Wherein We Decide To Build A Fire Pit, And Don’t.
Yesterday, we got together with my family and my brother’s family, to celebrate my brother and his wife’s anniversary. We went to a buffet in town (after a crazy pre-buffet scramble on our part to get my paycheck, deposit it, get cards, and get gift cards, during rush hour traffic, across town, in extremely tempting stores, in under an hour . . . but we made it). We had a good time. We chatted, and my brother’s baby girl was freakin’ adorable, as usual.
After dinner, Art and I (and my step-son) decided to go and get the necessary supplies to build a nice fire pit. We live far enough out of city limits that we don’t need a burn permit, and we thought that sitting around a big ol’ fire pit, roasting marshmallows and whatnot and chatting of an evening would be a fine idea. So, we took ourselves off to Home Depot to see about materials.
Along the way, I mentioned that it would be a lot easier to just buy one of those fire bowls that you see for sale everywhere. You know what I mean: one of these things. We discussed pros and cons. Art wanted to be able to burn lawn clippings, which is more difficult in a fire bowl, and I pointed out that we didn’t have many clippings, and that this would be portable and easier to clean, probably cheaper, etc and so forth. We stopped in at Kohl’s to see what they had, and theirs were smaller than we wanted. So, we toddled across the way to Home Depot, and ladies and gentlemen, it’s just bad to walk into Home Depot with a credit card. There are entirely too many ways to get into trouble.
If I had a million dollars, I could spend it all in a store like Home Depot or Lowes. There’s just too much nice stuff. We were first distracted by the nice lawn furniture and gazebos (one set was $700, and included a gorgeous stone fire bowl, iron gazebo, furniture, tables, etc). There were a couple of covered swing chairs that made us drool. Also, lots of gorgeous bricks and supplies to choose from to build our own fire pit. Oh, the demons of temptation were strong amongst us.
Fortunately, we talked ourselves out of the expensive stuff. Oddly enough, we didn’t come home with any of the things for a fire pit. Instead, we came home with the stuff to put up our last ceiling fan. I don’t know how we managed that.
Several months ago, we decided to buy ceiling fans for the house. We got them all up, one in the kitchen, over the table, and one in each bedroom, except for the fan that was to go up in the living room. All the other rooms had light fixtures that could be replaced, making installation pretty easy. The living room does not. (These are fans with lights attached.) We had finally decided we were going to have to call an electrician, but hadn’t got to it yet. A couple of months ago, I had suggested putting up the fan and lights by making an external plug for the fan, which would run along the ceiling, down the wall, to an outlet (which is the way you generally put these things up in trailers with cathedral ceilings, as working in the ceilings and walls are a pain in the ass, I’m told), but Art had vetoed that idea, wanting it “done rightâ€.
At Home Depot, he came out with this marvelous idea of making an external plug for the fan, and running it along the ceiling and down the wall . . . you get the idea. I pointed out that I had suggested that months ago, and was politely ignored.
Either way, we now have a miniature sun with fan blades blazing away in our living room, and I am vastly pleased. The living room was always so dim before, with just a couple of lamps. Now, you could get a tan in here. And, it looks nice, too. I love it.
In the meantime, apparently Art had a little chat with Rhea last night, wherein he explained that, basically, I hated her guts and wanted her dead, and that she should keep that in mind while dealing with me in the future. Not the way I’d have gone about things. Also, I’d like to point out that if my benefactor had just informed me that his wife hated me and wanted me dead, I would pack my shit and get, post-haste. And, she does not appear to be doing so. No survival instincts, that one.
June 18th, 2006 at 7:16 pm
I saw blocks on sale at Lowe’s or somewhere like that for 82 cents( and I just discovered I don’t have a cent sign on my keyboard!) So, grab a few of those and some sand and you’ll be all set. Yes, dinner was nice Friday night. See you soon. Love ya lots…
June 19th, 2006 at 12:13 am
I think they’ve done away with the “cent” sign, although you can still make it with HTML (¢). I told “Art” that we were better off finishing one project before starting another, anyways.
June 19th, 2006 at 3:28 am
Okay, first of all:
Rhea?
I will be reading back entries in case this is already mentioned and explained.
Secondly:
“No survival instincts, that one.” True. Clearly.
Have I mentioned you deserve a fucking medal, lately? It’s true. And a straight jacket to pin it on, but nonetheless, a medal.
Had the boys over (FINALLY! Those bastards cannot keep a schedule to save their lives.) to watch JESUS CHRIST VAMPIRE HUNTER. What a fun night. They were aghast and hirrified and laughing their asses off.
And I watched them. It was better than watching the movie.
Opened “Sound of Music” to standing ovations all weekend. Had a blast! GOD I love acting.
Keep smiling. Remember… in some cultures it’s still just baring your teeth.
Miss you.
-G
June 19th, 2006 at 6:05 am
Hey this is kinda cool.
At least I can leave comments.
Is there a way that I can set up my LJ to recieve this?
June 19th, 2006 at 11:32 am
Rhea: Rhea of the Cooze, from Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. I thought it fitting. Let me know if this emails back to you, so I can figure out how the commenting system works.
June 19th, 2006 at 11:33 am
Yes, there is. Add LJ user CHPoetry to your friends list, and you’ll see these posts on your friends list. You can comment there, too, but I won’t get them right away. I’ll have to go to LJ to look at the CHPoetry feed journal and see if there are comments.
June 19th, 2006 at 3:42 pm
Okay, not getting email notifications but I am adding the LJ thingie.
I love technical talk.