Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound.
Things are coming along in and around the house, but I am getting hit with a number of small issues that are not making me a happy camper. For example, the shed out back needs a new door handle. The current handle is just a simple latch that has a right-angle bar at the end that twists down behind the door frame to hold it shut. That right angle part had broken completely off, so I decided to take it off so I could find a match at Lowe’s. However, I ran into a snag. I dutifully removed the two screws and tried to pull the latch off the door. To my dismay, this was one solid piece that was incorporated into the door. There was no way to get it off without tearing a hole in the door. Oh great! So, I put the cement blocks back against the door and went and bought a clasp hinge to screw to the front of the door.
Then I had an issue with my lava lamp. In my kitchen I have two cabinets that used to be part of a three-piece TV combination. They both have a top shelf that is backlighted and enclosed by a smoked glass door. I put some of my nice dishes and wine glasses in them and hooked them up to a timer so they would light up at night. It really looks nice, and I thought my old lava lamp would look nice in one of the other shelves that I also hooked up to a timer. All was good until the lamp bulb burned out. No problem. I found a 40-watt bulb with a wide base, an appliance bulb, at Walmart, and did not miss a beat. However, after less than a month. the bulb burned out again. I was guessing that those bulbs were not made to run five hours every night. I mean, who – even with teenage kids – has their refrigerator door open for hours on end? So I looked for a regular bulb, which was not easy since 40-watt bulbs are not in big demand, especially with a wide base. I changed the bulb again, but after several hours, the jelly-like stuff inside the lava lamp was not dancing around like it should. Hmmmm! I touched the glass, and it was cold, even after being on for several hours. Hmmmm again?! Then it dawned on me that I had gotten an LED bulb, and one of the signature points of an LED light is that they do not get that hot. So back to the store to get two appliance bulbs, which should buy me enough time to search Amazon for a real “lava” bulb.
Then, to add icing to the cake, I got a very tiny nick in the front window glass of my car. Just enough to remove the tint. It was so small that I did not even notice it until one day the sunlight hit it just right and it looked like a little blazing star. Of course, it was on the driver’s side. So here I am with an ink pen, hanging over the edge of the car hood, trying to locate that little pinhole and praying a little bit of ink will snuff out the starlight. Took several tries, but I think I have a temporary solution.
Got to go. As always, be good, do good, play safe, and remember, little things add up to big things, so get them while they are small.
– JR
