Things that Suck

With that last post, I got a pretty good negative vibe going. So to keep that up (and to play yin to the Scrapbook Nazi's yang), I offer the following list of stuff I hate in addition to Halloween:

1. Olives. And Beets.

2. Riding my bike 200 miles in a snow storm.

3. Green Dots.

4. People who drive while texting.

5. Clogs.

6. Costume parties.

7. The Las Vegas Strip.

8. Precious Moments figurines.

9. Fat people in lycra.

10. Boils.

11. Michael Savage.

12. Sprint.

13. Lists.

14. People who smell like soup.

15. Shoveling dog poop.

16. Firing people.

17. Snakes.

18. Back hair.

19. The Last Starfighter.

20. Broken water mains.

21. Shopping.

22. Slivers.

23. American Idol.

24. Cats.

25. Casseroles made with mushroom soup.

26. Losing.

27. Faux hawks.

28. Speeding tickets.

29. The NBA.

30. Actors who think their political opinions matter.

31. Fillet-O-Fish.

32. Pyracantha bushes.

33. Winter.

34. Clutter.

35. Being late.

36. Global warming hype.

37. Selling stock at a loss.

38. Socks with holes in the toes.

39. Crashes when you haven't saved your data.

40. Zits inside your nose.

41. That milking thing Aggies do when they sing the school song. Come to think of it, their fight song may be one of the worst "fight" songs ever.

42. Forgetting garbage day.

43. Bunko.

44. Negativity.

45. Field bindweed.

46. Candy corn.

47. Afternoon church.

How much do I hate thee? Let me count the ways.

I despise Halloween.

I hate dressing up. I really hate dressing up.

I hate that my kids dress up, and fight about which costumes they get to wear, and cry when someone else puts the one set of vampire teeth in their mouth.

I especially hate there are costumes strewn around the house for two weeks.

I hate how hyper my kids get because they're hopped up on candy.

I hate the Monster Mash, and Thriller, and Time Warp from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. (But I do like Boingo, oddly enough.)

I hate the gore, and the fake blood, and the grotesqueness of it all.

I hate that a half day of work is lost to people walking around checking out what everyone else is dressed up as.

I hate the the other half of the day is lost to handing out candy to fellow coworker's kids who come to the office in their costumes.

I hate that I have to hand out candy for several hours at night to a bunch of kids I've never seen before. They don't go to school with my kids. They don't go to church with my kids. They pour out of minivans, bussed from other neighborhoods where apparently people hand out salt water taffy and raisins instead of Milky Way bars.

I hate that my dog barks every time the door bell rings.

I hate when 16 year olds show up on my door step as if it's okay for them to still be trick or treating like they're five. Some don't even bother with costumes.

I hate buying groceries from a cashier dressed like Elvira, mistress of the dark. Or making a deposit at the bank to someone dressed like Howdy Doody.

But this year, I hate Halloween even more because I have to work near this guy:

Yes, it's a costume. And no, it is not right. Be thankful I didn't post the full frontal shot.

Some Progress...

Blue.. No, Pink.

More photos documenting the ongoing chaos...




Still eating a lot of cereal...

I Think I Just Felt the Earth Move...

With discoveries like this, I can see why we need more funding for science.

This kind of advance can only happen in America. (I am now humming the national anthem softly to myself--and, likely, so are you.)

Although, the article makes me feel sorry for all those women over 45 who's only "sanctuary for quality time" is their water closet.

One Week Later...

Since the Photo Nazi hasn't been able to do any updates on the remodel--her computer is in the shop, here are a few more photos taken with the uber phone...

Standing in the living room, looking into the kitchen. All the new 2x4s are braces for the new support beam so we can take out the older 2x4s in the middle of the photo. If all goes well, this will all be open area when we are done. If all goes poorly, we'll be looking for a new house (and selling some pretty sweet cabinets on Craig's List).



Standing in the old dining room (soon to be the den) looking into the kitchen (more of the bracing for the new support beam)...


Looking into the living room from the kitchen/dining area...


This is the second dumpster full. I'm going to miss that old banister. And the ceiling. A moment of silence, please...


Which brings me to the point of the last couple of posts. As you can see, we have no kitchen. And that means we're getting hungry. Anyone with an extra pot roast, some potatoes (I'm particularly fond of the sweet variety, baked), and perhaps a pan of brownies or Golden Graham s'mores, well, I know a very needy family right about now...

Day Three Update

So far...

We have completely filled two big dumpsters...
The walls and ceiling are mostly gone...
Dust covers everything...
Kitchen cabinets sitting on the balcony...
Garage filled with two ovens, dishwasher, and stove top...
Cereal for most meals...
Now considering redoing the roof, too...
Project appears to be getting more expensive than planned..
The whole family spends the night together crammed in the basement...

Considering family counseling.

I Guess this Means Take Out for Dinner?

On the bright side, I do know the location of a very good place for breakfast, which is kind of on the way to work.

Finally A Good Reason To Dislike the Chinese

I've recently been accused by the scrapbook nazi of being a cynic when it comes to the Olympics. I don't believe the International Olympic Committee lives up to the high standards they espouse. And that makes all the high-minded talk a little hypocritical in my book. (See 1972 US Men's Basketball team for example).

And, just in time to prove my point, we have a new reason to dislike the Chinese. Forget Tianamen Square. And Tibet. And the whole friends-with-North-Korea thing. This is serious.

Apparently the Chinese Women's Gymnastic Team isn't made up of women at all. They're little girls--too young to compete in the Olympics. One of them is so young she's still losing her baby teeth. You can read the story here.

Perhaps the Chinese should go back and read the Olympic Creed: "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well." Unless, of course, nationalistic (or is it communistic?) pride and progaganda are on the line.

Or we can just call the Olympics for what they are: two weeks of commercialized sports event where the host, Olympic committees, and sponsors use (mostly) amateur athletes to make gobs of money. Sounds like the international version of the NCAA.

Bliss...