Michael C.'s Profile

@honeyhaze: Yes, I was being sarcastic. Making a comment about how rare it is to see classic names anymore. So much so, that I'm truly (and pleasantly) surprised when I hear of a new baby being given a classic name.

And yes, you're right that I'm being awfully harsh to people who choose "uncommon" names for their kids. My intent was to voice the true inner eye rolling and cringing that people are doing (many more of us than you realize) internally whenever we hear one of these names. You want your kid to be special, to stand out... I would say, they are and they will anyway... your naming them an unique name says more about what you want people to think about you than what you want them to think about your child. I don't deny that some people name their children uncommon names for some heart-felt reason... fine. But given the overwhelming trend, I think it's pretty naive or just plain dishonest to claim that most people aren't being driven by keeping up with the Joneses.

As for your comparison to home decor... I would liken a child's name that annoys you to a neighbor who paints the outside of their house a migrane-inducing color. You can learn to live with it but you can't just ignore it... it's right there in your face all the time. Same is true with crazy names... my kids will go to school with those kids... it's not like I can just avoid them.

As for non-English names... be my guest. I will point out, however, that most other countries have very strict social (and sometimes legal) guidelines as to what children can be named.

Source for the bedding is in the original post (follow the picture citation)

"Bedding is from Ikea, it was a full-size reversible duvet which I cut down and sewed into two crib-sized duvets."

The juicer and meat slicer... undoubtedly extras.

The electric knife... a die-hard Alton Brown disciple (like myself) would disagree but could live without it, if pressed.

The food processor?... you must not cook in any serious way.
Any foodie would defend this one to the death. Just as a point of reference... I use my food processor roughly 20 times as often as I do my microwave.

Agreed on the conservation front. I've seen a version of this that sits over a large slip & slide that collects the run off and feeds it back into the system with a pump. So, all the water is recycled. (unfortunately, I can't find the pics or plans online anymore). I believe they said they fed the whole thing with two 5 gal buckets. So you'd use about 10-20gal over the course of an afternoon.

As far is this solution goes, I did some quick/dirty google research and made the following comparison to a normal bathroom shower and a kiddie pool (WARNING: non-conclusive, accuracy not guaranteed, just an estimate!!!)

ASSUMPTIONS:
Shower (luxurious style)... we'll assume that you have a large, high-volume shower head (water saving shower heads usually run about 2.0-2.5 gal per min). I found 4 or 5 bathroom remodel websites that said a high volume, pamper-yourself type showerhead will run around 4-5 gal per min. Let's splurge and say 5 gal per min.

Kiddie Pool (average, inexpensive)... google shopping results show that the average hard plastic or inflatable kiddie pool (could hold maybe four kids under 10yrs) has a 100-170gal capacity. We'll assume 150 gal to make the math simple)

Kid Wash (conservation-minded)... we'll assume only 3 mister heads on the kid wash (left, right, center) and that they run at the volume of a low-tech evaporative mister cooling system (mist blows in front of a fan... like at amusement parks). A quick google search for inexpensive mister heads yielded 0.5 gal per min as a common "low-flow" volume. Let's use that... meaning 1.5 gal per min total from the whole mister system. NOTE: this is probably being a bit kind to the Kid Wash since these would truly produce mist (almost fog) where the Kid Wash appears to be more of a spray.

COMPARISON - Kid Wash vs Luxury Shower
The Kid Wash is roughly 3.3 times more efficient than showering in a real water hog. Running the kid wash for an hour works out to about two ten min showers.

COMPARISON - Kid Wash vs Kiddie Pool
The kiddie pool holds 150gal. The kid wash will burn through the same volume of water in 100min. Just over 1.5hrs.

CONCLUSION:
Buy a little lawn pond pump and some PVC and build your kids a super cool fountain for their kiddie pool. A 1/4 cup of bleach and some quick skimming and you can keep the pool fresh and enjoyable for about a week.
I recognize a kiddie pool is not possible in many urban areas, but from the looks of the pics on this DIY and others I found from a quick googling... these kid washes are being built/used primarily on suburban sidewalks anyway.

I commented above (ditched my cable about 3yrs ago). Thought I would offer one follow-up.

I WOULD consider going back to cable if...
I could choose channels a la carte. I would, potentially, be willing to pay a monthly fee and be able to pick a mix of say 5-6 basic and premium channels.

Example: Give me the following for say, $60/month...
Food Network
ESPN
HBO
Showtime
BBC America
NFL Network
Broadband internet

Add on the ability to change your selected channel list from month-to-month, and you've got a real winning product on your hands.... I bet I'm not the only person who would consider paying for this kind of flexibility.

My oldest has just gotten old enough to take an interest in Legos. My parents are bringing my old Lego collection with them on their next visit along with the ingenious storage solution my mom designed back when I was in Garanimals.

It's basically a huge circle (say 3-4ft in diameter) of denim fabric with a heavy drawstring threaded through a seam around the entire circumference. You lay it flat on the floor, push all the Legos onto it, then pull up the sides and cinch the drawstring tight.

In the closed position (aka. storage mode), it's essentially a big Santa-style denim sack you can toss in the corner (preferably behind your Empire Strikes Back bean bag chair...yes, I know...awesome).

In the open position (aka. play mode) it's a big circular denim play mat with a big ol' heap of Legos in the middle.

Easy to make, infinitely customizable, highly versitile, and cheap as chips to boot.

Disclaimer: if you crave granular organization at the brick level, this solution will destroy your psyche. If, however, your kids believe, as I did, that rooting through a mountain of mismatched Legos looking for that one perfect piece to cap your latest creation is at least 50% of the fun... you will love this solution.

I recently put in a lexan backsplash behind our stove. Painted the back side of the lexan sheet, screwed it to the wall with nice finish screws and washers, then a quick bead of clear caulk to finish the edges.

It's VERY durable and easy to wash. Gives the same appearance as a sheet of tempered glass but can be cut to fit (especially nice when trying to work around an outlet). As an added bonus, I live in an 85yr old house so there is some warping of the wall behind where I put up the backsplash. I was able to lay the sheet of lexan pretty flat over top of the warping so the wall is now nice and flat.

You can get large sheets of it at lowes/homedepot for around $50. Make sure you get the flexible kind that can really take a serious bending... not the brittle kind that has to be scored and snapped... the flex kind can be cut the brittle stuff is very hard to work with.

I also found that 2 coats of normal, latex, interior wall paint will cover the backside of the sheet very effectively. We painted ours a solid color but you could also be as creative as you'd like behind the lexan (different paints, designs, stencils, decals, wallpaper, decoupage, whatever... if you're brave, you could even try some etching) or just leave it clear. Regardless, all of this is happening on the back side of the lexan, so it's completely protected from spills/splashes and cleanup.

It worked out REALLY well in our kitchen and only took me a couple of hours to do (much easier than laying tile.)

Pampers logo, huh? We're a huggies house so that didn't register with me.

Could 8pm be business time?