I haven't posted much about our house in quite some time. I reckon that means we have been lazy... But, in our defense, sometimes, you have to live somewhere for a while to figure out what you really want.

We've owned this mini-mansion for less than a year now, and earlier this week we finally had some drywall dust floating about. Our house used to have an in-law suite, or apartment, on the back upper side. Since neither (e:Uncutsaniflush) and i want to be the evil landlord, we thought we would prefer to have the apartment connected back to the rest of the house (other than having to march up the back staircase).


Here's the house side of the hallway before we did anything... including one with some junk there (ok, not junk, that room to room air conditioner is hardly junk..).





And here is the apartment side of the house. Looks like things were done and decorated around the late 60's, doesn't it?



And here we are with the apartment side partly done.. ugly tile board off, some of the drywall gone... The peeps that did it used insulation as what we assume was for soundproofing.



Here is the apartment side done... Studs and electrical box still there.



Here is the handyman himself, the one and only (e:Uncutsaniflush) !



This is a closeup of the baseboards. We are ever so grateful to the peeps that did this wall didn't damage the baseboards and took the extra time and effort to do the studs this way!



Drywall and electrical box gone, but studs still there...



Studs gone now... but lots of drywall dust in the air...



And cleaned up afters. One from the main part of the house looking into the apartment. Another from the apartment looking into the main part of the house. Eventually, we want to make it look less jarring, and perhaps move the stove somewhere else (damn, i adore the look of that range!). For now, i am happy to not have to go down the main stairs and all the way to the back of the house to pee in the night; now, i can just take the 30 or so steps from our bed to the apartment bathroom. Woo hoo.





Still wanna be our tenant, (e:Twisted) ?

Happy Big Three-Oh, (e:imk2) !!!

Today, (e:Uncutsaniflush) and i decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and go for a short day trip. I was in a picture snapping mood...

The dash screen of our lovely Toyota Prius, a mere 15 minutes into our journey. Love love love what the temperature reading was telling us.. and the MPG -- 52.2! Woo hoo!



The New York State Thruway... gotta love them tolls.



This guy is telling us we are going the right way...



Right on in to PA...



We stopped for lunch.. but i am so sorry, (e:Paul), i forgot to take pics of our eats.

On our way to the Erie Zoo, we see this structure. It looks like an air traffic controllers tower. Once closer, we saw a sign that it is a plastics factory of some sort, but i can't imagine the length of plastic they make in which they would need a tower like that!



Ah, cute kitties will solve all the world's problems.. unless you are on a lower level of the food chain...



These birds, blue and gold macaws, to be more precise, were inside a building that had exhibits in it, but when we went inside, there was a door saying "Employees Only"... i hope they get paid more than just bird seed!



Fishies!



And there were also plants in the small greenhouse...







And Polar Bears playing... awwee...



And gay giraffe. Both of these giraffe are males. Tried my best to get pictures of them having fun, but oral sex was about the closest i could get.



Also tried to get some examples of just how large an errect giraffe penis is (did anyone know they acutally unfold. not just slide out?!?), but this guy was camera shy, i think...



On to more wholesome things... in the kids part, swimming penguins. Usually, when we are there, they are fussing about on land. Finally, we saw them swim!



Orangoutangs. Adorable baby...



Beautiful mommy...



A drive around Presque Isle was so nice in weather like this. I forgot to take a snap of the entrance, so this will just have to do...



Nice sandy beach on the windward side of this Lake Erie barrier island...



And out of Erie, PA. We saw a lot of these frogs about town today. I guess they are like the buffalo seen about town here, the bears about town in Knoxville and the hideous giant moose that Toronto had a few years back...



And finally, back home...

Thanks, (e:Theecarey,139) for reminding me how much i adore British comedy.

So, i started surfing. Got sucked into the BBC Blackadder site.

I found the quote generator very amusing.

The interview clips are as well. Wish they had some from Stephen Fry since i find his voice so soothing (i sometimes listen to his biography on tape when i am at the dentist!). Some more from Hugh Laurie would have been nice, too.

Ah, give me a dark, sarcastic, sardonic British comedy any day of the week...

Much appreciated, all the fussing about you did to get me some Wesley Willis, (e:Jenks,106). Once the gather number was corrected, i managed to scoop it up just fine and boggied the night away...

Thanks, too, (e:Zobar) for the Wesley Willis you posted in a comment to my journal, (e:LeeTee,159).

Then, (e:MrMike,47) posted a Paul Weller live accoustic version of That's Entertainment (thanks again!). I wonder if i can find the Morrissey version of that song... i found it interesting, but then again, i am a Morriessey fan (new cd, Ringleader of the Tormentors is quite good)

Now that i got this gather stuff figured out, i might become addicted. Yipes. Addcitions are bad. Because, as Emo Philips would say, "someday it will be my turn to treat".

On our way back from visiting my parents last weekend, (e:Uncutsaniflush) and i were listening to Alan Cross' The Ongoing History Of New Music on 102.1 The Edge.

The subject was outsider music (WIKIPEDIA - Outsider music) and i was ever so grateful to be making the hour drive when this show was on. It was a highly entertaining episode. Since then, there have been a few songs i haven't been able to get out of my head.

And now, as i type this, i am listening to Philosophy of the World by the Shaggs (WIKIPEDIA - The Shaggs) (thanks to (e:Uncutsaniflush) for downloading it!) and i am loving it so much. How could i not love the atonal enthusiasm!?! How could i not love a song called "My Pal Foot Foot"? I can't! Since the song was inspired by a pet cat, if i ever again have a pet cat, i now want to name him or her Foot Foot.

I am also very much interested in hearing more Wesley Willis(WIKIPEDIA - Wesley Willis), an interest i am not sure (e:Uncutsaniflush) shares.. at least not as much. Sadly, the only sample of his music was a song about Dave Grohl (ok, so shoot me, i think the Foo Fighters suck).. one in which we originally thought was about some chick named April. Aaaappppriiiillll... Daaaaaavvveee Grohhhllll.. You can hear the similarites, can't you?

Since i can't have a usersound at this time, i leave you with lyrics..

My Pal Foot Foot

My pal's name is Foot Foot (Foot Foot)
He always likes to roam
My pal's name is Foot Foot (Foot Foot)
I never find him home

I go to his house
Knock at his door
People come out and say
Foot Foot don't live here no more

My pal Foot Foot (Foot Foot)
Always likes to roam
My pal Foot Foot (Foot Foot)
Now he has no home

Where will Foot Foot go
What will Foot Foot do
Oh, Foot Foot
I wish I could find you

I've looked here, I've looked there
I've looked everywhere
Oh, Foot Foot
Why can't I find you?

Foot Foot, where can you be?
Foot Foot, why won't you answer me?
Foot Foot, Oh Foot Foot
Wherever you are
I want you to come home with me

I don't have time to roam
I have things to do
I have to go home
Oh, Foot Foot, where are you?

If Foot Foot didn't like to roam so well
He would still have a place to dwell
Foot Foot, please answer me
I know where you are
You're behind that tree

Foot Foot, please come to me
Foot Foot, now that you're here
Won't you come home
Foot Foot, promise me this
That you will never again roam

Today, at the Boulevard Mall, something horrible happened to me. Here i am, blissfully unaware, thinking i am a moderately hip kinda chick... ok, a complete geek, but not totally out of touch. Then, some kid handing out samples... he... oh, i can barely say it. This isn't the south in which this dreaded word is part of the daily vernacular. He called me "ma'am". I've been "Ma'am'ed"!!!

Have ya ever had a mental image of something that is just a wee bit wacky?

Whenever we drive by the Ford Buffalo Stamping Plant, i have this well formed mental image: a huge room jam-packed full of buffalos, barely any room between them, backs still and unmoving, while their feet slam the ground below, up and down without any sense of rhythm, but a definate sense of purpose.

No, i am not off any meds....

Oh damn. Can't fall asleep because of this cough. How annoying is that?

Speaking of annoying... most times, noises and beeps and clicks and shit like that on computers don't interest me. I got used to the boing boing of the chat here, and the sounds that used to end abruptly when logging on or off. But, i tend to disable sounds. However, i am tres annoyed with flash right now. They don't want me to hear usersounds on (e:strip). Bastards!

Physically

As i have mentioned a few times before, i quit smoking. I smoked for almost 25 years. The hacking cough i got used to. The smell of smoke in my clothes and hair were normal for me. Both my parents smoke, and my mom started smoking when she was pregnant with me. So, in an odd sorta way, i kinda feel like i have always been a smoker. Just over a year ago is when i quit.

About 8 weeks ago, i got a cold. I really was hoping that my lungs were clear enough that it wouldn't sit in my chest weeks after the cold was gone. That was not to be. My dentist mentioned to me (when he was trying to work in my mouth and i couldn't keep a cough in any longer) that it may take up to 5 years for all this shit to clear out of my lungs. What fun...

This weekend, (e:Uncutsaniflush) and i were visiting my parents. Both my mom and my dad still smoke. They do their best to keep the air clear(ish) for us when we are there but the smoke sucking ashtray isn't quite enough.

Since we got back last night, my cough is like a smoker's again, and my lungs feel so heavy. Oh, how i hope it won't be like this every time i visit them!

Emotionally

I also hope that some day, very soon, my parents will both find the energy to be happy. I love them both so much, and think that they are both good people, but they both seem so unhappy.

This weekend, in particular, my dad seemed so... hmm... difficult, i guess is the best way to describe it. I felt like any discussion i had with him had to have a billion qualifications around it. No, dad, i don't think Uncle Cam is an asshole; i think he is basicly a good guy that can't seem to get his shit together. I merely use him as an example of predictable behavior patterns. And my dad became defensive of his youngest brother.

My mom was more chipper this weekend than my dad, but i can still feel the tension from an arguement they had a week or so ago. My mom wants to get rid of a very nice outfit she got one fun weekend in Toronto with a friend because of this argument. ANd if her side of the story is even half right, then i don't blame her one bit.

Sadly, i find both myself and (e:Uncutsaniflush) being sucked into the drama that is the life of my unhappily married parents. He and i, if we chose to, could sit and analyze all the drama for hours. Sometimes, it is so tempting to, since we both so want to find a solution for them. It pains me greatly to know that no one can help them but them. I am so sad for them...