Saturday, October 8
Oct. 9th, 2022 02:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gottawonderToday I am grateful for:
Lovely weather. The nights are getting a lot colder, but the days are staying quite pleasant.
My Sweetie and I went to the city. Not really for fun, more because...you guessed it. We need building materials.
We did not make it into the city early enough to make it to the art gallery. That was disappointing.
We got linoleum for the spare bedroom downstairs. I don't know if I really like the pattern I got. It is meant to look like planks, but it might be too rustic. I just get frustrated that he pretty much leaves the decisions to me, but we always go to the discount store, and there is only so much selection there, a lot of it similar.
There is just this feeling after a while, of "we have to make a decision right now, out of the limited choices, cheaper is better, and if you can't make a decision today, you know what that means? We'll do it all again the next time I'm home". So, you just say "the hell with it. That stuff right there will be fine. I don't care anymore." And that will be the flooring for the next 20 years whether I like it or not.
If I don't make a choice today, you know what? Then either I'm right back there staring at discount lino again the next time he's home, or we lose momentum on that room, and it sits unfinished.
We popped in at the Habitat for Humanity because it was on our path. They sell all kinds of things.
I found a light weight vacuum cleaner that was not cheap for being second hand, but looked to be nearly new. it worked when we plugged it in at the store. Since I thought it was pricey, I asked if they would come down a bit, and they did. It was STILL pricey, but I thought it might be worth it.
I've been using a shop vac, but it doesn't have a rotating head. Then I was using a small, hand held unit with a head, meant more for small clean ups, but that is just tedious. I am hoping that a proper vacuum will mean I actually try to keep the rugs cleaner.
We popped into the art store, and I got some acrylics to try pouring, but managed to forget to buy silicone, which is apparently what makes it all work. How did I forget that?
We went to Home Depot to look at tiles for the downstairs bathroom, and that ended up burning me right out with frustration. Every kind of tile (displayed on the wall) that I liked, my husband looked at it and said how hard that kind of tile would be to work on the four inch edge we need to tile. The tiles all come in sheets about 12 inches square. Since they would need to be cut to four inches wide, that means that you are cutting through some of the tiles, and needing to fill in spaces on the edge in some cases, and in many cases the pattern would not look right if you cut through part of it. You couldn't get herringbone to be symmetrical, for example.
There was ONE tile pattern that seemed simple enough to work, but it was really bland. I was just getting angry, because this is staring to feel like the lino. Just pick something for the sake of picking it. Get something that will be "okay" just so we can move on.
I really don't want to just go with something thoroughly boring. So, after almost an hour of deliberation (and just being told why it wouldn't work over and over again), I said enough for today.
I know we can try again, but I don't want to anymore. This is the second time we have come in to look for tile and gone home empty handed. You know what that means? Another day like this the next time he comes home.
We did get baseboard, which, thank the gods I was able to just yell "I don't care, the simplest thing possible so it doesn't collect dust", and that was good enough.
We ate in town, at a healthy chain restaurant. It's pretty good.
I tried to get silicone for the acrylic pour at the Micheal's on the way out of the city, since the art store would be closed, and my frustration made it just worse. Since I was already on the brink of strangling the next person who made my life more complicated, the unfortunate person at the store who knew nothing about the silicone or acrylic pouring got nothing but disdain from me. So I said forget it.
Then, she couldn't figure out how to give me the 40% off coupon that was happening today (I am a Micheal's member, and had one emailed to me. I normally don't need to print it off and give it to a clerk, the one I usually go to just gives me the discount when the look up my account, don't know why this person couldn't do that), so she got more disdain from me. So I said fine, don't worry about the coupon.
I normally treat people who work retail much nicer than this person, but she just couldn't answer any of my questions, not even to tell me if they carried that product or not. Couldn't give me the coupon. Maybe none of it was her fault, but I am just tired of people who work in stores and don't know anything about what they sell. We get that all the time trying to buy materials for the house.
After I've had some time to decompress, I have to admit, these are still not actual "problems", just something to work through. Trying to find tile is tedious, but only that. Sometimes there is too much pressure on something so...minor, as far as life is concerned.
I am still very grateful that we are making progress, and that I can see big changes down stairs. I'm grateful that my Sweetie is doing a lot to move things along when he is home, and that we ARE making trips to buy materials together so that he can be part of the process too.
I guess I just would like more time for simple things at some point. To go to the city for fun, not always "business".
We came home and watched a pretty old movie called "Clue" based on the board game, with a young Tim Curry in it. It was a lot of fun, and Tim was amazing in it.
I mucked around with the acrylics anyhow, and tried to use a silicone spray lubricant to get the effect I wanted. It didn't really work, only kind of.
I learned that for a few years, France used decimalized days.
"Decimal time is the representation of the time of day using units which are decimally related. This term is often used specifically to refer to the time system used in France for a few years beginning in 1792 during the French Revolution, which divided the day into 10 decimal hours, each decimal hour into 100 decimal minutes and each decimal minute into 100 decimal seconds (100000 decimal seconds per day), as opposed to the more familiar UTC time standard, which divides the day into 24 hours, each hour into 60 minutes and each minute into 60 seconds (86400 SI seconds per day)."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal_time
I'm not sure how that would work with the real meaning of a year, which is one Earth orbit around the Sun, which presumably isn't neatly divisible into base ten.
Lovely weather. The nights are getting a lot colder, but the days are staying quite pleasant.
My Sweetie and I went to the city. Not really for fun, more because...you guessed it. We need building materials.
We did not make it into the city early enough to make it to the art gallery. That was disappointing.
We got linoleum for the spare bedroom downstairs. I don't know if I really like the pattern I got. It is meant to look like planks, but it might be too rustic. I just get frustrated that he pretty much leaves the decisions to me, but we always go to the discount store, and there is only so much selection there, a lot of it similar.
There is just this feeling after a while, of "we have to make a decision right now, out of the limited choices, cheaper is better, and if you can't make a decision today, you know what that means? We'll do it all again the next time I'm home". So, you just say "the hell with it. That stuff right there will be fine. I don't care anymore." And that will be the flooring for the next 20 years whether I like it or not.
If I don't make a choice today, you know what? Then either I'm right back there staring at discount lino again the next time he's home, or we lose momentum on that room, and it sits unfinished.
We popped in at the Habitat for Humanity because it was on our path. They sell all kinds of things.
I found a light weight vacuum cleaner that was not cheap for being second hand, but looked to be nearly new. it worked when we plugged it in at the store. Since I thought it was pricey, I asked if they would come down a bit, and they did. It was STILL pricey, but I thought it might be worth it.
I've been using a shop vac, but it doesn't have a rotating head. Then I was using a small, hand held unit with a head, meant more for small clean ups, but that is just tedious. I am hoping that a proper vacuum will mean I actually try to keep the rugs cleaner.
We popped into the art store, and I got some acrylics to try pouring, but managed to forget to buy silicone, which is apparently what makes it all work. How did I forget that?
We went to Home Depot to look at tiles for the downstairs bathroom, and that ended up burning me right out with frustration. Every kind of tile (displayed on the wall) that I liked, my husband looked at it and said how hard that kind of tile would be to work on the four inch edge we need to tile. The tiles all come in sheets about 12 inches square. Since they would need to be cut to four inches wide, that means that you are cutting through some of the tiles, and needing to fill in spaces on the edge in some cases, and in many cases the pattern would not look right if you cut through part of it. You couldn't get herringbone to be symmetrical, for example.
There was ONE tile pattern that seemed simple enough to work, but it was really bland. I was just getting angry, because this is staring to feel like the lino. Just pick something for the sake of picking it. Get something that will be "okay" just so we can move on.
I really don't want to just go with something thoroughly boring. So, after almost an hour of deliberation (and just being told why it wouldn't work over and over again), I said enough for today.
I know we can try again, but I don't want to anymore. This is the second time we have come in to look for tile and gone home empty handed. You know what that means? Another day like this the next time he comes home.
We did get baseboard, which, thank the gods I was able to just yell "I don't care, the simplest thing possible so it doesn't collect dust", and that was good enough.
We ate in town, at a healthy chain restaurant. It's pretty good.
I tried to get silicone for the acrylic pour at the Micheal's on the way out of the city, since the art store would be closed, and my frustration made it just worse. Since I was already on the brink of strangling the next person who made my life more complicated, the unfortunate person at the store who knew nothing about the silicone or acrylic pouring got nothing but disdain from me. So I said forget it.
Then, she couldn't figure out how to give me the 40% off coupon that was happening today (I am a Micheal's member, and had one emailed to me. I normally don't need to print it off and give it to a clerk, the one I usually go to just gives me the discount when the look up my account, don't know why this person couldn't do that), so she got more disdain from me. So I said fine, don't worry about the coupon.
I normally treat people who work retail much nicer than this person, but she just couldn't answer any of my questions, not even to tell me if they carried that product or not. Couldn't give me the coupon. Maybe none of it was her fault, but I am just tired of people who work in stores and don't know anything about what they sell. We get that all the time trying to buy materials for the house.
After I've had some time to decompress, I have to admit, these are still not actual "problems", just something to work through. Trying to find tile is tedious, but only that. Sometimes there is too much pressure on something so...minor, as far as life is concerned.
I am still very grateful that we are making progress, and that I can see big changes down stairs. I'm grateful that my Sweetie is doing a lot to move things along when he is home, and that we ARE making trips to buy materials together so that he can be part of the process too.
I guess I just would like more time for simple things at some point. To go to the city for fun, not always "business".
We came home and watched a pretty old movie called "Clue" based on the board game, with a young Tim Curry in it. It was a lot of fun, and Tim was amazing in it.
I mucked around with the acrylics anyhow, and tried to use a silicone spray lubricant to get the effect I wanted. It didn't really work, only kind of.
I learned that for a few years, France used decimalized days.
"Decimal time is the representation of the time of day using units which are decimally related. This term is often used specifically to refer to the time system used in France for a few years beginning in 1792 during the French Revolution, which divided the day into 10 decimal hours, each decimal hour into 100 decimal minutes and each decimal minute into 100 decimal seconds (100000 decimal seconds per day), as opposed to the more familiar UTC time standard, which divides the day into 24 hours, each hour into 60 minutes and each minute into 60 seconds (86400 SI seconds per day)."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal_time
I'm not sure how that would work with the real meaning of a year, which is one Earth orbit around the Sun, which presumably isn't neatly divisible into base ten.
no subject
Date: 2022-10-10 07:13 am (UTC)I'm stuck picking a vintage-y tile for the basement bawth and I've spent a long time searching for something that doesn't look like the bargain shelves at Home Depot, or the bland inoffensive cheap stuff the flippers buy.
After Thanksgiving, I'll look in earnest.
There was a sale at the vacuum place. I quickly decided on the "entry level" cordless model, the White Lotus, as recommended. It was not inexpensive. There are cheaper options. I am happy with my purchase, and immediately used the White Lotus on the stairs, filling it full of hair and dust in three minutes.
I've spent money lately, but it balances against spending virtually nothing for a long time.
no subject
Date: 2022-10-10 08:51 am (UTC)Seriously, if you are ever looking for lino, that is the place to go! Maybe less so if you wanted to do your whole house in one pattern, but perfect for a room. They have remnant pieces that are sometimes under two dollars per square foot, very good quality, and easy to find pieces big enough for a room say, anything under 15 by 12 (the stock width of a roll is either 12 feet, or 13'2). I have seen remnant pieces as big as 19 feet by 13'2, and nice patterns. You just have a lot less selection than if you were buying from a dedicated flooring store, and you can't go back later to get more of the same pattern for certain. It's literally called "End of the Roll".
I guess it just feels like a lot of pressure to go there to pick out a pattern. Sometimes there are perfect choices, sometimes just...choices.
I know that if there was really nothing there at all that I liked, we would leave and try again in a few weeks, but then you know what, I get tired of doing that. I get tired of looking at more patterns and making those decisions again.
The lino we ended up getting for that bedroom is really nice quality, and a nearly unbeatable price. The pattern IS nice, but part of me thinks it might be too rustic. The other lino I saw either felt like it belonged in an a kitchen, or a bathroom. Nothing really seemed right for a bedroom, but I guess we'll see.
It won't be awful, but there is a part of me that wishes I had the time and the money to pick something I felt more sure about.
I suppose one thing I could do, if I really wanted to, is to put down an area rug in that room, if I really disliked the lino. Between that and a bed, most of it would be covered.
Since the area we have to cover in the bathroom with tile is small, we were not going to worry about price for that. A nice place for a little splurge. What was frustrating, is that BECAUSE the area is small, you would end up needing to cut the tiles in such a way that you would lose the pattern's effect. Or, they would not be easily cut because of fussy shapes. That was what was driving me crazy. Everything I liked, you could tell after short examination that it wouldn't work. I really wanted something interesting, since we had the chance, but it was starting to look like the best options were all boring with little pattern.
So, we may go back to the store we were at the first time, and just get the pattern we liked.
As for the little vacuum, I tried it when we got home and it worked quite well. Doing a little research and it seems to be a reputable brand (though I am unfamiliar with it). For what we paid, if we get a few years out of it that would be fair. I know it is a bit risky to buy a used vacuum, but we could have returned it for in store credit if it didn't work.
I agree with you though, there ARE times when you just spend the money. I went ahead and got really good lenses for my glasses this time, since I tend to wear them for several years. Hopefully my prescription will stay stable for a while.
no subject
Date: 2022-10-10 06:38 pm (UTC)The next floor will be ceramic tile, probably mosaic tile. It's a basement and doesn't have to be extra luxe or chic - but I think a solid ceramic will be a good idea. (And then, maybe that Kinstugi'd toilet with the lid that slams can be replace at the same time.)
Good thing the little vacuum is working!
no subject
Date: 2022-10-10 09:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-10-11 05:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-10-11 05:58 am (UTC)