We Love Durham NC

YMCA Pool and Towels

The Y reports in a recent mailing that they will suspend towel service during the continued drought…if you must shower at the gym, bring your own towel.

Also, they note that the pools do not use more water per day than a typical household. That’s comforting news.

Northgate Hopping

Northgate Mall is hopping on the weekend. The Boy did backflips on the bungee jump, and we all rode the Carousel (having kids is such a convenient excuse), ate pretzels and orangeade for dinner, and did a lot of people-watching. At 7pm, an announcement came over the intercom alerting us to the Northgate Mall Curfew…all those under 16 years old without an adult had to then leave the mall. We also played the surfing and driving videogames and found various technological wonders at Tiger Direct, which is quite a geek hangout (no offense; takes one to know one) on a Saturday night. What fun!

Life + Science

NCMLS has had a member newspaper for a while, but now they have a glossy magazine. Look at that dust mite–ewwww!

More Water Saving Tips

Here are some water saving tips I haven’t seen anywhere else:

- Turn the water down *under* the sink. This will prevent the little’uns from using so much water while they’re singing the ABCs-washing-song.

- Drink imported beer instead of your usual beverages. Doesn’t have to be European or anything, Milwaukee’s finest will do. (May cause caffeine withdrawal as well as other side effects.)

- Pee outside. No flushing! Flushing takes up a lot of water. This is probably not okay if you have a HOA.

- Save a glass; drink milk out of the carton. C’mon, your housemates share your germs already. This also works for ice cream.

- Save a pot and a plate. That new Trader Joe’s has some tasty freezer meals, and you can eat those out of the carton-box, too!

- Get out of town for the holidays. Really, go away! Use some other city’s water for a while. And bring some back with you.

Santa is Huge in Durham

The NCMLS Santa Train sold out very quickly this year, and tickets were being traded and sold on multiple listservs and craigslist. No scalpers spotted, but it’s a market waiting to happen. Tickets were $10, lap kids 3 and under free.

We were able to get there early this year to do the crafts (reindeer head and ornament) and drink hot cocoa (both free) before our ticketed spots. We had appropriate winter weather (riders reported it was “too warm” earlier in the week), and everyone was bundled in coats, hats, mittens, and the like. The train area was lit up with decorations. For sale were blinking reindeer noses and flashing wands.

The kids were excited to get in line and board the train. We traveled to the North Pole, where the train stopped. A 7-foot Santa (huge, I tell you) greeted each child kindly and reminded them to leave cookies or to mail in their lists. He said he would do his best to bring something they’d each like. His elf gave out candy canes, and we debated whether the hook is a handle or a starting point.

Off the train went–our job was to spot Rudolf and tell him to hurry back to the North Pole. Finally we spied his red blinking nose in the woods and everybody yelled Go! Go home Rudolf! Hurry! And off he went, and our ride was over.

If you build a bear

I’ve got to edit the “10 Birthday Party Ideas” to include an 11th… Build a Bear Workshop at Southpoint Mall. It’s all very cute. The kids sit down with a peppy employee who explains how they’ll make their bears (or other stuffed animals)… pick an animal, add a heart, stuff, “wash” and comb, dress in a little t-shirt, and then get the birth certificate. All the partygoers receive an animal and your choice (depending on $) of outfit, and the birthday child also receives an extra bear for everyone to sign. The bears go home in cardboard houses that can be colored on, and that are filled with coupons and goodies like a calendar.

Afterwards, you can put out a birthday table in the food court, although if you go at lunchtime on a Saturday, you’ll need to be quick and/or creative about getting tables. One strategy I spied was to put out a paper tablecloth to hold the spot. Although it seems the food vendors would mind, it is apparently not a problem to bring in snacks, drinks, cake, and ice cream.
And of course the after-party can be in the play area if everyone is short enough (48″ or under).

Giant Snowman

You have to take the kids by to see the Giant Snowman at the tree lot at the corner of Fayetteville Rd. and 54. If you’ve seen a bigger snowman, I’ll be surprised.

It’s not that hot

At Harris Teeter I saw a car with the tell-tale condensation drip. C’mon, sure we’re wearing shorts, but is it warm enough for air conditioning?!

O Christmas Tree

We made the hard decision this year to get an artificial tree. I love supporting TROSA and I love the smell of real trees, but in the end we decided the water usage was too high for a real tree. Lucked into a 25% off sale at Lowe’s too.

Save water: Fix the shower leak

It’s rather unfortunate to have a shower leak in the middle of a drought, even if we were catching most of the water for re-use. No matter, it’s fixed now. Because I found the directions out there in the internets to be too jargon-y, here are some I like better. This is for a single-handle ball faucet, but if you were Googling you might look for leaking tub faucet crystal knob Delta.
1. Do not cut the sheetrock on the other side of the wall to get to the back of the faucet. Tubs are not like sinks. (But you can skip this step if you are interested to see what the builder hid back there.)
2. Use a flat-tip screwdriver to pop the button out of center of the faucet handle.

3. Unscrew the screw that was behind that button and remove knob.
4. Oops, quick, turn off the water for the whole house at the main. This is probably in a closet somewhere. Righty tighty.

5a. Go to Home Depot and get a big (for 2″ wide) pipe wrench. Pick up some “seals & springs” in the plumbing section while you’re there. The generic ones work as well as the name-brand Delta ones.
5b. There’s a metal collar that has to come off next. It doesn’t look like it comes off–it’s tight. Wrap it in duct tape for a grip and use the pipe wrench to twist it off.

6. Unscrew the plastic ring. Pull at that stob sticking out and it will pop right out, ball attached.
7. Point a flashlight up into the hole and you’ll see two rubber washers (seals, Os, circles). Pluck them out. Plumbers probably have a tool for this, but skinny fingers work, too. They will have a spring attached. Note the direction of the old seals and springs, and poke the new ones in just like that.

8. Replace everything back in order (ball, plastic ring, metal collar, knob, screw, button), tighten very well, and turn water on at the main slowly to test. Tighten and re-test if needed. It might leak a tiny bit for a few minutes until the new rubber expands in there. *
9. Voila! 60 gallons a month saved.

* If it still leaks, you might need to replace the ball itself.

Half Flush

I heard that the toilet flushing uses the most water in the house, and we found a great solution at Home Depot. It’s called the Bull’s Eye Adjust-a-Flush Flapper. I installed it in 3 short minutes, and it works like a charm. I can dial it to 1/2 way and then the tank only send out half of its water. Flushing is still effective. I bet I could dial it down even lower and just double-flush when necessary. We have 59 days left, y’all. (You can stop watering the astroturf now.)

New Moo

Did you vote to name the new calf at the science museum?

I will be surprised if “Zipline” doesn’t win because the default selection is always on that name. I kind of like Brown Jack, though. Or Max. If I can’t write in a vote, that is, because I really think we ought to call him New Moo.