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Father's Day game for single women:
Send "We need to talk" text message to any man you've slept with in the past nine months.
I am pretty sure there are international conventions that forbid that.
It's been years since I could have been a suitable target for such message anyway.
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My nakedness is of a single type.
15 minutes 'til Wolf Hall
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I've got 60 twitter followers! :O Pretty sure at least half of them aren't bots, too.
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In computer gaming news, I've taken Lancaster to the League Cup semifinals after a penalty shoot-out against Liverpool.
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Nearly fifteen hours since the previous post? Wow!
Monday blahs plus first weekend of summer. Which is even more blah.
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Bah to your blah!
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Preparation to room painting.
I am helping! No, really!
Ok, I might not be as helpful as I should be...
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Preparation to room painting.
I am helping! No, really!
Ok, I might not be as helpful as I should be...
Put drop cloths on all the things!
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We're getting a late morning Thunderstorm here, they say it's severe but I'm not seeing it, it's quite dark with lots of lightning and torrential rain but otherwise pretty tame as far as "severe" weather :-)
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It doesn't count unless there's even a hint of tornadic activity.
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A barn blew down by Cassville, otherwise the morning round of storms was pretty tame, this afternoon we're expecting more severe storms with Tornadoes a possibility, but we'll see, it depends entirely on how humid it gets today:-)
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When that came out I went to see it with my girlfriend (now my wife) at a Drive in theater and there was a Tornado sited half a mile away, we got free tickets for the next weekend and then there was another tornado warning, however it was on the other side of town so they just kept it going, fun times in Tornado Alley :-)
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So this whole water is life mission, is it important, it seems my game hangs up after pappy kills himself heroically and I gotta escort Dr Li, freezes when I try leaving the room.
I have a previous save from way back in the evil dark Pleasantville vault 112 simulation.
It is vexing, to say the least:-(
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Booktip for any of the Sci-Fi fans here: If you haven't read Elizabeth Bear's Jenny Casey trilogy (Hammered, Scardown, and Worldwired) already - do so.
Lovely mix of near-future SF concepts like nanites, self-aware AI, cybernetics, and global climate change, with more out there stuff like starships, (so far unrevealed) aliens, and more down-to-earth stuff like military-corporate-government symbioses, and gang warfare.
And if you're like me and tend to think in two or more language, it's kinda nice to read about characters who does that too (Jenny Casey is a Quebecqois Mohawk who lives in Hartford, Connecticut at the start of the book).
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And, of course, Bear is one of those SFF writers who knows to give proper attention to style, so the prose is a delight (the bilingual bits again!).
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Holy f~~*ing shit!! Braveheart is the Terminator!!
Argh!! Mel Gibson and Arnold Schwartzenegger crossover overload!! Egads the 6th extinction is upon us!!
Just like the old gypsy woman said would happen!!!!!!!!!!
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Lots of thingies done at home. Lots of things still wait to be done. Like painting of the room-friends will be doing this over the next two-three days and then will be taking their things in.
Old washing machine, fridge, dishwasher, and freezer will be taken away today.
Now back to sleep before one of them comes here to start preparing things for painting.
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Make sure you wake up before they start painting.
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I have returned from the con!
Unfortunately, it wasn't a winner. We probably won't be going back.
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I hope you managed to salvage some fun out of the con.
Maybe the organizers should invite Joss Whedon next year or something.
I hope you managed to salvage some fun out of the con.
Maybe the organizers should invite Joss Whedon next year or something.
mignona was there. It was a polarizing con.
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So... just gotta vent, and FaWtL seems like the best place to get anonymous sympathy! :-P
So, what is it about modern contractors that the words, "I don't care what it costs, just take the time to do it right," means nothing to them?
We had the issue 8 years ago when our friend the "handyman" cut corners so much we ended up firing him. It made no sense whatsoever to me. I was paying him $35 an hour and all materials, and he still rushed what he was doing, did a half-a$$ job, and ensured that I'd never hire him again, nor recommend him to any of my friends or associates.
So when we moved back to our house after 4 1/2 years of taking care of my mother, we got a new oven and hood. We hired the contractor recommended by the appliance store to put in everything. A few weeks ago, the hood stopped working. I couldn't find any tripped breakers, so last night I finally crawled up into my miserable excuse for an attic to find out what was wrong.
And there I found that our "professional" contractors had just nailed an open box to a rafter, stuck the wires together with electrical tape, and left the box open. It wouldn't have passed an inspection in the 1950's, much less 2013. Needless to say, as the tape aged in the hot attic, the connection opened.
I mean, WTF?!?!?! It would have taken two caps and an extra 5 minutes to do the job right. Instead, I'm calling the appliance store to tell the tale of the contractor they're recommending and going to Yelp to describe exactly what he did. If I cost him ONE job, he's going to lose hundreds, if not thousands.
All over 5 minutes of labor and two $0.50 electrical caps.
It is beyond my understanding...
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What the actual f*%!?
That could have caused a real serious fire.
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What the actual f!**?
That could have caused a real serious fire.
Yep. I mean, the only "fortunately" in there is that the box was facing upwards, so it would have taken a physical pull on one of the wires to get a real fire going, but I don't pay contractors to endanger my family's lives.
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What the actual f!**?
That could have caused a real serious fire.
Yep. I mean, the only "fortunately" in there is that the box was facing upwards, so it would have taken a physical pull on one of the wires to get a real fire going, but I don't pay contractors to endanger my family's lives.
...that explains why that check you wrote me never cleared.
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So I am going through some boxes at the homestead and discover this paper I wrote back when I was 13 or 14. The premise was that you are from a different time and you find yourself in the classroom, describe what you see.
This entire paper was written in dwarven, I had just finished reading "The Simirillion" and spent many needles but fun hours translating this paper word by word.
I recall my teacher giving me an A, but asking in the future please use english.
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Sad truth: Always check the work of professionals afterwards if you can (i.e. wasn't cemented/welded shut).
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Sad truth: Always check the work of professionals afterwards if you can (i.e. wasn't cemented/welded shut).
Yeah, unfortunately we got spoiled. For our new studio my father-in-law (a former contractor now an inspector for the city of Oakland) recommended his long-time friend for the work.
On the one hand, the studio cost $85,000, when some of the bids came in in the $30k-$40k range.On the other hand, in the 10 years since it's been built we have had... ZERO problems with it, and it still looks brand new and feels solid as a rock. (I'm also proud to say that in $85k of labor and materials, not a single nail came from Home Depot. They hosed me once, and I'm a vindictive sort when it comes to people I pay exorbitant sums of money to...)
Last week I had to extract one of our cats from under the deck, requiring the removal of some planks. All I can say is, it was darned fine construction. Every screw was accessible, every screw was in properly, so it was a PITA, but everything came out the way it was supposed to, and reassembled the same way. After 10 years in the "weather" we get around here...
EDIT: OK, I'm not 100% SURE there's no Home Depot stuff there. I just informed the contractor that I wouldn't reimburse him for those receipts, nor would I accept any materials that arrived with their logo. So either he did what I asked, or he spent a huge amount of time covering his tracks and hiding materials expenses in his labor costs. Considering the locally-owned construction store is closer than Home Depot, I like to think he didn't go to the trouble of driving father and laundering his books just to shop there.
That's why I only work for big companies, I believe absolutely in safety first and don't cut corners, smaller companies don't appreciate those qualities as much, at least in the middle where I live, west coast has more variations due to longer seasons
Also do I really have to do this whole water is life mission, I've run into a problem with a glitch:-(
We had a very bad experience, where the contractor did a quarter-ass job and then disappeared with the money we had given him after we asked him to fix the things that were obviously wrong.
We had a decent experience with another contractor who fixed an issue with the original "design" in our house where the builders crimped a the dryer vent pipe, leading to all the lint collecting and creating a cement block that made it so the humidity from drying ran down the laundry room walls. The contractor didn't finish up some cosmetic things he promised to do, but he didn't charge us for them either.
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Also do I really have to do this whole water is life mission, I've run into a problem with a glitch:-(
Sadly I think you do. If I remember correctly, it is part of the main storyline.
Sad truth: Always check the work of professionals afterwards if you can (i.e. wasn't cemented/welded shut).Yeah, unfortunately we got spoiled. For our new studio my father-in-law (a former contractor now an inspector for the city of Oakland) recommended his long-time friend for the work.
On the one hand, the studio cost $85,000, when some of the bids came in in the $30k-$40k range.
On the other hand, in the 10 years since it's been built we have had... ZERO problems with it, and it still looks brand new and feels solid as a rock. (I'm also proud to say that in $85k of labor and materials, not a single nail came from Home Depot. They hosed me once, and I'm a vindictive sort when it comes to people I pay exorbitant sums of money to...)Last week I had to extract one of our cats from under the deck, requiring the removal of some planks. All I can say is, it was darned fine construction. Every screw was accessible, every screw was in properly, so it was a PITA, but everything came out the way it was supposed to, and reassembled the same way. After 10 years in the "weather" we get around here...
EDIT: OK, I'm not 100% SURE there's no Home Depot stuff there. I just informed the contractor that I wouldn't reimburse him for those receipts, nor would I accept any materials that arrived with their logo. So either he did what I asked, or he spent a huge amount of time covering his tracks and hiding materials expenses in his labor costs. Considering the locally-owned construction store is closer than Home Depot, I like to think he didn't go to the trouble of driving father and laundering his books just to shop there.
what did the cat do?
Why no home Depot?
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I'll give it another go then, started from my previous save from Tranquility Lane (which sucked, but that's okay)
I haven't shopped at Best Buy in years for vindictive reasons :-)
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You people, you that have no experience of dealing with engineering and construction wonders of the glorious age of socrealizm!
Actually, the first photo pictures a place that is within a small nuke's blast radius from my home. Walking there takes me about 15 minutes.
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what did the cat do?
Why no home Depot?
Our cats are "indoor-only" because one's a clueless ragamuffin who thinks everyone and everything is her friend, and the other is a "hate the world" pissmonger who reacted to the leukemia vaccine and can't interact with other cats any more.
So, being me, I can't stand to keep them indoors, so I put them on harnesses and leads and let them wander the back yard. The fluffy ragamuffin went under the deck, around the pipes a couple of times, and managed to tie a nice neat little knot so she was securely tied under the deck. Impus Major is the only one of us small enough to fit under the deck, but in a bizarre twist he's totally willing to be locked in cabinets, hide in nooks and crannies, etc., but he won't crawl in dirt. So he was unwilling to get her, and I'm unwilling to force my kids to do things they're uncomfortable with.
Thus, the deck removal.
As for Home Depot, it's time for
In 2002, we bought the worst house in the best neighborhood we could afford -- neighbors are better than nails and all that. So we got a ramshackle place with a bad foundation, bad roof, horrifically-botched "upgrades", etc. One of the things I learned after the fact was that our kitchen floor was asbestos-laden linoleum.
Having just bought a house in the Bay Area (no mean feat), I decided to do the work myself. I got the HEPA vacuum, the respirator, the vast sheets of plastic, the required thickness of trash bags, the bunny suit, etc. For the record, if you ever balk at that $1500-$2000 bill to remove an asbestos floor, don't. Being in a bunny suit in the summer and having to watch every darned dust particle is NO FUN. And the drive to the toxic waste dump with a trunk full of asbestos isn't easy either. It's work that lets me tell stories, but that I will NEVER do again.
So there we have it: A completely bare kitchen floor, stripped down to the plywood. A ludicrously-simple job to lay down linoleum, but me and adhesives don't mix, so we figured we'd hire Home Depot to do the contract, as it was pretty much impossible to mess up. Or so we thought.
The contract was VERY explicit: They would put down leveling compound, lay the linoleum, and put on the moulding we'd selected. Home Depot outsources such contracts, and the guys they sent to us were in an accident the morning they were supposed to come. Rather than reschedule, they decided they were going to rush through 3 jobs in 4 hours. Leveling compound? Nope! Linoleum extended a bit under the cabinetry? Nope! You can literally put a bowling ball down on my kitchen floor and it will do a random walk all over the room. Then they slapped on the WRONG moulding, leaving gaps as wide as 2" between the wall and the moulding. Yes. THAT bad.
So, since there was a "satisfaction guaranteed" clause, I took pictures, highlighted the spots in the contract that the contractors had blown, and went in. The Home Depot manager was appropriately apologetic and sent the guys back. And they replaced the wrong moulding with the right stuff. Badly.
More pictures and back to Home Depot. The manager looked me in the eye. I will never forget her attitude. "Look. We are going to keep sending the same guys to your house. Over and over again. Until you say that you're satisfied. So you can either tell me that you're satisfied, or I can keep sending those guys to your house, again and again, as they get angrier and angrier. So, which are you going to choose?"
Yes. The manager of Home Depot subtly threatened me. For being unsatisfied with the work HER subcontractors did. I sent a physical letter to Home Depot headquarters detailing the interaction. I received no response.
So in the last 10 years since that incident I have cost Home Depot over $100,000 in business. All over a $1400 linoleum job. As I said, I hold grudges against companies big-time. (When I'm not working I'll share my, "U-Haul lost $5000 over a $50 truck" story. For now, end of story time.)
EDIT: And if the numbers seem huge, it's just because it's the Bay Area. Around here paying $500 per square foot for a house is considered a steal, and new construction runs $1.50-$2.00 per square foot, so all you need to do is convince a couple of friends not to do business with a company and you can get to staggering sums rather quickly.
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I have failed. I told myself I'd get past page 12 last week...
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Been catching up on the latest season of "Defiance," a show that is by turns gut-wrenching, awesome, and completely lame and cheesy. In the latest episode, a character played by Linda Hamilton (yes, that Linda Hamilton) used the line "come with me if you want to live." I see what you did there, "Defiance."
1300 Hours
Thursday 23 November, 2062
Bloor Street
Toronto, OntarioI unlock the door to Gabe’s apartment and walk inside. There’s no sign at first that anybody’s home, but the place doesn’t have that vacant feeling, either. Genie’s in school and Leah’s still at the hospital. I’m playing hooky from the lab, halfway hoping to collect Gabe here, eat something, and head over to the National Defence Medical Center and visit the kid. We haven’t gotten to spend any time alone since Friday night, and it would be nice to talk along the way. Knowing Gabe, he’s got a whole universe of silent worry twisting away inside him.
Hell, I brought lunch. We’re going to talk whether he wants to or not. Or so I’m thinking as I lock the door quietly and head for the kitchen. Three steps in I hear voices, low murmuring and a giggle; I pause in the archway, mouth open to announce myself, and my face goes hot and my voice dies in my throat.
The good news is Ellie doesn’t see me standing there like a hooked fish, bag of turkey sandwiches clutched in my right hand. Her eyes are closed, her hand knotted in Gabe’s hair; he presses her back against the sink, and I know from very personal experience and the high color in her cheeks exactly what he’s whispering against her ear, exactly how his hand feels moving against her back, under her sweater. The memory makes me shiver and swallow once, hard.
Dirty, dirty old man.They don’t exactly teach you how to deal with this sort of thing in catechism. I suppose I could just back out of the kitchen and go slam the front door to give them some polite warning, but where’s the fun in that? Oh, bad Jenny.
Very bad Jenny indeed. Elspeth’s in the middle of a quiet, enthusiastic little whimper when I walk past them, open the refrigerator, and tuck the sandwiches inside. Gabe jumps at the sound of the opening door, turning toward me as Elspeth clears her throat and smooths her sweater down over her hips. I don’t look up, hiding my face until I have the grin bitten down. I find a beer on the bottom shelf and stand up. Gabe puts a hand on my shoulder. “Jenny—”
Maybe I’m being too mean?
Nah.There’s unreasonable jealousy, after all, and then there’s targets of opportunity. “I brought lunch,” I say, fine carbonation misting the air as I open the beer. “I’ll be in the living room when you two are ready to eat. Food, I mean. And we’ll go see Leah once Genie gets home.”
Elspeth’s grinning, one hand over her mouth. But Gabe looks like I shot him between the eyes with a tranquilizer dart, so I make sure to squeeze his ass with my steel hand on my way back out to the living room.
What the hell. The Canucks are playing. I’m sure I can keep myself entertained for an hour or two. And oh, we are so going to break that boy.
The captain clears her throat, eventually, and I peel myself away from my family and lug the carrier over. “Captain Wainwright.” Sniffle. Merci à Dieu, I’m turning into a cry-baby. “May I request your permission to bring this animal aboard?” I hold the carrier up so she and Boris can see eye to eye, and he does me proud by squinching golden eyes at her and emitting a rumbling purr like a steam boiler.
She studies him for a moment, and sighs. “House-broken?”
“More or less.”
She chuckles. “Long tradition of ship’s cats in the navy.”
“This is the air force, Captain.”
“I won’t tell him if you don’t.”
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After restarting from Tranquility Lane I decided for morale I'd return to Lookout Point and dig deeper into the whole Chinese spy thing, which led me to the prison camp, it was there I got to unleash a most epic missile launcher rampage, if only you all could've seen the sheer joy of so many radioactive ghouls get blown to pieces in slow motion, it was beautiful!!
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*sigh* hordes of people in my flat doing things.
What's worse they want me to do things. From time to time.
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I now have a professional teaching license.
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Yay!
Sounds fun :-)
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I am not sure if we should be more sorry for you, or the kids...