Picture pages, picture pages...

We finally got around to taking some pictures of the place and getting them posted on flickr. One quick lesson, once you're on Flickr's website if you place your mouse over the photo you'll see white square boxes, if you mouse over those you'll be able to read the comments we added to each picture. I'm starting with this one because it was the only one that came out flattering. If you click on this one you'll get taken to the set. Enjoy!

Musings on spam (not the meat product)

I’m not sure if anyone else ever takes the time to read junk e-mails that don’t get filtered out, but it’s amazing what you’ll find there. For example, in an email that professes to be an Investor Alert(!) from an ethanol company it opens with the following sentence…

”Most people believe that the gentle umbrella often satiates a football team of another ocean, but they need to remember how seldom the geosynchronous light bulb takes a coffee break.”

How seldom indeed. Quite profound! But it doesn’t stop there…

“If the cheese wheel sanitizes a spider, then an umbrella daydreams.”

Clearly the writer is well-versed in the logic of if/then statements. Which brings me to a question- are there real people writing these things? Because I’m sorry to say but I think their vocabulary far exceeds the utilization of their skills. Geosynchronous? I looked it up, and apparently it’s a synonym for geostationary which means: of or pertaining to a satellite traveling in an orbit 22,300 miles (35,900 km) above the earth's equator: at this altitude, the satellite's period of rotation, 24 hours, matches the earth's and the satellite always remains in the same spot over the earth.

Umm…what?

And on my second point, what exactly is the point of this email? I’ve never looked at them so in-depth, but you can’t click anywhere in it, and there are no hazardous attachments. So are they actually trying to get me to invest money in this ethanol company? And how many people are there in the world that would read this gobbely gook, take it seriously AND happen to have investment accounts that they personally dabble in daily? I’m not trying to be classist here by any means, but it seems like the type of person who’s going to be personally handling their stocks might be above this type of literary trickery. And if the spam people are taking the time to write these lovely sentences, why not write real sentences that at least sound like they might be related to the topic at hand? Seems like you might sway at least one or two more people that way.

But I’ve gone off course and analyzed this entirely too in-depth, especially since I only wanted to share with you the profound wisdom I have delivered to my inbox everyday free of charge. Geosynchronous, who would have known? I’d like to try to incorporate it somehow into my vocabulary but somehow the opportunity to use it in a sentence just hasn’t presented itself yet.

Invigorated

Over the weekend Clint and I tackled a bit more trim. It’s not enough to be noteworthy to an outsider, but for some reason it has left me invigorated rather than the usual discouraged. I know spend time away from it daydreaming about when I can get back to it (a sure sign that the lead & stripper fumes are probably getting to me). I think it’s mostly because as soon as that’s done, then we’re on the road to visable change- paint on the walls, but most of all the refinished hardwood floors (does anyone else here that choir of angels?). Although I said I’m giving up the Christmas goal date, I think secretly I’m still hoping we could get it done in time. Not that a Christmas tree wouldn’t look nice in our dining/living room with the bathroom cabinet in there.

We’ve started rethinking the bathroom/kitchen remodel too. We put off the bathroom until a) we absolutely have to, i.e. water heater or b) springtime. After the kitchen remodeler visited and ball-parked the cost of the renovation at $30,000 we were thinking we would get that done when a) we won the lottery or b) – well there was no b. We’re pretty much banking on the lottery- I suppose that means we should start playing then.

Yesterday, Clint took a trip up to Akron with his Uncle John (of moving day-fame) to pick up a drying rack for his posters- which I understand is not only huge, but also ridiculously heavy (thanks John!). During the trip he had the chance to pick his brain, and we basically realized that we could probably do way more than we think we could with the kitchen- with the help of family, naturally. We’re thinking we (collective we) could possibly: move two doors, shorten a window, hang cabinets, lay flooring, and maybe even replace the ceiling. Ambitious aren’t we? We’d naturally contract out the plumbing and electrical. While it won’t be cheap (we’d likely welcome our first home equity loan), I can’t imagine it will cost $30,000. And we would have a set up that didn’t include filling the bathtub with gunk when you let the kitchen sink run too long. Wonder of all wonders!

So-we’re thinking if we’re taking the bathroom down to studs in the spring, we may as well just go all the way with the entire addition! (I’m kidding, sort of). The hardest part will be rearranging appliances in a way that makes sense and functions well, but doesn’t require too much in the way of moving gas or plumbing lines.

This all makes me giddy, and while I’m sure that feeling would fade once we’re cooking out of our garage in a microwave, and driving to wendy’s to use the restroom, the idea of having enough room in the kitchen to put food away is delightful. After the initial quote I had all but given up the dream of being able to get a dinner plate out of the cabinet without first removing the side plates and saucers (the cabinets are so narrow you have to get the big plates on a perfect diagonal to get them out).
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But enough of that for now- it’s midterm time and I need to get my head out of the clouds long enough to finish some papers in time to turn in tonight.

Dreamin' big

Clint and I had a kitchen remodeler out yesterday, mostly for fun, but also because we’re trying to get a rough estimate of how much everything would cost. This helps me in my mind because we’ve realized everything we want to do has a domino effect. We want to organize our clothes better, but that would mean we get the wardrobe we’re eyeing from Ikea. But we don’t want to get this until the floors upstairs are done, which we can’t do until the trim is done- not to mention how all of this would work if we we’re going to pursue Clint’s crazy dream of lowering the floors back to their (what we assume) original level 5” lower. So do we paint over the floors in the meantime? If we’re tearing the floor out, then yes. But if we’re replacing the floor then no. The list of contingencies goes on and on. So in the meantime we still have our sweaters in a clothes basket and our shoes in the office.

So two very nice men came out, took a look around and measured the kitchen to draw up some plans. It was fun (probably not for them) to play along and pretend like we are days away from making this big decision, and did we want an icemaker or not? Do we want to tear out the ceiling for can lights or stick with the single fixture? Hmm…should we go with the laminate floors or go all the way with tile?! Big decisions- ones that we’ll likely not be making for years, but that’s really besides the point.

So I thought at this juncture I’d share with everyone our big plans for the house. We fully realize that 99% of these are outside of our reach, but that reality really has nothing to do with any of this. We tend not to bog ourselves down by facts or practicality. So here’s the list…

-The porch- the awning was replaced at some point in time from the beautiful, ornate wood ones that we seen on other houses around the neighborhood, to aluminum. We’ll eventually be restoring that, and while we’re at it we thought- why don’t we just make it a double porch? (These are also fairly common around the neighborhood). Our bedroom has two large windows that face the front of the house that could be converted to French doors. We’re pretty high up as our house sits on top of a hill so in essence it would be like having our own tree house. I could sit out there in the mornings and sip my coffee, and we could sleep with the doors open in the summer- I can almost feel the warm breeze on the hot summer night as I type this.

-The living room. This is in all likelihood the room that will be done first. Of course first may mean the year 2010, but I found out yesterday that I have a very good chance of graduating with my master’s in March so I’m hoping we can get this done by then for a small celebration. My original goal date was by Christmas and I’ve realized that while this may be possible, I would probably hate every minute of it. I’d rather take my time, only work on it when I feel like it, and not resent the house as the biggest mistake we’ve ever made. Which for some reason happens when I’m in there too much. This room will include a new front door, stripped trim and refinished wood floors, new windows, and a new lighting fixture. (Not that we don’t like the 13 year old boys room track lighting that’s in there now). I’m hoping to get a doorbell but I’m not sure how possible that is given our plaster walls.

-The fireplace. You might be saying fireplace, what fireplace? That’s a great question, so there’s no fireplace now, but we’re not letting that minor detail stop us. There’s a chimney- close enough, right? Besides, the reality is that we might need to have the chimney rebuilt at some point anyway so we may as well just go all the way. This plan also fits in nicely with our goal to take the plaster off so we have exposed brick in the living room and dining room, and both bedrooms. We’re also thinking maybe double fireplace downstairs, but we’ll see. I hadn’t even thought about making a fireplace in the master bedroom but I’m going to go ahead and make that executive decision now, and say that should be part of our master plan. Oh the joy of pipe dreams…

-In the dining room our current staircase is closed. We’re going to have that whole wall opened up, and we’re going to get a beautiful wood banister with new stair treads.

-Bathroom I think I’ve covered the bathroom before. Tankless hot water heater in our creepy crawl space, and a new rearrangement of fixtures. I’ll leave the details on this one for later because it might have to happen when our 18 year old hot water inevitably floods the bathroom, or just gives out. For some reason I picture the former, but in a much more dramatic fashion. I imagine one day while we’re gone the tank will rust through, and water will flood the bathroom, then the floor will give out and it will all crash to the crawl space, hitting plumbing pipes along the way, so that we’re left with a whole section of our house that looks like the Buckingham fountain or the water show at the Bellagio. Insurance covers this, right? Either way hopefully we’ll end up with an arrangement that doesn’t include a 98% humidity level in our house from the moisture collected from the shower.

-The kitchen. I’ll save this one until we get the plans from the remodeler. Much more fun that way.

-Depending on what happens in the future and our desire to stay in that location, we’ve considered adding on upstairs, where the addition is downstairs (kitchen, bathroom, laundry room). This could then bring the master bath upstairs, we could convert the one downstairs to a half bath, and we could possibly add two more bedrooms.

-Outside, we’re not quite savvy enough to dream big in landscaping yet. Right now our idea of the perfect yard is one that doesn’t include glass and is all one level. Our plans would definitely include a retaining wall in the front yard so the slope is not so drastic. Oh- and this cedar fence. So pretty.

So here you have it- our short list. We joked that the last renovation we’ll be doing is adding an electric wheelchair to the stairs because that’s how long it will take us. We realize that we may decide to move two years out and none of this will ever happen, but it sure is fun to dream.

seasons change, leaves fall, and concrete gets hauled away

and all in about 8 seconds...if only it was that easy.

Progress

The concrete is cleared! We shoveled our last load into the dumpster on Sunday and beheld the marvel that is our shed-less, sidewalk-less backyard. Of course not being able to leave well enough alone we started on yet another endeavor in the midst of all of it- trying to remove this metal pipe that is sticking up from the ground. The home inspector informed us that it was used to hold up a satellite dish, which also explained the plethora of wires on our house. So for some reason between hauling wheelbarrow loads we started digging around it, to see if we could get it up. We dug about a foot down and still couldn’t budge it, and we finally figured out why- it is anchored in cement. We finally realized that getting the concrete sidewalk out was a far more pressing need so we’ve abandoned it for now, but I’m thinking the only way we’ll be able to get it up is to dig a wider hole around it until we can figure out where the cement begins, then try to break it up and pull it up from there. Of course we could just go the easy road and saw it off with a hacksaw, but this won’t work because for some reason we discovered that we both have this irrational desire to get everything that is not ours completely out. I’m not sure we could ever sit calmly in our backyard knowing that the sawed off pipe is lurking in the yard just below six inches of dirt and grass, silently mocking us.

Hopefully in the meantime no small animals or children will fall into our yard-turned obstacle course. To add to the danger there is one area where the sidewalk was where countless small pieces of glass inevitably remain. As if wielding a sledgehammer weren’t dangerous enough we discovered a section that was comprised of glass bottles set in concrete. Did they once use glass to mix in with concrete, or is this just another example of the renovations of a previous homeowners gone bad (or the homeowners themselves gone mad)?

Other interesting discoveries included a dog toy, some pieces of paper from a comic book, a tiny half inch plastic baby stuck in the concrete (creepy), and numerous pieces of coal, which Clint showed me how to identify by shining it up with his glove. [Side note: Clint will (hopefully) make a great dad someday with the limitless amount of random information he has. When we first started toying with the idea of dating I was swept off my feet when he knew what a grommet was. With that knowledge he successfully convinced me that there was more to him than met the eye.]

We uncovered no skeletons- human or animal which we feared, and no buried treasure which we were both secretly hoping for. But alas we accomplished something. We still have to make sure the dumpster makes it out (I’ll tell the story of that if it does, because if it doesn’t we won’t think it’s nearly as entertaining). And naturally we still need to till and level the yard and plant grass seed, but for now we’re quite proud of our bi-level, dirt/glass, rocky, pock-marked yard.

Seasons

“and the trees are stripped bare…of all they wear.”
-October U2

Fall has certainly arrived, and today I’d almost go so far as to say winter. We’ve had a few days of windy rainy weather and now we’re wallowing in our mourning of the passing of summer as our bodies struggle to adjust to the 30 and 40 degree temperatures. While I am definitely a spring/summer person there is something I like about the fall and the steady slope towards winter. Certainly not the cold or darkness, but ironically the ability it has to make everything feel a little more warm and cozy. As much as I hate to see summer go, I’m always a little bit excited in the fall when the apple cider pops up in the grocery stores and the mums are set out front. I like walking when your body is warm, your face is a bit chilly, and you can hear the crunch of leaves under foot. I love the first day of cold weather when I can dip back into my sweater arsenal, and I relish those extra five minutes in the morning spent curling back into the warm covers as I feel the cold air of the room, and know I have to eventually face it.

A small part of me is actually looking forward to the winter- even though if you ask me in three months when I’m walking to the bus stop in 20 degree weather I’ll vehemently deny I ever said it. For me, a house has never really seemed like home until I’ve spent a winter in it. There’s something that gives – the separateness and unfamiliarity you otherwise have with a house dissolves when you are utterly dependent on it to keep you warm at night. It becomes a part of you when you are walking or driving up to it in the cold, and you see the warm glow of comfort and familiarity waiting to embrace you. Thus although I’m sorry to see summer go- especially since it’s replacement has taken to dumping all the leaves in our yard- like always, I’m looking forward to what comes next, whatever it may bring.

Snake in the Grass

closer look
Originally uploaded by adventure reno.

While Clint was doing a little yardwork this afternoon he came across this little thing. Don't get attached though- since it was lunging at him with its little baby snake teeth he tossed it into the street, where it had an unfortunate confrontation with a car's tire. Needless to say, it lost.

Not the Neighborly Type

Sunday Clint and I decided to be brave and face the neighbors at the 2nd annual Bradley Street potluck. We debated not going- weekend time is precious and since the weekend was already chock full of other obligations we relished the idea of a relaxing afternoon on the couch- but upon further reflection we realized if we weren’t there, we were going to the be the talk of the party. “Have you heard the noises coming from there? They’ve filled their yard with broken up concrete. What are they doing? Has anyone even seen them?” We’re going to become those people where kids drop their voices when they walk by, and they’ll run into our yard on a bet trying not to catch a glimpse of the sledge-hammer wielding crazies.

At first I planned big- I was going to make delicious mini peppermint and chocolate cheesecakes to prove not only are we young and fun, but we’re put together (ha!) and can do everything from renovation to fine cooking. I got up Sunday morning, got a list of the ingredients together, and planned on going to the store after Clint’s flag football game. Of course I failed to realize that this was one of those fun recipes you find in magazines with ingredients you can only find in three stores in America- but it sounds simple enough so you go to every grocery store you can think of. This time the offending ingredient was chocolate Nilla Wafers. It didn’t help either that I have actually used this recipe before so at some point in this city I found them. It probably took a scavenger hunt that time too so why? why! didn’t I write down where I found them.

After going to a few grocery stores and realizing at this point I wasn’t going to have time to make them even if I did find the wafers (which I didn’t), I gave in and bought the store bought cookie dough. Clint got ready while I stuck them in the oven, but since the oven was made before the Industrial Age, there’s no preheating light to know when it’s ready. This has often left me checking methodically every two minutes to see when something’s done, which I’m sure lets all the hot air out, and ruins the cooking process anyhow. Of course almost predictably the cookies ended up a tad overdone so I had to plate up my burnt, store bought cookies and head over. As we walked to the neighbor’s yard my hope of making a good impression slipped quietly away and in its place the wish that at least they wouldn’t think we were serial killers.

Everyone ended up being nice, and it was good to finally meet some of the people on the street, especially since we never come in the front door (it’s off its hinges), so we don’t get the opportunity to see or interact with neighbors. It’s a great mix of young people, one even recognized Clint for his artwork. Of course they may still talk about us (I can’t blame them, I would too) but at least now they can put names and faces to the destruction.

Concrete Part II

In a conversation with my mom the other night I told her the need for concrete disposal, and she suggested posting it on Craig’s List under the free section. I pretty much thought she was nuts, but decided to placate her for fun…and pretty much said as much in my add:

“No idea why anyone would want this- but my Mom suggested it so here goes nothing... we have plenty of pieces of broken up concrete from an old sidewalk. Land fill? Broken concrete sculpture? It's all yours if you can haul it away. (We're really just trying to avoid the $300 to rent a dumpster)”

Come to find out- she wasn’t crazy (or at least in this one instance anyway) :). So far I’ve gotten a request for some for an art project (I was kidding about that, but ok), to buttress a river bank, and to use as driveway base. We’ll see if anyone actually shows up and takes some away, but at the very least I got two offers to haul it away for considerably less than $300. Who knew?! Oh yeah, and the bricks that were mortared into the concrete- the guy who bought the shed is coming back to pick them up tonight. I judiciously warned him that they aren't real pavers, they have some type of mortar substance on the back that I found impossible to get off, and in some cases they're still connected to the 5" of concrete, but he still wanted them. I guess it's true what they say about one person's trash.

Weekend Recap

We made some progress this weekend- towards what I'm not exactly sure, but things certainly look different. It started out Saturday afternoon with the cable guy showing up for what amounted to no real reason- we called him out last week for poor reception which we realized was our own fault minutes before he arrived. Luckily for us we never had to admit that because he was discovering all sorts of problems (none of which have ever affected us) and he ended up there about a hour and a half fixing the imaginary problems. Clint and I used that time- myself to strip trim, and Clint to consult with him on ridding the house of the countless wires that were running across it. The cable man also came in handy here, snipping some from the pole in the alley for us. I'm sure the cable company doesn't appreciate our use of his time, but we certainly did.

This was taken from the back of the house looking to the front.


Sunday was a bit more productive- or at the very least destructive. We started the day by disassembling the shed with the poor sap who paid $40 for it. We actually felt bad as he drove away because we're both fairly certain he'll never get that reassembled. It came apart in a series of about 500 screws and various aluminum pieces- and came complete with some of the biggest and most disguising spiders I have every seen. We muttered for the rest of the day "I can't believe someone actually paid $40 for that shed." We spent the money wisely- to subsidize Billy's manual labor with pizza since he graciously came in for demolition backup. The three of us proceeded to remove the bricks that were mortared into the concrete, and we sledge hammered the concrete, which was up to 8" deep in some places. I can't say when Billy will get his feeling back in his forearms (he did learn a lesson about working out in the morning and sledge hammering in the afternoon though), or how Clint will get out of bed in the morning, but we made some progress. I almost titled this photo "after", and we had a good laugh about how this doesn't fit the description of most people's "after" shot.

Sorry this one's a little blurry- I can only assume Clint couldn't hold his hand steady by the end of the day. This one was taken from the front of the house looking back.