Concrete Plans

We've found someone to build the concrete steps in the front yard. This is a real sign of progress, as it will help give some shape and substance to what we're doing. We also have someone doing a bit of design work for us, so things are really moving.

The concrete work was supposed to start this past Wednesday, but Stacy got a call from the guy on Sunday. He was out elk hunting and was not planning to be back working if he didn't have an elk. The season ends tomorrow, so he'll be back in town and will hopefully start on Monday. Stacy was gracious about it, going so far as to say that while she normally comes down squarely on the side of the animals in the whole hunting equation, she would be rooting for him.

In the meantime, we've once again used a gasoline-powered tool in the yard. I'm happy to report that the roto-tiller is far superior machine to the sod cutter.

Several Things

I am surprised by how long it's been since my last post. We've been pretty busy, what with the Olympics, political conventions, school starting and of course, yard work. So in no particular order, here are a few comments on recent goings-on:

1. If the milkman is here, it must be Wednesday. I've always been pretty time-and-date conscious; I think I started wearing a watch in about second grade. (Today I have no idea where my watch is.) The work week has certain patterns and markers such that I pretty much always know what day it is. But a couple weeks ago, I spent a good five minutes sitting in the living room trying to figure out what day it was. I'm sure it was during the Olympics, when it was never quite clear what day it was--between China being 15 hours ahead of us and watching events live on Canadian TV and then seeing them rehashed and repeated seemingly a couple days later on NBC -- it got confusing at times. But once I realized the milkman had come that day, I finally knew for certain it was Wednesday.
2. Appliance Day. We took the plunge and bought some new appliances from my favorite purveyor, Albert Lee Appliance here in Seattle. We've replaced our fridge and washer/dryer, all of which are 10-14 years old. We got one of those cool front-loading, money-saving washers and a much better dryer than we had before. We bought a dishwasher too, but need to have some plumbing done before it can be installed. And we had to get an electrician out to change the outlet from a range outlet to a dryer outlet. We weren't aware of this condition and don't know what its implications are in terms of drying speed, but a load of clothes that formerly took over 2 hours to dry now dries in 34 minutes. (It is also the case that the new high efficiency washers like the one we bought remove more water during the spin cycle, so they go into the dryer considerably less wet than with the old technology.)
3. Retro-appliance acquisition. Stacy's sister visited from Arizona, and delivered a juicer that Stacy's mom is no longer using. It's an Acme (really!) Juicerator 5001. Not sure how old the actual machine is, but the manual that came with it has a 1962 copyright date. The manual is hilarious and worthy of a whole separate post at some point. Anyway, aside from some frequent problems with extreme vibration, I'm really enjoying making carrot-apple juice blends.
4. Food find. We went to Home Depot today (the one on Aurora around 120th Street in the north part of Seattle.) Bought some plants and a rake, and as we were leaving we noticed a "taco trailer" and decided to try it. It's nestled in among some nice old trees in the north end of the parking lot, and has a nice little seating area and great music. The food is prepared inside a rather slick looking black trailer. It's called "El Camion" ("the truck") and the food was very tasty. I had a pork tamale, which featured a very smooth, silky layer of masa surrounding a spicy pork mixture. Also a small soft taco with carne asada. We also tried a quesadilla. All were excellent, and it appears to be very popular with many of the Hispanic workers in the area--always a good sign.
5. Sarah Palin. I have to say something, or a few somethings. First: how do you run against a skit? McCain and Palin appear to be basing their wacky act on Dana Carvey's grumpy old man and Church Lady skits from Saturday Night Live. Second: nobody knew for sure when McCain selected her whether she was qualified. To me, the very nature of the campaign proves that she is not--she is simply playing a character, based partly on her own "story" but mostly created by the McCain campaign. It's simply not real, and her script is made up almost entirely of lies and insults. The McCain-Palin ticket should not be taken seriously. Third: I don't think Barack Obama is perfect, but for the Republicans to seriously question his experience and qualifications relative to Palin's is absurd. He has endured 19 months of intense scrutiny and won a gruelling battle to secure the nomination. She was the impulsive choice of one desperate man.