I’ve never understood the appeal of platform beds in a bedroom. I think that the only benefit is not having to dust under the bed! I think that is a huge waste of space! I’d much prefer a captain’s bed with storage units underneath, so I could use the area for storage.
Don’t get me wrong, I like contemporary furniture as much as the next person. And I really enjoy the sleek lines of modern bedroom furniture. But I’m also a very practical person who likes to utilize every square inch of space, and to simply seal all of that space off, well that’s just unthinkable to me!
Thanks for the guest post by Kristofer Bartlett
The American tradition began after World War II and the building of the transcontinental highway system in the United States- the day trip. The time when the family gets together and drives off to some exciting destination for a day of fun, thrills, and relaxation. We live in a nation where work is the mainstay of life and we are expected to keep our noses to the grindstone five days a week anxious for Friday when the whistle blows at five o’clock signaling that work is done.
The family prepares for the Saturday day trip or maybe it is the Sunday day trip. Regardless, the day trip is as American as apple pie. Packing the car with food and water, extra clothes, perhaps a first-aid kit, and the absolutely necessary sunscreen. The last thing to do is to set the home alarm system before leaving the house. It’s a good thing we found such an inexpensive home security system.
I remember growing up in Southern California the wonderful day trips my dad would take us on. One of the more memorable was the time we went to Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake nestled in the mountains above the Los Angeles basin away from the smog and endless traffic jams. The clear mountain pine air filled my nostrils and the sun glistening across the lake gave it a surreal look. The two lakes sit side-by-side and are as different as night and day. Arrowhead is more untouched and beautiful than Big Bear Lake. But both lakes have appeal in their own right. I remember seeing a wild wolf for the first time crossing the road in front of us and realized how natural and unspoiled nature is amidst the sprawling mecca of modern society.
Last year I noticed that the bees were building their nests really high up in the trees. My father had taught me that meant that a winter was coming that would have a ton of snow. And boy, last year we really DID have a ton of snow!
This year the nests are very low to the ground. I’m going to predict that we will have a winter with much less snow than last year. It will be interesting to see if that is the case. Right now, with the temperatures in the triple digits, I’m trying to stay cool by thinking about snow! How crazy is that?!
OK, I’ve decided that it is time to check into getting a decent security video camera and one of the security systems that I’ve seen online with ADT. They have been around for a very long time and have a good reputation, they must be doing something right considering all of their little yard signs that I see dotting the lawns around the neighborhoods.
Times are not getting any better for people. The crime rates are still on the rise, with folks getting very desperate in order to survive. Druggies are even getting bolder with their thieving in order to keep up with their habits. Home break ins are becoming an every day occurrence and making the headlines more and more. It just ain’t right. More people are buying dogs and purchasing large dogs as well in an effort to protect their home, property and their loved ones. But I’m more of a security systems type of guy at this point.
ADT offers a backup battery and equipment guide features. We are always losing power out here so having a battery backup is a must. Some times we are without power for days and that could turn into a nightmare, considering the circumstances. Crooks would and could take advantage of a long time power outage and people could get hurt. So I’m glad that I did my research online and found ADT. They have a variety of packages available according to your needs and wants, it’s all good as far as I’m concerned.
We finally have had a couple of days that we can call rainy days. We have been so hot and dry for so long, it has been totally refreshing. Instead of temperatures in the high 90′s we have enjoyed a few days in the 70′s and now the garden is looking better and better.
I’m pretty handy around the place and I can do a variety of jobs myself in order to save money rather than calling in a professional. But this morning when the basement flooded with raw sewage, it was time to call a plumber. The sewage pump that I had only purchased less than a year ago stopped working and what a nasty mess I had to deal with!
My wife and I are at the opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to our decorating tastes. When we talk about redecorating, I’m always suggesting going with modern designs such as Minka Aire Ceiling Fans and lights by Hubbardton Forge or Artemide. I really love the clean and modern feel of their designs. My wife, however, prefers what she calls the “traditional” look.
Ever since I brought home and installed the super-modern ceiling fan in her studio, I don’t think she will ever let me shop for lights for our house again. She tried to act pleased, but I could tell that she was biting her tongue hard when she saw what I bought. I tell her that she just needs to think of our house as eclectic.
I’ll never understand why people are so thoughtless that they will throw used bubble gum on the ground. I think that people that do that must have a mean streak in them. I normally don’t step in gum; I tend to be observant enough to avoid them. But in the last week I’ve stepped in gum TWICE! Very irritating; that stuff just does not want to come off! I guess I should just be glad that I noticed it before getting into the truck, or walking into the house. Getting gum out of carpet is not something I want to have to deal with! And, I guess I should be grateful that it wasn’t some animal’s scat that I stepped in!
One of the challenges of living here in Maine is maintaining our rural mailboxes. In the winter, many mail boxes are struck by snow plows as the plows are clearing the roads of snow and ice. And when that happens, the boxes don’t just lean over a little bit, they are usually completely knocked down. When that happens, the rural mail carrier cannot deliver the mail to those Residential Mailboxes. So then the poor sap has to go to the Post Office to pick up their mail.
There have been times when I’ve gone to a Fair and seen a few vendors who try to sell snow-plow proof mailboxes. Their products do look like they could withstand the snow plow, but they are expensive. I have not seen any of them on any of the roads that I drive down yet. I think that most folks around here would rather gamble on their boxes not getting hit than spend the extra money on a plow-proof box.
Now that the weather is getting warmer, I notice a lot more young mothers out with their babies in tow. I have to say that it really bothers me how many of them are using strollers to walk with their infants on country roads that are don’t have sidewalks.
What bothers me about it is that most of them are walking on the wrong side of the road. If a passing car or truck kicks up some gravel as they pass, the poor infant is going to get a face full of gravel. That is asking for trouble!
I understand the desire to get some fresh air and enjoy the all-too brief warm summer weather, but if these folks can’t learn to walk on the correct side of the road (facing traffic) then I think that they should just stay in their yards and let the babies play with some baby toys to enjoy the fresh air. They’d be much safer that way.
June 1st is here. Black fly month is officially over, and the mosquitoes are taking over. There is about a two week overlap where both of the pests are intolerable, but for now it is mosquito season. I really dearly love living in the countryside in New England, but I think that I would enjoy it more if there were fewer biting insects!
One thing is for sure, the bats and the dragonflies will not be starving to death anytime soon! There are plenty of mosquitoes to support their families for a long time to come. And I have plenty of Deep Woods Off to help me survive out there!
I don’t know which I hate the most – black flies or mosquitoes! They both will annoy me to no end! May is beautiful, but it is tempered with the aggravation of black flies. I’ve found, though, that if I try to do my work outdoors in the cool of the morning that they don’t bother me. Black flies like the hotter part of the day. Only rarely do the actual biting hurt me – it’s the swarming around the head that drives me crazy! I’ve tried a variety of insect repellents, and I think that the Deep Woods Off does the best all-around job for ticks, biting flies, and mosquitoes. I also like Ben’s 100, but I haven’t seen that in a spray that I can apply on my clothes.
My wife says that all of the repellents give her skin a chemical burn so she wears the netted hats and long sleeves when she has to be outside. Sometimes I forget that the chemicals burn her and I’ll give her a hug and a kiss; before I know it she is running to the sink to wash off the area that we touched because she says her skin is burning! It must be tough to have that kind of skin sensitivity!
I’m always surprised when I go to the nursery and see the huge selection of fiberglass planters that are available on the market today. Fiber glass planters seem to becoming very popular recently, and I can see why. A fiberglass planter can be made to look like it was made from any kind of material, but the fiber glass planter is generally more durable and lightweight.
They are also easy to maintain. They don’t rot or rust. And if you want to alter their appearance in some way (like decorative paint on them) if you feel creative, they are easy to paint. Since they are not as porous as clay, the plants inside don’t need to be watered as often, yet they can look like clay. I think that using fiber glass in this way is a stroke of genius! I wish I’d thought of it and patented the concept myself!
A couple of years ago a good friend of mine moved from Maine to Virginia. He had a hard time finding affordable moving trucks and ended up renting a one-way rental truck where he had to pack it and drive it. I don’t think that the ABF U-Pack Moving service was available up here at that time. If it had been, it sure would have been a lot easier for him to move because they would have delivered a truck to him to pack, and then they would have done the driving. If I ever have to move, I think I’ll be using their service – it sounds like a good plan.
I understand that the home buyer tax credit is a great incentive to get more people to buy houses, but I don’t think that everyone understands it completely. Talk around the break table lately has been about all of the confusion surrounding what is really going on with the incentive.
From what I understand, the incentive is a powerful one, and not that hard to understand. If you haven’t bought a new primary residence in the past five years, and then you buy a new one, you get a tax credit. A tax credit is different than a tax deduction. A lot of people don’t even understand the difference between a tax credit and a tax deduction. A tax credit is better than a tax deduction – the amount is subtracted from the amount of money you have to pay, irregardless of your taxable income, and sometimes results in a refudn. A deduction reduces the amount of you may have to pay based on your taxable income. It’s a subtle difference, but a very real and important one.
Unfortunately, with the way that the banks are cracking down, and people’s credit ratings going down the drain, the biggest problem that I see in rescuing the floundering housing market is the fact that people are having trouble getting a mortgage to pay for the new house, and a tax credit may not make a difference in that obstruction!
I think that young adults have a harder time finding housing then when I was a kid. Nowadays the landlords want a lot more in the way of security deposits and and rent and references than they used to! I can remember when I was fresh out of high school and I was looking for a house for rent. Naturally my parents were ambivalent about my leaving the nest! I went to the local college and looked on the bulletin boards to see if anyone was looking for room-mates.
I ended up living in a two bedroom house with one other guy and two girls. There wasn’t much privacy there, that is for sure! Pete had a pet snake that he kept in an aquarium in the living room. He used to feed it gerbils, which upset the girls a lot! I can remember one day when we discovered that the snake was missing! The girls were extremely upset! We couldn’t calm them down for love nor money! Fortunately we found the snake before bedtime that night, curled up in a corner of the laundry room. It wasn’t long after that Pete moved out of the house!
I just started seeing some crocuses and hyacinths peeking up out of the ground. This is incredible! It seems like just yesterday (although it was three weeks ago) there was over three feet of snow on my front lawn – not counting the snow banks where we piled the snow to get it out of the driveway!
Now actually, there are little patches of green grass, pretty soon there will be bigger patches and bigger still. And I’ll have to get ready to fertilize, and eventually mow the lawn. But for today I’ll be happy and content just to look at the little flowers coming out of the ground by the house!
The wife and I have been discussing various things that we would like to do when our tax refund check shows up in the mail in the near future. We did pretty good this year, we had a lot of deductions and made good use of all of the receipts that we kept in our tax shoe box, that are such a pain in the neck to deal with. But it was well worth the extra effort it took in order the get the best bang for our buck.
We both have things that we would like to see done with the money. Most of it will be used for things concerning the house. She has her eyes on a nice hanging wine glass rack that she has found online at Glassstemwareracks.com. She is good at finding good deals on the Internet and found a site that offers all kinds of wine glass racks for sale that she was showing me last night. I’m good with that and see no reason why we can’t spend a few bucks on nice quality looking wine glass rack. She has good taste and I’m usually right on board with most things that she finds to spend our money on.
My wife has been talking about putting in a couple of new stainless steel kitchen sinks in our kitchen. The one we have came with the house that we bought a long time ago. It was old even then! And the people who installed it put the hot and cold controls on backwards! And the knobs keep falling off! There are a lot of scratches and rust stains. I have to agree, it is way past time to get it. Maybe with our tax refund check we’ll be able to replace it! And I’d like to put in a small bar sink in the kitchen island as well. It would be really handy to have one there!
It has been quite a long time since our town went through the E911 conversion. I remember that letters were mailed to every resident in town, advising all of us that in order to be compliant with the conversion we had to name all of our roads, and put address signs on our houses. The letters were very specific about making sure that each house had an address sign on the side of the house that is visible from the road so that any emergency response vehicle could plainly read the house number from the road.
I remember buying an address plaque for my mother to put on the front of her house. I was amazed at how many different styles, types, sizes, and colors of address plaques there are on the market to choose from! My wife was so annoyed when my mother installed it on the side of the house where no one could see it! She must have nagged my mother and me for weeks before I finally persuaded my mother to let me move it to the front of the house where it belonged!