Horrible thoughts, memories & thanks

When mom died [2001 May 12] there was no reason to stage a funeral in Houston/Webster, so I got in contact with a Queens NYC company.  ICC rules forbid transhipping an unembalmed corpse, ergo I got the address of a local mortuary from them to whom I had the body released from Rosewood (now Spring Branch) Hospital (now Medical Center).

Then there was the matter of delivering clothes with which to dress the body; she still had a fancy dress from back when Richard married Mary Anne 1976-09-11 & never worn much.  So got the box & directions & assistance of a friend to drive out there.  In one of the worst parts of town, late at night in a filthy storm.  A mixed industrial-low rent housing area, totally unmarked.  One of the creepiest experiences yet; thanks, Thearleach, you’re a hell of a friend.

When I got to NYC it was going to be just Florence, Arthur, me & a minister from the old Community Methodist Church in Jackson Heights at a graveside service in Maspeth where the old family plots are (I got a Centopath arranged for me in 1997).  Showed the picture to the mortician to be sure no mix up en route; didn’t think I wanted to check myself, had already seen her dead tho on ECLS & done mantras then.

Red China Sucks (redux)

Well someone must have alerted the media, they found out about & are now reporting on the issue with the reds’ wallboard, i.e., ½ BN pounds or so with fly ash & unknown oriental adulterants.  Sulphur reactions lead to stench, pipe corrosion [exacerbated by heat & humidity].  Was only back in 2004~8 so the media are, once again, right on top of things.

Duh… the PRC poisons our pets, moves up to contaminated milk/baby formula & lead painted toys, toothpaste with ethylene glycol &c &c …  see link for thorough disgust.  Googolishous search phrase “contaminated, poisonous chinese exports” got 117k hits in English.

The disposable-items ethos of our current commoditized era doesn’t need help by people buying inferior products because they think it’s cheaper: buying a $20 product twice in five years versus buying a $50 product once in ten years — do the math.

Shoot the contractor…

How did it all begin?  Let us cast our minds back to the distant past: at this point had gotten down to bare studs, but the shelves were still in place…

Bad plumber, bad! bad!

2 × 4 not to ceiling

Shelf supports gotta go

of course, tieing for worst of it it the magnificent plumbing: ½” Cu dangling thru from the water heater plus PVC for the cold side… sole support of the valve, shower & tub pipes/spouts:

Now that the shelves are out I’m thinking about putting a sink in there & repurposing the twin vanity w/mirror cabinet in the outer area; already know that I’d like a wider door, maybe pocket, but definitely U.D. spec.

Schadenfreude Variations

Schadenfreude, from German roughly “joy from (others’) harm/misfortune”, is a fairly well known vocabulary word.  But what is it when one takes displeasure from anothers’ good fortune?  Seems to be something on the jealousy~envy spectrum.

In Buddhism there’s the word ‘mudita’ { मुदित } for rejoicing in others’ good fortune, cited by wikiwiki as the antonym of schadenfreude.  As Geshela mentioned, it’s not others who make us envious or jealous or angry or indulge in shadenfreude — it is the self, i.e., I make me envious or jealous or angry or schadenfroh.

Not sure if that’s the correct adjectival usage, don’t know German & can barely do English.

Mundungus‡

That’s the first word‡ but the last word is “GUT IT”

seems to be the apposite mot juste… I’ve got to concur on that bottom line.  Gut like rancid pesky fishy, at arms’ length with protective gear.

Since this bath is (ultimately) on an outside wall (north-west corner to be precise) & it had been the rearmost part of the garage, guessing that there’s little to naught out to the stucco-covered brick veneer which is the outer building shell.

In for a penny, in for a pound…  should also raise the floor (& commode) 5″ up to same height as rest of house; utilise the whole footprint of the room instead of having two big dead zones; pocket door & other ‘Universal Design’  features like hand rails, relocating water knob & nice shower heads.

Already came with a phone line in there, just need to pull A/V & cat 5 cable; tho may not be enough room for the triangular Jacuzzi I’d been eyeing (nor extra $1,000 in budget).

Does one tile ceiling, too?  Sweat equity I can contribute, but don’t know if I’ve got all the skill-sets for everywhere in the project.  May seek out a tile maven for at least parts of the gig.

Forthcoming drawings & photos as things develop; have to blog it for posterity, or at least the inquest.  Should be able to masque up & get down by this weekend.  But now for an IPA —

B/4 there is CONstruction there must be DEstruction (TOH, Book of Kevin, ch.2, verse 5, Letter to the Elysians)

‡rubbish, offal, stinky tobacco – from ES mondongo, ox stomach linings served with onions, i.e., tripes.  Cf. Harry Potter, “Mundungus Fletcher”

‡

Dominoes & Plumbing

N Wall RotOr, why are they alike…?

The bath in the garage conversion side would only bath, diverter to
shower head negative function; so just unscrew the faucet & replace,
right?  The stall walls are that thin plastic covering stuff.

Whole faucet unit collapsed upon itself, totally rotted out.  Just cut
thru the plastic & blueboard at a slightly larger circumfrence & get a
clear shot at the pipe, eh?

There’s no blueboard/cemantatious stuff there, only gypsum drywall,
rotted up to the valve.  Studs on 16~17″ centers, so put in some
horizontal boards for screwing/nailing, anchored the pipe (which had
been hanging loose); now just get to a non-rotted area on the back
stall wall & install blueboard with waterproof cover.  Duck soup, no?

The back stall wall [5½' wide] has drywall over blueboard under the
plastic outermost board & it’s mouldy to about 20″ up from the tub lip
& [so far] rotted 30″ from the corner of the pipe/fixture wall
leftward.  Stick the fork in, yes – I’m done for the night.

There would be about 70 sq.ft. of tile to put in going that route, NTM
blueboard on at least the one 3′ × 6′ wall with the pipes behind.  The
wall opposite may have a 2′ deep void in back of it to possibly
utilize.  Next step, I suppose, is to completely remove the drywall &
scope out the situation.

Will keep you apprised of the fun; let me know if you need a laugh
next time you’re in area & I’ll give you the site tour.

Tashi delek to us all…

Cuba sí – Castro no…

Pretty easy to construct a Cuba Libre on the way into work with but a little prep: put ice cubes in the cup & squeeze the lime over them.  With the hip flask & can of coke already in the chiller bag it’s duck soup, so to speak.  Just a free-pour, soda top-off, stir-lid-straw & sip away the miles.

The original Charleston Grip has now gone camouflage, open container law & drink-driving issues don’t you know.  What does that mean for the bar section of the Winnebago?  Do you have to keep all the bottles in a Tantalus or just aft of the furthest-back seat?

Overweaning problem is that when you’ve got to shoot one of them you might miss.  A delicate balance between a mean- versus mellow-drunk dictating whether there’s  the shooting in the first place & then the affect of X amount of alcohol upon accuracy of the shot(s).

Hawaii, (sort of) USA

Nigh on three weeks in the southernmost state, mostly on Oahu & then a week on Hawaii.  Must’ve pissed off Pele or someone else: she was flatulent & belching, the Trade Winds were off & the Kona was spreading vog NNW-NNE.

Waikiki hosts a lot of homeless, transient/vagrants & surf bums who’d truly bummed out.  Honolulu proved a tough navigation by car, and getting accosted at bus stop was less than pleasant (young albino doper, cab came by & no one had to die).

The insular/isolated feeling even persists on the Big Island, tho not so much atop Mauna Kea.  Amazing how the natives still embrace christianity after being so thoroughly fucked over by it.  In 1819 Kamehameha Iki dies & his idiot son K-deuce with step-mom blow off the old gods: less than a year later the missionaries come & start the rape of the islands.

Oh well; polygamy with close relatives is generally not a good idea.

dimly to adumbrate ineffable truths

Thru a looking glass darkly, indeed: Plato’s cave allegory à la Saul-Paul.  During emptiness meditation I’ve gotten a glimpse of voidness; once had an extended session where I did become one with it, no idea how long it lasted in reality but even in samsara it was a long long time.

All sentient beings have issues, each their own set thereof: here it’s been a lot of anger-issues, not responding well to the slings & arrows of outrageous fortune very well.  Time & silence they say cures all, so going to take that route for a bit.  Of course that path engenders other, different crapsets.

Think it was Adams’ paranoid android, “life… love it or loathe it, you’ve got to live with it”, or something of that nature.  Death doesn’t count since he was essentially immortal & other sentient beings have to deal with that messy reincarnation business.

Froth in my life’s wake:

What does not kill me, makes me stronger…  —Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) Paranoid German Batchelor Philosopher, in ‘Twilight of the Idols’ 1888 {the year of the great NYC snow storm}

Altho not dead I reckon I should be a lot stronger.  Oh so much just pissed away in passing, they’ve been trying to kill me since 1953 & the previous incarnation terminated around 1947 so not sure what went on between then & Samhain 1952 when the latest conception happened.

In that vein, wonder where that useless father of mine’s buried?  Maybe in Yonkers, too far for a casual trip just to piss on the grave.  Actually, not even worth the urine, will just recycle it locally.

Never personally been accused of parenthood, now in loco parentis of four dozen-odd assorted souls — somewhere betwixt avuncular & collegial with a trace of DOM-syndrome.

Losing attachment more every day: not seeking or wishing for discorporation but not caring much anymore, either.