Punkin Party Time

It's been a quiet week on Lake Waverly Place...at least as far as Tile Work is concerned. I am still waiting for my "contractor", Brian, to get things arranged so I can pick up the marble tile. Since he isn't really a contractor, I'm not high on his priority list. The thing is, I need him but he don't need me. It's not like he's making any money on this. But he can save me about $150.00 on the tile.

Now Halloween is approaching (Se7en Days away) and we probably won't install the tile until after that holiday is in the rear view. I don't want to have a whole bunch of traffic on the new tile right after its installation.

Tonight is our annual Pumpkin Carving Party. I really don't have time to sit here and make this entry. I should be doing something else to get ready for the party. So don't tell Susan I'm up here typing away.

Oh wow! I just looked at the time and it's less than an hour before people start arriving. I guess I better get going. I'll have all the exciting party info tomorrow.

Getting Ready for Tile

The one main obstacle that must be overcome before we lay the tile in the entryway involves humping. Well, de-humping actually. The floor is not level. Here's the deal.

The area we are tiling is 87" x 72". The foundation of the house sits almost in the middle of that area. It's a little closer to the door than the middle. Over a period of 100 years, the house has had time to settle, as you might expect a house to do. The area from the foundation to the front door (approx. 25") has a huge dip...almost an inch and a half.

So here's a series of pictures showing the process of the sub floor going down and then the self leveling compound being forced into self leveling.

So, with the help of my Tile Mentor Ron, we laid a sub floor yesterday and then filled in the dip with mud. It's a self leveling compound that turned out to be very effective. The only thing now is that when you walk in the door, you definitely feel a downward slope as you enter.Above is my mock up of how this all should look when it's finished. The top of the picture is the front door and the bottom transitions to the hardwood floor. The colors still look a little off compared to the real thing but it's a good enough representation to show what we have planned.

Finally, here's a picture showing the results of one of the cats trying to help out.

Tile Arrival

Even though it was Columbus Day yesterday, a day in which the U.S. Postal Service does not deliver, I was very excited to arrive home and find a large rolled bundle of tile joy on the front porch.

I dragged it inside and hid it from Susan because we were going to dinner at Mom's and I wanted to surprise her when we returned.

So we returned and hauled it out. Excited, she was! I carefully cut through the packaging. This mosaic is 50" x 36" so I assumed it would come in pieces that we assemble. I quickly realized that it was all one piece. With great anticipation and a slight fear that it would not be what we ordered, I unrolled the tile to expose its wondrous beauty.

Now I need to get in contact with my Tile Expert, Ron T. Tilexpert. (The "T" stands for "The") I'm hoping we can do an install this coming Sunday. For that to happen, we need to spend a lot of money. We still have to buy the tile that surrounds it. Plus, we need grout, thin set, trowels, ceramic sealer, gopher wedges, smack daddy's, creamo-wheatsters, flange evapuscules, and beer.

Old Wine

When Susan and I got married 4 years, 51 weeks and four days ago, we made a batch of wine to serve at the reception. We called it Matrimonial Merlot. It came from a kit and was a very nice wine. everyone who tried it was amazed at our wine making prowess. Kit wines generally do not have a long shelf life. They do not age and improve over the years. They reach their peak after about two years and start to decline from there.

We gave a bottle to our friend Mark, to whom I delivered a door he bought from us. While at his house, I noticed the bottle of "Mat Mer" in his wine rack and told him it was well past time to drink it. So he brought it over for dinner last night and we opened it.
It was a little off, kind of musty smelling and slightly alcoholic. But after breathing for about 15 minutes, it was very drinkable. We managed to choke it down with no problemo.



It was another razor cold night. I think we may have broken a couple of records over the weekend. It feels so luxurious to walk into a warm house. I'm going to have to drop the thermostat here soon. This bill won't be pretty.

Frosty the Fall Season

According the the AccuStan Weather Station perched high atop our roof, the temperature was 14.5 degrees at 6:30 this morning. It's a good thing I ended the Furnace Game when I did.

The nice thing about the freeze is that it knocked a shit load of leaves off the trees out front. They were nice and dry and crisp and my YardVac had no trouble sucking them up. That thing works great when the leaves are dry. There are still several shit loads up there as well as many chestnuts waiting to bonk me on the head. They tried several times today but their aim is off. I'm thinking they are just getting their bearing and biding their time. We hauled out the Halloween decorations today and spent a good portion of the day and evening putting them up. I have to stop writing now and continue up putting the remaining decorations, lights, ghost, ghouls, goblins and assorted things that go bump in the night.

Later: We worked most of the day and into the evening and we still have a long way to go. There's lots of stuff to get out of the Carrage House yet. All that time I spent doing yard work cut into my efficiency, assuming I ever had any.

Hot Tubbery

I haven't talked much about our new hot tub. And when I say new, I mean new to us. It's a 15 year old hot tub that our neighbors gave us. I guess I'll try to bring this up to date.

We moved the tub from our neighbors yard to our yard back in August. I coaxed about 8 people over here on a Sunday and with the help of a Hot Tub Dolly that I rented, we really had no problem making the move and setting it into place. It all went very smoothly and with a minimum of effort.

Then Jerry came over and helped me lay the electrical line for the tub. Essentially, Jerry did everything else once it was in place to get it up and running.

So it has been working for about a month now and we have hardly used it. Of course, we are just now getting into the more intense Hot Tub Use Season.I was in it tonight because I wanted to soak and because I had some maintenance issues to deal with. The unit has two "Moto Massage" features that have a hose that shoots a jet of water at your back while moving up and down. It's pretty nice. You can see the one "Moto Massage" unit in the left corner of the tub in the picture above. The other "Moto Massage unit is in the adjacent corner of the tub shown in the picture at the bottom middle. That one does not work. The hose has come uncoupled from its connection.

So I donned my Diving Mask and Snorkel and probed the depths of the Hot Tub. I managed to get into the unit and remove the hose but I cannot get it re-attached. It looks like I have to remove the fitting that it attaches to and before I do that, I'm going to get some guidance. Guidance keeps me from doing stupid, expensive things. I am thinking I'll have to drain the tub to properly re-install this dealie but I just don't know yet.

I ended up being in the tub for about 45 minutes. I'll probably still be wrinkled tomorrow.

2009 Furnace Game

It has been pretty chilly the past few evenings. Chilly enough to motivate me to reactivate the boiler and turn on the furnace. So, if you had October 7th at about 6:37 in the P.M., you are the winner of this years competition. Unfortunately, nobody had that date and time so the $100,000.00 goes back in my pocket. I was one day short of last years re-activation of October 8th and I believe that remains the record.

I had a couple of issues to straighten out before re-hydrating the system and lighting the pilot light. We have removed two radiators from the systems (temporarily) in order to sand the floor underneath them. I was able to properly cap off all the pipes except one in the hallway.

It is the valve connection going to the radiator in the hall just outside the kitchen and I figured that closing the valve would be enough. It's a good thing I didn't rely on my figuring.

I could not find a cap that would go on the fitting so I came up with this hokey contraption of a rubber hose that clamps over the fitting and then a plastic cap that fits in the other end, both sides being held in place by hose clamps.

As I filled the system, I found some slight leakage around the plastic cap. I got out the socket wrench and tightened that baby down good and...well, you know...tight.

It seems to be holding as of this morning and I assume it is designed to withstand water pressure in a plumbing system. If it happens to blow off, it could be very ugly for the main floor.

There is a LOT of water in them thar pipes.

Tile Floor Update

I have finally procured a decent looking photo of the mosaic tile we have ordered for the entry way. This one didn't go all negative photo art on me and he detail is pretty good. I got a call from the company we ordered it from and the lady told me (in a very thick accent) that she was ready to ship. I don't know how long it will take to get here but it is now on the move...I think from Lebanon. I suppose I can cont on at least a couple of weeks. I e-mailed her with that question and have not yet received a response.

Sanding went very well on Sunday once we got to it. I am very pleased with my skill level with the belt sander. I have managed to eliminate all the high spots in the hallway hardwood I repaired and I think it will be okay.
Susan worked on the stairs and made some good progress. The stairs have so many nooks and cranny's that you could sand for weeks on end and never seem to each the end. She got to many of the nooks and glossed over the cranny's.It is a very busy month for us and I cannot see how we are going to fit in everything we need to do. We have already scaled back our Wedding Anniversary Weekend. We normally go to some fairly local Bed and Breakfast (within a few hours travel) and make a weekend of it. But we're still stinging from our Iowa trip so things must be toned down.

Halloween is coming up, the tile is coming, we're ready to sand the floors...

Calgon, take me away!

In heating news, we still haven't fired up the furnace.

Ancillary Day

Let me start by saying that everything has been approved with the gas line and I think I have the gas back on. I'm not sure because I was unsuccessful in a half-hearted attempt to light the pilot light and I'm thinking it's not a good idea to do that until I refill the system with water. However, all the locks, blocks and impediments have been removed from the meter so once I figure out all the correct valve conigurations, I should have gas. If not, I'll call Jerry.

I had planned on getting started on sanding the floors on the main floor today. So far, I haven't accomplished anything toward that goal. Instead, I've done lots of ancillary other stuff. I worked at the bar for a couple of hours. I returned some stuff to Home Depot only to buy more stuff. I purchased 120 full size candy bars in anticipation of an upcoming candy related holiday. I picked up a bunch of cardboard that Susan wanted from her job to create coffins for the aforementioned holiday.

I made it home about noon and tried to get started with my flooring goals. I was thwarted almost immediately by Susan who stopped at the Salvation Army Thrift Store on 50% off day. That never leads to any good. We have a new (to us) Entertainment Center sitting in the garage.

So now it's 3:00 and I'm going to try and get started with some floor work. We shall see how it goes.

Problems with Gas

I have the day off from work and I am attempting to end my Summer-long National Nightmare with my Gas Line.

I contacted the City Inspector who told me I had to do a pressure test. I have no idea exactly how to perform this task but what I do have is an extensive network of "Go To Guys" that help through the technical difficulties of old home remodeling. One cannot be successful in old home remodeling unless you are handy (I am not) or you have an extensive network of "G.T.G."!

For general carpentry I have Phil. For tile and grout I have Ron. To haul my ass out of giant emergency dumb shit situations, I have Jerry.

I told Jerry I needed to do a pressure test on my gas line. Within a couple of days, he calls and tells me he has attached a valve with gauge to said gas line. I proceed to pressurize gas line and cannot get it to hold any pressure.

Then I notice a vent on the meter that is allowing all the pressure to escape. I plug it and continue with my pressure test. I find that I am losing pressure. So much so that I can hear it seeping out of the pipe. I spray soapy water around the area of the leak and see that it is leaking from the meter.

The next day, I call Washington Water Power and tell them that their meter is losing air from the end cap around the regulator. (I find that if I use specific technical jargon, they take me more seriously.)

I get a message on my cell phone later in the day from the service guy at my house who tells me that I applied pressure into the meter and destroyed it. He was changing out the meter and scolded me for my screw up. Pictured below is my beautiful new meter. I don't know how much this is going to cost me.

I called Jerry who came out to survey the new meter and the associated new pipe we (Jerry) had to install.

He called me yesterday and said it was ready for the new pressure test. I got home last night and powered up the compressor and pressurized the line to about 15 pounds. It seemed to hold for a while but when I checked it this morning, it was down to about three pounds.

So now we (Jerry) have been searching for a leak. We (Jerry) found several small ones in the pipe that I (Me) had nothing to do with. By that I mean the already existing pipe in the house leading from my point of repair to the furnace valve.
We (Jerry) are now in the process of removing all that pipe and resealing the joints. Right now, as I type, we (Jerry) is fetching a new valve because it was leaking as well as the joints. We (Jerry) will then reinstall all the pipe and joints and pressurize the line again.

Later that Day: Okay, we (Jerry) are finished. I have applied 10 pounds of air pressure and it is holding steady. I have a call into the inspector and I am hoping to hear from him today.

In the meantime, I have harvested my Hops. I have quite a booty haul. Now I have some errands to run around and accomplish and among those, eating some lunch and drinking some beer.

Delinquency Interruptous

Okay, I've been away for a while. It's not that I have nothing to say. I have tooooooo much to say. Let's start with Wine!

The Wine we entered in the fair did very well. Beyond my expectations, really. Our Syrah won Second Place and the label I made won a Blue Ribbon with a Judge's Special Distinction Ribbon. I'm not sure what that means but what I DO know is that the Blue Ribbon Susan won for her label on Ellen's Third Place Syrah did NOT get a Judge's Special Distinction Ribbon. And so I'm pretty cocky about that! This is Susan's label.
Our Summer Solstice Piesporter received a Blue Ribbon with a Judge's Special Distinction Award. I was very surprised by that as our decision to enter that wine was an afterthought since we were entering the Syrah. The picture below is my Syrah Label. If it looks like I whipped it up in about ten minutes with a Sharpie, that's about right.
My experimentation into new brewing boundaries was not accepted by the "conventional wisdom" of the apparatchik. They clearly were not prepared for something as revolutionary in the brewing industry as PorterMeister, a dark rich porter with the lush licorice flavoring only a bottle of Jagermeister could provide. For my efforts, I received a Participation Ribbon. That's like getting a Gold Star for showing up to school on time.

We are awaiting the arrival of our mosaic tile pattern. It has been just over three weeks since ordering it and I expect it here in about a week or so. We are planning to start sanding the hardwood next weekend.

In the meantime, I am trying to get everything in order to get the gas turned back on. I am set up to run a pressure test on the line. I actually ran a preliminary pressurization today. It did not hold. There appears to be a leak at the meter. I have to call the people at Washington Water Power tomorrow and advise them of their problem. I say that because if it's on the meter, it's their problem.

That is all for now. I shall update as needed.....after the explosion.

What a Day

Today was the second running of SpokeFest. It's a giant gathering of people riding bikes. Susan and I did it last year so we felt compelled to do it again this year. However, our fitness for such an event was highly suspect. Plus, we planned on going to the Spokane Interstate Fair in the afternoon and we were not looking forward to walking around the fair after having ridden 21 miles on our bikes.

So I came up with a plan. Instead of riding the 21 miles, we would follow the Bloomsday course, thereby cutting 14 miles off our morning. Sure it' cheating, but we weren't doing this for time or ranking or anything other than to do it.

It turned out to be a very good plan and one that was not unique to us. There were several other bikers who joined us.

After taking our short cut, we found ourselves on the course at the bottom of a giant hill known as Doomsday Hill. We were ahead of all the elite bikers. That lasted about three minutes. The leader came hauling along just as we started up the hill. We were soon being passed by many svelte bikers, which was fine with us. Not because we had svelte biker asses to look at...which we did, and that was fine but because we were not there to get in their way.

We finished the course in just over an hour and rode about nine miles. Do we feel bad about cheating the system? Not in the least! I know for sure that had I ridden the whole 21 miles, I would not have ridden the whole 21 miles. Not that and make the fair. And we HAD to make the fair.

I think I have written about this previously so I will apologize in advance for repeating. We entered beer and wine in the fair this year. This is the second time we have entered the competition. We came away with third place ribbons last time for beer and wine. I was not expecting any kind of prize so that was very cool to me.

This year I had grander expectations. I had really worked at crafting a beer that was different. I made a porter that is supposed to have a licorice flavor to it. I chose to add Jagermeister for the licorice flavoring. I liked it but nobody else did. No ribbons for beer this year.

In the wine category, we entered a Piesporter and we entered a Syrah. The Piesporter was a wine we made for our Summer Solstice Party so it has been in the bottle for a while and has aged properly. In fact, it aged really well because we got a Blue Effing Ribbon with a Special Judges Distinction Ribbon AND A TROPHY!!!

Okay, calm down. Simmer Down now!

Our other wine entry, the Syrah was also a kit wine and identical to the wine entered by our friend Ellen. Ellen had the advantage of a couple of months of bottle time over us but we fermented our batch in bulk for a while which I think made the difference. Ellen got a Third Place Ribbon and we scored a SECOND.

We also got ribbons for our labels but I don't remember the ranking. The dealio with the labels was that Susan made the label for Ellen's wine and I made the label for our wine. I believe I beat Susan but again, I can't really remember and I'm not the kind of person who keeps those kinds of records. (The Sarcasm meter just went off the Charts)

The thing that really amazes me is that I forgot to take any pictures. I had my camera with me and it totally slipped my mind that perhaps I ought to be clicking away. It's the thrill of competition that makes think unclear.

Pictures to follow next week after we pick up our wineses.

Bitchin' New Project

There are not many things we do around this house in relation to remodeling projects that get me excited right off the bat. They are generally expansive projects that require demolition, clean up, preparation, re-construction, clean up, more clean up and finally finish work.

We have had an idea for some time that we wanted to do that came to fruition today.

We have always believed that there was a door in this wall in the entry way. In the days when this house was built, it was not uncommon to be led to a parlor off the main door when arriving at the home. There, one would wait for whomever one happened to be calling upon. And so, we decided we needed to see inside that wall because we just knew there was an old door frame hidden inside.We were wrong. No old door frame was to be found. However, that little detail did not deter us. We wanted a door in that wall and now, we have one.I am so pleased with how this turned out. It really changes the feel of the entryway. We used Phil on this project because, Number One, we wanted it done right and Number B, we wanted it done fast.Phil managed to do both things. Next up, Tile Floors!

Back to Reality

The problem with four days off is that you don't want to go back when it's over. I am not one for sleeping in, except when I can't. I realized this morning that I really enjoyed those days of sleeping in...even if it was only until 8AM.

I had a panic last night as I realized that I had not properly submitted my entry in the fair wine competition. To be included in the label contest, I had to include an empty bottle with the label. That meant I had to produce one quickly and get it to the fair with about one and a half hours to go until the 8:00PM deadline.

The production part went smoothly and I had 45 minutes to get there. As soon as I got on the freeway, the traffic was down to one lane for midnight construction. I took the next exit and started weaving my way towards the fairgrounds. I got to the turn I wanted and the bridge was closed for more construction. I drove on down the road hoping that the short cut I now needed to take would not be blocked by a train, as it often is, and (of course) was.

So now I had to race two miles east, one mile south and two miles back to the west to get to my destination. I made it with 5 minutes to spare. Whew!

The Karma version of this whole event says that I have no chance of a ribbon now.

I'll show off my labels soon but I have to keep it a secret from Susan for now.

Done!

The nice thing about low resolution jpeg pictures is they don't show the many imperfections in the craftsmanship of the floor shown below. That is what sanding is for. The main thing is that I am done and I did it within the time frame I had pre-assigned to the project.

It all went smoothly and I am mostly pleased with the outcome. It is not level, uniform, even or well crafted but it is in and it is done.

I started the day by going out to the fair grounds to get our Wine Entries checked in. That went very well and I was in and out of there in no time. Susan and I have entered two wines and one beer. One of our wines is a Syrah that is in direct competition with our friend Ellen. She made the exact same kit wine. The only difference is hers has been in the bottle a few months longer than ours. But we bottled back in February so I don't think the two or three months advantage she has will make that big of a difference.

The other interesting aspect to the competition is that they now have a friend competition for best label. I designed the Syrah label for our wine and Susan designed the label for Ellen's wine. The results will be forthcoming.

Now I have one last thing to do for today before we prepare for sanding the floor. I have one little bit of linoleum to remove from the hall closet. It is a small space so I suspect I can have it done by 5:00PM.

It is now 2:10PM.

If I make my goal, I will be soaking in the newly installed hot tub by 6:00PM.

Stand By:

I was in the hot tub by four. Good thing I tried it out before Susan cuz it was waaaaay to hot. It was hard to get in because of the heat and then as I sat there and boiled, drinking a high octane beer, it totally zapped me. I barely have the strength to hit these keys.

We'll try it again tonight after it has had a chance to cool.

I must say that I am happy with the progress we made this weekend and all the activities we managed to fit in. Very busy, very productive, good to be alive!

Labra Dor Weekend Day C

Today is the final day of the three day weekend...for most people. Those of us who planned ahead get tomorrow off too. Which we will need in order to complete the goals of the weekend. I don't think I'll get much accomplished on the floor today due to Labra Dor Activities. In the meantime, let's talk about what I have accomplished.

I received what I believed to be a very good omen at the start of the project. I pulled a piece of flooring from my flooring pile and took it to the flooring area for measurement to properly fit into the flooring place. It was perfect! It required no cutting at all.

Unfortunately, it was a false omen as I immediately ran into other difficulties. The main problem involved proper placement into order to line up correctly with the other bits of wood. I finally got it under control and manged to complete more than half the floor.

I already said this but I'm too lazy to re-write. I will not be able to finish the floor today because it is intense with Labra Dor Day activities. We are paddling the Little Spokane river this morning and attending the Labra Dor Concert in Colmstock Park this afternoon. There also exists the distinct possibility of a rain out of the paddling AND the concert. The day looks tentative. Which then means I could work on the floor and everything here that I didn't delete is now without purpose...or merit...or any sense of reason, or rhyme or STOP ME!We again attended the Pigout in the Park because we were so disappointed with our food choices on Friday. Last night, we did much better. I had the giant Italian Sausage and Susan had the Philly Cheese steak.

I was also able to add Chocolate Dipped Cheesecake on a Stick to my resume.

Trying to Buy American

I goofed around too much yesterday to get much accomplished on the floor. The picture below shows where I'm at, which is, ready to start placing the floor. This is where I get nervous and start goofing around to put off the craftsmanship part of the project.

I needed a new chisel. I had pretty much beaten the crap out of the cheap "Made in China" chisels I have. I was determined to buy one the says "Made in U.S.A." on the package. That is easier said than done.

I ended up being successful but I didn't get the exact type of chisel I wanted. It's a masonry chisel but it is solid and forged out of American Steel. I worked pretty well.

On a final note, the following video is for anyone contemplating visiting our house late at night without our permission.

Labra Dor Day One

Okay, it's the Labor Day Weekend and we started out by drinking heavily last night and sleeping in. I'm trying to get my day started but here it is almost 11:30 and that is just not happening. I should be recovered from my hangover in time to go to a party this afternoon.

We rode our bikes down to the park last night and enjoyed a little Pig Out. I had a deep fried hotdog and Susan had Teriyaki Chicken. both were marginal.

Okay, it's time to work.

Cruise Night

We took a night off from the house and went on a cruise on the Spokane River. Our friends, Chuck & Maggie live in an apartment that is on the river. They have a great yard and a dock where Chuck keeps his little 12 foot wooden runabout.

We have attended a couple of fun parties there and have always enjoyed the ambiance. So I basically invited us over for a float. It's a simple process. Chuck unties the boat and we float with the current. Then, when it's dark, he powers up the 20 horse Evinrude or the trolling motor and slides back up the river.

Right now there river is pretty low and so there is nary a current to be had. So we motored up to what Chuck called Donkey Island and then slowly cruised back to the dock with the silent trolling motor guiding our way. There was of course, wine and food to be consumed. We listened to the Jazz station and watched birds and bats and fish had a wonderful evening under the full moon.This is one of the many reasons why I love Spokane.

Mo' Flo' Progress

I did a couple more hours of work last night and continued to chip away at the floor. Literally! I had to use my chisel to remove the remaining boards against the wall. Then I went to work on the hardwood. I have to remove and shorten some of the pieces there so I don't have a hard straight line where I lay the new wood in.We have ordered the tile for the entryway. This was not an easy process. I can't order from their website. Everytime I try to log into their "Live Chat" feature, they are off line. So I called thier Toll Free number. Got a message machine. I called the other Toll Free number, got the same message machine. So I left a message and waited for them to call me on my cell phone.

A couple of hours later, I got a call from a heavily accented woman calling me Mr. Stan. We made the transaction the the tile is ordered.This is a sample of how it will look except that, for some reason, it's coming in as a negative. The colors are much prettier than what this shows. It's got lots of green and yellows and creams.

We should have it in about three weeks. It would have been judicious of us to order it three weeks ago, but that's not how we roll.