I want to pass along some news about a new website called Tile Monthly that might be of interest to people contemplating doing their own ceramic tile work, or hiring it done. Call it a shameless plug if you like, but I think you’ll find this information more than valuable. Years ago, when researching ceramic tile for my own home remodel, I stumbled across the John Bridge Tile Forums and JohnBridge.com. The free advice and guidance I received from their tile professionals helped me complete several tile projects that I might not have otherwise undertaken. And because I did the work with their assistance, I ended up with installations I know were done in accordance with industry standards and will probably outlast the house. I also saved a considerable amount of money by not having to hire a tile professional, enough to do other projects.

According to the magazine,

“By neglecting to make consumers aware of the best practices for the installation of tile and stone products, the tile industry has paved the way for untrained, unreliable and, in some cases, dishonest workers. Inferior workmanship and failed installations have caused many people to spurn ceramic tile showers, for instance, and look to other materials when building or remodeling bathrooms. “Oh, I won’t have another tile shower. They get moldy, and they leak.” The same is true of tiled floors. “You’re thinking of tile for your floors? Don’t you know that tile floors usually crack?”

“The fact is, ceramic and stone tiles, especially modern porcelain tiles, are among the longest lasting surface materials used in construction. A properly constructed tile shower will last indefinitely, and if cared for it will look pristine virtually forever. Modern waterproofing methods render tile showers mold free. Tile floors, if done by qualified craftsmen and craftswomen using quality products, will last a lifetime and beyond without cracking and without losing their allure. There is simply nothing more enduring, and appealing, than a ceramic or stone tile floor.”

I love tile and stone, and wanted to share a wonderful resource that anyone will benefit from. Whether it’s doing your own tiling or having the knowledge to be confident a hired professional is doing quality work, you can’t afford not to be informed – Tile Monthly will be a great source of information of all sorts.

Check it out, subscribe to the free e-zine – I think you’ll like what you see.

Tools that really work!

For many years, technophile author Kevin Kelly has traded gadget and gizmo recommendations with friends.

But unlike many in the tech world, Kelly isn’t obsessed with the latest, slickest gadgets. A best-selling technology writer and a former editor at Wired magazine, he is more concerned with objects he or his friends have used, sometimes for many years, and found to be the best of their kind.

Earlier this year, Kelly gathered his recommendations, and those he received, into a weekly mailing list, Recomendo. Kelly then added them to his Cool Tools website, which is steadily building an enthusiastic audience.

Cool Tools is a refreshing antidote to the hype that surrounds the latest hot gadgets. Unimpressed by newness for newness’ sake, Kelly is attracted to objects that have withstood the test of time — and is passing those ideas on to others. It’s a habit he learned while editing and publishing the Whole Earth Catalog, the bible of counterculture do-it-yourselfers who wanted in “tools and ideas for the 21st century.”

Kelly’s eclectic interests — he’s a former photojournalist and a cycling nut — ensure the site’s material is always delightfully unpredictable. There’s quite a lot of tech, of course, but Kelly is as likely to highlight a book about raising chickens as an FM transmitter for the iPod.

So, alongside recommendations for a great inkjet printer, is a rave for an overlooked book about Japanese hot springs, or a paean for cheap gel pens. And because many of the recommendations come from Kelly’s friends and list subscribers, they are passionate, personal and touching. Kelly has just self-published some of the contributions in a book, Cool Tools.

The other day, someone at a store in our town read that a methamphetamine lab had been found in an old farm house in the adjoining county and he asked me a rhetorical question, ”Why didn’t we have a drug problem when you and I were growing up?”

I replied: ”But I did have a drug problem when I wuz a kid growing up on the farm.” I had a drug problem when I was young: I was drug to church on Sunday morning. I was drug to church for weddings and funerals. I was drug to family reunions and community socials no matter the weather.

I was drug by my ears when I was disrespectful to adults. I was also drug to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents, told a lie, brought home a bad report card, did not speak with respect, spoke ill of the teacher or the preacher. Or if I didn’t put forth my best effort in everything that was asked of me. I was drug to the kitchen sink to have my mouth washed out with soap if I uttered a profane four letter word. I was drug out to pull weeds in mom’s garden and flower beds and cockleburs
out of dad’s fields.

I was drug to the homes of family, friends, and neighbors to help out some poor soul who had no one to mow the yard, repair the clothesline or chop some fire wood. And if my mother had ever known that I took a single dime as a tip for this kindness, she would have drug me back to the wood shed.

Those drugs are still in my veins; and they affect my behavior in everything I do, say, and think. They are stronger than cocaine, crack, or heroin, and if today’s children had this kind of drug problem, America might be a better place today.
-Courtesy Country Whispers