It’s my birthday month. Of course, all that really means these days is that I have to get my auto tags renewed, have to pay my car insurance, should be getting ready to pay part of my property taxes, yadda, yadda, yadda. I need to get myself moving in order to accomplish all of my tasks before my age increases in a few weeks.
Getting the Jackmobile’s Emissions Checked. WTF?
The other night I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone by getting the Jackmobile’s annual emissions test performed as a quick interruption on my travels to Thinking Man Tavern. I planned to use the station that I went to last year, the one the stands on Briarcliff across from Sage Hill, because I rarely see anyone there when I drive by and I figured that I’d be in and out in no time. Of course on this day when I pulled in there were four cars ahead of mine! WTF?! I had no other choice than to abandon the plans and continue with my journey.
It Could Have Been Worse, I Suppose
Yesterday I heard of three different car problems which occurred to friends of mine.
ITP-Reader Sal’s car had a flat tire. Thankfully she was able to get it fixed and from what I understand has prepared brownies for the person who helped her out.
ITP-Reader Martha’s car window was smashed by some asshat while it was parked in her office’s parking lot. According to Martha it sucked, but she said that it could have been worse since someone’s car was stolen from the lot that day.
While I was puttering along I-285 in failed attempt to hit I-85 North for some trail scouting I passed an accident (one of three I saw on the stretch of I-285 from Chamblee-Dunwoody to Spaghetti Junction) and thought that I saw my friend non-ITP-Reader Steve standing on the inside shoulder. When I gave up on trail scouting and stopped to get some dinner I caught up on my Twitter feed I read tweets from him describing his fender-bender on I-285. Luckily, no one was injured.
Hope you all have better days today.
ITP Flickr Pic
Much like this unused M-95 I often feel as if I am a bundle of unused potential.
And some days I feel like this M-95 because I’m ready to explode.
One More Thing To Fix At The ITP Homestead
Yesterday while hanging outside on my deck (whose needed staining is another project on my list) I noticed something I’d never noticed before. I believe I’ve found one of the ways that my attic residents are gaining entry.
While gazing at the old nest which was built upon the curvature of my gutter’s downspout I noticed and oddity when looking at the corner wood crown moulding which completes the soffit. It appeared as if the corner was missing, and when I fetched a flashlight to shine on the spot, my eyes were proven to be correct. Those sonnabitches have completely gnawed a doorway into my attic. Dangen!
I want to propose a question, one which has been discussed with others but I’m seeking additional opinions. I’m considering taking the gutters off my house. Why should I not do so?
At Least This Made Me Laugh
Even though I’m trying to ween myself off the social networks I have to confess to reading a little Facebook this morning.
Here are three consecutive actual updates that I read that made me literally laugh aloud
“can’t believe I am up at this hour” (posted at 7:30a)
“cannot believe I’m up this early…” (posted at 7:00a)
“I HATE mornings!!!!!!!!!!” (posted at 7:00a)
Early? I routinely get up around 5:30a and wonder why they slept so late! 🙂
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – off
Current Music – listening to music from the radio station KCRW
Website Of The Day – While it’s almost a bit creepy, the cartoon Garfield, Minus Garfield (in which Garfield cartoons are reproduced with Garfield removed) is pretty funny.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – I forgot. I need to move my scale so it’s in my morning path. If I had to guess based on the mass quantities of food that I ate yesterday I’d guess I weigh a little over 202 pounds
Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 6 (6)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 8
Marta Rides – 0
July Goals
– Regain interest in my life
– Not get fired from my job
– Plan and lay a successful Black Sheep hash on July 19th
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
– Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalapeño 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]
I got my emmissions last week, and tag yesterday, so since my birthday is a week before yours, you’ve got a week to catch up.
Here’s my bad luck from yesterday, I got an email from American Express, saying there was unusual activity on my card.
07/08/09 $2,927 Deutsche Lufthansa Ag.
Looks like a plane ticket? Not purchased by me of course, so now I have to get a new card. I hope that is all there is to it.
I like your facebook friends that don’t like to get up, I was quite groggy at 7am myself, but that was because we were out & about last night, and started watching the Tour stage at 10:30pm.
I would not recommend removing your gutters. Gutters carry the rain water away from the foundation of the house and prevents water from leaking into your basement. Unless the ground around your house slopes drastically away from the foundation you need to keep them. Once you get them fixed the maintenance should not be that bad. It takes about 15 minutes with a leaf blower to clean my gutters and I only do it 2 to 3 times a year.
Oh, and happy birthday month!!
Every year when I renew my tags I always tell the DMV people that I’m here to pay my birthday fine. What a crock ad volarem is, our roads should all be silky smooth with zero potholes for the money we pay to drive.
I know that I’m a freak for getting up early. I was just amused that three Facebookers complained back-to-back-to-back about being up.
Yikes! It does look like someone booked a flight using your number. Maybe they should wait for this person to take that flight and arrest him/her.
The problems I have with my gutters is that they get clogged easily and because I’m afraid of heights I can’t get myself up to clean them often. Also, my roof-line has some odd angles which make the gutters make more 90-degree angles than I would care to have.
The land in my back yard does naturally slope away from the house, which is why I thought my plumbing went in that direction.
You know, the more I think about it the more I think that I need to fix all that is wrong with this house, pray for an economic improvement, and sell.
btw- today’s interesting feature of the TdF is rain.
Happy Birthday month.
I hope my day goes better than yesterday. At least I don’t have a car window to replace.
Heck, I’m out the door by 7:00!
I agree…you need gutters!!!
Paulie: Bob is right, but I think given the slope of your property next to 3/4s of the house, I think you could remove the gutters in back (except over the deck) and on the sides where it slopes away. Leave them in the front. I have no gutters on my house on sides/back, but have a much needed French drain system in the front AND gutters… no gutters on the back/sides where it slopes away…. my duplex has them on all sides and I hate, Hate, HATE them! (and tons of big trees, always full and a mess to clean)
Barb: yup that’s a nice ticket (or 2) on Lufthansa German Airlines!!
Was it raining at the start in Girona? That will suck for Katrina, I know she was taking the kids to see the start of the race today. (I guess I could go look it up on line, huh?)
I haven’t started using the birthday month thing, and it’s 9 days into the month. What is wrong with me…… I should have at least gotten a free drink or something.
Okay, let’s make the assumption that I keep the gutters (for resale value if for no other reason). Does anyone know of an item that I can put in the gap created by the downspout so that squirrels can’t use the downspout as a platform on which to stand as they gnaw into my house?
Versus joined already in action. However, when they did a flashback to the day’s start it did not appear as if it was raining there.
The only thing I’ve done because it’s my “birthday month” is to buy myself a few new, and relatively cheap, toys.
“Does anyone know of an item that I can put in the gap created by the downspout so that squirrels can’t use the downspout as a platform on which to stand as they gnaw into my house?”
I know somebody who has a BB gun with a laser sight, you can occupy your evenings squirrel hunting! LOL
I don’t know of any off the shelf product for that, you can probably bend a piece of aluminum to fit though. That may keep the little bastards out.
Balled up chicken wire screwed or wired in place?
Paulie, Don’t remove the gutters. Rain water from roof needs to be moved away from the structure. Erosion and infiltration will result without gutters. The squirrels will just knaw through the exposed fascia to enter the attic. When you sell the house they will ask you to install gutters! I would try packing the holes with hardware cloth, then spray some expanding foam into the remaining space.
According to this: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/07/09/night.owl.morning/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
Night owls vs morning people is a physiological (sp?) issue. I think I’m a natural night owl, but I’ve had to be reprogrammed to function in the work world. Now my favorite time of the day is 6 a.m. out putzing around the farm feeding horses and watering plants.
Staple some chicken wire or hardware cloth over the fascia in the corners and paint it white or whatever color the woodwork is. It won’t be noticeable from the ground, but it will stop them from chewing through.
I got a letter from AmEx this week, stating they were closing my account because of inactivity…to be honest I forgot I had an AmEx card. I use to have two a student card (you can guess how long ago that was) and one for work, circa 2002?? Not sure which one they closed.
As for cleaning the gutters, my secret??? I pay someone. There are projects I’m more than will to shell out the cash for…exterior painting, electrical and anything that involves climbing on the roof to name a few.
7 am?? That’s sleeping in…I really can’t remember the last time I slept late. 5:15-5:30 is the norm. You’ve got to start early if you want to get two workouts a day in, right Paulie? 😉
I have no problem with paying people to do the chores I can’t/won’t do. I do have a problem finding the time to schedule, wait for their arrival and do their work, however.
I suppose. You also have to start early to beat traffic in this town.
I use gutter guard…I’ve never spoken to or seen anyone with that company. You can get a quote, schedule and I think even pay the bill all on-line…you don’t have to be there when they do the work, they will leave the invoice.
I’m having Safelite install the new window for pretty much the same reason…I was able to get a quote and make an appointment all on line and they are coming to me for the repair. Business that make it easy for me to spend my money with them are always my first choice.
Yeah, I *meant* to call the gutter folks. And then I went and started the process of getting a quote for the damaged woodwork and getting all painted, which also was to include the cost of repairing the part of the gutters where the tree hit them last year — which happens to be in the same spot as the hole I found yesterday.
So for anyone still reading comments today, here’s the current list
1) plumbing (disastrous pipe situation, yellow bathroom sink)
2) repair rotted carport wood soffits (including rodent holes)
3) painting soffit, window/door trim, and ironwork
4) gutter repair
5) stain deck
6) trim back tree limbs / clean up fallen branches / prune crap in back yard
7) repair living room ceiling
CRAP, there is so much for me to do!!!
I’ve got an idea – you need to find a handyman that can be on retainer…….. did Spermier ever get a job? Maybe you could hire him. I’m sure he would be fair, and you could pay him after you are done, and wouldn’t have to be there. He is very handy.
I need to marry one of those cute DYI/HGTV/TLC female carpenters like Amy Wynn Pastor and let her handle all of this crap.
Now you’re working a plan! One of them is based in Atlanta – Jodi Marks. She’s handy and cute and last I knew she was single!
Might be cheaper and less stressful to just pay someone, I’m just saying 😉
Martha, I’m the guy considering ripping off his house’s gutters. I’ve never been known to be all that bright.
Besides what are the odds that I would ever meet the likes of a Jodi Marks? And if I did, what sort of Florence Nightingale Syndrome would she have to have to fall for the likes of me (and my decrepit homestead)?
I have a “better” chance of getting struck by lightning at a Black Sheep hash.
We’ll, women like a challenge Paulie! Course, once she’s done with the house, she might try and fix you!
Fix the house, Gentri. Fix, the house. We’ve already seen what happens to my relationships when someone moves in and tries to change the house. HAHAHAHAHA!
Hey, it was your idea! I just pointed out that it was a geographical possiblity. If I recall correctly from sitting around chatting at shoots at my old house, you would be a big step up for her just by virtue of being functional and self supporting! Nice woman, poor choices in significant others… I’m so glad to be out of that club! (For nearly 6 years now! Your birth-month is our anniversary month.)
Debbie, I was not poo-pooing your addition to my statement. I was pointing out the unlikelihood of it actually happening. 🙂
oh, Paulie there are a lot of messed up girls out there (not that one would need to be messed up to fall for you)…but yeah, I think most smart girls aren’t looking for a fixer upper, either in a house or a man…lord knows I’ve learned that lesson, at least about the house.
Your chances of getting struck by lightning don’t seem to be too bad, so don’t give up.
Well my window is fixed and I’m calling it a day…guess I’m watching the Tour tonight.