a visit to the DMV
3 Comments Published by Dave on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 7/28/2010 11:10:00 PM.
What a huge task it is to move. Just changing our address is a pain. I can't believe all the companies that send us stuff. Wow.
The biggest job is changing addresses on our driver's license. There are huge lines of people and take-a-number counters. Waiting is endless. But lots of seats to wait in. Lots of people talking. Computers that go down in the middle of a transaction. No one else's transaction mind you, just ours. Why can't they just transfer us to another counter? Who knows? But don't rock the boat or they'll go slower!
You just can't get too upset about all of it. Even though it's a total waste of time it's still necessary.
The one redeeming factor was that I brought my sketchbook. And you know, what a great place to sketch people. I sketched the backs of about 12 people all in different poses.
This is a great place to get plenty of practice sketching people. Women with huge purses. (What DO they keep in those cavernous pits?) Guys with enough stuff hanging off their belts that would make a policeman jealous. (Why does that one guy have two PDAs and a flashlight hanging from his pants? What's up with where he lives? Didn't he pay his electric bill?)
The girl with the frilly purse was the best of the bunch.
This was great fun.
...dave
You can observe a lot by just watching. - Yogi Berra
The biggest job is changing addresses on our driver's license. There are huge lines of people and take-a-number counters. Waiting is endless. But lots of seats to wait in. Lots of people talking. Computers that go down in the middle of a transaction. No one else's transaction mind you, just ours. Why can't they just transfer us to another counter? Who knows? But don't rock the boat or they'll go slower!
You just can't get too upset about all of it. Even though it's a total waste of time it's still necessary.
The one redeeming factor was that I brought my sketchbook. And you know, what a great place to sketch people. I sketched the backs of about 12 people all in different poses.
This is a great place to get plenty of practice sketching people. Women with huge purses. (What DO they keep in those cavernous pits?) Guys with enough stuff hanging off their belts that would make a policeman jealous. (Why does that one guy have two PDAs and a flashlight hanging from his pants? What's up with where he lives? Didn't he pay his electric bill?)
The girl with the frilly purse was the best of the bunch.
This was great fun.
...dave
You can observe a lot by just watching. - Yogi Berra
Labels: illustrated journal, sketch
Just a bit of nonsense to lighten the day. I've been off my routine since moving to the new apartment so haven't been drawing much. This is an attempt to get back to it.
We don't live in the big house anymore. We went from 2600 square feet to about 480. Whoa! We love the simplicity. We are so happy we sold. Some people say: "Hey, you're lucky you sold your house." But I say: "No, the buyers were lucky they GOT my house." I'm such a brat.
But becoming an apartment dweller is challenging. Many of the challenges I didn't see at first. They seemed incidental and insignificant. But they aren’t.
Take for example the shower, ah, I mean, the lack of a shower.
In our house we had a walk-in shower. I didn’t realize what a great thing it was. I love showers. I hate tubs. I hate the thought of washing up in a pool of water that isn't moving down the drain.
When we remodeled the house we tore out the tub and built one large shower. It had a four inch high lip to keep the water in but apart from that there was no obstruction in the 6 x 4 four foot walk in area of blissful water happiness.
However in the apartment there is only a tub. The worst part is: there is no shower nozzle on the wall. Yep, that's right, no wall mounted showerhead. Just a small sprayer that sits in a holder molded into the tub. The sprayer is designed to lift out of its holder and spray your hair while you are seated. No thought whatsoever was given to actually standing in the tub.
When I attempt to use this tub as a shower, bad things happen. For example, I tried setting the nozzle on the tub floor while soaping up. Bad idea. It upended and sprayed the ceiling. Once the water reached the ceiling it sprayed the walls and came down in sheets, and like a river, it ran onto the floor.
I then tried to hold the sprayer face down with my toes while soaping up. This worked, as long as I kept pressure on the nozzle. It does limit my range of motion, especially toward the soap dish and shampoo which are at the far corners of the tub. Once I reached too far and the sprayer hit the ceiling and water flooded the floor again.
I really have to be coordinated to use this tub as a shower. I think I’m actually fighting nature. This was just not meant to be.
But there are further problems with this tub. It doesn’t drain. The plug is made of a heavy metal that has no locking mechanism that can keep it in the open position. This gives me two options: let the tub fill with water or hold it open with my other foot. I opt for number two and get cramps in my big toe.
So, standing on the slippery nozzle with the left foot and jamming my right big toe into the drain plug, I soap up my face. Now I can’t open my eyes and so blindly reach for the running sprayer without letting go of the drain.
Of course, the little nozzle on the short hose doesn’t reach to the crown of my head. I squat down a bit to get the spray of water above my navel, more toward the burning soap in my eyes.
To avoid the waterfall effect on the bathroom walls, I face the back wall of the shower and aim the water at my face and toward the clear plastic liner of the shower curtain. This lets the water run down the plastic and into the tub and drain past the opened plug. This all works provided I have not started getting spasms in my toe from jamming it into the opening. There must be a better way.
But I think I might be getting the hang of it. Today I was able to shower in less than four hours. My goal is to get done before Ruth calls out: "What's taking you so long?" She wouldn’t understand.
I simply can’t answer her in the heat of the battle. There is far too much going on here to concentrate and formulate some intelligent answer. I just ignore her. I have to focus on the plug, the spryer, and the soap in my eyes. And I haven't even reached for the shampoo yet!
...dave
If you go long enough without a bath, even the fleas will leave you alone. - Ernie Pyle
We don't live in the big house anymore. We went from 2600 square feet to about 480. Whoa! We love the simplicity. We are so happy we sold. Some people say: "Hey, you're lucky you sold your house." But I say: "No, the buyers were lucky they GOT my house." I'm such a brat.
But becoming an apartment dweller is challenging. Many of the challenges I didn't see at first. They seemed incidental and insignificant. But they aren’t.
Take for example the shower, ah, I mean, the lack of a shower.
In our house we had a walk-in shower. I didn’t realize what a great thing it was. I love showers. I hate tubs. I hate the thought of washing up in a pool of water that isn't moving down the drain.
When we remodeled the house we tore out the tub and built one large shower. It had a four inch high lip to keep the water in but apart from that there was no obstruction in the 6 x 4 four foot walk in area of blissful water happiness.
However in the apartment there is only a tub. The worst part is: there is no shower nozzle on the wall. Yep, that's right, no wall mounted showerhead. Just a small sprayer that sits in a holder molded into the tub. The sprayer is designed to lift out of its holder and spray your hair while you are seated. No thought whatsoever was given to actually standing in the tub.
When I attempt to use this tub as a shower, bad things happen. For example, I tried setting the nozzle on the tub floor while soaping up. Bad idea. It upended and sprayed the ceiling. Once the water reached the ceiling it sprayed the walls and came down in sheets, and like a river, it ran onto the floor.
I then tried to hold the sprayer face down with my toes while soaping up. This worked, as long as I kept pressure on the nozzle. It does limit my range of motion, especially toward the soap dish and shampoo which are at the far corners of the tub. Once I reached too far and the sprayer hit the ceiling and water flooded the floor again.
I really have to be coordinated to use this tub as a shower. I think I’m actually fighting nature. This was just not meant to be.
But there are further problems with this tub. It doesn’t drain. The plug is made of a heavy metal that has no locking mechanism that can keep it in the open position. This gives me two options: let the tub fill with water or hold it open with my other foot. I opt for number two and get cramps in my big toe.
So, standing on the slippery nozzle with the left foot and jamming my right big toe into the drain plug, I soap up my face. Now I can’t open my eyes and so blindly reach for the running sprayer without letting go of the drain.
Of course, the little nozzle on the short hose doesn’t reach to the crown of my head. I squat down a bit to get the spray of water above my navel, more toward the burning soap in my eyes.
To avoid the waterfall effect on the bathroom walls, I face the back wall of the shower and aim the water at my face and toward the clear plastic liner of the shower curtain. This lets the water run down the plastic and into the tub and drain past the opened plug. This all works provided I have not started getting spasms in my toe from jamming it into the opening. There must be a better way.
But I think I might be getting the hang of it. Today I was able to shower in less than four hours. My goal is to get done before Ruth calls out: "What's taking you so long?" She wouldn’t understand.
I simply can’t answer her in the heat of the battle. There is far too much going on here to concentrate and formulate some intelligent answer. I just ignore her. I have to focus on the plug, the spryer, and the soap in my eyes. And I haven't even reached for the shampoo yet!
...dave
If you go long enough without a bath, even the fleas will leave you alone. - Ernie Pyle
Labels: apartment, illustrated journal, sketch
oatmeal breakfast sketch
0 Comments Published by Dave on Saturday, July 10, 2010 at 7/10/2010 06:57:00 AM.
Getting back to the basics, in food and sketching.
I have this carry-everywhere sketch book that is a bit cheaper than the travel watercolor book. It's about 7x9 and contains multimedia 90lb paper. Sometimes I just use it for TODO or shopping lists. But at least if it is always with me I can spend a few minutes at lunch sketching the meal.
Bananas are easy to sketch. They have interesting shades of yellow and spots of brown. Oatmeal? Not too much.
...dave
Food is to eat, not to frame and hang on the wall. - William Denton
I have this carry-everywhere sketch book that is a bit cheaper than the travel watercolor book. It's about 7x9 and contains multimedia 90lb paper. Sometimes I just use it for TODO or shopping lists. But at least if it is always with me I can spend a few minutes at lunch sketching the meal.
Bananas are easy to sketch. They have interesting shades of yellow and spots of brown. Oatmeal? Not too much.
...dave
Food is to eat, not to frame and hang on the wall. - William Denton
apartment hunting
3 Comments Published by Dave on Wednesday, July 07, 2010 at 7/07/2010 06:07:00 PM.
I set my sunglasses on the agent's desk and wiped my brow. It's 104 degrees outside. We'd just come in from looking at several apartments.
Why? Well, we've sold the five bedroom/3 bath house and are simplifying.
But where do we live now? The house sold too fast, within three weeks. Now what? Maybe we should have thought about this before?
So we went looking for apartments to rent.
The cost of it all! Whoa!
Application fees, deposit fees, gate opener fees, pet fees, cancelation fees...
Yikes! This is nuts.
I'm tired of riding around in golf carts through sprawling park-like grounds looking at tiny apartments with big prices.
A 920 square foot place for $897/month + water + electric + gas + $500 pet fees + deposit + + +
I think I'll just get a box and sleep under the overpass. No dues, no fees, no water...wait, no water? Just the rain on my head?
There must be a better way.
Now I know why Dan Price calls himself the Hobo Artist. Check out Dan's hovel. I wonder if he has a room for rent? Dan?
...dave
So, what exactly are the basics that you think I should get back to? - Anon
Why? Well, we've sold the five bedroom/3 bath house and are simplifying.
But where do we live now? The house sold too fast, within three weeks. Now what? Maybe we should have thought about this before?
So we went looking for apartments to rent.
The cost of it all! Whoa!
Application fees, deposit fees, gate opener fees, pet fees, cancelation fees...
Yikes! This is nuts.
I'm tired of riding around in golf carts through sprawling park-like grounds looking at tiny apartments with big prices.
A 920 square foot place for $897/month + water + electric + gas + $500 pet fees + deposit + + +
I think I'll just get a box and sleep under the overpass. No dues, no fees, no water...wait, no water? Just the rain on my head?
There must be a better way.
Now I know why Dan Price calls himself the Hobo Artist. Check out Dan's hovel. I wonder if he has a room for rent? Dan?
...dave
So, what exactly are the basics that you think I should get back to? - Anon