Facebook is killing this blog

I used to update this blog frequently. For years, it was the easiest way for my friends and family to know what was going on in my life. Now that I have been using Facebook (for the past 18 months), I find that I don't feel the need to update. It's a shame. I have kept this blog going for over four years. There were some weeks where I updated it nearly every day.

Facebook has changed everything.

The internet killed the newspaper. Facebook is killing the blog.

Living Colour and my new favorite singer

So, I was looking on YouTube for the video to the song "Cult of Personality" by Living Colour. The song was popular about twenty years ago and something reminded me of it the other night. Instead of finding the real video for that song, I came across this alternative.

I think we can all agree, that Living Colour might want to consider this man as a replacement for their original lead singer.

300th post

It can be difficult to stand for principle when we live in rather "unprincipled" times. I was encouraged by this article about a British bus driver who risked his source of income when he chose to remain true to his convictions. Thankfully, it appears that his employer isn't going to punish him for it.

Christian refuses to drive "No God" bus.

By the way, I have been posting to this blog for over four years now and this is officially my 300th post. Time flies. I'm glad there are still people who check it out, even though I haven't been posting as often as I used to. I need to get back in the routine.

Do me a favor and leave a comment after you read this post. I would love to know who's out there and where you're from. I know that a few readers are from Australia, but I would enjoy learning where some of the others are from.

Plumbing

flexible pipe coupler

I have the utmost respect for plumbers. Plumbing is a difficult job, ... a fact which is confirmed to me every time I have a plumbing issue.

On Sunday afternoon, my wife was preparing food for a church dinner and using the sink / garbage disposal to discard the food scraps. After a little while, she began hearing the sound of water splashing in the basement. She ran downstairs to discover unhealthy amounts of water pouring from the ceiling in the back corner. At that point, she called for me and I came down to investigate.

At first, I couldn't figure out where the water was coming from. All the copper pipes seemed to be intact and the flow of water seemed to be gradually decreasing. Once it slowed to just a trickle, I asked Andrea to slowly turn the kitchen sink on so I could observe what happened. Within seconds of the sink turning on, the water began flowing again. I correctly surmised that there was some sort of problem with the drain.

I won't bore you with every last detail from this point, but I will highlight a few things.

Because I realized (from past experience) that it would cost at least $300 if we called a plumber to fix this problem, I decided that I would do the best I could to try to fix it myself. I started by taking apart the drain pipes under the sink / garbage disposal. After doing that, I looked down into the drain in the floor to see if I could see anything. From what I could tell, the pipes seemed clogged with food.

I tried to use a drain snake to clear the lines, but that didn't work. It was then that I realized that this wasn't going to be an easy fix.

In the end, I ended up cutting all the clogged drain pipes out of the section of the basement that was right under the kitchen sink. Then I installed new pipes, along with a removable section of flexible pipe. That way, if this ever happens again (which I'm sure it will), all I will need to do is remove that section of pipe with a flat head screw driver, and clear the line of any food.

My total expenses for this project were:

• $59 (reciprocating saw)
• $40 (flexible pipes, pvc pipes, fittings, pipe glue)

The total cost was less than $100 and I ended up with a new saw. I think I can live with that.

Fly

I don't have a fly-swatter in my office, but I think I need one. I don't know where they come from because the windows and doors are closed, but I always seem to have a fly in my office that won't go away.

Last week, I had a fly and it rested on my windowsill, so I killed it. A few days ago, another fly got caught in my ceiling light and after languishing inside the light, it finally died. Now there is another fly that keeps banging its head off the light. Every time I think my office is "fly-free," another bug shows up.

Apparently the fly must be reading over my shoulder because as I type this, it has stopped buzzing. I think the fear of experiencing a fate like that of its friends may have caused its heart to stop.

Odd decorating choice

Being that my family just moved to a new home, we have made many recent trips to home improvement and department stores to buy a variety of things that we needed.

A few of our trips have been to Target. One of my favorite purchases from Target has been my new tool organizer for the garage. I have also noticed a few things at Target that I cannot imagine anyone buying.

For example, in their home-decor department, they sell the item pictured above; a wall hanging with the tired slogan, "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle." I can understand why people would decorate their homes with the other slogans they have available, like, "Faith, Hope, Love" and "Live, Love, Laugh." Those make sense to me. But who decorates their home with "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle." Does that saying really convey the kind of atmosphere people are trying to create in their homes? And just where would you hang that kind of art? Above the garbage can in the kitchen?

If this is the direction Target is moving in, I would like to offer a few additional slogan suggestions for them to consider turning into wall art:

1. "Stop, Drop and Roll." Maybe that could be hung over the bread box.

2. "Stop, Look and Listen." That could be placed over the TV or radio.

3. "Give a hoot, don't pollute."

4. "Knowing is half the battle, GI Joe!"

5. "Busy moms choose Jif."

6. "By the power of Grayskull, I have the power!"

7. "Only you can prevent forest fires."

8. "Two wrongs don't make a right."

9. "Stand in the place where you are."

10. "Dance with the one who brung ya."

11. "Are you working hard, or hardly working?"

12. "You're in good hands with Allstate."

Surface Day

Yesterday was Surface Day. Several "surface" projects were completed at our house; the deck, doors and driveway.

Andrea and I decided that our goal is to have our house finished by Thanksgiving. We have been using much of our free time to tackle as many projects as we reasonably can.

Last week, I borrowed a friend's power-washer for a project at church. I was inspired by that experience to buy one of my own. Yesterday afternoon, I came home early and power-washed the deck. It took about three hours, but I got it finished before I lost sunlight. I took the picture above after I had finished the first two sections. I thought it made a noticeable difference. Sometime very soon I will stain/seal it.


Andrea and Sara worked on priming and painting doors. Many of the doors in our house were unfinished. Some had hundreds of surface scratches that look like they were from a dog. After finishing the first coat, Andrea commented, "Now I actually feel like I'm at home."

While this was all taking place, I was having the driveway sealcoated. They repaired the cracks as well. It didn't look like that had been done before, so I will probably have it done next Fall as well to build up a good base.

It was a productive day. I feel good when I can scratch a few more projects off the list.