The big wind last night did more than knock over the kiwi and trellis, it marked the beginning of fall. To me, Fall begins with the cedars blow down more leaves than I can ignore. I was just up on the roof earlier in the day. It is a good thing that I did more than just blow the roof off, otherwise I would be sorry about the wasted time. The moss I struggled to remove from the roof didn't get blown back on and needed to come down. I hope the moss killer keeps it from coming back. I let it get out of control.
I also had to take care of the vine maple that go pulled down by the morning glory. The trellis it was on was also old and rotten. Seems to be a pattern. Both trellises need to be replaced, with something.
This was the summer of trips to Scottland (not for us). High school reunion (not for me). No hiking or fishing. Trip to Eugene (I forget how hot it is there in the summer).
More trouble with cars. In to the shop. Pay a big bill. Into the shop. Can't find a problem.
Working on the house, still. Quick job on the popcorn in the Rivendale Room. Kim and family needed it. Only three weddings this summer. We were given a B&B on Camano Island. Nice time. Jerry and Pam in the hospital. Different reasons, same clots. Cameron runs a sprint trialalon. Shane got the boat out a few times. I went on a boat outing. Early summer trip to Walla Walla was nice. Tom and Mary were good travellers. The BeBlessed party at Tom and Mary's was a good time.
Replacing the downstairs carpet is becoming more imperative.
I helped my mother move into her own place. Trudy is arrainging for more coverage for her mother.
Kim and kids may be coming next week.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Saturday, March 5, 2011
I could start of this post with the same words as the last one, i.e. work on the room continues. We returned from our visit to Kennewick and found our new window sitting on the porch. We wanted to move it inside the house but it was heavy. After watching a few DIY videos I learned how to remove the sashes and screen to make it a bit lighter. My wife and I moved it into the house. The next morning I took our recently aquired van and put it to work. I went down to Wood Monsters and loaded up with the new flooring. Once again I employed my hard working wife, i.e. Grandma Tootles, in moving the flooring into the house. It was about February 25 when I opened all of the boxes. The plastic wrapping had to be removed so that it could breath. The humidity of the flooring needs to be the same as that of the house. Now we have boxes of opened flooring blocking access to the new window in front of the couch, in the living room.
Tomorrow should be window installation day. I'm hoping that Geoff Lyons will be able to give a hand in the installation along with Shane and maybe Cameron. Geoff is also going to take a look at the green Mazda. Cameron brought it back Sunday night then Trudy and I drove him and Daniel to Cameron's place in West Seattle. It is at least a 40 minute trip each way. We got to see Cameron's place. It is a cute little flat with a good view. Since we were there on a dark and rainy night, we'll have to take his word for most of it. There was something else we also took from Cameron, his box of nut crackers. Space is so limited in his flat that he has to store Christmas decorations elsewhere. And where else but at home. They will blend in fine with the other hunderd boxes of stuff. The Mazda is pretty well spent. Cameron took it when he went to Pullman in 2006. It comes back with hardly a shadow of its former glory. If Geoff doesn't want it, it will be towed away as a donation.
Courtney's Ford Probe has been in the shop for about a month. The finally think they have found the problem. First with was a distributor adjustment, then a battery, now back to the distributor. After daily testing the car finally wouldn't start. During diagnosis a lose connection was discovered within the distributor. The new part should arrive on Monday and the car should be ready shortly thereafter. I want to get out of the car business. Just two to take care of. The van has to in to replace a leaking water pump seal. Then my Mazda needs a little work. And Cameron wonders where our money goes. Cameron is finding out about income vs. obligations. He purchased a full sized pickup but he has a job. Courtney too is working full time although on a temporary basis. Hopefully it will become permenant.
Trudy and I plan a trip to San Antonio in May. It is part of a conference that work is sending me to. We have our hotel(s) arranged. Bing Travel suggested I hold out for better airline rate. The best rate was about $405 then it went to $376 and they want me to continue to wait. Kim, Mark and kids will be over in late April, I'd better get to work on the room.
Ron
Tomorrow should be window installation day. I'm hoping that Geoff Lyons will be able to give a hand in the installation along with Shane and maybe Cameron. Geoff is also going to take a look at the green Mazda. Cameron brought it back Sunday night then Trudy and I drove him and Daniel to Cameron's place in West Seattle. It is at least a 40 minute trip each way. We got to see Cameron's place. It is a cute little flat with a good view. Since we were there on a dark and rainy night, we'll have to take his word for most of it. There was something else we also took from Cameron, his box of nut crackers. Space is so limited in his flat that he has to store Christmas decorations elsewhere. And where else but at home. They will blend in fine with the other hunderd boxes of stuff. The Mazda is pretty well spent. Cameron took it when he went to Pullman in 2006. It comes back with hardly a shadow of its former glory. If Geoff doesn't want it, it will be towed away as a donation.
Courtney's Ford Probe has been in the shop for about a month. The finally think they have found the problem. First with was a distributor adjustment, then a battery, now back to the distributor. After daily testing the car finally wouldn't start. During diagnosis a lose connection was discovered within the distributor. The new part should arrive on Monday and the car should be ready shortly thereafter. I want to get out of the car business. Just two to take care of. The van has to in to replace a leaking water pump seal. Then my Mazda needs a little work. And Cameron wonders where our money goes. Cameron is finding out about income vs. obligations. He purchased a full sized pickup but he has a job. Courtney too is working full time although on a temporary basis. Hopefully it will become permenant.
Trudy and I plan a trip to San Antonio in May. It is part of a conference that work is sending me to. We have our hotel(s) arranged. Bing Travel suggested I hold out for better airline rate. The best rate was about $405 then it went to $376 and they want me to continue to wait. Kim, Mark and kids will be over in late April, I'd better get to work on the room.
Ron
Sunday, February 20, 2011
she's back
Work on the room continues. Or was continueing. Now I am waiting. The selected flooring may not be quite right. The new window has not arrived. I was able to get everything done up to the point where I needed these items. My beautiful wife was managing the project from long distance. Trudy was down in Springfield for 10 days visiting her mother. I went down there Thursday noon and we were home by 5PM the next day. I am glad to have her back.
We thought we were coming back for a dinner at Shane's with Linda Lee and Dewey. But it didn't work out. There dog was getting back surgery in Oregon. Dinner was cancelled so we had a low key dinner at Shane's on Friday and Saturday was a day of planning for the next event. I am right now reaping some of the rewards of that next event. I am tasting the cup cakes that will be a part of Rachael's baby shower.
Cameron got job! He bought his first car (on credit) from someone he knows. The green Mazda, which we put about 150,000 miles on will be put out to pasture. It will join the green Villager in retirement. We are still waiting for the red Probe to misbehave while it is at the shop. It has been there about 4 weeks. Cameron's job is with a startup company. The comany will return out of production products to market. Cameron will act as a production manager, guiding the products from the drawing board through production. Courtney is now getting paid as a fashion writer. She writes for a blog and gets paid by the visit.
Tuesday it is off to Kennewick. Dave Borgeson is in town. So we'll visit him along with Kim, Mark and the kids. We plan to sound out Dave about a trip to Europe. Trudy is decorating cup cakes. The diaper cake is already at the party location. The project is on hold until Courtney and Trudy go flooring shopping again. I don't know when that will be but the flooring need to be in the house for about 10 days before it can be used. I still have to shop for my flooring nailer and finish nailer.
The 10 days alone weren't too bad. Trudy had food in the freezer for me. I did end up wearing some clothes I wasn't supposed to wear. They were in the closet but I knew or should have known that they were not for wearing. But it is good to have her back. She was able to give me guidance about how fast my wipers should be moving on the way back up. I did get in trouble for what I did in a dream that she had, but it is still good to have her home.
Ron
We thought we were coming back for a dinner at Shane's with Linda Lee and Dewey. But it didn't work out. There dog was getting back surgery in Oregon. Dinner was cancelled so we had a low key dinner at Shane's on Friday and Saturday was a day of planning for the next event. I am right now reaping some of the rewards of that next event. I am tasting the cup cakes that will be a part of Rachael's baby shower.
Cameron got job! He bought his first car (on credit) from someone he knows. The green Mazda, which we put about 150,000 miles on will be put out to pasture. It will join the green Villager in retirement. We are still waiting for the red Probe to misbehave while it is at the shop. It has been there about 4 weeks. Cameron's job is with a startup company. The comany will return out of production products to market. Cameron will act as a production manager, guiding the products from the drawing board through production. Courtney is now getting paid as a fashion writer. She writes for a blog and gets paid by the visit.
Tuesday it is off to Kennewick. Dave Borgeson is in town. So we'll visit him along with Kim, Mark and the kids. We plan to sound out Dave about a trip to Europe. Trudy is decorating cup cakes. The diaper cake is already at the party location. The project is on hold until Courtney and Trudy go flooring shopping again. I don't know when that will be but the flooring need to be in the house for about 10 days before it can be used. I still have to shop for my flooring nailer and finish nailer.
The 10 days alone weren't too bad. Trudy had food in the freezer for me. I did end up wearing some clothes I wasn't supposed to wear. They were in the closet but I knew or should have known that they were not for wearing. But it is good to have her back. She was able to give me guidance about how fast my wipers should be moving on the way back up. I did get in trouble for what I did in a dream that she had, but it is still good to have her home.
Ron
Friday, February 11, 2011
still painting
The room is coming together. It started as "let's put in a new floor". Doesn't sound too bad! If you are going to put in a new floor you naturally have to move everything out of the room. We have a four bedroom house with just Trudy and myself here. You would think that emptying the room wouldn't be that hard. We have to stay in one room (already furnished), Cameron's room has, for years, held the stuff he didn't want to tote around, Courtney's room was going to have to be it. But her room wasn't exactly empty. Collapse the stuff in her room, stack the stuff from our room. We are moved. I'm tired. Bring in the tarps. What? Tarps? What do tarps have to do with a new floor? Well, if you are going to put in a new floor you might as well take care of a couple of other things while you are at it. Here is the short list as it stands now. Remove popcorn ceiling. Paint ceiling. Install new overhead light. Don't forget the special primer for the closet that doesn't get enough air circulation. Paint closet, but first remove clothes hanging bars, shelves, supports. Might as well rebuild the closets in a different configuration. Remove closet doors (goes without saying) and don't loose any of the hardware that goes with the doors and curtain rods. Patch the walls, give the closet a couple of coats (after the primer, not the special primer, the other primer). Paint the walls. It could have been worse. Four walls, two colors. Trips to the paint store, hardware store, lighting store, flooring store (actually three different stores). Did I mention the new window? Did I mention that the new window will be bigger than the existing one? Did I mention that it is on the second floor? Remove the molding since new molding is required. And not just replacing existing molding but adding crown molding. And the trim paint. I hope that when I tear out the carpet that the sub floor is ready for the wood flooring and doesn't need a lot of prep. We'll see. Just finished painting two walls. So the project grows. I'll have to admit, it sounded like a good ideal at the time. Tomorrow, fetch the wood and more painting. Trudy is at her mother's. She is managing the project through facebook pictures.
Ron
Ron
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Farewell to a friend
Today was a memorial for Rich Robinson. He passed away on January 4. He was 64 years old. He had been suffering with cancer but few people knew the extent of his suffering. I will miss him. Trudy catered the event. No cake.
It was good to see some old friends. The Luce's and Mulkey's were there. Mary had to go home and get ready for the tea after working on today's event but I got to talk to Tom for a while. I've got to see if I can find my VHS to DVD dubber.
It is now past midnight. The car is unloaded. The car is loaded with a few things for the next event. A tea at Mary's. I'll be painting. We are ready for the for a top coat on the ceiling. Trudy is finishing off some of her treats.
Goodbye Rich.
Ron
It was good to see some old friends. The Luce's and Mulkey's were there. Mary had to go home and get ready for the tea after working on today's event but I got to talk to Tom for a while. I've got to see if I can find my VHS to DVD dubber.
It is now past midnight. The car is unloaded. The car is loaded with a few things for the next event. A tea at Mary's. I'll be painting. We are ready for the for a top coat on the ceiling. Trudy is finishing off some of her treats.
Goodbye Rich.
Ron
Monday, January 24, 2011
Don't do that for lunch again
Are problems continuous? When things are going well its only because we are not yet aware of problems? Courtney's car is back in the shop. She came up for some thrifting with her mother. I come home and see the car out front. Walking to the the door I hear whirr whirr whirr, crank but not start. But it was the start of my three day weekend. The car did start the next morning, as Trudy was dialing AAA. A quick run to the shop. Keep it! I don't want to see it again until you can tell me why it won't start. That was five days ago. What does this mean? I told them to drive it home. Get familiar with it. I hope it strands them somewhere. Friday night trouble at work. We are on the way to Shane's for dinner. I pop in Saturday to diagnose the situation. Trudy brings me lunch at work. Hawaiian BBQ. First and last time. Plenty of left overs, I had them today.
Trudy is working on a Tea and Memorial. Memorial for Rich on Friday. Tea for Suzi on Saturday. She is Ida Scudder this time. Briana and Audrey are serving at the Tea. Work on the room progresses. Yesterday tear off the molding. Before that was remove all of the wall paper. After some TSP on the walls, the ceiling should be ready for priming. Cameron left his shop vac here but he didn't leave any spare filters. You wouldn't believe how quickly that thing gets caked with plaster dust.
Wireless adaptor arrived for my PC. Now I don't have to drag a line across the work room. That's a good thing. While Tim was up here to get Courtney when her car broke, he fixed my ethernet cable, he's good, not as good as Mark, but good. Speaking of Mark, I got to use the cool Cat 5 line analyzer that he gave me for Christmas.
Ron
Trudy is working on a Tea and Memorial. Memorial for Rich on Friday. Tea for Suzi on Saturday. She is Ida Scudder this time. Briana and Audrey are serving at the Tea. Work on the room progresses. Yesterday tear off the molding. Before that was remove all of the wall paper. After some TSP on the walls, the ceiling should be ready for priming. Cameron left his shop vac here but he didn't leave any spare filters. You wouldn't believe how quickly that thing gets caked with plaster dust.
Wireless adaptor arrived for my PC. Now I don't have to drag a line across the work room. That's a good thing. While Tim was up here to get Courtney when her car broke, he fixed my ethernet cable, he's good, not as good as Mark, but good. Speaking of Mark, I got to use the cool Cat 5 line analyzer that he gave me for Christmas.
Ron
Monday, January 10, 2011
broken lunch
Picking up from past problems. Trudy drove me out to Snohomish to take care of Courtney's care before it got towed. Wouldn't start (I half way thought it might). Call AAA and a tow is on the way. Hitch. A wait of up to two hours. Don't worry, they'll call when they are 10 to 15 minutes out. Well, I hadn't had a lunch date with my beautiful wife for a long time. Lunch at the Cabbage Patch. No sooner ordered than a lunch interrupted. Lunch coming but I am going to meet the tow truck, who is not one the way, he is there. Car on the way to the shop. Lunch recalled from the kitchen. Fresh jo-jo's on the way. A disappointing Reuben, seems like they always are. My wife makes the best. I should stop trying. Never get a Reuben in Springfield Illinois.
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