That Touch of Mink

We had DirecTV installed shortly after moving into the new house. Before that, in the apartment, we only had a few cable channels. One of the first things I saw while browsing the new channels was the movie "That Touch of Mink." Paula had seen part of it before and had heard it's a good, funny, movie. Even way back when, I remember Mr. Q mentioning that movie. So I set it up to record and Paula and I watching it just a few nights ago.

At one point in the movie, Cary Grant gives a speech in front of the United Nations. In order to show just how good his speech was, the writers added this random bit of dialog: "Look, even the Russians are clapping!" They even cut to a shot of a man behind a desk, with a big sign on it declaring, "Russia", and he was clapping away very enthusiastically.

That set me laughing. It just struck me as very funny. So...I'm adding it to my list of favorite quote.

Anyway...this movie came out in the 60s. I bet it was pretty risque for that era. It also has such notables as John Astin and Dick Sargent, not to mention a scene in the dugout with Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Yogi Berra.

If you get a chance to see it, do it!


-- C.

House projects

So much to do, so little time. Paula set a deadline of November 4th for a sort of "open house" party. The plan is to force us to have the house presentable by that date. That means there will be no boxes lying around. It sounds doable.

We also have a lot of other stuff to do besides unpacking and organizing. We need our own lawn mower, a new range (the burners work but not the oven), and a dish washer would sure be handy. The fridge works, but it has a little leak. We bought brooms and rakes, and we'll need one more snow shovel by winter (if not a snow blower for our wide driveway). I want to put some caulk around the shower stall and install the new toilet seat (that'll be easy). The carpet in the living room could be replaced (there are a couple stains). New window treatments for several rooms. More bookshelves. More storage space in the computer room. We want to add a bar in the basement. And, oh, that'll do for now...

I did get the garage door working with both our remotes and the keypad. It turns out there are two different technologies for Craftsman openers and they do not work together. We had one remote of the old technology which overwrote the keypad and the one new remote – I couldn't program them. After hunting on the 'net I found my answer, got rid of the old remote, and bought a keychain remote for me. Now we have to clean out the garage so I don't have to squeeeeze quite so much getting into and out of my car.

I'll be glad when all our chores are done.

HA! I made myself laugh with that one. They'll never end...


-- C.

Great cafe we just found

It's in the Waynedale area, on Lower Huntington Road. It's called the Dragon's Keep Cafe. They serve wraps, soup, and lots of coffees and teas. Paula and I went there for dinner last night. The wraps were wonderful (I had Italian, she had Cajun Chicken), the soup was good, and the white chocolate almond cake was delicious!

But the real kicker was the chai tea, which Paula loves. It was especially wonderful here. Their prices were less than Starbucks (shocker, eh?) and it's a convenient location. I'll have to try some of their other drinks. (We found out they use a mix from David Rio. I'll have to see if I can just buy it off the shelf.)

If you're in the area, try 'em out.


-- C.
PS: Did you hear Starbucks is raising their prices? Egads, why on earth? Because they can? And people will still pay it? Yeesh.

Cartoons!

So I'm browsing blogs during my lunch break, when I stumble across one for ReFrederator.com, a site that posts an animated cartoon everyday. They have cartoons from Betty Boop to Bugs Bunny, but there are only a few that I recognized, including "The Dover Boys." I downloaded it and enjoyed watching it again. There are several fun quotes, like the description of Dan Backslide as a "coward bully cad and thief."

Just for fun, I did a search on those words and ran across an interview with Chuck Jones. He reveals the source for the cartoon, a series of books from the early 1900s, "The Rover Boys." I had no idea those books existed, let alone were the source for the cartoon.

So, anyway, ya learn something new everyday. Such fun from the Internet and search engines.


-- C.

The cars are in the garage!

We knew it was going to be very cold during the night, and we didn't want to have to scrape the windows, so we made room for the cars in the garage. It's a tight fit for now, but it works.

Ah, our own cars in our own garage. It's a nice feeling.


-- C.

Another busy weekend at the new house

Saturday I got to take the cats to the vet. I've never taken the cats to the vet before, and Paula was busy, so I got to do it all by myself. I got the carrier out and Pepper just walked right in. Sam, on the other hand, ran and hid under the bed. I finally dug him out and got him in the carrier, then took them both out to the car. They whined and complained the whole drive.
The vet and the vet tech were both very nice. They weighed Pepper (our black cat) at 13 pounds (good thing I'm not superstitious). Sam is a whopping 16 pounds (the vet said they had a dog in the next room that was only 4 pounds).
Poor Sam's fur was matted down pretty badly near his tail. They offered to shave it off, which is what we were hoping for. Now Sam has a big bare butt! (For those of you who have never met Sam, he's a Maine Coon Cat – very long hair.) They both got their shots, and when the vet was done, they both eagerly climbed into the carrier, ready for the drive home. And they didn't make a peep after we left the vet (too traumatized?).

Sunday was busy too. We finally borrowed a self-propelled mower from her dad. After sweeping up a trash bag full of acorns from our driveway and front sidewalk, we mowed the front yard. Oh, there were still plenty of acorns in the yard. I did my best to get sticks out of the way, but those acorns were not fun to mow over.

The back yard had been growing like mad. It didn't help that we hadn't mowed in the three weeks we've been there. Our lot is about 1/3 of an acre, and most of it is in the back. There isn't much else back there, so it was pretty straight forward. We took turns and got it whipped back into shape. Over all, it took about three hours (including all the sweeping). I'm sure it won't take that long as we get used to the yard.

I gotta tell you, it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. I've always lived in apartments since moving out of my parents, and really (REALLY!) wasn't looking forward to mowing. But we got through it and everything looks pretty nice.

Oh, and I found a pile of hair by the corner of the house. Looking closer, I saw... little bones in there too. I don't know if it was a small cat, or a rabbit, or what. I wasn't sure if I should mention it to Paula or not. I figured it was her house too, she might want to know about it. That probably wasn't a good idea; she didn't react well. We only had a snow shovel and that wasn't going to get the job done. After a quick trip to the hardware store for a real shovel (and some work gloves), I dug up the mess and threw it away.

Ah, the fun of being a home-owner!


-- C.

Still unpacking

We have the majority of boxes unpacked, but there's still work to be done. We should be able to finish up this weekend. All of the boxes on the main level are unpacked (living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom), and most of the basement. We still have several boxes in the garage, but that won't take long to move. Mostly just big furniture we didn't have room for when all the boxes were in the way.

And guess what! We'll need at least one more bookshelf. Yeesh. I really need to sort through those things. It isn't like I re-read them very often. Heck, I have a stack of books still waiting to be read for the first time! I collect 'em faster than I read 'em.

We are looking at the first weekend in November as an "open house" kinda thing. Keep your calendar clear for that Saturday (the 4th).


-- C.

Indiana Terrorist Targets

Remember my post about Indiana topping the terrorist list? The Daily Show did a segment on it, and it's pretty funny:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1rkSqCWjv8

-- C.

Happy 1st Anniversary to us!

Monday was our first anniversary. Boy the year has gone by quickly. We had a great weekend, for the most part. We had a funeral to attend on Saturday for my aunt's mother. She lived be to 96, but passed away last week. It was nice to see some cousins and their familiy's, but I wish the occasion had been happier. Also, my manager's sister died last week, which was pretty sad.

Saturday afternoon my wife and I worked on unpacking. We also stopped by the Barr Street Market downtown. It's a nice little setup they have. We bought some delicious peaches, wonderful cheese, and great-tasting gumbo and chowder.

Sunday we went to my parents' lake cottage and went kayaking. A few weeks ago we all chipped in and bought four, so we'd have enough for a nice group to go. They are surprisingly maneuverable. I think I can go faster backward than I can forward. We're all excited about next summer when we can use them a lot more.

Monday was spent unpacking some more. Then we went to dinner at Biaggi's (that's where we had our first date, and where we had dinner on the night I proposed). I had Chilean Sea Bass, which was incredible, and she had shrimp and scallops on cous-cous (her favorite). For dessert we had Bananas Foster. Yum!


-- C.