Kate's Point of View

As Luck Would Have It

On June 22, 2011

2011 has been a stellar year for me and home ownership. First we started bathroom renovation on January 4, 2011, and it is not done yet. We had to fire our first contractor, seek out a new one, wait for him to get started and now we have to do the finish work like painting and putting our house back together. While bathroom updates were being done, there were many weeks that Wonder Boy and I were showering at the YMCA or in the utility sink in our basement with a hose. Yes, in the utility sink.

Last week our washer blew up. Not literally but it wouldn’t finish a load of wash and when we researched it we found out that our model washer was so renegade and cheap that it wasn’t worth repairing. We went out to buy a new washer and when it was delivered found out it wouldn’t fit through our basement door. So we sent it back and selected a new one that was delivered today.

All in all, I’m exhausted and thinking that renting sounds pretty darn nice. Or maybe living in a brand new condo. Owning a 110-year-old house? I’m over it.

There is one highlight to all of this housing cr@p. When we purchased our first washer, the one that wouldn’t fit through the hobbit-sized door to our basement, I noticed a sign at Home Depot that said they would match any competitor’s advertised price and take another 10% off. I’m cheap so that was etched into my brain. When we went back to Home Depot to buy our pint-sized washer, I brought print-outs of that washer for sale on other websites. These were pretty jank websites but they were selling the exact same washer for a lot less money. I was concerned that the salesperson would point out how jank the sites were so I brought several competitive prices and knew that at a minimum we would save $50.

Guess what? It doesn’t matter how jank the site is! We saved $250!!!

So here is the lesson I know now and wish I had learned a little earlier into our home renovations: Online comparison shopping before going into a store is worth it. When you find your item, do a Google Shopping search and print out the cheapest options for the item you want. And voila! You can buy from a store you trust but at quite a savings!

Here is our dainty little washer. Cute, right?

And in case you thought bathing in a utility sink didn’t sound too bad, here it is. Horrible.

Random postscript:

When my new washer was delivered, part of the deal was that the delivery guys would haul away the old one. Wonder Boy and I were blessed to have inherited an old random washer in the basement so we paid $15 to have that taken upstairs. (Well worth the money since it has 1/2 inch to spare getting through the doorway and they sweated their behinds off getting that thing up our steep flight of stairs!) I asked the guys to put it on the tree lawn in the hopes that a scrap metal collector would pick it up tonight since tomorrow is trash day. It lasted five minutes before someone picked it up. Beautiful.

Reunions

By Kate

On June 21, 2011

In family / friends

This past weekend was my high school reunion. To celebrate having graduated fifteen years ago.

When my five-year reunion rolled around the scars of high school were still too fresh and I elected not to go. When the ten-year popped up, my school stopped having reunions for individual graduating class and instead had one large reunion for everyone celebrating that year. This struck me as a thinly veiled attempt at raising money and I didn’t go. My fifteen-year reunion was more tempting. The school is still doing the crazy lumped together reunions but girls from my class planned a separate cookout and happy hour for people. That way folks could bring their families and just mingle with people who graduated in 1996.

Then I remembered two very important things:

I don’t remember names well and especially not names of people from high school. Socializing with people from then would just be an illustration of my bad memory.
I keep in touch with very few people from high school because I am friends with very few of the people with whom I went to school. I don’t need to go to a aschool-sanctioned event to see those people!

So last Saturday, the day I would have been awkwardly hanging out with people I haven’t seen in fifteen years, I went to breakfast with one of my best friends from high school, Mart Girl, who was in town from Chicago. We reunited over eggs. And her sister who graduated 2 years behind us was there, too. So it was almost like the lumped together reunion my school was splanning. Only I knew both of these girls names and didn’t have to look like an idiot. And I never had to have fake conversations about kids and husbands and how great everyone looks. Much nicer!

A Glimpse In to the Vietnam War

By Kate

On June 17, 2011

In books, reviews

Give me a free hour and I’ll make my way up to bed with a good book in hand and be content. Give Wonder Boy a free hour and he’ll dig into a game of Call of Duty. Typically these are very different activities. For the last two weeks I’ve been reading Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes. This hefty book holds a story more lifelike than what Call of Duty presents and is a challenging read in many aspects, but well-worth the struggles.

I am not familiar with war. I cringe at the idea of people fighting to their death over just about anything. I do understand that there are times war is justified and even necessary, but I do my best to remain distant from it. Marlantes takes his readers and plops them right down in the middle of the Vietnamese bush with fighting all around.

While the setting is described in exquisite detail, what Marlantes accomplishes best is creating characters that the reader gets invested in. Lieutenant Waino Mellas makes for a unique main character. He is an ivy league grad with liberal tendencies. When he enlists with the marines and goes to Vietnam, he finds himself surrounded by many men of color and most people of a lower socioeconomic status than himself. The reader accompanies him as he navigates, and at time stumbles, through the different social groups, race relations and mores of the military. And also when he enters into the heat of battle.

Although not something I think about often, I have an idea in my head of what war is like. This vision is likely influenced by what I see on the screen every time I walk by Wonder Boy playing Call of Duty. Matterhorn added a whole other dimension to what I think of war. I don’t think I ever adequately factored fear into the setting. And I know, Matterhorn is just a book. But Marlantes was a marine during the Vietnam war so I imagine that what he’s writing gives at least some insight into war.

Each battle scene in Matterhorn is terrible. Men die violent deaths. Men watch their friends die in front of them and then have to go collect their bodies so families back home have something to bury. Politicians at home make wartime decisions that sometimes result in strategic successes and usually mean the death of someone – be they Vietnamese or American.

I could go further but struggle to do so without seeming to make a political statement, which is not my point. The point I do want to make is that Matterhorn was an emotional read that I found powerful and insightful. I would recommend it to folks, and also think it would make a nice last-minute Father Day gift idea.

Discoveries

By Kate

On June 14, 2011

In family / friends, rock

Last Saturday I made a few important discoveries:

Over the last year I have drank less and less, which I view as a healthy change. I cannot, however, go from drinking very little to going for it with my friends. So alcohol may no longer be a part of my life at all. This is an even healthier change but I’m curious to see how it goes and what it means for social events. Especially social events with dancing.
Wonder Boy has made the disturbing calculation of how few years we have until we turn 50 which has thrown him into a third-life crisis that seems to parallel the crisis many of my friends are going through. Saturday we went to a wedding and we going to leave shortly into the reception to go to a concert btu were conflicted because we were having fun. Our friends advice, as I remember it – do what it is you want to do and don’t feel guilty about it. We skipped the Iron and Wine show for which we had already purchased tickets. It turned out to be a good move because all reviews of the show focused on how The Madison Theater oversold their venue, which made for a lousy viewing experience.
I’m always on the lookout for good music but the last place I ever expected to find it was during a wedding ceremony. I attended a friend’s outdoor wedding and during the ceremony Shadwick Wilde sang a song called Kentucky Tobacco. When I got home I immediately bought his album Unforgiveable Things and I love it. You should check it out – you will love it, too.

Last Sunday I also made a discovery. I faced serious ramifications from Saturday night which led to the decisions mentioned in point #1. Such a long, long day.

Thyroid Issues Righted

By Kate

On June 13, 2011

In uncategorized

Earlier this year I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Disease, a form of hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism means my thyroid is not making enough hormone on its own. I was alternately horrified with the diagnosis and relieved to know the cause for my hair falling out and fingernails breaking. I was put on a synthetic thyroid hormone, levothyroxine, and told to come back for semi-regularly blood tests so my doctor could monitor my medicine levels. Two blood tests later, my levels are normal.

I’m still taking folic acid to assist with my hair and nail growth and it seems to be working out pretty well. My hair is coming back full force. I am now back to regular hairbands instead of child-sized ones. I’ll be a little happier when everything gets a touch longer so it will all stay back in a ponytail rather than the mess of flyaways I get now, but I have no room to complain. At least it’s coming back!

Hypothyroidism occurs in 4-5 out of 100 people in the United States. One of my main risk indicators for hypothyroidism is my sex. Females are twice as likely to have it as men! There are certainly worse things to have, though. All it takes is one little purple pill a day to keep my healthy.

Kate's Point of View

The Product of Creative Frustration

As Luck Would Have It

Reunions

A Glimpse In to the Vietnam War

Discoveries

Thyroid Issues Righted

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