tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36671352024-03-12T19:56:00.366-04:00It's more than a house. It's an adventure.First time homeowner, first time home improver, slowly but surely chipping away at making his 130-year-old house his own. Plus web dev, general geek stuff, and whatever floats my boat.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger390125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-35224440982228555662008-05-25T13:26:00.002-04:002008-05-25T13:37:59.765-04:00Out of hibernation<p>It's been a long time sine I've updated. I've just been lazy. Not much to report on as far as work on the house; no major indoor projects, and we've only started working outside the past couple weeks due to weather.</p><p>The lawn is looking amazing, if I may say so. Considering that we had nothing but bare dirt 2 years ago, it's looking damn good. We have some weed issues, but nothing major. The ground is uneven in places, just need some topsoil to fill those dips.</p><p>This is only our third Spring in the house and already we're changing landscaping decisions we made ourselves. We've removed the two "corner" gardens by the sidewalk, and merged the areas around the front rosebushes (which, BTW, are already covered in flower buds) and hydrangea tree. The irises which were on those corners now fill this area. This morning my wife finished that off by putting in some scallop-top brick edgers. Somehow this all makes the front yard look larger. It's a welcome update, and will make maintenance and mowing much easier. The sod we took up was used to fill in some of the areas that are no longer gardens.</p><p>She also moved some phlox from the top of the driveway down to alongside the front sidewalk. It'll fill in and color that area nicely.</p><p>While she was working on that, I spent some time freshening up the mulch and doing some trimming of our Japanese Maple. The tree is getting big and blocking the view of the other plants near it. I also brushed some more sand over the sidewalk to keep filling in between the pavers.</p><p>Pictures hopefully later this evening after the sun moves to a better location.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-11490717772313030262007-11-18T15:37:00.000-05:002007-11-18T16:07:45.314-05:00Learning to use glass block<p>In my quest to get the house a little more heat-efficient, this weekend I attacked the basement "window" by the stairs. When we bought the house, the opening in the foundation by the basement stairs where a window should have been was instead wide open, with a thin piece of foam insulation loosely tacked in place. It was very drafty and I'm sure let a few critters through. Shortly after we closed, I made a thicker, heavier baffle out of styrofoam, fiberglass insulation, and an entire roll of duct tape. It helped, but not much.</p><p>This weekend, spurred by the installation of the new front door and a $10 coupon for Lowe's, I finally fixed it up right. I decided to fill the opening with glass block, as it both insulates and will help illuminate the dim stairs.</p><p>The whole project actually went pretty smoothly, considering the space wasn't designed, modified, or modifiable for the job. I am lucky that the rough opening had previously been prepared for a window of some sort, so it had good wood all around and was square. However, I only had 16 1/2 vertical inches to work with - and 8x8 blocks. Once I installed the plastic channels all the way around, I dry-fit everything, and it was <em>tight</em>. Tight enough that to get the last pair of 8x8 blocks in, I had to remove one side of the lower channel to slide the block in.</p><p>Once the blocks were in, I was left with a roughly 2 inch gap on one end. I stuffed some 2" styrofoam insulation in and sealed around it. It's not the greatest solution to the situation, but it'll keep things draft-free through the winter.</p><p>Overall, I'm pretty happy with how the project turned out. The basement stairs definitely have more light, the opening is now sealed against bugs, mice & other small intruders, there's no draft that I can find (and if I did miss anything, I can just re-caulk), and it looks better from the outside to boot. When not used in a "structural" capacity, glass block turns out to be extremely easy to work with, requiring no mortar or other masonry tools; just the channels, spacers and silicone caulk/adhesive. They just look intimidating due to the size & some of the "special" materials. I'm looking forward to doing a future project with them.</p><p><a href="http://dakboy.is-a-geek.net/coppermine/thumbnails.php?album=66&page=1&sort=da">Pictures</a></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-6266812256429873822007-11-04T22:54:00.000-05:002007-11-04T22:57:56.908-05:00First Mac post!<p>I finally did it. Thursday night I picked up the new Santa Rosa-equipped MacBook. 2.2GHz, 120GB hard drive, 1GB RAM and a SuperDrive. I'm still working on completing the switch. So far things are going pretty well but I'm still finding my way around the system.</p><p>One thing that I haven't worked out yet is continuing to use Quicken 2006 for Windows. My original plan was to convert my PC to a VMWare image and run that in VMWare Fusion. I've done that conversion and copied the image to the MacBook, but it's amazingly slow. I need more RAM for VMWare to work with. I may also have better luck with a fresh Windows install with only Quicken in it. We'll see what happens.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-64163214479893692672007-10-28T17:08:00.000-04:002007-10-28T17:23:23.196-04:00Switching credit cards<p>For 10 years now, I've been a loyal <a href="http://discovercard.com/">Discover Card</a> user/member. It has been my/our "default, use it unless the place doesn't take it" card, mostly because of the cash-back bonus. This weekend, that has changed. I finally made the decision to switch to the <a href="http://www.americanexpress.com/">Amex</a> Blue Cash card. Why? It's a far, far better cash-back program.</p><p>Discover maxes out at 1% cash back, across the board. Quarterly, they have specials on certain types of purchases to get 5% back on (for example) gas during the summer vacation season. But it's 0.25% for the first $1000 in purchases each year, 0.50% for the next $2000, and then 1% after that. That middle threshold may be different, I don't recall at the moment.</p><p>The Amex Blue Cash is much, much better. 1.5% on "everyday" purchases (drugstore, gas station & supermarket) and 0.5% on everything else for the first $6500/year. After that, it's 5% on the everyday stuff and 1.5% on everything else.</p><p>According to the calculator on Amex.com, our annual cash-back should be more than double using their card vs. Discover. Plus all the usual Amex member benefits. So long, Discover - it's been fun, and I'll still drop in and see you from time to time, but I'm moving on.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-44141513184192802842007-10-28T15:37:00.000-04:002007-10-28T21:26:24.845-04:00All lit up again<p>When we <a href="http://dakboy.blogspot.com/2006/05/yet-another-electrifying-setback.html">cut off </a>(and <a href="http://dakboy.blogspot.com/2007/06/and-on-530-th-day.html">subsequently reconfigured</a>) the power to the famliy room, the pantry lighting was an unfortunate casualty. That light was powered off the same circuit, for some odd reason. Yesterday afternoon, I finally picked up the requisite parts (a few conduit connectors and a junction box to use with my Genova conduit I've <a href="http://dakboy.blogspot.com/2006/02/oh-what-weekend.html">used previously</a>, plus a wide, flat switch) and rewired it.</p><p>I figured the path of least resistance (that's an electrical pun, get it?) would be to tap into the electrical outlet we installed above the switch just inside the door, bring that power down to a new switch in the same place, then up to the fixture. More time-consuming than difficult. Then I thought "hey, maybe the wiring from the switch to the fixture is still good, and I can just bring power down to the switch."</p><p>So, I opened up the outlet and connected a branch to that. Pulled out the switch and the wires looked good. I was hoping to see one pair coming into the bottom of the box, which would be the supply (which I know is now dead on the other end), and then a pair going up to the fixture. No such luck. Both came into the top of the box. 2 black wires connected to the switch (the hot leads), 2 white wire-tied together (neutral). Time to play detective.</p><p>Obviously, any electrical circuit has to be "closed" to work. I connected one black and one white (to simulate closing the circuit, AKA flipping the switch to ON), then took my voltmeter on the Ohms setting to the bulb socket on the light fixture. The first 3 times (out of 4 black/white combinations), I just got <tt>OL</tt> - open loop, no closed circuit. The last attempt, paydirt! I had a closed loop with some resistance. I found my light circuit. Wire-tied the white on the Romex and white in the wall together, connected the black wires to my switch, popped a bulb into the fixture, and closed the breaker in the basement. Success!</p><p>Switched the breaker back off & closed everything up. We can finally do laundry without a flashlight. It's only been about 18 months since it last worked.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-91816958118266529582007-10-19T22:47:00.000-04:002007-10-19T22:58:14.800-04:00So many "little things" I need to do<p>The weather this past week has reminded me that winter is fast approaching, and there are a lot of little things I've been putting off - some are new, some have been around a while, all really ought to be done before the weather really turns cold and the days become short. I just need a couple days all to myself, or with a dedicated assistant, to finish it off. Setting the date for the door install has made me even more anxious now. In no particular order (which is why I'm using <ul> instead of <ol>.</p><ul><li>Mow & fertilize the lawn</li><li>Get new power run to the pantry light so that we don't have to keep doing laundry by flashlight</li><li>Pull out the stove, remove some plaster, and insulate the wall behind it. Then cover with concrete backer board and slide the stove back in. Last winter, my toes froze while cooking because there's no insulation in that wall. I'll only go up about 3 feet from the floor with it, but it'll be an improvement.</li><li>Take down some trees</li><li>Put a glass block window in the hole in the foundation wall by the basement stairs. I have a styrofoam plug in it now where a window should be, but it's most definitely not airtight and drafts come into the kitchen from there.</li></ul><p>The stove wall and glass block window, combined with the new door, should make the kitchen a <em>lot</em> warmer. I won't go so far as to say "cozy" because it's just not meant to be a "cozy" room, but at least our toes won't freeze.</p><p>We did buy a new mailbox and mounted it to the wall last weekend, instead of the old, small, rusting box we had sitting on a window ledge. The new mailbox looks great and is large enough to hold magazines & keep them protected. It even locks! Also put in some solar-powered lights next to the sidewalk, but I'm unimpressed so far. They won't get enough sunlight in the fall/winter to illuminate long enough into the night to be useful. We'll give them a few more days, maybe a week, then they're going to be returned I think.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-64474159711839356652007-10-19T12:09:00.000-04:002007-10-19T12:11:24.966-04:00Our door is on its way!<p>Got a call from the door folks yesterday to set up a date for our new kitchen door to get installed. We'll get it on Halloween. Just in time for winter! Now I just need to fix up the wall behind the stove and the basement window and the kitchen floor might be tolerable this winter!</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-12817621071104468812007-10-07T22:05:00.000-04:002007-10-07T22:44:49.976-04:00Big project, very sore<p>For a while we've been wanting to replace the front sidewalk as it had been becoming increasingly dangerous. Just some stones embedded in the ground, very uneven, large gaps where weeds grew through. The stones were growing moss and algae, and some were working loose. And a major <acronym title="Pain In The Ass">PITA</acronym> to shovel in the winter.</p><p>The last few weeks we had been getting closer and closer to actually doing it, and about midweek my wife said "ok, let's do it this weekend." I'd been reading and researching the project for a while, so I knew it wasn't necessarily a quick job.</p><p>We took some measurements of the old sidewalk and decided to go with a new, straight walkway made of paver bricks, 16 feet long by 3 feet wide. I made up a <a href="http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pIOfl3yMSoAWQUGzQw8DeVQ&hl=en">quick spreadsheet</a> to work out how much we'd need in materials to do it. After some research on patterns, we decided that a 36" wide layout wouldn't work well with the bricks we'd selected without a lot of cutting, so we reduced it to 32" to make for an easier fit.</p><p>Friday night we went down to Lowe's to make our purchase. 250 red/charcoal paver bricks. 42 bags of base stone. A dozen bags of sand. Various other supplies and tools. Total bill: just short of $500. I asked about reserving the "Load n' Go" truck but it's on a first-come, first-served basis.</p><p>I arrived about 8:15 AM on Saturday and the truck was available. Got the paperwork taken care of and brought it around to the garden center. They loaded the bricks on first, right up at the front of the bed. At first, they set them down on the driver's side. The whole truck squatted and I thought it was going to roll, it leaned so far. They pushed it to the centerline and it leveled side to side. Then the stone & sand was loaded. At the back of the flatbed. The truck squatted even more, to the point where it clearly looked overloaded. By my math, we had loaded 1000 pounds of brick and 2000 pounds of stone & sand onto the truck. A <em>3/4 ton</em> truck. This was looking to be a fun ride home. And it was. Over 50 MPH, the truck got very squirrelly, as there was very little weight on the front wheels to maintain control.</p><p>When I got the truck home, I backed it into the driveway and we set about unloading. My wife and I unloaded the truck, one bag at a time, a half dozen bricks at a time, by hand, in an hour. Not too shabby.</p><p>When I returned from returning the truck to Lowe's, the work began in earnest. We put in stakes and ran some twine to mark off the area we'd be excavating. Excavation was not too difficult as the ground was soft, but by my figures we had to remove over 1 cubic yard of dirt. It doesn't sound like a lot, but when you're moving it all with shovels and a wheelbarrow, it definitely is. We managed to get the job about halfway done when the sky started threatening rain. Then we heard thunder. We covered the area with plastic and within minutes, the skies opened. Saturday was over for the sidewalk.</p><p>Sunday morning we got a good start and finished digging everything out. Along the way were several surprises. First, just below the surface was a layer of sand. The previous owner had installed her sidewalk somewhat properly, putting a good sand base below the stones. Below the sand (actually, intermingled with it), was black plastic. Maybe to block weeds from growing through? I'm not sure. The biggest surprise, however, was the 4 inch diameter hole I found under a hunk of cinder block. Apparently we were standing on top of a concrete slab which covered a larger cavity. A cistern, old drywell, or septic system? Don't know yet. I'll have to check village records to find out.</p><p>Once the excavation appeared complete, we tamped the soil down. Only to discover that we'd taken too much out. An hour or so of retrieving fill & fixing low spots later and we were ready for the base material, 30+ bags of stone. We spread out & tamped 8 bags at a time so as to not go too far too fast. The downside of that is that you have to do an extreme amount of tamping. It's an excellent triceps exercise but my wrists are complaining and I've got at least one blister, on my right thumb.</p><p>Once the base stone was complete (4 inches deep), the hard part was finished. We put down 8 bags of sand and screeded it to 1 inch thick in short order. Then laid down edging for one side of the walk, laid the first course of brick, then put down the second side's edging. From there, my wife took over putting the bricks down, while I delivered them to her. Everything came together very quickly. Once the bricks were done, we filled the areas on either side of the walk which had been dug out, but weren't to get brick, then started brushing sand into the crevices. We got as much in as we could, but as things settle we'll need to brush more in to fill the gaps. Not a big deal.</p><p>I figure it was about 20 man-hours of labor. Not too bad, considering it's our first attempt. We're very pleased with the results and we look forward to enjoying our safer sidewalk for as long as we're in the house. We're very sore and very tired after this effort, but it feels really good.</p><p><a href="http://dakboy.is-a-geek.net/coppermine/thumbnails.php?album=64&page=1&sort=na">Pictures of the project</a></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-37483058903802386052007-09-09T22:53:00.000-04:002007-09-09T23:01:44.968-04:00Small changes<p>We got out into the backyard again last night before dinner. Only put in about 45 minutes but we cleared about 200 square feet in a triangle shape near our west neighbors' garage. We relocated the Lenton Rose to the front of the house, but everything else (mostly peonies) was removed permanently. Also pulled out a tree, hopefully I got enough of the roots that nothing will come back.</p><p>Didn't put any seed down yet because the ground is very uneven - just not ready for it yet. I'll get that fixed soon. If the rain lets up. Rained all day today. Hopefully this will get the other seed we'd planted out back growing. The seed we put in a couple weeks ago between the kitchen and bedroom has really sprouted. Another week or two and it'll be ready to get cut. Again, if the rain stops and things have a chance to dry out. Other areas of the lawn desperately need to be mowed now with all the water they're getting, but I just can't do it now.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-41368121681648725552007-09-03T21:59:00.001-04:002008-12-11T00:35:53.989-05:00Major yard work<p>A break in the weather today and someone to help take care of the little one and we were able to make some <strong>huge</strong> progress in the backyard. We managed to:</p><ul><li>Clear out the area on the side of the shed, put in edging, and transplant a few hostas and other plants. Then the requisite mulch. There was a large cluster of peonies in that space, but we just dug them up and threw them out. We also made this area smaller than originally planned. It works better though.<br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAcniRrzLvr7W1COthcmaTCWOSTSIIUHzgqCCmV5RoCY8wbORs13ne_qiEDJ5GYtlFD6rqvUSaEmtMq3CyCTvlH_xV65LXAEEFdwbArSgwK2AMzlA6050vVSGoOJAdkW909XEKPg/s1600-h/IMG_4676.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAcniRrzLvr7W1COthcmaTCWOSTSIIUHzgqCCmV5RoCY8wbORs13ne_qiEDJ5GYtlFD6rqvUSaEmtMq3CyCTvlH_xV65LXAEEFdwbArSgwK2AMzlA6050vVSGoOJAdkW909XEKPg/s200/IMG_4676.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5106165387158812226" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOLVOAEawjq-pYx1u-fl3XXFuGxRZPrQZM0aRXYLxxfMd90bn8wTZMio47ycLxDUJDDqEcSDlqFE284nptAE3WIpmEFHRp5EVX6l1x37HmO6jZ0ZP1gSFYUjwA7orgHD1z2mh2JQ/s1600-h/IMG_4677.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOLVOAEawjq-pYx1u-fl3XXFuGxRZPrQZM0aRXYLxxfMd90bn8wTZMio47ycLxDUJDDqEcSDlqFE284nptAE3WIpmEFHRp5EVX6l1x37HmO6jZ0ZP1gSFYUjwA7orgHD1z2mh2JQ/s200/IMG_4677.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5106165391453779538" /></a></li><li>We cleared more area for grass in the main part of the backyard. Unfortunately I forgot to snap a picture of this. We're now clear about 2/3 of the way across, in a straight line even with the back of our neighbor's garage. I also found some high spots to take down and use as fill for some holes. Lime, grass seed & fertilizer applied.</li><li>The area behind the bedroom (actually outside the closet wall) was a total mess, very overgrown with grass and a few plants we couldn't identify.Cleared all that out, put some more edging down to get some good definition of the flowerbed, and transplanted several "elephant ear" hostas from the area by the fence against the house wall. We laid out the last bag of mulch that we had, but came up well short.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0BqsHznHJe3z4zPfU4zKnpGhE2k29kW6WqV8Mrtd4D-6KzBPTzAP0Tt11Eckofb0MwsA6O5FA8NY4hGZDNf_s23Mws4lUyOaNWkDXElLfWraupYYaN03Z2UGRGZ_0heLvJ7e3lQ/s1600-h/IMG_4678.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0BqsHznHJe3z4zPfU4zKnpGhE2k29kW6WqV8Mrtd4D-6KzBPTzAP0Tt11Eckofb0MwsA6O5FA8NY4hGZDNf_s23Mws4lUyOaNWkDXElLfWraupYYaN03Z2UGRGZ_0heLvJ7e3lQ/s200/IMG_4678.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5106167934074418786" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7m8fHLMEuerIZirqWlnsMktiu8fL-r1-17kh1BoJCrIGIuGjJZscwjiCfgTDjHUNMV-SpsmDnRO_4kD32tm5CqWoaTjtLde-oYDhS1AKHwWHPZSK9vxvNXE6nMJK6ttTzTCXgbA/s1600-h/IMG_4681.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7m8fHLMEuerIZirqWlnsMktiu8fL-r1-17kh1BoJCrIGIuGjJZscwjiCfgTDjHUNMV-SpsmDnRO_4kD32tm5CqWoaTjtLde-oYDhS1AKHwWHPZSK9vxvNXE6nMJK6ttTzTCXgbA/s200/IMG_4681.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5106167938369386098" /></a></li></ul><p>Overall, a tremendously productive day. We may even find ourselves getting more done in the backyard for the year than we'd anticipated. That'd be a first for any of our projects!</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-78383882791826946662007-09-03T21:42:00.000-04:002007-09-03T22:23:41.619-04:00Work pretty much stopped<p>No updates the last couple months because there's not been much to post about. Between weather and parenthood, we haven't been able to get much done on the house. We did manage to move into the family room a couple months ago, which has been very nice. In the process, I learned a very important lesson about RG59 vs. RG6 coaxial cable. We have a few small projects left in the room, but it's habitable at least.</p><p>I did manage to finally get onto the roof and put some screening on the defunct chimney, in hopes of keeping squirrels out. I heard noises in the family room ceiling last night, however. Hopefully it's just that they gnawed through already.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-49004252502021499692007-06-24T11:19:00.000-04:002007-06-24T11:38:33.942-04:00And on the 530th day...<p><a href="http://dakboy.blogspot.com/2006/05/yet-another-electrifying-setback.html">Last year</a>, we had a family friend who's an electrician come out to have a look at the family room and help us get the power situation fixed. Between my laziness, the baby coming along, and his insanely crazy schedule, the room remained dark.</p><p>Until yesterday. The stars aligned, he was able to come out for hte morning, and we now have fully functioning electrical service in the room, with safe, modern Romex wiring and a lighted ceiling fan. I've spent about 10 minutes just playing with the switch watching the fan.</p><p>All we have left to do is run speaker wire, put up the crown molding, and touch up some paint!</p><p>The pantry is still dark. The BX cable supplying it was tied into the same circuit the family room was on, tied in down in the basement (as was one basement light). Running new power to that light should be pretty easy, I just need to get some more wire molding.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-5643787100358190742007-06-02T22:14:00.001-04:002007-06-02T22:19:13.609-04:00So antique I'm back in fashion<p>The Albany Times Union ran an AP story last week about the <a href="http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=593238">resurgence of the reel mower</a>. Turns out that with our antique mower, we're actually ahead of the coming mower rennaisance.</p><blockquote><p>Kogan and Skalinder said that, considering their yards are the size of apartment bedrooms, power mowers didn't seem necessary.</p><p>"I felt a gas-powered (mower) was a little over the top for my needs," said Skalinder, adding he didn't want to use the kind of screaming power mower that keeps him awake when he's trying to nap.</p></blockquote><p>Sums it up nicely. We don't have a lot of area to mow, and between the cost of a gas mower, the maintenance, the fuel, the size (we don't have a big garage to store it in) and the noise, I don't want a gas mower. Plus, a reel mower is healthier for the grass - and me.</p><p>Our local Lowe's can't keep the mowers in stock this year, they're flying off the shelves.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-59215221275299719672007-06-02T22:07:00.000-04:002007-06-02T22:14:17.769-04:00Sign-on stupidity<p>I own some of my employer's stock, purchased through our employee stock purchase plan. Money comes out of my paycheck post-tax, and goes into shares of the company once a month. There's an "investor services" website which I can log onto to check out my account, buy more stock, sell some, etc. Nice & convenient.</p><p>I also learned, about a year ago, that my position is one which the company decided is worthy of receiving options on an annual basis. Very cool indeed. I wasn't aware of this when I took the job, but I'll gladly accept. When I got my notice last month for this year's grant, the letter stated I could go on the investor services website to acknowledge it. So I logged on, but couldn't find where to do the acknowledgment. I emailed the service address, and they responded saying "we can't do anything to help you till you email us with your company code and account number."</p><p>Yeah, right. Like I'm going to send something like that via plaintext email. Why don't more financial companies make it easy/possible to email them using GPG, or just put a "contact us" form on their website instead?</p><p>Anyway, tonight I was clearing part of my desk and found information from last fall about the program which I had carelessly set aside. It turns out that there's a <em>different</em> section of the same site for my options program! With a different ID/password combo to sign on with.</p><p>Same institution, same employer, same employee. Can someone explain to me why I can't have a single view of everything behind one ID & password? It's asinine.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-41368699401798291182007-05-29T21:56:00.000-04:002007-05-29T22:05:06.766-04:00Long weekend<p>This weekend was Memorial Day, which meant an extra day off from the paying job and an extra day to do the non-paying job - work on the yard. In reality, we only were able to work on it on Saturday, but much was accomplished.</p><ul><li>I hauled the bags of yard junk collected over the past couple weekends (and a couple from last year) off to various places. 215 pounds to the trash place, all pulled over the past week. A few more bags to the town highway department, leftovers from last year, as well as some of the tree material we cut last weekend. And a bunch of broken bricks, found under the pond tub when I moved it.</li><li>My wife attempted to turn the pond tub into a sandbox. We (mostly she) dug a good-sized hole to plant it in, only to find the remants of a large tree stump & roots. So, she moved about 18 inches...and found the other side. It looks like someone tried to burn or grind the stump out, but only got partway through, and then buried the remains. So, she filled it all back in and spread grass seed.</li><li>While I was out lugging trash all over, I stopped at CountryMax and picked up 6 bags of mulch and a wheelbarrow so that we can return my brother in law's to him.</li><li>Some more rocks moved, some plants relocated.</li><li>Lots of watering</li></ul><p>Tonight, I wanted to make at least a little progress, so I took my pitchfork out back and filled 2 more 39-gallon trash bags with weeds in about 30 minutes. In the process I discovered more rocks (what a shock) and more hostas (what a coincidence!). I failed at removing a Staghorn Sumac that's starting to grow - I need to get that thing out before it spreads.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-39073691224667137002007-05-24T22:03:00.000-04:002007-05-24T22:05:16.539-04:00Major project #2<p>We got our quote for the other major house project earlier this month. We need to have the pantry window replaced, one of the family room windows replaced (these 2 windows are much older than any other window in the house), and the kitchen entry door & screen door replaced. The quote came out quite a bit higher than I'd anticipated, so it looks like we'll have to push at least the pantry window off to next year, unfortunately.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-79871305864629436392007-05-24T21:42:00.000-04:002007-05-24T21:46:53.663-04:00Bulk isn't always better<p>We've been using a lot of mulch. More last year than this, at least so far, but still quite a bit. Every time I went out to the local <a href="http://www.countrymax.com/cmstore/customer/home.php">CountryMax</a> and plunked down my $11.something for 3 bags, I kept thinking "I should just get a cubic yard delivered to the house and be done with it. It's got to be cheaper."</p><p>Turns out...not so much. Most places that deliver require a minimum of 2 cubic yards to be delivered. That's far more than I need. What if we borrow a pickup? Well, then we can get the mulch we're using for about $33 per yard, but we have to use it all right away or chip away at the pile in the driveway.</p><p>9 bags of mulch is 1 cubic yard. About $36 when all is said and done. Compared to $33 for a "bulk" yard. The $3 is well worth it to me, to get the convenience of bags. I can buy what I need, when I need it, and manage it easily. No mess in the driveway, no endless wheelbarrow trips to the backyard, and I can throw it all in the back of my car.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-65804794857672200862007-05-23T22:02:00.000-04:002007-05-23T22:08:00.661-04:00Something you don't see every day<p>I took an alternate route home tonight as I wanted to stop at a grocery store we don't normally visit to pick up some fish for dinner. This particular store is located in one of the ritzier suburbs, so there tends to be a higher concentration of high-dollar cars on the streets there.</p><p>As I was cruising down the road, I played leapfrog with a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Phaeton">VW Phaeton</a>, with the W12 engine. I'm certain I've seen this exact car in the area before, because fewer than 3000 were ever sold in the US according to that Wikipedia article. A very rare find, especially with the W12.</p><p>While I was dancing with the Phaeton, I passed a gas station. Waiting patiently to exit the station and merge into traffic was an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acura_NSX">Acura NSX</a>. Yet another rare find! Not sure just how rare this specimen was, as I couldn't get a model year off it, nor determine what features it had. I wish I'd had my phone with me to snap a picture of each.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-16447550834269118522007-05-23T21:49:00.000-04:002007-05-23T21:53:32.166-04:00More water!<p>But in a good way, this time. I asked my wife to pick up a sprinkler for the yard while she was out today, because we actually have enough greenspace which needs watering that a hand nozzle just isn't practical anymore. She grabbed a pair of <a href="http://www.gilmour.com/Watering_Hose_End/Sprinklers/StandardOscillator.asp">Gilmour 8830D</a>s. I gave them a 90-minute test drive tonight and I'm pretty happy with them so far. I haven't yet been able to get a good, deep soaking on the grass yet using the hand sprayers, but these are just the ticket. I just have to make sure to carefully adjust the spigots so I don't send too much water down the hose - these sprinklers have a much maximum larger range than I need right now.</p><p>I never thought I'd actually take interest in watching a sprinkler operate. The soaking I gave the grass today means, of course, I'll have to mow tomorrow.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-85004437713736602562007-05-23T21:31:00.001-04:002008-12-11T00:35:55.566-05:00Five. Hundred. Days.<p>OK, today actually marks the 499<sup>th</sup> day we've been homeowners. Close enough. I was talking to <a href="http://mcwtlg.blogspot.com/">El Gee</a> this morning about the progress that we've made on the house lately and I decided that some pictures were in order. All pictures here that are "before" pictures were taken the weekend we placed the offer on the house. The "after" pictures were taken tonight. I present the before picture, then the after picture, with the caption between them.</p><div style="border:2px solid;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOShfamKT5uale_okfBQBCC1-zg1S09J3uX22PNSgS1gHi8XzEX0H4yNOtp_Xz93AuHY09ZWyVZxl3Y5v-4PCweHM_U_rKEYHYBeYkXPloaDec5TIKy5jraBHxbkZ55ZaJ7DlcIQ/s1600-h/Front+Before.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOShfamKT5uale_okfBQBCC1-zg1S09J3uX22PNSgS1gHi8XzEX0H4yNOtp_Xz93AuHY09ZWyVZxl3Y5v-4PCweHM_U_rKEYHYBeYkXPloaDec5TIKy5jraBHxbkZ55ZaJ7DlcIQ/s320/Front+Before.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5067934489116717234" /></a><p>The front of the house. The left side is English Ivy. The right, Pachysandra. Now it's all grass, the flowerbeds taken care of, and the town has redone the sidewalk and end of the driveway.</p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwSaiMF-98HB2M3UgFxqZN7LARNLDY3nKZo742DPgvlGyemEPIehyphenhyphenJqB-wHEuq6GXowJFCfDIS3uz3Gcx2TNJG8iM63_Digq_kGEGTHMb1vZLVt3y6QcXiHiwLgSijKqI95NWJIw/s1600-h/Front+After.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwSaiMF-98HB2M3UgFxqZN7LARNLDY3nKZo742DPgvlGyemEPIehyphenhyphenJqB-wHEuq6GXowJFCfDIS3uz3Gcx2TNJG8iM63_Digq_kGEGTHMb1vZLVt3y6QcXiHiwLgSijKqI95NWJIw/s320/Front+After.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5067934918613446850" /></a></div><div style="border:2px solid;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCKtrrJN76yVQnrl8L0otgIvzcajbh6qz6H9C71WVv9UPZv4mIEHmFIY-jlWaVlZaeETtZUSP6IG7z0Zj5wrNJtfavnt4wJArmCs2184irr7lx8x4Y_SZjBLOIPlRm39q0KnkvAg/s1600-h/Back+Before.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCKtrrJN76yVQnrl8L0otgIvzcajbh6qz6H9C71WVv9UPZv4mIEHmFIY-jlWaVlZaeETtZUSP6IG7z0Zj5wrNJtfavnt4wJArmCs2184irr7lx8x4Y_SZjBLOIPlRm39q0KnkvAg/s320/Back+Before.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5067935227851092178" /></a><p>The area off the back of the bedroom. Totally overgrown. Cleaned up some, and the bricks exposed as I mentioned in my post the other day.</p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCr31ZgH2l4Om3Mnoh0ueMPH6dpaRdOWSoYEyVFLxTErANYShoVXToXtBVrIZnP6KN5gJCpQhSPxr05s3BTkDtW1ChgNdwVfjqXh-rJQ_n6WwuVgONWDONovfiiPgJ2vlMpogBbg/s1600-h/Back+After.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCr31ZgH2l4Om3Mnoh0ueMPH6dpaRdOWSoYEyVFLxTErANYShoVXToXtBVrIZnP6KN5gJCpQhSPxr05s3BTkDtW1ChgNdwVfjqXh-rJQ_n6WwuVgONWDONovfiiPgJ2vlMpogBbg/s320/Back+After.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5067935528498802914" /></a></div><div style="border:2px solid;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3qud0lFOVKjKK8FX7oeDcg8PxJkDxdCM8CszXBUHvdaPnQKCEW3ZZaN3k2AO6SGve7ZzEOnK9Erx8MChrDmVfTXn3Y2NFFObg6cx5snJ0uTsF5QuYbiPrHdQhuNaFPKpVQQ0ioQ/s1600-h/Island+Before.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3qud0lFOVKjKK8FX7oeDcg8PxJkDxdCM8CszXBUHvdaPnQKCEW3ZZaN3k2AO6SGve7ZzEOnK9Erx8MChrDmVfTXn3Y2NFFObg6cx5snJ0uTsF5QuYbiPrHdQhuNaFPKpVQQ0ioQ/s320/Island+Before.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5067936366017425650" /></a><p>The lilac tree "island" between the driveway, bedroom & shed. The whole area, really, was overgrown. We ripped out some of the flora last spring, I started to finish the island last fall, and this spring my wife finished it off. We didn't really discuss what we wanted it to look like, but it ended up matching my vision almost perfectly.</p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqES5PSqJT6rVH3cjh1LfxdX_pReUFcKf_j9ji2Zn3JvSocF-KWLWeRIh0zxaSvLoAK7Igs43C45BOPrf32NyBiH6MjlOkhIWDuDB_Mw6IIir7_WM_2DHIyeaKuQ_YkEyYohcXog/s1600-h/Island+After+1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqES5PSqJT6rVH3cjh1LfxdX_pReUFcKf_j9ji2Zn3JvSocF-KWLWeRIh0zxaSvLoAK7Igs43C45BOPrf32NyBiH6MjlOkhIWDuDB_Mw6IIir7_WM_2DHIyeaKuQ_YkEyYohcXog/s320/Island+After+1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5067937182061211906" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin2dq-7yuzTfSHbVkeg3cKoPt8k49w2kZg0z5BOaIDGt6D8uogQfn7GWIM6kEVt1iCPwz67CODL1HrzD2JT7S_vXmByu9oYhEccjaO9J65YfTn0-nzvbzNf63DOmYdRgEk28WTEw/s1600-h/Island+After+2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin2dq-7yuzTfSHbVkeg3cKoPt8k49w2kZg0z5BOaIDGt6D8uogQfn7GWIM6kEVt1iCPwz67CODL1HrzD2JT7S_vXmByu9oYhEccjaO9J65YfTn0-nzvbzNf63DOmYdRgEk28WTEw/s320/Island+After+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5067937190651146514" /></a></div><p>Not bad, eh? We still need to get the grassy areas cleaned up, but a lot of that will be "nuke & pave", just tilling everything under and planting new seed. The big chores are all the plants & garden areas.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-77323175917939995222007-05-21T21:36:00.000-04:002007-05-21T21:39:44.948-04:00Shhhhh<p>We have an open floorplan at work, and cube "pods" with 4 desks each and no real walls between pods. As a result, sound carries very far, and people never seem to realize how loud they're being.</p><p>In a couple weeks, we're getting a "sound masking" system. Basically, a white noise generator, with speakers scattered throughout the ceiling. It's supposed to make a constant sound similar to our air-conditioning system which will cover up and change the voice sounds.</p><p>What I'm wondering is, what will the constant exposure to this sound do to my hearing, long-term?</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-27327000924620466932007-05-21T21:27:00.000-04:002007-05-21T21:28:31.210-04:00Weekend Update<p>This weekend was our first serious yardwork session. My mother & sister were out visiting and we ripped into the backyard Saturday.</p> <ul> <li> First off, I mowed what little grass we do have for the first time this year. Yes, it's a little late. I finally found a place to get my ancient bent-reel mower sharpened, and they did an amazing job. Last year, the mower clogged & stopped regularly, and cut very unevenly. Now, it's smooth sailing. No clogs, just a smooth, even cut. It's beautiful. The folks at <a href="http://www.titusmower.com/" title="Titus Ave. Mower Service">Titus Ave. Mower Service</a> did a terrific job with the mower. Given the amount of lawn we'll have when everything is finished, I won't need to get it sharpened more than once every 3-4 years. For $65 for the sharpening, lube & adjustment, it's a bargain. 20 minutes, plus some time with the weed whacker and the lawn looks infinitely better. </li> <li> The majority of the rock pile next to she shed has been relocated to behind the shed. </li> <li> The "island" where the lilac tree lives near the shed has been completed. My wife finished the rock border/wall that I had started last fall, planted her one of her two new <a href="http://www.naturehills.com/new/product/perennialsdetails.aspx?prodid=1275" title="May Night Salvia">May Night Salvia</a> (happy Mother's Day) plants in it, and covered with mulch. It looks finished. It looks beautiful. It looks exactly the way I had imagined it. I need to take some pictures I guess. </li> <li> The big chore was weeding, specifically clearing out everything that had started making the backyard look overgrown. 5+ 30-gallon bags later, we've pushed the "cleared" line about 8 feet further back, so we've got about 16 feet from the back of the house relatively clear. We also cleared a path past the dogwood tree to get to the area behind the shed, so we could put the rock pile back there. </li> <li> During a break, my mother started looking at some of the smaller trees (3-4 years old) that had sprouted up in the yard. We decided they needed to come down, so the big shears came out and we lopped the trees off about 4 feet above ground level. I still need to dig out the stumps, but it opened things up some for more light to come in. We identified some other small trees that can come down too, but that'll be a chainsaw job. </li> <li> My sister, needing to stay close to the baby, started digging around the brick patio behind our bedroom. She started scraping at some of the bricks, and discovered that they extended much farther out from the house than we had thought. They still need to get cleaned up, and it's not a very smooth patio, but it looks nice so far. I'll have to stay on top of the weeds with a chemical treatment (RoundUp maybe) that are sure to sprout up from between the bricks. </li> <li> While we were working in the backyard, my wife was hard at work in the area between the kitchen, family room and bedroom. A couple weeks ago she'd weeded a good portion of the side by the kitchen, and she finished that off. She also moved some of the plants that were there (<a href="http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/2912/index.html">Elephant Ear Hosta</a>, <a href="http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/52/index.html">Bleeding Hearts</a>) to other garden locations.</li> </ul><p>We made some terrific progress this weekend. We need to keep pushing though, we can't let things sit idle and start falling apart like last year.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-92186732667976312222007-05-07T23:05:00.000-04:002007-05-07T23:05:46.935-04:00Well that was fast!<p>Talk about a whirlwind.</p><p>We had our chosen roofing contractor come out to the house last weekend to give us a quote on replacing our roof with a full tear-off, new vents and 30-year architectural shingles. We added into the deal vinyl soffits all the way around and wrapping all the exposed word (eaves & fascia boards) in aluminum sheet to protect against carpenter bees. Plus close up the exposure in the back bathroom corner.</p><p>I faxed the approved quote/contract to the contractor on Friday afternoon. Today, my wife called me when she arrived home and said "why are there people on our roof?" I had been expecting the contractor to call us, set up a date for the crew to come out, etc. They sent them right out today and 11 1/2 hours after they arrived, everything was finished.</p><p>I saw a squirrel on the roof looking very confused. His home is now gone - he can't get into the roof like he could with the old vents.</p><p>The only "gotcha" is with payment. Like I said, I was expecting them to call ahead to set up a date for the work. So the money for the job was in a different bank from my checking account, so that I could collect better interest on it. I had to ask them to hold cashing the check for a few days while the transfer completes. I feel kind of bad that I had to do that, but if I'd had some warning, it wouldn't have happened.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-59048923311364391132007-05-07T12:17:00.000-04:002007-05-07T23:00:31.715-04:00Oh sweet irony!<p>Sometime this week, the town came along and picked up the huge pile of tree debris we had put out on the curb (that post, started 8 days ago, has yet to be finished. Soon, I hope). They did this so that they could pull up the nasty, fine gravel they had laid down between the sidewalk & curb, and on the edge of the curb (overlaying our grass) last fall after finishing the sidewalk. In its place, they put down some actual soil. We waited a couple days to see what they'd do, but nothing changed. Just dirt. So, Saturday morning, I got out the grass seed and reseeded everything on our side of the sidewalk.</p><p>15 minutes later, I heard a couple loud engines coming down the street slowly. One was a Ford F250 Diesel. The second was the hydroseeding trailer that it was pulling. They took care of both the lawn side and the strip by the curb. And they did a darn fine job, taking extreme care to not let any overspray get into our flower gardens by the sidewalk.</p><p>If only I'd waited another 15 minutes.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3667135.post-48329261857106546262007-04-29T21:33:00.000-04:002007-05-21T21:36:39.741-04:00Spring has sprung!<p>For the second weekend in a row, we got some decent weather and we were finally able to start work outside. I'm sore & exhausted, but it feels good.</p><p>We started last weekend with my wife weeding out front and laying out some of the leftover mulch from last year. Out back, I started cutting up some of the trees & limbs that came down over the winter, and dragging the large chunks of dead tree trunks out to the curbside. I also found some fill for a couple holes left behind by the sidewalk project last fall.</p><p>I just found this post, an old draft started several weeks ago. I'm posting it now, incomplete. I can't remember what I was trying to write.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0