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.
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.
the holidays…. are over
the holidays are over, and so it is. Everything went well, but we ran around like idiots visiting family, etc and I would have preferred more time to be lazy and work on projects, etc. But such is life.
We did christmas eve at my parents. It went fine, we were there for 7.5 hours, which is kind of long, but it was nice. Christmas day was at Rebecca's parents, and we were there for 11.5 hours, also a bit long, but it was nice.
Even though I was annoyed by my change of plans, even though it was never to be, I went to work on wednesday. And sure enough, one of the staff's hard drives died in the AM, forcing me to quick rebuild the machine. So even if I HAD gotten the time off, I would have been in the office anyway. So it worked out...
On new years we went to the party at kieran's and it was super nice and chill. I had a great time. Rebecca drove and dropped D and Sarah off and went home. Yesterday we chilled out until we had to go pick up mason, who spent the night at the dugan's. We got to sleep in until about 12:30. it ruled.
So back to work tomorrow.
First time for everything…
So perhaps you chicagoans may have heard in the news the story about an 80 year old man on the south side that was murdered in a home robbery gone wrong... well that was Rebecca's Dad's cousin, Bob (Robert Winter if you want to google news him). Apparently, Bob was in the basement, and this dude (Darius Bailey, 20) was walking by and noticed the back door was open... so he went in and started ransacking the place... well, then Bob came up from he basement and was all wtf and they got into a struggle. Supposedly Darius grabbed an electrical cord, strangled Bob, then tied him up, and finished going through the house. He took Bob's checkbook and car.
Meanwhile, the Dolton police put out an area bulletin thing to be on the lookout for this Darius guy for an unrelated robbery, and a detective happened to notice Darius walking down the street. So he pulls up to Darius, talks to him, and finds Bob's checkbook on his person. Bob's car is also like 50 feet away. So the officer starts to take Darius in and sends another officer over to Bob's house, just to check on him. The other officer finds Bob dead in the front room, cords still around his neck, under a blanket.
So Darius confesses on videotape for the crime and bail has been denied.
Kinda nuts really. This is the first person I have ever personally known that was murdered. And over something so dumb. Bob lived in a modest home and drove an older Chevy Cavalier. He wasn't flashy or anything. It was just a fluke that this dude chose the house. And wtf why would you KILL an old man? You think you would just run when confronted like that. Now Darius, 20 years old) is going to go to prison for quite a while, over what? He didn't GET anything, a crappy car and a checkbook?
Stupid decisions abound. It is crazy. We were just there a few months ago for his 80th birthday. Messed up. His memorial service is this afternoon. I could have SWORN I had a picture from his birthday somewhere, but I can't seem to find them.