Looking Out My Back Door

On Another Front...

My bathroom is 95 percent finished! Mainly due to my buddy Pete, who came over last Thursday after a long day of work and spent two hours hanging shelves and other things on the newly painted walls. I ended up going to Fortunoff's and spending more than I wanted to on two glass shelves and a towel ring, but what the heck. It's not like you're going to be buying those items frequently. The style wasn't exactly what I wanted (the ones I preferred were only available in chrome, rats), a bit more ornate, but they look lovely and were hung perfectly. One displays some perfume bottles, the other a model Woody Wagon and a beautiful conch shell that my mother treasured.The new towels (yes, more money spent, but worth it) pick up on the aquamarine colors in the shower curtain and are lovely and fluffy. Amazing what a spin in Aunt Judy's washer and dryer, complete with the vanilla and lavender soap and softener that she buys because I love the scent, will do. All of a sudden, these flat things I'd bought at Kohl's had doubled in size and smelled gorgeous.

One final thing is needed to complete the bathroom, and it will either be a small, fake surfboard or a framed Beach Boys (or Ventures) record. There is a chance that my pal Kelly B. will find a porthole-shaped mirror on one of her shopping trips (I admired the one in her son's bathroom), which would work nicely.

While on a decorating tear, it must be mentioned that my cable company came last week to swap out new digital set-top boxes for the existing ones and caused quite a commotion. The old ones were about the size of a DVD player and had a clock display that was always accurate, even during the switch to/from Daylight Savings Time. The new and improved digital boxes are about the size of a portable CD player -- but NO clock display! The technician laughed at my howls of woe and admitted that all his other customers had the same reaction.

I saw my friends Sharon and Gary enjoying the sunny weather on their front stoop and told them about the change. They howled, too. Gary is determined to delay their swap out. Sharon, ever the voice of reason, said, "Well, we'll just have to get small digital clocks to put on top of the televisions so we can glance at it the way we always have."

She's right. The next day, we were caught in a Nor'easter rain storm, and spent the day at home (except for poor Gary, who works on Sunday). I decided to start a "Twin Peaks" marathon, and almost immediately called Sharon in horror. Not because Laura Palmer had washed up on the beach, mind you, but because when something is playing on the VCR/DVD combo, the clock display changes to tick off the time of the tape or DVD playing! OMG! I told Sharon that she was the only person I could call who would understand my angst. She laughed, agreed, and said, "I guess we'll be visiting Radio Shack this week!"

If this is the worst trauma I experienced during the storm (it was), I deserve no pity. None. Especially since it seems my roof is FINALLY leak-proof, and I won't have to redecorate the bathroom any time soon. I just thought I'd share.

posted by Hopster @ 11:12 AM