We have the damp


In the misty UK, they call it "damp." Here, we call it something like "water seeping into your house." Whatever it is, it causes water damage.

Because we are naive, new homeowners, we have not previously seen the importance of installing rain gutters on hour house. Now we know that rain gutters keep a lot of water away from the sides and base of your house. Since we don't have any, the rain is coming down onto the back deck on either side of the french doors and it's staying there, seeping into the house siding and into the house itself. Our baseboards inside are swollen with water and the carpet is soaked, turning black with mold. It's kind of freaky. I wake up with a stuffy nose and wonder if it's because I'm coming down with something or if it's the fungus growing under the carpet. Heylove in her best Lassie impression scratched away all the house paint where the water was coming in to show us the clapboards covered in black mold.

It makes me wish that this rain would stop so we can do something about it. It also makes me wish we could just call the landlord and say, "hey dude, fix your house." But we can't. We're responsible for this mess. We haven't gotten anyone to look at it yet, but I know it's going to be a very expensive mistake we made.

This says more than I can


I can't say much about all the immigration policy-reform talk going on in the media. I am far too attached to it all. Reading the paper this morning about all the marches and rallies going on across the nation had me in tears. Although this has lots to do with other ethnic groups, the ones with roots in spanish-speaking countries are turning out in droves. My people are a passionate lot. Haven't you ever flipped past a novela on Univision? You can't shake them up and expect them to not react.

There are tons of photo pools on flickr. I looked at a few pictures but want to go through more at home tonight.

Hoot!


A bunch of us went to Hooters last night to celebrate spring break. Of course it was loud, garish and scantily clad, but the food I ordered was not as terrible as I was expecting. I got the grilled cheese platter for $5.99. It came on Texas toast with 2 kinds of cheese, expertly grilled and a whole mess of curly fries. It was pretty good, actually. Two complaints though:

1. The curly fries were not seasoned curly fries.
2. It was Hooters.

Ikea: Spring Break Edition


I planned a lunchtime trip to Ikea yesterday. I'm thinking Monday afternoon....no crowds...pretty cheap and tasty vittles. Wrong! It's spring break, dude! Everyone and their mother was there. And when I say "everyone and their mother," I mean tons of little kids and their mothers were there. They were all in line to get food in the cafeteria, too. That line was at least 100 people long. I ended up buying a couple of things and then hit Taco Bell on the way back to the office. Note to blog: do not go to Ikea on the weekends, do not go to Ikea during any holiday or spring break.