The Weekend Warrior

This weekend

2011-04-24T16:13:00.000-04:00

Finally watched "Inception". It was ok. I think I was a little confused in the beginning, but it got better as I watched it. Found a funny series of videos that I really get a kick out of. It is the "How it should have ended" series. They have one for Inception. Check it out.
http://youtu.be/KBAuMpOpSnA

Of course, my favorite so far has been this one:
http://youtu.be/WbJ-y6BWfUc

Rain

2011-04-16T21:46:00.000-04:00

It just isn't right. We've had such beautiful weather the past three days, and when I finally get to Saturday it rains. At least I got the front yard mowed last night. I was going to do the back, but the pollen was really bad. Once the lawn mower kicked it all up my eyes were itching and I was all stuffed up. I don't have allergies, but I think when the stuff gets that bad it's rough on everyone.

I was doing a little work in the garage. Couldn't do what I wanted to do, which was to throw more drywall on the rest of the walls. Unfortunately, because the garage is so crowded with junk I would have to move all of the stuff from that side to the other. That involves moving some things out into the driveway to get them out of the way, but rain hinders that operation.

I did manage to get in the yard and weed the front flower bed, and plant a new rosebush to replace the one that died last year. It looks better, but I need some more mulch.

It rained so much today that Loch Mess rose from it's subterranean lair to menace the dogs' entry and exit from our house. Thing 1 and Thing 2 managed all right, though. When the weather cleared I activiated the sump and it's all drained, now.

I did some work on a house way out toward Columbia, this week. Replaced some rotted boards on the front porch. I don't have the after shot. The barn looked like something we used to make charcoal and pencil drawings of back in art class.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a happy Easter. Watch out for the Bunnies! ( see video)

Bark Wars

2011-03-19T00:51:00.000-04:00

Today I finally finished replacing Ben and Joanna's new stair rail. There's still some trimwork to be finished up that I will hit tomorrow. I have never installed a rail with newel posts and balusters, before. Not a nice one, anyway. I have done deck rails, but this one was for the inside of the house. With lots of technical advice from Dad we finally finished it. I think I need a couple more of those under my belt before I feel like I know what I'm doing.

I know I complain about my dogs, Abbey wan Kenobe and Chewbarka. I've got so many names for those two I just don't know which ones to use in a given conversation. I know only this: I will most likely never use their real names. Anyway, my dogs seem quite introverted and quiet compared to the pack that resides next to Ben and Jo. Every time anyone nears the property line they go off, like some really bad alarm system. Makes me appreciate my dogs a little more. Then there was that pit bull in the yard next to a house I worked on last week. That thing was mean. Every time I went through the back gate I was hugging the side of the house when that thing tried to jump over the fence and get me. He got so close one time he slobbered on my arm. I wasn't afraid of him- my hammer was on my belt, so I was pretty confident that if he got a hold of me the encounter would end pretty quickly. I just wasn't in any hurry to get bit.

Well, I'm about to head back to bed. I just woke up a little while ago and we had a sudden storm hit. For a moment I thought we were in the path of a tornado, it was suddenly so windy and loud. It wasn't normal. I was just up trying to see if there was any weather news out of the ordinary. The wind has died down, now. That just such a sudden and powerful and loud incident I was ready to grab the family and toss them in a closet. Makes me realize that I have no interior rooms or hallways that can be closed off. Fortunately, the wind passed and quieted down, so I guess I was just paranoid. Anyway, Good Night!

Noticeable Progress

2011-03-12T19:33:00.001-05:00

Got a lot done, today. The workbench area is taking shape. Got the cabinets mounted and the top installed. I might have enough wood to make another cabinet, but there will be a delay in the final assembly, since I will need to buy more wood and that won't be happening for a while. You can sort of get an idea of what it will look like. Above the bench section I did today I want to put a pegboard cabinet, which I might have enough to build. I already have several sheets of pegboard in the garage, but I don't know if it will work. I'll get to that later.

The benchtop tool tower. There will be slots on the insides to hold some of my bench tools when I'm not using them.

The base cabinets and tool tower in place.

Another shot all the way down to the corner. There is one other base component I want to make and put in between the cabinets you see here, but it's not critical. I'll probably be working on shelves and doors next week, if I have enough wood for all of it.

One of the wall cabinets. I made the tool tower to be 72 inches high, forgetting that I raised the height of the overall workstation to accomodate the pegboard cabinet I want to build. So I'll need to add a little to the top of that cabinet when I add the cap to the whole thing.

Final shot of the bench as it is right now. I was doing a little more skimming of the drywall so I can paint it soon. It's getting warm enough to do that, now. The cabinets will be painted, too, but I haven't quite settled on a color, yet. I'm thinking Rustoleum Black Hammered finish. The benchtop will just get a coat of polyurethane.

The garage is slowly getting less aggravating. Still has a long way to go, but I don't feel so disgusted when I walk in there, anymore.

Want a laugh? Check out the video below.

Rainy Day

2011-03-10T15:55:00.000-05:00

It's been pretty rainy for the last 18 hours, or so. My yard has actually flooded, again! Didn't expect that. The sump was pressed back into action. Still works really well. I was just clearing out some old job pictures and found a few that might be interesting to share.

The entrance to the drive of a mansion out in Crozier that I winterized.

A closeup of the mansion. It's on 10 acres of land, has one really big master suite with a huge master bath, 5 other bedrooms, and three other bathrooms, and one half bath. Been rather neglected, though. The deck will need to be replaced.

BETCO's shop cat, getting her morning coffee.

Stopping at the ATM...with the backhoe.

Closeup shot. Got a lot of funny looks from people walking by.

I've built a few more cabinets for the garage. I'll be working on that again, this weekend. I think the shop will be in good shape by that point. I will still need to build the wall cabinets and shelves, but they will have to wait a little bit. I've about run out of material. Yet, in using the material, I have gained so much space in the garage! I'm so happy!!

More Garage Stuff

2011-03-05T21:27:00.000-05:00

Did more work in the garage, today. Picked up the sheetrock dolly from Dad, so I was able to load up that stack of drywall and move it out of my way. I built two more cabinets, today.

Another base cabinet, less the doors.

Drilling the shelf pin holes.

The base cabinet completed. Still needs the doors, and I will be painting it, eventually.

A wall cabinet, almost completed.

The completed wall and base cabinet. The base is notched to fit over the cinder block foundation wall. The cabinets are made to hang from the wall so I can sweep under them easier, and to keep them dry in the event of a flood, or something. I still need to make the doors and shelves, but those are easy. I will also be making a base unit with drawers.

An Attempt to Bring Order to Chaos

2011-02-26T21:22:00.001-05:00

I guess I fell out of the blog thing. Started school, and a new job, and cub scouts...I just haven't had a whole lot to write about. Nothing that's all that entertaining, that is. Until now.

I started hanging drywall in the garage. Finally! I was working on cleaning out a foreclosed house that had a whole stack of drywall in the second floor. The bank wanted it removed from the house- they didn't care where it went, just as long as it was no longer on the property. So it is stacked in my garage. There is enough to cover all of the walls. The only problem is that the Edcave is so cluttered and full of stuff that I can only do small parts of the wall at a time. Insulate, hang drywall, tape and finish, then move the junk around so I can access another part of the wall. I have half of the garage drywalled, now. Hopefull in the spring I can get a ceiling up in there. Then next winter I'll be able to heat the place a little bit. It's hard to cut anything on the table saw or scrollsaw or bandsaw when you can't feel your fingertips.

I dealt with the rats from last year. I believe they are gone, but it's hard to tell. I found an expired one in the old insulation between the wall studs when I was re-insulating. The little dude was all mummified, but still had one of the little rat poison cookies in it's clutches. It amazes me that they carried the things back to their nests. I feel somewhat guilty, in a way. Don't know why. Anyway, once the drywall is up they won't be able to hide behind the cabinets anymore.

Meanwhile I have still elected to let the dawgs stick around. They amuse me. Well, Meg is getting weirder and weirder. Abby still displays amazing feats of skill. My favorite is to toss treats in her direction to see her catch them. Have you ever seen the videos of the sharks jumping out of the water to get seals? Think that, only smaller...and furrier...and less likely to kill you if you get too close. Meg still snarfs her food down like it's going to run off if she doesn't kill it right away. Abby-well, she is odd. She takes forever to eat. It's like she's savoring every bit.

I spent last Saturday and today working on cabinets for the garage. I completed the first base cabinet (minus the doors) and mounted it, and got the first part of the workbench top cut and installed. I still need to apply hardwood edging to the top, but it looks good, anyway. I need to get some wall cabinets up, and then install the pegboard above the bench top. This is going to take a while, but I finally feel like it's moving in the right direction, anyway.

Here's a shot of the garage after the last trip to the dump.

Believe it or not, it actually looks better than it did a couple of weeks ago.

Yeah. This needs to be worked on.

The lower cabinet being built. Made out of MDF and faced with Poplar.

Today I got the first base cabinet in and part of the benchtop in place. I am going to run another bank of cabinets and top down the wall on the right. Wall cabinets will go up later.

Another shot of the base cabinet. I couldn't wait to put them to use. The lower part of the cabinet will get doors. The top part remains open. I want to put a sliding drawer under the benchtop. When the wall cabinets go up, there will be under the cabinet lighting, and pegboard above the benchtop up to the bottom of the cabinet.

Long time, no blog!

2010-10-23T23:24:00.000-04:00

Been a while since I last checked in. I started a new job, and the fall semester has started. Been pretty busy. Today, however, I actually got some sawdust time in the garage. The Cub Scouts will be working on Pinewood Derby cars pretty soon. January, I think. I had an idea for a car, so I was playing around with it in the shop, today. I need to get an actual Derby kit, but I was making the prototype today. I'm not sure the idea will work. Looks good so far, but the question is whether or not it will roll once the wheels are installed, and how I am going to get wheels on this thing, in the first place. I'll have to take some pictures of the progress. It will be cool if it works. I plan on challenging the other Den Leaders in the Derby. No medals, no trophies, just glory and bragging rights.

Hell = Ed3(Homework+Quizzes)(+100Degree heat+Humidity)

2010-07-23T12:05:00.002-04:00

I'm into the last week or so of the summer semester, and I am in agony. I've managed to do quite well on the first 3 modules of the Algebra class I'm taking. Most of it was a review. I worked pretty hard to get ahead so I could have more time to deal with the tougher parts that I knew would be coming. The tougher stuff has arrived. I picked up the easier factoring problems well enough, but now I'm running into this other stuff to which I just can't seem to relate. I am eventually making it through the homework, but I can't say that it is embedding itself into my memory. I'm slowly getting there, though. I have roughly one week of classes left for this summer.
"The square root of Chuck Norris is Pain. If you Square Chuck Norris, the result is Death."

It has been awfully hot, lately. Kind of like the summers in Florida that I remember. I'd mow the lawn, and that would be all I could do for the day. I have been outside for the last hour spraying weed killer on the driveway and sidewalk, then in the garage to work a little. Speaking of which...

I HAVE REACHED A MAJOR MILESTONE!!!!!!!!

Back in 2005 I bought myself a Ryobi benchtop bandsaw. Unfortunately, Hurricane season was starting. Since the previous two years had seen a number of hurricanes take aim at (yet mercifully miss) St. Petersburg, I didn't bother to unpack the saw. I also, as in previous years, sealed up all of my benchtop tools and placed them under the workbenches in the hope that, if the roof blew off of the garage, the tools might survive. Most of these tools never got unpacked again. Once we hit 2006 we were looking to escape Florida, so I didn't bother to unpack most of them. We have been here in Virginia now for a little over three years. Today I finally unpacked the bandsaw! It was kindof like getting a new toy, since it was still sealed in the box and in the original foam and plastic packaging. Just like brand new which, I guess it is. It's all assembled, now. I'll have to find some time, probably tonight after the sun goes down, to try it out. I have a lot of projects that need a bandsaw, so I'm looking forward to doing a little fun work on it.

The rat problem appears to have been resolved, finally. As much as I hated to, I resorted to poisoned rat bait, and ended up removing several corpses from the garage. I haven't seen any rats since, and the remaining bait on the shelf has not been touched. I can only conclude that, 1) The rats residing in the garage were all killed off and there are no more rats, or 2) the deceased rats with their dying squeaks warned the others not to eat the green cookies.
(The green....coo...kies....stay...away!...Poison!...Save...your...selves!!!Ungh!)

Today is hot, and is expected to get hotter. The shade is tolerable, but out in the sun is pretty miserable. I'm not sure I will be able to accomplish anything outside until this evening.

Fahrenheit 101

2010-07-05T20:32:00.000-04:00

I had a pretty productive holiday weekend. We had such nice weather on Thursday and Friday of last week. I spent Friday and Saturday cleaning out the garage. Took a whole load of junk to the dump. I have stuff in the garage that I have salvaged from different jobs, and I saved it thinking I'd put it to use one day, but never have. I finally had to let it a bunch of it go. The good thing is that I can walk through the garage, again. The hard part will be to keep it from getting that way again.

This morning I finally fixed the back wall of the house. I've been putting that off for other projects. I got some siding from Dad a few months back (about the same time I got the gravel), and it was almost enough to cover the back of the new laundry room. I had to pull off some more of the old sheathing because it was rotted out at the bottom. I ran new wiring for the back light and installed the new light. Hung new sheathing, applied the builder's felt, sealed up the window, installed the Harditrim, and started installing the siding. I need to get one more piece to finish, but it's mostly done. I will still need to caulk it and then prime and paint it. Then I can re-install the gutter downspout. Here's a few shots:

I will finally have this mess finished this week. At least the back of the house no longer looks like a shack, and I have finally gotten rid of that pile of siding that has been sitting in the back yard.

It has been pretty darned hot, today. I started the day with the work area in the shade, then in the sun, and then finally back in the shade. It was at least 101 degrees, according to the radio. The rest of the week is supposed to be in the 100s, as well, but there is supposed to be a cold front moving in by the weekend. I guess that means the temps will only be in the 90s.

Happy Father's Day!!!

2010-06-19T22:39:00.000-04:00

Now, for everyone's enjoyment....a Father's Day Extravaganza!!!!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Arachnophobia

2010-05-17T17:38:00.003-04:00

I was eight or nine at the time, maybe a little older, when I suffered my first traumatic arachnid episode. Well, it might have been earlier, as I recall seeing some scenes of Kingdom of the Spiders on TV when I was a kid. That memory of a town entirely covered in spiderweb chills me to this day. My earliest memory of an actual (not televised) encounter was on the way home from school one sunny day. My friends and I were walking down Forest Avenue, returning home from a busy day at Tuckahoe Elementary School, when we decided to stop at the creek near the intersection of Rock Creek Road and Forest. As I walked through the rails of the bridge, I felt this tickling sensation moving up my arm and looked to behold the biggest spider I had ever seen, scampering up my arm in an attempt to GET TO MY NECK ANDSUCK OUTMYBLOODAAAIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Ok. Maybe the spider wasn't really that large. I mean, when you're eight, everything is huge. Size also could have been distorted by my point of reference: looking up my arm at the DEADLY EIGHT LEGGED BEHEMOTH- I mean, spider- crawling straight for my face. I still maintain that it was of a respectable size. It definitely was not a tiny thing.

This memory came back to me in Church, of all places. Heather and I were sitting at the back of the chapel during Sunday School and I notice a small object sort of floating in the middle of the room just above the pews. At first I thought it was an airborne piece of lint, or other dust-like object, until it started to move and then dropped into the pews.  Since this thing was at least eight rows ahead of me, and I could see it quite clearly once it moved behind the sister in the white blouse, I could tell that it was larger than the average spider. This alarmed me. I had never seen a spider in the church, before. Yesterday was the first, and now my last place of refuge has been infiltrated and I can no longer go into the Chapel without first looking up above my head to make sure a spider is not perched, waiting for the perfect moment to strike and GET TO MY NECKANDSUCKOUTMYBLOODAAAIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

I'm not really all that freakish about spiders. I do all right as long as they don't make physical contact. Let's face it- I live in Virginia. There are a lot of spiders, especially in the wooded areas. At scout camp there were some pretty big spiders residing in the woods. In fact, at night you could lie really still and hear them walking around on the outside of the tent. Again, I was ok. I had a mosquito net over my cot that I would tuck under the mattress so nothing could enter my space. There is one particular scout camp spider incident in which I came off looking quite stoic and unflappable, or at least too tired to care.

My friend Sean and I worked on the camp staff at T. Brady Saunders for several summers. The staff had a pretty nice setup. Our tents were bigger than those the weekly scouts were using. We lived in these things all summer. I could stand up and reach up with my hand and just touch the apex of the tent ceiling. They were on platforms up off of the ground.   We had room for our cots, our foot lockers at the end of the cots, a little table between the cots at the head, and even room for a little table at the entrance of the tent.   Quite spacious. Of course, due to the critter factor in the woods we all had mosquito nets over our cots. I had started tucking the net under my mattress at all times ever since a Black Widow had managed to get inside my cot. That unfortunate Widow was dispatched quite quickly with a overly generous amount of Off! repellent. I considered myself fortunate to have only suffered that minor breach of security. Matt Johnson, in the tent next to us, once entered his tent to find a snake curled up on his cot. I'll take the spider.

Instead of the standard military surplus green netting, Sean had opted for a fine white mesh mosquito net. Remember that detail, it will figure prominently in the telling of my tale.

The day came that we returned to our tent for the evening and IT was there, waiting up in the tip of the roof of the tent. A large, furry wood spider about the size of my hand. Sean freaked.   I knocked the sucker off of the ceiling and shooed him out of the tent. I wasn't stepping on that thing. It would've been a mess.   Unfortunately, the little beast was back up on the ceiling when we came back to the tent the next night. Again, I shooed him out of the tent. This went on for several days. Now we get to that fateful night- the night that will forever live in infamy- the Night of the Arachnid!!!

We had completed the spider-shooing ritual and turned in for the night. We worked in the camp kitchen, which was a hot (meaning sweltering) and exhausting job. I took my shower, then rolled up the tent sides to allow more airflow to cool the tent, and then went to sleep. My peaceful slumber was interrupted in the wee hours of morning, when I awoke to Sean hollering. As I shook the fog from my head and tried to figure out what was going on, I saw Sean's flashlight come on and bounce around inside his mosquito net. All I could see was the light, I never saw Sean. He was yelling and practically jumping through his netting. He finally freed himself and took off running into the woods. I waited a few minutes for him to return, and like the loyal and concerned friend that I am, went back to sleep. When I woke again at sunup, Sean was back in his cot, and the spider was gone. I asked Sean what the deal was. He explained that he had woken up in the middle of the night to see the moonlight reflecting off of his white mosquito net, and thought it was a giant spider web and freaked out.   I never saw the spider again. I just figured that after enduring the being tossed out of the tent every night, Sean's episode was the last straw and the spider headed for greener pastures.   A year later I would be in Arizona, a place hotter'n heck and with the highest critter factor of any place I had ever seen.

I was serving as a missionary in the Arizona Phoenix Mission. This place was an alien landscape to me. It was hot, dry, dusty, flat, and was deficient in the foliage department. Every time I got out of the car and stood up I had to hold on to the car till the feeling of falling left me.   I had never been in a place where you could see for miles from ground level. The other missionaries made fun of me because I took so many pictures.   "You don't understand," I'd tell them. "There's nothing out here! Nothing!"   I had never seen so much nothing before. I felt that I had to photographically document the place because I wasn't sure that I could adequately describe it in my letters home. In Virginia, you're lucky if you can see two or three yards down due to the denseness of the woods and brush. One of the things that got me the most was the variety of critters that inhabited the area. There were snakes, lizards, roadrunners, jackrabbits, scorpions (another story in their own right), and of course, spiders. These were not just any spiders, though. They weren't even the Virginia wood spiders. These things were tarantulas.   I remembered them from Kingdom of the Spiders. Fortunately, I didn't have too many run-ins with them. The first time I saw one my jaw dropped. We were driving down the road and I saw one running in the opposite direction. The size stunned me. I couldn't believe they were really that big- and dodging traffic at that! The next time I saw one was when we stopped by a church member's house one afternoon.  As we walked up to the door we heard screaming. The screams would stop, then start again. We were a little worried as we rung the doorbell. The family's teenage daughter and her friend opened the door, looking quite panicked. As it turns out, and as we could see from the front door, there was a really large spider up on the wall near the vaulted ceiling. Every time the thing moved the girls would scream. It was funny, actually. We were unable to enter and vanquish the spider, since the parents were not home and mission rules restrained us from any further assistance. I don't believe I ever heard what became of the thing. I kept expecting to return and find it stuffed and mounted alongside the jackalopes on the wall.

My final big spider memory occurred during the last three months of my mission. We were headed across the plains to a zone conference in Page, Arizona. It was a three hour drive. It had rained the night before, but it was a clear day. I was driving the car, and I remember noticing the shadows of the clouds overhead, as they would cross the road and shade the landscape ahead of us. At one point, what I thought was a shadow turned out to be something else. As we got closer to it the shadow broke up into little dots, then big dots, and then a lot of flying, squished dots as I realized we were driving through a whole herd of tarantulas! There must have been thousands of them! It was really gross. At least none of them managed to hop onto the car and hijack it at the next rest stop.

Since then I have not been exposed to any large arachnids, just the run of the mill little spiders that are easily smashed by a rolled up newspaper. I think it's possible that I have become complacent, and the spiders have sent me a message to remind me that they are there--watching...

I need to talk to the bishop about mosquito netting.

Bark! Arf!! Woof! Woof! Bark! RRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....!!

2010-05-13T22:53:00.000-04:00

It's been a long day. A nice day, but long. Been doing drywall work pretty much all day. Just got home around 10:00. My dogs keep barking. They do that a lot, lately. Have no clue what they're barking at. Probably a mosquito, or something, because I can't see anything. It's getting quite annoying. They'd better watch it. I'm about to donate them to science. Not that science would want them. What could possibly be learned?

You know, we have been receiving a lot of "Field & Stream" magazines at the house. They've all been addressed to Heather. Don't know how that subscription came through. I've been teasing Heather about her new "hobby". Any day now I expect to walk into the living room to find my dogs stuffed and mounted on the wall. If that happens, just know that it won't be my doing. I couldn't even bring myself to dissect the frog in high school biology.

A study of the aerodynamic flight properties of the dogs might be rather amusing, though....

Escape from New York

2010-05-06T11:55:00.003-04:00

This past Christmas Heather's bosses gave the whole family a trip to New York City. They took care of the plane tickets and the hotel, so all we had to worry about was the cabs and any of the sights we wanted to see. I wasn't all that thrilled about the prospect of spending my time in a big city, what with New York being a favorite haunt for terrorists, alien invasions, and Godzilla. Had I known beforehand the wealth of blog material that the Big Apple would present this weekend, I probably would have been much more excited. Well, I struck gold on that count. I might have too much to put into just one blog installment, but we'll see how it goes.

We started our trip by heading to Richmond International Airport. As we were loading the van, we received a call stating that our flight was delayed. We figured we had plenty of time, but wanted to get there early just in case, so we climbed into the van and started off. As we were getting into the van we got another call informing us that our flight had been cancelled! Not what we wanted to hear. Heather would have none of that, so she shifted into Facilitator mode and made a bunch of phone calls. She found another flight that would take us to Philadelphia, where we could connect with a flight to New York. I dropped her and the girls off at the terminal, then ended up parking the van in Economy Lot C, which had to be the furthest lot away from the terminal. I caught the shuttle back to the terminal and met the girls just as they were calling for boarders on our flight. As luck would have it, the ticket desk had printed Emily two boarding passes, and not one for me, so they wouldn't let me through security. Heather had to run back to the ticket desk and have them correct the ticket. We got to the plane just in time.

The flight itself wasn't bad. Only about an hour. We landed in Philadelphia around 7:30pm. We grabbed something to eat. The girls were wired. Emily's doctor just put her on an oral steroid for her allergies, so she was all full of energy, and Amanda was just herself. I wonder if we can get some sort of pediatric tranquilizer for the next time we travel? We caught our connecting flight on a small turboprop plane. It was also a rather pleasant flight. The humming of the engines was kind of soothing.

The flight was only about half an hour, or so, and we arrived at New York's LaGuardia Airport without incident. Since we only had carry-ons, we didn't have to deal with baggage claim.

We caught a ride from the airport to the hotel. Our driver was Danny, a very nice and talkative guy. He was from Africa and had been in New York for 30 years. He pointed out some of the areas as we drove through them and told us about the city. His driving style concerned me, though. I had to trust that his was just the legendary New York City driving and that, although we appeared to be in a constant state of immenent collision, this was actually normal and safe driving for the area.

The hotel was very nice. It was midnight when we finally arrived there. We were pretty wiped out and went to bed pretty quickly.

We woke up a little later than intended on Saturday. The Heather and the girls woke me to wish me a Happy Birthday. I had forgotten that it was my birthday. Since you asked, I just turned 9 for the 4th time. Mom Sandy also called me to wish me a happy birthday.

On that note we left the hotel for our day on the town. We headed for the waterfront for our harbor cruise and visit to the Intrepid Museum. We took the subway to the street we needed, and then walked the four long city blocks to the waterfront. We only walked because we couldn't seem to get a cab. Oddly enough, we didn't see many when we needed them.

The cruise was nice. It was about two hours, and took us along the length of one side of the island and back. We were able to see Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

Once back at the docks, we walked to the next pier where the World War II aircraft carrier Intrepid was berthed. It was a long wait to get inside, and it was a hot day. We finally got in and then waited in line to walk through the Cold War era submarine, the "Growler". It was pretty cool. I walked through a Los Angeles class submarine years ago on a Boy Scout trip, and this sub was pretty small and cramped compared to the newer one. We entered the sub through the cruise missile bays. The sub originally carried two of these missiles, each of which were roughly the size of a Korean war era jet, and looked kindof like one, only without the cockpit. Once we decended down the ladder into the sub proper things got really tight. I was stooped over for most of the tour. Those early sub crews must've been tough- and very, very short. There were bunk beds three and four levels high, stuffed in places not much bigger than my closet. I definitely could not have been a submariner.

We exited the sub and went over to the Intrepid. We started our tour on the flight deck, where most of the aircraft are on display. This is where Will Smith was driving golf balls in "I Am Legend". I was in heaven. I had been aboard the U.S.S. Eisenhower during that same scout trip mentioned before, and this was a much smaller carrier. I had never been aboard a WWII carrier, and we were able to explore most of the areas of the ship.

We climbed the tower into the command and operations bridges and stood where the officers would have watched for the launching and returning aircraft. Below, in the hangar deck, were some more aircraft of the type that the Intrepid had actually carried during her years of service. There were several interactive exhibits for the kids, and some flight simulators. One of the exhibits was a mock up of a ship hull, from the waterline to the top deck, with a large net hanging from the side. Both Emily and Amanda climbed up and hit the button at the top to set off the blue light to show they had reached the top. I didn't think Amanda would climb all the way up, since the thing was probably a good 15 to 20 feet high, but she scrambled right up the thing and then jumped away from the top so the staff could lower her to the floor. I was so proud! Unfortunately, our pictures of the occasion are rather blurry.

We were pretty tired by this point. It was almost 6pm. It took us a while to find a cab to Times Square. We endured another white-knuckled drive through the streets of NYC. Our cabbie was not as talkative as the last. I tried to remain stoic and impassive, but inside I was screaming as we tore through the streets, swerving around cars and running between lanes and around horse carriages and such. Honestly, I don't know why they bother painting lines for the lanes in that city.

Times Square was insane. Giant video screens were all over the sides of the buildings. The crowds were there, but as we would see later, it was not as crowded as it could get. TV just doesn't do it justice. We went over to the Toys R Us store, where I endured a ride on the indoor ferris wheel. I noticed the other Dads who seemed to be wearing the same look I was sure was on my face, as they rode around. The Dads unlucky enough to land in the Barbie and Pretty Pony cars didn't even make eye contact. At least Amanda and I ended up in the Scooby Doo car.

When we left Toys R Us and entered the square, we could smell smoke and the police were putting up barricades and pushing people out of the area. The crowds were pretty intense and they were moving the barricades away and walking through them. Those NYC cops are just like you see them on TV, only tougher. I can see why, now. They were hollering at people to get back behind the barricades, making the ones who had gone through turn around and go back, all the while reminding them that the barricades were there for a reason. We didn't know for sure what was going on. Fire trucks were across the street and traffic was being diverted out of the square. We heard there was a car fire. We were just trying to get across the street to the McDonalds. The push of people was so tight that we were literally pushing shoulder to shoulder, holding onto the kids for dear life just to cross the street. We decided to skip the McDonalds after seeing the crowds. We instead went through the M&M's and Hersheys stores. When we left those stores we could see that the police had cleared even more of the square. Having seen enough, we headed to the hotel. It wasn't until later that I saw on the news that they had evacuated the McDonalds that we decided to skip. They still weren't saying anything about a bomb, at that time. Didn't hear about that until Sunday morning.

From what we could see on the news, and what we saw Saturday night, our cab driver had dropped us off on the corner just down from where a car bomb had been left. We were in the Toys R Us for about an hour, so it had to have been left while we were inside. We walked by that corner again when we left the store, and the Fire Department had blocked the road at that point. From what I've heard we were lucky it didn't explode. With all the people that had been in the Square, it would have been a mess.

Sunday was our last day. We started that out by walking a couple of blocks down the the F.A.O. Schwartz toy store. That was where they filmed the scene with the big piano in the movie "Big". There was a show with the piano, and then afterwards the kids were able to walk on it and play for a little while. We wandered around for a while. Heather and Amanda went through the Barbie area, and Emily and I went another direction.

"This is the best toy store ever!" exclaimed Emily as she danced through the aisles of stuffed animals. "Nuh-uuh!" I cried, skipping gaily after her through the life-sized stuffed bears. "It's the best toy store in the whole history of ever!!! uh -after The Home Depot and Northern Tool and Equipment: 'where warriors prepare for battle'!"

Upon leaving that store we crossed the street into Central Park. The first thing we saw was the huge statue of General William Tecumseh Sherman. The man burned the Shenandoah Valley, so in the interest of politeness there will be no further commentary. We visited the Central Park Zoo. That was ok. It was even more humid than Saturday, and we were still hurting from all the standing and walking from the day before. Really couldn't see a whole lot there. We decided to get a cab and visit the Museum of Natural History.

The cab ride was almost an exact copy of the last. The Museum was pretty cool. Really. It had great air conditioning. It was a little difficult to follow, but the exhibits were really awesome. We stayed until closing time and then caught (gulp!) another cab back to the hotel to pick up our bags. Then it was time for the final cab ride back to the airport.

The flight home was uneventful. All boarding passes were correct, there were no delays, and we were home in bed by 11pm. It's nice to have experienced New York, and I wouldn't mind another visit in the future, but it's nice to be home.

Aussinator - 3; Girlie Men - 0

2010-03-08T11:00:00.003-05:00

You might remember from an earlier post a brief comment about the beheading of one of Amanda's dolls. Yes. Abbey had bitten the head off of the "Prince Aden" doll. The only thing more disturbing than that is that I know the name of the victim. I have never played with dolls. Boys don't do that. We play with "Action Figures". Guys-come on. Given the choice- Ken, or Eagle Eye GI Joe with karate chop action? Or the Steve Austin action figure with bionic arm and bionic vision? I suppose that Ken could have made the cut if they had put him in a flak jacket and helmet- oh! and they would've had to wipe that girlie man look from his face. I believe most of my action figures have long since washed into the James River, to join their cousins Luke, Darth Vader, Chewie and Han. If only I had known then how valuable they'd be today!

Since I've been home more often these past months, I have been subjected to every "Barbie" movie ever made. I haven't watched them, except in passing ( I sit down with a bowl of popcorn and watch every second, is that what you wanted to hear?), however I do hear most of the dialog and music. When the girls are singing the songs, I know the words. When they are watching the movie, I know what scene is coming up just from the dialogue. Most disturbing, I know the characters better than the girls do. In fact, we were sitting at the table one time and the girls were talking about a movie and were mixing up the names of the characters and, in an unthinking moment, I spoke up and gave them the correct names. This earned me a few odd looks. I immediately realized the greatness of my error and went out to the garage to run something through the tablesaw. Didn't build anything, just needed the reassurance.

I tell the girls all the time, "Don't leave your toys on the floor!" Once there, they're in Abby's world and they will be chewed up. Abby has not failed in her mission. So far, I believe that she has mauled many pairs of socks, at least one shoe, and a confirmed 3 Barbie dolls. The first was "Jane Doe Barbie" ( I don't know what her name was- she was never in any movies I was aware of), followed by "Esmarelda Barbie" from Disney's "Hunchback of Notre Dame" (she might not be an actual Barbie doll, but she's close enough), and finally the "Prince Aden-Barbie's Accessory" doll. I actually thought that was too bad, as Prince Aden was probably the most manly of the Barbie men as portrayed in the movies. If I had my pick the "Prince Louie" doll would've bought it. He had to be the most girlie of the girlie-men,Yet his cousin Philippe was rather nasty- given his voice was none other than Tim Curry. He does creepy so well. Just watch Barbie and the Three Musketeers" and you'll know what I mean. Thankfully we don't have the two twin brothers from "Barbie and the Diamond Castle". They were just pathetically annoying. Again, you'd have to witness it to appreciate it.

The Aussinator seems to be intent on eliminating all dolls into which she can sink her teeth. I think she is collecting heads, and possibly stringing them into a macabre collar. I can just see the little Barbie man faces, with their docile smiles staring from their place around Abby's neck. Possibly we will find the heads mounted on pencils lining the path to Abby's lair. To be honest, I don't think Abbey has a lair. The closest thing she has to a lair has to be under my bed. I'll have to check.

Another girlie man down! Love the hair, dude!

Oh come on!!! For real?!!!!!
.

That's when you know you have arrived. One day I'll have my own action figure. You just wait and see. Until then, I must go. "Barbie's Swan Lake" is just starting. Just kidding. I'm headed out to fit a door to a frame. Really. I am out to do some power tool intensive labor.

Meggapalooza 2010

2010-02-22T07:16:00.003-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MEGGIE!

Today Meg hits the twelve year mark. We first got Meg in the pre-digital years, so I don't have any little puppy pictures of her on this computer. I'll have to find some and scan them in. All I could find was the above picture, taken when she was probably a year old, or so, before the long hair kicked in and her head fell into proportion with the rest of her body.

Apparently Meg partied hard in celebration of another year gone by. When we got home she was all tuckered out and laying almost comatose on the floor. Ummm... OK. She always looks like that. But I'm sure she did something to celebrate the day. She got some extra treats from yours truly. It was too late for her to do any snowboarding, as the snow has pretty much passed into oblivion. I did notice all of the girls' "Buddies" movies laying out on the floor around the TV set. As you might know, the "Buddies" are those little Golden Retriever puppies that keep showing up in their own movies. "Air Buddies", "Space Buddies", "Snow Buddies", "Santa Buddies", "Secret Agent Buddies", "Political Activist Buddies", etc., etc. I can't watch them. Why would I? I have two "Buddies" in the house with me now. Granted, they're Australian Shepherds, and don't seem to get along much of the time. More like fightin' friends. Plenty of action, what with Abbey jumping over Meggie. That's their act. Abbey is the daredevil, and Meg is the stageprop.

Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and Girls! Prepare to be amazed! Abby the Aussinator, three time world jump champion, will now leap over Meggie the Napinator! Ohhhh!! A flawless jump! Now, prepare for the thrill of your lives, as Abbey now prepares to make the Flaming Death Jump! Please wait while the stage team sets Meggie to flame...

Ok. Maybe not the best stage show. I'd better make sure Abbey doesn't get hold of any matches. Enough picking on Meg. She's a good girl. If ever you need fuzz therapy, she's there. She doesn't get dirty (at least not since her 6th birthday), she doesn't chew the furniture (outgrew that by her 2nd birthday), and she's quiet, for the most part. She does get excited and barks when Abbey is jumping all over her. And sometimes she just starts barking and gets stuck and needs a little help stopping. Then there's her mood swings, the crabbiness, and the sudden violent attacks on Abbey. We just chalk it all up to Aussheimer's Syndrome, which strikes Australian Shepherds in their later years. So, although you might not remember it tomorrow, Happy Birthday, Meggie!!

Reign of Fire

2010-02-20T01:20:00.007-05:00

Once again I am still awake and kicking at 1:30 in the morning. Night seems to be my best time to get studying done. I get a lot of practice with the AutoCad and Revit software. Cool stuff. I need all the practice I can get right now, especially since Midterms have snuck up on us and start in just another week.

Meg is sleeping just outside the door of this room. I can tell she is in a deep sleep, as she seems to be chasing someone or something. You only see this kind of activity when she is asleep. When she's awake she is much less animated. Dude! Now she's growling and showing some teeth! Still asleep, though. I'll have to make sure not to startle her when I leave. Here's a picture of her from the last snowstorm. That is one miserable little dog, right there. I think she would have loved snow when she was younger, but now she just hates it. Heather informed me that Meg will hit the big 1-2 on Monday.

The Pinchbeck Elementary Second grade classes celebrated Chinese New Year, today. We went to the school for the parade of the dragons. All of the kids made dragon heads to wear out of cardboard boxes. We spent the last week working on Emily's. It turned out all right. Had to modify the box a bit, and I painted the scales on it. Emily cut out all of the details and we glued them on.

They had to hold me back. Dragons breathe fire, so I was all set to hook up a propane tank to this bad boy until I realized that it is, after all, only made of cardboard. Yeah. That would not have worked very well. Not to mention that if Emily is anything like me she would have left a trail of fiery destruction everywhere she went. Visually awesome, but would probably have gotten us both expelled from school.

Some pictures of the parade. This doesn't show all of the kids. It was quite the parade.

Ok. A picture of me from the last snowstorm. I look almost as miserable as Meg. I know you're asking, "Why is Ed shovelling the driveway when the roads aren't even passable?" To which I reply "I needed the exercise." Well, not really. The idea was that I would keep shovelling it as it snowed so that I wouldn't have to work really hard when the snow finally stopped. It did work. During the snow it was much easier to remove two or three inches at a time than the final 14, or so. In fact, when the sun came out on Sunday it all melted off where I had already shovelled, so I didn't need to go out and shovel again. It's all finally melting off, now. Still a lot of it around, but I'm ready for it to go. I love the snow, but only when it first comes down. It's fun, then. Once it gets all slushy and dirty it's no fun, anymore.

I don't know if my yard will every dry out. It's already so soggy it's difficult to walk on. It still has about two or three inches of snow on it, in some places. It's almost time to start planting bulbs for the spring, but I think if I do so the bulbs will end up rotting since the soil won't drain. I may just have to pot them, for now.

Cabin Fever

2010-02-05T19:16:00.017-05:00

It has been quite the week. Last weekend we got 14 inches of snow. That was fun. Here are some of the pictures of the girls sledding down the hill in our back yard.

They had a blast.

Obviously, the new toboggan was a much more thrilling experience than the trash can lids of last year.

Ever vigilant Abby, wishing she could run free. Unfortunately, we have to chain her, given her tendency to jump the fence and run the neighborhood for hours.

Meg in her usual spot. She doesn't like to venture into the snow. Too deep for her, I guess.

Amanda making the first solo run after we packed down the snow. It still needed some more packing. She sank a little and slid right off of the toboggan.

Abby after a hard day of snowplay.

The cedars in the back yard, taken yesterday.

The front sidewalk, after the second shovelling of the weekend. It's a sunny day, today, so whatever fell onto the walk after I shovelled yesterday should melt off.

Now, about the cabin fever part. It's been a long week, since last weekend's snow shut down the schools through Wednesday. Emily got to school on Thursday, although the schools opened two hours late. School was then cancelled on Friday. The dogs, especially, have been taking it hard. They haven't been able to spend as much time outside, so they have been closed in the house. Meg has definitely lost it. We had to shoot her with a tranquilizer dart after she started to chase Abby around the house with an axe. Ok, that didn't really happen, but I couldn't resist "The Shining" reference. The dogs certainly have a lot of pent up energy. Abby has been running around the house and yard with a head in her mouth. I couldn't figure out what she kept playing with, but apparently she beheaded one of the Barbie Prince dolls. Thus perished another girlie man. That's a topic for another day.

Coughing, Sneezing, Stuffy, Achy, blah, blah, blah...

2010-02-03T20:08:00.000-05:00

What a week, so far. It's the first week of February, and we've just finished up another snow storm. It started to snow on us last Saturday, and according to the measuring stick I had in the front yard, we had about 14 inches fall. This was the first snow that we had a real snow toboggan. It worked great. Unfortunately, I was sick. The crud is still with me, but I'm better. Heather has come down with it, now. The schools have been closed for three days, but they should be open tomorrow. My classes started up again tonight. They're talking about more snow this weekend, but I'm not sure that it will come close to what we just had.

Bundle up, everyone!! Stay warm, and steer clear of the yellow snow!!!

Of Dumps, Dentists, and Dogs...

2010-01-24T00:14:00.007-05:00

I managed to get quite a bit done, this last week. Last Monday was a holiday, so I spent most of that day cleaning out and organizing the garage. It's still a little too crowded to actually work in there, but it's better. I eventually want to build a small shed behind the garage to keep the bikes and lawnmower and yard tool in. They take up a lot of floor space in the garage. I've also have several items of BETCO equipment in the garage.

I finally got a truckload of junk that I took to the dump on Saturday. It's nice to be rid of all that. I started to work on the laundry room cabinets that day, as well. It was cold, but sunny and clear. Unfortunately by late afternoon the clouds were rolling in and as it got darker it got a lot colder. I finally had to pack it all up for the weekend. I have the cabinet as it is sitting in the laundry room to make sure that it fit. I still have to add a couple of shelves and the cabinet facing. Then the top and sink will be installed. I still need to start the pantry cabinets that will be installed on the opposite wall.

I've been brainstorming about the setup of the family room. I finally dug out the treadmill, and the girls can't stay off of it. Which is ok, they need the exercise. We're going to paint the wood panelling in the family room. This is just temporary, since a lot of the panelling is not in that great of shape and is popping loose in a lot of places. The ceiling is covered in that infernal popcorn texture, which I absolutely hate. No, a better word would probably be loathe....I loathe popcorn ceilings. I just don't have it in me to do another major renovation for a little while. So we're just going to paint it. I drew up some furniture that I'd like to make for the room. I need to finesse the plans a little bit, but it would be fun to make some. Maybe I'll get them scanned and loaded into the blog.

The girls had a dental appointment, this morning. I'm not sure who suffers more- the girls, the dentist and his assistants, or me. Emily actually did ok, but Amanda ended up being held down for a minute to get her teeth cleaned. Thankfully, there were no cavities. I could seriously consider kiddie tranquilizers, if there is such a thing, for future visits.

I used to have the same problem with one of my dogs when I took him to the vet. This is Lincoln.

The first time we took him to the vet he freaked out. He was barking and whining and fighting when the vet was trying to give him his shots. It took several people to hold him down. Strong little guy. After that the vet wouldn't see Lincoln unless we tranquilized him (the dog) first. He prescribed us some tranquilizers that pacified Lincoln somewhat, but as a result he moved around like the poster child for a police roadside sobriety check. We gave it to him one Fourth of July when we went over a friend's house. The fireworks would usually set him off. He was staggering around, bumping into things, barking with a lisp (Woopth! Woopth!) and picking fights with the other dogs. Of course, he got his butt kicked, but he kept getting up and going back for more. He certainly wasn't the brightest light in the harbor, even when sober. Abbey reminds me of him. He was a runner, a jumper, a digger and a chewer...sounds like a song.

To the tune of Space Cowboy by the Steve Miller Band:

'Cause I'm a runner, I'm a jumper, I'm a digger and I'm a chewer...Get my barks out in the sun...

"What About the R.O.U.S.'s? Rodent's Of Unusual Size? I don't think they exist..."

2010-01-18T21:49:00.008-05:00

Anyone ever seen The Princess Bride? If so, then perhaps you can understand my predicament. I spent most of Monday cleaning out the garage. I discovered that a rodent had eaten most of our inflatable pool. This is a 12 foot diameter pool. It was stored in the garage, and I noticed little shredded blue and white pieces all over the floor under it's storage space. I pulled it out and huge holes had been chewed through it. I knew immediately that the resident rat had done me wrong.

I had seen the little beast a few times before, usually at night when I went into the garage and flipped on the light. I've only seen the tail side of him as he ducked under some cabinets at the back of the garage, but it was enough to know that this was no mouse, or even a small rat. This thing is at least the size of a Chihuahua. Maybe it's a trick of the lighting, but I'm pretty certain that it could take a cat in a karate match.

This has definitely put a damper on my mood. Until now I had hoped that the rodent and I could peacefully coexist. It's not like I wanted to exchange Christmas cards with him, or anything like that, but I would've liked to have gotten another summer's use out of that pool. There's a line you can't cross, and he went and crossed it. Now I have to take him out. This week I'll need to research methods of extermination. I found the following T-shirt online:

I might need to get one of these after the conclusion of this operation.

Epoxyclipse Now

2010-01-16T19:28:00.003-05:00

"Duct Tape is like the Force...It has a light side and a dark side and it binds the universe together."

- Unknown

I don't know who originated the duct tape statement, but it is true. This past Saturday however, I rediscovered a substance that is much stronger and, in this case, more painful than duct tape. Now Dear Reader, sit back with a bowl of popcorn and your favorite non-alcoholic, caffeine free carbonated beverage, and let me tell you of my struggle with Epoxy Adhesive!!!!

I was attempting to re-attach an under-mounted porcelain sink to a granite countertop. I had removed it and cleaned up all of the surfaces and prepared some epoxy to fix it in place. The epoxy was professional strength and had a set time of 5 minutes. Seems like a short enough period of time...except when you're trying to hold it in place with just your hands!

I spread the epoxy on the sink and put it under the sink. I managed to fold myself into the cabinet and push the sink into place. I wore nitrile gloves to keep my hands clean, but that didn't stop the mess from occurring. That had to be the longest five minutes ever. I had to get out from under the cabinet, but the epoxy had not set. I just kept holding it in place until the epoxy had finally set. When I was done, the darned stuff had dripped onto my arms. If you think pulling duct tape off of arm hair hurts, you should try epoxy sometime. But that's not all. I went to adjust my hat, and it was stuck to my hair. Now THAT hurts. I'm pretty sure my roar of agony could be heard all the way in Washington, D.C. I've been able to pull it off and got most of the stuff out of my hair. Fortunately, there is no bald patch where the hair was pulled out. That was some mean stuff. I am happy to report that the sink is now firmly affixed to the countertop.

Epoxy is a wonderful thing. It sets quickly (most of the time) and cures very hard. It does, however, have a very nasty odor. And it gets hot as it sets. You don't want to be touching it or mixing it in a thin bowl or you'll burn your hand. Sitting under that cabinet waiting for the epoxy to set gave me a bit of a headache. Ideally, I would have removed the countertop and taken it outside for the work. Then I could turn the top over and set the sink on top to set, rather than hold it in place. The problem was that it was a granite top that had already been set and the backsplashes glued in place. It would have been a mess to take it out, and the wallpaper would have been trashed. Hence, the human sink brace routine.

Today is a holiday for Heather. I hope to get some work done in the garage. I have been storing a bunch of equipment from Dad's shop, and I need to make a little more room and organize it so I can actually get in and out of there. The weather is going to be a little warmer today, so it should be nice.

Fuji! Sake! Nippon Ichi!!!!

2010-01-10T20:56:00.003-05:00

Happy Belated New Year!! It's been an eventful couple of weeks. We went down to Florida to visit family between Christmas and New Years'. It was pretty cool down there, though not as cold as it has been up here.

I've recently discovered anime on the net. I used to watch this stuff all the time when I was a kid. My favorite was the Macross Series. I've watched some of the other Macross installments that I had never before seen. They were in Japanese with English subtitles, but still good. I get a kick out of watching them in Japanese. It's a cool language. I took one semester of it many years ago, but I don't remember a whole lot. I think I can recall some important phrases, such as "Good Morning", "Hello", "Good Bye", "One more time, please", and "Which way is the bathroom". It's always fun to watch the battle scenes in these shows, because the characters just sound like they could kill their enemies with the pronunciation. I mean, expressions of anger in Japanese sound so much more lethal than they do in English.

Dogfight scenes from "Macross Zero".

I think that some of these cartoons would make great live- action movies, since the plots are so serious. Okay, they always tend to have some hokey parts in which someone is able to bring peace through the power of song, but other than that they're pretty intense. It involves mechanized warfare with giant robotlike war machines, but wouldn't that be awesome on the big screen?

We had a little more snow the other night. I am amazed that some of it is still on the ground. The remnants of Lake Eduard are frozen solid. I can actually walk on the ice. I haven't seen that much ice in years. If the Global Warming situation gets any worse we might all freeze to death. I'm not going down that road. Let's just say that we have about as much chance of controlling climate change as we do of stopping a hurricane or a volcanic eruption. Someone's getting very rich off that little fantasy.

Abbie the Aussie is doing pretty well, amazingly enough. She is no longer in the crate, and we let her sleep in our room at night. So far she has not left any unwanted gifts anywhere in the house. Let's hope our luck holds on that one. She does, however, still like to chew on things. We try to anticipate what might be chewed upon and move it out of her reach. I was trying to get one of those harnesses on her when we went to Florida. She pulls too hard when we take her for walks and we didn't want her passing out. I'm fighting to get this thing over her head and then around her body, all the while she is wriggling all over and biting my hands. It was like an episode of the "Crocodile Hunter" (or more appropriately, The Aussiedile Hunter).

"Ere I am in the rural wilderness of Virginia, hunting the elusive Austrahlian Shepherd. I'm jes' goin' ta sneak in over theyah and slip this hahness over 'er head. Carefully now, I'm---Crikey! Me 'ands!!!!"

Yeah...it was a real experience. Might have a future as a Japanimated series.

Snowflakes

2009-12-17T20:21:00.010-05:00

Friday ended with the start of the big snow. We walked into Wal-Mart and when we came out, it was snowing something fierce. It was already accumulating. I called Heather at her office to tell her to be careful while driving home, and they didn't have a single flake down there. Snowflakes, I mean.

We got home and I went outside to take a couple of pictures. I looked back at the dining room and both dogs were sitting there watching the snow come down. I tried to take a picture, however it came out looking a little ominous. Take a look:

You can barely make out the outlines of the dogs, but those eyes are just glowing between the snowflakes. If I were out alone in the woods at night, the sight of those eyes would just creep me out.

Meg doesn't like the snow very much. I guess it's a little cold for her old bones. Abby, on the other hand, really got into it. She was rolling in it, licking it, burying herself in it. She wouldn't come inside, either.

This is what we woke up to on Saturday morning.

While we spent much of the day inside the house, Abby was trying to scam Emily out of her crackers. Oh, it looked like she was just trying to snuggle, but if you watched closely, you could see the true object of her attention.

Due to the weather, there was no home improvement going on, rather home excavation. I shoveled some snow away from the garage door, uncovered the heat pump, and helped the girls try to get a sled path going. I started out to the driveway to dig out the cars, but took a look and decided we weren't going anywhere today.

I look like a ticked off mafia lawyer on vacation. I knew I gained some weight, but MAN!

Ok. Lot's of time on my hands, this weekend. I was looking through some of my old stuff from Paymentech. I used to write obituaries for people when they left the company. I did find one classic that might be enjoyed by all, since it was for the fax machine. Here it is:

The Death of Lake Eduard (or, Loch Mess)

2009-12-17T06:15:00.007-05:00

This weekend I finally conquered the mess that was Lake Eduard. I had been planning to fill the place with gravel just to end the need for walking the plank I had laid across it in a vain attempt to keep the dogs from getting soaked, but had to put that off when seeing the cost involved. Gravel is only about $16.00 a ton, and I needed at least three tons. Delivery by dump truck was about $90.00, more than the cost of the gravel I needed. I had to wait until I could spare the money to get it. Fortune finally smiled upon me, however, when Dad called me on Thursday afternoon to see if I still needed gravel. He had some on a job that he needed to get off site. I could have it if I went and picked it up. It required time and I'd have to shovel it into the truck, but time and labor I got. Money I don't. So on Friday and Saturday I made a few trips to the site and managed to get six truckloads of gravel before my rapidly aging body went on strike. I later began the attack on the lake. I was able to cover most of it. At day's end on Saturday the lake was no more. As fate would have it rain fell most of the day on Sunday, and the Lake gave one last wet, defiant gasp. The water was only about an inch over the top of the gravel, and once the rain stopped it drained off enough that you couldn't see it. The new pump took care of the rest. It's nice to be able to walk out to the garage without balancing on my makeshift boardwalk. Abby is upset, though. She no longer gets to wallow in the mud and leave interesting patterns of soil on the carpet. The gravel has put an end to all that. It's not pretty, but it's a temporary fix. Hopefully next year I'll be able to find the money to rent a Bobcat or a Backhoe for a day. The back yard needs some serious grading to control the drainage. Ok. I'd come up with any excuse to use heavy equipment, but I really do need it. While doing it all with a shovel and a wheelbarrow would result in a physique that would put the Bowflex models to shame, it would take me forever to get it done. Can you imagine that? Still digging up the yard at my 40th birthday? Totally buff and growing out my hair?

"What is the meaning of Life?"

"To crush your honey-do list, to see it driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the dogs." (It's more impressive if you read that with an Austrian accent.)

The Little Dog Who Cried "Woof!"

2009-12-05T17:29:00.000-05:00

As 2009 nears an end, I take the time to reflect upon the events of the last twelve months. A lot has happened since New Years' Day, 2009. We completed our kitchen renovation, and a lovely kitchen it is. We no longer enjoy the "convenience" of preparing dinner and cleaning the dryer lint filter at the same time, but it was a sacrifice we were willing to make. The bathroom also received a bit of a facelift, with new paint, vanity, mirror, and tile floor. The laundry room is completed, although I still need to build and install the cabinets. I had knee surgery, started going back to school, entered the ranks of the unemployed, became a Mr. Mom (which is a job, less the paycheck), and several other events I am certain to remember when I am more fully awake.

Of all the things that have happened this year, the one thing that has made the most impact on my life is Abigail M. Aussie. For those of you in the know, Abby is our miniature Australian Shepherd. I wanted to name her Fizzgig, after the character in Jim Henson's "The Dark Crystal". I was overruled by the rest of the family so now we have Abigail. She's a cute little dog, very sweet for about 80% of the time, but occasionally she show's her other side. The side that likes to chew on everything. The side that harbors some deep resentment-dare I say, hatred- of carpet. Or maybe I'm wrong and it's actually a love of carpet that drives her to defile it every so often. Maybe it's just her way of adding to the decor.

The one thing that sticks out in my mind is that bark. I am not a fan of canine opera. It just doesn't bring out the best in me. For most of this past year I have not bothered to turn on my alarm clock. Abby always starts barking around 5:30am every morning. Sometimes it's a little later, sometimes earlier if someone makes a little noise and she thinks someone is awake to let her loose. I have to admit that lately I've become a little immune to the bark, but it still wakes me at some point in the morning. I don't know how long she has been barking this morning, but I didn't bother to get out of bed until 6:30. Most mornings I wake, but refuse to get out of bed. This has allowed me some opportunity to wonder if there is some sort of message in the bark, one with a deeper meaning than "Hey guys! Let me out! I gotta pee!"

It may just be the fog of sleep, but I have noticed a pattern to the bark. It never changes. Three sharp barks, followed by one, two, or three barks equally spaced. It sounds like Morse Code. I try to remember my code from Boy Scouts, but it's fuzzy. If I apply the code, the first three barks are the letter "S". The next three are where it gets fuzzy. One would be the letter "E", two the letter "M", and three the letter "O". These barks are repeated in sequence over and over again. It's the same every morning. I can't decide if she's sending out an "SOS", or barking "SEM" every morning. I know what "SOS" means, if the code is to be applied, but what the heck is "SEM"? Is it a word that means something to canines? Is it an acronym for some phrase in dog? It is possible she is saying "SO" over and over again. I haven't figured that out. I may actually figure it out in time, if I don't lose my mind, first. I think I may need to look for clues to the meaning of the bark in some old "Lassie" episodes. Maybe she's been trying to tell us that someone has fallen down a well.

First Snow!!!!

2009-12-05T17:15:00.003-05:00

It has been raining all day long. It has rained a lot, lately. On average it seems to have rained every other day for the last week. Makes the yard pretty soggy. Today however, we got some snow. Not much, just a flurry for a couple of hours. It won't accumlate, since the ground is still too warm and soggy, but it's cool to see. We might have a good snow when winter really gets here, in January or February. I tried to get some pictures of the snow, but it didn't show up on the film.

Anyway, here are the latest pictures of the laundry room. I just need to build the cabinets, now.

Some Progress...

2009-11-20T12:59:00.002-05:00

Finally have all of the drywall up in the laundry room. So far, we have all of the plumbing completed, the tile is down, and the drywall has been taped and heavy coated. It isn't drying very quickly, though. It's a little cold in there. I have run a new heating vent into the room, but it hasn't been cold enough for the heater to kick in. I've got a fan on it, right now. I even cranked up the heat for a while until I couldn't stand it, anymore. Hopefully, the heavy coat will dry enough for a skim coat this evening. I was hoping to paint the room this weekend.

After all that is done I'll start on building the cabinets. That will be more fun, since it involves a table saw and routers.

I'm going to Jail!!!

2009-10-02T12:13:00.005-04:00

Ok. I haven't written in a while. Haven't had all that much inspiration. Until today. I was just at the computer minding my own business when the breaking news came up on the television in the living room. I can see the TV from the computer, so I glanced over as they announced an arrest in the extortion case in which David Letterman is the victim. Imagine my surprise when I saw myself on TV!! At least it looked like me from across the room.

Just to re-assure my family, I am not an extortionist. If I needed money that badly I'd take on something a little more respectable, like politics. Apparently doesn't take much, anymore. Just kidding. I'd never submit the country to my wierdness. Just so you understand my brief confusion, here are a couple of pictures for you to consider.

The resemblance is uncanny. I do believe, however, that the guy in the first picture has more gray than I do. Don't know about how much hair he has, as we seem to share the same need to cover the tops of our heads. Anyway, everyone, don't worry. I'm not going to jail. Desperation did not drive me to attempt to extort money from a nationally known television personality. Besides, I'm too busy working on the 2012 Presidential campaign. Vice-project manager Abby has thrown her bark into the running for that election. I think she'd make a great candidate.

Finished pictures!!!

2009-09-08T18:31:00.005-04:00

I am not sure if finished pictures were ever posted. Here are a few. We are loving the kitchen and so grateful it is done!!! A few of the bathroom also, still needs a bit of trim work but nothing major.

Kitchen Duty

2009-07-29T11:20:00.005-04:00

I finally installed the tile backsplash in the kitchen, this past July 4th weekend. It wasn't too hard to do. Looks great, though. I have completed the wiring of the countertop electrical outlets, as well. It has all been grouted and sealed, and the outlets have stainless steel covers to match the appliances. I still need to install the windowsill and backsplash. There is also about 10 feet of base trim and shoe I need to install. I tore up my knee, so now I can't kneel or crawl on the floor, so the base will have to wait. I'm going for a followup with the doctor tomorrow, but it looks like I will need surgery on the knee. Yipee. I need to break out the "Six Million Dollar Man" soundtrack, again. I'm trying to get the doc to throw in the bionic leg upgrade with the surgery.

Procrastinor XIVII: No More Excuses

2009-06-24T20:00:00.003-04:00

I know. I haven't been writing for a while. I just haven't had much to report. I finished the bathroom and then I just couldn't motivate for the laundry room. If only I had the energy, charisma and power of the guy below:

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Chuck Fu

2009-05-04T20:34:00.007-04:00

O.K. So I was watching "Return of the Dragon" this weekend.

I find Chinese martial arts movies amusing. The climax of the movie is when Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee face off. Chuck is the only bad guy in the movie who actually gets in a few punches on the Bruce. It was rather funny to see Chuck without the facial hair and sideburns. I must say that it pained me, however, when Bruce pulled a handful of Chuck's chest hairs out during the fight. Ouch!! Who on earth thought to write that part into the movie? Hence, this awesome cartoon I found paying homage to that immortal scene...

I guess they forgot that Chuck didn't have facial hair in that one, but funny, nonetheless. This is also the only time I have ever seen Chuck get the snot beat out of him. I didn't think that was allowed in movie making. Anyway, I have no justification for watching this movie instead of working on the house, but I feel compelled to share the following Chuck Fact.

Until next time....

In Search of the Laundry Room

2009-04-17T15:47:00.007-04:00

Today I started working (really working) on the laundry room. I began running the water lines to their final positions. I have the window installed. It needs a little tweaking before I fasten it permanently. I had started running the water lines (all CPVC and CPVC cement) and started to feel a little wierd. In a moment of clarity I decided that I needed to go ahead and install the window to facilitate better ventilation. That helped a lot.

This is the laundry room as it has looked for the past 4 months, or so. Below is the laundry room pretty much as it looks right now. What is not in the picture is the framed in chase above the window. The chase will hide the plumbing, and I'll be able to put cut off valves in for the water lines. It also solves the issue of the waste vents, since it will enable me to run the vent to the roof without drilling any large holes in the top plate of the wall.

The washer and dryer will be stacked in the right corner of the room, and the rest of that wall will be counter space, a sink and some cabinets. I didn't get as far on the plumbing as I wanted. I ran out of CPVC, and had to go pick up some more. It was 9pm before I knew it. I try to not do any noisy stuff after 9pm so my family and the neighbors can sleep. I hope to have all of the plumbing completed tomorrow. I'd like to hang drywall tomorrow, but that will depend on how quickly I can get all of my other chores done.

The Next Project

2009-04-16T18:26:00.002-04:00

Now that the kitchen and bathroom are mostly done (just a few finishing touches left), it's time to turn my powers to the laundry room. I finally got the new dryer hooked up, and figured out how to get that base kit off of the washing machine. Kathryn, I have the washing machine base ready if you still want it, and Jessica, the old dryer and microwave are ready for you if you still want them. I can bring them over this weekend.

Got a lot to do to finish this room. Still not as bad as the kitchen, but better than the bathroom. I need to run the plumbing to it's final spot for the sink and the washing machine, tie in a HVAC duct, insulate and hang drywall, install a new window, run a vent through the roof for the plumbing, lay tile, and install cabinets. I already have all of the material to complete the job. The tile and drywall have been in the living room for the last several months. The material for the little plumbing I have left is out in the garage. I am using some of the better cabinets from the old kitchen and will be repainting them white. I have a countertop salvaged from work when we got new workspaces for the office. I will need to build the rest of the shelves from furniture grade plywood I managed to get on clearance almost two years ago. I had originally bought the plywood to build the cabinets for Heather's scrapbook room. The only thing I may have to still get is the paint for the walls.

I don't have any pictures to show what we plan for the laundry room to look like, but maybe I can scan in my sketches, if I can ever find that missing cable for the scanner.

This will be Abbey's first run as an assistant project manager. Hopefully, those two will go easy on me. After this project, I may be able to turn some attention to the garage.

Oh Crap!!!!

2009-04-15T06:19:00.004-04:00

Abigail. Abbey. The "A-Factor". Maybe I should add "Stinky" to the list of names. We're still working on her housebreaking. I thought that the reason crate training was supposed to be so great was because dogs won't defile the place where they sleep. Apparently Abbey doesn't know that law. As I let her out of the crate this morning (she launches out like a photon torpedo- complete with the sound) I had to fight to keep from succombing to the stench. I know, this is gross. Just let me vent, Ok?

Anyway, have you ever seen Daddy Day Care? Remember the part where the kid comes out of the bathroom and Eddie Murphy peeks in the door and is horrified by the carnage all over the floors, walls and ceiling? Just paste my face on that scene. That was Abbey's crate. Maybe I should call her Crappigail, or the Crappinator. I know, she's just a puppy, and can't hold it all night, yet. I just don't remember Meg being that difficult.

The dogs, by the way, have been eating a new dog food for the last couple of weeks. Blue Buffalo is apparently a miracle food. The dogs love it. They messily devour it as soon as I set it on the floor. They seem happier. Their fur is softer. They are more energetic. Very, very energetic. And it goes through Abbey like, well, you know.

So, I will welcome any housebreaking advice so this little dog can be unleashed upon the house. If you come to visit, bring your own clothespin.

The Current Bathroom Shots

2009-04-14T20:02:00.007-04:00

I finally downloaded my camera. Here are some better shots of the nearly complete bathroom. Again, it's hard to get a good angle since it's so small.

Here's the new tile floor once I had finished. Ignore the salmon tub. It's just not in the budget to reglaze it this year.

The toilet and vanity installed.

The vanity and new mirror installed. We got rid of the in wall medicine cabinet and covered up the hole.

"Abbs" and the "M-Factor", happy to be putting their paws on the newly shampooed carpet, the little twerps.

Just have to install a new box for the outlet, since the old one was a plastic remodel box and isn't holding the mounting screws, and a couple pieces of baseboard. I was working on that on Saturday, before it started to rain.

Et tu Chuck?

2009-04-14T14:35:00.002-04:00

I'm a little bummed. I found a Chuck Norris Random Fact generator and added it to my site. Yes. I'm a Chuck fan. "The square root of Chuck Norris is Pain. If you try to square Chuck Norris, the result is death." Unfortunately, it seems that some rather foul language started to show up. So, I had to ban the CNRG. Too bad. Some of them are pretty funny. Don't know why some have to throw in the language.

"If you can't see Chuck Norris, he can see you. If you can see Chuck, you are only seconds from death."

Oh well.

The Phantom Menace

2009-04-12T19:01:00.000-04:00

The bathroom side of the Megginator Tunnel has officially been closed. The bathroom turned out to be more work than I planned. I had cut a hole in the drywall to put in blocking to support the accessories and found a lower form of life lurking within. I pulled out some more of the wall and it was covered in mold. I ended up pulling out about half of the drywall and treating the framing for mold. Good thing drywall is only 6.95 a sheet. I wasn't planning on that expense. It's all back up, now. I don't have any really good pictures, since the room is really small and it's hard to get a good shot.

The recent rain has given new life to Loch Mess. I just can't seem to get rid of that thing. I ran the pump for most of the day, yesterday. During the last big rain I was just watching the water run from the neighbor's yard, across the driveway and into the Loch. Every once in a while one can spot the elusive beast that inhabits the Loch- wait a minute... that's just Meg. False alarm. I didn't know she was such a graceful swimmer.

The bathroom is pretty much done. There are a few details to work on, like some caulking and some spots on the wall that will need to be patched, but it is otherwise complete. I think that further down the road I will need to pull off that fiberglass tub surround and tile the whole tub area.

That will not be happening this year.

Episode 24: Endgame

2009-03-15T18:28:00.007-04:00

The last of the appliances has been installed, and the kitchen is now almost fully functional. The only functional item missing is the wiring of the countertop outlets. We still have to install the tile backsplash, and some baseboard and trim, but it's about done. Oh yeah, we still need to do under the cabinet lighting, but that isn't urgent. Just in case you don't want to browse through the last 23 episodes to see the beginning of the kitchen, I have included the before and after shots. I like the new kitchen much better.
Before.

Also Before.

The final before...

And After!

We love the kitchen. It caused a great deal of pain and grief for a while, but it's done and much more functional than before. And I don't have any leaking plumbing. There will be a tile backsplash on the wall above the countertop, and the countertop outlets are not yet wired. We are able to use all of the appliances, however, so the reign of microwave cuisine has officially ended.

Stay tuned for the next terrifying volume of this series: "Flushed Away", the bathroom renovation. Fortunately, it is nowhere near as daunting as the kitchen was.

Episode 23: C is for Cookie.....That's Good Enough for Me....

2009-03-11T19:57:00.005-04:00

C is for cookie, and Cookie starts with C.

Cookie Time has arrived!!! Look at them! Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?!!! Oh, it brings tears of joy to my eyes.

Ok, the picture doesn't do them justice. So you'll just have to imagine the what the warm, gooey, chocolatey, homebaked goodness must be like up close. This is the culmination of all I have worked for. Now Heather loves her kitchen and is baking again. Excuse me. I'm headed back for another.

Episode 22: The New Dogwasher

2009-03-10T20:22:00.004-04:00

We installed a new Dogwasher in the new kitchen. The original intent was to put in a dishwasher, but we love our dogs so much we put in a fancy new dogwasher. It's just like a jacuzzi for dogs.

At least that's what Meg told Abby...

Episode 21: @#%&*!!!!!

2009-03-07T22:16:00.000-05:00

This weekend I attempted to complete the kitchen. I was having all sorts of trouble with the water connections and the dishwasher. After much nagging from Project Manager Meggie and Project Manager in Training Abby, I finally have the sink and the dishwasher running. I am still having trouble with the water filter, though. For some reason the connector that was provided with the filter leaks terribly. I have removed and reattached it several times, with the same result. I can't figure it out. I had to step away from it for the day, or it might be found scattered in little pieces along the length of Camrose Road. All that is left besides that is mounting the microwave.

I have to introduce the newest member of the clan, Abigail the Aussie. She's another little Australian Shepherd like Meggie. Meggie has been showing Abby who's boss, as well as teaching her the ins and outs of Project Management. Here's a shot of them hard at work, as usual.

Abby seems to have no trouble learning the ropes.

Episode 20: Topping it all off...

2009-02-27T16:30:00.000-05:00

The countertops are in!!! Finally! Except for a few finishing touches, the kitchen is complete. I have to wait 24 hours before I can install the water hookups and drains. The kitchen should be functional before the weekend is out.

Cookie Time is at hand.

Project Manager Meggie was moody and decided to tear into a bag of Hershey's Kisses. Another thing that should not be given to canines- chocolate. Fortunately, I banished her to the back yard before she had another opportunity to defile the carpet. She can't claim hunger. She didn't even eat all of her food. Then again, I wouldn't eat her food, either. I can see where simple chocolate would trump the meat and gravy flavored goodness that is Pedigree Small and Crunchy Bites. Who decides that dogs love this stuff, anyway? I don't think they're that picky about what they eat. As far as Meg is concerned, if it's on the floor it's in her world and it's gonna get snarfed, no matter what it is. Seriously. I won't describe some of her past....I can't even call them meals. They don't even qualify as snacks, or tidbits. I don't know what to call them other than disgusting. Ok. That's enough of that.

Episode 19: The End is Near

2009-02-20T16:21:00.007-05:00

Today the kitchen looks nothing like it did this time last Friday. The cabinet installation is complete. The countertops should be installed next Friday. We are so close to having a functional kitchen once again. Here are the pictures so far.

Just a couple taken during the installation.

And finally, the kitchen as it appears at this moment.

This weekend I'll try to have all of the appliances connected and set, then I get to move on to the spinoff series, "Extreme Laundry Room Makeover".

Episode 18: Now in Technicolor!!!

2009-02-15T18:28:00.000-05:00

Oh, Happy Day! Well, maybe Great day, or something. I have finally finished the kitchen to the point that it is ready for the cabinet installation. After several days of forced labor inflicted upon me by Project Manager Meggie, I can take a breather. I was starting to think that I wouldn't live to see the day. Here are the new pictures.

The kitchen after the primer has been applied.

After all of the cutting in has been done.

And finally, after two coats of paint and cleanup.

The cabinet installers will be here around 8:30 tomorrow morning to install the cabinets. After that it will be about 2 weeks until the countertop is ready and installed. At that point the tile backspash will be installed and I can finish attaching all of the outlets and trimwork. I forgot to mention, the new appliances arrived yesterday morning. It won't be long, now. Then I can move on to the other projects to make the first floor of the house fully functional once again.

Episode 17: Kitchen in view! Oh! The Joy!!!

2009-02-13T19:03:00.000-05:00

I spent last night working on the kitchen walls and ceiling. I finally completed the hanging of the drywall, and then proceeded to tape and heavy-coat the joints. It was 2:30am by the time I stopped. I took the day off from work today to complete the kitchen. Yes, it was a planned day off. The cabinets will be installed on Monday. Today they were delivered to our house and are currently taking up space in the living room. The appliances will be delivered tomorrow.

The kitchen after the joints have been taped and heavy-coated.

The cabinets in the living room.

Meg taking a breath after all of that heavy lifting.

I am still shooting to have the kitchen painted by tomorrow night. Heather is off from work on Monday, so she will be here to supervise the cabinet installation. It's finally coming together. I can't wait for this to be completed. Then I can start on finishing the laundry room, the bathroom, and the family room. Some day I will return to my garage, but I don't count on doing so any time soon.

Episode 16: The Piddler on the Woof

2009-02-08T15:00:00.000-05:00

After a rough couple of days, the roaming experiment has worked out quite well. After the tunnel incident, we attempted to let Meg roam free, again. Things went well for the first couple of days, until her evil twin appeared. For those of you who don't know Meg's evil twin is known as "Piddler", and for good reason. Let's just say that Piddler marked her territory quite well. The SpotBot was put to maximum use for the first time in quite a while. We had to start putting Meg in the upstairs bathroom. We tried letting her out again, and she seems to have been willing to do anything to regain her freedom. We closed up all of the bedroom doors, so she only has access to the living room and the kitchen. Piddler has not left her mark in at least a week. Hopefully that is the last we will see of Meg's alter-ego.

We finally stripped up the last of the 4 layers of linoleum that infested the kitchen floor. I hate linoleum. My wonderful wife went to Home Depot and rented a linoleum stripper. It worked like a dream. Wish we had found it sooner.

The plumbing and electrical work is complete, with the exception of the installation of the fixtures. That will have to wait until the drywall work has been completed. I started hanging drywall, but ran out of time before the tile floor went down. I won't be able to work on that floor until Wednesday. We have to mop it down with bleach water a couple of times, and then on Monday we can seal the floor. Then we have to wait 72 hours before I can start doing work on it.

Here are some views of the floor.

The cabinets are supposed to go up on February 16th, but with this holdup I don't know if I'll be able to get the walls completed in time. I usually need three days for finishing the drywall, since I can only get in a few hours after work, each day. Painting will be quick. I can prime and paint on Saturday if I can get the finishing done. It all depends on how quickly stuff dries. Not being able to do anything over the floor for a few days definitely throws off my timeline. I'll have to work on the laundry room while I'm waiting. When the floor is ready, I'll need to cover the whole thing in plastic while I work on the finishing and painting. I don't want to have to push back the cabinets, but I just might have to. The new appliances are also scheduled for next Saturday, the 14th. We are so close!

Episode 15: Thus Spracht the Megginator

2009-01-22T20:38:00.005-05:00

How many days had it been? She was not sure, one, two, three...it didn't matter. In her world just one day was months. She had been happy in her home, but then she was dragged from it's familiar confines and taken to an alien domicile. Oh, the patrons were friendly enough- playing with her and giving her treats and pats on the head, but that did nothing to lessen the rage that was building inside her. The Masters had left her for the weekend, and now they had returned and carried on with life as though nothing had happened. Somewhere in her minuscule brain a spark of a plan had formed, growing in it's diabolical complexity until it had reached fruition, and the time for it's execution was at hand. Soon, the Masters would be leaving for the day, and then they would know the fullness of her wrath. Oh yes, they would pay...and pay dearly. Ha Ha Ha Ha Haaaaaaaa!!!!!!

Today I was greeted at the front door by Meg. To some of you that doesn't seem all that unusual, but for me that greeting could only be met with apprehension. You see, Meg is not allowed to roam the house when we are not home. We have tried that in the past. It only led to tears. I was surprised to find that the bathroom door was still closed, so how was it that she was able to get out? Please turn your attention to Exhibit A.

What you see appears to be a certain Australian Shepherd escaping through what? A hole in the wall between the kitchen and the bathroom?!!! Why the heck is there a hole where there should be drywall? Was Ed that sloppy? I say unto you: Nay. Behold, this calamity was wrought upon me by none other than....Project Manager Meggie herself!!!! Yes! The dog busted a hole through the wall and got loose into the house! How could this have happened?

A little background...

You might recall a comment I made on the last post that mentioned how Meg had managed to turn on the water in the bathroom and get soaked. She was sneezing for days, and not just any sneeze. These were the kind of sneezes that made you want to call for an exorcist. A few weeks ago I had to bust out part of the bathroom floor to replace the toilet drain. This left a small hole under the wall into the kitchen. Meg figured out that if she tucked in her ears really tight and sucked in her gut she could just squeeze under the wall, past the plumbing, and into the kitchen. Since that time concrete has been poured back into that hole and any passage to the kitchen was blocked. The Megginator, however, did not realize this. Hence the water issue. Having tasted freedom, she has continued to try to dig her way out of the bathroom. She has learned that concrete is a lot tougher than gravel. She has also learned that if she tries too hard she might accidentally turn on the water valve for the toilet and end up spending an undetermined amount of time taking a cold shower. Drywall has proven to be a much softer target. I can only imagine the sight of her clawing and beating her head against the wall until it finally gave out, exploding and raining debris into the kitchen. Then, through the dust, the silhouette of the Megginator, glowing eyes and all, slowly stepping out of the haze. She surveys her work and then with a triumphant howl announces that her revenge is complete!!!

Oh yeah, the revenge part. We went to Michigan for my grandfather's birthday this weekend. We left Meg with my Mom, where apparently she did quite well. She seems determined to make us pay for leaving her, though. She did escape through the newly christened Nutmeg Tunnel, and then found a box of granola bars to devour. Just so you know, dogs should never have granola. I will not detail why this is so. Just know that nothing good can ever come of the pairing of canines and high fiber. Nothing!!!

Episode 14: Ed To the Lake: I Will Crush You...or squish you, or whatever...

2009-01-08T16:21:00.007-05:00

We had a couple of rainy days, this week. Lake Eduard has made an attempt to re-establish it's dominance over the landscape of my backyard- a land I call... Desolation. I banished the lake when I got home from work yesterday afternoon, however Mother Nature decided to lend Lake E. a hand and dumped some more rain on us. As I returned home today, under the brilliant light of a bright and sunny day, I was greeted once again by many waters, which I have to admit were crystal clear and would have been quite beautiful if not surrounded by a half-demolished patio and two rather large piles of wet dirt. As pleasant as it appeared, the pump was sent into action and the waters were once again parted.

Just ignore the wheelbarrow and the overturned Christmas tree. I have framed in and re-sheathed the back wall of the laundry room. No more doorway! I will be installing new siding to that entire section once the window has been installed. The plumbing you see will be covered up when I pour new concrete into the foundation and then the new patio will be laid over the rest, after some gravel and sand have been applied.

Here is the inside of the new laundry room, minus the old doorway. It is in it's temporary setup, right now. Behind the washer is the frame for the new window. I'll cut that out when the window is ready to be installed.

I have also re-poured the concrete in the kitchen, so there is a floor in there once again. I haven't taken a picture of that, yet. I will probably do that tomorrow once I have the plumbing completed in there.

Episode 13: Ahh... Lucky Thirteen

2009-01-05T19:53:00.002-05:00

I was working in an old hotel downtown and they skip the 13th floor. The floors jump from 12 to 14. Since I do not wish to jinx myself, I shall also skip the 13th Chapter. This little blurb is just for continuity.

Episode 12: C-C-C-Collld-d-d-d!!!

2009-01-03T06:55:00.001-05:00

New Year's Eve I worked outside all day in the wind. It was cold! I wasn't able to get warm again until I got in bed that night. The New Year began Thursday morning as I entered the cavern that was my kitchen, and I felt somewhat like Luke Skywalker as he awoke in the cave of the snow beast. I could actually see my breath in the kitchen! Fortunately, unlike poor Luke, I was not hanging upside down with my feet frozen to the ceiling. Luke, however, did possess the Force to aid him in his dilema. I, unfortunately, do not possess the Force.

The worst part of the job is over. The drain lines have all been tied in to the existing plumbing. I spent Friday running the drain line to the laundry room and then framing and re-sheathing the wall. I didn't take pictures of the work on the wall, as it had started to snow, and then turned to rain. I'm not sure why the original construction poured the concrete pad up to the height of the wall's base plate, but when the installers of that concrete abomination that was the patio raised it up that extra 4 inches, it allowed water to run under the wall. I don't know how long it has been like that, but the base plate was disintegrated. What I thought was dirt was actually what was left of the wood. Once I had pulled off the rotted sheathing and the old door frame, the wall was just hanging there. I had to frame in the doorway to accept a window, anchor the framing to the concrete with the Ramset, and reinforce the wall. Once I had installed the new sheathing the wall was pretty solid. I then turned my attention to the old exhaust fan in the kitchen. I had cut the power to it a couple of weeks ago. I pulled that out of the wall, which left a 27 x 27 hole. I framed that in and applied sheathing and building felt to the outside. I will have to patch the exterior brick wall at a later time. Dad plans on removing the back steps to his house and putting in a deck. The bricks on the steps closely match the ones on my house, so I'll be grabbing those to patch the brick veneer.

I put new insulation in some of the walls. That helps with the draft quite a bit. I'm not putting all of it in until I have all of the electrical and water lines run and sure that nothing is leaking.

Episode 11: Trench Warfare- Part Deaux

2008-12-29T21:04:00.000-05:00

Lake Eduard is no more. This past weekend I pumped the water out and then dug a trench for the plumbing before the water could come back. All of the dirt from the trench was deposited in the void that was the lake. Now, there is no lake.

I cut the hole through the footer for the drain line to the laundry room. I got the new PVC connections tied into the main waste line. I still have some more lines to run, but the worst part is over. I am going to have to break up part of the bathroom floor, after all. The toilet tied into the main line where I originally thought it did, so that means moving up the bathroom renovation. I didn't really want to do that, yet, but until I do the drains to that bathroom are not connected.

I've got another 4 day weekend coming, so I plan on getting a lot of items crossed off my list. I really want to be starting on the drywall next week. I hope to be pouring concrete on Thursday. We'll see. It'll be another working weekend.

Episode 10: Let There Be Light!

2008-12-20T23:08:00.007-05:00

Busy day for me. I've probably made more progress today than I have in the past couple of weeks. I gave up on trying to get the plumbing done anytime soon. Lake Eduard is still at respectable levels, although it is now sporting a canal that helps to drain some of the water off. I decided to work around it for now and run the electrical to the laundry room. Hopefully by the time that is done I'll be able to get that waste line run. I spent the day crawling through the attic and pulling wire. I wired the light and switch to the laundry room, as well as the new dryer and washing machine outlets. Then I installed the new breakers and tied in the lines. I am pleased to say that the light in the laundry room works, as do the outlets. I followed that up by running a new line to tie into the family room. All of these rooms were originally wired on the same circuit. I had a pretty scary mess to work with in the old electrical box. I started by pulling out all of the wires that were not connected to anything. Then I pulled out the lines that were running to fixtures that would be moving, or just removed altogether. That cleaned things up quite a bit. I just have to run new lines to the upstairs bedrooms, and then I can wire the kitchen. I have not really added new lines to the panel, since I removed some in the demo. I feel better, though, knowing that now we have some new wiring that has been correctly wired. There was some scary stuff in that electrical box, even more than I originally thought.

Here are some of the first views of the new laundry room.

This view is looking in from the family room towards the back of the house. The plywood is covering the old doorway into the former storage closet. The plumbing will be run up into this space, and a small sink will be installed. There will be a window put in as well as some base cabinets and counter top space. I will be replacing the exterior sheathing, since it has rotted at the bottom. The patio had been raised up so high with all of the concrete that water was able to get up into the siding. Since the patio has been busted out (half of it, anyway) the water is no longer getting that high. We will be buying the front load dryer to match our washing machine so we can stack the two units to save space.

Another view from the family room doorway. It looks like a decent space, now, but once cabinets start going it it will fill up quite quickly. The brown line on the floor is where the original wall stood. We will be tiling the floor.

This is a view from the old doorway. Not much to see, here.

OK. So that is my report for today. For this coming week I hope to have most of the electrical work completed, and if I'm lucky, I'll be able to work on the plumbing next weekend. I want this kitchen finished! As helpful as Meggie is, she'd be more help if she'd actually do some work...like digging the ditch for the plumbing. Oh, great. There she goes with the glowing eye weirdness, again. I'll leave you with that image. Excuse me...I am having trouble ordering my thoughts for some reason...

I don't need the dog to dig a ditch...These aren't the droids we are looking for...She can go about her business....

Episode 9: Blame It on the Rain (or; Who Will Stop the Rain?

2008-12-11T19:58:00.015-05:00

I am having a tough time deciding on the soundtrack for this episode. "Blame it on the Rain", by Millie Vanilli came to mind , followed closely by "Who Will Stop the Rain" (Asia), and "Here Comes the Rain Again" (Eurythmics) in third. I had pumped the water out of Lake Eduard on Tuesday evening, but the Rain struck again the next evening. It rained all day today. The lake (soon to be re-christened "Loch Mess") quickly overcame it's shores and engulfed several small towns. When I opened the door this morning, Project Manager Meggie leapt from the door, but soon realized the greatness of her error. She then leapt back into the house, having executed a flawless Scooby-Doo scramble across the surface of the water, barely getting her paws wet (Meggie-Meggie-Roooooo!!).

These are the views that greeted me when I got home from work. The pictures just don't do it justice. Needless to say, I didn't get much done, this afternoon. I couldn't even get out the back door without the use of a floatation device. No, I have not bought any more bubble gum.

That depression you see in the upper right hand of the picture is where a pool was once located. That is full of water, as well. Below you can see one of my walk boards floating in the water. It's about 10 inches deep in the center of the lake. There was a lot of concrete down there.

I have spent much of the evening revisting the meditation pond plan. Some koi, a few waterlillies, and a fountain...It could be a right relaxing little spot. The good news is that when the rain stops, I have a pump ready. The other night I dug out a pit in the lake and sunk a bucket to use as a sump well. It worked great the first time, so as soon as it clears up I'll be able to pump out the water-- again.

This should be the end of any water restrictions in the area.

Episode 8: Trench Warfare

2008-12-06T19:56:00.000-05:00

As I dug up more of the kitchen (yes, the kitchen) floor yesterday afternoon, it dawned on me that this is no longer a mere kitchen renovation. This has gone beyond simple paint and replacement cabinets. This has evolved into something more dramatic and sinister.

This is war.

I wanted to just put everything back where it was and give up, but Project Manager Meggie would hear nothing of the sort. So, under her slave-driving guidance I have broken up a little more of the floor in order to have room to install the new plumbing. Meggie decided that while I was at it I should pull up part of the bathroom, as well. I told her that she was out of her mind and refused, until she threatened to bite me in the butt. Fortunately for me, Dad came over to give some guidance, and I liked his plans much better.

Here are a couple of views of the damage. I have cut out part of the chase wall in order to access the plumbing a little more easily. I have removed some of the pipes and wires that were left in the wall from previous renovations. I will need to continue digging and removing the dirt to the yard. I will be backfilling with gravel when the time comes.

Lake Eduard still has a lot of water in it. It was iced over this morning. I had attempted to pump out the water on Thursday evening, and I was able to get most of it out, but it filled up again overnight. There must be a lot of water in the ground. It came up from the ground in the trench I dug in the kitchen, as well. I'm going to have to dig a sump well to help drain the water. I'm hoping to be able to have everything ready to replace the wastelines by Friday. If I can start it sooner I will. The only problem is that both bathrooms run on the same waste stack. I can't have them disconnected for too long, so anything I start will have to be finished the same day.

Another view of the carnage. It looks a little cleaner now that I've removed the outer framing and the old boiler pipes. There was also some electrical wiring that was not connected to anything. I still have to remove the old gas lines.

We had more snow, this evening. It was coming down pretty hard for a while. Some of it accumulated on the grass and on the cars, but nothing stuck to the roads or sidewalks. We might actually have a decent snow this winter. My kids would love to see that. With the hill in our back yard it would be nice to let them go sledding.

Episode 7: The TicketMaster

2008-12-01T19:35:00.005-05:00

The TicketMaster. That is my new name. I don't know how I do it, but in the last year I have managed to get more tickets than I have over the previous 37 (did I say that? I meant 25-yes, 25 is a good number) years of my life. Last Thanksgiving, I managed to get pulled over by a State Trooper. I didn't know why he was after me, but I knew it had to be me because I was the only person on the highway!! Apparently I had failed to come to a complete and total stop at the stop sign before turning onto the highway. I don't make it a policy to argue with The Man, so I didn't point out that I had to stop before turning onto the highway. As I recall, I stopped, took my foot off the brake, and then turned, seeing as there was no other car in sight- except for the Trooper who was so far away I could only tell that he was a moving vehicle. It was a very brief stop, yes, but I did stop. He was so far away that it was a little more than a minute after the turn that he caught up to me. I blame my capture on the fact that I was doing the speed limit. But enough of that. Ancient history. I paid the $30.00 fine and the associated $45.00 processing fee. Of course, since that time I have stopped at every stop sign and made sure that it was for a noticeable period of time. I know that I have been able to do this successfully due to the number of tailing drivers who honk their horns to let me know I am preventing them from running the stop sign themselves. I once had a city transit bus honk it's horn at every single stop sign. I was in downtown Richmond and went through six or seven blocks of 4-way stops. I received a honk for every stop I made! I thought I was running through them pretty quickly. I was stopping long enough to make sure there were no law enforcement vehicles in stealth mode, waiting for me to slip up. You know the bus would've broken the speed limit, run the signs-without coming to a complete stop- and there would've been no flashing lights in sight. Me? Well, let's just say that due to previous experience I'm extra cautious.

I am a careful driver. I use cruise control so I don't thoughtlessly drive in excess of the posted speed. I take an extra second at the stop lights and stop signs before I continue on. Every police car I pass is tracked in my rearview to make sure they aren't coming after me. When they do pull up behind me, I wonder if I've been doing anything that might result in another roadside discussion. I'm ok most of the time, however I admit I am a little paranoid.

Enter today's episode. I am about 3 minutes from my house. I am going the speed limit. I am at a stoplight waiting for it to turn green so I can turn into my neighborhood. I notice a police car pulling up behind me in the rear view mirror. The lights aren't on, so I think that maybe I'm ok, but the car seems to be holding back a little bit, so I figure they are running my plates, or something. I haven't hit any banks, run any toll booths, or kidnapped anyone recently (like-never!!), so I'm not too worried. The light turns green, I turn onto the street, and the lights come on. So now I'm wondering what the heck I could've done to deserve this. I turn off the car, roll down the window and put my hands on the steering wheel. From what I remember from my Criminal Justice courses (taken a million years ago when I wanted to be a cop) it's always a good idea to show your hands. The officer walks up and informs me that they pulled me over for my tinting. I had no clue what she was talking about. I thought she said "tenting". I was wondering if I had somehow left a tarp hanging out of my trunk. She must have noticed the idiotic look I gave her, because she tapped my rear window and said "your window tinting. Have you ever been in trouble for this before?" I must confess that I have not. I have owned this car since June of 1999, and I have never been pulled for this. The car has passed two annual Virginia safety inspections and it has never come up. Of course, I'm feeling like quite the hardened criminal as the officer explains that they have a "Zero Tolerance" policy, but since they have a lot of people that have moved in from out of state they are having a special, where I can take my car in and have a legal tint put on (at my expense, of course) and then I can go to court, where the judge might then waive the $51.00 fine and the associated $15.00 processing fee (which made a heck of a lot more sense than the last fine and processing fee). The officer puts a "reader" on my window which shows that the tint is too dark, and explains that the reading must be higher than 50%. Mine is at 22%. I have to say, the officer was very polite and helpful in answering my questions, but it sure would have been nice to know this sooner!! I bought the car this way. Who knew?

I'm afraid that I have developed a driving complex. I may be seeking professional help in the near future. At least I haven't been ticketed for a really serious offense. Although I might feel better about it if it were serious. Ok. That's just sad.

Look for me on the evening news.

Episode 6: Demolition Men

2008-11-29T22:19:00.022-05:00

I finally have some more progress to report. I haven't had as much time spent on the kitchen as I would have liked, this last week, however the Thanksgiving holiday has provided the opportunity to do some serious demolition work. As usual, I do the work, and project manager Meggie makes sure I don't slack off.

Here she is using her Aussie mind control powers to get me to give her a treat for managing the job so well. The whole glowing eye thing is starting to freak me out. Every once in a while I have this uncontrollable urge to let her use the reciprocating saw, but I've managed to fight it off, so far. The force is strong with this one.

Here is the kitchen as it appears, so far. I have most of the drywall down. I've started to pull down the ceiling, but I've been a little hesitant to go too far because of all that nasty blown in insulation that's above. I hate that stuff. I wish people didn't use it. I will not be repeating that mistake.

Here's a couple more views of the plumbing nightmare I am facing. This will all be coming out. What you don't see is the cuts in the concrete floor that I have made since taking this picture. I have to bust out some concrete to move the drains to the new sink location.

Yikes!

This is the electrical nightmare I am facing. I still have the sheet metal covering the junction box. I don't want anyone accidentally coming in contact with the wires. This box will be moved to the overhead storage space on the 2nd floor. There will be a corner cabinet and a tile backsplash in this location. The box cannot stay.

A shot of the open kitchen ceiling, showing the shower and toilet drains, and a couple of the A/C vents to the kitchen and the bathroom on the other side of the wall.

I had help today. The missionaries from Church really wanted to tear something out, so I saved a wall for them. This is the former storage room that was accessible only from the outside of the house. I don't have any pre-demo pictures of this room. I had already pulled down much of the drywall months ago, but have saved tearing out the old wall until I was ready to put the plumbing in. I have built a new wall in the house to make the room bigger, and today we pulled down the existing wall. We now have a room that is roughly 8x10 feet for a laundry room/pantry.

Here you can see some of the blown in insulation floating around. It was so thick in the air we could hardly see. It had settled a bit by the time I took this picture. The old wall has already been torn out, and you can see the plastic covering the new laundry room door in the background. What you can't see is the demolition "weapon" the missionary is using. Last year for my birthday my wife bought me the Stanley "Fubar". When I first got it, it looked pretty cool, but I couldn't figure out what I'd use it for. The first time I was on the demolition part of a job out in Farmville, I finally realized it's full potential. So did the guys I work with. They all think I have the most awesome wife in the world. "I wish my wife/girlfriend would buy me tools" they'd say. I should take a picture of the thing. It's fun to use. The missionary using it couldn't stop laughing (maniacally) as he was using it. It has that effect on the most peace-loving of people.

One of the missionaries hurt his knee yesterday. They had decided to play it safe yesterday and not participate in the customary Thanksgiving football and basketball games. They played tennis, instead. Guess the hurt found him, anyway. He pulled down the aluminum siding on the outside of the planned laundry room. I will be closing in that doorway and installing a window. Previously, this room had only been accessible through this door. Now it is open to the interior of the house.

Here are some views of the laundry room after we had cleaned up the mess. Here's the new doorway.

We've pulled down all of the drywall on the walls and ceiling. The existing drywall on the ceiling was severely water damaged on the storage side of the old wall, and the bonus room side had that popcorn texture all over it. This room will be getting a new ceiling light and an attic access door. I'll be building new cabinets for the laundry supplies and some pantry shelves when the room is ready. We still need to run the plumbing for the washing machine, and the new electrical lines.

Just another view looking toward the back door. There will be a window where the door is currently located.

A shot of the ceiling and a whole lot of nothing in the space above.

All of that supervisory exertion has taken it's toll on Meggie. That and the shower I made her take. She was due for one. No, the vacuum in the background was not used to clean her, although the thought did cross my mind. Wouldn't it be great? Someone could invent a sort of "Carpet Fresh" product for dogs. Just sprinkle on and vacuum off. Oh yeah, Meg would love that. NOT!!

Episode 5: Freezin' My Asphalt Off!!!!

2008-11-19T18:06:00.004-05:00

Today was my first day back at work in a month. No problems with the hands, so I think I'm good to go. I started out my day cleaning up in the shop and trying to make some room for the lighting for the office addition. Around noon, I drove the backhoe to one of our jobsites. Boy, did I wish I had some more layers of clothes. When standing in the parking lot at the office, it's not that cold. In the open cab of the backhoe, once you get on the open road and that wind hits you, it's freezing!!! One of the guys lent me a full face hood. Thank goodness he did. With the hood and my sunglasses, the only exposed part of my face was my mouth. I kindof had to keep my lips sucked in to keep them from freezing.

I got back to the shop around 12:30 and had lunch, then back out into the weather to spread some asphalt in the road across from the boss' house. The road was shaded, and it was windy, so once again I was much chillier than anticipated. We were waiting for about an hour for the dump truck with the asphalt to show, so we got a little cold. Once the truck arrived, however, it warmed up plenty! The temperature of the asphalt is about 1300 degrees, according to my supervisor. Working with that warmed us up, for sure. By the time we were done with that, it was time to go home. Tomorrow I will have a hooded sweatshirt with me.

I pulled down some more drywall in the kitchen. I'm trying to determine where all of the electrical lines are currently running. That mess will need some cleaning up, too. I want to have all of the drywall pulled down by the weekend, so I can start working on any framing I need to do. I still have to dig a trench for the washing machine drain, but Lake Eduard is still at a high. Maybe there will be ice on it in the morning.

Then the dog can skate across.

Episode 4: Talk to the Hand

2008-11-18T07:31:00.031-05:00

"Ed!! Your dog has dandruff!!!" No, that's not dandruff, that's just the first snow flurry of the year for our area.

We had several scattered snow showers today, with the heaviest snow in the early afternoon. The ground really isn't cold enough to hold any snow, right now. Not to mention that each time the sun came back out it would all melt off of the cars and patio furniture.

I had the stitches taken out of my hand on Monday, and I've been given the all clear to go back to work on Wednesday. I've been warned to use common sense and not push my left hand too much, so I don't tear the scar back open. I have promised that I won't be doing any more bleeding anytime soon. My injury quota for 2008 has been met.

I tried to catch one of the heavier flurries from this afternoon. You can see some of the snow. Ignore the pile of cabinets that have been ripped out of the kitchen. They've all been busted up and tossed in the dumpster, now.

Here is the picture that Heather took on Sunday night before I started to pull down the cabinets. I started with the top bank of cabinets first, then the lower.

Here's the view after the doors have been removed from the upper cabinets.

The last of the upper cabinets to resist removal. It refused to come out in one piece, so I took it out in several pieces.

The base cabinets are in the process of being removed. You can see spots where there has been either wallpaper, brick veneer, or formica backsplash over the years. Leaning away from the wall is the latest attempt to cover over the old walls. It looks like the last renovation had laminated the wall with 1/4 inch drywall.

The cabinets are all out, now. Check out the plumbing nightmare where the sink used to be. We won't be having any of that mess when I'm done.

Here is the kitchen at the end of the day. I have started to tear down the drywall. This all has to be removed to make it easier to run the new electrical lines and plumbing, and to deal with some water damage from previous years.

Episode 3: Man Overboard!!

2008-11-15T13:18:00.014-05:00

It's been a wet couple of days. We had some rain on Thursday and Friday, but early this morning the heavens opened with a vengeance. I stepped out the back door this morning only to find myself at the mercy of Lake Eduard. I surely would have perished, had I not been able to fashion a floatation device out of bubble gum and safely make my way to shore.

With Lake Eduard at record levels, the only thing I could do was go fishing.

Surprise!! I caught something!!! Wow!!!

We've got all of the cabinets emptied out. I was going to pull out some cabinets today, but it appears that I'm going to have to either build a bridge across the lake or get a pump to drain it.

The displacement phase of renovation is my least favorite part. Everything is in boxes and stacked up everywhere because it has nowhere to go. At least when the kitchen is done there will be a home for everything.

I need a towel.

Episode 2: That Sinking Feeling...

2008-11-12T15:41:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah. I am so ready to tear out this kitchen. I've been attempting to wash the dishes, but it seems to be leaking. The darned sink started leaking sometime last year. I have re-sealed the drain on it several times, but it always started leaking again. A few months ago I pulled the whole sink out, removed the drains, cleaned and re-sealed them and put everything back together with new gaskets and all. That bought us a few months. Last week it started leaking again. I've been doing dishes today and all of the water is leaking out into a bucket I have underneath the sink. I'm all hopped up on Super Bubble bubble gum because I've chewed probably 80 pieces of it, today. I blame it all on the post Halloween 50, 75, and 92.533 percent off candy sales. I made the mistake of buying a couple of bags of the stuff because I like to chew it when I work. Today I started chewing and just couldn't stop. In fact, I'm chewing the stuff now. I no longer blow bubbles, though. I just like the taste. Blowing bubbles while you work is never a good idea. Gum is prone to attract things like- oh, let's see... Sawdust, drywall dust, and all manner of dusts. And small insects. I don't care if they are a source of protein. They're nasty. I know, you don't have to tell me... I know.

I have been doing dishes and preparing for the switch to paper and plasticware when I pull out the cabinets, counters, and yes- the sink. I'll be setting up a temporary kitchen in the family room. We'll have to live off microwave cuisine for a little while. That should be interesting. It will be worth it to have the kitchen all finished.

Excuse me, but I have to get back to work. Besides, this piece of gum has lost it's flavor. It's a good thing I still have another bag left.

Episode 1: The Calm Before the Storm

2008-11-10T19:26:00.000-05:00

Today I was actually out skimming some drywall with my right hand. It wasn't a big job, but it was a good test of how my hand was doing three weeks after the surgery. It didn't hurt much, although it did get tired. I still have until next Monday before the stitches come out of my left hand. I think that tomorrow I will start moving stuff out of the kitchen so I can get to work on the demo. I hope to have the cabinets pulled out this weekend.

Here is the tile we picked for the kitchen floor. It is 18x18 natural stone. We found a pretty good deal on it.

Here is the granite counter top we selected.

Below is the cabinet we picked. They are cherry with a chocolate glaze. We will have under cabinet lighting and a light color granite counter top.

Here are some views of the planned kitchen layout.

This is the inside wall of the kitchen, looking towards the living room and dining room. There is a pantry cabinet currently in the refrigerator space, and the stove is where the pull out pot drawers will be.

This is the outside wall looking into the back yard. The refrigerator is currently by the sliding doors to the patio, and the washer and dryer are next to that and under the window. There currently are no cabinets on this wall. I like how they made the view of the back yard look so nice. In reality, this view is and will always be occupied by the EdCave.

This is another view of the back wall and corner. The washer and dryer are currently under the window, while the sink is where the Stove/oven will be located.

This is the inside corner showing where the stove will be. There are the pot drawers where the stove is currently located.

Here are some more recent views of the destruction that has been visited upon my back yard. The level of Lake Eduard has lowered as a result of the decrease in rainfall. I was about to install a fishing platform.

I can't wait to have full use of my hands so this work can proceed forth in earnest. I want Heather to love her kitchen! Her love of the kitchen will lead to her spending more time within it's confines. More time in the kitchen means a desire to bake again! A desire to bake again means Chocolate chip cookies! I must have chocolate chip cookies!!!

I am one motivated dude.

Prologue

2008-11-07T19:49:00.000-05:00

We're getting ready to remodel our kitchen and add a laundry room to our house. I have actually started it, but just recently had surgery on both hands to fix my Carpal Tunnel problem. Yes, it is a legitimate problem and no, I did not do it just to get out of working on the kitchen.

I have already busted up part of the patio in the back yard so we can dig the trench for the laundry room plumbing, but I still have to get all of the concrete pulled up and into a dumpster. Over the years a lot of concrete had been poured in the back yard. I busted up the patio to find another patio underneath. Therefore there is a lot more to pull out than I originally thought. I just had one dumpster pulled today, and an empty one dropped off. Won't take long to fill that either, once I get these stitches out of my hand.

I get frustrated by the fact that I now have all of this free time, but not the hands to do the work. I am calmed, however, by the soothing patterns of light reflecting onto my ceiling from the recently formed Lake Eduard. The hole where the patio once was has filled with water from the recent rains, and the reflections show on the ceiling inside the house. I had to build a gangplank so the dog didn't have to swim to the other side whenever I let her out of the house. I may have to get a pump in there if it doesn't drain.

We've picked out our cabinets and have found a cabinet place that gave us a really great price on installing the cabinets, the granite and the sink. No complaints here. One of the conditions when we bought the house was that we'd re-do the kitchen soon. I could install the cabinets myself, but figured that in the interest of saving my marriage and sanity the price was perfect to have the kitchen finished quickly. All I need to do is demo the old kitchen, run the new plumbing and electrical, install blocking for the cabinets, and install the drywall. After that, I can hand it over. I'm still on the hook for the laundry room, though.

Can't wait to have it all done.

The Beginning

2008-11-06T14:59:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pictures of what the kitchen, dining room, and patio looked like when we bought the house. The kitchen looked so big but it really wasn't once we moved in. We knew the moment we saw it that this kitchen would not work for us. Plus, those who know me know I HATE the black and white stove look. I feel like I am sharing my deep dark secret by showing the kitchen, it is something I like to hide. It is worse now that the refrigerator and washer and dryer are in there. Those pictures will be posted soon.

P.S. The neighbors car didn't stay there, it isn't that kind of area.

-Heather

Time to Renovate!!

2008-11-04T21:18:00.001-05:00

When we moved from Florida to Virginia I swore we would not buy another house that needed renovations but............here we go again!!! We bought our house for the size, it was a house that we could afford and still get the space we needed. Going from 900 SF to 2300 SF has been wonderful but we knew we would need to do the kitchen in this house. As we have lived here we have found other projects that need to be done. Feel free to check in on our renovations. So far we have painted most of the house but that was for color preference and decorating but as we change we may add some pictures. My mom helps decorate from a distance so this helps her see what we are doing. Our current project is the kitchen which also requires the new laundry room that requires work on the family room and demo to the back patio that will then lead to the regrading of the yard and it goes on and on. As we move forward we will document more of what we are doing. Enjoy, we won't be until it is done!!

-Heather