Halloween Statistics

The early returns are in and all the numbers indicate that it was another big year of Trick or Treating around the park. The only way I can keep track is by how much candy we start with and how much is left at the end of the night. I ended up with none. The first kids started showing up just after 5:00 and we were turning people away by 7:45 P.M. That means we had gone through over 700 pieces of candy in less than three hours. It seems hard to believe but the traffic was pretty thick all night long.

Officially Historic

I thought it was time that I got an official picture posted of our Official Historic Marker which officially proclaims to the world (or at least the people walking by) that this house is on the Official Register of Historic Places. You know, I think that George Washington once slept here. I can tell you for sure and quite officially that I have slept here.

All of the houses around the park are on the Register and most of the houses have this same plaque posted somewhere near the front door. We haven't had one and just recently purchased it as a Wedding Anniversary present to ourselves.

Stairway Update

Let's talk about what little work IS occurring here at the Ranch. We have been working on the stairway. We are kind of stuck on exactly how to proceed. At some point in the past, the bannister was changed to raise the handrail. In doing so, we have two different spindle designs holding up the bannister railing. I would like this to be uniform but we have had very little luck finding spindles that match the ones we have and like. That leads us to the possibility of having them made. I will not go into all the details, but I think we have found a guy with a Duplicating Lathe that will manufacture the 30 to 40 spindles we need. What we don't know yet is the price and that will be the deciding factor in whether we preceed that way.

Here are a couple of pictures to see our progress. On the left is the stairway that we started with. On the right, is the stairway as it is today. You will notice that we have removed all the wallpapering on the wall. That's where we have been skim coating and all that remains now is a little touch up of a couple of areas that insist on cracking and then some more primer.










The most dramatic feature is the wanescoating going up the stairway. We are going to cap it with railing and then stain it the dark walnut color.

You can also see that we have been trying to sand the steps and remove the stain. The problem is that the stain doesn't want to be sanded. We've got it a little on the sides but it's holding strong in the middle of the steps. I can't wait to see it when we're done...if we ever get there.

Research Project Results

I pretty much struck out yesterday with my research project. I went through all of the Sunday Spokeman-Review's for 1909. They were in the habit in those days of printing pictures of newly completed houses. It was amazing to see huge three story houses built for $5,000.

Anyway, I was not able to find any pictures of our house. Then I went to the Museum to look through the collection of historic photos they have. Supposedly, they have the complete archives from Libby Photographers, THE major photographer from the early years in Spokane. Well, I found the collection to be pretty sparse. It was much better organized than I had been led to believe, but again, no picture of OUR HOUSE. I'm sorry to be selfish here but that's what I'm looking for.

The Heart of the Problem

We've had a bit of a setback in working on the house in the form of health issues. My health issues. I woke up Saturday morning with a familiar discomfort in my chest. I woke up Susan and told her it was time to visit the Emergency Room. This feeling has been building for a while and I had an appointment to see my Cardiologist on Monday for a Stress Test, but my body couldn't wait.

I had an Angioplasty procedure on Sunday and they placed a stent in one of my arteries. Now I'm as good as your average 80 year old and I have a week off from work.

This is not my first brush with heart problems. I think it's boring to talk about so I'll just say I had a mild heart attack about 12 years ago, followed by a double by-pass about eight years ago.

So now I feel fine (except that I wear out easily) and I have a week off. I have done a few little projects around the house but nothing that requires a lot of exertion. Today, I'm going to the museum and the library to do some research on the house.

My main goal is to find a picture of the house around the time that it was built. The museum has a large haystack of photographs from the that time. The trick will be in finding this needle.

Busy Social Season

It's tough when you have a lot of remodeling to do yet you have a rigorous social schedule to juggle as well. That's where we are right now.

Halloween is a big Holiday for Susan and I so it's a good thing we moved to a place like Corbin Park. Halloween is a big deal here. It's not that a bunch of the houses get all decked out. A few do and we are one of them. However, the park has somehow developed a reputation as a good place to Trick or Treat. I think parents have developed that rep because it's easy for them to drop their kids off on one end of the park and then they go around the park and the parents are done for the night.

We had over 600 kids last year. We know that because our next door neighbors kept track. I know that because, at one point, all I did was stand at the door and pass out candy to the continous line of monsters, fairys, pirates and ghouls streaming up and down our porch.

We also have planned a Halloween dinner with a group of our neighbors for the night before Halloween. This will be a party for the adults. It will be a progressive dinner at three different houses. Susan and I have offered up ours as the Dinner House. Before us is the Appetizer House and after us is the Dessert House. We put invitations out to every house on the park. I haven't heard yet how many people have responded but I expect that it will be the same small group of partiers that attend all these types of functions.

We were busy last weekend with a trip to Canada for our Anniversary. We drank a lot of wine and spent a lot of Canucks, the offical legal tender of Canada. Their prices up there are much higher than in the states. Gas costs almost four canucks a gallon but they sell it by the Celsius so it is hard to convert. Their wine costs lots of canucks so to soften the blow, we drank about a kilometer of wine.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that we haven't done a lot of work on the house lately.

What's Under the Stairs

I spend a lot of my remodeling time looking at the way things are in this house and asking, "Why is this set up the way it is?" Then I start to tear into it and I discover why it is the way it is.

Just such an episode arose tonight while working on the stairs. I have known for sometime that the bannister on the stairs is not the way it was originally built. I think it had to be raised to a certain level to meet code when this house was converted into a group home. They did what they could to make the change, make it look okay and do it for as little money as possible.

The details of what has been done to the stairs are way too complex for me to describe here so I will go with pictures.

On the left is the staircase as it was when we moved in. On the right, is the staircase after tonights endeavors.

You can see that the wonderful woodwork and trim was covered by a sheet of wood paneling that was then wallpapered.

Return of the Blogger

I haven't written anything on the house in over a week because we haven't done any work on the house in over a week so there was nothing to report on the house for over a week so consequently, I haven't written anything on the house in over a week.

That all changed today when we commenced to painting. To be more specific, we commenced to priming. We have to get everything primed before we can start our next step, floor sanding. That will create a tremendous amount of messy dustiness and we want the walls sealed before the messy dustiness gets everywhere, including our nooks and our crannys.

Here I am in the stairway after finishing todays priming. We ran out of our 5 gallon bucket of primer before we could finish the whole landing. I got the whole ceiling done and most of the walls. I have to finish the walls in the stairway. I was able to do that little bit of wall above me with the last of the primer. I'll be getting another 5 gallon bucket tomorrow. The bare drywall really sucks up the primer. I still have to get primer on that back hallway on the right and the wall out of the picture on the left. That wall is a bitch because it is soooooooo tall...over 16 feet. That's where my special $400.00 ladder starts to pay for itself.

What I Wish I Would Have Said

We haven't done much on the house this week so I haven't had anything to write here. But I do have this.

I'm laying in bed, sound asleep when the phone rings. I stumble to the other room where the phone is and notice it's about 2:30. I answer and the guy on the phone says, " I saw what you did and I know who you are."

I paused a moment and said, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"So you saw me with the Homeless Man?"

"Yeah!"

"You saw me kill him?"

"Um...yeah."

"You saw me cut off his nuts and stuff them down his throat?"

"Uh huh!"

"So you know that I would have no reservations about doing even worse to some Shit for Brains Scumbag who calls me at two-thirty in the morning?!"

"Click"

That's what I wish I would have said.

Instead, I kind of stood there in a haze and said, "Who is this?" Then he hung up. Then I lost the next thirty minutes of sleep running that first scenerio through my head and wishing I had the presence of mind for that witty banter.

I need to script my life better!

Storm Window Follow Up

It looks like all my worries and angst over fixing the Storm Windows was a waste of time. I took the windows back, and while they were concerned over how the far off the measurement was, the fine folks at Tormino's Window and Sash said they will have no trouble selling them as is and it will be about a month before the re-ordered, correcftly measured windows come in.

I went to the effort of taking a picture of the window and writing down all the critical measurements. Then I printed out two copies...one for me and one for them. Now I have definite proof of the dimensions I want. I should have had this last time. I'm learning...slowly.

In the meantime, we recovered the cushion on the window bench in the Dining Room last night. There was nothing wrong with the old one other than it not a color picked by Susan. Now the thing blends and matches very nicely with the over-all decor of the Dining Room, giving one a soothing and pleasing sense of well being as well as an urgent need to eat dinner and then get out of our house. Call it "Structuring the length of a Guests' stay through Decor Management."
It's a very subtle science that we are inventing as we go along.

Perhaps there is a book in it.

Beautiful Sundays & Bad Measurements

Indian Summer is currently in full swing. It got wet and sloppy last week and cooled way down. Then Autumn began at 9:03 PM Friday and the weather has been great ever since

I planned on getting a lot done but I had one major project I really wanted to complete. I ordered two combination Storm/Screen Windows for the Master Bedroom back in July sometime. I took the measurements to this locally owned Glass shop that has always done right by me. In fact, the owner is a High School buddy of my Dad's.

I finally was able to pick the windows up back on Friday, September 15th but I haven't had a chance to install them until yesterday.

You can see the picture to the left here that shows the window in all it's over-sized glory.
Yup! It's too big. They measure 36" x 58" and they should be 36" x 53". I don't know what exactly happened but somewhere that three was transformed into an eight and there is no way I can make it work at five inches over.

At this point, I cannot say who is to blame. I do not have my original note that I took in and I don't have the form that my Window Guy wrote the info down on. My only hope is that this will not be a huge hassle to fix. I'll be going to Tormino's tomorrow to discuss the remedy.

In the meantime, my comedy of household errors goes on.

First Response

I am excited to report that I have received my first comments from other people which means that this is actually being seen by someone other than me.

The first comment was from Dave, the former owner of our house. He said he liked what we had done in the Dining Room. That was a bit of a relief because he was very proud of his Venetian Plaster job that he did in the Dining Room and the Living Room. I admit he did a good job but it was a little too dark for us. Don't worry, Dave. We're not touching the Living Room.

The other comment I got was from Piss-Ant Spammer who wants me to know that I can earn extra money as a Secret Shopper. HEY SPAM FOR BRAINS! EAT SHIT & DIE!!!

The last thing I want is the purity of the Blogging experience sullied by some Dork with a computer but no life. And pal, I don't believe for a minute that you earned $900.00 last month being a Secret Shopper. I don't even think your Welfare Check was that big.

Now that I have tainted todays post with Gutter Language, I would like to present the
Waverly Vocabulary Place.

Todays Word: he-ge-mo-ny (n) hi-'je-m&-nE: preponderant influence, especially of one nation over others.

While the Wife's Away . . .

Okay, before I even get started...where's my drink. I left it downstairs. I'll be right back!










Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! That's better!

Now, let's commence, shall we.

Susan is working tonight. She has to be down at the Arena for some concert. It almost got canceled due to poor ticket sales but they must have had a surge at the end or a radio station gave a bunch away. All I know is that she has to wait on a bunch of ungrateful hip-hoppers for three hours and listen to some Rapper who can't even fill a thousand seats. That pretty much sounds like one version of Hell.

In the meantime, I am going to do some remodeling work. I have some new hardware for the windows but I have to patch some old holes first. Then I have some mudding to do in the stairway, the landing and the bedroom. There are some other little items but I'm burning daylight and I have to get going.

I'm not going to sit here and Blog all night.

I'm Digital!

FINALLY! After over a month of being digitally camera-less, I am back in the Twenty-First Century. It's not the camera I had, but it will do. I can say a lot more with a picture than I can with a Thesaurus.

Well, it has been a week now since we have done any work on the house. In our defense, we had a busy week. We were visited by Susan's cousin, Louise. She arrived just in time for us to put her to work for the big Surprise Party we had.

Then we spent the weekend showing her around town. Then we took her to the fair on Sunday and stuffed our faces with high calorie, high fat, high flavor Fair Food. It just doesn't seem like Fall until I've had my Elephant Ear.

The Wimp Report

At the first sign of a chilly day, we caved!

If you guessed Thursday, September 14th at 6:07 P.M., you are the big winner of our Contest. That's when I lit the pilot light to the boiler. It came right on and heated beautifully. The house is a toasty warm haven suitable for wimpy, thin skinned wimpy wimps.

We had a successful surprise Retirement Party for Susan's friend Sharron last night. She was totally stunned and caught completely off guard. I should have gotten a picture of her reaction when she walked into the kitchen, but of course, I don't have a camera. (See September Se7enth posting)


The other big event of the evening was the official unveiling of the Stained Glass Window. Everyone was very impressed with Susan and her newly acquired Stained Glassing skills.

There were several people at the party that were friends of Sharron's that we had never met, so we had a great time taking them through the house and showing off all our work. It was a good feeling to have so many people be impressed by what we're doing.

I'm quite certain they left after the party and said, "Boy, I'm glad that's not us! What a lot of work they have to do!!"

"Yes they do. But did you see that Stained Glass?!

Disjointed Thoughts of a Fuzzy Mind

darkness. . . . .what's that beeping. . . . .in my chamber, sleeping. . . . .rhyming. . . . .is it morning?! beeping. . .warning. . . .no more poeming...Crap! just went to bed. . . . . . . . . . . .it's getting louder. . . . . . . . . . . .maybe it's a truck backing up. . . . or my bladder backing up. . . . . .it'll be cold if i get up. . . . .don't get up. . .ignore the beeping. . .i bought a new wallet. . . . . . . . .. .'bout time. . . . . .what time is it? . . . .i just went to bed. . .i better get up or i'll wet the bed. . . . .why did i stay up so late. . . . .oh yeah, cleaning. . .mopping. . .sterilizing. . .the damn stained glass window wouldn't go in right. . .the beeping is getting louder. . . . .i sure like my new wallet. . .lots of hidden compartments. . .spiffy new leather. . .leather and whips. . .whip cream. . . . .cream in my coffee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C O F F E E E E E E E E E E E. . . . . . .will somebody answer the door. . . . .that damn truck is sure backing a loooooong waaaaaay. . . . .and it's getting closer. . .getting closure. . .why did billy johnson always take my lunch. . . . .i need analysis. . .or maybe just the pharms. . .life on the farm. . .kind of laid back. . .back. . . . .back. . . .TURN OFF THE EFFING ALARM!

ah. . . . .that's better

this is good stuff. . . . . .i should put this in the blog

seemed like a good idea at the time

Stained Glass & Heat Update

This should be very exciting today. We will be installing the Stained Glass Window. The picture to the right is of the inside of our Walk-In Closet. It used to be a Screened Porch and the other side of that window looks out on the top of the stairway. That is where the Stained Glass will go. I have purchased a piece of frosted Plexiglass that will go behind the window and then there will be a light to help illuminate the stained glass.

I find it amazing that in all the hundreds of pictures I have taken of the house, I can't find a good one to show the other side of this window. The best I have is the picture on the left, which was taken way back in March. That's Susan painting the closet.

The install will take place tonight. Susan is going to be a nervous wreck until it is safely in place. She is well aware of the many panes of glass I have cracked while fixing windows. If I do something to damage this, the marriage is over. Oh Hell...forget the marriage.....I'll be dead!

We made it another day without heat but the forecast for the next few days is not in our favor. I'm counting on built up inertial heat to carry us over into October.

Later that Day: It is just after 11:00 PM and the Stained Glass Window is installed. It did not go as planned. What a surprise!

You know, you would think that when you remove a window frame from a window hole that has held said window frame for over ninty years, the afore-mentioned window frame, upon returning to said window hole, would have the courtesy to, you know, FIT!

But Nnnnnnnooooooooooooooooooooooo!

I screwed the frame into the exact same hinges and it would not close. I had to plane the top of the frame. Then I had to do some creative carving. Then...gingerly, because the frame contains a stained glass window that could end my life if broken...I smashed it into place with a rubber mallet.

Viola! It fits!! Don't ask me to remove it though...EVER!

Susan is pleased and I am glad that it didn't break.

S.M.C.M.

We are hosting a Retirement Party for one of Susan's friends on Friday. That has put Susan into Serious Manic Cleaning Mode. Therefore, we are not getting much done with anything to do with Home Improvement...unless you consider Serious Manic Cleaning Mode as a Home Improvement. I believe Susan does. In fact, I think most women do.

It is nice to see the Landing getting cleaned up a bit. It has been a Bombed Out Construction Zone for so long, it is refreshing to see it tidy. Tonight, we scraped away the plaster that we have been slopping on the floor and the stairs and the walls and the cats and each other for the last few weeks. I can look at the newly scrubbed area and see a light at the end of our long tunnel.

So anyway, we won't be doing much on the house until after this party. I still have two and a half more days of S.M.C.M. to deal with.

This is when I am thankful that it's a big house. . .with lots of places to hide.

The Heat Game

The countdown is on to see how long we can go before we have to turn on the heat. As you might imagine, it takes a princely sum to heat this place in the winter. I have estimated our annual cost at somewhere equal to the G.N.P. of Bangladesh.

We have a gas fired boiler that was installed when the house was built. I assume that it originally burned coal, then was switched over to oil at some point and then eventually transformed to the wonderfully efficient and massively costly Natural Gas.

The system really does a nice job of heating the house but our bill in January is triple what it is in July.

So, as soon as we can stand it, the gas gets turned off for the Summer and we enjoy several months of trying to get caught up on our Hu-Normous past due amount. We could be even by the time next months' statement arrives...but I doubt we can keep the heat off that long.

This morning was the first morning that it was chilly when I stepped out of the shower. That's the worst part of the morning when it's cold.

I'm hoping we can make it to the Equinox, which is only a little more than a week away.

Send your best guess as to when we fire up the boiler, along with a check or money order for $7.26 to "Guess When We Fire Up the Boiler Contest". Closest guess wins a Gift Certificate to Starbucks valued at well over three dollars.

Stained Glass Finale

Last year, Susan took a course through the Spokane Parks & Recreation Department on Stained Glass. I am proud to announce that, as of today, she has completed here very first, totally independant Stained Glass project that will be used in the house.

The picture above (taken on May 25th) is an early version of the piece. Susan has a little bit of fine tuning to do and then we will put it in place, but she finished all the major work yesterday. Pictured below is the finished project prior to being installed into the frame and then, the window.

We are doing final touch up work on the Landing today. That work includes sanding and perhaps a bit of mudding. Then we need to clean the area up of all the superfluous tools and crap that have accumulated during the many long months of mudding and sanding and primping and sanding and touch up and sanding, not to mention the constant S A N D I N G ! ! !