House updates

Have not posted my progress on the house lately. So after some clean up this afternoon, I am sitting down to post where I am at.












The shower stall was installed after the plumber helped with the base. I immediately covered it up with paper to prevent it from getting scratched or whatever while I drywalled and painted around it. I also started color testing for the final wall color. Many people can tell you that I can take several rounds on a color before I am happy. This bathroom will already have a white shower stall and sink with blue cabinets. So i searched around for what could coordinate with these and the brushed aluminum trim going in. So the pic has a blue and yellow I had in hand along with a Ralph Lauren Kahki i found. I also got a chance to install the new vanity light and update the GFI electrics.





My first experience with "self leveling" concrete was not quite "flat" I has what could be compared to a relief map of the moon as opposed to a smooth floor. So after 2 more pours - I finally had a surface ready for tile. I located a ceramic tile with the slate look I was hoping foor and have spent this week cutting and prepping for gluing the tile to the floor. I just located aluminum trim to run along the tile edges and the tile to floor transition and will be fitting those tomorrow.

Emusic

I am constantly jumping back and forth between Di.FM and iTunes looking for good Chillout music I hear on Di.FM. iTunes's selection of obscure stuff has improved lately but still comes up empty on some of the slightly older Chillout selections. I stumbled on Emusic recently. They run a subscription service and gives you a set numbers of downloads a month for a set price. [ The first 25 are free!] Their selection is different/ does not overlap with iTunes, so I am looking on their site as well these days. Some recent selections getting alot of play in the house:

• Sasha - Wavy Gravy
• Global Communications - Epsilon Phase
• Scott Bond vs Solar Stone - 3rd Earth [ this one uses a great sample from the choral hymn "The Lamb"
• Tranquility Base - Razorfish [Aspekt's Chillout mix]

Bathroom continues


After staring at the floor for 2 weeks, I started preparing it last week. I cut and fitted a plywood underlayment to the existing subfloor and then fitted a Hardibacker floor on top of that. The Hardibacker was laid down with thinset and then screwed down.








I am laying down a leveling mortar this afternoon and then the plumber is coming is coming tomorrow to help me install the shower base [ tricky to put it mildly]

4.0

Well - today was the big day. 40 years old. hmmm. whattodo? as some would say. I will admit the last couple of years - I have preferred the birthday as a non event. I am sure that reflects some anxiety of getting old.

[ I am pulling grey hairs out of my sideburns now...]

However, I realized today my reluctance had much more to do with the death of my mother several years back. My birthday immediately follows my mom's [which was St.Patrick's day!] It has always been a double holiday in the family. Family folklore reports that i was supposed to be born on St. Patrick's day as a present for mom. [ And be aptly named "Patrick" ] Apparently my mom's labor was induced a early to help things along.

Well, setting the tone of the rest of my life, I had other plans.

I kept my mom in labor for over 24[?] hours until I decided I was ready and made my debut the following day. It had been a triple holiday in the family ever since. 2 birthdays, St. Patrick's Day. Green milk in the morning cereal and birthday cake, jigging and shamrock shakes everywhere.

Well… none of it has really been the same since Mom left.

In fact, the birthday / St. Patrick’s day now just seems more a reminder that she left us too early and I really miss her. ( As I am reminded trying to articulate this! )



But I know Mom is still with us. I have mentioned to several people that some time after she passed away I found myself at the end of a rope emotionally and very lonely. I remember asking her to "send me a good one". And in short time - Eric dropped out of cyberspace like a post modern farm house from Kansas.

[ And I have been a very happy wicked witch since! ]

Mom stops in on a dream from time to time to check in and say hello as well. And all this usually works well to provide some comfort that she's not here anymore.

But sometimes it just runs out of steam.

Then grief just swings in like a 2 x 4 to the back of the head. It can really ruin the day. Or a birthday. So with some anticipation - it is easy to see the desire for a non event.

I am sure people would say that the holiday should just make us happy to remember her.

That’s a Nice Idea. Maybe next year.

I let Eric know that I preferred a non event this year. Knowing he would faithfully kibosh any event planning. But he was outgunned by my sisters – who immediately vetoed THAT idea. Together they planned a great surprise party for me at my friend Jennie and Zahra’s house. It was really nice. I am not crazy about surprise parties. I am not comfortable with that kind of attention. [ is anybody?] But I can say that I like when my family and friends get to meet and hang around with other. I have good genes and good taste

– so it’s just Smashing! when they are face to face. :O)

There was plenty of cake and laughs for the afternoon, along with box wine!

(inside family joke)

Our roaming photographer friend Gerry Szymanski also took some Great Pics


I started making a joke with some friends that given the swirl of events of late - layoff, relocating and a new career search, it would be better to think of this as the beginning of the next phase. I have read that people can reinvent themselves multiple times in their life. My To Do list of creative projects has only gotten longer in the past ten years. Never enough time. So this next round will definitely involve more creativity and flexibility! And also be 100% fat and thesis-free!

So not 40 but rather - Version 4.0

Stay tuned.

Snowshoeing

Eric and i headed south on Saturday to try a bit of snow shoeing. Eric borrowed his brother's shoes and I bought a pair from the Grocery store [$12.95 with the Tops bonus card] It was actually partially sunny for most of our hike and I managed to get a few pictures. A snow squall started just as we got ready to leave. Within 5 minutes of driving - we hit a near white out. Winter in Upstate....

Bathroom begins

Well, I said I would start the bathroom in July. Then it got pushed to the fall. Then "after christmas" and then finally "definately January". So, with that said, Gabe and i started the bathroom Sunday. Here are the before pics






Gabe took out the vanity on Sunday afternoon and then I started demolition this morning. The goal is to remove the old shower stall, part of the wall and the floor [ which I know is water damaged.] It is completely apparent that the orginal install of the bathroom cost approximately $7 and was installed by Bozo himself.











But the poor installation did speed the demolition. Tomorrow I will be removing the toilet, the shower base [ and whatever floor is left underneath it...] and the remaining floor down to the joists. fun fun.

Syracuse part Deux


Headed over to Syracuse Saturday morning. Eric met me for lunch and then we headed out with city map in hand to look at more neighborhoods. We headed to the South side of Syracuse and looked around the reservoir and also on Salina street. A very depressed part the town. But the housing stock was interesting.





We found this house on a tall precipice over looking the street. Despite the boarded up windows, it appeared as though someone is living in the house. [ Or squatting or renovating]












We found this church on Salina street. From the lack of snow removal - it is currently vacant. No For Sale sign however.





Saturday night we had a room at the Syracuse Marx Hotel [ soon to be Renaissance] A very nice boutique hotel. We will probably stay there again sometime. Eric's friends Tim and Martin were in for the weekend, so we headed out to dinner with them and a crew of Martin's former coworkers from Pottery Barn. Fun dinner.







Sunday morning we headed back out again to look again at a north part of the city starting in the St. Joseph's neighborhood and headed north. We found a set of brick town houses for sale that I plan to follow up on . Also many vacant buildings to look at.

Poking about in Syracuse

I have been talking louder now about relocating to Syracuse in the very near future. Eric just got a BIG promotion - "Senior Programmer / Analyst" and our joint financial gravity just shifted eastward to Syracuse. :O) I have been plotting my future and I think I am settled on trying Design/Rehab on my own. I think I have watched enough "Rezoned" and other shows to think i can do better. So I figure I can at least give it a try for a year or two. Friday I headed over to Syracuse to start looking at neighborhoods. I have been looking at real estate listings but with no frame of reference for where they are located in the city. So i spent a snowy Friday driving around Solvay, Tipperary Hill and Onondagua street with a city map, making notes as I went. Saturday Eric and I spent the day driving around East Genesee, Erie Blvd, Division and Butternut Streets [zip code 13203] along with a quick drive through the "Gay Neighborhood" - Hawley Greene. I have made jokes that if you want to start some real estate speculation , all it apparently takes is for a realtor to take a pencil and draw a triangle on the city map and say "Gay Neighborhood" and TADA! I really liked the neighborhoods directly east of 81 - nice hilly neighborhoods with south and west sun exposure. I will be going over again next week look around more. In the meantime - I started taking pictures of commercial real estate in the city. I keep thinking I have to wait to make the jump to commercial development - but maybe not? Here are some comercial buildings I spotted over the weekend














This is the Marcellus casket company building. It would make awesome lofts


























This was an unsual building however there was no roof. So I guess I could buy it for free?














This building was "For Lease" yet had no windows. So I guess some developer is sitting on it thinking they can make some money in the future from a Rite Aid or Wendy's coming in and tearing it down. Kool. [not]

Flippin' Cold

Ok - the weather gauge says 14. I am keeping busy working on house things so i do not have to leave the house. Brrrr! Of course - my office is the coldest room in the house. It is all in vain however - I have a double header in Volleyball this evening so my hermiting will end eventually.

316 uploaded as small

Layout experiments

The image layout tools in blogger are not to my liking - therefore I am experimenting today. I actually set up a additional blog to test layouts now.

Lighting finished




Just wrapped up the lighting finally. On to other stairway details.

Irony

Trying my best to finish some stairway lighting today but the electric gods are against me. I spent all morning trying to find a possible error in my new 3 way lighting circuit only to find that the fixture itself is giving me problems. Oh - well - I had to stop and move on. Eric and i are having our friends over for dinner tonight and the house is a mess. So I am quickly cleaning and will start cooking shortly. Hopefully the chicken defrosting gods are at least with me today.













In a biting piece of irony, the U.S. patent office sent me a nice letter letting me know that on January 2nd, patent # 7,158,123 Secondary touch contextual sub-menu navigation for touch screen interface was awarded to me and several former coworkers at Xerox. Here is the riveting abstract: A touch sensitive user interface of the type having a display screen for displaying images representative of menus and selectable list objects, for example; control logic responsive to the touch sensitive user interface for determining the contact position of a first probe and a second probe, such as two separate fingers, thereon, displaying menus including list objects representing primary and secondary features or functions respectively, so that a user may touch a selection on the primary menu with the first probe and subsequently touch an area on the display screen where a contextually related secondary menu is displayed for selection of contextually related features or functions.
The idea was to basically provide a "right mouse" menu to people using touch screens.
the Irony: Three of the people on the patent [ including myself ] have been laid off over the past 3 years. - Oh well - back to chicken defrosting.