Salvaging the shed; Inside - kitchen window, shower curtain; Petrol; "KYLE XY"; "KYLE XY" ARG

When I was out and about buying mulch and soil and such, I noticed sheds here and there. My conclusion: sheds are expensive: $750 and up and up.

I keep coming back to the metal shed near the patio. At one point, I'd thought of trying to get rid of it. But I've accumulated a mower, a weed cutter, a border/trench digger, various tools, about a dozen trash containers, bags of mulch, bags of potting soil, etc. And all this is piled on the carport along with rugs, tools, furniture, etc. set aside for a garage sale.

So I've decided to make a stab at salvaging what I have. Last week, I worked for half a day on cleaning out the remaining debris from inside. I've spent most of this week trying to clear out the roots, of course, and I think that's done. This afternoon I raked the soil as evenly as I could, then took the garden hose and sprayed the inside and out.

Later I came back and cleaned the front as best I could. There's a lot of rust that there's not much I can do with. And I tried cleaning the roof, which helped a little. I sprinkled cleanser over several sections and come back to it tomorrow.

In addition to the paving blocks, 8 x 15 inches, I had, I purchased another 20. So I'm hoping that will be enough to cover the inside. And once that's done, I can try to clean off the carport.

I'd picked up a pamphlet the other day at Lowe's on creating walks and borders. It mentioned spreading sand over your surface once you're finished to help hold everything in place. So I bought 150 lbs of sand and covered the walk and patio with it. You use a push broom to sweep back and forth and to pat it down into the crevices. It certainly gives it a more polished look, but I'm curious to know what happens when there's a thunderstorm.

For months the kitchen window that faces the setting sun has been uncovered. Yesterday, I finally bought another matchstick shade in the same light green color as those in the living room. These are very easy to install, and they do an excellent job of filtering the light without completely blocking it. AND they are very inexpensive - around $8. Once it was up, I noticed how much cooler the kitchen seemed.

Meanwhile in the bath, the shower curtain has slowly been coming loose from the hooks. So today I glanced at the curtains at WalMart. Curtains appear to be either vinyl or cloth. With vinyl being about half the price of the cloth ones. I really like a cloth one covered in zebras. And there was one with narrow multi-colored vertical stripes.

I dithered and dallied and finally picked out a clear vinyl with square panels each of which contains a flower - rose, aster, zinnia, orchid, hibiscus, dahlia, daylily. All the way home, I muttered to myself if it was what I wanted. Well, it was; looks fantastic.

I filled up the car this morning. Why, oh why, should 9.5 gallons cost $26.78. That's $2.81 a gallon.

A cartoon in the August 7 & 14 copy of "The New Yorker" shows two men walking down the steps of the Capitol. "Of course, it would be a different story entirely if we could extract crude oil from stem cells."

Have I made a comment recently about gorgeous I think Matt Dallas of "KYLE XY" looks? Try IMDB - Photo gallery for Matt Dallas. Far right of first row and middle of second row are especially deluxe.

What's an ARG? An ARG is an Alternate reality game. See Wikipedia - Alternate reality game for more info.

"KYLE XY" has a corresponding ARG. Starting point is :: ABC Family :: Kyle XY. One of the best forums is at digital halcyon discussion embassy. (The latter is one of the most civilized areas I've found on the web.)

There appear to be dozens of other sites, not all legitimate, that can be found via a Google search.

Lots of clues have been solved, but I'm not sure what they mean. One of the clues was discovered by deciphering a coded cell phone message at ABC Family: "Meet me at the tree at 3:30 am." That's nice, but nobody knows what that means. Another decoded message from the same sources says, "adieu road jet".

Maybe it will make more sense as time goes by.

PAX!