Chores. They saved me chores....

You know, I think I said the other day that the girls had hung the curtains in Nicki's room. Actually, they were not. I was told to get on that the night I got there. Nini told me this was part of the tasks I had in store me; part of the purpose of my making the trip to Atlanta.
In the morning, I discovered there was even more on the Honey-Do list. Not too much, but still....
You know that song There's A Hole In The Bucket, Dear Liza? Well, that is how this began. I went to hang those curtains and discovered the only tools available to do the work consisted of a straight blade screwdriver, a 3 inch wide level, a tape measure and a phillips head insert to go into a ratchet handle.
Being a man, this didn't turn into an insurmountable obstacle like the one in the song, but rather an opportunity AND a way to procrastinate. What could be better than that?
Opportunity in the form of a chance to shop/go somewhere for tools. :-)
Procrastination in the form of "Dear, I would love to get that done for you, but we lack the necessary tools to do an adequate job without risking damage to the apartment walls."
A brief search on the internet and I determined that there was a Harbor Freight Tools located less than 20 miles away in an area of Greater Atlanta that Hannah had not traveled to.
"Kennesaw?" she exclaimed when I brought it up, "that is outside of the perimeter!" Apparently perimeter is the term they use in Atlanta for the encircling interstate.
When I mentioned that we could combine the trip there with an excursion out for breakfast the next morning, my trio of estrogen generators decided this was indeed a quality idea.
I searched their online ads and put together a shopping list of items I thought were needed. I am a male, after all, and need to have specific things to hunt down when I venture into a store. However, there is a weirdness that happens to guys when they enter Harbor Freight locations. We are confronted with a vast array of tools, some of which we have seen and many that we knew existed but hadn't ever encountered before. This opportunity to touch so many tools, a veritable font of macho reinforcement, will actually make us get in touch with our feminine side! We begin to meander up and down each aisle, imagining the possibilities of handiwork we could accomplish with each new device we see. We store this information away, knowing that someday it may be necessary for us to go back and get that tool for the one time in our life we may need it.
So, having determined the evening before that we should leave the girls' apartment by 1 PM the next morning, we set out near 2. Since breakfast had been promised, we headed for the Cracker Barrel located in Kennesaw.
Hannah was very worried that we were going to get stuck in the dreaded and feared Atlanta traffic. I think she only knows of this phenomenon by reputation. I don't think she leaves the apartment much!
Anyway, we ate, we found the store and we were able to get some of those basic tools that every household should have if they are of limited budget and don't pay someone to do any of the chores behind changing a light bulb. Given that our girls are just starting out, they will need to do some of these things for themselves for a while. We spent about $75 (I told Nini it was a combination of house-warming and JJ's birthday presents) and purchased an electric drill, drill bits, a screwdriver set (phillips and straight blades in various sizes and handle lengths, all of which are magnetized so the screw doesn't fall off), a set of pliers (needle nose, regular, channel locks and snips) and a toolbox to store them all in.
When we returned to the apartment (as traffic was getting heavier), I hung those curtains you see in the picture as well as the DVD/CD racks on either side of the TV. Then I had a beer. It was a great day.

Monkey Busines

Ok, I admit to feeling sad for the woman whose chimp went crazy the other day and attacked her friend, and her and the police that were sent to the rescue. I am not a fan of suffering.
But come one. Enough is enough and I am tired of it being the topic du jour on every media outlet. Including mine!