We have neglected to put up some pictures of our guest bedroom…
Continue reading “Guest Bedroom (Ours)” »
October 2006
Monthly Archive
Sun 1 Oct 2006
Sun 1 Oct 2006
A month ago, at a neighbor’s birthday party, I stumbed into a time warp when I stepped into the bathroom. Let me back up a second.
Our house is one of five houses that were built around the same time. When we visit our neighbor’s homes, it’s interesting to see the basic layout is the same, but changes have been made over time. A kitchen may have been re-configured, a third story dormer was put up, porches may be screened in, or entirely replaced.
At this party, nature called. When I stepped into the bathroom, the first thing I saw was:
Continue reading “Urban Archaeology - Bathrooms” »
Sun 1 Oct 2006
It’s been slow going since most of the “heavy lifting” has been done.
One item we needed to accomplish was outdoor lighting. The easy fix…
Continue reading “We’re mostly done” »
Mon 23 Oct 2006
The living room was cleared of stuff recently. There’s no more mattress pads or desk or computer there. The office is now in the den/study room.
Remodel work has obviously slowed down. Mostly because there’s not as much to do and we’ve lost steam.
This weekend, we even carved a pumpkin because Halloween is right around the corner. Continue reading “Halloween Around the Corner” »
Mon 23 Oct 2006
If you’ve ever examined a new home or condo recently, you’ve probably seen a network closet. This is usually where the phone and cable service enters the unit, and from there branches out to all the other rooms. This type of network topology is called a star network. Sorry for all the technical talk, but I think it’s cool. Plus I think it’s much better than the cable or telephone guy, making holes in your exterior walls to put in a new cable or phone jack.
Anyway, I’m attempting to network and wire our house properly.
Continue reading “Network Closet (round 1)” »
Mon 23 Oct 2006
Painting is pretty straight forward. You tape edges, use a paint brush or roller, let it dry, and repeat. Two coats. Simple.
We actually took a free city sponsored painting class before we purchased our place. The best tip we learned from the professional is to make holes in the inner rim of the paint can. Why is this?
Continue reading “Painting Tip” »
Wed 25 Oct 2006
Now that the larger part of our renovations is done, we’re focusing on some basic comforts: getting a good night’s sleep. Once upon a time, we had a full size pocket coil bed with a plush top that was comfortable, but too small. Tig would be quick to point out that he campaigned for a queen sized bed, but I did not listen to his advice at the time. Later on, we inherited a queen size bed from our friend who left for Brazil. The mattress came with a low slung, espresso DWR lookalike bedframe , complete with built-in lighting that has three settings (see pic below).
Fast forward to today.
Continue reading “And miles to go before we sleep” »
Wed 25 Oct 2006
First I hit the internet and read up on mattress buying. The problem is that mattress preferences are so individual that no one winner emerges. While one person might rave over a particular mattress “worth every penny”, another one despises it “I bought another bed and am much happier now”.
Taking a look at our own needs, we focused on two things: minimal lateral transfer of motion and a medium-soft top. It had to be soft, yet supportive. We personally didn’t care for air beds (we had the same sleep number) or spring coils that were interlocked (I could feel every movement).
Continue reading “Mattress Shopping Part One” »
Thu 26 Oct 2006
I wrote about a network closet in a previous post. Obviously for a network to work, you need those wires starting at the network closet and terminating in the rooms you want connected (or vice versa).
So in my first jack located in the office, I “fished” 2 ethernet cables and a coaxial cable. I should have fished a third ethernet cable, but I can always do this in the future (I left a nylon string in place to help fish future wires). After making the connections (using wire strippers, 110 block punchdown tool and wire cutters) and snapping it all together …..
Continue reading “Ethernet Data Jacks” »
Sat 28 Oct 2006
Continuation of Mattress Shopping Part One
At the local mattress making company, we were greeted by a salesman who had a funny way of speaking low at the beginning of the sentence and then two octaves higher mid way. It was a little weird. Tig was annoyed; he made it so that I interfaced with the salesman most of the time. It turns out the store did sell latex toppers. We can order it any way we want: in different thicknesses, sizes and firmless levels.
We chose a soft 24 ILD (a measure of firmness) latex topper in queen size. There wasn’t one in stock, so it had to be ordered. For a whole week, Tig cooly watched as I waited anxiously. “I’m resigned to bad sleep,” he says nonchalantly. Grrrr.
This Saturday, it was ready for pickup. And there it is (below). Continue reading “Mattress Shopping Part Two” »
