Last Friday I got home almost an hour late from work, and that threw off our whole evening. We ended up having cheese dip for dinner after eight, and watched a little bit of TV before Mom and Dad got in, about half past ten..
We chatted for about an hour, but nobody was interested in staying up to watch Iron Man, so we all went to bed around eleven.
Saturday morning T-- and Mom went to meet my little sister at some salon, leaving Dad and me to watch AB for a couple hours. While they were out, T-- finally got in touch with the McDonalds where we were having AB's birthday party, and learned that someone else already had it reserved. So three hours before the party was supposed to start, with guests coming in from multiple states, T-- frantically put together a birthday party at a Chick Fil-A across town, and we got managed to get everyone there.
"Everyone" is too long a list to spell out in detail, but in addition to B-- and E-- we had four of Mom's family from Dallas (three adults and a child), and my little sister's family. Everybody came back to the house afterward for cake and presents, and then all the family stuck around through the afternoon. It was six before the Dallas group headed home, and our house finally got a little quieter. I think AB had a great time, though.
After that, we were too exhausted to do anything but order pizza and watch TV. It was a fun evening nonetheless.
Sunday morning we went to church with Mom and Dad, and my little sister brought her family to join us. After that we all went to lunch at McDonald's, because Dad had been promising his granddaughters for the last two trips to take them, and he insisted on keeping his word.
Mom and Dad left after lunch. D-- got back in from Tulsa (where he'd been all weekend), but he didn't end up coming by. It was another quiet night.
Monday, during the day, D-- contacted me and offered to bring us some dinner. We settled on a Big Ed's burger, which T-- has been trying to get for nearly two months now without success. Monday night it worked out, D-- showing up with it around six in the evening. After dinner we watched the new shows (Chuck and Heroes), and then I got D-- almost caught up on Flight of the Conchords.
Tuesday I started some terrible, awful, miserable training at work, and I'll be doing that until sometime tomorrow. Ugh.
It was bad enough that I got home from work last night, again around sixish, and crashed on the couch. I expect I'll do the same again tonight. We had quesadillas for dinner and watched Biggest Loser until Obama started talking. Then T-- went to bed to read, and I balanced our checkbook.
Also, through all of that, I was working on my rewrite of Gods Tomorrow. I mentioned it in my last journal entry (and still haven't done the project report on it), but I have had a major rewrite of my NaNoWriMo novel pending ever since I finished it last November. I was rather dreading it, because it involved making some pretty huge changes to the narrative flow, but I think it worked out well. T-- is going to reread it for me soon, and I look forward to her feedback because she's had such glowing praise for the book up to now. If I broke, she'll definitely let me know.
Anyway, that's done. I'm hoping to make some progress on the sequels this weekend, but I don't have anything specific in mind.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Journal Entry: February 20, 2009
Yesterday I got some major rewrite work done on Gods Tomorrow, and I hope to get as much again done today. I'll do a project report on the Projects blog sometime today or tomorrow, in case you want more details.
After work yesterday, we had dinner at Taco Bell, then grabbed some Church's Chicken (by request) for N-- and K-- and N--'s parents, who are staying with them. We took dinner to their place about 6:30, and T-- held baby Jason while I corralled AB, and talked with them some.
Once they were done with dinner, we all moved to the living room and sat and talked for about an hour. Those first couple weeks home from the hospital are pretty bad -- I remember all too well -- but they seem to be falling into their stride. They were both looking a lot better than they had in the hospital, and I'm sure they'll be right back into their normal lives within a week or so.
We got home around 8:30, and watched some Conan with AB before we put her to bed. Then we didn't last long after that. T-- went to bed to read, and I took care of a few quick things in WoW, then headed to bed myself.
I woke up around 4:00 with a nosebleed, and had to take care of that, then AB woke us up crying around 5:30, and she'd gotten sick in her bed, so we had to clean that up before we could get her to go back to sleep. I went back to bed, then, but didn't really fall back asleep before my alarm went off.
So it was a rough night. Still, it's Friday, so all I've got to do is drag through the day at work, and then I've got a quiet, relaxing weekend to look forward to.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
After work yesterday, we had dinner at Taco Bell, then grabbed some Church's Chicken (by request) for N-- and K-- and N--'s parents, who are staying with them. We took dinner to their place about 6:30, and T-- held baby Jason while I corralled AB, and talked with them some.
Once they were done with dinner, we all moved to the living room and sat and talked for about an hour. Those first couple weeks home from the hospital are pretty bad -- I remember all too well -- but they seem to be falling into their stride. They were both looking a lot better than they had in the hospital, and I'm sure they'll be right back into their normal lives within a week or so.
We got home around 8:30, and watched some Conan with AB before we put her to bed. Then we didn't last long after that. T-- went to bed to read, and I took care of a few quick things in WoW, then headed to bed myself.
I woke up around 4:00 with a nosebleed, and had to take care of that, then AB woke us up crying around 5:30, and she'd gotten sick in her bed, so we had to clean that up before we could get her to go back to sleep. I went back to bed, then, but didn't really fall back asleep before my alarm went off.
So it was a rough night. Still, it's Friday, so all I've got to do is drag through the day at work, and then I've got a quiet, relaxing weekend to look forward to.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Project Report: Masked Fox Publishing blog
I created a new blog today under the name Masked Fox Publishing (the name I would use for my private company, if I ever ran into a reason to need a private company). It occurred to me while working on some of my recent project reports that some of the discussion that goes into them could be useful for other people working on similar projects -- whether they're Python programmers or writers wondering about the craft. Either way, they wouldn't have any real interest in knowing where I went to dinner last night.
By the same token, it occurred to me more than once while writing those project reports that the only people who would care about what I was saying were people already involved in the projects. So, while I really want to keep working on both sets of blog posts, I think it makes a lot of sense to maintain them separately. Luckily Blogger makes it really easy to do just that, all from one account.
In the future, I might make mention here of project reports for those of you interested, but I'll mostly save the detailed descriptions for that blog. I've got it linked in my Blogs list on the right, and of course you can always choose to Follow it (if you have a Blogger account) or add it to your RSS feed if you'd still like to read the project reports.
To simplify things, I've moved all my older project reports over there, and replaced the existing entries on this blog with links.
Status: In Development
By the same token, it occurred to me more than once while writing those project reports that the only people who would care about what I was saying were people already involved in the projects. So, while I really want to keep working on both sets of blog posts, I think it makes a lot of sense to maintain them separately. Luckily Blogger makes it really easy to do just that, all from one account.
In the future, I might make mention here of project reports for those of you interested, but I'll mostly save the detailed descriptions for that blog. I've got it linked in my Blogs list on the right, and of course you can always choose to Follow it (if you have a Blogger account) or add it to your RSS feed if you'd still like to read the project reports.
To simplify things, I've moved all my older project reports over there, and replaced the existing entries on this blog with links.
Status: In Development
Journal Entry: February 19, 2009
So, I don't think I mentioned this yet, but we've been having plumbing problems.
As part of the construction project to renovate the kitchen, we had to bypass an old copper drain vent that ran from the sink/dishwasher drain up through the roof (and right through our window). As I mentioned when describing the project, we just capped that off, knowing it could impact our plumbing, but hoping it wouldn't.
Then over the weekend T-- was doing a load of laundry and I stepped out in the garage to grab something, and noticed a stream of water creeping from the water heater cabinet down toward the door. We'd encountered that a couple years ago when we had a clog in one of our drains, and the washing machine would regularly flood the garage when it drained. I recognized the effect immediately, and given the timing I just assumed it had to do with the capped drain vent.
Yesterday I opened that closet in the garage and pulled off the sheet of drywall hiding the drainpipes, and discovered (remembered?) that there's a dedicated vent right above the washing machine drain. So that gave me some hope that a plumber would have access enough to fix the problem. It occurred to me that maybe that vent had been clogged for a while, and the one upstream was doing double duty. In that case, a quick snaking of the vent pipe would stop the drain from backing up.
So T-- called our favorite plumber, and he came out this morning and did exactly that -- snaked down through that vent, and it immediately fixed our problem. T-- even had a coupon from the phone book, so it cost less than a hundred bucks to get it taken care of. Before he left she told him exactly what we'd done, and he told us (as we had guessed, before our garage started flooding) that we probably wouldn't have any serious problems with the capped vent. So that's a relief.
Anyway, the plumbing situation is resolved now. Last night, we went to El Chico for dinner with my sister and her family. We showed up at 6:00, and the waiter didn't come around to take our orders until 6:30, and then the food didn't show up until about 7:10. That was a problem, because T-- had prepared cupcakes for a birthday party for AB at church, which started at 7:00. The girls ate quickly, and then my sister complained to the manager and we got a free dinner. Nice!
Then I took my brother-in-law back to the house while the rest of them rushed to church late for AB's party. It was Jeff's first time seeing the remodeled kitchen, and we spent half an hour discussing the work that had gone into it.
When the girls got home, we talked for a bit until the little ones started fussing, and then my sister took her kids home to go to bed. T-- and I watched Lost (a really good one, and frustratingly short even at 40 minutes), and a couple other shows before going to bed.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
As part of the construction project to renovate the kitchen, we had to bypass an old copper drain vent that ran from the sink/dishwasher drain up through the roof (and right through our window). As I mentioned when describing the project, we just capped that off, knowing it could impact our plumbing, but hoping it wouldn't.
Then over the weekend T-- was doing a load of laundry and I stepped out in the garage to grab something, and noticed a stream of water creeping from the water heater cabinet down toward the door. We'd encountered that a couple years ago when we had a clog in one of our drains, and the washing machine would regularly flood the garage when it drained. I recognized the effect immediately, and given the timing I just assumed it had to do with the capped drain vent.
Yesterday I opened that closet in the garage and pulled off the sheet of drywall hiding the drainpipes, and discovered (remembered?) that there's a dedicated vent right above the washing machine drain. So that gave me some hope that a plumber would have access enough to fix the problem. It occurred to me that maybe that vent had been clogged for a while, and the one upstream was doing double duty. In that case, a quick snaking of the vent pipe would stop the drain from backing up.
So T-- called our favorite plumber, and he came out this morning and did exactly that -- snaked down through that vent, and it immediately fixed our problem. T-- even had a coupon from the phone book, so it cost less than a hundred bucks to get it taken care of. Before he left she told him exactly what we'd done, and he told us (as we had guessed, before our garage started flooding) that we probably wouldn't have any serious problems with the capped vent. So that's a relief.
Anyway, the plumbing situation is resolved now. Last night, we went to El Chico for dinner with my sister and her family. We showed up at 6:00, and the waiter didn't come around to take our orders until 6:30, and then the food didn't show up until about 7:10. That was a problem, because T-- had prepared cupcakes for a birthday party for AB at church, which started at 7:00. The girls ate quickly, and then my sister complained to the manager and we got a free dinner. Nice!
Then I took my brother-in-law back to the house while the rest of them rushed to church late for AB's party. It was Jeff's first time seeing the remodeled kitchen, and we spent half an hour discussing the work that had gone into it.
When the girls got home, we talked for a bit until the little ones started fussing, and then my sister took her kids home to go to bed. T-- and I watched Lost (a really good one, and frustratingly short even at 40 minutes), and a couple other shows before going to bed.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Journal Entry: February 18, 2009
I'm finally over whatever ailment had me down all weekend. Last night I was still dragging some (and T--, too, but of an ailment all her own), but today I'm finally feeling pretty much well.
After work yesterday we had D-- over, and T-- made him steaks as a birthday treat. They turned out awesome, as did the homemade mashed potatoes and the fruit salad she threw together as a dessert.
Then we spent the evening watching TV. T-- gave AB a bath, and I spent some more time getting the fileserver up to speed, but all around it was a quiet night.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
After work yesterday we had D-- over, and T-- made him steaks as a birthday treat. They turned out awesome, as did the homemade mashed potatoes and the fruit salad she threw together as a dessert.
Then we spent the evening watching TV. T-- gave AB a bath, and I spent some more time getting the fileserver up to speed, but all around it was a quiet night.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Journal Entry: February 17, 2009
Last Thursday night, T-- and I went out for a Valentine's date. She was at the zoo when I first got home from work, which gave me time to wrap my gift to her (season 6 of Law and Order) and scribble down a quick card by way of iambic meter. Then T-- got home from the zoo, and shortly after D-- showed up to babysit AB.
T-- and I went up to the Old Chicago in Edmond, and had some fantastic pizza. Then on the drive toward the theater we looked up showtimes for Bride Wars, and learned that our options were either ten minutes in the past, or two hours later. So we decided to go shopping instead.
We found AB's birthday present at Toys R Us, then picked up some gellato and headed home. We spent most of the rest of the evening on the couch, watching Thursday night comedy.
Friday I woke up feeling sicker than ever, but I'd used up my RDO on Monday, so I came in to work anyway. Late in the morning, I started getting calls about K-- and N-- being at the hospital, with the baby apparently ready to come out (two weeks early). I cooled my heels until a little after noon, then finally decided to call it quits for the day. I figured chances were good I'd be spending the afternoon in the waiting room at the hospital, but if not I wouldn't mind taking the afternoon off to convalesce a little bit.
K-- and N-- ended up going home a couple hours later, but they were back that night and by 11:00 it was clear that it was really happening this time. I took K-- some dinner around midnight, and hung around until a nurse said they should probably get some sleep, and plan on having the baby in the morning.
N--'s mom came to crash our place, just to be close to the hospital, so the two of us got to the house between 1:00 and 2:00 Saturday morning, and it was a while before I fell asleep. When I finally did, I slept until about 11:00.
I got up and got dressed in time to take some lunch up to the hospital for K--. Things hadn't benn progressing very quickly at that point, so we spent about an hour waiting out in the waiting room, having lunch and talking with K-- and N--'s family as they arrived, and then finally gave up and headed home so an increasingly fussy AB could get a nap.
D-- called and asked if I could pick him up from Best Buy, where he was getting a new stereo installed in his car, but halfway there he called and told me they couldn't do it, so I took care of a couple errands and headed back home. Right about then AB was waking up from her nap and K-- called to say things were starting to happen, so we headed back up to the hospital.
We got to see N-- briefly, then went out to wait in the sitting room with the family, and E-- (joined shortly by B--), and eventually even D-- showed up. We had a real party going on in the waiting room.
Of course, as you'll know by now, the baby was born at 6:14. We waited another forty minutes to get in and see him, congratulate K-- and N--, and then we headed home, leaving them to be with their visiting family.
I dropped T-- and AB off, and ran up to Edmond to grab some barbecue from Steve's Rib. When I got back to the house D-- was there, and we ate and watched some TV for a while, then T-- headed to bed early and I threw The Big Lebowski in while D-- and I played WoW.
Around 11:00 again, K-- called and asked if I could bring him some dinner. D-- came with, and we took some food up and got to visit with them for a while before they decided they were ready to get some sleep. I remember what it's like those days in the hospital -- you're desperate for some diversion, like a good conversation with visitors, but even more so for sleep. We cleared out, and got back to the house around 1:00.
Just before we left I'd gotten caught up in a project on the computer, organizing my fileserver, and instead of going to bed I picked up where I'd left off, so I was up until nearly 3:00 working on that. Then I woke up Sunday morning on time to get to church, but I still wasn't over my sinus infection, and my stomach rebelled something fierce. So I stayed home, waited it out, and then didn't go along when T-- headed to the hospital for a quick visit after church.
We spent the afternoon on the couch, T-- watching Law and Order and me working on the fileserver. Later in the afternoon Toby called to say he and Gwyn wanted to visit K-- and N-- at the hospital, and asking for the room number. They suggested we could get together for dinner afterward, and we were all for it.
We ended up going to Texas Roadhouse, and spent a couple fun hours with the Nances. It's always good to see them. Afterward we headed home, and spent the rest of the night the way we'd spent the afternoon.
Monday was President's Day, so I was off work. I slept in again, but woke up in time to pick D-- up from an automotive shop that was going to install his new stereo. That was up in Edmond, and I took him straight from there to the hospital, where T-- was already waiting for us.
We spent a while in the waiting room, chasing AB around and chatting with the family, then got to see K-- and N-- and little baby Jason all in a crowd. We packed the room, and everybody who was healthy (read, "not me") got to hold the baby, and we had a grand old time. We also learned they would be going home that evening, which was good news to all, I'm sure.
We left after a bit, sometime early afternoon, and I dropped D-- off at his place then went home to play some WoW. A few hours later, 5-ish, he called to tell me that the automotive place had been unable to install his stereo (but had waited six hours to tell him that), and he needed a ride to go pick up the car. Ugh.
We got back from that errand a few minutes before our babysitter arrived to watch AB. Then we (D-- and T-- and I) headed up to the mall for a quick meal in the food court, and then an eight o'clock showing of Coraline.
The movie was great. Nightmarish, but in a good way. It's billed as a scary fairy tale, and it does the job. T-- and D-- liked the artistic style a lot. I wasn't really a fan, but I did enjoy what they did with the story. It was captivating.
We got back home after ten, so that was pretty much it for the day. Bed, sleep, and now it's Tuesday and I'm back to work.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
T-- and I went up to the Old Chicago in Edmond, and had some fantastic pizza. Then on the drive toward the theater we looked up showtimes for Bride Wars, and learned that our options were either ten minutes in the past, or two hours later. So we decided to go shopping instead.
We found AB's birthday present at Toys R Us, then picked up some gellato and headed home. We spent most of the rest of the evening on the couch, watching Thursday night comedy.
Friday I woke up feeling sicker than ever, but I'd used up my RDO on Monday, so I came in to work anyway. Late in the morning, I started getting calls about K-- and N-- being at the hospital, with the baby apparently ready to come out (two weeks early). I cooled my heels until a little after noon, then finally decided to call it quits for the day. I figured chances were good I'd be spending the afternoon in the waiting room at the hospital, but if not I wouldn't mind taking the afternoon off to convalesce a little bit.
K-- and N-- ended up going home a couple hours later, but they were back that night and by 11:00 it was clear that it was really happening this time. I took K-- some dinner around midnight, and hung around until a nurse said they should probably get some sleep, and plan on having the baby in the morning.
N--'s mom came to crash our place, just to be close to the hospital, so the two of us got to the house between 1:00 and 2:00 Saturday morning, and it was a while before I fell asleep. When I finally did, I slept until about 11:00.
I got up and got dressed in time to take some lunch up to the hospital for K--. Things hadn't benn progressing very quickly at that point, so we spent about an hour waiting out in the waiting room, having lunch and talking with K-- and N--'s family as they arrived, and then finally gave up and headed home so an increasingly fussy AB could get a nap.
D-- called and asked if I could pick him up from Best Buy, where he was getting a new stereo installed in his car, but halfway there he called and told me they couldn't do it, so I took care of a couple errands and headed back home. Right about then AB was waking up from her nap and K-- called to say things were starting to happen, so we headed back up to the hospital.
We got to see N-- briefly, then went out to wait in the sitting room with the family, and E-- (joined shortly by B--), and eventually even D-- showed up. We had a real party going on in the waiting room.
Of course, as you'll know by now, the baby was born at 6:14. We waited another forty minutes to get in and see him, congratulate K-- and N--, and then we headed home, leaving them to be with their visiting family.
I dropped T-- and AB off, and ran up to Edmond to grab some barbecue from Steve's Rib. When I got back to the house D-- was there, and we ate and watched some TV for a while, then T-- headed to bed early and I threw The Big Lebowski in while D-- and I played WoW.
Around 11:00 again, K-- called and asked if I could bring him some dinner. D-- came with, and we took some food up and got to visit with them for a while before they decided they were ready to get some sleep. I remember what it's like those days in the hospital -- you're desperate for some diversion, like a good conversation with visitors, but even more so for sleep. We cleared out, and got back to the house around 1:00.
Just before we left I'd gotten caught up in a project on the computer, organizing my fileserver, and instead of going to bed I picked up where I'd left off, so I was up until nearly 3:00 working on that. Then I woke up Sunday morning on time to get to church, but I still wasn't over my sinus infection, and my stomach rebelled something fierce. So I stayed home, waited it out, and then didn't go along when T-- headed to the hospital for a quick visit after church.
We spent the afternoon on the couch, T-- watching Law and Order and me working on the fileserver. Later in the afternoon Toby called to say he and Gwyn wanted to visit K-- and N-- at the hospital, and asking for the room number. They suggested we could get together for dinner afterward, and we were all for it.
We ended up going to Texas Roadhouse, and spent a couple fun hours with the Nances. It's always good to see them. Afterward we headed home, and spent the rest of the night the way we'd spent the afternoon.
Monday was President's Day, so I was off work. I slept in again, but woke up in time to pick D-- up from an automotive shop that was going to install his new stereo. That was up in Edmond, and I took him straight from there to the hospital, where T-- was already waiting for us.
We spent a while in the waiting room, chasing AB around and chatting with the family, then got to see K-- and N-- and little baby Jason all in a crowd. We packed the room, and everybody who was healthy (read, "not me") got to hold the baby, and we had a grand old time. We also learned they would be going home that evening, which was good news to all, I'm sure.
We left after a bit, sometime early afternoon, and I dropped D-- off at his place then went home to play some WoW. A few hours later, 5-ish, he called to tell me that the automotive place had been unable to install his stereo (but had waited six hours to tell him that), and he needed a ride to go pick up the car. Ugh.
We got back from that errand a few minutes before our babysitter arrived to watch AB. Then we (D-- and T-- and I) headed up to the mall for a quick meal in the food court, and then an eight o'clock showing of Coraline.
The movie was great. Nightmarish, but in a good way. It's billed as a scary fairy tale, and it does the job. T-- and D-- liked the artistic style a lot. I wasn't really a fan, but I did enjoy what they did with the story. It was captivating.
We got back home after ten, so that was pretty much it for the day. Bed, sleep, and now it's Tuesday and I'm back to work.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Project Report: My Constant (iPhone App)
This project report has been moved to my new Projects blog.
Project Report: Ghost Targets: Expectations
This project report has been moved to my new Projects blog.
Journal Entry: February 12, 2009
I mentioned feeling under-the-weather Monday morning, and that has kicked in with a vengeance. Starting yesterday morning (and then worse today), I've got a throatache, a headache, and a bit of an upset stomach. It feels like strep, but every time I say it feels like strep I end up with a sinus infection, so it's probably a sinus infection.
Either way, bah.
After work yesterday T-- and AB went to a dinner at the church, but I wasn't feeling up to the socializing, so I stayed home. D-- came over a little after 6 and we ran to Freddy's for a burger, then Best Buy to see if they had some software he's been wanting (they did).
Then we came back home, and I showed him a couple of the funnier episodes of "Flight of the Conchords" before T-- got home. Once she did, we turned on "Lost," and when D-- left after that, we watched an episode of "Law and Order" before retiring early. I was in bed until nearly 7 this morning, but I didn't really get much sleep (and, as I said, woke up feeling awful).
Bah. Bah and bah.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Either way, bah.
After work yesterday T-- and AB went to a dinner at the church, but I wasn't feeling up to the socializing, so I stayed home. D-- came over a little after 6 and we ran to Freddy's for a burger, then Best Buy to see if they had some software he's been wanting (they did).
Then we came back home, and I showed him a couple of the funnier episodes of "Flight of the Conchords" before T-- got home. Once she did, we turned on "Lost," and when D-- left after that, we watched an episode of "Law and Order" before retiring early. I was in bed until nearly 7 this morning, but I didn't really get much sleep (and, as I said, woke up feeling awful).
Bah. Bah and bah.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Journal Entry: February 11, 2009
Friday night, K-- invited the guys out for a long-discussed pre-baby drinking night. Sort of like last hurrah before fatherhood. I dunno.
Although there were five names on the invitation, it ended up being D-- and K-- and me, and that was enough for a fairly impressive evening of revelry. We started at Henry Hudsons, where we ate and drank and talked programming and politics (and D-- and K-- discovered a startling similarity of ideas, even if it's offset by a difference of priorities), then between eleven and midnight we took the party to Fox and Hound, where the atmosphere was more pleasant even if the drinks were more expensive. By that point we didn't have that much drinking left in us anyway.
We did close the place down, though.
D-- dropped me off at home around 2:45, and I stayed up playing WoW until 3:45 before I finally felt ready to fall asleep.
In the end, I basically traded in half of my Saturday for some extra Friday, because I didn't end up crawling out of bed until 3-ish on Saturday afternoon. Shortly after that T-- disappeared for her crop at the church, and I spent the evening watching TV and reading books with AB. I tried to feed her dinner, but she wasn't interested. She had a good time, though, and went to bed a little before nine.
After that I spent the evening getting caught up on "Flight of the Conchords" and playing WoW, and T-- got home from the crop earlier than usual and we both went to bed at a reasonable hour.
Sunday morning, after church, we had lunch at the regular second Sunday fellowship. We sat with K-- and N--, of course, and we were right next to the Bolings and the McElroys. As we got up to head home, Jerry Boling asked me about my writing (indicating that he would be interested in reading one of my books), and then Rob McElroy's son invited me to join in a writing group with him and a couple other people from the congregation, and I didn't have the nerve to say no. So apparently I'm doing that.
K-- and N-- came by the house after that, to officially admire our handiwork. I also spent some time discussing my HTPC with K--, and talking about the MovieHoard plugin, which he's been working on extensively.
T-- and I spent the afternoon watching "Psych" while AB napped, and then K-- and N-- came back over for dinner. They brought the ingredients, and T-- and I made up some chili. It was delicious.
Monday morning, I woke up early but feeling unwell (more tired than anything else), and ended up calling in sick for the day. I had an RDO scheduled for Friday anyway, so I went ahead and burned it early, to stay home with T-- and AB. We took care of several of T--'s errands, running up to Hobby Lobby in the morning and then going grocery shopping later in the afternoon. We also grabbed some Schlotzky's for lunch (delicious), and then T-- made hamburgers and hotdogs for dinner (even more delicious). D-- joined us for that, and hung around for a pretty quiet evening watching TV and playing WoW.
Then Tuesday I finally came back to work. Mid-afternoon, I got a call from T-- informing me of killer tornadoes in the area, and spent the next couple hours in mortal terror for my family's safety. In the end, we never saw anything damaging at our house, and the worst we know of for friends and family were some power outages at my sister's house and K-- and N--'s, but in both cases they were resolved within a few hours.
Still, it was an exciting few hours. We had frozen pizza for dinner and I worked on our finances, then watched "Flight of the Conchords" with T-- while she got caught up with me. As she said, the whole show is basically just really complicated music videos, for a They Might Be Giants-style novelty band. Each 22-minute episode is essentially an 8-minute setup for a 3-minute song, rinse and repeat.
I find it hilarious. It's the sort of comedy I expected from the British version of "The Office" when everyone was saying the British version was so much better than the American version. (I never liked it much.) This is good quality absurdism, though.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Although there were five names on the invitation, it ended up being D-- and K-- and me, and that was enough for a fairly impressive evening of revelry. We started at Henry Hudsons, where we ate and drank and talked programming and politics (and D-- and K-- discovered a startling similarity of ideas, even if it's offset by a difference of priorities), then between eleven and midnight we took the party to Fox and Hound, where the atmosphere was more pleasant even if the drinks were more expensive. By that point we didn't have that much drinking left in us anyway.
We did close the place down, though.
D-- dropped me off at home around 2:45, and I stayed up playing WoW until 3:45 before I finally felt ready to fall asleep.
In the end, I basically traded in half of my Saturday for some extra Friday, because I didn't end up crawling out of bed until 3-ish on Saturday afternoon. Shortly after that T-- disappeared for her crop at the church, and I spent the evening watching TV and reading books with AB. I tried to feed her dinner, but she wasn't interested. She had a good time, though, and went to bed a little before nine.
After that I spent the evening getting caught up on "Flight of the Conchords" and playing WoW, and T-- got home from the crop earlier than usual and we both went to bed at a reasonable hour.
Sunday morning, after church, we had lunch at the regular second Sunday fellowship. We sat with K-- and N--, of course, and we were right next to the Bolings and the McElroys. As we got up to head home, Jerry Boling asked me about my writing (indicating that he would be interested in reading one of my books), and then Rob McElroy's son invited me to join in a writing group with him and a couple other people from the congregation, and I didn't have the nerve to say no. So apparently I'm doing that.
K-- and N-- came by the house after that, to officially admire our handiwork. I also spent some time discussing my HTPC with K--, and talking about the MovieHoard plugin, which he's been working on extensively.
T-- and I spent the afternoon watching "Psych" while AB napped, and then K-- and N-- came back over for dinner. They brought the ingredients, and T-- and I made up some chili. It was delicious.
Monday morning, I woke up early but feeling unwell (more tired than anything else), and ended up calling in sick for the day. I had an RDO scheduled for Friday anyway, so I went ahead and burned it early, to stay home with T-- and AB. We took care of several of T--'s errands, running up to Hobby Lobby in the morning and then going grocery shopping later in the afternoon. We also grabbed some Schlotzky's for lunch (delicious), and then T-- made hamburgers and hotdogs for dinner (even more delicious). D-- joined us for that, and hung around for a pretty quiet evening watching TV and playing WoW.
Then Tuesday I finally came back to work. Mid-afternoon, I got a call from T-- informing me of killer tornadoes in the area, and spent the next couple hours in mortal terror for my family's safety. In the end, we never saw anything damaging at our house, and the worst we know of for friends and family were some power outages at my sister's house and K-- and N--'s, but in both cases they were resolved within a few hours.
Still, it was an exciting few hours. We had frozen pizza for dinner and I worked on our finances, then watched "Flight of the Conchords" with T-- while she got caught up with me. As she said, the whole show is basically just really complicated music videos, for a They Might Be Giants-style novelty band. Each 22-minute episode is essentially an 8-minute setup for a 3-minute song, rinse and repeat.
I find it hilarious. It's the sort of comedy I expected from the British version of "The Office" when everyone was saying the British version was so much better than the American version. (I never liked it much.) This is good quality absurdism, though.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Project Report: OBDMultibox and WoWCast.ahk
This project report has been moved to my new Projects blog.
Journal Entry: February 6, 2009
Yesterday after work I figured out how to install the cabinet doors on our new island. It's the most bizarre and, at the same time, coolest latching mechanism for a cabinet door hinge I've ever seen. (And, yes, you would be right to assume that's a fairly small set).
The kitchen looks finished now. There's still some stuff we plan to do, but it no longer looks like a construction site. That's easier on the psyche, because I don't walk in the door and think of all the stuff that still needs to get done anymore. Maybe T-- does, since the kitchen is a bigger part of her daily life, but for me it was just about getting the ugly hidden under a sheet of plywood and a couple coats of paint.
I made up some salsa (by which I mean poured a jar of Pace picante sauce into a blender and pressed the "Mix" button for about twenty seconds), and T-- made quesadillas for dinner. D-- came over, too. We watched Lost, and then D-- went home to raid and T-- and I watched 30 Rock, The Office, and My Name is Earl.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
The kitchen looks finished now. There's still some stuff we plan to do, but it no longer looks like a construction site. That's easier on the psyche, because I don't walk in the door and think of all the stuff that still needs to get done anymore. Maybe T-- does, since the kitchen is a bigger part of her daily life, but for me it was just about getting the ugly hidden under a sheet of plywood and a couple coats of paint.
I made up some salsa (by which I mean poured a jar of Pace picante sauce into a blender and pressed the "Mix" button for about twenty seconds), and T-- made quesadillas for dinner. D-- came over, too. We watched Lost, and then D-- went home to raid and T-- and I watched 30 Rock, The Office, and My Name is Earl.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Journal Entry: February 5, 2009
Yesterday I had something of an epiphany concerning my posts to this blog, remembering that my original goal was to track my various projects through the idea, preparation, development, and distribution phases. That is to say, when I come up with a new idea for a story, I'd like to post it here, then chronicle the prewriting process, monitor my progress through writing it, and discuss both my reader reviews and the process of trying to get it published, as I go through that.
Same thing for programming projects, and any of the many other distractions I invest my time in.
Instead, I post daily about all the little things I'm doing, treating the ongoing projects more as assumed background information than actual highlights.
So I'm going to try to reverse that (or possibly just separate the two, making project reports separate from my journal entries). I didn't end up having time yesterday, though, and today's not looking great.
I'll do the journal real fast, though. Last night after work D-- brought dinner over so he could check out the work we'd done in the kitchen (which is nearly complete, after T-- put in a full afternoon painting). We were also watching my niece Sophy, and she and AB played pretty well together.
I also received a new computer case and a new remote, which works with XP. Actually...it came with software that allowed my old remote to work with XP, which is awesome because (1) it had a lot more buttons than the new one does, and (2) my Harmony remote is already programmed for those buttons. So I spent about an hour getting it set up, and now it works like a charm.
Well, an hour for the remote. D-- and I together spent almost two hours getting the computer transferred into the new case (a low-profile Home Theater PC shell). It was a lot of work, with not entirely satisfactory results in terms of the installation, but the finished product is a real beauty. It fits on a shelf in our entertainment center, and as I said I have the remote working for it again.
We're using XBMC as our media center -- a port of the old homebrew software for a modded XBox. One of the big advantages of that is that it has Python-based plugin and scripting support, and I actually have a bunch of experience not only with Python, but with Python for XBMC (actually, if you do a search for the phrase "Python for XBMC," my website is the number one Google result).
So I'm really excited that they have a Windows port of the code, and we're putting it to good use. I'm sure some of the plugins I work on will make it into my project reports.
That was pretty much my whole night, though. I kept logging into WoW, then timing out and getting kicked off the server because I was paying more attention to my new computer setup than to the game.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Same thing for programming projects, and any of the many other distractions I invest my time in.
Instead, I post daily about all the little things I'm doing, treating the ongoing projects more as assumed background information than actual highlights.
So I'm going to try to reverse that (or possibly just separate the two, making project reports separate from my journal entries). I didn't end up having time yesterday, though, and today's not looking great.
I'll do the journal real fast, though. Last night after work D-- brought dinner over so he could check out the work we'd done in the kitchen (which is nearly complete, after T-- put in a full afternoon painting). We were also watching my niece Sophy, and she and AB played pretty well together.
I also received a new computer case and a new remote, which works with XP. Actually...it came with software that allowed my old remote to work with XP, which is awesome because (1) it had a lot more buttons than the new one does, and (2) my Harmony remote is already programmed for those buttons. So I spent about an hour getting it set up, and now it works like a charm.
Well, an hour for the remote. D-- and I together spent almost two hours getting the computer transferred into the new case (a low-profile Home Theater PC shell). It was a lot of work, with not entirely satisfactory results in terms of the installation, but the finished product is a real beauty. It fits on a shelf in our entertainment center, and as I said I have the remote working for it again.
We're using XBMC as our media center -- a port of the old homebrew software for a modded XBox. One of the big advantages of that is that it has Python-based plugin and scripting support, and I actually have a bunch of experience not only with Python, but with Python for XBMC (actually, if you do a search for the phrase "Python for XBMC," my website is the number one Google result).
So I'm really excited that they have a Windows port of the code, and we're putting it to good use. I'm sure some of the plugins I work on will make it into my project reports.
That was pretty much my whole night, though. I kept logging into WoW, then timing out and getting kicked off the server because I was paying more attention to my new computer setup than to the game.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Journal Entry: February 4, 2009
Last night after work we stopped by Best Buy to pick up my new laptop, and then headed north of Edmond for dinner plans at our preacher's house.
T-- has been working with the preacher's wife, Terry McElroy, at Oklahoma Christian Academy, the private school associated with Oklahoma Christian University. She's gone in as a volunteer to teach a handful of art history classes to Terry's class. Last time they were talking, Terry invited us over for dinner.
So we made the drive out there last night, and when we showed up Rob had some delicious Parmesan chicken ready for us. We ate and talked, then moved to the living room and talked, and then had some homemade ice cream and cookies while we talked. And then it was 9:00, and T-- and I were tired of wrestling with AB (in a house full of breakables), so we headed home.
And I had offered to paint the new cabinets when we got home, expecting that to happen an hour earlier than it did, but I still felt obligated so I got out the paint and tape and rollers and got to work. Three hours and four coats later, it was done. The island looks great now, missing only the doors on the cabinets, and T-- plans to get the woodwork around the new window painted during the day today.
It's kind of amazing how fast it has all come together.
Anyway, I finished up around 12:30, left a voicemail for my boss telling him I'd be a little late showing up this morning, and then headed to bed. I was true to my word, getting in right at 10.
Still, it was a good night's work.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
T-- has been working with the preacher's wife, Terry McElroy, at Oklahoma Christian Academy, the private school associated with Oklahoma Christian University. She's gone in as a volunteer to teach a handful of art history classes to Terry's class. Last time they were talking, Terry invited us over for dinner.
So we made the drive out there last night, and when we showed up Rob had some delicious Parmesan chicken ready for us. We ate and talked, then moved to the living room and talked, and then had some homemade ice cream and cookies while we talked. And then it was 9:00, and T-- and I were tired of wrestling with AB (in a house full of breakables), so we headed home.
And I had offered to paint the new cabinets when we got home, expecting that to happen an hour earlier than it did, but I still felt obligated so I got out the paint and tape and rollers and got to work. Three hours and four coats later, it was done. The island looks great now, missing only the doors on the cabinets, and T-- plans to get the woodwork around the new window painted during the day today.
It's kind of amazing how fast it has all come together.
Anyway, I finished up around 12:30, left a voicemail for my boss telling him I'd be a little late showing up this morning, and then headed to bed. I was true to my word, getting in right at 10.
Still, it was a good night's work.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Journal Entry: February 3, 2009
Yesterday I got home from work and wedged myself under the kitchen sink to try to fix our garbage disposal. We'd disconnected it as part of our wiring project over the weekend, and then discovered that the power wiring wasn't labeled (it's usually color-coded for the hot wire and the neutral wire, and on an electric motor hooking it up wrong causes the motor to spin backward, which almost always causes problems and can often cause the motor to burn up).
Umm...so, anyway, physics lesson aside, I had left the garbage disposal disconnected and after two days (and all the dishes of a horde of visiting family), that was already becoming a problem by the middle of the day on Monday, so, as I said, I crawled into the tiny space under the kitchen sink and got to work.
It wasn't as difficult a task as I'd expected, because the disposal had a small removable panel on the bottom of it to give access to the wiring connections. Unfortunately, it took me some trial and error before I found that panel, but within about forty minutes I had it dismantled, traced the wiring to the wall, connected it up, and then closed everything up and got out of the cabinet. We've run the disposal several times since then, and it seems to be working fine.
Pretty much right after that I headed up to Home Depot to pick up some painting supplies for T-- and a single piece of plywood to act as a temporary countertop on our new island until Matt can come back down and make something more professional-looking.
I got home from Home Depot a little after 7:00, and T-- had dinner waiting for me. I ate real quick, then we installed the countertop (with much measuring and then nudging, and then measuring again, and then cursing, and then nudging some more), glued and nailed it down, put the doors back on the wall-mount cabinets, and called it quits for the night.
That was sometime between 8:30 and 9:00, and I logged into WoW to take care of some chores while we watched Chuck and Heroes.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Umm...so, anyway, physics lesson aside, I had left the garbage disposal disconnected and after two days (and all the dishes of a horde of visiting family), that was already becoming a problem by the middle of the day on Monday, so, as I said, I crawled into the tiny space under the kitchen sink and got to work.
It wasn't as difficult a task as I'd expected, because the disposal had a small removable panel on the bottom of it to give access to the wiring connections. Unfortunately, it took me some trial and error before I found that panel, but within about forty minutes I had it dismantled, traced the wiring to the wall, connected it up, and then closed everything up and got out of the cabinet. We've run the disposal several times since then, and it seems to be working fine.
Pretty much right after that I headed up to Home Depot to pick up some painting supplies for T-- and a single piece of plywood to act as a temporary countertop on our new island until Matt can come back down and make something more professional-looking.
I got home from Home Depot a little after 7:00, and T-- had dinner waiting for me. I ate real quick, then we installed the countertop (with much measuring and then nudging, and then measuring again, and then cursing, and then nudging some more), glued and nailed it down, put the doors back on the wall-mount cabinets, and called it quits for the night.
That was sometime between 8:30 and 9:00, and I logged into WoW to take care of some chores while we watched Chuck and Heroes.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Journal Entry: February 2, 2009
And here's another week-in-one.
Last Monday I got to work right on time (which is something of a rarity on Mondays). On the drive in I heard a brief weather report on the radio, and I mostly zoned it out until I heard, "...and then tomorrow afternoon even more snow and ice..." and that made me wonder what exactly I'd missed.
A couple hours later, I found out, because I heard conversations over the cubicle wall concerning all the accidents that were occurring out on the roads. Hefner Parkway was closed down entirely -- the highway I take for ten miles to and from work -- and Tinker Air Force Base was closing down so we would be next. That sort of thing.
They did let us leave early, but I had to take back roads to get home (since Hefner Parkway was closed) and it took me over an hour. I made it home unscathed, but I passed nine accidents on the drive -- three of which I watched happen.
I hate icy conditions.
Anyway, I made it home and curled up on the couch and then didn't leave the house for two days. Tuesday was a snow day at work, so I got to stay home with AB and T--. T-- suggested we make a blanket-tent for AB, and followed that up with, "but I'm no engineer," so I got the hint that she wanted something big and fancy. I did the best I could (and it's photo-documented on her blog, which you probably read a week ago).
In addition to that my next hard drives came in for my computer, but one of them was DoA. I spent most of the afternoon and evening figuring that out, then getting the other one up and running. I also majorly rearranged our entertainment center to make room for the computer up there.
Wednesday we were offered a three hour late start because the ice was hanging around. I seriously considered taking the day off anyway, but I ended up going in and had a pretty productive day. Driving wasn't too bad by 10 Wednesday morning, and by the time I drove home there was nothing but slush on the roads. We had dinner with D-- and K-- and N-- at El Chico, then K-- and N-- came over to play some Rock Band.
Thursday I had another late start (although that one came out of my vacation time), and another good day at work. Then I spent most of the evening trying to figure out how to get my USB remote control to work on XP, and finally ordered a new one that would.
Friday...we got started. It was my RDO, and I took the opportunity to sleep in. Then I did some work on the computer (financial stuff, mainly) before we went to lunch at P F Chang's. T-- had been craving it, and I'm always a fan.
After lunch AB went down for a nap and I helped T-- rearrange some furniture in the living room. Then I spent a couple hours playing WoW while she boxed up all the dishes in the cabinets above the sink. Sometime after 6, her brother Matt and his whole family showed up (wife and three kids).
For as long as we've lived in this house, T-- has wanted a window between the kitchen and the living room. It's a big blank wall on the living room side, but a relatively narrow space between the cabinets in the kitchen. So we decided it would make the most sense to rip out the cabinets (or, actually, delicately detach them, so they could be preserved for later use), and just make a big window.
Unfortunately, that meant relocating a couple electrical outlets and a couple light switches, not to mention a 1 1/2-inch copper vent pipe that ran from our kitchen sink up through the roof....
So, yeah, it was no small task. As he did when he showed up to help us with the Tulsa house almost a year ago, Matt showed up, spent a few minutes standing back and looking at the project, then grabbed a hammer and started busting things.
We got a ton done Friday night. We took down the decorative trim above the sink (undamaged, so it could be replaced afterward), then took out the two cabinets (which took most of two hours), and wrapped up by cutting a long rectangle out of the drywall on the kitchen side between two studs. It was more ceremonial than anything else, just getting started. We all turned in around 11:00, but I didn't get to sleep until 2:00 or so. I ended up playing WoW instead, and got my two main characters to 80, so yay.
Saturday morning I woke to the sound of a drywall saw, around 9:00. I took my time getting ready, then finally headed to the kitchen to find a box of donuts on the table (yay Krispy Kreme!), and the whole window cut out of the drywall on the kitchen side. We had four studs to remove, and now the electrical and plumbing issues were more clearly visible.
I helped Matt cut out the other side of the window, sawing through the drywall in the living room (and making an unholy mess in the process). Then we made a shopping list and headed to Lowe's for two hours before grabbing lunch (which was my call, and a terrible mistake).
Anyway, while we were at lunch I called K-- and asked him to come over and help us with the wiring, and he graciously agreed (which probably saved us two to three hours of trial and error, and quite possibly some major damage to my house's wiring). Then we took out the copper pipe, capped it above the sink (and it's everyone's opinion that that won't cause major plumbing problems in the future), and then got to work cutting through the studs. Matt had a circular saw to start them, but it barely got halfway through, and we have to do the other two inches through forty-year-old timber with a handsaw in a confined space. It was exhausting. Matt and I traded off, him doing all of the right-handed cutting, and me doing some of the left-handed work.
We finally got the last stud out just as K-- showed up. He got to work trying to figure out just what was going on within that wall (electrically-speaking), and it turns out it was nuts. But whatever, that's why we got K-- there. I discovered I couldn't find my caulking gun, so I had to make a run to B--'s place to borrow theirs. When I got back, K-- was ready to start running wiring.
I helped him run wire, fishing it through old holes bored through the studs, while Matt cut wood and got started framing in the window. He couldn't do a lot with Kris and me working there, though, so he got a forced break for an hour or so.
Partway through all this T-- and Amy ran up to Little Caesar's and brought back pizza for dinner, so we took a break to eat. After that K-- put in another hour or so, which was enough to get the new junction box in, as well as the new outlets and switches fully installed. He left it to me to connect the switches to the garbage disposal and dishwashed under the sink, and to the new pendants lights T-- had gotten to go over the sink. I got it all done except for the garbage disposal, while Matt rushed to get back to work putting in the window.
Before he could finish that, though, we had some aesthetic work to do. Whoever prepped the house to sell before we bought it, decided to put on a thick layer of texturing over every inch of exposed drywall to hide any flaws or damage. It mostly worked, but when we pulled the cabinets down we revealed huge swathes of the wall that were untextured (and, in the process of removal, flawed and damaged). There was also more than a little damage done to the drywall around the window, that had to be patched before we could put the window's trim up.
So we got to work patching and taping and scraping mud, and then had to wait hours for the mud to dry before we could do a second coat. Matt did all he could Saturday night, which essentially meant getting the entire window done except for the trim -- that is to say, a header installed behind the drywall above the window, because it's a load-bearing wall, two extra 2x6 supports in the wall below, the base plate (which is basically a shelf), two upright 2x4s to support the header (which had to be covered with 2"x36" stips of drywall that T-- and I had to carve out of the scrap at 11:00 at night), and then 1/4-inch thick doorjamb to hide the uprights and the header. All of it, of course, precision cut to fit, to prevent problems down the road.
We got done at midnight. Around 11:30 Matt started wondering aloud what there might be around to eat, and T-- ended up making a chocolate cake, which we all stood around eating while we admired Matt's handiwork as Saturday became Sunday. It was a little bit silly, but made perfect sense at the time.
That was it for the night. We couldn't do any more until the drywall joint compound was dry, so we went to bed.
So Sunday morning I woke up to the sound of a sander. T-- and Matt made an early run to Lowe's to pick up some forgotten things, and then we all got to work on the walls, sanding the seams, applying a second coat of mud, and then T-- and Amy tried out some spray-on wall texture we'd found at Lowe's. It wasn't a perfect match for whatever they'd done to our wall, but it was close enough (and, most importantly, it broke up the smooth lines of the drywall tape, which stood out like a sore thumb).
We also drew Matt off on two side projects (although I ended up taking care of one). The first was an old dining chair that AB had broken by toppling it over, nearly a year ago. When it had landed, the right-side upright supporting the back of the chair had split, and it's been sitting unused in a corner ever since. We showed it to Matt and he filled the split with carpenter's glue, put in a well-placed wood screw to hold it together, and then clamped it down to dry for the rest of the day.
Then there was an old in-wall space heater in the bathroom that has never worked (and was distgustingly worn out). I pulled it out of the wall and found it mounted in a big sheet-metal box. I capped off the wires, ripped the box out of the wall, then cut a sheet of drywall off our scrap to fill the hole. Then we just taped it, mudded it, and painted it over with the same paint they'd used on all the walls in our house.
Luckily, there was plenty of that. They used a beigey off-white on all the walls, and a flat white on all the woodwork in the house, and there was about half a gallon of white leftover and probably two gallons (in a five-gallon drum) of the off-white. During the morning, once the drywall mud was dried, we pulled out all our leftover paint and got to work painting where it was needed so Matt could finally put up the trim.
By eleven we knew of a couple things they had forgotten at their eight o'clock Lowe's run, so I went to pick up what we still needed and got some soda and chips for lunch while I was out. Then I got back around noon to find K-- and N-- there, admiring our handiwork. I also took everyone's order and placed a call for some Buffalo Wild Wings, which are popular with Matt and his family. So at noon I was back out on the road again, down to Northwest Expressway to pick up the wing, and then I had to drive the fifteen minutes back home with that delicious odor strong in the air. It's amazing any of the food made it back to our house.
Anyway, that was lunch, and afterward Matt started putting up the window trim. He also tacked together the base of a new peninsula bar (another whole project), and T-- got started painting it, so he could put the cabinets on it when he was done with the trim.
Finishing up the trim actually took until about 4:00, and he had a midnight shift to work at the end of his two-and-a-half-hour drive home, but he hates leaving a job unfinished, so he was scurrying to finish everything he could. While his family started packing up absolutely everything they could (including tons of tools he'd brought to use over the weekend), he mounted the cabinets on the base, secured them down (with considerable effort to keep them perfectly square), then put on a front plate and framed in an interior cubby in the wasted space between the cabinet backs (you'll have to see it, probably, for that to make any sense). Then, with his frustration clear on his face, he finally had to give up on finishing the countertop. It was six by the time he left, and he took a few minutes to tell us what we would have to do to finish it off.
I was in a little bit of a hurry myself, because while we were frantically trying to put together some old cabinets, the rest of the nation was enthusiastically looking forward to the freaking Super Bowl. K-- and N-- were throwing a watch party at their house, and I didn't want to miss it -- but of course I had to do everything I could to help out while we had Matt around. T-- had really wanted to go to the party, too, but as soon as Matt left she crashed.
Me, I got cleaned up in a hurry and sped up to Edmond. The game was phenomenal. B-- and E-- were there for a couple hours, and I got to grill B-- about a programming project I'm doing for him and I got to grill E-- about my novel, which she recently read. Then their daughter's bedtime rolled around so they had to leave, and I finally watched some football.
The game ended (for us) around 10:00, and I went home to watch the special episode of The Office with T--. We also watched some SNL, and then finally gave up and went to bed.
While I was gone, T-- had done some painting above the sink and on the new window shelf, but there's still a lot of painting to do. That's something T-- and I know how to do well, so we didn't waste any time on it while Matt was around. Now we have a week or two of patching and sanding and painting before it's really finished, but it already looks awesome.
Watch T--'s blog for pictures. She took a bunch, before and during and after, and I know she intends to do a blog post when she can find the time. She's looking at a really busy week even without the painting, though, so I don't know how soon it'll happen.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Last Monday I got to work right on time (which is something of a rarity on Mondays). On the drive in I heard a brief weather report on the radio, and I mostly zoned it out until I heard, "...and then tomorrow afternoon even more snow and ice..." and that made me wonder what exactly I'd missed.
A couple hours later, I found out, because I heard conversations over the cubicle wall concerning all the accidents that were occurring out on the roads. Hefner Parkway was closed down entirely -- the highway I take for ten miles to and from work -- and Tinker Air Force Base was closing down so we would be next. That sort of thing.
They did let us leave early, but I had to take back roads to get home (since Hefner Parkway was closed) and it took me over an hour. I made it home unscathed, but I passed nine accidents on the drive -- three of which I watched happen.
I hate icy conditions.
Anyway, I made it home and curled up on the couch and then didn't leave the house for two days. Tuesday was a snow day at work, so I got to stay home with AB and T--. T-- suggested we make a blanket-tent for AB, and followed that up with, "but I'm no engineer," so I got the hint that she wanted something big and fancy. I did the best I could (and it's photo-documented on her blog, which you probably read a week ago).
In addition to that my next hard drives came in for my computer, but one of them was DoA. I spent most of the afternoon and evening figuring that out, then getting the other one up and running. I also majorly rearranged our entertainment center to make room for the computer up there.
Wednesday we were offered a three hour late start because the ice was hanging around. I seriously considered taking the day off anyway, but I ended up going in and had a pretty productive day. Driving wasn't too bad by 10 Wednesday morning, and by the time I drove home there was nothing but slush on the roads. We had dinner with D-- and K-- and N-- at El Chico, then K-- and N-- came over to play some Rock Band.
Thursday I had another late start (although that one came out of my vacation time), and another good day at work. Then I spent most of the evening trying to figure out how to get my USB remote control to work on XP, and finally ordered a new one that would.
Friday...we got started. It was my RDO, and I took the opportunity to sleep in. Then I did some work on the computer (financial stuff, mainly) before we went to lunch at P F Chang's. T-- had been craving it, and I'm always a fan.
After lunch AB went down for a nap and I helped T-- rearrange some furniture in the living room. Then I spent a couple hours playing WoW while she boxed up all the dishes in the cabinets above the sink. Sometime after 6, her brother Matt and his whole family showed up (wife and three kids).
For as long as we've lived in this house, T-- has wanted a window between the kitchen and the living room. It's a big blank wall on the living room side, but a relatively narrow space between the cabinets in the kitchen. So we decided it would make the most sense to rip out the cabinets (or, actually, delicately detach them, so they could be preserved for later use), and just make a big window.
Unfortunately, that meant relocating a couple electrical outlets and a couple light switches, not to mention a 1 1/2-inch copper vent pipe that ran from our kitchen sink up through the roof....
So, yeah, it was no small task. As he did when he showed up to help us with the Tulsa house almost a year ago, Matt showed up, spent a few minutes standing back and looking at the project, then grabbed a hammer and started busting things.
We got a ton done Friday night. We took down the decorative trim above the sink (undamaged, so it could be replaced afterward), then took out the two cabinets (which took most of two hours), and wrapped up by cutting a long rectangle out of the drywall on the kitchen side between two studs. It was more ceremonial than anything else, just getting started. We all turned in around 11:00, but I didn't get to sleep until 2:00 or so. I ended up playing WoW instead, and got my two main characters to 80, so yay.
Saturday morning I woke to the sound of a drywall saw, around 9:00. I took my time getting ready, then finally headed to the kitchen to find a box of donuts on the table (yay Krispy Kreme!), and the whole window cut out of the drywall on the kitchen side. We had four studs to remove, and now the electrical and plumbing issues were more clearly visible.
I helped Matt cut out the other side of the window, sawing through the drywall in the living room (and making an unholy mess in the process). Then we made a shopping list and headed to Lowe's for two hours before grabbing lunch (which was my call, and a terrible mistake).
Anyway, while we were at lunch I called K-- and asked him to come over and help us with the wiring, and he graciously agreed (which probably saved us two to three hours of trial and error, and quite possibly some major damage to my house's wiring). Then we took out the copper pipe, capped it above the sink (and it's everyone's opinion that that won't cause major plumbing problems in the future), and then got to work cutting through the studs. Matt had a circular saw to start them, but it barely got halfway through, and we have to do the other two inches through forty-year-old timber with a handsaw in a confined space. It was exhausting. Matt and I traded off, him doing all of the right-handed cutting, and me doing some of the left-handed work.
We finally got the last stud out just as K-- showed up. He got to work trying to figure out just what was going on within that wall (electrically-speaking), and it turns out it was nuts. But whatever, that's why we got K-- there. I discovered I couldn't find my caulking gun, so I had to make a run to B--'s place to borrow theirs. When I got back, K-- was ready to start running wiring.
I helped him run wire, fishing it through old holes bored through the studs, while Matt cut wood and got started framing in the window. He couldn't do a lot with Kris and me working there, though, so he got a forced break for an hour or so.
Partway through all this T-- and Amy ran up to Little Caesar's and brought back pizza for dinner, so we took a break to eat. After that K-- put in another hour or so, which was enough to get the new junction box in, as well as the new outlets and switches fully installed. He left it to me to connect the switches to the garbage disposal and dishwashed under the sink, and to the new pendants lights T-- had gotten to go over the sink. I got it all done except for the garbage disposal, while Matt rushed to get back to work putting in the window.
Before he could finish that, though, we had some aesthetic work to do. Whoever prepped the house to sell before we bought it, decided to put on a thick layer of texturing over every inch of exposed drywall to hide any flaws or damage. It mostly worked, but when we pulled the cabinets down we revealed huge swathes of the wall that were untextured (and, in the process of removal, flawed and damaged). There was also more than a little damage done to the drywall around the window, that had to be patched before we could put the window's trim up.
So we got to work patching and taping and scraping mud, and then had to wait hours for the mud to dry before we could do a second coat. Matt did all he could Saturday night, which essentially meant getting the entire window done except for the trim -- that is to say, a header installed behind the drywall above the window, because it's a load-bearing wall, two extra 2x6 supports in the wall below, the base plate (which is basically a shelf), two upright 2x4s to support the header (which had to be covered with 2"x36" stips of drywall that T-- and I had to carve out of the scrap at 11:00 at night), and then 1/4-inch thick doorjamb to hide the uprights and the header. All of it, of course, precision cut to fit, to prevent problems down the road.
We got done at midnight. Around 11:30 Matt started wondering aloud what there might be around to eat, and T-- ended up making a chocolate cake, which we all stood around eating while we admired Matt's handiwork as Saturday became Sunday. It was a little bit silly, but made perfect sense at the time.
That was it for the night. We couldn't do any more until the drywall joint compound was dry, so we went to bed.
So Sunday morning I woke up to the sound of a sander. T-- and Matt made an early run to Lowe's to pick up some forgotten things, and then we all got to work on the walls, sanding the seams, applying a second coat of mud, and then T-- and Amy tried out some spray-on wall texture we'd found at Lowe's. It wasn't a perfect match for whatever they'd done to our wall, but it was close enough (and, most importantly, it broke up the smooth lines of the drywall tape, which stood out like a sore thumb).
We also drew Matt off on two side projects (although I ended up taking care of one). The first was an old dining chair that AB had broken by toppling it over, nearly a year ago. When it had landed, the right-side upright supporting the back of the chair had split, and it's been sitting unused in a corner ever since. We showed it to Matt and he filled the split with carpenter's glue, put in a well-placed wood screw to hold it together, and then clamped it down to dry for the rest of the day.
Then there was an old in-wall space heater in the bathroom that has never worked (and was distgustingly worn out). I pulled it out of the wall and found it mounted in a big sheet-metal box. I capped off the wires, ripped the box out of the wall, then cut a sheet of drywall off our scrap to fill the hole. Then we just taped it, mudded it, and painted it over with the same paint they'd used on all the walls in our house.
Luckily, there was plenty of that. They used a beigey off-white on all the walls, and a flat white on all the woodwork in the house, and there was about half a gallon of white leftover and probably two gallons (in a five-gallon drum) of the off-white. During the morning, once the drywall mud was dried, we pulled out all our leftover paint and got to work painting where it was needed so Matt could finally put up the trim.
By eleven we knew of a couple things they had forgotten at their eight o'clock Lowe's run, so I went to pick up what we still needed and got some soda and chips for lunch while I was out. Then I got back around noon to find K-- and N-- there, admiring our handiwork. I also took everyone's order and placed a call for some Buffalo Wild Wings, which are popular with Matt and his family. So at noon I was back out on the road again, down to Northwest Expressway to pick up the wing, and then I had to drive the fifteen minutes back home with that delicious odor strong in the air. It's amazing any of the food made it back to our house.
Anyway, that was lunch, and afterward Matt started putting up the window trim. He also tacked together the base of a new peninsula bar (another whole project), and T-- got started painting it, so he could put the cabinets on it when he was done with the trim.
Finishing up the trim actually took until about 4:00, and he had a midnight shift to work at the end of his two-and-a-half-hour drive home, but he hates leaving a job unfinished, so he was scurrying to finish everything he could. While his family started packing up absolutely everything they could (including tons of tools he'd brought to use over the weekend), he mounted the cabinets on the base, secured them down (with considerable effort to keep them perfectly square), then put on a front plate and framed in an interior cubby in the wasted space between the cabinet backs (you'll have to see it, probably, for that to make any sense). Then, with his frustration clear on his face, he finally had to give up on finishing the countertop. It was six by the time he left, and he took a few minutes to tell us what we would have to do to finish it off.
I was in a little bit of a hurry myself, because while we were frantically trying to put together some old cabinets, the rest of the nation was enthusiastically looking forward to the freaking Super Bowl. K-- and N-- were throwing a watch party at their house, and I didn't want to miss it -- but of course I had to do everything I could to help out while we had Matt around. T-- had really wanted to go to the party, too, but as soon as Matt left she crashed.
Me, I got cleaned up in a hurry and sped up to Edmond. The game was phenomenal. B-- and E-- were there for a couple hours, and I got to grill B-- about a programming project I'm doing for him and I got to grill E-- about my novel, which she recently read. Then their daughter's bedtime rolled around so they had to leave, and I finally watched some football.
The game ended (for us) around 10:00, and I went home to watch the special episode of The Office with T--. We also watched some SNL, and then finally gave up and went to bed.
While I was gone, T-- had done some painting above the sink and on the new window shelf, but there's still a lot of painting to do. That's something T-- and I know how to do well, so we didn't waste any time on it while Matt was around. Now we have a week or two of patching and sanding and painting before it's really finished, but it already looks awesome.
Watch T--'s blog for pictures. She took a bunch, before and during and after, and I know she intends to do a blog post when she can find the time. She's looking at a really busy week even without the painting, though, so I don't know how soon it'll happen.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
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