Unveiling the molding

Pin It This probably would be a lot better if I had filled in the nail holes and sealed the top first, but I probably won't get around to that for another year...




I'm exceptionally proud of this little piece of work...that little piece sure makes a BIG difference.

The things we get excited for...sheesh.

The molding is finally in place...

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It’s official.

I’ve lived in my house for exactly one year.

Granted, I did take possession at about 10 p.m. on the night of July fourth; however, weeks of cleaning, painting, tiling, and getting it ready were required before an official move-in.

It is hard for me to believe that I’ve been here for a whole year. I remember this house feeling so strange, so foreign, so uncomfortable. Like a brand-new pair of dress shoes. Well, the house has since been ‘broken in’ and it feels like home. Many upgrades and improvements have been made over the year, but there was one which eluded me for the longest time…

Let me take you back to just over one year ago: (insert shimmering screen and time-travel music here).

Well, Shawna and I have been working really hard on the house. I get up pretty early every morning and head up to start spackling in holes. I had a group of friends who showed up the other day and helped me wash down walls; I am so grateful for the help they’ve provided…it saved me hours of work. We took out all of the screens and washed the windows, too.

I love the look of clean windows and how the world looks through them.

The other day I decided that I would pull up the linoleum in the kitchen…it’s the same design as in the kitchen of #4 Privet Drive. If you don’t believe me, watch “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.” Look at the Dursley’s linoleum in the opening scenes of the movie which take place in the kitchen with Dobby, the house elf…it’s the same floor.

I tore the linoleum out and as I did I found myself looking at the bare wood. All I could think was, “What in the world did I just do?” I wanted to sit down and never get up. I can’t believe just how much of a project this whole house has turned in to.

Well, I knew I just couldn’t leave it so I started to get to work. I next removed all of the floor molding, and started to prep for tiling. Now, I’ve never tiled before, but I decided to sit in on the little class offered at the Home Depot (after how much I’ve spent there over the past few weeks, I’m glad it is something that is free). I will just tile the thing and hope it doesn’t look terrible.

(Two days later)

I started to tile and it is going pretty quickly. Well, at first. Tiling is a lot of work and there is a lot you need to do to make sure that it is level, equally spaced, and getting cuts right, so the pieces look good together. Though this project took me only a few days to complete, I’d never want to do it again. I think I’d rather eat shards of broken glass.

So, how much time did it take altogether? Well, let me put it this way…I just finished “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” on audiobook as I was working on this and touch-up painting. The molding still needs to be sanded down, repainted, and attached to the wall. I just don’t feel like it…I am beat. I ended up putting the molding in the kitchen pantry and will do it when I feel like it.

I think I deserve a break.

(Return to the present day…)

Well, the molding just stayed in the pantry…for a whole year; I just couldn’t bring myself to put it all back on. It was far too much work in my opinion…of course, after doing everything else such as sanding the deck and restaining it, and cleaning out the back patio (which was a jungle), I just felt like doing nothing else. Every day I’d look in and see that molding. It was like the wood was continually calling my name, “Teachinfourth…put us back on the wall…” (well, the voice usually sounded like Annette or Tara, who’d both offered to do it for me, however, pride would not let me let them do it).

Well, I am happy to report that this weekend I finally completed that year-long task and my kitchen and dining room both have the molding back in place! At first it sure did look strange, I was so used to that unfinished strip at the bottom of all of the walls…It sure feels good to be done.

I would write more but it is coming up on 11 and I am bushed. I don’t have the effort to try to be funny anymore.

Time to blog out…

Goodnight.

P.S. Using power tools always makes a job much more fun...and if you are dying to see what the molding looks like now, let me know and I’ll snap and upload a photo of it...

Whoa...that sounds pretty lame even as I type it; however, you are now invested at this point, aren’t you? You’ll probably feel somewhat incomplete if you don’t see the completed project...

Photography Webiste - Update

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For starters, I know…

I know that I said my photography website would be online in about two or three weeks…I’ve already surpassed that timeframe by…well, I’ve surpassed it.

There is a lot more to getting it online in the form I would like than I thought at first; this, unfortunately, has made the time frame stretch longer than I’d anticipated at the outset. Also, writing has taken a backseat to photography at this point…there simply is not enough time to do everything I would like to do.

Maybe if I didn’t have to sleep.

I wanted to thank all of you who offered up resources for the site…places to get code, people to work on it, 3^rd party groups who’d add things in. I decided to go with a friend’s recommendation of her husband who does this sort of thing for a living. We met yesterday and went over all of the details involved and it is my hope that the site will be online in a few more weeks.

It will be worth it…trust me.

Well, I hope it will be worth it, but you know, I am immensely biased when it comes to this thing having poured my blood, sweat, and mega pixels into it for the past month. However, since I am not able to show you the site at the present time, I thought I’d placate you with a few photos from my southern Utah trip a few weeks ago...

A few people asked how I was able to get images of petroglyphs so early or late in the day with such good lighting and the answer is: slow shutter speeds and a flashlight to ‘paint’ in the image the way you want it.

I share an example of myself with my car at about 10:00 p.m. You can see where I ‘painted in’ the car—as well as myself—with my headlamps; though I admit that it would have been far easier had I taken a decent flashlight with me.

This last shot I call, Holy Horse Dung! Mostly this is because of the way the sunlight slanted down and illuminated this solitary road apple.


I know, it looks delicious.

Peter and Co.

Pin It I recently discovered a comic strip I am starting to like; I was poking around a bit last night and found a webcomic that is slightly reminiscent of “Calvin and Hobbes.” Now, whilst I admit that the worms are not my favorite part of the storylines, I am enjoying the developing ‘friendship’ between Peter and his imaginary duck guardian, Seth.

Now, just as a disclaimer…I won’t say that every single one of these strips is a knee-slapper and that I can’t tear myself away, however, I am finding that I enjoy reading over the storyline and getting to know the characters—some of which I like more than others.

Give Peter and Co. a try and see what you think…

I’ve suffered from migraines most of my life

Pin It When I say suffered, I mean it.

I can remember being a kid and getting these headaches which were so bad that light seemed to cut through my retina and into my brain with all the intensity of sunburn. One memory I have is when I was in the fifth grade. I was taking part in puppet shows my class was doing for our parents. We’d spent weeks writing scripts, creating Paper Mache puppets, drawing and coloring backdrops, and practicing these plays over and over again.

One of the dads had built a small theatre which the students could hide behind, complete with a cutout “stage” with hooks to hang our various backdrops. I remember that the curtains even worked.

The night of the shows came and I found a migraine coming on. This one was relentless. It was terrible! Only, my teacher didn’t believe that I really had a headache, and wanted me to perform my play with my partner, Daryl. I remember crunching up into a little ball behind the ‘theatre’ and crying. There was just no way, I would never be able to do it.

My teacher was irritated. She was upset to the point that she refused to let me call my parents to get a ride home after the shows were over. I guess she’d felt I’d ruined the evening she’d put together for the parents, and she was determined to make sure that I knew it.

Luckily, my best friend’s mom, Joni, was there and offered me a ride home. The whole way I felt queasy…my stomach turning over and over. Even the slightest bit of light seemed as if it were destroying my insides and racking me with relentless agony.

I threw up.

Luckily, it was halfway out the window and most of it hit the road, however, a portion of it ended up all over the station wagon door.

These were the intensity of headaches I’ve endured my whole life. Usually hours of tormenting pain followed by vomiting. To tell you the truth, I often welcomed the vomiting simply because I knew that the headache would soon leave me, and I’d feel better.

This happened about three times a week while I was growing up.

Now today, as an adult, I still get these migraines. I wish they’d have gone away altogether, but they haven’t. I feel fortunate that they rarely get me to the point where I feel like I am going to throw up anymore—but it still happens sometimes.

So, why am I blogging about this? It seems such an off-the-wall entry. No, I’m not looking for sympathy (though if my mom had taken photos of me vomiting or lying in bed crying I’d probably post them for dramatic effect). I share this with you because I have learned some secrets throughout the years. I’d like to share these with you in the event that they could make you feel better when you have a migraine. However, let it be known that these are not fool-proof and there are things out there which might help out even more than what I am sharing (if you know of any, I’d hope you’d share).

1. Hot or cold shower and pull your hair (it feels better, don’t ask me why).
2. Pressure points on the side of your head or between your index finger and thumb.
3. Put two tennis balls in a sock and lie on your back with the tennis balls under your neck where it hurts. This really does help.
4. Two Excedrin Migraine and a Dr. Pepper.
5. Two extra-strength Tylenol and three Advil.

Remedy number 5 I only learned about a few days ago from a friend of mine. She told me that her doctor claimed that it had the strength of a prescription remedy, but could be purchased over-the-counter separately and put together.

I didn’t believe her though…Tylenol never seemed to work for me, and Advil was a joke. My headaches laughed at these.

Tonight I started to get a headache…like a performer waiting in the wings for his cue to take center stage, I could feel it coming on…waiting, patiently waiting. I put off trying a remedy, hoping—perhaps—it would go away on its own.

It didn’t.

I could feel the horrible monster beginning to awaken and move about my head. I decided, for the first time, to try remedy number 5.

It worked.

I couldn’t believe it.

I found myself amazed.

In the space of about 10 minutes, my migraine was completely gone. I could feel it flowing away, like morning dew burned away by the sun.

I am now a believer in the power of two weak things put together for the strength which they have when combined. It is truly a power not to be reckoned with.

When I was a kid, I had to endure the agony because I had no known way to stop it. Now that I’m an adult, I choose to suffer no longer.

While making home visits

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Today I decided to do home visits. For those who may not know what these are, a home visit is when a teacher visits the home of his students to assess possible problems, to meet with parents, or to get to know pupils before the school year begins. These visits were for the sole purpose of meeting the kids at my new school before back to school night.

I dressed up as I usually do (white shirt and tie) with the subtle addition of a sports jacket, plotted out the course which would save the most gasoline, and headed out to meet the new students of AE school of Elementary Academics.

The first few students were home, and parents were surprised at my visit…not a shocked surprise, or even the type of surprise when you enter a darkened house and suddenly discover the birthday party someone secretly threw together—even though you asked them not to. This was more of a pleasantly impressed surprise which rates up there with experiences of going out to dinner with friends, and your server knows your name and brings you a Dr. Pepper without being asked.

It was fun.

I saw a few kids whom I already know, and several I did not. There were some houses which I stopped at where knew someone was inside, however, seeing a dressed-up stranger at the door treated me like one of the Mormon missionaries…you know, hiding and pretending they’re not there; however, little did they know that I could clearly hear them as they were trying so hard to appear absent. The clincher was the phone conversation I heard through one door which went something like this:

Boy: Yeah, Mom? It’s me. This guy just knocked on the door (pause). I don’t know who it is. (pause) He’s all dressed up like a Jehovah’s Witness or something. (pause) He’s got an envelope in his hand, so he could be selling something. (pause) Should I call the police?

People just don’t seem to realize how flimsy front doors and walls of houses really are.

One particular door on my visits opened about halfway, and I heard a familiar voice whom I’ll dub as “Joey.”

“Hey, Mr. Z!”

“Hello, Joey. Are either of your parents here? I need to talk to them as well as you.”

“Yeah, hang on.”

(Parent arrives whom I’ll dub as “Joey’s Dad”)

“Hello, Mr. Joey’s Dad. I just wanted to let you and your son know that I’m out doing home visits before school; I wanted to let you know that Joey will be in my class this year.”

Joey’s eyes widened and I thought, just for a moment, that they might shoot out of his head. “Are you serious? Really?”

Joey ran up to me and gave me a hug. “This is great!”

“I wanted to give you this,” I held out an envelope. “In this is a letter for you, one for your parents, and your first homework assignment.”

Pause. The subtle settling in of reality.

“Homework?”

I smiled. “Yep. I didn’t want you to get bored this summer…and if you have any questions, call the school or use the email address, okay?”

Joey looked down at the envelope again, running his fingers across it, as if he were reading Braille. He smiled, “Homework…cool.”

During the course of my visits, I ran across one set of parents in their yard. I discovered they had transferred their kids to my new school from the old one. They made it a point to let me know, “You’ve already gotten three of our kids, Mr. Z. You know, to really get the real experience you need to have the last two as well…that way, your collection is really complete.”

Even after five hours of phone calls and visits, I found myself smiling. The whole reason for these visits was purely to meet my new students; however, it quickly transformed itself into a serious ego-stroking.

Did I mention that it was fun?

ComedySportz

Pin It There are several reasons why I love to work at ComedySportz...

These are two of them.