Business Conference Musings

Earlier this month I accompanied Rebecca to a conference in Phoenix, AZ; Rebecca's second visit but my first. I've heard horror stories about the heat in Phoenix but thought it couldn't be that hot in October. It turns out that it does get hot in October but for our trip the weather couldn't have been better. The highest temperature was 89 and the lowest was about 65 degrees.

The conference and our accommodations were at the newly opened (1 year old) Sheraton in downtown Phoenix; some thirty floors tall and almost a city block wide, it was impressive and pleasant but expensive. One of the great things about accompanying Rebecca on her out-of-Salem conferences is that her portion of the trip is a business wright-off and I get to see and stay in places I wouldn't otherwise visit on my own. If we're lucky, like my favorite trip so far-Bermuda, Rebecca only has to be in session half-day and we can explore the local charm together the other half. Not the case this time as her whole day was tied up in conferences; but we did arrive a day early and were able to explore a little, visit the Science Center and view the IMAX film, Kilimanjaro:To The Roof of Africa, not far from the Sheraton.

The flight from PDX was uneventful, thank god, but the sun was shining for most of the trip and I took a window seat as usual. I tried taking some pictures from the window but the image quality is never that good through the dual pane plastic. The highlights of the flight were snow capped Mount Hood and the Grand Canyon. Neither of us had seen the Grand Canyon before but from 39,000 feet up I think some of its beauty and grandeur is lost. A ground level visit is on our to-do before we die list.

While Rebecca was in conference I did some walking, transit system riding and photography. My album of the trip is here if you've a mind to look. What struck me most about Phoenix was the downtown architecture, public art and the transit system. Had I more time, I would have gone to Frank Loyd Wright's Taliesin West in Scottsdale. Perhaps next time.

BikeCamp'09

Last year, brother-in-law Bil, his friend (now mine) Jim Ridenour and I, took a 5-day motorcycle camping trip in Oregon with brief stops in Idaho and Washington. It was such a fun and successful trip that Bil and I decided to go again this year. Unfortunately, Jim couldn't join us because he was in New Mexico getting his motor home repaired. This trip we decided to take a 7-day adventure, which took us to Washington, Idaho and Montana—a total of 1982 miles for me and a couple hundred more for Bil since he resides in southern Oregon. Our main focus was to see Dry Falls, WA and we didn't decide to go to Glacier National Park until the first night. To check out our daily route, right-click on Day One, Day Two, etc., to open in a new tab. Do try viewing the routes in Satellite and Terrain modes and zoom in and out as well—it's really cool. For a look at my photo album of the trip go to my Web Album site.

Day One:Monday— Our rendezvous point was Clyde Holiday SP, a favorite campground just east of Mt. Vernon, OR. An interesting note, though we left our homes at different times on Monday, we both arrived at Clyde Holiday within five minutes of each other. Is that timing or what? Clyde Holiday is a favorite of mine because 1) you pitch your tent on grass, 2) you have some distance from your neighbor as well as separation via flora and 3) the restrooms are clean and the showers are hot. Half of our camp sites this trip were on dirt or gravel; guess I'm getting soft in my old age.

Our nightly routine goes something like this: find a camping spot, fill out the paperwork and pay the fee ($14 - $26.50 on this trip), unload our bikes and set up camp, take photo of camp, make dinner, check in with the wives, wait for the stars to appear for satellite and meteorite watching and then it's off to bed. If there's time, we'll sometimes take a short exploratory walk.

Day Two:Tuesday— This morning, after a hot shower, French-pressed coffee and a Mountain House scrambled eggs and bacon breakfast soup, we gassed up in Mt. Vernon and headed north on Highway 395, a superb motorcycling road. We rode through country I'd never seen before and would like to drive again in mid-late spring when everything is fresh and green. The road meanders through river canyons and quaint little towns like Fox, Long Creek, Dale, Ukiah, Nye and Pilot Rock and past rolling hills now golden tan from a long summer's heat. Though we tried to avoid freeways as much as possible, at Pendleton we took I-84 west to I-82 and crossed the Columbia River into Washington at Umatilla. We wanted to stop at a tourist information center to inquire about camping but could find no signs nor could anyone tell us where a center was. It was only at the tail end of our trip, stopping at Umatilla's tourist information center on our way back into Oregon, that we discovered that all of Washington's information centers had been closed this year due to the bad economy.

After a snack for us and a full meal for our bikes in Pasco, we continued north on 395 to Mesa where we turned onto highway 17. This would take us all the way to Dry Falls and Sun Lakes SP, our second camp site. For about forty miles the drive was nothing extraordinary with mostly flat and slightly rolling hills, but at Moses Lake, things started getting interesting. For 25 miles the terrain was the same but with the added feature of thousands upon thousands of rocks and boulders strewn over the landscape; we knew this to be evidence of the numerous ice-age floods, known as the Missoula Floods, that ravaged the area tens of thousands of years ago. At Soap Lake we entered the Grand Coulee, a impressive, awe inspiring gorge carved out by the Missoula Floods. On your right are cliffs up to 500 feet high and on your left, across the numerous lakes as you travel north are towering cliffs up to 1,200 feet high (zoom in and check out the map in Terrain mode). In my opinion this drive is more impressive than driving the Columbia River Gorge. It is AWESOME! We made camp at Sun Lakes SP a little after 4PM, had a gourmet Mountain House dinner, called the wives, sat under the stars counting satellites and meteorites, watched a deer stroll 15 feet away from us in the dark and listened to coyote calls. Can't get much better than that. My only wish is to get a better nights sleep than the night before.

Day Three:Wednesday— The morning routine is pretty much the same on this trip; shower, make coffee and breakfast, plan the days route, strike camp and head out on the road. Heading north again we drive through Coulee City and onto highway 155 aside Banks Lake. This drive is a continuation of yesterday's impressive landscape through the lower Grand Coulee. We stopped at Steamboat Rock SP for rest, a snack and photos before heading out again for Grand Coulee Dam. Frankly, the dam was just ho-hum after witnessing the spectacular scenery and wonder of Dry Falls and the Grand Coulee canyon. After a brief visit at the interpretive center we fed the bikes and headed south on highway 174, then onto highway 2, which would eventually take us through Idaho and into Montana. At Spokane we got on I-90 going east for about twenty miles and stopped at an information center just before Coeur d'Alene. Nice lady gave us all sorts of maps and information about Idaho as well as Montana. She even came out to us at our bikes as an afterthought to give us info on a swinging bridge along the way we shouldn't miss. Frankly, I think she had the hots for Bil. She told us that Farragut SP off hwy 95 had camping. That would be our next camp.

During WWII, Farragut SP was the world's second largest Naval Training Station. In operation only four years, 1942-46, the 4,000-acre base abuts Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho's largest lake. Eleanor Roosevelt allegedly noticed the lake on a flight to Seattle. Knowing that President Roosevelt was seeking a location for a secure inland naval training center, she mentioned it to him and he made a secret tour of the area. Ground was broken in March 1942, and by September the base had a population of 55,000, making it the largest city in Idaho. Over 293,000 sailors received basic training at Farragut during its 30 months of existence. The last recruit graduated in March 1945 and the facility was decommissioned in June 1946. It was also used as a POW camp; nearly 900 Germans worked as gardeners and maintenance men.

It must have been a long day for the gal checking us in. First she put us in a different spot than she originally told us and then she had trouble adding up the site cost ($21.20) + extra vehicle ($5) for a grand total of $26.50. Oh well. Again we had to pitch our tents on gravel but the site was pretty private on three sides due to the grove of lodge pole pines in which the campground resides. Tonight we had time to take a walk to check out the lake. On the way back Bil picked small apples from an old tree—pretty tasty. Also saw a doe and her two fawns close to the trail.

Day Four:Thursday— This morning we continued north on hwy 95 until we hit hwy 2. We followed it all the way to Glacier NP. Stopped in Columbia Falls at the suggestion of the nice Idaho info lady but the information center was closed. There's a nice park next door so we stopped and had a snack before continuing on. In Columbia Falls we learned that the Going To the Sun Road, the main road through Glacier, was closed at Logan Pass for repairs. Major bummer for us but we decided to go as far as we could (16 miles) and then find a camp site. All the campsites in Glacier were closed so we wound up at a KOA Kampground we passed just outside West Glacier. What little we did see of Glacier was impressively gorgeous and only whet our appetite to return when the park is open. Perhaps next year?

We lobbied the gal at KOA to let us have one space for our two tents—like we always do at camp sites. She reluctantly said she had one she thought would work and was close to the rest rooms and showers as we requested. It's usually not a problem getting our two tents in one camping space or on one pad, but the raised gravel pad at KOA was pretty small and Bil had to move his tent over and off the pad about a foot to accommodate my tent. What a nice guy! We walked through the extensive campground counting the cabins and ogling the large motor homes before making our dinner and later counting satellites.

Day Five:Friday— The day broke sunny, crisp and cool as we attended to our morning ritual. Today we will backtrack through Idaho and into Washington; again taking I-90 at Spokane to hwy 395 just south of Ritzville. On the way, a moose crossed the road in front of us. Luckily for us the couple cars in front of us had slowed down or stopped to avoid hitting it. Hitting a moose on a motorcycle would not be fun! Not sure where we'll camp tonight but we're hoping something will show up before sundown. As luck would have it, there was a private RV park, Coyote Run, at Connell, WA.

The park, built in 2008, is relatively small but the restroom and laundry building have eight individual restroom/shower rooms that are quite spacious and feature on-demand water heaters. Very nice indeed. There is also a tiny convenience store on site and a 24-hr on-site manager. Did I mention that you can pitch your tent on grass? And the price was right too, $14, the least expensive of our whole trip. Pleasantly surprising for a private RV park. About the only drawbacks are that there is no privacy between camp sites—very close together—and the park sits adjacent the highway interchange. Though tent campers have a three-day limit, motor homes and campers can stay from days to months.

Day Six:Saturday— This morning I was not feeling all that well—a little lethargic—perhaps from my lack of sleep was starting to catch up with me. I decided I needed a jolt of a caffeine/sugar concoction so I bought a Pepsi out of the machine. That seemed to help. Broke camp and headed down hwy 395 to Umatilla.

Truth be told, I was getting excited to be back in Oregon again—on home turf so-to-speak. After stopping at the Umatilla visitor information center, we decided we would head for Clarno and its John Day Fossil Beds NM (JDFBNM) center. We took hwy 730 out of Umatilla to I-84 to Heppner Junction and took hwy 74 south. Had a snack and fed the bikes in Heppner and took hwy 206 to Condon. Bil showed me the city park and some huge silos in town. Told me he met the little ole lady who takes care of the park and talked to a guy who was testing wheat at the silos on one of his visits. (Bil sure gets around!) Took a few pictures and headed down the road again on hwy 19. Since it was getting to be late afternoon, we decided to stop in Fossil to ask about closing time for the JDFBNM center; it was a good thing we did because we discovered that there is no center—only hiking trails. On hearing this we continued south on hwy 19 to hwy 26 and then east to Mt. Vernon and Clyde Holiday SP, our last camp of the trip.

Pulled into Clyde Holiday and did a quick tour looking for a camping spot. Our old favorite was taken and there were only a few left so we snagged #30; the rest were taken within fifteen minutes. Seems Clyde Holiday is a popular spot on weekends even this late in the season. In retrospect, it's fortunate that Clarno did not have a center; we would have been a good hour or so late in garnering a camping spot at Clyde's. Brian, the camp host, did tell us we could have used the less expensive biker/hiker area, but that's about a mile from the rest rooms and shower. Tonight we treated ourselves to dinner out at the Silver Spur Restaurant in Mt. Vernon. We both had their special, prime rib, baked potato, veggies and a roll, yum!

Day Seven:Sunday— This morning I'm ready to be home and sleeping in my own bed. After morning coffee and breaking camp we again treated ourselves to eating out, this time breakfast at the Silver Spur. Somewhere between Mt. Vernon and Dayville, we saw a bull elk hopping a fence and running through a pasture beside the road. What majestic animals they are! At Redmond we fed the iron horses again, hugged and bid farewell to each other and rode our separate ways.

So that's it, another adventure for the log books. Called Bil to verify his to and from routes and he said he was ready to go again. Bil is just one motorcycling monomaniac.

Astoria Bike Trip

Last weekend I took Sione on a bike trip to Astoria. This was her first trip to Astoria and one of the things on her agenda was to visit a couple sites where The Goonies movie was filmed. The weekend weather was mostly overcast with a few sun breaks peppered with a few showers. Regardless, we had a grand time.

We left West Salem a few hours after daybreak, around 7:45AM to be exact, and headed toward The Coast. It was sunny and a bit on the cool side when we left but once we drove past Dallas (Oregon, not Texas) it started to warm up. Our first stop at the Coast was Pacific City. Pacific City is home to a fleet of fishing dory's that are launched and retrieved right from the beach. It's been done like that for over a hundred years.

Next stop was Cape Meares where we viewed the lighthouse and infamous Octopus tree. It was then on to Tillamook for gas, lunch and a tour of the Tillamook cheese factory. On the way we got lost in Oceanside and ended up in the hills on a narrow road where I had to turn around. Not a fun situation when you've got 750 pounds of bike plus two riders.

Next was our first Goonies stop at Ecola State Park. We parked at the beach and hung out for a while watching waves, surfers and taking pictures. At first step onto the beach I couldn't help but see a curious thing-a tree trunk and roots covered with dirt and rocks. Turns out it was covered by an earthquake debris flow around 1700.

The plan was to stop next at Fort Clatsop National Memorial but it was almost five by the time we got to the turn off. Since the place closes at six I decided we would see it another trip. We headed into Astoria and hooked up with Lu Anne, a friend and former colleague of Rebecca's now living in Astoria and working in Seaside. She graciously offered her spare beds for the night.

Sunday morning we awoke to wet and foggy weather. By the time Lu Anne fed us and drove us to the Astoria Column, the Goonies house and down by the docks for some sea lion watching, the weather had improved. Astoria has a bit of a problem with the sea lions eating a lot of the local fish and sleeping on the docks, making access to their boats a little risky for the boat owners. Lu Anne said they sometimes load them up in a floating cage and tow them away but they always seem to find their way back.

On the last leg home we rode through a few showers on our way to Portland and a rest stop at Marisol and Alan's home. Marisol fed us yummy chicken enchiladas for lunch. Had a nice visit with them and then it was off for West Salem via Highway 99W. We stopped in Newberg for gas and had to shed some riding gear because it was getting too warm for comfort. We pulled into the driveway about a quarter after three.

The trip was great overall though there were a few anxious moments on steep narrow roads and getting lost once. I was pleasantly surprised and pleased that my shoulder didn't complain like it did on the Bike Camp '08 trip last summer. Perhaps those four Aleve I take a day are doing their job. Sione is willing to go again next year and who knows, maybe next year it will be a three day trip.

If you want to see more pictures of our trip you can go to my Web Album by clicking here or by pasting http://picasaweb.google.com/notsowiseone/AstoriaBikeTrip?authkey=Gv1sRgCK3o_d_xqdvYpgE# into your browser window.

Another One Bites The Dust

It's hard to believe that July has come and gone. Same with June and May and April. I sometimes surprise myself at how little I can accomplish if I set my mind to it. I think I like the computer a little too much because I spend a lot of time at it. Hardly a day goes by that I don't turn it on. I can waste several hours in front of the television as well; flipping through channels hoping something interesting will catch my eye. More often than not, nothing catches my eye.

I did manage to get a few things done in the yard this month. After having to water newly planted plants daily in our heat wave, I thought it was about time I started using the drip lines I installed in the front yard beds; so I bought more sprinkler heads and added some to the beds. There are still a few dry spots that I need to address as well as a couple of unwanted line punctures that need fixing but at least half of the front yard is done (now I just need to fill in the beds with plants).

Am planning a bike (motorcycle) trip with my daughter first part of August. A weekend trip up the Oregon Coast. Weather permitting, it should be loads of fun. Our plan is to head up to Astoria with stops along the way playing tourist amongst the tourists. I know it's not Oregonian of me but I hope the tourists are not hording. Though I've visited numerous times, Sione has never been to Astoria in her three decades being an Oregonian. Guess she prefers those exotic places like Spain, France and the UK.

Update on my shoulder surgery: as far as I'm concerned the surgery was a total bust. I still have the pain and now know it is caused by the arthritic condition in my joint. It is very limiting and sometimes wakes me up at night even though I'm taking Aleve before bedtime. Needless to say I'm very disappointed and my lack of faith in doctors has gone down another notch. My only option now is to have my shoulder joint replaced with prosthetics--an expensive proposition and no doubt one that will take several months of convalescing. Camping is not good.

The good news is I'm not having to work a nine to five; I'm living a comfortable life with few financial worries; I have a loving wife and a nice home with a new kitchen; I have all my arms, legs, fingers and toes that function relatively well; I'm not laid up in bed with an incurable disease wishing the suffering would end; I don't have to daily make decisions of who lives or who dies; and I can do absolutely nothing all day if I wish with no ill affects except to my own psychic. Camping may be bad but life is good!

Remodel Officially Finished

It's official, with the doling out of our final check on 6/25 the remodel is finished! The doors finally arrived and were installed along with the hardware and final trim. All the punch list items have been remedied with the exception of the hose bib on the patio under the kitchen window. Seems that type of bib is now code to prevent back flow into the potable water system. I'm thankful that all of my bibs aren't of that type.

We are pretty pleased with the results overall but my critical eye and perfectionism can not rate the remodel as a perfect 10. I see flaws like little bumps in the vinyl where underlayment screw heads were left a little too proud; cracks in the grouting of the back splash, visible gaps in the base trim that could have been avoided by putting the back piece down first. I see dust pimples in the cabinetry finish that tells me the spray booth was not dust free; and I see an empty bank account that makes me wonder if we didn't pay more than we should have for the remodel. But I'm trying to ignore all that and just enjoy the look, feel and performance of the new kitchen and appliances.

I cannot honestly say it was a pleasurable experience but I can't tell you it was horrible either. We were often frustrated if not down right mad and at times we pat ourselves on the back for making a right decision or being aware enough to know that the subs were not doing something right. It helps to have a little construction knowledge and to call them on a faux pas the hour it happens rather than discovering an issue at days end when the subs are gone; having to reschedule them and perhaps waiting another day or two to fix the problem. At times I was a little surprised at what the job foreman missed but I suppose that's my perfectionism talking and perhaps too much for a multi-job foreman to keep track of.

Water under the bridge. The main thing is the task we waited too many years to accomplish is finished. We're updated and feeling pretty good about it. Time to move on and finish the other tasks already started up to 14 years earlier. I wonder what it feels like to have absolutely everything about your home exactly the way you want it; to have no projects on the drawing board or in the wings waiting to be finished. What would I do with all that extra time!

Lake Cushman, WA

Rebecca and I accepted an invitation to join Rebecca's sister, Marisol, and her family on a long weekend trip to Lake Cushman, WA the last weekend in June. We co-rented a cabin on the lake which Marisol found that included a private dock with two boats and a canoe as well as a nice fire pit at lakes edge. Also invited where Marisol's extended family on her husband Alan's side which included Alan's parents David and Anne and their dog Tessa, sister Alison and her dog Tucker and sister Sarah with her sailboat.

From Salem, Lake Cushman is about four hours drive-provided you make it through Portland before rush hour traffic. Since we were forewarned about the traffic issue by Rebecca's brother, Peter, we decided to leave mid-morning after a stop by Rebecca's parents house. We were glad we did-as we were leaving Kelso, we got a call from Marisol saying that they were stuck in traffic in Portland and were not sure when they'd be arriving at the lake.

The northwestern tip of Lake Cushman abuts Olympic National Park's Staircase Ranger station and trail head area. The lake, named for Orington Cushman, interpreter for Governor Issac Stevens when treaties were being negotiated with local Indian tribes, was first developed by Rose Farm followed by the Antlers Hotel (1895). When the city of Tacoma built a hydro-electric dam, the Cushman Dam, in the mid-1920's it flooded all earlier developments and the lake rose to its present level. For more about Lake Cushman go here. For more photos of our adventure go to my Picasa Web Album page.

Father's Day

Jose called to invite Rebecca and I over for a Father's Day BBQ. Peter, Karen, Gulliver, Isabella and Jeremy were also present. Peter was chef for the day and made some great burgers and potatoes au Peter. News at the time was that P & K were waiting for the second bank to give the thumbs up on their house buying offer (they have since moved into their new home). The day was very relaxing and with the exception of Karen and her upset stomach, I think we all had a good time.

Surprise Visit

I got a call from my sister Karen saying she was visiting a friend in Mount Angel and would like to pay a visit. What a pleasant surprise! Though she lives only four hours away in southern Oregon, it's been seven months since I last saw her. We had a nice chat and caught up on the latest family news.

An Hour in the Garden

Saturday was a bit on the cloudy side with few sun breaks. I spent a couple of hours in the shop working on milling lumber for the guest bath cabinets while Rebecca was off getting a massage and meds. After Rebecca returned, we had lunch and then were vegging in front of television. I periodically looked out the patio door at the pond and yard beyond thinking how nice it is that we decided to open up the doorway between the kitchen and family room allowing me to bring the yard and pond a bit closer.

After watching the Food Network's "Building the Best Burger", or something like that, where selected Network stars show off their recipe for their favorite burgers, I felt myself becoming increasingly hungry regardless of just having lunch. I hate to admit this but, according to the Obesity Society, I am on the brink of becoming obese with a BMI of 29.5, so as soon as another cooking show began I thought it best I get the hell out of there.

Wasn't sure what to do next (I know, should have gone for a walk) and was thinking that it had been awhile since I posted any pictures and prose to my blog so I grabbed my camera and headed outside. Being overcast as it was the light conditions were near prime (I like a little more blue sky and white, not gray, clouds) for taking closeup images of things in the yard. I really love digital imagery because, being the skinflint I am, I don't have to worry about the cost of film and can just go crazy snapping away-which I did. It's amazing what one can find in their own back yard. The following images are some of the better ones of the hour or so shoot. You can go here to view all of the keepers (with captions) for the hours shoot. And the best thing about having camera in hand, at least for me at that hour, was that it took my mind off of food!

Remodel Still Not Finished

I thought I was going to be able to tell you that our doors and trim were installed last week--that didn't happen. Only thing that happened was someone came by to measure the opening for the door to the garage. I believe all the doors have arrived and have been lacquered, now it's just a matter of getting on someone's schedule to finish the install. I've got my fingers crossed that it will happen next week--oh wait, I said that last week.

Other news is that I purchased 15 more Comets for our pond on Friday. So far so good--have not seen any floaters but am unable to tell if all are still in the pond since the water lilies are thriving. Probably a good thing as it provides more cover against predators. On the other hand, they could be hiding the floaters.

Remodel Update

Tuesday morning I fired off an email to Denis, the project foreman, requesting an update. He called later that morning and I asked about the doors and the remaining pulls that needed to be installed. He didn't know about the pulls but said he'd call the cabinet maker to resolve the issue. He said he hadn't heard anything about the kitchen garage door but that the other two doors we ordered were in-he would get back to me on the other issues.

About one o'clock Denis left a message that the cabinet maker said that someone would be by around 2PM that day to install the four remaining cabinet pulls. Also seems the kitchen garage door is missing in action-nobody knows where it is.

A second call from Denis contained good news-the kitchen garage door had been located. It was mistakenly shipped to Seattle and would be in Salem by Monday, June 1. All the doors will then be taken to the painter for staining/lacquering and we should get them and the trim installed on Wednesday, June 3. Someone will pick up the dining room pocket door on Friday for routing of the hinge plates. So chances are good that we will be 99% finished with the remodel by end of next week. The only thing left to do after that will be the punch list.

My punch list items so far are: replace the hose bib on the patio under the kitchen sink, reinstall the vapor barrier in the crawl space under the kitchen, replace the white laundry/half bath vent register with a brown one, shave off part of the cabinet face frame so the microwave door can open completely, and touch up the back splash grout. We're almost there!

P.S. Though arriving a couple hours late, the cabinet pull installer finished his job and we now have pulls and knobs on all cabinets. Yeah!

P.P.S. Someone did not make it by on Friday to pick up the dining room pocket door.

Memorial Day BBQ

On Memorial Day we had the Ricoy clan over for BBQ and to show off the almost completed kitchen. Everyone but Nick and his girlfriend, Vanessa, showed up (and of course the Michigan contingent). Rebecca hired her masseuse, Jennifer Carroll, LMT, for those who wanted a 10-15 minute massage. Though I wasn't fortunate enough to get a treatment before time ran out, word was that Jennifer was very good.

When Rebecca and I were looking up recipes the day before, we decided that we were going to make it a Bobby Flay BBQ - or at least our contributions to the event. We used his recipes for the L.A. Burgers, Rosemary Grilled Chicken, two different potato salads, Grilled Yukon Gold Potato Salad with Red Pepper-Smoked Paprika Mayonnaise and Mesa Grill's Southwestern Potato Salad, and last, Crunchy 3-Cabbage Slaw. Others contributed chips, dip, drinks(beer, wine & soda), fruit and cake.

I thought it was all quite tasty with the exception of the chicken. The problem with my chicken is that I forgot to pat off excess marinade and season the bird before putting it on the grill. I got lots of flame which blackened the chicken so it was not very appetizing to look at and taste was only fair.

What with the good company, masseuse, hot tub and pretty good food, I think the day went quite well and folks had a good time.

Remodel's Eleventh Week

Last week was pretty much a bust as far as work on the remodel goes. We did get our final plumbing inspection passed, however, and the cabinet guys were by to install cabinet hardware. They forgot three important pieces of melamine for the recycle cabinet, though, so those pulls were left off as well as the pull for the sink pop-out tray (screws too long).


We are in the process of filling up the cupboards and drawers and have but a few boxes to go. The kitchen is starting to take on that lived-in-look; a good sign that things are starting to get back to normal.





Dining hutch update: If you recall, the cabinet guy cut one of the holes too large in the skirt for a double gang (dg) switch. We were hoping an over sized dg plate would cover the faux pas but, alas, we had to go to option two for the fix-a triple gang box with a dummy switch. Not great but a livable solution.

We are still awaiting the arrival and installation of the new doors and installation of the last four cabinet pulls. Then will come a punch list of final items to be addressed to our satisfaction. One being the patio hose bib under the kitchen window. I've never seen one like it before and I'm guessing it's a pressure valve of some sort meaning that you have to get enough water flowing before it comes out the end of the hose. Not liking it at all-it's a water waster and I can't set the volume to trickle out of the hose if I so desire, it just dribbles out of the hose connection.

Surgery Update

I was to have surgery on my right shoulder on March 11 in hopes of correcting a nagging issue that's been with me for some time. Anyway, the surgery was nixed by my PCP (primary care physician) due to an abnormality in my EKG (electrocardiogram). She referred me to a cardiologist who suggested I take a stress test (reach target heart rate on a treadmill while wired up to a heart monitor) to determine if an issue more serious was looming. I passed the test with flying colors and was given the all clear to proceed with my operation. Instead of re-scheduling right away I decided to wait until the remodel was almost finished, hence the surgery last Wednesday, 5/6.

I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive because of my last surgery experience. In 2006, I had a second operation on my left ear and was not given pressure booties, instead, they put a pillow under my legs. The following day I developed a leg ache that was more painful than the pain in my ear. I called the office of the doctor that did the surgery and told them of my condition and they basically waved me off. I suspected and was proven correct by my PCP that I had a blood clot, which required about a month and a half of treatment and hospital visits.

They gave me pressure booties for this surgery and I have no leg aches. My shoulder is still a bit sore and bruised but am slowly regaining normal (for me) range of motion of my right arm. I am not able to sleep in a prone position for any length of time without shoulder and arm pain so am delegated to my trusted lounge chair.

My post op meeting is the 19th and I expect to get my staples out at that time and get on a PT schedule. The doctor confirmed that I have an arthritic condition and he also shaved away some of the bone that he thought was an impingement. I will know more of what was done when he explains the operation images at the post op.

Remodel's Ninth & Tenth Weeks

Why is it that, when you finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, the train starts to slow down? That's kind of how I feel right now because a couple weeks ago I saw the light but the work is progressively slowing down. The up side to that is that there aren't a lot of strangers lurking about. The down side is that the kitchen is still not finished.

Week Nine:Monday
The electrician came back to do his final top out, i.e., install outlets, switches, and their corresponding plates and circuit breakers. He was to hook up our range hood as well but it won't be installed until tomorrow so he'll have to come back.

Tuesday
The HVAC guy came by to hook up the range hood to the venting pipe and was not expecting that he would have to install it as well. Nervous about doing the job by himself he called the project foreman for help but Denis was on another job site and could not help; he'd just have to do his best. I ended up helping him for a couple hours before leaving for my PM appointment in Portland. We got the hood in place after removing some tiles and attaching a bracket to the wall. When it came to putting on the decorative SS sleeve that covers the vent pipe, we discovered that it was too long despite instructions saying the hood distance from cook top had to lay in the 24" - 30" range (ours is 29") and not giving us a minimum distance from bottom of hood and ceiling. We had 26" of space to fill with the two-part sleeve (about 27 1/2" fully collapsed) so we would either have to move the hood down or cut the sleeve. I liked the position of the hood and didn't relish the idea of removing more tile so decided to pay up and have the sleeve cut. In retrospect, though the cost of cutting the sleeve was a tolerable $45, it would have been more prudent and less expensive in time and money to precisely measure all components before starting the install.

Today was also the day the rest of the appliances were to be installed. The range and microwave were put in place but help had to leave early so the refrigerator would have to wait for another day. The microwave looks great in its space but was not left in place because the edge of the cabinet face frame prevents the door from opening completely. There are three possible solutions: 1) shave the edge off about 1/8" - 1/4", 2) rout out part of the edge, or 3) fir out the wall behind the microwave bracket so it sticks out past the cabinet face frame enough for the door to freely swing. We will try solution 2 to begin with, then move on from there if we need to.

I'm a little disappointed that the range is not sitting flat on the counter top. There's anywhere from 0 - 3/16 of an inch gap, which means wiping the counters down could eventually fill the gaps with food or whatever. Filling the gap with caulk is not suggested because it causes issues when/if service to the range requires its removal. I will need to investigate more about this because, frankly, I would expect a range in this price category to sit flat on the counter top. The good thing about the range is that it doesn't stick out from the counter as far as I thought it would.

Thursday
Denis dropped off the reordered cabinet hardware and we had our Thursday meeting. Talked about what comes next among other issues. After he left I thought I'd take a look at the hardware. Guess what, they're wrong-again! This batch was purchased directly from Atlas Hardware and either the order was wrong or they sent the wrong size and style; got oil-rubbed bronze instead of Venetian bronze. Got the small knob instead of the large knob and got the 4" pull instead of the 6" pull. I fired off an email to Denis and Tiffany about the screw up. Tiffany checked her email to Atlas and did in fact order correctly, the pickers at Atlas screwed up. Tack on another few days until projects end.

In addition to hooking up our range hood, the electrician also fixed a problem with the new phone jack that only Monday I discovered wasn't working. He had to run new wire and left it dangling outside the house at the patio for me to tuck into corners and crevices and repaint at a later date. When we first met, I ask him to move the phone jack to a different wall in the kitchen and I also wanted him to run the wires into the attic to get rid of the ugly long strand of wire dangling along the siding; would be a much cleaner look. His original solution was great and took care of all but about one foot of exterior wire. Now I'm back to having about ten feet of dangling wire that I hope I can hide well enough and paint to invisibility.

The cabinet guys dropped by hoping to install hardware but I told them the story so they moved on to other things like routing down the back edge of the cabinet face frame to allow the microwave door to open wider, filling holes and re-staining problem areas.

Friday
I picked up the freshly cut chimney for the range hood and waited for Denis to arrive as I am to be his helper today. We will install the microwave, hood chimney and refrigerator. All went well with the exception of an annoying drip from the water dispenser in the refrigerator. I had to strategically place a paper towel to catch the drips. The dripping stopped by Saturday morning.

Three inspections were held this week, electrical, plumbing and project finals. The electrical passed but plumbing did not. The project final will pass pending purchase and installation of three new smoke detectors and pass of final plumbing. Plumbers can now install a venting valve in a wall without going through the roof but they must not be enclosed, i.e., they have to be able to breath. Ours did not so the solution was to replace the valve access door from the garage with a vent grate. The project final required that I install a smoke detector in the office, master and guest bedrooms. He gave me an hour to purchase and do the install.

Week Ten
It was a quiet week remodel wise. Monday the plumber was by to scope out the failed inspection issue and had that taken care of. The appliance service was by on Tuesday to install the new control panel replacing the one the plumber damaged when he installed the dish washer. Wednesday I had surgery on my right shoulder and was pretty much worthless for the rest of the week. Just as well because the only other remodel item was the replacement of a heating grate in the 1/2 bath/laundry room-white, which will not do.

M&M Probability

Went to Costco the other day. Had a coupon for an XXL bag (56 oz.) of peanut M&M's and was debating whether or not to buy—my sweet tooth won the debate. Bought two bags, one for me and one for the wife. Got home and immediately put one bag in the refrigerator. Cold peanut M&M's are way better than at room temperature—must be the extra crunch factor. After sufficiently cold, I opened the bag and scooped out about one cup worth and started munching. To be honest, I can't really taste any difference between the six colors, can you? Come to think of it, though, I do seem to feel a little more calm and relaxed after eating the green ones, more invigorated after the red ones, a bit frightened after the yellow ones, and a little sad after the blues. Absolutely no change after the orange and browns.

I also vary my method of eating between popping three or four in my mouth and chewing away or letting just one slowly dissolve until the candy coating is gone, then chewing away. I'll bet I can count on one hand, in my decades of eating peanut M&M's, that I let one dissolve until only the peanut remains. Does that mean I have an issue about patience? And sometimes, though rarely, I will selectively nibble away all the colors until I end up with my last six peanut M&M's being one of each color. And I have to admit that I prefer peanut to the plain or almond M&M's.

Anyway, as I chomp away I began to ponder the idea of probability. Of the 56 oz. bag of M&M's, what is the probability of having exactly the same amount of each color in the bag? How many are actually in a 56 oz. bag? Does that vary because some tend to have elephantiasis or are without peanut? What is the probability that I can eat one cup worth without eating the same color in succession?

Will probably never know the answers to those questions and, frankly, could give a *%&#. But I can tell you this, I will most likely never eat another peanut M&M without wondering why in the hell the idea of M&M probability ever popped into my candy-coated, peanut-sized brain in the first place!

Remodel's Eighth Week

Inside, all was quiet on Monday but outside I was able to get some yard work accomplished despite the protest of my back and right shoulder. The contractor brought his dump trailer by so I spent most of the afternoon scaling down the junk piles in the back yard. From what my body was telling me the next few days, I may have overdone it.

Tuesday
Craig the tile installer was back to install/reinstall the back splash tile—this time to the originally conceived plan—see Assume Nothing for... the rest of the story. The glass tile behind the yet-to-be-installed range hood looks awesome and I think will be a nice focal point in the kitchen when all is done. Also on tap was carpet and pad removal (hence the trailer). I asked the contractor to give me a day between carpet removal and new carpet install so I could take care of some nasty and annoying floor squeaks. He offered the use of his stand up screw gun and a bucket of screws, which made the job much easier.

The cabinet guys returned with and reinstalled the newly sanded and re-stained upper hutch cabinets—this time without any mismatched stains (see Remodel's Seventh Week for... yep, the rest of the story). You're not going to believe this, the installer miss cut the hole for a double gang switch/outlet box that's between the counter and the upper cabinets and had to cut it larger to expose the box. That means a standard double gang cover plate will not cover the hole. We are hoping an over sized plate will do the trick, if not, we'll have to go with a triple gang plate with the third gang blank (smooth). At this point I'm not willing to send back the upper hutch a second time to have them make a new one. Seems like that hutch has been a huge headache for the cabinet maker—I'll bet he's wishing he had bid higher for the cabinet work.

As the cabinet guys were struggling with the hutch uppers, Tiffany delivered the kitchen cabinet hardware as well as a couple options for the hutch hardware—we thought going with a brighter finish would look better on the darker stain. I knew right away which one I wanted but Prudence, that little voice in my head that I sometimes heed, told me to check with Rebecca first so I drove the samples to her office for her inspection. We were in sync. On closer inspection of the kitchen hardware, however, I noticed that the finish was not what we had wanted, these were oil rubbed bronze (almost black) not Venetian bronze. I fired off an email to Tiffany informing her of the faux pas and told the cabinet guys they could start installing the hutch hardware but not the kitchen hardware. Turns out that Lowe's, where the hardware was purchased, does not carry the Venetian bronze finish so we'll have to wait a week or so.

Wednesday
The back splash was grouted. Looks good, but... After the grouter (not Craig but his helper) had finished and left, I noticed that the back splash on either side of the kitchen window did not look right. Got out my tape measure and measured up from the counter—the left side is one inch lower than the right side. The fix will be easy because it involves only two tiles, where the cut tile just needs to be cut one inch higher. What I didn't catch but Denis, our project foreman caught, was that there was a strip of uninstalled tiles just under the cabinet. Craig must have had the pain of his recent knee surgery on his mind that day.

As the grouter was going about his job and the cabinet guys were fine tuning and installing hutch hardware, I was driving about a thousand screws into the living room floor getting rid of pesky squeaks. After going on fifteen years now, you don't know how nice it is to not have a house talk back to you whenever you walk about. Silence is golden!

The finish carpenter, Terry, was also by to work on installation of the pocket doors and other trim. The door between the kitchen and laundry/half bath went in with relative ease but the door to the dining room did not. Due to the problem described in Best Laid Schemes, the door was just too narrow and there wasn't enough room to build out a stop to prevent the door from rolling off its track. Terry said it was just not going to work and would have to talk to Denis to determine an alternate resolution.

Thursday
We got that new house smell as Scott and Lance arrived to install our family and living room carpet. I have to admit that Rebecca and I really hit the mark by choosing this carpet. The color and unassuming pattern look great. We may even go with the same carpet style for the office and master bedroom at some later date.

Denis was able to facilitate the back splash fix right away so that was being done as the carpet was being laid while Denis, with helper Mike, were installing our washer and dryer. We had hoped the refrigerator and microwave would get installed as well but time restrictions prevented that.

Denis and Mike discussed the pocket door issue and came to the conclusion, despite having to take a hit for the door, that a new pocket door would have to be ordered to resolve the gap and off track issues, not to mention improve the overall look because cover up stops would not have to be installed to the jamb. I was happy to hear that. Denis wanted to know if I could use the door elsewhere, and just so happens, the door to the family room from the entry hall is the same size. Since we're ordering a new door anyway, did I want to replace the family room closet door as well? Of course! Replacing those doors will tie everything together for a truly finished look. Yes, life is good.

Friday
A very light day. The drywall guys were here patching holes left by the electrician and Denis' access hole to the pocket door track. They will return next week to apply texture. Also next week, all appliances and range hood should be installed, painters should be back for final touch up, electrician will be back for the last time to top out and install the living room floor outlet, hope to have kitchen hardware installed and final inspections take place. Is that a light I see at the end of the tunnel?

I've decided to repaint the living room ceiling to match the kitchen and family rooms, so after this weekend, we will start moving furniture and kitchen stuff out of storage and back to their rightful homes. With a little luck we will be using all appliances and be back to normal aside from waiting for the doors, which could be a couple weeks out.

Cry "Uncle" - Again

I am an uncle again for the thirteenth time. The previous eight times I've been given uncle status have been through my wife's side of the family. Let's see now, in chronological order, there's Ted, Brian, Cari, Bill, Nick, Ian, Hunter, Dennis, Tommy, Isabella, Henry, Jeremy, and now Margaret (Maggie). That makes the tally ten nephews and three nieces. The gals have a way to go to catch up.

Maggie arrived with a little drama on Saturday, 4/18, at 7:10 AM in the backseat of the Subaru in the hospital parking lot. Aunt Pilar was there as her head came out but Aunt Alison (also a midwife) finished the delivery and placed her on mom's chest. She was 6 lbs. 8 oz., 20 1/2 inches long with brown hair. Her blood sugar was a bit low but has normalized. She is latching on just fine. Baby and proud parents are doing great. (Thanks Aunt Karen for the pics and details)

Red Cross Donation Gone Awry

Rebecca, being the generous and conscientious caregiver that she is, has donated blood to the Red Cross before without complications. After all, they're in the blood giving and receiving business, so to speak, so they should know what they're doing, right? Not so it seems with Rebecca's donation last Friday, 4/17. Something went awry and left one of the nastiest bruises I've ever seen on a blood donor. It will be weeks if not months before this bruise clears up. Not sure Rebecca will be making another donation soon unless a dire emergency.

Remodel's Seventh Week

Week seven was anticipated to be full of excitement and productivity but ended up being peppered with disappointment, punctuated with immense frustration, heated words and hurt feelings, and much less productive than hoped.

Monday was by far the worst day because it started with the excitement of getting our back splash installed - but that didn't happen. To get the full story read my previous post "Assume Nothing".

Tuesday was a glimmer of hope that the previous days frustration would be perhaps partially healed because we unexpectedly received the upper cabinets for the dining room hutch. On closer inspection I noticed several flaws in the stain and was considering having the installers take it back but was talked into partially installing the unit and discussing the flaws with Rebecca before making a final decision. We both agreed that the unit as a whole looks fantastic, but for the money we're spending on cabinetry, it should be near perfect. The cabinet maker will be correcting the stain issues. In addition to bringing the dining room uppers, the cabinet guys were also fine tuning doors and drawers.

Wednesday the plumbers returned to start their final top out installing the 1/2 bath toilet, sink faucet, soap dispenser and garbage disposer. The plumbers were called away on an emergency but would return Thursday to install the just arrived dishwasher.

Thursday was also the day the electrician came by to begin his final top out. We have lights! Can lights, pendants, 1/2 bath fan/light combo and one outside patio light were installed as well as outlets (including range and clothes dryer) and switches and their covers. He also electrified the garbage disposer and dishwasher.

The plumber didn't arrive until late afternoon. When I briefly spoke to him he intimated that he might not stay because it was late in the day and he didn't have the parts for the 1/2 bath sink and would have to return next day anyway. He said he could at least drill the hole for the garbage disposer air switch. He did that and, as I discovered later, decided to hook up the dishwasher anyway. He was gone by the time I came in late from doing pond maintenance.

I saw that the air switch was installed-it looked pretty good. I then noticed that the dishwasher was back under the counter so I checked it out. The door seemed to be a little stuck but I tugged it open. Immediately I noticed that the top of the door was marred in a couple places, right at the brackets that are screwed into the cabinet cleat to secure the unit. Needless to say I was bummed. Our brand spanking new, delivered only that morning dishwasher was scratched up a few hours out of the box (or off the pallet in this case).

Rebecca got home late Thursday night from a meeting in Portland and I elected to tell her in the morning. I stewed for several hours thinking about what I would say in my email to the project foreman; wondering what damage will be done to our other yet-to-be-installed appliances. Thinking, after I sensed his reluctance at having to work so late in the day, that perhaps I should have told the plumber to drill the air switch hole but leave the dishwasher alone, I'd rather he work on that when he's fresh.

First thing Friday morning I took pictures and fired off an email to the foreman. Soon after a different plumber came by to install the 1/2 bath pedestal sink. While he was here, the plumbing project manager came by to take a look at the dishwasher. He didn't like what he saw, apologized and told me the problem would be taken care of even if it meant buying a new dishwasher. He will work with the store where we bought the appliance to see how best to correct the issue. In the mean time, they adjusted the dishwasher so we can use it until the issue is resolved.

Man, talk about lessons learned, this week was one for the books-the importance of good communication; the fallacy of assumptions and how they can be counter productive; that you shouldn't let someone work on something that's important to you if you sense that they are tired or disgruntled; that you should speak up if you think something is not going according to plan.

Assume Nothing

When an army of workmen are involved with any remodel, good communication is imperative to minimize mistakes and to get a task done right the first time. When it comes to the execution of a design, good communication is imperative between the designers and those for whom they are designing.

Many weeks ago Rebecca and I sat down with a designer, Becky (one not with our contractor but rather with one from the flooring and tile supplier), to try to figure out a design for the back splash above the counter top. The type of material and a basic design were discussed and approved. I pretty much left the designing up to Rebecca and Becky but overheard enough to get a general idea about the design.

A day or two before the tile installer was to set the tile we got a drawing "as described to her" from our contractor's designer, Tiffany, and wanted to know if that's how we envisioned it. Though the design looked nice, it was not what I had overheard Rebecca and Becky discussing so assumed there had been a change in plans. I made a copy of the design and showed Rebecca and waited for her response. "That looks nice," was her response so I thought my assumption of a change was correct. I emailed Tiffany saying we both liked the design.

A day or two later the installer, Craig, started installing the tile according to the plan that Tiffany presented to us. Right away I noticed something different about the glass tiles. I didn't remember us choosing more than four colors of glass but there were five. I called Rebecca and asked how many tiles we had chosen and she confirmed my memory. Not being able to describe the extra tile sufficiently, I took the glass tiles to her office to show her. Her blessing was given so the tile setting commenced. (I now vaguely remember authorizing Becky to add another color that would pick up the floor color). Craig could not finish the install because he ran out of material. It seems tile was ordered for the original design and not the one presented to us by Tiffany.

When Rebecca got home from work I told her that Craig ran out of material so couldn't finish the install. She took one look at what was on the wall and said that the design was not what she and Becky talked about nor envisioned. I reminded her about the design she liked that I showed her and, well, I won't go into the heated words and frustration that followed, suffice it to say we were not happy campers.

It seems Rebecca was confused about the black and white design I showed her and I did not explain the difference between the new design and that of what I had overheard her and Becky discuss because I assumed a plan change had been made.

I emailed Tiffany and our job foreman, Denis, of the situation and the next day Denis came by to remove a portion of the incorrect tile design before the mortar set up. Denis removed the tile while I scraped off the mortar. We were lucky that the mortar was still a little damp because we were able to salvage 90% of the tile. Another day and the tile would have been a total loss. The only tile we had to discard was the specifically cut tile of which we would not be able to reuse.

As I see it, the communication ball was dropped by three people, myself, Rebecca and Tiffany. Tiffany assumed her interpretation of the design as told to her was correct but did not confirm with Becky before sending the drawing to us; I should not have assumed a design change without first getting confirmation from Rebecca; and Rebecca assumed that what she saw in the drawing was what she and Becky had envisioned and did not think to confirm her assumption. The issue is going to be resolved to our liking despite our unintentional efforts.

The "misunderstanding" has probably set us back a few days (and dollars) in our schedule. The original design has been drawn and "signed off" and next week Craig will resume work. A good half day of the installer's work is wasted as is about a dozen or so tiles that had to be reordered. But all will be good and the finished design will look eye-popping fantastic.

New Blog Template

I've changed my mind about the template for the blog. I like the looks and layout much better with this template than the last. I especially like the 1 pixel line framing the photos, and, loving the ocean and its environs, the lighthouse background image is fitting for my personality. If someone comes up with a better template I just may change again, I'm like that. I hope you're enjoying.

Dave

Remodel's Sixth Week

It's Saturday morning and as I write the finish carpenters are installing the trim and base molding. That should be another project done by days end.

It was an exciting week because, 1) we got the rest of the cabinets installed with the exception of the dining hutch uppers, and 2) we got the counter tops installed. The kitchen is really looking like a kitchen now. The hutch uppers need to be installed after the counter top is installed.


Monday the upper kitchen and 1/2 bath cabinets were installed and most of the top and side trim was applied. They will need to come back to install the upper hutch cabinets, adjust the doors, fix a few problems and install pulls and knobs. Yes, we've finally decided on a style for the knobs and pulls but it will take a couple weeks to get them. Even without the hardware the cabinets look great. We are really glad we decided to have a new hutch unit built and stained to match the dining table.

Tuesday the electrician stopped by to move his misplaced outlet that lay behind the refrigerator case's right wall. Am still not sure whether it will be abandoned or he'll put another outlet behind the fridge.

Wednesday was a quiet day - no work done.

Thursday the finish carpenter started with the trim and base. While he was scoping out the job he noticed that there might be an issue with installing the old pocket door hardware. As it turns out, half of the roller mechanism-the half that is attached to the door-got tossed out with the old door. The only prudent solution our brainstorming came up with was to replace the old track and hardware with new. But to put in the new you have to take out the old. To take out the old you need access to all the fasteners. To gain access to all the fasteners you need to punch a hole in the newly textured and painted drywall. I hope it will be a seamless patch.

No sooner was that issue resolved than another reared its ugly head. Modern 30" pocket doors are, well, 30" wide. Not so with the old pocket doors, or at least this old pocket door. Our opening is 30 5/8" with the jamb. That means that with the door attached to the rollers and closed, there would be a gap of about 5/8" adjacent the pocket side of the door and the door would swing from the track because there's no pocket to keep it from doing so.

Picture yourself hanging from monkey bars with your feet off the ground. You'd be able to swing to and fro easily right? Picture someone with their outstretched arms on either side of your legs about 1/2" away from them, you wouldn't be able to swing very far would you? Same principle with the pocket of the pocket door. It is someones outstretched arms.

I sure wished someone would have measured the old door before ordering the new one. Since the door was custom made, it would have been easy and not costly to make the door 1" wider. Do we want to push the remodel schedule back a few weeks to have a new door made? I don't think so. Our solution is to put 3/4" thick door stops around the three sides of the jamb on both sides of the door for consistency and paint the jambs and stops colors matching the room to which the stop faces, i.e., peanut for the dining room side and apple crunch for the kitchen side. It is hoped that by painting the jambs and stops, they will blend into the corresponding rooms and not stick out like sore thumbs. Not perfect but livable-I hope.


Friday the counter tops arrived and were installed. Love that quartz! They really look superb and the computer generated cuts were spot on. The color is on the brownish side and goes quite well with the hutch but not as well with the kitchen cabinets in my opinion. My hope is that the back splash will help tie everything together.

Best-Laid Schemes

In 1785, Robert Burns wrote "The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men Gang aft agley..." in his poem To a Mouse as an apology for plowing through her nest in his field. The phrase is now more commonly heard as "best-laid plans of mice and men," referring to the idea that even with careful, precise planning the execution of those plans often goes awry.

As our remodel work plows along a few things have gone awry and on-the-spot problem solving has been required. It's understandable that, with so many people from different trades doing their part to bring this project to completion, there's going to be missed or misunderstood communication, misread plans or, something that works on paper, doesn't in reality.

For example, sometimes the edge of vinyl just doesn't want to stay glued to the floor in a critical spot so a little persuasion has to be applied. In this case, the vinyl edge by the sliding patio doors was being temperamental and had to be coaxed into submission with calm, assertive energy.

In these examples, the electrician didn't read the cabinet makers floor lines correctly. (The cabinet maker comes in to measure and mark lines on the floor for all cabinet placement.) Sometimes the positioning of wires or outlets is critical, especially when cabinets or range hoods are involved. At left, an outlet box is positioned right where the refrigerator cabinet wall is to be located. Right,the cabinet installers had to run a new chase in the drywall to relocate the wire for the peninsula outlet creating yet another potential problem by shortening his wire by 3'. Turns out the electrician was able to place the outlet in the knee wall above the counter. The chase will be covered up with base molding but the outlet box behind the refrigerator will have to be moved and the hole patched. Not shown is a misplaced wire for the range hood chimney that will also have to be moved and hole patched.

The original plan was to hang a new door between the dining room and kitchen using the old pocket door track and roller mechanism. The problem is two fold: 1) the old door, to which the other half of the roller mechanism was attached, was tossed out in the trash and there is no way to hang the new door to the old rollers and have the ability to adjust the door so it is tight against the jamb when closed; 2) The new door is 5/8 inch narrower than the old door which will leave an open gap when the door is closed and cause it to swing at the bottom because there's nothing securing it.

After brain storming ideas back and forth we decided the best solution was to take out the old track and put in a new (and better designed) track and hardware. The problem is we will need to punch a hole in the wall to gain access to the screws inside the wall holding the track in place. It's easily done but will require extra manpower to patch, texture and paint the hole.

To solve the gap problem we will install door stop strips around the jamb on both sides of the door to hide the gap and secure the door from swinging. With my 20/20 hindsight, it would have been better to measure the old door for exact size before ordering the new one instead of assuming it was a standard 30" door. They could have easily added and extra inch to its width at minimal cost during its construction.

So I guess the lesson here is if you're planning a project, expect the unexpected and budget accordingly. Never assume anything, especially how easy a project will be or how long it will take. Assumptions are rarely accurate or true.

Remodel's Fifth Week

On Monday the painters came back to finish the walls in the kitchen, family room and laundry/bath room. They will make one more trip back to touch up and finish cutting in the final coat in the corners of the family room. They are also charged with the task of staining and lacquering the doors and molding before installation by the finish carpenters. But they do that work at their shop. Here is a picture of the family room color with the darker accent wall.

Tuesday the new laundry/bath window went in. It's an awning window that opens from the bottom and we tried to closely match the style of the kitchen and family room windows and doors. They had to come back on Wednesday to patch in siding.

Prep for the the new vinyl floor began late Tuesday. The cabinets were scheduled to start install on Wednesday but they were not ready so was pushed to Thursday. A lucky break for the flooring guy; because of his late start, he would have had to work late into the night to finish. He finished installing all the vinyl on Wednesday afternoon.

Thursday afternoon the base cabinets, pantry cabinet and refrigerator nook arrived for install. The pantry cabinet almost didn't make it into the house. They had to take off weather stripping and the back door and it took four men to get it in. When they tipped it upright it cleared the ceiling by about 1/4 inch. Monday the rest of the cabinets will be installed.

On Friday the project foreman installed our sink prior to the counter top template later in the morning. Because the sink is an under mounted sink, he had to build a support system so it would sit just a hair below counter top level. As he was working on the sink support most of our appliances arrived and were stored in the garage. What didn't arrive was our range hood and the dishwasher. We hope to get those next week.

The stone guy arrived to make a template of all the counter tops about 10:00 A.M. He is the reason the range has to be on site. He needs to take measurements of the range for exact fit. Turns out he'd never worked with our make of range before so it was new territory for him. It also turns out the our range is a little deeper than most ranges out there so it will stick out from the counter a little more than we had hoped. Not much we can do about that but live with it. He was able to convince our designer to add a little more depth than was designed to the eating bar counter to make it more user friendly for two diners. He should be able to install the counter tops next Friday.