House and Home

We said goodbye to Hassiba today. He had a good morning with us, and thanks to the very kind vet, was able to pass in his own home.

Ann and I dug him a final resting place in the back yard underneath some shade. Of course, we've been crying on and off all day. We miss him a lot.

The first day is hard because you keep finding yourself doing things without him for the first time; the first time you come downstairs and he's not there to greet you, the first time you sit down to dinner and he's not scouring the kitchen floor for scraps of cheese, the first time you go for a walk and don't call out to him that you'll be right back.

We're heartbroken, but that's only because we had such a wonderful friend in the first place. We'll always love him.

I know you haven't heard from me for a long while, but I needed to let you in on some bad news.

Our kitty Hassiba is not going to live much longer. He has a heart condition and there's just nothing that can be done. He was not supposed to make it this long, but I don't think he is willing to go until he gets enough to eat.

So, we're just spoiling him rotten and enjoying what time we have left with him.

This, on top of the news that a good friend has suffered a truly terrible loss, has made this a tough couple of weeks. When he does go, of course it will be tougher, but I have not forgotten how blessed I am. It's really been great to have Hassiba as a friend. We'll miss him, something awful.

When things work, it's no surprise...most of the time. When things don't work you have mystery. "Why doesn't this thing work?" Intermittent not working of things is the worst. "Well, it was doing it this morning when I drove it in here."

For some months we've suffered intermittent phone death. It happened mostly when it rained. One fellow we called said it sounded like a short in an underground telephone cable. But our cable comes off a pole, and the connection at the demarcation box still worked. (The demarcation box is the box on the side of your house where the phone line comes in. If you open it up, there's a phone jack in there. If you plug a phone into it and the phone doesn't work, then the problem belongs to the phone company, otherwise, the problem is yours.)

I thought something like this should be easy to fix. And it was. But I was still had a modicum of trepidation as I began the surgery.

(Don't look if you are squeamish.)

The patient survived the operation and we're just waiting to see how she does through the next rainstorm.

Hassiba is doing very well. We're still a little cautious, because after the first surgery, a few years ago, he did well for a while but then started leaking fliud form his ear. So far, his ear reamins clear and he seems happy. He has been pooping in the box, for the most part. I guess you can't have everything.

His appetite makes us wonder if he hasn't turned into a pig. He is back to having a limited supply of food and I expect he will return to regular feline proportions soon.

I just ordered this. Maybe it will help him regain his youthful figure.

As you may already know, last month, I installed a Linux operating system on my PC in a dual boot configuration with Windows. It may sound impressive, but it's not. I'm using a version called Kubuntu and it's pretty much idiot proof to install, as long a nothing goes wrong that is, and nothing did.

But now what? Well, there's a world of things you can do in Linux. Everything you can do in Windows. The nature of open source also means that you can download a great many applications for free. But you gotta know how to install them. Sometimes, you gotta know how to compile them. (Compiling is turning the programming code, the stuff humans write, into machine code, an enormous amount of 1s and 0s, which is what the computer reads.)

I have to agree with the statement I read on the interwebs earlier this week, "Linux geeks can't make anything easy."

So, I'm going to read a book. Slowly but surely I will approach geek status, but it won't happen over night. I may have to read several books. The beginners advice I read on the web invariably assumes you know quite a bit. I'm not sure what part of beginner they don't understand but the book I'm getting for my birthday recieved several glowing reviews from newbies like myself, even if I can't remember the title of it and hence there is no link.

I'm interested in recording from Linux. There is a program I want to check out called Rosegarden, but you have to compile it yourself. Hey, if you're going to get software for free, you're going to have to earn it! I'm ok with that.

Our kitty came home this morning. He has an Elizabethan collar
on, you know, the funnel around the head to keep animals from scratching their
stitches and he’s on pain meds. I can’t tell if it’s the collar or the pain
meds that make him unsure on his feet. He bumped into a few things, but then
finally settled down. Ann is fortunately home today, so she can look after him.
Unfortunately she’s sick. Still, I’m glad she’s getting to stay with the kitty.
She was really worried about him. She’s had Hassi for 11 years. That’s quite a
stretch.

Hassi will be confined to the bathroom while recovering. I
set boxes on the toilet, the toilet tank and the sink, to discourage Hassi from
jumping up on anything. I’m worried that it may not be the jumping that will be
a problem. Last week we got some of those curly tube light bulbs that save
energy. We’re always looking for opportunities to use full spectrum lighting.
Ann is very sensitive to light change which means winter can be a hard time for
her. Well, we opted for bulbs that produce light that the package describes as
nearest to daylight of the three choices.

Daylight on some far away planet perhaps. The bulbs produce
a bluish light very much like the light from a flourescent bulb. What’s really
weird is that the light is very low for sixty watts. The 60-watt bulbs that
give off a yellow light produce 900 lumens, as where these 60-watt bulbs only
produce 690 lumens. So, you have this very bluish, daylighty sort of light that
is really kind of dark. Like a late afternoon on Neptune maybe.

So, I hope this doesn't have any adverse effects on our cat. But, then again, a kitty with a predilection for space travel might be kind of cool..

I don't remember if I mentioned it, but for some time we've have been weighing the option of more kitty surgery. Well, the option was weighed in favor of surgery and I'm very happy to say that the surgery was successful. Hassiba came through with flying colors. We are very hopeful that the leaky ear syndrome, also know as bio hazard kitty  disorder is a thing of the past.

Perhaps now he'll go back to shitting in the box. We're glad to have him well no matter where him shits... up to a point.

Here in Tennessee there is a low ceiling for what passes for class. Even in some of the best neighborhoods you will find a $60k Lexus parked on the front lawn.

My wife and I recently bought a new couch. This means that the old couch, which I believe is the fossilized remains of one of the first life forms to crawl out of the primordial ooze, has to go.

Last night, I enlisted my wife to help me drag the couch, along with a exercise bike we got for free from someone at her office, out to the curb to be picked up within the next several days by the city. The poor dear is mortified. The excerise bike doesn't seem to offend her sensibilites much, but the couch on the other hand is killing her. In the back of her mind a voice is screaming, "Oh great! You've got furniture out in the front lawn! You're just a stones throw away from sticking the washer and dryer out on the back porch, and then before you know it you've got a Ford up on blocks, two pit bulls on a dog run, and laundry hanging from the trees."

These threats might appear more empty if it weren't for the fact that the people living across the street have already executed most of this list. While a variety of automobiles can be seen parked on the lawn at different times of the day, they so far have been able to keep them all running and thus off blocks. I vaguely remember something that might have been a motorcycle engine resting in the side yard for about a month, though.

Let me say it here. You don't have to worry, honey. If worse comes to worse I'll hang my Kid Rock and Poison t-shirts up to dry in the shed and no one will be the wiser.

What it started as:

In progress:

And now the sunroom:

Will delivered the trim for the fireplace on Monday. I stained it on Tuesday. I varnished it on Wednesday. Today, when I get home I will set it in place, and that my friends will mark the completion of the sunroom!

I will take pictures as soon as I'm done and may have them up in a new post later this evening.

Does the room look good?

Hell yes, the room looks good!

Thanks Will for all your hard work.

Today, Will will drop off the trim that goes over the fireplace. He installed one trim but the color was off, so we agreed if he's put together another one for me I'd stain and varnish it. 

So, there you have it Jeff. A little stain, a little varnish and we're done. And that's when you'll get your pictures.

I called Will today and he's had put the trim on around the fireplace. The new sash to replace the broken window came in but they gave him the wrong one. He now has the right one and I'm guessing will put it in tomorrow.

I'm absolutely giddy.

Well, I've been lax in posting pics because, well, I've been lax. Also, the job has taken a lot longer than anyone expected, which of course, is manditory when any sort of remodeling behavior is undertaken, and lastly because the changes have been small, but none the less important. Once I get the blinds up, maybe this week, I'll shoot some more.

On a tragic note Will broke one of the windows, no not out of frustrated rage, (at least not that he told me), and it will be a week to ten days before the new sash comes in. On a pleasant note, Home Depot is giving him the new sash for free.

We bought a new love seat and ottoman which will be delivered in two weeks. They are covered in blue denim which goes well with the casual feel of the room. We were milling about while considering our furniture options and dropped in on the Home Depot next door to the Rooms To Go where we were shopping. To our great fortune we found a large area rug there for only $14.70. It was almost exactly what we were expecting to pay $200 for, if we got a blue loveseat. (you'll recall that the carpet is pretty much the same blue as demin, so we need the rug to break up the field of color).

The next thing we have to tackle is cleaning the rug. Oh boy! Cleaning the rug! Could I have more fun?

Very close to the end.

Here's Ann and I reflected in our newly painted door.

More paint, more window casings.