Home Improvement-O-Rama

It's been a busy week chez TILNEYandRYAN, with a whole lotta home improvement going on.

• First, a paean to a hose reel.
  
  O Rapid Reel (perpendicular model), how we do love thee!
  
  You've cleaned up the unsightly pile of hose that caused such a mess whenever we lugged it to and fro.
  
  You've rendered homeless the creatures we'd prefer not to think of that surely used to live 'neath the 100-foot tangle of hose that formerly littered the expanse of garden rocks that line the back wall of our house.
  
  O reel of reels, having arrived with all the necessary parts as specified in your well-written instruction manual, you were affix'd to the back wall of our home with such ease (thanks also to a masonry drill borrowed from our neighbor Greg)!
  
  O durably constructed steel contraption, your ingenious design makes watering such a breeze.
  
  O Rapid Reel (perpendicular model), is there anything you can't do?
  
  
• Next up, praise for our new garbage disposal:
  Late last year, we purchased a new InSinkErator Evolution garbage disposal. Due to the fact that our kitchen sink was never graced with a garbage disposal, we soon learned that installation would involve not just a plumber, but an electrician as well. (Before you people with handy skills get all up in our business about the joys of do-it-yourselfing, let me just say that even if there had been a disposal previously, requiring just a swap-out, we still would have called a plumber. Have you met us?)
  
  Anyhoo, back in December we had a plumber come out to install our replacement dishwasher and we asked him if he could do the disposal at the same time. Nope. He claimed that if it was a replacement disposal, no problem. Just not a new one. We assured him the electrical work had already been done, but that wasn't the issue. He was apparently not the kind of plumber who could, you know, take apart pipes and attach things (e.g., disposals) to them. (Sorry for getting all technical on you there.) Soon the holidays were upon us and we temporarily gave up our dreams of having a garbage disposal installed before the New Year.
  
  Fast forward 6 months and it was really about time to get that disposal installed. We called a *real* plumber (sorry, first plumber -- you suck) and he installed it in a jiffy. Now, we can grind up food waste just like we dreamed of after our wedding. O, domestic bliss! I'm inspired!
  
  
  
• Finally, a bump in the road:
  Okay, so this is not technically a home improvement, but rather a home hazard. Our cat George (she's a girl) has taken to sleeping on the stairs at night and into the morning.
  
  I'm sure it's so that she'll be top of mind (more likely, bottom of foot) when we wake up so that we'll feed her first thing, but it really just makes me want to reach for the camera and get the flash going all paparazzi-style to mess with her.
  
  She's pretty good at avoiding a direct shot...
  
  
  
  ...until she's good and ready.