Herd Mentality

5.31.2006

Damn you, Bob Villa. Damn you.

I need a single person to blame, and I believe I'll pick Bob Villa. Long before there were entire cable networks dedicated to home improvement, this boob had a show which featured people dumping insane amounts of money into old dumpy houses.

Now we have entire cable networks convincing America that oak is no longer cool and should be painted, textured ceilings are like "cottage cheese" and should be removed and that the standard size of a refrigerator needs to get bigger and bigger all the time.

My shack was built the same year that I was born. Back in the glorious days of shag carpeting and groovy lighting, your average fridge was pretty basic. Unfortunately, this means that the manufacturers have me over a barrel. I can either buy a dinky little fridge that will fit in the old space, shell out around $2000 for a specialty size or tear apart my entire kitchen. I went with option (c). Let's just say I'm not happy that I had to tear into some of the work that I had already done.

It's also created a pecking order in the Sweeney household. The fridge is now in the dining room, the dining room table has moved to the living room...and the tablesaw has finally moved to the garage.

And here is a picture of the urinal in the Hunter, ND bar for fun. I was disappointed that there wasn't any ice in it at the time.

5.23.2006

Goodbye Old Yeller


RIP 1974-2006
I guess it was bound to happen one of these days. Last Friday I awoke to the distinct sound of my fridge's compressor no longer being able to keep up. Pretty admirable for a fridge to last 32 years. I wonder how many original "Harvest Gold" fridges are still in use across the US? I just wish the stupid thing could have waited until I was planning on starting my kitchen remodel. The new stainless steel side-by-side is going to look out of place next to the yellow countertops and the harvest gold dishwasher.