Construction progress

 We're 2 1/2 weeks into the remodeling process, and things are moving along. The only problem is that the dust is driving my nose and eyes crazy. They have done a good job containing it, but dust is just part of the process. However, Ward and Theo don't seem to be bothered much by it. I guess I'm special that way. Also, the toilet that the workers were using developed a leak. Luckily, the water was cleaned up before it leaked onto the ceiling below. And fortunately, we were going to replace that toilet anyway. In addition, we made the final selection of tile for the backsplash yesterday, and I think it will work well with the rest of the kitchen. It's a relief that another decision has been made.

Here are a few pictures of the work. There's not much to look at, but people have been asking.

The entrance into the office (formally the dining room) from the foyer has been closed off. Ward is making a console table for this spot, so there will be a drop spot when you enter through the front door. There's a closet on the other side, and we just couldn't fit a table in the space before, which made it awkward when people visited.

Another opening into the office from the kitchen was also closed off. You can see that work partially through the doorway. The new entrance for the room you see here will be a set of French doors from the hallway.

Down the hallway a little from the office, you can see another door closed, and another one opened up right beside it into the kitchen. The single door into the kitchen from the family room was always a choke point, so this wider opening should help things flow better. We have closed off a total of three doors and opened up two to replace them.

The pantry is getting widened with a couple of shelves. These extend over the basement steps below, so we are limited with what we could do and still follow code. There will be a pocket door to get in, and the actual opening will be 1/2 as wide as what you see here. That's Enrique you see in the picture. He is always smiling.

And speaking of code, the entire kitchen has to be rewired to meet the current code. Every appliance has to be on a separate circuit including the garbage disposal and microwave. And the outlets above the countertops have to be on at least two independent circuits, with every other one on a different circuit.

And while the electrician is here, we've had some overhead lights installed in the family room and office because those rooms had very poor lighting. The new lights are working, and we love them. What a difference they make, especially this time of year when it gets dark early.

We continue to search for things even though I thought I was very organized when packing up. But overall, we're doing okay with the temporary arrangements we've set up for the job. That's about it. There's been a lot of work, but not much pretty to see yet, unlike on HGTV when you get perfect results in an hour. :)

Until next time...

Detours

 Yesterday was a warm day, with temperatures reaching into the 60s. I had the day off, and Ward took the afternoon off to enjoy the beautiful weather. I'm glad we got out when we did because today has been rainy, and snow is forecast for later in the week. Here are a few pictures from our afternoon.

First, we had lunch at a local park. This is on a hill overlooking a baseball field at the park. Next in the plan was to hike along a rail trail that connects the park to the older part of town and return the same way.

However, the trail looked crowded, so we decided to make our way through neighborhoods and return by the rail trail. We found a new-to-us neighborhood with lots of Victorian houses.

Looking at the old houses made for an interesting walk.

We entered town beside the old First National Bank building. Its plaque says that the bank was first established in 1905, and after two fires, they built this building in 1930, doing their best to make it fireproof.

Then we started back along the rail trail.

...and noticed this poison ivy sign. That was the first time I had seen a warning sign for the dreaded plant.

However, soon we came upon this truck that was blocking the trail. As it turns out, the trail was closed because work was being done on it. We guessed the other end must not go too far either, and maybe all of the people we saw had to turn around, also.

We walked on different streets on the way back and found this historic building. The original sign for the business is in the local history museum, which has been on my list to visit for some time. 

It was an interesting walk, and we got some good exercise as we climbed the neighborhood hills-just what we were looking for in our get-out-of-the-house afternoon.

Until next time...

President's Day

 Another Monday holiday, another revisit of a holiday post. I first put this quiz together in 2012 and have rerun it a couple of times since then. However, the last one was four years ago. See if you remember the answers or maybe you already knew them.

Have a good day. The weather is warming up, so we're hoping for a hike this afternoon.

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Presidents' Day

PRESIDENTS' DAY QUIZ
 

How much do you know about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln whom we honor on President's Day? See if you learn something after taking this quiz like I did when I put it together.

The statements below apply to either Washington or Lincoln.

1. _____ Stood 6'2” tall.

      2. _____ His mother was born in what is now the state of West Virginia.

3. _____ Used his hat to carry important papers.

4. _____ The first president to wear a beard.

5. _____ Had three hoe cakes and tea most mornings for breakfast.

6. _____ Introduced the mule to America.

7. _____ Had red hair when he was young.

8. _____ His formal education was only 18 months.

9. _____ He patented a system to alter buoyancy of steamboats.

   10.  _____ Had no biological children

Bonus: Both Washington and Lincoln were born in February. What days are their birthdays on?
Answers:

PRESIDENTS' DAY QUIZ

Answers

1. Washington-- Stood 6'2” tall.

     Washington and Lincoln were both tall for their time. Washington stood at 6'2” tall and Lincoln towered at 6'4” tall.

2. Lincoln-- His mother was born in what is now the state of West Virginia.

      Lincoln's mother, Nancy Hanks, was born in what is now Mineral County, WV. She died when he was nine years old. You can visit a replica of the cabin she was born in as well as a memorial marker there. 

3. Lincoln-- Used his hat to carry important papers.

     Lincoln's hat was more than a fashion statement. He also used it to carry important papers. If you want to see one of his top hats, visit the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. 

4. Lincoln-- The first president to wear a beard. 

      The story goes that Lincoln received a letter from an 11-year-old New York girl, Grace Bedell, who suggested that his thin face would look better with a beard. He grew a beard soon after that. Who knows? It may have helped him win the election. Other presidents with beards were Grant, Hayes, Garfield, and Harrison. Truman supposedly grew a beard while he was on vacation. 

5. Washington-- Had three hoecakes and tea most mornings for breakfast.

      Hoecakes were made from cornmeal and were originally baked on a hoe.

6. Washington-- Introduced the mule to America.

     Washington was looking for something that might work better than a horse for work around the farm. The mule, which is a cross between a male donkey and a female horse, seemed to fit bill. 

7.  Washington-- Had red hair when he was young.

     Washington had red hair when he was young and contrary to popular belief, he never wore a wig. However, he did powder his hair which was fashionable at the time. 

8. Lincoln-- His formal education was only 18 months.

     Lincoln only went to school a few weeks here and there when he was not working. However, he always had a book in his hand including when he was plowing a field. 

9. Lincoln-- He patented a system to alter the buoyancy of steamboats.

     His device was never manufactured, but he is the only US president to hold a patent. 

10. Washington-- Had no biological children.

     However, he raised two step-children from his wife, Martha, and helped raise two of his step-grandchildren when their father, John, died. Lincoln was the father of four boys of which only one survived into adulthood.

Bonus: Both Washington and Lincoln were born in February. What days are their birthdays on?

Lincoln: February 12

Washington: February 22

Sources:

http://www.wvgenweb.org/mineral/nancyhanksmem.htm

http://www.amazon.com/Abe-Lincolns-Step-into-Reading/dp/0679849777

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States_with_facial_hair

http://www.amazon.com/George-Washingtons-Breakfast-Jean-Fritz/dp/0698116119

http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Photobiography-Houghton-Mifflin-studies/dp/0395518482

http://www.mountvernon.org/content/meet-george-washington

http://www.mountvernon.org/content/facts-falsehoods-about-george-washington-0

http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/education/patent.htm

Happy Valentine's Day

 Hope everyone gets a chance to think about something or someone they love today. Among other things, I'm thinking about how much I love the Lindor dark chocolate truffles that showed up this morning--the breakfast of champions, she says, hoping that a sugar crash doesn't come while she's at work. :)

In honor of Valentine's Day, I rerunning a post from the past when I described one of Wally's Valentine parties at school. It was initially part of a series of posts about girls vs. boys.

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Boys vs. Girls--Wally's Valentine Party

Boys vs. Girls—You Choose 

 Before I had kids, I thought that each child was an individual and didn't believe much in gender stereotypes in children. Little boys ran and jumped a lot because that's the kind of games they were taught. Little girls played with dolls because that was the kind of toys they were given. I thought that if all kids, regardless of gender, were exposed to the same things, they would have the same tendencies. Then I spent some time in the real world of kids and figured out that I was wrong. Possibly there were some differences between boys and girls. From time to time, I'm going to share some of the experiences that led me to this conclusion. However, to not bias you, I'm going to let you guess who are the boys in the stories and who are the girls.

 Today's Story 

The Event: Wally's Third Grade Valentine Party

The Scene: The kids were seated around tables and had naturally grouped themselves into two groups, with all boys on one side and all girls on the other side.

The Action: One group read each Valentine carefully and talked about who liked whom. The other group saw how many Red Hot cinnamon candies they could stuff in their mouth before their mouth burned too much. 

You choose: Which group was the boys and which were the girls?

Decisions, Decisions

We are closing 3 doorways and
opening 2 new ones.

We are a week and a half into our kitchen remodel, and things are going well. Cabinets and flooring have been removed, and doorways opened and closed. The main activity this week has been by the electrician. We are taking this opportunity while he is here to add lights to a couple of rooms and additional outlets where we have none. But with this comes questions about switch configurations, outlet placement, etc. Not as easy as it sounds. I just keep saying for him to use his professional judgment, but he wants feedback. I guess that makes sense since it will not be easy to undo his work.

And I thought we had decided most everything about the design, but we got a question on Monday about the profile we want on three different kinds of moldings. I don't know. I am just happy to have moldings, but they want to know our preferences. And what do we want the shelf configuration to look like in the pantry? What are we going to store there? I don't know. The cabinet configurations are totally different than before, so I'm not sure where everything will go. 

Ward and I are also working on pulls and knobs for the cabinets. Too many choices. I think we've picked them out, and then we change our minds the next day. Actually, I don't care that much anymore. I just want to get them ordered. We have not yet researched garbage disposals to know what we get there, but that's a little later in the process, so there's time on that.

Pull of the hour.

What is more urgent to keep things moving is ordering the tile for the floor. I've been working on that this morning. We picked out something they keep in stock, but there were words about supply chain problems that may affect our order. So they're getting back to us on that.

Otherwise, the process is noisy--headache-inducing noisy sometimes, making it hard to concentrate or even hold a conversation. But such is the nature of construction. The workers are very polite and friendly, and we are lucky that way. However, it is interesting when we hear an exclamation when something goes wrong. We are very curious about what happened, but so far, nothing has been bad enough that they have had to tell us about it.

The only real problem was when the old refrigerator's water supply was unhooked and leaked, which I mentioned before. What I didn't know when I talked about it last time was that water had leaked through the ceiling into Wally's room, soaking his bed. Luckily, the linen and pillows absorbed most of the water, and the mattress was only a little wet. So everything is dried out, and the only reminder of the slight mishap is a stained ceiling.

I feel very lucky that we can do this work on our house to make it work better for us. We are very pragmatic people, so while we want things to look nice, we mostly want things to improve our day-to-day lives. And I think that will happen.

Until next time...

 

Times, They Are a Changin

I've lived long enough to see many changes, especially in the technology world. When I was a kid, computers were giant machines that filled an entire room. In college, I used punch cards to write computer programs. In my 20s, I got my first desktop computer. And that was just the beginning.

Advances in technology have revolutionized how we do almost everything, especially communicate. These days, we seem to have an urgency to respond to or be in constant contact with people, but not face to face. In people younger than I, an actual phone call is considered rude, and texting is the more polite way to communicate. Emails are seldom read unless they are required for business. 

Communication shifted with the appearance of COVID when social distancing and isolation became important. This need for distancing caused an explosion of virtual calls and meetings. Zoom became a new verb.  These kinds of conversations were more personal than texts or emails because you could see who you were talking to. But now, even Zooming is reverting into hide-behind-the-screen dialogs. I have noticed that cameras that were always on two years ago are sometimes off now--especially if it's a big, general meeting. However, having cameras on is always desirable if it's a small group. At least that's what I think. But I learned something lately that suggests not everyone thinks this way.

Recently, Wally was searching for a job and talked with many companies, all virtually. Sometimes, it was a screening call. Sometimes it was a technical challenge. Sometimes it was to meet the team. Sometimes it was to meet the boss. The point is that he had many meetings with many companies. Here's the part that surprised me. During the vast majority of these meetings, the interviewers had their cameras off. Wally kept his camera on, but he often could not see who he was talking to. These meetings/interviews were supposed to be an opportunity for Wally and the company to get to know each other. A personal interaction. But I don't know how well that happened if one-half of the exchange was hiding. This no-camera practice just seemed wrong to me. But maybe that's the new norm. I don't have enough experience to know. (BTW, this was for a technical position where he would be part of a team.)

So what did Wally think about this practice from his younger perspective? He didn't like it. Luckily, he received multiple offers, but guess what? He went with a company that interviewed with their cameras on. He said he got a much better feel about the work atmosphere and the people he would be working with. 

What has been your experience with virtual calls and meetings? Do you find generational differences?

Until next time...

Weekly Check In

or Whenever-I-Get-Around-to-It Check In

We made sure that Leo could get to his favorite window when we were stowing things.

Last night was one of those nights that sleep eluded me for several hours. Sometimes it just happens, but I'm always careful to warn those around me that I'm going to be cranky after one of those nights. I really need regular sleep. If this happened very often, I would have to take up drinking caffeine.  

In other news, work was slated to begin on our construction yesterday, February 1. However, we got a surprise Sunday afternoon that they were coming Monday. That sped up our clearing of the work areas, and we were thankful that Wally was here to help. All was ready Monday morning when they showed up.

When we weren't packing things up, we were out shopping. The contractor is supplying most of the materials, but we are picking up a few things for the jobs we've added. Over the last few days, we have purchased two toilets, two faucets, and a vanity top. Still on our list is a garbage disposal and cabinet pulls, which by the way, are really expensive if you get better than the very cheapest ones. Or maybe it's not so bad, except we need 44 of them.

Before this project, the cats were fed in the kitchen, and it took them a little while to find their new feeding spot in the bathroom. Leo seems nonplussed by the whole operation, but Annie visits the workers regularly and yells at them. I think her message is I don't like you messing with my food because she is more food-oriented than any other cat we've had. But she is chowing down regularly in the new spot.

Here are a few pictures.

We have put stuff everywhere, much of it in the basement. We will move the old fridge and range down there and use that as our kitchen for the duration.

In addition, we have set up a mini kitchen in the living room on the main level.
This is also Ward's temporary office. You can see the back of his computers on the right.
We don't have curtains on the bow window, so he moves poster boards around to block the sun on his monitors.

This is what the kitchen looked like when I went to work yesterday. 

This is what it looked like when I came home.
Some of the cabinets are moving to the basement, and the workmen have taken some of them along with a couple of doors. As it turns out, our appliances are too old to donate to the Habitat for Humanity Restore, so they will be recycled. Everything else is in the dumpster. We tried to minimize what we threw away, but the reality of construction is that it creates waste.

This morning the fridge was disconnected from its waterline in anticipation of the move to the basement. However, the valve that was supposed to turn the water off to that line didn't work, so water to the whole house was turned off. We never used the icemaker in this fridge and don't plan to hook up water to the new one. We are happy using ice cube trays and a pitcher of water on the counter. In addition, the water part of a fridge is notorious for breaking, so we're not going to tempt fate. If we had a house full of kids, we might think differently, but we don't.

So until next time, she says, wishing she had taken a shower before the water to the house got turned off.