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15199. arkymalarky - 5/27/2005 12:55:59 AM Oh, and Mac, I suggested Iddy Biddy. I'm still working on a hearing for that one. 15200. arkymalarky - 5/27/2005 12:57:06 AM I absolutely love walking through neighborhoods like that. I haven't done it in a long time, but it's so relaxing. 15201. Magoseph - 5/27/2005 10:56:26 AM I like both, but Bob thinks they're too cutsie.
How about Bushie, Arkie? My Scientologist crazy stepson had a dog he named Chelsea, which he left here when we shipped him west. We took the dog to Flexy's daughter-in-law who re-named it Betsy. It took me a while to realize why the dog was named Chelsea.
Good morning, Mac!
15202. Macnas - 5/27/2005 11:40:42 AM Hello Mago. 15203. arkymalarky - 5/27/2005 3:25:44 PM What are the Bush twins' names? We used to have a beagle named Lyndon Baines Johnson. 15204. thoughtful - 5/27/2005 3:45:59 PM Ms No....did you catch these elevators??? 15205. thoughtful - 5/27/2005 3:48:01 PM bush twins...barbara and jenna.
though most people can't remember barbara so they end up being called jenna and the one who's not jenna. 15206. thoughtful - 5/27/2005 3:50:31 PM if a cutsey dog needs a serious name then pick something like prudence or penelope or elizabeth.
How about casey...or can be short for KC (kentucky chicken?)
Maybe angel ...then she can be Arky Angel! 15207. arkymalarky - 5/27/2005 3:57:32 PM Or just Ark-Angel!
Bob's favorite dog in the world was named Casey--a big white German Shepherd. He was a great dog. We also had a stray we gave to our close friends that their son named Angel--we just have so much pet history here! That dog was amazing. As a pup it looked like a lab, but when it grew (a WHOLE lot) it looked like a Newfoundland, which they insist it was. I think it was a lab/St. Bernard mix, because people across the bottoms had those, and Newfoundlands are rare and expensive in this part of the country. A $700+ dog without a collar wandering in the middle of nowhere would be highly unlikely. Either way, it was a great dog, but got cancer fairly young (four or five years old) and they had to put it down. 15208. Ms. No - 5/27/2005 4:53:17 PM Wow, Thoughtful, those are pretty cool! I like the compactness of the pneumatic vacuum elevators---easier to add in at a later date and find space for.
Actually, determining where to put the stairs has been the biggest design challenge we've had so far. The existing stairs are very, very bad. They're too narrow and too steep and with the current layout of the house you're forced almost immediately down them when you come in the front door. So they needed to be torn out and moved.
But do we have room to do a straight stair run or do we need to put a turn in them? And if we turn them where on the second floor are they going to empty out? And if we move them to the other side of the house then is the opening for the stair going to be like a great energy-sucking hole in the middle of the living room? Or do we sacrifice a sunny corner on the back of the house and put access to the lower floor directly out of the kitchen?
And on and on and on the questions go with such sage comments from me as "Uh...if the stairs go in this place that feels kind of....well, it's kind of icky feeling." And so the stairs will not be sitting out in the living room nor will they spill directly into the sleeping area of the lower floor-- all of this based on the superior design concept of "avoid icky feeling".
If I knew anything about Feng Shui there's probably some ancient and mystical reason behind why the stairs shouldn't have gone either of those two places, but my father was quick to agree with me that they just didn't "flow".
He thinks he's got it figured out now, but he won't finalize on it until all the demolition is complete and he can see and measure the space better. 15209. Ms. No - 5/27/2005 4:58:51 PM I was just wondering last night where my neighbors have been with their dog --- an ancient and temperamental cockapoo. I usually see them out about the time I take Billie, but I haven't run into them for almost two weeks.
This morning I saw the son out with a new puppy. She's young and it's hard to tell if she's a Boxer or a Pitt but she's quite cute although scared to death of Billie who was something of a snot and made hair at her but didn't do anything other than sniff the kiddo.
15210. judithathome - 5/27/2005 5:02:02 PM made hair at her
Someone I know calls this "going doggie Mohawk". 15211. thoughtful - 5/27/2005 5:55:38 PM The coolest down staircase I saw was a straight run of stairs but they curved the opening and railing around the top so when you came in the foyer you had the impression of a curved staircase going down, but not the expense. I've seen others where they use the down stair as a divider between 2 rooms with just railing on either side. I don't like that...looks like a baby crib from the side.
Problem with stairs is they take up a lot of room. In our new house, we would want a very graceful stair...7x11...but, especially with higher ceilings, it makes for a very long run of stair...though much easier to climb. I remember sitting next to some expert motion study/human engineer type guy on a plane and he told me that the 7x11 stair is the easiest and least likely to lead to trips and falls. We were in a model home once and i noticed how easy and graceful the stairs felt, so I measured them...sure enough, 7x11. I wonder if that's where craps comes from???
15212. arkymalarky - 5/27/2005 6:08:18 PM I went to work yesterday afternoon for potluck. It was great. Lots of desserts and some good bbq (not what we had, Judith, but still very good). Their last day and Bob's last day is today. So summer is officially here.
I'm glad I took the time off and had surgery, but it didn't really seem very different. Losing Diva threw a wrench in the works, but even so, it just seems like more of a laid-back, longer summer than time off from my job. I could really enjoy retirement, but I will be glad to go back to work next year. It's just a very comfortable situation all around, and I can see I'm going to do a much better job next year. I just feel so much better than I have in a very long time. 15213. Magoseph - 5/27/2005 6:22:28 PM 
I'm very happy that you feel better, Arky.
15214. thoughtful - 5/27/2005 6:25:05 PM THat's good to hear arky....
I'm on the other end of the scale. Hubby will have been retired 5 years come sept, and when the weather gets nice like this, i really really really want to be home with him rather than stuck in an office where I can't even open a window. On top of that, things have been incredibly hectic at work so i'm working harder than ever when I'd really rather be coasting into retirement. I'm tired and am feeling underappreciated at work. Not a good combo. 15215. arkymalarky - 5/27/2005 9:09:54 PM Thanks, Mags and Thoughtful!
You're right, Thoughtful, that isn't a good combination. It can be very stressful. It's how I felt when I worked where Bob does, but he has a very good situation there, though he's gone through some bad times with them. I was lucky to get to change back to my old school.
Bob and I are 8 years apart, but I've been teaching longer so I will be able to retire with full benefits quite a bit sooner. He doesn't like that thought, though I will do something, at least part time, if I retire from teaching before I can draw SS (assuming Bush hasn't killed it off by then).
Though teachers have summers (supposedly), it's not the time off it used to be. Teaching used to be a part time job, really, and now it's not. Teachers are bailing out in huge numbers because of the increased workload without matching increases in pay. If I retire before Bob, especially being younger, he won't like it, but he went back to school full time after we married, so I see it as a trade-off. I could retire in four years, and I'll determine what to do by how I feel at the time. I'm in a good situation right now and so is Bob, but that could easily change at any point, and it has in many places. 15216. judithathome - 5/28/2005 10:03:32 PM The play last night was wonderful. This is from the review in this morning's paper:
Melissa James Gibson's play [sic], now in its area premiere at Stage West, is saturated with paradox.
The mundane bits of everyday existence become profound. The cacophony of sounds and voices transforms into almost musical harmonies. Random thoughts equal clear ideas. And impromptu decisions are executed with precise timing.
Sometimes, it seems downright Freudian (or even Becketian).
Are the three main characters -- thirtysomething New Yorkers Theo (David M. Dixon), Babette (Trisha Miller Smith) and Frank (Jakie Cabe) -- representative of the id, ego and superego, in no particular order?
Such questions and observations are a few fascinations of Gibson's plotless but somehow vital play.
But it might not have been so strong without a cast and crew as capable as Stage West's. I'm guessing that director Jerry Russell had as many read-throughs with the actors to nail the timing of the lines as he had rehearsals to synchronize their physical actions. But as theatrical as it ultimately is, this [sic] never feels overly stagey.
Maybe it's Nelson Robinson's mesmerizing scenic design, which incorporates all the script's mandates, including three apartments, communal spaces and unseen-but-heard neighbors.
It's a lot to squeeze into such an intimate space, but the maze of door and window frames (which might, from an aerial view, look like the board for Clue: Shoebox Apartment Edition) is never intrusive or confusing.
All of which makes this the most intriguing production you'll see all year.
We stayed for the champagne reception afterward and that was fantastic, also...really good chanpagne, cheeses, fabulous croissant sandwiches, and truly decadent brownies topped with rum frosting.
15217. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 5/29/2005 3:22:10 PM Happy Memorial Day . . .
 15218. Magoseph - 5/29/2005 4:39:05 PM Hello, everyone--what's going with you?--any plans for tomorrow?
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