Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Robots Vs. Zombies

My friends and I have have debated this topic in the past. It is a conundrum with logical arguments that cannot be answered until after the fact. It is kind of like discussing who should be picked second in a fantasy football draft. There is no real correct answer until after the season is over.

I am taking a break for a few days so in my absence I will Leave you with this question.

In the future, when the world ends in an apocolyptic war, who wins in a fight between zombies and robots?

Discuss amongst yourselves. I look forward to reading everyone's arguments.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Predicting a Headache

You know there is a headache, a backache, a pain in the ass, as well as a ton of aggravation in your future when you turn on the DVR to check that you recorded last night's season premiere of Mad Men and find that some else also recorded an episode of "Bathroom Renovations" from the DIY network.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Archaeology

A small leak in our laundry tub has begat me re-doing the floors in our laundry room and our powder room.

The plumber came out and removed the old tub/sink and I removed the old floor using a hammer and a chisel/scraper thing. I wanted to put the new floor down under the new sink/tub while the basin was gone. I also had to remove the ugly faux tile from the wall.

As with all begats projects, it was not that simple. I must have used 20 tools and 30 curse words for that little space under the sink.


You can see in the second picture here the new floor and new tub.
I then had to tackle the rest of the floor in the room. Lauren, who should have her own home improvement show, told me to use an iron and a wet towel to heat up the tiles. It worked like a charm. It made the whole process so much easier.

I felt like an Archaeologist, discovering layer upon layer of the past. As you can see in the bottom half of the picture (below) the pale octagon patterned tile that is circa 1980s. The orange tile that is underneath it is definitely from the early 1970s or as some scientists call it the Bradybunchzoic period.

And in this last picture (the yellow tile) you can see the original asbestos tiles from when the house was built in the 1960s. If you look closely at the wall you can see the yellow flower wall paper that I have not been able put into a time period but I am sending out for carbon dating.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Guest Post

Today I did a guest post for Nicki over at I, Wright. Go and check it out.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Plagiarism

My next door neighbor is a good a guy. Although we are a generation or two apart, I enjoy his company. We help each other out with various home projects. Like, if I need a precision cut of wood or some advice regarding a specific tool or assistance with an analytical problem I ask him for help. If he needs something heavy carried, he asks me.

One day I was helping him move some equipment to his backyard which he needed to landscape the area around his pool and perfectly cared for garden railway. He explained that he needed to do something or other to the pool because his homeowner insurance required the change.

"So I have to reface this area." He explained.

"Why?" I asked.

"Well the insurance company considers this" he said pointing to the pool and railway, "an attractive nuisance."

Following the comedy trail and the perfect set up I said, "Oh, just like my wife."

He laughed.

A couple of weeks later, Lauren, my neighbor, and I were chatting and he was explaining to Lauren the changes he made. He used the phrase 'attractive nuisance' again. He stopped himself and told Lauren about the joke I made, which I already told her.

He turned to me and said, "I use that joke all the time now with my family or friends."

We laughed.

I was kind of happy that he was using some of my material. But after thinking about it for a bit, I have to wonder if he is telling his family and friends that his wife is an 'attractive nuisance' or is he saying that he thinks Lauren is the 'attractive nuisance'.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

New Pet





We haven't named it yet. Any suggestions?

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

I've been duped

Last week, Lauren asked me to take the Maxfield and Wyatt to either Lowe's or Home Depot for the kids workshops they hold on Saturday mornings.

I arrived at the Lowe's promptly at 10 AM. I checked in with the customer service center and went through the store, to the back, where they hold the kids workshops. There were already a few parents and their children waiting in the back. A gentleman wearing the maroon apron with a Lowe's logo asked me if I was there for the kids workshop.

"Yes." I replied.

"Well, you are at the right spot." He said.

"Good. I am hoping that you can get this one" I said, pointing to Max, "to eat his vegetables and the shorter one is in his terrible twos, so I am hoping you can fix that."

The guy just stared at me. He then pointed to a box filled with small wooden go-cart kits and hammers and safety goggles.

"Ooohhhh." I said. "By kids workshops, you mean that the kids get to build stuff. Here I thought it meant you were going to fix my kids."

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Happy Anniversary

Go to my wife's blog, I think I need to blame the aliens (3rd paragraph last sentence).

Friday, July 11, 2008

Lawn Circles

I made the joke with this post about a UFO landing near Lauren. Well, yesterday, I discovered this Lawn Circle in my backyard. I am pretty sure that it was caused by a small scouting ship looking to abduct someone from my house (keeping my fingers crossed they want the cats and the dog and if they take the cats they have to take the litter box as well).



Some people may say that the circle was caused by my lack of experience with my Scotts' broadcast spreader and how much Weed and Feed I used. But seeing that the lawn circle is right next to the path that leads to my back porch I am thinking the UFO landed right there for easy access to back door. Its eerie.

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Blogging Milestone

Some time this past week, one of the stat counters I use to track visits to Poop and Boogies registered that this here blog had its 500,000 page view. Since March of 2005 this blog has been viewed half a million times. I know that that number is nothing compared to what other blogs get, but it made me smile to see that number on the site meter.

One of the tracker services I use has a map that shows where certain visits come from. Sometimes I click on the pushpin icons to see "who" is visiting. I am always curious to see where they are from. I get visists from the offices of Dupont, USA Today, The Department of Justice, The State of Texas Attorney's General Office, Nicholas Spark's agent's office (psst, call me) LaSalle University, The US Post Office and various other businesses.

Some of the pushpins I can tell are from other bloggers. I see one from Portsmouth VA I immediatley think it is Bogart. I see a push pin from Denver I think it must be GreebleMonkey. If I see one in DC I think it must be Cat or RudeCactus. The pushpin from Rome has got to be the Pope, because I am sure one day he was doing some ego surfing and was googling his name and what not and he fat fingered the keyboard and accidentally typed "poop" and found my blog and now he is a regular reader.

I have not reached 500 K visits yet (just pageviews) which is my next goal. Hell, I may be reading my stats all wrong but a half million hits by the end of the year would be pretty cool. I know there are people out there that link this site over the past few years and I want to say thank you to them. I really do appreciate it.

I do not do a blogroll but, every now and then, I list some of the blogs I am currently enjoying.
Besides the ones I mentioned above here are some of my current reads.

A Year Here and Year There , Eclectic, Gigglepotamus, Bossy, Klog, Raising the Boys, Rattling the Kettle , Cynical Dad, Creative Type Dad, April, The Donovan Clan, Practically Wisdom, Mindy.


I want to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who stops by here. I am always amazed at how people have found this site. I know it is difficult to remember what brought you here but if you could leave a comment and tell me how you found me, where are you on my pushpin map I would love it.

And again Thank You.


Monday, July 07, 2008

Awkward recipe

Lauren makes an awesome anti-pasta salad. I was sent out to pick up some of the ingredients so she could make it for our 4th of July celebration.

When I got home from the store she pointed out that I picked up the wrong type of the main ingredient.

I went back to the store to return the item. This is the conversation I had with the guy behind the deli counter.

"I need to return this. My wife said I picked up the wrong thing for her recipe."

"Okay. What does your wife need?"

"She needs a harder salami. Apparently the one I got is too soft."

He turned red. So did I.

"What's the difference between a hard salami and soft salami?" I asked.

"Are you setting me up for a joke?"

"No. I looked out here." I said pointing to the prepackaged meats in the aisle."But they are all the same brand."

I then paused and composed myself and accepted what I had to ask. "Do you have hard salami back there?"

He paused and composed himself and then answered. "Yes. How much hard salami does your wife need?"

"I don't know. Can I see it?"

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Ring

My mom was and is very proud of her high school. Go Cardinal Dougherty Cardinals. Seriously they are the Cardinal's Cardinals. That is like having General MacArthur High School Generals. Redundant somewhat.

When my mom got married, she gave her class ring to her father. In the 50's this was some type of tradition (as was getting class rings and knowing your high school fight song and pep rallies). She was his odlest child and the first to get married. The idea being that she would replace her class ring with her wedding ring.

I can picture my Pop-Pop asking her, "Barbara, what am I supposed to do with this?"

"You are supposed to wear it dad. It will indicate that your daughter is married."

My grandfather's response was something like, "Barbara, I have ten daughters, if each one gets married I will have to wear ten class rings. I can't do that."

But my grandfather promised to hold onto the ring for my mom. Over the years the ring disappeared. Misplaced and forgotten. But not by my mom. Every now and then she would ask her father if he still had it. He did not know where it was.

Misplaced and forgotten.

My grandfather died 6 years ago. His wife, my Mom-Mom died two years ago. My aunt, who lived with them and cared for them, was responsible for settling their affairs. Slowly but surely she made sure that their final wishes were handled. She took her time removing their belongings, giving some items to charity and also making sure that each of their twelve children received the mementos that they each wanted.

Settling the affairs of two people who lived into their late 70's/early 80's, who had twelve kids and 37 grand children, and 30 plus great grand children, takes some time. The last thing my aunt needed to do was to clean out the basement of all my grandfather's tools. He had quite the collection. My aunt scheduled an "open house" for February 2008 for all of Pop Pop's grandchildren to come and take any tools they wanted.

A bunch of the grandkids and many of my siblings showed up to take various gadgets and tools. My siblings and I were still mourning the passing of my dad and the "open house" provided a good distraction. My grandfather was very organized and had multiple light switches and plates and outlet covers and connecters still in their orginal packages. He had every type of screw, nail, nuts, and bolts in little containers each marked with its contents. There was a ton of stuff.

My brother Jim eyed a clear container that was not makred and that was packed with fabric of some kind. He asked my aunt if he could open it and she said yes. Inside the container were old boy scout and girl scout patches that my aunts and uncles had all received. At the bottom of the container, wrapped in a patch, was my mom's class ring.

My dad, my mom's husband of 44 years, had died a month before. It was a very trying time for my mom. As the wedding vows go "til death do us part" and she was no longer a wife but a widow. She was no longer married. My brother Jim brought the class ring to my mom. She was thrilled. Like the ring's shape, it had come back full circle.

My grandfather, my mom's dad, did not misplace the ring. It was not forgotten. He was waiting for the right time to return the ring to my mom.

His timing was perfect.


My mom's birthday is July 4th. Happy Birthday Mom. I love you.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

UFO

Lauren totally unaware that a UFO just landed behind her.