The Hobbit Hole III - Journey to the Cross-roads!

[HairOfTheDog]

Welcome to The Hobbit Hole!

Journey to the Cross-roads
The Two Towers Edition

Come on! Come in! -if you would like to have some seedcakes and a pint and relax a while. (If it is a special occasion, we still have a few bottles of the old wineyards left!)

Our first thread ( New Zealander builds Hobbit hole ) reached 4,100 posts, and we thought that was big. Our second thread (The New Hobbit Hole ) held us for over 48,000 posts, and we loved it dearly. We talked about moving to a new thread for the last 38,000 posts, but we are really slow to muster! Finally, the time has come. Tomorrow (at 12:01 am, to be precise!) The Two Towers comes out, and we start a new chapter.

[Ramius]

I complelety concur. Dell's refurbs are a good value, and the 600-series latitudes are pretty sturdy.

I also agree about the burner. A DVD burner is going to be pretty spendy, and not really necessary. A CD burner is going to be very useful. CD-R is the write-once type and CD-RW is the re-writable type. CD RW is a little more spendy, but not bad, but it requires RW type disks.

Honestly... R type blanks CD's are so cheap there isn't a whole lot of point in bothering with RW. In my mind, there's something to be said for safe storage that can't be overwritten. That's sort of the whole point.

[Overtaxed]

we discovered that the builder did not have the painter prime the BACK of the molding before installing and painting it.

Ha! I can beat that. The person who built my house didn't use pressure treated wood for porches and exterior steps.

[Overtaxed]

Good Morning, everyone!

[Lil'freeper]

Gooood morning!

I have a nice day today. Work is surprisingly flexible and allows folks to work an "alternate work schedule". 9-hour days with one day during the pay cycle off. I get every other Monday. :) So today I'm going to turn the binding on a baby quilt for a friend- I have to get busy as the baby is coming Wednesday! Of course with bandages on m'thumbs this will be interesting. Then I think I'll go in search of a food processor...so I can finish the coconut.

[Lil'freeper]

We're actually in a condo which complicates maintainance matters exponentially. The builder, Ryan Homes, cut every corner imaginable. The siding is low-grade. Two years ago, the lawn crew kicked up some rocks that punched holes right through the stuff. Just last week (two years later, mind) the management company had one (of 4) holes repaired with a different color siding. LOL. Actually it's not funny and we'll be getting a lawyer (shudder) to protect our interest in that and some other matters.

Ryan Homes used an indoor-grade smoke detector in an outdoor utility closet. Temperature extremes sap the battery like nothing else. Any time the wind blows up a little dust, the thing goes off. Being hardwired to the other alarms, it sets off the whole place. Most annoying. Some of their subs put either drywall compound or grout or something down the toilets causing them to function less than optimally. Some of the holes in the drywall were cut waaaaay to large to accomodate the outlets. Instead of fixing it with drywall, the gaps were filled with drywall tape. The areas are very flimsy.

Oh I could go on and on. The lessons we've learned! I'm sure our builder will learn to hate us, but I refuse to pay thousands of dollars for halfa**ed work. That's one thing I really hate about the tight housing market- contractors can pick their jobs and charge what they want. If you don't like it, oh well, they have other jobs. I'd like it better if they were a little more desperate and had to do a good job to make their living. Ah well. I'm not going to stress about it today. :)

[Lil'freeper]

I think, and I believe that was the dumbest person I ever heard speak. I'm sorry

Ever hear Rene Russo speak? Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiignernt. She bragged about dropping out of high school. It sure showed*. She couldn't put together a coherent thought.

We also caught an Alison Krauss & Union Station concert on TV some nights ago. She's one of my favorites. There was some interaction with the audience and a host interviewing the band members. Alison gave the most bizarre answers. Great voice, can fiddle up a storm, but boy- don't ask her a question!

Funny how morons like Reiner, Garafalo, Farall, Glover, et al, come across like rocket scientists compared to their peers. Using complete sentences is the ultimate acting technique!!

*But then, like, the way, you know, some high school, like graduates speak, maybe, like, it wasn't so, you know, bad???

[MozartLover]

"Using complete sentences is the ultimate acting technique!!

LOL!

[Overtaxed]

I think I'll go in search of a food processor...so I can finish the coconut.

I use a box grater. I never can get it at the desired size using a food processor.

Lucky you....enjoy your day off!

[Lil'freeper]

I use a box grater.

I'm cringing at the thought- given what I managed to do to my fingers already- I only have 7 healthy ones left! (The cat impaled one last night.)

[Overtaxed]

Meow!

Using a box grater is an acquired skill.

[ItsOurTimeNow]

Thanks for the info and tips, one and all!

Hair - Apart from your advice, would you also recommend using a squirt bottle to correct the behavior? LMAO

2JM - I too loathe Catharine Zeta...if it's any consolation, take comfort in knowing that she's now shilling for T-Mobile to make a buck.

All - quite the exciting news about the upcoming TT ED! Do we have any DVD release dates? Even a ballpark timeframe?

[Overtaxed]

I finally heard something on the KC job. They have a permanent position that they're going to try to fill internally. I'm told that if they can't fill it, it would be "my best shot". At this point, though, I'm more than halfway hoping that they fill it. I'm tired of waiting on these people!

[2Jedismom]

Good morning! Keep me posted on that KC job...I am hoping we can all get together at g'nads!

[Overtaxed]

I wonder if - assuming that they can't find someone internally to fill that job - I can't keep them hanging until July to see if I can't get a better offer here. But then, I suppose I could always change my mind at the last minute. :)

Good Morning! I heard on the radio this morning that Jeanne Garafalo (sp?....one of those Hollywood anti-war people went to visit the anti-celebrity petition website. The poor dear didn't like some of the comments and complained to the lady who started the petition.

[Wneighbor]

Good morning all. I'm off to grab my coffee.

[Lil'freeper]

The poor dear didn't like some of the comments

Priceless!

[Wneighbor]

But, do you really want to go to KC? Or are you just thinking its the smart career move? Didn't you mention something one time about being concerned your job won't last where you are?

[2Jedismom]

What's the link for that petition? I gotta check this out!

[2Jedismom]

Good morning. On my second cup.

[Wneighbor]

I'm late getting started. I'll have to try to catch up to you over the next hour.