For various reasons, we took a break from our traditional Thanksgiving meal last year. This year, we offset it for a week to coincide with a visit from my folks, which left us open on the big day itself. Graciously, our friends invited us to their family celebration, which we thankfully accepted.
We’ve known the extended family for years now, so there was a lot of catching up to do, but we could not have felt more welcome and comfortable the minute we walked in the door. As always, the meal was delicious, and we left feeling stuffed with food and love and thankfulness. I would have taken more pictures but I was having too much fun talking and eating and drinking.
The water filter is installed and flowing, after a couple days of engineering challenges. The broken unit is on its way back to Amazon (looking carefully, it appeared that it had been returned once before, thanks) and the new one arrived on Friday afternoon. I spent the rest of that evening getting it set up and then held my breath while cutting the old filter assembly out of the piping. Then the new unit went in without much fuss, and I carefully filled it with water before restoring service to the rest of the house.
Feeling triumphant, I got some leftover pumpkin pie and brought Jen down to inspect. It was then that she noticed a slow leak coming from the threaded fitting in the housing itself, and my stomach fell. All of the other connections are brazed copper, which means it might need to be cut apart to fix the threaded fitting, unless there’s another solution I’m not aware of. I’m out of time to work on it myself, so I have a second plumber’s number to call tomorrow morning who should be able to help us out.
Even so, running the numbers last night, we’re $550 ahead of the quote we got from the first plumber. Hopefully the repair won’t exceed that amount.
We took Finley to see the Festival of Trees at the state fairgrounds Saturday morning, and she got to talk to the Big Man. The Festival is a huge assortment of custom decorated trees, gingerbread houses, and vendors set up in the main hall of the fairgrounds, and they have events, a stage, games, pony rides, and other attractions for kids to play. On any given day it’s absolutely mobbed with people, but because Finn had her unscheduled trip to the hospital a couple of years ago, we get in early with other former and current patients. This meant there were only three kids in the line to see Santa in front of us and not three hundred.
The afternoon was consumed with shopping and errands. In the evening we threw some wood in the fireplace and started burning some of the new wood, which is a lot more combustible than it should be for only seasoning six months. After eating some leftovers, we busted out the marshmallows and roasted until bedtime.
I had a total of five days off, but I don’t know where it all went. It sure did go by fast…
Waaay back in the first half of the last decade, we were having problems with our water quality. The County was doing work on the water piping in our neighborhood, which had an immediate effect on our water. Everything was orange and there was visible sediment at the bottom of our glasses. We tried a sink-mounted filter I found at BJ’s but that was a plastic piece of crap. Finally we broke down and had some plumbers add a cartridge filter to our water supply line.
Over the years the sediment in our water dissipated and things cleared up, but a few weeks ago we noticed orange in our water again. On Sunday I changed the cartridge in the filter and when I opened the valve to turn the water back on, it started leaking–badly. The mechanism is mainly plastic, so I’ve been babying it over the years. Unfortunately, when it was put in, there was no bypass put in to the piping, so the only way to shut the water off to the house was to use the valve built into the housing–made of plastic.
I stuck a bucket under it and called our plumber, who came out and quoted us a pretty fair price. After thinking it over that evening, I decided I could do it myself for half the price. I did some research, ordered a heavy-duty filter from Amazon, and stocked up on supplies from Lowe’s. It’s been a long time since I’ve sweated pipes, but it’s a skill you don’t forget. By midnight last night I had about half of the piping cut and roughed out, and by the time the unit itself appeared this afternoon the rest was ready to go. Unfortunately someone had dropped the box at some point and broken the release tab off, so it’s got to be replaced with a new one on Friday.
The drip on the filter has dwindled, so the threat of the basement flooding while we wait for the new unit has subsided. The piping is ready; we just need the new unit.
Saturday morning broke warm and sunny, and we all got up eager to get outside. At least, I did. After prodding the neighbor to come and split wood (he was working) I lit a fire and got busy splitting the last of the small stuff, and actually split a 30″ round by hand. I’m definitely at the point where I can’t do anything else without hydraulic assistance so I’m at his mercy in terms of scheduling. I cleaned up the area, adjusted the tarps on the cribs, collected a wheelbarrow full of dry chips for kindling, and a bunch of other small yard tasks before the sky turned dark. In the space of about five minutes it went from sunny and 70˚ to gray and 50˚, and the wind howled in like the aftershock of a nuclear blast. I came inside and changed the cartridge on our water filter, which has needed doing for a while now, only to find that the outgoing valve (the one that keeps water on the house side from pouring back down onto the floor) is leaking uncontrollably, because it is made of plastic and is shit. The plumbers will be here Monday morning to look that situation over, and meanwhile we have a 5-gallon bucket keeping the floor dry.
That was OK though because Mama and I had a reservation at Parts & Labor, a butcher/restaurant in Remington, and it was time to get ready. After setting the babysitter up with the technology we drove into the city and found a spot across the street. Remington has changed dramatically since the last time we were up there; there’s a huge condo/workspace around the corner from the Paper Moon diner that looks like it landed from Mars.
Parts & Labor is a lovely restaurant with killer cocktails and a very courteous staff. Our meals were delicious (Jen won this time with the lambchetta) and we enjoyed every minute of our stay. Strangely, we were done in an hour and a half–usually we shut restaurants down when we’ve got a sitter–so we moseyed up to Golden West and joined the hipsters at the bar for more cocktails. There we enjoyed a couple hours of uninterrupted conversation before the CR-V turned into a pumpkin.
I’ll say that even though I was a little rocky this morning I’m gaining an appreciation for both a well-mixed Manhattan and an Old Fashioned. I don’t drink bourbon or rye as a rule (brown alcohol and I don’t mix) but these two were delicious. Jen and I discussed laying in some good bourbon, bitters, and vermouth and trying to perfect our own recipe over the winter.
Sunday was 40˚ and windy, with gusts of 20mph or more (definitely more) and my neighbor was working again, so there was no splitting for us at all. I went down to pick up the CSA, then came back to clean the yard for winter. This included re-fastening the plastic on the far side of the greenhouse, which had come completely loose, and organizing the contents so that the rest of the chairs and hoses would fit inside. Other than that, it was a relaxed Sunday.
I lured my neighbor (and his splitter) over on Sunday with a warm fire and the promise of cold beer. I started alone by going through the remainder of the smaller logs by hand until about 1 and then he wandered over with his truck; we backed it up to the woodpile and filled the bed. After we dumped that in his driveway we hooked up the splitter and got to work on some of the larger rounds.
Even though the splitter is a pro-grade unit it strained to get through the first 36″ diameter round we put in it–because some of the wood is so gnarled inside. Once we split them in half we got a rhythm going, and it took about 1/2 hour to get through each one. Meanwhile Jen stacked the fourth cradle full and covered it.
Finley, who had been working on a project of her own this whole time, asked us to take a break and relax in the room she’d set up for us under the holly tree. We walked over and found two of the Adirondack chairs set up facing the road, with some shelves, a coathook, a bed (her wagon), a bathroom (a flowerpot) and two fresh beers. We rested in the shade for about ten minutes and she talked us through all of her home improvements, obviously hoping we’d appreciate them–which we did. She can be such a thoughtful child sometimes–I hope she doesn’t lose that.
By 4:30 we’d made our way through five of the rounds and had a sizable pile stacked, but the sun was setting and we needed to clean up. We filled his truck again, then hitched the splitter up and drove it back to his house. Our yard is somewhat empty again with the split wood gone, but there are still 10-12 large rounds and miscellaneous medium logs left. Fortunately, this wood (and its bark) burns readily, there’s plenty of beer (I kegged the IPA we brewed way back in April, tired of waiting) and the weekend appears to be mostly free.
Today is Tuesday and my back and legs are still stiff, but four weekends of honest work feel righteous.
The entire Second Grade has been working on an epic project involving presidents for the past couple of weeks, and overall I’d say I’m impressed with how much detail they’re asking for and by how much time and effort Finley put into her report. Jen sat with her and provided guidance on research, drafts, writing, quality and production, and suggested I take over the visual half. Finn and I talked it over and we came up with a timeline poster, and began work on Thursday organizing and cataloging the information.
Saturday we cleared off the dining room table and got to work with a rough draft, then a visualization, and finally the poster itself. By Saturday evening we were both tired but we had the poster mapped out and the pieces in place; Jen did a QC check and we used that feedback to tighten things up on Sunday morning. When I told Finn she’d built her first infographic (she’s been hearing us talk about infographics for two semesters now) her face broke out in a wide smile and she hugged me while sighing with relief.
Today I got up, made coffee and breakfast, put on my work clothes, and went out to split some more wood. This involved badgering my neighbor via text enough times that he dragged his splitter over and we set up a (dis)assembly line. In about 4 hours we went through a good number of rounds and made a pile of split, stackable wood that we estimate is about 3 cords. According to this calculator I’ve already got 1.5 cords in my cradle.
The weather was perfect for being outdoors. After lunch we picked up two six-packs of tasty session IPA, one from Burley Oak and one from Firestone Walker, and both were delicious. By about 4:30 we were done, so he hitched up the splitter and took it home while I gathered the chips for kindling and straightened the pile. Then I sat with Finley and showed her how to fix the wheel on her new wagon: drill the axle, add a washer, and secure it with a cotter pin. It got dark before she could really play with it too much, but I’m happy to see it getting love again.
The week was a long haul–lots of early mornings in and late nights out of work. We did close on the mortgage, which is great. Finley assisted with another goal in her soccer game today, before going down in a collision with another player. Jen texted me and said it was “like the Simpsons Trampoline,” which had me laughing after I was assured Finn was OK.
Now I’m laying in bed wondering if I will be able to move in the morning.
I had a bit of an argument via text with the bro, who showed up late last Tuesday to mow the lawn before our appraisal, and then asked for more money because it started to rain while he was working. When I pointed out to him that it didn’t get done the previous weekend, and that we had standing arrangements to mow every week, he started arguing with me. Fuck that. He showed up late on Saturday with his mower, knocked on the door, and left (I know this because Jen was making dinner and told me he was out front; by the time I got to the front of the house he was halfway down the sidewalk). What the fuck? Then he texted me his address and asked me to drop the cash off at his house. Fuck you. So I’m going to dust off the POS mower I bought 13 years ago, clean the varnish out of the carb, and finish out the season myself. We’ll look for someone new to handle brainless labor for us next year.
Speaking of the appraisal, it went exceptionally well, and we’re closing on the refi sometime next week. This is fantastic news for our family, and I’m so relieved we’ve gotten this far.
On Sunday I walked out to the pile of felled logs in the backyard and started clearing out the small stuff toward the back. We’ve got a small amount of dry wood left from the elm we dropped in 2005 but the rest of the cradle was empty. I started moving the small pieces onto the cradle, and decided to chop the bark off as I went. When I hit a couple of pieces with the ax, they split cleanly. This was surprising. So I got Dad’s orange maul from the garage and started splitting. By 2PM the old cradle was full and I’d barely made a dent in the pile.
I then built an identical cradle with new wood and Finn helped me dig some level ground to place it behind the first, and then we transferred the wood so that the front cradle was empty. Then I split some more wood while Finn stacked. By dinnertime I was pretty beat so we cleaned up the tools and came inside for a delicious dinner of collard greens and cheese grits. Cold beer has rarely tasted so good.
Some of the rounds out there are five feet in diameter, and there are scores of them. I’m going to need at least another cradle or maybe two to fit all this wood, and that’s after splitting it with two of my neighbors. Not a bad problem to have…
On Saturday, Jen and I sat down and had a chat with Finn about what’s been happening in the latest news cycle, and tried to make a teaching moment about a presidential candidate grabbing women by the pussy. We figure she’s going to hear about it from some kid at school, and we’d rather she talk it through with us instead of get bad information through the second grade grapevine. She handled it pretty well, I think. We’ve had the talk with her before about people saying bad things or trying to touch her where they shouldn’t, so it’s not a foreign concept, but it sucks to have to explain that the possible future president of our country is such a fucking douchebag.
How awesome is this? in August, a guy from Arkansas played Tears For Fears’ Everybody Wants To Rule The World on hammered dulcimer and posted it to Facebook, where it got a lot of hits. In September, Curt Smith and Jamie Wollam from Tears For Fears traveled to his house and did another version with vocals and drumming:
I love stories like this. In light of all the horseshit happening right now, it gives me hope for humanity.
The final date has been a long time coming, but I’m going to be packing this weekend for a trip to Mexico City. This one is on a lot shorter notice than the others, and I’m going to be doing a lot of winging it while I’m there, but due to my teaching schedule I’ll have two days in Mexico City on the company’s dime (wish that could have been London, honestly). This month’s schedule looks absolutely bonkers, actually–I teach next Wednesday, fly out Thursday morning, fly back out Tuesday evening, work from home Wednesday, and teach Wednesday evening. There are a lot of logistical issues to work out (gotta book my flight, for example) but this is going to be interesting.
After comparing rates and details with three different lenders, we’ve got a lender lined up to refi the house. Now I’ve got to get the ball rolling before I leave the country…
I’ve been slacking, I know. I’ve gone back and forth between having a lot to write about and then feeling like it wasn’t worth mentioning, but fuck it.
Jen and I are in the middle of the last season of Penny Dreadful, a series that aired on Showtime up until this summer. It’s a wild, beautiful, gory horror story set in London of the 1890s and it’s absolutely stunning in its production design, writing, and subject matter. I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a series this much since Deadwood. I’ve also been trying to sort out my thoughts on Stranger Things for about two weeks now, but I’m struggling to say what I’m thinking. More on that later.
I ran into a friend on the train by chance who shared employment with me in a previous organization, and we caught up on life since we both moved on. He’s doing very well, is much happier, and we filled in some of the blanks for each other–things I was unaware of, but found hilarious and annoying. I’ll just say it was great to have some unexpected validation on a Thursday evening.
Jen and I spent some quiet time on Saturday morning looking through a bathroom remodeling book for ideas. It’s getting closer to reality, which is kind of shocking. Further research on a home equity line of credit took me down a different path to where we’re looking at refinancing the house. I spent about two hours on the phone on Saturday with banks going through the information and getting quotes, and along the way I wound up with a Navy Federal Credit Union account for a $5 minimum deposit and no monthly fee. If the math is correct, and the quote doesn’t change drastically, we could wind up dropping more than a full point, pulling a chunk of cash out to use on finishing the bathroom, and saving a bunch of money each month. I’m supposed to get the final quote by Wednesday (fingers crossed) and if everything looks good, get it on the fast track to close as soon as possible.
School starts up this coming week, and I spent Sunday finishing my syllabus, posting everything online, working on my first lecture, and sorting through admin stuff. I’m starting from scratch again this semester, so I had to work through the schedule and the workload repeatedly to make sure everything balanced correctly. This class is once a week for four hours, so the schedule is compressed, and I hope it works out well.
Satan’s Hairy Armpit is upon us, with temperatures in the mid 100’s, and all of our air conditioners are cranking. Jen asked me to haul them all outside and clean them out earlier in the summer, and I’m glad she did; they were all disgusting inside, full of black yuck and gunk in the bottom. I disassembled each, sprayed them with mildew killer, hosed them out, and sat them to dry in the sunlight. Now they’re keeping us cool without spraying our lungs full of tuberculosis as we sleep.
I’m considering taking out a home equity line of credit before the election, as I don’t think the new bathroom will be completed without it. We can’t seem to get any traction going in there, and now that I’m not freelancing as much as I used to, I don’t have extra cash appearing magically to throw at it. I have no idea what the markets will do if either candidate wins (but I can guess what will happen if Trump is elected) so I think it’s time to get a fixed APR locked in before everything goes in the shitter.
I’ve been batch processing all of my digital photos from the last 10 years from camera RAW format to JPG, so that I can back them up to Amazon Photo. We get the storage free through Prime, and even though I’ve got two backups of my photos (one in the basement and one in my desk at the office) I’d like to have a third somewhere else. Amazon Photo doesn’t take RAW files, so I set up a simple batch action to open, process, save, and close them into a single folder, which then gets uploaded en masse. I tried finding a script that weeded out any JPG files (why open and resave them?) to filter out everything but what I wanted, but found the documentation poor and once again bonked my head on the low ceiling of my Javascript abilities. So, I gave up and relied on the base batch processor to take care of 2014 and 2013, and being OK with the fact that it’s saving them all at a lower quality for the sake of size.
Long-time readers here at IdiotCentral know I take a lot of pictures. Some of these photos show up on my Flickr feed, and a subset of those show up here. The rest are sitting on my server in the basement and also on a backup drive in my cabinet at work. As part of our Prime membership we get free photo storage too, so I started uploading the contents of my photo archive to Amazon in the spring.
Why is this worth mentioning? Well, I knew I’d taken pictures of the front of the house in the first years we lived here, but the idea of going through thousands of subfolders on the server to find them was unappealing. With Amazon, they’re all cataloged and displayed with low-res thumbnails, so I spent a total of 10 minutes paging back from 2008 or so to find a shot from 2004 on the day I painted the front of the house. This would be helpful to display a lineup of the progression of the house from the early days to this year. Behold:
2003
2004
2016