The Evolution of a Home Built Patio...It's Finally Done

Well that was a crazy and ridiculous home improvement project, and it only took a year and one month to finish from the very start. I can honestly say (and Katharine will back me up) that I will never undertake such a project again. Not to say I won't do any home improvement projects...but nothing this huge. So without further adieu, I'll walk you through the evolution.

It started on a clump of land. I was going to dig a hole by hand...with a shovel. It started that way. The hole was going to be 14' long by 10' wide. It was a moment of temporary insanity...I'm not that motivated. Here's as far as I got.

So thank you Steve M, for bringing me to my senses...and for bringing over that ATV with a plow so I could stop shoveling. I can't believe I was going to shovel all that dirt.

And so...the dirt was dug and the framing was done...and we had to make it level. Dig out all the dirt...put some back in...dig some out...put some back in.

I'm sorry...did you say we had to fill the hole back up with gravel and stonedust? Are you f*cking kidding me?! Fill it all the way up? Thankfully David F and Tara V were around to help with that little project.

How many patio stones is it going to take to fill up this space? I'm sorry...did you say 60 (which turned out to be 64)? Only because we had the strength of Dan M to help, did this even get done.

Right...it's still not done. It looks terrible without something around it to dress it up. Unfortunately, that part had to wait since I had a bit of surgery before THAT got done...and then it snowed...and then it was cold...and then we were broke...and then...and then...and then a year had passed since we started this God forsaken project. But now, thanks to Katharine and Ethan's brute strength (carrying bags of mulch so I could spread them)...it's DONE. DONE. DONE.

And we dedicate it to all of those people I mentioned that helped along the way.

Where Should I Sit?

We've lived in our house for more than two years...some of you have been here. Others have seen pictures. It's not a huge house, but it's the space we need for now...except for the fact that we don't have room for a dining table. We've been TV tray people since we moved in, which isn't horrible...I like TV. Katharine likes TV when she's not reading while she eats (Don't ask...I don't get it either). We decided that we were tired of eating off of trays, so we enlisted the help of Bob Villa and This Old House...uhm...no...wrong story. We enlisted the help of my brother, who I'll call G and his friend, who I'll call J because that's the first letter of their names. G and J were going to help me put a breakfast bar in right here:

If you ask me...I'd tell you that the breakfast bar was my idea. Katharine will dispute this, telling you that it was her idea and I said it was a bad one. She won't tell you that she proposed it while she was in school when we had no money and it was part of a list of 20 other projects we couldn't afford at the time. Whatever...it doesn't matter how it happened becuase it pretty much was her idea, but I agreed, so that's something. What matters is what happened during the 2 days of construction.

We started on Saturday around noon...took a trip to my least favorite place in the world (Home Depot) after measuring and figuring out what we needed for supplies. The people at Home Depot are never helpful to me, and once again proved this fact when we were told that the caulking was in the caulking isle. If I knew where that was, I wouldn't have asked. But we got everything and prepared to tear into the project. I was the helper for both G and J since I didn't know what I was doing. Oh...and I was the photographer. Here's what we found when we ripped open the wall.

You can't see it here, but nothing was really holding up the upstairs room (seriously...yeah...no kidding), so we had to put in a new support. I'm not a contractor so bear with my terminology. First, we had to remove the existing lack of support...so we used a stilt, which we kept bumping into...a stilt being exactly what it sounds like...an itty bitty 2x4 jacked in to hold the upstairs in from crashing in on us (and I think I mentioned that we bumped it a few times). Putting in the new header (across the top) was a nightmare for those that had to lift it...and for J who took a shot in the head with a 2X4 after requesting that we don't drop the header onto his head. At least the header didn't hit him in the head. I don't have a picture of this...it would have looked like it was planned.

When it came time to build the vertical support, we needed the ten foot long 2x4...we only had one of those. Where did it go? G asked me if I gave him that one to cut earlier. Sure...blame the guy that doesn't know anything. That's easy, right. Turns out that G cut it earlier...when I was busy doing something else. Here's how I proved my innocence...the sticker on the cut board that I hadn't touched.

G figured out a solution and we were done supporting the house (which required brute strength and a hydraulic car jack since the house was apparently caving in. No longer) and building the basic frame. The rest went together quickly. We discovered that this inside wall we were workig on used to be an outside wall and the original wood slats were still on the old outside wall. We found an electrical outlet between the wall and the kitchen cabinet. We noticed some wallpaper from the 1930s...we left that inside the wall. We cut through tons of asbestos...no...just kidding...we didn't, but I did believe J when he told me this. What do I know? I think G dropped a pencil into the basement...that's mine now.

So, the sheetrock went up, and all the taping and mud is finished...something I actually got to help with. It needs one final sanding (which will once again coat my house in dust), and some paint to finish it off...we ordered stools from Macys which were backordered and will arrive in 3 months...and we'll actually be able to sit at a counter to eat. So thanks G and J...we appreciate all your hard work...I learned a lot!

I Got Kicked Out of the Joshua Tree in Somerville MA for Spending $127 and All I Got Was This Lousy $25 Gift Certificate

I know...it sounds crazy, right? And for those that were there with me, it WAS crazy. So, I totally understand that restaurants are in business to make money. I get it. And if you're sitting at a six person table, you should be ordering a good bill's worth of food and/or drink. So you'd think that having 9 people sitting at that table and ordering food and drink would be better...even if you're not ordering a meal.

I'm getting ahead of myself. So a group of us went out after work for a few drinks, to the Joshua Tree in Davis Square, Somerville MA. When we got there, we told them that we had a group of 7 or 8 people coming in and we'd like a big table. They offered the bar. No no...we want a table. They tell us that tables are only for dinner and that we should sit at the bar. No no...we want a table. So when I offer for all of us to leave, the waitress reluctantly gives us a table. We order drinks and appetizers and more drinks and more appetizers. Nine of ten people show up instead of seven or eight. We had racked up a $127 bill at the table and we were still ordering more. The waitress, who I will refer to as "idiot" from here on out, brings us a new beer and a gin and tonic and proceeds to tell us that we can no longer take up that table. We have to leave because we weren't ordering dinner. WHAT? Are you f*cking kidding me. She wasn't. There were three empty tables the size of ours and a party of six was waiting. We asked if we could move to another section and she said we would have to ask the server in that section. Apparently, they said no as well when she asked for us. WHAT? Seriously...what's wrong with these people? Now we're getting pissed. We pay the bill and walk out...pissed. Two of us go back in and talk to the manager who appears mortified that we were asked to leave. She offers us a gift certificate...we're never going back there so why the need for a gift certificate. We took it because they owed us and it turns out to be for $25. Whoop-de-doo. For nine people being thrown out of a restaurant, for doing nothing more than being good customers, we got $25. I wouldn't go back to the Joshua Tree in Davis Square, Somerville MA, if someone gave me a years worth of free lunches for going there. Would you?

HA! My review on Boston Citysearch's website took them down from 5 stars to 4 1/2. And the person posting before me had hair in their food. Ick!

http://boston.citysearch.com/profile/4751818/somerville_ma/joshua_tree_bar_grill.html

I Want to Believe

Who wants to see the new X-Files movie?



Oh oh...pick me!

Not Up to Code

Oh boy...oh boy. Just when you think you're about to get a bit of money from the IRS...you find out that you have to spend most of it on something not fun. So we knew that we had a bit of a leaky in the bathroom shower faucet, and it most likely required a new washer in the handle...except this is what it looks like right at this moment.

I thought it would be a few hundred bucks...I was stupid to think that it wouldn't be a bigger deal. It always is. Apparently my shower is old-ish and the faucets are not up to code. Codes which I think are created to keep the economy going...contstantly forcing you to update your plumbing, electronics, and construction whenever something you own breaks. Ah well...it could be worse...we might not be getting free money from the government that the state will tax us on (again) next year.

UPDATE (3 hours later): Anyone know a good tile guy that works cheap?

Pork Chopped Sandwiches OR My First Grilling of the Year

Spring is here and that means grillin' time. I uncovered my grill for the first time in 2008...I was going to make some BBQ pork sandwiches. I thought I cleaned this thing before I closed it up for the winter. I guess I was lazy. Oh wait...I had my gallbladder removed and didn't get to winterize ANYTHING before it snowed. Anyway...it took a few minutes to light the fire and for all the winter crap to burn off. The pork sirloin chops cooked up nice and evenly as usual.

And that's when I realized...right around the end of cooking time, that the fire had gone out. I've been wondering when I would run out of gas in that tank. It's the original tank I bought two summers ago when I bought the grill. So I transferred the pork that was cooked JUST ENOUGH to be completely cook, into a frying pan. Out of the fire and into the frying pan. Bad joke.

So there it was...in the frying pan with some BBQ sauce...simmering away until it was time to eat. I cut open a poofy roll...filled it with the yummy pork covered in BBQ...and enjoyed! You know you want some!

Drink the Drink

I went 6 years without drinking...nothing but non-alcoholic this and cranberry that, and soda something or other. No, I'm not an alcoholic in case you're wondering...there have been those that thought that was the reason, but I can stop anytime I want. Seriously, that was a joke...the reasons aren't important to this post.

I decided recently that I would start drinking a glass of wine at night to wind down at the end of a long day and it's been fun trying different kinds. I started with whites and a few recommendations and have moved on to a few particular reds. I don't have a preference...I'll try anything new. Beers too...there is some interesting stuff out there.

When I used to drink beer when I was younger, my favorite was Miller Genuine Draft. Yeah, I know...I was young. Well, not THAT young...I was at least 19 and living in a country where it was legal to drink at 19. And then I upgraded to Heineken...I was in Germany after all and Heineken sounds German, even though it's originally from Amsterdam. When I was in Germany, I started drinking Veissen (sometimes with cola) and Grolsch...both of which are far too expensive in this country. So many years later, it was Sam Adams until they recently discovered bits of glass in some of the bottles. And now I've moved on to Harpoon which I happen to like more than Sam Adams anyway. Like I said...lots of different beers to try.

And wine, which is what started this whole thing again for me. So far, my favorite white wines are: Pine and Post, Ménage à Trois, Luna Di Luna Chardonnay/Pinot Grigio. Red wines...really so far I've only really enjoyed reds from the Bully Hill Vineyard in upstate New York which are a little sweeter than most I've tasted.

And that's where it's at. So yeah, what wines do you enjoy drinking...maybe I'll try them out.

I Wouldn't Let Katharine Write Whatever She Wanted Here So She Created Her Own Blog

Welcome to the 21st century, I said to Katharine as she logged in to Blogger and finally created her own blog. She's always asking me...can I post this, can I post that...and now she can post whatever she wants and you can feel free to read it and comment. Keep in mind that she can delete your comments if she doesn't like what you have to say. This also lets her trash you publicly if you offend her. Fair warning; I've seen her do it. She's not shy. Wait...I've had that ability for years...how come I haven't done that? So go ahead and read her posts if you're interested, comment if you dare...bookmark it now or scroll to the bottom of this blog and the link will always be there. I'll be watching...and I'll be commenting.

Click Here to Enter Katharine's Blog

Enjoy!