Archive for January, 2008
Saturday, January 26th, 2008
Pardon me, I am just venting. I really have never, in my life, used an operating system as buggy as this. It’s like I am in constant wonder about what is going to happen the next time I restart the computer. Yes, that’s right…restart, just like the good ‘ol Windows 98 days. Boy, that was fun.
What was the purpose of this version of Windows anyway? I had been happily using Windows XP for years when my hard drive went bad. Every computer Circuit City sold had Vista installed on it, so I didn’t think anything of it. Man, what a mess. I remember writing something like this a few months ago, you know, complaining about Windows Vista. I said that it is slow (which it is). Someone responded by telling me it isn’t Windows that is slow, it’s my hardware. Gee, that’s weird. My last computer with XP blew this thing away (and still would) and that computer is now about four years old. I now have a dual core processor with the same amount of RAM. How is my hardware worse?
All I know is that someone over somewhere better get something done. I may just have to ask for my money back. Do they do that? I know about the Lemon Law for cars, but…
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Friday, January 25th, 2008
I don’t know how many people I told this to in the past for weeks…”I got this car on January 3 and I still have a quarter tank.” I guess I met my goal of not driving much. It does feel good to not know what the gas prices are anymore.
Well, I have bad news. The two trips to Lowe’s today forced me to put some gas in the car for the first time. I think gas is around $3.17 per gallon for the cheap stuff, if you can call it that. There are about 450 miles on the car right now and it has an 18 gallon tank. If my math is correct, I am getting around 25 miles to the gallon. That’s not bad for a full sized V6, considering I have done very little highway driving.
They sure don’t make cars like they used to…thankfully.
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Friday, January 25th, 2008
So today was all about getting the kitchen sink working again. That has really been the pain in my side this whole time.
There is actually a funny little story that goes along with today. As you know, we installed the old sink and faucet in the counter top last night. I was trying to save a few bucks…kill me. The sink is white and I wasn’t sure if it would match the rest of the kitchen. The faucet is aged brown. After we installed them, they actually did match pretty nicely. Tim, next door, called me cheap because I was using the old stuff. I just couldn’t bring myself to throw a perfectly good sink in that big garbage island in the Pacific.
Anyway, I took a trip down to Lowe’s this morning to pick up some plumbing stuff for under the sink as well as a range vent. I needed the vent for the light above the oven. I like to turn off the main kitchen lights at night, but keep the small ones on. I got the stuff from Lowe’s and came home to hook it all up. I hooked up the vent first…
The reason I got this new vent is because the old one was 36″. This new kitchen only offers a 30″ space. I think it looks pretty good. I even got extra small CFLs as lighting.
One other thing about lighting…I finally found CFL candelabras. Can you believe it? They were right in Lowe’s. I got four of them for the ceiling fan lights.
Ok, back to the sink. I hooked up all the plumbing beneath the sink and was very excited to see the water running in the kitchen once more. I stood up and moved the faucet lever backwards. You know the little sprayer thing that you can pull out? It’s the thing attached to the hose. Well, it decided to spray all over me. Actually, the handle was cracked in half and that’s where the water was coming from. I was a little ticked off. I guess there was water in the system when I stored the whole sink and faucet system out on the porch for a month and a half (during Winter). The faucet wouldn’t work. I checked under the sink to see if there was anything I could do. Apparently, the only option I had was to buy a new faucet. I priced out what was already installed and it came up to $218. That ticked me off even more. I found a great looking “Peerless” replacement at only $62. I ran back down to Lowe’s (which ticked me off) and got it and put it in.
Here is a nice photo of the plumbing job I did under the sink…
Everything works beautifully now. Tomorrow, I am running over to a neighboring town to buy a dishwasher. They deliver for free, so they are my kind of people.
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Thursday, January 24th, 2008
The installer finished up here at about 7PM. He worked his butt off today. I was second guessing that it would take two days to install a kitchen, but I was wrong. All the trim work took a long time. The majority of the time was taken up hanging the crown moulding, installing the knobs and handles and the cutting and nailing on the kick plates. I hate that kind of work and he was very good at it. He made all my improvements look kind of amateur…wait, I am an amateur. That makes me feel better.
There is still some work that I need to do myself, like hang a piece of wood right above the refrigerator, hang the crown moulding around the ceiling, hook up the plumbing for the sink and a bunch of other little things.
I am going to show you three photos of half of the kitchen. I moved all the junk to the other side, so when that’s all cleaned up, I will take some more pictures of the rest of the kitchen. We feel so much better actually having counter space and (almost) a sink back. When the dishwasher gets here, I am going to feel like I live in a palace.
I moved the refrigerator back into its spot. I found some stainless steel cleaner and it worked wonders on both the refrigerator and the oven. The space right above the refrigerator is where I need to put the piece of board. I want it to be snug.
I really like the way the corner cabinet goes to the ceiling and the way the moulding hugs all the cabinets. It makes that corner a focal point.
Me (again) amazed that someone can cut moulding so nicely.
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Thursday, January 24th, 2008
I felt that it was my duty to bring you a few more photos of the kitchen installation. It is my duty and my honor.
The second day of the installation is full of detail and trim work. The installer has been out there cutting small strips of wood for filler and hanging the crown moulding on the cabinets. We also put on the counter top this afternoon. There are a bunch more little things that need to get done, they just take up a lot of time.
Here are some photos…
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Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008
The installer arrived this morning at about 8:30. I was very pleased to greet him in the driveway holding the plans in my hand. I felt like a puppy looking out the window.
It is extremely nice to see this thing being put together. There are already some things that I would’ve had trouble with, but he seems to be banging away in there like it’s nobody’s business.
Here are a few photos that I snuck. He is installing the base cabinets first, and then I guess the wall cabinets. I just hope he gets the majority of it done today with just the trim to complete for tomorrow.
These two photos below were taken at about noon. The majority of base cabinets are installed and he is now working on the wall cabinets.
Ok, these next photos below were taken at about 3PM. Most of the base cabinets are installed and the wall cabinets are almost done. There are a few hiccups that he had to fix up, but nothing huge.
I took these photos below at about 5PM, right after the skilled installer left. Man, he measured a lot of stuff and did a better job than I would’ve. Anyway, here they are…
The counter top for that small base cabinet directly above is too long. I think they forgot about that one being more shallow than the rest. I guess we have to get a new one of them. Tomorrow, he is coming back to do the crown moulding, the kick plates and all the spacer wood. Then, we will put the counter top on and cut the hole for the sink. After that, he is done and I will do the plumbing for the sink and purchase and install the dishwasher.
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Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008
I just couldn’t help myself. I was sitting there looking at all this stuff in the living room when one of the cabinets stuck its tongue out at me. Then, all the cabinets started laughing and saying, “Oh Jay, look at you…you can’t even install us. You are very good looking, but a baby nonetheless for not installing us.” I took that as an insult and grabbed the smallest cabinet I could find that wouldn’t get me in trouble with the installer. Then, I unwrapped the counter top and put them both in their place.
I think the colors of the counter top, cabinet, floor and walls go very well together. I am not going to play around anymore because we will probably have to undo tomorrow what I did today. I really can’t stand it though. I should be doing this, but I would definitely mess up the crown moulding.
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Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008
Well, the living room is full of kitchen cabinets. What a mess…I didn’t think there were going to be so many. It’s quite the pile.
The guys showed up at about 10:30 this morning. Being my usual self, I jumped out there and helped them bring all the stuff in. I basically brought in all the upper cabinets, while they brought in the lower stuff, along with the long counter top. This isn’t because they were stronger than me. It’s because I let them. I could’ve done it, but I didn’t want to, ok?
Here are some photos of the large pile…
The installer is coming tomorrow, so all this should be looking pretty good by tomorrow evening. He is scheduled for two days, but with me helping, I am not sure that’s going to happen. I will post more photos of the kitchen installation tomorrow.
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Monday, January 21st, 2008
I just received a phone call from the kitchen place informing me that the kitchen cabinets will be delivered to the house tomorrow morning. This caught me a bit by surprise, because I thought they were coming on Wednesday morning, with the installation guys. I thought they would be brought in one at a time, so I wouldn’t have to worry about making room for them.
Well, that’s not the case. She told me the delivery and installation people are two different entities. Sooooo, I guess this means I will have to make some serious storage space in the living room for all this stuff. Oh, you bet I will take pictures…oh you just wait.
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Sunday, January 20th, 2008
I decided that tonight would be a great night to drink my new Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout that Paul gave me. I know I said that I was going to drink it the other night, but I forgot. By the time I looked at it sitting on my desk, it was too late and I would’ve gone to bed drunk. Then I would’ve been kicked out and headed for the couch. Well, that probably wouldn’t have happened…Laura would’ve laughed at me and punched me or something.
Anyway, the beer is great. Thank you again. It has a lighter pour than my previous beer reviews, but the flavor is good and the color is a nice dark brown. I also decided that I should become a beer photographer. Take a look at my latest…
Pretty cool, huh? And to think, that was my second shot.
I have also decided that maybe I should get a beer making kit. I always wanted one of these, but now that my brother-in-law just got one, maybe we can trade recipes. It’s always good to get into something with someone else. If anyone knows of any good kits out there, please let me know. I have some good beers in mind.
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