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.
31 March 2010
24 March 2010
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.
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.
16 March 2010
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!)
14 March 2010
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.
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.
13 March 2010
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.
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.
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