Curtains August 5, 2008
Posted by 64BakerSt in : Uncategorized , add a commentI have a joke that I am becoming bridget jones. Today I proved it yet again when, whilst vacuuming the carpet in my bedroom, the vacuum sucked up one end of my new sheers. I tried in vain to shut the Hoover off before further damage was done, but too late - the curtains fell with a crash on my bed.
After I recovered from the shock and pulled the twisted corner of the curtain out of the vacuum cleaner (which was emitting smoke and the strong smell of burnt rubber) I realized that the one of the brackets to my curtain rod (from Ikea, of course) had been pulled out of the wall. Now there were huge holes and little chance of putting the bracket back up in the same place.
Needless to say, I feel like a huge idiot.
Monsoon
as I write this there is a monsoon storm raging outside. I can see the lightning flash through the skylight and hear the rain pattering against it. We had the usual “break” in summer rains when it gets back into the 110’s F, but now the rains and cooler temps are back, at least for another few weeks.
The Victory garden is coming along. I have 1/3 of the area cleared. Meanwhile, I am reading up on desert gardening.
Ground Broken on my Victory Garden August 3, 2008
Posted by 64BakerSt in : Uncategorized , add a commentI have started tearing up my lawn. I started in the back corner where I hope to put the veggie garden. Fortunately the grass died mysteriously in exactly the spot where I wanted to put the garden and the owners left an old hoe in the shed.
Most of the grass has died since I moved in. I don’t know why it has died, but I suspect the grass is actually sod that didn’t put down deep roots. The turf literally peels up under the hoe, and underneath I found a layer of decayed leaves from the neighbor’s trees.
I have only cleared this small patch, but it’s a lot more than I expected I could do. I have heard nothing but horror stories about removing Bermuda grass. It’s not easy, but it’s not hard either. I have been throwing the old turf over the live stuff in an attempt to smother it without having to use Roundup or some other herbicide. I usually do the grass removal after the sun goes down as it has been 110 F (43 C) during the day. Ugh.
The best part is that the soil is nice and soft. It’s completely different from the “rock with dust on top” of my parent’s home. Their house is built on the foothills of a low mountain
range so it’s all caliche and granite, which is basically like trying to plant a garden in concrete with rocks mixed in.
By contrast, my yard is like butter. It was once agricultural land, so the top few feet are probably part of the former plough zone.
Just for fun I planted a few Tepary beans:
This one seems to be doing better than the surrounding grass!
In a week or two I should have a large enough space cleared out to start the garden. We are going into the growing season here, and I have a few local planting calendars to help me out.
Still busy July 23, 2008
Posted by 64BakerSt in : Uncategorized , 2commentstrying to get Chez Baker St put together… will post soon.
“No More Bagels” or “Great Depression 2.0″ July 17, 2008
Posted by 64BakerSt in : Uncategorized , add a commentWe all got called into a meeting today about how the economy was going to impact our company.
The gist of the meeting was that the company is well prepared to ride out the storm and that cost cutting measures are a sort of pre-emptive strike to slim down before we really feel the pinch. Apparently Wall Street likes the strategy because our stock has been doing relatively well.
This means major cuts as well as small ones like no more bagels on Fridays and no Christmas party. I am sad about the loss of the Christmas party, but I would rather have them cut the fat than start laying us off. This may mean no raises either, but again, I would rather have a job!
Having said all this, some of the economic news has been scary. 70’s style stagflation - high food and gas prices, the housing slump, reports on the news about banks failing and how to protect your money when they do. Some of this is reminiscent of the Great Depression. Back then it was margin borrowing, now it’s bad mortgages. It’s starting to get a little scary.
I’m back online… July 15, 2008
Posted by 64BakerSt in : Uncategorized , add a comment…and trying to unpack everything. Am shocked at the sheer amount of crap that I own. Will thin it out as I unpack and give it to Goodwill or something.
Have food in the fridge, but also have mold (In the fridge). Yummy. Am trying to get setteled in. Its very strange to be alone. I am looking forward to getting a dog - preferably an adult - from the local animal shelter.
some good news July 11, 2008
Posted by 64BakerSt in : Uncategorized , add a commentam posting this from my little nokia n800, so its going to be short.
moving tomorrow. all my stuff is in a uhaul van. watched dr who in my bedroom with only the tv. i’ll unhook it tomorriw. Here in the us we just saw midnight. v. good.
zoe is home. shes doing much better. the vet is optimistic that she can be treated with prednisone and cyclosporine. shes almost acting like her old self! but its too early to know for certain. we’ll be grateful for any extra time with her.
when i move i have a live internet connection, but i have t o wait for the cable modem and router to arrive in the mail.eta is the 17th. then i have to set it up. fun ! so there might not be posts for a while.
Lights, Camera, Zoe! July 9, 2008
Posted by 64BakerSt in : Uncategorized , 2commentsYes, Zoe made it onto the local news tonight. They were running a story about how pets can come down with Valley Fever. Her big brown eyes and fuzzy white nose* were seen peeking from behind the bars of the kennel . She didn’t look amused.
Her vet was interviewed too. I went to the news website, but so far the story has not been posted. I’ll keep looking, but it may not be newsworthy enough to make the website. Shootings, polygamists and old unexploded bombs made top headlines today. You know, the usual stuff.
*Not her nose, but the hair around it =)
Friendly Fire July 9, 2008
Posted by 64BakerSt in : Uncategorized , add a commentThe family dog, Zoe has been feeling under the weather lately. We took her to the vet and they think she may have canine autoimmune hemolytic anemia, a condition where the dog’s immune system attacks their red blood cells. Unfortunately she may have an even more severe disease in which her platelets are also destroyed.
She’s at the veterinary hospital tonight and will be for several days. She had been vomiting so they need to rehydrate her. They are also treating the condition as best they can while they monitor her blood count to see if she stabilizes. She’s getting prednisone and other immunosuppressant drugs.
Zoe is a very tough dog. As sick as she is, she’s still alert, up and wagging her tail. I hope she pulls through, but I am not getting my hopes up - she’s 10 years old. My mom is already depressed because I am moving out. It would be terrible if we lost Zoe too.
On the upside, Zoe might be on TV tonight. The vet told us that the local news station was there for some reason and they filmed her. If she gets on the air and they post the clip, I’ll link to it.
Still Busy - Random Items July 4, 2008
Posted by 64BakerSt in : Uncategorized , 2commentsMy Birthday is a holiday in Scotland!
Or not…I just read that last year that my birthday was to become a bank holiday in Scotland (St Andrew’s day). Alun has informed me that they may not make a new holiday but move another one. If they ever decide to make St Andrew’s day a holiday, then I’m moving to Scotland so I can have my birthday off work!
The Monsoons are here
I always find the cycle of the desert to be comforting. Rain is a rare event, but it always happens at predictable times. Even with the climate in a state of chaos, you can count on blistering heat broken by rain around July 4th.
And guess what? We had the first rain last night and as I write this I can hear the rumblings of distant thunderstorms tonight - July 4th.
And this is why we like the Monsoons: This is a photo of my car’s thermostat showing an outside temp of 120F on top of our parking garage at around 4pm in the evening. This was taken on the 29th of June. Excuse the excessive dust; most people keep their windows rolled down a little to vent the heat. If you don’t, your windows might break. No kidding. After all, it may be 120 F outside, but the inside may be around 200 F !
Note: the 24.5 MPG is my average gas mileage in the city. Not bad, but I think I’ll buy a hybrid car next time.
Still here… June 29, 2008
Posted by 64BakerSt in : Uncategorized , add a commentJust super busy!