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.

Mo' Flo

We still have more floor to work on. tonight, I began tearing into the flooring in the back hallway. I have no doubt that I wrote about this when we pulled up the linoleum but here we go again.

We need to replace the flooring leading to this room. You can see that it is different from the flooring at the bottom of the picture.The door to this room used to be where the flooring transitioned. But somewhere along the way, probably when the house was transformed into two apartments, they moved the door and built a closet and a linen closet.

Well, we like the closets and so we are keeping them. But we need to make the floor look consistent.So, just like the other day (but without John) I cut into the flooring where I want to remove it. Then I began the task of prying up the boards. I didn't have to be quite so gentle this time because I wasn't planning on saving these boards. It would have been nice to save them but not imperative.

That was lucky because saving them was not to be. For some unknown reason, someone went under the house and screwed a row of screws through the underlying floor and into these boards. That made it very difficult to remove them in tact.

I can only surmise that these floor boards came loose at some point and the fix was to fasten them down with screws from underneath.So after only a couple of hours, this is the progress we made. The main thing is that we did something rather than sit around and watch TV like we usually do.

One other note of importance; we ordered a door yesterday to place in the entryway that will be an alternate entry into this room. One may recall that we thought there would have been a door into this room originally, but apparently people from 100 years ago don't think like us!