Rick Lee’s photoblog was one of the very first blogs I ever read and I now log into it daily as part of my morning coffee routine. I love his photography – particularly his grocery store shots.
Someone has put together this slideshow and, apparently, Rick didn’t know about it. [I don’t know Rick, but he seems like a first-name-basis sort of guy, ya know?]
It’s a beautiful slideshow of some vivid images. Enjoy.
The poltergeist-y electric problem in my house turned out to be tree limbs interfering with electrical dooflatchies. Cutting some branches down restored heat and hot water as well as everything else that required 220 current.
The Appy Power guy was really surprised I wanted to take his picture.
I’ll finish the furnace story tomorrow, but right now I’m dwelling on the irony of the fact that last night I was home with no heat in the house. Tonight, I have heat at the house, but I’m in a Best Western in Charleston.
That’s how ridiculous my life is. Timing is everything in life and my timing needs work.
But here I am. And I must say I’m impressed. My frugal boss made the reservations and, while I wasn’t expecting Magic Fingers or mold in the bathroom, I also wasn’t expecting a king sized bed covered in pillows and pointy toilet paper.
The job before this job I did a fair amount of traveling. Between that and personal travel, I spent a fair amount of time in hotels and motels. My traveling days ended before the “luxury bed” was all the rage with the cool hoteliers. You know when trends start trickling down to Best Westerns in Charleston, WV, said trend has gotten pretty mainstream.
I rather like this pillow thing. I have a bunch of pillows on the beds at home as well as sinfully high-thread-count sheets and ambient lighting. These things make for a nice drifting-off-to-sleep experience. To find such a set up here is a nice change from floral or striped bedspreads that probably haven’t been cleaned as often as one would hope.
Pointy toilet paper has long puzzled me. Pray tell, what is the point? Some poor soul earns a meager living cleaning rooms and part of his or her job duties is to fold toilet paper. It’s ludicrous. But if such a thing is deemed a necessity and the bathroom has two toilet-paper-holders, shouldn’t the points be the same size and shape? The lack of symmetry here bothers me. This hotel loses 5 Martha Stewart points for this egregious act. I bet the maid did it on purpose. I would.
[Mmmmm. I just put on my nightgown and crawled into bed. The linens aren’t as wonderful as one would hope – but nice nonetheless; and the experience is so much better than last night’s shivering under a down which just couldn’t keep up with the cold. No down on this bed. Pity that.]
Of course, the coffee pot falls short of my requirements. With the trek down the hill carrying luggage, the travel pot had to stay at home. I’m offended by the Styrofoam cup. I’ve got pillows, pointy toilet paper, high-end soap with an ergonomic design, but a Styrofoam cup. Go figure. If I can’t have a real cup, can’t we do better than flimsy Styrofoam? It’s a travesty, I tell you. More Martha points lost.
There’s no room service, but the clerk says hot breakfast is served in the morning. I believe I’ll partake.
So, if this post reads oddly it’s because the double u key and the snake shaped keys won’t work. I’ve had to manipulate spell check and control v to type this.
Never a dull moment. Timing is everything in life. And now I must go to sleep. Big day tomorrow.
Bad cup or not, I’d like to vacation here for about a double-u-eek. I really like the bed. I do, I do.
It’s 50F in the house and I’m a wee-bit annoyed. The electrician that performed $1500 worth of re-wiring 15 days ago is supposed to “stop by” this morning to check things out. I’m afeared the snow will keep him from getting here. Or something else, like a paying customer – I have no intention of paying him a cent for today’s adventure; and I think he senses that. If I do open the checkbook it will only be after he does a lot of convincing.
While I have lights, I do not have hot water or heat; and the hot tub hasn’t kicked on to circulate water since yesterday afternoon.
Yes, I have lights, a space heater and a kerosene heater, but still I woke up to 49F in the house. As for the lights, they dim and flicker.
I’m more than just annoyed. I’m cold and mad. I have had enough.
Ancient burial ground? Or incompetence?
I drained the last bit of hot water to take a shower and wash the spackle dust out of my hair. I cannot find the blow dryer. So much for everything I learned in Girl Scouts – chiefly Be Prepared.
[As for Be Prepared, I think that’s why I’ve been a gross over-packer for my entire life. Now that airlines are charging for luggage, things could get expensive. Well. That was a stupid statement. My entire life is getting expensive.]
I have the tea kettle on top of the kerosene heater – I think it seems friendlier that way. Besides, it’s a small (and futile) attempt to make the damn thing more aesthetically pleasing.
The puppies are nestled in Cadillac of Dog Beds. Was my braving the perils of the Beelzebub of Bobbinhood a tempting of fate? Or Be Prepared? I also had a full tank of kerosene. [I guess some of that Girl Scout training sunk in aside from over-packing for vacations and business trips.]
Things could be worse. I guess. I’m probably tempting fate by saying that.
So. I have a raging case of the Crankies punctuated by welling tears of frustration.
I’ve had enough. Winter needs to be over.
Every year about this time, the longing for Spring reaches fever pitch. The cooling that fall brings is welcome after the Dog Days. Finding the $10 bill in my wool coat always sets a nice tone to the beginning of winter. I rather enjoy hot chocolate in the early days of frigid temperature. But by Valentine’s Day, I am so so tired of winter and the ensuing challenges. That’s never been truer than this year.
I have had enough.
I need to begin thinking about 2010 Gardenpalooza.
W. Va. Fur and Root 