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Sawdust, Snow, Scrambled Eggs and a Blood Red Kitchen
"I love the smell of sawdust in the morning."
So said the T-shirt that finish carpenter Marc Leriche wore recently. It was an obvious play off the famous Apocalypse Now movie quote ("I love the smell of napalm in the morning.) In Marc's case, however, he'd have to at least tolerate sawdust because he creates mountains of it daily on the job. He's ( Read more... ) -
City Sidewalks, Crazies and The Closer
It might be more efficient if we put in a rotating door. Rhetorically speaking, at least.
Today alone we had:- Ray and Brandon Braun (Ray's Floor Covering);
- Marc Leriche, finish carpenter (I call him "The Closer" since he takes care of anything left undone or in crude form from someone earlier);
- City inspector Bryce;
- Ken Sciulli of Quest;
- Mike Stockwell ( Read more... )
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Hints from the Homefront
Top 5 things NOT to do when you're doing a major remodel.
Don't:
5. Expect that you'll be able to get anything done unless it's immediately necessary for the remodel;
4. Put your cats' litter box in the same room as your office, even if it's temporary;
3. Relocate a toaster in a hallway that has a smoke alarm;
2. Sleep naked, or really expect ( Read more... ) -
Marmoleum Marines and the Madonna
Skillsaws, power hammers and workboot-clad men trotting around our house has become so common that our curious cat Simone didn't even bother to get up today to greet the flooring guys from Stephenson Floor Coverings.
Celine, however, took her nail-gun barking duty seriously. She did, at least, until a balled up wad of semi-used blue painting tape ( Read more... ) -
Dodging Julio
The Safe Zone is shrinking.
All I have left is Command Central, our former downstairs bedroom and currently our temporary location for our computers, two cats, a dog (and their beds) and narrow access to our old bathroom and the cat litter box.
Right now there are three Hispanic men scritching at the exterior paint outside the back door. Oliver, the ( Read more... ) -
The Wall, the Weather and (Hard) Wood
There's symbolism in walls that's hard to perceive unless you've experienced it first hand.
The Berlin Wall, for instance. There's the Great Wall of China. And don't forget "The Wall," a notorious album by Pink Floyd (and yes, they were albums back in those days.)
Then there is OUR home's south wall. Or was, anyway. Yesterday the temporary plywood ( Read more... ) -
Diamond Scotty, Cotton Candy and Drywall
Diamond Scotty earned his nickname from me because he wears largish diamond (or so he claims) earrings in both ears. Only a hint of bearding separated him from your everyday 16 year old--that and the fact that he's a self-proclaimed top technician for Comcast. All that at age 21.
Even though Comcast had assured Lori repeatedly that they handled in- ( Read more... ) -
Wet and Wired Wednesday
Our basement saw a lot of action today. Luckily we didn't leave out any hang-dry underwear downstairs.
First came Ian and Mike of Ross Electric, which is doing most of the new/old and in-between wiring. They've already installed a sub-panel in our garage for the new addition and are hooking up a #4 gauge wire to the old panel to make it work. They ( Read more... ) -
Tamale Tuesday
Yo hablo Espanol, sort of.
I tried to talk to our Spanish-speaking roofers Tuesday when they were finishing up the garage. It was a gray day, heavily overcast, so I took the chance to snap some photos of them at work. There was one more mature, mustached man and a young-looking helper who probably should have been in school.
After I took a few ( Read more... ) -
"Just Another Manic Monday"
OK I'm dating myself with the reference to the Bangles '80s pop song. But it's also the most accurate way to describe the day.
There must be some kind of rule that says electricians must start at 7 a.m. Maybe it's a union thing.
Anyway Lori took the "earlier" shift and got up in time to do some initial walk throughs with one of our Ross Electric ( Read more... )