Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Electric Avenue

After a weekend of having big plans but not actually getting much done, the Jeanners and I finally were able to get crackin' on some housework yesterday afternoon. We were able to run a good portion of the new wiring in our future bedroom.



One step closer to putting up drywall. We've still got a bit more wire to run (lights, ceiling fan) and then we can start drywalling. Woo-Hoo! This week, I'll be doing more stripping after work, so that once we've got everything drywalled we can move right into putting up trim and doors and stuff.



Last night I came up with a new nickname for the J-Dog: Jerns. It doesn't mean anything, but I like the way it sounds. So now I have to spend the next few days calling her Jerns all the time so that it sticks.

We've been catching mice by the hatful lately. Not literally in a hat, it's just an expression. Ok, maybe it's not an expression but it is now. Anyway, you know what I mean. The other day we caught two baby mice in the same spring-activated-swift-metal-bar-snaps-down type trap, the logistics of which I'm still having trouble figuring out. Did they both happen upon the trap at the exact same time? Was one mouse playing a practical joke that went horribly awry? We'll never know. Anyway, I feel more than a tinge of guilt when dumping dead mice into the trash. I really don't like killing things. Jerns has even gotten me to the point where I don't step on crickets anymore (there's been numerous crickets in the house, too, by the way - annoying as fuck) but rather scoop them up an take them outside. I do, though, still enjoy killing mosquitoes because I HATE MOSQUITOES. Mainly because mosquitoes seem to love me. I HATE MOSQUITOES.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Stripping

My project for the week has been stripping paint off of window trim that we will then put back up on newly-drywalled (once we drywall them) walls and repaint. It has led to me posting numerous "stripping" and "stripper" puns in my Facebook status. I actually had to stop myself from doing it again and am making myself write this post instead. The world only needs so many stripper puns before you become "that guy." It's actually a job that I don't mind too much. I'm down in the basement, and I've got the mp3 player fired up, and I've got a little system going, and the stripper smells nicely like orange sherbet while it slowly kills my remaining brain cells. And it's giving me a nice sense of accomplishment for the week, like the hours that fall between the time I get home from work and the time Jeannie gets home from work haven't completely gotten squandered on baths, tangrams, the internet, and Infinite Jest. Got about 80 or so pages read at work today, by the way.

Last night I headed to an open rehearsal for TITUS. Just to see how it's coming along, and because usually I enjoy watching a mid-to-late rehearsal more than a final performance. Things usually seem a lot less fake. To me. Anyway, I'd never read the play, so I was seeing it with virgin eyes, and while I'd say that the play as a whole is not one of Shakespeare's most, uh, sublime works, there's definitely a few speeches in there that are pretty beautiful. And the gory blood-type special effects that folks have been working on look like they'll be pretty amazing, especially in such close quarters.

What else?

I might try and convince the Jeanners to go out for some greek food for din-din.

I have come close to pooping in my pants/shorts several times during the last week.

Jerry Orbach's Cousin came into the store the other day. He made sure that Jerry Orbach (and the fact that he was Jerry Orbach's Cousin) casually came up in the conversation, as he always does.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Northwest Passage

Took the ol' bike out for a spin after work today, and I think I've found a decent route to work that's not too terribly hilly and not too long. It took me about an hour to get there and an hour to get home. So perhaps I shall start biking to work again in the near future. Getting a two-hour workout in under the disguise of transportation is a pretty decent thing, I think.

I got me some new glasses last night, as my old glasses had broken and were being held together by superglue, or, as the brand we bought was called, "future glue." My old glasses also had lenses that had yellowed and were so scratched and generally fucked that the world that I saw through them had ceased to resemble what the real world in front of my face actually looked like. Plus, as I mentioned before, they finally broke. So I got new glasses. And the place where I bought them was having a "Buy One Pair, Get a Second Pair Free" sale (what we at the B&N call a BOGO), so I also now own a pair of prescription sunglasses. I picked out a pair of frames for the sunglasses that I hoped would make me look like Ray Charles, but I'm not quite sure I've achieved the look. I did, however, while wearing the sunglasses, make Jeannie lead me out of the mall as though I was blind. She sucked at it. She let me walk into trashcans in the middle of the mall thoroughfare and all sorts of shit. I hope I never actually go blind. So anyway, if the next time you see me I seem somehow cooler and you can't quite put your finger on what might be causing the surge of additional coolness, it's probably the prescription sunglasses that I'm wearing.

The doctor that gave me my physical called the other day and left a message with the results of my bloodwork. She said my cholesterol looks 'terrific' but that I'm low in Vitamin D. Fuck her.

My mouth tastes terrible.

I'm about halfway into Infinite Jest. Boy, it's good. I'm nearing the part where it all starts to just roll downhill.

The Jeanners and I have both been feeling an autumnal burst of home-improvement motivation. I think we're gonna get some good shit done in the next month or two. Getting geared up for a semi-major roof/chimney repair and waiting for some electrical-planning advice from my super good electrical engineer and all-around smart guy brother-in-law, Tom.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Wizard is about to die.

The title of this post is a reference to the 1980's video game 'GAUNTLET.' Check it out.

My parents were here this past weekend. It was going along fine until yesterday. We did some stuff around the house, we took a day trip to Gettysburg, we played some cards, ate some meals, etc. And pretty much most of the weekend my mom was making little "suggestions" of things we (Jeannie and I) could do around the house, or things that we could do to take better care of our possessions. After smiling and nodding or lightly telling her that we wouldn't be heeding her suggestions through most of the weekend, yesterday I had about as much as I could take and I really blew up at her. I don't blow up well. I'm not really a blow-up type of guy. I usually hold stuff in pretty well and it takes about 10-18 years before it builds up enough to where I blow up. So anyway, I blubbered and yelled awhile. Then a large tree branch fell outside in the street so Jeannie and I my dad and I went and cut it up. Then my mom and dad went to dinner. Then we all played cards. Then they left this morning. I've never been so relieved to have them leave before. I'm usually ready to get back to regular life by the end of their visits, but this time I was, like, do-a-little-dance happy to see them (her) leave. I feel bad for my dad who it seemed understood where I was coming from and why I blew up and who was generally helpful and fun to be around all weekend. Anyway, that's been occupying my headspace all day and it probably will for awhile. They're continuing their trip down to North Carolina and get back to St. Louis on Friday.

I went to the doctor for a physical today for the first time in a very long time. It was very fast. After all the paperwork and vital-signs-taking was done, she came in, looked in my eyes, looked down my throat, whacked my knees, listened to my breathing, listened to my heart, felt my tummy, felt my throat, rummaged around my junk, and I was out the door. At one point, she told me I have a beautiful body.

We have lots of tree rubble in our yard, to be chopped up and bundled. It's probably how I will be spending my afternoons. I went out this evening to do a little bundling, but the mosquitoes were out in full force. I will be glad as the weather gets colder and the mosquitoes go away.

One sentence in this post is a lie. Can you spot it?

Saturday, September 04, 2010

Biker's Ass

It's been awhile since I've signed in to write in the ol' blog and had nothing to write about. I guess lately I've been waiting until something interesting happens before I would sit down to write. Not that you could tell. But not tonight. I just got home from work, and people were a bit crazy at the ol' Nobes tonight. Large crowds of loud, unruly teens. Damn kids. Damn back to school time, when the weather's still nice enough that teens roam and terrorize on a Friday night. Although it's Saturday night. Nonetheless, you get the picture.

This week, I got my bike out of the basement and got it back in working condition. After the great Weight Loss Extravaganza of 2008, my bike sat outside for a year and a half and got rained, iced, and snowed on. And probably peed on by some of the drunks in Charles Village, who knows. So since we moved into the house, I've had it down in the basement, but the other day I got it out, dusted it off, put some air in the tires and lubed up Mr. Chain, and took it out for a spin. I was attempting to find a good route from our place to my place of employment, and I was relatively unsuccessful. I mean, I eventually made it to work, but it took like an hour and a half, and the way I took was full of long, gradual hills, and it just generally sucked. And then on the way home I got a flat tire, so I ended up having to walk my bike the last 2 miles or so. So although it sucked, it did conjure a little bit of bike fever back in me, and I have ordered new tires and tubes on the internet, and I think I have found a better route. So be on the lookout for a pale, sweaty, slow biker in a neighborhood near you. Soon. By the way, my bike is a Huffy.

The weather here was beautiful today. We were supposed to get some rain from hurricane earl, but all we got was a bit of wind last night and this morning. But seriously - sunny, cool, and low humidity with a nice big breeze. Sat out on the porch with the Jeanners before work today and boy, did it make me want to not go to work.

The parents are arriving in T-minus 5 days.