I guess I watch too many home improvement shows - you know 'Tool Belt Diva', 'Trading Spaces'- shows like these designed to make you feel like you can whip out some tools, drywall a room and refinish your hardwood floors in a day.
Before I tell you the great vacuum fire story of '08, here's a little background...
1) 2007/2008 has been the year of major purchases: we have had to replace a lot of appliances because they quit working - we bought a fridge, a stove, new washer/dryer, new sunglasses - you know...vital stuff to keep your house working.
2) When I got married, I got a valuable piece of advice from woman who had been married for 30 years. She said that whenever she wanted something done in her house (say hanging a curtain rod) and her husband wasn't doing it, she would go grab the biggest tool in the garage (say a power drill)and start just drilling big holes in the wall until her husband got up and did the job...keep that in the holster, girls, it works!
3) We have 3 dogs (all named after Presidents...Jackson, Teddy and Madison). Jackson is a chow/german shepard and if you didn't know Spring or Fall was on the way, you would know by the shedding of his coat. Chows have a lot of hair - and Jackson sheds in clumps. Huge clumps all over my tan carpet....
So, we have a vacuum that has been doing a lot of duty picking up huge clumps of dog hair and all the stuff little Madison brings into the house to chew up from the yard. It's not an expensive vacuum, but it's worked hard and I faithfully replace the bag and hoses to keep it going. The other night I changed the bag and started vacuuming. It made a funny noise, but hey, you just keep going, right? It decided to stop working so I flipped it over and discovered a bunch of gunk wrapped around the roller. I got my sewing scissors out, cleaned out the stuff, and plugged it back in to marvel at my work. But it didn't go - the motor sounded stuck. I gave up and went to bed.
The next day I decided I was going to tackle this project again - after all, my carpet looked like crap and I watch the shows...I can do this, right? Yeah...with Randy looking on, I got the phillips head screwdriver and took the bottom off the vacuum. Looking like I knew what I was doing, I messed with the belt and blew some dirt off the roller and pronounced it fixed! I plugged it in preparing to wow my husband - and the damn thing started smoking. Now, if I were my mothers' daughter, I would tell you that flames were shooting out and I bravely smothered the fire and saved my house from ruin. Except the real story went like this:
Randy - Take that outside now - not on the deck - on the cement in case it bursts into flames.
Me - Let me unplug it
Randy - NOW
Me - I'm going (I took it out front and put it on the cement walkway)
Randy - For future reference, if a motor doesn't want to turn, don't make it
Me - I was trying to save us money
Randy - Nice work - go get a new vacuum
The house was filled with a putrid rubber smell all night and I froze my butt off with all the windows open - my punishment for my foray into home improvement. The story of me buying two vacuums the next day because the first one I bought didn't suck is for another day...
I think I'm going to stick to just watching the home improvement shows and only practicing the stuff I learn on "What Not To Wear"...
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
******UPDATES*****BREAKING NEWS*****
Hello Sports Fans! Well, after a little surgery and lots of OT at work, here, finally is a post...
We went to Vancouver BC to see the Tips take on the Giants last weekend (March 8th). Great game, good hosts - I spilled a diet coke on some guy and he didn't berate me like Hockey Tom and Leo did - but we lost. Giants are a great team.
Finally, Finally, hockey again in Everett! Wednesday was a lot of fun and Hockey Tom was back from his crafting expo and Leo was back from serving the homeless. Both were in rare form and it was a great...but we lost to Tri-Cities (the place that sucks so bad they had to throw 3 cities into the mix to make it sound appealing). I had a personal heckler, but KIRO Dave had my back!
Friday saw Seattle come to town - have I mentioned how much I dispise the T-Chicks? Kyle Beach was a huge disappointment...I think he cost us home ice advantage in the playoffs. Even my buddie Albie has sworn never to wear his #12 jersey anymore...
But here's the ***BREAKING NEWS***:
I was in line for the private restroom (Leo threw an elbow and edged his way in before me - and LEFT THE SEAT UP AGAIN). While in line, a nice lady who sits right in front of the Foghorn's came up and told me that "Margo" (Mrs. Foghorn) would probably berate her for talking to me but that the Foghorns were MOVING TO ANOTHER SECTION ACROSS THE ICE. Yeah! Even this nice couple were excited to be getting rid of the trash in our section!
Update: Good triumphs over evil! Even this really nice lady was excited that they were moving! Take that Foghorns! Never underestimate the power of a pissed off blonde!
We went to Vancouver BC to see the Tips take on the Giants last weekend (March 8th). Great game, good hosts - I spilled a diet coke on some guy and he didn't berate me like Hockey Tom and Leo did - but we lost. Giants are a great team.
Finally, Finally, hockey again in Everett! Wednesday was a lot of fun and Hockey Tom was back from his crafting expo and Leo was back from serving the homeless. Both were in rare form and it was a great...but we lost to Tri-Cities (the place that sucks so bad they had to throw 3 cities into the mix to make it sound appealing). I had a personal heckler, but KIRO Dave had my back!
Friday saw Seattle come to town - have I mentioned how much I dispise the T-Chicks? Kyle Beach was a huge disappointment...I think he cost us home ice advantage in the playoffs. Even my buddie Albie has sworn never to wear his #12 jersey anymore...
But here's the ***BREAKING NEWS***:
I was in line for the private restroom (Leo threw an elbow and edged his way in before me - and LEFT THE SEAT UP AGAIN). While in line, a nice lady who sits right in front of the Foghorn's came up and told me that "Margo" (Mrs. Foghorn) would probably berate her for talking to me but that the Foghorns were MOVING TO ANOTHER SECTION ACROSS THE ICE. Yeah! Even this nice couple were excited to be getting rid of the trash in our section!
Update: Good triumphs over evil! Even this really nice lady was excited that they were moving! Take that Foghorns! Never underestimate the power of a pissed off blonde!
Monday, March 3, 2008
Weekend Wrap Up
Hello Sports Fans - here'a recap of this weekend.
Friday evening the Tips beat Seattle - YAY! SO nice to shut those stupid fans up! Leland Irving tied the WHL record for shut-outs by a goalie! As far as Section 119 goes - Hockey Tom was MIA. Leo reports that he was at a "Crafting and Knitting Expo" in LA - I'm on the trail of this story and going to get to the bottom of it...However, even though Hockey Tom was gone, Leo did his boy proud and left the seat up in the family restroom outside of 119.
Saturday evening started out with dinner at a Mexican Restaurant with the 119'ers. Lots of fun. You'd think that would have been the highlight of the evening, but alas, more fun was to be had in 119.
Hockey Tom and Leo were both MIA for this game (Leo reports he was 'serving the homeless' at a soup kitchen). Their seats were taken by a very funny co-worker of Leo's who proceeded to tell the group about Leo at work. Then Curly Sue brought some 'puck bunny' to the game. Let me say this - I would never let my daughter leave the house dressed like these little girls. And I would NEVER let my daughter wear so much perfume that everyone moved up to the top row of 119 just to get away from the smell.
After the row shuffles and movement, the conversation turned to 'Life in the 80's' with a few of us reliving old times and trends. Very funny stuff. Adam did his best gay impression and Kim tried to act like she didn't do half the stuff we know she did because we all did it!
Meanwhile - the game was horrible - we didn't deserve to win and it was amazing that we did. Oh yeah, Mrs. Foghorn bought some horribly tacky Tips framed memorabilia that was huge. I guess it will look nice next to her Velvet Elvis painting in the trailer...
Friday evening the Tips beat Seattle - YAY! SO nice to shut those stupid fans up! Leland Irving tied the WHL record for shut-outs by a goalie! As far as Section 119 goes - Hockey Tom was MIA. Leo reports that he was at a "Crafting and Knitting Expo" in LA - I'm on the trail of this story and going to get to the bottom of it...However, even though Hockey Tom was gone, Leo did his boy proud and left the seat up in the family restroom outside of 119.
Saturday evening started out with dinner at a Mexican Restaurant with the 119'ers. Lots of fun. You'd think that would have been the highlight of the evening, but alas, more fun was to be had in 119.
Hockey Tom and Leo were both MIA for this game (Leo reports he was 'serving the homeless' at a soup kitchen). Their seats were taken by a very funny co-worker of Leo's who proceeded to tell the group about Leo at work. Then Curly Sue brought some 'puck bunny' to the game. Let me say this - I would never let my daughter leave the house dressed like these little girls. And I would NEVER let my daughter wear so much perfume that everyone moved up to the top row of 119 just to get away from the smell.
After the row shuffles and movement, the conversation turned to 'Life in the 80's' with a few of us reliving old times and trends. Very funny stuff. Adam did his best gay impression and Kim tried to act like she didn't do half the stuff we know she did because we all did it!
Meanwhile - the game was horrible - we didn't deserve to win and it was amazing that we did. Oh yeah, Mrs. Foghorn bought some horribly tacky Tips framed memorabilia that was huge. I guess it will look nice next to her Velvet Elvis painting in the trailer...
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