At last… the kitchen is done. It’s quite amazing to have this project completed. I still can’t quite get my head around the idea. Thanksgiving morning we hung up the vent hood, which turned out to be pretty easy, except for the part where I had to shear through about 30 linear inches of stainless steel – using a pair of tin snips! My paws are still mighty sore, and I sustained a few minor owies during the install. But overall, a very satisfying project.
We had a bunch of friends and family over last night for dinner and everyone was pleased with the outcome of the project. Next up: remodeling the dining / living room. There is no finish line…
At last! The tile installation in our kitchen is complete. We’re still working on the post-grout cleanup. Over the next day or so, we need to wipe down the tile to remove the hazy residue. I’m planning to seal the tile on Wednesday evening and again on Thursday morning. Then on Friday I’ll install the new vent hood. It’s hard to believe we’re finally getting this project near completion, and there will be much rejoicing…
Since beginning my new job in August, I’ve been commuting downtown by bus every day. The commuting itself is convenient and simple, provided I catch one of the two express buses. But parking at the transit center is inceasingly challenging. My local transit center is undergoing a substantial renovation and relocation; once complete in mid-2009, the entire transit facility will be much larger and more modern. But while construction is underway heavy equipment is occupying / tearing up more than half of the parking spaces in the existing lot resulting in a morning dash to find parking. I arrive in the morning before 7:00 AM and it’s not unusual for all of the parking spaces to be full, with the overflow lot being over more than four blocks away.
In order to maximize the capacity of the smaller lot, the parking spaces have been restriped to make them about 1/3 smaller than standard parking spaces. I drive a Toyota Camry and it barely fits within the lines of these spaces. Large trucks and SUVs cover both lines, encroaching on adjacent cars. On several occasions I’ve found myself unable to get slither into my car because the doors can’t be opened.
I’ll be happy to see the new transit center completed. It will be a big improvement just to have a sufficient quantity of regular parking spaces again.
I’m still on the hunt for a Warr Guitar. The more that I play my five-string bass with the Preons, the more I realize that I need a broader range tapping instrument. I’ve done some looking around for a used Warr Guitar and they just don’t seem to come up for sale nearly often enough. Since I don’t have a sneaky inside connection to the manufacturer, I’m just another guy out there looking for an affordable deal. If you happen to have one for sale, shoot me an email!
Crikey. I’m hooked on Elder Scrolls : Oblivion for my XBOX 360. I’ve been playing just long enough to realize how big this game actually is… my sad little character is frequently pincushioned with arrows, but I’m learning how to run away (Monty Python style). So far I’ve scratched the surface. This is the “game of the year” edition, so it comes with additional stuff to do once you’ve completed the main quest in the game arc. There are several (probably hundreds) of little side quests that you can get sucked into, and being a generally nice guy, I always tell people “sure, I’ll go fetch / kill / stop / undo whatever you need”. And then it takes me a few hours to do that task and return to the activity I was originally engaged with.
This game seems to have a massive environment and I’m going to spend far too much time working my way through the fabulous detail. Sheesh. What a time vortex this game is… good thing it’s autumn and there’s no yard work to do…
Amazing. I’m so proud of our country for taking this step together. Lead on, Mr. President. I’m aboard.
Ed McMichael RIP
Dammit. Ed was a gentle, kind guy. He was also a little strange. And he was a guy that I really appreciated simply for being such an unabashed supporter of Seattle sports. I’ll miss his silly dancing, strange humor, and boundless enthusiasm. I got to know Ed about ten years ago when I was writing an article on Seattle’s better-known street musicians (which is also when I became a friend of Richard Peterson). It sickens me to think he was killed for pocket change. Godspeed, friend. May your tuba echo in the heavens.
At this time tomorrow we’ll have a new president elect. Bring it on.
Barack me, Obamadeus!
My friend – and fellow 1 Upper – Jon Hyde was kind enough to loan me his Danelectro baritone guitar for a few weeks. It’s really a lot of fun, and I already have decided I want to use it for some of our gigs. The instrument makes a lovely grind when distorted, and I’m using it to play some of the tic-tac bass lines that are so prevalent in this style. As a solo instrument, I need to do some patch programming to really get usable sounds together. Perhaps next week I’ll be able to get some work done on this.
