All I wanted yesterday was a day away from all of my concerns, the things that having been causing me stress. Things were going okay, until about 11:00pm when I received the estimate for all of the non-plumbing exterior work that I am trying to have done to my house — $3600 — ugh, I was hoping for something closer to $2000. Yeah, I’ll be getting at least one more estimate, but I am completely over it.
I am seriously contemplating aborting the Chicago/Milwaukee trip for which I’ve already purchased plane fare. I really need to be concerned about my financial future and I’m not sure that sinking $1500 for a second long vacation is the best way to go. Winnipeg? Fuck yeah, I’m still going! It’s a good thing that I know how cold it gets in Canada, otherwise I’d consider never returning.
Take Me Out To The Ball Game Nope
Did you see the rain yesterday? Did you see the line of storms that was following it? I was certain that the Braves game was going to be wet, or at least hot and humid, so I decided not to go.
Was I ever wrong! Last night might have been one of the most pleasant evenings we’ve had in weeks. Too bad I didn’t go to the ballgame.
ITP Flickr Pic
Yep, the Baconnaise has arrived.
It’s not great, but it is edible. Baconnaise has more of a smokey bacon flavor than I would have imagined. I should go to the store today so that I can make a BLT (that would be a Baconnaise, Lettuce, and Tomato) sandwich.
And why did I buy three jars? Because that’s the way Amazon was selling it.
This City Just Keeps On Losing Points
I just read a Twitter update from someone who purchased a house last year and now lives on the west side. She was wondering why her air conditioning wasn’t working very well and she’s just found out that someone has stolen her copper lines.
Crime has gotten completely out of hand. Seriously. I’m sure that this sort of activity happens throughout the country, but Atlanta has just been ranked as the “second most dangerous” city in the country and I keep hearing about innocent people’s lives being impacted by asshats who have no regard for what is right. I’m not sure how much more of this I can take and I’ve lost most of my confidence in the human race. Becoming a self-sufficient, loner hobo seems like a great plan more and more each day.
RealiTV Update: Top Chef Masters
Last night kicked off Top Chef Masters. Woo Hoo!
The premise of Top Chef Masters is similar, but far from identical to Top Chef. In this version of the “reality” show established chefs are competing against one another Top Chef Style in an effort to win money for their charity of choice.
Another change this time around is the competition format. Sure, they still have Quick Fire Challenges and Elimination Challenges, however this time four chefs will compete head-to-head (to-head-to-head?) with each week’s winner moving on to the “Championship Round.” Last night’s competitors were Hubert Keller, Tim Love, Christopher Lee, and Michael Schlow.
For the Quick Fire Challenges the show’s organizers are bringing back the “best of” the Quick Fire Challenges from the first five seasons of Top Chef. In last night’s episode the four chefs had to prepare dessert for a table of four Girl Scouts. Desserts have long been the bane of cheftestants and this would be no different for the mastercheftestants. The Elimination Challenges have been virtually unchanged. Last night the mastercheftestants had to prepare a three-course meal from $150’s worth of ingredients, using only a toaster oven, microwave, and hot plate — oh, and the meal had to be prepared in a college dorm room.
The scoring system for Top Chef Masters has also been altered. For each round mastercheftestants are scored on a cumulative 1-5 Star rating with a possible 25 star maximum. At the end of each round three mastercheftestants are told to pack their knives and leave. The winning mastercheftestants gets $10,000 for his/her charity of choice and a slot in the “Championship Round.”
Spoiler
Hubert Keller was nearly flawless last night and won the round. The most interesting bit of drama occurred when Tim Love realized that he had stored all of his groceries, including vegetables, overnight in a freezer and not a refrigerator. To his credit he managed to salvage a meal that the judges enjoyed.
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – defeated
Current Music – listening to “The Image Doctors” podcast
Website Of The Day – What are you doing on the mornin of July 18th? I’ll most likely be panicking about the Black Sheep Hash trail that I’ll be haring on July 19th, but I may try to attend the Worldwide Photowalk as well.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 11 (11)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 10
Marta Rides – 0
June Goals
– lose four pounds… plain and simple
2009 Goals
– Reduce my weight to 190 pounds (today’s weight was 199.5 pounds)
– Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
РEarn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalape̱o Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Attend at least one professional photography workshop
The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient programmer in Objective-C (iPhone development) and Ruby on Rails (Black Sheep web page concept)
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
Yup, last night was a great night for the Braves vs. Pirates game! Went with a crew of AFS exchange students getting ready to return home. Only one of them had ever been to a pro baseball game so it was pretty fun.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/82068747@N00/3616075567/
I would def. get different quotes for your work. What all are you having done that adds up to 2k of repairs?
Two-thirds of the estimate is prepping and painting the carport, soffets, doors, windows, and ironwork; as well as pressure washing the house. The other one-third is repairing wood for the carport and the damage done to my gutters.
I will get another estimate but that just adds to the time to get things repaired — especially considering that I’ll be gone for about a week at the end of this month.
I went through the same thing. I had almost canceled boating plans with a friend because of the storms. Thankfully, we decided to meet anyway for a drink and then the skies cleared up. Gorgeous night for a game! (As opposed to my little Cubs game that I never go to see) 🙁
Paulie, you’ve put off repairs you NEED to have done to your plumbing, which can f**K up sh*t a whole lot more than something needing paint…. I know you want it done, but relax with the time line on painting already big guy!
Did the city ever come out to identify where your utilities are run?
Ah, but it all needs to get done for when I decide to sell the house (which seems to be a better plan each day that passes). In actuality the plumbing can wait longer as long as I don’t use the utility. The rusting ironwork and chipping paint continue to decay with each day that passes.
I’ve not called the 811 number to get the lines mapped yet — although if I remember correctly the stop at the meter?
I think a better way to go is to do it right BEFORE you list… that way it will look crisp and fresh for buyers… plus they’ll really reduce the price of an offer (or not make it) if your plumbing is shot.
Give me a call tonight, I might have a paint guy for you but I’ll need to explain a few things….
I think the next 4 months are key selling months of the year, or? I was going to sell my 1st Ave place, but have decided to wait another year to let (hopefully) prices head back up a bit.
Kevy Duty recommened the guy that painted my house, I think I only paid about $1500 for the whole house. I looked for the old email and can’t find it. I will check tonight to see if I can find his card, I think his name was JT if you want to ask Kevy yourself. There is also a hasher that has his own handyman business (but i’ve heard mixed reviews).
It was so hot and humid when I left work yesterday, I couldn’t believe how lovely last night turned out. We were even able to walk the dogs for some ice cream.
Did you see were Jon Stewart tried Baconnaise (they sent him some) on his show? I think it would be and understatement to say he is not a fan, lol.
I did some Buzz searching for painters last night, still plenty to think about…
Last night change in weather flabbergasted me. I never would have imagined such a pleasant change.
Of course Jon Stewart didn’t like it — he’s Jewish, he’s not supposed to be eating bacon! 😉 Someone at work told me of Stewart’s reaction as well. I’ll eventually eat all three jars, but it is mayonnaise after all so it will take me a long time.
811 is kind of slick. They take all your information, tell you when it will happen, what to do if they don’t come out, then send you to a recording- on the recording they finally tell you that they stop at the meter!! Fortunately, one of the things I wanted to know was how the power runs at JEFDSDR. They marked it quite nicely around the man cave, then ran it out to the main pasture, where they put a little red flag and an arrow- kind of an on-over that goes all the way to the street!!!
Of course, I wanted them to locate the leaking water line… dangen!! Wrong side of the meter.
-FP