reasons why i should get new checks:

• the address on the check is wrong.

• not only is the address wrong, but the wrong address is wrong as well - the zip code is very old and no longer used.

• it still says 19__ and i end up having to cross that out everytime i want to write a check this century.

• i hate fleet (formerly bank boston formerly baybank), it'd be a good excuse to switch bank.

• i have 4 more boxes of checks left that i desperately want to throw away and start anew (this time remembering not to buy so many damn boxes of checks).

now i have the fun task of picking out a design that fits my personality and interests. customization is how we as humans change our environment to fit us, not the other way around.

bumped into my upstairs neighbor steve when i arrived at my place this morning. he said he'd pay me for the newly replaced basement windows that i put in a few months ago when he was summering at the vineyard. i felt kind of bad about it because i didn't really get his full approval before i made common area repairs, but he was a very good sport, said those basement windows needed replacing anyway. he had a good idea of painting the outside of the windows red to match the rest of the house, and he'd ask a painting friend of his for help.

painted the closet door, the door frame leading into the living room, the door frame going into the hallway, and then the windows. i cracked open the second can of semi-gloss after finishing the doorway leading into the living room. what's left of this semi-gloss will also be used for the bathroom ceiling, the remaining windows, and the wainscotting in the kitchen. when i got hungry i heated up some soup on the stove and ate it in front of the television in the living room. my father showed up just as soon as i was about to start on the windows, and he helped me finish two of them. it wasn't just us who were painting. steve, my next door neighbor from across the street, was busy working on his house, and my neighbors next to my place were having their front porch painted. my work ended at 3:30pm.

so i finally finished painting the living room, the first thing you see when you come in. it's been a long journey, nearly 4 months. but just the fact that the living room is done doesn't mean the house is completely finished. those that've been following my excruciatingly detailed documentation of my renovation progress will know that the kitchen and the bathroom are still unprimed and unpainted. in the meantime, let's take a trip down memory lane, shall we?

020619 original living room popcorn ceiling old light fixture dark green walls	020718 new ceiling removed light fixture	020827 new windows (window trims stripped) new light fixture
020831 new floors	020920 floors covered walls primed (including ceiling)	021002 apple green walls white ceiling trims taped

i went with my parents to the waltham home depot to help me look for the appropriate blinds. earlier, julie had given me some ideas as to my choices of window treatment, maybe some nice translucent ones made of paper, or maybe some made of matchsticks. in the end, i went with the cheapest option, which was the plastic venetians. i figured they'd cost me $20+/blind, but they turned out to be only $4. that'll set me back $40 instead of the $200 i originally figured would cost me. it'd be nice to have some more exciting window treatments, but being that i am an unemployed home owner, money, i'm sure you can understand, is sort of tight right now, so i just need something that'll work in the meantime, until i can get a job and make some more money and get better window treatments. also, NEVER IN MY WILDEST DREAMS DID I THINK THERE'D BE A DAY WHERE I'D BE TALKING ABOUT WINDOW TREATMENTS. i just bought one (32"x64"), to see how it'd look when i install it tomorrow, before buying the rest. i also got a bathroom medicine cabinet (the kind with a glass door you can see into and three pegs below to hang my towels)), but i'm going to return it to get one that's a bigger size. i plan to have a lot of toiletries, and i'd like to have a lot of bathroom storage space for them. later, we went to costco, and while my parents picked up supplies for their cafe, i got some stuff for myself (a bag of beef jerky and a large bottle of balsamic vinegar, i have conflicting tastes).

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