Sometimes, I wish I could take back the moment. :^(

Opposing Humility

So I made a few mistakes installing the garage door. You know, the job a homeowner, DIYer, whomever, should never do themselves.

• "It's the largest moving object in your home."
• "It's under extreme tension--you could be killed."

Well, I did it last year, and it works just fine. Okay, maybe it's a little off center, but I followed all of the directions, and so far so good. So when the time came to save a thousand dollars or so on installation, I drove the truck over to Menards and bought the doors and openers. Got the old on down (which lasted about a couple hours on the curb before the scrappers took it away--solid steel, you know). Got the new one up, torsion spring set (okay, it's the EZSet© kind), tested the lift on the door; all was well. Got to installing the opener--open and close distance--both fine. Got to setting the open and close force...uh oh...

After a few cycles...grinding, hesitation, *BAM* cables start jumping. Oh crap.

Well life got in the way, so I came back to it after a couple of weeks. Tried again. Same result. Damn.

Got to looking at parts, replaced a couple, and finally, no. Same damn thing. I was crushed, beaten down, feeling like I had to go back to my wife and recant every time that I proclaimed to her "See, if it wasn't for the Math, I could have been an engineer!"

I sulked for a few more weeks then came around to the fact that I needed help from a professional. This professional, in fact. I had tried seeking the advice from this professional and I'm sure I'm not the only one, and he could quite give me a timely response. I still respect Dan and the work he's done to help the DIYer. However, having Bill come out (I even had my wife make the appointment) and check out my door was one of the best decisions. He didn't judge me (out loud at least), told me what I did wrong, told me how to do it right the next time (if I could have hidden the second door--yeah, that's right, I have another one sitting in the garage just mocking me waiting to be installed), and offered his help if I run into anymore problems.

Some times you just have suck it up. Thanks, b for standing by me.

Opposing the Missus

We don't fight. B has to fight me off occaisionally all the time, but hardly ever are voices raised and never hands.

So when we were relaxing in the pool the other day (it's not our pool but one we manage for a private club; you'll probably here a lot more about in the future) and Eminem/Rihanna "Love the Way You Lie" comes on the Top 40 station, she tells me how she dislikes the station again, and songs like that one. Especially since the younger son is singing along with it. She tries to explain to him that it's not a nice song, and that it deals with serious stuff. He just responded with something like "not everything is nice in the world, Mom" or something like that. I'm not going to link to the video, though I might do so at another blog sometime.

But, I like the song. Not for the material, but for contrast in styles; the tone of Rihanna vs. Eminem. Not quite the same is Bon Jovi and Amy Nettles in "Who Says You Can't Go Home" or Seether and Amy Lee in "Broken," but similar. Maybe I'll post all three over at the other blog.

Anyway, just something to get off my chest. I ran this by djMot over at Girls Rock Radio too. You should give them a listen. If you like it, consider supporting them.

Laundry

I'm not opposed to doing laundry. I have my own ways of doing most things domestic that I think are the *right* way.

But I like cargo shorts. Now that most manufacturers are making them pretty much the same, and that most don't have droopy crotches that result in chafing, I really like them. So much that I am prone to put things in 5 out of 6 pockets. That sucks because I have to check all of them. Oh it might be money, sunglasses, pens, pencils, nuts, bolts, garbage, fish bait, fish hooks, cell phones (had one make all the way through and still work), etc. I put all kinds of sh** in my pockets and I have to check nearly all of them. The back right butt pocket is my least favorite. I wonder why that is?

B

Why Chaos?

CHAOS and CONTROL...

If you are old enough to remember what that means, you're Smart.

Honestly, the FlyLady introduced us to CHAOS. And it's true for our home.

We have to get it under control, but it's going to take time, work, and venting, and that my friends is where this blog and you come in. Oh, there will be lots more than cleaning, organising, and getting our act together. Actually, the latter is probably what I'll write most about...getting it together and how much that sucks.

Thanks for riding along!

B