31 Aug, 2010
     | The hot tub time machine is officially defunct. Remember this post back in April? After an unsuspecting Saturday afternoon visit to Home Depot we found ourselves leaving with an impromptu rental jackhammer. Mike had decided it was time to get rid of the hot tub once and for all. The hot tub is encased in concrete. Mike went to town with the jackhammer to bust up the concrete. The hot tub technician had told us that to get out the tub all we would have to do is punch a hole in the fiberglass, shove a hose through the hole, and then "float" it out with water from the spigot. Nice idea but ... not quite. The shell was just sitting in sand, so the water went right into sand/earth around the tub. Onto plan B. Mike went through 5 wood blades on his reciprocating saw to cut out the tub, piece by piece. Mike filled the hole w/ the chunks of busted up concrete and then he used pea gravel and dirt to fill in the voids as best he could. As big as the hole looked, we were amazed that it couldn't hold all of the busted up concrete. Once we're out of this brutal summer we'll get some grass growing and folks will have no idea there was ever a hot tub there. So speaking of the hot tub time machine, we've brought our vintage 1985 hot tub to the future! <--- Check out the highlights! (click thumbnails to enlarge) |
26 Aug, 2010
| We had Mike and Joanne over for dinner the other evening and they brought Custer over a new toy. I think he likes it! Custer says "thanks!" in his personalized happy snorty fashion! |  |
23 Aug, 2010
| When our friends Stacie and Tim packed up for their move they didn't have room for their power washer so we volunteered to take it off of their hands. It had a faulty wand as one of their neighbors had borrowed it and left the hose connected and water turned on ... in February. Mike did some investigating and found a brass tube to replace the cracked one inside the wand. Now its as good as new - and so are our front walkway and patio table! Wow! What a difference some high pressured water will make. Thanks Stacie and Tim! |  |
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16 Aug, 2010
I have implemented a new archive feature for older blog posts. The list of years in the right column expands for the year and month you select to show the available dates upon which a blog post was submitted. This is meant for easier browsing. The listing is pretty plain and simple. I may gussy it up in the future ... we'll see. I'll very likely do away w/ my old archive method, but for the time being it is still active.
I have implemented a new archive feature for older blog posts. The list of years in the right column expands for the year and month you select to show the available dates upon which a blog post was submitted. This is meant for easier browsing. The listing is pretty plain and simple. I may gussy it up in the future ... we'll see. I'll very likely do away w/ my old archive method, but for the time being it is still active.
15 Aug, 2010
| Most of the driveways in our neighborhood are known for their notorious curb, the "Levitt's curb." Compliments of the city, a few weeks ago our driveway apron was completely redone. Thank goodness! Mike had put together a make-shift ramp w/ asphalt patch. That did the trick for the first 7 months of residence. Fortunately all of the work was done during the week I took off from work so I was home to document it all. The contracted company did a pretty good job. They began work promptly at 7:00a (which didn't bother me since the pets have me up by 6:00a daily - even weekends). The workers were courteous and even stopped work to allow me to move Mike's car (so it wouldn't be trapped in the driveway while the concrete set up). Their equipment did a number on most everyone's lawns so they even came around w/ soil to fill the holes and followed it up w/ some grass seed. Just this evening I noticed some grass popping through. Now its simply blissful backing out of and pulling into our driveway. Check out the highlights! ---> (click thumbnails to enlarge) |       |
13 Aug, 2010
Wow! Thursday morning greeted the DC metro area w/ a nasty thunderstorm. It rained *buckets* for 30 minutes or so and turned streets into rivers and lawns into pools. Another series of storms rolled through the area later on that evening and overnight. For the 24 hour period, we got 2.72" of rain (the center column of the rain gauge holds 1", the rest is over flow). For those of you who may not be aware of rainfall rates and 24 hour amounts, 0.5" of rain is a lot ... let alone 2.72". Cr@Zy! Here's how the rest of the area fared: cocorahs map
Wow! Thursday morning greeted the DC metro area w/ a nasty thunderstorm. It rained *buckets* for 30 minutes or so and turned streets into rivers and lawns into pools. Another series of storms rolled through the area later on that evening and overnight. For the 24 hour period, we got 2.72" of rain (the center column of the rain gauge holds 1", the rest is over flow). For those of you who may not be aware of rainfall rates and 24 hour amounts, 0.5" of rain is a lot ... let alone 2.72". Cr@Zy! Here's how the rest of the area fared: cocorahs map
12 Aug, 2010
| Reflect upon this! This is a car that has recently made a regular appearance in my work parking lot. I sure would hate to come across this car at night w/ my high beams on! |  |
5 Aug, 2010
This is what a thunderstorm like this will do the DC metro area traffic:
This is what a thunderstorm like this will do the DC metro area traffic:
 |  That's the radar at 3:40p Thursday, just before the afternoon rush. Needless to say, I got caught up in some of it. |
27 Jul, 2010
Mike and I have added to our furry family. About 10 days ago we adopted Sammy, a 7 year old male orange striped cat, like "Morris" from 9 Lives. His original family could no longer keep him b/c their new son was allergic to him. He has warmed up to Mike and I nicely; however, the jury is still out on Custer. While Custer just wants to greet Sammy w/ some sniffs, Sammy wants none of it and runs off. They each show extreme interest in the other, but neither knows how the other works (Custer has no experience w/ cats and Sammy has no experience w/ dogs). In time I'm sure they'll be great companions, or in the very least, tolerate each other.
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20 Jul, 2010
   | Last Friday I took the day off from work and Mike and I worked on finishing up our master bathroom vanity. As our contractor was upgrading the master bathroom (see picture #1) we learned the vanity width was 59 1/8", not the standard 60". Fabulous. In the interest of time and expense, we were forced to compromise on 2 small 24" vanities and an 11" gap (see picture #2). The solution worked for a little while but after 7 months the lack of counter space was really getting to us. We removed the molded sink counter tops and bought a formica counter and 2 drop in sinks. After some handy circular and saber saw work and some liquid nails, shims, and plumbers putty, we have a final product we can live with! It may look like we got new vanities b/c the exposure is off, but they're the same. Click on the thumbnails to the left for a larger image. |
10 Jul, 2010
What a difference a good set of tires will make! I'm on my third set of tires now on my car. I replaced the factory Goodyears at ~60K miles w/ a economical Bridgestone called Fuzion (pictured right). At the time I didn't realize just how L.O.U.D. those tires are. Mike would often comment on how loud they are but I just chalked it up to him being an overly observant car gear head. I just turned 120K miles and bought my 3rd set of tires, this time Goodyear Weatherhandlers (pictured left). I've since learned that the Fuzion uses a harder rubber compound (i.e. noisier) than most tires. If you're in the market for new tires, I don't recommend Fuzion. With my new quiet tires I am enjoying conversations using inside voices and I can listen to music at a reasonable volume.
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8 Jul, 2010
We had Nicole's husband, Scott (S & N Construction), cap all of our upstairs windows to match all of our downstairs windows. He did an awesome job - thanks Scott! Once that was done Mike decided it would look sharp (or rather, it would "pop") if we repainted all of the gray trim on the house and changed it to white. So we've taken to painting all of our trim. All of the lower trim that we can reach w/o big ladders is complete. What remains now is all the upper trim ... :-/ (click the thumbnails for a larger view)
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7 Jul, 2010
 | Talk about getting old! I am super excited about having bought a new vacuum cleaner. Despite my swollen mutant poison ivy face, I headed out this past weekend for a 4th of July sale on Dyson vacuum cleaners. The store had already sold out of the DC25 ball (the model we wanted), but for $38 more I could get the *last* DC25 animal ball. Well, why not, right!? This thing is amazing. It makes me *want* to vacuum. We didn't think Custer really shed all that much, but the dyson revealed otherwise. And a broom - who needs that anymore? The dyson ball works phenomenally well on hard floors, too. Big thumbs up! Get one for yourself! |
6 Jul, 2010
Breaking records! This latest heat wave, already our 2nd of the summer season, broke some records. This is the METAR (official weather observation) from BWI airport this afternoon recorded at 3:54pm local time:
KBWI 061954Z 33007KT 10SM FEW095 41/14 A3000 RMK AO2 SLP156 T04060139=
The important portion to note is the section in bold font. 41 is the air temperature in degrees Celsius. 41 converted to degrees Fahrenheit is 105! Suffocating.
Breaking records! This latest heat wave, already our 2nd of the summer season, broke some records. This is the METAR (official weather observation) from BWI airport this afternoon recorded at 3:54pm local time:
KBWI 061954Z 33007KT 10SM FEW095 41/14 A3000 RMK AO2 SLP156 T04060139=
The important portion to note is the section in bold font. 41 is the air temperature in degrees Celsius. 41 converted to degrees Fahrenheit is 105! Suffocating.
4 Jul, 2010
As for the poison ivy, the reaction got severe enough on my face that my right eye was swelling shut. Sexy. So I headed into the doctor and got my 3rd, that's right, 3rd, round of steroid tablets for the year. 3 days later the swelling is gone and now it just looks like I took a big digger or got into a bar brawl.
Happy 4th of July!!
| Wow, what a difference! We hired a tree crew to take out all of our junk trees in our mangy back and side yards. We took a ton of pictures to document the occasion, but its really hard to do the job true justice. Here is a before and after for the side yard and here is a before and after for a portion of the backyard. If you live in the area and are in need of quality tree service, we highly recommend these guys! |  |
As for the poison ivy, the reaction got severe enough on my face that my right eye was swelling shut. Sexy. So I headed into the doctor and got my 3rd, that's right, 3rd, round of steroid tablets for the year. 3 days later the swelling is gone and now it just looks like I took a big digger or got into a bar brawl.
Happy 4th of July!!
30 Jun, 2010
 | Its baaaaa-ack! Ugh! And now its on my face!! That's right, my face. Poison ivy is the most dreadfully awful plant species on earth. B/t bug bites and poison ivy I'm ashamed to show any skin -- oh, and its about 14 billion degrees outside. |
27 Jun, 2010
You know it has been very very hot lately when the temperature drops down to the 90s in the evening and it "feels good!"
You know it has been very very hot lately when the temperature drops down to the 90s in the evening and it "feels good!"
18 Jun, 2010
Last Saturday night we went to an Oriole's baseball game w/ Jandrew and their friends Jeff and Ashley. It was a fun night. The seats weren't bad for $15. The air was so humid you felt like you were swimming. The O's played the Mets. Even though the O's are the worst team in baseball right now, Camden Yards was pretty packed ... primarily w/ Mets fans. As you might have expected, the Oriole's lost.
Per my baseball parks goal, I'd visited Camden Yards once before. I think it was back in 2000 w/ my sister Leslie. I didn't document that visit, though. So here are some pictures from Saturday's game.
Last Saturday night we went to an Oriole's baseball game w/ Jandrew and their friends Jeff and Ashley. It was a fun night. The seats weren't bad for $15. The air was so humid you felt like you were swimming. The O's played the Mets. Even though the O's are the worst team in baseball right now, Camden Yards was pretty packed ... primarily w/ Mets fans. As you might have expected, the Oriole's lost.
Per my baseball parks goal, I'd visited Camden Yards once before. I think it was back in 2000 w/ my sister Leslie. I didn't document that visit, though. So here are some pictures from Saturday's game.
9 Jun, 2010
We took Custer over to Jandrew's house so he could run in their fenced yard w/ their beagle, Daisy. They did pretty well together aside from Custer nipping at Daisy's cute floppy ears.
House projects have slowed down the past few weeks since adopting Custer. But I did manage to find a curtain rod long enough for the family room and we finally have curtains in there. I also finally made curtains for our sidelights. I had to cannibalize some cheapy store bought sheers and Mike had to cut down the smallest rods I could find. I think the foyer is finally complete now that all of the wall hangings are up.
We took Custer over to Jandrew's house so he could run in their fenced yard w/ their beagle, Daisy. They did pretty well together aside from Custer nipping at Daisy's cute floppy ears.
House projects have slowed down the past few weeks since adopting Custer. But I did manage to find a curtain rod long enough for the family room and we finally have curtains in there. I also finally made curtains for our sidelights. I had to cannibalize some cheapy store bought sheers and Mike had to cut down the smallest rods I could find. I think the foyer is finally complete now that all of the wall hangings are up.
