Oh what a weekend!

Seems like we got a lot done this weekend. She primered and painted the upstairs front bedroom and the family room. I...let her. No, seriously, what I can remember doing:

• 3 loads of laundry.
• Got most of the wiring finished up for the "server closet", the space over the bathroom in the front upstairs bedroom. I've been using wire management products (fancy name for conduit and related parts) from Genova, purchased at HEP Sales in Newark. Easy to work with, looks clean, and it's making the wiring a breeze.
• I've got most of the easy-to-reach hot water piping covered with pipe insulation now. Every little bit helps, and for 97 cents/6 feet, it's a cheap upgrade.
• I also managed to put a "blanket" on the water heater to help it stay warm. Again, it's a small step, but $15 today will save us far more in the long run. I also turned the water heater down a notch as we've nearly been scalding ourselves in the sink & shower.
• I finally weatherstripped the front and kitchen doors. Can't see daylight through the sides anymore! With this and the previous two items, I'm calling stage one of my "insulate infrastructure" to-do list item complete.
• Touched up some of the missing mortar in the family room wall with a very interesting product from a company called Sika. It's basically mortar in a bag - you pour in some water, seal the cap, knead/mix with your hands, then tear off the top of the bag and start troweling. I think I got as much on the floor as I did in the joints, but it's looking better at least.
• Did a test application of a polyurethane on the bricks to see how it'll work out. See my post from yesterday about my call to the Ask The Builder radio program. Jury's still out on the test results - I may need to do a second coat, and I'll also be looking for a silicone elastomer to test out. We have some time, as the floor is at least 2 weeks out at this point.
• Hung mini-blinds in the upstairs bathroom.
• Picked up two big hairballs in the closet. Blech.

Looking around the house, I don't feel like I accomplished that much - many of the things I did this weekend you can't see. I guess, to put it in computer geek terms, it's like refactoring code - the end user may never notice, other developers may not even notice, but it's critical maintenance to your infrastructure that needs to be done and pays big dividends down the line.