Oh, so that's the problem

We bought a Black and Decker coffee maker for work months ago and gave up on it pretty quickly. We bought a new coffee maker and use the B&D to heat water for tea and such. There seemed to way to pour from it without dribbling all over the counter.

That coffee maker made it's way to my house recently. Sister-in-law was making coffee in our coffee maker, but I didn't like the coffee as she made it, so I brought it home to make my own. Yesterday I discovered the secret of pouring from the decanter without making a mess on the counter.

The line that passes through the center of the spout and the center of the handle must be exactly vertical. If I am off even slightly, the liquid pour around the edges of the spout and down the body of the decanter.

Lousy design? Oh yes.

Love and Hate

Contractors both love and hate change orders on contracts. They love them because every single change order is an increase in profits. Sometimes a significant increase in profits. but every single change order screws over the schedule, too.

My concrete guy has been given a couple of change orders. I still don't know how much more that is going to cost. My painter got a BIG change order that cost me another $1.3K which was all labor -- her labor mostly. I've given Weiser Pools (pool equipment folks) several change orders some of which means hundreds of dollars in materials alone. And the big change order to Gardner Pool Plastering.

All in all, though, it isn't bad. The total will have gone up a mere (choke) $13,000 from the original estimates.

There have been a few times in my life when I had enough money to do projects like this without worrying too much over the cost of things. But, I got to tell you, I really don't like spending this much money on anything. It's not that I'm cheap, I'm just not all that materialistic.

This project is 60% necessary repair and maintenance.though. All the work on the pool had to be done and that accounts for around $45K. So, if we are going to have to spend that much money we want something to show for it, so we through in some more for cosmetic enhancements. Still....

A swimming pool is much like a pleasure boat. It is a hole in the ground/water in which to throw money.

Oy

The plant of doom has finally been broken free of grasp of the earth. It is about 4 feet across and has a massive trunk in the middle of all that foliage. I suspect that damn thing weighs in at 150 pounds of plant, root, and dirt.

I have no idea how we will ever get it into its new home!

Oh yeah!

Being a geek is good.

That plant weighed more than I thought, but with the help of a wooden A-frame, a ratchet tie-down and two other guys, we moved it across the yard, up s steep ramp and into the waiting hole.

Now, the only question is: Will it survive?