Angela Law

animal lover, gardener, knitter, and gourmet cook
 
do-it-yourself

ceramic tile: laundry room

About a year ago, we put ceramic tile in our family room. We had a bunch left over, so I thought it would be a good idea to put it to use in our laundry room. Of course, we didn’t have quite enough tile to do that, so we bought some additional tile of a different color with the idea of doing a checkerboard pattern. Here it is a year later, and the project finally made it onto our home improvement schedule.

We were getting set up this morning and I noticed that the boxes for the two different types of tiles looked like they were slightly different sizes. So, I put one tile on top of the other and they were indeed different sizes. I then read the fine print on the boxes. One box of “12” inch tiles was 12 1/4 inches. The other box of “12” inch tiles was 11 3/4 inches. Who would’ve thought? So, I had to do some quick thinking and come up with a way to use both sizes of tile. I decided that it would be best to use the one color of tile to fill up the middle of the room and the other staggered around the perimeter and also for the wall trim. I have to say–it came out better than I had expected–it actually looks like we planned it that way. I think I like it better than my original idea, so I couldn’t be happier with the results.

Necessity–it’s the mother of invention.

motorcycles

big head

It’s the middle of March, so you know what that means…time to order motorcycle accessories! We were both off yesterday, so we went to Zepka’s to order some stuff Brian needed for his bike and to get helmets. Originally, I was going to wait until later in the summer to purchase my helmet, but I was caught up in the excitement of it all so I decided to get mine yesterday, too. As it turned out, it was a good decision because we got a discount on our first order since he bought his bike there.

One thing I did learn is that people simply do not look cool while wearing motorcycle helmets unless they are on a bike. It didn’t help that I got a 3/4 coverage helmet that’s approximately the width of my body. I look completely ridiculous, but at least I’ll still have a brain left if my head ever meets the pavement. Brian, on the other hand, got one of those half helmets. Apparently, he’s only concerned with the top half of his brain. But he does look slightly less ridiculous than I do. Particularly when he’s wearing his other motorcycle gear. We’ll probably buy additional helmets in the future so that we each have different types so we can pick and choose depending on where we’re going to be riding. For example, highway driving= 3/4 helmet. tooling around town=1/2 helmet. At least that’s the formula I’m going to use.

auto

thar she blows

I was thisclose to having my wish of buying a new vehicle come true. Yesterday, I took Jacob to karate and I noticed that my oil light was flickering. Coincidentally, my car was due for an oil change today, so Brian asked them to take a look at the problem. It turns out that the oil sensing unit was leaking and all but 1 quart of oil had leaked from my engine. Had the remaining quart of oil drained out, it would’ve blown my engine. I keep telling Brian that if my car ever needs a new engine, I’m buying a new one. Well, it didn’t happen today and I suppose that’s fortunate, but we’ve been hit with yet another unexpected expense for my vehicle. I’m starting to rethink this idea we had to keep our vehicles 8-10 years. Maybe 7 years is when we should get rid of them. I could be thousands of dollars ahead right now had I done so.

music

ozzfest

The 2005 OzzFest information has been released. Quite frankly, I’m disappointed. I’ve seen half of the main stage acts already. Numerous times at that. And, there aren’t any second stage acts I’m interested in, so I guess I’ll be sitting this one out. I was really hoping for Nine Inch Nails on OzzFest. That would’ve been cool. I would have gone just to see them. I guess we’ll have to try to catch them if they come around here.

Eh.

auto

100,000 miles on the car

100,000 miles. That’s a first for a vehicle owned by me. It hit the landmark about a week ago, but I forgot to post about the momentous event. My trusty, rusty RAV4 better hang on for about another two years, though, because that’s when we’ll next be able to afford another vehicle payment. That is, assuming that Brian and I are both still gainfully employed. His job is certainly more secure than mine, but I guess you never know what the future may hold. No sense worrying about things I have no control over. But, I just really want a new car. Really.