PS
Dr. W, the ones in the front you planted are doing great! Thanks! The red (hard to see) and green guys in the back... Julie planted those, and they are just starting to take root.
August 30, 2008
Single Fence
Bye bye double fence! Hello single fence!
PS
Dr. W, the ones in the front you planted are doing great! Thanks! The red (hard to see) and green guys in the back... Julie planted those, and they are just starting to take root.
PS
Dr. W, the ones in the front you planted are doing great! Thanks! The red (hard to see) and green guys in the back... Julie planted those, and they are just starting to take root.
New Museum View
Here's that New Museum view from the roof-deck.
PS
This is amazing: Washington, DC 200 years ago from UMBC and The Washington Post.
PS
This is amazing: Washington, DC 200 years ago from UMBC and The Washington Post.
Remedial Roofing
These guys, Heritage Home Improvements, worked fast and smart. Remedial roofing, in a good way.
Our skylight had been leaking since we moved in, because the flashing was installed poorly. We have gable vents to allow the attic/roof to breathe, so we didn't need the skylight, which doubled as a vent. The repair guys reported the roof should last another twenty years.
They also added the exhaust vent for the upstairs bathroom's fan. The small silver box you see they installed on the roof.
Previously, the vent from the bathroom ended in the attic. As a result, there was a case of old mildew in the attic, on the north facing side of the attic ceiling. The south side of the roof faces the sun, and it apparently gets hot enough during the winter to prevent condensation from forming or remaining for long stretches.
Now we can use one of the cooler quirks of the house - an old timer in the bathroom that activates the vent fan.
They also twisted four of these out of the roof. These guide wires were attached to an enormous antenna on the roof at one point, but obviously snapped. We got rid of the antenna last weekend via Craig's List. The antenna stretched the full length of the garage, where it had been since we moved in, and someone took it for scrap metal.
Our skylight had been leaking since we moved in, because the flashing was installed poorly. We have gable vents to allow the attic/roof to breathe, so we didn't need the skylight, which doubled as a vent. The repair guys reported the roof should last another twenty years.
They also added the exhaust vent for the upstairs bathroom's fan. The small silver box you see they installed on the roof.
Previously, the vent from the bathroom ended in the attic. As a result, there was a case of old mildew in the attic, on the north facing side of the attic ceiling. The south side of the roof faces the sun, and it apparently gets hot enough during the winter to prevent condensation from forming or remaining for long stretches.
Now we can use one of the cooler quirks of the house - an old timer in the bathroom that activates the vent fan.
They also twisted four of these out of the roof. These guide wires were attached to an enormous antenna on the roof at one point, but obviously snapped. We got rid of the antenna last weekend via Craig's List. The antenna stretched the full length of the garage, where it had been since we moved in, and someone took it for scrap metal.
August 29, 2008
La Musique de Notre Matin
Happy Friday, everyone! Happy holiday weekend! Jon used to call Friday Free-I-Day, and today, both Sue and I are feeling like that. Looking forward to a long weekend without many responsibilities.
We do have the roofer coming tomorrow at 8AM to remove/cover our "skylight" in the attic (and do some other stuff), and two companies in the afternoon coming to give us their spiels about fiber cement siding, but besides that... IKEA, a Paw Sox game, maybe a potluck with Sue's intern buddies.
Modest Mouse's Building Nothing Out of Something is la musique de notre matin. I've heard some of their recent stuff, and they are the definition IMO (compu-speak for "in my opinion") of losing one's mojo. Probably they got signed and saddled with a company stooge producer or something. At least we have Building Nothing - a pre-bigtime, scrumptuous, aural delicacy - to listen to.
We do have the roofer coming tomorrow at 8AM to remove/cover our "skylight" in the attic (and do some other stuff), and two companies in the afternoon coming to give us their spiels about fiber cement siding, but besides that... IKEA, a Paw Sox game, maybe a potluck with Sue's intern buddies.
Modest Mouse's Building Nothing Out of Something is la musique de notre matin. I've heard some of their recent stuff, and they are the definition IMO (compu-speak for "in my opinion") of losing one's mojo. Probably they got signed and saddled with a company stooge producer or something. At least we have Building Nothing - a pre-bigtime, scrumptuous, aural delicacy - to listen to.
August 28, 2008
Before 1995
The locksmith came yesterday. Remember, we didn't have all the keys to the house originally?
Well, in week two the locksmith rekeyed the garage door lock. It had seemed to be going downhill - not unlocking when it should, and then early this week, it was spinning entirely in circles when we tried to use it, scaring us that we wouldn't be able to get to our bikes or car to go to work in the morning.
The front door deadbolt, we replaced ourselves around the same time, was also broken. I actually pulled the knob off it about a month ago. The door was stuck shut when we had all that rain, and I tried to yank on the lock handle to unstick it. Cheap lock from Home Depot, but come on. Definitely shouldn't just be able to pull it apart with my bare hands.
In any event, the lock on the garage is kaput and needs to be replaced. While we're waiting for the new locking gadget to get ordered, we bought an old gadget.
We bought a remote for the electric garage door opener installed in the garage. Wow, it works!
When we went to... well, you know... we looked at the garage door remote controls. They had cute little fancy-shmancy ones and big boxy ones. The packaging of the big, boxy one that we had to get said (something like), "This tissue-box-sized one is for garage door openers that were manufactured before 1995."
Grover (our very blue Civic) is living now in the lap of luxury.
PS
Tonight we also did our first load of laundry... and our second. :)!
Point Street Bridge
The weather here has been fantastic, and not to jinx it, but it's supposed to be like this (70 and cloudless) into the holiday weekend.
I'm not sure folks have seen much of the cityscape, so I walked over the Point Street Bridge (on the south side of the city) and took some snapshots.
Skyline from the bridge, facing north along, up the canal.
Dead fish. Probably victims of the Fox Point Hurricane Barrier (the second pic below). The new green bridge takes you from 95 to 195, toward Fall River, New Bedford, the Cape, and Southern MA. I understand they ferried that bridge up to its location all in one piece!
The power plant. The three stacks are a recognizable landmark as you drive up to the city from the south.
A houseboat of a different kind! Check it out. Pretty neat, but I wonder what they pay in homeowner's insurance.
I'm not sure folks have seen much of the cityscape, so I walked over the Point Street Bridge (on the south side of the city) and took some snapshots.
Skyline from the bridge, facing north along, up the canal.
Dead fish. Probably victims of the Fox Point Hurricane Barrier (the second pic below). The new green bridge takes you from 95 to 195, toward Fall River, New Bedford, the Cape, and Southern MA. I understand they ferried that bridge up to its location all in one piece!
The power plant. The three stacks are a recognizable landmark as you drive up to the city from the south.
A houseboat of a different kind! Check it out. Pretty neat, but I wonder what they pay in homeowner's insurance.
August 26, 2008
A Cracked Nut
The half-bathroom is almost done! All we need now is a light, oh, and some curtains. Our plumber came by after work to fix the vanity piping. We had a cracked nut. Note the Patriots hat.
In addition, we put up the IKEA mirror we got a while back. Sue was especially (and visibly) pleased with the result. I was just happy to screw it into the wall straight.
PS
Here's a picture from another one of my daily walks. Creepy, right?
In addition, we put up the IKEA mirror we got a while back. Sue was especially (and visibly) pleased with the result. I was just happy to screw it into the wall straight.
PS
Here's a picture from another one of my daily walks. Creepy, right?
August 25, 2008
Tour de Force
Accomplished a *huge* amount this weekend with the assistance of friends and family. On Saturday, a veritable tour de force of home improvement.
Jonathan came down the block to help with the toilet. It works! We had to replace some of the rubber fittings, but it's back in service.
The sink needs some attention. The PVC doesn't fit correctly, so there's a leak between the copper drainpipe in the sink and the PVC plumbing underneath. It's a job for our plumber.
We also emptied the garage and basement. Remember the garage looked like this?
Nick and I dragged all the stuff to the curb, and put up some "curb alerts" on Craigslist. EVERYthing except that big pile of wood disappeared. Washer, drier, queen boxspring, antenna, cast iron pipes, fireplace cover, radiator covers, EVERYthing.
While all of that was happening, Linds, Marge, Meg, Pob and Sue put in about eight hours painting the living room and dining room.
From this angle, you can see all the colors. A tinge of yellow and Casual Blue in the living room, and gray with white in the dining room. That darker blue is the edging tape.
On top of that, we also installed the washer and dryer, but the spigots that go to the washer need replacement. Another task for the plumber.
It's starting to look (and feel) like home!
Jonathan came down the block to help with the toilet. It works! We had to replace some of the rubber fittings, but it's back in service.
The sink needs some attention. The PVC doesn't fit correctly, so there's a leak between the copper drainpipe in the sink and the PVC plumbing underneath. It's a job for our plumber.
We also emptied the garage and basement. Remember the garage looked like this?
Nick and I dragged all the stuff to the curb, and put up some "curb alerts" on Craigslist. EVERYthing except that big pile of wood disappeared. Washer, drier, queen boxspring, antenna, cast iron pipes, fireplace cover, radiator covers, EVERYthing.
While all of that was happening, Linds, Marge, Meg, Pob and Sue put in about eight hours painting the living room and dining room.
From this angle, you can see all the colors. A tinge of yellow and Casual Blue in the living room, and gray with white in the dining room. That darker blue is the edging tape.
On top of that, we also installed the washer and dryer, but the spigots that go to the washer need replacement. Another task for the plumber.
It's starting to look (and feel) like home!
August 22, 2008
Such a Night
This post is going to be a little confusing. Stick with me.
On Monday we ordered a washer and dryer from AJ Madison. Their site allows you to search by dimension -- height, width, depth -- and since our staircase to the basement is a tight squeeze, we needed units that were only 26" deep at the very most. We found them online, and the website reported they would be delivered in 3-4 weeks.
Concurrently, we made plans to go to the Wharf Tavern in Warren, Rhode Island with two couples from Sue's intern cohort. Thursday night was a once-per-year 50s Night. We had reservations for 7:00.
Next thing we know, AJ Madison calls Wednesday night. They tell us, your washer and dryer will be delivered on Thursday night between 4:00 and 8:00. Under other circumstances, that timing would have been great (We'd like to have a functional washer and dryer.), but could we postpone the delivery? No, the units were already on the truck. Craziness and inconvenience.
So we asked our neighbor if she'd be home, in case they didn't show up before we had to leave for dinner. Could she let them in the house? Wow. Great. She could? That'd be very, very cool, since we really wanted to go to the dinner, and she'd be home anyway... wonderful. What a nice neighbor Julie is!
I left work early to get home in case they didn't call ahead. They didn't show up by 6:30, so we chatted with Julie and then jetted off to dinner.
It carried a $20 cover, but then prices on the menu were the same as they were in the 50s. Check it out. Pretty cool. Click the pic to enlarge it.
We got great seats...
...right on the water. They had apparently run out of lobster and dessert, but overall, great meal.
Also, the delivery dudes called to say they were going to be late. Cool! Maybe we'll be home by 9:00 or 9:30 when they are going to show up, and Julie will be off the hook. (We felt badly about asking her to stand in for us.)
The delivery dudes called again as we were leaving dinner; they reported, the dryer fit downstairs but the washer did not. Hmm... they were supposed to be the same size, according to the website. Well, can they wait for us? We're driving home. We're ten minutes away.
We drive in a bit of a hurry to get home. There's a truck out front of our house. Julie is there. What is this cop car flashing its lights for? I'll pull over to let it pass.
We got an $85 ticket for not using a turn signal as we changed lanes on 25mph North Main Street, and the reason we changed lanes was because these two cops were on the shoulder with their lights flashing. Hilarious scene in front of the house. They also wouldn't let us get out of the car. As if we were going to run away from our own house.
I hate it when cops say things like, "I hate to do this to you." Spare me the sob story. It's painful for *you* to give me a ticket?! I know a good career counselor.
In any event, after they left, we had to figure out if and how the washer might fit into the basement. The delivery dudes were totally there with us with respect to the cops and the ticket. Raw deal, they confirmed.
We pried some of the wordwork off the staircase walls...
...and juuuuuuust barely (couldn't take pictures of the squeeze because I was helping) it fit! Such a night.
Time to go to work. Happy Friday!
On Monday we ordered a washer and dryer from AJ Madison. Their site allows you to search by dimension -- height, width, depth -- and since our staircase to the basement is a tight squeeze, we needed units that were only 26" deep at the very most. We found them online, and the website reported they would be delivered in 3-4 weeks.
Concurrently, we made plans to go to the Wharf Tavern in Warren, Rhode Island with two couples from Sue's intern cohort. Thursday night was a once-per-year 50s Night. We had reservations for 7:00.
Next thing we know, AJ Madison calls Wednesday night. They tell us, your washer and dryer will be delivered on Thursday night between 4:00 and 8:00. Under other circumstances, that timing would have been great (We'd like to have a functional washer and dryer.), but could we postpone the delivery? No, the units were already on the truck. Craziness and inconvenience.
So we asked our neighbor if she'd be home, in case they didn't show up before we had to leave for dinner. Could she let them in the house? Wow. Great. She could? That'd be very, very cool, since we really wanted to go to the dinner, and she'd be home anyway... wonderful. What a nice neighbor Julie is!
I left work early to get home in case they didn't call ahead. They didn't show up by 6:30, so we chatted with Julie and then jetted off to dinner.
It carried a $20 cover, but then prices on the menu were the same as they were in the 50s. Check it out. Pretty cool. Click the pic to enlarge it.
We got great seats...
...right on the water. They had apparently run out of lobster and dessert, but overall, great meal.
Also, the delivery dudes called to say they were going to be late. Cool! Maybe we'll be home by 9:00 or 9:30 when they are going to show up, and Julie will be off the hook. (We felt badly about asking her to stand in for us.)
The delivery dudes called again as we were leaving dinner; they reported, the dryer fit downstairs but the washer did not. Hmm... they were supposed to be the same size, according to the website. Well, can they wait for us? We're driving home. We're ten minutes away.
We drive in a bit of a hurry to get home. There's a truck out front of our house. Julie is there. What is this cop car flashing its lights for? I'll pull over to let it pass.
We got an $85 ticket for not using a turn signal as we changed lanes on 25mph North Main Street, and the reason we changed lanes was because these two cops were on the shoulder with their lights flashing. Hilarious scene in front of the house. They also wouldn't let us get out of the car. As if we were going to run away from our own house.
I hate it when cops say things like, "I hate to do this to you." Spare me the sob story. It's painful for *you* to give me a ticket?! I know a good career counselor.
In any event, after they left, we had to figure out if and how the washer might fit into the basement. The delivery dudes were totally there with us with respect to the cops and the ticket. Raw deal, they confirmed.
We pried some of the wordwork off the staircase walls...
...and juuuuuuust barely (couldn't take pictures of the squeeze because I was helping) it fit! Such a night.
Time to go to work. Happy Friday!
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