it has been a few months since last update. winter was a most unproductive period at the house. i did mostly overnight trips to shovel the walks & check on things. little progress was made on the house itself.
march came & went, now april too.
march & april did see some yard prep work for the upcoming gardening/landscaping. the front strip between the sidewalk & street has been dug up, mulched & planted with vines. the two straggly bushes in front of house have been removed, a three-foot deep bed dug up & mulched & flowering bushes & plants added (with still more to come!)
march saw the addition of cooking stove to kitchen! now have a nearly fully functioning kitchen (minus the running water in sink).
23/24-april. spent weekend outside finishing up install of eaves troughs on remainder of house (south & east sides). realised a few pieces are missing needed to complete the downspouts, but the gutters are up & operating at least. next step will be to power wash exterior & repaint.
inside work that weekend included retiling the kitchen & bath ... have added peel & stick tiles over existing flooring to update both rooms, until they both are fully rehabbed in the future. also previously had finished adding tongue-and-groove siding around lower portion of walls & painted white to finish off for now. still have pedestal sink to install, but that will wait for now.
also ordered unfaced roll insulation to add to attic space & possibly between first floor joists in basement ceiling. ordered a base cabinet for the kitchen to place next to stove as well. insulation & cabinet to arrive from menard's this saturday.
plans for this weekend include: finish repainting guest room. install kitchen base cabinet (and paint!), sand existing base cabinets & paint as well (dark blue same as house). store insulation in attic, will wait to unroll/install before winter. plant flowers & vines that arrived this week (2/3 of seasons plants have arrived now). build countertop base for new kitchen cabinet & prep it for tiling.
29 April 2011
04 December 2010
holi-daze
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| 2010 Progress |
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).
23 November 2010
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).
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 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).
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).
13 October 2010
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.
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.
18 August 2010
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.
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.
24 July 2010
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!
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!
09 June 2010
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).
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).
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