. However, life at the B&N will roll on. When we get a new store manager, it will be the 7th store manager since I've been there. They seem not to last too long.

I've been running every day this week. It feels good, although I still feel a bit winter-tubby. Nonetheless, my feet aren't hurting too bad yet, and my knees aren't hurting too bad yet, and my back isn't hurting too bad yet, so I'm gonna keep running until one or all of those things start(s) happening.

A customer at the store (who I sometimes trade jazz CD's with) told me the other day about a presumed ghost at his house who pulls the doorknobs off the doors. It was a funny story.

I can't wait for the Schluetermetz' to be back in Ohio. Can't wait!

Friday, March 12, 2010

Goodthings

Some good stuff is goin' down:

1. Both Jeannie and I have all weekend off work. Hopefully we will be able to get much done. Tomorrow we've got an electrical workshop in the morning, and then we'll spend the rest of the day shopping for various things. Sunday is planned as a serious work day.

2. I set up some recording equipment in the basement today. It felt so freakin' good to do some recording again. I haven't done any since we moved into our crap apartment last September. Also nice to not have to worry about other people hearing me be loud.

3. The best news is that our friends the Schluetermetz' are going to be moving from Oregon back to Ohio this summer. This means that they will once again be within a half-day's drive from us, back in the same time-zone. Pretty damned exciting stuff. Secret plans forming in my head...

Tonight for dinner I had some black beans and eggs with some spicy salsa. A fiery, burnin' salsa, which means it's gonna burn my butt on the way out.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Under the Influence of Texas

Today I was in a waiting room with a TV and there was a news report about a woman who was "driving under the influence in Texas," but I heard "driving under the influence OF Texas." It was pretty funny. Sometimes I think people should be arrested if they're driving under the influence of Texas. I'm looking at you and your boots, E. Elz.

2010 has so far been a pretty damned good year, music-wise. Laura Veirs is still up there with my favorite album, but she now shares the top spot with the band Beach House and their album Teen Dream. They're a Baltimore band that is getting some national indie attention (they were in the #1 spot on Rolling Stone's College Charts a month ago) and it's a really solid album. I would recommend it to pretty much everybody who I know that reads this blog, with the exception of Spiff because there's no acoustic guitars. Here's one of my favorite (although not my favorite favorite) songs on the album:



Midlake's album is in the #2 spot. It's a good album all the way through (some nice acoustic guitars, Spiff) but doesn't have any songs that reach out and grab you by the shorthairs. Plus, Josh Rouse's new album is decent (it's better listening to it at work than it is at home) and the show of his that we saw with PKP and T-bone earlier in the year was pretty awesome. We have also purchased tickets to go to another show with PKP and T-Bone to see Josh Ritter in May.



Our good friend Katie is over right now, eating stirfry and telling us about a Jewish farm. I think I'm gonna make a G&T.

I have started running again. The first day I thought my heart was going to explode. Second day was better.

Sunday, March 07, 2010

I can't drive 75.

A container of black beans gone bad was discovered in our fridge and it smelled just like my farts. This has led me to conclude that on most days, my stomach and lower GI is filled with rotting black beans. I think I'm gonna make that the thesis statement for my science fair project next year. Blue ribbon fer sure.

Lysistrata closed last night. I enjoyed working on it, I'm glad it's over so I can devote myself to the working on the house. Also, I got a speeding ticket last night, which is sucky but not unexpected. I just drive too darned fast. Always have. So, I shall pay my debt to society and continue to speed. But for awhile, I will speed more slowly. Also, I have been officially warned that I need to replace my tag light.

Tomorrow after work I'm heading over to Hampden to scout out a mirror for our bathroom. We've been half-assedly looking for a mirror for awhile, but tomorrow I'm devoting the entire other half of my ass to it. Personally, I have already seen a few mirrors that I think would suit our needs just fine, but there is someone else living here that is picky, and I will give you a hint that her name rhymes with Fuh Sheeners.

Tonight Jeannie proposed the idea that perhaps we could start to keep bees here at the house. Rejected.

Monday, March 01, 2010

Cirsumvrent

Howdy!

Another weekend of Lysistrata down. Friday night after I got home from the show, I got on the internet and tuned into Whole Wheat Radio out of Talkeetna, AK, to catch a live performance from Spiff and Melissa. It was pretty cool, because when you logged on the site to listen live, you could chat with other folks who were listening and leave comments that they would read live at the concert. So, for example, I was able to request "Parents Just Don't Understand," and they read it to Spiff and Melissa, and Spiff instantly knew it was me who requested it. It was pretty cool. Also cool to read the thoughts of people who were hearing them for the first time. All-in-all, it was a really fun time, almost like being there. Unfortunately, because Alaska is 4 hours behind us, the show wasn't over until 3 in the morning.

Then, on Saturday, I had a matinee of Lysistrata, then a theatre company meeting, then an evening show of Lysistrata, then a cast party. Got home at 2 in the morning. Then up for work on Sunday morning. Luckily I was able to catch up on sleep on Sunday. The cast party was a really good time. Good food, and then small-group conversation in the living room while listening to Greg Brown and John Prine and such. I miss small-group late night conversation.

Tonight after work I was interviewed by a strategic planning consultant that has been hired by the theatre company to help us plan out the next couple of years. It was kind of fun and kind of one of those situations where you feel like a dick no matter how you answer and even if there's no real reason to feel like a dick. I guess maybe I just don't like to be interviewed.

Shit's been going on, so not much has happened with the house. Which is ok, I guess, but I'm a little worried that we've slowed down too much. Maybe we're just at a point where we're a little bit stuck until we find the trim pieces that we need to find to match the rest of the door headers in the house.

The other day I saw an older white woman combing her hair with a pick. Is that strange? It seemed strange to me.