Conversations with the wife.

For reasons I can't explain the design of our house had to have a chunk of wasted space above our front door. Only accessible by a tall ladder, there's a large nook complete with window that's of no use other than decorative. It wouldn't baffle me that much if I couldn't fit my car in it.

My wife decided to decorate it as she's want to do. I like what she did with it, but today I had a few ideas bounce around in my head that might make it better. I shared one with her via IM:

Wiwille: you know that wasted space above the front door?
Wife: yea, i like it the way it is but why
Wiwille: could we turn that into a scale replica of the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon?
Wife: sure honey :)

Being a newlywed I'm starting to learn what "sure honey" really stands for, and no it doesn't mean go ahead and swing by the Home Depot and spend a few hundred dollars on a vanity project in a vain attempt to fulfill my desire to never mature. In the interest of self preservation and a happy marriage I shall not even attempt this.

But damn wouldn't it be cool?

"Acting in 'Star Wars' I felt like a raisin in a giant fruit salad, and I didn't even know who the cantaloupes were." - Mark Hamill

Wiwille 1 - Washing machine 0

They say when you become a home owner that all kinds of headaches will arise from the things you used to have your landlord fix. Such is the case with my installment of our washing machine.

Normally this would not be a difficult task. Plug the machine in, screw in the hoses, and walla, you have a fully functional device that cleans your clothing. Such was not the case in the Wiwille household.

I screwed in the hot water hose, the last of the tasks presented to me, and turned on the water. Later that day I saw a puddle of fluid running out of the laundry room. I find the water spewing out of the hose where it connects with the hot water faucet and quickly turn it off. I make a run to Home Depot, the third in at least a dozen trips in the last few days, and pick up some plumber's sealant.

I put the sealant on the threads of the faucet and screw in the hose. I turn it on and find more water gushing out of it. The next day I run back to Home Depot and find the roof is leaking. If only they they had materials and manpower to fix such a problem. Anyways I pick up sealant tape and head back home. I use both the sealant tape and the goop, but alas it was in vain. The damn thing leaked again.

I go back to Home Depot for what I hoped to be the last time that day. I bought new washer hoses and replace them. Of course that didn't help. I swore and was ready to take a sledgehammer to the miserable piece of donkey shit, but then it dawned on me that there are no rubber washers. For whatever reason the first hose had the washer fall out of it in the move and I forgot to insert the new ones in the replacement. I insert them into the new hose, tighten it down with the force of Hercules, and suddenly the wife and I have a fully functional washing machine.

I stepped back and wiped some sweat off my brow wondering how it came to be that I could be so stupid to overlook something so simple. I was angry with myself, but paused a second to realize that I won the battle with this particular appliance. Regardless of how the fight took place I was victorious and that was all that matters.

Now the dryer on the other hand....

"I was more ashamed that I couldn't work the washing machine than the fact that I was taking drugs." - Elton John

This morning the wife and I signed what must've been 47 documents at the title company and as a result we're now homeowners. As we speak she's packing up our new dwelling with non-essentials. She's so excited to move that for the past month or so every day I came home after work she'd have a few boxes already packed. Our dining room is stacked with stuff and it takes the skills of an acrobat to walk through it.

I have to admit I'm excited as well. While I shall mourn my bank account I can't wait to see our home unpacked, the same house I'll be raising my family.

I hope to make it a happy home.

"Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in." - Robert Frost

Brick

When Kelly and I arrived back in the States from our wedding/honeymoon we decided to drop in and see the progress that's been done on the building of our home. While we were excited to see how fast it's coming up; however, we noticed something. The brick that we asked the builder to set aside for us was missing. We emailed them to inquire what may have happened to it. Today we got a response:

"About the brick... someone stole it all. Along with all my brick mortar material from two other addresses. So I will be watching out for anyone doing any work with your brick color. I am very sorry about that."

I was planning on using the left over brick for some yard decor, but sadly that won't happen. Brick is so cheap around here it seemed like a lot of work to lift two pallets worth of heavy building material that was sitting on the back patio. I imagine the operation took a lot of manpower, more than I'd be willing to risk jail time for. Some construction folk are different though. They have many side projects and material is gold for them.

Funny enough the builder's name is Stony. I'm not kidding.

"Better to be a strong man with a weak point, than to be a weak man without a strong point. A diamond with a flaw is more valuable that a brick without a flaw." - William J. H. Boetcker