I was thinking to myself two days ago how I could really use a large cork bulletin board for my work space in the garage, but I just didn’t want to BUY one. I was thinking how great it would be if I could somehow acquire one for free. I was also thinking that I needed to learn more about the proper way to cut tile with a hand held saw, but figured I would get to that later when I was actually cutting tiles. I decided yesterday to take my big dog, Jones, up to LaCanada and hike on the Gould Canyon trail which is a lovely shaded hike in the foothills. As I neared the trailhead, I noticed there were a lot of large items on the sidewalks of this very swank neighborhood and then I figured out it must be BULKY ITEM day in LaCanada! I am like Fat Albert and his friends when it comes to trash and reveling in the possibilities of converting other people’s trash into my treasures, but I had my dog with me so I just put blinders on and drove on. It was difficult keeping my eyes on the road, not on the cornucopia of sidewalk discards, but when I turned the corner to park near the trail head I couldn’t believe what I saw. You guessed it……a large, cork bulletin board complete with a set of silver push pins leaned against a trash can! Holy Toledo! It looked brand new! Coaxing my 90 pound dog into the front seat, I hopped out and slid that bulletin board into the back of my car. I had a great hike and took that board back to my garage!

Thank you LaCanada!

THEN while working in the garage, my neighbors’ dad came walking by on his way to get his hair cut at the local barber. He said he would be staying with Katy and Amy (who, by the way, besides being great neighbors, also own the world’s greatest eye glasses store http://www.societyspectacle.com) until late next week. Jim O’Connell is the kind of dad that can fix stuff and build stuff. My dad was that kind of dad too. Dad had every power tool known and so did my mom! Well, Jim pops his head into my garage and proceeds to tell me that he heard about the mosaic I am working on and offers his expertise if needed, as he has built up many bathrooms and done many tile jobs. I enthusiastically accept his offer. Jim shows up yesterday and proceeds to give me points on getting the perfect angle cut, using a grinder to cut and sand, and his tips on which wet tile saw to buy. A big thank you to Jim for taking time to share tips with me and for his general enthusiastic attitude.

Jim cutting into the tile

I’m telling you, ask and you shall receive. You never know what might be on the sidewalk one morning or who might be ambling by your garage!