Where We Stand with the Project

Okay, I know you have all been just dying to know where I stood with the whole hall/office space renovation project. It's involved ripping up the nasty BART/church basement project, putting in some superb beveled/European tile and putting in moulding. Sadly the the aforementioned hoity-toity tile has yet to arrive (apparently slow going weaving between those icebergs in the North Atlantic on the route from Europe to the North Pacific). It frustrates me to not be where I thought I'd be at this point (i.e., finished). However, I have finished putting the moulding which I cut carefully with my miter-box saw, covered all visible nail holes and then painted. It sounds like minor task, but it took a few days. Two and a half to be exact. In the meantime, I am still waiting on the tile, the parts to repair for my refrigerator and managed to have my car repairs completed today. In the meantime, I've spent these four days of leave reading Cavafy and Proust with Bow sleeping on my chest. Ah, the busy life of an urban sophisticate.

Fan the Cool, But Don't Fan the Flames

We're not quite sure why, but Lauren of Mindful Things has added Junk Thief to her Facebook group Fan of Fans. Considering that her first feature is a Hello Kitty fan (with blades and a motor, not just an enthusiast), it seems like a dandy little group to have joined.

Junk Thief actually likes fans and once had a collection of some really nice pre-Mid-Century fans. Fans should be black and chrome not colorful and plastic. They should be so noisy that you can't hear anything but their roar and should have at least a couple of spots mended with black electrician's tape. There is something very hypnotic and all consuming about a nice noisy fan on a balmy summer afternoon.

Fans scream out old money Boston Brahman shabby chic. One thing that bonds New Englanders, Europeans and San Franciscans is a disdain for ice cubes and air conditioning. Junk Thief isn't very fond of air conditioning, but he prefers it to heat. Ice cubes, of course, remind him of his twin nemesises -- colas and sweet iced tea.

Worse than air conditioning are those damned heaters for eating al fresco in California. If you can't stand the chill, stay out of the outdoor dining room, Junk Thief always says. Maybe he's a northern European, where people have elegant (low heat index) candle-lit suppers in chilly dining rooms in heavy evening finery. Or maybe he's just peeved that San Francisco is having unseasonably hot weather in November. Fortunately it's supposed to start cooling off and should be nice by Wednesday. Bring out the top hats and silk scarves!