Sunday night late

Small but important (and painstaking) project this weekend, laying a bead of silicone caulk [arrow] to rescue the big mirror with the attached "Hollywood" light fixture in the master bath (similar to the mirror I removed in the guest bath now under reconstruction) before water intrusion destroyed the silver from the bottom up (as was happening even worse in the guest bath). (Don't plan on redoing this bathroom anytime soon.) The vintage faux marble sink and vanity will remain for now (perhaps for someone else to replace in the future). I still may replace the faucet fixture, however, since it's a little leaky (but I don't think it leaks to the floors below).

This bathroom contains a fiberglass tub enclosure, which could also use some help. (Maybe I'll strike a deal with a reconditioner to have the fiberglass units done in both bathrooms simultaneously.) Meanwhile, I've already spent hundreds of dollars in this bathroom replacing plumbing valves.

Ordered special almond-colored silicone caulk on the Internet for this project (caulk cost $3+ and shipping was $6+; had been unable to locate a small tube of it at the nearby Home Depot).

I first tried doing it on Saturday night but totally botched it (I was out of practice), so fixed it today (entailed lot of scraping with a razor blade).

This is the bathroom I first tackled when I moved here. Added the classical wallpaper border and "artifacts."

(including the Chac-Mool pottery piece, which I'd bought in Cancun following
a side trip to the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza, along with the smiling Etrucans [?])

Christmas: 1 small pot Yuban + 2 cups Starbucks Pike + spare time = cleaning time!

Spent a good chunk of the day cleaning (floors mostly). And most of that time I spent thinking I needed a new vacuum cleaner (to sweep the tile floors). I was manually (with a wet rag) getting up the stuff the otherwise reliable vacuum cleaner was supposed to pick up (in "bare floor" mode).

After most of the chores were done (and after having started searching for a new vacuum cleaner online), I realized that the hose attachment for the various tools was inserted into the floor-cleaning unit. Thus I was getting no suction (though the brush was rotating).

What a bunch of work that was! After I'd discovered my error in not detaching the hose, I swept another room I hadn't even planned on doing. (So I'm ahead of the game now.)

Up till then, it was really baffling just watching the cat hair blow around and the ubiquitous cat litter atomizing and going nowhere (and having to wipe it up with the rag and keep rinsing the rag out).

(Cleaning is not my forte. But the place is a lot cleaner now.)

Since I haven't been able to find someone to help me with the cleaning (floors mostly), I have to occasionally do it myself. (Didn't use the steamer today since the vacuum wasn't working, so I was down on my hands and feet and ass.) Glad I got some of the most neglected areas done.

More Monday Night Late

Woke up early this a.m. and Boozy was doing OK, so no visit to the vet. But Boozy is weakening, and I'm trying to get him stronger (fighting aggressively against the ongoing kidney failure, which has been ongoing for a few years already).

(Glad I woke up early, since the vet closed at noon today, which I found out after grocery shopping tonight -- vet is by the Publix [Siegel TLC].) (But, again, Boozy was feeling well this a.m., so no vet call or visit required.)

Boozy's downward spiral (which is now upward) came into focus this long weekend when I noticed he no longer had the strength to hop up onto his settee. (I've since found some new food that he likes -- a different brand.  (That was a shot in the dark.))  He's a lot better now.

Watched "The Dark Knight" on Comcast tonight. Seemed very long, but good. (Will watch again tomorrow night at earlier time.)

Monday nite late

(I have no use for religion or frivolity, but have a great day!)

Late Sunday night

Worried about Boozy. May try to get him to the vet tomorrow. We'll see in the morning.

Saturday afternoon

I forgot to mention that yesterday I received a letter from my homeowners insurance company (Citizens). Apparently my claim is being processed and I was advised to meanwhile protect my property from damage, etc. (Done.) I'll not start up with these repairs until I get a check/advice from Citizens.

Weather is nice today (in the mid-70s) so I thought I'd WALK up to Walgreens to pick up my scrip and also stop off at a linen store nearby to get a new towel for Bootsy's settee. The old one is shot and needs to be thrown out.

Boozy has been ailing off and on (throwing up, losing weight, having loose stools). I'm contemplating taking him to the vet's, maybe tomorrow, for a shot, or something. When he's feeling well, which is most of the time, he has an appetite and gets around OK. But today I watched as he tried to hop up on his settee and didn't make it, after which he let out with a cry and went to lie down on the rug next to the sliding glass door (where's he's been spending a lot of time lately).

I have pet stairs going up to the settee, but Boozy doesn't use them. (The other night I even put catnip on the steps in an effort to entice Boozy to use the stairs to get up on the settee.)

Saturday night late

Got lots done today. Had planned on going to Panda Kitchen & Bath up the road, so got up at reasonable hour (after going to bed not terribly late). Had a little pot of coffee and some stroganoff while reading on the Internet before showering and heading up to Panda a little after 2:00 (after taking pills).

I plan on having the fiberglass tub enclosure reconditioned (last step in the whole remodel process). The consultant at Panda told me -- after I'd told her I saw a YouTube from a guy in MA who reconditions these enclosures -- that no one in Florida does this. (She insisted I have the enclosure removed and replaced with a regular tub and tile surround.) She didn't know what she was talking about. See here and here. (I think she's in cohoots with a certain tile store up the street.)

The tub enclosure is very practical and easy to keep clean (no mildew in tile grout, etc.). If I can get it to look shiny and new, I'd prefer to go that route. Plus, all the plumbing has recently been redone for the enclosure and all leaks sealed (@ $280). (And imagine the labor costs involved in sawing the enclosure to pieces, having it hauled away, and installing a tub and tile surround.)

I frankly think that while tiles look nice around a traditional bathtub, they're impractical vs. a solid enclosure (and this is already there and one piece). The tile grout gets mildewed and eventually needs re-doing, and the tiles can start falling off the wall. More opportunity for water intrusion into the backing (unless expensive and difficult to cut concrete backer board is used, but even then...). I've looked into it and have decided on trying to rescue the fiberglass enclosure.

Otherwise, her advice was sensible. She said I needed a contractor or handyman and to talk to the building management about the projects that need to be done (remove old vanity, remove and replace old tire floor, hang light fixture from the repaired drywall, etc.) and get their recommendations, since they're in the know about these types of projects going on in the units. She said a nice 42" vanity and mirror would cost around $1200 (to be installed by Panda). (But maybe I want to find my own mirror.) Not terribly impressed with with that offer.

Meanwhile, the traffic today was crazy, as was to be expected. There were no parking spaces to be had in the shopping center where Panda is located, and drivers were going round and round waiting for someone to pull out of a spot. I went through one (slow) round of that and decided to park around the corner and across the railroad tracks. (Put steering wheel lock in place, since that neighborhood is crappy and there was no activity.) Five minute walk back to Panda. Then went to liquor store by Panda. (My usual rum was out of stock so had to buy something else, which was almost out of stock itself.) (I bought the last of the substitute that was on the shelves -- enough for now.)

Fortunately my truck was still sitting there on the other side of the tracks after doing my business, so I drove down to Home Depot to have a key made and then one block up to Walgreens to pick up a prescription. There were no parking spaces available in that (huge) parking lot either (which also serves a Ross, Office Max, Panera, Burger King, etc.), so I decided to get of there and drive back home. (Still have a few pills left of that prescription [the sleeping pill, estazolam].)

Meanwhile truck was laboring -- maybe need a new clutch. This laboring happens from time to time, but I was just happy to be back home and out of the vehicle.

Walked to convenience down the street store for a carton of cigs and some microwave sandwiches (for the long weekend -- not a lot of food here except the "stroganoff" and some eggs and frozen pizza). Then walked up to E's place for dinner (was hungry by then). (He comped it.)

E. wants to go to Flanigan's next Saturday at noon for lunch (probably his mother's suggestion). Sure, I'll go. Haven't been to Flanigan's in ages.

Day is over and done.

Lobby decorations

As GOP Sinks Plan B, Obama Should Tune Out His Own Party’s Doubters

Robert Shrum's perspective from The Daily Beast

Justice Antonin Scalia In Hot Water Again Over Homosexual Comments

From The Daily Beast

Amish Mafia : Great show!

Amish Mafia : About the Show : Discovery Channel

Monday night

Well, I lost another $20 bill tonight. I'd taken it out of the ATM this morning at the bus stop (where my bank is) just to buy holiday stamps at the P.O. tonight. Turned out the stamp dispensing machine this year accepts debit and credit cards only (and doesn't dispense holiday stamps -- so I got a generic "Celebrate!" stamp with balloons on it). I had the bill on me at the time. I guess I lost it when I was pulling the keys out of my pocket to get back into the truck (so distracted these days...).

Didn't notice I'd lost it till I was checking out later at the grocery store. (I think I must have turned a shade of purple or something.) Drove back to the P.O. to look around and also back to Target (adjacent), where I'd been before the P.O.

Well, Merry Christmas, whoever you all are, but I'm done playing "Secret Santa" this year. (BTW called doctor's office this morning and no one had found the money clip I'd lost Friday, with the $20+ attached.) (I'd used that money clip for 15 years or so.)

So as of today, I'm no longer carrying cash -- nada. (The stamp-dispensing machine doesn't even take it anymore!)

UPDATE: Found money clip in a pair of pants and will continue to carry. (Still lost the $20 bill, however. Happy holidays to the finder!)

Sunday night

All chores done (including giving Boozy a sitzbath). Watching show on volcanoes now. I wouldn't live anywhere near a volcano. (I was terrified of them as a child -- after seeing pictures of Pompeii in National Geographic -- though we don't even have volcanoes in Florida.) (Hurricanes were kind of fun, though, if you lived in a sturdy house with shutters; losing electricity and taking cold showers not so much fun.)

I was living in Helena, Montana when Mount St. Helens erupted (in 1980) in nearby Washington. We had ash raining down for days. (I used to have a film container full of it, which I'd collected off the sidewalk.) We were also advised not to breathe the air outside without wearing a mask or some kind of face covering. (I think I got a painter's mask.)

Visited Yellowstone Park while I lived out there. (It sits on a supervolcano.) Sounds like that's one we should all be afraid of. The whole park was bubbling and steaming and spewing geysers. (Stayed at Old Faithful Inn [pictured] -- named after the geyser outside.)

Beautiful old log hotel with enormous lobby and humongous hearth with chimney extending several floors up through the open multi-floored lobby area (to the roof), which I guess one day will be destroyed by the supervolcano.

Grass not greener on the other side

Spoke recently to neighbor next door. (Her toilet next to my guest bath had a leaky wax ring, allowing water to seep onto my bathroom floor -- but we didn't really talk about that.) (And that's been fixed.)

She told me her other bathroom -- the one with a bathtub vs. just a shower -- has been out of commission for around three years because of a leak.  Plumbers had not been able to get to the bottom of the problem until recently, when they opened up the wall in the hallway between her unit and the next one over, which recently began experiencing problems of its own.

Having looked inside the wall at the plumbing for my neighbor's tub, a plumber told her that the only way to fix her tub would be to break floor tiles in the bath, disconnect the toilet from the wall, and remove drywall in that area to have access to address the leak. She said it sounded like it could be costly and that she might just have to hold off doing it. She was supposed to get an estimate on Friday but the plumber wasn't around. (He's very busy these days.)

Meanwhile -- and this sounds crazy but I'm afraid it's true -- in order to stop the flow of water to her toilet so they could replace the wax ring, they had to close a valve that's located beneath my sink, which also regulates the flow of cold water to the sink. (I'd noticed the cold water to my sink had been shut off.) The whole time it was shut off, however, (a few days) my neighbor and her daughter were unable to use the shower and had to bathe themselves using water from her sink. Crazy!

Daily Kos: Public debt of the United States shall not be questioned: the 14th Amendment and the debt ceiling

By Armando here

Maureen Dowd: 'A Lost Civilization'

Here from NYTimes.com

'What could go wrong when voting absentee? Plenty, it turns out'

The Herald keeps running this story. Almost sounds like they're discouraging people from voting by absentee ballot. (Almost like voter suppression!)

Story here

The most disagreeable time of the year

Ever since I've been a full-fledged adult, the holidays have been an unwelcome distraction. My reaction to all the hype and forced gaiety has been to withdraw in defense inside my shell. I find myself peering out at the world in a state of torpor till the days finally pass. (And watching all the people put on a happy face on Facebook only adds to my misery.)

Enough of that. Time to write out the Christmas cards.

Late Saturday night

Excellent movie (rewatching it now). Thank God it had a great ending, because a bad ending can kill the whole thing (for me) even if up till then it's excellent.

See political controversy over it here. (Creators of the film said speculations were ridiculous.)

E. called after he got home from work tonight, so I was all wrong in my speculation (but not without basis).

Will watch this tonight

See here.

Reality check: Sea level rise in Miami

(That's the Freedom Tower at the arrow. Watch it become inundated.) (Article at Huffington Post here.)

Huffington Post: Celebrities At Art Basel Miami Beach 2012: Will Ferrell, Owen Wilson, Diddy, And More!

(MORE PHOTOS)

Charlie Crist signs papers to become a Democrat

MiamiHerald.com: "The widely expected move positions Crist, 56, for another highly anticipated next step: announcing his candidacy for governor, taking on Republican incumbent Gov. Rick Scott and an untold number of Democrats who would challenge him for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination."

Charles Blow: 'Dinosaurs and Denial'

NYTimes.com:

 [Marco Rubio] said, “There is no scientific debate on the age of the Earth. I mean, it’s established pretty definitively. It’s at least 4.5 billion years old.”

But then he hedged: “I just think in America we should have the freedom to teach our children whatever it is we believe. And that means teaching them science. They have to know the science, but also parents have the right to teach them the theology and to reconcile those two things.”

Why the hedge? Because he is in a party of creationists. According to a June Gallup report, most Republicans (58 percent) believed that God created humans in their present form within the last 10,000 years. Most Democrats and independents did not agree.

Art Basel: World’s largest art scene pops up in Miami — for 1 week only

Freedom Tower: Kind of looks like this now

This is killer on the traffic here (bus ride home at night, in particular).

World’s largest art scene pops up in Miami — for 1 week only - Business - MiamiHerald.com

See here and here too.

Saturday

Slept in late!

Not a lot on my agenda. Clean cat boxes. Water plants. Do the Xmas cards?

Having coffee and going to read news and blogs.

Email problems have been fixed, by the way, since the hacking incident at the beginning of November. All mail from my Bellsouth account is being forwarded again to my gMail account, as before. Everything back to normal. (Worked back on that last night.)

More TGIF

I hadn't heard from E. in a few days (which was odd). Maybe he's back with the crooked old BF (or someone else), which is fine with me. (I'd been the last to call - twice - and got no answer or call-back, and thought the hell with that!) Well, when I got back to work from the doctor's, there was a message from him on my work phone. I called him back and no answer (no surprise). Then he called back - he just wanted to say TGIF and have a nice weekend. Kind of flaky. We also discussed the latest with the guest bath (which had incurred a lot of water damage).

I think, as of this week, all the damage has been done (at least for the time being), and next week I'll look into having an insurance claims adjuster come in and assess the damage (so I can maybe get paid for something). (Neighbor had leaking wax seal on toilet that was causing water to seep into my bathroom and cause damage from the floor up (into the drywall) - that was fixed this week.) (That was just the latest problem that has been fixed - there'd also been water seeping in from above and destroying the drywall in the ceiling and wall behind the shower head.)

After the adjuster has been here, I'll start getting things fixed. Good time of year for that - bonus time!

(First round of damage)

(Latest damage) (Toilet is gone, BTW - have new one waiting to be installed)

And -- in between the first round of damage and the latest damage (which was probably ongoing during the first round of damage), I myself was accused of causing damage to the floors below (from a faulty wax ring on my toilet and leaks in the tub enclosure). I'd known there was a slow leak coming from the old toilet tank and had a towel on the floor to absorb this. The plumber said the toilet should go (so I bought a new one and had the old one disconnected so as not to leak from the wax ring). The plumber also replaced the valve to the toilet tank (which I couldn't turn off), replaced the "cartridge" in the tub enclosure, replaced the tub faucet, and did necessary caulking. So I'm no longer leaking out of here myself (so I've been told by the management).

I used to use this bathroom for about everything (for various reasons). Now I use the master bath for everything. It's been a bit of an adjustment, especially when getting ready to go to work in the morning.

The guest bedroom adjacent to the guest bath is where my flatscreen TV and computer are, so I spend most of my non-sleeping time in this room (when not at work). (Can no longer watch the TV from the toilet, if the need arises.)

TGIF!

Had nursing appointment this morning and was an hour or so late to work. There's a MacDonald's a few steps from the doctor's office, so got breakfast (steak, egg and cheese bagels plus hash browns) to eat back at work after having blood drawn (didn't want to contaminate blood for the tests - may sound silly, but... (it's a lot of fat and cholesterol). Back at work and hungry, I did enjoy them (even though by then they were a little cold). The bagel, steak etc. sandwich I think is their best breakfast sandwich. The steak is fried with onions and well seasoned, plus it goes perfectly with the chewy texture of the bagel (chewy but not tough). 

Had pretty busy day mostly designing holiday e-cards for a couple of the attorneys.  Then stayed an hour late since to make up some time.  So no gym tonight.

Noticed earlier in the day that I didn't have my money clip in my pocket (with $20-something in bills clipped to it).  I thought maybe I'd forgotten to put it in my pocket while I was getting dressed.  Well, when I got back home, it wasn't sitting in the dish where I keep all the stuff that goes into my pockets.  So apparently it slipped out of my pocket either when I was on the bus or at the doctor's.  I'll call the doctor's office on Monday to ask whether anyone found the money clip.  If not, I'm out a (stainless steel) money clip plus some cash.  (This has never happened before.)

Reason for de-activating from Facebook

Facebook asks why you're deactivating. One on the list of choices is something like I didn't get any benefit from it. (That's the one I chose.) So true.

[LATER] The choice is actually, "I don't find Facebook useful."

So peaceful to be away from Facebook

I've de-activated my account.

Facebook was always a net negative experience for me.

One more day

Been having trouble with email lately. Email not coming from original AT&T account to gmail. Got a lot of technical support tonight (chat and then on the phone with a person). My password didn't work. Finally got things straightened out and went onto AT&T Webmail to see this email notice from Nov. 2:

This email is to advise you that your account may have been compromised.  We recommend changing the passwords on your account(s).  In case of active misuse the account will have the password invalidated.  Be sure to select a password not used previously.

When the phone tech guy had helped me reset my password earlier, I set it to the old password. But when I read this email, I immediately changed the password. Hope AT&T emails will now keep coming in through gmail.

[LATER] They don't.  I've even gone into AT&T Webmail and followed all the instructions for forwarding them.  Guess I'll be looking at two webmail services from now on.

OMG abbreviation traced back to 1917 Winston Churchill letter

OMG abbreviation traced back to 1917 Winston Churchill letter (VIDEO) | GlobalPost

Wednesday night - back at the blog

Watching a "Nature" show on hummingbirds. Never knew they ate insects or made chirping sounds (I've heard them buzzing). I always wondered how they could survive on nectar alone. (I think it was one-quarter of their diet consists of insects.) (They showed them catching flies in mid-air, just gulping them out of the air.) I also didn't know that the epicenter for hummingbird diversity was in South American (Ecuador).

Next, it's onto a new "Restaurant: Impossible."