By Grapthar's Hammer ...

by the sons of Worvahn, you will be Avenged.

Yes, I thought I would report in on my bathroom. However, I'm tired from doing stuff non-stop since this project started. Instead, I'm recommending The Avengers. It's how I unplug.

I have a thing for Alun Hughes. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find out what else he designed besides the Emmapeeler?

P.S. - never, ever, ever do you own mudding and taping. It sucks and the results do, too.

Bathroom: new decision

It has now become apparent that it is as much trouble to remove one wall as it is to repair half of it. Also, Mr. Handyman does do bathtubs so I will be getting a new tub. How lovely! Guess I better run out to Lowes and pick one out. On the down side, although they assure me they will still come in under their estimate, I have yet to be convinced. I have visions of calling the bank and asking for a equity line increase. AAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!! I have agreed to the work, nonetheless.

bathroom demolition

Ms. Handyman is quite nice. She just spent some time explaining to me what's going on and showing me stuff I really don't want to see. The smell has turned out to be the ton of white mildew/mold in my bathroom. It smells even worse now. Did you know the dark inside of a moist wall is the perfect environment for raising decay? Instead of one wall, it looks like two walls are going to be rebuilt. OMG! Dollar signs are flashing before my eyes. I may have to sell my home to pay for this repair. I took some pictures. It's grotty.

Now they have just verified that, yes, they are hauling away the trash. That was the deal because the city does not haul construction debris. They take construction debris but they don't haul it. So, the Handymans have gone off to get the debris hauling truck. Mr. Handymans' motto: It's easier to ask forgiveness than to ask permission. I laughed a lot when he said this.

To take my mind off of all this, I'm reading my daughter's journal and looking at pictures of the greater Rome area.

Bathroom Hell

Well ... Mr. Handyman is here. Two Mr. Handmans in fact (Mr. and Ms.). They spent 15 minutes looking over the job and tearing out a piece of the bathroom surround. There is wall board and paneling and metal tile under there. He thinks he can do half a wall. And he used that dirty word "code." The board needs to be up to the new code. Not the old code of '49 when the house was built. Now they are out in the truck. Mr. Handyman is probably having his last smoke of the hour. Ms. Handyman is wandering the street for some reason. I signed a blank work order. Was that a bad thing to do? Fortunately I can stop work at any time. And I am probably their worst nightmare. A foreman who knows hardly anything. Ha ha! Revenge is mine!

Well, suck it up Handymans. I hired you and it's my job your doing. Life sucks.

Whew! It's starting to smell in here something fierce. Sounds like Mr. H is taking the wall off of the bathroom.

I thought I might get some work done while they are here today but I'm too nervous to really concentrate.

Harr—reeee!!!!

I've just finished the fourth Harry Potter book (... and the Goblet of Fire). It is really satisfying to read a book when I don't know the ending or haven't seen the movie. I can't wait to see Alastor Moody! This HP book is very, very dark. It's a bit like a Shakespearean tragedy. I can't see a film company showing child murder in a family show. I don't know how they will do it. I love the beetle thing. I can see that quite clearly in the movie. There's a lot of back story. Wonder how that will be handled? It would take a really l-o-n-g flash back to handle it. ... Well, better them than me.

The premise is a bit weak: a 14-year-old participating in a 17-and-above contest when evey magical thing in the world is done to stop him. Harry is getting just a little bit too special. But, it's just a story. Right? I sure hope the parts about Fred and George get into the movie. As Harry says, "I could do with a few laughs. We could all do with a few laughs."
Current Fads
Music.Enya Only Time: the Collection
Movie. The Fifth Element (1997)
Activity. vacationing
Gadget. CD burner
News Source. BBC News - Americas
Books. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J. K. Rowling; Fortune; Coastal LIving; A Primer of Visual Literacy - Donis A. Dondist; Kitchens & Bathrooms: Planning & Remodeling - Sunset Books; Complete Do-it-yourself Manual - Reader's Diget (Yes, I really am reading them all right now—I'm a reading addict. What can I say?)

Live - Right Now!

If you click on over now you can watch live video of the set up (or take down - hard to tell which - might be the set up since they just did a sound check - but it was supposed to start at 5 am ET) of today's Zappanale which started yesterday in Bad Doberman, Germany. While you do that you can listen to a recording of previous sessions of the actual concert (I guess). Anyway. Fabchannel comes pretty close to on-demand TV. Lots of live pre-recorded streaming concerts. Very nice interface and works really well. They forget your streaming speed each time but it's not a major glitch. There's a nice listing of what's coming up live and you can opt in to reminders. You can also see the genre, etc. before you commmit to a stream. Pretty cool. If you are curious but prefer to eschew the wild scene here's a way to drop in unnoticed.

Oh, and now they are doing an interview with an unidentified guy (someone with the Grand Wazoo). Woo hoo!

Great personality tests!

I just spent two hours taking tests, doing searches and reading all about me and my relationships. I read a lot of stuff I've seen in other decent tests so the Yahoo! ones must be good. As a trained psychologist, I recognized the validity of the test. I also read some things I've never seen anywhere else. Especially helpful was the analysis of past relationships and my emotional skills. I found new insights, which is rare for me. I'm such a test freak.

I also read a couple of things that didn't make sense, like I don't give in too quickly and I do give in too quickly. Also, when discussing the man I'm attracted too, the point that I'm attracted to creative types was prefaced by "Even though you have little artistic talent yourself ..." Don't tell my boss! I may lose my graphic designer job!

Those were the only two glitches. Overwhelmingly, the tests were useful.