It was a good weekend. I just stayed home on Friday evening. Saturday I ran a bunch of errands, napped, and visited with a friend who stopped by to take away a bunch of old patio blocks I didn’t want or need anymore. The windows were open all day Saturday for the first time this year, which was nice. Sunday I visited mom and then hid inside with closed windows avoiding the high winds which seemed to be stirring up more allergens than I wanted to be around.
On Saturday evening, we talked about my patio plans. I’m leaning toward the circular patio that she recommended. I’ve got an area bounded by the house and the sidewalk, twelve feet on a side. That’s two sides of the patio nailed down. But putting some sort of circular section for the rest of the patio is appealing (even though it’ll be more of a hassle to mow around). I know I want it to run into the house and sidewalk 12′ from the corner, and I think putting the center of the circular section 4′ up and over from the corner (or 5′ 7¾″ on the diagonal) is right. The math looks like a 9′ radius circle on that point is pretty close to what I want (it’s less than an inch too long). Does that description make sense to anyone but me? I’m betting it’s going to cost a lot more than a rectangular patio because they’re going to have to cut bunches of blocks, but I had already decided I wanted the hex or honeycomb pavers, which meant cutting for a rectangular patio, too. Oh well, I guess it can’t hurt to ask. If the contractor ever returns my calls.
- It’s not really news, but CEOs say how you treat a waiter can predict a lot about character. On Tuesday last week, one of the things I was talking with my friends about was the shitty tipper database, but there’s also Waiter Rant. As Dave Barry said, though probably not first,
A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.
One of the interesting bits of the conversation was a comment that people hiring are checking on the interwebs for you. Not a real surprise to me, but it’s interesting to see how googling someone, which was considered incredibly geeky and paranoid just a few years ago, is now pretty standard practice. [fark!] - Speaking of bad PR, Apple calls meeting after making little girl cry. They had the legal department write to a 9 year old. Nice work, guys. [fark!]
- Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t find it at all surprising that We’re all being wiretapped. Offensive as hell? Sure. Surprising? Not in the least. [claire]
- Looking for other reasons for the Republicans to lose this fall? The GOP’s Betrayal On Speech is right up there, too.
Congress shall make no law abridging freedom of speech unless speech annoys politicians.
[coyote blog] - Carla Howell talks about Why We Need More ‘Uninsured’ Americans and why government-mandated (or at least sponsored) health insurance isn’t such a good deal. I’ve been in to be treated for the same problem both when insured and when uninsured, and while the difference in cost was significant, if I don’t get sick about twice a month or start requiring expensive medication, being uninsured is a better deal. [claire]