So, kinda a once in a lifetime thing. HMNS's corpse flower, Lois, is on the brink of blooming and you can follow her progress here [link] and watch it happen here [link]

Oh that's a good idea. Or Sunset Park.

For sure.

Gas is now ON!

whoot! I can leave the house is MY NEW CAR!

I can haz new refrigerator! Shiny and clean and not dripping water all over the floor.

I smelled a corpse flower a few years ago in DC. Stinky for sure, and very dramatically huge.

Dammit. I had written out a whole long response on sarameg's project, and it got eaten. And I closed my links. Lemme sum up: EPA provides guidance on working with lead paint, which sarameg may have already seen - [link] (PSA for all - new EPA regs recently went into effect requiring contractors working on lead paint to be certified and to inform homeowners of certain info). Obviously, keep children, pets, and pregnant ladies away from the work. I think reusing dropcloths would risk creating lead dust. Overall, by choosing to refinish instead of replace, sarameg is "getting" a higher-quality wood than she would get new and averting all the waste (fuel, water, habitat destruction, power) involved in harvesting, shipping, and processing - by which I'm trying to say that no matter what dropcloth she uses, it's still a massive net win.

The only waste reduction strategy I can think of, and it's more closing the loop/choosing products carefully than reducing, would be to use a thick, recycled content plastic sheet and layer recycled paper over it - dispose of the paper daily but reuse the plastic. But I don't know how that would work, how available those types of materials are to you, sarameg, and whether it would cost significantly more.

Anyway. My two cents.

I can leave the house is MY NEW CAR!

Mobile home, msbelle?

oh sure mock the excited sleep-deprived ladies type-o. IN my new car IN IN IN. I will play the radio loudly and make vroom vroom noises as I pass people.

OK, I finally feel like I really work here. I saw multiple people I know in the cafeteria just now and came back to a voicemail! Possibly my second voicemail, but close enough.

My garage door open has been acting hinky lately. Takes a few tries to get the door to close regardless of if I'm using the remote or the wired button. I have had a nagging thought in my head to put in a maintenance order with property management, but I keep forgetting.

Last night property management called ME, asking if I was having problems with my garage door. Aparently someone in my building complained but didn't know which garage was making the extra noise, so they were calling the other 7 apartments to figure it out. I hope this means they replace the opener instead of just fixing it again. I swear it has been louder and less reliable since the coil broke and they "fixed" it a couple of months ago.

In other family news - KCD is officially living with his girlfriend now. Kelly met her last night and enjoyed her self much more than expected. Tonight we are all going out to dinner together - KCD, the gf, her son, another friend of theirs, CJ, Kelly, and me. Should be interesting.

A gothy animal LOL for Jilli--arachnaphobe-safe, no worries.

[link]

assuming she likes real bats, of course.