leakyBA August 21, 2007
Posted by kelvicious in : house, pgh , 4commentsreading andy’s post about the recent weather in pittsburgh reminded me that i have little (but constant!) rivers of water flowing into my basement lately, and how much it sucks, and wouldn’t it be great if i knew who to call about this crap…
…OH WAIT I DO KNOW SOMEONE:
i haven’t seen leaky’s commercials in ages - maybe their advertising budget dried up or maybe i just fast forward through them with my sweet sweet baby tivo. doesn’t matter.
point is, these commercials worm their way into your brain and stay with you. seven years later, kenny is still with you.
maybe prayer could bring my icemaker back? August 21, 2007
Posted by kelvicious in : house, pgh , add a commentour icemaker done shat itself last wednesday night. we woke up on thursday to water water everywhere (and not a drop [of ice] for drinks) and all contents of our freezer encased in a two inch layer of ice.
for shits and giggles we went to price new fridges at home depot. then chris suggested sears scratch n’ dent in lawrenceville, but dang if their prices aren’t higher - and for fridges with big gouges in noticeable places.
on our way home, we stopped at a red light and noticed there was a riotous outdoor church service happening in an empty lot to our left. a preacher, a man on the drums, people praising jesus, the whole nine yards.
and ya know, it looked really fun. i kind of felt like pulling over and jumping in, but the tent revival scene really isn’t my thing.
coal barge’s daughter August 20, 2007
Posted by kelvicious in : pgh , 2commentsi had lunch with someone yesterday who, in the course of conversation, mentioned that two of his clients work on coal barges.
“dream job!” i shouted. he raised his eyebrow and asked if i was being funny.
not at all, i told him - although i do realize that i’m romanticizing the job: when i think about working on a barge, i think about the view of the city from the river, crunching through sheets of ice in the winter, waving to kids on the shore.
this perspective is, of course, ridiculous. the job is dangerous and requires years of training. but if i had the muscle, and wasn’t such a baby about the cold (and hard physical labor), i’d do it.
soon you will be as cheese, boy. melty melty melty. August 4, 2007
Posted by kelvicious in : house , 4commentsit’s quarter after eight on a saturday morning and i’ve been up for a good long while. i’m sitting outside on our back deck because it is PRAISE JESUS twenty thousand degrees cooler out here than in the house.
today is going to be ninety degrees. nine zero. i’m sick of talking to people who say things like, “i’m from texas, ninety is nothing!” no, stupid. ninety is really hot. especially when there is ninety-nine percent humidity and everything is sticky and you get angry at the drop of a hat because you just might be melting. oh, and the river smells really pleasant, too.
our plans for the day include complaining about the heat and then maybe heading to the mall or the movies to hang with the other people who don’t have air conditioning (hippies!).
when we bought our house, we didn’t think the lack of central air would be a problem: the dorms at duquesne didn’t have air conditioning. our first apartment in the hill didn’t have air conditioning. my shoebox in squirrel hill didn’t have air conditioning. oh, but the thing we forgot about all those places? was just how fucking miserable they were.
unfortunately, being that our house is hella old and built from rocks and sticks and chewing gum, it can’t be outfitted with central air. i really think that as soon as we’re done fixing it up, we’ll sell it and trade up. i will scrape and pinch every penny for air conditioning. that’s right. i would sell my house for air conditioning. i would sell my mom for air conditioning.
but hands off my welcome back, kotter juice glasses. August 4, 2007
Posted by kelvicious in : road trip, shopping , 4commentscheck it: every august for the past four or five years, holly (of black coffee fame) and i have made the trek to somerset for the town’s annual antique show.
it’s a chance to escape the city for a day with the added bonus of church fair food (hot dogs and sauerkraut, funnel cake and rc cola, diabetes and cardiac arrest).
oh yah, and antiques, too.
one year i found a totally creepy brooch (is it a cat? is it a fox?). i named him roger. observe:
hey roger!
another year, holly and i picked up metal locker bins ($3 each!) from an old high school gym. i’ve purchased jewelry, vintage aprons and linens, glassware, books, etc. point is, there is a huge selection that spans several blocks, a parking garage and a couple empty lots.
this year, the antique show is on august 11th, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
visit the somerset county chamber of commerce website for more info.