Dean Barlow » Home and Garden

Thank goodness for the industrial revolution

Dean — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 00:28:12 +0000

Every now and then I will take a drive out to the country and enjoy the sights and sounds of farm life. When I was very young my grandparents had a farm, and my happiest childhood memories are from visiting them on their farm. Last weekend I decided to take such a drive and found myself driving very slowly behind a caravan of farm equipment. As you can imagine, in the country roads there are not very many opportunities to pass slow moving farm vehicles, so I just settled in for a slow ride; I was in no particular hurry.

Eventually all of the trucks pulled into a long dirt driveway and as I passed I took a look at some of the equipment that was being hauled. One of the things was a huge conveyor belt device that I could only imagine would be used for silo unloading. I don’t know what all of the other machines were, or how they are used. Sometimes I fantasize about living on a farm and driving big farm equipment. But then I think about the old sit-com “Green Acres” and start to chuckle – I don’t think my wife would take kindly to living the farm life at all!

Freecycle

Dean — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 14:29:10 +0000

I think Freecycle is great, but it has its limitations. We get (and give) some great stuff for free, but there are times when it can be aggravating. For example, when you are trying to negotiate a pickup or dropoff, the other party involved doesn’t seem to want to exchange telephone numbers, they simply state that they are leaving something by the curb for you to pick up at a certain time. But sometimes that certain time is simply impossible to meet, and when you send them an email about it to try to let them know (and renegotiate) they don’t always respond. So it can get quite frustrating! And if you are trying to give something away and the person doesn’t show up to get it, and doesn’t call you to let you know that they aren’t coming (or got lost) or to renegotiate a different time, that is very frustrating as well!

Maybe they ought to develop a rating/ranking system like e-bay, where feedback is given. I think that would make it a lot easier to use!

A designer look

Dean — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 14:08:52 +0000

Yesterday my wife was watching some home improvement television shows and noticed that a lot of the designers that have been featured in the bathroom renovations were using Vessel Sinks. She was telling me that the next time that we renovate the master bathroom she might like to have a Vessel Sink. I think they’re nice looking but I would be concerned because there does not seem to be any kind of overflow outlet in them.

Tagging along to a trade show

Dean — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 22:15:10 +0000

My In-laws run their own retail shipping store and they frequently travel around to as many local trade shows as they can squeeze into their very busy schedule. As I mentioned in my previous post my mother-in-law just turned eighty years old and even though she is a real spitfire we know that packing up her Trade Show Displays into the back of their van and then setting up at the show location is becoming more difficult for her to do. My father-in-law helps as much as he can but he’s getting on in years as well and has his own aches and pains and physical limitations.

My wife and I found out that they are scheduled to go to a local trade show that we want to attend over the Columbus day weekend and we have volunteered to help her to unload the van and set up her Vinyl Banners and display tables for her. Since the show is so close to home we have also volunteered to help her breakdown the display and repack her van.

The last time we tagged along with her we ended up helping to man the tables and talk with the interested people that stopped by for information. We were also selling raffle tickets to help raise money for the Shriner’s children’s hospital charities. Since my father-in-law, brother-in-law and I are all Shriners we always try to incorporate raising money for the children’s hospitals in every possible activity we get involved in where we are dealing with a lot of people that we might never have contact with for any other reason.

Friendly service is a good thing

Dean — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 22:45:42 +0000

Over the past week I’ve had to go to the big orange home improvement store several times to pick up a few things for a project I’m doing at home. I’ve spent about $2000 there just this past week! But I’ve noticed that when I go there if I have a question about something I have a very hard time finding anyone to answer my questions! I don’t know if they are understaffed or if they are hiding from me! Oh wait a minute – I remember now – they ARE understaffed! According to the Internet they are hiring at that store, but when I go in and talk to them they tell me that there has been a hiring freeze on for several years! So THAT’s why I can’t find anyone to wait on me!

Well, I was given a $10 coupon to use at the big blue home improvement store that is at the opposite end of town, and I decided that I would go there today to pick up a few things that I needed. They had employees all over the place! And they were all stopping to say hello and ask me if I needed any help! And it was wonderful! They did help me find some of the things that I needed, and they helped me to load the stuff in my car. I’ll be going back there again the next time I need home improvement supplies!

Getting housewares from flea markets

Dean — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 15:15:10 +0000

Guest post written by Lindsay Holt

I know that buying some of your house wares from a flea market can sound really sketchy. But when I say that I’m actually talking about getting things like dishes and coffee mugs. I love to have the eclectic look in my home, so that type of stuff really appeals to me. I can’t remember the last time that I had some matching dishes! But I like that.

There are a few things though that I like to look for while I’m buying these things. For one thing, I make sure that there aren’t any cracks or chips in the dishes. That’s very important. While I was looking online for some new markets and shops to check out for dishes like that, I ran across some cable and internet packages. After I looked through it a little bit, I decided to change over my home internet to one of them.

I have some really fantastic vases that I’ve picked up over the summer. One is this lime green transluscent one with a diamond pattern on it. It’s kind of kitschy, but just enough to make it work with the rest of my decor.

Scallops for supper

Dean — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 21:35:34 +0000

My wife came home with a pound of fresh sea scallops that she picked up at the store on her way home from work. She said they were a good price, and since we hadn’t had scallops for a long time (probably a year or more!) she decided to cook them for supper tonight. She also picked up some fresh snap beans. So she cooked a great baked scallop dish with a cream base and stuffing on top, and served them with the fresh beans and sliced tomatoes picked from our garden. We had freshly baked sourdough bread along with the meal. What a feast that was!

Stainless does not mean stain free

Dean — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 21:53:59 +0000

One of the things that amazed me when we were house shopping is how many people did not take good care of their stainless steel kitchen sinks in their kitchens. It’s as if they thought that stainless meant stain-free. And every single stainless steel kitchen sink was scratched and stained. Badly. I could see where anyone that buys a kitchen sink really should take the time to learn how to keep it nice and shiny. And then put in the effort to do so. It’s amazing what a little TLC can do!

Kool Aid

Dean — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 22:37:15 +0000

I’ve always enjoyed iced tea for a nice gold drink for the hot summer months. I grew up in an iced tea drinking house hold and we are creatures of habit. Anyway I have gotten to where I’m getting a bit burned out on drinking the same thing day in and day out and have decided to give a few of the Kool Aid flavors a try. They make a good amount of flavors these days so you’d think I’d find at least one that would be good.

Mowing the lawn

Dean — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 00:45:23 +0000

I love to mow the lawn. Some people may think I’m crazy, but it really is something that I love to do. I love riding around on my Walker zero-radius mower. I mow the lawn in practically no time at all! The challenge this year has been to find a time to mow the lawn when it hasn’t been raining! Seems to me that every time I want to get out there and mow, it starts to rain. Although I have mowed the lawn before when it is wet, it just doesn’t look as nice as when it is dry. We’ve been having a spell where it has rained every day for over a week, and it is killing me watching the grass grow and not being able to mow it!