Day: August 8, 2020

Laundry Area Rehab. The Before

Our top-of-the-line washer has pooped out just a few months after the one-year warranty expired. Maytag has agreed to cover the cost of parts and labor to fix it and the repair man pointed out that maybe moving the washer and dryer back into the closet would be better for the washer.

However, that move would make a problem for the dryer. The reason we moved the unit out of the closet was because it was hard to vent.

There is also the matter of the cats’ litter boxes. If we separate the unit and put the washer in the closet (thus getting rid of that multiple chained hoses situation) and the dryer on the ground in the not-closet, where will the cats’ litter boxes go?

The solution came to me while I was in a half-awake state on Friday morning and I spent a few hours sketching out the plan. We just needed to build a pedestal for the dryer to sit on, but one that was high enough for the cats’ litter boxes to fit under. Luckily, the manufacturer-created pedestals are ridiculously expensive and several people had made their own and put their building process online, so I had some guidance.

On Saturday morning, I went to buy the supplies. That part didn’t go smoothly because though I had measured the Honda Civic to ensure that plywood cut in half would fit into the back seat (it would!) I neglected to measure the opening to the back seat. It was not big enough for the plywood to fit, as I found when I went to load up the car. Thankfully Laurie and Burt have a truck and Matt went to borrow it.

After that, I came home and made this as close to an Ikea project as I could.

You can see my labels and marks. Everything is premeasured and we will tackle this tomorrow. Hopefully we can get the platform built in time to get it ready for when the repair man comes back to install the new parts.

Yes, God, Yes is Amusing, Sweet

Picture of Natalia Dyer in the film Yes, God, Yes

Yes, God, Yes

Directed by Karen Maine
Written by Karen Maine

The review:

One of the hardest things about being a teenage girl is all that sex stuff* and Karen Maine captures one girl’s experience exploring self-pleasure while also balancing what’s being taught at her Catholic school, plus dealing with rumors that have to do with her performing a sex act identified by slang she isn’t familiar with.** While she navigates her own path by mostly trying to stay on her church’s version of the straight and narrow, the rumors spread to the adults in her community and her standing falls. Natalia Dryer is a pro at capturing Alice’s befuddled confusion and growing skepticism in this amusing film.

The verdict: Good

Cost: $6.99 via Redbox On Demand
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*The Madonna/whore thing is a tough needle to thread, plus add in religious and family expectations, peer group expectations, gossip, cultural markers gleaned from the entertainment world, not to mention the possibility of past or current sexual abuse or assault.
**Maine makes the most of her time period: AOL when chat rooms could turn dirty without warning and search functions were minimal.

Questions:

  • What’s the best way to deal with unfounded rumors?
  • How do you think Alice’s friends shaped her choices?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

No good trivia, instead a quote from Jezebel.com

There’s a lot of really great coming-of-age films, but they often show painful sex. I wanted to see women exploring their own bodies more. American Pie, The Squid and the Whale—there’s a lot of films that show male masturbation. But I wanted to show the female part of it. I definitely want to find other ways to show women portraying new roles in cinema that feel very familiar to the women we are and that we know—but we’re either afraid to talk about, or men have been afraid to show on screen.

Karen Maine

Other reviews of Yes, God, Yes:

Orange background with text: We pretended each marshmallow was a different mortal sin before burning it. Yours was lust. —Yes, God, Yes. Read the three sentence movie review. 3SMReviews.com