Well that sucks

OK, so I just looked at my blog, which I haven't looked at in, well, months. (Sorry, folks.) And what do I find? A frigging SPAM posted response! What the hell is that???

If that's what these blogs become is just another spot for spammers to attack then I'm so out of here, Google. You can kiss my shiny metal a$$, as Bender would say. (Of course, I could disallow comments to my posts, but I really don't want to do that.)

It's been a busy few months. We're looking for a roommate, had many visitors and punched a hole in our living room wall (and framed it, drywalled it, sanded it and painted it), among other things.

I've also become completely obsessed with knitting. Before it was just a mild obsession. But now I must always be working on something or I feel as if I'm wasting my time. Because it can be done while listening to a book on tape (why do we still call it that?), watching TV, commuting to work, grilling out with friends, etc., I feel guilty if I'm not multitasking like 18/7 (-6 hours for sleep, of course).

I only wish I felt the same way about running. I simply cannot get myself motivated enough to run as much as I should (I should be running like every day, but it's all I can do to work out two or three times a week). I hate that because I want to work out more because I know it's good for me and it will help me reach my fitness goals and it always makes me feel so much better physically and mentally. But sometimes I just don't have the time. And other times, sleep is just so. much. more. important. than getting out of bed early. You know the drill...

OK well, I'm off to get ready for work. *hates*

Home improvement

So this weekend we made the kitchen sink non-leaky (woo-hoo!); partially installed the bathroom faucet (the sink is currently sitting on the bathroom floor... sigh); and picked up some perennial plants and temporary border for one side of walkway (plan to work on the rest next weekend), The Boy cleaned out the old dirt and installed the border and I put in the plants today.

So much to do... so little time and money.

In other news, when I got home today the little boy who lives next door -- he's maybe 3 or 4 -- says "Hi Kim. I like your lawn." hehehe... His dad and I had a chuckle. I told him I'd tell The Boy that he liked it since he's worked so hard on it. :) The kid's kind of obsessed with the lawn -- he follows his dad around when he mows with his little plastic mower. I guess that's what little boys do about that age. Of course 10 minutes later he was screaming about something. Gotta love kids.

Ziggy is not a dud!

My first foray into iPodness (I know, Dark Side) didn’t go so well. The first one I got (a silver mini for running) was a dud. The battery, which was tested by iPodLounge as lasting 26 hours and Apple itself claimed lasted up to 18, was dying after 7 or 8 hours. Coming from my fabulous, long-lasting iRiver, I was extremely disappointed in this. That and I noticed some of the features didn’t work quite right, like the shortcut toggle to turn on the backlight. So I brought it back to Best Buy (I know, should have gone through Apple, but we don’t have one nearby) and after some complaining and bit of resistance on their part, they let me swap it out. (Good god, can an Apple product not be defective or something? Sheesh, Steve Jobs isn’t God, people!)

Second time around, things are going more smoothly. Also, this time (since I got to play with it first instead of The Boy) I got to the point on the install where it has me add a name for the iPod. It suggested Kim’s iPod, which is what the previous one was called. I pondered for a moment and came up with Ziggy.

And so it was that Ziggy and I (OK, and The Boy) lived happily ever after. Also, props to the first person who names that reference (no cheating!).

Boys never listen

(This is cross-posted.)

So last night The Boy and I are talking about what to do about the Kitchen Debacle of 2005 and I say that I think if we're going to refinance in the near future (like within a year) we need to redo the kitchen and the floors first because when we get the house appraised, that will increase the value of our house significantly.

So we babble on about ideas and stuff and we sit back down and then he says: You know what we need to do? We need to do the kitchen before we refinance.

Me: "..."

He'd so make the perfect manager.

Let me spell it out: Metro S-U-C-K-S

So, let me tell you how my commute has been in the past two days.

It started Monday afternoon on the bus ride home. The bus I was on went about 25 mph on Route 50 — the speed limit is 65. This wasn't a huge inconvenience, but it was frustrating nonetheless.

Tuesday morning, I get to the Park & Ride and the bus doesn't come. Turns out a 6:30 bus broke down and started a domino effect on the rest. Since I park at the Park & Ride, this isn't a huge problem because that's a central location that a few buses stop at. Others, who have bus stops right outside their front doors, were not so lucky. They had to wait until the next bus came around — a minimum wait of 30 minutes. Still, this caused me to arrive at work 45 minutes late because of packed buses after the breakdown.

Tuesday afternoon, I catch a bus heading to where I parked my car and as we're hitting the road, the bus driver says that his steering has broken. He manages to get us back to the Metro station and he shuffles us to a later bus — 25 minutes later.

Wednesday morning, the buses run smoothly. I get to the Metro anticipating a similarly smooth ride into the city. How naive of me. We get down the rails about four stops before the operator comes over the line and tells us there's a track problem ahead. And so there really wasn't anything we could do but wait. And wait. Again I arrive at work 45 minutes late.

But Wednesday afternoon's commute wins the award of Worst. Commute. Ever. I leave work at about 6:10 and get down to the metro line. The platform is absolutely packed and my train is attempting to board. I don't even consider trying to board it. But everyone waiting is pushing and shoving, trying to get on. Because, you know, you can't possibly wait for the next train coming in 3 minutes. The next train arrives and starts to board. This one is just as packed as the previous one. There's finally no more room and the operator closes the doors. The train moves down the track — about 25 feet and comes to a halt. MetroGuys are walking down the platform all important like, talking on their Walkie-Talkies. The first train I had avoided was stuck — the doors that they were struggling to close at my station refused to close at the next. They ended up offloading. These guys in front of me were not observant enough to listen to MetroGuy's radio as he walked by, so they ask some random MetroWoman, who promptly ignored them. I told them what was going on and then asked if they were going to a game. Yes, yes they were. And what time did that game start? 7:05 p.m. ... On a WEDNESDAY. A WEDNESDAY, PEOPLE! What complete moron decided to schedule a game during RUSH HOUR?! That person needs to die. Or at least be crammed (LITERALLY) onto a Metro train with pushy, rude baseball fans. Seriously, when the train I finally managed to cram on got to Stadium Armory, this guy said "Excuse me" and then proceeded to PUSH me out of the way. I nearly fell over. I yelled at him to have some common courtesy. Not that that would help. If he's going to push a woman out of the way and shove his way through the crowd instead of being patient and letting the train clear (since EVERYone was getting off at that stop), I seriously doubt anything anyone says to him will make a difference. The fact that the train was so packed and there was a technical problem wasn't enough. People had to be rude, too.

I'd just like to point everyone to the series in the Washington Post re: their lack of service, which — fittingly — ran through today.

And you wonder why people hate the Metro and refuse to use it. It really makes me wish that Metro didn't have a monopoly on so many commuters.

I am a pathetic geek

Or so I've heard. But see, in actuality, I am the perfect geek in that I'm a slacker. Well, at least when it comes to posting. ;)

In other aspects I've been rather busy, which translates to: The house is coming along. Though I think we've hit a roadblock at this point. The roadblock being the kitchen cabinets. We've been painting them, but it's turning out horribly and we'd be spending like $500 (though likely more) on paint, a new counter, new sink and new faucet (oh there's a story there, too). And granted, when you're talking about replacing all the cabinets, that's chump change, but still it's $500. So yeah. Dilemma.

The story: The Kitchen Sink Explosion of 2005

So Boy was cleaning off a roller in the sink. I'm painting the other side, turned away from him.

I hear: "Ummm... why is my foot getting wet?"

Now I'm thinking he's just being a typical guy — i.e. messy. But no, he says his foot is REALLY getting wet. Soooo... we take a peek under the sink and sure enough — water gushing out from the faucet. Oh yes. A right waterfall. Soooo... I snatch everything that was left under the little half shelf we have under the sink and we turn off the shut-off valve (this sink actually HAS one, thankfully).

Personally, I have never "plumbed" anything before, except the occasional toilet plunge of course. Yeah. This is going to be fun.

Plumbing is actually covered under our home warranty, but, why can't the FRIDGE go. Or the 37-year-old oven. Cause I don't think it's worth it to call for a washer or whatever that exploded. But maybe that's just me.

Ah, the joys of home ownership.

In other news, I finally posted some new photos for your viewing (dis?)pleasure. Have at it. The gallery is working again (the link is to the right).

Not at all related: I am in love with this site PostSecret. Katie told me about it first, and then I discovered it in the Washington City Paper. Have fun! It's easy to get sucked in...

Oh forget it

Well I was going to attempt to give an update, but it's just been too long. Screw it.

... The Boy was just staring at my post, so I had to pause and stare him down. :) He said he'd just read it later. He's right, but still. Lemme write!

So my computer is in "the shop" right now. It's at work getting all the programs I need to work from home. Boy was a little offended that I let someone else install things on his (ahem, now MY) beloved machine. This is a very good thing, though, because once I get that I'll be able to work more normalized hours.

We are completely in the new house. Except for all the stuff left in Boy's room in D.C. to be moved over this weekend. Yeah, uhhh... I think I have to work then. Actually, while he's being the slacker that he loves to be, I will be painting the kitchen and the cabinets. That's going to take some time. (Mental note: Must count for handles, knobs and hinges ... oh so many hinges! Sigh.) We also will be looking into tiling the floors in the near future and hopefully replacing the kitchen sink, faucet and counter too. Because, um, ew.

The integration of the cats goes as follows: HISSSSSSSSSSSSGROWWWWWWWWRRAAAAAWWWWWWL...

To sum up: Not so much.

Once we actually get some of the boxes moved to the correct rooms (i.e. never) I'll post some new pictures in my gallery (i.e. also never). So don't bother looking!

Also! I have inhaled faaaaaaaaaar too many (much?) paint (and fumes) over the past month. Yum.