Goodbye Pastel

Today L:ttle Kat woke up in the morning to start the crock pot for dinner. I saw him as he watched some Food Channel show. We saw an ad on TV for the Subway $4 lunch. We both thought it was a good deal. I told him we could go to lunch at Subway.

But first I needed to go check on the state of my Volkswagen Beetle. My mechanic said the next step would be to replace some computer in the car. But it costs $1000 for the part. He also said he could not guarantee that would fix our problem. I got the message. It is time to give up on fixing the Beetle. We never really got to drive the thing. Next time around, I just may have to go with a new vehicle instead. And no Volkswagon models either.

I came home to tell Little Kat the bad news. I saw him tearing into a pack of tomato soup. Oh well. I figured he could not wait for me to take him to Subway. I ate at Roy Rogers instead. Later I found out that Little Kat was fixing soup for Momoko. He did want to eat lunch with me. Ooops. Raincheck Little Kat.

In other news, I have been burning the midnight oil writing apps for Windows 8. Microsoft is having a promotion where you get a bonus for every app you submit before June 30th. I am having a tough time getting my apps past the Windows 8 testers. But at least 3 of mine are in the Windows app store now. I am ready for that bonus. The downside is I hardly have time for anything else, working a full time job, and writing apps at night.

Three Coupons +1

Last night Kit Kat spent the night at her friend's house. So it was just Momoko, Little Kat, and I. We were hungry for a late night snack. Momoko agreed to drive us to McDonalds. I love to use coupons. And I knew Little Kat had a coupon himself. The problem is that you can only use one coupon per transaction.

Momoko said we could drop Little Kat to walk inside. Then we could use the drive through with a second coupon. I figured we could do better. Little Kat and I could both walk in. That way each of us could order separately and each use a coupon. The plan worked out well.

Little Kat had the best coupon. He got a free drink and fries with a Quarter Pounder purchase. Momoko and I had to settle for the $2 Big Mag coupons. It was still a nice deal.

In other news, I submitted my first Windows 8 app to Microsoft for approval. If all goes well, you can get my app in the Windows App Store in about a week. I am keeping my fingers crossed. Since this was such a toy app, and it was my first one, I decided to distribute it for free. I will charge money for my second app. Time to get busy programming.

Windows 8 Apps

I received an email from Microsoft. They need people to write apps for Windows 8 and Windows Phone. And they are ready to reward developers. Hey. I like rewards. So I figure I am up for the challenge. You can write up to 20 apps, half for Window 8, half for Windows Phone. Microsoft will give you a $100 Visa debit card for each app that makes it into their Windows Store.

I was excited. Cooked up some ideas for apps. Then I went to town and wrote some sample programs. These programs worked under Windows 7. I figured it would be easy to move them over to Windows 8. I was wrong. The first problem was that the tool I used just would not create a Windows 8 app.

Found the tool that does produce Windows 8 apps. Oh no. It does not work on my system. You need Windows 8 on your PC to run the tool. I guess that makes sense. I tried to get a free copy of Windows 8. I should be able to because I am a student. That lead nowhere. So I bought a copy of Windows 8. I did use my student discount to get it at a reduced rate.

I installed Windows 8 on my old laptop. Installed the tool. Now what? I tried to hit the books. Downloaded a free book for Amazon Kindle. Checked out a book from the library. They do teach you how to write Windows 8 apps. But I am not familiar wth the computer programming languages these books use. Could not easily find a book that matches the language I wish to use. Finally I decided to slug through it without the help of a book.

Now I am struggling because the tool for Windows 8 does not seem to work like the tool I had for Windows 7. Maybe that is because I am using the free version of the tool. Well I am a student. So I downloaded the Professional version of the tool, which is also free since I am a student. The deadline to finish the apps is in about a week. At this rate, I might not even finish the first app. I planned to write 10 of them. Oh boy.

Mission Failure

I took this morning off from work. Went to the store that was selling $100 desks for $10. Got there when the store opened. There were two things I noticed immediately. The parking lot was full of cars. But nobody was waiting outside the store. WTF? Did they open the doors early today?

I went inside and got a dolly cart. Pushed it to where some boxes were on sale for 10 cents. There were no boxes there. Shoot. Then I went to where the tables are stacked. No tables. Double darn. Turns out they put the super sale stuff in a different location. By the time I got to where the tables were being handled out, they were long gone.

Ended up only getting two sets of bankers boxes. At least they were a nice color. But this deal was a bust. This store was a fail. I don't think I will be returning when the merchandise returns to normal price. And now I am without a new desk.

I use a card/game table to prop up my home computers. The thing is sagging in the middle. Guess I will have to buckle down and buy a new table at full price. I hate doing that.

Working for Deals

I got an ad in the mail. A local furniture store is having some super deals this week. They are celebrating their anniversary. I am always on the lookout for a deal. These deals were so good that I figured I better size up the place before the sale starts.

Looked on their web site for more details. Apparently you need to be a member of their family program to qualify for the deals. Also the deals are spread throughout the week. The desk goes on sale Tuesday. I took a drive down today to scope things out.

The place was pretty crowded. I asked the information booth for some help. They were not all that helpful. Well that's fine by me. You got to fight for the best deals. I just made a note to myself that I will probably not return to buy stuff at full price.

I filled out an application to be a member of their family. Then I found the place where they store the desks. There were none there. WTF? I asked a guy in the warehouse section whether they will have any tomorrow. He said yes. I picked up some low cost candle holders. Did not need them. But I wanted to test out whether my new family member card would work. It did.

Back at home I cleared out the bed of my truck. Made sure I have my family card for the store. Set my alarm so I can be at the store when it opens. I will get these desks if at all possible. They retail for $99. Tomorrow they are on sale for $10. There is a limit of two desks per customer. I will be getting two. It just so happens that I need a sturdy desk for my study.

The Passing of Little Libby

This week our gerbil Libby died. She was one of the younger gerbils in the pack. And she was my favorite. I am finding that each gerbil has their own personality. I was drawn to Libby. Although I did not hold the gerbils like the kids do, I provided them with cardboard to chew on a daily basis.

Libby was one of the youngest. However she was also one of the fattest. I was pleased that recently she had lost her fat. However in retrospect, she lost the weight because she was very sick. I did not suspect anything until this week. She was drinking water, eating treats, and chewing cardboard as recently as a few days ago.

The family thought something was wrong because Libby was not sleeping with the other gerbils in her cage. Then her eyes were mostly closed. The kids said she was not eating or drinking. I peeked into Libby's cage one morning. She was in her little wooden house, buried among the chewed up cardboard. She was dead. Apparently the other gerbils spread the cardboard around her.

Now we are down to two gerbils cages with two gerbils in each. Kit Kat needs to get these gerbils into one cage so that if one dies, it will not be all alone. Getting the gerbils together is a delicate matter as they fight with anyone they are not familiar with. It will be a long process. But Kit Kat needs to get to work. Goodbye Libby. You will always be my favorite.

Holy Storm Damage

I went out to the shed to retrieve a father's day gift I was hiding in there. When I got inside, my Spidey sense was tingling. Something was not right. I thought maybe the windows were open too wide. Nope. There was a fresh new hole in the ceiling. Must have come from the huge tree branches falling down during the last storm.

Got Momoko to hold the ladder as I pushed the wood back up to form a makeshift ceiling held up by some lumber. Then I climbed up onto the roof and used duct tape to seal off the hole from any rain water. It was difficult to manuver because I needed to use one arm to hold me up at all times. Need to go buy some roofing shingles to match the roof for the permanent fix. Might have to fire somebody to do the repairs.

The Yard Beckons

I finally got around to cutting the grass this Wednesday. Before the trim, I put some Weed and Feed over the areas that still had clovers. Then I cut the front and back yards. The weather was hot and humid. By the time I got close to finishing the back yard, I was exhausted. I knew I was in trouble when I had trouble lifting my arms to bag the grass. I kept well hydrated the entire time I was outside. But sometimes the work and heat will knock you down.

Good thing I got busy cutting grass when I did. A storm came by afterwards. I bet with all the water, the grass will be growing again. I thought the grass would be less maintenance during the summer. The storm was a big one. It knocked many branches off the trees. Some of these branches were huge. I call them more tree trunks than branches. I picked up all the sticks today. Took a few hours and filled a couple of my largest trash cans.

Luckily the county comes and picks up sticks. However they need to be less than 4 feet long and maybe an inch thick. So I chopped up the larger branches and plan to pitch them in the trash. I slip a bunch of them in every trash bag we send out. Will get rid of them eventually. Still need to cut up a few of the biggest branches that fell. I will be glad when the county comes and collects the branches I have put in the cans.

Away From Home +1

Yesterday I went out to secure the final rain gutter on the house. Of course it was up on the second story. The kids were asleep from staying up all Saturday night. So I got Momoko to hold the ladder. Goog thing we took care of that. Big rains fell down.

After dinner, in the middle of a rain storm, I went to my Mom's house. My family is going to talk with a doctor tomorrow morning about some experimental drugs. Doc said to bring the family. I figured I better spend the night to avoid the rush hour drive.

I made to to mom's house. Had to navigate down the one lane road she lives on. It was difficult to find a single parking space there. Everyone seemed almost ready for bed when I arrived. They pulled out a sofa bed for me to sleep on. My bro needed to adjust my mom's breathing machine, which makes a loud hissing sound.

I fall asleep sleep in a room that used to be my brother's. It has since been converted into my Dad's study. There are a lot of family pictures on the walls. Feels like too much furniture has been moved into the room. There is no Wifi I the house. The air conditioner blows cold air though.

Classroom Closeout

I woke up this morning and packed my truck. Put all the essentials in there for closing up Momoko's classroom for the year. Had a dolly. Added packing tape. Then some towels to mop up water from the defrosted freezer. Also packed a bottle of ice water for Momoko. Filled a cooler with sodas to keep up going.

While packing, Kit Kat brought Little Kat home from the eye specialist. I made Little Kat do his chores. Then I placed an order for Chinese take out, put Little Kat in the truck, and took off. It was raining a bit when we left. Picked up our Chinese food lunch. Then headed to Momoko's school. Arrived right on time after the buses took the kids home from their last half-day of school.

In Momoko's classrom, we ate lunch. Then we got down to business. Little Kat and I spent the next six hours getting Momoko's classroom in order. That meant putting things away. It also meant cataloging hundreds of books. Momoko has five different science texts she uses for almost 200 kids. It was a tough day.

Kit Kat went to her own work today in the afternoon. Afterwards she stopped by to help us out a bit. She was really there for moral support. Momoko does need to return to the classroom Monday morning. However she plans to just talk with other teachers, get approval for her classroom, and come back home. Whew. So much for another year.

Closing Out for the Year +1

It is getting down to the last days of school for Momoko before summer. She has been trying to enlist the help of the kids with getting her classroom ready. Kit Kat has been failing for the most part. She just cannot wake herself up in the morning. Then she goes to her part time job in the afternoon. Little Kat tries to help out to make money. But he has been going to school all day. Afterwards he is a bit tired. Plus it is hard for him to get a ride to Momoko's school.

I normally cannot give any rides until after the work day is done. Unfortunately my day lasts until at least 5pm. Sometimes longer. Therefore I am taking off some time for work to help Momoko with the last push to get her classroom summer ready. Little Kat volunteered to skip school for the last for days of his year. He says grades are in and they stopped teaching anyway. Tomorrow Little Kat and I will join Momoko for a day of work. We may need to return Monday for a final effort to wrap things up.

Things are a little complicated this weekend. Kit Kat has her annual walk-a-thon. She and her friends stay up all night walking for some noble cause such as cancer prevention or something. Little Kat is going along for the ride this year. They will be tired from all that walking and no sleep. So this weekend is a bust. One of Kit Kat's friends is bringing her little sister. So there will be at least one other kids Little Kat's age at the walk. None of Little Kat's friends wanted to come along for an all night walk.

Bath tub plans +1

My Volkswagen Beetle is still in the shop. My mechanic has found two problems already. But the battery keeps getting drained overnight. He is trying to call in a friend of a friend that is a Volkswagon technician. They seem to have found a part that is bad. But it is expensive. They want to make sure replacing it will solve all my problems.

If we cannot get the Beetle fixed, I plan to buy a new manual transmission car to replace it. If we can get the Beetle fixed, I plan to put in a new bath tub in our basement bathroom. The existing bathroom is just a powder room with nasty colors. I want to expand it with a large jetted tub. There is a new type of tub that just blows hot air into it. That is optimal because when the bath is donem, you can turn on the jets and dry up all the water. I want to prevent anything nasty from building up in the jets.

Momoko wants a tub that is wide. I think we can fit up to a 42 inch wide tub in there. Little Kat and I want a tub that is long. We might go for 6 feet long. Kit Kat wants a deep tub. Not sure if we can, but we might try to squeeze a 24 inch high tub in there. The main concern with the dimensions is whether the tub can fit in through the house down to the basement.

Today I put the finishing touches on a model of the tub. Bought some cheap wood. Mocked up a 6 foot by 42 inch by 23 inch box made of wood. Next we will probably need to clear a path through the house to the basement bathroom. Then Kit Kat and I will pretend like we are the tub delivery folks. If we can get this thing down into the basement, the dimensions will be a go. Then we just need that Beetle fixed up and we will be good to go.

Paint Color Choice +1

Recently we had the handyman replace all our toilet paper holders. We found a new design that let's you easily change the roll when it runs out. This worked out pretty good. But the basement bathroom had a large holder that was installed before the bathroom was painted. When the holder came off, the prior red paint color was exposed. Painful to look at.

I tried to take a picture of the existing wall colors, and match the color at the hardware store. No luck. It was just too hard to get a feel for the actual color from just a cell phone picture. So I grabbed a bunch of color sheets from the store. Found a color that seemed to match. I only needed to paint a small toilet paper holder square. Therefore I bought a sample (half pint) size of the paint.

I taped up everything and put a coat on. The red underneath still showed through. I knew I would need a second coat. At first I was worried that the color match was not close enough. The paint matched better once it dried. Today I put that second coat on. Every time I go by the bathroom, I take a peek ay my handywork.

I did not have to do a professional job. We plan to eventually change the color of the walls in the bathroom. Just needed something passable so I did not need to stare at that nasty red wall.

A Busy Friday

I stayed up way too late last night. The sad part was that I went to bed before Kit Kat. Oh oh. She was scheduled to go help Momoko in the classroom this morning. That turned into a fail. Kit Kat barely made it to Momoko's school for a late lunch. Then Kit Kat needed to go to the doctor's. Let's just say she could not help Momoko in the classroom today.

I was a bit ahead on hours this week. So I had time after Little Kat's school to drive him up to Momoko's school to assist. Little Kat asked if we were bringing Momoko any food. I told him no. But I realized what he was asking was whether I could pick him up some food. I swung by McDonalds. Little Kat tried out their new habanero ranch quarter pounder sandwich. Little Kat did good this weekend helping me fix the gutters. So I let him also super size the meal. We were able to pick up a snack for Momoko as well.

After I returned home from dropping off Little Kat, I was dazed. Took a nap as Kit Kat went out swimming with her friends. Later when I woke up, Momoko and Little Kat were still at school. It was late. Kit Kat then went out to eat with her friends. Eventually Momoko and Little Kat returned home. I decided to go pick up some BBQ for them to eat a late dinner. We made all kinds of substitutions in our meals. Luckily the restaurant got everything correct. They should have. The meals were expensive.