I have always wanted an under sink water filter. I’m not sure why, especially since we have a whole house filter. I guess it’s because the whole house filter is all the way down in the basement and I keep thinking the water gets all screwed up traveling through the pipes. I like the idea of having a filter close to the tap.
I decided that I had the capabilities to install an under sink water filter myself. I mean, I do have the brains and the patience. It’s not really a hard job, just one that you have to psych yourself into doing because you have to clean out under the sink. You know…all those bottles of who knows what and cans of what the heck it this. Throw in a few old sponges and there you have it – the area below a kitchen sink.
There was one little issue that was in the way of me installing a water filter. The faucet we had installed on the kitchen sink was a bit out dated. It was one of those “one handle” ones that sits right in the middle. Some people prefer that style, but I always liked the two handle ones. In this case, the two handles are preferred because the water filter only runs on the cold line. I like knowing that when I turn on the cold water, only the cold water is running. So, I basically needed a water filter and a new kitchen faucet. Not a problem, I’m really cheap when it comes to kitchen faucets and the filter setup was only $34. It even came with the insert.
Off to Lowe’s I went. When I got there, I strolled down the filter aisle and picked out a “Whirlpool Drop in Filtration System – WHKF-DUF.” This is the $34 jobber I just told you about. I knew what to expect because I already picked it out online. I put the filter in the cart and went over to the next aisle that had all the faucets. There they were, all lined up on the wall. I knew I wanted the chrome Peerless for around $44, but I was forced to get the $68 model because we have a four hole sink. That means that we have that extra little sprayer. You know, the one that you can wrap a rubber band around and sit back in its holder. When someone comes by to turn on the sink, they get sprayed. Yeah, that one.
I picked up the model I needed and put it in my cart. Or what I thought was my cart.
Here’s a funny little story. When I rolled my cart into the faucet aisle, I saw a nice family standing there trying to pick out a kitchen faucet. I noticed that they were kind of just randomly picking things out and didn’t know why. There are differentiating factors in faucets such as the one handle or two that I spoke of above. Also, there is the height of the faucet end. Our old faucet was low, so when I tried to get a large pot filled with water, I had to angle it such a way. Anyway, I broke the ice by saying, “Boy, I feel like I’m part of the family.” They laughed and I laughed. The father just looked at me. There were three of them…the mother, the father and the daughter. Okay, on with the story. I told them about the height issue and why and they were just amazed. As far as I was concerned, they thought I was the cat’s meow. I left the aisle to go out to the garden center.
When I got out to the garden center, I picked out two trees and put them into the cart. I stood back and looked at the faucet. Then, I wondered where the filter was. For the first time in my life, I grabbed the wrong cart. I think it was the faucet aisle family’s cart that I had taken. I left the cart outside in the garden area (because I already had the trees in it) and walked back into the faucet aisle. There it was, my cart with the filter in it. I felt bad for the poor family that had to walk away with no cart, carrying the faucet in their hands. They probably thought I was just fluffing them up earlier so I could steal their cart.
Okay, story time is over. Here are some pictures of the kitchen faucet and under sink water filter installation.
Under kitchen sink looking up at botton of old faucet
Under kitchen sink looking at hot and cold plumbing pipes
Top of sink with old faucet removed
Under sink with old faucet removed
New Peerless kitchen faucet installed
Whirlpool under sink water filter installed
Peerless kitchen faucet box
Peerless kitchen faucet model P99587-D
Whirlpool under sink water model WHKF-DUF
Everything works great and the installation took me about an hour and a half.
I have always wondered why there is such a big price difference between faucets, and doorknobs for that matter. Either I have never used a really high quality faucet or doorknob or I am just missing something. Every time I go shopping for either, I always get the cheapest available and find that they work just great. Maybe I am missing something. Perhaps someone can enlighten me.
Just when I thought I was running out of cool magazines to read, a sweet one arrived in the mail. It’s called, “BMW Magazine.”
I have been thinking pretty good thoughts about BMW ever since I got the X5. The reason they are so favorable to me is because they kind of “absorb” you into their family once you purchase a vehicle from them. I’m not quite sure what happens if you get a used Beamer from someone on the street, but when you get a new one from the dealer, the red carpet is rolled out for your entire experience.
One thing that I really liked was receiving a nice DVD box set a few months ago. BMW likes to remind you about all the cool products and accessories they offer through email, but this little box set was pretty impressive. They give you a tour of their factories and throw in a bunch of cool videos that just make you drool over more over their brand. I mean, there really is no disputing how awesome most of their vehicles are.
BMW Magazine front cover
Photos of different steering wheels in BMW Magazine
Photo of wine rack on page of BMW Magazine
BMW Welcome DVD box set
It’s almost amusing how BMW hits the market as accurately as they do. I remember all about target markets from a few classes back in grad school and I know there is a lot that goes into connecting with buyers and potential buyers. Just flipping through the pages of this magazine made me want about 20 things. It can get ugly.
As Laura was walking by the door this afternoon, I yelled, “Hey, check out what I got in the mail today. You gotta check it out…it’s for people just like me. You know, people who like those titanium watches with all the dials and stuff like that.” She chuckled and kept on walking. I even chuckled when I noticed advertisements for those exact watches on pages 7, 15, 17, 62 and 67. Man.
What’s really fun is reading about guys driving BMWs around closed course tracks. Even better than that is seeing them driving around the same model that I a drive every day. It’s kind of strange…
Oh no, not another reality show. Oh yes, it’s true.
Tuesday nights are usually pretty dry around here. I can’t remember if it’s just “The Real Housewives…somethingorother” and that’s it, or if there’s something else. I know Wednesday “Lost” is on and we watch Fantasy Factory and Nitro Circus on Sundays, but the rest is just a fog. Usually Laura controls the remote. It has too many buttons for me and my brain is already full.
Well, tonight was a real treat. I ended up downstairs before the lady of the house got there, so I turned the TV on. Of course, some reality TV channel was already set (Oxygen). I sat down only to find another house full of dramatic girls trying to live together while improving their attitudes. C’mon, this is serious stuff. It’s like I always say, “This stuff is reality…the way it really goes down.”
Okay, the name of the show is “Pretty Wicked” and as I said before, it’s on Oxygen. Oh yeah, there’s all sorts of drama. One girl threatened to leave the house, another two are mortal enemies, another is a crier…etc…If you want to see a sample of the show, just click the title above or watch the video below.
I would say the show still seems new, but will age gracefully. If they throw in a few fights here and there, it might stick around for another season. By the way, CariDee English from America’s Next Top Model (cycle 7) is the show’s host.
Internet Population Passes One Billion; Top 15 Countries
The number of people on the Internet surpassed one billion in December, according to comScore. The actual number is probably higher than that (Internet World Stats counted nearly 1.5 billion Web surfers worldwide as of June 30, 2008). In any case, only between 15 and 22 percent of the world’s population is on the Internet. We have a long way to go.
Climate Change Killing America’s Trees at Ever Faster Rates
Trees in western North America are dying at faster and faster rates, and climate change is likely to blame. The mounting deaths could fundamentally transform Western forests because tree reproduction hasn’t increased to offset losses, according to a new study published Thursday in Science.
There is fierce debate over the direction humanity should take when exploring the solar system. Plans for human exploration of the solar system and beyond often polarize opinions among the public and scientific communities.
Nobody pretends that polluted air isn’t terrible for your health. Clean up the skies over any dirty city and the people who live there will all but certainly become healthier. That, at least, has been popular wisdom, but until now, no one had ever put it to the statistical test. Now someone has and the results are striking.
Mars and Mercury were formed from the scraps of Earth and Venus, according to a radical new theory of rocky planet formation. The model could explain some characteristics of Mars and Mercury that have long puzzled scientists, said Brad Hansen, an astronomer at the University of California, Los Angeles.
