The joys of being a home owner

Since moving into our new house two months ago many people have commented on how my wife and I will be responsible for any problems that arise -- we can't just call the landlord any more.

A few weeks ago we had problems with our shower. It wasn't draining well and by the time you were finished it looked like you had taken a full bath instead. It would slowly drain out though. But one day we came home from work and saw that it hadn't drained at all. We took the cover off the drain, plunged it a few times, and finally stuck a screwdriver in there and pulled out a bunch of gunk. The drain was clear and the water quickly drained away.

Yesterday it was backed up again. It wasn't draining at all. We had watched her brother's dog Friday night and all Saturday. He had been in and out of the bathtub so we thought maybe he clogged it somehow. First we had to use a bucket to get rid of some of the excess water. Then we plunged, which had no affect. We took the cover off the drain and tried the screwdriver trick again, but we didn't find any gunk. Getting annoyed, we want to the store from some Drano. I poured it in and let it sit for 15 minutes. When I came back, the water was still there. The instructions said to flush the drain with hot water after letting it sit. I turned the faucet on and let it run, only to fill the tub even further.

Getting frustrated, I decided to flip the lever for the plug to see if that would loosen anything up.

As soon as I flipped it once, there was a loud gurgling sound as all the water went down the drain.

I hereby propose "Kanning's Rule": "Always try the simple solution first," AKA the "make sure it's plugged in" rule.


-- C.

"Heroes"

Anyone watching "Heroes"? I really like it so far. Hiro is pretty funny; both Paula and I think they did a great job casting him. I looked up the actor on IMDB and found out he's done a lot of CGI work, like on the Star Wars prequels and even T3. Check it out.

So, if you could have a super power, what would it be? Flight? Invisibility? Indestructibility? Read minds... -ibility? Er...

What if you could have a "lesser" super power? Something subtle that would be useful in your daily life. Being able to make a red light turn green? Being able to refill a pen so you never run out of ink at a bad time? Always picking the fastest lane (traffic, shopping, etc)?


EDIT: After I wrote that and as I thought of other fun "super powers", I remembered a web comic I started reading recently. It's called The Gods of ArrKelaan. It's about a group of normal people becoming gods and finding out their powers. One, named Ronson, becomes the "God of Apathy and Alcohol". He can summon beer and alcohol at will. Now that'd be fun!

I added a new blog to my reading list

By Scott Adams -- The Dilbert Blog. He's pretty frank but it is interesting reading. It'll make you think. I've added it right next to Freakonomics and Seth Godin. And if you haven't downloaded it yet, you can still get a free copy of his book "God's Debris."

A new low

I did something I haven't done in a long time...

I paid less than $2 per gallon for gas! I haven't seen it that low in a long time. I hope if stays that way. Most places I've seen are still just over $2, but there's a station near our new house that's been $1.99 and now $1.96 for a week or so.

What did you think I meant by "a new low?"


-- C.