Order, Order, Order in the House, Please!

I have photos of projects and new acquisitions to share with you and NO CAMERA CORD!  And of course the cord for the camera is the only one like it in the house, no robbing from Peter....


I guess I will have to remove the card and use the reader...now where did I see that ?

Every One Has a Story

One of the best things about my job is the people I get to meet.  Last week I got to talk with someone who does radio carbon dating and had been involved in dating the Shroud of Turin.  I've met folks who were part of the Hubbell project and the Mars rover and who work on missile systems.  One skill I have attained from those many experiences is engineer recognition and no, it's not the pocket protector, they think in a way that is to me, very different.

I've also met minor celebrities and sports figures.  Interestingly enough, they aren't that interesting.  At least not to me.

Many of our clients are well-traveled, sometimes by choice, sometimes for survival.  Tucson has become home to many refugees and I have learned of cultures that I was unaware even existed. I had no idea of the plight of Karen refugees,  nor what was going on in Eritrea and Somalia.  The story of the Lost Boys of the Sudan became more than a sensational TV soundbite as many of them settled in Tucson.

Then there are our travelers from just south of our border, most are here trying to eke out a living doing work which is much harder than what I do, in much worse conditions, for much less money. 

I have learned that if I am willing to listen, everyone has a story.  In my 30+ years of attending births and taking care of new families, I have on a few occasions had bad experiences with people.  But only a few.  Birth is a time of vulnerability filled with stress and high emotion, not all of which is good.  But I can truly say that the positive experiences far outweigh the negative.  I have learned of places to which I might never travel, unimaginable strife and the cruelty humans can inflict on one another.  But I have also learned about hope and the strength of the human spirit.

I have been changed by each story, each situation, each birth.  I've learned that despite place of origin, or DNA, or language or religion, at the moment of birth, we have more similarities than differences.
 

Bringing a child into the world is the greatest act of hope there is.

                                                                                                Louise Hart

Vegetarians need not apply

The spouse has the craziest, most varied job in the world.  And he LOVES it! That's him wielding the A7 branding iron.

What kid growing up in the 60s didn't have some dreams of being a cowboy?

Just a few things

We got the Airstream sofa back from the upholsterer today!  Remember, it looked like this:

I have no after pictures yet as the sofa is still in pieces but should have it back together soon.  I can tell you there are NO flowers.  We have a vacation coming up in about 6 weeks, can't wait!

A recipe:  the spouse made this Mediterranean Portobello Burger for dinner on Memorial Day and it was wonderful!  Try it... no really, try it, you'll like it.
 
Another house plan that I love: Joseph Sandy 350 sq foot house  Efficiency with style.




Click the MondoBeyondo button to the right to find out what else I've been up to.

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Ahhhhh, just in time for summer...

Which in Tucson means the only time I can sit on the front porch is early morning or late evening.  But that's OK, it'll look pretty whenever I get out there.

I can say that the paint cost more than any one piece of furniture, and a couple of the pieces were a few different colors before I settled on the current colors.  I used to see those missteps as failures, now I see them as necessary detours on the road to ahhhhhhhhhhh.

Building a house is never finished...

When we poured the concrete floors we decided to go with the rough look, big slab with expansion joints.  I opted to leave the joints unfilled, because at the time I liked the look.

After 3 years I no longer like the look, and the joints made the floor difficult to walk on.  I just had my first DEXA scan, I can't afford any broken bones.  : )  But after being bombarded with those dual energy X-rays, I do feel more like Wonder Woman.

The joints also became the repository for dog hair, A LOT of dog hair.  A Lab-mix dog sheds tons (I'm not kidding) in the desert.

A trip to Home Depot for backer rod and Sikaflex Self-Leveling Sealer and the project was on.  The Sikaflex was easy to work with and though most likely chock full of petrochemicals with unpronuonceable names, it certainly did the job.
 
The only colors available were gray and sandstone, so I went with the sandstone.  I was pretty sure some spray paint would take care of the color problem.
 

 

The Grand Canyon

Backer rod in place

 

Tape to protect the floor

Sandstone, yuck!

Allowed to dry for 3-4 days and then paint

I used 3-4 different colors of RustOleum-my favorite paint, ever!

 

A couple of days of back-breaking, knee searing work but the hardest part was keeping the dog off it until it dried.

Well worth the effort.

Dead in a Ditch?

No, I'm not, just needed some breathing room.

I have been working on lots of projects and have some photos to share but  today is a work day so that will have to come later.

A Facebook acquaintance (I know the correct terminology is friend, but I think it's too early in our relationship to commit) and I were threatening a cross country roadtrip, AZ to an unknown beach on the southeastern seaboard, and were conjuring a playlist.  
 
Here's one I put on the list.  Imagine it's dark and cool enough to have the windows down.  All we can see is what's illuminated by the headlights. It's humid and occasionally  there's the smell of newly mown grass, cow manure and wet earth.  The current conversation centers on what's right and wrong with the world and our lives.  

Then this song comes on the (insert whatever music playing machine you have)  and we sing at the top of our voices...

I'm Not Ready to Make Nice

What songs would you like to listen to on a roadtrip?