Impossible things everyday that are only made possible through the little, reasonable compromises we all make... [like these cars]... Every one of the cars you see is filled with individuals of strong belief and principles they hold dear, often principles and beliefs in direct opposition to their fellow travelers. And yet these millions of cars must somehow find a way to squeeze one by one into a mile-long thirty-foot-wide tunnel carved underneath a mighty river... And they do it, concession by concession, you go then I'll go, you go then I'll go, oh my God I that an NRA sticker on your car, is that an Obama sticker on your car, uh, that's ok, you go then I'll go. And sure, at some point there will be a selfish jerk who zips up the shoulder and cuts in at the last minute, but that individual is rare and he is scorned...

Jon Stewart, from the keynote address at the Rally to Restore Humanity and/or Fear, 12/30/2010

an impulse buy, admittedly

My new house!


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this is yet another test

https://vr.shapeservices.com/play.php?hash=e83f36d0ebc890b6987e49db819fb1e3af5716d0eab20ac52

here is text

___
Recorded on iPhone and posted with VR+ Lite.
http://vr.shapeservices.com

This is a test of the new iPhone app

Text and pics! Coming up: Vegas blog 2010!


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SanFran 2009

Holding up the Golden Gate Bridge

kitchen remodel - day thirty

In the home stretch now... these pictures were taken after the countertops were installed. So, you can see all the cabinets, the paint, the lighting, the appliances, and the pass-through. Still to do (including but not limited to):

1. Get the darn dishwasher replaced (came with a conveniently located hole in the bottom of the tub for easy leaking onto brand new hardwood floors)
2. Put the pulls on the drawers (nimble fingers prying edges only lasts for so long before it's just annoying!)
3. Complete the crown moulding on the tops of the cabinets
4. Touch up... Touch up... Touch up...
5. Replace the moulding under the window (which we had to rip out during the counter installation)
6. BACKSPLASH (all in caps because this will be a BIG job... and, funny story: the tile we ordered is out of stock and they have to wait for a shipment from Brazil in mid-April... ok, maybe not a funny story, just a story)
7. Get the silverware drawer installed (our "guy" at Lowes blames the "system" for not ordering this when everything else got ordered)
8. Install the breakfast nook overhead light
9. Get a table for the breakfast nook
10. Oh, I'm sure there are lots more to-be-dones, but I'll stop here and show some pics of what it's all looking like now...

kitchen remodel - day seven

Can't believe we've been at this for a full week now! Today was the first day of the payoff! I must admit that when we hit day three and I saw no cabinets, fresh electrical boxes, wires hanging everywhere, most of the walls just gone, some of the ceiling exposed, cardboard and dust on the floor, and a room that certainly didn't look like a kitchen and barely looked like a ROOM, I started to freak out a little... like, what had we done or, more accurately, what had we gotten ourselves into?!?!? It's a little nerve-racking to see that nearly blank slate and think what's it gonna take to get this back to looking like the inside of a lived-in house and what more will it take beyond that to make it look like a freakin' kitchen again! Well, come Saturday... we started to turn the corner today (or, a better analogy, we started climbing up out of the valley!). Megan's brother, Dylan, came over to lend his hand to our work and cabinets went up and appliances came in from the cold and I think I saw more cardboard today than I've seen in my entire life! I'm thinking about creating a hamster habi-trail (anybody else remember those) for Tyler out of the cardboard we have laying around! Anyhow, you came here for pics... So, here's the work throughout the day:















And, here's how we ended day seven (I'll take a picture of the garage where all the cardboard is tomorrow morning!):

kitchen remodel - day six

Today was a big day... We spun our wheels a little during the morning waiting for the electrical inspector (that is, an inspector who inspects electrical work rather than an inspector who lights up with electricity!) to show up and give us a thumbs-up so that we could start hanging sheetrock and get ready for the cabinet delivery. But, once the inspector showed up (11:45ish for an 11:00 appointment) and spent 2 1/2 minutes inspecting (thanks for making us wait!), we finally got the thumbs-up and got to work. Then, the cabinets were delivered a little after noon, so we had the delivery guys put all but one of them in the kitchen and then we worked the rest of the day with a kitchen full of cabinets... so, that's why the pictures look like they do.

First, a shot of the stack o' cabinets:



After the delivery, work goes on:







Here's how the dining room looked midday (not much has changed since Wednesday!):



Here's a sample shot of one of the cabinets out of the box:



And, the kitchen at the end of day six:







The dining room at the end of day six:



The garage at the end of day six:

kitchen remodel - day five

Today, the electricians continued their work, so Megan and I went tile and granite shopping... we think we settled on a backsplash, but more on that later (because it's not yet settled). We spent a long time with the samples of the granite, the cabinet, and the backsplash tile (as well as the paint chips) trying to get a final concept of the full picture. Of course, I am terrible at visualizing, so I just sat back and listened as Megan worked through it all. Anyhow, only a couple pictures from today because I wasn't actually around to take many more than this...

So, here's how the kitchen looked at the end of day five:



And, here's the finished baseboards in the guest bath (where, if I failed to mention it in a previous post, we did decide to keep the marble.

kitchen remodel - day four

Today was devoted in most ways to the electricians. More drywall came down to make room for the electricians to rewire, well, everything. Hugh worked a lot on the baseboards while I was running around making decisions, paying the bills and doing some of the simple grunt work. Also, Habitat For Humanity's "ReStore" came to pick up the old cabinets today, so the garage is emptier but our hearts are fuller (too cheesy?). Fewer pics today - only because so much of the work of was, how to say it?... invisible? Kinda.

So, here's where we started:



Here's a pic of the electricians and Hugh at work (I'm taking the picture, NOT slacking!):



The walls of the kitchen throughout the day:





Here's where we ended up in the kitchen:





And, here's the beautiful job Hugh did with the baseboards (which do still need to have the nail holes filled and a final coat of paint, but, whatever, they look fabulous as is!):

kitchen remodel - day three

Continuing work on the kitchen... third day. The flooring continues to go in to all three rooms and the drywall in the kitchen continues to come down - more and more each day! And... the garage continues to fill up. So, here are the pics.

Flooring in the living room (covered mostly by cardboard to protect the new floor from "the elements"):



Flooring in the dining room (here, you really get to see the floor - although it's covered with dust here):



Pics of the kitchen taken around midday. All the cabinets have been removed and much of the drywall is gone as electricians, plumbers, flooring people and, of course, WE work on:













Here's how the kitchen looked at the end of day three:





Here's how the dining room looked at the end of day three:



Here's how the back porch looked at the end of day three:



Here's how the living room and dining room transition looked at the end of day three: