• The abortion non-issue
• A new kind of surge
• Congrats Cap'n!
• Game over, man!
• Regarding Education
• Trivia Question of the Day
• What Right to Privacy?
• John McCain is 72 years old! [laughter, applause]
• Bug Braaaaaaaaaains!
• Sarah Palin
• Reich's advice to Democrats
• Women's Lib
• On Barak Obama and Joe Biden
• Late Night Punchline Imbalance: the details undermine the headline
• Better questions about climate change

• September 2008
• August 2008
• July 2008
• June 2008
• May 2008
• April 2008
• March 2008
• February 2008
• January 2008
• November 2007
• October 2007
• September 2007
• August 2007
• July 2007
• June 2007
• May 2007
• April 2007
• March 2007
• February 2007
• January 2007
• December 2006
• November 2006
• October 2006
• September 2006
• August 2006
• July 2006
• June 2006
• May 2006
• April 2006
• March 2006
• February 2006
• January 2006
• December 2005
• November 2005
• October 2005
• September 2005
• August 2005
• July 2005
• June 2005

« Crying won’t help you, Praying won’t do you no good | Main | The American Way »

Home improvement amid economic hardships

On March 28 of this year I said the following:

This weekend the wife and I are going to try tiling the kitchen wall... that'll be a new experience. Wish us luck.

For several reasons, our estimated date for the project was off. By just over three months, actually. This past weekend, the wife and I finally got the tiles up on the wall.

I'm supposed to be grouting right now, but I'm putting it off in the hopes of getting G-Dawg to help out when he comes to visit us this weekend.

Now, this is just one of many home-improvement projects that are ongoing at Casa Wulf. And my house is far from the only one undergoing projects in the neighborhood. I have to slalom white vans full of blue collar workers as I drive the side streets. Why is this happening in the middle of an economic downturn? Personally, I imagine that it's because we still have our jobs and the houses need work. It doesn't matter whether my house was worth more last year, and it doesn't matter that gas is $4.00/gallon. We live here. It's a priority to fix the things that need to be fixed.

I'm sure that's overly simplistic. After all, the figures don't lie, and DIY retailers have not been immune to the economic woes and increased shipping costs. We all know that times are tough. But I'm telling you, the roof is still getting replaced down the street, and life is doing its best to go on.

By the way, if you are in the market for an easy-to-use portable tile saw, I will endorse the QEP 4" wet saw... provided you don't need it to hold up for a full project or beyond. The bearings on the motor started to give out when we were ~80% through, and they seized entirely with one-and-a-half tiles still to go. On the one hand, what a piece of crap. On the other hand, it's a 1/3 HP saw I purchased for less than $50.00 and will never need again. I purposely got the cheapest one I could find. So, I wasn't too upset about putting it in the trash... I didn't have room for it in my tool chest anyway.