toonbug

This is one of those things that you kind of have to make a way of life in order to ever truly ‘repay’ your parents. I mean, they gave up their lives as they knew it when you came around and they spent the rest of their lives, on one level or another, giving you what they could. So, in essence, the equal or greater value would involve at least the commitment and respect on par with that order of magnitude.

To Whom It May Concern:

With the aforementioned in mind, I, being of sound mind and good health, willfully offer my solemn word that any resource or influence that I have available is such to my parents (including step-parents, in-laws and figurative role models) as it would be to me. Legal constraints and personal detriment considered as well as that of my nuclear family unit. This I swear, so help me God.

Sincerely,
R. Frates
on this date: 12/28/2006 8:09pm

There….now I can get this off my list. Not so much as an accomplishment but as a promise and acknowledgement of a debt of gratitude to be repaid indefinitely.

Well, I keep seeing this ‘thing’ at the top of my list and I’m wondering whether I’ve actually done it or not. I mean what defines ‘remodeling’? So, this entry is to define the effort a little bit…

What’s been done:
- I’ve made a tiny little progress in the ‘playroom/pantry/new laundry area/office. Primarily because of the ‘office’ portion of that not leaviing me with a very good taste in my mouth. There’s no way I’m going to successfully co-exist in a workspace that doubles as a laundry area much less the designated area for my children to go wild. In other words, I won’t be able to share the room without killing my kids. So for now, and until a solution avails itself, the office remains a semi-converted garage that houses all of Daddy’s crap.

- The addition of a brand new refrigerator was not to be thwarted by my efforts to prove our lack of a need for it. The old refer was freezing everything in it because the door wouldn’t shut and the damn thing was over-compensating (loosely translated: costing me more money in energy bills). So, I unloaded all the leftovers and near empty containers (some unidentifiable), hosed it down inside and out and voila! the thing was like new. But the spouse machine was already in motion so I came home to a new double-doored, stainless-steel, ice and water dispensing, beast in the middle of the kitchen floor. Why? because it didn’t fit the old spot!! I was forced to shave off two inches of my countertop! which already is a rare commodity in our closet of a kitchen. UGH!

—The boy’s room is now fully Batman. From the light fixture to the black-blue-yellow-white gradient paint. New curtains, valance, bed linens, Batman TV/DVD player, toybox, stepstool, appliques, and even a Batman bed. I haven’t seen the floor since…but you can always enjoy the skyline of Gotham that I fashioned out of black foam core and yellow paper. Bookended but a couple of renditions I did of the Caped Crusader in yellow on black-painted particle board. The city lights and the elevated train are waiting for another day. At this point, I can’t find the remote for the train in his pig stye…but the Batman thing is done.

—Mirrors have been added to every wall in the master bedroom for some reason. Three of them mounted by yours truly. The fourth is actually the doors on my new $1000 IKEA closet that my wife offered to me as a gift. Another addition I wouldn’t have made but you gotta admire the thought. :)

—I bought a bunch of silver iron kitchen carts. Two actually, to add to the space and organization we need so badly in the kitchen…it really needs an overhaul though…>ugh< nutha day.

That’s all I can think of…well, except for the fact that I re-organized the frontroom while my wife was away for a couple of days. The Feng Shui is much more harmonious with the 65” monster on the wall opposite the front door and the chime is much more audible over the endtable near the main thoroughfare. Gotta see it I guess to understand but it did wonders for the feel of the room.

Gotta scoot. I’ll have more pretty soon I’m sure. I’m dying for some front room furniture that matches and fits a more home theatre type purpose.

Well, this didn’t define the goal at all but it is getting lengthy so I’ll tie a quick knot in this one, organize my thoughts and enter another status/definition later. See? story of my life.

ciao!

I kept putting it off and putting it off and then, as fate would have it, I was given one.

I don’t think I ever would have purchased the shuffler but, when our team at my place of employment performed masterfully in a time of urgency, management came up with the idea to buy them for all of us.

My opinion is this: Only own a shuffler if someone gave it to you. The others are more versatile and have a bit more substance than the french fry, pack o gum, tongue depressor looking iPod Shuffler.
The whole iTunes/iPod package is just too…I dunno, ridiculous?

- There are no useful accessories to speak of.
- There is no intuitive way to sync two different sources to the same iPod : work pc and home pc constantly battle for ownership of my iPod’s contents and are not a healthy threesome.
- You can’t really tell what the f**k is going on with the iPod unless it’s connected to a pc…even then, you may or may not get what you expect – sound, flashing light or nothing at all.

Overall, knuckle up and buy yourself that home theatre set up you wanted and leave the iPods to the kids.