Sep
14
September 14, 2006
The rains arrived at some point last night, pattering insistently onto the roof and whispering Remember ussss? I don’t necessarily mind the gloom (since it’s been one whole day; ask me again in a couple months and I’ll probably grip onto your pantleg and sob incoherently about mushrooms and moss and melancholiness and please, for the love of god, take me to Arizona), but when JB let Dog back inside this morning and she gleefully tracked wet pawprints all over the floor, I heaved a sigh for the death of summer, and dug out the pile of gross towels that will live next to the back door for the next eight months.
Soon it will be as dark as my stingray-joking, bicyclist-generalizing heart in the mornings, and won’t that be a treat? Stupid daylight savings.
(Speaking of bicyclists, a few of you may be happy to hear that karma reared up and bit my Milano-padded ass yesterday. I got in my car after work, started it, and rolled backwards – just an inch or two! – before looking back and seeing a horrified man standing directly behind me, holding a small child in his arms. In my feeble defense it’s a crappy area to walk [it’s a narrow parking area that’s open to a high-traffic street] and he should have been across the way where there is a nice safe sidewalk, but uh…yeah, not so much with the stellar driving skills, there. I’ll just gather up these stones in order to store them in the basement of my glass house, shall I?)
I’m glad for the cooler temperatures in a way, because now I can totally shake up my wardrobe: instead of t-shirts and capris, now I can wear t-shirts and jeans…with hoodies. JUMP BACK. Also, I’m weirdly fond of that burning-dust smell the heater gives off when it hasn’t been run in a while. I also really like the smell of gasoline so it’s possible I have Issues.
Oh, and here’s something else that helps me welcome the onset of chilly, damp weather: we now have heated floor tiles in the new bathroom. When JB first proposed adding that, I gave him a big thumbs down; too expensive, too frivolous, how great could they really be, etc.
As it turns out, the answer is: really, really fucking great.
Our tile guy installed the wiring, which looked like this:
(Now would be a good time to share a photo of the finished tiles, but I don’t have one right handy. They’re sort of a warm beigey color, large squares with darker “cafe au lait” colored grout.)
The heating elements are on a timer, which we have set to warm up the tiles in the morning, and late in the evening. They feel pretty damn awesome, especially after padding around the house barefoot on cold wood floors. Last night, I noticed that Dog went shuffling in there to sleep, which she has never done before. Gah, the pets are going to make it into a lair.
The cost wasn’t too bad overall, or maybe it’s just that it’s frighteningly easy to justify all kinds of things when you invest in a house remodel. Having one thing be New & Improved makes everything else look shabby and in dire need of upgrading. You ask yourself, what’s one more expense in the horrifying financial grand scheme of things? This is a slippery slope of DANGER, and can probably eventually lead to liposuction.
::
Man, there sure are a lot of creepy, depressing stories in the news lately. Like this. And this. And jesus christ, this. I’m not sure the whole world-of-information-at-our-fingertips thing is really good for us, you know? Then again, some stories just put a smile on your face.
Comments
-
My product review site:
[
The man-with-baby was totally hired by the soy-spandex mafia to shame you. SHAME!
Sheesh. I can think of a lot better people to shoot into space. Except in my scenerio, we just leave them there.
Oh yeah, and speaking of things to warm your heart:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dGIesssq1Y
Am assuming you’ve already seen this, but if you haven’t? Ohmahgod.
Oh MY! I totally want warmed floor tiles now. Hell, if I win the lottery I’d do the WHOLE HOUSE that way. Then again I’d bathe in a tub made from solid gold. Or solid dark chocolate, I haven’t decided.
What do you think happened to Anna Nicole’s son? That is too weird! Drug overdose?
Oh my gosh. Tell me about those stories!
On Anna Nicole, though not a fan, can you even IMAGINE just having a baby and three days later your son dies (and basically, you’re told what happened TWICE because you were so heavily sedated that first time). So terrible.
Regarding the second story – To just think that that boy was once a baby that was completely helpless and depending on everyone around him. And this is what he turned out to be? Scary.
About your little mishap – happens to us all. I think we’re more startled than the people that are almost hit. Hey, they weren’t hit, it’s all good.
Am jealous of your heated tiles. I am not liking how fall is approaching head-on.
I also like the smell of the heater when it hasn’t been turned on in awhile. Hopefully that means we’re normal…
Because of the rain, we finally started moving in the direction of getting the front door replaced. We will move forward with the re-wiring project that has to happen before we can get the fireplace insert we need to use our fireplace (don’t ask), and I suspect it’ll all be done right in time for summer to roll back around. I covet your toasty tiles, even though they did mean you had to stay in the crusty residential hotel of ick.
I am so glad I don’t live in a glass house. People could see how infrequently I clean.
We also have extreme tomato grief around our house, because now that it is 50 degrees and pouring, there is no hope that our glorious mass of a zillion green tomatoes will ever ripen. Instead, they will turn into a slimy pile of mildewed fruit and rotted stems. WOE! WOE betide those who garden in the PacNW!
And big thanks to the Seattle Times for running a garden column Sept. 13 telling us to ripen tomatoes by water starving for the last two weeks of August. Yeah, I’ll just hop in my time machine, fuckers.
Uh, yeah, and whatever blah blah stories in life other than rain. I admit it, I’m overinvested in the weather.
I, too, like the not-been-used-in-awhile heater smell. & the smell of gasoline. That means we’re uber cool, right??
Man, who would think a little bicyclist talk would turn into such a controversy (referring to comments in last entry)? I would just like to step in and mention, even though it seems obvious, that though the way bicyclists consider themselves above the law, I would never intentionally hurt one, and for that matter I treat them with courtesy when they’re on the road. I wait till the other lane is clear, and give them a whole lane when I pass them. Of course, invariably, they end up cruising through that red light up ahead instead of, you know, STOPPING, so I have to pass them twice. But still.
I too like the unused-heater smell and the stench of gasoline. Ahhh.
What I find really creepy about those news links is the little video segment that’s linked in the middle to each one– especially the Anna Nicole Smith and the shooter one– “watch the doctors describing her reaction to the news of her sons death…” WHAT THE FUCK? That just seems really inappropriate to me. And what, they decided not to wedge a camera in the room when she was told or something? There was a link to a video taken with a cell phone during the shooting, in that other story. Yeah, news stations need to back off a little, IMO. That’s too far.
Hey, I actually got the notify list notify of this entry before the auto-wordpress one! Touche, Notifylist. Et au revoir.
Please ignore the awful grammar I have going on in that comment above. It actually hurts to read it, I really must apologize.
And I swear I won’t double comment any more! 2 entries in a row… for shame.
I have tile envy now.
I just told my husband that I want heated tile floors and he said, “Honey, instead of paying $4,500 for heated tiles, why don’t you pay 4.50 for bathroom slippers?” Some people just don’t understand.
They have heated floor tiles?
What?
I am so missing out.
$4500? Whoah, maybe if you had gold-plated floors. The heating elements by themselves (excluding labor for installation) were around $350, I think. The tiles are just regular ceramic tiles. It was definitely less expensive than I had guessed it would be.
Arizona and sunshine is very over rated. People here dance in the rain.
I have a completely unrelated question, but I know you buy Threadless shirts. What size do you buy in guy’s tees? I’m 5’4″ and wear a size 6-8, normally. I’ve got boobs. Help me, Sundry readers, for I am in love with a Threadless shirt.
I’m guessing there’s no available women’s size? When you say “I have boobs” do you have, you know, boobs? Or BOOBS? I just tried on one of JB’s Threadless shirts which has been washed a bunch, size L, and it’s pretty baggy – I’m about a 10, with BOOBS. So I’d probably wear a men’s medium fairly well. You would probably be good with a small, unless BOOBAGE, in which case maybe a medium.
I got a girl’s shirt from them once, and wasn’t…completely satisfied. I think I am somewhere in between boobs and BOOBS. Maybe I’ll do a medium, cause I’m wanting something a little loose and comfortable and around the house-ish, but not completely huge. Thanks for the help, and for bringing out the word BOOBAGE, which isn’t used nearly enough in this blog or any other.
I lurve my heated kitchen tiles. So does our cat :) We love it so much that we have added it to our current bathroom reno. Under the floor tiles and weaved it right into the the shower floor too. Can’t wait until it’s done!
I want heated tiles. Hell, I want tiles period. I love that tub and would really (hint,hint) like to see a photo of the completed bathroom. Pretty please, with sugar on top?
Sonia – I took some photos tonight:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sundry/243681797/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sundry/243681773/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sundry/243681744/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sundry/243681725/
I LOVE warmed tile floors, and fully intend to put them into the bathrooms of my future home. The church I went to when I was little was heated by water pipes that went under the floor, and OMG it was heaven, especially on cold winter mornings. We would all slip off our dress shoes and put our feet on the warm floor to keep warm. So great! Hope you enjoy the hell out of those floors.
I love the burning dust smell! And gasoline. I think we’re secret twins! :) I’ve just moved to a new place with central heat/air, and I have no idea if the same smell will emit once I turn the heat on. I used to have baseboard heat which meant not only did I get the smell, but I also had the sound of the pipes warming up and ticking as they did so. It’s oddly soothing.
I loathe loathe loathe getting up when it’s dark out. It doesn’t matter how many hours of sleep I’ve had, I just can’t bring myself to jump out of bed when it’s dark. But if the sun is shining and I’ve only been in bed a little while, I will happily wake up and feel refreshed. It’s annoying. Stupid daylight savings – earth rotation – blah blah blah.
OK two things,
-I’m supah jealous of your heated tiles.
-At first all I saw was “Lawmaker wants to shoot Madonna”, and all I could think was, oh hell it’s about time someone said it!
I LOVE the tile!!!!!!! I want a fancy new bathroom!
Also, in this pic (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sundry/243681797/in/photostream/) WHERE is JB’s soap? hee!
Warmed floors in the bathroom? Dang, I’ve experienced that only once, in an uber-luxurious hotel. Ah, the Mandarin Oriental in Munich . . .
The dust smell is the bestest in the world because it means WARMTH SWEET WARMTH when the cold and the damp have set in.
I’d like to think that for every doctor in a newsworthy death who’s willing to talk to the press about the family’s reaction, there are 5 others who are all, “How do you THINK the family reacted? Now get that goddamn camera out of my face.” I suspect that may be wishful thinking, though.
I’m all for sending Madonna into space as long as we can leave her there.
Google is the best search engine
7nuoysb3ed02sxm3
Buy ambien international pharmacy….
Buy ambien online no prescription. Buy ambien online wholesale prices save up to no. Buy ambien international pharmacy. Buy ambien online cod. Buy ambien….