Post-basement remodel. Now there are other projects. Went to Strawberry Hill and got some tomato plants and a hanging moss rose. Put the hummingbird feeders out. I still want to re-do the deck, and I have to re-do the deck watering system for the plants if I do that.
Need to put the grape tomatoes on a trellis, and build a custom trellis for the trumpet vines. That sound like enough for this weekend yet?
We had the Groves over the weekend. Nice weekend. Mark & I played a lot on our respective stringed instruments, and the kids got to go to the park Monday -- we went to Rockbridge. I guess I'd forgotten how pretty Rockbridge park is. We under-use it. We brought the guitar and mandolin out and we hiked through the woods -- me snapping pictures of course, looking at plants and ants and turtles and rocks and all kinds of things. Lovely walk. Went back to the picnic area. Vicki & Cami went to Sonic and brought back some food, and we continued to play.
Mark brought his new tent out so we could set it up and make sure we knew the details and that everything was there. It has a mesh celing and a rain cover. Nice big roomy tent. I broke down and went to Walmart and bought my own 4 person tent pretty much just like it. We're preparing for a whirlwind 3 day weekend around July 19... Thursday night we'll leave and drive as far across Kansas as we can stand, stop, sleep, and then next morning hit the Colorado Front Range asap. I figure we'll drive around a bit the first day at high altitudes to get used to it, then do some exploring the next day. Drive back to KC monday. I'll drive back here Tuesday morning. Camp wherever we can in the National Forest. The closer it gets the more real it's becoming.
Thursday, May 29, 2003
Thursday, May 22, 2003
I Been Framed, man!
Got some picture frames and matting to re-do my New Orleans Jazz watercolor and matt and frame the sheet music for a 1937 song called "Satan Takes A Holiday" (hey, I just found out it was a top requested song in 1939) -- to complete the Jazz trifecta with the Modern Jazz Quartet poster. Looks cool. Also got another one of those french champagne posters that after some slight cutting down fits quite well in the door to the crawl space -- making the door now look more like a picture frame on the wall than some odd door in the stairwell. Framed up the Elvgren print "High Sign" and matted it as well. That'll proably go up over the desk. Gotta hang the big wooden Sun plaque up yet, too.
Found out why the speakers Ryan gave us didn't sound good... same reason the surround wasn't working. I had the right channel hooked up twice rather than the right and the left... there's two rows of outputs. Now everything is hunky dory.
I got the summer clothes down for Vicki but it turned out she was more interested in re-arranging the bedroom now that the computer stuff/armior & desk (yay) are downstairs... she was moving all that furniture by herself, apparently while I was painting quarter-round trim and matting pictures and hanging them.
Paid Bobby the final payment for the basement remodel. So we're all done with that now.
Still need to shut down the hydro garden and put the lettuce & peppers out in the garden.
Found out why the speakers Ryan gave us didn't sound good... same reason the surround wasn't working. I had the right channel hooked up twice rather than the right and the left... there's two rows of outputs. Now everything is hunky dory.
I got the summer clothes down for Vicki but it turned out she was more interested in re-arranging the bedroom now that the computer stuff/armior & desk (yay) are downstairs... she was moving all that furniture by herself, apparently while I was painting quarter-round trim and matting pictures and hanging them.
Paid Bobby the final payment for the basement remodel. So we're all done with that now.
Still need to shut down the hydro garden and put the lettuce & peppers out in the garden.
Tuesday, May 20, 2003
It's getting better all the time
Let's see, last night I installed the new phone (2.4 gZ in the kitchen) moved the 900 mZ one downstairs to the new family room, only to be reminded that that phone jack hasn't worked in quite some time. Did some trouble-shooting, but finally gave up and canabalized a long piece of phone cord that used to go around the back of the house before I replaced it with an inside run a couple of years ago, and just replaced the whole run from the junction box to the new family room. Works great. Cut the baseboard moulding down for either side fo the built-in shelves. Installed the toilet paper hanger and a towel bar, and put the knobs on the cabinets. Got the new "over the toilet" cabinet up over the weekend and painted it and the laundry cabinets. Ryan also helped me move the armoir down there, plus he gave us a set of surround speakers that he wasn't using anymore -- they're smaller than what I had -- Vicki's old super heavy speakers. Vicki's speakers, I think, sounded better -- but space is an issue. I'll wait until they put the door moulding up before I run the cable-TV cable over to the TV along with a telephone line for ordering PayPerView via Sattellite. Maybe they should just send us a picture and call it Paper View. :-)
Put some chachkis up, and put a few things away in the new desk-side cabinets. Vaccuumed. The surround sound still doesn't work right through the TV... gonna have to look at that closer.
I really want to expand the deck. But there's also the problem of bookshelves at the bottom of the stairs. I've pretty much decided that I'll buy the modular stuff at Lowe's and I think it can be done for about $150 -- except that Vicki had this idea to do 2 2' cabinets on the bottom and shelves from there on up. Not a bad idea. But that'd be another $80. Don't want the cabinets to hold up the shelving -- but money is a bit tight right now. We really borrowed JUST ENOUGH to get the construction work done + the new water heater (which by the way I finally got the refund for from Seisco).
There's also the issue of the bedroom. Goes sort of like this: I want to make the bedroom a nice retreat. We want a window seat and bookshelves under the window. But Ken's dad's desk is there, for the boys' posterity. On it is the TV. I want to move the desk down to Brian's room. But then there's no good place for the TV. What I really want is a 17" LCD TV that mounts on the wall. But they're not cheap. $500 for the least expensive I can find. I could buy a little stand, but why throw money at a temporary solution? Getting rid of the big TV is key to arranging the new room.... and I want the desk down in the basement before something else takes up that space and inertia keeps it in our room. I wonder how much a small cable tuner costs... if I could find an LCD monitor for the right price... ah, but they're almost as expensive as the TV's.
Groves are coming this weekend for Memorial Day. That'll be nice. So far the forecast looks good, and there's grillin' in the air.
Put some chachkis up, and put a few things away in the new desk-side cabinets. Vaccuumed. The surround sound still doesn't work right through the TV... gonna have to look at that closer.
I really want to expand the deck. But there's also the problem of bookshelves at the bottom of the stairs. I've pretty much decided that I'll buy the modular stuff at Lowe's and I think it can be done for about $150 -- except that Vicki had this idea to do 2 2' cabinets on the bottom and shelves from there on up. Not a bad idea. But that'd be another $80. Don't want the cabinets to hold up the shelving -- but money is a bit tight right now. We really borrowed JUST ENOUGH to get the construction work done + the new water heater (which by the way I finally got the refund for from Seisco).
There's also the issue of the bedroom. Goes sort of like this: I want to make the bedroom a nice retreat. We want a window seat and bookshelves under the window. But Ken's dad's desk is there, for the boys' posterity. On it is the TV. I want to move the desk down to Brian's room. But then there's no good place for the TV. What I really want is a 17" LCD TV that mounts on the wall. But they're not cheap. $500 for the least expensive I can find. I could buy a little stand, but why throw money at a temporary solution? Getting rid of the big TV is key to arranging the new room.... and I want the desk down in the basement before something else takes up that space and inertia keeps it in our room. I wonder how much a small cable tuner costs... if I could find an LCD monitor for the right price... ah, but they're almost as expensive as the TV's.
Groves are coming this weekend for Memorial Day. That'll be nice. So far the forecast looks good, and there's grillin' in the air.
Thursday, May 15, 2003
Settle down, settle down my boy -- settle down
For those of you not in tune with the 80's, that was a "Men at Work" reference.
Things have settled down, and they're about to settle down more. Brian is taking Mom back today, and then he's off to Norway for a couple of weeks starting Saturday. At least it's not Saudi Arabia or Iraq.
Carpet One bill is in -- everything else should be through the contractor which will be sometime next week after they get the door trim up. Bart really does seem to know where the litterbox is now (*whew*). Haven't done much more moving of stuff. This weekend, probably.
Went to see Willie Nelson Monday night at the Blue Note. I've always liked Willie ok, since I first heard him do "Stardust" and "Georgia on My Mind" back in ... oh... 1976 or so. But I've never been what you'd call a big fan. Mark really took a cotton to him when he lived down in Texas, but I'd never really listened to that much Willie ... not all at once anyway. Well, Willie puts on a heck of an enjoyable show. You, personally may not like the sound of his voice, but he's always right on key and the man can play a guitar pretty darned well. I personally like the sound of his voice when he's doing simple, down to earth material (ala "City of New Orleans", "Crazy", "Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain", etc) -- I think it's a warm and friendly voice. And I think sounds good live as there's no opportunity for record producers to over-produce. Some of his recorded material has strings and orchestra and... bleah. He came out at 8:30 and played until about 10:40, non-stop. Wow. And the guy's what, 70? Apparently there's a live 2 disc set coming out June 24. I'll bet that'll be a winner.
I'd forgotten how much I liked Pancho and Lefty.
Vicki missed the concert because of some 24 hour bug she caught, so Brian went with me, Sam, & Connie. Got decent seats on the balcony on the right... thanks to Connie. Probably the last decent seats in the house. That was disappointing (Vicki not being there) but I know Brian enjoyed it.
Friday night we went to dinner with Rob-Bob and Kathy... I just looked at the credit card site and realized she got a double tip. Rob tipped his part, I tipped ... and then not exactly realizing what I was doing, I wrote the amount of the total tip on my credit card receipt so we ended up tipping her twice. There's a $30 mistake I didn't really need to make, especially this month. Oh well. Waitresses don't make that much. I hope Crystal has a nice dinner on us.
Need to call Microtherm. They have the returned water heater, and they still have my money.
Well, hi ho again
Things have settled down, and they're about to settle down more. Brian is taking Mom back today, and then he's off to Norway for a couple of weeks starting Saturday. At least it's not Saudi Arabia or Iraq.
Carpet One bill is in -- everything else should be through the contractor which will be sometime next week after they get the door trim up. Bart really does seem to know where the litterbox is now (*whew*). Haven't done much more moving of stuff. This weekend, probably.
Went to see Willie Nelson Monday night at the Blue Note. I've always liked Willie ok, since I first heard him do "Stardust" and "Georgia on My Mind" back in ... oh... 1976 or so. But I've never been what you'd call a big fan. Mark really took a cotton to him when he lived down in Texas, but I'd never really listened to that much Willie ... not all at once anyway. Well, Willie puts on a heck of an enjoyable show. You, personally may not like the sound of his voice, but he's always right on key and the man can play a guitar pretty darned well. I personally like the sound of his voice when he's doing simple, down to earth material (ala "City of New Orleans", "Crazy", "Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain", etc) -- I think it's a warm and friendly voice. And I think sounds good live as there's no opportunity for record producers to over-produce. Some of his recorded material has strings and orchestra and... bleah. He came out at 8:30 and played until about 10:40, non-stop. Wow. And the guy's what, 70? Apparently there's a live 2 disc set coming out June 24. I'll bet that'll be a winner.
I'd forgotten how much I liked Pancho and Lefty.
Vicki missed the concert because of some 24 hour bug she caught, so Brian went with me, Sam, & Connie. Got decent seats on the balcony on the right... thanks to Connie. Probably the last decent seats in the house. That was disappointing (Vicki not being there) but I know Brian enjoyed it.
Friday night we went to dinner with Rob-Bob and Kathy... I just looked at the credit card site and realized she got a double tip. Rob tipped his part, I tipped ... and then not exactly realizing what I was doing, I wrote the amount of the total tip on my credit card receipt so we ended up tipping her twice. There's a $30 mistake I didn't really need to make, especially this month. Oh well. Waitresses don't make that much. I hope Crystal has a nice dinner on us.
Need to call Microtherm. They have the returned water heater, and they still have my money.
Well, hi ho again
Monday, May 12, 2003
Home Again.... Jig.
Spent most of the day Saturday (until about 10:30pm) getting the house back in order, moving stuff down to the basement. The upstairs is now pretty much in order. We're missing a couple of door frames which they'll bring in about a week and install. Otherwise, it's done. It is very convenient to have the toilet and sink down there. I put the litterbox under the stairs and the cat door behind the toilet -- you can hardly tell it's there. They go through the door and right into the litterbox. There's a night light under there so they can see.
Most of the stuff we had from the old storage closet fits downstairs. The pantry part of the closet didn't work out as well as I'd thought because by the time the folding door got put on the closet you kind of do need to reach back in the corner. We may have to revisit that concept.
Bart seemed to "have trouble" finding the litter box a couple of nights ago, using the bathroom rug instead, so while we were gone at Mom and Dad's yesterday the cats spent the day locked in the laundry room with their food and water and a couple of comfy catbeds to lay in so they could get intimately familiar with where the food and water and litterbox was. In Bart's defense, the litterbox had been in the bathrooms during the remodel, but Theo didn't seem to have any trouble finding it. No "accidents" last night, so let's just hope that will be the end of that.
Haven't moved the computer downstairs yet. I also need to hook up the TV completely. Dang, with the subwoofer and surround and satellite and cable and DVD and VCR -- it's even complicated for me. It's the VCR that complicates things because you have to rig it so that you can record off of anything. Won't be doing it tonight, either because we're going to see Willie Nelson at the Blue Note.
Bought a cabinet for over the toilet down there, but it's 13 inches deep. Apparently, it needs to be 9 inches deep. So I'll be cutting it down to size once I fix my skil saw, which shorted out in my hands the other day. Blew the power cord right in half and threw the breaker. Which is better than blowing me in half and throwing my hand. I also have to build some bookshelves for the bottom of the stairs. I think maybe some short kitchen cabinets might go along the soffit above -- I'll have to measure. Ideas, ideas.....
Went out to Mom and Dads yesterday. Saw some of the storm damage from last Tuesday along the way... but it could have been worse. There were a few trees down on Mom & Dad's place... Maybe 10 or 15 on the whole 30 acres, I'd guess. The worst damage was to the east around DeSoto. This was a severe thunderstorm with some very strong straight-line winds which can be as damaging as a small tornado -- but usually over a wider area.
Dad's windmill had been down for other reasons before. He also now has 12 solar panels instead of 8, which is good. I heard the batteries bubbling away yesterday (charging with solar power). It was a beautiful day. Plus they're still hooked into Crawford Electric which was back up thursday or friday. And the phones came back on Sunday.
The Mother's day theme this year was German food and of course Tom and Betty worked their tails off all day cooking for 14 people. Sauerbraten, bratwurst, sauerkraut, spiced apple rings, German beer and wine, German cheeses, and black forest cake for desert. Betty brought her mom over (as customary) and Vicki, Vicki's mom, and Brian and I went out... Brian got to ride Image who is the same age as he is (22).
Well, das' all fer now.
Most of the stuff we had from the old storage closet fits downstairs. The pantry part of the closet didn't work out as well as I'd thought because by the time the folding door got put on the closet you kind of do need to reach back in the corner. We may have to revisit that concept.
Bart seemed to "have trouble" finding the litter box a couple of nights ago, using the bathroom rug instead, so while we were gone at Mom and Dad's yesterday the cats spent the day locked in the laundry room with their food and water and a couple of comfy catbeds to lay in so they could get intimately familiar with where the food and water and litterbox was. In Bart's defense, the litterbox had been in the bathrooms during the remodel, but Theo didn't seem to have any trouble finding it. No "accidents" last night, so let's just hope that will be the end of that.
Haven't moved the computer downstairs yet. I also need to hook up the TV completely. Dang, with the subwoofer and surround and satellite and cable and DVD and VCR -- it's even complicated for me. It's the VCR that complicates things because you have to rig it so that you can record off of anything. Won't be doing it tonight, either because we're going to see Willie Nelson at the Blue Note.
Bought a cabinet for over the toilet down there, but it's 13 inches deep. Apparently, it needs to be 9 inches deep. So I'll be cutting it down to size once I fix my skil saw, which shorted out in my hands the other day. Blew the power cord right in half and threw the breaker. Which is better than blowing me in half and throwing my hand. I also have to build some bookshelves for the bottom of the stairs. I think maybe some short kitchen cabinets might go along the soffit above -- I'll have to measure. Ideas, ideas.....
Went out to Mom and Dads yesterday. Saw some of the storm damage from last Tuesday along the way... but it could have been worse. There were a few trees down on Mom & Dad's place... Maybe 10 or 15 on the whole 30 acres, I'd guess. The worst damage was to the east around DeSoto. This was a severe thunderstorm with some very strong straight-line winds which can be as damaging as a small tornado -- but usually over a wider area.
Dad's windmill had been down for other reasons before. He also now has 12 solar panels instead of 8, which is good. I heard the batteries bubbling away yesterday (charging with solar power). It was a beautiful day. Plus they're still hooked into Crawford Electric which was back up thursday or friday. And the phones came back on Sunday.
The Mother's day theme this year was German food and of course Tom and Betty worked their tails off all day cooking for 14 people. Sauerbraten, bratwurst, sauerkraut, spiced apple rings, German beer and wine, German cheeses, and black forest cake for desert. Betty brought her mom over (as customary) and Vicki, Vicki's mom, and Brian and I went out... Brian got to ride Image who is the same age as he is (22).
Well, das' all fer now.
Thursday, May 08, 2003
Feeling Flush
The toilet and sink are in. And they work. Shelves are up. And I'm calculating where to put the cat door to the area under the stairs. I'll have to remove a piece of a stud, then it can go down by the floor to the right of the toilet in the corner. Ryan has a piece of moulding that will probably do nicely to frame it so it doesn't look like just a hole cut in the drywall. Carpet's stretched. The 4-way switch to the family room doesn't do the 4-way thing like it's supposed to. If the switch at the bottom of the stairs is off, none of the other switches will turn it on. Have to point that out.
They think they can finish up tomorrow. Then tomorrow evening and Saturday, we move everything back down. I'm taking the day off of work tomorrow... maybe I can get the built-in shelves up down there before dinnertime. It will be a busy Saturday moving furniture and stuff... hooking up the TV, etc.. Then off to Mom and Dad's for mother's day.
Got a belt CLIP for a key chain and I'm modifying my Palm Zire holder to have a belt-clip. I hate having to unbuckle my belt to take the palm off. Now it'll be "clip".... "unclip"..... cool. Call me McGyver.
Got some creeping phlox to try again on that slope by the stepping stones out front.
They think they can finish up tomorrow. Then tomorrow evening and Saturday, we move everything back down. I'm taking the day off of work tomorrow... maybe I can get the built-in shelves up down there before dinnertime. It will be a busy Saturday moving furniture and stuff... hooking up the TV, etc.. Then off to Mom and Dad's for mother's day.
Got a belt CLIP for a key chain and I'm modifying my Palm Zire holder to have a belt-clip. I hate having to unbuckle my belt to take the palm off. Now it'll be "clip".... "unclip"..... cool. Call me McGyver.
Got some creeping phlox to try again on that slope by the stepping stones out front.
Wednesday, May 07, 2003
Not all the way down
Well, all the carpet and flooring is down but the carpet isn't stretched and tacked. That will hapen this morning I'm guessing. There's a few paint patches on the wall that need touch-up. Also settled the question of how many shelves were going up in the storage closet. Something came up yesterday about the door-jamb place being out of jambs, but that they should have some soon and we can move furniture down there when the carpet's down and the baseboard is up.
VIckster's off for the rest of the week to spend it with Mom. Tomorrow's her birthday. Think we're going to dinner with Rob-Bob and Kathy on Friday.
It'd be cool if I could power-wash the deck Saturday and then perhaps a week from saturday do the deck expansion project.
Sending the duplicate water heater back today. Grrrrrrrrr...
Not much else going on.
VIckster's off for the rest of the week to spend it with Mom. Tomorrow's her birthday. Think we're going to dinner with Rob-Bob and Kathy on Friday.
It'd be cool if I could power-wash the deck Saturday and then perhaps a week from saturday do the deck expansion project.
Sending the duplicate water heater back today. Grrrrrrrrr...
Not much else going on.
Tuesday, May 06, 2003
Lay that carpet down, down - lay that carpet down
Three guesses what's going on today.
Yup. Flooring. The door trim is up. the floor is clean. Most of the construction equipment is gone. The rough spot on the floor from an old botched fill-in concrete job is smoothed over. When I get home tonight, it'll look much more like a finished basement. Then it's just finish-up with the electrical, plumbing, and baseboard.
The paint hasn't grown on Vicki any. She's waiting to see how it all looks with furniture. You won't see nearly as much of it when the book case goes up, and curtains, and couch and loveseat and desk, etc. I feel kind of bad -- I knew what color she was going for, I think, but when she showed me the swatch she picked, I just said "cool" and figured it was what she wanted. It is kind of hard to tell on an inch and a half square what it's going to look like on the walls, but I'm pretty good at things like that. But of course you never really want to say "no, honey, you're wrong" especially when you really don't care a whole lot what tone of beige goes up on the wall. I think it'll look fine.
She did concede that the cat access to the litter box ought to be through the bathroom wall -- she's not thrilled about it, but I doubt she'll even notice it after a week or so once it's done. That whole "under the stairs" storage is going to be a little complicated because of the placement of the sub-panel but we'll come up with something.
I put the cable outlet on the wall and wired that side of the surround sound wiring... I need a similar panel on the other side. I also hooked up the "free with your cable modem" basic cable to the TV upstairs last night. Kind of cool to have local channels and that radar channel again. But I see why we dropped cable before. The picture especially above channel 40 is just lousy. That's why they're trying to force everyone to go digital. They just can't deliver a good analog picture through cable anymore. However, they want WAY more than the sattelite people for digital, and all they have extra to offer basically is local channels and your local forecast on the Weather Channel.
I'll have to re-hook up the phone to what used to be Brian's room (now the family room) -- I'll get all that done this weekend.
Well, Hi Ho -- it's off to work I go.
Yup. Flooring. The door trim is up. the floor is clean. Most of the construction equipment is gone. The rough spot on the floor from an old botched fill-in concrete job is smoothed over. When I get home tonight, it'll look much more like a finished basement. Then it's just finish-up with the electrical, plumbing, and baseboard.
The paint hasn't grown on Vicki any. She's waiting to see how it all looks with furniture. You won't see nearly as much of it when the book case goes up, and curtains, and couch and loveseat and desk, etc. I feel kind of bad -- I knew what color she was going for, I think, but when she showed me the swatch she picked, I just said "cool" and figured it was what she wanted. It is kind of hard to tell on an inch and a half square what it's going to look like on the walls, but I'm pretty good at things like that. But of course you never really want to say "no, honey, you're wrong" especially when you really don't care a whole lot what tone of beige goes up on the wall. I think it'll look fine.
She did concede that the cat access to the litter box ought to be through the bathroom wall -- she's not thrilled about it, but I doubt she'll even notice it after a week or so once it's done. That whole "under the stairs" storage is going to be a little complicated because of the placement of the sub-panel but we'll come up with something.
I put the cable outlet on the wall and wired that side of the surround sound wiring... I need a similar panel on the other side. I also hooked up the "free with your cable modem" basic cable to the TV upstairs last night. Kind of cool to have local channels and that radar channel again. But I see why we dropped cable before. The picture especially above channel 40 is just lousy. That's why they're trying to force everyone to go digital. They just can't deliver a good analog picture through cable anymore. However, they want WAY more than the sattelite people for digital, and all they have extra to offer basically is local channels and your local forecast on the Weather Channel.
I'll have to re-hook up the phone to what used to be Brian's room (now the family room) -- I'll get all that done this weekend.
Well, Hi Ho -- it's off to work I go.
Monday, May 05, 2003
Paint
Got back from Fort Wayne from picking Mom up. As expected, the walls are painted. Vicki was hoping for a little less yellow tint in the taupe... more of a gray-brown taupe than a yellow-brown taupe. I could tell right away she wasn't happy. Mom and I think it looks fine, but then again I never really cared a whole lot what earth-tone got picked ;-) She held the pillow shams up and they go fine.
Looks like the litterbox will go under the stairs. Vicki wants a cat-door in the "under-the-stairs" door in the downstairs bedroom for their access. I don't like that idea because then guests will always have to leave their door open for the cats so they can go to the litter box. I think a cat door in the wall behind the toilet would be the best, but she doesn't want a hole in her nice new wall. We'll have to see. I intend to get a nice frame for the door so it won't be just a hole in the drywall.
Got a powerpoint presentation from Sandy about Louie and how much she likes him. I'm so glad he found someone who really loves him. Whew. What a relief. Bart is pretty much back to being Bart again.
Got a checkbook application installed on the Palm zire. I think it will make me pay much more attention to how I spend money. That, of course, is a good thing.
I'm itching to do the deck. As soon as they're done and all the finances are settled for the remodel, I want to get on it.
Well, off now.
Looks like the litterbox will go under the stairs. Vicki wants a cat-door in the "under-the-stairs" door in the downstairs bedroom for their access. I don't like that idea because then guests will always have to leave their door open for the cats so they can go to the litter box. I think a cat door in the wall behind the toilet would be the best, but she doesn't want a hole in her nice new wall. We'll have to see. I intend to get a nice frame for the door so it won't be just a hole in the drywall.
Got a powerpoint presentation from Sandy about Louie and how much she likes him. I'm so glad he found someone who really loves him. Whew. What a relief. Bart is pretty much back to being Bart again.
Got a checkbook application installed on the Palm zire. I think it will make me pay much more attention to how I spend money. That, of course, is a good thing.
I'm itching to do the deck. As soon as they're done and all the finances are settled for the remodel, I want to get on it.
Well, off now.
Thursday, May 01, 2003
Plumbing, drywall, paint, carpet
We're in the homestretch. Left them a check for more money this morning. The hose faucet's in the way I want it, and boxed in so you can't see it. The plumber ran the vent out into the garage, up the corner, into the attic and tied into the vent for the kitchen. Now that's what I like.... creative thinking. The toilet and sink plumbing is stubbed up, concrete poured back in place, carpet's ordered and all the flooring came in on my budget guestimate... so I'm pretty happy there. Door frames are being primed. They're pushing to be done by the end of Monday so they can lay the carpet Tuesday and the baseboard can go up wednesday. They said they'll work saturday if they have to. We'll be picking up Mom (Krick) this weekend. She'll have cramped quarters for a few days, and then it's hello new basement.
Whew!
My new (and first) Palm "pilot" came in. I got one for $61 (with shipping, brand new in the box) off of Ebay. Looks pretty cool. We'll see how much of a pain it is to carry around, update, and how long it'll be before I lose my first stylus. I downloaded a checkbook application for it which I'll install tonight. That's one of the two main reasons I wanted it. The other was the calendar. It's synched with my calendar at work so I can look at it any time. Plus it's also synched with my Outlook Addressbook, notes, and task list. It looks promising.
That's all, probably until Monday... I might try posting from Mom's MSN companion this weekend just to see if I can.
Whew!
My new (and first) Palm "pilot" came in. I got one for $61 (with shipping, brand new in the box) off of Ebay. Looks pretty cool. We'll see how much of a pain it is to carry around, update, and how long it'll be before I lose my first stylus. I downloaded a checkbook application for it which I'll install tonight. That's one of the two main reasons I wanted it. The other was the calendar. It's synched with my calendar at work so I can look at it any time. Plus it's also synched with my Outlook Addressbook, notes, and task list. It looks promising.
That's all, probably until Monday... I might try posting from Mom's MSN companion this weekend just to see if I can.
Monday, April 28, 2003
Back on the Chain Gang
Back to work. Went out and got a mattress for the downstairs bedroom -- haven't decided yet whether it'll be our new one -- we'd swap ours for it if so. We'll put it downstairs and if we like it better we'll switch. I don't know... ours seems fine I guess. We also bought a light fixture and some curtains for the same bedroom. Vicki got some a new bed covering set.... should have known that the spending wouldn't end with the remodel itself. ;-)
Friday the contractor called and said the plumber couldn't run the outside faucet in the back the way we wanted. Their alternative was to run it out the side of the house -- 100 feet away from where I want it. We weren't communicating well over the phone. Turned out he forgot our slightly unconventional (but up to code) plans. Fortunately, we live 5 minutes away so I dashed home and 'splained to them what the original plan was. Which is all fine and good and the plumber will be there all day today doing his voodoo. However, it is raining pretty hard and the hole he's working in will be filling with water. Hope he has a pump. He's a plumber... he's gotta have a pump.
Bart apparently still thinks he needs to invent his own litter areas. Last night it was our bathroom again. Plus he got downstairs again (we left the board down) and did it in his favorite corner. Cleaned it up with Simple Solution ®. I think he's all mixed up with the house in turmoil. We're going to fire up that special Bart Litterbox again and hopefully he'll use it.
One thing we learned about the water heater was that we need to turn down the flow-rate to the laundry machine if we want to do hot water washes because I'm sure it's 4+ GPM. This means if we want to do warm water washes we need to crank the cold down as well or the cold will overpower the reduced hot flow. I cranked the hot down, but not the cold yet.
I rooted and grew three sprigs of the citronella plant in the hydroponic garden over the winter and they grew big enough to make a whole new hanging basket. It was so neat last summer, trailing down 5 feet to the floor. Very pretty foliage. The original, which I severely neglected this winter, somehow survived and is doing surprisingly well. I cut some of the roots out of it (it was root bound) and potted it in some new potting soil and added some of that water-holding stuff to it.
I took the roquette and arugula and planted them in the garden outside after tilling it up with Ryan's tiller. Also wandered about the yard spraying broadleaf weeds. They were dying this morning. That's a good sign.
Had jambalaya over at the neighbors' house last night... we brought cornbread and key lime pie. It was a nice dinner. Had a lot of fun.
But... hi ho, it's off to work I go.
Friday the contractor called and said the plumber couldn't run the outside faucet in the back the way we wanted. Their alternative was to run it out the side of the house -- 100 feet away from where I want it. We weren't communicating well over the phone. Turned out he forgot our slightly unconventional (but up to code) plans. Fortunately, we live 5 minutes away so I dashed home and 'splained to them what the original plan was. Which is all fine and good and the plumber will be there all day today doing his voodoo. However, it is raining pretty hard and the hole he's working in will be filling with water. Hope he has a pump. He's a plumber... he's gotta have a pump.
Bart apparently still thinks he needs to invent his own litter areas. Last night it was our bathroom again. Plus he got downstairs again (we left the board down) and did it in his favorite corner. Cleaned it up with Simple Solution ®. I think he's all mixed up with the house in turmoil. We're going to fire up that special Bart Litterbox again and hopefully he'll use it.
One thing we learned about the water heater was that we need to turn down the flow-rate to the laundry machine if we want to do hot water washes because I'm sure it's 4+ GPM. This means if we want to do warm water washes we need to crank the cold down as well or the cold will overpower the reduced hot flow. I cranked the hot down, but not the cold yet.
I rooted and grew three sprigs of the citronella plant in the hydroponic garden over the winter and they grew big enough to make a whole new hanging basket. It was so neat last summer, trailing down 5 feet to the floor. Very pretty foliage. The original, which I severely neglected this winter, somehow survived and is doing surprisingly well. I cut some of the roots out of it (it was root bound) and potted it in some new potting soil and added some of that water-holding stuff to it.
I took the roquette and arugula and planted them in the garden outside after tilling it up with Ryan's tiller. Also wandered about the yard spraying broadleaf weeds. They were dying this morning. That's a good sign.
Had jambalaya over at the neighbors' house last night... we brought cornbread and key lime pie. It was a nice dinner. Had a lot of fun.
But... hi ho, it's off to work I go.
Thursday, April 24, 2003
Hot, hot, hot!!!!
The water heater showed up yesterday. I was thinking we'd just get the subpanel installed and do the plumbing tomorrow, but Ryan was game to do the whole thing... it took from about 7:00pm to 11:30pm to get all the wires run, stripped, old water heater out, subpanel hooked up, everything tested and read to go. It's in, and it works!
Here's a couple pictures of it. As advertised, it takes longer than if you have a regular tank water heater for the water to get warm... I imagine it's because since a tank water heater is always hot there's some conduction through the water and copper that keeps the pipe and the water in it relatively warm even when nobody's using any hot water. This thing only heats water as you use it, so there's nothing to even conduct some heat through the water when its off. So the pipes and the water in them cool down to room temperature after a while. That water needs to run out of the pipes before hot water reaches the faucet/tub. Anyway, once that water runs out you feel some rapid fluctuation and then the temperature stabilizes rock steady, and stays that way as long as you are using hot water. Once hot water is in the pipes it doesn't take any time at all for the water coming out to be hot because all the cold water's been flushed out -- just what's between the main line and whatever faucet you're using needs to be flushed if it's a different faucet you're turning on.
I think it just recently became real to Vicki how much storage space we're actually losing. She even talked about putting a cabinet up over the toilet -- something she wasn't so enthusiastic about when I first mentioned it. We'll do that, plus we'll can use the space under the stairs more efficiently now. And of course we recovered the floor space where the old water heater was. Plus the adjustable shelves in the new storage closet will allow for more efficient use of space. So I think we'll be fine.
We went to Lowe's and picked out fixtures -- pedestal sink, faucet, lights, and toilet. Need to pick out vinyl flooring for the laundry/bath. Got a mirror for over the sink.
Somebody (I assume Bart, but it could have been an "un-energetic" Theo) didn't quite seem to make it to the litter box last night and went instead on the floor in front of the toilet.
Oh, that we could get them to USE the toilet. I've heard of cats trained to do that.
The litter box's temporary quarters during the remodel is in the bath tub in the hall bathroom. Maybe Theo couldn't muster the energy to jump. Or maybe there was enough litter on the floor where Bart thought he was already in the litterbox -- I don't know. Fortunately, vinyl cleans up easily.
Here's a couple pictures of it. As advertised, it takes longer than if you have a regular tank water heater for the water to get warm... I imagine it's because since a tank water heater is always hot there's some conduction through the water and copper that keeps the pipe and the water in it relatively warm even when nobody's using any hot water. This thing only heats water as you use it, so there's nothing to even conduct some heat through the water when its off. So the pipes and the water in them cool down to room temperature after a while. That water needs to run out of the pipes before hot water reaches the faucet/tub. Anyway, once that water runs out you feel some rapid fluctuation and then the temperature stabilizes rock steady, and stays that way as long as you are using hot water. Once hot water is in the pipes it doesn't take any time at all for the water coming out to be hot because all the cold water's been flushed out -- just what's between the main line and whatever faucet you're using needs to be flushed if it's a different faucet you're turning on.
I think it just recently became real to Vicki how much storage space we're actually losing. She even talked about putting a cabinet up over the toilet -- something she wasn't so enthusiastic about when I first mentioned it. We'll do that, plus we'll can use the space under the stairs more efficiently now. And of course we recovered the floor space where the old water heater was. Plus the adjustable shelves in the new storage closet will allow for more efficient use of space. So I think we'll be fine.
We went to Lowe's and picked out fixtures -- pedestal sink, faucet, lights, and toilet. Need to pick out vinyl flooring for the laundry/bath. Got a mirror for over the sink.
Somebody (I assume Bart, but it could have been an "un-energetic" Theo) didn't quite seem to make it to the litter box last night and went instead on the floor in front of the toilet.
Oh, that we could get them to USE the toilet. I've heard of cats trained to do that.
The litter box's temporary quarters during the remodel is in the bath tub in the hall bathroom. Maybe Theo couldn't muster the energy to jump. Or maybe there was enough litter on the floor where Bart thought he was already in the litterbox -- I don't know. Fortunately, vinyl cleans up easily.
Tuesday, April 22, 2003
Hang On -- Water Heater's on it's way!!!!
Just got off the phone with Anne from ElectricWaterheaters.com and she gave me the tracking number. Anne rocks!!! I should send her a box of chocolates or something. She was very helpful and personable both yesterday and today. It MAY be here tomorrow.
Going to CarpetOne tonight to order carpet & lanoleum, then to Sam's to look at queen-size Matresses, I think... and to Lowes to pick out paint color.
And it's a sunny beautiful day outside!
Going to CarpetOne tonight to order carpet & lanoleum, then to Sam's to look at queen-size Matresses, I think... and to Lowes to pick out paint color.
And it's a sunny beautiful day outside!
Movin' On
Well, delivered Louie to Sandy's house last night, where he immediately sniffed the entire house. I think he'll be happy there. He will get all of her attention -- and no more cat-spats at home. Bart is already relaxing more. Actually he's taking out a little of his excitement on Theo -- tussling with him. Theo doesn't care for it much.
I feel a little guilty about passing him on since he's been passed around so much -- but as I've said before he really wasn't working out. We gave it a good 8 months. Sandy said she'll get us a picture when he's all settled in. I imagine Tom & Betty would like to see that.
Drywall is going up downstairs... it's starting to look more like sectioned rooms & closets. I'm wondering how they're going to smooth over some of those places where they opened the walls for electrical work... but... I hope they remove the corner bead around the old sliding glass door or it'll be a bear getting that flat. Oh well, that's their job.
We're going to CarpetOne to order up the carpet and have them coordinate with SLR (Scott Ragland/Bobby's company -- they're doing the work). Wish I had a UPS tracking number for that water heater. I'd feel a lot better if I could track its progress.
I feel a little guilty about passing him on since he's been passed around so much -- but as I've said before he really wasn't working out. We gave it a good 8 months. Sandy said she'll get us a picture when he's all settled in. I imagine Tom & Betty would like to see that.
Drywall is going up downstairs... it's starting to look more like sectioned rooms & closets. I'm wondering how they're going to smooth over some of those places where they opened the walls for electrical work... but... I hope they remove the corner bead around the old sliding glass door or it'll be a bear getting that flat. Oh well, that's their job.
We're going to CarpetOne to order up the carpet and have them coordinate with SLR (Scott Ragland/Bobby's company -- they're doing the work). Wish I had a UPS tracking number for that water heater. I'd feel a lot better if I could track its progress.
Monday, April 21, 2003
Drywall, plumbing, and the continuing saga of the water heater
Called Microtherm on the water heater this morning. They said "these orders should go out this week". They had to check. My confidence that it would be shipped by the middle of the week was pretty low.
Meantime, I called another distributor in Cleveland. They have them in stock. They're shipping one today. Actually for about $20 less. So I called Microtherm and cancelled that order.
Drywall showed up this morning, so they'll be drywalling everywhere the plumber doesn't have to be. If the plumber can stub up late this week and finish the rough-in after the concrete is poured--- and the water heater gets here by the weekend.... things'll be ok. Matter of fact, might even be done in a couple of weeks. But we have to order carpet, and pick out the fixtures. I think I picked out the fixtures yesterday. Ought to save us about $150 over what they had bid. That'll help with carpeting, etc.
I'm going to extend the deck out 21" from where it is right now so it'll be closer to 12x12 instead of 12x10. I was just going to scrub it up and stain it, but I have to tear out at least one board anyway -- and we could really use the extra space on the deck. I figure it'll cost under $200. I'd rather paint it all one color at once, and as long as I'm replacing ANY wood, I might as well buy the rest and do it the way I want it. Maybe Mark'll want to have a power tool weekend ;-) It should be a pretty straightforward project. I drew it all out last night.
Amy just stopped by... she's in the middle of staining her deck. She said that pressure washing really lightened up the wood. That might help the old wood match the new wood better. Daryl has a pressure washer, I think. Hmmmm.....
Also turns out that we'll need a vent for the sink and toilet, so we'll have to drill through the concrete wall to the crawl-space and tie in with the vent for the upstairs bathroom. That'll mean a hole in the wall in the guest bedroom for a bit.
Went Morrell hunting with Daryl this weekend. We each found about a pound. It's his secret spot, so I'm sworn not to tell where it is. They are good. We sautéed some last night and had them with pork chops. To me, they're best sautéed with butter and served with wild rice or eggs.
Also took a nice walk in the woods on Sunday -- partially to just be in the woods, partially to just enjoy a pipe in the woods..... but the excuse was to see what morrell-laden patches I might find back there. But it's too steep and rocky for morrells. I did enjoy the spring flowers. Dogtooth Violets, Rue Anemone, Sweet William, Solomon's Seal, -- and lots of others -- and all the ferns and wild ginger coming up. It reminds me of when I was growing up, walking in the woods checking out the first signs of spring. Check this out Missouri Wildflowers.
Off for now.
Meantime, I called another distributor in Cleveland. They have them in stock. They're shipping one today. Actually for about $20 less. So I called Microtherm and cancelled that order.
Drywall showed up this morning, so they'll be drywalling everywhere the plumber doesn't have to be. If the plumber can stub up late this week and finish the rough-in after the concrete is poured--- and the water heater gets here by the weekend.... things'll be ok. Matter of fact, might even be done in a couple of weeks. But we have to order carpet, and pick out the fixtures. I think I picked out the fixtures yesterday. Ought to save us about $150 over what they had bid. That'll help with carpeting, etc.
I'm going to extend the deck out 21" from where it is right now so it'll be closer to 12x12 instead of 12x10. I was just going to scrub it up and stain it, but I have to tear out at least one board anyway -- and we could really use the extra space on the deck. I figure it'll cost under $200. I'd rather paint it all one color at once, and as long as I'm replacing ANY wood, I might as well buy the rest and do it the way I want it. Maybe Mark'll want to have a power tool weekend ;-) It should be a pretty straightforward project. I drew it all out last night.
Amy just stopped by... she's in the middle of staining her deck. She said that pressure washing really lightened up the wood. That might help the old wood match the new wood better. Daryl has a pressure washer, I think. Hmmmm.....
Also turns out that we'll need a vent for the sink and toilet, so we'll have to drill through the concrete wall to the crawl-space and tie in with the vent for the upstairs bathroom. That'll mean a hole in the wall in the guest bedroom for a bit.
Went Morrell hunting with Daryl this weekend. We each found about a pound. It's his secret spot, so I'm sworn not to tell where it is. They are good. We sautéed some last night and had them with pork chops. To me, they're best sautéed with butter and served with wild rice or eggs.
Also took a nice walk in the woods on Sunday -- partially to just be in the woods, partially to just enjoy a pipe in the woods..... but the excuse was to see what morrell-laden patches I might find back there. But it's too steep and rocky for morrells. I did enjoy the spring flowers. Dogtooth Violets, Rue Anemone, Sweet William, Solomon's Seal, -- and lots of others -- and all the ferns and wild ginger coming up. It reminds me of when I was growing up, walking in the woods checking out the first signs of spring. Check this out Missouri Wildflowers.
Off for now.
Friday, April 18, 2003
Not much goin' on
Bobby the contractor called last night. He assured me that the water heater situation wasn't holding them up because the Plumber might not be there until wednesday anyway. He's swamped. However, they'd about have to ship that water heater TODAY for it to be here by then.
Left him about $2,200 for the completion of phase 1, so a total of about $3,500 has gone out so far.
Cut a hole for the electrical sub-panel for the new water heater last night. The housing wire that goes to the outlet for the current water heater was right behind the hole I cut. That's good and bad. It's bad because I can't put the subpanel box in right now because the wire is in the way. It's good because that means we have easy access to that wire and we might be able to use it to pull the new wires to the subpanel through the wall.
Hala's happy. They heard from her family in Baghdad. They're all right. They line up at hotels and use the TV people's sattellite phones to call whichever of the 5,000,000 Iraqis that live outside of Iraq they're related to what their status is. So they get like 30-40 seconds. Someone in the family in Baghdad called someone in Canada and left a 30 second hurried message on their machine. How wild! Hala says everything will get better from now on. She got the spam sales pitch about the deck of most wanted Iraqi cards... said she thought about it for a second and decided she didn't want to look at the faces of the people who had been torturing her people for years. Move on. Good attitude.
Learned a new picking pattern on the guitar at the Lee Ruth lesson yesterday. Same "bass-strum", but you pick up the first string again as your index finger comes back. Seems like it would be easy, but it throws off my thumb position for the next "bass" pluck. The 3/4 arpeggio, which would seem harder, is actually easier for me. I've kind of gotten away from playing the songs I love to play to learn this stuff and because life is busier in general because of the remodel. But I need to learn to get my barred "F" down before I go back to playing a lot of those songs so I don't play the cheater "F" anymore. It's coming very slowly.
Left him about $2,200 for the completion of phase 1, so a total of about $3,500 has gone out so far.
Cut a hole for the electrical sub-panel for the new water heater last night. The housing wire that goes to the outlet for the current water heater was right behind the hole I cut. That's good and bad. It's bad because I can't put the subpanel box in right now because the wire is in the way. It's good because that means we have easy access to that wire and we might be able to use it to pull the new wires to the subpanel through the wall.
Hala's happy. They heard from her family in Baghdad. They're all right. They line up at hotels and use the TV people's sattellite phones to call whichever of the 5,000,000 Iraqis that live outside of Iraq they're related to what their status is. So they get like 30-40 seconds. Someone in the family in Baghdad called someone in Canada and left a 30 second hurried message on their machine. How wild! Hala says everything will get better from now on. She got the spam sales pitch about the deck of most wanted Iraqi cards... said she thought about it for a second and decided she didn't want to look at the faces of the people who had been torturing her people for years. Move on. Good attitude.
Learned a new picking pattern on the guitar at the Lee Ruth lesson yesterday. Same "bass-strum", but you pick up the first string again as your index finger comes back. Seems like it would be easy, but it throws off my thumb position for the next "bass" pluck. The 3/4 arpeggio, which would seem harder, is actually easier for me. I've kind of gotten away from playing the songs I love to play to learn this stuff and because life is busier in general because of the remodel. But I need to learn to get my barred "F" down before I go back to playing a lot of those songs so I don't play the cheater "F" anymore. It's coming very slowly.
Thursday, April 17, 2003
Lowe's is my friend
-- actually, more like I am Lowe's friend. Snagged Ryan (and Kristy came along, too because she wanted to go to Sam's) and went to Lowe's to get the materials we need to put a sub-panel in for the ellusive water heater. Glad I did, too, because even Ryan had to think a little about what to get so I'm sure I would have been too corn-fused.
Spending 40 minutes at Lowe's and filling up Kristy's trunk with electrical gear when all she wanted to do was go to Sam's and get Breakfast Bars? Priceless.
Came to about $118.
Then went to Sam's and got some Birki's (sandals) and beer. We were about out. Can't have that in our neighborhood. It's a tradition to bring one over to Ryan if you go over there, or vice versa. Some people shake hands, we bring beer. Of course, everything's in bulk at Sam's. Ok, well I was able to buy just one pair of sandals, but the beer ought to last us a while.
Ok, well that's it for this morning.
- Subpanel box,$22.
- 2 60 amp, 2-pole breakers, $28
- 4 30 amp, 2-pole breakers, $35
- 30 feet of #6 2CWG wire, $18
- 16 feet of #10 House wiring, $7
- strain relief plugs, $4
Spending 40 minutes at Lowe's and filling up Kristy's trunk with electrical gear when all she wanted to do was go to Sam's and get Breakfast Bars? Priceless.
Came to about $118.
Then went to Sam's and got some Birki's (sandals) and beer. We were about out. Can't have that in our neighborhood. It's a tradition to bring one over to Ryan if you go over there, or vice versa. Some people shake hands, we bring beer. Of course, everything's in bulk at Sam's. Ok, well I was able to buy just one pair of sandals, but the beer ought to last us a while.
Ok, well that's it for this morning.
Wednesday, April 16, 2003
In Hot Water
Well, the danged water heater isn't here. You know, the day after I ordered it I got an email from them saying:
Thank you for shopping microtherm.
Order No. 100289
Invoice No. 1
Shipped 02-Apr-2003
1 RA-28
Comments: N/A
Access your Smart Receipt online to view the progress of your order:
https://tf.lynk-systems.com/tms-ts/bin/smart-receipt.cgi?...
Return to microtherm using the following URL:
http://www.aidan.net/~seisco/modelsandprices.html
Your order may take up to 3 weeks to be shipped
I went to look at the "Smart Receipt" -- it says it's shipping UPS Ground, and that the order is complete. That was 14 days ago.
Now if you ask me, the fact that it says Shipped 02-Apr-2003 says to me that it's already shipped and it's not going to take up to 3 weeks to be shipped. You know, like I lucked out or something and it was on the road.
Found a phone number to call for Seisco, called 'em up.... they said it hasn't shipped yet. Well, the plumber's coming Friday to stub in the new bathroom and hook up the ventilation. Maybe Monday. But the water heater won't be here by then. And he's stubbing plumbing right in the hole I'm counting on to remove the water heater. It's the only way to get it out short of cutting it up.
I measured the diameter of the water heater... it's 22.25" -- I marked a square in that hole 22.5" wide and deep and I'm going to SEE if I can get the plumber to plumb around that. That would buy me some time. But ultimately, they're going to drywall-- I've gotta get the bleedin' thing out before then, but without a replacement water heater, we'd be waking up awfully fast in the morning.
Mean time, I need to grab Ryan and head to Lowe's or Home Depot and get some thick wire (6 AWG) a sub-panel breakerbox, 2 240 Volt 60 amp dipole breakers, and 4 (count them, 4) 240V 30 amp breakers for the new box -- and some 10AWG housing wire. That'll make installing the unit (whenever it gets here) much faster.
The new door is in, and the sliding glass door is out. Outlets are popping up everywhere, and the wiring is being done for the various light switches. It's gonna be pretty neat when it's done.
Also have to do something about a stepping stone to step out on when you go out the basement door.... and do something about the drainage in that area. We'll be home the next two weekends -- maybe... it depends on whether or not we go to Indiana for the mini-reunion. We may be putting the house back together. Sam & Connie wanted us to go on a float trip with them pretty bad that weekend. That would be a lot of fun, but we decided we couldn't. Sadness.
Went to a "Night in Havana" -- a Cuban restaurant put together for one night by the Hotel & Restaurant Management dept here at the University. Food was good. Moderately priced. Service was fine... although do you really need to sniff the cork on a Berringer White Zinfandel? Ah, well you don't want to drink wine that's gone bad, no matter how mundane it is. So I suppose so. They put these things on from time to time throughout the year. Kind of a "lab" for them I guess. Make 'em put together what they've learned.
Thank you for shopping microtherm.
Order No. 100289
Invoice No. 1
Shipped 02-Apr-2003
1 RA-28
Comments: N/A
Access your Smart Receipt online to view the progress of your order:
https://tf.lynk-systems.com/tms-ts/bin/smart-receipt.cgi?...
Return to microtherm using the following URL:
http://www.aidan.net/~seisco/modelsandprices.html
Your order may take up to 3 weeks to be shipped
I went to look at the "Smart Receipt" -- it says it's shipping UPS Ground, and that the order is complete. That was 14 days ago.
Now if you ask me, the fact that it says Shipped 02-Apr-2003 says to me that it's already shipped and it's not going to take up to 3 weeks to be shipped. You know, like I lucked out or something and it was on the road.
Found a phone number to call for Seisco, called 'em up.... they said it hasn't shipped yet. Well, the plumber's coming Friday to stub in the new bathroom and hook up the ventilation. Maybe Monday. But the water heater won't be here by then. And he's stubbing plumbing right in the hole I'm counting on to remove the water heater. It's the only way to get it out short of cutting it up.
I measured the diameter of the water heater... it's 22.25" -- I marked a square in that hole 22.5" wide and deep and I'm going to SEE if I can get the plumber to plumb around that. That would buy me some time. But ultimately, they're going to drywall-- I've gotta get the bleedin' thing out before then, but without a replacement water heater, we'd be waking up awfully fast in the morning.
Mean time, I need to grab Ryan and head to Lowe's or Home Depot and get some thick wire (6 AWG) a sub-panel breakerbox, 2 240 Volt 60 amp dipole breakers, and 4 (count them, 4) 240V 30 amp breakers for the new box -- and some 10AWG housing wire. That'll make installing the unit (whenever it gets here) much faster.
The new door is in, and the sliding glass door is out. Outlets are popping up everywhere, and the wiring is being done for the various light switches. It's gonna be pretty neat when it's done.
Also have to do something about a stepping stone to step out on when you go out the basement door.... and do something about the drainage in that area. We'll be home the next two weekends -- maybe... it depends on whether or not we go to Indiana for the mini-reunion. We may be putting the house back together. Sam & Connie wanted us to go on a float trip with them pretty bad that weekend. That would be a lot of fun, but we decided we couldn't. Sadness.
Went to a "Night in Havana" -- a Cuban restaurant put together for one night by the Hotel & Restaurant Management dept here at the University. Food was good. Moderately priced. Service was fine... although do you really need to sniff the cork on a Berringer White Zinfandel? Ah, well you don't want to drink wine that's gone bad, no matter how mundane it is. So I suppose so. They put these things on from time to time throughout the year. Kind of a "lab" for them I guess. Make 'em put together what they've learned.
Monday, April 14, 2003
Weekend
Went to Bloomington over the weekend to see Brian & Jess. We drove up to Greenville to meet her parents (Jan and Bev) for dinner at the Olive Garden. I think Jess was nervous. She didn't need to be. We got along fine. They seem like very nice people.
Ate breakfast with Jess at the Runcible Spoon. Brian had to be at the Jill Behrman Unity Ride an hour earlier than he'd thought so we just went with Jess. Jill was the sister of one of Brian's DU brothers who dissappeared a few years ago. She was really into cycling, and that's what she was doing when she died. The ride was a benefit for Jill's House set up by Jill's parents as a temporary home for family of outpatients going through proton cancer therapy at IUB.
The Spoon has great breakfasts, to be sure. We eat there one breakfast every time we go to Bloomington (which isn't horribly often, but once a year, anyway). The buckwheat pancakes are a bit heavy for my taste, but the omelets are very good. Jess is good company and does well around us old boring fogies.
Putzed around a pricey antique mall in downtown Bloomington. Slept in a Very Loud Motel -- a bit run down. Cheap, which was good, but I doubt we'll stay there again. The weather was beautiful all weekend. Great weekend for a benefit bicycle ride.
They cut out the frame for the new basement door over the weekend. We've had to block Bart's access to the basement completely. He apparently made new messes in the basement over the weekend to the point where the construction guys had blocked his access to the old family room. They also shortened the ductwork for the furnace (which they had to do to get the door in) and moved one of the vents upstairs accordingly. Once Louie is gone he'll have to re-adjust to having run of the house.
Still waiting for the water heater. It shipped 8 business days ago. Hopefully it will be here today.
Ate breakfast with Jess at the Runcible Spoon. Brian had to be at the Jill Behrman Unity Ride an hour earlier than he'd thought so we just went with Jess. Jill was the sister of one of Brian's DU brothers who dissappeared a few years ago. She was really into cycling, and that's what she was doing when she died. The ride was a benefit for Jill's House set up by Jill's parents as a temporary home for family of outpatients going through proton cancer therapy at IUB.
The Spoon has great breakfasts, to be sure. We eat there one breakfast every time we go to Bloomington (which isn't horribly often, but once a year, anyway). The buckwheat pancakes are a bit heavy for my taste, but the omelets are very good. Jess is good company and does well around us old boring fogies.
Putzed around a pricey antique mall in downtown Bloomington. Slept in a Very Loud Motel -- a bit run down. Cheap, which was good, but I doubt we'll stay there again. The weather was beautiful all weekend. Great weekend for a benefit bicycle ride.
They cut out the frame for the new basement door over the weekend. We've had to block Bart's access to the basement completely. He apparently made new messes in the basement over the weekend to the point where the construction guys had blocked his access to the old family room. They also shortened the ductwork for the furnace (which they had to do to get the door in) and moved one of the vents upstairs accordingly. Once Louie is gone he'll have to re-adjust to having run of the house.
Still waiting for the water heater. It shipped 8 business days ago. Hopefully it will be here today.
Thursday, April 10, 2003
Ladybugs
The ladybugs came today. I pulled the tomato plants out. They were wilting as I had turned the water off to them a few days back. Tomatoes aren't worth it in an indoor garden. Too much space, and they take too long to grow and ripen. Hydroponics are great for lettuce, roquette, spinach, and starting seeds for outside.
What's left now is lettuce, roquette, and spinach... oh, and arugula (sp?).... I released the ladybugs to eat all the aphids... that's the major problem. About 20 of them came in with the tomato plants last fall, now there are... and I'm probably not exagerating here -- several hundred-thousand of them.
We'll have some fat ladybugs.
I started some tomato plants for outdoors in the hydro garden tonight --- I can put them out in about a month. They're the small, determinant kind I got for the hydro garden.... they'll be ideal for my dinky outdoor garden. Spring is about here - but tomatoes can't go out until the soil is warmer.
What's left now is lettuce, roquette, and spinach... oh, and arugula (sp?).... I released the ladybugs to eat all the aphids... that's the major problem. About 20 of them came in with the tomato plants last fall, now there are... and I'm probably not exagerating here -- several hundred-thousand of them.
We'll have some fat ladybugs.
I started some tomato plants for outdoors in the hydro garden tonight --- I can put them out in about a month. They're the small, determinant kind I got for the hydro garden.... they'll be ideal for my dinky outdoor garden. Spring is about here - but tomatoes can't go out until the soil is warmer.
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