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  • Claudia’s Passing & Dog Sitting

    My sister had a work conference this weekend and we’re sitting Pippa the pup. I’m a huge fan of animals but the amount of work involved with a dog is pretty big. I’m more of a cat person in part because cats are like furry houseplants with legs. Don’t get me wrong, I aspire to dog ownership but it’ll happen if any when I get some property that they would have room to run on. But even then you don’t get to travel much unless they come with you and I just don’t know if I could do that.

    In much sadder news, Keli’s mom Claudia passed last night. I’ve been in tears thinking about what Keli must be going through. The older I get the more omnipresent death appears to be. It scares me because Sandy has yet to lose a parent and I have yet to lose the hard one, mom. You try not to think about it but it’s going to happen, there’s no way of avoiding that. Keli has handled her mom’s passing with such grace, I’m hoping that I can be half as together when I have to go through it.

  • Rear Shocks Replaced

    I realized the other weekend when we went biking and drove through an unpaved parking lot that the Xterra was riding like a brick. I tried to order springs but that didn’t work out because you can’t find them for a RWD only 4WD. So I still have to send those back but I did get shocks. Considering that they are the original shocks and 16 years old, it was time to replace them. While the shocks are held on by one nut and one bolt, it was a day long event. Jacked it up, put it on stands, removed the tires, dropped the spare, and pulled everything apart, there was (of course) one bold on the lower passenger side that wouldn’t come loose with the Ryobi impact, so I pulled out the air impact and it still wouldn’t move. Had ordered a nut splitter but after the sun moved out of the way, I pulled out the propane torch and heated the nut and that did the trick. Got it all put back together and it raised the back at least two inches and it rides much better. Still need to do the front strut and shock but I’ll have to get a front end alignment so I’ll figure out where that’s getting done before I do it.

  • Gallery Issues

    My apologies but we seem to be having issues with the galleries not linking to the actual picture preventing you from clicking on the thumbnail to get the actual image.

    We are aware of the issue and I’ll do my best to address this ASAP, sorry for the inconvenience.

  • Painting Complete,Flooring On Deck

    We got the last of the painting done today and it’s looking pretty good.

    Tomorrow I’m starting the floor, here’s hoping that goes as smoothly.

  • New One on Me

    I just walked Sandy out to her car and kissed her goodbye and for the first time in my adult life, my SO has a real job and I don’t. I’m not sure how I feel about that but it has caused some soul searching and I don’t believe it will take me that long to find a job but I’m still figuring out what I want to do. I feel I’ve lost my spark and direction in computers, don’t get me wrong I still love them and can’t imagine doing anything else but I need a direction. I’m certainly tired of HR and HR related software. Oh well, I’m sure something will turn up when the time comes.

    I’m really proud of Sandy, this job represents the pinnacle of her career in both compensation and prestige. Ask anyone who works in skilled nursing facilities who state is and it strikes fear in their hearts because of the power they have to shut down substandard facilities. And they serve a very needed purpose which is to keep these places professional and their patients safe and comfortable.

    I’ve got painting to do and then flooring and other home improvement efforts to undertake and some contract work to cleanup the last dying Taleo instances that will keep me entertained until my future because clear.

  • And Then There Was Paint

    While painting ranks up there with plumbing as things that I would just rather not do. Painting isn’t actually that bad but the amount of prep work that you have to do in order to get to the painting is friggin ridiculous. Clear > patch > repair > re-texture > wash down > tape and then maybe you’re ready to paint. Not that much fun. But I got the major rolling done and it feels good to actually see some progress.

  • Prepping In Process

    I used the rest of the joint compound that I had to finish up the last un-textured part of the wall, then we took the TV off the wall and found another spot. So I could go to Ace and get the joint compound for $5.99 or drive all the way to Lowe’s to get it for $4.37. I opted to pay the extra to not have to drive, took the bike to Ace, they didn’t have any, so I would have had to upgrade to the next size at $10.99. So off to Lowe’s I went.

    I pulled the baseboard out of the closet and patched and textured so we should be ready to go tomorrow.

    It’s the 50th season of SNL tonight, we’re going to stay up and try to watch it so we can pretend we’re cool and hip.

  • Crowsfeet Not On My Face

    So the holdup on progress has been how to match the texture of the as is. Well it seems that there’s a crows feet brush and it seemed to work well. It’s drying now and hopefully holds well when it gets painted.

    On another note, the Xterra is riding like a brick. I ordered $500 dollars worth of leaf springs, shocks and struts. It’s the first payment to the TLC I owe it for it’s 150k mile anniversary. Here’s the old:

  • Drywall Cut & Placed

    While it still wasn’t easy, the oscillating tool made short work of getting the piece to replace the ironing board. Also is a picture of the before of the under sill, its scary…

  • More Progress

    Slowly but surely, it’s getting there. After getting rid of the ants, we got some spray foam and drywall to fix the ingress area under the window sill. I’ve always had an issue doing drywall work because it’s such a pain in the ass to cut. In carving out pieces from the 8 x 4 you can use a jig saw but it’s never clean and always messy.

    After looking up suggestions, the oscillating tool seemed like a good solution and then I remembered that I inherited one from dad when he passed. It was a Dremel and I had opened the case but never even plugged it in. After locating it, I popped open the case and the first thing I see is a drywall blade. After changing out the head and putting on the blade I was delighted to see the tool slice through drywall (literally) like butter. This gives me the confidence to take out the old ironing board storage and make it into a standard room. It made me smile because over 10 years after his passing, it felt like my dad was still in my life.