Monday, April 30, 2007

Spackle, Spackle, Spackle

My back hurts! My butt hurts! The back of my thighs hurt! This would start sounding kinky if it weren't about that filthy activity of SPACKLING! How I detest, loathe and just plain ole hate it!

I always look for short cuts when I do household maintenance and it is stupid because there is no such thing. Whenever you short cut you pay for it and it takes twice as long to undue, especially where spackle is concerned. It hardens and if you were too darn lazy to make sure and apply it evenly, -say, for instance you couldn't find the spackle spatula and so you used the paint stir stick - scraping off the residual, you are left with hardened "wrinkles" that now must be sanded off. If you sand too much you must spackle again to even it all and where did the damn spatula go? Oh, never mind, I'll just use the paint stick.

Standing on a ladder spackling the holes in the ceiling (another story, another day) as my arms grow weary and sore, I try to take my mind off of what I am doing and think of other things. The spackle starts flinging it glops before it dawns on me that angry thoughts and spackling upside down don't really go together!

Glop, glop, glop! I can't wait for this project to be OVER! Sell, sell, sell! I want this house to sell so we can move, move, move and Bart and I can travel, travel, travel! Mmmmmm, mediterranean, much nicer thoughts to spackle by.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Take that GOOGLE



Okay, so, when you accept freebies you have to accept what you are paying for. I type into the search engine, "curry" because I want a recipe for a curry dish. Up pops:
Google
Error

We're sorry...

... but your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application. To protect our users, we can't process your request right now.

We'll restore your access as quickly as possible, so try again soon. In the meantime, if you suspect that your computer or network has been infected, you might want to run a virus checker or spyware remover to make sure that your systems are free of viruses and other spurious software.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and hope we'll see you again on Google.


WHAT? "Curry" looks like a query similiar to an automated request from a computer virus? BULL! You, google, are pissed because I am using Mozilla and I have it set to NEVER accept cookies from google.

In order to publish on my blog I have to accept cookies. I have internet explorer set to accept google's cookies. As soon as I am done with my blog post explorer is turned off and I am back on Mozilla with my browser set at NEVER ACCEPTING GOOGLE COOKIES!

(Slight snort with satisfaction)

That feels good.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Believing

A friend's post on his blog mentions preconceived ideas that many people have of what believers believe. What I believe differs vastly, sometimes even with fellow Baha'is, from many believers. The reason for this is because we each "hear" differently as we all can see from reading one another's blogs, from reading the news, from reading a book. We interpret even the most "obvious" things completely differently.

Take the remark "a woman without her man is nothing". Outragous as it stands, but is this how it was said or meant? What about, "A woman: without her, man is nothing." Back in the day when oral tradition reigned how many things were passed down that were changed in the interpretation, in the inflection, the tone, the syntax?

When we think about who was writing down the oral stories of that time and place we can understand how these men would have a hard time believing many of the things they were being told. To change an inflection would have been relatively easy, especially if you have one superpower telling you to come up with one "true" book to read and follow. You can also understand the inclination to try to make one set of books the authorative one when you have hundreds of small booklets running around with thousands of sentences with millions of punctuation marks changing the meaning of a sentence.

Even in the languages that didn't use punctuation inflection is [was] used and when interpreted from oral to written would reflect the transcriber's idea, reflecting his prejudices and predilictions, of what was meant. Interesting that much of it was done by men, in self-imposed segregation.

Try writing an idea that you think is self evident and play with the punctuation. Say something to someone in one tone, say the exact same thing to someone else using a different tone. What are the results?

Now, write something meant for all the cultures of all the people of the world. For those words to have a chance of being interpreted correctly and with the highest regard for the most people it has to start with a common foundation. For many, it is with belief.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Natahlia Woods

Blessed is the Spot, Baha'i prayer chanted


Friday, April 13, 2007

Riverfront Homesteaded Property for sale

Lately so much happening. WE are selling our HOUSE. It has been a royal pain, even though the land it sets on has been in the family since President Grant deeded it over in the late 1860s the house itself has done nothing but cause problems since it started to be built in the 1970s and the first contractor took the money and absconded with it! Since then it has done nothing but cause one family member or another grief and now we are done!

I know the next door neighbor is asking for $385,000 for his 4 bedroom one and half bath house but he has been doing EXTENSIVE work on it. It also happens to be one of the family's old homes. That house happens to have been built by grandfather, Everett Bartoldus, with his own two hands and a bit of help from his brothers. My grandmother sold it about 10 years after he died w/o telling any family. An odd woman but probably, knowing family, she just didn't want to deal. Anyhow, the family there now has torn out the pond my grandfather put in, torn down the retaining wall he and my father gathered rocks for, and ripped out all of the trees that were keeping the bank from falling onto highway 202. They also put in the original driveway joining it to the old driveway and making a private cul-de-sac. They have finished the basement and added a nice patio and have one outbuilding. It sets on just about 3/4 acre of land on the Walluski River.

Our house is five bedrooms, one and half baths, 1440 sq ft. A patio, and no outbuildings on .91 acre OVERLOOKING the same river. The slip of wetland, with old pilings for a possible dock, is a seperate tax lot and available for purchase but not part of the house deal. About 1/4 of the house needs its trim finished along with transition strips joining the lamenant floorings where we tore out the ugly, ugly carpet. I don't want to do much more. I am thinking about posting on craig's list and starting at about $279,999 and stating renovations have not yet started. Once renovations start, price goes up.

I just want to be done here and moved back up the hill to our property there so we can work on building our home. We are getting conflicting views on this and for the most part are loathe to call in a realtor. In the past we have been BURNED by realtors and mortgage brokers. Paying alot and receiving nothing, not even protection when a mortgage provider lost my dad's escrow account even though the mortgage broker was paid, oh blah, blah, blah!

I think I may start a blog with the house and its starting price and then how the price increases with each renovation. Bathrooms painted, lamenant flooring installed, price up $5,000. Kitchen cabinets painted, ceiling light styles changed (we have some inherited UGLY ones up now). Price up $5,000. Paint the outside, up $5000. Install shower, up $10,000 (plumbing ready for that, except drain will be a bit more difficult).

I am done with this project before I am started. Now that we have decided not to refinance I just want to be gone. SIGH [dramatically] nothing ever goes the way I want it to! AND IT KEEPS RAINING, making it hard to do outdoor stuff. Today I am supposed to be doing the kitchen light fixture. Instead I am looking for a way to sell cheaper but be out quicker! Accepting ideas. Oh, if you want to buy the house, it might be haunted (spectre sighted by some in the hallway, not me), you would be only the second family to own the property since settlers came to the area, and you could have river front with the possibility of a dock.