Tag Archives: Life

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Kent County, MI

??? Where can I put a dead TV? How much does it cost?

TVs (and vacuum cleaners...and all sorts of other stuff!!!) can be dropped off at Best Buy stores.

??? Grand Rapids (and Kent County) doesn't recycle styrofoam. Where do I take it?

There are a few places, including a couple UPS stores.

??? Too much cardboard and my bin is full! I don't want to wait 2 more weeks...

All of your basic recycle stream stuff can be taken to a drop off center

??? The city stopped picking up yard waste or the winter and I have some.

Too bad...sneak it into a regular blue bag.

??? Is there a community composting program?

That would be cool...but no.

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At least trying to come back.

Oh!  the class I'm in is so much fun!  I was not real excited at the beginning of the year, but it's really, really good.

I'm back to weight watchers.  Been doing low carb, but "feel" healthier on WW.  Plus, they've revamped everything and most fruits are "free" - fruit is what I miss on low carb.  So away I go.

Reading "The Roots of Obama's Rage" - it's more psychological than political, but if the author is correct, it's going to get ugly.

Still reading "50People Every Christian Should Know."

Tom will be home on Wednesday.  Life goes on.

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The landlord (Ron) told me that (as long as I told him ahead of time) I could do "stuff" to the unit. But whatever I leave behind when I move out is his.

If I end up being there for a while, there are a few things I would do.

  • more cable jacks - okay, that's a given and I'm calling tomorrow to get that done.
  • install these (and the rail)
  • a wireless intercom for the door
  • maybe a ceiling fan or two
  • this (for the door to the balcony)

If I do one of these every few months, it will make the place more comfy.

Things that I might buy that I could pass along to somebody else

  • this (for the balcony)
  • this (to make life easier)- which could double as a portable island.

I share the job of shoveling the sidewalk with the downstairs tenant - I have an electric snowblower, but have no storage.  If they want to store it (and use it) I'll gladly provide it.

The other thing is that I'm responsible for my own garbage removal - I just don't generate that much garbage, so I may end up volunteering to pay for a cart and removal, rather than buying "blue garbage bags" -  our city's system.  You buy the bag and put in on the curb on the right day, and they pick it up.  If I go with a private service, maybe I can split the cost and store the cart outdoors so I don't have to keep garbage in the apartment for a week.

If I keep the camping gear in the camper, that will take care of that storage need - I just need to put a good padlock on the camper door.

My books always suffer from lack of organization...my thought was to get these binder clips in white to stick on the shelves and label them with a sharpie

I need more bookshelves.

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Is set up a little differently than I remember, but will be nice.

It's an upper, so there are stairs up that don't go anyplace but my unit.  There's a deadbolt both at the bottom of the stairs and the top of the stairs.  What this means is that I can put bike hoods on the walls of the stairs (it's wide enough in two places) and use the hall for bike storage (and I ran it by the landlord and he said ok.)

The bedrooms are a little bigger than I remember, so furniture will fit.  One of my dressers will be in the "front room" - and since I use it for office and craft storage, it's a better place for it anyway.

Plenty of wall space for bookshelves...I need to get comcast out to put in another cable jack.

Lots of kitchen storage, plenty of drawers.  I still have to shovel snow, but I share the duty with the downstairs folks.  I can even park the camper on the property and this is the first landlord who has said "yes" to that.

I'll have to get a little creative with storage, especially camping gear.  I'm going to have a padlock put on the camper door and I can keep most of the gear in there.

Overall, it will work well.

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There's errands I need to run - bike store, groceries, post office, Meijer Garden (sans students)

I want to spend time on my blog - get back into it, organize themes and delete a few that I don't like.  Expect change.

I guess that's the way life is...expect change.  Then change won't blind side you...or maybe it will anyway.

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missed a couple of days!

The water heater is in, although not what I expected.  When the plumber got to my house they "discovered" that the new heater has a bigger burner, thus more BTU's, and the old vent system would not work, so they wanted to tap into the chimney - and move the thing 8 feet, involving moving the water and gas lines...and much money.

I told them, it's just me, take that 40 gallon back and bring back a 30 gallon that you won't have to move.

So, they did.

My class last night is going to be interesting:  "Philosophy of Religion".   My paper for next week, "Is Religion Important?", based on quotes and philosophical definitions.

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We're preparing to send Tom off to college again.  I've adjusted very well to having the house to myself.  The drawback is that I don't need or want this much house.

Snow removal, furnace repair, water heater replacement (even with huge and gratefully received financial gifts) and roof repair and driveway repair coming up and...and...and...

I'm tired of being a single (alone, not single-family-dwelling) homeowner.

I've breezed through the websites of a couple of apartment  of complexes that look altogether tempting.  My house payment/rent would go down, my heating bill would drop by $100, my electric would be non-existent.  No more paying for garbage pickup, snow removal, lawn mowing.

I would have to pay for a storage unit/place for my camper, or make arrangements to leave it at my dad's house during the non-camping season, so I'd only have to pay storage for part of the year.

Just thinking...if I'm going to be in Grand Rapids, I might as well take some of the pressure off.

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One of the things I do every January (and it takes me a while) is to go through all my music and sort it into my "big" playlists

  • Driving around town
  • sing-along songs
  • Music for school
  • bike riding music

It reminds me of the music that I have.  Some of it makes me laugh, some it makes me cry.

Some if it reminds me...

This one from Dolly Parton

(...)

I said you'd better get to livin', givin'
Be willing and forgivin'
Cause all healing has to start with you
You better stop whining, pining
Get your dreams in line
And then just shine, design, refine
Until they come true
And you better get to livin'.

Your life's a wreck, your house is mess
And your wardrobe way outdated
All your plans just keep on falling through
Overweight and under paid, under appreciated
I'm no guru, but I'll tell you
This I know is true.(...)

You better get to livin', givin'
A little more thought about bein'
A little more willin' to make a better way
Don't sweat the small stuff
Keep your chin up
Just hang tough
And if it gets too rough
Fall on your knees and pray
And do that everyday
Then you'll get to livin'.

The day we're born we start to die
Don't waste one minute of this life
Get to livin'
Share your dreams and share your laughter
Make some points for the great hereafter.

Better start carin'
Better start sharin'
Better start tryin'
Better start smiling
And you better get to livin'...

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The old guy went to live with Amanda.  I was a little worried that he would not do very well.  He hid under her bed for 2 hours, then in the basement for 2 days.

We think that he might have been planning his strategy.

Now I'm told that he's the new alpha-cat in the house.  And doing pretty well at it.