Cold Spaghetti

Guess what is installed?  And usable?  And properly functioning?  AND involves plumbing??

There were some issues with having to chisel out tiles, re-drill holes for the tub faucet, and re-plumb parts of the faucet water supply.  We had some help with grinding down the sharp edges of the tiles on the tub deck (a surprise for Paul while he was in New Hampshire).  And then there was Paul realizing he forgot to install a trap when we were pondering over why the echo of the water was so loud when we ran the Master Bathroom sink faucet.  BUT NOW… we have a tub!  An AIR TUB!  Ever heard of an air tub?  This is how it works: the backrest heats up (you set the temperature) as hot air (again, you set the temp) shoots out from the bottom sides of the tub and up channels behind your back and neck.  It’s the best bath experience you can have, by yourself, in my opinion.

Thanks, Hal, for helping us with this great tub!

It’s been years since we had bikes, but our gear still comes in handy.

You know people are good when the kids take to them in seconds.  Such is the case with Miss Shell (known to others as Michelle) who helped us make our schedules work by helping with childcare after the storm.  It was Miss Shell’s oyster po-boy that Kate picked up and devoured at 8 months.  It was Michelle that we called when Will tried to fly and burst open his forehead.  And it was Michelle who spent the night while I rushed Paul to the hospital with appendicitis.  It’s fair to say that she has stuck with us for better and for worse, which is about the most anyone can ask from another person.  This city is hard on young talent and Telemundo wooed her away, back to her home town of Miami.  When she is not being wined and dined by Miami’s most eligible bachelors, she is an undercover reporter, so if you’re pulling a scam in south Florida, watch out!  She was back in town for fun and relaxation, hitting her indie music scene between lunch dates.   Will tried to hide in her purse as a stow-away, but the crack-down on luggage weight foiled his plan.

(quietly): “Will, do you want to play a game?”

(answering in a whisper): “Yes.”

“Okay.  The game is, we are going to close our eyes for nine hours.  I bet I can keep my eyes closed longer than you.”

“No, I bet I can keep my eyes closed longer than you!”

“Longer than 9 hours?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, Will.  Game on.”

Did you know that when your hair starts suddenly starts to fall out, rapidly fall out — like whole clumps clogging the drain with each shower until 5 weeks later when barrettes that used to not hold even half of your hair fall out because there isn’t enough hair on your entire head to hold them in place — that it is a sign that your body is under stress or crisis and is shutting down hair cells in order to redirect energy elsewhere to places where it is needed?

Stress or crisis.  Of course THIS is when I have stress or crisis.  When we are waiting to find out if that Blue Cross Blue Shield family health insurance plan is going to start on August 1st.  Although I may have COBRA now, if I see a doctor and then discover that BCBS has denied us, I feel pretty certain I will never be able to buy a health insurance policy in the United States again.

Looking at the full picture… extreme fatigue, vertigo, dizziness, depression, inability to loose weight (and unexplained weight gain), heavy heavy heavy long long long monthlies, and now rapid hair loss… this is starting to look like an underactive thyroid.

I put a call into the primary care doctor I saw back in March, when I thought that my fatigue and blues were caused by anemia.  Labs showed I was healthy and fine (just slightly anemic, which she called ‘probably menstrual’ and not to worry).  When my hair started to fall out after we got back from Peru, I figured it was anemia again and started taking iron.  I was patient, but it hasn’t gone away.  Now when I reach back and feel my hair, I have to fight back tears.  My hair is almost gone.

So what are my choices?  What can my doctor really do?  Nothing unless I see her, which I can’t do until we know we have insurance.  The way I see it, I have two options: do nothing and get sicker, or, research thyroid meds and find a way to get them myself and do my best to figure out if/how they work.  I can do a lot of stuff to myself that is harmful without infringing on any laws or endangering anyone’s profession.  So what is so bad about getting medications, which may help the problem?  Just trying to consider the big picture and remember that I (hopefully) won’t feel this way forever.

For the past two weekends, we have attended Baybears baseball games, where your ticket comes with two free hot dogs.  Kate was into the hot dogs.  You mention baseball, she’ll channel Yello and in that ‘oooh yeaah’ voice, will tell you HOT DOOOOGGGG.

Click on the audio link below to hear Kate discuss baseball over dinner.  (I’ve taken to audio capture dinner, since it’s when she talks the most.)  Listen for the HOT DOG at around 2:50.

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But, as Kate points out in her discussion, there are more than hot dogs with the Baybears.  You could also be one of the lucky kids to get a coupon for a free taco by chasing the giant taco across the field between innings.

Popcorn and drinks have free refills.  And if some random football player that I’ve never heard of (which means any past or present footballer) can throw the pigskin out of the park, everyone gets a coupon for a free Hardee’s sausage biscuit.  Folks in Mobile are serious about their junk food.

I got in a little sports photography.

And a few of the kids, when we weren’t wrestling Kate or keeping Will from ODing on diet Pepsi.  (I did do the good Mommy thing and bring smuggled in drinks for the kids… they just didn’t last long.)

Kate.

After a ‘tribute to the services’ where each branch of service has their musical moment and standing recognition, there are fireworks.  Pretty darn decent fireworks, all things considered.  I didn’t have the tripod the first week.  But I was able to get Kate’s face lit up from the explosions reflecting on the glass.  The first weekend this was possible because there weren’t as many people in the stands.  The second week, with the tripod, they let me on the field during the fireworks, but there were too many people to really get what I wanted… which was more of this picture below, just better.

Here’s Paul and Will.  BOOM.

The weekend of the Fourth, Emily and Skip were in town!  Will was Uncle Skip’s Mini-Me.

I had the tripod and was able to get some standard fireworks shots… but there were too many people to get the crowd shot I wanted.  I like this one because it reminds me a bit of the final home run in ‘The Natural’.

This is the best I could do at getting everyone’s faces lit up by the fireworks.

Those Damn Tiles, indeed.

Paul and I are perfectionists; we know that our expectations can be a bit much.  With that in mind, when my Dad saw the tiles (thinking that possibly we were exaggerating the extent of the problems) he said, “Wow.  This is much worse than I thought.” Our lesson learned: never hire anyone you are not willing to micro-manage.  And, when at all possible, avoid hiring anyone for anything.

In the gallery below, click on images for short descriptions of the problems we found when we returned from Peru.  In short:

— The sides of the shower walls were not shimmed, which was necessary in order for them to straight.  (Paul would like me to add that he bought the shims and had a discussion about installing them.) Straight walls in a shower are important to facilitate the hanging of a shower door, something we eventually would like to install.  Instead of shimming the walls, he tiled straight down and then bent the tiles inward at the base of the walls.  You can see the curve easily as you look into the shower.

— The tiles on the leading edge of the tub deck weren’t mitered and stick out the entire depth of the tile.

— Poor cuts around the soap nook.

— Floor tiles were wrapped around the edge of the shower pan, rather than spaced appropriately and laid to cover the size of the pan.  We had two types of tile that would have fit perfectly, without the need for cuts.

— Walls of the shower end in different places.  One ends at the end of the threshold (which makes sense), the other ends midway through the threshold.

— The bench is bare wood on it’s underside.  It’s not sealed, not redbonded, not anything.  It would rot in a week if we used the shower!  Also, because the tile did not cover the full face of the bench, he simply rubbed grout down the rest of the backboard.  It’s visible looking at the bench even when standing.

We are working to fix the problems.

Click on the thumbnail to the see the full picture and caption.

I’m not quite done with this one, but I thought I’d try out that one. Needs work. Learning curve still rising ahead. But liking the possibilities.

Whaddya think?

One of the unique architectural pieces of New Orleans are street tiles that line city corners. Entergy has been tearing up these corners during maintenance of city services and in many places, is destroying or paving over these tiles. In April, the Vice President of Gas Operations for Entergy wrote to the local paper to say that they were being replaced, but nothing has happened. Please write to Entergy — even those who aren’t in New Orleans! — and ask them to repair or replace the historic street tiles they destroy and/or damage through careless street work. This is my letter, mailed to the corporate headquarters in New Orleans (I’d have sent via email, too, but can’t find contact email addresses.) Please help protect and preserve New Orleans’ heritage!

****

Entergy Corporation
639 Loyola Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70113

ATTN: Mr. Rusty Burroughs
Vice President
Gas Operations
Entergy New Orleans, Inc.

Dear Mr. Burroughs,

I was so thrilled to read your April 25th, 2008 response to the Times-Picayune editorial written by Chris Rose addressing the destruction of historic tile letters that uniquely mark the streets of New Orleans. In your letter, you specifically addressed the destroyed tiles at the corner of Pine and Birch and wrote that, “those tiles will be replaced, and were in the process of being replaced before the article was written by Mr. Rose.”

As you know, more than a month has passed since that editorial and your published response. To date, there has been no change to this corner. I am writing you to implore you to keep to your word and see that those tiles are restored or if given no other option, replaced. It is a shame that your subcontractors left you with the responsibility of fixing their mistakes, but your letter gave me confidence that you had the leadership and character required to make it right.

Now, more than ever, it is the responsibility of the citizens and businesses of New Orleans to work together to keep the heritage and history of our city alive. This letter is fulfilling my duty as a citizen to see that our unique legacies are protected. I look forward to seeing your obligations to our city and citizens carried out and your word fulfilled.

Respectfully,

H

CC: Rod West, President & CEO, Entergy New Orleans, Inc.
E. Renae Conley – President & CEO, Entergy Louisiana, LLC
J. Wayne Leonard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Entergy Corporation
Mark T. Savoff, Executive Vice President, Operations