Silly Rabbits

So I'm back from my little internet hiatus.  I will say that I've got much faster, consistent, and better service than I did before, and it's totally worth it.  Sure I'm spending a little more money but now I'm co-habitating with my lady friend so she's helping to pay for it, which is okay by me.  Anyway, since I've got my interwebs back I'm able to continue sending my wisdom to the world.

After many long weeks of work and many long weekends getting the house "organized" for the big move (i.e. the co-habitation), I had a weekend off.  Fortunately, B-Diddy was also hosting the annual rabbit camp.  I took this as an opportunity to enjoy some time out in the woods with guys hanging out at the cabin telling lies, playing cards, and having a few beers.  Also, we were doing so ice fishing and rabbit hunting but that almost seemed secondary.  

To some things up, we ate a lot of really good food that basically consisted of meat being put on a smoker (no vegetables to been seen) and there was a lot of it.  We had pork shoulder, goose, scrapple, bacon wrapped sausage, cheese, and there was also a rabbit that was freshly harvested.  It was all extremely delicious and lots of fun.  Unfortunately I didn't take any rabbits but I had fun blowing through two boxes of shells shooting clays.  Sometimes it's not about the hunt, but more about the time spent hanging out with friends.  

Take Five

No I'm not referring to the late great Dave Brubeck, I'm referring to me, taking a possible break from this little rant I've got going on.  See, for a while now, I've been having issues with my internet service.  While I'm not going to name any names or point any fingers, I will say that the consistency of the connection was less than ideal.

To make a long story short, I had two technicians come to my house, spent hours on the phone with technical support, spent hours on the phone with customer service, and at the end of the day it was going to cost me more to reduce my speed (which I was told would fix my problem).  I took this as a sign that it might be time to part ways with my service provider.  As you might imagine, that was no easy process either.

Now, I'm in the process of getting new internet hooked up, which seems like it is taking more effort than I anticipated.  One service call for installation resulted in the technician telling me that I needed a new line run from the pole to my house, and that he would have to come back later to make that happen.  Apparently it was too late in the night and too cold for him to climb the pole.  I guess the techs don't like working in the dark when it's 18 degrees outside.

So for now, I'm "borrowing" internet from someone in my neighborhood.  It's not the most convenient situation but it works for now.  Of course, this might cause me to miss a post or two in the coming weeks.  But for now, thanks "adam", whoever you are, for letting me use the tubes to get this post up.

The Greatest Place on Earth

So as I mentioned in my previous post, I spent last weekend in the 'burgh.  While it was a really great weekend filled with lots of activities, there was only one thing I was looking forward to doing while there.  I have been in the market for some new furniture lately so I figured while I was in a city of significant size, I would visit IKEA.  

For those of you not familiar with IKEA, first I'd like to say I'm sorry because you don't know what you're missing.  I'll describe it like this; imagine that some Swedish folks got inside your head and created furniture and living utensils that were exactly what you would design if you had a stitch of creativity.  Granted, they don't have EVERYTHING you could imagine but it's fairly close.  Most of it  comes flat packed with an instruction book that contains an adorable cartoon man to guide you through the assembly of your chosen piece of furniture.  

Anyway, so last weekend, even though I has mere minutes away from IKEA I was thwarted in my efforts to get there.  That's a story in itself but the bottom line is that I didn't get to go.  Instead, I decided to drive to Baltimore this past weekend and check out that IKEA.  While most people think that the SC is a hip an metropolitan town, it's really not.  Therefore it does not qualify for the type of location that would host an IKEA.  Thus, I drove to Baltimore and visited some friends and family along the way.  

The upside to the trip (besides having my parents treat me to sushi); I was able to pick out some sweet new pieces for my house.  The downside, I'm going to have to drive back to Baltimore to get it.  I realize that seems like a gigantic hassle just for a few bits of pressed wood that I have to assemble myself, but let's face it, those Swedes really have this whole home furnishings thing figured out. 

Land Anchors

This weekend I decided I needed to spend some time being domestic and get some long neglected chores done around my house.  It was going to be a nice weekend and I had lots of projects to work on both indoors and out, so in lieu of riding I figured I could at least still be outdoors, just doing stuff to my house.  It seemed simple enough, and then I started putting together the list of things I wanted to do.

After twelve items were added to my little "to-do" list, I knew I would have an uphill battle.  I have a porch that needs to be painted and new screens built.  I need to start getting the yard ready for winter, which includes stacking firewood.  I need to get the garage cleaned out so I can pull my car in.  I need to clean my house and start getting ready to paint over all the drywall that I've added/patched.  There was also a handful of small things like doing laundry and getting caught up on some bills.  

What I realized is that my house is a giant time suck of projects that I want to do but don't seem to have the time for.  I don't think these projects are too grandiose, but yet they take lots and lots of time and one thing that I'm getting really good at is underestimating how much time.  On the flip side, however, I could have been like Jerry who ate some bad sushi and spent most his night puking his guts out (fortunately not at my house).  That seemed like a fitting way for him to start his week of debauchery in Las Vegas.  

Point Sources

So this weekend I had this great post planned that talked all about Brian and I heading to Raystown to meet up with Jerry, Bunny, and the whole Pittsburgh contingent for some mountain biking and some boating. It was a lot of fun, even though I was unable to keep pace with any of the people I rode with.  Instead, I was presented with a much better post that I will commence now.

After my trip to Raystown on Saturday, I planned to sleep in, drink my coffee, and then do some work around the house on Sunday.  I got a casual start on things that included mowing the grass (for the second time in less than a week), trimming some tree branches, and prepping my porch for an overdue paint job. I also planned to take in one of the last minor league baseball games of the season which meant that I would miss out on a grill session with the neighborhood crew.  As luck would have it, there was a nice solid rainstorm that rolled through the SC allowing me to bag the baseball game and head over to Cathy's for some grilling and football.  Since I was going to be an afterthought for the grilling, I decided I would take a bottle of wine (to go with my PBR and High Life).

As I went into the wine cellar (read: basement) to pick out a nice bottle, I noticed some water at the bottom of the steps.  When I looked in the other rooms around the basement I noticed more water on the floor.  This got me thinking that a pipe had broken and was leaking.  This was unfortunately not the case.  With a little more investigation, I discovered that water was leaking in through one of my basement windows.  Even more important, upon further inspection, I noticed a crack in my foundation below the window that was also allowing water to intrude in my basement.  

While I prepped the vacuum and began to extract the liquid that had accumulated in every room of my cellar, I thought about what might have cause the crack in my foundation.  It came down to two possible options.  One was the earthquake that recently occurred here in the northeast but that seemed unlikely  What I determined to be the more plausible option was the repetitive drilling of massive holes through my house to make way for the new heating and cooling system that has been installed.  Either way, I started to reevaluate my "to-do" list for the house and the foundation repair has managed to make it to the top of the list.  

Fortunately, the crack in the foundation was only part of what occupied my thoughts while cleaning up the basement.  The other thing that consumed me was why, after several years and plenty of significantly more torrential storms, had water filled this window well and overflowed into my basement.  Regardless, I wasn't going solve this issue overnight, and with the water vacuumed up, I decided to grab that bottle of wine and make my way around the corner to grill.  

As I walked around the side of my house I noticed a few things.  One thing I noticed was all the sticks and other debris from the rainstorm that littered my freshly mowed yard.  The other thing I noticed was the downspout that I had moved in order to mow.  The downspout that I moved right next to my basement window and forgot to move back after mowing my yard.  There's nothing like the feeling you get when you realize that the hour and a half you just wasted cleaning up water in your basement was because you decided to directly pipe all the storm water from your roof right into your basement.

One Step Closer

So as most things go with my home improvements, this last round has been taking significantly longer than I've wanted or even hoped.  Fortunately though, this past weekend I finally got a nice reward for all the hard work I've been putting in lately.  My central air was plumbed, filled, and turned on.  And this was not a moment too soon as the entire weekend was blistering hot. 

Now that I was finally comfortable being in my own home, I was able to think about other things like all the cleaning I still had to do and a few races I have coming up.  I plan to compete in the Pennsylvania State Road Racing Championships in a few days and hit up a local mountain bike race over the next weekend.  I know what you're probably thinking.  "What has this clown done to earn a bid into the PA state road championships?"  "Is he that fast and talented on his bike?"  

The answer to those questions would be: any hack with a bike, and enough money to cover the entry fee can compete in the championships.  The only requirement for winning this prestigious distinction is to be the highest placed Pennsylvanian in your particular category.  You can technically finish DFL but if you are the only person from PA in that race then WOOPIE(!) you've just won a state road race championship.  The answer to the second question from above (remember, there were two) is no.  I am definitely not, but I met the requirements to question one so it looks like I'm in.

I'm fairly certain I'm not at all prepared for this road race but I'll give it a go and see what I can do.  Who knows, maybe things will work to my advantage and I'll be able to pull some magic out of my hat (or helmet in this case).  The mountain bike race will be a little more relaxed for me.  I don't know how much actual "racing" I'll do but I'll give it solid effort.  Fortunately it's in my backyard and I know the trails well enough to know how hard to go out.  Either way though, I'll have the satisfaction in knowing that at the end of the day, I'll be sleeping in pure air conditioned bliss.

Take Two

So in my last post I talked about using a giant hammer drill to cut a giant hole in my house.  I, for some unknown reason, was under the assumption that the pain and suffering I endured during that grind-fest was a one-time thing.  Clearly, I was woefully misguided in that thought.

So one of the many things I did over this past weekend was to cut not one, but three more holes in my house.  Fortunately for me, the holes were only two and a half inches instead of four but the tools of the trade were the same (see last post for pictures).  I keep telling myself that this is saving me money on the install of my central heat and air, but I'm beginning to question if this part was worth the fact that I can't barely feel anything from my elbows to my hands nor anything below the knees.  

Bottom line: cutting holes through stone is difficult at best.  I spent two hours on each hole (that was six hours if you're having trouble with the numbers, Jerry).  It was noisy, dusty, and very uncomfortable (see last sentence from the previous paragraph).  I think I'm finally done "saving money" on this endeavor and can now turn things over to the professional to finish the work.  At this point I'm hoping it gets crazy hot so I can sit inside and enjoy the fruits of my labor.

The Grind

So I'm full-on into several house projects that have all seemed to come together at once.  I started by installing duct work so I could have central heat and air put in.  That involved cutting a lot of holes in the floors and creating a significant mess.  Before I could cut the holes, however, I needed to remove the baseboard heaters and thermostats that were throughout my house.  This left multiple electrical boxes that needed to be removed from the walls and therefore lots of holes needed to be patched.  If you've ever done drywall then you know that this can only adds to the mess.  

While all of this was going on my dryer decided to shoot craps and stop throwing off heat.  I tried a few things but ultimately ended up with a new dryer.  This, of course, meant that I could correct an issue that has been bothering me since I bought the house; that being the vent location for the dryer.  I thought it would be a good idea to vent the new dryer out of the exterior wall instead of through the basement window.  I wasn't quite sure how this was going to happen since my house is made of stone, but I was naively optimistic I'd figure something out.  Well, I did.  

The stone is about eight inches thick.  Luckily I was able to use this:

 

To do this:

I was fortunate enough to borrow a beast of a hammer drill with a tungsten-carbide cutter bit.  I spent about an hour and a half drilling through my house.  It was a lot of work but was easier than I thought.  Now I can get back to completing the mess inside my house that will be lots of drywall dust.  

Improvements

Well, after many more hours than I expected, many more cuts on my hands than I expected, and significantly more dust than I expected, my house is finally ducted and ready for the professionals to take over and install my furnace and air conditioning unit.  While I'm glad I did the work myself because I saved a goodly bit of money (at least I think I did), I now know why my HVAC guy was more than happy to let me do the ducting.  It's incredibly more time-consuming than I expected and not nearly as fun as it sounds.  Of course, when the heat sets in later this summer I'll enjoy the cool comfort of the indoors and know that I made it possible.

Rule of Three

So I have this theory.  I'm not a fancy scientist like some of my other friends (yeah I'm talking about you Nikki) so my theory might actually be a hypothesis, but that's not what I'm here to talk about.  My theory goes like this: Any home related project you decide will be more cost effective to "complete" yourself instead of paying a professional to do will result in a minimum of three trips to your local home store.  It doesn't matter what you need or think you need; a bolt, a box of galvanized screws, one washer, an air compressor; you will eventually find yourself at a home-store at least three times before  you can fully begin your frugal project.

I know this theory to be fairly accurate because I tested it this past weekend.  My father came to town (as he so graciously does from time-to-time) to help me with a significant house project.  I decided it would be a good idea to install ducting in my house so I can install a gas furnace and replace my electric baseboard heat.  As a bonus, this new ducting could also accommodate air conditioning; and that's reason enough for me to take on such a project.  It didn't seem like a difficult task since my house is only one story and all the infrastructure would be in the basement so I invited my father up for a weekend of fun, merriment, and heavy lifting.  

Well, after a screaming hot start on Saturday morning, things slowed to a crawl.  The long and short of it is this: we spent fifteen hours working on Saturday and another eight working on Sunday (before I sent my father home).  We made four trips to various home stores (all on Saturday); we destroyed one "professional" drill; we (meaning I) spent a bunch of money buying new tools and other tool accessories; we cut five holes in my floor (out of fourteen); we managed to hang about twelve feet (out of a total of about fifty feet) of duct.

The saving grace is that this weekend was blue bird days in the high seventies, so ideal for outdoor activity.  Fortunately we were solidly held-up in my basement so we avoided any chance of enjoyable outdoor activities.  Lucky for me we didn't get anywhere close to finishing so I'll get lots more cellar time in the near future.  Sun exposure can be rough you know...

More of the Same

As I reported last week I'm full-on in the throws a significant electrical project in my house.  This weekend brought on more wiring, more drilling, more crawling through insulation, more second guessing myself, more investigation of existing conditions, and best of all spending more money.  Thankfully, I have the day off tomorrow so I'll continue with this wiring habit I've developed and maybe even tear out a wall or two.  On the upside, I did get in my first road ride of the year and had all the free salad I could eat so I guess it wasn't all bad.

Escalation of Parts

This weekend I decided to tackle a few much needed projects inside my house. The weather was finally cold so being outside was not in the program for me. I have many grand plans for work that I would like to accomplish in my home but this weekend was going to include a few simple electrical projects. Of course, as these tasks usually go for me, this one simple item turned into much more of a production than I expected.

My plan for this weekend was to increase the number of lights in my hallway from zero lights to two lights. It’s a dark space and I like being able to see what’s in front of me. I mapped out what I needed to do and made a list of items to buy. I have several other enlightening endeavors in other areas of my house that I intend to work on in the near future so I decided I would buy some of the supplies for those projects as well. Also, since I was going to the home store I figured I’d pick up a few things to assist with another project or two I intend to do at some point. I mean why not, right?

 

Well, to make a long story short, I made two trips to the home store, hemorrhaged piles of money, and ended up spending about seven hours installing two stupid recessed cans in my stupid hallway. The project is not completed as there is no power to the lights yet. I managed to get insanely frustrated, yelled many profanities (loudly), and covered myself in insulation from (literally) crawling around in my attic. Of course, I now have some really cool plumbing tools that maybe someday I’ll get to use.

Wasting Time

As seems to be the case, this weekend brought about more unseasonably warm weather. I figured I could use some time off and I did very little. The biggest accomplishment for me was firing up my smoker.

I spent all day making this:

Look like this.

It’s salt. Yeah, I know; a great way to spend ten hours on a Sunday.

Big News

So unless you’ve been living under a rock or were just born, you’ve inevitably heard the news coming out of the SC. Each day last week brought about new information and new developments on the severity of the issue. Quite frankly I think it’s going to get worse before it gets better and it’s just horrible to say the least.

Instead of talking about that (and I have some significant opinions on the situation) I personally had some news of my own from this weekend. It’s not as ground breaking and not nearly as controversial, but for me I thought it was a big deal and therefore I’m going to share. After all, that’s the beauty of having this blog.

So Friday was a day off for me and, after some coffee and house cleaning I decided to throw a leg over my bike and hit the road to log some miles in anticipation of the upcoming Dirty Dozen. Friday was cold and hella windy with intermittent snow flurries but that didn’t deter me from getting out. I struggled mightily but managed to spend about two hours on the bike and got in a few hills to boot.

Saturday I was planning to ride because the weather was amazing, but instead I got caught up doing yard work. It wasn’t my favorite way to spend a Saturday but it was necessary as the leaves were piling up. I also got in one last mowing (I hope) so the yard is in good shape for the winter. Needless to say, I was worthless for the rest of the day so I lazed around the rest of the day.

Sunday involved running some errands in the morning that I hoped would lead to the completion of a few last outdoor projects, but only lead to multiple trips to the home store. As the day was getting away I decided to head for the woods and do one of my all-time favorite activities; fall mountain biking. Brian and I set out for a little spin and I felt surprising good. Sure I was a little slow but my legs were okay and the trails were in great shape so I enjoyed every bit of it.

This was the first weekend in a long time that I was able to get out for multiple rides. I missed most of those occasions this summer as I worked on my house so it felt good to work on turning over my pedals rather than bettering my quarter acre. Unfortunately I have to go back to work tomorrow and I’m sure there will be additional developments on the other thing I mentioned at the beginning. I have a feeling there is going to be a lot more sad than happy here in the valley but for this weekend, I’m smiling.

Doors Galore

Now that the weather is getting colder and the days are getting shorter, I figured I was done working on outdoor projects with my house. I had a few small projects left on the list that I was going to do like cleaning my chimney so I can get the wood stove stoked up, but nothing too terribly involved. I did, however, decide that I wanted to put in a storm door on the house to help cut back the draft around the font door.

As I’m finding with most projects related to my house, the storm door install turned into more than I bargained for. I purchased the door on Saturday but decided that since it was snowing I’d wait until Sunday to get the door in place. After I realized that I would need to remove some flashing and spacer strips to get at the actual jambs I knew it was going to be a long day. Then, after two trips to the home store and two hours spent trying to remove said flashing and spacer strips, I decided it was time to get out the headlamp because I wasn’t going to have enough daylight to finish this project.

After an additional trip to the home store and countless expletives spoken aloud and to myself, I finally managed to get the door hung and the handle installed. I didn’t actually finish the install nor did I get anything else accomplished. My living room ended up looking like a tool-bomb went off and my garage is just as bad. Hopefully I’ll find some time this week to get everything finished so I can enjoy the piles of candy I plan to get from trick-or-treating. Happy Halloween!

Memories

Once upon a time, I had a life that involved hanging out with friends, going on bike rides, road-tripping, and other pursuits that kept me feeling young and made for great stories. I would fill my weekends with activities that would test my physical and mental limits. I would secretly look forward to Monday and going to the office so I could rest up and begin anticipating the next weekend’s events.

Now, my time is still filled with activity but it seems to only focus on my house. I’ve taken on an ambitious schedule of tasks this summer that kept me from enjoying the bike rides and road-trips and other radical endeavors. I work on most of these projects solo and exhaust myself in other ways; and not necessarily the good kind.

When I first started this blog it was intended to be all about the amazing adventures I went on and the activities that tested my skills. Lately though, it seems to be about home improvements (or at least my escapades into home improvements). I think it’s time to get back to my roots and start being adventurous again.

Fortunately, I’ll get my first chance this coming weekend as I venture south to Stokesville and partake in a mountain bike festival. Even though the festival only lasts the weekend, it will be a much needed trip to relax and ride bikes. Hopefully this weekend will get me back on track to escapades that don’t involve going to the home stores.

Making a Point

So in my last post I mentioned that I was taking on the task of repointing my house. While I’ve done limited masonry projects in my day, I assumed this would be an easy enough task to do myself, just a bit time consuming. While I was correct on both of those issues, the degree to which I underestimated how difficult this would be is kind of ridiculous.

The process to clear the old mortar was easy enough. Take a hammer and chisel, then smack old mortar until you think you’ve gotten enough of the loose stuff out of the way. It takes a little while but it’s a fairly simple task. What I found to be the hard part was getting the new mortar back in.

What I realized very quickly was that trowels, mortar bags, or any other tool that might be used for this job were quickly proven to be useless. In order to get the mortar to stand up properly the mix had to be relatively dry. This meant that the only tools I could use to apply the new stuff were my hands. While this wouldn’t normally be a problem, the fact that it was mortar made it painful. Of course I didn’t realize this until late in the game.

Basically, I was running my hands through wet sandpaper for the entire day. When I noticed the pain setting in I, decided to apply tape to the trouble spots and keep going (because putting on gloves would make too much sense). By the end of the day my fingertips were worn raw, my hands were incredibly dry, and my hands were covered in tape. I guess there is a reason the people that do this for a living charge so much money. Their glove budget alone must be astronomical.

Skillz

As the fall starts to slowly settle into the valley, I’m slowly wrapping up the remaining outdoor projects at my house for this year. It’s been a long summer that was spent doing a tremendous amount of outdoor work and teaching myself a few things about home improvements. While I don’t know if I’ll ever use these new found talents, at least I can say that I have them in my quiver should the need arise in the future.

The latest skill I’m “teaching” myself is how to re-point masonry (yes mom, that does say re-point – it’s not a typo). See, the exterior of my house is stone and, due to a particular problem I encountered this summer with bees, I decided to move the re-pointing up on the list of projects. I have limited knowledge of masonry but I figure at five to seven dollars a square foot for someone else to do it, I decided that learning a method (not necessarily the preferred method) could save me a few clams to use on other projects.

I started to remove the old masonry yesterday and, after about an hour of sucking in fifty-year-old dust, I realized I don’t like this project. There is a reason I don’t do this kind of work for a living (other than not wanting to rough up my dainty hands) and it is emphasized with each stroke of the chisel. I’ve already reduced my expectations for how much of this project I intend to complete this year. Luckily I don’t need to re-point the entire house right away because the chances of that happening are similar to those of me becoming a professional mason.

Training

As the summer starts to wind down much sooner than I would like, the seasonal change has me thinking about one of my favorite activities – fall mountain biking. I’ve been spending so much time working on my house and yard this summer that I’ve barely had time to ride. More specifically, it hasn’t been a priority and, as I look back, seems like a bit of a mistake.

Since I didn’t ride very much over the summer, I’m dreadfully behind on my training for one of the biggest events on my ride calendar; the world famous Dirty Dozen. The Dirty Dozen is just a few short months away and I’m feeling woefully unprepared to tackle the insanely steep pitches that pass for streets in and around Pittsburgh. Last year was my first experience with the DD and I’m cautiously looking forward to this year’s installment. Of course that means I’ll be spending Thanksgiving in the ‘burgh again and riding a lot throughout that weekend.

Right now however, I’m hoping for a break in the rain so I can actually get on a bike and start riding up hills, along trails, and doing all that I can to hopefully ensure I survive. I guess I should also start preparing myself for the late nights (that often turn into early mornings) trying to keep up with Jerry. He’s already started his training too by going to Las Vegas to see how many hours in a row he can stay awake. I think the DD will be the least painful part of this year’s trip.

Snacks

As I’ve mentioned numerous times in this little blog of mine, I’ve been spending a lot of time working on my house. Also, as I may have mentioned in this same blog I’ve been working a lot lately too. While these two facts might not be very significant, they have a notable connection that leads into the title of this post.

One other subject I’ve noted in this here internet rag is the fact that I’m a super awesome single dude living in a swinging town. To the casual observer that might seem like a good thing, however I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not as amazing as it might sound. What I’m finding out (the hard way) is that when you are single and own a home you get to do everything by yourself. When I say everything I mean exactly that; paying the bills, cleaning the house, maintaining the yard, doing improvements, and making dinner.

While I’d like to think I’m significantly competent in all of the above noted areas, lately I find that the making dinner part has been the one area of my single lifestyle that seems to be suffering. I really enjoy cooking but lately it seems as though I neglect that aspect until the end of the day and, instead of making some delicious meal, I tend to rely on snacks to get my sustenance. It’s not uncommon for me to get home from work, mow the yard, tend to some landscaping, and have a roundly nutritious meal of chips and salsa for dinner. Similarly, if I get home from work late after a night meeting I might grab a handful of almonds and a few pieces of cheese and call that my evening’s feast.

I’ve recently started to realize that without snacks I might not ever eat. While I fully admit that snacking isn’t the most healthy choice for my (lately un) active lifestyle, it gets me by. I have a handful of this, and a bowl full of that and by the end of the night I’m properly supplied by premade or otherwise concocted foods. Of course, there is the occasional peanut butter and jelly in the mix so I guess it isn’t all bad.