ambivalent images

Open Sesame!

The newly-installed garage door opener in our garage. At right is a wider shot of the opener and its door. The installation project took me all of last weekend, but I sort of dragged it out because it was so nice to have something to occupy my time and mind while I waited to hear whether I'd passed the bar. (I got the results a couple of days ago and, yes, I passed!) The opener works great, except that the door was installed kind of poorly and has never moved very smoothly on its tracks so there are still some problems there. I'm working on it...

Time Time Time

The clock on the old stove at the cabin. At right is a short of the clock above the stove in a little more context. The things to left and right of the clock are salt and pepper shakers that came with the stove. They're made of a pinkish glass unlike anything made today. I know this isn't that old (1940s-50s?), but it's still pretty cool in that vintage/retro way.

Toastmaster

The antique toaster at our friend's cabin outside Red Lodge. It still toasts like a champ!

Three-Point Plug

The plug for our “new” dryer. We found a Frigidaire washer and dryer set at an estate sale for $200—a great deal when you consider that you can easily pay $400 for each piece if you buy new. When we bought them I didn't pay much attention to whether the dryer was gas or electric, but was happy to later discover that it was electric and that our house was wired for an electric dryer. So far so good. But when we got the dryer moved in and I tried to plug it in, I discovered a small problem—our basement was wired for a 220-volt dryer with a four-prong plug (pictured at right), but our dryer was a 110-volt dryer with a three-prong plug. What to do?

A quick trip to Ace Hardware and about an hour later, the problem was solved. I simply pulled the wires out of the 220-outlet and wired 3 of them (positive, negative, and ground) up to a new 110-outlet. The extra wire from the 220 line I just cut and capped with a wire nut so it's not being used. Everything seems to work fine now and if we ever do get a 220-volt dryer it won't be a big deal to wire up the 220 outlet again.

Homeownership. Isn't it fun?

Deep Sea Basement

Our basement in the middle of its makeover. The basement on our house was added sometime after the house was built so it has a deep concrete shelf all the way around it about halfway up the wall. When we bought the house this was covered in dirt and grime, but it did have three sets of study shelves on it. We decided to paint the horizontal surfaces a dark color that would be less likely to show dirt, and paint the horizontal surfaces the brightest color we could find to try to make the basement seem brighter. The image at right shows the final efffect, more or less— our basement after we finished painting and moved in a few things. I'm happy with how it turned out—much brighter!—but we might have to cover the paint on the floor at least with some sort of sealant (like this, maybe?) to keep it from scratching and give it a nice gloss.

Resurfacing

Our freshly-sanded floor getting its first coat of finish. The strip of floor on the right side of this image has been coated with finish, while the rest is just the bare wood.

Our floor refinishing was an experiment that didn't fully succeed. The sanding went ok, although we didn't get a fully flat and even surface because parts of the floor were already too uneven from previous sandings or other things, plus I'm no expert drum sander. (That machine is the real monster sander. Leave it in one place for 5 seconds and you'll have a nice little groove in your floor. Not good.) But we did get a nice smooth finish on the wood, I thought. Then we swept, vacuumed, and tacked the floor using mineral spirits to get all the sawdust off and leave a nice smooth, clean surface for finishing. Then we waited about 12 hours and put on the first layer of finish. For the finish we used a product called Hillyard Uphold b/c experienced floor refinishers recommended it as especially good. It cost nearly three times what standard polyurethane costs, so we figured it must be good, right? I'm sure the product is fine, but for some reason, after four coats we still didn't have a smooth floor. It seems that the first coat raised the grain of the wood, making the floor very rough. Each subsequent coat of finish smoothed things out a bit, but it's still far from how it should be. We were in a hurry to get moved in so we just decided to leave it for now and deal with it later.

So what did we do wrong? Why did the first coat of finish raise the grain of the wood? Did we put it on too thick, or should we have done something different?

Monster Sander

The floor's view of the belt sander we used to sand the edges and anywhere else we couldn't reach with the big drum sander. At right is a shot of the sander in full profile. This little machine is a monster b/c it still works like a charm after who knows how many years. I have no clue of the vintage of this sander, but it's easily 40 or more years old. I think it looks pretty cool, too. My dad let me borrow it for this job. He's got all sorts of wonderful toys like this, which works out pretty well for me when I have a crazy idea like refinishing my floors.

Naked Wood

The freshly-sanded floors in our new living room. Long story short, the floors were pretty messed up (scarred and stained, etc.) so we decided it would be easier to refinish them before we moved in than at any other time. So last weekend we sanded like fiends and breathed more sawdust than any person should ever have to breathe. This weekend we plan to apply sealant and polyurethane and then we'll have new floors! No stain, thanks. We like the lighter wood color.

If you have any advice for applying the finish to a floor like this, please share!

Corned Beef & Cabbage

Our St. Patrick's Day meal. This was my first attempt at cooking corned beef and cabbage, but it turned out so well I'll probably be making it again. I used this crock pot recipe, but instead of cooking the cabbage in the same pot with the meat and potatoes I just steamed it for a few minutes right before serving. The combo of fresh, juicy, slightly crunchy cabbage with your super-flavorful and tender meat and potatoes is an excellent one. And, as Chicagoist suggested, it does all go great with a good stout beer.

Plecostomus

The plecostomus in L's aquarium as it was feeding the other day. After having some of her fish for close to 8 years (a very long life for freshwater aquarium fish, I'm told), this hearty fellow is now one of only two fish left in the tank.

Toasty Egg Muffin Goodness!

The control panel on my new toaster—a gift from L's sister for Christmas. As you can see (full pic at right), this is no ordinary toaster. This is the “Back to Basics TEM500 Egg & Muffin 2-Slice Toaster and Egg Poacher” ! Not only will it warm and brown your bread, but it also poaches an egg to perfection in about four minutes, and if you're more the hard-boiled type, it can do that, too! It may sound silly, but this little gadget is awesome! My one complaint is that the little poaching cup has such a thin teflon coating that it started to flake off after just a week or so of use and cleaning. But don't worry, I doubt this is giving me cancer b/c teflon only releases toxic cases if you heat it to 446 degrees. Can steam heat really get a little pan to 446 degrees in 4-5 minutes or less?

How do you roll?

A toilet paper dispenser. Obviously. But the reason for this photo is to raise a question: Is there a correct way to install a new roll of toilet paper? Should the “tail” be rolled back toward the wall (as shown above), or should it be rolled forward toward the user? Inquiring minds want to know!

Tungsten E2

L's Tungsten E2 charging in its cradle. I seriously considered springing for one of these after my z22 died its tragic death a few weeks ago. In the end, I decided it wasn't wise to spend $200 for a little machine I was highly likely to lose or break, so I got another z22 instead. I also just really like the z22's big screen and battery life, so it's a fine toy for me. I sometimes long for the E2's bigger, high-res screen, expandable memory, and mp3-playing capabilities, but then I slip the tiny z22 into my pocket or end up reading an ebook on it for several hours w/out hardly putting a dent in my battery life and I remember why the z22 works so well for me.

White Bean Chili

A bowl of white bean chicken chili we made recently. It was supposed to be completely different but we didn't have all the spices the recipe called for so we just made it up. I thought it was pretty good, but I'd still like to try the actual recipe.

(Some days the photos are cool, some days, not so much. That's how life is, eh?)

Plum

A partially-eaten plum. Yum.

Frosting Please

An overhead view of a cake w/out edges. Someone apparently likes the frosting...

Hob Nobs

A terrific biscuit from the U.K., Hob Nobs are oatmeal cookies covered w/a nice layer of chocolate. I first had them years ago when I was in Finland and now I can buy them at a local market. Mmmm!

Burrito Bowl BS

A burrito bowl from McDonald's Chipotle. (McDonald's owns Chipotle, right?) So Chipotle had its Summer Solstice dealio last week where it promised that if you bought a burrito (or bowl) on Wednesday, you could get another Burrito (or bowl) free if you brought your receipt back by Sunday. What they forgot to mention is that if you bought two burritos on Wednesday but got one receipt for both of them, that one receipt (showing that you bought two burritos) would only be good for one free burrito when you brought it back. Jerks.

I really hate Chipotle because it's tasty and relatively cheap and ubiquitous so it's easy to pick up anywhere and anytime, yet it's no good for you and it's basically like eating at McD's as far as the larger global/economic effects are concerned. Why isn't there a place that's all those good things w/out the bad?

Hello LBJ

Lyndon Johnson's face graces a dartboard at a friend's house. I don't know if my friend has any particular animosity toward Johnson, but at least this makes an interesting conversation piece.

Green Cream

Oreos with green filling. These actually make good post-barbecue deserts, even though there is something just wrong about eating green-colored lard-based products.

Grill Season

A chicken breast sizzles on the grill. Our landlords have been on vacation for the last little bit so that means we get to use their grill on the back deck. I've taken advantage of it by grilling just about every night for the last week. Slightly blackened meat = yum.

In other news, how did I post a photo every day last summer when I was working full time with a one-hour commute each way? Where the heck did I find the time?

Not Enough Shelves

One of the overloaded bookshelves in our apartment. We have two bookshelves that look about like this, and then four others that are about half as high, but just as full. Our friends try to tell us that we have too many books (especially when they help us move!), but we prefer to think that we simply don't have enough shelves. I mean, really, is it possible to have too many books?

OhFiveOhFiveOhFive

A crazy solarized hand to celebrate this odd calendar day. Happy 05-05-05. See you next year on 06-06-06!

Training Togs

The running shoes I bought the other day to train for the Marine Corps Marathon with the Aids Marathon Training Program. So far I have run about 10 miles in these shoes and they feel pretty good. If they have another 500 miles or so in them, I'll be set, but I won't be too surprised if I have to get another pair before the marathon in October.

But the shoes and the running are actually the easy part. The hard part is raising the $1700 required to participate in the program! If you'd like to help out, all proceeds go to help the clients at the Whitman-Walker Clinic here in D.C. Donate today!

New Nickel

The new nickel faces down the old. The honest truth is I just haven't taken any good pics in quite a while. I really hope that changes soon, really.

Footprint

The water outline of my foot. I made this impression by stepping in water then stepping on the paper bag as recommended by many different running sources. The goal is to determine the shape of your foot so you can then get a running shoe that fits well and won't cause injuries. It seems that my foot is mostly neutral but I tend to pronate just a little when I run, so I need a cushioning shoe with a semi-curved last and just a little stability.

I guess. I'm not sure actually. I just went to Metro Run & Walk and they took over from there. They first had me take off my shoes and run about 20 feet to see how my feet were hitting the ground. Then they started bringing out shoes. I'd try them on, run a little, and they'd go “hmm” and bring more shoes. I probably tried on at least a dozen pairs of Asics, Saucony, Mizuno, Brooks, Nike, New Balance, and Addidas, and I ended up with a pair of New Balance—the M765, which has apparently been discontinued but is a lot like the M766. They were totally not the shoes I would have chosen on my own, but nice Mr. Shoe Man seemed to think they were what I needed and they felt good on my feet, so we'll see if they can carry me through, oh, a few hundred miles in the next few months.

What have I gotten myself into?

Bits of Ball

Pieces of a red rubber ball Sisu (our dog) recently destroyed. I stacked all the pieces inside each other and took the photo at right, then I used the new color adjustment features of iPhoto to play with the image until it looked like you see it above. Photoshop or several other programs could have accomplished the same thing, but I wanted to play w/these new iPhoto features and see what they could do. I frequently use iPhoto's automatic “enhance” feature before I post photos here; it seems to generally turn up the contrast, sharpness, and saturation to make the colors pop more. Obviously, these new tools can do much more than that.

FireBook

The old iBook in firewire target disk mode one of the two times the screen has actually come on since it basically died. I'll be finished with finals today, so maybe soon I can take some time to actually investigate this problem and maybe fix it. Better yet, maybe I'll have time to get out and take some better pictures!

Spin

The inside of a clothes dryer. Inspiring, isn't it? I'm studying for finals so this is what it has come down to: pictures of the interior of household appliances. At least it's visually interesting, sort of, don't you think?

Repair System

A snapshot of the billing screen from a Sears repair person's laptop. Our dryer stopped working a couple of weeks ago, and since it was a Kenmore, we called Sears. (Our landlord doesn't like to be hassled with repair stuff; he just wants us to take care of it and deduct from our rent.) It was not a pleasant thing, but it turned out ok. The first appointment they could give us was about two weeks from when I first called. Fine. But then, 30 minutes before they were supposed to arrive, they called to say they wouldn't be coming. This was after L. had already taken the afternoon off so she could be here to let them in. Great. We rescheduled for two weeks later, they showed this time, the service person was great, and he fixed the thing in less than an hour (for about $150).

I have much worse stories to tell about Sears, but I'll save them for another day. What I will say is that I seriously discourage you from getting a Sears credit card or home maintenance agreement. Trust me, you just don't need that kind of trouble in your life.

Termites?

Little flying things, which I think are termites, have built this home near our dryer. Gross. Our landlord is going to be thrilled to hear about this, I'm thinking.

Please Restart Your Computer

My old iBook gives me the finger. This is maybe the third time I've seen this screen since I bought this computer in December, 2001, so I should have known that seeing it wasn't a good sign. In the two weeks or so since I saw this screen, my computer started behaving a bit strangely, locking up completely for no reason, and without even giving me this friendly little "black screen of death." That also has never happened, except when the hard drive started failing in the summer of 2003. Apple replaced the drive and I had no further problems. Now, I think that computer is mostly dead (not completely dead), and so I've taken its advice and restarted—completely. ambivalent images is now coming to you from a new iBook G4. My pocketbook is still in agony, but the rest of me is very pleased.

Now I'm just wondering: Should a computer have a name? And if so, what should it be?

Dime Hard Drive

A new 2.5-inch hard drive sits next to a dime for scale. This thing is tiny. Of course, it's not as small as the really tiny drives in iPods; 2.5“ drives are standard in laptops. I just ordered this new 80GB drive to replace the 30GB in my iBook. All these photos for this site take up a lot of space! The new drive is also a little faster, spinning at 5400 RPM, rather than the 4200 of my current drive. One of these days I'll actually try to install it, but I'm making myself wait until the semester is over so that if I destroy my computer in the process I won't be in such a bind.

Orange Web Egg

This is what an orange-colored Easter egg might look like after being thrown around in a baggie inside your book bag all day before being peeled. It looked a little funny, but it tasted fine. I really don't have that much of a thing for eggs, but I do think they make interesting pictures.

Easter Eggs '05

Colored Easter eggs sit ready for the hunt during yesterday's Easter celebration. We didn't actually have a hunt, so these eggs were probably just sitting there waiting for me to eat them, but that doesn't sound as good, does it? ---- PIWIT: For serious Easter-type flowers, check out the orchids at Ten Years of My Life here and here. Nice shots of some crazy funky flowers. These lambs at Shutter at the Thought also seem very springy/Eastery.

Box by Hand

The top of a beautiful handmade box built by one of my best friends. The Superdilettante makes boxes and books like these beauties, which you can buy, and these that you can just look at with longing. They make terrific gifts for the analog journal-writer in your life! This particular box was custom-made to hold several wonderful plastic discs full of some of the best music I've enjoyed in recent memory. The Superdilettante is not only a terrific artist, but she's kind and generous, as well. Thank you, SuperD!

One Year

A special happy birthday candle to celebrate one year of photos here at ambivalent images. As crazy as it seems, I bought this candle in South Australia during the month I spent there in the spring of 1992 (I think; you know you're getting old when you can't figure out years like that). Since then, I have moved it around in boxes, shut it up in cabinets, and displayed it on shelves. Now, for the next decade that I move it around with me, this candle will have this additional meaning—it helped mark the one year anniversary of this site. Although I thought briefly about ending this photo-a-day project at this one year mark, I quickly decided to continue for another year. . . or at least for the time being. I'm still having tons of fun with the project and it often helps me look more closely and in different ways at the world around me, so it still seems very worth the small effort it requires. Thanks to everyone who has visited in the last year and especially to those who return regularly and to those who comment now and then. If you have suggestions or requests or tips for making these images better or more interesting, I'd be happy to hear them! Please leave a comment on a photo page or contact me via email using the link at the bottom of the about page. As noted on the “about” page, I've made a few very small changes for the coming year. Most importantly, I've added a growing list of links to other photoblogs I enjoy checking in on when I get the chance—you'll find it on the right side of the Archives page, and I encourage you to visit them for to see some really terrific images. I've also recently begun categorizing the photos (using pretty broad categories) and the archives are now broken down into monthly pages, as well as category pages, for whatever that's worth. You may also notice that the vertical photos are now larger; instead of resizing so the vertical photos are only 480 pixels tall, they are now 640x480, just like the horizontals. Compare, for example, this small vertical from last December with this larger vertical from last week. This may make them harder to view on small monitors (I only have a 12“ myself), but it always seemed like the verticals were being short-changed when they had to be sized so small before, so now they're even with their horizontal friends.

Cheese!

A gift box from Brennan's in Wisconsin. It arrived last week full off some of the best cheese I've ever had. The cheese was a gift from Professor Smith of Conglomerate for my help in moving his blog from MT to TypePad. (There are still a few bugs to iron out, but the move is mostly complete, I think.) Did I mention how tasty this cheese is? The box contained the best sharp cheddar I've ever tasted, I think—it was aged 4 years, which I'm guessing makes for a much better cheese. The gouda was also absolutely delicious—best all by itself, w/out crackers or anything. The baby swiss was the workhorse in the box, the basic cheese that's good w/just about anything. And finally there was the cranberry cheddar (above right), which we're saving for a special treat. Thanks, Professor Smith! For more on cheese, check out Professor Smith's cheese category, which contains reviews and recommendations for the cheese lover in you or in your life.

Got Your Towel?

A towel dispenser in a GW bathroom with door wide open. I don't think this is what The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is talking about, but hey, it's still a towel.

Bolt Cheater

A rubberband holds down the action button on this PS2 controller so that someone can collect as many bolts as possible in “Ratchet and Clank.” The bolts are the game's currency, allowing you to buy weapons to defeat your enemies, and after spending hours and hours and hours trying to defeat the final “boss,” I decided to look for help. I found it in the form of a cheat that allows Ratchet to collect as many bolts as you want; you just have to stand in the right place and hold down this button. I left it on overnight and the next morning when I had nearly 400k bolts, I bought the big weapon (the RYNO) and defeated the final boss with ease. This was last weekend, which is why the paper that's due tomorrow is still not done. There's a reason the PS2 was collecting dust for the last 18 months: Once you start, it's hard to stop.

Aloo Mutter

A pot of freshly-made aloo mutter bubbles on the stove. As promised, I made this from Route 79's recipe. it was pretty good, and a whole lot of food—we ate it throughout last week. I think next time I might add more potatoes, or perhaps garbanzos. But I think ultimately I'll keep looking for a better aloo mutter recipe, one that more closely matches the way this dish is made at my favorite Indian restaurants. Don't get me wrong; this was very yummy! I'd just like to try another recipe or two to see if I can find whatever the ingredient is that makes this dish my favorite.

V-day Yesteryear

Two valentines from sometime around mid-20th Century. We found these in a box of my grandparents' old things when I was home for the holidays, but I've already forgotten whether they were valentines from my grandparents' youth, or from my mom's youth. They were cute either way. The heart beneath the boy valentine says; “When you look at me in that tone of voice my heart does such funny things.” The little sign at the girl's knees says: “I'll play 'second fiddle' to no one, Valentine.” And in her arms she's holding a fiddle. Get it? The fiddle is actually movable and the girl's eyes move with it. (I think; it's sad how short my memory is for details like this. I'd make an awful witness in court.) So have a swell v-day everyone. For those who see this as a dark day, I'll suggest that the bright side is this: It's another excuse to eat lots of colorfully packaged chocolates, even if you do buy them for yourself!

Barley Soup

A steaming hot bowl of barley soup topped with fresh chopped parsley. I made this soup last Sunday thanks to the recipe and inspiration from Famous P. in the comments here. Although I had expressed a preference for a vegetarian recipe, I decided to simply follow the recipe and we weren't disappointed; even L. liked it! I think next time I'd add about 2 more potatoes and maybe double the barley just to bulk it up even more. As Famous P. predicted, the soup thickened as it cooled and tasted even better a day or two after it was made. I highly recommend this recipe if you like barley soup; it's very easy to make, especially if you have a food processor to chop all those onions, carrots, and celery! Next up on the Ambivalent Cooking Show: Aloo Mutter from Route 79's cooking tips, which were pointed out by Raquel. I love aloo mutter and every time I have it at an Indian restaurant I think, “I should learn how to make this at home.” Now that I have the recipe, I just need to find the time....