It's 4 am. Do I know where I am?

K cut the butcher block counter-tops today. We picked them up at Ikea this morning and then he cut.

But we got a late start. And we hadn't done our homework. While he cut, I went online to see how they should be treated. I remembered reading somewhere that the cut edges needed to be treated differently than the rest. Except, I couldn't remember where I read it or exactly what it said. The advice I finally found said the cut edges would need 4 coats of sealant. And each coat needs 4 hours in-between to dry. And the 3rd coat was due at 4 am. K said two coats would be enough. I insisted we follow the directions. He said, in that case, he would set an alarm and get up. I said, "don't be silly. I'll can do that much myself."

Except, I tend to ignore alarms. I hate being told what to do, especially by alarms. So I stayed up. Not too difficult. I had stuff to do - long neglected paperwork and paper organizing. And Borat was on HBO.

But now it's time to tend to my duty. And go to bed. K can do the 8 am coat.

Oh, and our fabulous plumber will be here at 9 complete the sink and dishwasher.

Yay! Progress!

Fit in a soffit?

Still can't decide if you want a kitchen soffit or not? I came across this video today. It might help you decide.

If you or the kiddies are sensitive to FCC restricted language, you might want to turn down the sound.


http://view.break.com/555103 - Watch more free videos


That guy shouldn't complain. It was time to do something about that ugly wallpaper.

Top 5 Totally Uncool Things About My 'hood - #4 in a series

#2B – Plenty of Pavement

When we first moved in, the window at the top of our stairs had the best of all the views in the house. The house whose backyard abuts ours had a huge rubber tree in which lived a bounty of birds. There was also a tall palm tree. The view beyond and through the trees led to hillsides. It was pleasant.

Then one day, incited by the sound of chainsaws, I looked out the window and saw a crew of men preparing to bring down both mature trees. For months afterward, the backyard stood bare and unused. Then one day, I saw a crew of men preparing to pour cement.

This is our view today.

So, now he has parking. I sympathize with his parking predicament. But he could have had both trees and parking if he had given this plan any thought. Now, the summer heat bounces off all that cement. The rare rainfall is washed into the storm drains.

The real problem is not just about spoiling my view. The real problem is that paving over front and back yards is a common solution in my neighborhood. Sometimes it’s a solution to the parking problem. Sometimes it’s just a solution to yard maintenance.

There are property rights activists who will argue that the homeowner should have the right of total control over his own land. But not all homeowners have enough sense to know what is best for their land. Certainly not all homeowners consider what is best for their own property values or for the environment.

I wouldn’t want a city agency giving me an edict about how I use my yard; but I can’t say that I want my neighbors to be free to do whatever they please.

It’s the conundrum of living in a free society and the answer to why the phenomenon of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions was created.

Plenty of property rights. Too much pavement.

What Would Jeannie Do?

You know how you're always seeing stories about an image of Jesus in a tortilla or a vision of Mary in a muffin tin? And then the owners of these hallowed products go on to sell them on Ebay, (because that's what Jesus would want) and the buyer is usually the online gambling site GoldenPalace.com, who buys the item purely for the publicity value (again, exactly what Jesus would want).

On Red Hill, we have our own miraculous vision which has come to us in the form of a patch of varnish that has come off a crappy interior door that came with the house.

Except, instead of any member of the Holy Family, we have what appears to be I Dream of Jeannie.

Do you see it too?

The little bun with the pony tail looping down? I even imagine that scarf, which I believe Jeannie abandoned in the later seasons.

This resemblance is as good as any image that makes the news.

I wonder how much our door would fetch on Ebay?

I Think I Have a Sickness

It's likely not terminal, but there is definitely something wrong with me.

Otherwise, why would I have saved years of issues of Metropolitan Home?

Why did I even subscribe to Metropolitan Home? It's true that I live in a densely populated metropolitan area, but my 1909 kinda-sorta Craftsman is never going to have the look of the houses featured in Metropolitan Home.

OK, so I subscribed. No big deal. But why did I hold onto those issues all these years, thinking that when my home was ready to decorate that I would go back and refer to them.

What was I thinking?

And why do I have all these issues of Dwell?

I took the Met Homes to the office where they were gladly devoured but I'm not giving up the Dwells. No way. I'm holding on to the Dwells.

Here's where the magazines had been living -

- along with bird seed and spray cleaner. I have no idea where they'll go now that the area is about to undergo its face lift. But I'm keeping the Dwells. My excuse is that Dwell is really about the articles, not just the pretty pictures.

Anyway, what kind of a psycho subscribes to Metropolitan Home and Dwell and American Bungalow? Those three aesthetics have nothing to do with each other.

Is that a sickness or what?

Good News/Bad News - Part II

The GOOD NEWS is that the floor guy can start on August 20th, just after the guests have left.

The BAD NEWS is that Lumber Liquidators cannot get the Red Oak we want until the end of the month.

Oy. It's always something.

Good News/Bad News - Part I

The GOOD NEWS is that, just in time for my birthday next weekend, we shall be receiving out of town guests. For one, a dear, dear, DEAR friend from college, whom I rarely see because he currently resides in NYC and hasn't visited our coast in years, is flying west just to help me celebrate. PLUS, K's daughter, K the Younger (aka Dr. K) is flying here with a friend. K the Younger lives in Auburn AL, where she does something scientific involving animals. Dead ones. She's kind of like an agricultural William Peterson, but not as arrogant. And she trains horses. Live ones. For fun and profit.

The plan is that K the Younger and friend will return to Auburn in the pick-up K inherited from his step-dad. As we approach the end of the remodel, the theory is that we will no longer need a pick-up and we certainly don't need a third vehicle to park. The younger K can use a pick-up, what with the horses and all. People with horses seem to need pick-up trucks in the way that people with children need mini-vans or SUVs. Us? All we need is more parking.

The BAD NEWS is that the house isn't ready to receive guests. And my friend, CK, (a lot of Ks in my life) has never seen the house, not even in it's truly awful state. I would have preferred to introduce him to it in its finished state - or its truly awful state. But not in this, "we're almost there but not quite state." Oh well. I'll just be happy to see him.

Oh, and one more thing. With uninstalled appliances and still-in-their-boxes kitchen cabinets taking up valuable space, I have nowhere to put all these people.

I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. In three days.