goldendesign

Our house is all open floor plan, hard floors, with hardly any furniture in the 2800 sq ft of it. I think the roomba will be a huge time savings.

My dirt devil dust stick vac just died the other day and it was always sort of a pain in the ass. My dyson is awesome but almost all my floors are hardwood or travertine so not so gret for those. I just swept, dust mopped, and floor mopped all my floors wednesday. Took several hours. I need something that doesn't take hours of my own time to do. I usually have to sweep twice a week. So I said fuck it. Brought my 20% coupon to Bed Bath and Beholden and bought this: http://www.cnet.com/products/irobot-roomba-880/ The Roomba 880. Charging now will report on how it does. If this keeps my work load down then money well spent.

Hello all. Been a bit busy with school, work, home. Haven't been on all that much. Hardly know all these new posters, welcome all Home has been fun. Spring sprung and now my days are upper 80's with blazing sun. I mowed my lawn last week. The full shebang; 20 bags of mulch, edged, tree/bush trimmed, mowed and blowed. Looks great but if I want to really admit it I gotta mow again. Gonna be one of those summers... Also working on a new room remodel, will post pics once I get it all going. Seems the family room needs the overhaul, the plan is decorative wall wood work, custom fireplace mantel, electric fireplace, built in surround, new TV, sectional, and new lighting throughout. Gonna be a busy time period between spring and summer semester. I might even take a week off work to truly dedicate time to it. School is plugging along. Got almost all A's on my midterms. Thats all there. But, really, do you wanna hear about the nuances of college physics? Nah, me neither. Work is where things are gearing up. I am over working as a jeweler and retail in general. I also know I need experience in an office and the computer field. So for me to not work another christmas in retail and not be an utter wanker to my boss then I have to leave by October. That gives me 6 months to find some entry level position and someone willing to take a chance on a half-old guy looking for a change. I really, really need this. So if any of you have any advice, contacts in Tampa you can pester to look at my resume, or general good wishes please pass them my way. That's all for now folks.

​It may sound weird but the keepers do keep their respective veggies/fruits fresher and longer. I have one of everyone: bell pepper, onion, tomato, avocado, and lemon/lime. Best few bucks I ever spent for food storage.

Chain snapping beast! hope you recover soon.

​Well, we never got to Miami. She slept too long to make it worthwhile. Turns out we didn't need it. We instead packed up and headed south and did a Manatee County island tour. Started in Anna Maria, walked the piers and shopped the shops. Stopped in Bradenton beach, Coquina beach to be exact, walked the shoreline and silly shopped in the stores. Continued south to Long Boat Key and ogled the mansions and ridiculous vacation rentals. There were a few open houses so we had to stop in to see how the other 1% lived. Then continued on to Lido beach in Sarasota. Shopped at the shops and another beach walk. Went back north to Coquina beach and had dinner in a beach front restaurant. Watched the sun set over the Skyway bridge as we drove home. It was very nice. Reminds us why we live here. Even if our beaches, 10 minutes from my house, start to bore us there are literally dozens within an hour drive. Little coastal towns worth investigating and enjoying. It was even warm enough to enjoy a little dip. Here is the island chain we toured yesterday: Picture orientation is South is the top of photo. We started from Anna Maria, bottom, and worked out way all the way to the mainland.

Dunno what we are doing today. I think I might surprise my wife with a day trip to Miami. If I leave by 9:30 we can be there in time for lunch at Mangos and would still catch the music bazaar. She is still snoring so I'll see.

My grandfather was one of the toughest men I ever knew. WWII hero, father, grandfather of immense wisdom and fun. He left me with some good advice: "Treat everyone you meet with respect, they'll show you when they no longer deserve it." "Ladies get the door. Either to open for the nice ones or on the rear as they leave." "Speak plainly and never take any shit."

So sorry to hear. Looks like she had a wonderfully caring owner and life.

Was planning a trip to cruise Spain but the summer semester starts two days before I can get back. Meaning I can't do it this year. If I miss firts day of class the Uni drops my classes. Kinda sucks but thems the apples. Seems every vacation idea me and the wife contemplate gets all screwy by school or work schedules. I think I need to quit my job to use my vacation time.

Best friends wife. Standoff-ish, strange mothering concepts, highly motivated yet lazy. She has her masters degree in chemical engineering and a PE in two states, yet doesn't want to work. She almost got fired from her last job just by coming in at 11am everyday. Now she doesn't work and uses it to not go to social events either. Most people think she doesn't like them until a few years of knowing her then you realize she doesn't like most people so you've nothing to loose. Strangely enough she seems to like me. I think its cause I am the "no social" filter friend. I have no problem pointing out my opinion, not to be rude, to start a conversation. Everyone else can be awkward around her afraid they might say something she deems rude, wrong. I just speak my mind and we have good conversations.

Bonuses can blow. I am paid very highly for my current position. I do have a commission of the store if I meet our sales goals. My owner is an asshat though. According to all indicators a 7% growth is expected in the retail/service jewelry industry. I usually like our goals to be set around 10-12% since that is reasonable strech above the norm, showing a good improvement for the overall store. Our store is quite consistent so month to month has little variation. February was a sticker. We don't do a brisk valentines, to be honest jewelry lost that a decade ago, and with only 28 days the month is usually a smaller one. Our owner pulled a fast one, wanting the goal to be the same as January; historically our biggest month since after the holidays is when my highest repair sales happen. That was a 17.7% increase over February last year. Seemingly insurmountable. With several really good custom jobs and some high end watch services that fell into my lap I was able to get to the one yard line, missed goal by $240. Less than 0.5% off. So he got an incredible month and as a "nice try" I am getting half my normal commission. Fucker got a 2k savings off my commission by a technicality. Even though we had an increase of 17.2% over last year. He makes an additional 20k and I get stiffed.

He had to run away in shame cuz of their laughing

If you have a newer windows (Win7) or newer computer just hold down windows button and "Print Screen" button. It will be saved in you pictures folder. If you have an apple I think you can do something close to that effect. Linux is easier, hit the print screen. Worst case take a polaroid of it and mail it to me.

Where do I find my reputation?

Phone background

Been a bit since I've asked. Maybe I'm the only who changes often. Hell, I have about a gig or four on slideshow. These two seem to be my favorites right now:

I woulda gone through the top... Course my was would have required me to buy two more power tools and at least three more hours. But it woulda be fun!

groupw, Though the house no longer stands the memories you and your family made will live on. It is a shame that someone would tear down a piece of history. Do your remembrance project, it will be cathartic. It is stories like this where I can seewhat I missed. My family never put down roots anywhere. When I moved to FL after graduating high school it was my 19th move. We moved so often I hardly remember all the homes or neighborhoods. We have memories of that summer in the blue house, the brown house in Utica, the yellow one in Warren, old one in New Baltimore.... and so on. Anyways, tell stories of living there over a fire with the folks.

Seems while my head was down we gained fresh blood. A perusal of the postings show quality, if not increase of proper postings return. I think new blood/old blood makes for a revitalizing of the forum.

Flank steak dry rubbed with salt and cumin Fresh, homeade chimichurri sauce Used the seasoned oak to wood grill them with sweet peppers and mushrooms. While everything was getting right I made a peaches and cream pie to finish me off. Actually had the whole weekend off. Big physics exam on Thursday so I wanted some dedicated studying time. I used cooking as a release of my Potential energy, Conserving as many calories, allowing Friction between my belly and clothes, and in general increasing Mass.

If its green or smelly remember to tell your doctor about that discharge.

Ugh. My cold front just ended today. We had three days below 50*. I even woke up with it at 41* the other day. We warmed up today to 68*. I am over winter.

I did just get 240k miles on my accord. Engine was sound just all the ancillary components that gave up. That 24K engine they put in the accord and a few other cars is super sound. I would consider an older Accord for her if your going for on the cheap. Though, not to thread-jack, my most recent acquisition is of the same motor, excellent rates financing, and a dream to drive. I put what 5k down and payments are going to be sub 400 with my insurance actually dropping $190 per 6 month term. Also, shiny!