I am

Da Man!

Well sort of...

See, I changed out the leaky kitchen faucet with a new technologically up to date one.

My house was built in the early '70s.

Some where in the mid nineties, they stopped making replacement parts for my sink.

I looked.

Along with Zelda.

The cold began to leak back in '03-'04. I shut off the cold supply and didn't worry about it.

Zelda likes cold water along with her warm...

So we looked at three different hardware stores and talked to a number of sales assistants before we learned thru trial and error that we'd have to buy a new faucet.

Then we decided we could wait till we changed out the kitchen cabinets.

But there is no telling how long that might take.

So Friday we went shopping for paint.

To finish the bath room that has been left unfinished since at least '03 when I worked out of the house...

Being an old house, it has some problems here and there.

The bath room faucet washers need to be replaced. They don't drip, but if the water is on only a trickle, after about a minute the sink begins to "sing". Sounds just like a single note from a saxaphone. Only the player never needs to take a breath.

We wondered back to plumbing to look at new fixtures when I spotted the kitchen faucet.

My first thought was," I do NOT want to climb up under the sink, with the disposal and years of dirt and grim and who knows what else to change the fixture. Let's call a plumber".

Well, actually my FIRST thought was, "we spent HOW much?"
Next was, "I want to get this done and out of the way".

Zelda kept gently encouraging me.
"If my father can do it, so can you".

And after many hours under the sink,

which wasn't nearly has cramped as I thought it would be.

and a couple additional runs to the hardware store for new tools,

"we spent HOW much?",

I was able to cut, pry, wrench, and pull the old one out,

*I'm going to get half way through this and not be able to get one bolt loose and , Hey, how about we call a plumber?*

and finally install the new one.

Which works wonderfully.

Zelda love it, it's "her" new faucet.

(got me laid!)

as it should be!

Easily Distracted

I am coming up on 40 and this has brought up some emotions.

So I thought I'd take a moment to pause and give them a voice.

I've been aware of them, but have succeeded in ignoring/stuffing them so far.

***
1. I'm getting FAT.

I have never been fat.

Ever.

I hate it.

My gut moves when I walk.

It's a completely new sensation and it disgusts me.

I haven't done anything about it.

2. I find it difficult to focus on learning.

My mind is lazy and I have to work at staying on topic when I am doing something I find borring.

I can't say that this is necessarily a new problem.

But it is more difficult to over come.

3. I am eating more junk food in my married life.

See no. 1 above.

4. I have stopped tutoring.

Somewhere in there I "got busy" and let it slip.

5. I am married.

This is a good thing.

It has blurred my edges.

The challenge of changing to accommodate someone else in my life and at the same time, not losing who I am.

Well, I'm becoming someone/something new.

This again, is a good thing.

How do I do this and keep "myself"?

6. I spend more than I ever have.

This is a toss up...

We have successfully paid off both of Zelda's credit cards with in a year of our wedding.

And at the same time, I have charged up both of my own cards.

I will have them paid in full (PIF'd) by this time next year.

But I hate being in bad debt again.

Hate it.

Constantly having to pay the credit card company for my inability to say, "no" to myself and Zelda because I want to look good in her eyes.

(Do not for a moment take that as my blaming Z for any of this.
I am an adult and I recognize I am using Z as an excuse to not be disciplined in my financial self).

7. I have "lost" all my single hood friends.

I enjoy immensely the time I spend with Z and the fact that I am now something bigger than myself.

When we spend all our time together, it doesn't leave space for anyone else.

8. I haven't been to church in years.

Once upon a time, before mom died and I had my personal spiritual crisis, I was very active in church.

I taught.

I volunteered.

I drove bus.

I organized outings.

I participated.

I miss it, but at the same time... I worry/wonder if I would be able to stomach it all.

The politics.

The "Jesus is the Only Way".

That and, "Yes, my wife is a pagan".

(No, it is not any of their business and I would make something up, such as, "She attends the Baptist Church down town".

9. I am really, really, really bad about keeping promises.

10. My lap top has been hacked.

Nothing on it of importance.

But it pisses me off that someone is trying to get my financials, personal stuff, use my computer to hack someone else, send junk mail, etc., etc., etc.

I need to back it up, scrub it, and reload what I want.

Next year I'm going to get an Apple.

Corporate Destruction

I bought a book the other day after spending the evening studying for my Structures exam.

In many ways it has explained much of what happened in my previous entry.

But that comes a little bit later.

Z and I went out Friday evening for Date night and had a pleasant time in the Bishop Arts District. The home of the Nodding Dog, Cafe 400, and the Velvet Monkey.

Stopping in at an antique shop after a lovely dinner, Z noticed an antique oak side board which is now sitting in our living room.

That was an expensive dinner!
But it is beautiful.

I am having struggles with Structures.
I'll need to set a deadline to put a fire in my tail.

***
Now on to more important things.

I picked up a book I recommend to everyone.
It is disturbing.
Impacts us all.
And we in turn helped create it and keep it going.

Much scarier than any murder mystery or crime novel.

It's "Fast Food Nation, The dark side of the All-American Meal" , by Eric Schlosser.
http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/books/schlosser.html

He goes into detail about the origins of fast food,
how it targets children,
affects the land scape of America and the devastation it wreaks.

More fast food workers are killed each year than police officers.

Meat packing, once a highly skilled and highly paid job has become the most dangerous job in America.

The buying power of McDonalds shapes the agriculture business and destroys private farms.

We enjoy the $1.00 menu and wonder how they do it.
Then we learn that the minimum wage peaked in '73 and thanks to political pressure from Micky D's, has been reduced year after year ever since.

Now this is not totally fast food's fault. But just as Wal Mart has put small town business's under, so does the quick drive thru meal.

Z won't like this, but I will have difficulty thinking of getting Sonic or Taco Bell any more after work. Until we met, I refused to eat in my car. (Now we have crums EVERY where, yummy as they are).

(The idea of paying $20k for something and then spilling food on it and in it...)

Fast food (or should I say, "fat food") may happen, but I don't have to contribute to it.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/2001-02-01-fast-food-nation.htm

I help create this monster...
with out awareness of it...