Sheet Snobs

I found out about an insidious group of people some months ago. These people are supposedly all over the world and they love what they have and even flaunt it. These people are the “Sheet Snobs”. When I first found out about them, I knew I had to delve farther into the back alleys of Home and Garden. I had to find out what drove these people to speak not in hushed tones, but loudly about Egyptian cotton sheet. Never in my life had the thought of Egyptian cotton come to mind, and to me a sheet was a sheet, but these people, with their noses held high, spoke of these sheets as if they were handed down from a high. So I decided to investigate.

I found that cotton grown in Egypt has a staple length of over 2 1/4", twice the size of that in generic cotton and 60% longer than Pima cotton. On May 17, 1927, the Misr Spinning and Weaving Company, in Al-Mehalla Al-Kobra, was founded, which is indeed the backbone of spinning and weaving industry in Egypt. Now that I’ve found this out I had to look at some of the sheets on the Internet. I never knew a set of sheets could cost the same as a house payment, but some places do charge that.

Being the ever-curious person I am, I decided to forego half a year’s income and buy a couple of sets of these wonder sheets. They were delivered yesterday afternoon and I figure by tomorrow morning I’ll know if there is such a thing as sleeping on a cloud. Regardless if I think they’re great or not, now I’m a Sheet Snob. I’ll be able to say, “ Only the best cotton comes from Egypt”, and I’ll be able to break down historically, staple length and thread count why these sheets are superior.

Now you might wonder why a person who continually dozes off in his computer chair would buy such a thing. I mean I can sleep anywhere/anytime. So why do I need these? I don’t, but I now know more about sheets, thread count and much more than I ever wanted to know. However, I have noticed one side effect of buying these sheets. I find myself walking around the house seeing the ceiling a lot more. I’ve never been a snob of any sorts, but I do notice my nose keeps pointing up for some reason. The next thing I might have to try is one of those new mattresses with the springs. Just think, never having to replace corn shucks and chicken feathers again. Oh the joys of fine living.

It Always Comes In Threes.

They say everything comes in threes. First the washer broke, but I did get that fixed, then the drain clogged and it turned into a major repair, but the repairman got that fixed and now the stove. We have one of those glass top stoves. Well I just looked at it and it's not a crack, but a break going all the way down one side of it. I’ve never heard of one of them breaking, but I guess they could. I looked on the Internet to see of there was a replacement for it. There isn’t. The stove is too old for the department store that we bought it from to carry the part anymore. So then I went to the name of the company that made the glass itself. It printed on the glass top. I couldn’t find anything for a replacement for it anywhere.

This has got to be the very last thing that goes wrong this year. I remember last year the AC went out and my ceiling flooded and I forgot the third thing that happened, but after the third thing, nothing more broke or happened.

I’m actually feeling good about the broken glass top. That’s my third thing and I’ve got the rest of the year free and easy. Nothing to worry about because I got my three things out of the way. Nothing is going to break, nothing is going to happen and I’m going to win the lottery. So there!

New Is Not Always Good.

I’m beginning to find that having something new is not the best way to go sometimes. The old remote for Fmom’s tv down in the den went out about a month ago. So I bought a new one and it’s made by a different manufactures and the buttons are completely different. When I first got it, I sat down and learned the buttons and what it would do. I then sat Fmom down and showed her the buttons and which she needed, and how they worked. I told her to play around with the remote and learn it. Well a month later and she is still calling me over the intercom to come down to the living room and fix her remote. It’s usually she has pressed a wrong button and switched the remote to DVD, cable or something else. So I go down to the den, show her where the TV button is, show her where the guide buttons are and then show her how to get it off the guide and onto the full picture. Now I don’t mind doing this, but three to five time a day is a little much. So I’ve decided to do up a one page drawing of the remote with arrows pointing at the buttons she needs to push. I’m hoping she’ll use this as a quick reference and will finally learn the buttons. If this fails, I’ll just go out and buy the same one she had before and go with that.

Now I have to figure out how to get her proficient on the cell phone.

Here's another picture today of the pond. Sort of a pond in green picutre.

Click to Enlarge.

Smoke Update: I just found out the smoke I thought was coming from the GA/FL fires wasn't. About 12-15 miles from here, someone deliberately set fires that burned about 700 acres of woods. The fire was successfully put out though. It appears there are crazy people everywhere.

Another Smoke Update: I was just watching the local news and it is smoke from the GA/FL fire too. B'ham has had smoke warning about the air quality. Geeze!

Home Repair Continued.

I did it! More work is needed, but I did it. I got the washer back to working. I got to the parts place yesterday and it took me about 45 minutes to finally get the right part. The lady behind the desk kept giving me the wrong part and there were a lot of people in line, so I took the part number and started looking. I told her to go ahead and wait on the other people. I found a part that looked like mine, but it had two electrical connections on one end instead of just one like my part. So finally after she waits on everyone, she pulls a diagram up on the computer and as soon as I see it, I say number 11. I know that number because I’ve seen the same diagram many times. We finally figured out the part she had is a substitute part, so I take it. BTW there was one guy there who was returning a piece for a dryer. It was his fifth time there for the wrong piece. He told the lady that she had ordered the right piece, but they sent him something completely different. He told the lady, he found the right piece over at another store and he’s just there for a refund.

I got back home and went to work. I found out that taking a part out isn’t as easy as putting it back into a machine. I’ve always known this, but I’ve never been sure why it’s this way. As I said, the new part had two connectors on one end and I go ahead and hook the ends together. It takes me forever to get the whole assembly screwed back into place. I get the entire washer back together and it doesn’t work. My first thought is the connectors. I must have hooked up the wrong one on the two-connector end. So I take the washer apart again and get the assembly and connectors out again. On the two-connector end, I connect to the other one. I go through the whole thing of getting the assembly back in and the washer together again. I crossed my fingers and toes and put it on spin. IT WORKS!!!!!

I’m yelling at Fmom, “IT WORKS” and she’s acting like a miracle has happened. I’m feeling very smug about my accomplishment and I close the lid. The spinning stops. I open the lid. The spinning starts. This is backward. It’s supposed to be, spin with the lid down. My smugness disappears and Fmom is in her, “You did your best, honey” mode. By this time I’m fed up with taking the thing apart and putting it back together, so I go ahead and let it run a cycle with the lid up. It works, but with the lid up.

Today I’m going to try again. Since the part is a rectangular piece I figured I put it in backward so it’s reading the lid switch wrong. It will probably be another thirty minutes to an hour to do the entire thing, but I’m going to get it. Maybe two out of ten of my home repair projects work out. So although it works, I’m going to make it work right today. Wish me luck.

Oh, I forgot to add. Today I'm going to look at the instructions that came with the replacement part.

Another Adventure In Home Repair

You ever have one of those little things that will drive you up the wall. I’ve been working on the washing machine. It will agitate, but once it gets to the spin cycle it stops. Now I’m not an internet genius, but I did find a place for this type of washer that gives you step by step instruction for problems and simple repairs. It even had pictures, thank goodness. I found out I need an actuator lid switch. So going by the instructions I take the cabinet off the washer and get to exactly what I need. Pretty simple so far.

Now for what’s driving me up the wall. This washer was brought from a national department store. There’s a branch of it about 35 miles from here. I want to call it’s parts department in the mall it’s located at, but looking it up on the computer only puts me into a national type system and calling that particular store number given puts me in the same system. I called information at the mall and they said the only thing they have is the national number. I know I have the number somewhere because I had to use it during the times I was trying to fix the dryer. But if I have to dig through all the stuff on my desk and go through each and every thing, then I’ll save time by driving up there. Now comes another dilemma. When I looked the part up on the internet, they said it was unavailable. This washer is probably 10-11 years old but it works, or at least did. Am I going to find out when I drive up there that an $11.00 part has been discontinued or there’s no replacement part and I’m going to have to shell out for a new washer?

Right now, I’m a little miffed about the phone number. It seems like the store is making things harder than easier. However, once I get up there, I’m beginning to wonder if they can even get that replacement part.

The adventure continues.

Locked Out Again!

Well I did it again. We have French doors going out to the patio and the door you go through has a dead bolt on it. It also has one of those push button locks on the door handle. I got up this morning and when I finally take George out I didn’t turn the doorknob far enough to pop out the push button lock. Fmom, brother and s-I-l are still asleep and I don’t want to wake them up, so I go around the house checking ever door and window. I’m pretty good about locking up at night so not a thing is unlocked, and honestly, I can’t see myself trying to crawl through one of these windows now. I finally go to knocking on the window and waking up my brother. At this point I’m very glad they’re here, because Fmom is pretty unstable on her feet first thing in the morning.

While I’m outside waiting George is in a crazy barking mood. I’m doing a whisper/yell at him to shut up because he’s not far from our neighbor’s bedroom window. My brother gets to the door and lets us in. By this time, George is in a frenzy of barking. He hates my oldest brother for some reason. I don’t remember my brother ever doing anything bad to George, but George is one of these little souls that doesn’t forget. My brother could have stamped his foot at George one time, and George is one to hold a grudge.

So at the moment, back in the house with my door closed, George is still doing his low-level growl and an intermittent ear piercing bark. Hey want can I say? A little excitement to an otherwise mundane morning.

Hope everyone enjoys your morning.

The Lawn, The TV And A New Grandpa

Yesterday a slight miracle happened. My brother has a friend that does lawn and he sent him over here to finish off the rest of our lawn. He asked me what I wanted done and I showed him everywhere I didn’t get and I put emphasis on the weeds down by the pond. The guy did a decent job, with the exception he didn’t have a leaf catcher. So I’ll have to go out and do that.

Yesterday evening I took George down to the pond, along with my trusty long stick to beat on the ground in front of us. No snakes were present. So we stand out there and look for awhile and the first thing I spot in the water is a snake about 20 feet away coming our way. I didn’t yell this time, but I did scoop up George from a running gallop and high tailed it to the door. I’m beginning to think these snakes have a sense of humor. I’m thinking they’re playing let us see who can give FM the next heart attack.

Today all the brothers are supposed to be here to help move Fmom’s TV. She has one of these huge TVs that if it was on the roof people in the next state could see. The only problem is it’s in the den. For her to get to it she has go to down two steps. Since she fell back in Sep, I’ve counted her falling about 10 time and half of those were getting down into the den. Thank goodness nothing serious has happened, but now we’ve decided to move it up to the formal living room where there are no steps to traverse. Fmom was telling me last night that the TV was staying where it was at and it wasn’t getting moved. If think if all of us children gang up, er show her the logic of this, she’ll finally agree.

Finally I found out I’m going to be a grandfather again. My oldest told me she thought she is eight week pregnant, but she’s going to the doctor on Wednesday. I’ve been coming up with nicknames likes little FM and Grandpa’s Little Slacker. I don’t think they will buy off on them though.

The Lawn Again.

I tried to mow the lawn yesterday. I got the front yard done and started on the side when something went wrong. I must have hit a tree root, because the blade was bent. I knew this time not to try and pick up the front end of the lawnmower. Amazing how a fractured vertebra will remind you of that. So I got two pieces of lumber, got them on an incline and rode the lawnmower up that. It actually worked very well. So I worked and worked and worked and couldn’t get the blade off the lawnmower to straighten it out.

It’s my brother’s lawnmower and he has left a few here over the years. I told Fmom that every time I go out to mow the lawn that I know something is going to go wrong with the lawnmower. I can’t just go out and jump on the lawnmower and get the job done. I’m going to have a talk with my brother and tell him if he’s going to leave a lawnmower here that I expect one that runs correctly, no matter what I do to mess it up.

I guess I’ll wait until the brother that owns the lawnmower gets here and tell him to fix it. More than likely he’ll tell me, if I want it fixed to get off my lazy back end and fix it. Where’s the respect for the aged and infirm, not to speak of the lazy now of days.

Hope everybody’s weekend goes good.

Coffeepot Kaput.

My coffeepot went kaput this morning. I dug out the old one and by the time I got coffee made and back to the computer, I realized it was only 12:00 am. There’s no going back to sleep, so I guess I’m up for the night. My next biggest decision will be whether to have warmed over Chinese food or to cook up a hash brown casserole. I think the Chinese food will win out. I don’t have everything I need for the casserole.

And Chinese it was. Nothing like pork fried rice and hot and sour soup for breakfast. George is a little mad at the moment because I didn’t share with him. His favorite is Italian, but Chinese comes in a close second with him.

Hope everyone’s day goes well.