Monday, September 28, 2009
Spacing?
Thank you for participating in my little experiment oh blog. That last post sat in my outbox for days before it finally went through. Now I'm just curious what the deal is with the spacing. Mr. K had a playdate with 2 friends Saturday. He's been begging me to have friends over for weeks and there was finally a chance since my hike Saturday was called due to mud and muckiness on the mountains. I was bummed not to go, but instead I had a memorable day at home with the kids. That's not a bad trade off!
Trial run
Now that I have a real phone I thought I should set up mobile posting. This is more satisfying than updating a facebook status. But...does it work? Let's find out.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Been awhile
Much has happened since the last post that shall not be blogged. Some things I will share:
This comic at xkcd made me laugh mightily. I hope you, theoretical reader, have some idea what this refers to...
Last weekend I had the opportunity to witness Roller Derby firsthand. It was highly entertaining, if an overwhelming beatdown...1 match of the double-header ended 127 to 14 or something ridiculous like that. The other was almost as bad, but we left prior to the 2nd half of that one. We got to see lots of skating, shoving, pushing, falls, and 1 super nasty ankle break involving a limb rotated in entirely the wrong direction. Despite that I think the kids would get a kick out of the experience and I think I'll take them when the big tournament is in town the weekend of Oct 2-4.
Speaking of questionable appendages, Steph's toe continues to give her troubles. It's been more than a year since she was hospitalized for the toenail infection at the end of chemo and it has never been quite right. A podiatrist did what he could to fix it, but the post-surgical recovery has been iffy. We only hope it turns out ok.
I was supposed to have a meeting in Chicago on Thursday but that isn't happening. Poo. I've only traveled to 1 meeting this year and that doesn't help my frequent flier miles darnit!
This comic at xkcd made me laugh mightily. I hope you, theoretical reader, have some idea what this refers to...
Last weekend I had the opportunity to witness Roller Derby firsthand. It was highly entertaining, if an overwhelming beatdown...1 match of the double-header ended 127 to 14 or something ridiculous like that. The other was almost as bad, but we left prior to the 2nd half of that one. We got to see lots of skating, shoving, pushing, falls, and 1 super nasty ankle break involving a limb rotated in entirely the wrong direction. Despite that I think the kids would get a kick out of the experience and I think I'll take them when the big tournament is in town the weekend of Oct 2-4.
Speaking of questionable appendages, Steph's toe continues to give her troubles. It's been more than a year since she was hospitalized for the toenail infection at the end of chemo and it has never been quite right. A podiatrist did what he could to fix it, but the post-surgical recovery has been iffy. We only hope it turns out ok.
I was supposed to have a meeting in Chicago on Thursday but that isn't happening. Poo. I've only traveled to 1 meeting this year and that doesn't help my frequent flier miles darnit!
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Flaming Lips in District 9
Unrelated concepts, yes. I saw District 9 this evening and can report that it is every bit as spectacular and intense as advertised. It's a movie with so many things going on and metaphors and social commentary and seamless special effects and "reality"-style camera work that it's hard to take in all at once. I suspect I'll see it again someday. Go see it though.
Tomorrow night is the Lips show at Red Rocks. Should be a great show as always. I'm excited. Once again the "no confetti" rule will be ignored in spectacular fashion and Wayne will talk a bit too much between songs. We know what to expect though! They may bring the UFO along...last show they told us they'd had it confiscated due to radioactivity issues w/ some of the pieces, but would bring it next time. I wonder if they remember promising us that.
The Broncos are down 27-13 currently and seem to have no viable QB. This might be a long season.
Tomorrow night is the Lips show at Red Rocks. Should be a great show as always. I'm excited. Once again the "no confetti" rule will be ignored in spectacular fashion and Wayne will talk a bit too much between songs. We know what to expect though! They may bring the UFO along...last show they told us they'd had it confiscated due to radioactivity issues w/ some of the pieces, but would bring it next time. I wonder if they remember promising us that.
The Broncos are down 27-13 currently and seem to have no viable QB. This might be a long season.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Path obstructed
The dog park has remained closed since the last post, until 2 days ago. Then it's been rainy and gross so we haven't gone, until today. I got off work and there were storms in the distance so Obi and I headed to the park for some quick excercise hoping to beat the rain. We got to the bridge going to the back of the park and hit this:
It was so close to open! There was still room to run a bit so Obi came home less frustrated than last time. Not quite his usual level of freedom though.
It was so close to open! There was still room to run a bit so Obi came home less frustrated than last time. Not quite his usual level of freedom though.
Friday, July 17, 2009
A plague of plague
Our dog park has the plague.
We love our dog park. It's the "Westminster Hills Open Space and city dog park," 3000+ acres of off-leash doggy-running happiness that Obi visits 3-7 times a week. Either Steph or I usually run the 4-mile round trip trail to Mower Reservoir and back while Obi runs along chasing prairie dogs, rabbits, and the occasional coyote. Yesterday the Bean and I went with Obi near sunset for a quick visit and the entrance was blocked. The sign on the barrier said that they'd tested the fleas in the park after an unusual number of prairie dogs started dying off and the results had been positive for The Plague. I tried to explain to the Bean and Obi why we were skipping the visit to the park due to a scourge of the 1340's, but the Bean was just annoyed and Obi was really upset when we drove away without his usual exercise. I'm hoping he didn't stick his nose down the wrong prairie dog hole when we went running Wednesday morning...
We love our dog park. It's the "Westminster Hills Open Space and city dog park," 3000+ acres of off-leash doggy-running happiness that Obi visits 3-7 times a week. Either Steph or I usually run the 4-mile round trip trail to Mower Reservoir and back while Obi runs along chasing prairie dogs, rabbits, and the occasional coyote. Yesterday the Bean and I went with Obi near sunset for a quick visit and the entrance was blocked. The sign on the barrier said that they'd tested the fleas in the park after an unusual number of prairie dogs started dying off and the results had been positive for The Plague. I tried to explain to the Bean and Obi why we were skipping the visit to the park due to a scourge of the 1340's, but the Bean was just annoyed and Obi was really upset when we drove away without his usual exercise. I'm hoping he didn't stick his nose down the wrong prairie dog hole when we went running Wednesday morning...
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Kitchen counters- picture heavy happiness!
As mentioned here previously, I have been replacing the counters in our kitchen. Since we moved in they have been the one thing on the main floor of our house that looked like they didn't fit with the obvious care taken to make the rest look nice. The existing counters were the cheap functional stuff found in every college apartment in the country; off-white, easily stained, easily ripped out and replaced before the next tenant moved in, if necessary. Not counters for a home, IMHO. Consequently we have very few pictures with the old countertops visible. This was taken the 1st day we looked at the house...that's the realtor in the picture:
We did get 1 shot prior to me tearing everything apart. The picture doesn't at all show the stains and scratches that covered these counters. This is just before everything came out:
So first I had to remove the old counters and rebuild from the cabinets up. This required a .75" layer of plywood sealed against moisture, followed by a .5" layer of Hardibacker cement board. (Throw on a .25" layer of thinset w/ a .25" tile and you've got a tiny bit of extra counter height. This will cause problems later of course) Here's me working on...something. I was in and out of the house on a bright sunny day, hence the shirtlessness. Avert your eyes if this scares you.
Now one thing I did in the bathroom that I thought served me very well was laying out the tiles prior to putting down the thinset. My handy tiling book doesn't say to do this, assuming that everyone will cut as they go, but I like a visual and measurements without the pressure of thinset wanting to dry on me. When working with multiple intersecting grout lines there's a lot of minor adjustment as well, which is complicated if the tile is sitting in a bed of cement. Here's what that looks like (the tiles against the wall aren't cut to size yet obviously):
Getting closer, this is the view after the thinset was down, prior to grouting and sink replacement. If you look closely, the lines between tiles are deeper than they should be, due to the conspicuous lack of grout. Also you can see the symmetry of the counter- originally I'd laid this out as 2 12" tiles towards the front of the counter with a 7" tile at the back, as evident in the above pic, but when I laid it out I decided to move the smaller tile to the center. I think it looks nice that way.
Then Steph said "Let there be Grout!" And there was grout. And it was good. Steph is a lot faster at grouting than I am. This is the final finished countertop. Due to a miscalculation on my part (and an astute observation by Steph involving an edge that was done weirdly when the prior counters were installed) I ended up short 4 pieces of bullnose and had to order more and wait for a week to get it, so the final finished product took a bit longer than hoped. But here it is! :
The tile is as textured as it looks. It's full-body porcelain (the color goes all the way through the tile) so it's pretty much never going to chip or crack and if it does (i.e. somebody launches a cannonball at it or misses when tossing a bowling call across my kitchen) you shouldn't be able to see the chip. This next is the edge that I stressed about, since there was such a small tile at the end. The bullnose at the front of the pic was tricky as well, since I had a 36" deep counter and "12 inch" tiles tend to be more like 11 3/4". My bullnose didn't quite fit, so I ended up cutting down 2 pieces and making a slightly more complicated end. I've been told it looks good by the only people that matter in such things, so I'm happy with it!
And now the sink. The light is a bit funny in this pic (the sink is black and all one color, not grey), but we are very happy with how this looks in the new countertop. There's a slight flaw in the tile work around the sink, but my in-laws tell me I'm being too picky, so I won't even say what it is :-) I will say though that Russ had to help me re-work some plumbing- the slightly higher counter meant the pipes didn't quite line up, and I moved the whole sink back maybe 1/2" somehow. Not a big deal, but there's a giant vent pipe under the sink that was positioned so that it was pressing against the underside of the telescoping faucet, pinching the telescoping mechanism. We cut the pipe off and dropped it about 1.5" lower and everything is fine now.
A couple more angles, just because. This is the corner by the dishwasher. Everything started with the tile at the corner of the angle-cut bullnose. If that hadn't been straight none of this would have worked.
And the other pieces of the counter, behind the sink by the stove. The left edge here by the hall is what threw me- the old counters had a non-rounded edge there , so I had a non-bullnose edge planned, which wouldn't have matched the rest of the kitchen. Adding bullnose to that edge makes complete sense visually and practically, it just screwed up my math. Better right than fast though, eh?
So those are the counters for now! We will be doing a border of some sort everywhere the counter meets a wall, to break up the corners a bit and cover some flaws in the drywall. The old counters had been caulked in place and had been there awhile, so the wall is a bit of a different texture 4" up all the way around and it needs covered. We'll also do a backsplash around the stove, but we want to take our time with that and come up with something we'll really like. For now the counters are done and I'm quite happy with my 2nd major commission of DIY.
Special thanks to The Home Depot for existing and Jim at A World of Tile in Westminster for patience, helpfulness, and taking my money :-)
We did get 1 shot prior to me tearing everything apart. The picture doesn't at all show the stains and scratches that covered these counters. This is just before everything came out:
So first I had to remove the old counters and rebuild from the cabinets up. This required a .75" layer of plywood sealed against moisture, followed by a .5" layer of Hardibacker cement board. (Throw on a .25" layer of thinset w/ a .25" tile and you've got a tiny bit of extra counter height. This will cause problems later of course) Here's me working on...something. I was in and out of the house on a bright sunny day, hence the shirtlessness. Avert your eyes if this scares you.
Now one thing I did in the bathroom that I thought served me very well was laying out the tiles prior to putting down the thinset. My handy tiling book doesn't say to do this, assuming that everyone will cut as they go, but I like a visual and measurements without the pressure of thinset wanting to dry on me. When working with multiple intersecting grout lines there's a lot of minor adjustment as well, which is complicated if the tile is sitting in a bed of cement. Here's what that looks like (the tiles against the wall aren't cut to size yet obviously):
Getting closer, this is the view after the thinset was down, prior to grouting and sink replacement. If you look closely, the lines between tiles are deeper than they should be, due to the conspicuous lack of grout. Also you can see the symmetry of the counter- originally I'd laid this out as 2 12" tiles towards the front of the counter with a 7" tile at the back, as evident in the above pic, but when I laid it out I decided to move the smaller tile to the center. I think it looks nice that way.
Then Steph said "Let there be Grout!" And there was grout. And it was good. Steph is a lot faster at grouting than I am. This is the final finished countertop. Due to a miscalculation on my part (and an astute observation by Steph involving an edge that was done weirdly when the prior counters were installed) I ended up short 4 pieces of bullnose and had to order more and wait for a week to get it, so the final finished product took a bit longer than hoped. But here it is! :
The tile is as textured as it looks. It's full-body porcelain (the color goes all the way through the tile) so it's pretty much never going to chip or crack and if it does (i.e. somebody launches a cannonball at it or misses when tossing a bowling call across my kitchen) you shouldn't be able to see the chip. This next is the edge that I stressed about, since there was such a small tile at the end. The bullnose at the front of the pic was tricky as well, since I had a 36" deep counter and "12 inch" tiles tend to be more like 11 3/4". My bullnose didn't quite fit, so I ended up cutting down 2 pieces and making a slightly more complicated end. I've been told it looks good by the only people that matter in such things, so I'm happy with it!
And now the sink. The light is a bit funny in this pic (the sink is black and all one color, not grey), but we are very happy with how this looks in the new countertop. There's a slight flaw in the tile work around the sink, but my in-laws tell me I'm being too picky, so I won't even say what it is :-) I will say though that Russ had to help me re-work some plumbing- the slightly higher counter meant the pipes didn't quite line up, and I moved the whole sink back maybe 1/2" somehow. Not a big deal, but there's a giant vent pipe under the sink that was positioned so that it was pressing against the underside of the telescoping faucet, pinching the telescoping mechanism. We cut the pipe off and dropped it about 1.5" lower and everything is fine now.
A couple more angles, just because. This is the corner by the dishwasher. Everything started with the tile at the corner of the angle-cut bullnose. If that hadn't been straight none of this would have worked.
And the other pieces of the counter, behind the sink by the stove. The left edge here by the hall is what threw me- the old counters had a non-rounded edge there , so I had a non-bullnose edge planned, which wouldn't have matched the rest of the kitchen. Adding bullnose to that edge makes complete sense visually and practically, it just screwed up my math. Better right than fast though, eh?
So those are the counters for now! We will be doing a border of some sort everywhere the counter meets a wall, to break up the corners a bit and cover some flaws in the drywall. The old counters had been caulked in place and had been there awhile, so the wall is a bit of a different texture 4" up all the way around and it needs covered. We'll also do a backsplash around the stove, but we want to take our time with that and come up with something we'll really like. For now the counters are done and I'm quite happy with my 2nd major commission of DIY.Special thanks to The Home Depot for existing and Jim at A World of Tile in Westminster for patience, helpfulness, and taking my money :-)
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Red Rocks, 04Jul2009
Every year Blues Traveler plays a 4th of July show at Red Rocks. I've always thought that sounded kind of cool. The kids are in Illinois with their biological father, so tracking down a firework display wasn't as necessary. On top of that Lewis Black was opening for Blues Traveler and since he's about my favorite (living) comedian Steph and I decided to go.
The show started at 6, which is seriously early for a concert, so they had an extra opening comedian. He was some local guy and pretty bleh, but Lewis Black was hysterical. Better than when we saw him on his own at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House awhile back. Then an opening band, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, who were really really good. By the time the main even rolled around it was dark and the clouds had blown over without soaking us. (Whew!) Between bands we sought a seat higher in the amphitheater where we could see the city over the top of the stage.
I'd heard that this is a cool show to see, with the fireworks and all, but it really has to be experienced. From the top half of Red Rocks the entire Denver metro area is spread out in front of you. So there we were, live music going strong, stars out over our heads, my arms around my lovely wife, with 20+ fireworks displays erupting in the distance. I'd say if there is a heaven it has to be something like that.
Bed now. There's a lot more going on this weekend, but it's late. Kitchen counter pics forthcoming!
The show started at 6, which is seriously early for a concert, so they had an extra opening comedian. He was some local guy and pretty bleh, but Lewis Black was hysterical. Better than when we saw him on his own at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House awhile back. Then an opening band, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, who were really really good. By the time the main even rolled around it was dark and the clouds had blown over without soaking us. (Whew!) Between bands we sought a seat higher in the amphitheater where we could see the city over the top of the stage.
I'd heard that this is a cool show to see, with the fireworks and all, but it really has to be experienced. From the top half of Red Rocks the entire Denver metro area is spread out in front of you. So there we were, live music going strong, stars out over our heads, my arms around my lovely wife, with 20+ fireworks displays erupting in the distance. I'd say if there is a heaven it has to be something like that.
Bed now. There's a lot more going on this weekend, but it's late. Kitchen counter pics forthcoming!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Michael Jackson has died
I won't comment on MJ dying, but since the FCC has declared that all broadcasts must contain a mention of his death I don't want to risk the fine.
I only have 90 minutes left in the month and this is only the 2nd post of June. Oh how I slack. We went on vacation though, so I'm allowed. June 7-14 we were at the Barcelo Tropical in Riviera Maya. Good times and good relaxation. (Pics are on Steph's phone and haven't been retrieved yet.) On Friday night just before we left Steph's driver's side rear window was smashed in a robbery attempt in Cherry Creek, so we started off the vacation somewhat poorly. (They took her loose change and that's it.) Fortunately our luck changed when we left for Mexico.
We got to the airport early enough for breakfast, so we sat and ordered food off the kids' menu so they'd be full and Steph and I picked off theirs. 10 min after the food had come out the manager walked out with another identical order...oops. He was shocked to see empty plates already at the table, but kindly left us the extra food for free. The flight to Mexico was uneventful, as was the transfer to the hotel*, and then we checked in. Steph asked nicely if we could have a room close-ish to the pool and they obliged, putting us in a suite for no extra charge instead of a regular room like we'd booked. Sweet. This came with a bottle of champagne and a fruit plate. Alrighty!
So we headed to the beach. On the way down the stairs we passed an older couple who told us they were leaving in the morning and had left an inner tube and an air mattress by a tree if we wanted to snag them. More free stuff! So we grabbed the air mattress, then went for a walk on the beach. As we were walking and enjoying the sand a little girl and her mom walked up with a bag full of sand toys. They were leaving in the morning as well, and would we like a bunch of sand toys for the week? Sure, thanks!
That was all day 1. The rest of the trip was great, with less overtly free stuff. It was all-inclusive, so everything felt free. The kids had a blast and The Bean took huge leaps with her swimming. She didn't like to let go of mom either, which put the kibosh on the plan that the kids go to the Kids Club a couple hours a day so Steph and I could relax a bit. Oh well. I have to remember that even though I got into this for Steph the kids are #1 for her, which is as it should be.
We're getting our alone time now though. The kids are with their dad in Illinois for 12 days and we're celebrating by re-doing the kitchen countertops. More on that later, when pics are available...
*We're never taking an Apple Vacations transfer again. We waited an hour for "2 more people!" who had been on our flight and must have gotten distracted by the line of time share salesmen offering "Free Rides" to the hotels in exchange for 4 hours of your vacation time later in the week. There's nothing more frustrating than getting off a plane and sitting on a bus for an hour waiting to get to the beach because the driver won't just LEAVE. This has happened every time we've booked the transfers through Apple Vacations.
I only have 90 minutes left in the month and this is only the 2nd post of June. Oh how I slack. We went on vacation though, so I'm allowed. June 7-14 we were at the Barcelo Tropical in Riviera Maya. Good times and good relaxation. (Pics are on Steph's phone and haven't been retrieved yet.) On Friday night just before we left Steph's driver's side rear window was smashed in a robbery attempt in Cherry Creek, so we started off the vacation somewhat poorly. (They took her loose change and that's it.) Fortunately our luck changed when we left for Mexico.
We got to the airport early enough for breakfast, so we sat and ordered food off the kids' menu so they'd be full and Steph and I picked off theirs. 10 min after the food had come out the manager walked out with another identical order...oops. He was shocked to see empty plates already at the table, but kindly left us the extra food for free. The flight to Mexico was uneventful, as was the transfer to the hotel*, and then we checked in. Steph asked nicely if we could have a room close-ish to the pool and they obliged, putting us in a suite for no extra charge instead of a regular room like we'd booked. Sweet. This came with a bottle of champagne and a fruit plate. Alrighty!
So we headed to the beach. On the way down the stairs we passed an older couple who told us they were leaving in the morning and had left an inner tube and an air mattress by a tree if we wanted to snag them. More free stuff! So we grabbed the air mattress, then went for a walk on the beach. As we were walking and enjoying the sand a little girl and her mom walked up with a bag full of sand toys. They were leaving in the morning as well, and would we like a bunch of sand toys for the week? Sure, thanks!
That was all day 1. The rest of the trip was great, with less overtly free stuff. It was all-inclusive, so everything felt free. The kids had a blast and The Bean took huge leaps with her swimming. She didn't like to let go of mom either, which put the kibosh on the plan that the kids go to the Kids Club a couple hours a day so Steph and I could relax a bit. Oh well. I have to remember that even though I got into this for Steph the kids are #1 for her, which is as it should be.
We're getting our alone time now though. The kids are with their dad in Illinois for 12 days and we're celebrating by re-doing the kitchen countertops. More on that later, when pics are available...
*We're never taking an Apple Vacations transfer again. We waited an hour for "2 more people!" who had been on our flight and must have gotten distracted by the line of time share salesmen offering "Free Rides" to the hotels in exchange for 4 hours of your vacation time later in the week. There's nothing more frustrating than getting off a plane and sitting on a bus for an hour waiting to get to the beach because the driver won't just LEAVE. This has happened every time we've booked the transfers through Apple Vacations.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
