Cleaning, Clogging, And Rebooting

The title was to be read in the cadence of “Reading, Writing, and ‘Rithmetic.” Anyone? Anyone? Beuller?

Cramming For My Dental Exam
The time has come, and passed actually. I was supposed to have my six-month dental exam and cleaning last week, but due to a hygienist’s doctor’s appointment I was pushed back to today.

Even though I’ve not quite flossed as well as I should have I’m not really fearing today’s exam. However, there have been far too many dental exams that I haven’t feared that have wound up costing me money and set me up for pain. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

The Water Goes Down The Drain Slow, Slow, Slow
What would a day in this blog be without a plumbing problem? Today’s malady was a very slow shower drain.

You don’t have to tell me — I’m slowly losing my hair. This, along with the various chemicals and soaps I use have clogged the drain of my primary shower.

After my shower this morning I took out a plunger and plungered the heck out of this drain. I must warn you not to do this if you are the least bit grossed out. It. Was. Disgusting. The next step in this morning’s fiasco was to clean the mess that I created with the plunger by scrubbing the shower stall floor.

Unfortunately, plunging didn’t solve the problem so I pulled out the heavy artillery — industrial drain cleaner. I figured “Why not destroy all of the sewer pipes in my house?” Mere seconds after pouring the drain cleaner into the water I heard a muffled “plump” and the water began to flow freely.

This afternoon I shall return to the scene of the crime to inspect this morning’s hard labor.

ITP Flickr Pic
CRAP! I forgot to upload the photo I wanted to use today. Further crapping things up is that it is the photo I planned to upload to Jalapeño Beach as well.

AppleTV Rebooted
I’ve been enjoying my AppleTV since buying it. It makes a nice “alternative” to the collection of my entertainment center devices. However, of late it’s been a little problematic and refusing to take the latest software update offered by Apple. Last night I got fed up enough to revert the box back to its factory settings and start all over again. With one button press all was wiped and with a few network configuration settings the download of the latest software was complete. For the rest of the night I fudged with getting it connected back to my (slightly screwed) iTunes library and syncing the nearly 8000 things in it. Next up…. getting Boxee downloaded and installed so that I can increase the AppleTV’s capabilities.

And now you know why I never got around to doing photo processing. Too many things to do. 🙁

Let’s Get Ready To Rumble!
Dear God, what is wrong with me? Today I am mailing in my entry for the
2009 Red Top Rumble 11.5 Mile Run. It’s another event put on by GUTS so I am confident that it will be well organized.

Now it’s (long past) time for me start running again in an effort to actually be properly trained for the run. Having said that, I will not be at George’s tonight. Wednesday sneaked up on me and I didn’t pack any running clothes, and even though I’ll be heading home early I will not want to venture back out to the Highlands. Instead I think that I’ll hang around the nice warm house and do many of the chores that have been haunting me of late.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Daily
Current Mood – okay, but nervous
Current Music – listening to The Candid Frame podcast
Website Of The Day – This one is for the “typesetting crowd” — The (Mostly) True Story of Helvetica and the New York City Subway. I found it interesting, but then again I also enjoyed the documentary “Helvetica”.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 3 (3)
Vegetarian Days – 2
Carnivorous Days – 0
Marta Rides – 0

Ongoing
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4

December Goals
1) Lose no fewer than two pounds
2) Drink no soda
3) Run no fewer than 50 miles
4) Completely read no fewer than one book
5) Write at least one program using Ruby on Rails

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

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21 Responses to Cleaning, Clogging, And Rebooting

  1. Martha says:

    You’ll be fine for RTR, it looks way easier that MM. I’m more excited about getting a shirt that fits than the run itself.

    We seem to have the opposite problem. I think I’m over doing it and not giving my body enough time to recover. I felt like I’m just dragging on every run I’ve been on this week.

    So I finally did the reading, you need about a day for every mile. Not that you shouldn’t be running but I should be taking it easier. Maybe I’ll skip my long run this weekend and go for a bike ride on the SCT. I might run with Slopes tomorrow night if you are interested.

    I may swing by G’s tonight but I already ran 6 this morning.

  2. Barb says:

    My hair got blamed for Allan’s shower drain not draining. (Yes, we use separate bathrooms as much as possible, since we have 2, it makes life a whole lot easier). I can’t wait to tell Allan that short hair can clog it up too! I only used it for a couple months while mine was torn up. Glad you got it taken care of with some simple drain cleaner.

  3. Yeah, I forgot to mention that I ran six this morning as well. (or not) As promising as running with you and Slopes sounds, I’m not ready to run with others yet — I’m too slow.

    And for those keeping score at home — I *just* ordered two Dish Network Tr-40 CRA digital-to-analog television converters. In the end the transaction cost me $25 and change ($18 for shipping/handling, $7 for sales tax). I probably could have begged for a couple for free, but being a stock holder I wanted to “boost” sales.

  4. Allan’s hair is much shorter than my current length. When mine was much shorter I didn’t really clog my drain.

    Of the two of you I’d think your length would be more problematic, but I think Allan’s is probably entering the drain more often — if you catch my drift. 😉

  5. RanLiCoop says:

    I’m being entertained by the hair discussion, but another thought occurred to me: clogged shower drains might also be a result of washing off post-hash shiggy.

  6. Since I wear tights for every hash the shiggy goes out the cracked drain, not the clogged one.

  7. Gentri says:

    Just think how much $$$ you just saved by resolving that issue yourself! I love a “happy ending”….

    Finally pulled the trigger on a new HVAC system for headland… installation is next Tuesday… ugly price (as they all are), but still 1400 less that the next highest quote!

  8. Any thoughts about manual labor being easier to find and cheaper to get now that the economy is going deeper into the toilet?

  9. Martha says:

    Well I’ve been told now is a great time to get work done on the house. Prices for materials are low and contractors are hungry. I’m still going to wait for spring/summer…want to make sure my job is secure, bills are paid, etc.

    Who knows maybe ‘this guy’ will be the one to take me away from all this, lol.

  10. Sal says:

    Red Top Rumble will be a piece of cake compared to Mystery Mountain. Much gentler race director! 🙂

    My shower gets clogged on a regular basis and I usually just pour some Drano down there and it seems to work. I imagine the old cast iron pipes will have to be replaced eventually along with the roof that currently leaks!

  11. Martha, I’m hoping one day to meet ‘that girl’ that will force me to sell my house. 🙂

    Sal, are you secretly living in one of the rooms of my house? 🙂

  12. Martha says:

    You’ll never believe it Paulie but we were just ‘hanging out’ and then we were dating, lol!

  13. I’ve tried just “hanging out” but have never successfully converted that to dating. Actually I’ve completely given up, which is when everyone swears they meet people. I have my serious doubts…

  14. Andrew says:

    Do you need a Boxee invite?

  15. Andrew, someone is supposed to send me an invite to Boxee. I’ll let you know if I need one. Thanks.

  16. Gentri says:

    It is a good time to get stuff done, make sure you get multiple quotes even now however, as some are more aggressive than others…

    Remember what they say kids, if at 1st you don’t succeed… (Paulie, you need to get back on that bike… yes, both literally and figuratively!)

  17. Martha says:

    >It is a good time to get stuff done, make sure you get multiple quotes even now however, as some are more aggressive than others…

    Are you talking about home improvement projects or dating?

  18. Gentri says:

    When it comes to you sweetie, I think the answer is obvious!

    ………. home improvements, of course! 😉

  19. bob says:

    Good news Paulie!! You didn’t make this list!

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27792365/

  20. Michelle says:

    You should try getting Little Easy’s hair out of the shower drain…..

  21. Bob, that’s too funny. Damn straight this isn’t one of the Eleven Lamest Blogs on teh internets!

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