Month: September 2008

As if the gas shortage isn’t bad enough

On By Chris SoutherIn Dad Blogs, DIY, Family4 Comments

Our old house had polybutylene pipes. If you’re not familiar, they are a plasty-crap invention from the 80s that have since become one of the biggest homeowner liabilities in the industry. Apparently, the chlorine in the water eats away at the pipes until they just burst.

Ours finally burst over our kitchen in the old house, flooding two floors. We ripped all the poly out and replaced it with copper, replaced all the sheetrock and then promptly moved!

Here’s some pics from that little joy:

DSCF0567  DSCF0566

DSCF0569 DSCF0565

When we moved, another of our criteria (in addition to sidewalks) was a house with copper pipes. Our current house has copper pipes on the inside, but a poly line running from the main to the house. One of my first orders of business when we moved in, was to get it replaced.

But, I never did.

I woke up this morning after CareerMom had left for a 6 a.m. aerobics class and heard the sound of running water through the pipes. Wondering where it could possibly be coming from since no one else was awake (and with a sense of pending doom in my chest), I slowly walked from bathroom to bathroom checking for a  flowing toilet, or a running faucet that perhaps the kids left on. Nothing.

I checked the basement, fearing a foot of water and ruined collectibles…nothing.

I went outside to the faucet where the main line comes in…NIAGARA FALLS!

So, we’re unlucky in that our water main burst last night, but lucky in that there was zero damage to the inside of the house. I called and left CareerMom a message on her cell to pick up some water on her way home, and then I left a message with one of the plumbers who gave me an estimate for the work.

Hopefully, they’ll come right out, but I have my doubts. Could be a sucky coupla days around here.

UPDATE: Due to the hazard of digging and possibly hitting another utility line, we won’t be able to get it fixed till tomorrow. So, looks like showering at the gym; baths at grammas, and dining out! Oh, and begging the neighbors for water to flush the toilets.
Ah, deeeeep cleansing breaths. Happy happy joy joy thoughts.

Monday’s Collection O’ Goodness

On By Chris SoutherIn Dad Blogs, Family, Fatherhood, Life in these United States, Marriage, Society7 Comments

georgia football After about two months of posts, I usually end up with a bunch of little blog-ellas that aren’t really worthy of their own, entire blog. So here’s this month’s Blog-ellas. May they bring you much peace and happiness.

  • When you hear about frown lines and laugh lines and worry lines, you think, “Eh, it’s all part of getting old. There’s nothing I can do about that.” But nobody ever said anything about “pillow lines.” Yes, I have a wrinkle now from sleeping on one side all the time. It’s where my chubby cheek folds up against my honker (my nose Romi, My NOSE!) as I lay on my pillow.
  • We played one of the Veggie Tales movies for the kids on the way to church this weekend and now I have the song, “Oh, I need to tell you sumthin’….I don’t got a belly button‘” song running through my head (and I keep laughing about it!)
  • My football team, Alabama, completely rolled over #3 Georgia this weekend…and then almost blew it in the 4th quarter. But we held on and that makes it all good, for an ENTIRE YEAR!
  • I told you about my little cigar hobby. I am a rank amateur…there, I said it. But, I do know that a humidor doesn’t really work if you don’t put any solution on the little spongy thing, so I dropped by a cigar shop on Sunday to pick some up. How do I explain it? Have you ever been politely told that you’re an idiot without the words “Idiot” ever actually being uttered? Well, that’s how I felt when I left. I think I need to find a different cigar shop to give my money to…that or either purchase everything online. Thank the Lord for the Internet. It’s an introvert’s best friend!
  • Here in Atlanta, we have a severe gas shortage. I spent 1.5 hours in line waiting for gas this weekend and as I drove to work this morning, I must have passed five stations with lines down the street. I’d like to address Congress and tell them to forget bailing out the morons who mismanaged all their financial assets and instead bail out Exxon! I’m pretty sure that in 35 years when I retire, my savings will have recovered, but I need GAS NOW!
  • My sister is getting married on November 1. For many and various reasons, I am not attending, and I feel horrible about it. I went to my other sister’s wedding, which perhaps makes it even worse. CareerMom has a weeklong trip the week leading up to the wedding and she’d literally have to get off one plane and get on another for us to make it in time. Also, we’d have to miss Halloween and though normally I couldn’t care less about that, but this year MLI is really excited about it. He’s to the age now where he can appreciate candy…and does.

I think that’ll do it. But the week is young. We’ll see what other exciting new things pop up!

What? You don’t like the dogs playing cards picture?

On By Chris SoutherIn Dad Blogs, DIY, Family, Marriage3 Comments

color wheel As much as I like to pretend that I don’t care what other people think, the truth is that I do. But not so much because I want their approval as much as I like the validation for my ideas. Is that different? I can’t tell, but I think so.

For a guy, I like to think that I have a pretty good eye for decorating and color. When I was single, I got lots of compliments from…um…people visiting my condo; I can match clothes when CareerMom and I go out (what few times we do), and I can even be trusted to pick up household knick-knacks on my own without CareerMom having to return them in the dead of night to keep from hurting my feelings.

Wait…

No…

It’s Ok…after some self-introspection, I’ve reconfirmed that I’m hetero!

Anyway, we’re in the process of updating our house as I’ve blogged a few times. This includes new paint, some new appliances, lighting, etc. Now, barring winning the lottery, I’m making these updates as I can afford them, which means I can replace approximately 1.2 fixtures per paycheck, or 1 appliance every 6 months (washer and dryer count as two appliances) without having to serve beans and rice to the kids for a week of dinners.

We’ve come to a point though where now that I’ve re-painted, some of the window treatments that were leftovers from the old owners, no longer “fit” the decor. Some of these windows are oddly shaped, in strange places, or have some characteristic that makes your typical “drapes with a swag” an unattractive proposition.

CareerMom’s sister hired an “interior decorator” to come in and create a design for her house and CareerMom wanted to do the same for ours. I did something similar with our landscaping. I had a guy create a plan that I could implement on my own as my finances afforded, and that’s worked out well, so I agreed with CareerMom that it sounded like a good idea. I was afraid of the cost, but the lady she’s using works for a local decorating and fabric store and so she works for one flat price–not the by-the-hour charge many of them use.

I happened to be working from home the morning the designer dropped by and CareerMom took the morning off so she could shadow the designer as she wandered around the house. For about an hour and a half, the “designer” mumbled to herself while walking around measuring walls and windows, making the occasional comment about this or that.

So now that she’s come in and mentally critiqued our house, she will go create a plan. I’m a tad fuzzy on her deliverables (and her credentials frankly), but CareerMom didn’t question it and I’m no dummy, so I’m keeping my mouth shut.

To her credit thus far, she did make a couple of good suggestions for our dining room, which I at first thought were ridiculous, but after having lived with them for a few days, have decided that I rather like, so I’m open to her other ideas. But the one thing she did comment on while she was here that got my hackles up, was as she walked into the kitchen and said, making that little pinched look with her lips and forehead, “Hmm, the older shiny brass fixtures and newer stainless appliances are throwing me off!”

I held my tongue, in part because I agreed, but mostly because I didn’t want to upset CareerMom since this was “her thing.” But I really wanted to ask “design-lady” how many of her clients can afford to come into a “new to them” house and wholesale remodel in one fell swoop!?

Sure we only have one stainless appliance right now and the rest are black, but that’s only because the old black dishwasher broke and I had to replace it and wanted to move towards stainless. And yeah, the hood on the stove is shiny brass, but to update it, you have to buy a whole new hood and one like that, with a different finish is about $1,000! And I’m sorry that the perfectly operational sink fixture is shiny gold instead of a nice brushed bronze, but they ain’t cheap!

SO LAY OFF LADY!

That’s what I was thinkin’ anyway. In actuality, I just nodded along and bit my tongue.

But as she left, she did say one thing that I agreed with, “You seem to be into comfortable rather than glitzy, so my design will reflect that.”

It’s true; neither naked Greek statues nor ostentatious grandfather clocks will probably ever grace my foyer, but daggum, when I sit down at night to watch “The Office,” I’m comfortable, and frankly, that’s all that matters! (did you see Jim propose to Pam?)