Weed Prevention

There is a rectangle outside our front door that I cover in mulch. However it has been overtaken by weeds. Previously I had put down multiple layers of black cloth to prevent the weeds from growing. This seemed to have no effect. The weeds grew right through. It was time for some more serious blockage.

I pulled up the black cloth. Many weeds and grass were growing thick in it. I decided to repurpose this black strip to lay over the trench that formed behind my back fence on my property. Water runs down a path, and the ground gets washed away. I previously tried to fill the trench with gravel. The gravel all washed away.

This time I put down the used black cloth with weeds growing in it. Underneath the cloth I put some more gravel, and covered the gravel with soil. Then I used metal spikes to tie down the cloth so it would not wash away.

Back in the front, I put down long pieces of plywood. Then I covered that with some leftover vapor barrier from Little Kat's new vinyl floor install. I mainly chose it because it was black and would mask the color of the plywood. I put some mulch on top of the wood and barrier. The wood is a bit warped. I hope the weight and water will put it down straight.

Vacation is all I ever Wanted

This morning Momoko and I picked our belongings. We waited for Kit Kat to wake up. I quizzed her on her recent trip with her boyfriend. She gave me a pretty detailed synopsis, even though she had just purchased some chicken from Door Dash. After that, Momoko and I took off on our vacation. She said she heard a buzzing in the back seat. So I rolled the back window down hoping the bug would exit.

I knew the first couple legs for our trip. There was light traffic on the highway by our house. It turned out to be some huge trucks stopped on the side of the road with a person standing in one lane flagging people to slow down. I started getting hungry. I figured we could eat 30 minutes into our trip. At most I thought it would be an hour. When we hit a big city, I tried to decide on a restaurant with Momoko. No decisions were made and we passed the big city.

I decided to make a command decision and stop at the first fast food restaurant in the next big city. There were some cops stopping somebody on the highway. It made all traffic slow down. Upon coming into the next city, I pulled over into Popeye's. I ordered a spicy chicken sandwich. Momoko ordered a shrimp tackle box. My food took 5 minutes to cook. I scarfed it down, but it was really spicy.

Then we proceeded on the highway. They closed a 5 lane highway down to just a single lane. There were dudes holding signs on the highway for us to slow down. Traffic was going nowhere. We finally made it past the construction. Momoko used Google Maps to direct us on the last leg of the journey. We entered the parking lot of the hotel. It was crowded. Some guy was going the wrong way down an aisle. He signaled me and told me the road was one way. I concurred, but said he was going the wrong way. He pointed to a sign that contradicted what I said. I told him I was following the big arrow on the concrete below us that pointed against him.

Inside the hotel, they tried to give me the keys to an 18th floor condo. I told them I reserved a room that was in the hotel on floor 5 or lower. They told me somebody had upgraded me without informing me. I told them I would like to be downgraded back down to the room I reserved. They found me one such room. It was hot. But we opened the screen door to cool it off. We tried to go to a restaurant we liked. But they were only open for carryout. We went to another restaurant we knew. They asked us to be patient. I got a cold lasagna. They heated it up more for me. Momoko got a big pizza.

At night we called Little Kat to check up on his college. The main point of our call was quizzed Little Kat on functions, graphs, limits, and continuity. Little Kat did not seem to grasp the basics of limits in Calculus. We need him to study this topic. The rest of Calculus will build upon it.

Flooring Install

The day had come for Little Kat's new vinyl plank flooring to be installed. The installers were scheduled to come between 8am and 11am. So I woke up at 7am. I waited for their call. As it got closer to 11am, I got a call from the company. They said the installers were running behind, and would arrive between 11am and 1pm.

I told Little Kat that our afternoon plans needed to change. We put Momoko in charge of waiting for the installers. Little Kat and I took my brother's truck to IKEA to pick up the frame for his new bed. Little Kat got a text that the frame was now in stock. We headed out, but returned to get my mask. On the road, the install called me and said he was on his way.

Little Kat and I found his frame. We thought there was only 1 there. So I left Little Kat to guard the lone frame as I hustled to get a shopping cart. We loaded up all 5 boxes and headed to checkout. His frame is cheaper than his mattress, even though he has a headboard and two drawers underneath. We rolled the cart out after paying and loaded everything in the bed of the truck. All items were heavy. So we did not need to tie anything down.

Momoko called to ask which way they should lay the flooring. Little Kat said perpendicular to the door frame. Momoko also told the installers to stop the floor at the door, and not go out into the hall. They were also instructed to make the edges of the floor look good, even in the closet. They ended up putting down shoe molding in the closet with glue. Upon inspection, there seemed to be a problem under the entry door. Turns out it was just some saw dust. Everything else looked strong. There were a lot of leftover materials I put in the big shed.

Today, Little Kat and I carried his bed frame boxes from the living room to his bedroom. His mattress is on back order. If necessary, we can purchase a queen size mattress from any old store. But we like the feel of the IKEA one he picked that is on back order.

Couch Shopping

Our current living room couch is at the end of its life. Momoko researched some local furniture stores. We visited them this morning. The first store was the furthest away. It had nothing of note. The second store was weird. There were a lot of items that looked gaudy. They seemed to be trying to make the items look regal. I saw one couch for $9000. No thanks.

The third store was a hole in the wall. The sales people were pushy. There were no price tags on any items. The sales people tried to get me to agree to buy a couch and love seat, stating that the couch alone would be more expensive. They said most of their couches were from Ashley Furniture.

While going to these three stores, Momoko spotted a fourth one that was named similarly to the third. I found there to be a few cars in the whole strip mall parking lot. We went in and found rows of couches. There was plenty of room in the aisles to navigate. Momoko narrowed down the couches to a short list of three. She chose the most comfortable one, which also happened to be the cheapest. I placed an order for it. It should arrive at the store in a few weeks.

Airport Dry Run

Previously we were able to get direct flights from an airport just North of us to Momoko's dad's city. After the pandemic, the only flights from there require at least 1 layover. I hate wasting time touching down in some random airport, only to catch a connecting flight to my destination.

Earlier this year, Little Kat discovered that an airport just South of a major city by us offers direct flights. The only problem is getting to this airport. We can take the subway there. But the walk from the subway exit to our terminal is very long.

Today I did a practice drive with the family to this new airport. It was treacherous driving through the city to get to this airport. People drive crazy downtown. The walk from the parking garage took 7 to 8 minutes to the terminal. That is pretty good. Even Momoko could walk it with a bad leg.

On the drive home from this airport, I tried to take a faster route. We ended up getting stuck in construction traffic. Then we somehow were driving even further South from this Southern city. Google Maps helped us get back on track. It was a treacherous ride home. Not sure if it is even worth driving there. The subway is sufficient.

Kit Kat Car Shopping

Kit Kat has been getting serious about car shopping. Previously she wanted a Toyota Prius. But with apartment prices rising like crazy, she thinks she might want a more economical model. Say hello to the Hyundai Accent. She likes this car in the admiral blue color. She wants Apple Car Play. That requires at least the SEL trim.

Today coming home from work, Momoko called around and could only find a 2019 used Hyundai near our closest college town. So after work, Kit Kat and I drove there. We tried to speak with the sales guy Momoko spoke with. It took a while for him to become available. He told us they already sold that car.

Kit Kat got nervous. It seems there are no Accents around anywhere. She called up a dealership that is usually an hour north of us. They had a blue model. But it was not the SEL trim. We decided to brave the rush hour and rain. Google Maps told us it was an hour and a half drive. We went through a tunnel we normally don't travel. Eventually we arrived.

We spoke with a guy. He pulled up the only Accent they had. The color was admiral blue. It looked nice. Kit Kat and I fit fine in the front seat. It was hard to get into the car because you had to duck your head. The display screen on the dash was small. But the SEL trim has a larger one. The trunk space was fine.

In the rear set, my head was hitting the ceiling. Kit Kat took the car for a drive. The acceleration was much better than her current anemic car. She was able to drive around in the rain. For a small car, I thought it handled the bumps well. With destination charges included, this car cost $18k. That is a bargain for car prices these days.

We left the dealership and ate at a local McDonalds. It required that we place our orders via kiosk. I tried to pay at the register. The lady had trouble finding my order. We were the only people in the restaurant. We got our burnt food. I ate it because I was hungry. Kit Kat called a dealership 4 hours away. The admiral blue SEL trim they had was "on hold". Kit Kat asked them to hold it for her if that deal falls through. Fingers crossed.