Mayim posts in the first week of June?
Jun. 5th, 2021 06:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
captainsblogYeah, well, it's just how things fell.
Don't worry; not doing poetry again.
The bathroom reno moves along as fast as it can, which at times is not at all, no fault of ours. Eleanor's got the design and product selection pretty much under control, and the insurance money to pay for it all sits mostly untouched. It's getting the contractors to do the things she can't- and, yes, she admits there are some things she can't.
The first guy who came over and gave us a low number, predicated on us doing all the demolition and removal of tile and toilet, was plainly bored by the prospect and dropped out. Then a second prospect arrived- eventually- to take notes and make some general pronouncements. He hasn't been back, either. The insurance company called a few days ago with a uh, you wanna spend our money? inquiry, and they offered to send somebody on a no-obligation basis. We're starting to ask friends and neighbors if They Know A Guy. Because seemingly everyone's busy with the pent-up pandemic demand. This job, being a mix of plumbing, tile and carpentry, is either too big or too small for many.
Even the DIY portions of the work can be tricky. Try getting a sample out of a tile house or big box; the former won't let anyone other than a contractor do anything other than browse, and the latter are so understaffed that the samples are either not on the shelf, up too high on the shelf or can't be moved off the shelf. Eleanor diverted to another part of the job Thursday night- getting fabric from Joanns for a shower curtain to match what we think will be going in there- and came home empty-bolted because she couldn't get anybody to help her.
Trumpernutters blame the $300 a week "benefit" that's discouraging people from going back to work. I call BS on that: I've never been on unemployment myself, but when family and friends have, they had to report every week and document that they were looking for work and hadn't gotten any, or they'd be thrown off the program- as it remains for the extra benefit. Retailers are starting to respond, as capitalism intended, by raising wages. But our problem seems more with the skilled labor force that will be making way more than the $300 plus half-pay for jobs like we've got. There are just too few of them and they're too tied up.
Fortunately, there's no drop-dead deadline on this: we have the money, and aren't even legally obligated to spend it, though they'll never pay another claim for that work if we don't. We're not selling, and the damage will have to get a LOT worse before it reaches the danger stage. It's just overcoming the tendency we both have to get anxious while waiting for other people to do THEIR parts before we can reach closure.
----
What does, this have to do with Jeopardy!?
Well, Eleanor's Joann run was right around 7:30 Thursday night, so while she was out I decided to Enter The Studio for the first time since Alex's legendary walkoff aired back in January after his just-previous passing.
The main impetus was the Mayim impetus. I've been vaguely following the Tournament of Challengers to take over the podium permanently, with others just filling in for the fun of it. Team Ken, Team Katie, Team Levar and Team Buzzy have their fans, but I remember Mayim Bialik all the way back to Blossom and more recently from The Big Bang Theory, and I just had a feel that she'd be good.
Indeed she was. She brought that wondrous combination of kindness, gravitas and slightly snarky humor that endeared Alex to us for all those years. This was her fourth night behind the podium, and she started it off by confessing just how FUN! it had been. Then it got into the game proper, and I quickly fell in love a second time.... with a quirky contestant who's a lawyer from Brooklyn, though working for an international Big Law sweatshop.
I noticed those, but also she stopped and took the valuable countdown time during some of her questioning periods to say "Wow!" and the like. Did she prevail? Is she on a streak? Tune in Monday with Mayim to find out!
Don't worry; not doing poetry again.
The bathroom reno moves along as fast as it can, which at times is not at all, no fault of ours. Eleanor's got the design and product selection pretty much under control, and the insurance money to pay for it all sits mostly untouched. It's getting the contractors to do the things she can't- and, yes, she admits there are some things she can't.
The first guy who came over and gave us a low number, predicated on us doing all the demolition and removal of tile and toilet, was plainly bored by the prospect and dropped out. Then a second prospect arrived- eventually- to take notes and make some general pronouncements. He hasn't been back, either. The insurance company called a few days ago with a uh, you wanna spend our money? inquiry, and they offered to send somebody on a no-obligation basis. We're starting to ask friends and neighbors if They Know A Guy. Because seemingly everyone's busy with the pent-up pandemic demand. This job, being a mix of plumbing, tile and carpentry, is either too big or too small for many.
Even the DIY portions of the work can be tricky. Try getting a sample out of a tile house or big box; the former won't let anyone other than a contractor do anything other than browse, and the latter are so understaffed that the samples are either not on the shelf, up too high on the shelf or can't be moved off the shelf. Eleanor diverted to another part of the job Thursday night- getting fabric from Joanns for a shower curtain to match what we think will be going in there- and came home empty-bolted because she couldn't get anybody to help her.
Trumpernutters blame the $300 a week "benefit" that's discouraging people from going back to work. I call BS on that: I've never been on unemployment myself, but when family and friends have, they had to report every week and document that they were looking for work and hadn't gotten any, or they'd be thrown off the program- as it remains for the extra benefit. Retailers are starting to respond, as capitalism intended, by raising wages. But our problem seems more with the skilled labor force that will be making way more than the $300 plus half-pay for jobs like we've got. There are just too few of them and they're too tied up.
Fortunately, there's no drop-dead deadline on this: we have the money, and aren't even legally obligated to spend it, though they'll never pay another claim for that work if we don't. We're not selling, and the damage will have to get a LOT worse before it reaches the danger stage. It's just overcoming the tendency we both have to get anxious while waiting for other people to do THEIR parts before we can reach closure.
----
What does, this have to do with Jeopardy!?
Well, Eleanor's Joann run was right around 7:30 Thursday night, so while she was out I decided to Enter The Studio for the first time since Alex's legendary walkoff aired back in January after his just-previous passing.
The main impetus was the Mayim impetus. I've been vaguely following the Tournament of Challengers to take over the podium permanently, with others just filling in for the fun of it. Team Ken, Team Katie, Team Levar and Team Buzzy have their fans, but I remember Mayim Bialik all the way back to Blossom and more recently from The Big Bang Theory, and I just had a feel that she'd be good.
Indeed she was. She brought that wondrous combination of kindness, gravitas and slightly snarky humor that endeared Alex to us for all those years. This was her fourth night behind the podium, and she started it off by confessing just how FUN! it had been. Then it got into the game proper, and I quickly fell in love a second time.... with a quirky contestant who's a lawyer from Brooklyn, though working for an international Big Law sweatshop.
I noticed those, but also she stopped and took the valuable countdown time during some of her questioning periods to say "Wow!" and the like. Did she prevail? Is she on a streak? Tune in Monday with Mayim to find out!
Jeopardy
Date: 2021-06-07 12:06 pm (UTC)