That's Gneiss! #87 ~ Where's the glitter?
Greetings, on this last day of the first half of the year. Where did the time go? I have just one day of work this week and them I’m off for a few days, which will include a camping trip in the North Cascades, at Newhalem. Last year we camped next to a guy who put up sticky targets and shot his bibi gun at them all day. This year we’ve reserved a site in a different loop. We’ll see if our temporary neighbors are better this year. I will report in full next week!
The past week (and then some) at work has been a bit noisy, shall we say. An area on the other side of the wall behind my back has been undergoing some renovations. We were warned, and informed that among other things there would be new flooring installed. Not just any flooring, mind you - no siree, this flooring would be LUXURY VINYL TILE. Several emails referred to it as luxury vinyl tile, or LVT.
We wondered what on earth could make this flooring so special - real gold flecks perhaps?
In the days leading up to the installation, chaos reigned. First, electrical work was needed. At one point I was certain a saw would punch through the wall behind me, not unlike a horror movie. I scooted a little closer to my desk.
Then painting occurred, and things started to look pretty good.
On Wednesday, the old carpet was removed - cut into strips and rolled up nicely to resemble oversized cinnamon rolls. The noise got worse as the day wore on, hammering and pounding and more hammering. At one point several of us made an escape to the comparable silence of a nearby frozen yogurt shop teaming with small children. Nothing like sweets to make things better, right? We returned to an horrible smell, sort of an electrical fire scent. Nothing had happened, I think they just used a shop-vac or something that had some issues. Finally the day ended, and the area was ready for the installation of the LUXURY VINYL TILE.
Thursday was the big day! At last the LVT would be revealed. The installation began, and brought with it the aroma of flooring glue.
Oh joy.
Thankfully we were able to open a window, which kept the odors at bay.
Finally, late in the afternoon the job was finished, and we could gaze upon the LVT in all its glory.
THAT’S IT? What a letdown. Where’s the glitter? Does it glow in the dark?
What makes it so special?!!
I’ll tell you - it’s an eighth of an inch thicker than normal tile.
That’s right.
1/8”
I was expecting so much more…
The least they could do is put up a disco ball.
Tidbits
New study of the 2014 Oso landslide - the mechanics of the slide are explained, and now I can grasp how so much earth moved so far so fast…
The over 7,500 watercolor paintings of fruit you didn’t know you needed to see until now - USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection. What’s your favorite?
NOISE-ARCH archive - 437 digitized cassettes, mostly from the 80’s. Hours of entertainment! Here’s a good one…
Photographs of films - long exposures by Jason Schulman (gallery)
Tips for spotting bad science - know when to be suspicious!
Compound Interest - chemistry for better living, infographics for better understanding
Making: things are picking up! A bit of mending, and a bit of guitar pedal art… and I woke up my blog!
Recently eaten: nothing remarkable - how odd!
Reading: I finished several books this week! The Paper Wasp (a bit creepy and surprising), I am Young (graphic novel, just okay), Awards for Good Boys (we all know them, don’t we?), and The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America (good for some chuckles). Started some new books - Troublemaker (Scientology tell-all!), Giraffes on Horseback Salad: Salvador Dali, the Marx Brothers, and the Strangest Movie Never Made (graphic novel), and Coffin Corner (published in the 60’s, one of many old paperbacks I’ve picked up over the years).
Video of the Week
Beautiful.
Question of the Week
Answer if you wish, and I’ll share next week - anonymously of course. Just hit reply…
Hard to believe, but half the year has gone by already - what are the highlights of your year so far?
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Last week I asked if you could have an unlimited lifetime supply of something, what would it be?
If I could have an unlimited supply of one thing for the rest of my life it would be… Wait, one thing? One thing I love above all others? Hmmm. I could go for good chocolate milk from a local dairy, but that makes me think of the incredible eggnog I can get during the holidays. I could do with a lifetime supply of that - all year. And, wait, maybe I should choose pizza. Or maybe a daily freshly-made (by other hands, of course) salad. And what of things that aren’t (typically) ingested? Books. Yeah, that’d do it. But I refuse to be limited to fiction or nonfiction and any subject or genre.
Hard to choose between wild strawberries and equality, but I think the latter sounds more necessary.
Unlimited supply? Seems like money or good health are the smart answers…
Unlimited Clean Water with a pH of 9. Thanks!
Free time!
To answer your question, what I would really love and need (besides coffee and chocolate) in an unlimited supply for the rest of my life are X-Acto blades! I go through so many!!! Perhaps I will make an assemblage out of all the used ones.
The time to use my art supplies.
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