What's up with blue sky scent?

I'm trying to figure this out, what happened to "clean"? I'm guessing that in times of yore things smelled clean when they smelled like they were supposed to smell--that is I mean like the thing itself, or not smell at all. For the majority of household cleaners why do we need to scent them?

I mostly refer this to clothing----I wonder why people need to scent their clothes. I prefer to use unscented because I really can't stand it when my clothes smell like perfume. It seems today that almost everything is scented. We are in a generation where almost everything we smell is fabricated. We have air fresheners, our cleaners have odd scents like like mountain breeze, and our hand soaps and dish soaps are no better.
These days our noses are so confused by all these scents. They are incongruous with our environments. I think it is starting to "ungrounded" us from our environment. Humans like other animals used to their our noses to determine if something was good or bad. Today our noses have been so frayed by the daily onslaught of "foreign" smells that I think our noses have been desensitized. We can't use our sense of smell to it's fullest potential
There was a study once that compared the comfort smells of the generation in the 1920's(or around that time) to the generation that grew up in the 60's or later. I think the study also compared urban and country locations. The study found that some people brought up in more current generations especially in the urban areas liked the smell of gasoline and other such caustic substances like rubber cement.
Is this trend something that should be reversed? Is this ok? I for one think it's a little nuts that we need to have all these scents in our cleaners. Lately this trend is spreading to the food aisles of the grocery stores as well. This is really strange----mountain splash, and other flavors that aren't even close to anything found in nature.
Maybe I'm a naturalist at heart, and that's why I have issues with this. I guess I would like to thick with the natural flavors like apple, strawberry, grape, caramel. I mean for the people creating this stuff they are just tying to capture us with new "cool" flavors that people really like and therefore capture some portion of the market. Think of Coca-Cola, or Pepsi, or Mountain Dew, I couldn't even begin to figure out what they taste like---they are engineered flavors. Lots of people like them.
So, is there any harm in drinking these odd flavors or using these fabricated perfume scents?
Well, I have no idea. I think personally (even though most people do it) that it's a little trashy or uncultured but that is only an opinion. As for the long term negative effects, I would like to say that these fabricated flavors are destroying our culture. I mean cultures are defined by their food and perfumes to a large extent. If these scents are being mass marketed to entire populations of mixed cultures to get them hooked on a brand name, then the people buying this stuff aren't experiencing their history through taste and smell, and they aren't making conscientious decisions when deciding what they like and don't like. They aren't taking time to think about what is it that they are smelling or drinking, they are accepting the easy way out letting culture define their likes and dislikes.
And well perhaps that is best for some people, after all the individuals developing this stuff are paid professionals. They know exactly what the masses will like. So if you want to go to an experts to determine what you like then buy brand name perfumed products--it takes the guesswork of giving yourself a personalized scent. You have a bona-fide study backing up your smell and your choice in drink flavors. You don't have to worry about smelling a little odd, or having strange drinks in the house when friends come over. You can, with authority, say to yourself that you smell right, and that you drink the right flavors. You can say "I have an expert that tailors my drinks and my detergent so that everyone will like them some much, so much so that they want to use the same detergent, and drink the dame drinks as I do."

well for me I'd rather have an identity. And I'd like to know what my shoes really smell like after a 3 mile run, and on that note, I'll stick to water to re-hydrate.

So---Am I a housewife?

I got to thinking........ I stay at home, I do laundry, I am not the moneymaker. So I asked the question. Am I a housewife? The answer, was first alarmingly, and almost pointedly yes!!!!! And It was a degree of alarm at the time.

Now that I have gotten used to the idea, I think Men make better housewives than women anyway. Now, I can't just say something like that without enumerating why I have come up with this conclusion. Otherwise, reader, you may think I am just asserting this to justify my own existence.

1) Men are usually taller they can get things that are high up without using a ladder or asking someone else to get it---this feature is useful for little used baking items and or houses that are small with storage that is high up.

2) We have wider arm spans, so it is easier to fold sheets and grab large piles of laundry.

3. We are stronger so we can pick up bigger things. It is easier for us to lug the vacuum around especially up the stairs. And, if we want to move furniture, we don't have to wait for our wives to come home. It is also easier for us take out the garbage and recycling when is starts to smell.

3) At the risk of sounding chauvinist--- Men tend to be better at fixing the kitchen sink, the toilet or other broken appliances,----(well at least I'm better at it)----I do not fear disassembling the washing machine. This particular quality leads to a less expensive household maintenance bill.

4) Offices are better suited for women anyway. They have nice chairs and nothing seems to be heavy. The office has been designed so that no one working there really has to lift anything heavy--except for the mail people.
My old office even had a gym---if offices were all female this would be perfect----women wouldn't feel uncomfortable going to the gym if it was in the comfort of their own space--the office.

5) Some people claim that women are better communicators, that they have a larger language center in their brains. Offices would be more efficient, if women didn't have to deal with luddite men in the work place.


So in conclusion, housewifery should be ranked akin to masons, carpenters electricians, movers, landscapers, and etc., as a guy job--best performed by men (who can cook, and fold neatly). ----Which, by the way, coking really is a mans' job (those big heavy pots of stew and big heavy pans of dangerous hot oil)---look at all the famous chefs---they are mostly men---very few women.

So I look at my lot and realize that I'm just one step ahead of everyone else----I have forayed into housewifery, where the man belongs and the women should let alone!

a constant stream of writing. I think this blog will have accomplished it's purpose when I am able to sit here and write out one complete unfettered thought exactly the way it was intended on the first try and slowly enough that when I look back and read it I will not find any typographical errors. The one catch is that I cannot be conscious of the fact that I am dong it----so any meta commentary does not count.

Today I was lazy---I didn't work I blame it on a pulled muscle--I think it's called my trapezius. So I did a little paperwork had some phone conversations as well but mostly I just read blogs on the computer and napped--not very useful.
I however did learn secondhand that hot water bags are very important it was explained that they are very good for cramps and muscle pulls and cold toes and morning winter car rides to work. I think I was convinced of their usefulness but now I just need to get one---then again with the motivation.
well I think I may actually do nothing today in hopes that I will do something tomorrow--and I really hope that something is taxes and paperwork. ---It will be a relief to get squared a bay with the old uncle Sam. Not that I agree with him but it's always a good idea to avoid anything with penalties.

one of these days I will get to posting pictures and adding links and the such----what is it called----adding feel to the space.

Sleep, the attack soap dispenser and using the toilet

Sleeping has ever been one of the hardest things to deal with. I'm a tosser and turner, and I never really sleep well, no matter what surface I'm on. There are however two exceptions, 1. I'm extremely drunk( in which case it's not actually sleeping but a form of being passed out) or 2. I over exert myself in some way.

We have a soap dispenser that shoots soap at a sort of upward angle. The reason for this is that we use Dr. Bronner's liquid soap, and it drys out in the spout. When one pumps the dispenser the soap usually comes out of the top half of the metal pipe type protrusion at the end of the pump. I'm guessing gravity, previously acting on the small bit of soap residue in the pump end from the previous use, causes a small opening in the top portion of the diameter of the pump nozzle type thingy.
The end result of this small opening is that if one does not cup their hand in an awkward way they get attacked by the soap dispenser(hehe) so I have managed to master this, and pretty safely get soap. The only problem is that guests continually get a splot of soap on their chest right above their left or right chest almost on the shoulder. So I ask you this reader,----would you replace this soap dispenser?

And the last point---bowel movements are probably better than sex but I'm still deliberating on that one----maybe only because there is more buildup to a toilet visit-----at least physically, and I'm still basking in the relief/afterglow of a fantastic toilet visit.

The next day

Ok,
So I've been reading about other people's lives an getting used to typing on a laptop keyboard.

And My typing is getting better too.

Taken a break from working hardcore next door just can't keep the momentum. But that is ok. I'm gearing up for a fantastic weekend. I did however jack up the center beam of the house today about one inch----the house still slopes quite a bit to the center I took about /13 of it out.


So I guess with all initial bloggers the question arises why blog?

I was speaking about it with my significant other today. And we cam to some conclusions somewhat different but conclusions none the less.

well my reason for blogging is more of a practice session in writing coherent chunks of information. I don't necessarily wish to read them again, and they don't actually need to be important---entertaining maybe but not intrinsically meaningful. This here space is really a practice pace for me to learn how to write coherently.
Dara on the other hand feels the need to write only when the idea to be recorded is intrinsically meaningful---well this is nice and somewhat true but also ideal----would I be able to write only when I had something intrinsically meaningful I would never learn how to write. So this is what i get.

Oh and editing. This stuff may never get edited but as I go forward hopefully the writing will get better and I feel like it is worth editing.

well as for today I got a run in and that was good-----I noticed that running is really a hit and miss thing. Luckily Dara wanted to run otherwise I wouldn't have gotten my ass out of the house. We usually do like 3 miles or something close to that. When running I mostly focus on things like the fact that my legs hurt or that my lungs would rather be upchucked, kicked around, and stomped on in the dirt.
But today I was into the idea of the perfect human---not that crazy Danish film but the idea of one totally in control of their bodies a a gigabit Ethernet connection between my mind and body. A sort of my mind saying you run and run until I say stop---you have no choice sort of thing--- and well I ran faster and I ignored the cramps and pushed myself.----it must have something to do with the fall????
well it was good ----

And as usually I had lots of fun with something strange I made a cool sort of game----I put Saran wrap on the leftover pasta bowl and started bouncing the wine cork on it. I also put a quarter on it and then Dara found another wine cork we managed to balance 2 wine corks on top of each other then a quarter on top of that and then proceeded to bounce a beer bottle cap on the saran wrap I was amazed at how stable the contraption was.
well that pretty much brings me to this point.

Not exactly very interesting but none the less a coherent thought and somewhat better at keep ing to point than previous posts

just figured!

well here I am again !!!

trying to say somethng htat hasn't quite formed into coherent thoughts.

I guess well that I am starting to feel more and more isolated---like the chouces I have made---though looking back I wouldn't change them have bought me further and further from where I want to be.
so where is it that I want to be---yo know where I am I am remodeling houses----my own houses so it's not tha bad---or am I just glorifying being a landlord because I don't want to come to terms with the fact that that is what I fill the role of currently.

So it comes down to this.---I think I'm energy spent. I need 3 months of isolation from the media driven society that we live in I need to regain the energy levels I once had--am I aging or is it the physical labor. I just have no drive to really push myself to gert things done

I am about 6 onths behind on my taxes---big mistake---hope i get around to it.

I am trying to come up with a paralell of my life but nothing comes to mind except for medocrity of an unintersting type. I have friends I like very much ----but sometimes it dosn't matter.

You See I want to be closer to the pulse of society or one of the pulse cutting edge--discovery that sort of thing---but I slep to much and I never seem to be effiecinet enough with my time to get all the things done tha I want to and if on some day or another I actually do ther is no consistency it's not like I'm getting enough done everyday like I should be to get my mess sraightened out.

Is there a Story here---I sort of theink there might be but if it is interesting I'm not sure.

I wrote a letter once to an x girlfriend----I never sent it and it dosn't matter that it was to my x girlfrind it really had nothing to do with her --it was more of a state of mind and I think it was hte best writing I had ever done in my life.

I was a projectionist at hte time and I spent many hours alone in the projection room---just sitting around so of course i ocasionally wrote. Well this leter was one of those times. and I am trying to remember how it went---but the gist of it was a sort of rage---or disreguar for what was happening . I had a flow of discordance.

when you are sitting somewhere long enough you don't want to sit anymore but you imagine geting up and smashing out a window and jumping out--especially in public buildings---I imagine grabbing the helpless individual behind the counter and throwing them out he window. and of course I would never do this I'm still sitting in the chair---I want to somehow bring the whole building down ----put a crater in the city block the size of hte building. destruction seems like such an obviously good answer to your problems----but i sit there waiting for my turn .
in my car I generally wish I had a right to remove some people from the road----just jump on their car rip back the top and grap the idiot buy the hair and banish them from vehicles-------make it so that whenever they went near a car they would have a horrible burning sensation in their urethra.
what right do I have to judge, well really I don't but I'd like to imagine that society has become too weak to manage the people properly----or that maybe it never was.

well so I feel lke I'm missing out. I feel like I'm going through the same psychological issues as a house wife except I'm a late twehytsomething male who remodels homes with a girlfriend who brings home the bacon. iu mean she might get a kick out of it and it deffinitly takes the pressure off me but ------whe do I go from here.



a small break from before....just got back from dinner at one of the local bars. went to take a piss and noticed two guys in the bathroom---I though it was a little strange but---one guy walked out no sweat on he brow and just washed his hands. the other guy stayed behind somewhere I heard someting like a rubber band snap. then he sits down on the toilet-----and I could tel he was waiting for me to leave. the sad thing is I knew who they guy was---he is a local famous guy a saxaphonist for a local band---an older black guy with really cool dreads. It really disappoined me that he was reduced to shooting smack in the bathroom of a somewhat upscale bar. And it depressed me to see it happenning right in front of me. well so much for perspective--at least I'm not so lost that I'm on a horse high on tuesday night after shooting up in the bathroom stall of the local brew pub---who happens to make a pretty good chocolate stout.

Waking up!!

Last post was a 6 days , Almost a week ago. I'll make this a habit eventually.

I have a few pictures of the project will put them on the next post.

so far we've made a lot of progress on the apartment

I've been using craig's list to find help--no professionals--so almost everyone helping is really slow or doesn't know how to do lots of things....But they are way cooler than professionals.

about 3/4ths of the electrical is finished and the next step is to do a bunch of little things before the sheetrock can be hung like moving gas lines running the ductwork for the stove and dryers and bath vent.
Overall it has been two weeks since the tenants left and we have already gutted as much as we needed to, re-framed the living room and bedroom areas(sounds like a lot but it was just a little framing) gotten most of the electrical roughed out and the backerboard in the bathroom and the kitchen floor. If I had a professional crew perhaps we would have been here after 1 week but that's ok because like I said before---it's much more fun and less expensive to work with novices.

I can say that I am however very sore--my muscles always get sore during a remodel---it's hard work.

well for tomorrow I'll try to remember pictures, just need to get them off the camera.


TTYL.

Starting a log of the days

So I was putting stuff on this blog so that I could get them out but I've lately just decided to start keeping track of my days.

I have been remodeling two houses for since 2002. And this week I started gutting and remodeling the 4th apartment aside from the one I'm living in which is partially remodeled.


this place is a mess I went in deciding to only gut the contents of the house no sheetrock work but the layout of the house was wrong and the electrical was so bad it was dangerous---arcing wires and hidden boxes and junctions in the middle of a run...What a mess

The other thing I ran into was cockroaches so bad I bombed and they didn't seem to affected. So I ended up taking tons of sheetrock and plaster---those evil double walls and ceilings and pretty much exposing every wall and most of the ceilings in this place-----I pretty much brought it down to the studs.


the only problem is that I wish I had pictures and steady help. It is a little depressing to do physical labor solo.

especially when the help of a second person would make a job go twice as fast.

well anyway----I'll try to keep posted more often and get some pictures into the mix