Home Improvement

Last weekend was about the first time I've had all year to do anything more than cleaning around the home. So I decided to make a little sawdust and make an erection… um, I mean get something up… uh, okay, let me think a second, okay build something in the yard. Still working on the back patio work, but that'll take a lot more time. This was something I could complete in a few hours. And, except for the 6" x 6" x 10' posts and some rock, I had all the other materials already (recycled from other projects).

Let the sun shine in

Now the truth can be told (okay, I finally got around to taking photos), but here is the surprise I had for Bette. While she was gone I installed two 14" solar tubes in our living room ceiling. See, our living room/dining room (actually our whole house) doesn't have a southern facing window. As a result, it's normally dark in our house. So dark that even on bright days outside we need to turn on a light to read.


When I put in the solar tube for our one bathroom (no windows) the result was fantastic. We had talked about having skylights installed, but all the quotes we got were pretty hefty, and we weren't sure that the results would be what we wanted (skylights offer a better view, some more light, but also introduce a greater chance of leaking and loss of heat). So we thought, we'll, we could put in 2 solar tubes and see how that worked out (actually, we planned for 4). When I went into the attic in March (when it was warm, but not 90 degrees), I quickly became stumped on just how to get onto the cathedral ceiling to do the installation. I finally was able to come up with a plan a few weeks ago. And fortunately, enough of that plan survived the actual implementation that I could get over and leverage myself up to the cathedral ceiling area.

I should have taken photos up there to show you what I had to go through to get these installed. Let's just say for a 6' 3" 300 pound person, it was a tight fit. My knees still hurt and I have scratches on my back from the roofing nails. The tubes (two of them, one locks to the ceiling, and is dropped from the roof flashing) allow up to a 48" of length without having to add an extender kit. Subtract from that 9+" for the ceiling joists (2) and wood I need to crawl over, plus the 6 or so inches above the roof line (on the downhill slope side) for the flashing on the roof, and there was plenty of room for overlap of the two tubes (about 8" or so). That's the space I had to fit into and work on these, in an attic with poor ventilation (read that as stifling hot), having gone through blown in insulation and now over fiberglass insulation (yep, I wore a mask, which just added to the problem). And besides getting to the actual site I had to deal with electrical wiring (which forced me to place these higher up on the ceiling than I had planned). Now you may know why I was complaining about being sore the past two weeks.

So we now have some decent light in the living room. Heck, we may actually be able to have plants in the living room other than deep shade varieties.

My only real complaint (other than the second one was a real bitch to get put together, and I thought it would be the easier of the two as it wasn't the one I had to crawl the farthest to get to) is that even though they're the same model form the same manufacturer purchased from the same store (half a week apart, the had 3 the first time and 2 the second, so I don't think there was a restocking), they don't have the same diffuser. I can deal with the difference of the tubes (one had a definite order to which tube was on the bottom, the other one had interchangeable tubes), but the diffuser difference bothers me. The rings have different shapes (one is thicker and more rounded), both have the honeycomb glass showing, but the thicker ringed on also has a lens on top of that. ODL, I'm not sure why you did that, but it's annoying to have to buy an extra diffuser to get them to match. Before I do make that purchase, I'll try their customer support and see if I can trade one (personally, I'd prefer the diffuser with the lens as I think that does a better job).

Linkee-poo slides off the rails

First some personal and writerly updates (yeah, I know, I should do a separate post, but I'm tired and trying to rewrite the synopsis to be 5 or less paragraphs). Today I went up in the attic to see about adding two solar tubes to the living room. Our living room is dark even on the brightest day because we have no south facing windows. Without window treatments it's fine, but with curtains and sheers, those knock the light back enough that it's dark. However, to my dismay, because of our genius builder there's no easy way to get to that portion of the ceiling. At least without redoing the whole attic. Also, where I would be working, I would be practically lying down to fit. So that project is off the books until I can figure out how to do it.

And I finally heard back from the agent that requested the partial. They're passing on it. Fair cop. So now I'm reworking the synopsis to conform to the most strict requirements, and also jazzing up the language a little while I'm at it. For the new book I stared at the screen for an hour last night and nothing came. Then going to bed I got two ideas, but I didn't write them down so guess what happened. Also in a dream last night I was interviewing at a design studio and having a rough time of it convincing the owner I was more than creative enough to handle the job. Not a good omen.

The Google TiSP Network. A little early for April 1, but what the hell. (Pointed to by John)

Ray Garten on how to deal effectively with writers. Yes, this. Also note any "creative" endeavor could be substituted for "writers" in the article and it wouldn't change the sentiment or experiences one iota. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

The sky just got deeper and fuller. (Pointed to by John)

The ecclesiastical history of gay marriage. You may remember that sometime in the early 90's the Vatican closed it's famed archives because researchers found evidence of same-sex marriage ceremonies blessed by the Church. Before that time the Vatican Archives were fairly open to all researchers. After that came out, they are fairly well closed to researchers. Just in case anyone tries to tell you about "traditional" marriage is only between a man and a woman (actually, until quite recently, it was a contract between the husband and father/guardian of the bride). (Grokked from Jay Lake)

While it's good that the Federal Government has cut Medicare block grants to Texas because they're violating their citizen's rights to that money. But, unfortunately as is in most cases, it's not the assnards who are responsible who will pay the price.

2012 or Never. On why the rhetoric from the fringe right is so apocalyptic this election cycle. "The (GOP) had increasingly found itself confined to white voters, especially those lacking a college degree and rural whites… Meanwhile, the Democrats had increased their standing among whites with graduate degrees (ed note: one notable exception in my experience has been MBAs), particularly the growing share of secular whites, and remained dominant among racial minorities. As a whole… the electorate was growing both somewhat better educated and dramatically less white, making every successive election less favorable for the GOP… By 2020—just eight years away—nonwhite voters should rise from a quarter of the 2008 electorate to one third. In 30 years, nonwhites will outnumber whites… Rather than adjust themselves to their slowly weakening position, (conservatives) chose instead to stage a decisive confrontation." It's a long, but interesting read and explains a lot, including the "We want our country back." It's not a flatter look at either side of the political spectrum, but is mostly on demographics and history. I see a few flaws with that Johnathan Chalt is saying, but I am seeing his overall point. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Sure signs of spring

Now that the political signs have bloomed and withered in the great state of Ohio, the other signs of spring have returned. For the past two weeks the hawks have been passing through. I've seen Redtail, Marsh, and Sharps hawks on the wing and perched by the roadside waiting for someone to hit their dinner. The redwing blackbirds have also been back for a week or two, but yesterday I heard them start their electrical buzz of courting songs. And on Sunday I saw the first turkey vulture (aka buzzard to us in NE Ohio). This Sunday is when the buzzards return to Hinkley (or at least the pancake breakfast fundraisers for it).

I've been hearing robin song all winter long (robins don't migrate, but follow their food sources to the deep woods, since it wasn't so cold this year, they didn't move very far). And my grass didn't die back as hard (note to self, if somewhat dry this weekend, I should go out and rake the rest of the leaves off the lawn before they create dead spots).

This morning I noticed a lot of field have been disced already. There was water in the fallows, so I don't think they'll be planning right away, but the farmers are getting ready. Last year many of them couldn't get their crops in because of the rain. I suspect they'll put them in the first chance they get (and risk a freeze).

I haven't noticed any of the flowers popping out yet, but then I haven't looked very hard. And now that it's getting warmer it's time to start gearing up for the house improvement projects of this year. On deck is adding solar tubes to the living room ceiling (we don't have a southern facing window, so the main room is dark even in bright daylight, it's time to remedy that). I'll be putting in two 14" tubes and we'll see how much light that lets in. And I have to finish taking out the cement pad out back and put in the stone (ie. brick) patio. I'm also thinking of putting in crushed stone walkways to the composting heaps and the shed. I'm going to have to get a lot of stone delivered, might as well double the order and get those two projects out of the way and only pay one delivery charge.

So what's on your plate this Spring?

The State of Steve

Sorry for not posting today. I actually have the day off, one of the benefits of working for a government contractor (actually, the long story is that it was our Good Friday off, but then that was broken out to be a floating holiday, which became cumbersome to manage, so they just choose Presidents Day). And I though I was going to get a lot done. There were some household chores that needed to be done. I did get those done. Then there was some homework. Which I didn't think would take too long, but ended up soaking up the rest of the day. So I didn't get to the writing parts I had wanted.

One of the things that was also supposed to happen today was to close on a refinance of the house. The papers they sent on Friday, however, were dated for Friday. And banks are also closed today, so we couldn't do that. We're refinancing to get a lower rate. While the rate we are getting isn't the lowest out there, it is actually a second mortgage which means the cost is zero. So while we're paying a full percentage point higher than what we could get, because there are no costs we stand to save an extra $2500. As you know, Bob, we're paying off our loan faster than our schedule (if you can afford to do it early, it really is a great deal). Right now we're looking at another 5 years of payments (if we can keep to our same monthly rate of paying). Now, with the lower rate we would have shaved off almost a full year and saved around $4000, but it was going to cost us $3000 to do that. So final savings would have been around $1000 (if we could keep to payments). One of the goals was to get lower minimum payment as we head into the reboot where I will be going to school full time (in a year or two). So having a lower monthly minimum would be a big help if it comes down to it. So with the higher percentage, we only gain a month and a half of possible payments, and we're only saving around $3500. But because there's no costs involved, all that is ours. And the minimum monthly payment is only $20 more.

On the health side of things, I gained around 12 lbs over the holidays. So far it's been rough getting it off, but I think I'm on a good curve downward now. Although when I did my weigh in last week I was still 4 lbs heavier than my last one. Whoops. I've had a cold for the past week, and that's been knocking me down as well. I eventually had to go and beg for the Sudefed behind the counter to help dry up the head (H1 blockers, yeah!). The calf muscle continues to get better. I think I'm going to try going without the brace this week. I'm still using a cane when I'm out, but not in the house (yes, I should, but it's a pain in the ass, and I don't walk around all that much at home). The worse thing, however, is my pinched nerve is acting up. More than likely it's flared up from being twisted around at work by trying to elevate the leg and having been moved to an office to work on uber Top Secret project. Plus being on the phone with the boss for a few hours before saying, "Hell, I'm in an office, I'll put this on speaker." It's still strange to feel pain in my shoulder and arm, but know the actual problem is in my vertebra.

I really hate that pain, btw. It's difficult to get into a comfortable position. Also, the therapy I'm using is a cervical tension devise which isn't much fun (especially with a stuffed up nose, and the chin strap pretty much keeps the mouth closed).

And then there's that project at work. I can't talk about it too much, but let's just say that the stress is driving me crazy. Not to mention that it's not like I don't already have a metric ton of work to do, most of which is already late. Sigh. This being the only designer in a half billion dollar company (which means there should be 3 of us, at least) is starting to drag a little.

And finally we come to the writing, of which there has been a paltry amount of words since the beginning of the year. Between work, commute, classes, chores, etc there has been little time left for me. I could probably scrap out a few hours in the week, but I find myself just mindlessly watching TV. Only when it's time to go to bed do I think, "Damn, I should have been writing just then." And then I forget the next time. Sigh. Must. Get. Back. In. Groove. So, I've moved the laptop to the table. Hopefully this will be a reminder to work on the writing. I wrote a lot of Bladesman at the table. And that's where I am now (having finally finished the homework).

Sorry for the typos (of which I'm sure there's more than a few). I was also using this entry as a test bed. One, it's been about 10 minutes to type all this. And I typed it directly into the blogger interface (which I haven't done for ages). So the good news is that I can get words out. Now I just need to directed them toward the WIP.

So that's me. Hope you all have been faring better.

Snowy Saturday

Spent the day at a play downtown. Okay, well, I did do other things. Like I went to a client's to take some photos. See snowy day comments and the photos were to be of his horses. This is the third time we tried. So I left my camera with him so he could get them while he could (the problem with working all the daylight hours). Then we ran errands for recyclables and cat food (there was a sale, on the cat food, not the recyclables).

Did I mention it was snowy?

So it took some time to get downtown. It was well worth it. Playhouse Square was finely done for the holidays. And the Allen Theater looked fabulous. The play itself started off slowly, but the second act picked up and ended very well. The characters started off somewhat cardboard thin, but go interesting in the second act. Lots of Shakespeare in the play, which is always enjoyable. And while I had the end of the play by the start of the second act, there were enough twists to keep me engaged.

However the tickets we $70 a piece, and we were in the very last row. There were $50 tickets, and I'm wondering just where those were. Like I said, we were in the last row of the balcony. Peasants, w(h)ine for Caeser.

Had dinner in Mentor on the way home, while we ran some more errands. The food was excellent, and given the crowd at 5pm, obviously very popular. Although I had a fairly light dinner (chicken piccante), I feel a little heavy from it. Weird.

So that was the day. How's your weekend going?

Healthy, Wealthy and Wide

Or something like that. It's been a while since I've done a health update. In general, I'm doing okay.

On the weight side of things, there hasn't been much progress. Okay, there was, but my week at an Indian Casino and sitting in a seat most of the day lead to a major rollback. I had been down to 301 in the middle of November (last weigh in with doctor), but as of monday I was at 315. Not good. And unfortunately my regular exercise (15 minute fast walk at noon, and walking up 3 stories every Monday and Wednesday for class) is no longer happening. On top of that I'm taking Claritin as a prophylactic to keep my nose clear. Allergy medicines are becoming known for helping put on the weight. Since the was smoking at the casino, I was taking a pill several times a day. I need to get back to using the Wii. It's been over a year since I've been able to use it regularly. the good news is weight goes up, but weight goes down too. That's good news, because as long as the weight is moving it means I can still lose weight (without severe dieting). The other good news is that when I can control the snacking at work (we have free snacks, it's a poisonous thing) and drink my own tea, I lose weight.

The big D has been at bay this year. There's been a few little d episodes, but those are normal. Given the levels of stress this past year, I think that's somewhat of a miracle. There have been two weeks when I haven't had Welbutrin (scheduling issues with getting refills and having most evenings scheduled). And each time I haven't felt the edges of the big D. I would have stretched the experiments longer, but both times were high-stress moments (see not being able to stop at the drug store on the way home because of being busy). Maybe in the New Year we'll try to go off for a long time and see if the big D comes stalking at my door.

It's now been about two months with the CPAP machine. I'm definitely sleeping better. In fact, there has been dreaming (of the normal type). But now I have some experience with the machines, so here is what I've learned. The different companies that produce machines and masks have very different products. Between the sleep tests, my wife's CPAP, and finagling samples, I have been able to try out a lot of equipment. IMHO, Philips Respironics is leading the pack (and I would avoid Fisher & Paykel - just my advice). I have their CPAP machine (with warm mist - technically a BiPAP - which means the machine adjust pressure as I breath out), and have pretty much stayed with their masks. I didn't think with my allergies and nose problems I'd be able to use just a nose mask, but I really love my ComfortGel Nasal Mask (large). I don't have much of a "red line" problem, or nasal soreness with it. There have been a few nights where I've had to switch to a full mask (I have a couple of those). Even with the warm mist, I get dry mouth very quickly. And if I have to breathe through my mouth with the mask, I feel like those guys doing the G testing in centrifuges (with the lips and checks flapping). the full face mask I like to use is a ResMed. Between the two masks I have more leak problems with the ResMed. I have more issues with the Fisher & Paykel.

There are several things to keep in mind with the masks. They should fit comfortably. I typically wear them higher than I think they're supposed to be worn, but then I also don't have a sore nose bridge either.

Another thing to think about with masks is how they come apart for cleaning. This may not seem like a big thing, but trust me on this one. And, again, the Respironics has the engineering advantage. The ComfortGel mask easily separates into components that are easy to wash and easy to put back together. The ResMed is a little less easy. The F&P is the worse. Also, cleaning the machine shows the same breakdown (in fact, the F&P machine that my wife has is a pain in the arse to clean). While the manuals say to clean everyday, I do it about once a week and we're doing fine (if I go longer, I'll add a little vinegar to the dishsoap mix).

Another thing to keep in mind is how to adjust the mask. You might be tempted to make the mask as tight as you can stand to keep the seal. I would advise you to adjust your mask to be as loose as possible, but still not leak.

So there it is. Lots of ups and downs, but pretty well averaged over the year.

It's beginning to look a lot like Xmas

I'm sure some of you have been saying, "Oh sure, Steve, but what do your decorations look like this year?"

So here is as wide a shot as I can get. You can just barely see the large ornaments hanging from the tree.

And here is just the deer on the righthand side.

Then there is the side yard display. Note the new wreath hanging on the storage barn in back.

And here is a closer shot of the front of the house. Most of these lights are new, as is the garland around the doors (I've really been wanting to do that for years - this isn't really what I wanted to do, but it's what I could afford this year, and it doesn't look much different from the street).

And then there is a partial view of my neighbors lawn (he's added more things since this shot, and well as several inflatables to the right, and a few to the left). My neighbor feels we're in some kind of competition with each other. Which led me to almost get the 12' inflatable Santa. Just because that would be my trump card this week. But I refrained.

So there's a few new things this year. I also have garland wrap around the mailbox (so it looks good during the day). I've relamped 2 of the deer this year with LEDs (warm whites, which are a nice addition as they only look slightly different from the others, unlike the deer I relamped in cool whites, which look blueish).

There's plenty I wanted to get, but the cost was a little too high. We'll check out the after Xmas sales (depending on other factors going on).

Linkee-poo runs at periscope depth

Getting a little more used to using the iPad as a working device. Also hitting several roadblocks (combination on limits of device and internet apps *cough*microsoft*cough*). In general, the iPad isn't a viable laptop replacement for what I'm doing. Now I'm just seeing how productive can I be with it (and finding things I could change to make it more productive). So, still fiddling.

Also, let me state the obvious, I'm way behind on reading and keeping up to date.

Tobias Buckell and Dave Klecha's co-written story, A Militant Peace is being picked up for Dozois' Year Best. Fargin' cool, guys. Congrats on the score.

Jim Hines talks about how to support victims of sexual harassment. And here I'll say that his points are also pretty good about any harassment, including your standard bullying (which is a form of harassment) .

Once again, my friends are channeling my own thoughts. This time about Newt Gingrich. I should mention at some point, I don't always agree with Eric and Jim, but sometimes they elucidate my own thoughts better than I can.

Fox Business News (besides being completely ignorant of real business practices) has officially jumped the shark. Again. And let's give as good as we get, shall we. Okay. Obviously Fox News is against small, entrepreneurial business because their against the Muppets getting a small business back up and running. A business that offers more job opportunities, is local, supports their community, and provides a needed service. Instead, FNB is all about the monopolist who will rape local resources and provide nothing back to the community (including no long term jobs, no support, no local responsibility). (Grokked from wannabewriter6)

Autumn Rumbles Into Town

Well, the rain held off long enough today that we could get the Halloween decorations out. So there's one thing mostly done. Tomorrow I need to build a few things to put the rest out.

We also went to the Huntsburg Pumpkin Festival to have cabbage rolls. There's a food booth that makes some good ones. The local vendors were out, but not necessarily in force. Many of the vendors this year had the feel of "the economy is bad, here's a 'work at home' plan for you."

It's a nice little festival, full of local organizations. We did the usual stuff. Including purchasing a nice pumpkin (which, btw, just like peanuts are in short supply this year). It's now out there in with the cemetery and Grim Reaper inflatable, below the flying ghosts and glowing skulls.

The world grows colder as the veil grows thin. Leaves that miss the Earth fall to her loving embrace. Clouds skittle across the sky dreaming of white flakes.

A few weeks ago the buzzards left Hinkley. Seeing twenty or so turkey vultures in a single gyre is a thing to behold. One or two hawks will over winter, like the geese. Toads and snakes have gone to ground. The hemisphere beds down for its bear sleep.

Phase 1 down, Phase 2 on deck

Some photos from last weekend's fun time in home improvement projects.

The cement columns were exactly where I left them.


Dry fitting the posts. I had to cut them down to seven feet. Also making sure we're still plumb and level.


Post in place. Ready for action!



And then we hit another surprise. I figured I could use the already drilled holes in the cross bar to center my drill bit to go through the new beam. My bit wasn't long enough to go the whole way, but went more than halfway. And here is where I found out that the holes on the front and back cross bar are not aligned. Sigh. So I had to go buy a long drill bit to do a complete bore. At that point I probably should have just pitched it all, bought two new cross bars and another post and do it right, but the extra hole really doesn't compromise the post or cross beam significantly. And I wanted to be done. Strangely enough, the other post drilled precisely. Using the hole on the one cross beam as a guide, the drill bit came out centered in the hole on the other cross beam.


Cleaning up (which there is some more to do). Plus, I need to finish chopping up/removing that cement pad.


Everything connected back together again, and taking the weight of the deck.


And here we are with a closeup of how the post connects with the cement column.


I'll try and get all the rest of the tube off this weekend.

So, Phase 1 down. Phase 2 is to complete the removal of the cement pad, repair the mortar on the house, put in an actual stone and sand base (you can see the builder just poured on dirt, no drainage or prep underneath), and then use pavers to repave it (I'm also going to expand the area - going farther back and to the right to create a place to put my grill). I'm also thinking of having a raised step by the door. Unless we have good weather into December, this will probably be next Spring.

The bad news is good

For the deck project, turns out the dweeble that built our house had even more nails holding the posts to the deck. He nailed the post to the joist. And not the end joist, but one of the middle ones. So I'll be able to remove all of the posts and just replace those. That'll make the weekend easier.

Yeah.

Tool-Man Tim I ain't (but I do a good grunt)

It's a little hard to see in this picture (and I was too lazy to fetch one from last winter), but the cement pad tilts in toward the house. Not good.


This is the reason we're replacing the support posts first. One, wood into soil, not a good idea. Two, wood on/up against concrete even worse idea. (there will be metal between the new cement footers and the wood).


Holes are just caves on their side. I think I mentioned what a pain in the tuckas these things were. Should have been easy, but ended up costing me a whole lot (rental on auger that wasn't all that useful in the end and broke 1 shovel).


Cement tubes in place, level, and plumb. Ready for cement (which took until about 8:30pm, after dark.


Here are the cement tubes filled, the bolts in place, and covered for curing.


So this is what I'm dealing with now. How to redo the permanent supports. I need to either figure a way to get the post out between the two cross beams (that actually hold up the deck), or to replace it all (which will be a whole lot more work because of 8 nails)



Cement posts should be at full strength this weekend, so I need to figure it out and solve it by this Friday. Any ideas?

Ow, ow, ow, ow

I spent today working very hard on the back deck project. With the help of my sister-in-law, I made a lot of progress. We finish the temporary re-supports of the deck and cut the main pillars.

And that's when the problems started. See, the idio who build out house was severely inconsistent in what he did well and what he punted on. He also did some very stupid things. See, for the cross-beam support of the floor joists, he toe-nails then on the ends. So it would be a pain to remove them (which was part of the original plan). When I saw that two weeks ago I searched the rest of the support structure to see what other crazy stuff he did. Well, I missed some things. The connection of the pillars to the cross support not only had a carriage bolt (which it's supposed to have), he also nailed them. SoB!

So I tried using the reciprocating saw to cut the nails. I got some of them, but obviously missed some (or he did some other crazy thing). At this point I had already rented the post auger. So I was on the clock. Instead of working through the problem, I cut to the chase and cut the pillars off at the top as well.

Then came digging out the remnants of the wood posts from the soil. Okay, 9' of wood on top so I thought there would only be about a foot below grade. Nope, apparently he decided to splurge for the 4x6x12 beams. So I drug down two and a half feet before I could loosen them up to pull them out. So that took us down to out 3 feet, a little deeper. Then we got the auger out to finish the holes to 4 feet (frost line).

But, he put some concrete below the wood pillars. The auger just kinda loosened up the dirt for us. Argh!

Took the auger back to the rental place and cleared out the rest of the dirt. Then, making adjustments for plum and level put in the cement tubes, filled with cement (colored cement, btw) and set bolts. So now we wait for at least 5 days to full strength before setting up the new permanent supports.

In the mean time I need to figure out if I can get the 4x6s out of the cross supports or if I need to just redo the whole damn thing.

Like I said, The builder skimped on so much and screwed up other things (the reason why I need to do this is he then poured the cement pad out our back door right up against the wood posts, which started rotting them out - the wood below the cement was fine) and then on the things I would think he would have done this, instead he went the whole way. Wish he would have done that for the upstarts plumbing and fixtures (downstair half bath is fabulous, upstairs full baths, not so much).

Thanks to my sister-in-law we got all the cement poured. So that was great (as I expected to finish up tomorrow). But I'm going to hurt. Yes, there are pictures, but they're on the good camera so it'll take a little more to process.

How's your weekend going?

How Steve Spent His Saturday

Our largest bathroom is like an inside cabin on a cruiser, no windows to get light. Every time we go to do anything in there, piddle or clean, we have to turn on the lights. Also, because there's no natural light, our hallway is always dark as well. So for almost the same time we've been in the house I've needed to fix that problem.


So today started out with cutting holes in the roof. You haven't lived until you cut a hole in your roof.


Followed by holes in the ceiling.


And then as the song goes, "I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in..."


Then, of course, you need to connect the holes.


And then we did a little trick as suggested by Dan (from his install). As an FYI, it's always good to know people like Dan who know how to do things. That's a water heater blanket, btw. The tube is pretty thin, and while any sunlight will keep it warm, cutting holes in the ceiling isn't exactly a way to maintain your R factor, if you know what I mean.


So this is what the bathroom looks like now. Even after it got cloudy today it looked like we left the light on inside.


Actually, after having the sun come out just as I was starting, so it could be nice and hot in the attic and on the roof, as I was cleaning up it got cloudy and threatened to rain once I was in. Fortunately I splurged for the faster curing roof sealer and silicon calk (for the screws holding the dome in place). So I just needed to make it to 7 without it raining (of course, having a full day would be better). So far, no rain.

What would I do different given the chance? Well, besides hiring someone else to do the work (working in the attic nearly killed me, my back still hurts and I had to drink like 3 glasses of water after both sessions in the attic), I would ignore the instructions and put the flashing under more of the shingles (at least one more row).


By the time I really looked at it and realized I could add another row, I was already screwed in. But as you can see, we're halfway down with the shingles. I also used the left over roofing sealant to add more around the sides (as well as 3 rows of sealant underneath, and resealed the shingles just above the flashing install.

So, I hurt. I'm tired. But a job well done.

No one told you when to run

So, still on tender hooks for that one job that may, or may not, be coming in. Sigh. With the added bonus that another client called me on my drive into work this morning. Sigh.

There are times the universe lets me know I should be writing. And then there is the majority of times just like this where I think the bastards are conspiring to both suck up my time and suck out my soul. I think I've mentioned before about how work/life/boll weevils get in the way. This is one of those times.

It's getting harder to not take this personally.

And it doesn't only just do this with writing. It does it with vacations, attempts to be along with myself/wife, needing to get an oil change, etc. And the more I do "time management" tricks the worse these outside interruptions get.

Sorry for the whining, but it's really getting me down. Add into the mix the gremlins screeching about "If I were really dedicated/really a writer, I would be...". I need a moment. Probably won't get it.

The act you've known for all these years

Tonight, 25 years ago, Bette tickled me until it was too late to go to work (I was working the midnight shift at the main post office in Akron). I had known her for about a year at that point, and she had been dating another guy. That hadn't been working out so far, and she had just dumped him the previous weekend. It had been about 8 months since my engagement was broken off. That night we became a couple.

We've now been a couple longer than most of our friends have had relationships. I'm not sure what that says about us. Maybe that we're too damn stubborn to let external things get in the way of our journey.

It was a rough time those first years. Both of us had issues from our past relationships that we worked through. We discovered a lot about each other. We still continue to discover each other. I think that's part of what has made this a successful relationship.

Our path together hasn't always been the easiest road to travel, and I haven't always been a good companion (being a recovering workaholic). I've learned a lot about what it means to love and be in love with someone. While I normally don't ascribe to this philosophy, Bette has helped me be a better man. And I do it for her. If I come off as a driven, well adjusted, caring person with somewhat enlightened ideals, it's all because of her.

So it's our silver anniversary. Yes, there is a very nice gift that I left for her to discover this morning. I'll find out how successful it is when I go home.

Monday at the Races

So, it's been almost a week with broadband at home and how are we doing?

There were several hours of no connection at all. Many times lost packets outnumbering delivered. Some moments of "sweet," but really not enough. Having troubles tonight. So I decided to do some checking.

Out of five traceroutes to high bandwidth sites (like CNN, Apple, Blogger, Amazon, etc) the earliest I hit a backbone router was 10 hops (to be fair, the first two are my wireless node and DSL modem). So, eight hops. With a lot of lag time (like 32ms). Three out of five crapped out after 15-18 hops (that is, the trace never reached the destination). Shortest distance was 12 hops.

Now for some big downloads I've hit the max speed of 150k/sec, although normally am running at 100k/sec. On Speedtest.net we were rated at 1.18mb/sec download, 0.24mb/sec upstream (which is normal that upstream is choked down on a home connection), ping was 119ms, servers were 150 miles apart.

I haven't had the heart to try hulu, or anything of a real heavy usage. Not like this would be the computer to run them on (being a ten year old laptop).

And now you know why I wasn't all that hot to upgrade.

Weekend in the rain

Spent the day packing up the Halloween stuff and getting it into the storage shed. Also emptied out the rain barrels and put them away for the winter. All while dodging the rain drops. While I needed to clean up the yard and my leaf blower is rated for "wet leaves," I don't think they meant, "leaves wet from 3 days of rain, and it's still raining."

This week ended with finding out I need to be in Virginia the full week before classes. Joy. If it were one week later, I could probably work out to take the test early. But being the last week I miss the last two classes, the review, the practical review, and the last lab/paper chase.

Finished some paperwork. Slept in first. Got some things done that needed to be done and had been waiting for a few weeks.

All in all, a product Saturday, even without some writing. Although last night I got up around 2am and wrote two pages (long hand) of a story in my head.

A Year in the Face

Well, it's been a long year. I was about to apply for a job when I realized that I hadn't updated my profile photos (linkedin.com, blogger, where ever). We went to the big computer and fixed that. And then I noticed, why yes, I do look different. And since I got a lot of flak for not posting the "goatee" image, I thought I'd do a comparison.

For your edification and enjoyment, me, last year, with a goatee.


Can you hear the neighbors commenting on the nightly news, "We always knew he was up to no good"? Yes. This is why I don't wear a goatee. Pure evil looking. Be glad I didn't post the grinning goatee photo. You can practically smell the brimstone.

And now, here is today (my new profile photo).


I can see the difference. How about you?