you might have missed...

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

a happy Thanksgiving to all

assuming anybody reads this rabid screed ;)  that's OK, it doesn't take long to write, because nothing happens around here :-D

round 2 on Cheryl's tooth this Wednesday.  we'll do what we gotta do on two fronts... (1) 20-pound turkey and assorted good Stuff.  (2)  Shawn and I have to put a larger door on DeBasement bedroom before his self-purchased furniture arrives Friday or Saturday.

sometime before we all die, or Christmas comes, whichever is first... I also have the yard decorations, recently-delivered balsam garland and festive Cross to implant, and inside decorating to do.  it would also be really fine if I got the space heater cleaned up, the wick trimmed, and get that sooty mess back in the ham shack.  burned out the old fuel and wick last weekend, and the heater is a mess.  this is supposed to happen several times a heating season if you use it frequently.  thank goodness I don't.  but the old fuel attracts moisture, and it was not burning really well end of last season.

you can run up $50 in electric bills using the 3Kw heater in there every month, so the little heater has been great.  very little sooty guck built up behind and under the parts bins.  it would be nice to have a wood or vented oil heater in there, but man, the initial cost is not positive to go there.  all the old potbellied stoves I had a chance at when I was growing up, sigh.  stovepipe is cheap.  stoves are not.

for the unchurched who do not read this rabid screed:  we are now in what church calendars call the Advent season.  Advent is the run-up to the birth of Christ, long fortold as God's train pass to sinners who want out of the slide to hellfire and death.  it's a really good time to think about John 3:16... For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

that's it.  the one absolute definining sentence of the Christian faith.  all the rest of the bible is really ya, sure, ya betcha then.  Sven, in the details and proofs.

is that really so hard to get into?

Thursday, November 17, 2011

DeBasement delayed

Cheryl needed an emergency root canal yesterday, and it kind of takes two for serious tiling work.  so we're looking to the weekend.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

stealing from myself

failing to broaden my reach by quoting from myself on the Lileks blog ( www.lileks.com/bleats ) on this here religiously unread screed:

a straw poll in the bars on the NatReview Cruise, and we have the numbers.  Wheat straw, 20%... curly straws, 15%, rice straw 18%, 2009 hay 16%.  the rest split among various grasses and weeds.

they also had a "candidate straw" entry on the poll, with one vote.  this is because everybody knows no candidate for anything, anywhere, has one straw of fiber in their whole being.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

the lull before the storm in DeBasement

around Chez swschrad, monday and tuesday are typically slacker nights... right now we're watching Duggermania.  starting tomorrow night, back to DeBasement.  got to expand the shower outlet hole in a porcelain tile, and then we finish the shower.  and then we do the shower floor and curb.  and then we're hoping to get the floor at least laid out.
.
a little painting, a couple electrical hookups, grout and set the toilet, and a door... we've got the second room done down there.

then we have a closet yet to rip out and rebuild with new exterior walls so we can clear the family room and complete that bugger.

it's still possible to get it carpeted and ready for party! by Christmas.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

news items, and commentary

ITEM:  Penn State a zoo over child sex abuse.

COMMENTARY:  about 10 years too late, with rules 30-40 years out of date.  fire them all and let God sort them out.

ITEM:  Academy Awards director, host bail over director's gay epithet.

COMMENTARY:  yawn, Billy Crystal took the job.  should have been the Muppets.  in particular, Statler and Waldorf, the hecklers from the balcony.  sorry, Kermit, the jokes are above your head.

ITEM:  deadbutt North Dakota "legislators" finally can stupid law, allow UND to change mascot so it can play in tournaments.

COMMENTARY:  yeah, right, with the changes delayed until 2015, and blank uniforms until then.  when will these fossils ever lie down in the tar and disappear?

ITEM:  Reuters reports home improvement projects getting smaller, weather doors the best investment.

COMMENTARY:  really, people aren't blowing out the wall to add a sun porch with granite countertops and Wolf stoves any more?  well I'll be damned! -- the republic is plum gone to Hell.