The joys of being on the cutting edge of an ownership society
Today we had a visit from The Plumber.
Last night, taking a shower was like being in one of those old sub movies...like, say Run Silent, Run Deep or one of its ilk. This is because you were standing calf-deep in unsavory water while getting soaked from above and in a mild state of agitation at the circumstances.
This seems to have been prompted by a flushed golf ball. Mr. Plumber was called and after much excavation, discovered the problem was not so much the recovered golf ball, but that the drainfield pipes were, essentially, made of grade-B shrinkwrap. Oh, and they had a BOULDER resting atop them. Why there was a boulder resting atop them we have no idea. Certainly said boulder was not a naturally occurring mineral formation, and the pipes were clearly not tunneled under the boulder. When you buy a fixer-upper, you get silly little surprises like these.
Mr. Plumber Guy took me around and explained this to me with great zeal, as if I were also one of the initiates into some secret fellowship of plumbing aficionados. He prattled excitedly about "T-joints" and "cleanout valves" and so forth. It is only due to my superior breeding and strength of character my eyes didn't just glaze over. When I am dishing out $125/hr., I'd prefer to not know Applied Plumbing Theory, but rather, to be allowed to return to my pursuits which afford me the possibility of having a guy turning my side yard into the main runway of the Kandahar Airstrip for $125/hr.
Since I am in SAHD mode for the next, say, 2½ months, I took the opportunity to do some stuff around the house. In the days of Mrs. Cleaver, that would have meant mopping and dusting, but in this case it means going to the garage and fussing over my car. I'm trying out a new product called SpeedShine (www.GriotsGarage.com), and the purpose of this product is to extend the "just washed and waxed" look of your car from about a week to about 6-8 weeks. This is especially handy now that winter--such as we have it here in SoFla, with temps in the low 40s--is here, and getting soaked in the process of washing one's car is not wise.
I turned on the digital audio server (The Feb. issue of Home Theatre magazine has an excellent article on these, although mine is a generation older) and turned on the mostly New Wave-ish tunes of my global playlist and off I went. Normal people turn on the radio, but here in SoFla, that means invariably disco (rhythm and blues for people with neither, if'n you ask me) and, frankly, that simply will not do.
15 minutes of spritzing and wiping and I was done. Conclusion: Not bad! I then vacuumed the inside and polished the glass surfaces. The car looks well detailed after a mere 25 minutes, as opposed to 4 hours it'd normally take for a full-blown detail. The car is still in no shape to be taken to any concours, natch. The paint has too many teeny little chips from its life on the roads of the Copper State, the headliner needs to be steamed out (or worse, replaced), and all the rubber gasket-y bits need to be replaced. All the engine bay stickers need to be replaced too. Still, it's one of only 35 ever made...even more, it only one of 5 prototypes in the world, and while natural appreciation will take its value upwards, getting it in concours shape (and entering and getting a prize) will help take its value upwards. Here is the photo album of the car's previous owner: http://photos.yahoo.com/LaCorsaNostra
Last night, taking a shower was like being in one of those old sub movies...like, say Run Silent, Run Deep or one of its ilk. This is because you were standing calf-deep in unsavory water while getting soaked from above and in a mild state of agitation at the circumstances.
This seems to have been prompted by a flushed golf ball. Mr. Plumber was called and after much excavation, discovered the problem was not so much the recovered golf ball, but that the drainfield pipes were, essentially, made of grade-B shrinkwrap. Oh, and they had a BOULDER resting atop them. Why there was a boulder resting atop them we have no idea. Certainly said boulder was not a naturally occurring mineral formation, and the pipes were clearly not tunneled under the boulder. When you buy a fixer-upper, you get silly little surprises like these.
Mr. Plumber Guy took me around and explained this to me with great zeal, as if I were also one of the initiates into some secret fellowship of plumbing aficionados. He prattled excitedly about "T-joints" and "cleanout valves" and so forth. It is only due to my superior breeding and strength of character my eyes didn't just glaze over. When I am dishing out $125/hr., I'd prefer to not know Applied Plumbing Theory, but rather, to be allowed to return to my pursuits which afford me the possibility of having a guy turning my side yard into the main runway of the Kandahar Airstrip for $125/hr.
Since I am in SAHD mode for the next, say, 2½ months, I took the opportunity to do some stuff around the house. In the days of Mrs. Cleaver, that would have meant mopping and dusting, but in this case it means going to the garage and fussing over my car. I'm trying out a new product called SpeedShine (www.GriotsGarage.com), and the purpose of this product is to extend the "just washed and waxed" look of your car from about a week to about 6-8 weeks. This is especially handy now that winter--such as we have it here in SoFla, with temps in the low 40s--is here, and getting soaked in the process of washing one's car is not wise.
I turned on the digital audio server (The Feb. issue of Home Theatre magazine has an excellent article on these, although mine is a generation older) and turned on the mostly New Wave-ish tunes of my global playlist and off I went. Normal people turn on the radio, but here in SoFla, that means invariably disco (rhythm and blues for people with neither, if'n you ask me) and, frankly, that simply will not do.
15 minutes of spritzing and wiping and I was done. Conclusion: Not bad! I then vacuumed the inside and polished the glass surfaces. The car looks well detailed after a mere 25 minutes, as opposed to 4 hours it'd normally take for a full-blown detail. The car is still in no shape to be taken to any concours, natch. The paint has too many teeny little chips from its life on the roads of the Copper State, the headliner needs to be steamed out (or worse, replaced), and all the rubber gasket-y bits need to be replaced. All the engine bay stickers need to be replaced too. Still, it's one of only 35 ever made...even more, it only one of 5 prototypes in the world, and while natural appreciation will take its value upwards, getting it in concours shape (and entering and getting a prize) will help take its value upwards. Here is the photo album of the car's previous owner: http://photos.yahoo.com/LaCorsaNostra
Comments
I went to that car cleaning compound vending site and read the following:
"Boy, it's fun rubbing on this Ferrari."
Now listen--if I want to read a bunch of pervy stuff, I'll just follow the links in all that email I get, OK?
Sheesh.
--P.
--P.