Instead of playing Led Zeppelin songs...
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Posted:Dec 23, 2018 5:00 pm
Last Updated:Dec 27, 2018 4:12 am 26527 Views
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Back in the 70's, instead of playing Led Zeppelin songs, I should have written and recorded a Christmas Song.
In the car one morning I heard a song written by Chuck Berry from the 1950's called Run Rudolph Run. It's amazing how horrible some music was back then. A little research said there is some controversy about copyright and publishing rights as his song was based on the classic Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer by Johnny Marks.
Anyway... no matter how good or bad my song would have been, it would be played every year and I would receive royalties for it.
I need to borrow a time machine and book time in a recording studio!
Landing in the 50's, it could have a folk song flavor.
In the early 60's would be a surfing sound Christmas song.
Late 60's a psychedelic sounding Christmas song.
70' would be heavy metal...
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Pray to God...
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Posted:Nov 25, 2018 7:43 am
Last Updated:Dec 12, 2018 3:51 am 33482 Views
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I knew a woman (coworker) who was having serious marital problems. She prayed to God for them to stay together. Her husband was an abuser and violence became an everyday occurrence.
A friend suggested they go for counseling. He wanted no part of it. The prayers continued and so did the violence. She did get more advice, different than what she expected. While the prayers were good, she was told the prayers were for the wrong thing!
Changing her prayers to get her out of a bad marriage and not trying to stay in one was her answer.
There were some rough times getting away that involved divorce and a restraining order, but with counseling on her part she as able to readjust. New job, nearby city, new life.
It must have been a year later she called to say hello and tell me she met a guy whom she trusted. They were engaged to be married and she prayed to God he was the right one this time.
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I decided to stop looking for a condo...
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Posted:Nov 24, 2018 3:17 pm
Last Updated:Nov 26, 2018 9:20 am 30909 Views
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My house is 40 miles from my office. One a good day, I'm commuting more than 2-1/2 hours. Time lost, , tolls wear & tear on my car... it's getting to me. For a few years now,
In previous blogs, I've been professing to move closer to work in exchange for a better lifestyle.
With months and months of on and off searching, I couldn't find something I really liked. My new agent sent a text that a few new listings came online. She wanted to see if I had time to look.
Of the ones I was interested in two to three weeks ago, they already received offers and sales are pending. It's the season. Northerners are here and units in the development I've been shopping at get scooped up quickly. I'm told many of the offers are so there's no wait for loan approval.
A long-time friend and coworker asked if he could join me in the search. He's got a friend already living in that community and is looking to help out a couple he knows who will be looking real soon.
One unit we saw looked nice as we walked in. The wall surrounding the kitchen was cut away and they created a breakfast counter at bar height. The only problem was the workmanship was rough. The bar top wasn't level and the patching on the wall was uneven. Skip that unit.
A few were overpriced simply because they had the original kitchens and asking the same as units with renovated kitchens.
One unit was in shambles... water was dripping from the a/c unit and a puddle on the laminate floor. There was a strong chemical smell and the agent said "Stop... don't go inside!" I had asked why and she said she recognized the smell... someone had died in the unit and they were treating it to remove to odor! Yeah, skip that one!
There were a few more to see and I was getting tired. But, I persisted. The realtor said another one came available and she got the 'go ahead' we can get in to see it. The outside of the building had been recently painted, the landscaping was the best around, the ugly 'fake tile' fascia was replaced with smooth panels. Less than 5 minutes of a walk-thru and all of us agreed it was the cleanest one we had seen in our search.
I left the agent with a 'this could be the one' and she called me back later to say other agents had shown the unit after we left. Was it a sales ploy? Possibly. But with the exception of the asking price, all the conditions had been met. This place was clean enough to move in tomorrow and not have to tear out the kitchen and baths to make it livable. I decided to make an offer and she came back with the owner's counter. I went up and they came down and we struck a deal.
I cut a check for a small deposit and signed an agreement to proceed with the purchase.
All week, I've been filling out documents and getting quotes on mortgage rates. I found one company. I met with the home inspector to confirm that there aren't and hidden problems.
Now that I'm buying this condo I decided to stop looking for other ones.
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Mary, Mary, quite contrary...
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Posted:Nov 23, 2018 7:50 am
Last Updated:Nov 28, 2018 10:46 am 30257 Views
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Mary, Mary, quite contrary... why do you look at my profile nearly every day?
There is nothing to see really.
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Rubber...
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Posted:Nov 18, 2018 2:48 pm
Last Updated:Nov 21, 2018 4:42 am 30085 Views
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Rubber is a flexible latex product produced from the juice of a rubber tree. In varied process, it's mixed with other chemicals to create different products. The process for a soft latex mattress is different than a rubber tire (tyre) used on a car. Charles Goodyear developed vulcanization in 1839 where he mixed latex, sulfur and heated the mixture to harden the liquid rubber.
Over the years, new uses for rubber were invented. One process is to coat the exterior of a hard plastic object to give it a soft feel without affecting the structure of the inside. I've seen some plastic writing pens with a soft rubberized sleeve to make them comfortable.
One problem with products made with rubber is longevity. Tires have a manufacturing date stamp and people are warned against buying from an unreliable source as many 'new' tires have been been produced years ago and the rubber elasticity declines on an old tire making them unsafe.
I bought an emergency spotlight with a rubberized handle. Never used it. One day before a hurricane, I decided to open the box and try it, only to find the rubber handle was sticky to the touch. I found the rubber feet on my water pic (purchased 2 years ago) leave black marks on the countertop.
My laptop mouse deteriorated within 2 years and I was lucky enough to remove the rubberized surface with 91% rubbing alcohol. I have a very expensive mouse/controller I use in design that has programmable buttons and a 3D wheel. The rubberized surface is also deteriorated and sticky. That was a $300 purchase and they are no longer manufactured. Basically, I'm in trouble if I cannot find a replacement on Amazon or eBay. I dusted the surface with talcum powder so it wouldn't be so sticky and will experiment if I can clean it with alcohol or a solvent to remove the rubberized coating and not destroy the controller.
That said... be cautious of long-term purchases that have a rubberized coating.
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The social media 'threat'
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Posted:Nov 11, 2018 6:18 am
Last Updated:Nov 12, 2018 9:44 am 29289 Views
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It would be unusual for any large company not to have a website with links to social media like Facebook or Twitter. I mentioned in a previous blog about a '' called Yelp where people can give unsolicited reviews of restaurants. Some are good and some are bad. The problem with some is they go directly online, often without giving the company being reviewed a chance to make good on a complaint.
I believe, If the food wasn't right or took longer than expected, the complainer should see management first for a resolution and not run to Yelp. I recall a viral video of a woman caught on security video negatively 'Yelping' while in a take-out restaurant because her order wasn't right.
Oh, and be real... don't eat 85% of your meal before complaining to see the manager!
Before the internet, people often relied on The Better Business Bureau to check if a company had complaints against them. Much slower than social media BBB typically stored real complaints and not vindictive reports for someone who didn't get any napkins in their bag when they left the drive-thru at Jimmy's friend chicken.
In my business, there is Angie's List, a for negative reporting of contractors. I recall one customer who had purchased a new kitchen and bath from us. If she didn't like something (including wrong choices on her part) we were back to replace whatever it was to avoid her threats on social media. Her business involved and she had specific dates when she would be out of town. If we were unable to complete a repair, it had to wait until she returned to continue our scope of work.
The woman selected glass tiles for her kitchen backsplash. The manufacturer specified 1/8" (3mm) gaps between grout. She didn't to see the grout lines and convinced the salesman and tile installer to place them for 1/" (1.5mm) or less. One problem. Grout doesn't stick to glass tile and 1/" is insufficient width for the grout to bond to the backing. It was a recipe for failure and we ended up crediting the for the work.
We itemized many credits she requested and closed out the order. I wrote into the final invoice that she signed there would be no warrantee to any of the credited items. To my surprise, she gave us a bad report on Angie's List stating it took us months to finish the work. Considering all the credits, I was able to negotiate her to remove the complaint.
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Jeff Sessions is out...
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Posted:Nov 7, 2018 8:57 pm
Last Updated:Nov 8, 2018 6:31 pm 29587 Views
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It's official, according to President Twitter, Jeff Sessions is out and Matthew G. Whitaker is in. Temporarily, that is.
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A long time ago...
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Posted:Nov 7, 2018 4:25 am
Last Updated:Dec 3, 2018 7:15 pm 31147 Views
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A long time ago I commented "I don't read messages" and the comment still holds true.
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A loo with a view...
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Posted:Oct 27, 2018 7:06 pm
Last Updated:Nov 7, 2018 4:23 am 30612 Views
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Condo shopping was put on hold for a number of reasons. Heavy workload and my accountant meeting was postponed because she's been out with the flu.
Most of our shopping is in a very large retirement community with hundreds of units and what may be available this week could be gone next week. Our preference is to find an end unit because they often have more windows than inside units. Also it's important to have the bedrooms facing the east to avoid the excessive heat building up in the evening. That's significant and could be the difference in $100 a month for air conditioning expense.
All the floor plans are similar with some left hand and some right hand depending on the orientation to the side of the building you are on. We did find an end unit with more windows than the inside units but it was being rented until next year... for sale but conditional.
The thing that interested my wife was the bathroom has a window and the others don't. So now I have to add to my list of wants is a unit where the master bathroom has a window.
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Hit me baby one more time...
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Posted:Oct 24, 2018 3:31 am
Last Updated:Apr 27, 2024 4:05 am 30844 Views
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In case you didn't know, yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of Britney Spears' video released on Oct. 23, 1998. Hit Me Baby One More Time, the song and video that launched her career.
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