FAIL

Note to self. Ask owner of VW to crawl on ground and take picture of underside of car before driving 2.25 hours to Rockford, IL. Thanks E, Mom and B for talking me down from the $4,000 rust filled ledge.

VW Bug...Attempt #2

Going to look at this one tomorrow in Rockford, IL. Judging by the comments the current owner made, I think this one might have more rust. This one's a '66 and I am now certain I don't want one older than a '72. The dash matters.

Me and my bad ass tomatoes

Apparently, my tomato plants are pretty bad ass. I had two separate groups of people stop and admire them this evening. Miner has been doing a good job chasing off the rabbits and squirrels, so everything is looking quite nice.


This is the biggest green tomato I could find. I have already picked a handful or two of the little yellow pear ones. But those never made it in the house.


I currently have five 8-ball squash (round, dark green zucchini) sitting in the kitchen waiting for me to make bread or ratatouille or something. I've also harvested 3/4 of the green beans. The basil is going nuts, so if you need some, call me.



Finally, a close up of my dahlia that made it back from the brink...a result of erratic watering and then its sunny spot on the west side of the deck turning shady when the neighbor's fence went up.

I'm an inefficient spray painter

I spent all day last Sunday working on spray painting this day bed that Shawna gave me to use for my guest room. It took 10 cans of spray paint. Because I can't control the size of the spray, it always felt like most of the paint just wound up on the garage floor or floating away in the air. Eh, I say, eh. The day bed I liked at Crate and Barrell was $600, so I figure $60 on spray paint was a damn good trade off. Oh, and $40 on pillows at Pier 1, and $35 for pillows and sheets at TJ Maxx.

Getting off my ass...

Miner and I walked about 1 mile this afternoon. Can still do it in under 20 minutes, but my knee and ankle are telling me I need to do this more often.

Came back and drank a bunch of water and ate a nectarine cut up with some blueberries. Feeling pretty good about myself.

VW Bug...The Search Begins

Ever since I was 15 and got my learner's permit, I have wanted an old, yellow VW convertible bug. In my dream it is yellow with a black top. This vision has morphed to include me and Miner tooling around town in it, because I think he would just love riding in a convertible.

So, I have done some bit of research on the internet, and started looking. I've also made it known to several local friends...hell, I have told damn near everyone I know. This means from time to time people stop by and say, "I saw a bug in the paper..." but so far they haven't been convertibles, or the one that was supposedly in LeClaire that I never could find...something like that.


Well, today I went to look at this one in Sterling, IL which is about an hour from here. I brought my friend Garrick along with me for the company and to help make sure I didn't make an impulse purchase of this magnitude. When I forwarded this picture to my friend most knowledgeable about VW's (Mike Quinn), he pointed out a few things to look at. A few little dings (yep, they were there, and some chips on the passenger side rear fender that were touched up poorly but no big deal, too). He also pointed out something with the rubber around the driver window...it was just "tucked in" to the channel the window goes down in, no biggie. And what appears to be a second bumper gasket on the rear bumper (driver side). It does look like there are two gaskets there from what I can tell. Almost as though the bumper on the driver side had been pushed downward or something. Not sure what to make of it. The engine looks clean, and had been recently serviced according to the owner. There was a leak of some sort that Garrick saw while we he stayed back while I took it out with the owner. Garrick didn't way anything while we were there, and I didn't notice. It shifted great and drove nicely, so no complaints there. The number one best part - no rust underneath at all. This owner as well as previous 2 kept it garaged the whole time and had not driven it in the winter at all. The other best part - the top is in great condition. The headliner has a few spots that are damaged, but not badly. The odometer doesn't work anymore apparently...so no real idea how many miles are on it, and the owner believes it's the original engine. I do know it sat for some time (several years) at one point in its life. I also know that it was once yellow and has been painted this red color that is apparently a stock Buick color or something.

So, I don't know if this one is the one for me. I want to see others...it's not like I need one RIGHT NOW (damnit!!) so I can take my time. Also, I don't know if $6700 is a good deal or not. So, in addition to my search for a bug, I am also looking for a Quad City local VW person who can help me decide what's a good buy and what isn't. I do have a good idea of what I am looking for, and what I can afford to spend, and $6700 is certainly within that budget...but I don't want to spend it if the car isn't worth it.

So, basically, the search had only just begun. I'll keep you faithful readers posted on what I find.

damn sticky door knob

Yesterday morning, when I went to grab a grocery bag out of the garage (pooper scooper) my key got stuck. In my attempts to get it unstuck, I busted out the pliers and wound up breaking the key off in the lock. Granted, that lock has been sticky for a while, but never THAT sticky.

On the way home from work, I stop to buy a new door knob. I wind up with a new knob and a electronic, keyless deadbolt. I waffled back and forth about it, because it was a lot of money...but I thought, well, I have to replace the knob anyway, and they didn't have a door knob with the same finish as the deadbolt.

This morning, I decided to get started working on it, and my neighbor Rick asked what I was up to. I told him the story and he said, "you should have taken it up to Home Hardware and seen if they could get it out." Rick's brother-in-law and sister own Home Hardware. If you can imagine a tiny little store that is jam packed full of stuff but that has EVERYTHING you could ever want from a hardware store, that's Home Hardware. (Behind the Maid Right on Division just south of Kimberly for you QCA folks.)

So, I took the lock with the broken off key in to them. It took 15 minutes and there was a little blood...but they got it out. Sent me home with a repaired lock, a can of WD40 and instructions to lube that baby up once a week for a month and to do the same with the deadbolt that is sticky, too.

So, for less than $10, I got a working door knob and a can of WD40. Which, incidentally, can be used for any number of things...including bathing your dog according to my co-worker Mike.

Thank you, Home Hardware! You are awesome!

Dog

I am a little affraid my house smells like dog. This always happens in the summer and always when we walk more frequently. Maybe I just need to bathe him more frequently...I sure as shit vaccuum often enough.

New Spectacles

Hey Ghost of John Brown...help a girl out. Don't people call eyeglasses "spectacles?" or is it spelled differently. Anyway...I got some new ones. While playing with Photo Booth to try and take some pictures of myself, I discovered some things:

1. It is really hard not to look like a wacko when you are looking at a picture of yourself while it's being taken
2. I may have a bit of a Barbara Streisand complex going on. I only like my profile from one side and not the other. Don't ask me which one.
3. My hair is looking really cute today!

Here's a couple other ones that didn't make me want to hurl.

Kinda Cruddy Day...

...that ended up being OK. I was tired, cranky and just feeling sorry for myself. Feeling a little lonely lately and really not doing well with the whole calm-assertive thing with the dog. I am more worry-nervous. So we practiced today. We just walked a mile before dinner and me going to class. That was nice. I just practiced breathing and tried to be zen about it. And I have been working on practicing commands with Miner...even if I don't need him to sit, I make him sit. So, whenever there was a house with nice flower beds, I made him sit, and I just kind of studdied what they had in the flower bed and how it was edged and all. It was actually relaxing.

I am very much in a knowing what I need to do to feel better but not getting off my ass and doing it sort of period right now. Eh.

Class was good. We talked about our StrengthsFinder results. I'll post more about that some other time.

My Cousin Stephanie is Super Talented

My cousin Steph and her husband Matt were visiting Erin and John this week in Honolulu. She took some amazing photos while there. Frankly, all the photos she takes are great!!