The Beatles present their incredible new album “Abbott Road” with these brand new tracks:
Baby You Can’t Find My Car
I Don’na Feel My Hand
Here Comes the Snow
Help
While My Snow Shovel Gently Weeps
The Long and Buried Road
I Saw Her Standing There, Then I Didn’t
I’m Going Nowhere Man
We Can Dig It Out
Here Comes the Snow (reprise)
Dinner at Lombardi’s in Mill Creek.
One of the more brain-dead ideas builders have had is the use of 2×4 lumber in the expansion joints of concrete driveways. It is only a matter of time before it begins to rot, which attracts ants and termites, who find the smorgasbord you call a “house” very quickly after they’ve gotten their fill of your driveway.
The wood in our driveway was in an advanced state of rot when we bought the house last year, and I knew I would have to do something about it soon. I was determined to find a no-maintenance (or at least low-maintenance) solution, and I found a nifty product called SlabGasket, which is just what the doctor ordered!
There is a free sample pack available on Amazon, so you can be certain of the size and color you need before you order. It comes shipped from Texas (Yes! An actual product made in the U.S.!) in 50′ rolls, and additional pieces can be ordered cut to length. I phoned my order in on Wednesday, and FedEx delivered it on Saturday.
It is rugged and heavy extruded vinyl, yet cuts easily with a utility knife. The only other tool you need is a rubber mallet.
I ripped out all of the wood in our driveway and the walkway leading to the front door, power washed the debris out of the gaps, and filled the gaps in with pea gravel to a 2″ depth. The gravel is important, because it provides a foundation for the SlabGasket, which could otherwise be driven down as deep as the gap is – usually 4″ in a typical driveway. As our entire driveway seems to be hiding a network of tree roots, I also sprinkled copper sulfate into the gaps to discourage further root growth.
The installation was easy, I simply pressed it into place by aligning it with the gap and stepping on it, then I followed up by hammering it all level with a mallet and a short piece of 2×4 as a caul.
It’s not cheap. 65′ of 1-5/8″ wide gray, and 30′ of 3/4″ wide gray set us back $450, but it is a no-maintenance answer to an ignorant building practice that needed to be corrected.
And it looks so much better than the rotted 2x4s that had weeds and grass growing out of them, along with an ant nest, termites, beetles and potato bugs that will now be looking elsewhere in the neighborhood for a place to call home!
I still cannot find glass blocks for the retaining wall, so I am going to complete the project by installing the capstones.
I picked them up at Pacific Stone, and I discovered that the truck rides SO MUCH smoother with a 600 pound load of stone in the bed! 🙂
Dinner is served!
L – R: Me, Tristan, Jeff, Robin, and Camille’s sister Jenifer.
And from Camille, a cool new stomp box!
Relaxing a bit on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
This is in honor of my friend Peter Kendall, who is a real chemist. I only play one on TV.
When people say something particularly noteworthy or funny at my desk, I say, “Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding! YOU WIN THE PRIZE!!!” as I pour a handful of M&Ms into their eager mitts!
A day after breaking up with my son, this ad appeared on Craig’s list.
CL >seattle >snohomish co >all personals >women seeking men
Posted: 5/19/2014
single, caring, and a little shy – 38 (Lake stevens)
age : 38 body : average height : 5’0″ (152cm) status : single
Hi, I’m an independent, loving woman searching for a mature, yet silly (quirky, weird lol) man. I have children, a good job and take care of myself. I’m a bit reserved at first but pretty sassy when I get to know you 😉 420 friendly, light/social drinker, non-smoker. I’m ready to start a new chapter with an emotionally intelligent, warm, established man. Single father a plus 🙂
“Hi, I’m an emotionally maimed, co-dependent girl still stuck on her ex, searching for a man with a good paycheck that I can abuse into total insanity. I have children that I don’t want and can’t care for, a part-time job, and I want someone to carry me through life. I’m sullen and unfriendly at first, and I talk a really good game when I get to know you 😉 I’m a pothead with a concealed carry permit and a bathroom cabinet full of mood levelers and pain killers. I’m ready to start a new chapter of emotional abuse and psychological torture with a naive, financially secure man with a good paycheck. Masochistic tendencies a plus 🙂 Oh! And, notice my titties!!”
It is easier for you to falsely accuse your boyfriend of DV than to admit you are still hung up on your ex-husband, and that you dragged all your rage and wounded pride from your failed marriage into your relationship with your boyfriend. You honestly thought you could leave it behind, but you did not.
It is far easier to bask in the sympathy of all uninformed onlookers by creating a narrative of victimhood than to cope with your feelings that your ex-husband might enjoy some small sense of validation that you’ve “failed” at your next relationship, or that anyone might think that way. Even if the truth is that no one worth caring about is thinking that way.
It is easier to blame the men in your life than to admit to yourself that you’ve made more babies than you are emotionally equipped to deal with.
Nothing can get better until you start to be truly honest with yourself. You are not alone on this path.
[DV – domestic violence]
