Backstage

So Close to Glory...

I've had to move my schedule around a bit this week... I'm working on my house from 7 am to 7 pm, and then I go to my shop to work on paperwork, and shows until 11pm or so... The bottom line is I'm getting about 6 hours sleep a night, which isn't fun, but its ok...

That has nothing to do with this post...

My company sits in a little town called Metuchen... It's a very nice town, but you'd better have money if you're thinking about moving there for the most part... The streets are pretty well maintained, along with the trees along the roads, and the downtown section is quite nice... Parking is not free, but it is very cheap via meters... They've just spent who knows how much putting a little island divider in the middle of one of the main roads in to town... This confused me greatly, as it seems to be simply a hazard to driving, but I wanted to wait until they finished everything and see what it was about... Now they seem to be done, but I can't be completely sure, but here's the problem... They have installed on the island, and on the street corners closest to it, and on a could other corners nearby, lights, that I think are for pedestrian walkways... Nice idea really, it should make things safer, right?... I think not in this case... The lights are so bright as to be blinding when you drive by them... It is almost impossible to focus on the road, and island, let alone if there is a pedestrian in the area... These things are brighter than an oncoming car with its brights on...
Fortunately, I go a different way to my house than I do to the apartment, and I shouldn't have to deal with them much longer on a daily basis... The bottom line is, who the hell thought those things were a good idea... Probably someone that doesn't drive.....

Front Door Redux

So I took the door back to Home Desperate today... Usually returns there are pretty easy, especially so when you have the receipt... Not so today... I had decided to take the door back on principle even though I was most likely building my own jamb now... So I stopped by the return desk first... The woman there seemed awfully put out in having to deal with this, and she called some one in Millwork... So the guy comes from millwork, and gives me the third degree about the door and how it broke, and where, and why.... For the most part, I don't know exactly how it broke, or even where, but I sure knew why... They wanted to exchange it, but I was at the point all I wanted was a door minus the caseing... So the millwork guy and I went back to the doors to see what was available, and what a shock, they don't sell entry doors minus the case... He tries to sell me on the idea of an exchange again, and I told him I would only do that with a discount as I didn't want the case... So he went back to his boss to talk things over.... While he was gone, I looked at the rest of what they had in stock, and it was all damaged one way or another... When he got back, He told me his boss just wanted to exchange it, and would I take some brick moulding as well to make up for the damage... This confused me a bit as the cased doors all come with that moulding already... Clearly this guy was an idiot... So I explained it all to him again, using one of the other doors as a visual aid... I pointed out exactly where the case had broken, and explained the circumstances under which the door had been moved, and the damage discovered again... He seemed to grasp it that time, and was off to talk to his boss again saying he would bring the manager back with him to make things right... (I'm thinking I don't need a manager, I need a refund, but they were playing their car salesperson game, so whatever...) Several minutes later, he's back, minus a manager, and explains that my only options are either take an exchange, or get a refund... Naturally I opted for the refund, so we go all the way back to where I started at refunds... The woman there was shocked to see me, and asked the millwork guy why I wasn't exchanging doors... There was a bit of back and forth again, but I did leave with my refund...
So I headed off to Lowes to see what they had... I didn't bother getting a cart, as I was becoming a bit frustrated, and didn't expect to find the solution there either... Sadly I was right... Everything they had was equally crappy, though there were a few less dents and scratches on the doors...
Now the day was pretty well shot, so I headed over to a real lumber yard in the area... I doubted they would have what I wanted in stock, but since I can't find it quickly at the home centers, I'd rather order it through a decent supplier that knows the various lines....
They pulled out the catalogs, and there was the door I was looking for... They called about pricing and delivery, and it will be in Monday... It costs almost $100 more than the doors from HD or Lowes, but imagine this, the casing is actually solid... It's 1-1/4" thick, rather than the 5/8" you find on the crap from the home centers... If I was to build my own jamb, it would cost me more than that extra hundred bucks in material, and time... Some times you just have to suck it up and lay out the extra cash... Sadly, the home centers are selling lower and lower quality materials, and while they give you a good price, you're going to loose in the long run...

Bloodfest Anyone?

So I was over at Rocket Jones, and he's gone and taken one of those tests... Normally I tend to avoid most of them, but I was amused with this one, so I headed over... The end result is this...

Armed and Dangerous Congratulations! You scored 82%!

You made it out, alive and well supplied. You probably even kept most of your party alive too. You know what to look for, what to take, and when to just run. You even feel a strange inkling to go back. If you did, you'd probably do just fine.

You scored higher than 99% on survivalpoints

Link: The Zombie Scenario Survivor Test written by ci8db4uok on Ok Cupid

So I apparently am more likely to survive than Rocket Jones... Does that mean anything?... Not likely... He was probably too busy in the ammo store looking for a way to make rocket based artillery...

Windows Anyone?

The windows in my place are a mix of replacement, original, and a few that were replaced with "new construction" windows... As a bit of background, here's what I'm talking about...
Original windows are the ones the place was built with... They are "new construction" windows that were put in when the house was built... In this case, they were the old double hung windows with the weights that hang in the side of the window...
Replacement windows are what you purchase to get rid of the original windows because they suck... Basically you take the windows out, and slide the replacement in, making your window slightly smaller, but it's simple, and you don't have to muck around in the walls, or with the outside of the house...
I was actually planning on keeping all the windows I had for the time being, and getting replacements when I could afford them... Unfortunately, the two original windows that were left had severe dry rot, and one of them fell completely apart when I took the plaster down... Two more were replacements, immediately next to the one that fell apart, but they were larger, making everything look "off". All four of the windows were single pane glass, so they would loose heat like a sieve... Once the one fell apart, that sealed the fate of the others, and stuck me with needing 4 new windows, pretty quickly...
I have pretty particular taste when it comes to windows unfortunately... I like Pella windows to be specific... I also don't like their cheap line, so I went straight to the middle cost windows... That line lets me put mini-blinds in between the panes of glass, so they stay clean, and the cat (which I will most likely get once the house is done) can't get at them to mangle them... That line also gives me aluminum clad exteriors, and raw wood interiors, so the outside already matches, and the inside gets stained with the rest of the moulding... The hitch in all this is that those 4 windows are going to cost just shy of 3 grand... The whole rest of the renovation may cost that much... What it means is that the money I would have used to do the kitchen, and bathroom is now gone... It means I'm stuck with that mess until I can save another 3 grand, and have the time to tear everything apart again... Yes, I could have spent a ton less on them... The reason I went that way is that I only want to do this once... Once this house is done, it will be perfect from the structural, electrical, plumbing and functional viewpoints... I wouldn't say my decorating will be perfect, as everyone's tastes vary, but it will be impossible to have a problem with the physical end of things...

All in all, I think I need to give myself a raise at the shop so I can get this house done a bit sooner...

Front Doors

Most people's homes have a pretty sizable front door... They are most often three feet wide. That lets you bring not only guests in easily, but whatever stuff you need to get in the house... My house has a front door that's 2' 8" wide... 4 Inches shouldn't be a big deal right?... Wrong... I haven't even tried to move in yet, and I can tell you right now, that door is way too damn small... Hence, today I went to the dreaded Home Depot to buy a new, larger door... I picked out a nice, but simple steel clad door with a small window in it from Stanley... It comes in a casement, basically ready to install in a hole of the appropriate size, which I still need to do. The rough framing in the house is big enough, so I just have to stud it in, and cut away some of the sheathing... On the whole, not a big deal if you are comfortable cutting holes in your house walls... Here's the problem... This door, which is supposed to be my front door, hence secure, and strong, managed to break the casement it comes in on the drive back to my house... Granted, I wasn't thrilled with the casement when I bought it, but I still thought it would hold up until I could beef it up a bit... Most people will not add wood to the door jamb to make it stronger, so they are relying on that shitty thin casement to hold up against whatever may confront your front door... Now, I'm left with the question of, do I take it back and get it replaced, or do I simply use the door, and make my own jamb... I'm leaning toward making my own, out of something like oak or birch, rather than the yellow or white pine that came with it... Yes, that's a bit of a pain, but I know damn well its a lot stronger... I don't really expect to have someone trying to kick in my front door, but it's still nice to know they'd break their leg trying...

The Joys of Homeownership...

As mentioned yesterday, I've got a bit of free time on my hands... So I pulled some of the pictures together from what I've been doing... I'll warn you now, the images may take a bit to download if you're stuck with Dial-up like I still am, so everything is going in the extended entry...
Follow if you dare...

So to start off, I've got a few shots of just the doorway between the bedroom, and the living room... Try to remember, this guy was supposedly a contracter... I wouldn't have lived this way in a rental place, let alone something I owned...



Same door, closed, in the bedroom... Mind you, I haven't started any demolition here yet, this was the condition at purchase...



Same door, still in the bedroom... What you're seeing is exposed metal lath and broken plaster with raw wood behind it... the whole vertical line of the door is like this...



Jumping ahead just a bit, I've ripped out all the carpeting and padding except the bit under the radiator... Sadly the hardwood flooring has been machine guned with screws to stop squeeks, so I'll have to cover it with something else... Remember the position of the radiator, and windows as I go on as a good reference point...



Ok, I've started demolition same radiator and windows...



Walls and ceiling are now down... It looks so dark because of the fire damage...





Yea... That's charing on the wood... Lovely to work around... Ugh...



That's me on the left... The window to the left of me is the left window in the other shots, and the one to the right is to the right... We're knocking down the wall between the bedroom, and living room now as it was just attached to the ceiling plaster... Once I knocked the plaster down the wall got loose...



Me on the the right this time... I'm kneeling where the door from the first few shots used to be...

I'm not quite sure if I own a home, or just another massive show...

Updates...

Since I have a bit of time on my hands this weekend while I let the hole in my mouth heal a bit, I grabbed all the pictures of my house, and the renovation that is currently on hiatus... I'm finally going to get a picture or two (or 40 if I feel like it) up to show you all why I haven't had any time to actually blog... Suffice to say at the moment, that renovating a house by yourself takes a tremendous amount of time...
(somebody get me some more Motrin, my back and hands hurt just thinking about diving back in to that Monday...)

The wisdom of teeth

Where the hell does the name wisdom tooth come from?... I suppose they don't come in until you're older and supposedly wiser, but how is it that they haven't ceased to exist through evolution... Simply put, they're useless at this stage...

I had one ripped out of my skull today. Yes, I said ripped... That's part of what they have to do you know... first they have to rock it back and forth like a tent spike, and then they have to actually rip the ligaments that hold the root to your jaw. Apparently, they do that with the rocking, and then further with the twisting that happens... All in all not pleasant to think about...

Here's the kicker in my case... Doing what I do, I work with tools... Frequently I have to pry things, and or grab them with pliers and twist/rip them out/apart... I know what's going on inside my mouth regardless of the fact is was completely numb... You can hear the ripping folks... That's the most disturbing thing I have ever heard in my life...

Don't get me wrong, it had to come out as it had developed a nasty crack that led to an infection, that led to the right side of my face gaining a couple pounds...(very puffy) I suspect the rest will be on their way too... However, that doesn't make it any more pleasant to look forward to...

All hail the drug Motrin... Yea yea... It's not exactly one of the souped up drugs like Tylenol with codeine, but damn if it doesn't work pretty well when the dosage is double the maximum recommendation... (yes, that is the amount the dentist prescribed after I informed him his first prescription didn't touch the pain) 800mg every 4 hours I believe will take the edge off just about any pain...