Vinyl Coming To My iPod…
So rebecca's dad wanted to convert some vinyl to CDs for group of friends..... he was using a turntable plugged into the mac, but since the turntable wasn't line level, it wasn't working... I initially told him to find a cheap receiver at a garage sale and use that as a preamp... A bit later in the day, I was at costco with rebecca and her mom, and they had this usb turntable, so we grabbed it for him.
It was easy enough for rebecca's dad to use right away, included audio software (both simple and advanced), both mac and PC, and USB and line level outputs. It isn't amazing or anything, but it works. I am going to borrow it and rip a bunch of my vinyl that I have been missing. Should be fun to have all that old chicago punk from my high school years readily available.
my sister rolled her Subaru Forester the other day… all is fine… (damage pics enclosed)
the damage is less than I thought it would be in all honesty... evidently she was driving westbound, cruise set at 70mph, in the fast lane... somehow ended up driving into the center median, then bounced back into the westbound lane, facing eastbound, on the wheels.
at some point in time the car skidded/rolled on the concrete (as evident by the fenders, a pillars, etc) and she obviously nailed the passenger rear corner into the grass hard...
My hypothesis is she drifted to the center median, when the tire dropped off, it hooked, she spun around, slammed the rear passenger side into the grass median (as evident by the large amount of damage on the rear corner, and the dirt in the window track, etc), then she must have rolled or skidded or something back onto the street... Not sure. She remembers spinning around both clockwise and counter-clockwise...
But I can't tell... but overall... the passenger compartment really did quite well... the seats still all moved, the rear seats folded down, the doors opened. they didn't try to open the tailgate...
they are already working the purchase of another forester...
she is sore, bruised rib, needs some time to rest ... but she should be fine...
home ownership
One thing that is cool about owning vs. renting is that you actually get to make decisions on stuff and then make changes.
We recently decided that we were going to spend a little money upgrading our master bathroom. I say master, because it is connected to the master bedroom, but there is little MASTER about it. It is relatively tiny and just not that awesome. It is fine for us, but it could be way nicer. So we decided that we were going to give it an overhaul. Nothing insane, no moving walls around or anything, just some new coverings. We are going to replace the vinyl flooring with tile, the fiberglass shower surround in tile, the too large vanity with a better sized one. We will also replace all the accessories, etc.
The biggest thing is the tub (no pun intended). The issue is we have a space of 60x30 for the tub, which is a standard size, but we want a deeper tub. Rebecca actually TAKES baths, so having a deeper tub would be a great improvement. BUT alot of the nicer tubs are 60x32 and that 2 inches would involve moving a door AND putting the tub REALLY close to the toilet. So we are stuck with 60x30. And finding that 60x30 tub is proving a bit of a pain. But I think I can make it all work.
In observance of earth day (and the fact that the weather was perfect) I redid the backyard yesterday. I pulled up all the old grass, tilled up the dirt, removed the 2 bushes on the side, installed the in ground sprinkler system, and laid new sod. It was hard work, but nothing too complex. And I am really happy with the result. The line for the sprinkler is under the grass, but it is not buried in the garden box. I figure we will likely redo the garden soon, and we can bury it then. And by we, I most likely mean rebecca and her mom. Or somehow involving her mom.
I really like the sprinkler system. I know, it is lame, because we don't have the much grass. But they rule. They pop up, cover all the grass and the garden, with virtually 100% coverage and nearly zero overspray onto the patio. If is weren't windy, you could sit there and have the sprinklers on with out worry of getting wet. One of the heads isn't perfectly straight, and it is pissing me off. Provided it isn't raining at the end of today, I will be out there cleaning up the yard waste, and I will try to fix it.
But yeah, owning your own place rules. Once the garden and sod are all good, I will take some pics. It will be a great yard for mason too.