Alkahest

According to Manolo’s critique Ahmadinejad dresses like a high school chemistry teacher:
Briefly and remarkably, the President of the Iran wears the same khaki windbreaker, wrinkled trousers, cheap oxford shirts, scruffy beard and wild eyes favored by the aging high school chemistry teachers everywhere.
Yes, in his youth he was the firebrand who would shake the very […]

Dear K,
In the 13 years that we’ve been married, there has been one constant in our life - plumbing problems. Last night’s 3am catastrophic water heater failure coupled with the emergency reinstallation I had to perform this morning was the final straw. This memo is to inform you that if we ever buy […]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um59IJEYCbU

you just gotta love weird al. not sure who made the video piece, but that’s pretty cute too.

1 week later, 30g heavier.

Not much blogging over the past week. Mostly because I’m still dealing with slight water issues
After I hooked up the pH neutralizer, I found that it leaked. I had a 1 drip per 5 second leak where I connected the QEST gray connectors to the neutralizer. I tried tightening it. […]

food coma - from 4 hours ago
feeding

Oh, and one very sad dog - feeling left out because he doesn’t get to play with the squirrels. Darwin, say “cheese”

It actually worked. I mmanaged to install a shutoff valve, sediment filter and pH neutralizer without too many trips to the hardware store (only 2). So far it seems to be working, the pH is somewhere between 7 and 7.5. Now maybe I can replace the hot water heater and have it […]

A: baby squirrels blown out of their nest.
We’ve got two here that were brought to us yesterday. They’re just now opening their eyes, so they are probably 5 or 6 weeks old. I know squirrels are tree rats. I know they aren’t threatened or endangered. I know that there are a […]

I think I need a whole new blog category for water troubles.
The pH neutralizer arrived today, along with 150# of premium chalk and 25 pounds of “clean” gravel. I guess I know what I’ll be doing tomorrow - first stop Lowe’s, then home to install it. Fortunately, it doesn’t look too bad.

Okay, I’m a bigger nerd than I thought.  The latest book that I’m dying to get when it comes out on Monday… “The State of Working America” from the Economic Policy Institute.  350+ pages of analysis on wages, health care, wealth and productivity in America.  How can you resist.
If that doesn’t sound appealing, at least […]