The Family Letter

Check this site out. Wow. This is one of the more dramatic pictures, but there are 20 before/after photos in the whole series.

I did not realize that when I took part in last Sunday's Shenango Valley Christian Associates annual ecumenical service that I would end up famous. But here I am. Look for the guy in cassock, surplice, and tippet on the far left of the photo, between the two ladies whose backs are to the camera. Doug is visible too, in similar dress but with the addition of a hood (red), further to the right.

While I haven't taken any vacation yet in 2005 I have been making good use of my non-work time this past week. Last week I had an extra day off due to MLK Jr. day (are we the only diocese that gets federal holidays off?). I decided to get out of town and, for lack of a better destination, went to the IKEA store in Pittsburgh. My intention was to look around a bit, fantasize about refurnishing an entire home, and have lunch in their cafeteria. I love IKEA. You could literally start with an empty home or apartment and completely furnish and fill it. You can even get entire kitchens (when I say empty, I mean no cabinets, nothing). All the accessories, from pots, pans, and flatware to decorative accessories are available. The store is amazing and somewhat overwhelming.

I did have lunch there–the manager's special, Swedish meatballs and all the sides–but also came home with furniture. I bought two "tray tables," the kind that fold up flat and that one uses while sitting on the couch. One is currently holding my laptop comfortably in front of me while I lounge comfortably on the sofa. I'd link to the product, but I can't find it on the site. They are (were) unfinished pine. Since everything else in the way of furniture in here is pine, that worked well. I also bought two stains (red and blue) and some jam.

Back here I proceeded to stain the two tables. The red is definitely nicer, but I like them both. You may wonder why red and blue..? One couch in here has deep red cushions and the other a mainly blue theme. After a coat of stain and two of clear varnish they're quite nice. They add a bit of whimsy and color to a mainly beige space, too.

Since I had momentum (and a drop cloth down in the spare room) I decided to finish another table I purchased at IKEA almost a year ago. That one is also pine, and I used a finish from IKEA called "antique." That one got two coats and varnish. All in all it looks pretty good.

I've decided to keep my day job. None of the tables is all that professional looking, but they'll do.

And I'm hoping the buzz from the stain and varnish wears off soon. Remind me to do this in the spring next time when I can open more windows. Phew;

Well, not really. But I was highly amused to see this site advertised on TV a short while ago. The whole concept, for some reason, has me in stitches. "Are you at risk?" And the whole "Bash the Boss" thing reminds me of Smack the Pingu. (See here for a rather interesting collection of versions of the Pingu Game.) My current beston the boss game is 56.5. I find the things the boss says to be very amusing.

I also give thanks to God that I do not now nor have I ever quite had the problems this site portrays. Even when I had the boss from the nether regions of heck I still got to use vacation. And I certainly have never (and don't anticipate) ever wishing to do violence upon my current boss.

So check out the site. It isn't a vacation but it is perhaps a bit of stress relief.

(Note to Macintosh users: I seem to have trouble with both those sites in Safari and Netscape. Internet Explorer handles them quite well.)

…I came across this article while reading the news this morning, and thought it was worth blogging. Comments?