After this morning's episode with unauthorized cat pee and my tool box, I spent the day making order out of chaos in the utility "room," a windowless 4X8 space with what might pass for a linen closet in some alternate reality. We now have a functional linen closet, tool closet, coat closet, storage space and cat comfort station, all in the one ( Read more... )

This is my shiny red tool tray.

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We live on the top (second) floor of a two family house, and there is a French-paned door at the bottom of the stairs. When we’re home, we leave the apartment door opened, the other door closed, and let the animals go up and down. Initially, this seemed like a good idea and a way for the cats and dog to get both exercise and entertainment ( Read more... )

I woke in the middle of the night to the sound of the radio playing, loud, which was strange since it wasn’t on when I went to bed. I thought of how this might have happened and came up with two possibilities: either a ghost or a very reckless burglar, and upon careful consideration, waking Bob seemed like a bad idea in either case, so I got up to ( Read more... )

It’s a well-known fact that television is better than Ambien, at least for me. With the exception of Jeopardy, all I need to do is sit down to watch a little something, and I fall asleep immediately, unless it’s a mystery or crime show, in which case I’ll make it until the last 15 minutes. There are episodes of some shows I’ve started to watch ( Read more... )

This is one of the latter ( Read more... )

We have the top floor of a two-family house, which was built sometime in the early 1940s. With the exception of the original (and very excellent) stove and the slightly newer refrigerator, all of our appliances are from this decade, which is something of a problem; the circuit breakers (I think that’s what you call them) have a hard time with all ( Read more... )

The problem with moving is not related to the distance of relocation, the relative size of the homes being moved from or to, or even the difficulties of moving in with someone. The problem with moving is that it makes a person stupid. Routines are important, and simple things, like walking the dog or brushing teeth, become frustrating and complex ( Read more... )

Once you cross the East River, you’ve entered Terra Incognita. Here be dragons, real bagels, and feral Quakers. Here also is a minor Brigadoon in Brooklyn, sans the Lerner and Loewe score. My neighborhood is lost in time, primarily built in the 1930s and 1940s, with little, if any changes, and people tend to stay here; there is little reason to ( Read more... )

My mother, who had an endless supply of proverbs and standard expressions, always said better late than never. So ( Read more... )