Update time

I suppose it's time to update.

I did actually finish the tile job. Here's some pictures.
We decided on a little bit darker grout. Mel didn't like it at first but she has come around.


I had to redo the toe kick on the vanity. So I decided to sheet the side and make it flush with the face frame. I also was able to trim it correctly and get rid of the stupid little toe kick "cap" the the builder used.

Here is the "before." This is the other bathroom. You can see that the base shoe going around the bottom of the vanity stops and there is a dumb "stop block" looking thing, then it continues under the toe kick.


Here is the "after." Now you can see that there is no more "stop block" and the base shoe is mitered like it should be.

Work is mega slow, so I've had some time to get this stuff done. I've also been framing some pictures I've had lying around the house. I've got a frame made for the leaf picture that we got from Mike and Aimee. It's HUGE!! It's going to be awesome though. I also finished up the coffee table that I made for my mother in-law for Christmas. I had it made and gave it to her unfinished, that way she could pick out a stain color that she would like. Since it was a little warmer out the last couple of days I got it all stained up, and now it just needs a couple coats of polyurethane.

I've been pretty lazy on the updates lately cause we got Dish and I've been so absorbed by Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe and being able to watch Wild and Gopher hockey, that I haven't wanted to even look at this computer. But I suppose I can still keep all of you up to date on the thrills of my day to day life.

The first

Here are the progress pics of the first of three major updates to the house. This is the master bathroom.



There are the before and after shots. The tile we had was just plain white. And there was some cracks in the tile so I figured it was time to replace it. I also found a great deal on the new tile at the Home Depot. I'll probably grout it while I'm waiting for the Dish people to come on Saturday. Oh yeah, I'm getting dish. Giggity!

The tear out of the old tile sucked! It took most of the day, and was a HUGE mess. I think I'll have to make a withdrawal from the "assist bank" for the next bathroom.

I used an air chisel to tear the tile out but my poor little air compressor just couldn't keep up. I may have to swipe my compressor from work for the next one.

Any way, there it is. I'll post up finished pics when it's done.

a thought to live by

"Wisdom is knowing I am nothing, Love is knowing I am everything, And between the two my life moves."

"I Am"

The "I" that is me - you cannot see
You see only the form that you think is me.
This form that you see, will not always be;
but the "I" that is me - lives eternally.

No in between

Why is there no in between? When I say that, I'm talking about how it seems like everything lately is going to extremes.

Bills: We have none.
Then we have all of them.

House projects: Nothing going on.
Now I'm building a kitchen and have new tile for the bathrooms.

Work: All week I get off at noon.
Today I worked till 7:00pm.

Work part 2: Everything has been going fine.
One little thing today, snowballed into a mountain of crap today and I spent almost a hour on the phone bitching at people and having people bitching at me. WTF!

On a side note. I'd like to publicly say that I have no love for vinyl floors or their installers. I dislike them a little more each time I have to tear out one of their floors. Vinyl is the "band-aid" of the flooring industry. Nobody actually says "Huh, I think I'll install a vinyl floor and leave it for the rest of the life of my house." NO! Inevitably, they get sick of how crappy it looks and they call us. Then I have to go in and remove the crappy band-aid. I call it a "band-aid" because usually during the building of a house the builder will run out of money and be looking for a "fix," or a way to save a few bucks. Enter, the vinyl floors. They look harmless enough from the top, but if you've ever had to remove them, especially if they are not on concrete. If it's on concrete, you get a scraper, and in no more than an hour your done. If it's on a sub floor, there will be literally thousands of little crown staples left stuck in the sub floor, that will need to be removed. You spend the rest of the day on your hands and knees pulling staples. They use the staples because they install a layer of 1/8" underlayment and then put the vinyl on it. I have no idea why. OK, OK. Long story longer, vinyl sucks, and I had to tear it out today and thats why I got into it with some of the office dorks at work today.

A week in review.

POW! It's done! That's how fast it went. I was off two days last week cause I was sick. Only worked 27 hours. Poo. This week. Not so much. Almost 50 hours.

I reinstalled a floor that I installed about two weeks ago. Apparently the home owner decided on a different floor and didn't tell anyone. I installed 2 1/4" select red oak, and the home owner wanted 3 1/4 #2 Maple. Just a little difference. So, Russ, the job sup. had to tear the original floor out, and we came back and installed the "right" floor.

Church was pretty low key. We had a "coffee house" night. One of the band members came and played for us and we just hung out and talked, like at a coffee house...... It was pretty cool. I got to know the new director of senior high ministries and had a chance to talk with some of the other leaders about what kind of things we'd like to see happen with our group of kids.

Thursday night, Nick and I, well, mostly Nick. Got all of the parts cut out for my new cabinets. Next step is making face frames, I guess. Oh, if you don't know, we're getting a whole new kitchen. Yay!

This weekend we actually don't have anything going on. I can't believe it. Next Thursday Summit gets tied. No more "fertile Mertyl" for her.

Well this turned out to be a pretty lame update. Oh, apparently I have more than 2 readers. It would appear that I have a total of 7. 6 of which I know, and the 7th remains a mystery. 7th reader, reveal yourself, please.

Thank you, that is all.