Freecycle

In Columbus, and cities across the country, there is now a group called Freecycle where you can get rid of stuff you don't want and take up other people on their offers of free stuff. It's amazing and simple. All you do is post an email saying you have something free to offer or that you are looking for something free. About 1000 people read it every day and someone is bound to offer. I got rid of a couple of small kitchen items and gained a box of kids books for my niece. It's a Yahoo group, so just go to http://groups.yahoo.com and search for your city.

Another great source of free/cheap stuff is Craigslist. They are in most cities across the country. You can also sell stuff here or look for jobs, etc.

Both of these resources are a lot of fun to play with!

Almost stairs!

The framing is done most of the external drywall!!! The upstairs is 10 degrees warmer than it was this morning.

Here you can see the drywall in 3 stages - latheboard, insulation over the frame, and drywall on the underside (which is over the 1st floor stairs).

Next we will add drywall to the inside of the stairs and place the actual steps.

Who put a tail there?

We take her to puppy school and here's what she learned.

Stairs moving right along

I didn't realize how long it had been since one of us last put up a post. Though it is not as if nothing has been going on. For example we have made a ton of progress on the new stairs.

The only things left to do are to dry wall and nail in the actually stairs (treads and risers for you carpenter types)

Honeymoon ideas

Okay so we need honeymoon ideas that are within 24 hours driving distance from Columbus Ohio.

So far we have:

Key West (Southern Tip of Florida)
Maine
Adirondack Mountains (upstate New York)
Great Smokey Mountains (Eastern Tennessee)
Massachusetts (Probably Western Mass. or the Cape)
Savannah, Ga
Canada
Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Basically somewhere resort like or middle of nowhere, the Keys are on the outside range of the 24 hour drive (for reference).

Flying is out, not a negotiable point.

Thank you BBB!

On a recommendation, I took Maddy to Columbus All Breed for Beginning Obedience. The instructors were terrible and used aggressive methods that seemed counterproductive to building a relationship of trust and learning. For example, the teacher told us that if your dog jumps on people as they come in the door, lock the dog in the closet. She also said that if your dog is sniffing the ground when you want to walk, then you should walk faster. Neither of these problems are solved by ignoring them! They also use a choke collar which they call a "training collar." It would be nice if they explain that on the website.

Anyway, I asked them for a refund and they refused. The Training Director called me and offered to put me in a new class. Had he agreed that there was a problem with my class, then I would have gladly agreed. However, I didn't want to continue with the same methods.

I finally filed a complaint with the BBB. It's not a surprise that they are now willing to refund my $75. Thank you!

This is the second time I've used the BBB, and it's been a great tool. It's one of the only ways that a consumer has recourse. The other time I used them was when I paid for a magazine subscription through a 3rd party that never came. They had a fake customer service phone # and a bouncing email address. There was no way to leave a message, so this was my only option.

We start positive/clicker training with Civil Obedience on December 10th (Jim's birthday!). I've heard rave reviews about them, including from my vet.

Save the date!

We have finally set a date for our wedding - May 25, 2008. It's the Sunday before Memorial Day. We are holding it at a place called, I kid you not, the Taylor Mansion. Here are photos of the wedding site.

Gobble Gobble

Kitty Wake Up Call

Rant of the day

I'm dressing up as a melting polar ice cap

Because that's scary. Almost as scary as the possible reelection of the party of the scaremonger in chief.

By Bill Maher

Oct. 27, 2007 | New Rule: This Halloween, every time you see something that's supposed to scare you, like a skeleton or a severed head or the ingredients in diet pudding ... take a moment and think about fear: What are you afraid of; what should you be afraid of. What's really scary this Halloween is that the same group of idea-free losers who won the last presidential election could win the next one by making us afraid of the wrong things. Which is why this year for Halloween, I'm going as something truly horrifying: a melting polar ice cap.

This week -- as every week -- all the Republican candidates talked about was who was toughest in the war on terror. While the country's most populous state literally burned. The Democrats, as usual, said nothing, because they didn't want to offend fire.

The Republicans, including the scaremonger in chief, sell themselves as protectors of our safety. But since they're all, except for McCain, armchair warriors, they're only comfortable protecting us from fears they made up. Like the way Iran is itching for a war with the United States now. Ahmadinejad is pure evil! Terror has a new name, and it's nearly unpronounceable.

At the Republican debate this week, Mike Huckabee said, "Islamofascism is the greatest threat we ever faced." Really? More than the Nazis? And the Russians? And the Redcoats?

In his latest ad, Mitt Romney warns eerily that Muslim jihadists want to establish an Islamic caliphate covering the whole world, including America.

And I thought the people scared of gays and Mexicans were paranoid. Islamic terrorists taking over America? They can barely get across the monkey bars. Our defense budget is 600 billion a year, they're using guns they took off a dead Soviet in 1981 -- I think we can hold Charleston.

We're the most powerful nation on earth with the largest economy and the best military, and we're made to act the fool by a few thousand cave dwellers who still put out their video on VHS.

And that's because over the last seven years, because of the incompetence that goes by the name George Bush, we've become the most insecure, paranoid superpower ever. We don't think we can get anything right anymore. We can't take care of our own citizens after a hurricane, or plan for our wars, or maintain our infrastructure, and our celebrity rehab facilities obviously aren't working at all.

Some people looked at this fire and saw not a dangerous phenomenon brought on by man's activities and requiring a scientific solution, but a cleansing catharsis sent by God to punish liberals. Even though it mostly burned Orange County.

As a species, we're failing at survival trick No. 1: prioritize the threats. Environmental catastrophe will visit all of us in the coming decades, in one way or another, and when it does I hope people like ... oh, I don't know, Lou Dobbs, says to himself, "Hmmm, maybe if I was going to spend my whole career obsessing about one issue -- it should have been global warming. The skin just fell off my face, and it turns out that really wasn't the fault of a Mexican."

From Ava to Jack

Below is the letter my sister read at a small memorial for Jack, her son. It's written from the voice of Ava, her daughter, who survived Jack.


My sister's intro: Ava and I talk about Jack every day. She asked me if I would read this letter from her at Jack’s service.

Dear Friends and Family,

Please join me in saying goodbye to my first and best friend, Jack Taylor Walton, who was born into heaven on August 2, 2007 at 7:33pm. Shortly before our birthday, Jack received a personal invitation from God to join her in heaven so that he could help watch over and guide our lives on Earth. Perhaps I shouldn’t admit this, but I know this to be true because I was ease dropping from the room next door.

Jack’s job in Heaven is perhaps the most prestigious and honorable job one could ever hold. It requires unimaginable sacrifice, exceptional maturity and profound insight.

Jack was not alone when he left Earth. I was by his side to hug him goodbye and see him off. Jack was not alone when he arrived in heaven. With open arms and much anticipation, he was welcomed by: his Great Grandparents, his Great Aunts and Uncles, and his cousins Dillon and Cole each of whom is well-prepared with a complete supply of diapers, onesies, burp clothes, receiving blankets, exersaucers, swings, bouncy chairs, etc. In fact, Jack’s “Sip n’ See” also takes place today at 1:00pm, in Heaven, hosted by the loving family members who greeted him upon his arrival.

In Heaven, Jack will be swaddled, soothed and swayed. He will be cuddled and cooed. He will learn, laugh and love. He will be loved.

Although I will not ask you to ignore deep sadness for Jack’s early departure, I will ask you to join me in feeling extraordinary pride; pride that one so young and innocent, in harmony with God, will guide and influence our daily decisions, quietly comfort us during difficult times, and magnify our happiness during joyous times.

I will miss him in life, but I am comforted by the knowledge that Jack is not gone. He is simply waiting in heaven. And, when the time is right, I will have eternity to play with Jack, and our parents will have eternity to hug him, hold him and kiss him good night.

With much love,

Ava Rose Walton

Save your newspapers

I'm now volunteering for the Franklin County Dog Shelter. They need so much help - the facilities are dirty, it stinks, and the dogs barely get out of their cages for walks. So, I'm stepping in and volunteering with the shelter and with their fundraising "Friends" group.

I'm going to start pestering everyone I know in Columbus to help in some way, even if it's just saving your newspapers. So, here's the start:

Please save your newspapers for me. They are used to line the dogs' cages. They can use the full-sized pages from papers like the Dispatch. They can't use glossy pages or smaller pages like in the Other Paper. They also need old blankets and towels. Give them to me instead of throwing them out!

Thanks on behalf of the sad puppies!

Pollworkers needed

Franklin County (and probably ever other county in the US) needs poll workers to help ensure fair elections on Tuesday, November 6th. If you would like to volunteer, call the County Board of Elections. You must volunteer via either the Democratic or Republican parties, depending on how you are registered.

Franklin County Democratic Desk 462-3819
Franklin County Republican Desk 462-5209

I encourage you to join me!

I hate Vista

don't have much time.

I just want to say if you a looking in to a new computer. Avoid vista like the plague!

Had it one week so far, on a brand new computer, it has crashed 4 times, additionally I have seen the blue screen 4 times. It is a pain in the rear about everything, those Mac commercials are true, every word of them. Especially this one about Vista's over-achieving firewall.

Red sox squash Angels

So it's official, the Red Sox are in the Pennant game.

After eliminating the Anaheim Angels last night they move on to play the winner of the Cleveland/New York Yankees series. The Indians and the Yankees have the only Division series that is going beyond 3 games. Which is great news for the Red Sox, because who ever comes out of that grudge match is going to have up to 3 days less rest than the Red Sox. As much as I would love to see the Yankees go down, I really want them to see them use up their entire pitching roster just to get past the Indians. that way the Red Sox can stomp on them.

Go Sox!
Yankees suck!

Scott's home

My brother is safely back in England after a 4 month "tour" in Afghanistan. Woo hoo!

Also, the infamous kitten has finally been adopted. She's going home with a new co-worker who has a kid and 2 dogs. She's going to be really happy!

Junk mail

Want to stop getting junk mail and solicitation calls? Sign up for these national registries and your mail will be dramatically reduced. I almost never get junk mail...


Do not call list (free): https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx
Do not mail list (costs $1): https://www.dmaconsumers.org/onlineform.php
No credit card offers (free): https://www.optoutprescreen.com/opt_form.cgi

like cheap AA betteries?

I'm starting to get a bit of an obsession with this whole video thing, but this shit is kind of cool.


6 Volt Battery Hack! You'll Be Amazed! - The most popular videos are a click away

Good T.V.

I don't even have cable, but I love this t.v. show. Weeds is about a suburban mom who using colossally bad judgement and some luck, after her husband's unexpected death, decides to get into the business of dealing bud.

Great Lakes surfing

I couldn't resist, story from NPR's only a game

Great Lakes Surfing

Communications (from a canine)

Important note:

If your dog wakes you up at 3:00am, by whining, scratching, etc...

Take them outside!

If you fail at this task, prepare to invest in more paper towels in the morning.

:)

Kitten for adoption

We are fostering an adorable 9 month old female kitten. She's a lot of fun and will make a great addition to a family. PLEASE tell everyone you know, who might know someone who might know someone... We can't keep her. She's spayed, litter trained, has rabies vaccine, etc. Here are a couple photos of her, including the cat with her new best friend.

Other photos

Click on the pictures of Maddy or Kitty below and you can scroll through a few more pics in our photo album.

Maddy, chillin

Stairs: Breaking Ground

In what will be a long project I broke ground, literally, on the stairs to the attic tonight. The first piece is fortifying the the floor beams of the first floor, if you have a lot of time I can explain what the first floor ha to do with the stairs to the attic.

Here's a picture of the hole, Kitty is just finishing his inspection

Magic number

Second only to cycling, in my world, is the great sport of baseball. My team is the Boston Red Sox. It's time for the pennant race, the time of year when everyone is trying to get into the playoffs, and the Red Sox are looking good. They have the best record in baseball and are 6.5 games ahead of the Yankees.

It is getting close to the time of year where we start watching what is known as the magic number. That is the number of games the Red Sox need to win to guarantee a place in the playoffs. To get into the playoffs, in baseball, you either need to win your division (there are three) or have the best record of the teams, in your leauge (American or National), that don't win their division (called the wildcard). For the Red Sox to automatically win their division, the American League East, they would need to win the next 27 games. Now if the Yankees lose or the Red Sox win the magic number goes down by one, if both of those things happen the magic number goes down by 2.

Making things more complicated is the wildcard. Currently the Red Sox are 10 games ahead in that race, meaning their magic number to get into the playoffs is 24 wins. Winning the division means they don't have to worry about the wildcard at all, lets hope for that.

For more updates on Red Sox nation go to Over the Monster

Yankees Suck!
Go Sox!

Good Dog!

Maddy is the smartest dog in the world. Either that or the dog training book I'm reading is brilliant - The Complete Idiot's Guide to Positive Dog Training By Pamela S Dennison. I'm not sure if it's complete training or for the complete idiot... Anyway, after 4 tries she can now sit on command, is generally housebroken, and sleeps in our bed. I guess she did the last one on her own.

She's terrified of the car though. Not quire sure what to do about that.

The stray cat has been fixed and is now back in the world. If anyone knows anyone who might want a FABULOUS cat, please let me know. She's super friendly, adorable, and spayed. What more could you want in a cat? I'd keep her if you-know-who would let me...

turning points

You know the ones I mean. Choices that radically shifted your path in life. Something about holding your 17 lbs. niece in you hands makes you think about those things. For instance, I once sat on the bumper of my car with my friend, Carla, trying to decide whether I wanted to stick with my new, and very difficult, job. The alternative was moving to Bend, OR to try and train to become a professional cyclist, sans performance enhancing drugs. I chose the job. Where would I be now if I hadn't? Does it matter?

How about you? What were some of those points for you?

Dog Name

Wow! We never get comments on our blog - everyone is invested in the puppy's name! We have decided on Maddy. It came out of Madison, which is the name of our street. We've already gotten her ID tag, so it's set in stone. I hope you like it!

New canine member of the family

So my Niece continues to work through the basic rudimentary facets of life, like seeing for the first time and figuring out the difference between Mom and Dad. According to the doctor everything is going great with Ava, correct weight gain, and all other developmental markers are being met. In the mean time, Jodi went off to the pound and we finally have ourselves a puppy dog. A mostly Boxer mix, seen here playing with my parents Beagle, she is 8 months old. Her name is still a point of contention, though she did come named Petunia.

The mountains we climb

In what will always go down as a bitter sweet day, this past Thursday at 7:29 pm, we celebrated the birth of Ava Rose, my niece. At the same time we morn the death of her twin brother Jack Taylor, who we were never given the chance to get to know. It is with great conflict that I write here about the new joy in all our lives, a joy tempered only by the loss of the unknown.

Life after home repair

It has been a while since either of us have actually written anything here. So here goes.

I have stopped working on the house full time and have started to figure out what it is I am going to do to bring in my portion of our income. On that front I officially started a company yesterday at the old Ohio Secretary of State. As soon as I get the certificate in the mail my company Rooty Hollow LLC will be official. Effectively, this means I can open a bank account and that if I get sued no one can go after our personal assets. I have to say it was super easy to do, fill out a 2 page form and pay $125 and I was off.

I'm going to focus on web design for the time being, it has started off well already. Though I still harbor dreams of buying investment property in the future.

As for the yard we ventured out in to the jungle that is our back yard and pulled up hundreds of small trees and weeds over the last week. Now we are trying to decide what to do next: a garden, a flower garden, a deck, a patio, a fire pit, etc...

We'll keep you posted

Photo from this weekend in Athens

New floors

So I have spent the last week installing and finishing news floors on the second floor. The pictures are kind of grainy, I think the camera battery was low, but you get the point. The first couple are of the floors before and during the installation. Then after and with the finish. We used a Red Oak hardwood tongue and groove flooring with a 3 layers of oil based varnish to finish. Laying the floors took about 4 1/2 days and the varnish another 3. It's a long process but I have to say this is already the best result for anything I have done in the house to date.

Clean F***ing Coal

I hate to get too edgy in this blog as I don't want to offend my friends and loved ones with my rants. With that preface here we go. An article in the NYTimes today really got under my skin. It seems our short sighted leaders have all found something they can pass in a bi-partisan fashion. These geniuses are going to pass a bill that provides the coal energy industry with the following , among other things:

" loan guarantees for six to 10 major coal-to-liquid plants, each likely to cost at least $3 billion; a tax credit of 51 cents for every gallon of coal-based fuel sold through 2020; automatic subsidies if oil prices drop below $40 a barrel; and permission for the Air Force to sign 25-year contracts for almost a billion gallons a year of coal-based jet fuel."

(for those of you who bash on welfare, that last little piece about the Air Force is worth (1,000,000,000 gallons / 42 gallons/barrel * $65/barrel) $1,547,619,050, how's that for corporate welfare?)

All this so the idiots running for president, including Obama, can say they made progress on securing America's oil independence. Do these guys have any idea what kind of damage coal mining does to our planet? Have they seen the creeks of southern Ohio or West Virginia running yellow? Hello, have they ever heard of Acid mine drainage? Have they seen what happens in WV when they remove the entire tops of a mountains to get at the coal seams?

Of course these the coal industry and the legislators are good and are going to get the support of environmentalists by saying that the emissions from liquid coal power plants is less and therefore they are better for the air we breath. Hello, it's not only about the burning of the coal, it's also about the extraction. Besides has anyone looked into the process of turning coal into liquid coal? What are the bi-products of that process?

Okay I'm done.
.
.
.
Well I'm almost done. Anyone, of these yahoos who votes for this bill loses my support in the 2008 election!

Jim

We're in

Hey all. We moved in this weekend. As of Saturday we have our own house. The cats could not be happier, we didn't realize how uncomfortable they were in the attic. I am continuing to paint the 2nd floor, we are living on the first floor.

It looks like the paint and floors on the 2nd floor will be done next week. Then we will have a whole house.

Week 14 updates

Here are more photos, including the final back splash, the wood floor after being sanded and before the varnish and the final bathroom sink

Kitchen counters is here

Okay here is the final kitchen counter, we will install the back splash this week, hopefully.

Also the bathroom floor and sink (being built)

The Bathroom with tile

These are a couple of pictures of the bathroom with tile. The floor tile is not quite finished, but you get the idea. Oh and this is the final wall colour. These pictures were taken at night so the light is bad, and the pink window will one day match the wood window.

The kitchen colour

Here's picture of the kitchen with it's final colour. The area that is still white will be covered by either the counter or the back splash

Slow but steady

We are steadily making progress on the bathroom. Last week we put up all the walls and floors. Today I finished the tile in the bath tub, pictures tomorrow, and will be putting the first coat of paint on the walls and ceiling tomorrow. If all goes well that will mean putting tile on the floor by Thursday and the toilet and sink in on Friday. It will definitely feel more like a house after that is done. The counter is arriving on Monday hence we would be able to move in then.

Week 4 (3 weeks ago)

This was our toilet for a few weeks. In other words, we drove to Bexley.




















This is the hole where you expect a bathtub.




















Things are starting to come together! Here's our new tub!




















Our new kitchen floor tile is going in. The big 15" tiles make the room look larger.





















We also have cabinets and most of our appliances. Today we picked out granite counters. They take a few weeks to order, so will be one of the last things installed in our kitchen.

OTENA

So, we have just moved into a neighborhood called "Olde Towne East." It's going through a bit of a renaissance, there is a huge mix of poverty with wealthy new neighbors. People who live there are very connected to each other and have been accused of being a bit nosy. People refer to it as "The Neighborhood" or OTENA (Olde Town East Neighborhood Association). There's even a listserv and regularly scheduled parties to check out your neighbors home improvements. Friend & neighbor Richard has designed a few tasteless, yet hilarious, logos for The Neighborhood. Enjoy!

It's ball time

Much to Jodi's chagrin Baseball season starts tomorrow.

The Red Sox's pitching is looking good and the hitting continues to be backed up by the best hitting duo in baseball, Manny and Papi. Of course the Bull Pen looks as weak as always and a few of the starters are rookies, so that could spell trouble. I would have to wager a guess that this is not another World Series year, though I think we will get a shot at the division title.

First game Kansas City, in Kansas City. Is that the Missouri or Kansas side of Kansas City? Either way we'll cream them.

Lessons for future re-models

Okay here are a couple of rules to live by when doing remodels. In no particular order

1.) Having contractors in house does not mean you get to work on your own projects while they are doing their thing. For each contractor you have in the house you will need to spend 10-15 minutes with them for each hour they are in your house. If you have 3 or more contractors in the house that amount of time will increase as you need to keep them from running into one another. Plan on doing paper work while they are all there, because you aren't going to get anything done yourself. Oh and don't forget to throughly inspect their work. The Cable guy's way of getting the cable in the house was to open the bulkhead doors and back door then lay the cable on the basement stairs.

2.) Do all your demolition, and I mean all, before you move forward. I have had to have the electricians out 3 times because I keep realizing I need to move another set of wires as I finish tearing down walls.

3.) Be flexible, old houses have quirks and wreak havoc on your plans

4.) When seeking opinions on major structural changes, ask lots of different types of people. I got advice from an architect, his contractor friends, a general contractor/home inspector, another architect and a series of friends. The most useful people have been the ones who have done what I want to do, in this case build a staircase. Also, read up on it before you start bringing people to show you what you need to know about. Though professionals have experience they won't always tell you what the do and don't know and have a habit of advising on things that are outside of their frame of reference.

5.) The people at the hardware store will become invaluable, get to know them well. Especially the old guys at the hardware store, they are a treasure trove of knowledge.

6.) Though they are good for saving money the staff at the big box stores don't know shit! Don't trust anything they say.

7.) Buy lumber from a real lumber yard. The discount stores sell cheap, warped, split lumber. It's will be worth the extra money.

Cabinets and Wonderboard

Well the Kitchen continues to make progress, as does everything else. The aforementioned walls have been primed. We have Cabinets up and tile down. The tile pictures will come later, though below are pictures of us laying something referred to as Wonderboard, no it does not fly and does not come dress in tights. Wonderboard is a flat board of concrete all dressed up in a mesh coating. Wonderboard adheres to the cement that hold the tiles to the floor, or wall.

The Cabinets look fabulous, an excellent find at Lowendicks in Newark (ph.740.323.3126). Below are pictures of their installation.

The bathroom is almost to the point where the finish work will begin, the toilet flange, the piece that connects the poop pipe and the toilet, will be installed tomorrow. From there I need to fill in the hole in the ceiling, where the old stairs were, re-drywall the ceiling and we are off and running.

I'm thinking of having Dealers Lumber mill wood flooring to match the first floor, it's 7/8" inch wide. It will be about twice as much as buying the normal hard wood floor, but it my be worth it for the looks.

Oh and a picture of the fireplaces Jodi has been pealing the plaster off of this week.

walls, walls and more about walls

Remember that brick wall that was being filled in. Well the drywall went up today. It feels nice to see something coming together as opposed to being torn down.

The photo on the bottom is the result of my friend Jeff re-building my cabinets, he took the drawer on the left out. Another thing being finished, with everything torn apart it was beginning to look like the demo was never going to end.

Oh, and it looks like we are going to be able to put a window above our back door, a little surprise discovery under all the plaster. There is a word for that type of window, but it is escaping me right now.

Mexico 2007

In what has become annual trek for us, me and some of my friends, and some of their friends, headed to Baja Mexico last week (from the 8th to the 12th of March). All in all 13 men camping on the coast due east of Ruben De Jarmillio (South of Ensinada). The camp ground overlooks a wave known as freighters (aka shipwrecks, not the one in Cabo San Lucas), generally a mushy long right that wraps around an old shipwreck into a small bay. From there we surfed in San Quentin (Beach Breaks), Roberts Lefts and Quatro Casas . The best surf of the week was at Quatro Casas a mushy head high day.

















much of the gang warming by the fire, drinking liquid grain refreshments of course

















Though behind ours the Mexican space program has to get its start some where

















Mike Davis, "The Doctor", walking the line at the Tiajuana border. He is trying to sell that spiffy Mexican blanket.

















A shot of freighters

Me, My new board and its shaper Tyler Anderson sole proprietor of Monarch Surfboards. BTW the board rode great I highly recommend Tyler's craftsmanship

















"Phat" Matt riding in the back of Seth's truck. Matt, like me, is east of the Mississippi spending most of the year in North Carolina

















More beer
















The planner and all around instigator of the trip, all props to Doug for this idea. P.S. if you are in Santa Barbara and need to buy beach wear, surf gear, or skate decks go to Doug's shop Surf Country in Goleta.