Checking my Amazon vendor stats this morning, I discovered that somebody (I’ll never know who unless they choose to “uncloak”; thank you, Mysterious Stranger) just bought one of these: Wireless IP Pan/Tilt/ Night Vision Internet Surveillance Camera Built-in Microphone With Phone remote monitoring support. Yeah, that’s a mouthful. But that’s also a lot of camera for $50. Until recently, I’d never thought about getting home-security cameras because a) I have nothing worth stealing and b) not many bad guys are going to choose a house with three dogs. But just this week the thought crossed my mind that a camera…
Category: Home improvement
This year has been the busiest I’ve had since back in my 20s when, for a brief, delusional few years I worked like a Silicon Valley maniac. I don’t approve of work. I discourage all my friends from doing too much of it (and “too much” can have a pretty liberal definition). So how did I get into this state? I ask myself that all the time as I bang nails and computer keys (mercifully not at the same time, but as tired as I’ve gotten a few days this week there’s some chance I might mix up the two,…
Sorry for “lite” posting yesterday. I’m deadlining all this month while also trying to paint, trim, and partially re-side two walls of the house. I bought shingles and cedar boards in April in a wild-to-the-point-of-insanity fit of optimism. I dreamed spring would shortly yield to summer. Yeah. The supplies sat in the yard getting rained on. Now, we’ve got a brief eyeblink of dry weather. So I’m juggling: work-work in the a.m., improvement-work in the afternoon, dogs and housework … somewhere. I’m also getting to know a video camera sent by Terry Bressi The Checkpoint Beater. The only previous video…
I mentioned before that the people I bought my new-old house from were into landscaping that … well, could best be called chaotic (photos). While they completely neglected the house during their 15-year residence, they did a lot to the yard. And a lot. And a lot. And a lot more. And then more on top of that. They built ornamental fences and archways and hanging gardens and benches and canopies and screens. And they put in ponds and fountains and birdhouses and … well, you name it. And they built a fence and hung stuff on it and nailed…
… ya don’t. I’ve been deadlining the past couple of weeks and have about a week and a half to go. The work is going well, but doing a number of small projects at once crowds my brain. I’m also going gangbusters on house projects in my spare time. (Ah, spring! It brings out the constructive insanity in a body.) All that’s to the good, and life is dandy fine. Don’t get me wrong. But the last few days have also brought a steady stream of itty-bitty time-wasters and irritations. Not one is of the slightest importance by itself, but…
Stuff I’ve been collecting for you while having the living room flooring done, ripping siding off the house, and extracting rusted bicycles from the foliage.* Oh, and deadlining, too. “Neighbors confront alcoholic child abuser about his lawn.” (Don’t worry, it’s only The Onion this time.) Not that you actually needed proof that government is filled with idiots … An ISP that puts privacy first? Did you know there was a U.S. holiday called Loyalty Day? I didn’t. But it’s coming right up. Clearly we need to celebrate! “Born this way.” This article would be fascinating if it admitted the existence…
Saturday I learned that one of my dearest friends has inoperable pancreatic cancer. Even in this day of improving cancer treatments, the odds on that particular type are … well, better than the odds of winning MegaMillions, but worse than almost every other type of cancer. On the good side, she’s got a partner who loves her and is capable of taking care of her. She’s also got one of the world’s great daughters, who flew thousands of miles to be here as soon as she heard. But all things considered, that’s not much of a good side. It occurs…
It’s not that fostering a dog is a full-time occupation — although dealing with the politics of a canine pack can be as consuming as (though much more honest and direct than) dealing with human politics. I have Robbie — normally the bully of the bunch, but this time remaining blessedly aloof. Clearly he believes introduction of a new female is a problem to be worked out solely by the girls. There’s Nadja. She’s low dog on the totem pole, but those few privileges she can claim for her own are hers, by damn. She’ll even head Robbie away from…
Loud parties all over the neighborhood yesterday. Well, it’s Carnival. One loud week a year, no problem. A Fourth of July that goes on for two weeks, no problem. But the neighborhood of my new-old house is beginning to get me down. Badly. You buy in a poor neighborhood, you expect some stuff. And hey, I’m the person who once told a real estate agent I’d rather live next to tar-paper shacks than the McMansions he insisted on showing me. But on top of the Notorious Neighbor from Hell, the quality of living here has deteriorated in the last year…
Sorry for the non-posting. I’ve been taking advantage of unseasonably good weather and a break in deadlines to do a burst of late-summer projects. During breaks in yardwork and painting, I’ve watched mindlessly entertaining videos like The Human Slinky and the Bed-Sheet Cat. Occasionally even mind-activating videos like the ad for the new drug Complyacin. 🙂 Or getting my Bovard fix. He has a good take on the “effectiveness” of federal job-training programs. (I can’t believe I have friends who write for the Wall Street Journal. So respectable! And speaking of respectable, I just learned today that an old acquaintance…