Karen poisoned me yesterday. I'm just kidding, because I suck at getting sick.
Yesterday morning, I didn't feel quite right. And naturally, we had a lot planned for the day. My parents had wanted to go to dim sum with us for the new year. As well, my friends (Cass and Ellen) were having a birthday party for their daughter.
Needless to say, I wasn't feel too good for either dim sum or the birthday party. I practically didn't eat all day, which is a rarity for me. So something had to be up. And unfortunately, my condition grew worse as the day went on. So by the time the birthday party came, I was getting shivers.
And naturally, I wasn't thinking too clearly because when I got home after the party I thought it was a good idea to install a ceiling light. Maybe I should get sick more often so that I would actually accomplish more home improvement projects. Oh well.
Shortly after installing the light, I went straight to bed... at eight o'clock... another rarity for me. We have a heated mattress pad, and I remember thinking why am I so cold when I have so many layers of clothes on and the heated mattress pad is turned on. Eventually, I did fall asleep only to wake up in the middle of the night thinking that I am so hot with all these layers of clothes on... with the heated mattress pad on.
Luckily for me, I am feeling much better today. My bug seems to be only a 24 hour bug. Unfortunately, I may have gotten my two year old (Briana) sick.
Showing posts with label home improvement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home improvement. Show all posts
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Saturday, January 12, 2013
I Suck At Painting
Only I can get hurt while painting. I suck at painting. I suppose in my defense, I wasn't painting at the time when I got hurt. I was actually cleaning up from painting when I took a header off my back porch.
The header was not intentional of course. Since the new year, Karen and I have been tackling some home improvement projects. After all, I finally purchased an air compressor and a set of nail guns to use... after talking about it for years upon years. Granted, I have yet to use the aforementioned nail gun and compressor because I have yet to get to that part of the checklist for the home improvement projects. But it's coming... and now I'm prepared.
Regardless, Karen and I have been focusing on our back mudroom area. Our back mudroom, which is off of our kitchen, has been in a sad state for probably close to if not over ten years. It was one of the first areas of the house that we started to work on because, at the time when we had purchase our house, the back mudroom had a sliver of a door that no one could possible fit through that led to a green tiled bathroom. (For anyone curious, we moved the door from back mudroom to the kitchen... and renovated the bathroom thanks to the help of some of our friends.)
Unfortunately, with all of the other renovations that Karen and I have done to our current place, the back mudroom has remained unfinished. It still had compound on the walls, etc. It was the only room that we never made pretty. That is, until recently.
Well, the room is still not "pretty", but it's a lot closer now to being finished than it has been in quite some time. I spent a few nights sanding the joint compound. I installed some molding to replace the dark existing molding. And as of today, Karen and I painted the room. Of course, Karen did most of the painting because... I suck at painting.
I actually don't think I'm that bad at painting. I just don't like doing it. I'd rather be using a power tool of some sort. And as a mental note, use angled brushes. Angled brushes are great for corners. I wish I knew that earlier when I painted some of the other rooms.
Anyway, the back mudroom, in my opinion, looks a lot better with a new coat of paint. It's amazing what paint does to a room. There is still a lot to do for the back mudroom, but at least it looks a lot better than it did.
Oh, as for my header... I'm sure it must have looked quite comical had someone been watching me. I was cleaning some tools on our back porch that leads to the mudroom. As I went down the stairs carrying a bag of trash, I just slipped and down I went. Apparently, our porch was a little slick from the rain... or something. I actually think I left a mark on the porch where my sneakers slid off the stairs.
I'm okay. I just have a scrape from my elbow to my wrist on my arm. I think this is a sign that I shouldn't clean up after home improvement projects. We'll see how tomorrow goes when I'm supposed to install the floor for the back mudroom.
The header was not intentional of course. Since the new year, Karen and I have been tackling some home improvement projects. After all, I finally purchased an air compressor and a set of nail guns to use... after talking about it for years upon years. Granted, I have yet to use the aforementioned nail gun and compressor because I have yet to get to that part of the checklist for the home improvement projects. But it's coming... and now I'm prepared.
Regardless, Karen and I have been focusing on our back mudroom area. Our back mudroom, which is off of our kitchen, has been in a sad state for probably close to if not over ten years. It was one of the first areas of the house that we started to work on because, at the time when we had purchase our house, the back mudroom had a sliver of a door that no one could possible fit through that led to a green tiled bathroom. (For anyone curious, we moved the door from back mudroom to the kitchen... and renovated the bathroom thanks to the help of some of our friends.)
Unfortunately, with all of the other renovations that Karen and I have done to our current place, the back mudroom has remained unfinished. It still had compound on the walls, etc. It was the only room that we never made pretty. That is, until recently.
Well, the room is still not "pretty", but it's a lot closer now to being finished than it has been in quite some time. I spent a few nights sanding the joint compound. I installed some molding to replace the dark existing molding. And as of today, Karen and I painted the room. Of course, Karen did most of the painting because... I suck at painting.
I actually don't think I'm that bad at painting. I just don't like doing it. I'd rather be using a power tool of some sort. And as a mental note, use angled brushes. Angled brushes are great for corners. I wish I knew that earlier when I painted some of the other rooms.
Anyway, the back mudroom, in my opinion, looks a lot better with a new coat of paint. It's amazing what paint does to a room. There is still a lot to do for the back mudroom, but at least it looks a lot better than it did.
Oh, as for my header... I'm sure it must have looked quite comical had someone been watching me. I was cleaning some tools on our back porch that leads to the mudroom. As I went down the stairs carrying a bag of trash, I just slipped and down I went. Apparently, our porch was a little slick from the rain... or something. I actually think I left a mark on the porch where my sneakers slid off the stairs.
I'm okay. I just have a scrape from my elbow to my wrist on my arm. I think this is a sign that I shouldn't clean up after home improvement projects. We'll see how tomorrow goes when I'm supposed to install the floor for the back mudroom.
Friday, December 28, 2012
I Suck At Installing A Ceiling Light
Wednesday was home improvement day. On the agenda for the day: fix the ceiling light in the room with the fireplace. It's probably been over a year since the ceiling light stopped working in that room. Our temporary solution at the time was to use table lamps at night... which we did... for over a year.
But since I was on vacation, I figured that now was a good time as any to finally fix the ceiling light. Funny thing is, my initial diagnosis of the cause was that the ceiling light needed new CFL specialty bulbs. The light had worked... then didn't... then flickered on sometimes... then didn't... then turned on... then didn't.
When I had removed the dome to the light, I had noticed that the CFL bulb was essentially black. So naturally, I went to the nearest home improvement store (Home Depot) to get new CFL specialty bulbs. And for anyone curious, Home Depot recycles old CFL bulbs. Sweet!
Anyway, upon returning home, I installed the new bulbs in ceiling light and flicked on the switch. Initially, I was thinking that this was probably the easiest project I had to do. Why did I wait so long to change bulbs?
Lo and behold, the lights did not go on. Then I thought... hm... maybe that's why I waited so long. Needless to say, I started uninstalling the existing ceiling light to get at the wiring. Based on my high tech testing... of attaching a working light to the wires... I concluded that the wiring was good and that the light fixture itself was bad. This was similar to the issue my BFF (Kerry) had at her house.
So off to Home Depot again to get a new ceiling light. After careful deliberation, I decided to go with a ceiling light similar in size, but different in the bulbs it uses. Instead of using specialty CFL bulbs that are pricier, the light would use the standard type of CFL bulbs.
And after getting the light home, all I had to do was install it. Now, I suck at installing a ceiling light. Okay, so maybe I don't. It didn't take too long to install the light. Karen's grandmother came over for a quick visit. Before she even left our house, I had the light installed and working. If only I had looked further into the light a year ago...
But since I was on vacation, I figured that now was a good time as any to finally fix the ceiling light. Funny thing is, my initial diagnosis of the cause was that the ceiling light needed new CFL specialty bulbs. The light had worked... then didn't... then flickered on sometimes... then didn't... then turned on... then didn't.
When I had removed the dome to the light, I had noticed that the CFL bulb was essentially black. So naturally, I went to the nearest home improvement store (Home Depot) to get new CFL specialty bulbs. And for anyone curious, Home Depot recycles old CFL bulbs. Sweet!
Anyway, upon returning home, I installed the new bulbs in ceiling light and flicked on the switch. Initially, I was thinking that this was probably the easiest project I had to do. Why did I wait so long to change bulbs?
Lo and behold, the lights did not go on. Then I thought... hm... maybe that's why I waited so long. Needless to say, I started uninstalling the existing ceiling light to get at the wiring. Based on my high tech testing... of attaching a working light to the wires... I concluded that the wiring was good and that the light fixture itself was bad. This was similar to the issue my BFF (Kerry) had at her house.
So off to Home Depot again to get a new ceiling light. After careful deliberation, I decided to go with a ceiling light similar in size, but different in the bulbs it uses. Instead of using specialty CFL bulbs that are pricier, the light would use the standard type of CFL bulbs.
And after getting the light home, all I had to do was install it. Now, I suck at installing a ceiling light. Okay, so maybe I don't. It didn't take too long to install the light. Karen's grandmother came over for a quick visit. Before she even left our house, I had the light installed and working. If only I had looked further into the light a year ago...
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
I Suck At Power Washing
I'll admit it. On Sunday, I was feeling a little selfish.
It goes without saying that Karen is more of the social butterfly than I am. More often than naught, she will have plans, leaving me to watch the kids. As much as I love my two wonderful daughters, I do occasionally need a break from them and Sunday was that break... of sorts.
On Sunday, Karen had plans for lunch. Rather than watch the kids, I asked if she could take them to her parents for a little while. After all, I wanted to do something that I had been putting off for some time: power wash the house. I guess you can say that I suck at power washing.
One of the things that I have learned while being a parent is that time just disappears. By the time I come home from work, feed the kids, give them baths, get them ready for bed, etc., the day is over. The only free time I generally have is in the morning before the kids wake up or the wee hours of night after they sleep (and hopefully stay asleep).
So most likely, running a motor to power wash a house is probably not going to happen in the morning or in the wee hours of night unless I want to be "that neighbor" that no one likes.
Luckily for me, Karen's parents were available on Sunday to watch our kids. As a result, I was able to power wash the house while Karen maintained her lunch plans. Not only was I able to power wash the house, I was able to clean the grill, rake the leaves, do laundry, and vacuum the house. Sure, these tasks seem so trivial. But when time disappears and the house plummets into disarray, every little thing helps.
Needless to say, despite my selfish behavior on Sunday, I felt good having accomplished so many things around the house. Granted, the state of cleanliness will most likely last only a few minutes (until my children return), but nonetheless it was good.
It goes without saying that Karen is more of the social butterfly than I am. More often than naught, she will have plans, leaving me to watch the kids. As much as I love my two wonderful daughters, I do occasionally need a break from them and Sunday was that break... of sorts.
On Sunday, Karen had plans for lunch. Rather than watch the kids, I asked if she could take them to her parents for a little while. After all, I wanted to do something that I had been putting off for some time: power wash the house. I guess you can say that I suck at power washing.
One of the things that I have learned while being a parent is that time just disappears. By the time I come home from work, feed the kids, give them baths, get them ready for bed, etc., the day is over. The only free time I generally have is in the morning before the kids wake up or the wee hours of night after they sleep (and hopefully stay asleep).
So most likely, running a motor to power wash a house is probably not going to happen in the morning or in the wee hours of night unless I want to be "that neighbor" that no one likes.
Luckily for me, Karen's parents were available on Sunday to watch our kids. As a result, I was able to power wash the house while Karen maintained her lunch plans. Not only was I able to power wash the house, I was able to clean the grill, rake the leaves, do laundry, and vacuum the house. Sure, these tasks seem so trivial. But when time disappears and the house plummets into disarray, every little thing helps.
Needless to say, despite my selfish behavior on Sunday, I felt good having accomplished so many things around the house. Granted, the state of cleanliness will most likely last only a few minutes (until my children return), but nonetheless it was good.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
I Suck At Installing A Ceiling Light
Some time ago, my BFF (Kerry) asked if I could help install a ceiling light in her dining room. It turns out that it has been almost a month that Kerry has gone without a ceiling light in her dining room. It's amazing how time flies. I guess you can say that I suck at installing a ceiling light.
It just so happens, however, that today was Kerry's lucky day. Karen was gracious enough to take care of our girls, which was not an easy task considering the fact that my two year old daughter (Briana) was having a meltdown before I left. Nevertheless, it was definitely good to get out of the house.
Anyway, it turns out that as I was arriving at Kerry's, my friends (Marc and Kelley) were leaving. They were pretty exhausted. I was told that Kelley was on the verge of falling asleep. So it was good to see them even if were for a brief moment. Apparently, Marc and Kelley helped move Kerry's bed from one bedroom to the other. So for Kerry, this must have seemed like a big home improvement day with the bed project and my ceiling light project.
Speaking of which, we did have an interesting time installing the ceiling light. Kerry had previously purchased a chandelier that she wanted to use for the dining room. The light looked nice. The only problem: the chandelier wasn't going to fit without some major reworking of the electrical outlet. So plan B it was.
Plan B involved making a trip to the local Lowes, returning the chandelier, and purchasing a whole new light altogether. I learned an interesting fact today about Kerry. It seems that she dislikes ceiling lights. And she is definitely not a fan of lights that look like breasts. As a side note, we used to refer to the lights in my friend's (Joanna) kitchen as boob lights. Good times. Perhaps it's because I am a guy, but I like ceiling lights... boobs and all.
Anyway, Kerry purchased a light that would work within the confines of the existing electrical outlet. And together, we installed the light in her dining room. Naturally, I made a mess of her place as I fiddled around with the drywall in her ceiling. Drywall just gets everywhere. Truth be told, I think it took more time to put the light together than actually installing the light.
When all was said and done, I think Kerry was happy to have a functional light in the dining room. It was just one more thing to cross off of her to-do list for her home improvement.
And afterwards, we hung out under the new ceiling light discussing various things. Among those things were her other home improvement projects and politics. I don't discuss politics much, mostly because the political system is a farce in my opinion. Nevertheless, the topic did come up.
All in all, I had a very enjoyable time hanging out with Kerry. It actually reminded me of the times she used to have her own room at the bed and breakfast known as our house. This of course, was before her room was given to Briana. But we'd just hang out... watch an episode or ten of Veronica Mars. It was fun. And today reminded me of that, just without the episodes of Veronica Mars.
It just so happens, however, that today was Kerry's lucky day. Karen was gracious enough to take care of our girls, which was not an easy task considering the fact that my two year old daughter (Briana) was having a meltdown before I left. Nevertheless, it was definitely good to get out of the house.
Anyway, it turns out that as I was arriving at Kerry's, my friends (Marc and Kelley) were leaving. They were pretty exhausted. I was told that Kelley was on the verge of falling asleep. So it was good to see them even if were for a brief moment. Apparently, Marc and Kelley helped move Kerry's bed from one bedroom to the other. So for Kerry, this must have seemed like a big home improvement day with the bed project and my ceiling light project.
Speaking of which, we did have an interesting time installing the ceiling light. Kerry had previously purchased a chandelier that she wanted to use for the dining room. The light looked nice. The only problem: the chandelier wasn't going to fit without some major reworking of the electrical outlet. So plan B it was.
Plan B involved making a trip to the local Lowes, returning the chandelier, and purchasing a whole new light altogether. I learned an interesting fact today about Kerry. It seems that she dislikes ceiling lights. And she is definitely not a fan of lights that look like breasts. As a side note, we used to refer to the lights in my friend's (Joanna) kitchen as boob lights. Good times. Perhaps it's because I am a guy, but I like ceiling lights... boobs and all.
Anyway, Kerry purchased a light that would work within the confines of the existing electrical outlet. And together, we installed the light in her dining room. Naturally, I made a mess of her place as I fiddled around with the drywall in her ceiling. Drywall just gets everywhere. Truth be told, I think it took more time to put the light together than actually installing the light.
When all was said and done, I think Kerry was happy to have a functional light in the dining room. It was just one more thing to cross off of her to-do list for her home improvement.
And afterwards, we hung out under the new ceiling light discussing various things. Among those things were her other home improvement projects and politics. I don't discuss politics much, mostly because the political system is a farce in my opinion. Nevertheless, the topic did come up.
All in all, I had a very enjoyable time hanging out with Kerry. It actually reminded me of the times she used to have her own room at the bed and breakfast known as our house. This of course, was before her room was given to Briana. But we'd just hang out... watch an episode or ten of Veronica Mars. It was fun. And today reminded me of that, just without the episodes of Veronica Mars.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
I Suck At Creating A Shelf
The good news: I created a shelf today.
The bad news: I suck at creating a shelf.
For some time, I have been wanting to organize the cable monstrosity contained within my storage closet. In my closet resides the router and some other device used to send information about my solar panels. In addition, there are cables upon cables (ethernet, coaxial, etc.) because there is a panel located in the closet just for... cables. I had added that panel because, being the stupid tech person that I am, I wanted to network the house.
Anyway, what bothered me the most was the fact that the Verizon FiOS router that was given to me by Verizon was too large for the panel. From the beginning, the router has always been large. The router literally just dangled within the panel that houses all of the cables. And then with our recent addition of the solar panel device (which also has been dangling), I said enough is enough. Enter the shelf.
Needless to say, I made a brief pitstop at my favorite sister-in-law's (Janine) to use their drill press today. A few holes later and voila: shelf.
Truth be told, it's not the greatest floating shelf. I actually need to make the shelf deeper, but for now, it will do until I make a newer one to replace it. All in all, I don't think the floating shelf was that bad considering it was my first time making one. But at least now, the cables are more organized and the router can rest on the shelf instead of dangling within the panel.
Of course, this probably now opens up a whole slew of other home improvement projects...
The bad news: I suck at creating a shelf.
For some time, I have been wanting to organize the cable monstrosity contained within my storage closet. In my closet resides the router and some other device used to send information about my solar panels. In addition, there are cables upon cables (ethernet, coaxial, etc.) because there is a panel located in the closet just for... cables. I had added that panel because, being the stupid tech person that I am, I wanted to network the house.
Anyway, what bothered me the most was the fact that the Verizon FiOS router that was given to me by Verizon was too large for the panel. From the beginning, the router has always been large. The router literally just dangled within the panel that houses all of the cables. And then with our recent addition of the solar panel device (which also has been dangling), I said enough is enough. Enter the shelf.
Needless to say, I made a brief pitstop at my favorite sister-in-law's (Janine) to use their drill press today. A few holes later and voila: shelf.
Truth be told, it's not the greatest floating shelf. I actually need to make the shelf deeper, but for now, it will do until I make a newer one to replace it. All in all, I don't think the floating shelf was that bad considering it was my first time making one. But at least now, the cables are more organized and the router can rest on the shelf instead of dangling within the panel.
Of course, this probably now opens up a whole slew of other home improvement projects...
Monday, August 6, 2012
I Suck At Home Improvement
I suck at home improvement. Luckily for me, my BFF (Kerry) doesn't think so. Today, I got to see Kerry's new house located in Weymouth.
Karen had visited Kerry's new house yesterday while I watched the kids. Shortly thereafter, Kerry asked if I could also come down and help with a deadbolt issue. Or more specifically, she asked about what tool she should use to help remedy her deadbolt issue.
Naturally, I thought it would be easier to just visit and also look at the deadbolt issue. I was originally slated to visit Kerry this morning, but there was a little timing snafu. So the visit had to wait until after dinner.
Anyway, I was finally able to see Kerry's place. Her place is nice. After a quick tour of the place, I quickly went to work on the deadbolt issue while Karen and Kerry entertained our two year old daughter (Briana) and our five month old (Bridget). Incidentally, Briana seems to love my yellow safety goggles now. She likes to wear it now, probably because it makes things look yellow.
Needless to say, I was able to fix the deadbolt issue. For anyone curious, the deadbolt was not entering the little hole on the strike plate. The strike plate just needed to be moved over a smidgeon.
I was pretty impressed that Kerry installed the strike plate with nothing but a screwdriver. The screws for strike plates are long. So I can imagine that installing them by hand must have taken some time. Luckily for me, I own a drill. One thing that I have learned from my years of home ownership and home improvement projects: it's all about having the right tools for the job.
Regardless, it felt good to do a home improvement project again even. For me, I find that doing projects are always easier when it's done on someone else's house. Perhaps that is why I still have a long list of unfinished projects waiting for me at my house.
And as always, it was good to see Kerry again. It'll definitely be nice to have her back on the South Shore again. To quote my friend (Garv), "Salem... is far." I think the last time Kerry lived in the South Shore was in high school. So hopefully I'll be seeing more of her now unless of course my BFF status has been replaced which is quite possible.
All in all, it was fun today.
Karen had visited Kerry's new house yesterday while I watched the kids. Shortly thereafter, Kerry asked if I could also come down and help with a deadbolt issue. Or more specifically, she asked about what tool she should use to help remedy her deadbolt issue.
Naturally, I thought it would be easier to just visit and also look at the deadbolt issue. I was originally slated to visit Kerry this morning, but there was a little timing snafu. So the visit had to wait until after dinner.
Anyway, I was finally able to see Kerry's place. Her place is nice. After a quick tour of the place, I quickly went to work on the deadbolt issue while Karen and Kerry entertained our two year old daughter (Briana) and our five month old (Bridget). Incidentally, Briana seems to love my yellow safety goggles now. She likes to wear it now, probably because it makes things look yellow.
Needless to say, I was able to fix the deadbolt issue. For anyone curious, the deadbolt was not entering the little hole on the strike plate. The strike plate just needed to be moved over a smidgeon.
I was pretty impressed that Kerry installed the strike plate with nothing but a screwdriver. The screws for strike plates are long. So I can imagine that installing them by hand must have taken some time. Luckily for me, I own a drill. One thing that I have learned from my years of home ownership and home improvement projects: it's all about having the right tools for the job.
Regardless, it felt good to do a home improvement project again even. For me, I find that doing projects are always easier when it's done on someone else's house. Perhaps that is why I still have a long list of unfinished projects waiting for me at my house.
And as always, it was good to see Kerry again. It'll definitely be nice to have her back on the South Shore again. To quote my friend (Garv), "Salem... is far." I think the last time Kerry lived in the South Shore was in high school. So hopefully I'll be seeing more of her now unless of course my BFF status has been replaced which is quite possible.
All in all, it was fun today.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
I Suck At UFC
For most of today, my day has been pretty uneventful.
After months and months of putting off home improvement projects, I finally checked off one of the items on the list of things to fix: the kitchen sink. For some time, our kitchen sink has been leaking water from the faucet stem. It's an easy repair. It just seems like I haven't been able to go to a home improvement store... until today.
Anyway, the repair probably took about ten minutes, if even that. I probably spent more time going to the store than actually repairing the faucet. But as of right now, the faucet is no longer leaking. I wonder how much water was wasted from the leak. Hopefully it wasn't too much.
Aside from that, the rest of my day involved watching my two year old daughter (Briana) and my five month old daughter (Bridget) while Karen went out with our friend (Jen). I'm not exactly sure as to what they ended up doing, but I think it was good for Karen to spend some quality time without me or the kids. I'm all about individualism and keeping a sense of the self. Perhaps it's because of my psychology, sociology, philosophy, anthropology courses of study in college.
Shortly after Karen returned from her outing, I actually left for mine. My friends (Marc and Kelley) had invited me over for the UFC fight earlier in the day. Too bad I suck at UFC. Joining in on the UFC fun was my friend (Andrea).
It was a fun time. One of the topics of conversation that came up was my porn name. Apparently, Andrea, Marc, and Kelley decided last night that my porn name would be "Mikey Cupcakes". I really have no idea as to how that came about, but I'll go with it. Why not? I guess the name doubles as a mafia name as well.
Sadly, I did not stay too long to watch the fight. Shortly into the pay-per-view, my stomach started to feel a little queasy. It quickly went from "Hey, I don't remember having corn"... to "How can I still be going? I have nothing left in me". Needless to say, I wasn't feeling all that great and had to call it a night.
Thankfully, I was able to get home before any other tummy cringes occurred. Nevertheless, the night out was fun while it lasted.
After months and months of putting off home improvement projects, I finally checked off one of the items on the list of things to fix: the kitchen sink. For some time, our kitchen sink has been leaking water from the faucet stem. It's an easy repair. It just seems like I haven't been able to go to a home improvement store... until today.
Anyway, the repair probably took about ten minutes, if even that. I probably spent more time going to the store than actually repairing the faucet. But as of right now, the faucet is no longer leaking. I wonder how much water was wasted from the leak. Hopefully it wasn't too much.
Aside from that, the rest of my day involved watching my two year old daughter (Briana) and my five month old daughter (Bridget) while Karen went out with our friend (Jen). I'm not exactly sure as to what they ended up doing, but I think it was good for Karen to spend some quality time without me or the kids. I'm all about individualism and keeping a sense of the self. Perhaps it's because of my psychology, sociology, philosophy, anthropology courses of study in college.
Shortly after Karen returned from her outing, I actually left for mine. My friends (Marc and Kelley) had invited me over for the UFC fight earlier in the day. Too bad I suck at UFC. Joining in on the UFC fun was my friend (Andrea).
It was a fun time. One of the topics of conversation that came up was my porn name. Apparently, Andrea, Marc, and Kelley decided last night that my porn name would be "Mikey Cupcakes". I really have no idea as to how that came about, but I'll go with it. Why not? I guess the name doubles as a mafia name as well.
Sadly, I did not stay too long to watch the fight. Shortly into the pay-per-view, my stomach started to feel a little queasy. It quickly went from "Hey, I don't remember having corn"... to "How can I still be going? I have nothing left in me". Needless to say, I wasn't feeling all that great and had to call it a night.
Thankfully, I was able to get home before any other tummy cringes occurred. Nevertheless, the night out was fun while it lasted.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
I Suck At Fixing Bath Fans
Thankfully, it's Friday. It has been a pretty exhausting week.
Among one of the highlights for today was picking up my car from the shop. For most of last week, my car had trouble starting. It would crank and crank and crank. And if I were lucky, it would finally catch and start. Since this was unusual behavior for my 2010 car, I brought it in to the dealership to have them take a look.
The good news is the car is still under warranty, so the service did not cost me anything. The bad news: they couldn't find the cause of the problem. I will have to admit, it's very annoying when the problem cannot be identified because there is that lingering doubt in the back of my head that thinks when will my car not start up again. But at least they were able to reproduce the slow crank when I brought the car in. After they had reproduced it and ran their tests, they couldn't find anything. Bizarre.
Needless to say, I was not too thrilled by the expert diagnosis. Interestingly enough though, the car starts like it had done prior to last week. Maybe my car just doesn't like the heat. I suppose my car is like me that way.
Aside from my car fiasco, I got to spend the night with my two daughters because Karen was invited to some makeup party at my favorite sister-in-law's (Janine). For anyone curious, Karen doesn't wear makeup. Odd, right? So normally, the opportunity to spend time with the kids would be the highlight of the night. But not tonight.
Sadly no. My four month old (Bridget) was quite the fussy one tonight. There may have been a good stretch where I heard nothing but crying.
Anyway, the most exciting part of today was actually fixing the bath fan. Now, I suck at fixing bath fans. And when I mean "fix", I mean I did absolutely nothing. A couple of days ago, the bath fan stopped working. The light for the bath fan in our master bedroom was on one night because my aforementioned four month old was being fussy (trend?) and did not want to go to bed. In a completely dark room, that light was the furthest from Bridget that wouldn't illuminate the entire room.
Shortly after using the light from the bath fan, the light completely shut off. I attempted to flick the switch back on and the light would not come on. I then tested the switch for the fan and it too would not turn on. Exhausted, I told myself that I'd take a look at the issue this weekend.
But then it dawned on me today. The issue was probably a result of the GFCI outlet being tripped. Lo and behold, I took a look at the GFCI outlet and it indicated that there was a fault current. After resetting the outlet, I tried the bath fan and light. Voila! Genius. I love projects that don't require doing anything.
Among one of the highlights for today was picking up my car from the shop. For most of last week, my car had trouble starting. It would crank and crank and crank. And if I were lucky, it would finally catch and start. Since this was unusual behavior for my 2010 car, I brought it in to the dealership to have them take a look.
The good news is the car is still under warranty, so the service did not cost me anything. The bad news: they couldn't find the cause of the problem. I will have to admit, it's very annoying when the problem cannot be identified because there is that lingering doubt in the back of my head that thinks when will my car not start up again. But at least they were able to reproduce the slow crank when I brought the car in. After they had reproduced it and ran their tests, they couldn't find anything. Bizarre.
Needless to say, I was not too thrilled by the expert diagnosis. Interestingly enough though, the car starts like it had done prior to last week. Maybe my car just doesn't like the heat. I suppose my car is like me that way.
Aside from my car fiasco, I got to spend the night with my two daughters because Karen was invited to some makeup party at my favorite sister-in-law's (Janine). For anyone curious, Karen doesn't wear makeup. Odd, right? So normally, the opportunity to spend time with the kids would be the highlight of the night. But not tonight.
Sadly no. My four month old (Bridget) was quite the fussy one tonight. There may have been a good stretch where I heard nothing but crying.
Anyway, the most exciting part of today was actually fixing the bath fan. Now, I suck at fixing bath fans. And when I mean "fix", I mean I did absolutely nothing. A couple of days ago, the bath fan stopped working. The light for the bath fan in our master bedroom was on one night because my aforementioned four month old was being fussy (trend?) and did not want to go to bed. In a completely dark room, that light was the furthest from Bridget that wouldn't illuminate the entire room.
Shortly after using the light from the bath fan, the light completely shut off. I attempted to flick the switch back on and the light would not come on. I then tested the switch for the fan and it too would not turn on. Exhausted, I told myself that I'd take a look at the issue this weekend.
But then it dawned on me today. The issue was probably a result of the GFCI outlet being tripped. Lo and behold, I took a look at the GFCI outlet and it indicated that there was a fault current. After resetting the outlet, I tried the bath fan and light. Voila! Genius. I love projects that don't require doing anything.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
I Suck At HDMI Cables
My friends (Marc and Kelley) have been a little preoccupied this week. After all, they are moving to their new digs soon. Because of their busy schedule, we had cancelled our weekly get together. Luckily for my friend (Andrea) and I, we already saw them earlier in the week when we helped them pack up some of their kitchen items.
But with Thursday open, I decided to do something I haven't done in some time: work on the house. Thursday also happened to be the day that my HDMI cables arrived in the mail. Yay 1.4 HDMI cables. Now, I suck at HDMI cables. I ordered the cables awhile ago from Amazon. When they arrived, I finally had all of the necessary items to work on my project.
For some time, there has been two gaping holes in the wall where the television hangs in the living room. The gaping holes are obviously to run wires from the FIOS receiver to the television. Unless someone is behind the television, or behind the receiver, those holes will probably never be seen.
I had always planned to address that issue. I just never had the materials until Thursday. And now, Karen's wild concerns over critters coming out of those holes can be squashed. I spent a good chunk of time on Thursday, when the kids were asleep, running HDMI cables through the walls. And where the cable met the wall, there was a plate specifically designed to allow the cable to plug into the keystone.
The reason why I took so long to finish this project is because it required a lot of materials: the wall plate, the keystones, the quick port designed to fit the two gang wall plate, and the HDMI cables themselves. It adds up. But yay, it's finally done!
Now I just have to do something similar to the room upstairs.
But with Thursday open, I decided to do something I haven't done in some time: work on the house. Thursday also happened to be the day that my HDMI cables arrived in the mail. Yay 1.4 HDMI cables. Now, I suck at HDMI cables. I ordered the cables awhile ago from Amazon. When they arrived, I finally had all of the necessary items to work on my project.
For some time, there has been two gaping holes in the wall where the television hangs in the living room. The gaping holes are obviously to run wires from the FIOS receiver to the television. Unless someone is behind the television, or behind the receiver, those holes will probably never be seen.
I had always planned to address that issue. I just never had the materials until Thursday. And now, Karen's wild concerns over critters coming out of those holes can be squashed. I spent a good chunk of time on Thursday, when the kids were asleep, running HDMI cables through the walls. And where the cable met the wall, there was a plate specifically designed to allow the cable to plug into the keystone.
The reason why I took so long to finish this project is because it required a lot of materials: the wall plate, the keystones, the quick port designed to fit the two gang wall plate, and the HDMI cables themselves. It adds up. But yay, it's finally done!
Now I just have to do something similar to the room upstairs.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
I Suck At Plumbing
It only took about four years or so, but I can now cross off that one plumbing project from my to-do list. Yes, I suck at plumbing.
When Karen and I added a second floor to our house, the contractors installed a generic basic faucet in the second bathroom. Interestingly enough, we had a faucet already planned for the second bathroom. Back when the house was a shanty (although who am I kidding... the house is still a shanty), Karen and I purchased a contractor pack of faucets. The pack consisted of two faucets that we had planned to use at the time for our downstairs bathroom and our master bathroom.
Like most of my home improvement projects, at the time I only completed one of the tasks: the downstairs bathroom. I have since had to install the faucet again in the downstairs bathroom when we renovated that, but that is another story. (The bathroom had this god awful ugly green tub and water damage galore before the renovation.)
Anyway, with the second floor renovation, we decided to use the other faucet for the second bathroom as opposed to the master bathroom. The only problem: we forgot to give the other faucet to the contractors when they were hooking up the sink in the second bathroom.
And rather than have the contractors switch it back out, we decided that I would just make the switch at a later point in time. Who knew that later point in time would be over four years?
Anyway, I was able to switch out the faucets thanks in part to my parents who came down to take our twenty month old daughter (Briana) out to the mall. With Briana out of the house, that meant I had more time to dedicate to the home improvement project.
At first, things weren't looking too good for me. After I had removed the generic faucet and installed the desired faucet, I turned on the water. Everything was good, except that the water would not stop coming out of the cold water side of the faucet. So, I had to take apart the valve to see what was up. Turns out, the rubber washer was misaligned.
A few minutes later, voila! The water stopped when I twisted the faucet handle. The only problem: I had the open and the close reversed within the valve. So, I had to take apart the valve again and reset it correctly. Needless to say, I got the faucet to properly work.
Interestingly enough, after my initial gaffe, I immediately thought about my BFF (Kerry). The faucet in Kerry's bathroom is reversed in that you have to turn the handle in the opposite direction of what one would normally expect. It occurred to me that the reason for that may be the same thing I had just experienced.
Anyway, it felt pretty good to finally cross something off of the to-do list. Following my plumbing project, I made a brief visit to Karen's grandmother who lives in Hanover. I was explicitly asked by Karen's grandmother to help her with some technical issues. The technical issues involved cable television and the computer. Specifically, the issues were to switch out the cable box with a new one and figure out why she could not open an attached document in her email. Needless to say, the technical issues were resolved. Thank you OpenOffice.
When Karen and I added a second floor to our house, the contractors installed a generic basic faucet in the second bathroom. Interestingly enough, we had a faucet already planned for the second bathroom. Back when the house was a shanty (although who am I kidding... the house is still a shanty), Karen and I purchased a contractor pack of faucets. The pack consisted of two faucets that we had planned to use at the time for our downstairs bathroom and our master bathroom.
Like most of my home improvement projects, at the time I only completed one of the tasks: the downstairs bathroom. I have since had to install the faucet again in the downstairs bathroom when we renovated that, but that is another story. (The bathroom had this god awful ugly green tub and water damage galore before the renovation.)
Anyway, with the second floor renovation, we decided to use the other faucet for the second bathroom as opposed to the master bathroom. The only problem: we forgot to give the other faucet to the contractors when they were hooking up the sink in the second bathroom.
And rather than have the contractors switch it back out, we decided that I would just make the switch at a later point in time. Who knew that later point in time would be over four years?
Anyway, I was able to switch out the faucets thanks in part to my parents who came down to take our twenty month old daughter (Briana) out to the mall. With Briana out of the house, that meant I had more time to dedicate to the home improvement project.
At first, things weren't looking too good for me. After I had removed the generic faucet and installed the desired faucet, I turned on the water. Everything was good, except that the water would not stop coming out of the cold water side of the faucet. So, I had to take apart the valve to see what was up. Turns out, the rubber washer was misaligned.
A few minutes later, voila! The water stopped when I twisted the faucet handle. The only problem: I had the open and the close reversed within the valve. So, I had to take apart the valve again and reset it correctly. Needless to say, I got the faucet to properly work.
Interestingly enough, after my initial gaffe, I immediately thought about my BFF (Kerry). The faucet in Kerry's bathroom is reversed in that you have to turn the handle in the opposite direction of what one would normally expect. It occurred to me that the reason for that may be the same thing I had just experienced.
Anyway, it felt pretty good to finally cross something off of the to-do list. Following my plumbing project, I made a brief visit to Karen's grandmother who lives in Hanover. I was explicitly asked by Karen's grandmother to help her with some technical issues. The technical issues involved cable television and the computer. Specifically, the issues were to switch out the cable box with a new one and figure out why she could not open an attached document in her email. Needless to say, the technical issues were resolved. Thank you OpenOffice.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
I Suck At Picking Relatives Up At The Airport
I love my mom, but she can drive me crazy some times. Case in point: picking up my relatives at the airport. Although in her defense, Monday's comedy of errors wasn't totally all her fault.
During the day, my mom was gracious enough to help take care of my eighteen month old daughter (Briana) while I did some work around the house. I took this week off from work because my aunt from Hong Kong was coming for a visit. At the same time, my brother (Eugene) was also coming up from Texas to spend time with my parents and my aunt. So it was going to be a big family week. Hence, the vacation.
Anyway, I did accomplish a lot of home improvement tasks around the house thanks to my mom during the day. Unfortunately, it was after that where things got a little crazy.
Originally, the plan was for me to pick up my brother at the airport because he was arriving earlier than my aunt. That plan was soon changed because my brother apparently was meeting an old co-worker when he arrived in Boston. So in the typical Chinese fashion of asking (ie. telling) me, I was asked to pick up my aunt instead.
Sure, no problem. My aunt's arrival time was at 19:27pm. I had calculated that as 7:27pm... as did my mom when I had first inquired about my aunt's arrival time. Naturally, somehow during the day, the arrival time became 17:27pm because my mom said she had told me the wrong time.
Two hours isn't a major difference. Unfortunately, the time impacts Briana. At 7:27pm, Briana is usually asleep. 5:27pm... not so much. Plus, 5:27pm impacts Karen's time because she doesn't get home until around that time and I was originally planning on having her watch Briana while I went to the airport.
Due to the change in time, I then asked Karen to meet me at my parents' (instead of home) to pick up Briana while I go to the airport. First obstacle taken care of.
While waiting for Karen at my parents, my brother called asking to be picked up at the train station. My parents do not live far at all from the train station, but my mom told my brother that we'd pick him up. Apparently, my brother also then wanted to go to the airport to pick up my aunt.
By the time I picked up my brother, it was about 6pm. Yes, that is after 5:27pm. Luckily, picking up my brother was a good thing because it made my mom get my aunt's itinerary. Sure enough, my aunt's arrival time was 7:27pm. So all that running around to get Karen to pick up Briana... useless.
The fun doesn't stop there. With the extra time to kill, my brother, my mother and I decided to just wait at my parents'. So midway through Wheel of Fortune, which is aired at 7pm, my father tries to rush us out of the house saying we're going to be late in picking up my aunt. My brother, who was tracking my aunt's flight via his iPhone, said the plane had not even arrived in Boston yet.
When the plane did arrive according to my brother's iPhone, we headed off to the airport. Now, I suck at picking relatives up at the airport. As the driver, I was more than happy to tell my brother and my mother to give me a call when they found my aunt at the airport. So off I went to the cell phone parking lot after dropping them off at the terminal. And there I waited... and waited... and waited.
Well over an hour later, I came to learn the following from my brother:
1) My mom and my brother could not locate my aunt;
2) My mom thought everyone looked like my aunt;
3) My mom panicked thinking she lost my aunt;
4) My aunt's flight arrived on time;
5) My aunt, however, was not on the original flight;
6) My aunt was delayed due to Customs, thus missing her original flight;
7) My aunt sent a text message indicating her delay to my brother;
8) My aunt unfortunately sent the text message to the wrong number;
9) My brother, my mom, and my aunt had to wait a while at the baggage claim for my aunt's suitcase;
10) My aunt's suitcase was 5 feet from where they were waiting and had been there for quite some time;
Fun times. I'm glad I waited in the cell phone parking lot. But at least the good news is that everyone arrived safely.
During the day, my mom was gracious enough to help take care of my eighteen month old daughter (Briana) while I did some work around the house. I took this week off from work because my aunt from Hong Kong was coming for a visit. At the same time, my brother (Eugene) was also coming up from Texas to spend time with my parents and my aunt. So it was going to be a big family week. Hence, the vacation.
Anyway, I did accomplish a lot of home improvement tasks around the house thanks to my mom during the day. Unfortunately, it was after that where things got a little crazy.
Originally, the plan was for me to pick up my brother at the airport because he was arriving earlier than my aunt. That plan was soon changed because my brother apparently was meeting an old co-worker when he arrived in Boston. So in the typical Chinese fashion of asking (ie. telling) me, I was asked to pick up my aunt instead.
Sure, no problem. My aunt's arrival time was at 19:27pm. I had calculated that as 7:27pm... as did my mom when I had first inquired about my aunt's arrival time. Naturally, somehow during the day, the arrival time became 17:27pm because my mom said she had told me the wrong time.
Two hours isn't a major difference. Unfortunately, the time impacts Briana. At 7:27pm, Briana is usually asleep. 5:27pm... not so much. Plus, 5:27pm impacts Karen's time because she doesn't get home until around that time and I was originally planning on having her watch Briana while I went to the airport.
Due to the change in time, I then asked Karen to meet me at my parents' (instead of home) to pick up Briana while I go to the airport. First obstacle taken care of.
While waiting for Karen at my parents, my brother called asking to be picked up at the train station. My parents do not live far at all from the train station, but my mom told my brother that we'd pick him up. Apparently, my brother also then wanted to go to the airport to pick up my aunt.
By the time I picked up my brother, it was about 6pm. Yes, that is after 5:27pm. Luckily, picking up my brother was a good thing because it made my mom get my aunt's itinerary. Sure enough, my aunt's arrival time was 7:27pm. So all that running around to get Karen to pick up Briana... useless.
The fun doesn't stop there. With the extra time to kill, my brother, my mother and I decided to just wait at my parents'. So midway through Wheel of Fortune, which is aired at 7pm, my father tries to rush us out of the house saying we're going to be late in picking up my aunt. My brother, who was tracking my aunt's flight via his iPhone, said the plane had not even arrived in Boston yet.
When the plane did arrive according to my brother's iPhone, we headed off to the airport. Now, I suck at picking relatives up at the airport. As the driver, I was more than happy to tell my brother and my mother to give me a call when they found my aunt at the airport. So off I went to the cell phone parking lot after dropping them off at the terminal. And there I waited... and waited... and waited.
Well over an hour later, I came to learn the following from my brother:
1) My mom and my brother could not locate my aunt;
2) My mom thought everyone looked like my aunt;
3) My mom panicked thinking she lost my aunt;
4) My aunt's flight arrived on time;
5) My aunt, however, was not on the original flight;
6) My aunt was delayed due to Customs, thus missing her original flight;
7) My aunt sent a text message indicating her delay to my brother;
8) My aunt unfortunately sent the text message to the wrong number;
9) My brother, my mom, and my aunt had to wait a while at the baggage claim for my aunt's suitcase;
10) My aunt's suitcase was 5 feet from where they were waiting and had been there for quite some time;
Fun times. I'm glad I waited in the cell phone parking lot. But at least the good news is that everyone arrived safely.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
I Suck At Working On The House
Sunday was basically spent working on the house. Too bad I suck at working on the house. Among the many home improvement projects still left on my "to-do" list is installing base molding.
Throughout our house there are rooms that still do not have any base molding installed. Among those rooms is the bedroom for my eighteen month old daughter (Briana). When Briana is awake, she is actively running around until she gets tired and naps. And when she naps, it's in her... bedroom. So being able to do any project in her room has been a little difficult.
On Sunday, Karen took Briana out for a little mother/daughter bonding. And by bonding, I mean attending my niece's (Kaleigh) hockey practice. So that gave me the opportunity to quickly do a few things in Briana's room involving a miter saw, wood, and a nail gun. To date, Briana's room is still not finished in terms of installed base molding, but at least it is closer to being complete.
Throughout our house there are rooms that still do not have any base molding installed. Among those rooms is the bedroom for my eighteen month old daughter (Briana). When Briana is awake, she is actively running around until she gets tired and naps. And when she naps, it's in her... bedroom. So being able to do any project in her room has been a little difficult.
On Sunday, Karen took Briana out for a little mother/daughter bonding. And by bonding, I mean attending my niece's (Kaleigh) hockey practice. So that gave me the opportunity to quickly do a few things in Briana's room involving a miter saw, wood, and a nail gun. To date, Briana's room is still not finished in terms of installed base molding, but at least it is closer to being complete.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
I Suck At Fixing The Toilet
On Monday morning, Karen woke me up to tell me that she thought the toilet was leaking. Sure enough, there did seem to be water coming from beneath the toilet bowl. Too bad I suck at fixing the toilet.
Well, truth be told, I hate fixing toilets. It's not that I can't fix them. I just find plumbing in general to be dirty. And of course, when you're dealing with an instrument of human waste disposal, the thought of plumbing only becomes dirtier.
Anyway, fixing the toilet was not that bad. As the water was coming from beneath the toilet bowl, I figured the issue was that the wax ring needed replacing. So off to Home Depot I went to get the wax ring (with flange).
As a result, I turned off the water to the toilet, removed it from its current location, and scraped off the old wax ring that was on the flange. I hate removing the old wax ring. Visually, the wax ring is so not appealing. It's like a brown glob of wax. I don't even like touching it with gloves on. Perhaps I have texture issues.
When all was said and done, I reassembled the toilet on top of the new wax ring. So far, so good. After a few flushes there is no more leaks. Yay. Sadly, the toilet was the highlight of my day.
Well, truth be told, I hate fixing toilets. It's not that I can't fix them. I just find plumbing in general to be dirty. And of course, when you're dealing with an instrument of human waste disposal, the thought of plumbing only becomes dirtier.
Anyway, fixing the toilet was not that bad. As the water was coming from beneath the toilet bowl, I figured the issue was that the wax ring needed replacing. So off to Home Depot I went to get the wax ring (with flange).
As a result, I turned off the water to the toilet, removed it from its current location, and scraped off the old wax ring that was on the flange. I hate removing the old wax ring. Visually, the wax ring is so not appealing. It's like a brown glob of wax. I don't even like touching it with gloves on. Perhaps I have texture issues.
When all was said and done, I reassembled the toilet on top of the new wax ring. So far, so good. After a few flushes there is no more leaks. Yay. Sadly, the toilet was the highlight of my day.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
I Suck At Hanging Pictures
With my energizer bunny/seventeen month old daughter (Briana) running rampant around the house while she is awake, I don't really get to accomplish many home improvement projects. In general, I have to wait till she either takes a nap or goes to bed before I can begin any project.
As a result, I decided to hang some pictures around the house last night. Too bad I suck at hanging pictures. It's not that I can't hang pictures. I just get very meticulous when hanging them.
For Mother's Day, Karen received two black and white portraits of Briana. The pictures were taken by some fancy schmancy professional photographer in Hingham whose pictures have appeared in some magazine or something. The idea was obviously the brainchild of my favorite sister-in-law (Janine), who happens to live in Hingham.
Needless to say, Karen really enjoyed the pictures of Briana. And what is there not to enjoy when you think your own offspring/minion is the cutest thing in the world? Unfortunately, Karen wanted to wait on getting frames for the pictures because she wanted my input. And so we waited... and waited... and waited. Time just sort of passed by at a pretty quick rate, which seems commonplace when raising a seventeen month old.
The next thing we know, it's tax free weekend in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Figuring that we might as well save on the state sales tax, we remembered to go out and purchase frames for those Mother's Day pictures.
Tax free weekend was last weekend. Today is Thursday. So it took a few days to actually hang the pictures up. And naturally, with my meticulous nature, it took me quite some time to even assemble the frames last night and mark the spot on the walls to where the pictures were going to be hung.
So there I was last night, with mounds upon mounds of tools sprawled out across the floor after Briana went to bed. I had the laser level going. I had a regular torpedo level. Hammer. Nails. Pliers. Screwdriver. Tape measure. Pencil. And interestingly enough, I used them all. After all, attaching the mounting bracket to a frame is not as easy as you would think because those nails are tiny. Holding the tiny nails in place while you pound them in can be difficult.
Anyway, when all was said and done, the two black and white portraits of Briana were hung by our stairs. Briana was quite excited to see them this morning when I carried her down the stairs for breakfast. She gasped and looked at me with that surprised/excited expression. She's such a ham.
For that matter, Karen enjoyed the pictures too last night. Sure it only took a few months to actually get the pictures hanging, but it was worth it just to see Briana's expression.
As a result, I decided to hang some pictures around the house last night. Too bad I suck at hanging pictures. It's not that I can't hang pictures. I just get very meticulous when hanging them.
For Mother's Day, Karen received two black and white portraits of Briana. The pictures were taken by some fancy schmancy professional photographer in Hingham whose pictures have appeared in some magazine or something. The idea was obviously the brainchild of my favorite sister-in-law (Janine), who happens to live in Hingham.
Needless to say, Karen really enjoyed the pictures of Briana. And what is there not to enjoy when you think your own offspring/minion is the cutest thing in the world? Unfortunately, Karen wanted to wait on getting frames for the pictures because she wanted my input. And so we waited... and waited... and waited. Time just sort of passed by at a pretty quick rate, which seems commonplace when raising a seventeen month old.
The next thing we know, it's tax free weekend in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Figuring that we might as well save on the state sales tax, we remembered to go out and purchase frames for those Mother's Day pictures.
Tax free weekend was last weekend. Today is Thursday. So it took a few days to actually hang the pictures up. And naturally, with my meticulous nature, it took me quite some time to even assemble the frames last night and mark the spot on the walls to where the pictures were going to be hung.
So there I was last night, with mounds upon mounds of tools sprawled out across the floor after Briana went to bed. I had the laser level going. I had a regular torpedo level. Hammer. Nails. Pliers. Screwdriver. Tape measure. Pencil. And interestingly enough, I used them all. After all, attaching the mounting bracket to a frame is not as easy as you would think because those nails are tiny. Holding the tiny nails in place while you pound them in can be difficult.
Anyway, when all was said and done, the two black and white portraits of Briana were hung by our stairs. Briana was quite excited to see them this morning when I carried her down the stairs for breakfast. She gasped and looked at me with that surprised/excited expression. She's such a ham.
For that matter, Karen enjoyed the pictures too last night. Sure it only took a few months to actually get the pictures hanging, but it was worth it just to see Briana's expression.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
I Suck At Installing A Towel Ring
Among the many items on my "to-do" list is to install a towel ring in our first floor bathroom. Now, I suck at installing a towel ring. It's not that I can't physically install one. Like many of my other home improvement projects, the project remains on my list and remains there... for months if not years.
But not tonight. After a quick visit to Rite Aid, in which I only paid a whopping $0.32 for a chocolate covered cherry and a jumbo pack of Pamper diapers, I installed the towel ring. I guess I was riding the high of my shopping endeavor.
Interestingly enough, the associates at Rite Aid seem to know me now. I don't know if that is a good thing or not yet. When I walked in tonight, they immediately greeted me and asked if I were getting a good deal.
Anyway, the installation of the towel ring took no time at all. I think more time was spent cleaning up and bringing my tools back and forth from the garage. (I find that is generally the case.) But now, I can cross one item off of that home improvement "to-do" list. Too bad there are so many other items on it.
But not tonight. After a quick visit to Rite Aid, in which I only paid a whopping $0.32 for a chocolate covered cherry and a jumbo pack of Pamper diapers, I installed the towel ring. I guess I was riding the high of my shopping endeavor.
Interestingly enough, the associates at Rite Aid seem to know me now. I don't know if that is a good thing or not yet. When I walked in tonight, they immediately greeted me and asked if I were getting a good deal.
Anyway, the installation of the towel ring took no time at all. I think more time was spent cleaning up and bringing my tools back and forth from the garage. (I find that is generally the case.) But now, I can cross one item off of that home improvement "to-do" list. Too bad there are so many other items on it.
Monday, July 4, 2011
I Suck At Oral-B
My age is starting to catch up to me. Of course, it could also be the fact that I have not done a home improvement project in some time. My body just feels sore today.
Yesterday, I continued my home improvement project on the back entrance to our house. Prior to our adding vinyl siding to the exterior of our house, there were signs of water damage on the drywall. (Knock on wood. There have been many downpours since and I have not seen any more water damage.) Needless to say, I removed the existing pieces of drywall that were water damaged and replaced them with new pieces.
I was lucky enough to finish the task before my daughter (Briana) woke up from her nap. It took her awhile though to recognize me behind the goggles and the mask. But she did.
Anyway, a nice clean shower later, I ended up going to Rite Aid for this week's deal: an Oral-B Pulsar toothbrush. Now, I suck at Oral-B. To me, a toothbrush is a toothbrush. I was shocked to see the retail value of this toothbrush being over $5. It's a toothbrush!
Regardless, Rite Aid was giving a rebate which would essentially make the cost of the toothbrush $0.50 after rebate. And of course, I had to get it. After all, it's essentially a "money maker" because Karen had a $2 coupon for the item. Yay Karen!
I'd be curious to see how well the toothbrush works. Apparently, the toothbrush uses a non-replaceable battery that is supposed to last for about 3 months. That seems pretty short to me, but we'll see how it goes.
After getting the toothbrush, Karen, Briana, and I headed off to Quincy where we attended my friend's (Hot Amy) family's annual 3rd of July party. Truth be told, things were looking a little grim for the party with the rain and all. Luckily the weather cooperated just enough.
It was good to see my friends (Jen, Andrea, Hot Amy) and my BFF (Kerry). In comparison to other years, this party was smaller than usual probably due to the weather. I got a kick out of our discussion about breasts becoming a "shelf".
And like most events that happen during the night, my fifteen month daughter could only last so long. Having already done a face plant that left an egg on the top of her head, she got tired before the night's festivities of fireworks. So it was a quick night.
Yesterday, I continued my home improvement project on the back entrance to our house. Prior to our adding vinyl siding to the exterior of our house, there were signs of water damage on the drywall. (Knock on wood. There have been many downpours since and I have not seen any more water damage.) Needless to say, I removed the existing pieces of drywall that were water damaged and replaced them with new pieces.
I was lucky enough to finish the task before my daughter (Briana) woke up from her nap. It took her awhile though to recognize me behind the goggles and the mask. But she did.
Anyway, a nice clean shower later, I ended up going to Rite Aid for this week's deal: an Oral-B Pulsar toothbrush. Now, I suck at Oral-B. To me, a toothbrush is a toothbrush. I was shocked to see the retail value of this toothbrush being over $5. It's a toothbrush!
Regardless, Rite Aid was giving a rebate which would essentially make the cost of the toothbrush $0.50 after rebate. And of course, I had to get it. After all, it's essentially a "money maker" because Karen had a $2 coupon for the item. Yay Karen!
I'd be curious to see how well the toothbrush works. Apparently, the toothbrush uses a non-replaceable battery that is supposed to last for about 3 months. That seems pretty short to me, but we'll see how it goes.
After getting the toothbrush, Karen, Briana, and I headed off to Quincy where we attended my friend's (Hot Amy) family's annual 3rd of July party. Truth be told, things were looking a little grim for the party with the rain and all. Luckily the weather cooperated just enough.
It was good to see my friends (Jen, Andrea, Hot Amy) and my BFF (Kerry). In comparison to other years, this party was smaller than usual probably due to the weather. I got a kick out of our discussion about breasts becoming a "shelf".
And like most events that happen during the night, my fifteen month daughter could only last so long. Having already done a face plant that left an egg on the top of her head, she got tired before the night's festivities of fireworks. So it was a quick night.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
I Suck At Home Improvement
On Labor Day, I figured I would do some laboring. Plus, with Karen taking our baby daughter (Briana) out to see my in-laws, I figured it was a perfect opportunity to do some home improvement. Too bad I suck at home improvement.
The project for the day involved cutting molding to the bathroom door on our first floor. One of the first projects that Karen and I ever did on our house was to add a bathroom door right off of our kitchen. The problem, of course, was that we never finished renovating the actual bathroom itself until recently. (We've owned the house for over eight years now, so it has been a while.)
So for several years, only one side of the bathroom door was complete. That side was the side facing the kitchen. The side facing the actual bathroom was still undone. And naturally because our house is a throwback to when things were not square or level, the walls are slightly off. And by slightly off, I mean the wall on one side of the door is a different thickness than the other side of the door. In addition to that, both wall depths exceed the standard depth for a regular door casing, which means that additional wood will need to be placed where the casings come together.
Needless to say, I was not looking forward to this project because the irregularities of the house drive me insane. And like I said, I do suck at home improvement. Nevertheless, I spent a good portion of Labor day cutting wood with my trusty table saw.
By the time Karen came back from her little excursion to her parents, I had finished cutting the wood for the side of the door facing the bathroom. Now of course comes the fun part: staining all the pieces and actually installing them. I'll have to work on that at another time.
The project for the day involved cutting molding to the bathroom door on our first floor. One of the first projects that Karen and I ever did on our house was to add a bathroom door right off of our kitchen. The problem, of course, was that we never finished renovating the actual bathroom itself until recently. (We've owned the house for over eight years now, so it has been a while.)
So for several years, only one side of the bathroom door was complete. That side was the side facing the kitchen. The side facing the actual bathroom was still undone. And naturally because our house is a throwback to when things were not square or level, the walls are slightly off. And by slightly off, I mean the wall on one side of the door is a different thickness than the other side of the door. In addition to that, both wall depths exceed the standard depth for a regular door casing, which means that additional wood will need to be placed where the casings come together.
Needless to say, I was not looking forward to this project because the irregularities of the house drive me insane. And like I said, I do suck at home improvement. Nevertheless, I spent a good portion of Labor day cutting wood with my trusty table saw.
By the time Karen came back from her little excursion to her parents, I had finished cutting the wood for the side of the door facing the bathroom. Now of course comes the fun part: staining all the pieces and actually installing them. I'll have to work on that at another time.
Monday, July 19, 2010
I Suck At Beverly Hills Chihuahua
Yesterday, the women in my life (Karen and our baby daughter, Briana) decided to have a girls day out. My friend (Jen) had contacted Karen during the week about getting together other this past weekend. Thus, the three of them went out for lunch... and some apparent shopping.
So while they were out and about, I decided to do a couple of home improvement tasks. The first task on hand was to re-caulk the pedestal sink on our first floor bathroom. I had originally caulked the sink prior to Briana's christening. Unfortunately, I think the caulk was too old because the caulk had not dried at all since that time. That was a week ago, so I knew something was up. So naturally, I decided to redo the caulking around the sink.
The other task on hand was to install curtain rods in Briana's room. My friends (Ellen, Cass, Leeann and Garv) were gracious enough to install the blinds in our daughter's room shortly after Briana was born and still in the hospital. As part of Briana's baby shower gift, we had also received some new Disney curtains from Karen's coworkers. The only problem: we did not have the appropriate curtain rods to go with the blinds.
Consequently, Karen and I decided to add the curtain rods. Thanks to our little exchange at Target, we were able to finally get the curtain rods. So needless to say, the curtain rods also had to be installed for the new Disney curtains.
So while Karen and Briana were out with Jen, I opted to tackle those projects. Plus, it only made sense to install the curtain rods while Briana was not sleeping in her room. Anyway, by the time I finished, Karen and Briana returned home.
Fresh off an exciting girls day out, we then decided to watch a family movie: Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Too bad I suck at Beverly Hills Chihuahua.
(The video below is a trailer for Beverly Hills Chihuahua.)
For anyone curious, the Disney movie is about a chihuahua from Beverly Hills that gets dognapped in Mexico. With the help of a German shepherd, she tries to find her way back to home. The movie has the voice talents of Drew Barrymore (as the chihuahua), Andy Garcia (as the German shepherd), and Edward James Olmos... Team Edward... (as the villainous dog, El Diablo).
I must say, I was surprised by the movie. I actually enjoyed the movie very much. It was definitely cute... and definitely Disney. I think what I enjoyed most about the movie was watching Briana's reaction to the movie. Prior to Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Briana had never cared much for any of the family movies that Karen and I watched.
But last night, Briana's eyes were literally glued to the Beverly Hills Chihuahua movie. It was as if she wanted to watch the movie because it had talking dogs in it. That was cute. I had never seen her so into a movie before.
Anyway, it made for an interesting night.
So while they were out and about, I decided to do a couple of home improvement tasks. The first task on hand was to re-caulk the pedestal sink on our first floor bathroom. I had originally caulked the sink prior to Briana's christening. Unfortunately, I think the caulk was too old because the caulk had not dried at all since that time. That was a week ago, so I knew something was up. So naturally, I decided to redo the caulking around the sink.
The other task on hand was to install curtain rods in Briana's room. My friends (Ellen, Cass, Leeann and Garv) were gracious enough to install the blinds in our daughter's room shortly after Briana was born and still in the hospital. As part of Briana's baby shower gift, we had also received some new Disney curtains from Karen's coworkers. The only problem: we did not have the appropriate curtain rods to go with the blinds.
Consequently, Karen and I decided to add the curtain rods. Thanks to our little exchange at Target, we were able to finally get the curtain rods. So needless to say, the curtain rods also had to be installed for the new Disney curtains.
So while Karen and Briana were out with Jen, I opted to tackle those projects. Plus, it only made sense to install the curtain rods while Briana was not sleeping in her room. Anyway, by the time I finished, Karen and Briana returned home.
Fresh off an exciting girls day out, we then decided to watch a family movie: Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Too bad I suck at Beverly Hills Chihuahua.
(The video below is a trailer for Beverly Hills Chihuahua.)
For anyone curious, the Disney movie is about a chihuahua from Beverly Hills that gets dognapped in Mexico. With the help of a German shepherd, she tries to find her way back to home. The movie has the voice talents of Drew Barrymore (as the chihuahua), Andy Garcia (as the German shepherd), and Edward James Olmos... Team Edward... (as the villainous dog, El Diablo).
I must say, I was surprised by the movie. I actually enjoyed the movie very much. It was definitely cute... and definitely Disney. I think what I enjoyed most about the movie was watching Briana's reaction to the movie. Prior to Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Briana had never cared much for any of the family movies that Karen and I watched.
But last night, Briana's eyes were literally glued to the Beverly Hills Chihuahua movie. It was as if she wanted to watch the movie because it had talking dogs in it. That was cute. I had never seen her so into a movie before.
Anyway, it made for an interesting night.
Monday, July 12, 2010
I Suck At Home Improvement
Saturday was the piece de resistance for our first floor bathroom. With our baby daughter's (Briana) upcoming christening scheduled for the following day, I kicked it into high gear to finish the renovation of our bathroom. (Historically, I've always been good under pressure. Whether it was an exam for school or some deadline for work, I usually do well.)
Karen had wanted the first floor bathroom to be functional for Briana's christening. Her reasoning was that she wanted her grand parents to be able to come over to our house following the christening. And because her grand parents have trouble with stairs, the bathroom on the first floor needed to be operational in the event they had the need to use it. So for many straight nights after work, I have been diligently working in the crawlspace installing the plumbing drains and vents. (Yes, it's very fun to be cramped... sitting on dirt...)
When the drains and vents were done, I began installing the pedestal sink. Naturally, I suck at home improvement. I finished installing most of the pedestal sink by Saturday morning. I had a few odds and ends to tidy up because, like most plumbing projects, I ran out of drain fittings. So I did have to return to the local hardware store to purchase more drain fittings.
Luckily, Karen's parents stopped by on Saturday to watch Briana. They provided a much needed assistance because otherwise I would not have had the opportunity to just get up, run out of the house, and go to the store. (Although I must say... I have been pretty good lately in cutting down the time that it takes to get Briana ready to go places.)
Needless to say, I was able to finish installing the pedestal sink thanks to the help of my in-laws. As well, I was able to install the vanity and the lights above the pedestal sink. I was thrilled to have finally hooked up the lights. For the longest time, I had been working by a work light in the bathroom. Now there is a switch that can turn on and off the lights. Yay, no more work light!
As well, by having my in-laws take care of Briana, Karen and I were also able to clean the house for Briana's after-christening party. Our house definitely needed to be cleaned. For Karen, the growing number of dust bunnies was causing undue stress. As it was, she was pretty stressed out about the whole christening and the preparations for it.
Regardless, after such a productive day, my in-laws, Karen, Briana and I ordered takeout from Sal's pizza located in Norwell. The 19" pizza was very filling. Needless to say, the pizza was good... as was the bruschetta. Thanks again to my in-laws!
Ending the night, Karen and I decided to unwind and watch a movie. That movie: I Hate Valentine's Day.
(The video below is a trailer for I Hate Valentine's Day.)
Up until a few weeks ago, I had never heard of the movie. One day, the movie just happened to be on television. After reading the guide information about the movie, I figured Karen would want to watch it. So, I had DVR'd the movie.
For anyone curious, the 2009 movie is a romantic comedy about a florist who has a rule to never have more than five dates with anyone as anything more will ruin the romance. This is obviously a very predictable movie because you can most likely guess that something happens when she finally meets a man and has five dates with him.
The movie stars (and was written and directed by) Nia Vardalos (of My Big Fat Greek Wedding fame). Interestingly enough, John Corbett (also of My Big Fat Greek Wedding fame) plays the romantic interest... again. All in all, it was an okay movie. Like I said, the movie was predictable. The movie needed Joey Fatone. Just kidding.
Truth be told, the movie did make me chuckle because it reminded me of someone I know who has rules about dating and all of that. Plus, there's that underlying theme about having these rules so as to not get hurt thing. Nevertheless, the movie was okay. Karen seemed to enjoy it, so that's good.
Karen had wanted the first floor bathroom to be functional for Briana's christening. Her reasoning was that she wanted her grand parents to be able to come over to our house following the christening. And because her grand parents have trouble with stairs, the bathroom on the first floor needed to be operational in the event they had the need to use it. So for many straight nights after work, I have been diligently working in the crawlspace installing the plumbing drains and vents. (Yes, it's very fun to be cramped... sitting on dirt...)
When the drains and vents were done, I began installing the pedestal sink. Naturally, I suck at home improvement. I finished installing most of the pedestal sink by Saturday morning. I had a few odds and ends to tidy up because, like most plumbing projects, I ran out of drain fittings. So I did have to return to the local hardware store to purchase more drain fittings.
Luckily, Karen's parents stopped by on Saturday to watch Briana. They provided a much needed assistance because otherwise I would not have had the opportunity to just get up, run out of the house, and go to the store. (Although I must say... I have been pretty good lately in cutting down the time that it takes to get Briana ready to go places.)
Needless to say, I was able to finish installing the pedestal sink thanks to the help of my in-laws. As well, I was able to install the vanity and the lights above the pedestal sink. I was thrilled to have finally hooked up the lights. For the longest time, I had been working by a work light in the bathroom. Now there is a switch that can turn on and off the lights. Yay, no more work light!
As well, by having my in-laws take care of Briana, Karen and I were also able to clean the house for Briana's after-christening party. Our house definitely needed to be cleaned. For Karen, the growing number of dust bunnies was causing undue stress. As it was, she was pretty stressed out about the whole christening and the preparations for it.
Regardless, after such a productive day, my in-laws, Karen, Briana and I ordered takeout from Sal's pizza located in Norwell. The 19" pizza was very filling. Needless to say, the pizza was good... as was the bruschetta. Thanks again to my in-laws!
Ending the night, Karen and I decided to unwind and watch a movie. That movie: I Hate Valentine's Day.
(The video below is a trailer for I Hate Valentine's Day.)
Up until a few weeks ago, I had never heard of the movie. One day, the movie just happened to be on television. After reading the guide information about the movie, I figured Karen would want to watch it. So, I had DVR'd the movie.
For anyone curious, the 2009 movie is a romantic comedy about a florist who has a rule to never have more than five dates with anyone as anything more will ruin the romance. This is obviously a very predictable movie because you can most likely guess that something happens when she finally meets a man and has five dates with him.
The movie stars (and was written and directed by) Nia Vardalos (of My Big Fat Greek Wedding fame). Interestingly enough, John Corbett (also of My Big Fat Greek Wedding fame) plays the romantic interest... again. All in all, it was an okay movie. Like I said, the movie was predictable. The movie needed Joey Fatone. Just kidding.
Truth be told, the movie did make me chuckle because it reminded me of someone I know who has rules about dating and all of that. Plus, there's that underlying theme about having these rules so as to not get hurt thing. Nevertheless, the movie was okay. Karen seemed to enjoy it, so that's good.
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