ilgps's Profile

I'm in the same boat; like on a person, any additional layers will help. I don't use flat sheets on my bed, so had a bunch hanging around (ha!), and sewed them to the inside of my regular curtains; BIG difference.

I've also done the film on the windows, another plastic sheeting lining the other drapes (like a crinoline), draft dodgers on the sills, rope caulking on everything, and used electric radiators so that I could lower the overall thermostat.

It helps, but the bill is still high. I'm learning to accept it. :S

This reminds me of my husband, who has just been clinically diagnosed as a hoarder (not nearly as bad as the show, thank god). He has several "collections," some valuable (Star Wars stuff in original packaging, that sort of thing), others more practical (we don't need to purchase another pen or pencil for YEARS). We have spent thousands on storage for these things, only to realize that most of this stuff is plastic junk (his words), and very very little of it actually means anything to him (my words).

The point: having stuff for the sake of having it is wasteful, at best. Have things that really turn you on - and if it's twist ties, then so be it. But for the love of god, don't just *hang on* to stuff - that's not collecting.

Am I the only one worried about the lamp cord next to the stove?

Then again, I'm wondering how much cooking is going on in that kitchen...maybe it's not such a concern.

The vase on the living room table (looks like a series of faces) has been a punchline among my friends and I for years. I always see it at TJ Maxx, didn't know anyone ever bought them...:)

Otherwise lovely apartment!

No disrespect intended, but this doesn't look finished, and if I didn't know better, I would have thought the "after" shots were "before" shots. It's dark and looks like it'd be damp - both probably because it's in the basement.

Oh, I've got one.

My husband likes to cook the Thanksgiving turkey over indirect heat on his charcoal grill. He's done it a bunch of times, at holidays and other times, and it comes out great (really, try it). The trick is to build two piles of coals around the edge, with a drip pan of water in the center. You have to keep an eye on it and keep stoking the fire, because it takes a few hours to cook a turkey.

So one year, we're living in an apartment with a large covered porch. We have a small yard, too, where we usually do our grilling, but it's raining, so we go with the porch instead that day.

For some reason, this year, my husband bought a different sized pan for his drip pan (he uses foil pans, usually loaf pans, but this year he used an 8x8x2 pan). After an hour or two of cooking, he decides it's time to have a look. The water in the (shallow) drip pan had long evaporated, and was replaced by the fatty drippings of the bird. The two large piles of coals on either side of the grill were starting to cave and slide - meaning that hot coals were falling into the pan full of boiling fat, meaning flare ups or - grease fire.

Well, clearly, there is only one thing to do - add water, right?

I have a tendency to nitpick, so I was trying to hold back. I said nothing. He hurried by, with a worried look on his face, and got oven mitts and a barbecue fork. He managed to MacGyver the turkey and the rack it was on off of the grill; he set it aside elsewhere on the porch.

He hurries past me again, with an even more intent look on his face. I'm thinking - oh, god no, he's not going to really put water on this, right? Then, at that precise moment, he walks past with an 8 cup Pyrex measuring cup full of water.

I hold my breath and follow him onto the porch, standing behind the door for safety.

He removes the lid from the grill.

He pours water into the pan.

FLAMES shoot up about 5 -6 feet from the grill (which itself is 3 feet from the ground), licking the ceiling of the covered porch.

His reflexes kick in and he pops the lid back on, effectively smothering the fire. We look at each other, relieved, and put the turkey back on and finish it (and NEVER, EVER does he make the mistake of not having enough water in the drip pan again).

The turkey was delicious.

I'm going with neighborhood, too - you can do a lot to a nondescript apartment in a better neighborhood, you can rent a storage space for your extra stuff if you need to, etc., etc., but if the neighborhood doesn't work for you, all you can do is wait it out and hope for the best.

Thinking hard.

I love it, especially the color combination of green carpet and white case pieces.

Ugh, sorry, but enough Etsy already.