Ed Icionsub

We have been working on a lot of little remodeling and repair projects in the house since Christmas. We pulled up all the carpet and put down new wood laminate flooring. The fireplace mantle and hearth were re-done. Sheetrock in the living room had to come down and be replaced. And then we painted.

The house looks a lot nicer but there is one more important thing that will really perk up the house: new lighting.

The first thing I want to replace is the chandelier in the dining room. I want a modern design and something that reflects my colors and style. I’ve been looking at hundreds of different chandeliers and found 3 that I really like on the Littman Bros web site.

I’ll make up mind mind which of the chandeliers to buy when I make up my mind about the new kitchen lighting. The kitchen opens into the dining room, so I need those fixtures to either match or complement each other. I also want to add some under cabinet lighting to make it easier to see the cookbooks and box instructions while cooking.

The last room that needs new lighting is the bathroom. It still has the same old fixtures that came with the house almost 40 years ago. I want to find some new bathroom lighting that will perk up the bathroom and bring it out of the 1970′s and into the new millenium.

Have been seeing a funny commercial for Arby’s where a guy walks up to the counter to place an order but he is talking on his cell phone to his wife/girlfriend/life partner. The person on the call is evidently asking about the special sale pricing on a variety of menu items. The man asks the counter clerk, who recites a long list of tongue twister menu items. The man repeats them back on the phone and then place the order by repeating what was said on the phone. The funny part is that he finished placing the order by saying, “I love you.” This is obviously what the person on the other end of the call said to him at the end of the call, and by repeating everything verbatim he mistakenly repeats “I love you” to the order clerk. The clerk looks abashed, then says back to the customer, tentatively, “I love you, too.”

This afternoon I came across an ad for a huge surprise product to me. Instant coffee. The surprise was not that coffee can be made dropping little freeze dried granules into a cup of hot water. The surprise was that this instant coffee is made by . . .

Yes. Starbucks. Can you believe that? After years of of $4 a cup special roasted, fresh ground, special brewed and made to order in three different size designations that no one has ever heard of before, we are being treated to instant coffee from the World’s Coffee Giant.

Evidently, other civilized people all around the world don’t look down on instant coffee like we Americans do. And, in the global economy, instant coffee makes up 40 percent of the world’s coffee market. So maybe going after the international instant coffee market is the survival strategy that Starbucks needs to survive the American recession.

On Sunday I will be spending some time at the nursing home in Donelson. The Recreation Director asked me if I would come and help a few of the seniors with their computers and then visit a few shut ins. So I thought it would be a good idea to study up on a few jokes to maybe break the ice.

I like meeting new people and have always found that a couple of funny jokes can make people relax and maybe even brighten up their day.

There are some great sites on the internet for all kinds of jokes. There are even several with a variety of dirty jokes for those times in the locker room when you need to lighten things up a little.

Since I’ll be gardening a little more seriously this year, I decided to buy some tomato plants and pepper plants from Lowes to give my garden a jump start.

I stopped by Home Depot first, but their selection of tomato plants as lame. The varieties are not what I wanted to get and they were thin, short and scrawny.

So I drove across the street – yes they built a Home Depot directly across the street from the Lowes about 15 years ago. I thought it was a stupid move to locate right there – they would have served the local contractors and home owners better if they had located about 5 miles further east, in Mr. Juliet. That’s where all the building and growth has been this decade.

Anyways, I drove across the street and found some young but strong plants at Lowes. Plus, Lowes has a healthy plant guarantee. So I had a higher confidence level in the performance of these plants.

I bought two peat pots of Big Boys and a flat of younger Better Boys. I’m looking forward to some great tomatoes around the first of July.