Blogger Notes

Sy: I loved seeing a movie in 3-D. We should definitely go to another one.

SSB: We could go see that one that they advertised during Nightmare Before Christmas. I can't remember what it was about.

Sy: Neither can I.

SSB: Well, I doubt that the movie itself will be that good. I have this feeling that they skimp on the story quality for 3-Ds. I think that they count on people wanting to see it just for the cool gimmick.

Sy: Like porns!

SSB: [giggling]

Sy: OH!! What if they made a 3-D porn?!! The story lines for those would be REALLY BAD!! But people would definitely pay to see 3-D porn no matter what the story was like.

8 comments:

Michael Manning said...

Oh, this brought back a funny, funny memory! This dollar theater movie house put on one of the very first 3-D movies in color called "Dirty Flight Attendants" or something like that. A few buddies and I attended with high hopes (no pun, really!). We were let down (again, no pun). But it was awful. There was this crappy orchestral music while a crazed lady bereft of male companionship started making out with her lamp! I think we all go up and left for a pub!

October 30, 2006 1:29 PM

Sylvana said...

Michael, that sounds horrible. I'm glad to hear that you had the good sense to find a more enjoyable way to waste your time.

October 30, 2006 5:55 PM

Wendy A said...

No doubt in my mind that it has been done.

October 30, 2006 8:22 PM

Shamus O'Drunkahan said...

(in the voice of those cartoon guys from the Guiness ads)
Brilliant!

October 31, 2006 7:16 AM

Sylvana said...

Wendy, I'd be surprised if they haven't ventured down that avenue yet.

Shamus, thank you. Thank you.

October 31, 2006 6:43 PM

AG said...

I want to see 3-D junk food porn.

November 01, 2006 4:43 AM

Sylvana said...

Ag, is junk food porn like intense TV ads where you start craving the food so bad you have to stop everything and run out to get it?

November 01, 2006 5:51 AM

AG said...

YES and you need 70's style music playing. And maybe even want to go at it alone since it would be so shameful.

November 01, 2006 8:53 AM

We had enough flooring left over from the kitchen to do one of the bedrooms. We chose the one off the living room since that would be the most visible to visitors. It was shag dark brown carpeting originally (and of course I forgot to take a picture). But here is a picture of the room after we tore the carpeting out.

Still, not so great looking, eh? But even this is a great improvement over that carpeting - yuck!
That circular area on the left was a huge hole in the floor. We were guessing that it was either part of the passive heating the older homes used to have (even ours has passive heating grates in the floor. Passive heat is basically heating the first floor, and the heat will rise to the second floor through the holes in the floor. Lovely.), or it was hole for the stove pipe. We patched the hole with a piece of plywood and leveled it with some Bondo-like material.

This floor took a LOT LESS time! JD and I had it nearly finished in less than 4 hours. I think it is a HUGE improvement.


There IS another bedroom with an even uglier carpet...

4 comments:

sands of time said...

You'll need a little sign saying
Wood is Good
your house is looking great with those floors

http://pinklady.typepad.com/

October 27, 2006 2:33 PM

Sylvana said...

Pink, I really like wood, and these floors are way easier to keep clean.

October 27, 2006 8:22 PM

Lindsay Lobe said...

There must be creativity and energy in the Wisconsin air; maybe it’s partly the influence of those Monks in Wisconsin who refill printer cartridges.
I refer to the famous Laser Monks who co habitat a 75-year-old Abbey of the Cistercian Order in Wisconsin and who refill printer cartridges to cover their expenses, instead of making cheese or beer, who have developed a successful business. If you want to save money, check out there web site. I am also sure they would be impressed and interested to hear about your patience and compassion towards your elderly patients at work!!

Excellent work on the flooring

Best wishes

October 28, 2006 7:47 PM

Sylvana said...

Lindsay, Wisconsin monks?! WOW, you just told me something about Wisconsin that I didn't know.

October 31, 2006 6:40 PM

As part of my job I have to try and explain things to confused elderly people.
Like copays.
"But I have Medicare. Medicare takes care of everything."
Or deductibles.
"But, I already paid that last year."

Today I had the joy of talking one woman down from a heart attack - 'cause she's old enough to have them, she kept reminding me.

And she was expecting trouble. She had her game face on and came at me guns a-blazing. This was not the first time I've gotten calls like this. I get them at least twice a month. I just keep calm and re-explain it until they understand.

But when they finally understand and realize that I have helped them, their demeanor changes. They thank me for my patience, my time and my help.
I just tell them, "No problem; that's what I'm here for."

Even though talking to them may be frustrating, I find that it is one of the more rewarding parts of my job.

2 comments:

Shannon said...

That takes a lot of patience. The medical system is confusing enough as it is- I can't imagine how hard it is to understand for someone who lived most of their lives without all the bureaucracy of Medicare and insurance.

October 27, 2006 4:06 PM

Sylvana said...

Shannon, it does take a lot of patience. I like that I am helping people that would have trouble finding help with all that mumbo-jumbo.

October 27, 2006 8:42 PM

Holy Cow! 15,000 visits to my blog. The 15,000th was someone from Syndey, New South Wales. Thank you EVERYONE!!

To celebrate I am going to go to the 3-D version of Nightmare Before Christmas.

OH YEAH!! That's right!! 3-D!!
I can't wait!!

For a sneak peek, grab your 3-D glasses and go here.

(yeah, I'm a geek. I have three different pairs of 3-D glasses)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

15,000...daaaammmmmmnnnn....you a pimp. ;)

Steve~

October 20, 2006 12:33 PM

The Doc said...

Wow, I'm almost as impressed with the 15,000 as I am with the 3-D Nightmare. I have to figure out how to see that. (Except I'm pretty sure I can't.) Either way, congrats.

October 21, 2006 12:35 AM

Lightning Bug's Butt said...

3-D. No way. So why do you have 3 pairs?

October 24, 2006 4:19 PM

Sylvana said...

Steven Novak, welcome to my blog! I like meeting other dorky people. All the dorky people should unite, and together we could RULE THE WORLD!!

The Doc, I have heard rumours that it will be coming out on DVD. (The "u" was for you ;)

LBB, I have one from National Geographic for their 3-D Mars pictures; I have one pair from the 3-D episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun; and I have one pair from the 3-D episode of Medium. I keep them because you never know when they will come in handy - like the link that I have in my post. And I just put them on every once in awhile to see how things look through them; cause I'm dorky like that.

October 26, 2006 7:44 PM

Tonight we worked on hiding some pretty ugly duct work and hot water pipe that ran through the pantry in the apartment.

Here you can see that I have already started on the framing. As usual, getting ahead of the photographs; but you can still see how ugly it is.



YAY! It's finished. Well, almost. I still have to put some more trim on, prime and paint, but I have been meaning to do this for years.

We also hung a medicine cabinet, finished triming the door we installed, replaced an electrical outlet, and replaced a heat vent cover. I felt really productive.

3 comments:

AG said...

You and SSB need to start a public access cable home improvement show for landlords and have it get picked up by a big network!

October 21, 2006 5:19 AM

Shannon said...

That's a great idea...oh, and can I hire you? I'm really too lazy (and I don't have the tools) for this stuff...:(

October 21, 2006 10:20 AM

Sylvana said...

AG, we have talked about it a lot, but can't find a camera person.

Shannon, and we have thought about starting our own home improvement business, but I don't think many people would want to live in SSB and Sy time.

October 21, 2006 11:39 AM

I have lots of things to do right now that I am desperately trying to avoid.

I have tried to write a post about the weekend twice. Thought both of them sucked.

My friend J had a Pumpkin Party Saturday. It was a lot of fun. We all carved pumpkins and ate lots of really good food.

At dusk, we lined them up on her porch railing and lit them up. It was beautiful. Then we gathered around a bonfire and sang songs while J's husband played the guitar.

Yeah, they are hippies.

I brought home-made pumpkin pie and pesto pumpernickel. See, I had a "P" theme going. J's brother-in-law came up to me to tell me, "I have been waiting for your pumpkin pie all my life." He was oozing creep. Seriously, it took everything in me to not run from him.

Sunday, SSB and I installed a new bedroom door in the apartment. That was definitely the fastest that we have ever installed a door. I was impressed. And it is beautiful.

4 comments:

sands of time said...

That pumpkin party looks fun.Glad you all enjoyed it and great looking door as well.

http://pinklady.typepad.com/

October 17, 2006 10:54 AM

Shannon said...

OH! That pumpkin party looks like soooo much fun. It makes me miss Wisconsin- I can almost feel a chill in the air.

This year I don't get to carve a pumpkin. :(

October 17, 2006 1:08 PM

Lindsay Lobe said...

Folks celebrate with high-fives ?
Sculptured pumpkins watch with wide eyes
Pumpkin party looks oh so fine
Everyone hav’n such a good time ?

Eating pumpkins pie on your home turf ?
Dance with a fiddler for all your worth
Wisconsin pumpkins have no flaws ?
Dance to a turkey, a turkey in the straw ?

best wishes

October 19, 2006 10:19 PM

Sylvana said...

Pink, thanks! We did enjoy ourselves.

Shannon, you could go old school and carve a turnip instead!

Lindsay, you would have been the hit of the party!

October 26, 2006 7:50 PM

[Watching a news show about the disappearance of a couple on Lake Erie last year]

Interviewer: [to girl's father] Why would she go out there in a boat? Out on the dangerous open seas.

Sy: It was a LAKE!!

SSB: It can get kind of choppy.

Sy: IT'S A LAKE!!!

SSB: Maybe there was a storm.

Sy: IT'S A LAKE!!!

SSB: The Edmund Fitzgerald sank during a storm.

Sy: On Lake Erie?!

SSB: No, on Lake Superior.

Sy: Oh! Now Lake Superior I could see. That's a BIG lake!!

7 comments:

AG said...

I did not know it sunk in Lake Superior.

While watching the news about the NYC plane crash yesterday the TV anchor was trying to descibe Manhattan. "There's lots of water on both sides. Think of it as an island."

October 12, 2006 7:36 PM

Lindsay Lobe said...

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said you can have big waves in small lakes, but when it happens everyone is surprised !!

best wishes

October 14, 2006 9:10 PM

Wendy A said...

People die in lakes all the time. It is still water. I just heard a 3 year old drowned in his pond here in Aust.Another set of twins drowned in a water tank. Guess I shouldn't be paranoid but water is water.

October 15, 2006 4:00 AM

Sylvana said...

AG, I do not understand people's fascination with the Fitzgerald. It seems to be the Titanic of the Great Lakes.

Lindsay, they were saying that the waves were 3-5 feet at the time, which I guess are pretty big, but I was out in at least 3 foot waves on the North Sea piloting a Zodiac boat and it was fun!

Wendy, this interviewer was talking about Lake Erie and Huron like they were the Straits of Magellan. The couple were in their late twenties-early thirties in a cabin boat and she was an experienced and disciplined boater so it is not like the dad should have been as concerned about her safety as this interviewer was implying; not anymore so than having her drive across the state anyway.

October 15, 2006 12:18 PM

sideshow bob said...

I heard that they had 8-10 foot waves on old Gitcheegumi the other day...too bad we weren't up there!

October 16, 2006 8:32 PM

Shamus O'Drunkahan said...

I saw that show - very creepy and strange. I think it was a murder / suicide, but it's hard to tell from the facts. I hate watching theose shows because they don't always give you all the details. I researched it a little on line and there may have been a third person on the boat that they picked up at a marina. The TV show failed to mention that angle.

October 24, 2006 7:28 AM

Sylvana said...

Shamus, I had heard that witness said that they had eben arguing with someone on shore at their gas stop. I wonder if they think that it was that same person.

October 26, 2006 8:40 PM

I mentioned bowling to Blue one day, and she asked me if we bowled. I said that we did, sort of. That's great, she said, wanna join a league and bowl with me and my husband? Sure! I said.

So, SSB and I are now in a bowling league. And we finally got to try out our new ball.

I had told Blue that I wasn't a very good bowler, so she shouldn't expect much.
BUT, I bowled the best game of my life - 149. Yeah, I know that isn't spectacular, but I was happy!

We've also been renovating one of the apartments that we own. We bought the house in pretty rough shape, and have been tackling the repairs and upgrades a little at a time. Whenever a renter leaves, we scramble to get as many repairs and upgrades as we can get done before the next person moves in. This time we had replacing kitchen flooring on the agenda. The flooring in this kitchen was a dark brown CARPET!

CARPET. IN A KITCHEN! YUCK!!

I was so excited to finally be getting rid of the carpet that I forgot to take a picture of it before we tore it out, but here is a picture of what the floor under the carpet looked like.


It was hardwood flooring, but it was covered in paint and glue, so we were putting in laminate instead. Besides, I got a really sweet deal on the laminate.







I LOVE IT!!

8 comments:

Lindsay Lobe said...

I think 149 was a great score, maybe you can team up with a local league team !!.

Have you tried lawn bowls, a slower pace but more variety?

Best wishes

October 09, 2006 6:47 AM

Flubberwinkle said...

Those floors look good enough to bowl on!
:-)

October 09, 2006 10:29 AM

Wendy A said...

Carpet? what were they thinking? Looks like a huge improvement. Good buy vaccume.

October 09, 2006 4:47 PM

Shannon said...

Why would you cover a hardwood floor with brown carpet?

Were they drunk!

149 is a great score- I don't care what anyone says. Some of us aspire to bowl that well...

October 09, 2006 5:40 PM

Sylvana said...

Lindsay, no I have not tried lawn bowling. The reason bowling is so big around here is because you can do it inside! It gets cold here and we need something to do during the winter.

Flubberwinkle, :))

Wendy A, I actually like the kitchen now.

Shannon, highly possibly drunk.
I was pretty happy with my score. I was afraid of making a complete fool out of myself.

October 09, 2006 10:36 PM

Heather said...

That new laminate looks great! It's what we have in our kitchen. The guy that lived in the house before us was a carpet installer so he carpeted most everything in the house before they moved out. Including the master bathroom!! We have carpet around our toilet & shower! So weird...

Congrats on your 149!!!

October 11, 2006 3:57 AM

sands of time said...

Ive only ever bowled once and i was quite good at it.Your floor looks great.

http://pinklady.typepad.com/

October 11, 2006 11:36 AM

Sylvana said...

Heather, I've seen carpet in bathrooms. That is WAY worse than carpet in the kitchen!

Pink, maybe you should join a league!

October 11, 2006 7:53 PM

Until then, enjoy THIS.

It makes me giggle till I pee myself.

3 comments:

Wendy A said...

Thanks for that Sylvanna.We can really laugh at ourselves and our culture. Seems like we often take ourselves too serious. Excellent post. Loved it.

October 08, 2006 4:55 AM

Sylvana said...

Wendy A, I definately am "white and nerdy". Not only do I know what the Pascal is in his line "At Pascal, I'm number one", I know how to write the code!

October 08, 2006 11:20 PM

Shamus O'Drunkahan said...

Thank you thank you syl, you're the best. That is maybe Al's best in a long time. I'm forwarding that to all my nerdy friends right now.

October 10, 2006 7:28 AM

WAAAAAAAAY back on September 5th Shannon said some pretty nice things about me in a post about "The single best post you've read on any blog" meme. She named my post on Katrina "Looters" and the follow up post as the most instigating posts she has read. WHOOHOO!! Now that makes me proud.

Seriously. I have a tear in my eye. *sniff*

Eh-hem!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank her and apologize all at once.

I am not worthy!!

And now onto the tag. Yeah she tagged me for this meme, and what better way to beg for forgiveness than to actually do the dang thing.

Hmmmm.... best post I've ever read on any blog.
That actually is a very difficult a question to answer seeing as I could name several for completely different reasons.

As I am not as thoughtful as Shannon, and twelve hour work days kind of take a bite out of my blogging time, I will name the one that always come to mind when I think of the best posts that I have read on the blogosphere- Dr Max's

Thomas Kinkade's "Meth Lab in the Woods" a Poor Seller

HILARIOUS!!

5 comments:

AG said...

That is awesome. I hate Kinkade's garrish work.

October 04, 2006 6:27 AM

Shannon said...

No worries! I've been aterrible blogger recenly myself. It's been harder and harder to post and read blogs! Apology accepted. I love reading your blog.

October 04, 2006 12:09 PM

sands of time said...

We all have real lifes and i myself have had so little time lately to blog and visit other blogs.

http://pinklady.typepad.com/

October 05, 2006 10:59 AM

SierraBella said...

That was too funny!
I know someone who would just love this Kinkade work of art.

October 05, 2006 4:27 PM

Sylvana said...

AG, I have to hand it to Kinkade, though. He is a master of light.

Shannon, aw, thanks!

PinkLady, I keep hoping that soon I will have a routine and be able to get back to my regular blogging, but it just really doesn't seem to be working out that way.

Sierrabella, DrMax is one of the funniest, creative bloggers I know. I highly recommend his other work.

October 06, 2006 10:59 PM