Am I injury prone?

Ever since I can remember, if there was away to hurt myself I could do it. I remember after many trips to the dentist how he remarked that I must be injury prone. Yesterday as I began my reno I thought it would be interesting to see how long it would be before I injured myself. It took about an hour. Nothing serious, but in my present work an incident report would be required.

Speaking of my present work I must say my safety awareness has increased immensely. I may be injury prone but at least it took an hour and not 15 minutes! Not only that I worked very hard at keeping my work area clean, watched for tripping hazards, and nails in boards. If I could pat myself on the back I think I would.

The reno begins

Well today is the day. 3 weeks of intensive labour into a 950 ft2 place. Blood, sweat and tears...yes there will be all three!  Bathroom, kitchen, floors, walls, ceilings, basement and landscaping all to be done. I know you may want hot summer weather but I am sure hoping for a moderate 22 or so. (that's about 72 for my US visitors). Unfortunately its supposed to be about 30 today and muggy. So first item on the agenda is self preservation: an air conditioner! Time to get to work.  Oh, anybody who knows me will be aware I accept gifts of ice cold beer at my work location. :)

Are we crazy???

Are we crazy???

From RandomHistory.com and Refdesk.com :

"The Mines of South Africa can descend as far as 12,000 feet and reach temperatures of 130 degrees. To produce an ounce of gold requires 38 man hours, 1400 gallons of water, enough electricity to run a large house for ten days, and chemicals such as cyanide, acids, lead, borax, and lime. In order to extract South Africa's yearly output of 500 tons of gold, nearly 70 million tons of earth are raised and milled."

Clocks everywhere...

Who was it that got the idea clocks and timepieces are needed in everything you buy? It seems like everything electric or electronic has either a light or clock or both. In my kitchen the stove, microwave, coffee maker and phone all have a digital clock. In the dining room / living room is the DVD player, TV, and 2 wall clocks. It goes on and on. With all of these clocks why am I often late?

Managing three computers

Trying to manage 3 computers is an interesting experience.
1. I am switching from a PC to a MAC, sort of. I am using Parallels software to run windows stuff on my Mac. So far so good. It is confusing though trying to sort the minefield of new messages and mouse actions, network hookups etc.
2. The new Windows is Windows 7 - 64 bit.
3. I still want access to my windows software, so how to transfer it? Still working on that. Any advice.
4. I need to retire my old laptop and return it to from once it came, but can't do that until I am satisfied the new one works well and files are safe.
5. Trying to accomplish between renovating, Riders games and regular home stuff, work, sleep etc.
I think I need a time manager and an IT guy. Suggestions?

Fertilizer and lawns!

I don't think there is a man alive who as he is mowing wonders why he fertilized. None of us really enjoy mowing, we only like the look after we have mowed. In fertilizing we have guaranteed mowing every 2-3 days instead of once per week. Yes, we all like the dark green, but what about using paint? Yeah, I know thats just plain stupid. So scrap that. I guess I'll just enjoy the green and healthy lawn look and accept I have to mow more often.

Speaking of being stupid, I bought a used rotary fertilizer spreader. I filled it up checked the settings and proceeded to fertilize. It all seemed to be going well until I realized that in about 10 feet I had used half of my fertilizer! Apparently the setting wheel read opposite of what I thought it should. So, I after a few choice words I adjusted the outlet and proceeded for the next 20 ft. to apply at an amount that would have me mowing every 4 hours. After several attempts I finally got it it reduced to where it should be. So I now have a nice dark lawn in some places growing at a rapid pace, a normal green lawn for most of the area and 3 galaxy shaped locations that are brown! :( Good thing I can laugh at myself!

Trying to get motivated

So here I am 10 days away from a major renovation. I could have been doing some stuff tonight but I can't get into it. I think it may have something to do with being "overwhelmed". Either that or I haven't got over "vacation lost". That sounds like it could be a Jim Carrey movie. :) Maybe they will pay me for the idea. LOL

I woke up at 3 am worrying about it. finally back to sleep at 6AM, then the radio started up 1 hr later. Yawn. Of course a nap tonight should guarantee that I'll be way out of whack. Oh well this too shall pass...

What is it...answered..maybe..

So on my drive to and from Meadow Lake I saw many possible explanations for the image I left on my previous post. The most likely is a tire tread. However if you zoom in on the thing you will notice web feet and a bill and what looks like wings. Not a dead one mind you but one that flew up beside their vehicle when they went by. So, as I don't know how the Google camera works I am going to go with a tire tread . What do you think?

With all the rain we have had here the countryside is greener than I have ever seen it. I could also see water laying in the fields to. I also seven deer, five alive and two dead. So as for driving it was a good trip with lots to see.

Leaving on a Penske truck...

So my daughter is moving home this weekend. I am heading out with a Penske rental truck. I am only hoping she has found help or its going to be a very long day. Anyway, I used Google Maps to check out some roads and various routes to take. I was looking at highway 55 and thought I would try "street view". It was pretty cool, showing me the type and condition of the road. As panned around though something caught my eye. I have no idea what it is. I wonder what it could be? A dead duck? some sort of weird shadow. I haven't a clue. But here's the link if you want check it out:

How to connect a MAC to a PC???

I am trying to connect a MAC to my PC so the MAC can use the PC's printer. Ugh!! I wonder how to do it? If you can help please let me know.

If I search on google I find a hundred different ways to do it and none of them work. Robin is getting frustrated!

Debt - Oh how I do not like it...

"Debt is the worst poverty." - Thomas Fuller

I came across the above while looking at RefDesk.com. Thought I would put in a little rant. I hate debt. To be clear debt that buys you only things rot, wear out, or get eaten is the worst in the whole world! Debt for buying a home or something with lasting value is good debt. The trouble with debt is it seems you can never pay it off. It's like a mosquito bite that never goes away. Enough said - stay out of debt as best you can.

Hmmm, I wonder where I left my credit card, I would sure like to buy that....

Ants in my ...

My office now has an ant infestation. I suppose its more of a "bunch" rather than an infestation. Still they are annoying. Crawling on the desk, into my lunch bag, just all over the place. It does happen in this building as do some other rodents from time to time. Maybe its all the rain, we have been the recipients of. Next door to me a lady spilled some Pepsi. Unbeknown to her a couple splashes were not cleaned up. The ants found them and the little puddles, looking to be so promising, ended up being their death knell. I wonder what is in that Pepsi? The other ant traps were not working as well as Pepsi was. Perhaps Pepsi should try a new marketing strategy??

Disappearing holidays

For many years I have looked forward to summer holidays, the getting away, going camping, sight seeing, whatever. It seems though every year something seems to take precedence. This year is no exception. Things were looking good until June 30th, when a tenant decided she was vacating her place. We have known that when that happened we would need to do a reno, but were oping it would be a couple years away.In an instant I saw vacation disappear and again it would be a working summer. Change is as good as a rest they say. Sometimes I know this is true, and have experienced it. This time though, as much as I enjoy renovations this one will likely be a bit hard to swallow. 


It could be worse though right? I have holidays to do this. I have the capabilities. I have great support in my family. My tenant is letting us start before the end of the month. The reno is almost identical to last years so I know what to do. Yes, I guess it will be alright. :)