Archive for category Home Improvement

Ok… So This is a Lot Better….

Whadda ya think?!?! I think it is an improvement…..





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Upon Further Inspection…

The kitchen now looks like this…

EEEEK!!!

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Project Escalation…

So yes, I was going through the simple task of installing a new window in my kitchen, so that went on with no major problems and things finished up just fine.

So I finished off with sheetrock and such around the window and was joint compounding it nicely today, it looks quite good.

So then I went to replace one of the outlets, I am doubling it up and putting in a surge protector plug in it’s place, so I need to replace the box and everything, Why not right?

So I pop a hole in the wall, and pull the box out, while in there, I look at the wall and notice that it is completely empty and I am looking at the boards which make up the outside of the house.

Wait, why can I see those? Why is there no insulation in there?

Oh shit, THERE IS NONE!!!!

Yes, that is right, NO INSULATION IN THE EXTERIOR WALLS OF MY HOUSE!!

So this is what it looks like right now.

Also, I pulled off some of the lovely paneling in the dining room area. And what do I discover they paneled OVER old plaster walls, WITH wallpaper on them!

As seen below notice the outline on the wall the clean spot with the dirty wall paper around it? That is where a telephone used to hang isnt that just ducky?!?!

Close up of the clean spot…..

What the hell. Small little project no problem. Of course this gets to happen to me. Home Depot here I come!!!

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So As You May Know

I am in the process of redoing my kitchen…..

This is what it looked like before I started…..

And this is what it looks like now after a hard days work ripping shit out…. thanks to Tami who wielded a hammer and pry bar like a pro… and neither of us ended up with any serious injuries either!!

This kitchen is gonna be PIMP when I am done with it…..

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The Good and The Bad

The bad first….

No hot water yesterday, at first I thought we were just out of oil cuz the tank sounded pretty empty when I was banging on it, but no, that was not it.

What it turned out being was the circulator pump was all clogged up so the water wouldn’t get hot, and also, the water heater has RUSTED OUT! So yeah, water was on the floor, not a good situation.

Also, today I went to court as a “witness” against one of the guys who broke into my house, but unfortunately the asshole who was on trial today is getting off because of a lack of evidence, no one was able to identify him, even though he was caught running from the area, covered in leaves and dirt, while sweaty and out of breath. Sometimes the court systems piss me off.

but onto the Good news…..

I have my first paycheck sitting at my desk at work! So I can pick it up when I go into the office tomorrow, and then deposit it into my ever shrinking bank account!

I had my first day of real work yesterday, it went well. I was out in Springfield at a customer site, I learned a lot about the installation process. Although I was very jealous of the computer we were working on, please pardon the geek speak that is forthcoming, Quad Dual Core 3.0 Ghz Intel Xeon Processors, 36 Gigs of RAM, with a hard drive capacity of 1.5 Terabytes of Storage space, a Terabyte is the equivalent of 1000 gigabytes, which is the equivalent of 1024 MB.  That is a crazy sick amount of everything! To put it in perspective, the normal computers people have in their homes are a a single processor that is between a 1.0 and 2.7 GHz in speed, this server had the equivalent of 16, SIXTEEN, of these in it with the quad dual core xeons. The RAM in a normal personal computer is nowadays 512 MB or 1 GB of RAM, this had 36!! and the space on the hard drives?!? That is enough to store the equivalent of 384,000 average size mp3s! And it was all rack mounted with a super cool fold away LCD screen.

Ok, all done with the geek speak.

The super duper good news now….. my water heater was under warranty!!!! YAY!!! So I do not have to buy a new one, they replace it for free, except I have to pay for the labor to have it installed, hey I can deal with that, it will end up only costing me like 300-400 for the labor instead of the 650-800 for labor and the new tank! I am definitely gonna drop the $100 for a lifetime warranty on the new water heater, how can I go wrong with that?!?

Also have an appointment to get my taxes all taken care of on Friday…. which will be great, definitely gettin back a nice chunk of change with that one!!!

Ummm… I am sure there are some other things as well… but my brain has kind of shut off  for the day…..

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Walkin in a Winter Wonderland

SNOW!!!!!

How fabulous was today’s snow? It was BEE YOU TEA FULL outside, cold but nice. The snow was dry and light and fluffy, terrible for a snowball but great to shovel!

Driving was not too bad, I dropped the roomie off at the T so he could go get his car, and then tailgated the plows on the way home, but not before going into a parking lot and doing some donuts and just plain having some fun with it all.

Still have some more shoveling to do tomorrow, but most of it is done today.

Still loving my stove, cooked a pizza in it today and it was wonderful!!

No real work for me tomorrow, some more development work at home, the trip to Springfield was called off since the other consultant is still on the west coast, his flight into Hartford was Cancelled.

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DONE!

ALL DONE!

Stove is installed and all done!, It works and looks fabulous!

Dinner is cooking, I just need to figure out what to do with some of the empty space between the stove and one cabinet, but whatever, that can come later! I just am glad to have an oven again!!!

I have a pork tenderloin and some potatos roasting in the oven right now…….

YUMMMMMMMMMMMM

and no, I cannot explain my mood right now, not even sure why I am!

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Ok, So I Really Did Start on Thursday!

I was in the office on Thursday, for real, this is not a dream!

I went in, picked out a cube, spent some time with my boss trying to figure out what phone extension I was going to get, got handed a whole bunch of training manuals for our software product to read, spent an hour and a half on an HR Welcome to the company do you have any questions conference call, and then went to the post office.

All in all, a pretty successful day in my mind.

Friday, I worked from home reading the previously mentioned manuals.

It is now Saturday morning and I am just sitting and waiting for my stove to be delivered, sometime between 11:30 and 3:30, but with my luck I figure it will be at 3:30!I can’t wait to get this thing in here and get it all set up, very little excites me like this, I will finally be able to REALLY cook in my house after almost a 4 month hiatus!

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The Pimp New Stove

I finally did it, went and bought a new stove for the kitchen.

I figure, it was mid October when the old oven died, it is about time to get a new stove for the kitchen, right?

This thing is sweet, glass sealed cook top, dual ovens, convection in the large oven, timed bake, and so many other cool functions!

PLUS Dan hooked me up so I was able to save some serious cash on it.

Mrs Frugal, aka the mother like parental unit, was shocked I would spend so much on a stove, especially since what I saved is enough to purchase a whole stove, just one not as nice as this one!!!

Can you have a household appliance as a life partner? can I get a tax deduction for it as a dependent?

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