Enough Already

Our clock radio is tuned to NCPR so we wake up to the news. We continue listening while eating breakfast. This morning I switched the station to CBC2 during breakfast. Between the Palestinian conflict, which I literally cannot remember a time in my 62 years that wasn't in the news, the Iraq war, shootings, etc., etc. I don't need to start my day with this stuff. I already write my representatives with my views which our Rep in the House ALWAYS has good reasons to ignore and the Senators never seem to have to clout to do anything about. At times I communicate with them more than my family. What I can do about the world situation is limited.

I don't plan to stop listening to the news but for my own peace of mind I need to limit it. CBC has news every hour but it only lasts 5 minutes or so. NPR has solid talk, talk, talk (either news or discussing the news) from 6 AM until 3PM every day. I need to spend more time reading, drawing and working on my photography. I need to spend more time working on the house, changing the corner of world I can actually have a positive effect on.

I finally got the last of the old sidewalk torn up last week and filled the hole it left in the lawn with dirt. I sprinkled it with grass seed and sifted peat moss over it before wetting it down. The seed was "Quick Grow" mix but it hasn't sprouted yet, 4 days later. I suppose it depends on your definition of "quick".

Yesterday I worked on the baseboard on the SW side of the living room. I had installed new wiring on that side earlier. On the NE side I had drilled up through the sill from the cellar but that was a miserable process because I had to angle the drill over a thick stone foundation through a 14" square sill and try to hit the space in a 6" thick outside wall set over the outer edge of the sill. For the SW I wimped out and ran the wire over the inside wall surface a couple inches off the floor. I drilled into the wall at that level then cut the holes for the outlet boxes about 8" off the floor and ran the wires into the lower hole and out the upper one. To cover the surface wire I cut two furring strips and placed them above and below the surface wires so that the top strip would be 1/4" higher than the top of the new base board. The baseboard then went over the furring strips to hide the wires and a bit of painter's caulk filled the gaps caused by old uneven walls. It looks pretty good if I do say so myself or at least it will after it has been painted. :-)