The Propreantepenultimate Straw

Came home to this today after an afternoon that was already difficult. Lost my temper, doubtless because I spent so much time suppressing my feelings; this gave me an excuse.

Sylvia was the voice of reason and found a solution within minutes. Thank goodness for her. 

Why is there a Molson box in my garage, given I don't drink alcohol? Some miscreant put their recycling in my garbage bin the last time I put it out for collection. I know that sort of thing shouldn't annoy me, but that, too, made me irrationally angry. 

Sometimes I don't like who I am. 
 

Earlangelo

Sometime during the early 1970s, I painted this board with a nail sticking out of it. I wonder whatever became of that board. 

Ice Cube Mystery

We have two ice cube trays, identical in shape and composition. But one tray creates perfect cubes that pop out whole, while the other produces brittle cubes that shatter. Can a scientist explain why this might be so? The water is coming from the same tap, and the trays produce brittle or solid cubes no matter where they are placed in the fridge.

Pointless Update

• There is still one episode of Star Trek: Voyager I haven't seen
• I still haven't read The Lord of the Rings
• I still haven't analysed the title credits of Homicide: Life on the Streets
• I still haven't finished, Fringe, Farscape or new Dr. Who
• I still haven't reorganized my office to make better use of the space
• I still haven't fixed the doorknob
• I still haven't figured out what to do with my comic books
• I still haven't made a will
• I still haven't saved enough money to retire
• I still haven't seen over 30 percent of the AMPAS Best Picture nominees
• I still haven't sold my second short story
• I still haven't written a novel
• I still haven't gotten back down to 135 pounds
• I still haven't travelled east of Ottawa or south of Singapore
• But I'm lucky. 

Flood Footnote

For those who wanted more details about Saturday night's mini-flood::

Sylvia and I knew something was wrong the moment we heard something that sounded like a minor explosion near the roof of my office. The intense vibration caused the fire bell on the hallway wall to BONG in alarm. Each of us leaped into the hallway - we were both downstairs - to see what was going on. The sound of rushing water made it clear something had gone wrong with the plumbing but we couldn't see any water for several seconds, until a pool started to spread from the 500 gallon tank that feeds the sprinkler system. And it was spreading fast. I tore open the door of the furnace room, cranked one valve closed to no effect, then tried again, this time wrenching a handle conveniently marked "shut off water to holding tank." The rushing waters stopped, and Sylvia and I were able to soak up the mess in my office and the hallway within a couple of hours.

It has to be said that the ShamWow is far from a sham. A layer of them probably saved the carpeting in my office.

We called Sylvia's Uncle Joe and explained what had happened. He came in the next day and we explained what happened in detail. After taking a look around the room, Joe was able to deduce that the valve feeding the holding tank had stuck in the open position, causing pressure in the tank to build until its lid popped free, causing the loud bang we heard. The excess water spilled down the sides of the tank and stopped once I shut off the supply.

Joe estimates that it would probably take a year for all the water in the tank to evaporate, so we can simply keep the flow shut off and monitor the water level, opening the tap up again when needed. That's a simple enough fix, but Joe's also going to install a new valve for us so that the system works the way it should.

I feel incredibly fortunate that Sylvia and I were home when this happened. If we'd been out, the entire basement could have flooded, destroying my library, my computer and all the writing in it, the theatre room, and worst of all my photo albums and home movies, a loss I would have found genuinely devastating. For a few minutes there I felt like the trapped crew of the Deep Core in The Abyss, except it wasn't our lives I was fearful for, but our memories.

I don't do New Year's resolutions, but this I do resolve: to speed up the process of archiving all the family photos, movies and my writing, and to save complete copies in at least two off-site locations before the year is out.

Young Michaelangelo

Ah, the infinite potential of youth, when all seems possible. Sadly, I never learned to colour inside the lines, nor hammer nails true, nor join timbers into oneness. Indeed, when a home project ends without injuries or property damage I consider myself fortunate.

Home Theatre Heaven

 

Well, it's not the fanciest home theatre system in the world, but it is mine, and at long last I'm beginning to approach the setup I've always dreamed of: screen hung on the wall, surround sound speakers in their proper locations and also mounted on the wall to create more floor space. Mom and Dad helped me mount the television, which was  a more frustrating experience than it should have been because electronic stud finders turn out to be terribly ineffective at their primary job - finding studs. We wound up drilling holes in the wall at random until finding a stud, then measuring from that space. Fortunately the wall mounting unit and the television cover all the holes! 

The wires are rather ugly, so I'll need to explore some means of covering them up. 

Some trivia for Earl of the future: the first film you watched with this new setup was Frost/Nixon.

Dishing Out Advice

While preparing supper with Sylvia a moment ago, I idly wondered aloud about dish washing techniques.

"What would happen if you used the clothes washer to wash your dishes?" I asked.

Sylvia answered without hesitation, offhandedly:

"They'd break," she said, and with a tiny jolt of surprise I realized that she was right.

Earl J. Woods and the Icebox of Malice

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that my office fridge wasn't closing all the way. There was a small gap between the rubber seal and the frame of the fridge, one that wouldn't close no matter how hard I pushed. With other distractions to occupy my mind, I fell back on a time-tested strategy: ignore the problem and see if it goes away on its own.

It did not. Two days ago, I decided that the problem warranted more thorough investigation. And so  on bended knee I peered into the fridge and saw that a four-inch-thick layer of ice had formed around the perimeter of the freezer section, preventing the inner freezer door from closing all the way, which in turn blocked the fridge door from closing.

The solution was simple enough. I retrieved my hammer from my library and smashed the ice into frosty chunks, easily deposited into a handy bucket. Problem solved!

The Pipes, the Pipes!

For several weeks now our pipes have groaned in protest whenever flushing a toilet or turning on a tap. My research indicates that we may be suffering from the dreaded "noisy pipes" problem, and rather than call in an expert, I'm currently attempting that most foolhardy of tasks: attempting to fix the problem myself. A hasty Internet search suggests that I turn on every tap in the house, including the washing machine and outside spigot, and flush every toilet to clear air out of the pipes. Will this work? I have no idea, but it can't be helping my water bill...

Oh, early boy...the pipes, the pipes are honking...