The Happiness Thread

Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by Cogito, Nov 20, 2010.

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  1. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    I can imagine your relief. Yeah, sometimes it's worth spending the money. (The joys of home ownership.)

    We'll be getting our house completely re-wired in June, which is going to cost us around £5000. Not planning to sell up, and we already have insurance, but it would be great to be able to use ALL the lights in the house without worry, and not have to rely on so many extension cords. And that, along with our new house roof, the new roof on the garage (both done now), getting the garage roughcast in the early autumn, getting both house and garage painted on the outside to seal any cracks in the roughcasting—all makes for an expensive year. However, it will also mean our house is in good shape, hopefully for as long as we want to continue living here.

    Cosmetically, the house is practically a 1960s-70's museum inside, but I don't see us spending a fortune redecorating. Let the next owners do that. We just want peace in our time!
     
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  2. Shenanigator

    Shenanigator Has the Vocabulary of a Well-Educated Sailor. Contributor

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    Such a relief!!! It was a major fire hazard, and the place is built like a tinderbox so there was no choice. The outside electrical panel was rusted out, and the inside panel was outdated and too small for today's needs, and the breakers were unreliable because that particular model and brand has a history or arcing and catching fire instead of tripping the breakers. I conserved wattage like a miser and didn't sleep well at night after I found that out. (Plus, the insurance issue.)

    Fortunately, Mom had a new roof put on two years ago.

    Yeah, don't even talk to me about the decor. The house is a 1977, complete with brown shag carpeting in the main living areas, and mauve bedrooms from the "update" in the early-1980's. I'm thinking about piping disco music throughout until I get to the redecorating and calling it an "immersive living experience." But at least now the place won't be a Disco Inferno! ;)

    ETA: I should add, it's not even my house yet. Still going through the Probate process, so it's still Mom's. But, this stuff couldn't wait.
     
    Last edited: Apr 20, 2018
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  3. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    Yay! My son just got a 6 figure job with Amazon. :supersmile: It's a relief because he got laid off this month from a business that folded and you never know with these tech jobs if you'll be hired at the next job quickly or not for months.
     
  4. Iain Sparrow

    Iain Sparrow Banned Contributor

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    I remember the days when my sister would rake the shag carpet at the house we grew up in. It was three different shades of awful green and by week's end it would be flattened by the traffic of family and friends. Imagine that, having to rake the carpet back into shape! Then there was the furniture in colors not found in nature, light fixtures bought at Sears, the folding TV trays and faux wood paneling. If I'd only known those were magical times that we don't get to relive.
     
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  5. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    I'm really glad you got the dangerous wiring sorted. Ours is getting there, which is why we're getting it updated. A few overhead lights flicker when we turn them on (so we don't) and there are a couple of sockets we don't use any more either. I'll sleep better knowing it's all up to date.

    Our decor kind of predates (or bypassed) the shag carpet era. We're still in the avocado/orange/brown era. (And the turquoise, gold and red era.) We never did do the peach/grey thing. However, we do have a fantastic 50s-era (yellow and white) kitchen table and chairs I wouldn't trade for anything. They look shabby, but man you can PUNISH that table with hot pans, slam bread dough onto it, whatever ... and it stands up to anything. And it's JUST the right height to do things like stirring and rolling out dough, etc. And the chairs are ugly but comfortable, and the slightly angled legs means they are safe to stand on, if need be. Some things are worth keeping. I don't really care all that much about trendy perfect houses. And you can take me out and shoot me if I EVER demand that you take your shoes off at the doorway, unless they're covered in literal shit. This is a lived-in house, dammit. Not a show room. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
     
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  6. Shenanigator

    Shenanigator Has the Vocabulary of a Well-Educated Sailor. Contributor

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    My older sister had that exact green long shag carpeting in her bedroom when we were kids!!! It was olive, avocado, and a weird color of yellow-green Sis and I called "puke." You had to rake it because if you dropped change or a paper clip or something, you'd never find it. So you'd take a magnet to it, then a rake. It was from the original owner circa 1969 or 1970 or something, and the wallpaper was trippy 1960's baby animals in shades of avocado, mustard yellow, and...orange, I think? Something like that.

    Yeah, I have faux wood paneling to address in this place, too...At least it's not the dark kind. I think this is supposed to be white birch or something, but it's definitely not a wood tone found in nature. Mom painted some of it out, which looks kind of beachy rustic, but there's a lot left of it to do. Not for a while, though. Pretty stuff's gotta come after "all systems go."
     
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  7. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    I wish I could get my apartment rewired. It's a 3dk, which means three bedrooms (about 108sq. ft/12sq. meters each) and a similarly sized "dining kitchen" area. Bedroom #1 is the bedroom, "bedroom" #2 is the tatami room, and it has sliding doors separating it from the dining kitchen that I removed and stored away creating a larger open space, and bedroom #3 is the computer/hobby room. There are eight circuits in the breaker box, and...

    ...every outlet in the house is run through one of them (I suspect the aircon may be through a different one, since it has special plugs, but that only affects the bedroom, since all Japanese HVAC is single room units, and I refuse to spend a thousand bucks a room for AC in the summer). This means if you have something in the microwave, and the space heater in the hobby room is on, you've got about one more appliance before the darkness sets in. Choose wisely. Each room of the house has two outlets (two individual plug spots), so we've got power-strips on power-strips like National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. The kitchen has 6 outlets, but like I said, all the same circuit.

    My old house had been owned by a union electrician, and he had a lot of free time (and wiring) on his hands. The kitchen alone had twenty-seven outlets, on five different circuits (each outlet on a plate of two was wired to a different circuit, IIRC). Each bedroom had eight outlets, two on each wall, and one of those two was wired to the lightswitch by the door, so you could walk into the room, flip the switch, and have the lamp and stereo come on at the same time.

    Ceiling fans almost everywhere.

    I miss that house.
     
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  8. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    :superlaugh:
    :superlaugh:
    :superlaugh:
    Nor Asia :)
     
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  9. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    Well, at least you're saving the planet because you're not using much electricity. We've also been saving the planet because we haven't dared use much electricity. Every silver lining has a cloud.
     
  10. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    Yeah, it's amazing how eco-friendly ill-designed infrastructure can be :)

    Just think of how much @Wreybies is doing to help the planet with his involuntary iron-age lifestyle :(
     
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  11. Link the Writer

    Link the Writer Flipping Out For A Good Story. Contributor

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    An hour later, I’ve nearly a thousand words into my worldbuilding. This is actually pretty exciting and fun. I’m learning more about my world and its people.
     
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  12. The Dapper Hooligan

    The Dapper Hooligan (V) ( ;,,;) (v) Contributor

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    Some sandhill cranes decided to chill in my backyard for a bit. They're a load of noisy wankers, but I'm pretty sure this means spring is about to start soon.
     
  13. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    I wrote a story from beginning to end today in one sitting. It was an all day writing day, but I think this one might be a good one. I'm about to let my lover read it.
     
  14. Iain Sparrow

    Iain Sparrow Banned Contributor

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    It sounds like the same shag carpet... I do seem to recall that ours had yellowish strands. My sisters shared a room and their carpet was a pink shag. Two shades of pink and also yellowish strands. I on the other hand went for the short blue shag carpet... my room having wallpaper that was meant to look like rustic wood paneling... the perfect backdrop to my blacklight posters of pirate galleons and motorcross riders.:)
     
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  15. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    Anybody remember acrylic decorator panels? We had tons of dividers made of stuff like this:

    [​IMG]
     
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  16. minstrel

    minstrel Leader of the Insquirrelgency Supporter Contributor

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    Wait - I thought this was the happiness thread!
    :D
     
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  17. Shenanigator

    Shenanigator Has the Vocabulary of a Well-Educated Sailor. Contributor

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    Oh God. My grandmother's cottage style house had an acrylic divider between the living room and kitchen. It was a diamond pattern in that amber color in a white faux wood frame. Apparently even "traditional" interior design didn't escape the stuff.

    Anybody remember indoor planter dividers near the front door? It was a half wall with a "trench" in the top for plants. Some of them were bookcases below. We rented a house that had one like this and Mom bought a bunch of fake philodendrons to fill it. Ugh.

    [​IMG]
     
  18. Lew

    Lew Contributor Contributor

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    Thanks, @jannert. Looking forward to seeing you and Jack again in a few weeks
     
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  19. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    We're already fattening the haggis.
     
  20. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    Ours wasn't a planter, it had some sort of brilliantly white gravel in the top compartment, but yeah, we had that too.
     
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  21. Shenanigator

    Shenanigator Has the Vocabulary of a Well-Educated Sailor. Contributor

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    Might've just been a thing with 60's Mid-Century Modern ranches in certain areas of the country, because I never saw them in Mid-Century Modern ranches in California or in the Southwest. Our house in the Midwest had one, and the neighbors' house built by the same builder had one. There's a 1960's ranch in Georgia that's featured in a Mid Century Modern redo in the May issue of Better Homes and Gardens that has two of them flanking the front door. I did a doubletake when I saw it after I posted about them this morning.
     
  22. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    Our house was probably 50s or 60s Midwestern Ranch, so it fits.
     
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  23. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    I have found another morale patch that I like, and will get next time
    I do a bit of shopping. :p
    Medic Patch.jpg
     
  24. GlitterRain7

    GlitterRain7 Galaxy Girl Contributor

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    Apparently my boyfriend found his sketchbooks over the weekend, including the one in which he drew the three main characters in my WIP. Now, I love drawing my characters. I have several drawings, two paintings, and three DIY Funko Pops of them. I might post pictures at some point.
    I'm not weird, I promise.
    Back when he drew this like two years ago (when I was just starting with this story and we were still a fairly new couple) I was thrilled to have someone draw me fan art. I've only seen it once, and don't really remember it. (He didn't give it to me because it wasn't finished. Hoping he finishes it!) I can't wait to see it vs the drawings I've made of them that are more recent and *probably* more accurate.
     
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  25. izzybot

    izzybot (unspecified) Contributor

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    !!

    I wanna see! I'm always jealous of people who can draw their characters or have friends who draw them. I did have a girlfriend who was into 3d modeling, and she did one of my characters once -- it was the coolest shit. I'm just stuck using online dollmakers and such, hahah.
     
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