holi-daze

2010 Progress

4-dec.  up early saturday morning.  preparing to leave for holiday party @ rich & scott's new house in oak park this afternoon.  they purchased a vintage tudor home a few months ago & the party serves both as house warming and holiday event.

after the party i will be heading to the house this evening.  need to finish the pipe wrapping in the basement.  last weekend i installed the heat tape, but the insulation required to wrap it with was next to impossible to wrap around the pipe as there wasn't sufficient clearance behind the pipe.  the pipe follows the basement wall up to the ceiling level with only about 3 inches of clearance around it.  i've devised a plan to wrap the pipe by encasing it with two separate pieces of insulation covering the top & bottom and then stapling the pieces together along the length on two sides to close.

thanksgiving holiday weekend.  arrive to the house early friday morning.  spent friday putzing around the house, finished decorating the christmas tree, cleaned house.  insulated pipes in the basement w/the foam tubing.  didn't have enough to do entirely so will get some more on saturday trip to lowe's.

27-nov.  my friend lee from south bend came to help me with the house for the day.  we started with a trip to lowe's.  picked up more foam tube pipe insulation, also exchanged 30 foot heat tape for 18 foot (which turned out to be EXACTLY the size neeed).  also bought insulating kits for windows & doors.  several windows don't have storm windows & need sealed for the winter.

saturday night ordered pizza from JJ's pizza shack (i have to say, their "kitchen sink" pizza was one of the most delicious i've ever tasted).  after eating we proceeded to tackle the insulating projects at hand.  windows were a snap, but the front door frame was too narrow so couldn't insulate the gap (which being so narrow isn't in as great a need of insulating anyway).  lee helped me install the heat tape on the main line & we attempted wrapping it as well (when we ran into the trouble noted above).

giving thanks

well it is just two days before our thanksgiving holiday & the colder weather is descending upon the area.

october was a busy month away from the house. there were two "service outage" weekends on the south shore train for track upgrades, so i spent both of those weekends in chicago.

29-31-oct. halloween weekend. originally thought i might return saturday night to enjoy festivities in chicago, but instead spent weekend at the house. made trip to lowe's with friend lee from south bend, was able to buy electric heat tape and foam pipe insulation tubes for the plumbing in the basement. will need to get installed before winter to keep pipes from freezing.

6-nov. no south shore trains. stayed in chicago.

13-nov. stayed in chicago again this weekend, went to see robyn perform @ the metro.

20-nov. the last weekend of good weather before spring. also my first visit back to the house in three weeks. arrived to house on last train out friday night and promptly went to bed. waking up saturday morning refreshed, i started plotting my day. my plans originally were to insulate the pipes in the basement for winter (planning on keeping house heated in winter but low when not there). but since the weather was exceptionally nice, i was able to get outside & rake the entire lawn (in under an hour), taking all the leaves and creating a huge compost pile in back yard.

after raking the lawn, i continued my outdoor activities by painting the eaves on the south side of the house noticing that my neighbors weren't parked in the driveway immediately adjacent. i was hoping to get the eaves trough installed as well on sunday, but my plans changed.

not feeling like making dinner, i stopped at mcdonald's and tried the "mcrib" sandwich for the first (and last) time. enough said. after my unsatisfying sandwich, i started tackling the excess beer in the fridge. a couple beers later it was decided that the front of the house definitely NEEDED to be painted before winter. i had bought two gallons of paint in april to test a color combo for the entire house, but had yet to use it. i had started scraping the peeling paint on the front of the house a few weeks prior, hoping to have good weather at some point before winter to paint. starting with the front porch, i painted the main wall the "mountain smoke" gray, then proceeded with the blue for the projecting portion of the living room. once the porch area was done, i proceeded outside to continue on the lower portion of the living room in blue that i could reach (and that had previously been scraped). it didn't take too much time to do all of this & before midnight i had completed all i could safely (without getting up on ladder) at night (drunk).

21-nov. woke at 8am, two aspirin and a cup of coffee started my day. i immediately set to work on the painting project. my goal was to have the entire facade prainted by dark.

dragging the ladder out, i was able to continue scraping the upper portions of the living room exterior, then immediately followed that with a coat of blue. once that was done, i proceeded with the front attic portion above the porch, scraping and painting that as well.





after the first coat of paint was on entire house, i took a lunch break and also headed to the dollar stores to buy christmas decorations for the house. i decided to put a tree in the front window. if i am doing artificial, it might as well look as fake as possible, so i bought a white one (the silver-champagne version only came in four-foot version). tree decorating to commence after thanksgiving.

after lunch & shopping my attention returned to the house for the second coat of paint. there wasn't as much need for a second coat on the paint i had applied during the day, which i could see well as i applied and didn't have as many thin cover spots, though i still had to take a paint brush to get the under side of the lap siding in many spots. so the second coat was a quick touch-up job, this then was followed by a little trim painting (just to touch up some spots at this point, full trim painting in spring).

the facade was complete by mid-afternoon with about an hour of daylight to spare. i therefore didn't have time (or energy) to install the eaves trough on the south side of the house.

after day of painting i decided to stay sunday night at the house and take the 6.46 train back in the morning heading directly to work from the station.

just after falling asleep sunday night, i woke hearing what sounded like mice in the attic. the noise went on for some time then i heard it in the kitchen and then the dining room. at this point i got out of bed to see if i could catch the culprit in the act, to my surprise there was a cute little bat crawling along the floor in the dining room. luckily he didn't take flight and just huddled upside next to the stereo on the floor and i was able to capture him using a trash bin and piece of cardboard (sliding under overturned bin). i took the prisoner outside to the front porch (closing the front door behind me to prevent reentry) and removed the bin, the bat spread his wings and took off back into the wilds of michigan city.

22-nov. took the 6.46 train back to city, slept part of the way back. got back into city just in time to be greeted by a massive rainstorm. by the time i arrived at work i was thoroughly soaked (the wettest ever short of full submersion in water).

autumnal bliss

it has been several months since the last post ... how time passes by so quickly.

august turned to september and now october. winter will be here far too soon as well.

21-aug. i had several weekends after mum & step-father visit before the labour day weekend bbq to get the house in order. i applied the embossed wall paper to the bathroom walls to cover the damaged plaster on the upper-portions of the walls. opting for a two-tone pain scheme (light blue base w/dark blue over), the bathroom walls look better but not quite right yet. the wall paper edges didn't adhere well in spots so still need to go through & glue-down properly, also not too fond of the overall look of the two-tone paint job so may repaint in single color.

27-aug. vacation! flew friday eve to tucson to visit renae & monica for a few days. fri night renae picked me up at the airport & we went to the buffet bar where monica is now bartending. saturday morning started early, renae, adam & me drove up to lake roosevelt w/their boat for weekend on the water. monica met us up there saturday afternoon & their friend debra drove from phoenix to meet us there too. we spent all saturday on the lake, i even tried wakeboarding, though i wasn't able to get up. sunday morning was the 4 of use (minus debra) back on the lake until about 1pm, then headed back to tucson from there.

was in tucson until tuesday morning, then headed back to chicago. took the week off from work. tues-thurs spent in chicago. headed to house fri afternoon.

3-sept. labor day weekend. arrived at the house friday afternoon on 12.30 train. had lots of preparation to do before bbq on saturday.

saturday afternoon had first offical "party" at the house ... labor day weekend bbq with about 15 friends (mostly from chicago), was good time but need to build a privacy fence in backyard to keep nosy neighbors prying eyes away. family friend of renters next door stood on their back porch & scanned the party in my backyard & said "where the women at?" ... i said "they're on their way" ... so a privacy fence along that side will be first on list before i entertain any more at the house.

10-sept. dad visits again. took 17.58 train friday after work. dad came for the weekend to help get some fill dirt to help regrade soil away from the foundation. unfortunately. my neighbor said the city had free dirt @ their hitchcock street facility, but we found out it was only free compost. so instead of hauling dirt, we ended up running errands, hitting lowes/menards & driving to hammond to the cabala's (first time i had been to one). bought a used VHS tv for the house, plus bought a new DVD player & a dremel multi-pro tool. the TV/DVD is a nice addition, i wasn't sure i wanted a TV at the house, but it certainly is nice to have for guests.

on sunday we drove to chesterton to pick up a dining table/chair set that i found on craigslist. the seller was some white trash meth whore with rotten teeth & brittle hair, and her matching friend. i wanted to get the table & get out of there ASAP ... the table looks nice in the dining room now, another piece of reclaimed furniture for the house!

17-sept. stayed in chicago this weekend, no train service on the south shore this weekend due to pre-scheduled repairs. several more weekend service outages to come through end-of-year.

25-sept. weekend at the house, friend michael from new buffalo picked me up & took me around town to run errands. stopped @ wallmark for a different TV antenna (which still doesn't work well). also stopped @ menards to get last of wood needed for bathroom paneling. lastly, picked up 6 feet of striped "shazam" roll carpeting, made a 6x8 area rug for dining room (still need to get the edges finished).

2-oct. stayed in chicago, no train service. went to IKEA with grant, bought a metal rolling storage cabinet to use as end table / night stand & a kitchen utility table for the house (along with other random items).

9-oct. took train saturday afternoon to the house for short visit. brought a quart of black paint for the front door (decided black would help the security screen door blend in better), also brought the assortment of random items from IKEA with me for the house.

hotter than hot

14-aug. took the 10.45 train to the house. plans for the weekend include visit from mum & don (step-father).

one of the hottest days of summer, but soo nice to have vs. the cooler summers of the past few years. though AC would be a nice touch at the house, but that's not in the cards for several years yet.

had a couple hours to run some errands, clean house & do some yard work before the family arrived. picked up some groceries, mowed the lawn & prepared the bedroom for guests. i slept on my camping cot on the back porch that night.

i showed the guests around town as much as possible in the short period of time we had that afternoon. the plans were to hit the outlet mall for them & then home improvement store for me. we started w/a late lunch at the shoreline brewery.

after several hours at the mall, we went to menard's where i was finally able to redeem my long-awaited rebate cards (from purchase in march), i decided to apply the rebate $ towards a new attic window.

the gutters & ladder i purchased in march included 2 rebate forms for a total of $46. i promptly submitted them & waited & waited for the $46 checks to arrive. finally in june i followed-up w/an inquiry when i was told they were already processed. after some back & forth, i was told they would cancel the originals & reissue for me. finally by early august (nearly 5 months after original purchase) i had received both rebate checks.

two things: never buy an item requiring a rebate submittal from menard's ... and i will be spending most of my remodel budget next door at lowe's. my shopping at menard's will be as limited as possible.

saturday night i grilled up some brats & prepared a tomato/cucumber salad for dinner.

sunday morning started WAY too early, mom & don were up around 6am, i was dragged out of bed before 7. i decided to try to make a breakfast casserole that i found recipe for online, it actually turned out great! improvised the cooking instructions a bit for the grill (cooked in half the time). mom & don headed back to michigan around 9am. i headed back to bed around 10 for about an hour.

i decided to install the attic window after my nap & the install went exceptionally fast. i only had to add 1" trim to the frame to accomodate the new window. installation took less than 2 hours start-2-finish. now the attic has some natural light (replacing the boarded up window opening) & better ventilation.

took the 15.40 train back to chicago.

hot hot hot

its been a few weeks since the last update. nothing much new to report, the weather has been exceptionally hot & i've put off most work on the house for the time being.

dad came out to the house in mid-june for overnight stay. he was the official "first" house guest. he was returning from helping my cousin chris move to missouri for a new job & passing through the area so he was able to stop by on his way back to michigan. his impending visit was the kick in the pants i needed to get the house tidy & in order. while its still a construction site, its now a little cleaner & more orderly (in most areas).

my father is one person who doesn't benefit from the use of GPS whilst driving. he was scheduled to arrive at the house around 10pm saturday night but didn't arrive until 12.20pm (my sister monica & i had bet he wouldn't arrive until 1am, so we were just slightly off). i ordered a pizza around 10pm thinking he'd be there by 11ish (thinking incorrectly that he'd finally be on-time for once since he adopted the use of GPS). dad wasn't hungry when he got in, but we ended up spending the night sitting around the table in the dining room talking, it was probably the best time i've had with my father ever. a truly memorable night (well what can be recalled after drinking 2-3 bottles of wine).

4th of july weekend. tom, troy & mitch came out to the house with me to see the progress on saturday (3-july). tom & troy had been there in march, but it was mitch's first visit. we loaded up tom's car with my grill (though we didn't use it) & after a short stop @ the house we headed out for an afternoon of shopping in the area. i rode back with them the same day afer i mowed the lawn, didn't feel like sleeping in the hot house that night.

bought a roll of embossed/paintable wallpaper for the bathroom to cover up the crumbling plaster. will install that above the new wood wainscoting being installed on the lower portion of the walls.

since it's too hot to work @ the house, i've decided for the time being to make bi-weekly trips. just need to be there to mow the lawn every 2-weeks (doesn't really look bad after 2 weeks & doesn't really look that good after mowing anyway).

went to house on sat afternoon of 17-july. did my lawn work & checked out the local dollar stores for the latest finds (got a simple stainless-steel cookware set for $22!), returned early sunday afternoon & hit big chick's after dropping bags off at home.

23-july. heavy rain in chicago / michigan city ... flash flooding ...

24-july. had talked to rich about coming out to the house for afternoon earlier in week. we had decided on 9am departure from my place saturday morning. rich called @ 8.30 to say his house in oak park (which he JUST purchased & moved into a month ago) had some water in the basement (luckily not much), after some back & forth between the service pro / clean-up people, he finally was able to get to my place around 11am. they wont be able to get to his house until monday and he & scott moved everything out of basement that was on floor before he left.

unfortunately, the eisenhower expressway was shut down due to the rain. so rich had to take local streets to get to my place, luckily its really not that far (9-10 miles), but that is a HUGE distance in chicago. we loaded up his car with some old paintings of mine & hit the road. we took lake shore drive all the way (north LSD to south LSD) to get on the skyway @ stoney island. quicker route that tom/troy decided to take on 4th of july (i had only taken once before in the 90s when the route was a lot more sketch than it is today).

we stopped first @ lowe's and i bought a new refrigerator for the house, being delivered on saturday the 31st. we headed to the house after that. after a quick tour of the house, we headed to the shoreline brewery for a bite to eat & then stopped @ the outlet mall for a quick spin through (the temps still being in low 90s, but cooler than the mid/upper 90s of the day before).

next weekend will be full weekend @ the house, need to be there sat for the fridge delivery & also work on finishing the eaves troughs. no train service the following weekend due to upgrades so will be staying in chicago then.

mum & step-father will be visiting on weekend of 14-aug, so that is next big weekend!

lots of nothing to catch up on

three weekends to update on, but not much to update.

21-23 may, spent the weekend pouring more concrete in form for the foundation support. after 2 weekends of work, the form is about 50% or so complete. starting to feel comfortable knowing that if more rain is to come it won't do more damage.

28-31 may, split the weekend between MCI and chicago. busy holiday weekend in chicago so wanted to spend part of it there with friends. didn't do any foundation/concrete work, but instead started installing the tongue-and-groove paneling/wainscoting in the bathroom to cover the damaged walls. 30-may, todd & nathaniel drove out to see the house. i returned to chicago with them in the late afternoon & we spent the rest of the day at big chick's. didn't do any work on the house other than mowing the lawn (weekly ritual now). on memorial day i was in chicago & missed the heavy rains that hit the MCI area ... i was nervous to check the house to see if any had made its way into the basement ...

02-june. took the 17.58 train out to MCI after work, decided to make mid-week trip to check on the house after rain on monday. i was relieved to see no evidence outside of any change in the ground (new soil is settling, but no visible water run-off damage). in the basement i was even happier to see it still dry, just as i had left it. so it appears my efforts of re-grading the soil outside away from the foundation is probably having the greatest impact on things there. the additional foundation support certainly will help as well (though to what extent may never be known as i hope the wall simply stays put going forward).

4-6 june. back at the house for another weekend. first weekend at the house that i did absolutely nothing (except mow the lawn). saturday i walked from the house to downtown & the outlet mall on the west side of downtown, its about a 40 minute walk. needed to get a couple pairs of shorts for summer. on the return walk, i stopped at a art gallery on franklin street to take a quick look around. spoke w/the owner/curator who mentioned there were soon-to-be nine art galleries in the downtown area. maybe i will be inspired to return to painting (beyond several studies i've been working on lately). saturday night had dinner @ the shoreline brewery with a friend from south bend, the entire day actually felt like a vacation to me.

sunday returned to the city on 12.52 train & spent the rest of the afternoon/evening at big chick's (my sunday hangout, if it hasn't become already apparent).

rain, rain, go away ... seriously

13-may. three day weekend planned. tom & troy heading to kansas for the weekend to see troy's family so tom was able to loan me his car for the weekend. south shore train service not running sat/sun due to track repairs (first weekend of season for scheduled repairs).

arrived @ the house around midnight, car loaded up w/the lillberg sofa i found on craigslist. living room now has some permanent seating.

i was anxious to see the house & see if the rainstorm on wed night had caused any damage. when i opened the basement door i could see the floor was still damp & was worried. it looks like the rain had come in from the bad foundation wall, may have been an inch or two of standing water. the water heater pilot was out & the insulation on the underside (closest to the floor) was damp, so the water had reached high enough to get that wet. luckily, the pilot re-lit & the water heater wasn't actually damaged. i will need to either have the water heater raised a little on bricks or create a barrier around the water heater to keep the area around it dry. there was dirt on the floor that had washed in from outside as well.

the worst part though was the foundation. i had marked a 2x4 beam that is split & still attached to the wall w/a straight line across the split, this way if there was any movement in the wall & beam, i would know. since january there hadn't been any movement, until now. it looks like there was about 1/4" of movement in the wall from the rain.

also, about 1/3 of the bags of concrete mix i bought to fortify the wall were lost due to the water (all the bags directly on the floor, stacked 3 bags high).

friday morning i went outside to check the exterior of the house. the ground adjacent to the bowed foundation sank a little more after the rain. i decided not to wait any longer & regrade the low spot to direct water away from the house. my only immediate option was to buy 40lb bags of top soil to fill in the depression ... by the end of the weekend i had nearly 100 bags in place. i covered the soil w/tarp & bricks until it settles (may need to add more to make sure the grade is away from the house). i was worried though the extra weight on the foundation may do some more damage ...

friday i started making the form to pour concrete in the basement to fortify the compromised foundation wall. i started by pouring a 2 foot by 2 foot footer along the base of the wall. next step will be to build up from the base with a 1 foot thick wall 2-3 feet high, reinforced w/rebar (set into the base as well). basically making a new support wall of steel reinforced concrete up against the existing foundation wall. hopefully this will halt the movement. if it works well, i may extend the repair further along the wall (currently doing on 4 foot section), hopefully it holds the wall until i can have the entire wall replaced in the future.

so basically the entire weekend was spent alternating between adding dirt outside the house to raise the ground level to direct water away from the house & pouring concrete in the basement to hold the foundation in place ...

also picked up a new pedestal sink & tonge-and-groove paneling/siding for the bathroom (4 foot length to cover lower portion of walls that are damaged) ... that all will have to wait though until the foundation repair is complete.

friday afternoon i mowed the lawn w/new reel mower (they don't work that great), will be nice when i can relandscape the yard. luckily there isn't much grass to mow.


saturday afternoon headed to michigan for grandmother's 75th birthday party in jerome. was nice to see my family, though i couldn't stay the night because i had to get back to work on the house.

on sunday ran to lowes for last trip of supplies for foundation repair (more wood for form work & also more dirt.

left around 4pm & had tom's car back in his parking garage by 5.30!

being lazy

took the 17.58 train to MCI friday evening, without incident. stopped into the DG & FD stores after i arrived. skipped the liquor store though, wasn't really in mood for a beer.

weekend trip was shorter than norm, took the 17.30 train back to chicago saturday evening. decided i needed to have a bar night (or two as it turned out).

friday night i washed dishes for the first time ... having a dishwashing machine @ home certainly has spoiled me some. but i survived. went to bed early friday eve (23.00), high winds in the area though kept waking me. power went out in middle of night (02.00) and was restored around 07.00. had to reset the lighting timers.

saturday afternoon i did minimal work around the house. started stripping the wallpaper border in the front bedroom (need to remove backing, but its 2/3 done now). also put closet/attic door back on hinges in the back bedroom (switched original door with bathroom door). this was probably the least amount of work i've done on a weekend there yet.

figured i would allow myself a light weekend, especially since next weekend i will have tom's car to make trip to michigan for birthday party for grandma. will also be making trips to lowes/menards for supplies ...

train wreck

30-apr. took the 17.32 train again from randolph. it seems to be my friday routine right now. the ride generally passes fairly quickly, i have my ipod to listen to & keep a book in my bag as well. this trip though turned somewhat exciting after we left the 11th street stop in michigan city & were about half-way to the 2nd stop (my stop at carroll Ave). as we crossed michigan boulevard, the train suddenly started stopping & the horn was blaring non-stop. in a matter of seconds, we all realised there was a vehicle in the path of the train & we were about to impact it. as the train continued to slow & the horn sounded, we looked out the windows to try to see what we were heading into. luckily the train just clipped the back of a car blocking the tracks. there was a slight bump felt and then the train came to a (slightly) abrupt halt. we sat there for a few seconds before the conductor came on the PA and told us we had just clipped the car, the police were right there and that we would be proceeding on shortly. the train proceeded within five minutes.

after arriving, i dropped my bags off at the house and headed to the dollar stores to check out the latest wares. i made a quick stop @ MCD for a shamrock shake (the availability "for a limited time" seems to be a lot longer than years past). i proceeded on to family dollar & then to the dollar general ... there wasn't anything new this week so i left empty handed. i even decided against stopping @ virk's for a can of beer for later ... figured i usually forget about it until the end of the night anyway.

friday night i continued on with painting the kitchen & bath. the kitchen is nearing completion, just a bit more touching up in corners. the smoke stained foam green is now history ... though i left a ring of it under the ceiling light fixture since i didn't remove that to paint (it will be there as a haunting reminder whenever the fixture is removed).

the new medicine cabinet fit the old spot perfectly, there was about 2 inches of space at the top, the plaster covered part of it, but it was uneven in depth so i improvised w/a piece of wood trim to fill the gap for now. the wall is in such poor shape to begin with (pockmarked & pitted), i think i may buy some textured wallpaper to cover it & paint that. this will all be removed anyway once the bathroom is gutted for rehab (in a few years). but for now, it will do.

slept in saturday & was intent on doing nothing all day ... but then i decided to take the rain-free day as opportunity to caulk the new gutters (they had some leaks @ the joints). after i finished the caulking, i continued on with removing the furring strips from the sides of the house on the upper portions (requiring the ladder). i nearly worked up the nerve to hop on the roof of the back porch to remove the furring strips from the rear attic portion, but then decided that fun will wait, possibly until i replace the attic window (currently still boarded up). the roof is pitched & i don't care for heights.

as i was working my way around the exterior on the ladder, jackie from next door was on her porch w/a friend talking & we spoke briefly. her friend wondered if i was looking to rent the house out (2nd person to enquire), but i said i was not presently looking to rent it out. i did leave the option out there for the future though.

after i finished up with removing the furring strips i decided to remove the indoor/outdoor carpeting from the front porch. once the carpet was removed, there was an equal amount of dirt left behind on the floor. i had to open storm windows on the porch to let fresh air in to clear the dust in the air. will eventually repaint the floor, but need to check under the boards to see the condition of the framing as the floor boards in the far corner seem to be a little bouncy ... the corner post (brick pier) is crumbling & there may be some insect or water damage underneath.

saturday night continued on with another round of painting in the kitchen & bath, nearly done w/both rooms. once this is done, i'll continue w/painting the living & dining rooms & the front bedroom. the back bedroom is covered in wallpaper so will need to remove that before i paint.

in 2 weeks (mid-may), plan to start work on the temporary foundation repairs in the basement. still need to buy a sledgehammer & some rebar for the project. plan is to create some temporary bracing for the wall. also have some lumber to build a temporary loadbearing wall, in case the foundation wall collapses before replacement can be done. the cement mix is in the basement ready to be set into forms & the lumber for the load bearing wall is in the living room (will need to get it out of living room eventually b4 i can paint room).

sunday spent the morning/early afternoon cleaning up the house & planted some bulbs in the front yard along front of the house. took the 15.40 train back to chicago & then hit big chick's for a few beers.

kitchen flamingos

23-april. took the 17.32 train again to MCI. arrived with time enough to hit BOTH the family dollar and dollar general before they closed at 9pm. i picked up a few snacks for the weekend, along with a few items for the house, including a pair of pink flamingos that are currently roosting in the kitchen sink. eventually they will be placed in the backyard (once fenced, so they don't roam off).

after the quick shopping trip (and picking up a compulsory budweiser), i started on replacing the kitchen ceiling light and the bathroom wall light. the wiring in the ceiling is in rather "poor" condition, i may need electrician to come in & do some emergency repair work before the actual full-house rewiring. not sure why, but it seems all the lights/outlets are on a single fuse. except the dining room outlet under the windows, which doesn't appear to be on ANY fuse (as the radio plugged into it never loses power when i remove the fuses, at least i thought). that will be somewhat problematic (and is rather freightening). after changing the light fixtures (bathroom light is pull chain fixture over the sink/mirror), it was time for bed, then i realised i still had my beer to finish (no fridge to keep it cool, so i was FORCED to drink it then).

saturday i slept in, having not slept well the night before (fearing the wiring in the kitchen would combust). after a couple cups of coffee (and an early afternoon nap), i was properly motivated again to continue with the never-ending wallpaper stripping (a couple hours work) & painting in the kitchen (a couple more). i used up the good semi-gloss paint i bought @ lowes, so to finish the ceiling i opened up a can of flat white that i bought @ family dollar ... it's practically indistinguisable (if ur not looking at the ceiling at least). my goal clearly isn't perfection here, but mainly just to cover up the old paint. now that the ceiling fan/light combo has been replaced (along with the new paint job), the kitchen is really looking much nicer (and much larger as well).

saturday evening i was debating returning to chicago on the last train to meet friends out for drinks, but the thunderstorms passing through both chicago & then michigan city put that idea to rest. as the first rain storm hit, i went outside to check the new gutters to see how well they were working to divert the rainwater. a couple of the connectors were leaking (as i thought they might), so will be going back & adding silicone caulk to them to make sure they're sealed. most of the water though seemed to be flowing away as expected.

after i decided to stay put for the night i got back to work on removing the wallpaper in the bathroom. it took several hours of spraying & scraping to remove the wallpaper backing from the walls, but its all done now!

also decided to remove the existing medicine cabinet, wanted to see what was lurking behind the wall before i decide what to replace it with. found the cabinet was hiding the hole remaining from the original medicine cabinet (small flush-mounted one), i measured the opening & should be able to find a new replacement for it (have seen them at home improvement stores for under $20). i was going to reuse a round mirror from home that i bought a few years ago at IKEA, but since the hole is still there from the old cabinet, i figured i will use that for now instead of trying to patch it over w/drywall. the IKEA mirror i can use when i do the gut rehab of the bathroom down the road.

i wasn't ready for bed yet (it was about midnight), so i decided to tackle the bathroom door project ... originally, the bathroom door opened into the bathroom with a left-hand hinge set-up. from the doorway, you have the tub your immediate right (along the length of the room), the sink is directly in front of you on the opposite wall of the tub, lastly the toilet furthest away along the tub wall, next to the window. at some point, someone reversed the door so it now has a right-hand hinge setting. this created a rather tight squeeze as you navigate past the door & between the sink & tub. not quite sure why the door was revesed (door frame had markings & the door had hinge marks as well on opposite side), but i think when they added an overhead light with a switch on the wall (which would be behind the door in original set-up), they opted to reverse the door opening.

long story short, i reversed the hinges to their original set-up. the bathroom door has been painted on the inside, so i opted to use the closet door from the back bedroom instead. so both sides of the door are unpainted w/the original stain/varnish.

end of the story, finished the project around 2am and slept well after.

sunday morning i woke at 9am, after deciding NOT to take the 9.30 train (12.52 is next one on weekends), i decided to clean the house some before returning home. i ran again to the family dollar to get a pair of pruning shears for the lawn. i also picked up a gallon of their white semi-gloss paint to use on the bathroom walls & trim in the living & dining room. not sure i will use on the kitchen walls, may opt for the higher-quality paint i started with, just to keep it fairly consistent (ceiling aside).

i quickly cut back several bushes/trees that had grown up along the foundation of the house in the time it was vacant, but i will have to dig them out completely to totally remove them. it was a start though.

took the 12.52 train back to city, dropped off my bags at home & then headed to big chicks for a few (too many) beers with friends.

kitchen paint bomb

took the 17.32 train friday evening to MCI. stopped into the DG upon arrival to check out what dollar store finds i "needed" ... tried their "chicken" flavored crackers, not so good. stopped @ the liquor store for some beer as well.

fri night spent cleaning cupboards, stripping off old shelf liner paper & some wallpaper.

17-apr. slept in until about 11am. chilly day (compared to last weekend at least). decided to continue with kitchen painting. originally planned on painting interior of kitchen cupboards a light orange, but have decided against that now. everything will be WHITE. the cupboards were sooo tedious to paint, i wish i had a "paint bomb" (like those RAID insect fogger bombs), just tape up the windows & set it off to cover every surface in fresh coat of semi-gloss white goodness.

it's amazing though, after the first coat of paint the room already started to take on a new look of cleanliness & brighter, open space ... 3 of 4 walls are painted (though need some touch-up), the back wall with the wallpaper though still needs painting (need to finish stripping wallpaper first). also, need to paint the ceiling. kept hitting head on ceiling fan blades when i was on step ladder painting above doorway to dining room ... note to self, replace ceiling fan with a close-to-ceiling light, ASAP.

18-apr. slept in until about 10.30, spent the rest of morning/early afternoon cleaning up after self (removed the plastic bath tiles that were barely hanging on). ran to the family dollar AND dollar general for random stuff, rake for lawn, paint supplies, shelf liner for under kitchen cabinet (the only place i allow it).

raked the lawn, first time i've voluntarily done lawn work in about 20 years ... piled the leaves in the back yard under some half-dead-looking bushes lining the alley, will let them compost there (along with the empty pop bottles, random junk food packages & the skin from my blister). the front lawn is pretty small, but the back yard is decent size. need to get a lawn mower soon.

also picked up an outdoor dining table, eventually it will go on the back porch, but for time being it is in the dining room ... in keeping with the "outdoor" furniture theme throughout the house thus far.

spent rest of afternoon cleaning & organising around the house. took the 17.30 train back to chicago.

hardware list for the week: bathroom wall light with pull chain. kitchen ceiling light.

10-11 april ... a hot shower, finally

9-apr. took the 17.58 train friday eve to MCI. picked up some random stuff @ the dollar general & then a beer @ the liquor store b4 heading back to the house. first item up, fixing the leaking pipe. took about 10 minutes, but was able to get the pipe sleeve secured & the cracked pipe was no longer leaking. i cranked open the valve & let the water in. luckily there were no other leaks in the pipes, but the kitchen sink doesn't get much water.

10-apr. the plumber arrived @ 9.30, spent the next 3 hours installing the water heater (actual work time was around 2 hours). the existing pipes are all cast iron & full of sediment. but the new hot water heater works fine & the bathroom is fully functional. the kitchen sink water service will need fixing, but that can wait. i will eventually have all the plumbing replace in house, but it will be a gradual process as budget, time & need warrents.

saturday was beautiful outside, i took the opportunity to get the trim painted before starting the gutter installation. the painting didn't take too long, after which i spent some time relaxing on the front porch enjoying a beer (the one purchased night before, but didn't drink). in the evening i decided to start working on the gutters, so i managed to get about 1/3 of the hanging fixtures up on the eaves before sundown (also was in no rush since i had enjoyed said beer several hours before).

saturday night was spent stripping hideous floral wallpaper from the bathroom walls. managed to get the top layer off entirely, but still have to remove the backing/paste with scoring tool & soap & water solution. already though the bathroom looks much larger. also cleaned all the fixtures in the bathroom.

after i tired of stripping wallpaper, i took to cleaning the kitchen cupboards. once that was done, i started painting the interior of the cupboards. by this time, it was nearing 1am & i called it a night. took my first shower in the house & went to bed.

9-apr. slept in until about 10am sunday morning. after downing a cup of coffee, i continued with the gutter installation outside. the weather was again nice (not as warm, but no rain), so i was able to finish up the entire north side of the house (the critical portion w/the bad foundation). the install went pretty smoothly, much easier than i expected. i will continue next with installing gutters on the back porch (partly connected to the north side gutters), then the south side of the house as well.

took a quick shower at 15.00 and took the 15.40 train back to chicago. stopped at big chick's for a couple beers before heading home.

3-4 april ... paint, water heater & concrete ... lots of concrete

3-april - took the 10.45 train saturday morning to MCI. the vet met me @ the house shortly after i arrived & we promptly left for lowes/menards to spend money that was just burning a hole in my pocket.

we went to lowes & menards for my latest round of shopping ... spent several hours between both stores (luckily they're right next to each other on franklin), also had a late lunch @ chili's (my first time ever, not a big fan of chain restaurants but it was literally out front of menards).

eventually settled on 50 80lb bags of concrete @ lowes (had it delivered). then went to menards & picked up a 29 gallon gas water heater (exact size/dimension as existing one to keep install work to a minimum). also picked up some tongue & groove pine siding for front porch (built a mail slot to replace mail box).

lastly, picked up a few gallons of paint for the house. chose a gray for the exterior & a blue as well (for the front living room exterior portion). trim will be white. also bought some light orange paint for interior of kitchen cabinets & some white wall & cabinet paint as well.

saturday eve after we unloaded the new water heater, paint & lumber, the vet & i headed back to his house in south bend for the night.

4-apr. easter sunday i took the 1pm train from south bend to michigan city, it's quick trip of 40-45 minutes. wasn't too productive sunday afternoon, i needed a nap. i also didn't have a hook to hang the paint can from ladder, so i wasn't able to start painting the roof trim before installing the new vinyl eaves troughs.

the concrete was scheduled to be delivered the following saturday (10-apr), but i received a call from the delivery service sunday evening to say they were coming between 10am & 2pm on monday (5-apr). luckily, i had taken monday off from work to be @ the house for the water to be turned on.

5-apr. easter monday i was up around 9am, the water guy came around 10am to install water meter, there was a small leak in the main pipe which he said just needed a pipe sleeve to repair. i left the water turned off at the main valve until the needed repair could take be done.

the lowes delivery guy arrived around 11am with my TWO TONS of concrete ... i then spent the next 2.5 hours hauling each of the 50 bags from the front walk to the basement. the dolly i bought a few weeks ago came in handy.

the weather was beautiful sat/sun/mon. after i finished hauling the concrete, i cleaned up (as best i could w/o running water) & hoppped the 14.35 train back to chicago.

shopping list for the week: wallpaper (scoring) removal tool, paint pot hook, pipe sleeve.

more house hunting

26-mar. made a big mistake by going out friday night for "just a couple drinks" ... headed to big chick's where i met up with tom, troy & mitch ... ran into nathaniel & art ... ended up hitching a ride w/nathaniel & art to jackhammer for more drinks & shut the place down @ 4am ...

27-mar. after recovering from friday night, i started feeling human again around 2pm. took the 16.35 train to MCI. made weekly trip to the dollar general where i found they've stocked a small (but ample) garden supply section for me (yes, its all just for me). i bought a garden hose, shovel and several other gardening necessities. also stopped @ the liquor store on boul mich & picked up a can of ice cold bud for dinner.

28-mar. andrew v & his friend dane came out to MCI for the day to look at houses. andrew is working with my realtor amy. amy met us at my house just after 1pm & drove us around town to see about a half-dozen properties. there were several of interest to andrew.

31-mar. mailed deposit cheque for water service last week to MCI water department, still waiting for it to clear. water service is scheduled to start on monday 6-apr. taking the day off from work.

this coming weekend will be busy one. hopefully the vet will be able to help. need to get to lowes/menards to buy a new water heater (not sure the one in basement still works & is 19 years old so even if it does, it's prob on its last leg anyway). also getting some concrete & cinderblocks for the foundation to help stabilise it for time being.

getting ready to paint the house as well (inside and out). inside will just get a coat of white on walls for now (kitchen cabinets may get a light orange inside). i think exterior color will be gray for main part of house with blue on front portion (living room bump out) and back porch, with white trim on all.

the outlet maul

20-mar. tom & troy came with me this weekend to see the house. we arrived around 11.15, i called NIPSCO to get the gas turned back on (they had to turn it off on tuesday when they replaced the meter since nobody was home). two hours later, the NISPCO guy finally arrived & the gas service was restored. we stopped @ denny's for a bite to eat, then a stop @ big lot's (where i got 4 wicker-esque outdoor chairs), we headed to the lighthouse place outlet mall.

the weather was crappy (cold & rain/snow), but we managed to cover most of the outdoor mall anyway. we checked out more stores than we originally intended, but luckily i only spent about $50 at the banana republic outlet. we will be back again though.

after the maul, tom & troy headed back to chicago & i was left to myself at the house. the bad weather meant that i wouldn't be able to do anything outside. so i ended up taking the last train back into the city saturday night. i needed a drink, so i headed to jackhammer after a shave & shower.

no more gas (leak)

16-mar. NIPSCO called to tell me they were @ the house changing out the leaking gas meter w/a new one. will need to call them this weekend when i get out there for them to restart the gas service & light pilot on the furnace (they need to light at least one appliance to make sure there aren't any problems, though they didn't spot the gas leak problem originally a few weeks ago!)

IKEA and the Gas Leak

13-mar. tom, troy, mitch & i all made the semi-annual pilgrimage to mecca (IKEA) to stock up on things we need (and more things that we really DON'T need). i needed to get some lighting for the condo & house, i also bought some bedding for the weekend house as well & other random things. luckily i made it out with only spending $127.

sat night i took the 21.15 train to MCI (the drunkest train ever), train was pretty full with st. patrick's day revelers. arrived at house just after 23.00. sat night i unpacked all the new buys from IKEA and was in bed shortly after midnight.

14-mar. daylight savings time begins. slept in until about 11am. then headed outside to work on the exterior. i finished removing the furring strips on the lower portion of all exterior walls. the last part to be done was in the area around the gas meter. as i was working, i smelled leaking gas. luckily, the gas company promptly responded to my emergency call. while the meter was indeed leaking a little on the top, they were unable to fix it. nipsco has to install a new meter this week. the leak wasn't major so there was no need to shut off the gas service entirely until repair. i will need to contact them next weekend to have the service turned back on & the furnace pilot light re-lit. the guy assured me they would come on the weekend to do this, but i'm not so sure, since i originally had to take a monday off from work to be there so they could do the exact same thing. given the circumstance though, they make acception here.

the gas leak pretty much put an end to my work for the afternoon. i did discover some insect damage on the front & back porches, it looks like there was some carpenter ant action going on. the damage looks old & not recent, but i'll still be having exterminator out to check things out (had planned it anyway).

returned on the 17.30 train back to chicago.

B-Day Weekend

6-7 march ... took the 12.12 train on saturday, was running late & had to literally RUN to catch the train. ran through the underground pedway from the state street subway to randolph station, had just one minute to spare before the train departed.

the vet was meeting me today to help get some supplies from lowes/menards. glad he was able to assist, especially since he had just returned from vacation & had plenty to catch up with at home anyway. i spent the prior weekend in chicago after friend wasn't able to drive w/me to help for day, so i hadn't done anything for a couple weeks at the house.

mike arrived around 3pm & we proceeded to lowes to look for vinyl eaves troughs, they had several systems, but the one i was most interested in, they didn't have enough of to finish a project (they said they were discontinuing carrying it). went next door to menard's & found their gutter systems fully stocked & on sale! i bought all the ten-foot lengths i needed to fully encircle the house with new eaves troughs, i also bought most of the attachents that i needed as well, though they didn't have enough of those (corners, downspouts, etc) for entire house. but i have enough to complete 1/2 the project so far (which will help remedy the water/wall problem in the basement foundation wall). i will go back later for more of the smaller stuff. also got 2x4s & 2x8s to create a temporary load bearing wall in basement along the bad foundation wall to help in case the foundation does collapse before i get it replaced. lastly, got a 16 foot aluminium ladder!

using mike's auto insurance, we rented the menard's delivery truck & brought all the things above back to the house. only took about 30 minutes.

after we dropped the rental truck back to menard's, we stopped into big lot's down the street & i bought a futon. it will be the guest room seating/sleeping, but for right now it's mine (and an improvement over the little camping cot i've been sleeping on since i bought the house mid-jan).

mike helped me assemble the futon & then he headed back to south bend for the night. no running water for showers yet, so the house isn't really too inviting to overnight guests yet.

on sunday i dragged the ladder outside & finished removing the furring strips on the front of the house (those that were out of reach from ground that i hadn't already removed). it only took about 30 minutes total (mostly spent moving the ladder) & what an improvement! the house looks 10 times better just with that minor change. i can't wait to get it primed & painted later this year. still 3 other sides to finish removing the furring strips from, but it will not take too long.

took the 15.40 train back to chicago on sunday, dropped my bags off at tom/troy's place (the metropolitan on sheridan) & then walked with troy & mitch down to big chick's to meet tom (bartending) behind the bar. had a couple birthday beers w/them, then we all headed back to tom/troy's for some pizza/drinks & watched the oscar's.

Valentine's Day Weekend

took the 17.58 train from randolph friday evening to MCI. train was delayed in gary for some reason, adding 30 minutes to the trip.

friday night i spent mostly doing some work in the basement. went to bed around midnight but didn't sleep well & was awake by 7am to greet the first foundation contractor of the day (he was early). the 2nd contractor arrived around 9am, though he wasn't able to give me an estimate on the work as it wasn't their specialty. the first contractor gave me an estimate similar to what i had received before for the same work & also one for replacing the foundation wall entirely (which is ideally what i want done).

i may contact a couple more contractors to get some other estimates on replacing the foundation wall, but may settle for tie-backs to hold it in place for time being.

saturday spent in the basement removing the damp/mouldy/mildewed drywall, and some of the drop ceiling. will need a big dumpster to dispose of all this. the electrical wiring is a nightmare. it will be replaced soon though. received several estimates on the electrical rewiring last week & am looking to get that project started once the foundation is shored up.

took the last train back to chicago saturday night, was filthy from all the basement demo work & needed a hot shower (no running water in the house until spring).

6-Feb

took the 17.32 train friday evening from randolph street to michigan city. train filled up just before departing (got there about 20 minutes before departure). there are a lot of fat people who live in indiana ... sorry, but i don't know how people let themselves go. not just a little pudgy, but big/fat/round. so sad. luckily, most of the people exited at the east chicago stop & the train proceeded on.

friday night i spent tearing up the carpeting in the bedrooms, it came up relatively easily & is now all torn up & bagged, ready for disposal. i don't have trash service yet, so i have resorted to filling up my rolling duffle with trash & disposing of at home for now.

saturday morning was busy with two electrical contractors to give me estimates for the total rewire of the house. first estimate had by sunday night & still waiting for the other, though wont be able to start the rewiring until late spring/summer (as budget permits). one more foundation contractor coming by this coming saturday (13-feb) to give another estimate for the project before i decide who to go with.

started to remove the drywall in the basement, need to have complete access to foundation walls for repair & its too damp & the drywall has mold/mildew forming on bottom. a dumpster will be needed this spring to remove most of the rubbish.

returned to chicago on afternoon train, had 2 parties to attend saturday night with friends.

Hardware list: prybar, safety goggles, bolt cutter

30-31 Jan 2010

This past weekend was a short trip. I arrived at 12.30 on the train with my rolling duffle full of burglar bars, electrical boxes & another portable radio (which, like
the first, also doesn't pick up Chicago stations good enough for me). The vet met me around 1.30pm & we drove over to the Olive Garden to have a bite to eat with a
friend of his who lives in Crown Point (who happened to be visiting the outlet maul in MCI). I haven't been to an Olive Garden restaurant in close to 20 years ... the
menu really didn't appeal to me at all & the clientele was just as unappealing ... not to mention, who knew this place would be sooo busy in the middle of the
afternoon? I guess everyone there just goes & eats out during the day/nights on weekends. I will have to find some local eats to frequent, I've never been a big
fan of the national chains. Not that there was a choice for either of us in this matter, the vet's friend was already at the OG & we were just stopping by to meet
him before continuing on.

After having a bite at the OG, we drove across the street to the Lowe's, then the Menard's next door to that. I was hoping to get vinyl gutters for the house, but
didn't get on this trip (need a ladder too & the vet's RAV4 back door window doesn't open, so couldn't get a ladder in the back (and probably not the gutters either).
Will have to wait a little longer for the new eaves troughs (will probably not be able to install until March anyway).

Continued with installing burglar bars on windows, since the home isn't occupied full-time right now, I figured the bars would be a good deterrent (until I get an
alarm installed at least). Also continued removing the old carpeting from bedrooms, cutting into 3x3 foot pieces to more easily dispose of.

The furnace seems to work fine, though it cycles on/off a bit too frequently (should stay on for longer I would think before turning off). Hopefully it will run fine
through Spring and I can have it serviced in the off season.

Weekend Two

Removed corner of front bedroom carpeting around the bedroom door. I thought the carpet was glued down, but it is not! The padding sticks to the hardwood floors underneath in certain areas, but it's only tacked down around the perimeter of the room (tacked directly to the floors, not to carpet tack strips), it wont be as hard to remove the carpeting though still a lot of work to remove all the staples from the edges (will need to do before floors can be refinished). The floors look to be in pretty good shape, they've been covered for last 30 years and appear to have never been refinished after they were installed in the early 1920s. The bedroom floors are wider plank wood, I think all the floors are oak though the bedrooms may be a pine wood.

Started removing the plaid wallpaper from the kitchen wall (luckily just on one wall), also removed the accompanying border as well. Also started removing the dolphin border from the back bedroom (which has wallpaper on lower portion of wall as well), under the dolphin border is POWER RANGERS border! Installed burglar bars on both bedroom windows (with locks to open).

Installed security bars on the two basement windows on the south wall. The north wall has 3 windows total, one newer 34"x22" window and two smaller original wooden ones (one of which is covered by the drywall installation done by previous owner). The two uncovered windows on the north wall (which is also the wall needing repair) have a wood beam across them for now, I'll be either installing burglar bars or removing them completely.

The burglar bars on the front window I don't think will be enough. A determined intruder can still break the storm window and the lower sash window glass and then reach through the bars to reach the door lever & deadbolt ... not sure if they can reach even further once door is unlocked to also unlock deadbolt on security screen door, but not going to risk it. I am going to install a metal grill/screen over the lower portion of the window (maybe eventually remove it if I put in larger front door). I think I've seen them at the hardware store for use on sliding patio doors.

Also plan on removing the small window next to the back door. This will allow for more flexibility & cupboard space in the kitchen when remodeled.

Saturday I took a few minutes to check the exterior walls for insulation with an exploratory hole in the exterior wall in the bathroom ... as I thought, no insulation ... I did however find some great powder blue marbled plastic tiles (vintage 40s maybe?) under parts of the bathroom walls that are covered with the 1980s fake tile paneling. The tiles are in great shape & I am going to try to salvage as many as I can either to reuse in the remodeled bathroom or sell. Hopefully there will be enough to retile a small portion of the bath walls, or maybe I can use them in the kitchen as backsplash.

Sunday morning Corin the handyman/best friend of realtors husband came by and installed the two security screen doors on the front & back doors. Took 2.5 hours time for him (I didn't have all the tools to install myself). I will keep him in mind if I need help in the future. Finished the screen doors off with their deadbolts and handles.

Sunday afternoon was in upper 40s outside, so I took the opportunity to work on the exterior of the house & remove some of the furring strips that remained after the previous owner stripped the aluminum siding. In an hours time I was able to remove about 1/2 of all the strips on the north side of the house (all that I could reach without a ladder) on the lower portion. It will probably be a days work total to remove all the strips from the entire house and then another day to scrape the paint to prepare for primer and paint (maybe later this year).

While I was outside working, a couple was in the driveway of Kelly's home to the south waiting for him to show them the property. I introduced myself and then later talked to Kelly & gave him my contact info to reach me. Kelly mentioned the guy across the street (Mike) is an electrician during our conversation about my work on the house (and need thereof an electrician), so he went over & brought Mike by to meet me. I will keep him in mind when time comes for the electrical work.

Monday morning the NIPSCO gas guy came by around 8.30am to turn on my service. was going to wait until Spring, but running two space heaters was having minimal effect, other than running up my electric bill. Fortunately the furnace works fine and doesn't need repair (though I'll probably call in for check-up in the Fall).

Hardware store needs for the week: More burglar bars (at least 2 more), a 28"x28" security panel for window next to front door (something used on sliding doors might work), air filter for furnace, crowbar, safety goggles, paint scraper, 22"x34" storm window for small front bedroom window overlooking porch, 3'x3' wood panel to cover back window in kitchen next to back door.

Day One

Friday the 15th of January, 2010 ... Closing day on the weekend house. Closing was held at 10am in Valparaiso, Indiana. The actual closing took only about 15 minutes time since it was a cash deal. The entire process took about 45 minutes, with the bulk of the time spent waiting for the signed paperwork to be faxed & receipt confirmed.




15-Jan 2010

  I spent Friday/Sat/Sun at the house getting things in order & securing it as best I could. I replaced all the locks, installed a security screen door on the front door (have one for the back door to install yet), put a wood beam brace across the back door for now. I will need to add burglar bars to some of the windows, but for the time being I put a wood bar across all of them on the inside to deter people (though only a few windows are of real concern).

There is no heat or water at the moment, I had the electric turned on Friday. I was going to wait until Spring for water, but I may turn on the
gas for heat sooner (the cost of using the space heaters will prob be as much or more than running the gas furnace on weekends while I'm there). So its pretty rustic for now. I bought a camping cot to sleep on for now, but will be looking for a futon (or 2) soon. (if anyone knows of a used one, let me know!)

The dining room ceiling has a hole where someone took a wrong turn in the attic (as I almost did as well when I stepped on an unsecured board up there). I insulated the holes w/some roll insulation & will eventually get the plaster holes repaired (for now the heat isn't escaping out at least).

All the windows came with mini blinds. I had just acquired the single
largest collection of the worlds ugliest vinyl mini blinds, I'm pretty sure.
They were old & most had broken slats & all of them were filthy. The best
part was the colors ... who knew they came with brass accents? Black with
brass edging, cream/white with brass ... I measured each window & went &
got replacement blinds @ Meijer for $4/each, I left the hanging brackets
from the old ones in so just replaced the blinds.

I also met 2 neighbors so far. Kelly (owns house to left) came by &
introduced himself, he rents out the house & was there preparing it for a
new tenant, he lives in South Bend. Also met Winter, who lives across the
street, nice girl (think the girl from the movie "Precious"), she offered to help w/mowing & snow shoveling.

welcome

figured i'd post updates on the weekend house here instead of e-mail. look for updates soon.