Rocket Jones

September 23, 2006

Renovation: Day 2 Progress

I don't have the camera handy, but the pictures aren't all that interesting so I don't want to hear a bunch of clamoring and whining.

Every project has unexpected glitches and gotchas, and day 2 was our day full. For progress, drywall was put up to cover the places where the ceiling and wall used to be, the pantry entrance was opened up, and the dining room carpet was removed. Also, work sorta started in the bathroom in that the medicine cabinet was carefully removed. I'll be recycling that to the other bathroom, because it's in better shape than the one upstairs.

As for the problems, most of them are minor, and all are already dealt with. The electrician goofed up his schedule and couldn't come out on Thursday and Friday as planned. He'll be here Monday to get started by replacing the main panel for the house.

The plan for those two drain pipes in the pantry entrance wall is even better than the one I expected. They're going to lower the joint to almost floor level and reroute both pipes back flush to the main wall. They'll still protrude, but not very much, and the cabinets can be modified to hide them.

The biggest problem was with the guy we were working with to do the floors. He screwed up big time. He lost all of our paperwork, so not only doesn't he know what we picked out, but none of it got ordered. The estimates and orders all happened a few months ago, and what with the packing up the main floor, we can't find our copies either. On top of that, he suddenly can't meet our schedule. Very unprofessional.

Last night Liz and I went to his place of business to straighten things out. He wasn't there and couldn't be located (out on a call - "somewhere"), and his clerk was the singularly most unhelpful person I've ever dealt with. We walked out and went looking for an alternative.

We did find one. We found equivalents to what we wanted from the other place. The guy will be coming out Sunday morning to do the measurements and give us the estimates. He *might* be able to do our schedule (ideally, kitchen floor installation happens next Friday), but because this is so last minute we'll understand if it can't happen right then. Carpets will get done in a few weeks.

Cabinets get installed starting Tuesday, and appliances show up then too (except for the fridge, which will show up two weeks later - backordered). Countertop templates happen on Thursday, floor on Friday (fingers crossed) and that's all written in sand.

We're making progress, and this is the normal kind of scheduling problems that I expected, so we're not stressing too much about it. In fact, every time we run across one of these little speedbumps, we just look at each other, grin from ear to ear and say, "we're getting a new kitchen!"

Posted by: Ted at 04:46 AM | Comments (33) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

September 22, 2006

Another ebook resource

Elegant Solutions Software and Publishing Company (ESSPC) has a fine collection of free ebooks available for downloading to your PDA.

This week's feature on their main page is Inaugural Addresses Of The Presidents Of The United States From George Washington To George W. Bush.

January 20, 2005. George W. Bush has just delivered his second inaugural address to the nation and the world. As soon as it was made available we captured it and included it in this book. Here in one volume are the inaugural address of the presidents of the United States. Presented in chronological order they are a living reminder of those men who have lead this nation in times of peace and war. In times of prosperity and want. In good times and bad. Their words reflect the spirit of the nation over the past two centuries and the beginnings of the third. This is a reissue on January 20, 2001, Inauguration Day, with the inclusion of the second Inaugural Address of George Walker Bush.

They also offer every ebook in their collection (over 500 titles) on one CD-ROM for $7.95 (that's to cover shipping and handling). That's a heckuva deal.

In the non-fiction section, I found lots of Dickens, Kipling, H.G. Wells, Verne and Edgar Rice Burroughs plus much more. I haven't finished exploring all they have to offer, but so far, so great!

Update: Wow, this keeps getting better and better! In the history section I found The Federalist Papers and the personal memiors of Generals Grant and Sheridan.

Posted by: Ted at 05:44 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

September 21, 2006

Renovation: Day 1 Progress

These guys ain't fooling around. I got home from work to find all the cabinets out and gone, the wallpaper stripped, walls removed and kitchen floor taken up.

Where the peninsula and soffet *used* to be

I told you that the cabinets there were going into the basement. Thanks to our prep work clearing the move path, those cabinets were in the basement less than half an hour after they started.

Looking into the pantry

The dining room carpet is still there, and as you can see that little odd pantry opening is still there. Like all renovations, you always run into something unexpected, and this one is ours (if this is the only one then we're getting off lucky). There are two drain pipes in that odd little wall that nobody knew were there. If building codes allow, I expect that they'll lower the pipe joint about six inches to fit beneath the countertop height and fit the cabinets around it. That's my guess anyway, we'll see what the experts come up with.

For all the progress made, the room (and house) is remarkably clean, almost as if they vacuumed and dusted afterwards.

Posted by: Ted at 07:14 PM | Comments (193) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Not really funny, but...

After years of hearing the radical vegetarians telling us that red meat will kill you, I wonder how many see the irony of bad spinach knocking off a few folks.

Posted by: Ted at 12:07 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

I thought they were supposed to be evil?

WalMart testing program to sell generic drugs for $4.00 for a 30 day supply.

Those poor people in Detroit will have to head for the 'burbs to save money. Good thing the city council is looking out for them, eh?

Posted by: Ted at 11:29 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Some things that are...

...just plain wrong.

Posted by: Ted at 05:55 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

*gulp*

I'm going to show just the last line of this link-filled post over at Jawa Report, about a massive supernova detected in February. Go. Read.

...had GRB 060218 happened in our galaxy, life on Earth would have ended Feb. 18.

I feel very very small and very very vulnerable.


Posted by: Ted at 04:58 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

September 20, 2006

Renovation: And so it begins

After months of planning, our renovation began today. Last night we finished moving the last of the kitchen/dining room stuff out.

Here are the "before" pictures, pop-up style.

Kitchen side

Dining Room side

This peninsula of cabinets shown in these first two pictures creates a pass-through bar between the two rooms. It's outta here. The floor cabinets and countertop are going into the basement to replace a couple of old card tables that we've used forever for folding laundry. You'll notice the square holes in the soffet, those were cut by the contractors to see what was inside the wall before finalizing plans to remove it.

Kitchen from the pantry

Here's a shot down the length of the kitchen from the pantry. The fridge will be moved so that it'll be directly to your right from where this picture is taken.

Pantry

In most houses with our floor plan, this room is a big ass pantry. The previous owner did this to the doorway and put a small built-in table and benches for a nook for his kids to eat. They had three sets of twins, so they needed the space. We converted it back into an open pantry as shown here.

The plan is to completely open it up so that there's no "doorway" left. The new cabinets will extend into the space and around the back wall, creating a butler's pantry. Lots of countertop space for things like the food processor and bread machine too. The fridge will be sitting to the left of the opening, with a new cabinet next to it.

I took more pictures this evening of the first day's progress. I'll post 'em tomorrow night.

Posted by: Ted at 09:06 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Yup

It is claimed that Westerners do not respect nor understand Islam.

Right back at'cha, assholes.

Thanks to Triticale for the pointer.

Posted by: Ted at 10:24 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Yay!

Happy Birthday Pixy Misa!

Thank you for everything you do for us Munuvians.

Posted by: Ted at 05:47 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Beauty

A co-worker recently returned from an Alaskan vacation and has posted his photos online (ignore the sign-in). He's a much better photographer than I, and the scenery is spectacular!

In a similar vein, Chris Hall did one of his motorcycle excursions, this time to the Gila National Forest in New Mexico. This is rugged, beautiful terrain, and Chris shares a lot of great pictures of his trip.

He does the same thing with a trip through the Santa Fe National Forest.

Posted by: Ted at 05:15 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

September 19, 2006

Now you've gone and riled him up

Actually, I get the same way when I see a Patrick Swayze movie.
Bub: Official Undead of Rocket Jones

Posted by: Ted at 07:45 PM | Comments (17) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

You might not care, but now you know

The US Department of State offers RSS feeds, podcasts and listservs you can sign up for.

Posted by: Ted at 11:48 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Box Hockey

Google is linking to an old Rocket Jones page about building your own Box Hockey, a page without links to the other parts of the series.

Box Hockey, part 1.

Box Hockey, part 2.

Box Hockey, part 3.

Box Hockey, part 4.

Posted by: Ted at 11:31 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

I'd say there's a link

On the radio this morning, I heard about a new CNN/Money magazine poll that measured the "smartest" cities in the US. Washington DC came in at number four, based on the percentage of degrees and the number of colleges and universities in the area (45% bachelors and 34). There's a lot of talent involved with government (yes, there is. Be nice.)

Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina came in at number 3. San Fransisco is number 2 and Seattle is number 1.

I don't know about Raleigh, but it doesn't surprise me that the two biggest moonbat concentrations are products of our esteemed institutions of higher learning. They keep telling the rest of us how much smarter they are, and we're just too dumb to realize it.

Explain to me again why it's bad that North Korea can reach the west coast with their missiles?

Posted by: Ted at 05:09 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Dear BillyJoeJimBob

On this morning's commute, I was dazzled (literally!) by the stunning number of lights on your pickup truck. Headlights, foglamps, lightbar across the roll cage, corner markers, and others too numerous to count.

And as you drove down the road, each of these lights pointed in a different direction, making your vehicle look like a 70's-style disco ball on wheels. Your lane was illuminated. The lane on either side of you was illuminated. The shoulder of the road was lit up. You shined into my rear view mirror. Heck, you shined into mirrors two lanes over.

Maybe that was your intention. Maybe you spent time carefully adjusting each and every light for maximum coverage, so that everywhere you drove, you were enveloped in a giant ball of blinding glare.

I think though, that the simpler explanation is probably true. You're just an idiot.

Posted by: Ted at 04:54 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

September 18, 2006

"Nobody puts Baby in a corner!"

The irrepressible Dogette muses upon the cult classic Dirty Dancing (full disclosure: I didn't see it in the theater, but I own copies on VHS *and* DVD). Specifically, she wonders about how useful it would be in various movie situations it would be to throw out that infamous Swayze line in the title above.

Being somewhat irrepressible myself (in that annoying, get-the-hell-away-from-me sense, not the cute and lovable hijinx-pulling sense), I decided to run with the idea.

What would HBO's Deadwood be like if we inserted that line?

Seth: Any more gunplay gets answered. You call the law in Sampson, you don't get to call it off just cause you're liquored up and popular on payday.

Patrick: Nobody puts Baby on a shelf!

Hmmm... not bad. Let's try another one.

Al: God rest the souls of that poor family... and pussy's half price for the next 15 minutes.

Patrick: Nobody puts Baby on a shelf!

Somehow I just don't see the piano player in the saloon breaking out Righteous Brothers tunes.

Let's move on to the video game genre. How about Grand Theft Auto?

Snake: Yo, homes. I'm gonna bust a cap all over your ass.

Patrick: Nobody puts Baby on a shelf!

Nope. That doesn't work either. I think Dogette is on to something here. Just what is open to interpretation, but I've managed to wring a post out of it, so I'm satisfied.


Posted by: Ted at 05:03 AM | Comments (118) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

September 17, 2006

("Bell" - "bee" + "aitch") + ("Nose" - "ess ee")

The Return of Nog Watch.

Me: You know, I was thinking...

Wife: Uh oh.

Me: Well, we're getting a new refrigerator, and I thought that it would be the perfect chance to resurrect Nog Watch.

Wife: No.

Me: It was one of the most popular Rocket Jones features.

Wife: No.

Me: Think abo--

Wife: No.

Sorry. I tried.

Posted by: Ted at 07:49 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

September 14, 2006

Digging through the attic

Here's an animated US history lesson that I linked to back in September of 2003. It's still cool.

Posted by: Ted at 06:16 PM | Comments (29) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

More about the Hobbit House

Late last year I mentioned that my best friend owned a resort bar in the Philippines called The Hobbit House. The place is staffed by midgets.

A co-worker pointed me towards a blog entry that talks about the former manager of The Hobbit House. Perry Berry is a man short in stature, but giant in spirit.

Posted by: Ted at 04:56 AM | Comments (38) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

<< Page 32 >>

Processing 0.04, elapsed 0.0989 seconds.
37 queries taking 0.066 seconds, 321 records returned.
Page size 174 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.8 beta.