PERFECT DAYS
During the past week I have lived through two nearly perfect days and several just down right good days.
Valentine’s Day was wonderful. It started with a long walk in pretty nice weather. Cold, but a good kind of cold. I got home and had real bacon and eggs for breakfast, then Kay and I installed a door on the new office room upstairs. The job went exactly the way all the How To Do It shows say it should.
Next stop was the zoo. We stayed in the Lion’s Den and “helped” the chef prepare the samples for those who had toured the zoo. Helping involved putting crackers on a plate, watching the chef add super materials, dishing out gelato and passing all this out to the tour people. Of course any leftovers had to be consumed and God Forbid the Gelato got soft. Then the only cure was to eat it and dish up some fresh gelato. In between we played with chinchillas and lizards and turtles and one cranky parrot named Loreto.
Then home to change and off to the Anderson Center for dinner before the show. We were shown to our seats at the table we had been assigned and low and behold, two of the people were from NYSRTA, two were people we had traveled to Ottawa with and the other two were a lady I had taught with for years and her significant other. We spent a delightful time with all these people and then attended the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra with Irish Country Performers. A wonderful evening to cap off a wonderful day.
Then today, I drove up to Whitney Point to visit my doctor for my yearly check up. All the numbers looked great and I have another cancer free year to look forward to. On the way back, I stopped at a friends who runs a stable on Front street. I spent an hour riding (actually walking) a horse around an arena with her. Great company and fun horse. As it turns out, I never learned how to ride a horse, I learned how not to fall off a horse. She seems interested in teaching me to ride a horse. Best of all, I am not stiff or sore in any way. Yeah Yoga!
When I returned home, I did a very small amount of work and spent the rest of the day engaged in fun stuff. I think I am finally getting the hang of this life style.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
CONSTRUCTION UPDATE.
What a weight was lifted off my back on Wednesday. As our “Molding change” project in the bathroom took over our lives, we lost sight of life in general. Everything revolved around –THE JOB.
It seemed a good idea at first and it turned out to be a blessing. (Amazing how many of those have occurred since I started to look for them) But sandwiched in between was some real worry.
For those unaware of what I am ranting about this time, we decided to change the wall paper in the bathroom. We were already doing a lot of work in the upstairs, finishing off a room with new walls, moldings and a built in desk, bookcase, file system. All fun and good. So if the upstairs is ripped up anyway, lets go all out. We had the wallpaper already. We started stripping the old off. Well, that involved pulling the molding around ceiling and floor, so what a good time to fix the ceiling which I hated. And why not really do the floor this time? Lets get Scott Callaway to tile it. He did a spectacular job on the bathtub area.
So Scott came, took one look at our floor and said, “This is too weak to tile over. You need to pull the floor, strengthen it and put down new stuff. OK. Three years ago I would have freaked. Now it is just one more adventure. Little did I know!!!
The plan was to cut the old floor out, close to the bathtub and close to the vanity, but leaving the floor under those fixtures. (The thought of the alternative was Scotch inducing) It took about two days to get the front part out safely, then discovered that the mystery was not why the floor appeared weak, but how did it stay there at all. Basically, a large beam ran parallel to the outside wall with all the floor jousts tied into it. Very good, except this beam ran two feet inside the outside wall. The remaining two feet was bridged by – nothing! Or to be accurate, nothing that remained attached to anything. A few pieces of wood were run from the beam to the outside wall, but they had separated from the beam years ago. So, with big slices of wood and lots of lag bolts, we added support.
When that section was done we moved on, and here is the blessing. The toilet, (Installed by professionals two years ago) had been leaking. If we had not pulled up the floor, we would have been in serious trouble within a year. So, that section was easier to fix because I now had an idea what to do. The final step,was to cut plywood that would match the cuts near the bathtub and vanity and still go under the rim of the toilet pipe. this involved some pretty intricate measuring, layout and cutting. Nice when it is done, but hair raising ( If I had any hair!) during.
When all was put in place, we called Scott back and he pronounced the job well done and took over the rest. He did an incredibly beautiful job. Then we turned to Nick’s Friend Jay. He came three times to make sure the job was done right, went well beyond the normal quality and took the time to explain what he was doing and why. I will never be a plumber or anything close, but I do like to understand the intricacies of a job . It was also fun having both of them here for dinner and a visit. We really needed a break by then.
Finally, with the job complete, we took a day off. We went out to Windsor and toured the Lionel Store. I would love to dig out my old trains and set them up along with the HO layout I have now. But that visit convinced my unless I win the lottery, that won’t happen. I don’t want a toy train running around a small circle, I want an empire!!.
Then we stopped and visited with Bill and Mary Miller for awhile. I enjoyed this immensely. Today, back to the next construction job.
What a weight was lifted off my back on Wednesday. As our “Molding change” project in the bathroom took over our lives, we lost sight of life in general. Everything revolved around –THE JOB.
It seemed a good idea at first and it turned out to be a blessing. (Amazing how many of those have occurred since I started to look for them) But sandwiched in between was some real worry.
For those unaware of what I am ranting about this time, we decided to change the wall paper in the bathroom. We were already doing a lot of work in the upstairs, finishing off a room with new walls, moldings and a built in desk, bookcase, file system. All fun and good. So if the upstairs is ripped up anyway, lets go all out. We had the wallpaper already. We started stripping the old off. Well, that involved pulling the molding around ceiling and floor, so what a good time to fix the ceiling which I hated. And why not really do the floor this time? Lets get Scott Callaway to tile it. He did a spectacular job on the bathtub area.
So Scott came, took one look at our floor and said, “This is too weak to tile over. You need to pull the floor, strengthen it and put down new stuff. OK. Three years ago I would have freaked. Now it is just one more adventure. Little did I know!!!
The plan was to cut the old floor out, close to the bathtub and close to the vanity, but leaving the floor under those fixtures. (The thought of the alternative was Scotch inducing) It took about two days to get the front part out safely, then discovered that the mystery was not why the floor appeared weak, but how did it stay there at all. Basically, a large beam ran parallel to the outside wall with all the floor jousts tied into it. Very good, except this beam ran two feet inside the outside wall. The remaining two feet was bridged by – nothing! Or to be accurate, nothing that remained attached to anything. A few pieces of wood were run from the beam to the outside wall, but they had separated from the beam years ago. So, with big slices of wood and lots of lag bolts, we added support.
When that section was done we moved on, and here is the blessing. The toilet, (Installed by professionals two years ago) had been leaking. If we had not pulled up the floor, we would have been in serious trouble within a year. So, that section was easier to fix because I now had an idea what to do. The final step,was to cut plywood that would match the cuts near the bathtub and vanity and still go under the rim of the toilet pipe. this involved some pretty intricate measuring, layout and cutting. Nice when it is done, but hair raising ( If I had any hair!) during.
When all was put in place, we called Scott back and he pronounced the job well done and took over the rest. He did an incredibly beautiful job. Then we turned to Nick’s Friend Jay. He came three times to make sure the job was done right, went well beyond the normal quality and took the time to explain what he was doing and why. I will never be a plumber or anything close, but I do like to understand the intricacies of a job . It was also fun having both of them here for dinner and a visit. We really needed a break by then.
Finally, with the job complete, we took a day off. We went out to Windsor and toured the Lionel Store. I would love to dig out my old trains and set them up along with the HO layout I have now. But that visit convinced my unless I win the lottery, that won’t happen. I don’t want a toy train running around a small circle, I want an empire!!.
Then we stopped and visited with Bill and Mary Miller for awhile. I enjoyed this immensely. Today, back to the next construction job.
Monday, February 2, 2009
WHY I AM NOT A COACH
So how did it go?? Well, while Phoenix worked on getting the ball to James, either hand off or pass, they fell behind by 13 points. When they said to hell with it we're throwing to Fitzgerald, they went ahead.
But, I must say, that was the worst defense I have ever seen in a big game. On the last two plays they apparently did some form of double coverage on the receiver, Ben threw to him anyway, and he was open. On the winning catch, there were three guys watching. That means someone was waving his hands and yelling real loud,"I'm open, I'm open" Oh well.
So how did it go?? Well, while Phoenix worked on getting the ball to James, either hand off or pass, they fell behind by 13 points. When they said to hell with it we're throwing to Fitzgerald, they went ahead.
But, I must say, that was the worst defense I have ever seen in a big game. On the last two plays they apparently did some form of double coverage on the receiver, Ben threw to him anyway, and he was open. On the winning catch, there were three guys watching. That means someone was waving his hands and yelling real loud,"I'm open, I'm open" Oh well.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Super Bowl or Stupor Bowl??
This is being written at 5 PM February 1, 2009
My Prediction and why. Phoenix will win because they will NOT throw the ball to Larry Fitzgerald 20 times. They will do exactly what the Giants did ( to everyone) They will stick a super big, talented (Though not the best shot in the world) wide receiver on the edge, make Pittsburg double cover him and run Edgerin James 20 times.
Since an offensive line loves to beat the people up across from them, this gives them every opportunity to do that.
Pittsburg always has trouble scoring and Phoenix is good enough to control that part of the game. Final Score?? Who knows?
This is being written at 5 PM February 1, 2009
My Prediction and why. Phoenix will win because they will NOT throw the ball to Larry Fitzgerald 20 times. They will do exactly what the Giants did ( to everyone) They will stick a super big, talented (Though not the best shot in the world) wide receiver on the edge, make Pittsburg double cover him and run Edgerin James 20 times.
Since an offensive line loves to beat the people up across from them, this gives them every opportunity to do that.
Pittsburg always has trouble scoring and Phoenix is good enough to control that part of the game. Final Score?? Who knows?
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