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Friday, April 22, 2011

de basement

rain, working OT saturday, and of course Easter sunday services.  rejiggering decks is not a go this weekend.  we went out and spent $230 on can lights, wire, and sundries.  for the next week perhaps, I will instead get rid of the sad surface-mount lights in the basement and install about a dozen can lights, as well as two fan-mount kits.

being a basement, the fan branch circuit will have its own switch, so we can run them at low speed often and reduce disgusting air effects.

get it all done and then cut into the switches to minimize the power-down time.

starting saturday night by measuring and snapping chalklines.  last time I did can lights, I didn't get them nicely in line.  that won't happen again.  I also have to gin one up and find the coverage area of the setup so I don't foul up and get spotlight effects.  yes, we did buy flood bulbs... curly bulbs in a flood lamp housing.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

don't forget to tip the wait staff department:

the Feds have released new diagnostic guidelines for Alzheimers...

http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-alzheimers-guidelines-20110419,0,7080277.story

they are... uh... ah... guidelines are.... ummmm... oh, look, supper's ready!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

we're hot to redo the basement

musty late 70s orange shag and barn-ish panelling, no egress windows, you know the score.  Cheryl is getting really ready to get on that, so we hit the Habitat Re-Store today to see if there was anything cheaper than we'd been finding in the big box stores.

not for the size job we have.  but I did find a strange thing... a partial 500 foot spool of Belden test lead wire from the 50s or 60s (by the graphics on the reel.)  that stuff is good for 5000 volts.  five bucks.  grabbed it.

we have already bought closeout tile from the Depot for the oversize shower we're going to build in the bathroom... it's about the size of an LA Fitness shower stall... including a glass tile accent strip.  but didn't have any tile for the shower floor.  checked out the other two fine home improvement retailers, and found some nice 2x2 noce tile mats at Menards.  since we got fixtures a couple years ago, we're moving along.

best deal on access windows so far is $199 at the Depot, but the Nard has some casements going on sale tomorrow.  if one of the 3 sizes is legal for egress, that's the ticket.

IMPHO it's too cold to dig yet.  we will have to deal with the lower deck and stairs from the upper one, so this will be a weekend of itself to clear those issues and prep for the egress.

egress windows have to be in to be able to get creepy panelling out and new sheetrock and wood in.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

don't forget to Tax the Rich

they're the only ones who have anything left.

there is a plethora of knife-to-the-throat nonsense among politicians of the right wing going on now, states and Federal both, that there are going to be random, deep, and vicious cuts in any program that does not impact the billionnaires.  oh, and additional tax cuts for them, too.

what a bunch of bull.  the paid-fors are pushing for total capitulation.

they just about cut off the soldiers overseas, among others, demanding basically an end to the 20th century nationally.  and now they're raising the whine again for the FY2012 budget.

just like the Taliban, except they aren't trying to go back to the 7th Century.  they just want to go back to the 1800s, when periodic financial panics kept everybody except far-hidden frontiersmen and the rich in their enclaves in wage slavery.

poll after poll says 60% prefer sharply targeted reconfigurations of budgets and taxes for those who can pay.

here's the bottom line:  get knotted.  you've pushed too far.  it's backfired, and you're going to find it out, tea party fans.

Friday, April 1, 2011

this is gonna be a GOOD year in the garden.

can't work it yet, so I'm building an old-school (7400) frequency counter until then.

but about the garden...

Cheryl and I ordered $120 worth of plants, mainly perennials, last night on Da ISH.  half of it was spent at Michigan Bulb, which is familiar to my side of the family, they've been getting my late mother's money for some 40 years.

3 or 4 years ago, we made an order from one of her catalogs, and have been getting them every year, in Cheryl's name.  this year, instead of the snail mail, because we frankly screwed up and let the 50% off savings pass us by, I slipped on the net and poked in the numbers to see if they were extending the deal.  and they were.

so everything on our list that they had, we ordered from Michigan Bulb.  $60 and change.

ordered from Cheryl's catalog.  used my name and credit card.  it was my name on the order all the way through processing.

at the end, when the online receipt printed out, it had Mom's name on it.

she's dead, the house was sold, she's making no responses.

and her name is going to be on this order.

it's obvious that The Master Gardener and mom have an eye on our garden this year.

I think we're gonna have a really good year.