November 1st, 2005
What’s new in Chapel Hill
Home Improvement
On Saturday, Clinton and I made a major purchase together: a Ryobi cordless electrical drill/screwdriver. It has been very entertaining (and a little frustrating) to attempt ‘domestic’ things together, like home improvement projects. We’re both pretty bad at them.
The first task was to replace the latches on the kitchen cupboards. They used to frequently swing open at random times to hit you in the forehead. It would make me so mad that I wanted to slam them any chance I got! But I bought magnetic latches at Home Depot and with my new electric screwdriver I attempted to take out the old crappy latches which someone had tried to repair with duct tape (to make them more sticky or something?). As for the new ones, I ended up super-gluing one of them on because, well, it’s a long story. And I did all this, mind you, while Clinton was out on the porch building a guitar made from twine, a cigar box and a stick.
The second task was much easier – putting contact paper in the drawers and cupboards. Next, we ended up going to the hardware store three different times on three different days, in search of nuts that would actually fit the bolts that hold up the dining table. The bolts looked like they needed ¼ inch nuts, but those were too small. Then we tried 3/8 inch nuts, but those were too big. So when we ended up choosing 5/16 inch nuts, we got to (finally!) eat dinner at a real table instead of balancing plates on chairs in front of the couch. However, I still haven’t figured out how to put the new curtain rod up in the kitchen…
Other news
Meanwhile, life in Chapel Hill is going really well. This morning I went jogging in our woods-ey neighborhood. People here have bicycle racks on their little economical cars and also bumper stickers that say things like “Make Levees Not War” and “Peace is Patriotic”.
Then I went to pick up our wedding rings, which were being engraved at the jeweler with our secret message to each other.
Clinton and I played Risk Godstorm for two nights in a row this week and he beat me both times. But I will challenge him to a rematch very soon, maybe on our honeymoon.
Hooray! I have a job interview on Thursday at the Chatham County Public Health Department in Pittsboro, NC (about 20 minutes from our house). I would be the lead public health educator for the county’s anti-tobacco initiative.
Saving the world - one smoker at a time! Wish me lots of luck for the interview, please.