My Cave, My Rules

As my project came to a close, there was a smattering of finishing details that required my attention.  I finished all the trim carpentry, filled in my finish nail holes with wood filler, lightly sanded the trim  with 180 grit sand paper, and applied 3 coats of tung oil.  With trim completed, I caulked all the trim-drywall interfaces and then moved onto my finish electrical work.  The next step was installing and hooking up all the AV equipment including the recessed surround sound speakers.  I slowly chipped away at these tasks over the following weeks until finally I had done all I could do...the next phase was flooring.  I sub'd out the carpet installation which for the most part went flawlessly....the only snafu was that they managed to scratch all my baseboards when installing and tucking the carpet.  Another quick sanding and few coats of tung oil remedied that.   With the carpet installed, I was able to move in my couch and other "domstic" items and was also able to hang my doors.

Barn Door

Have you ever gone through half a day at work only to realize you forgot to close the barn door before leaving the house?  Well I have....more than once.  And while the pair of pants may differ, the visceral response is always the same:  humiliation.  How many people noticed?  Am I wearing underwear today?  Am I going to be sued for sexual harassment?

No More Excuses

Fitness used to be a big part of my life...I grew up doing sports, ran varsity cross country and track in college, and even after my spinal cord injury I continued to find ways to stay in shape (rowing, occasional weight training, ellipticals, etc.).  Sadly, however, my health is currently in the toilet.  Between a professional career, 2 kids, a wife, friends, and a seemingly endless list of projects, my exercise routine has been sidelined.  In truth, I'm probably in the worst shape of my life right now.  Sad...considering my line of work.  In truth, I have been rationalizing my neglect of regular exercise by telling myself I would start working out regularly once I got the fitness loft completed.  Well, the rubber has met the road...the loft is finished and there are no more excuses.

Floored

 

"Les Raboteurs de Parquet" (aka "The Floor Scrapers") by French impressionist Gustave Caillebot

With the timber shelf completed, I decided to turn my attention back to the loft.  After pulling back all the painter's clothes I spread out to protect my carefully sanded floor, I was disheartened to see that a great deal of the mill scale from my metal work on the railings had managed to work its way under the drop clothes and onto the wooden decking.  This was problematic in the sense that mill scale stains wood....leaving a darkened hue that is VERY difficult to get out.

Leftovers

WWII Poster encouraging the use of leftovers

Generally speaking, leftovers suck.  After all, if something tastes good enough on the first pass, there shouldn't be any leftovers.  I can't recall which comedian said it, but there is a well known bit wherein the comic tells about going out to dinner and the waiter asks him if he'd like a take-home box for his leftovers.  He snidely replies, "Hmmm, let me think for a minute...it tastes awful now, but I bet if you put it in a cardboard box and it sits in my refrigerator for a week, then it will taste good."  Of course, there are those wonderful instances wherein a really great meal is made in a quantity that exceeds rational consumption (i.e. Thanksgiving, giant birthday cakes, pizza, etc).  Whatever the case, when you find yourself staring into a refrigerator full of leftovers, one thing is for sure....it always helps to add a dash of creativity when giving a meal a second go-round.  This was the approach I took when deciding what to do with the extra timber beam that has been taking up space in  my shop since last fall.

Strip Tease

Sex sells, right?

"Ba ba ba bum, ba bum, ba bum....."  That's right folks...I'm going to tease you a bit today.  I went ahead and stripped off some of the painter's tape to get a sneak peak at things--so far, everything is lookin' pretty sexy:

Painting

Adams...............

                          Here.

             Adamlee...............

                                          Here.

                           Adamolwski..............

                                                              Here.

                                                      Adamson..............


                                                                              Here.

                                                                           Adler....................

                                                                                                   Here.

                                                                                      Anderson.......................Anderson.....................

                                                                                                                                                     HERE!

Bueller........................Bueller..............................Bueller.....................Bueller.....................Bueller?

Ugh

Humility is a B*TCH...I know this because I make mistakes on a daily basis.  While mistakes in and of themselves are a part of life, failure to notice them should not be.  There is nothing worse than portraying oneself as confident and competent only to realize at a later point in time you were wrong...that, my friends, is the epitome of humiliation.

High Strung

Well, I think the photo above sums it up.  I made a lot of progress this week on my project (thanks to a long anticipated "stay-cation").  As you can see, I finished my cable railing and sheet rock has been hung. 

Change Order

I'm not sure if the photo above is a joke on the owner's original intent for his boat, or if the larger boat was made possible for a contractor because of his client's numerous change orders.

It happens.  People change their minds.  Anyone who has built a home will attest to this.  Given the hundreds upon hundreds of decisions that go into building a home, it is inevitable that changes will occur.  In the construction world, such changes of heart are known as change orders.    As the name implies, a "change order" is a deviation from the original plan or design.  They come in all shapes and sizes...sometimes they are as simple as swapping out a few light fixtures while other times they are as complex and costly as relocating a staircase.  Generally speaking, the further into a project, the more costly the change (after all, if you decide you want a basement after your home's foundation has been poured, its going to cost you).  Yesterday, I had my first change order....fortunately, my change order came before it was too late.