Anyonebutmeplease’s Neighborhood

What's the longest you've ever waited in line?

this question is kinda dumb. although i'd assume it was at six flags one time or another. or maybe at universal studios for the mummy ride (which is amazing, by the way).

Because I think I bought the wrong size. Or it doesn't match the rest of my decor.

This is me after a day spent in the attic. Yes, I'm wearing a bandanna, goggles, dust mask, and a head lamp. It's fricking dark up there. And eerily quiet. And full of moon dust-like insulation. And pixies. But I wasn't supposed to tell anybody about the pixies.

Oh, right, what was I doing up there? Installing ceiling fan braces. There are few home features I hate more than wobbly or rattly ceiling fans, so I believe in attaching them to serious braces fastened to the studs with heavy deck screws. Also, I love ceiling fans. I'm installing them in the bedroom, the office, the living room, and the kitchen. I'd install one in the dining room, but that just seems like overkill.

To prepare for this adventure, I loaded up my backpack with all the tools I thought I might possibly need for the adventure, including my newly purchased cordless drill. I don't own 200 feet of extension cord, so I figured that would come in handy. I should have taken snacks.

The kitchen was easy. I had to enlarge the hole in the ceiling a bit to accommodate a 4-inch electrical box, which is standard for ceiling fan braces, but the brace went in easily. From there, I crawled to the pantry, where I installed a new electrical box, and ran the wiring to the light switch. Then I schlepped over to the office, dragging all my supplies and my plywood platform with me. (Because squatting on joists for hours at a time is unpleasant, it's better to have somewhere to sit.) Once again, the hole in the ceiling had to be enlarged via drill and hand saw. Then I had to shim one end of the brace to make it level, but it went in easily enough.

After that I slithered over to the bathroom to repair a hole in the ceiling and install a new electrical box. Seeing a trend? Yes, most of the light fixtures in the house had been attached directly to the ceiling without the benefit of a box. While doing that, I realized I'd forgotten a box to install in the hallway. And it was getting dark. And the dining room light fixture opening was in the wrong place. I wasn't going to be able to get it all done in a day.

Still, I was dead-set on getting all the ceiling fan braces installed, so I persevered. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. I crept toward the bedroom, but as I felt about with my foot, digging through layers of blown insulation looking for the next ceiling joist, I found ... nothing. No joist. Not where it should have been anyway. In most modern houses, joists and studs are installed at 18-inch intervals, or sometimes 24-inch intervals. Things are slightly less predictable in old houses. I once lived in a house with 21-inch center studs and joists. How I discovered that, it's a long story.

This house, though, this house ... it mostly has 24-inch centers, except where it doesn't, namely in the bedroom and living room. There, the ceiling joists are 36 inches apart. Too far to install a ceiling fan brace. So I get to plan another day in the attic and this one will be a doozy. I'll have to drag a bunch of lumber up there and sister in some more joists, close enough together to support ceiling fans, and to provide a bit more stability in those ceilings.

Am I starting to regret buying this project house? Oddly enough, no. I'm kind of looking forward to the project. As sick as that is.

here they are.

the good:

• latin dance workout party tonight.
• toshi reagon show this weekend
• yoga training this weekend
• moroccan oil - seriously, i generally don't fall into the product trap when i go to the salon, but she used this stuff on my hair and it was great. so i bought some. it's just called moroccan oil. you know how your hair may be a little crunchy after you dye it? i got my hair done saturday and usually for about a week it's a little dry - it's already returned to it's luscious soft self after three days. it works as a leave in conditioner, detangler and heat protector. it's also supposed to take half the time to dry your hair, but i haven't really experienced that. i recommend you buy it. a little bottle is like $15, but it lasts about 3 months. i think it's worth it.
• going to a renew and restore yoga class on thursday
• getting used to being single
• my stress level has gone down a lot and i've gotten much more sleep with the apartment to myself. things are clean and tidy, and i'm not waiting for someone to come home at all hours of the night.

the bad:

• i'm single. i do dreadfully miss not having someone to snuggle with. and i do miss matt.
• that's probably it for the bad stuff though, so i can't really complain.
• oh, i suppose i'm a little bummed about the weather getting cold and it being dark when i leave work, but whatever, i have a cute winter coat that i've been missing.

amber, liz and liz's sister, stephanie, are coming over to do a latin dance workout video and eat chinese tonight. it should be a riot. i'm looking forward to getting in some quality girl time.

side note:

on saturday i'm volunteering with the (best) radio station (88Nine Radio Milwaukee) at the Toshi Reagon show (if you don't know who she is, YouTube her...she's an amazing blues/soul singer [although she looks like a man so don't get confused])...the odd thing is that the radio station DJ that i'm working with is matt's stepbrother's girlfriend, we've never met but she knows matt and i only know who she is because matt mentioned she worked there. i don't think i will be able to keep myself from mentioning it. i'm working this show with her and than there's an after party. after a few drinks i'm sure we'll be talking about it. 

What's the longest you've ever waited in line?

Probably at Alton Towers

Are you prepared in case of a natural disaster? What do your plan and preparations include?

lol, what a strange question! Are we expecting one then?

I'm obsessive compulsive enough thanks. If I start worrying about potential natural disasters I'll be a nervous wreck.

Although, we are going to Thailand at christmas time, and I must admit that the thought has crossed my mind as I run on the treadmill each morning, that'll I'll be right to run a long way up into the mountains if a tsunami hits. Maybe even carrying one small child on my back. Which rules out my kids because they're all much bigger than me. Which is good because I won't have to do the Sophies Choice thing.

Remember when everyone was freaking out about the Y2K thing? I said to Daz, maybe we should stock up on food. And when the year 2000 clicked over with no problems I looked in the laundry and we had stocked one bottle of water and a 4 pack of baked beans. It was a pretty piss poor effort really. We'd have lasted a morning.

I think to be prepared for a natural disaster the best thing you can do is forget about supplies and just stock up on weapons. Lots of guns and ammo. Thats your best bet, because you're going to have to kill a lot of crazy desperate people to get to the supermarket and the bottle shop. Maybe even zombies. I'm not sure what sort of disaster we're talking about. Oh yes,there they are,  I wasn't looking properly. No zombies, so that makes it a bit easier.

And nail polish. Stock up on nail polish. Because new nail polish always makes you feel better.

My new bottles arrived in the mail the other day.

I'm wearing blue at the moment. But I'm wishing I'd picked Calypso.

 

84

 

Nothing major. Just a text saying: going to my friends house don't call when you get off work I'll call you when I get home...

 

What fucking FRIEND?? Can't he say names?

 

Doesn't help that his ex Bridget asked him how he was on facebook.

I just mostly wish little fucking hoes would stop talking to my fucking boyfriend!!!!

It was a big day for Penny yesterday as she completed and graduated from her Family Dog I class.  For the past month and a half or so, we’ve been working on sitting and staying and heeling and coming when called – all the things that are needed to be a good dog citizen.
 

I will have to say that Penny didn’t really love the classroom environment, because she couldn’t quite conceive of a place where there were half a dozen nice dogs and that she wasn’t supposed to play with them.  What else could they be there for???
 
Still – when called on to do her series of behaviors, I have to say that she did really really well and passed with flying colors.  After the final class, there was a little graduation ceremony and all the dogs received their diplomas to everyone’s cheers, though I’m pretty sure Penny was everybody’s favorite (not that I’m biased or anything).
 
After the class, Penny got an extra treat and then got to go play with her BFF Roxy the Vizsla at dog beach.  They ran and ran and ran together and just had a great old time.
 

Afterwards, we all tramped over to a dog-friendly café in Del Mar for a late breakfast, relaxing well into the early afternoon over good food, pleasant conversation and tired pups.
 
Good job, Penny!

location: harrys bar and grill

pros:

pulled out my chair, paid for dinner, etc. he's a really nice guy, successful, smart, etc. he likes music and plays guitar, likes to snowboard. finishing up his double major in marketing and economics in spring. owns a business that's doing really well. it's totally clear that he likes me. he complimented the way i looked and my hair. he looked nice, was on time.

cons:

he's really intense and works like 7 days a week. he has ADHD and it's totally apparent. my brother does, so i can spot it a mile away. he says he has just started a prescription for it about a month ago. but sometimes he seems really scattered. the date ran really hot and cold for me. there were times when we were totally on the same page and we would click, and other times where he seemed off in left field. part of me chocks (sp?) that up to him being nervous. he asked questions about me here and there, but he seemed to really talk a lot about work and his business...maybe because that's what made him most comfortable? for the most part, there was good physical chemistry, although that ran hot and cold for me coinciding with the conversation running hot and cold. 

red flag:

he's 25 years old and has never had an official girlfriend, his reasoning is that he's been so fixated on doing well in school and starting his business that it's just taken a back seat. he said that his business is nearly on autopilot and he feels like he can start dating, etc. i don't know how comfortable i am with this. i think the business would always come before a girl. we were making plans via text on saturday afternoon and i had an issue with one of my texts not going through, so as we were making plans, i started not hearing back from him. i automatically assumed i was having text issues. so i called instead and it went straight to voicemail. i thought maybe his phone went dead or something. turns out he was at work and something had come up and he just didn't respond. my question is why couldn't he have taken30 seconds to respond to my text and say "hey, i'm at work and things just got busy. i'll give you a call later". that's all it would've taken and i think that makes a bad impression and tells me that work comes first.

conclusion:

i think i might give him another opportunity. he has to initiate the date this time though. i kind of want to see if he can make an effort to make time for me. i think that talking about work for the majority of the time may have just been a little bit of nerves and i'll give him the benefit of the doubt on that. the whole never-having-an-actual-girlfriend thing kind of weirds me out a little though.