November 2008 Archives

I wonder if this looming financial crisis will finally be the thing that tests the mettle of my generation. We've been pretty lucky: nothing major has happened during our lifetime. Vietnam was over before I was even aware of it, the minor recessions over the years and stock crash of 1987 barely registered as a blip. We've had to live through nothing like a World War or the Depression. There was the Cold War but that was mostly fodder for James Bond movies and didn't affect me personally at least.

But, the experts all agree that this crisis, if not handled correctly, is potentially on par with the events of 1929 and the Depression. Will we finally have to learn what it's like to live with less?

Whatever happened to simple toothbrushes? A nice simple arrangement of a straight horizontal stick with a small patch of vertical bristles at one end. I do not need multicoloured, multidirectional, multishaped bristles, thank you very much. Certainly don't want to replace batteries (or throw out something with batteries every three months). I have to go on a special scouting mission to find simple brushes and every time I find them I get several on the off chance that I might never find them again.

DO NOT WANT!

The kitchen reno is coming apace; we expect the counter to *finally* be installed at the end of this week. At that point to most people it will appear complete. I have a punch list with several items which I expect to get to eventually but there is nothing that will keep us from just enjoying the new room in the meantime.

The process was neither as horrendous as it could have been nor as quick as we had hoped but we were only without a completely functional kitchen for a couple of weeks. So, we shan't complain too much. The gas stove was delivered promptly, we can live without a dishwasher and the original sink has been jury-rigged into extended service (albeit in service with at least one length of duct tape) so there hasn't been that much hardship.

It was the always having to do something after work or on weekends or having a basement and diningroom full of boxes or a livingroom full of cabinets or an entire house full of dust that was the most tiring. For the most part it is now over.

Yesterday I finished cleaning out the basement, the diningroom has only the normal diningroom furniture in it and we are slowly eradicating all the dust. Last weekend I was able to sleep in a bit on *both* days! Heaven.

Here's the photos of our work thus far:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdewphotos/sets/72157607510016542/