Whoa, I Hate My Pool Right Now

Okay, when my pool is clean and functioning correctly I love my pool.  I can get up early in the morning and have a swim.  I can throw on my swim trunks after work and take a dip and relax from the day.  These are the good times...

When I hate my pool, as I currently do, is when I've spent hours and hours and day after consecutive day scrubbing the pool, cleaning the filter, shocking the pool, scrubbing the pool, re-cleaning the filter, shocking the pool and scrubbing the pool (ad naseum) yet my pool still has a green algae tinge.  This means no morning swims and no after work dips, which also means I'm dumping time and money into something that is yielding no return.  I'm shocking again today, added some much needed acid, and am crossing my fingers.  Once I got the pool on track last Summer maintenance was not too much trouble but it has been a monster headache since Summer ended.  If my last effort doesn't work, I'm either going to have to hire a pool company to keep it up or I'm filling the sucker in!  So frustrated.

Filler of the Week

So hey, I haven't blogged in a while and I'm feeling a little guilty about it.  This blog needs to stay fresh and happening...Right?  So, here are a few stories in the news right now...

Image from bbc.co.uk

-The Fukushima nuclear reactor is still making headlines.  Most recently the reactor is being discussed because it has been upgraded to an event on par with Chernobyl in regards to total radioactive output. The story, though, is that the output of radiation has been at a more gradual rate and is considerably less harmful than the Chernobyl explosion, but the upgrade on the nuclear disaster scale is still adding to the fear of the people who (used to) live near the site.  I feel for the citizens that have been displaced by the disaster caused by the earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent nuclear reactor incident.  Their homes may not be recoverable in their lifetimes.

Image from http://infosthetics.com/

 -Also, The House passed the budget!  The House passed the budget!  Wow, way to make it happen people.  After the looming (and then later quite pressing) threats of a government shutdown, Congress agreed upon the budget today.  It appears that this was a true compromise from both parties...Republicans cut more spending than the Democrats wanted but not nearly as much as they would have liked, and Democrats conceded more cuts than they would have liked but held on to more spending than the Republicans wished to concede.  For me, for now, the bottom line is that the government will not shut down and the IRS will continue to issue returns.  I get my tax return!!!

-Finally, I saw that JWOW from Jersey Shore published a book..It was on the shelves of Target today.  Seriously people?

Oh, I can BUILD a box. You betcha.

Okay, so I am not even remotely a professional woodworker.  I've been figuring it out as I go along since we bought a house with a garage last Summer.  Through trial and error and no doubt less than efficient means, I can usually end up with something pretty close to my vision.  Well, in most cases, my wife's vision but I'm just happy to be working on something


My wife's visions...

She wanted a box to cover the wifi cables in our new house; she get's a box to cover the wifi cables in the new house:

The Wi-Fi Cover/Thing Holder

She wanted boxes along the window in the study that could be used as seats; she gets boxes along the window in the study that could be used as seats:

Corner Boxes/Seats

They have storage too!

She wants bookshelves for the office; she gets bookshelves for the office:

My Crowning Achievement. The Bookshelves.

You get the idea.  But I enjoy the process.  Conceiving the item, planning out it's dimensions, and figuring out the way it will all fit together.  This blog will likely end up with lots of photos of my failures and successes in woodworking.  I'm going to try to get better about taking photos during the process of making these items in the hopes that they'll help someone else someday or that they will at the very least help me not repeat the same mistakes!

So currently, my wife wants a new master bed.  The frame we have now is one of those basic creaky metal doohickeys.  This bed will be nothing fancy as I haven't really graduated from box-like items, but I think it will come out looking respectable.  It is definitely a challenge though.  I have to make sure that it still looks nice but can support the weight of the bed.  The headboard is already completed but the bed will follow soon.  I think I'll finally get down to business on it this weekend.  Pray for me.

How Our Dog Lost His Privileges

Paxton the Wonder Dog

Yep, there he is.  Paxton.  And he's a good boy.  Just ask him.  Well don't ask him, that'd be silly, he can't talk.  But if he could talk he'd tell you what a good boy he is because he hears it two to three hundred times a day, every day, from his mom and dad.  However...

Paxton, formally Prince Paxton McBarky Paws, is not allowed on the bed.  He only has three major rules to follow. One, don't chase our cats.  Two, come when we call you.  And three, do NOT get on the bed.  And while we're at home he is such a good boy. Oh, that's a good boy.  Yes you are!  But invariably...every day...after work...it is discovered that he has been in the bed.  This is evidenced by any given one, two or three of his toys being thoughtlessly left on the bed (he is a dog after all and not an evidence hiding savant).  Well, the wife and I never really concerned ourselves with this.  It was kind of cute in a way.  He had his little secret and we played along. 

That was until this morning.

This morning I woke up at 4AM wheezing and sneezing.  You see, this blogger has seasonal allergies.  Seasonal allergies with a particular penchant toward Oak…of which we have a giant tree in our back yard…where Paxton, the best dog in the universe, loves to gallivant around, frolicking…and soaking up all of the things his pops is allergic to.  All of a sudden his innocent little day time indulgences in his master’s bed aren’t so innocent.  Now people are suffering! (mainly me)  I will admit that  waking up at 4AM is not the end of the world, I’ve done it quite a few times over the last couple weeks actually, but when I don’t get back to sleep, like today, that’s the when the dog loses his bedroom privileges.  When I’m up and showering for work three FULL hours earlier than usual, that is indeed when the dog loses his bedroom privileges.

So…sorry Prince Paxton McBarky Paws you’ll have to get used to playing with your toys on a different piece of furniture from here on out. But you’re still a good boy.  Oh, yes you are!