Construction-Unction What's Your Function?

Okay, so it doesn't exactly flow like conjunction, but that's what came to mind. Construction on our basement remodel/MIL suite begins tomorrow! John was supposed to start last Wednesday, but had a car restoration job he had to complete first. So, the target date was moved to Friday. THEN, Lowe's couldn't deliver the building materials until Monday.

Today, he called and said his wife had a migraine all weekend, so he had to take her to the doctor's office for a shot. He said he'll be here tomorrow morning. I don't begrudge him this, because I know how terrible migraines can be and I feel badly for his wife; I do, however, wish he'd already started. Howie says we have enough time built in that we don't have to sweat it, but you know me...I just want to get this all over with and move on (and move-in my MIL!).

The first thing he'll do is remove our garage door and its hardware, then frame in a wall where the door is. There will be a front door in the middle, plus a window on each side. He's putting in those nice tilt-in windows my MIL wants. Sure wish we could have the whole house re-done with them! In time...In time. Since we're dealing with a shorter-than-standard height due to the thick, metal header over the garage door, he had to go with 34" door rather than a 36" one with the lemon-wedge window. It's not the end of the world.

For now, we're going to have white siding on the new outside wall, but eventually we're going to put brick or stone up to the bottom of the windows and have a little ledge above the stone. Long-term, we'd like to have a balcony over her entrance, with the balcony acting as the roof to a screened-in porch for her. That's wayyyyy long-term, though. We really need to fence in the yard before we embark on anything like that!

Part of the construction we're having done includes a new tub for us upstairs. Woo-hooo! You can tell we're getting older; the thought of a new tub and surround really excites us! We're considering a big shower instead, though, one with two seats in it. It's a standard 60" width, like the tub we're taking out. Howie's back really pains him, and it would be easier for him with a built-in seat rather than having to work with one of those plastic tub seats. (Been there, done that, hate them).

Anyway, I can count on one hand the number of times I've taken a bath since we bought our house in 1999; we're just shower people, so why not put in what we'd best use? We figure we'll be here at least another 15 years, if not longer.

I'll be posting pictures in my gallery as things progress.

Picture This

Thanks to a visit from the Pangie Pixie, I was finally motivated (read: coerced, pushed, goaded) to update my photo gallery Wednesday evening. I did put up the pet portraits section April 4, but kept putting off doing the rest. Thanks, Angie!

I really hate how the web is so picky when it comes to being so doggoned case sensitive. I had to rename so many darned picture files because they had a jpg extension instead of JPG. But now I know.

On the flipside, I really love two little programs which made my life much simpler today: Web Album Generator and Picture-Shark. The gallery creator automates photo gallery creation in an incredibly simple way, even resizing them and making thumbnails for you. That done, I ran my finished full-size images through Picture-Shark, which automates the watermarking of batches of photos. I did edit the main index page of each gallery in Frontpage, just to simplify adding my navigational links.

Gosh, I love technology!

P.S. If anyone can show me how to make my column widths so someone viewing my page at 800x600 doesn't have to scroll horizontally to see everything on this blog, please let me know!

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho

It's off to work I go. I only tortured Howie with four snoozes on the old alarm clock. Poor guy. They need to make a wireless alarm that fits in the sleeper's ear like a hearing aid, one that won't disturb one's bedmate. Note to self, give Howie a big smackaroo for putting up with my non-morningpersonishness.

Dusting off the alarm clock

I head back to work tomorrow, for the first time in about a year. Aside from taking a couple of short-temp temp jobs here and there, I've not worked since summer 2000. I'm going to be working part-time at my church, probably just a half day a week. So, tomorrow I shall find myself awaking to the rude sound of an alarm clock - ack! But I'm really looking forward to working there, so I'll survive. ;)

Howie and I worked out in the yard for two hours this afternoon. We decided to work in the yard together two hours a day, before he has to get ready for work. I deviated from the plan and ended up working out there until 6:30pm, though. I made up two window boxes with brilliant blue and purple wave petunias and yellow pansies, and one box with wave petunias and a couple of Martha Washington geraniums (pelargoniums, if you want to get technical).

Lastly, one big pot now has six white peruvian daffodil bulbs nestled down in its middle, topped off by yet more wave petunias and pansies; that ought to be really something when it's all blooming. I've missed having annuals. Color! All season long! Wooo-hooooo!

There are a few less weeds out in the island bed now, thanks to some labor-intensive hand-weeding. I am going to zap some stuff with Round-Up, but some of the grass and weeds were growing in with good stuff and I don't want to risk any spray getting on my precious babies.

Well, I am dog tired and am going to toddle off to bed and play Bookworm on Howie's PDA until I fall asleep. I have to get up at about 6:30 or 7:00am. The horror of it all.

The Power of a jealous Doggie

Tonight when I went to take the dogs out, I somehow managed to slip both leashes' choke collars onto Buddy...And nothing on Emma! I didn't even realize what I'd done until I saw Emma with Sarah at the back of our property and looked down to see two leashes leading to the beagle! I was in my nightgown and the last thing I wanted to do was chase after Emmy-Doodle at 10:30pm.

She is a real runner, part greyhound and all about long legs and speed. She also has not a whit of sense about roads, so we worry when she gets loose! From past experience, I knew better than to advance toward her or to use an angry or startled tone in my voice. So, I crouched down and said, "Emmmmmmma! Hi, Puppy! Hi! Go get 'im!" (much like this) and made a fuss over Buddy.

Thank goodness, Emma couldn't resist. She zoomed right over attack Buddy and I was able to snag her by her mesh collar. Whew! God saved my tushy, I'll tell ya.

It's ironic, babies

In the corner of the small cemetery at Denison University is a granite marker that simply reads: "Unknown Infants." The remains of 23 fetuses buried there show how both technology and philosophy have changed medical education. The fetuses had been preserved in Formaldehyde and were used in teaching human anatomy and development. Today, detailed computer models and other tools have taken their place. Other universities have used human specimens in the past. Professors say they stressed that they should be treated with respect. For the same reason, disposing of the specimens presents a dilemma. The Denison specimens were found in a locked cabinet during a cleanup in fall of 2000. While cremation is acceptable, officials at the central Ohio school opted also for a small funeral.

This was in WCLT news department's newsletter for Monday, April 14. How ironic that these infants/fetuses/babies are treated with such respect while it's common practice to abort babies the same age or even older with no respect (or funeral) whatsoever. I'm not posting this for an argument, but rather to give you something to mull over. Laws and attitudes vary so widely depending on circumstances, you know? Should they? I guess that's a moot point, really, because they do.

Great Gardeners

One of my friend Dave's creations has earned the recognition of Forbes.com's Best of the Web Directory. Congratulations, you guys! The Garden Watchdog was already mentioned in Organic Gardening a few months back, and this is just one more example of its growing popularity (no pun intended...and much deserved, I might add). Best yet, it's a great resource because it's a community effort by gardeners. That reminds me of the DG motto: For gardeners, by gardeners.

On another note, I saw this smart gardener's site linked to from Dave's Garden and had to share. The gal's come up with a self-watering pot for seed starting, using the humble 2-liter pop bottle. I suppose you could do the same thing with any similarly-shaped plastic bottle, but 2-liter is a good size. I am impressed! If you wanted to keep plants in such a container, you could always drop it into a basket to hide the plastic. Guess this gives me an excuse to buy more pop...and hoard bottles. Bwaaahahahahahah!

Pup's Growing Like A Weed

My folks came over for a little visit today so I could take some pictures of their Siberian Husky puppy Nikolai. It's been a while since I posted any shots of the little pooper, so here's a little collage I put together and printed for them today. It spans the time from about February 27 to today.

Many hands make light work

Even four hands can make a real dent in things. Shoot, I even have a blister to prove it. Yes, this soft girl worked hard enough raking to take the skin off her right thumb..

Howie and I worked in the yard from about noon until three this afternoon, cleaning up more perennial debris and mulching more of the leftover leaves while we mowed. We salvaged one compost bin out of the two stacking ones which were given to us last year; the timbers in half the pieces were rotten so we consolidated them into one bin. It's not pretty, but it sure looks better than the pile of bin sections we had back there before. There's still a lot of cement and pipe to haul away from when we redid the back steps last summer.

The pond still needs to be pumped empty and cleaned, but that's going to wait until two weekends from now. When Everdry worked at the back of the house, they unplugged the pond pump while digging the trench in that area; it didn't get plugged back in and, considering it was about nine degrees farenheit, everything froze over solid in short order. We couldn't turn the pump back on until everything had thawed, like around mid-March.

Everything, all the fish and all the water plants, died because of there being no way for the gasses to escape from the water. If I'd have thought about it, I would have put a piece of styrofoam in the thawed circle the circulating water had left; that would have allowed the gasses a way out. So, we have a big, stinky, leaf-filled pond until we can clean it out and refill it. Live and learn!

When we compare our back lawn to our neighbor's, it makes us green with jealousy. Theirs is green and beautiful, a carpet of lush grass. Ours has green patches, but it has far more brown patches, and a lot of dead grass. Then again, they don't have three dogs. Oh, and they raked their leaves up last fall. And when our Emma's greyhound genes kick in and she goes crazy-dog dashing around, her claws just rip the grass to pieces. Such is life with three dogs. I think we'll probably end up fencing in a section in back with picket fence, a place for them to run and play. The fence will hide the poor, grassless ground at least.

I sound like I'm complaining, but I'm not. I guess I'm still doing a mental inventory of what all we still need to get done. All in all, it was a great day. It was nice getting outside and sweating alongside my hubby. Work goes so much easier when you share it with someone else and can share in the feeling of accomplishment. If I can drag myself back out there, I'll take some pictures...I don't know though, because a nap is sounding really good now that I've had a hot shower and some lunch.

My hands...Are saved!

When Howie and I went to the chiropractor today, me for my regular visit and him for an initial consult, I mentioned to the doc that I was unable to give Howie a good massage because my hands hurt too badly. The doc showed us the niftiest little massage tool, and we bought one on the spot. What a livesaver it is for my hands! Here's pictures of my paw cradling this plastic wonder:



I found the company's website tonight and wrote to them to tell them how much we like the product. I believe in praising people when they've done a good job on something, not just firing off complaint letters (though I sometimes have to write them, too). Like I said in my letter to the company, when I find a product that really works - especially one which safely helps people alleviate pain - I want to shout it from the rooftops!

After writing, I saw they have an affiliate program. Hmmmmmm...My dilemma. I haven't really put sponsored stuff on my webpages before, but I have to tell you, this thing really works and I am 100% comfortable associating The Plot's good name with it. So, without further adieu, here is my official link to the Omni Massage Roller site:




And yes, if you buy from them directly, using my link, I will receive a small commission. It will help defray the costs of this website (and my visits to the chiropractor, incidently). I now return you to your regularly scheduled blogging. ;)

Say...

"Someone's been sitting in my chair, too," cried the Baby Bear, "and now my archives work!". Thanks, Angie!

Zippy, The People-Loving Geek

Boy, wish I could say I came up with that little ditty on my own, but I can't. It's the blog of a student, one whose writing is both fun and really insightful. Mucho-Referroed-Pangie clued me in with a terse e-mail entitled "blog" and containing one hyperlink. It needed no introduction, and no explanation. It's just plain good. Hi ya, Zippy!

archives all fixed up now. wee!

A Wee Site Enhancement

I prefer to have my hyperlinks open in a new window, but keep forgetting to add the target="_blank" tag when I add them. Problem solved! I found a nifty bit of javascript which will do it automatically. So, if you'd prefer to have hyperlinks open in a new window when you click them, put a check in the little box on the left, next to where it says "link preference". If you don't, leave it blank. The choice, friends, is yours now - and I don't have to remember every time.
To test it, here's a link to the site of Nancy Noel, one of my favorite artists.

Strike that. Until I figure out how to get it to work in conjunction with the hyperlinks to my pop-up comment windows, it's useless. :( Blargh!

82 Years Combined Incompetence

An ad I saw on TV last night for a local auto repair shop reminded me of a pet peeve. What's WITH businesses touting things like, "we offer over 82 years combined experience!"? C'mon, what does that mean? What, they have fourteen people who have worked in their field for five years each, and maybe one who's been there twelve?

It means nothing, people! "Our planet's inhabitants offer xxx years combined experience!" And we've learned....what?

The Pissquiggler's Dilemma

Wednesday morning, Buddy beagle started wheezing, like he was choking on something. I dashed to the computer and looked to see if there is a Heimlich maneuver for dogs and found that there is (as well as animal CPR). I followed the instructions for the Heimlich, but he kept on wheezing. We thought it might just be somthing partially obstructing his airway, but too far down for us to see, so Howie rushed him to the vet's office.

They did an x-ray and found no obstruction, but they did find out he has fluid on his lungs and an enlarged heart. Howie had been spraying the basement walls down with the 50/50 solution of bleach/water and hadn't yet opened the windows upstairs. The fumes were pretty horrendous, but that wouldn't have caused this episode with Buddy. It might have aggravated it, however, and caused the wheezing.

The vet has him on an antibiotic for 10 days, thinking the fluid on his lungs could be caused by an infection. He said Buddy's heart could be enlarged from having to work so hard because of the fluid. We're to take him back for another checkup and x-rays when his antibiotics are finished. If his heart is still enlarged, he'll need to be on heart medication.

Okay, so you have to get the picture here. Of our trio, Sarah's had emergency surgery for bladderstones and eats prescription food, Emma takes estrogen to help with her bladder control, and now Buddy may have to be on heart medication for the rest of his doggie days.

Do we have pets or patients here? A little of both, but I guess they fit right in with Howie and his surgically-enhanced spine and my funky sinuses. Welcome to our world! We're all in this together, baby.

City Chicken, Plucked

My friend CoCo from Dave's Garden piped up with a little bit about the history of City Chicken yesterday. It seems it's sort of a shish-kabob, originating at a time when chicken was more expensive than pork and veal. Since poultry was so pricey, folks would cube and skewer these alternative (the-other-white)meats, bread them, brown them, then bake them with a liquid so a savory gravy resulted as well.

The recipes sound pretty tasty! I found a few while searching for more about this weird-sounding dish:

A site called Coalregion.com has one that sounds promising, along with some guesses as to its history. About.com has another one in their Souther U.S. Cuisine section, this time with that wonderful all-purpose staple, Cream Of Mushroom Soup.

Barring my making Dennis' (aka da brudder's) Meat Thingies sometime, this sounds pretty darned good.

I've Heard of Spring Chickens, but...

This was in this week's local Jamboree Foods grocery ad.



City chicken? Not just city chicken, but "all pork" city chicken?? I don't know what to say (but that won't stop me from talking).

Is it city pollutants which transmogrifies chickens into pork cells?

Do city roosters stir at dawn to issue a raucous "cock-a-doodle-rweeee-rweeee!"?

Are there "all pork" chickens in other locales?

If so, exactly how far out in the suburbs are they still indigenous species?

Do they have two feet, or four? Do they have wings? Do they cluck or grunt?

Do piglets hatch out of their eggs?

I'm just pretty disturbed by the thought...

More Blogger Woes

Now my stinkin' archives don't show up at all and I still can't publish them. Grrrrr!!

Blogger Woes: Error 230

I cannot get my archives to publish. I keep getting this wonderful error:

Archive Error
Error 203:java.lang.NumberFormatException: (server:page)

I've gone back in my entries and replaced any ampersands in my posts with the word "and". Are forward slashes also verboten? I don't know what else to do and I'm frustrated. I know, Joanie...MoveableType. This frustration with Blogger may serve as my best impetus, eh?