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Oh lord, wont you buy me a big-screen tv?

Jim — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 21:48:16 +0000

Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a big-screen TV?
High Definition is trying to find me.
I wait for the Fry’s man each day until three,
So oh Lord, won’t you buy me a big-screen TV?

(With apologies to Janis.)

New dishwasher

Jim — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 18:04:28 +0000

The dishwasher here at Pine Gulch finally gave up the ghost last week. After a mere five years on the job, it developed a leak in the motor/pump assembly. The repairman who came out to take a look at it said he could fix it, but that it would cost nearly as much as a new machine. So we decided to get a new dishwasher. I picked it up from Lowes last Friday and installed it Sunday. Not only does the new machine have more buttons and blinkenlights, but it’s so quiet we can barely tell it’s running.

The old dishwasher, hanging its head in shame

The new dishwasher, just off the truck…

…uncrated…

…and installed.

Backyard in Bloom

Jim — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 10:56:21 +0000

Before I left Pearland for Alabama, I took a few photos of the flowers blooming in the back yard.

Day Zero Exploit

Jim — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 01:18:41 +0000

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire came out on DVD today. Guess what we’re watching here at the Pine Gulch tonight?

Winter Rose

Jim — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 21:55:50 +0000

Reason number 137 why we live in Houston:

I Am OUTTA Here!

Jim — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 18:33:15 +0000

Actually, I’m home now, and ready for the weekend. Have yourselves a great holiday out there!

Here’s a Simpsons joke for you:

Marge: Homer, the plant called. They said if you don’t show up tomorrow don’t bother showing up on Monday.

Homer: Woo-hoo! Four-day weekend!

Aquarium

Jim — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 23:28:09 +0000

Wendy cleaned out the aquarium last weekend, an all-day job. She took out all the decorations and carefully dipped out the fish. Then she siphoned out the water, scooped out all the gravel, and we carried it out onto the lawn where she scrubbed it clean. Then she put it all back together again.

The water was hazy for a few days, but now it’s clear and beautiful.

Wendy celebrated by buying a new fish, a kind of catfish that swims upside down. I kid you not here, the thing swims around with its dorsal fin pointing at the bottom of the tank and its belly pointing upward.

Rita Aftermath

Jim — Sun, 02 Oct 2005 03:19:13 +0000

(I was thinking about the etymology of the word aftermath today. Is it literally the mathematics of the afterward? As in the adding and subtracting to count up your dead, wounded, and able-bodied after the battle is over?)

Today Summer and I finished taking down the 2nd-story plywood. We started in the front, where taking down the plywood was as easy as teasing loose the plylox and tossing down the wood. Then we had lunch and went to the back yard. It was more difficult back there, where we had to remove eight to twelve deck screws in each sheet, and lower the wood down with a rope.

Our Rita aftermath: 36 sheets of plywood, 3 days in a motel, four days of work missed, three tanks of gas, and the total ruin of one perfectly good weekend.

(Update: no, aftermath is a second crop of grass.)

Jiggety Jig

Jim — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 04:02:06 +0000

Home again. We pulled in about half an hour ago. It took us about five hours, and we were in stop-and-go traffic only once, just south of Temple. We’re glad to be home again, and happy to find that everything here is okee dokee. I don’t have work tomorrow, so I’ll probably spend most of the day taking down plywood. When I get time, I’ll write up the whole story of our Rita adventure and post it here.

Post-Rita Update 2

Jim — Sun, 25 Sep 2005 14:29:02 +0000

We’re biding our time. We have tossed around the idea of trying to return today, but will probably wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow is the “official” day for Pearlanders to return, but that’s not the sole reason we’re waiting. By waiting we give that many more impatient people the chance to rush home and clog the roads. I’m really hoping that traffic is moving well on the roads before we venture home; I don’t know if I can stand another 23-hour road trip.

Our friends Fred and Jackie stayed here in the motel with us, and they left for home yesterday. We still have not heard from them, and so we have no idea what their drive was like.