Cheap Decorations

Sarah and I hung up curtains and holdbacks last week in the girls' room.  Since moving I have hung up several objects around the house, including curtain rods in multiple rooms, towel racks, and pictures.  The last towel rack I hung I struggled getting the anchor into the wall (mostly because the instructions that came with the rack didn't specify the size of the drill bit to use).  I salvaged that job because I was able to drill another hole adjacent to the first one I screwed up, covering the first hole with the base of the rack.  Last week when I was hanging the curtain rods, I again struggled with the anchor despite using the suggested drill bit in the instructions.  When lightly tapping didn't move the anchor, I tapped harder until I bent the top of it.  Again, I salvaged the job by drilling another hole next to the first, covering the first hole with the base of the curtain rod.  Later, while trying to screw the curtain holdbacks into the wall I was struggling big time to make any progress with the screw, despite using a powered driver.  The screw just turned and turned, making no progress.  Finally I ditched the screw that came with the holdback for one that I bought myself at the hardware store.  With the new screw I had no problems getting the screw into the wood and attaching the holdback to the wall.

I am sharing these stories because one of the things I've learned is that it is probably worth the few extra bucks to get a little bit of a nicer decoration set.  Of the three examples I listed, I blame the problems on cheap decorations.  The towel rack didn't explain which drill bit to use to use the anchor, and the curtain holdbacks came with just awful screws.  One of the differences between an easy job and a hard job is having the right equipment.  For someone like me, who has minimal home skills, small things like adequate directions and parts makes a huge difference. 

Communist Medicine

I recently got my flu vaccine for the year.  I had to sign a waiver saying that I agreed to get the flu shot.  Not that it really mattered if I signed the form.  If I refuse to get the shot I would likely lose my job.  Other healthcare workers who have refused the flu shot have been fired.  While I am not against the flu shot in general, I will say that I am against forcing people to receive it.  To my knowledge there is minimal (or no) evidence that mass immunizing a healthcare population reduces spread of the flu.  That alone is enough for me to question the requirement.  I won't even begin to get into the ethical principles of forcing people to inject substances into their bodies that they don't want.