HYSTERICAL OR NOT It’s my favorite time of the year. Warmer weather is coming and after being pent-up inside much of the winter, we are itching to get out. Some may enjoy the warmer weather by having afternoon cocktails on their porch. Others may get back into running or biking. If you are like me, you are looking for new home improvement projects for the outside of your home. But be careful. Many of us midtown dwellers do not enjoy the home owning liberties of others. We have rules. These rules are in place to preserve the historic nature of our area. Read More... Merry Christmas from the Family It’s my favorite time of the year. Warmer weather is coming and after being pent-up inside much of the winter, we are itching to get out. Some may enjoy the warmer weather by having afternoon cocktails on their porch. Others may get back into running or biking. If you are like me, you are looking for new home improvement projects for the outside of your home. But be careful. Many of us midtown dwellers do not enjoy the home owning liberties of others. We have rules. These rules are in place to preserve the historic nature of our area. Read More... ROTTING BEAUTIES Common places you might find rot on your home are windows, exterior doors, outdoor decks, basements, bathrooms, kitchens, wood siding, roof decking, soffits, gables, or anywhere else wood is exposed to moisture. Once you have rot, it is difficult to repair without replacing the wood. You could try to remove the rotten part of the wood and fill it with wood filler, but if any of the fungus and moisture are left behind, the rotting will continue underneath the filler. Read More... BIG YELLOW COCKROACH What is it about roaches? They don’t bite or sting. They don’t pinch or make you itch. Yet they are among the most feared insects. Is it their sudden, jerky movements? Is it how they can hide in silent, dark, personal spaces and suddenly appear? Or is it a learned behavior because when you were young, you witnessed your mother screaming at the sight of one? I personally think it has something to do with the way they look. Either way, they are pretty close to harmless yet we don’t want to have anything to do with them. We may not like them, but we should respect them. A cockroach can hold its breath for 40 minutes. Read More... WHAT HAPPENED TO MY LIGHT BULB? You don’t have to think too far back, maybe a decade or so, to remember a time when a dollar and change could buy a four pack of light bulbs. Now, you’d be lucky to get one bulb for that price. What happened? Does inflation account for the price of light bulbs quadrupling over ten years? Even today’s inflation rates aren’t that steep. The light bulb has evolved significantly in recent years after a long time of little change. Incandescent bulbs ruled the thrown of electric household lighting since the late 1800s. Read More... HOLIDAY CHEER AND SEWER DRAIN FEAR All caught up in the holiday spirit, you may not be aware of a disaster sneaking up behind you. We made it through Thanksgiving and things will slow down only briefly before it’s time again to get ready for guests. It’s a large task, and you’re probably not even thinking about the drainage system on which you and your guests will heavily depend. A sewage disaster in your home could undo all of your hard work trying to create cheer. What you need is a little healthy fear. A sewage disaster would not be unprovoked. Read More... 5 Ways to Reduce Insects Around Your Home Without Using Chemicals Sometimes, insect infestations can be so bad that you have no choice but to douse your house with dangerous chemicals. But wouldn’t it be nice to know that you have done everything you can to avoid that? Here are five ways you can significantly reduce the amount of insects around your home. Read More... DIY LADDER GOLF GAME You may or may not have heard of Ladder Golf, also known as Ladder Toss. Maybe you have seen someone playing this game but didn’t know what to call it. Players score points by throwing two golf balls connected by a rope at a ladder, usually made of PVC pipe. When the rope connecting the golf balls raps around the pipe on the ladder and stays, the player scores. It is a very easy and inexpensive game to make. Read More... FLIES IN YOUR EYES, AIN’T NO BIG SURPRISE It feels like Ethiopia outside, and my friends and I can’t stop the heat. Mosquito, gnat, ant, and fleas have reunited this black summer with unlimited love for you as the Red Hot Chilin Pests. By the way, the bugs around here will eat you up so terribly, there’ll be nothing left of you but your soul to squeeze. Twisting and turning, your bug bites are burning, they’re biting your girl. Forget about relaxing on your front porch swing, these bugs will make you want to give it away. The mosquitoes will wait for you under the bridge downtown. Read More... THE FORGOTTEN SEASON It is probably still quite hot as you are reading this article in early September, but the weather will soon be cooling down. You urban gardeners out there probably replaced your squash, zucchini and tomato plants from spring with okra, beans, and peppers three months ago. Your summer harvest is still thriving but will soon begin to die off. Many of you will hang up your gardening gloves and replace them with a shaker baring your favorite team’s colors as football season is upon us and who has time for the garden. Plus, winter is around the corner and all your plants will die anyway. I am here to convince you otherwise. Read More...