On the Cooper River, Charleston SC.

So apparently the dude who installed our washer and dryer thought that the setup pictured below would be adequate for venting the dryer. As a result our laundry room became a sauna. Literally, the wallpaper started coming off the wall.

The installer also didn’t seem to know the difference between hot and cold since he hooked the hot water hose to the cold input and vice versa.

While I made a trip to the hardware store for a new vent kit, Celeste called the store that sold us the appliances. The third person she talked to was the operations manager and he asked her what she’d like him to do. When she said she’d like a refund for the original vent kit we’d purchased from them ($19.95) he said he couldn’t do that since it was a delivery issue. Whaaaaat? The fourth person she talked to said that he’d be happy to refund the cost of the vent kit.

The new vent kit was successfully installed by yours truly and seems to be working properly. Celeste’s head came close to spinning off, but a couple of margaritas later she seems to be working properly too. Same with yours truly.

When our washer and dryer decided to break down simultaneously, and we discovered that they are basically computers that happen to wash clothes, and that getting them fixed would involve more computer-type repair than mechanical repair, we blew a gasket. Well, I blew a gasket and ran out the door and headed for work while yelling something to Celeste along the lines of, “If you have the chance today just go to the store and get a new (insert favorite cuss word here) washer-dryer set. I don’t care what it is I just want it to work!”

That was Monday morning. Monday afternoon Celeste sent me a text saying she’d purchased our new washer and dryer. She also said she’d picked colors that made a “(Insert favorite curse word here) you, I don’t care if they go out of style” statement.

I love that woman.

Celeste picked up our first ever box wine at Costco for $16.99. Highly recommend Black Box Wines’ Cabernet Sauvignon.

Bring cans of food and get a hat!

I've never met him, but I have to assume that Jeff Hagan is a genius.  Why?  Because according to this story in the Wall Street Journal Hagan "bought 100 Gillette Mach3 blades. Then he found oil that helps double the blades' lifespan."  Mach3 is my shaver of choice and though I don't much like the expense of the blades, I've found they give me the best shave, much better than the newer four blade shavers, and I'm worried that they blades will go away or get even more expensive.  

Mr. Hagan's genius is revealed in this excerpt:

"I'm basically investing in blade futures," Mr. Hagan remembers telling onlookers at Costco as they marveled at the pile of cartridges in his car. "That's my hedge against forcing to upgrade."

I can't really afford to get 100 blades at once, but if add one pack of blades (the Costco packs hold something like 28 blades) every other time I go to Costco I should be able to build up a stockpile pretty quickly.  Now I just need to find that oil and I'll be golden.