Living room tent camp -- Jack & Ruby's Sleepover

OMG! It's tile

Places that sweat

I've been taking an exercise class @ Muscle Under and am surprised at the different areas that sweat. The first week, the tip top of my head was on fire. Like fire was shooting out of there. And then later on in the class sweat came from there. I've never sweated out the top of my head before. Then the next week, my ears were sweating. They were wet, it was bizarre. Today, it was under my eyes. Now, I'm getting old so now I almost have bags under there, well apparently they've learned to sweat. Absolutely bizarre.

Remodel update:
1) Eric the tile guy is here so hopefully some progress will occur
2) Sears came out to look at our noisy stackable washer/dryer. Apparently the transmission is going on the washer. That's only $800 to fix, so I guess we'll be buying a new Washer/dryer. I suppose 13 years is long enough, eh.

Construction Update

Gene and his guys were here. They've finally cleaned under the house, levelled the dirt so that termites cannot infest the beams. As you probably know, it is a requiment that dirt never directly contacts wood, as this is how termites travel and infest our house. The heating contractor was over. Gene called in a professional. He installed new ducting for the bathroomfrom the furnace to the bathroom vent. He was a very nice guy and also adjusted all the vents with Gene and I so that the bathroom doesn't get sauna like and the front of the house gets equal heat. This was not done properly before so that is why some rooms had a disparate amount of heat and others little or none. I was excited and felt good about this work and actually having something done. It was also nice not be be freezing in the house, while knowing full well that you are heating the entire crawl space.

Eric the tile man didn't show up. Probably scared of a little rain. Gene says he's going to apply a cattle prod to him.

And the depressing news of the day.....The Mission Tile is expected to be ready November 29th and ship by truck from Oregon on December 3rd. Christmas is looking like a good project completion timeframe.

I love progress!

8 days to get to this point

Metro-sexual??

I met a metro-sexual in Salt Lake City. He's a german fellow living in Manhattan and I was working with him in SLC. Talk about 2 people out of place in the world. Well, he says he's a metro-sexual - what exactly is that? It's loosely defined as a trendy, straight man who enjoys pampering himself with things such as manicures, facials and massages. A man with a keen sense of grooming and fashion. Confidence is key but how difficult is it to find a real rugged man on the street willing to admit he's "metrosexual?" For example, Tom Cruise, Will Smith and David Beckham (soccer) can be said to be metrosexual.

Remodel update:

The tile guy didn't start today, his girlfriend is sick. Boy if I had a dime for everytime I used that excuse.... Do people really get away with this shit? Apparently so. He'll maybe start tomorrow, if we're lucky. The drywallers were back, they were given shit for leaving such a bloody mess all over the house and not sanding their seams, etc enough. Today they were very diligent, moving, cleaning and sanding. Not in that order..... Maybe I'll have something to take pictures of next week. We can only hope.

Personally, I am really starting to get sick of this whole remodel business. I'm tired of having people in my house constantly, men in particular. I'm tired of running my life and schedule around everyone else's schedule. I'm tired of bitching at workers for messes, sloppy work, forgetting to do stuff, etc. I never thought I'd be a perfectionist when it comes to monitoring their work (i'm sure those that know me are laughing their asses off) but I am. Perhaps my standards are just higher than most people's? Ever think of that???

October 9th, 2004 - Lima Time!

350,000 miles flown....

And boy are my arms tired...... United Airlines just sent my updated Mileage Plus statement. I was shocked that I've flown that many actual miles. 350,000 miles in 7 years, seems implausible. That's an average of 50,000 per year. Wow. I have to admit, flying for businesss has its ups and its downs. I try not to dwell on the downs, the exhaustion, the jet lag, the nightmarish security lines, breathing everyone's contaminated air, etc etc etc etc etc. But I try to dwell on the good - the 2 week trip to England and Wales, the frequent flier miles and free hotel stays that have allowed Dena & I to travel the globe, seeing parts of the country I'd never get to see, like Toledo. hehe Do you know I spent 3 week in Toledo. There is NOTHING to do in Toledo, but, (she says trying to look at the glass half full) there is a lot of green space there. And I did get to see Custer's grave site. How's that for the glass half full!

Yeah, I'm a pessimist, so what, what're ya going to do about it?

Life in Los Angeles today....

The last two days have been hectic, as usual. Our lives never slow and if they did, I wouldn't know how to behave. Yesterday we "walked" the exterior of the house with Brian the perfectionist house painter. Now this is a man after my own heart. He spent 2 hours examining our structures and pointed out the tons of things that need to be restored (you see you restore things on a 1924 house, to repair things on a 1970's house...). Anyways, what does that mean? Money, baby, money! Lots of $$$$$$ Dena & I suspect it'll be 10k. I'll take votes..... Click the comments note below.

Today the drywallers are here finishing all the cracks and things they forgot last week. Lovely drywall dust permeates every nook of the house. Sears is here today looking @ the washer/dryer. It was the first appliance Dena & I purchased together 13 years ago. I remember she freaked because it was a committment both to our relationship and to, well, the appliance. hehe Like everything around here, it needs some TLC.

The tile guy (Eric) will not be here til Tuesday, so don't expect any pix until after that. This weekend is a biggie for us, the Los Angeles Dodgers are in the Division Playoffs and we get to go to one and if we're really lucky, 2 games.

The new Electrical panel/meter - 100 AMPS!

Prepping old bathroom for new medicine chest and fixing water damaged wall

Remodel update

Things are heating up and getting more exciting around here. Saturday we went over to Mission Tile West to look at our color match (for the umpteenth time) and lo and behold, it was deemed, "good enough". After awhile, you just have to say, its good enough. So, we ordered all the tile for the old bathroom. It will be 3 to 6 weeks, because, of course, now they are really busy and its taking about 6 weeks.

Today, Simon (the efficient electrician) and his boys were over moving our meter (which was inside) outside, replacing the squirrel, weather beaten cable from the pole, and other sundry electrical items that our house needed. My office is getting two separate circuits with double gang boxes. You guys don't know how happy that makes me and my passel of computers!

Steve Finley jsut before swinging for his grand slam!

Hideo Nomo signs Ruby's (aka my) baseball