Really

The Resort is Just About Ready

2012-04-24T13:27:02Z

From New York, I brought the Germans back to Texas for quite a bit of tourism around here, but wound up being up to my eyeballs with them and Southby happenings, and things that needed doing to keep the house in one piece with 6 adults under the roof. Chaz made it through like a champ, and everyone had a blast. After a few weeks recovery, the next house project we undertook was dressing up the backyard for the season. If we're going to build a master bathroom, we wanted a place to relax outside after working on the house. We moved the rock and concrete stones ourselves, which resulted in enough aches and pains for Bill to get some muscle relaxers, and for me to do some acupuncture again. The new plaster for the pool is beautiful, and the lighting in the evening looks really nice.

Downtown

2012-03-03T21:31:00Z

We occupied for just a moment, then I realized that actually my retirement money is in there, so I didn't want them to get too upset with me. We left peacefully and Manfred went to Tiffany's just down Broad street.

A visit to the September 11 memorial was accomplished as well, replete with way too many cameras and an airport screening to get into the park area. It's a masterpiece of theater and I imagine it achieves its goal of making the people from the heartland have their sense of security for all the money being spent. The memorial itself is impressive, but the overdramatization happening all around it is distracting. From there we hiked down to battery park, had a hotdog and watched the boats go out to ellis island and lady liberty. They boys opted not to go.

Instead, after recharging, we took a train up to Greenwich Village for a walking tour there. Beautiful neighborhood, and of course the boys loved it and the history there. We saw a house for sale - 37 W. 10th. Evidently they're asking nearly 8 million for it. Quite a bargain if they hit the lottery. After winding our way through the village to the meat packing district, we started the High Line park walk. About 2 segments in, Manfred hit the brick wall. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, go directly to the hotel for a nap. We walked until we could get a cab, and did exactly that. The two of them are snoozing away as I write, which is just as well, since we have the theater tonight, then a trip up the empire state building afterwards to see the city lit up. We'll keep them occupied till it's time to go.

It's Not Like Munich

2012-03-02T22:41:26Z

The comparisons being made are pretty funny at times. Buskers in the subway stops? Never would happen in Munich. People selling art in front of the museum? They did that long ago in Schwabing, but not now! Those enormous potholes along Sixth Ave? There would be complaints flying to the city.

Manfred & Stefan are having a blast, and despite my limited knowledge of the city, we're getting lots of things in. Today was Strawberry fields, more central park, the Guggenheim (which totally impressed me), and then a walk over the Brooklyn bridge. After that, a nap was in order for me and Manfred.. we'll see if Stefan makes it back in good shape. Dinner in Chinatown hopefully, then to the top of the Empire State building to see the city lit up!

The right tools

2012-01-05T15:32:56Z

This week Chaz is having the pool replastered - I have to agree that it's in bad shape. It got drained in about 15 hours, and this morning the guys are already cutting around the tile and sharpening a chisel to get after it.

Remodel Chronicles - Holiday Party edition

2011-12-12T01:48:46Z

Here's a quick runthrough of the house all decked out for the holiday party we had last night, December 10th. It was the first really big party, and we counted 105 people through the door - lots of neighbors, tons of friends, and a few coworkers made it. We had food in the great room, and a couple of cocktails back in the back. So far, the responses have been great, but Chaz and I are exhausted today.

The artist at work

2011-12-09T15:09:28Z

Bud spent most of last night working on a backdrop for photos for our party this weekend. It's pretty amazing watching him work.

Backyard Lights

2011-12-02T06:40:12Z

I got lights on the backyard as well as the front. We see the backyard more, the way this house is laid out. I kind of like it all lit up - we added some 'motion lights' on the palm tree today before the weather turns bad. Hopefully we'll have a few more nice days so I can get the camera higher to get the reflection in the water.

Fan problem.. deferred

2011-11-21T22:48:40Z

We got the fan in there last night - trusty Dewalt driver by the ready, and 4 inch screws to go right into the beam. That sucker's not going anywhere, but there remains a slight problem.. the hole from the prior fan box. That's going to be a bit of an eyesore for a bit. Probably next year if we get to do the master bathroom, we'll patch it with some drywall. For this week's visitors, this will do.

Remodel Chronicles November edition

2011-11-20T18:44:05Z

While things mostly look good around the house, there's a lot of things that are not done. And not all of them have to be finished completely, but we're making progress on them bit by bit. In this video, a lot of work went into the trim for the steps. And a lot went into unpacking things. And a lot of things left to do are turning out to be pains in the asses, like installing a ceiling fan in the middle bedroom. The original junction box wound up shredded, and there's not enough room to get a traditional brace (16-inch on center) up there, so today we're totally baffled. My vote was to get a 'saddle' box and put a medallion on the ceiling to cover up the hole left by the other box.. Chaz outvoted me though.
Speaking of him, he's starting a new job tomorrow with a company in Austin. As good as IBM was, his 'work location' was still Lansing, and he was 'long-term supplemental' which meant after 3 years, he was out the door in any case. Having a real tangible position in Austin is a good thing. The fact that it came with a raise was even better. It's been kind of strange, as in the past 3 months, his phone has been ringing off the wall with java positions in Austin; that hadn't happened since early 2000's. My suspicion is that a lot of the java programmers that kept their skills up went ahead and started moving on to php/app/mobile web centric companies and startups, so there is some backfilling going on.
My family comes down for a visit for the turkey day meal - Chaz is really excited about having so much of his family down her at this house. I'm not quite sure how it'll work with this tiny kitchen, but between him and his mother, they'll figure something out.

I can haz nu Fone? Yes!

2011-11-07T20:02:59Z

My 2 year anniversary with the Samsung Moment was done at the beginning of the month, so I was eligible for an upgrade discount. With Sprint getting the iPhone 4s, I was considering it for a bit, but opted instead for the Galaxy S II. Faster processor than the 4s, more memory, exchangeable sdram, and I'm kinda cheap: Sprint charges $120/yr more for smart phones since they turned on their 4g network, whether the phone could access it or not. The android has 4g, iphone, nope. Maybe next generation - until then, I'll just ask someone standing next to me to ask siri silly stuff.

Carspotting

2011-11-07T15:02:50Z

Chaz and I saw this critter running down Mopac this weekend. Austin's been funny like that lately. There seems to be a profusion of Smart cars running around north Austin where we live, and more than one Leaf in the hood. Don't get me wrong, there's still tons of Hummers in the parking lot of Costco with little adhesive stick-figures representing the entire brood, but there are signs of change. Makes me feel a little less guilty about putting off the repair to my car's exhaust that is probably offsetting something small and electric.

Remodel Chronicles Sept 25

2011-09-25T21:21:30Z

So it's to a point now where things are livable, and enjoyable, but there's a bit of construction going on in corners here and there. I have a bathroom fan that needs doing, some dimmers here and there, spray painting some light fixtures. Odds & ends. My Dad made it down for a visit a while back, and Mom's going to be by here sooner or later. She just finished a trek through the Cinque Terre, so hopefully once recovered, she'll bring some stories down here.

Dog Days of Summer

2011-09-02T12:57:45Z

The lazy cow claims more victims.
We've had a busy August laying down floors, laying down tiles, trying to keep on top of our regular paying jobs, and occasionally going out or to a baseball game. Tonight starts the last homestand for the Express, and I think I'll be heading out there for it.

Remodel Chronicles 28 July - move in mess!

2011-07-28T16:16:34Z

We're in there now.. unfinished mess and all.

Remodel Chronicles 21 July

2011-07-22T04:18:32Z

This week Chaz and I both took a step away from our full time jobs to make progress on the house. Today we finished getting the floor down in the 'great room' or den. Wood is down now in 2 bedrooms, 1 hall, and this room, with 1 bedroom, 1 hall, and the great hall in the front of the house to go yet. We bought 86 boxes of wood, and there's 40 left to install. It won't all be done this week, but we've got enough down to start moving some stuff in.

Bathrooms are coming along as well - Chaz did the tile in 1 bath, and that's going to be the one we use when we move in. Tuesday we've got a mover scheduled to get everything from the duplex and the 2 storage units in to the house. Wednesday the internet is slated to be turned on there. Once the broadband is there, then we're home. Funny how that works.