November 20, 2005: Another great week and another week closer to getting the hell out of here.
Work is starting to get crazy as we get closer to moving into the new building, starting in January nobody is allowed to take
any vacation time, that should be fun. Other than work it was a pretty quiet week around here, Lisa has been up to her
ears in work all week and I have actually just sat around doing nothing, sweet. The driveway at work has been torn up
for a week or so and really muddy which made me realize how much I needed to get the rear splash guards for the Ridgeline.
It came with them on the front but the rears were optional. November 14, 2005: The house is back to normal again, tonight I can actually sit in the living room and
enjoy it. Friday Lisa helped me move the last bit of furniture out of the rooms and I ripped up the last section of carpet.
Gregg showed up around 9pm and we started right away, scraping the floor and hammering down any nails that may have worked their way
out in the last 50 years. He cut the door jams and door trim, we rolled out the tar paper and started nailing in the hallway.
We quit around midnight just after my brother arrived. Bright and early Saturday morning we fired up the compressor and continued
on through the living room, dining room and hallway. We took a quick break to re-route the TV cable from one side of the room where
it was run though a hole in the wall that someone made with a screwdriver to a wall jack on the other side. My Dad showed up and my
brother left around noon but we kept at it, finishing the flooring by about 5pm. We got the new heating diffusers installed and
completed the baseboards in the living room that night so we could move the couch and some furniture back in and to get the Tivo back up
to record SNL, just made it too. Sunday morning we finished the door thresholds in the hallway and the rest of the baseboards
too. After that we just spent some time filling in the nail holes in the trim and the floor against the walls. Lisa spent
most of the day cleaning up and arranging stuff in the "new" living room. We went with a completely different layout and are
very happy with it so far. My father delivered a couple rugs that we had up north in storage since we moved from Rochester and
we picked up a couple more last week. We still have one wall that needs to be re-decorated, the things that were hanging there
have been moved elsewhere so it is a little bare. We should be able to get that taken care of this week though. We picked up
a clock last night at Target for the living room, this isn't just any clock though, we have dubbed it "Big Ben" which should be pretty
self explanatory. I added a few pictures of everything to the 'Projects' section and will try to add a few more tonight, including
the clock. Now that these rooms look so good it makes us want to get our own house so we can spend this effort on something that
we'll be able to appreciate for a long time. I'm pretty tired today and my arms are sore but other than that I'm ok. Lisa
has a ton of work to do tonight and the rest of the week but hopefully we'll be able to sit and enjoy the house this weekend before it
gets crazy again for Thanksgiving. Anyway, enjoy this weather, snow can't be far off now.
November 7, 2005: 65 degrees on a November day in New England, very strange. We had a productive
weekend at home for the first time in what seems like forever. Lisa worked Saturday and I did my normal chores in the morning
then tackled the mounting of the door moldings on the Ridgeline. I had to wash it first, which was a lot more work than washing
the Element that's for sure. The moldings took a long time to measure out, mark, and mount but I think they came out well, as
good as they could be anyway. It's pretty tricky how they have you measure out the spots to attach them. I updated the
pictures in the 'Other Stuff' section to your left. After that I had to re-hang the kayaks in the garage so both the Element
and the Ridgeline will actually fit in there at the same time. The boats were hanging on this set of straps that made them
November 1, 2005: What a relaxing weekend it was. I took Friday off for my birthday and to
get some errands finished before the trip. I had to drop Isis off at the kennel and get new tires put on the Element.
At first Isis didn't seem all that into the kennel but she warmed up to it quick and took off without looking back. The tires
were supposed to take and hour but took over four so I actually got home only a few minutes before Lisa did. She drove the
Ridgeline to work and really liked it. She did say that it was pretty boring to drive compared to the Element and I have to
agree with her, it definetely isn't as much fun. She loved all the cool features but the voice commands don't seem to agree with
her, "cd play track five" turns the air conditioning on for her so I think she needs a little practice. She got her grade
for this first, horrible rotation that she stressed so much about; A minus, A freakin minus!!! She rocked it, just like I knew
she would. She started a new rotation yesterday back in Worcester at another hospital, this one should be a bit more laid back
though, especially on the homework. It was pretty sweet to sit on the couch with her last night and just watch TV, not watch TV
and do homework like it's been lately. So we got a late start Friday but made it to Rochester around 8pm, just in time to meet Tom
and Erin at Mike and Jane's house for a toast. Mike and Jane got engaged Friday afternoon so their was lots to celebrate!
We ended up going to dinner at Sinbad's and stopping by their friend's Halloween party on the way home. That was cool because we
got to see a few of our friends that we probably wouldn't have otherwise. Saturday we just killed time in the morning and got lunch at our
favorite sandwich shop, Dibella's before my tattoo appointment. Lisa came to Love Hate with me and kept me company while Jet did
his magic for almost 4 hours. Mike and Jane stopped by to say hello and Bernie did too, it distracts me from the annoying pain of
tattooing when there is someone else there to talk to. It also keeps me from talking to Jet so he ends up making a little more
progress too. We got the entire background finished and will just have to do the shell and the shrimp at my next sitting.
Just after we finished he said he needed a picture fo the whole thing, so far we have been working on it with me in a pair of boxers
with the side cut up to the waistband but you can't get a good shot with that in the way. You can't really say no to him so off
came the little bit of clothes I had left and he got a few pictures of where we are so far. I didn't have our camera but he sent me
what he got with his. I was covering up so it isn't all that bad to look at, check out the 'Tattoos' link to the left if you want a
peek. Saturday night we went out for BBQ and then to a Halloween party at Jeff's house. It was a good time but we were pretty
tired and didn't really do much partying. We ended up back at Mike and Jane's place watching SNL while the girls fell asleep on the
couches before we all crashed for the night. Sunday we grabbed an early breakfast at the Southwedge Diner before hitting the road
to come back home, Isis had to be picked up by 4pm when the kennel closed. Sunday night we did a few things around the house and
crashed pretty early. This weekend I will be starting to pull up the carpet and get the floor ready for installing the hardwood
next weekend. I'll also be going to dump like usual and maybe picking up a few other things we'll need for the floor. Tom
ordered the door moldings I wanted for the Ridgeline and they should be in by the weekend, if the weather is good I'll be installing
those too. My trusty Creative Labs MP3 player is on the fritz so it's being returned to Best Buy on one of those "I got suckered into
buying a service plan I'll never use" plans and hopefully being replaced with one of the new 60gig IPODs, crossing my fingers anyway.
It's going to be weird to not have it for the next few weeks but everyone tells me the IPOD is totally worth the wait, we'll see I guess.
Enjoy the week and hopefully the same nice weather we're having.
I gave Tom a call at Tompkins Honda and he not only gave me a great price, he got them here by the weekend. Yesterday
Lisa worked as always and I finished up a couple things around here. I had to put in a couple of door stops, the old
ones came out with the old baseboards. The toilet has always stuck running once in a while but lately it seems to do it
every time you flush it. I've never turned down the chance to rebuild a crapper so that's just what I did, a new handle and flapper
later and the 25 year old toilet works just like when it was brand new. If you ever need a hand fixing yours just let me
know. I also got to mount those splash guards which took all of about 3 minutes on each side, I can't even imagine what the
dealer would charge to do the work, probably no less than $100. Today we are taking a ride to Hartford to meet by brother
and Lauren for lunch, pick up the new tires for my Dad's ATV and do a little shopping. This week is a short work week for
me and short school week for Lisa, we are doing Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday so my folks and brother will be here for a
couple days. It should be a busy week around here. Oh, I picked up my new iPod Video last week and there are many
substitutes for them on the market but now I know what all the fuss is about, nothing can replace them. Have a great
holiday, eat lots of turkey and be safe.
appear like rungs on a ladder against the
left outside wall. I strapped them both to the rafters much higher so they clear everything, the garage door, Ridgeline, and
the trailer stored in the corner. After all that it was time to tackle the dreaded carpet removal. I think I mentioned
it before but Gregg and I will be installing hardwood flooring in the house this coming weekend and our landlord is paying for it.
I told her I would help her take up the carpet, padding, and baseboards but I started before she arrived. I got the dining
room and hallway done in just under 2 hours. What a mess, I swept up about 5 pounds of dirt and unearthed a funk of epic
proportions in the corner of the dining room!
It mostly went away when I dragged the carpet out but I still catch a wiff
of it now and then. The subfloor is mostly in good shape, there are a couple of high spots we have to take care of.
I'll update the 'Projects' page as we get further along. Saturday night we went over to Pete and Tracy's to watch a movie
and have a few drinks, we just ended up having drinks and talking for like 3 hours, it was pretty fun. We tried a J.W. Lees
1998 Harvest Ale that a friend gave me, pretty strange for beer but very tasty, almost like a port wine, more alcohol than 3 domestic
beers in under 10 ounces! Sunday Lisa worked until 2pm and we went out to get some supplies for the floor and a couple of rugs
to put under Isis's cage and food bowls. I also got a new tool too, the Arrow Tomahawk hammer stapler, that's right cross a hammer
and a stapler and this what you get. I need it to attach the paper that goes under the floor, Gregg has one but we need to get
most of that done before he arrives Friday night, no complaints here. Anyway, I need to get the rest of the old carpet out this
week and hopefully by Sunday night the house will be back to normal again but with brand new floors, have a great week.