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* tried, and failed, to get Falcon keys cut on Ford key blanks (Fred Meyer won't cut keys not on their blanks). I think I found a company in Portland which might be more helpful: Atlasta Lock Company (if nothing else, I enjoy the pun).
* cleaned out our front porch of styrofoam peanuts and unwanted junk with Marisa's help. We drove it to the waste transfer station.
* purchased 11 home-made Tamales from a nice older guy who carried them around in a pail who walked door to door in the neighborhood. He spoke enough English to get by mixed in with common Espagnol that even I could understand. For good measure he brought along a 6-9 year old boy (which I think is a good sales tactic). Really, who could refuse home-made Tamales? Well, I could because they had meat, but I got Marisa down to see if she wanted them and she was very happy about that. The tamales are cooked within corn husks: this is the traditional way!
* ran the dish washer last night and put the dishes away today. Marisa got us on track for keeping up with the dishes...and I am with her on this effort!
So I feel pretty accomplished for the long weekend, even though I did not get to the spray paint removal on the Falcon, the seat belt removal on the Falcon and I was not able to get Marisa access to her files on her portable hard drive (I still think it's possible, but it will be up to a support person with Iomega to get it done: it is beyond me and the online help I was able to find).
My neighbor to the north and I split the costs of a fence and on Saturday and Sunday he planted the fence posts in concrete. He will leave it open on the ends so I can tie into it later with our gate and later our picket fence.
I can't say much for the professional landscaping job. They are not telling me what is going on and they went far beyond what was requested and removed a great number of our large rocks. I was lucky to stop them to claim a few (as I explained in a previous post), but I am starting to feel like they used this job to steal them from me.
More importantly, they approached the land reshaping by taking what I consider short cuts.
For instance, when they leveled and set my water barrels, they did not bother to excavate the land underneath, place sand and then add the flat piece upon which the rain barrel sits. Instead they just threw dirt on it, leveled off the dirt and then placed the flat piece. The dirt can settle and shift.
In several locations I had stones or bricks which served either as walk ways or platforms. When they re-set the rain barrel they just threw dirt on top of the platform of large paver stones I already had there, leveled the dirt and they placed the piece (I think it is plastic or composite...not stone).
I would have liked to remove the paver stones and use them elsewhere, especially if all they were going to do was cover them with dirt.
The brick walk way was worse that I had expected. I thought they would bull doze the path and then have a big pile from their efforts from which I could pick out the pieces I wanted to re-use. Instead they were kind enough to pick out a few I could use, but the rest they were simply buried by shoving around dirt.
Our car port was dismantled and the concrete slabs broken up and hauled away. Or so I thought. However I was doing a little inspection on Saturday and found a piece of metal sticking up from the ground. I thought it was a beer can or something but turned out to be the base of one of the supports for the carport, still attached to the concrete. The landscapers merely buried it instead of lifting it up and removing it.
My neighbor and I managed to wedge it out of the ground and get it out.
One of the things the landscaper did, which I can understand but was not expecting, was remove our gate post (the hinge part) on the north side. They needed the room to run their backhoe back and forth. However, they left the other gate post (the latch part) standing.
They didn't remove many of the chain link fence post bases on the south side, rather they just cut the pipe at ground level. This is understandable as there is a wood fence that Badhouse put up parallel to most of the chain link fence run and attempt to remove those could cause problems.
However, the front post base was not opposed by a fence and, indeed, it will be near where I will want to plant a new wood post for our picket fence. I don't know why they didn't excavate that one!
Yet to be done: add the pavers so that people can easily walk up to the house (right now there is gravel there as a base and a dug out area where the pavers will go), add pavers for the wheel paths for our three cars (this will be where the car port once was), connect the downspouts into an underground drainage system, seed or sod the back yard, place bark on the side yards and front.
I think it would be counter-productive to complain about the loss of all our larger rocks. I could have put my foot down when it was going down, but I did not. As I don't have a plan for them all (yet), it made no sense to complain then and right now makes no sense (but I still feel like the landscaper took advantage).
This weekend I did spend some time reclaiming some of the buried bricks and stones I might be able to use when creating a path of my own construction...at least to connect to the north side where our garbage containers usually sit. It is very difficult to roll them around without a path, I have quickly discovered.
I will be asking our landscaper several things. It would be nice if they agree to do them. Some of them are changes, others just seem the right thing to do:
* remove the once buried carport support piece they somehow missed.
* re-locate one of the rain barrels in the required position.
* excavate one of the chain link fence posts they left.
* extend the car path from the plan by another 7 feet.
* pull the other post from our north gate so I can replant both posts in the correct position.
If the landscaper balks at any or all of these, I will be disappointed but not outraged. I can eventually fix what they didn't do properly.
There are so many things I will need to do myself anyway...such as:
* build the picket fence
* finish the gate connection on the north side
* build a small path to the garbage container
* raise the rain barrels to their original height (allows easier access to their spigots)
* drain the southeast rain barrel so I can re-caulk the spigot junction (it is leaking)
* cut the tree growing through our deck (!)
* create a rock garden and bench area (I am thinking in the shade of our one evergreen on the north side)
* redo the steps and railing from our deck (the wheel chair ramp removal left a gaping hole)
* arrange to have the stumps on the east side trimmed lower and, if possible, chipped (the landscaper didn't want to do this because it might hurt the roots of the existing trees, but an expert may be able to do it and certainly can do it better).
* look into a storage shed on the east side.
* set up our compost bin (it was dismantled during the landscaping).
* design and build east side fencing and gate system (I have a lot of research to do and may need some expert advice).
* consider some limited plant additions which won't interfere with future plans.
As much as I seem to be unhappy with the small points, I am glad we took the steps we did and it has pointed us to the right direction. If the landscaper helps me on the requests I have and fulfills the plan, I will be happy. We now have possibilities!
The downside of what has been done is it helps reveal other problems: like the asbestos siding that is barely hanging on (which we want to remove anyway); the rusty, leaking water drain at the point it leaves the house then re-enters the house; a leaky hose big near that same area; the terrible shape of our roof; wood rot in the frames of some of our basement windows; need for a paint job on most of the house trim and back.
For those items I will try to contract each one myself in some sort of priority order.
It had brake problems and a number of other issues, but it was raised from near death...and now it is a 1961 Ford Falcon Tudor.
I drove it back from the shop today. The brakes are great. Driving it was a little difficult--I had to get used to it and hearing the engine and so on.
Ron at Hal Jones Automotive was very nice and even gave us a can of some nasty fluid (Carburator fluid?) that can be used to remove almost anything. In fact, the mechanics got a start on that and removed some of the tags that were spraypainted on the car!
The drive back was a bit unnerving for a bit because the heating duct was open which made me think something was overheating, but it was just me who was overheating! When I tried to close it the worst rattling noise was heard. I thought the car was a goner, but I noticed the sound started to go away when the car stopped. Then I started rattling the heater control. I believe what happened was the heater door was stuck and something about that caused this compressive noise. Sure enough I jiggled it enough to get the heater off and the noise and the heat stopped!
To me, the transmission (which we fixed soon afterafter an ill-fated trip to Vancouver, WA) never seemed to shift, but for Ron it worked well. It was difficult for me to tell, but I will continue with it and try to learn more about that for the moment.
We do have a number of issues today, some of which I can start to tackle, others for which I will bring it back to Hal Jones Automotive or a body shop to take care of:
1. remove the graffiti. Now I should be able to use the miracle fluid and a little elbow grease and we can remove the stigma only a gang tag can provide.
2. new driver's seatbelt. Ron said the one that was there disintegrated when he tried to use it! I should be able to do that.
3. fix the driver's side door lock. Ron says I should be able to do that, so I will study up on that and give it a try.
4. gas gauge does not register. Ron says if I fill it up with gas it might just kick in. I will try that, but I may have to bring it in to deal with that. Back-up is to carry around a spare gallon in the trunk and try to keep the car filled up!
5. broken and cracked knobs. I know I can find replacements for them online. Ron says it should be easy to replace them. We'll see.
6. panel turn indicator, right or left, blinks only on the right. I noticed this back when we first got the Falcon. As long as the turn light works, I can live with that, but would really like it fixed.
7. rear suspension springs (?). I don't notice a problem but Ron says they should be replaced. I need to understand that more. He says the best thing to do is find replacements on line, buy them...then his crew can install them.
8. header. This is the fabric that covers the ceiling of the car. It is shot if not totally gone. A body shop should do that.
9. back seat upholstery. Also shot. We should have that done eventually.
10. radio. We should get a new one with an ipod and usb port and cd player.
11. repaint. Earlier I would have put this at the top of the list, but if #1 is successful I want to save some money and do a real good job reconditioning the exterior with a two-tone paint job.
12. white wall tires. I might want to move this up in the priority list after I see the condition of the tires today...or I could get regular dependable tires today and do white walls later.
This is obviously a project car, but is now in the realm of being something we can enjoy instead of an eyesore taking up space in our backyard!
I will have pictures AFTER I remove all the gang tags!
They had to remove a bunch of these large rocks, some of which I had hoped to save. There were just too many of them to keep and still do the land re-contouring needed. It was also too difficult for me to remove some of them before they came. For one thing, they weren't supposed to start until tomorrow...and then some of the rocks were just too big to move without a backhoe to help.
I understood they were going to put them in piles so I could go through them tonight, but they started dropping them in a dump truck. So I asked them to stop and found just one rock I really wanted to keep and they helped me pick it up with the backhoe and toss in the keep pile. The guys also found some of the better named bricks, as I expressed an interest in making sure to keep some of them. More on that later.
We also asked they not disturb Marvin's grave and they did managed to work around it while still pulling all the chain link fence and yanking all the blackberries.
They managed to find some huge pieces of large sized lumber along the north side of the property. These pieces were cut whole from a tree and were at least 16 inches square and 6-7 feet long. The wood was rotted fairly well so I wouldn't want to salvage them, but you can imagine what nice supports they would have made in an old house.
* Also received a DVD of Decision Before Dawn with Richard Basehart and Gary Merrill from the movie company run by, of course, Zanuck, Zanuck, Zanuck!
* Really busy at work today. Tried to go to one meeting but got a question and couldn't divide my attention...and it went on like that until I left after 5:30. I think I was still eating lunch at 4:30.
* The Ford Falcon *may* be coming back to our home tomorrow. I won't know for sure because the guys at the shop need to do a test drive and who knows what else they will find out. As it is they think it needs new springs which is another thousand dollars...and there is some instrument panel anomaly...neither which seem crucial at this time. So, barring any big problems, Marisa and I will go there tomorrow and pick it up!
* Wednesday we have a commitment from the landscaper to continue working on our lot: tearing down the chain-link fence and the car port seem to be high on the agenda.
* Sunday (May 20), we were without power for like 6 or so hours right after we got up. It was very weird not being able to do something as simple as microwave some (fake) sausages or use a computer. Marisa brought out a battery operated amp for an Ipod so we could program our own music (and, actually, I don't think I have a battery operated radio!). I spent the time moving DVDs from those thick cases into narrow cases...and writing checks. By the time the power came back on we were starting to get used to it. CBS Sunday morning was abbreviated (the outage began about 8 a.m.) but we had an older show we didn't watch so added that one.
* Major accomplishments this past weekend: pretty abysmal. However, I did unclog the bathroom sink (easy to get stuff stuck on that rod left over from the built-in sink stopper we don't use) and followed up by cleaning the sink and the toilet (I like to leave anything I fix better for the job). Meanwhile Marisa, now mostly well following a cold, took on the huge task of getting a handle on the dirty dishes. She got the sink and kitchen table cleared with 5-foot high stacks of dishes and pots teetering on the counter to the left! Okay, I exaggerate, but not by much! Then we were able to run the dishwasher so we could empty the dirty dishes and load it up again!
* This morning we heard a chopper in the skies over St. Johns. As I drove to work I figured out that it was hovering over some sort of incident where there was a police car at Central and Burr. I don't know what it was, but the chopper (probably a news helicopter) must have made at least 5 circles over the area.
* I can see why her defenses gave way to the cold viruses...she has been under a lot of stress (good and bad) lately, the last bit from the dentist who says she needs two crowns placed to replace the tops of two of her teeth. However, the preparation for her annual celebration...and the celebration itself...along with all the stuff being done to the house and car...well, it was bound to happen.
* Now have seven Lon Chaney movies I didn't have before with several dvds received this week.
* Someone is putting up a multi-story building where the car lot used to be as you drive down N. Lombard into St. Johns. Today you can see into the treetops blocks away. The new building will block all of that. It wouldn't be so bad, but the building stands at the place where N. Lombard turns left before swinging into St. Johns. So, when you drive west on N. Lombard that building will end up dominating the backdrop which once looked more residential and "tree-ful."
* The neighbor across the alley way is doing something to their garage with the failing roof.
* Our house is a mess. I will spend the weekend trying to catch up with dishes, garbage and general straightening up. I remember it was about this time several years ago when Marisa was also very sick and she got very upset about all the stuff around the house. I got a hint of that this evening.
* I was supposed to finish a major project at work today and instead got into finding and solving other issues. While the major project was put on hold, there was success on the other fronts.
* Several visitors to our house expressed obvious surprise as to the changes on the lot. The general reaction was positive in that it really appears to have opened up the house. The trees left standing appear to look a bit lost with the dead branches no longer hidden by encroaching trees. I hope that "look" eventually goes away, but it is a little difficult to see. Meanwhile we have stumps everywhere and a lot of stuff left over from the removal.
* No word on either landscaping or the Falcon. I am a little disappointed in both efforts as I expected both to be well under way or, in the case of the Falcon, finished by now. It is going to be even tougher to come to some completion as we approach Memorial Day weekend. I simply am not making any forecasts.
Principal filming is done.
The film title has not been decided.
There are no trailers or teasers yet.
* A few of the 161 films have no documentation that Lon Chaney was in those films, but some suspected he was involved (we will never know).
* Some of the 161 films Lon Chaney was a director and in at least one film is not listed as an actor (although may have an uncredited role).
* Of the 51 films with some footage available, 26 are complete and available on dvd.
* 6 of the films supposedly exist as complete films but are not available to the general public!
* 5 of the films have been made available to the public in their fragmentary form.
* 9 of the film fragments or partial films are not available to the general public.
* 1 of the lost films has been reconstructed completely from stills and the continuity script and provides some approximation of what the film was like...and is available to the general public (London After Midnight).
* 36 films are available to the general public today, in complete or fragmentary form.
* Of the 36, I will have 32 myself, along with some documentary and publicity footage on DVD.
* Will eventually get the other 4.
* Will be looking for any of the other 15 films on DVDs and will do what what I can to help make sure they are restored and brought to the public.
* Also will do what I can to support efforts to improve the quality of existing publicly available films: most have various issues which a good restoration could probably reverse or minimize.
* Do not have hope for the hundred or so still out there listed as either lost or with unknown status. Most of them probably are not that good but I think any Lon Chaney performance is worth seeing (even if the complete film is a dud).
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As you can see, I have become a fan of Lon Chaney mostly because of exposure to many of his films that I have seen on Turner Classic Movies.
For years I thought of him as that actor in Phantom of the Opera (which is not what I would consider a great film as a whole) or in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Then, around 2003 or 2004 I saw him in Outside the Law from an inexpensive DVD I purchased and realized he did some interesting films. That same DVD also had another film, Shadows. Then, when Turner Classic Movies showed The Unknown, a creepy film to me, and Tell it To the Marines, a more of an adventure film, I really started to like him as a great actor.
For some reason this weekend I decided to see just what of his movies are available, what I had and what I could reasonably purchase. My intent was to get a very good survey of his work through what was available and to understand just what he did through his career.
Along the way I discovered that as a person Lon Chaney was a great man. He didn't buy into the Hollywood glamour business and, at times, was not treated well by that business. However, once he learned how to "play" with the guys in the office, he was able to show both his talent and his business acumen with great success. Chaney also never forgot the crew and starting actors. When he directed he always shut down the set at 5 p.m. to let the crew get back to their families. He also kept his union card as a carpet layer well into his Hollywood career.
He might have been quite successful through the 1950s if he wasn't cut down by cancer in 1930. Some say it was the working conditions from his penultimate film, Thunder which accelerated his health issues...fake snow made of gypsum which he inhaled!
Film projects were lined up for him which would have kept him busy through the 1930s. His only talky, a remake of his earlier The Unholy Three showed he had a good voice and would have done well over the years.
* No more work was done on the landscaping this week.
* It appears the chain link fence removal is next week, but won't know what will happen until Monday when the landscaper tells us the plan.
* Meanwhile only a few days of work were done on the 1961 Ford Falcon in the shop--the left motor mounts were found (the ones I saw on Ebay were fist sized open metal boxes with a bolt coming out of the center of the closed side) and installed, and the carburetor was checked and completely fixed. There appear two remaining problems: the pinion seals are leaking and the headlight indicators are not working correctly. For the headlight issue it will need a new headlight switch. They had already installed new pinion seals, so not sure yet what will solve that.
* There is power getting to the radio but the radio does not function. However, I told him we didn't need to fix the radio.
* The forecast, though, is that the work will be completed so we can pick up the car some morning mid next week.
* This weekend the weather for Portland will be actually a tad uncomfortably warm: perfect for the St. Johns' Parade.
* I will spend it helping Marisa prepare for her little celebration next week and in cleaning around the house which *may* include trips to the Goodwill and the dump.
* Maybe the following weekend we can do something special!
* Based on the amount of work done this week we will probably have very little money left for any
This 1944 Warner Brothers flick was supposed to be a follow-up to the WB hit Casablanca. Hedy Lamarr was loaned out to the studio and Paul Henreid, Sydney Greenstreet and Humphrey Bogart were supposed to also be players...and it was a wartime espionage tale set in Europe. However, Bogart backed out and Peter Lorre joined up.
It might have been good, but the writing was no where near the level of Casablanca. Somehow I couldn't see Henreid's character as a guy going around blowing up Nazi installations. Also Hedy's character falling in love with him just didn't make sense. Everything felt like a plot device.
The scenes in the jail and with the Portugese fishermen were probably the best. My favorite character was played by Joseph Calleia, an actor I always liked from the time I first saw him in Touch of Evil.
I was definitely not impressed by Sidney Greenstreet or Peter Lorre when I measured against their roles in the classic WB film The Maltese Falcon.
The least favorite scene for me was the one with Paul Henreid and Hedy Lamarr as they discuss the music performed in the club. The dialogue seemed forced and the situation seemed created to help sell the movie, create a theme of sorts and to be something parallel with what happened in Casablanca: all artificial and pointless in the end.
Perhaps the film would have been seen in a different light if it was in top condition. The print was dark and muddy.
I was glad to see the film but I would never want to go out of my way to see it again.
Quite interesting...and had a great chase sequence up an open staircase at the end.
The movie kept my attention from the very start. Difficult to not pay attention to people shooting guns right at the beginning. My favorite character was played by Herbert Lom, although the coy M-5 agent I also found interesting.
Before:
After:
Both pictures were taken from a 2nd story window overlooking the north side of the house. It used to be very shady and now the sun just drenches that side of the house for part of the day. It was great there in the summer but terribly damp and miserable in the winter.
It really makes it seem like the lot has grown.
Note that the chain link fence (which will be going away and replaced by an extension of the neighbor's already-started fence) has been pushed away from our house by the growing laurels because the laurels were placed way too close to the fence line. Someone had not considered that laurels do actually grow!
For any trees or bushes we plant eventually I promise we will plan for growth!
Oh, you may notice on the before picture all the lopped branches on the trees in the foreground. We had those branches removed a couple of months ago to prepare for the gutter replacement. So if you really wanted to see it the way it was last winter and for the past several years you would have to imagine these evergreen branches covering most of the "alley" and overlapping our roof. Those trees were too close to the roof even though they were far enough away from the fence line.
Somehow I had slept, in our same bed, in our house, all that time without anything changing there. But I got up and dressed and stepped outside. I was immediately arrested for being a pedestrian.
The arresting officer informed me also that there was no life on Earth now except for humans: insects, microbes, not to mention trees, grass, flowers, cats...all gone. Then how do humans live? Machines take care of everything.
Turned to my other side in bed and slept for a little longer and instead awoke to our house without most of its trees, but there was still grass and some trees and it was still the year 2012.
We kept 4 evergreens and they look pretty good even with some loss of all-round growth thanks to their now removed neighbors.
Folks from the block were looking at what happened. I saw H. walk down the sidewalk from her house to look sadly upon all the stumps and logs. I know how she must have felt, but it was the only way to protect our home. We'll now be able to plan what happens on this lot so growth occurs in a manageable way over the next 50 years.
Tomorrow: stump chipping.
Later this week (I believe): removal of the chain link fence.
Also in the plan: removal of the grape (very invasive), blackberry (ditto), a dead crab-apple tree, metal fence posts, the carport concrete pad, steel roof and posts, and the wheelchair ramp (I hope to reclaim the posts to start the front picket fence). Then the land can be reshaped to protect the house foundation and proper drainage created for the roof downspouts.
From what this says, the trail has been there for some time but was not very useable. Even when finished it won't be completely handicapped accessible and bicyclists will find it way too steep to ride. However, it will be a nice feature and way to get to Mock's Bottoms and Swan Island (or, conversely, up to Mock's Crest. The journey itself is the point,not really the destination.
As this video shows the trail, until now, was "unofficial" and probably difficult to use. Maybe some used it because of that. However, the new trail should be much easier to use and the part near the bottom will be something that even handicapped folks could enjoy.
Part of the importance of the trail development are the various native species that will be planted along the way. Indeed, this will be not just a route but a setting to enjoy and explore.
On my credit card I bought some gasoline, renewed the license on the truck and put down a quarter (or fifth) of the cost of the repair work on the Ford Falcon. That, in itself, does not explain the almost $4000 in credit card use for the past month.
Probably $2000 or so comes from online purchases. There was a 1938 watercolor by a well-known artist who lived in Oregon. There were some rare movie distributor magazines which cost a little more than you would think. The rest were smaller purchases and, in the scheme of things, should have avoided. Some were DVDs from Amazon. Others were various things through Ebay. The purchases add up.
It is not that I didn't plan for these things while we are also trying to take care of major repairs and renovations, but it is tough to see some $2000 slip away without much to show for it. So I can absorb the bills, but want to limit future ones now.
I would like to build up our reserves while also spending them down for landscaping, the roof, the Falcon work and the re-pipe...as much as I can do anyway. The work to get the Falcon in drive-able condition was budgeted but the work to repaint and redo the interior was not budgeted. If we are to do those things, and I would like to do them, I would need additional money for that.
I do have a few auctions on Ebay I already started. I will let them complete and will obviously pay for the ones I won. Also I have one Star Trek poster I need to purchase from an emovieposter.com auction.
Besides that I will watch the auctions for items of interest but not act upon them. And, I will only review what is available in a limited time period during the weekend only. I am either going to get a freeware program that counts down and plays a wav file...or use a old hand-wound kitchen timer. When the time is up, time to move on!
All but 4* of our trees will be removed along with bushes and other vegetation.
This week the call-before-you-dig folks from the various utilities marked their pipes in preparation for the work on our landscape next week starting first thing on Monday! The landscaper called today to confirm everything. I notified folks I work with that I will do my programming and attending meetings from home on Monday.
So it is finally happening!
I'll spend some time this weekend preparing by taking many photos of our yard in all its Spring glory and shame (glory of blossoms and flowers in front, shame of the overgrowth of blackberry bushes in the back). Also I will do something to mark the trees to keep...get some plastic tape or ribbon to tie around them.
Also I will get some weatherproof, waterproof caulking to seal some junctions in our gutter downspouts and probably a caulk gun.
Meanwhile today I got an update on the Ford Falcon. More work was done. We are still waiting for a radiator and they don't know where they will get a Falcon engine mount...but they know they need one. However, electrical appears to be fine now as well as the engine and fuel and brake systems.
It may end up costing the exact budget I laid out for the work, which is fine but it will mean delaying the paint job and interior work and new white wall tires that are needed before we can use it regularly.
Wouldn't it be nice if the car were finished on Monday so I could take care of it on my errands work day? Otherwise I will have to pick it up first thing on another day before going to work.
* The word from the landscaper was that we were saving 3 trees. I remember us talking 4 trees, so I have to make sure of the reasoning on the center lot tree (Hemlock, cedar, not sure...but its an evergreen). So we'll talk about it today or tomorrow.
* A deadly virus.
* Two populations ending a centuries old conflict (or are they?).
* Cementing of a friendship.
* Mourning the deaths of two important Star Fleet officers.
* A rule of acquisition showcased.
* Radiation to destroy weapons.
* Radiation to destroy life.
* A "fire" fight and struggle.
* The love between a married couple.
* An alien ship.
* Two run-about class vessels.
* A ruined alien world.
* A busted radio which has to be fixed.
* A veiled conspiracy.
* A funny right at the end which was NOT a cheap laugh (it related very directly to the plot) and was played brilliantly by the director and actors.
Who could ask for anything more in a 43 minute episode?!
I had planned to watch this last week, but turns out that a speed of 3 and incline of 3 for 43 minutes in two days really made my upper leg muscles sore. So two days back-to-back last week was enough for me.
Mind you that an hour and a half of exercise for a week is much more than what I have ever done, so doing that by itself was fine.
However, I have to do it week after week.
More importantly, though, I need to get my muscles trained to do this every day, so I have to keep on trying. After all, how am I going to get through all the Star Trek episodes in a reasonable time by watching only two a week?
Next time: Playing God, an episode which sounds much less interesting, but then again how can you top today's!
On Monday, May 7 Terra Sol landscaping is having a tree crew come in and remove all but 4 evergreen trees: two along our eastern fence line, one at the back of the house by the northern fence line and one at the southwestern corner in front of the house.
It is sad to see what is a sheltered mini-forest on our small lot go away, but it is unsustainable and causing problems with our foundation.
Then, some time May 9th or after that we'll have the remaining lot resurfaced, chain-link fence, carport and wheelchair ramp removed, drainage and paths/steps added, grass planted and rain-barrels properly supported and hooked up.
The 1961 2-door is in the shop and they are basically replacing the entire brake system and all fluids and filters. The engine appears good but the oil pan needs adjusting. They put in a new ignition coil.
Looks like we may have enough in our budget to also get the body repainted to get the gang graffiti removed, but still have no idea.
The shop has not told us whether they have done anything to fix the turn signals or if they can replace the steering wheel.
I need to check with DMV about a temporary permit before we arrange for car insurance. Will do that Monday.
It was a telling tale of people in power who bring us the "big lie".
Watching the episode burned another 300 calories.
Tomorrow: Armageddon Game (2:13). Yes, I am skipping around because I made a mistake earlier. Just trying to avoid missing some episodes before I go on....
When using our treadmill without "enhancements" I could only deal with staying on the thing for about 10 minutes.
Today I watched an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine from start to finish for 45 minutes while using the treadmill at a speed setting of 3 and incline setting of 3 with calculated calorie loss of 300!
I survived it, got a little sweaty and my legs felt like butter for a hour afterwards...but it's all good. Most importantly it did not feel like a waste of time!
I figure there are something on the order of 600 45-52 minute episodes from all the Star Trek television series so I have to get on that machine every day to get through them all now!
Really, though, watching a television program while walking is a great solution to my fitness problem. I should be able to come home from work every day and do this!
Today's episode was 2nd season, episode 16: "Shadowplay" which starred Kenneth Tobey (The Thing From Another World) and Kenneth Mars (Young Frankenstein).
I did my best to clean-up the bookcases along the window in the room where the treadmill sits, removed my two lunchboxes and a 1940's superhetrodyne Knight receiver, added a heavy duty electric cord with power strip and then brought down a smaller LCD screen and portable DVD player.
Now, no more boring treadmilling while looking at cobwebs. Instead, boring movies or television framed by cobwebs while treadmilling! Well, I hope to choose DVDs that are fun to watch so I can make working out enjoyable.
Thanks G. and C. for encouraging us to do this and also thanks to Marisa for accepting the move of the LCD screen to the back room.
This means, of course, I have fewer excuses not to regularly use the treadmill.
At this point it is merely just a matter of making the use a habit!
I tried to see if any of these films seemed to match. A few of the movies on this list I know and others I did a quick survey by watching parts of the movie on the Kiplinger Archives site. However, nothing "sticks" so far.
Still nice weather. In fact warmer and no cloud cover to start the day like yesterday. However, also hazy. Oh well.
Marisa and I started the day by having breakfast at The Paradox Cafe at 34th and S.E. Belmont in Portland with my brother-in-law G. and my sister C.
The P.C. serves up a very nice breakfast. I had 3 cranberry and hazelnut pancakes with coffee, fruit cup and toast (with very grainy bread). G. and C. split a couple of things. I forget what Marisa had.
We sat at a front table right by the door and waited just 30 seconds before G. and C. pulled up and parked right on front of the cafe.
After breakfast Marisa and went to Staples at Jantzen Beach to get some single slim line DVD cases and drove back home via the Shell station so I could fill up the gas tank on the truck.
The only thing connecting our activities with Earth Day was, perhaps, my need to take pictures of some of the flowers in our front yard.
In Portland the high temperature may reach 80 degrees Fahrenheit for the first time since late September of 2011: rare Spring weather.
It is sunny with blue skies. We may get to see the Lyrid meteors (so-called because they appear to originate from the constellation Lyra) tonight.
SOLV (Stop Oregon Litter and Vandalism) has volunteers on the sides of the streets picking up trash.
Bicyclists are riding Skyline Boulevard en masse.
The Skyline Grange is having a native plant and tree sale.
Metro sponsored two hikes through its newly acquired 400 acres (approximately) purchased from a lumber company. The regional government will manage the land for the future to protect water quality, wildlife habitat and plant diversity. I went on the morning hike with about 20 others. I hope to have a separate post about that.
The flowers are in bloom around our yard.
So I will be checking this out, reviewing the list and getting to know these companies and how they work in the all encompassing economy of the world's ecology.
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There are 21 FT 500 business participants from United States of America in all sectors, with an Active COP status who were accepted between 1 January, 2001 and 20 April, 2012.
Name | Type | Sector | Country | Participant since |
Bristol-Myers Squibb | Public Company | Pharmaceutic... | United State... | 2010/12/09 |
Citi | Public Company | Banks | United State... | 2010/03/24 |
Eli Lilly and Company | Public Company | Pharmaceutic... | United State... | 2009/12/02 |
Monsanto Company | Public Company | Food Producers | United State... | 2009/09/17 |
Intel Corporation | Public Company | Technology H... | United State... | 2009/06/12 |
Allergan | Public Company | Pharmaceutic... | United State... | 2009/05/06 |
Merck & Co., Inc. | Public Company | Pharmaceutic... | United State... | 2009/01/19 |
General Electric Company | Public Company | General Indu... | United State... | 2008/12/10 |
PepsiCo, Inc. | Public Company | Food Producers | United State... | 2008/11/11 |
Accenture | Public Company | Support Serv... | United State... | 2008/01/17 |
The Dow Chemical Company | Public Company | Chemicals | United State... | 2007/05/24 |
Microsoft Corporation | Public Company | Software & C... | United State... | 2006/11/08 |
The Coca-Cola Company | Public Company | Beverages | United State... | 2006/03/14 |
Newmont Mining Corp | Public Company | Industrial M... | United State... | 2004/06/09 |
Starbucks Coffee Company | Public Company | Beverages | United State... | 2004/04/08 |
Johnson Controls Inc. | Public Company | Automobiles ... | United State... | 2004/03/31 |
Pfizer, Inc. | Public Company | Pharmaceutic... | United State... | 2002/10/04 |
Hess Corporation | Public Company | Oil & Gas Pr... | United State... | 2002/08/31 |
Hewlett-Packard Company | Public Company | Technology H... | United State... | 2002/08/29 |
Cisco Systems | Public Company | Technology H... | United State... | 2001/09/06 |
DuPont | Public Company | Chemicals | United State... | 2001/05/10 |
The tricky part, even with a software product called TaxAct, surrounds what is called a "Stock Purchase Plan." This is a well-known thing for companies to offer its employees, providing them a discount on stock which they can purchase and keep or sell virtually immediately. The so-called "same day sale" actually occurs a few days apart from the purchase date.
For the first time my company sent me a copy of a form (3922) which allows me to easily compute what is known as "the cost basis" for the "same day sale" as part of the SPP. In years past that information was difficult to find but was available online from the company's intranet.
I was so worried at first that I didn't have all the information I needed, then read the help document provided by Tax Act's bigger competitor which explained that this new form was exactly what was necessary to compute "the cost basis."
Once I did that the taxes were a breeze, but I was oh, so stressed until then!
The other thing that was truly required was centralizing all the paperwork needed for the return. The previous weekend I spent piling and filing all the mail I kept over the past 3 months: all the tax forms I was sent were in the house somewhere! I just needed to file all my papers and did just that.
So this weekend all the forms (and then some) were conveniently under "T" in my 2012 accordion file folder: 2 W-2s, several 1099s and the form 3922. With the TaxAct program I simply needed to copy figures from the forms into the inputs required by the program. The difficulty was with the "SPP" and required me to do a little figuring and manually input the results. I believe the program could do this for me so I am going to talk to them about fixing that for next year.
On balance we did well. Our with-holding is about on track so we got a little back from the Feds and needed to pay a little to the state. Considering that we are talking a year of salary and investment income the net taxes needed to balance the books was very small and we were well-prepared for that.
Next year I hope I am better prepared for the tax calculations by doing the following:
* Contact TaxAct and get them to automate the SPP (I have little hope they will do this, but I will give it a shot).
* Make sure I get forms W-2, 1099 and 3922 into the "T" folder of the 2013 accordion file case as I get them.
* Budget three hours in mid-February to do the taxes and get it done early for once!
Once it is okay (I am projecting here, but hope the repairs go well) I'll drive it back and keep it operable so that when landscaping begins it can be parked on the street. We will obviously have to have it licensed (it's license expired in 2007) and insured again.
LTF M* said all I probably needed to do was pull the Falcon forward and the front wheels would unlock. Looks like the left front wheel started turning but the right front wheel remained locked even when the tow-truck pulled it onto the flat bed.
So neighbor M*a had told me before he used his Toyota Pick-up to yank a variety of things and he was around and was kind enough to offer to help me. He attacked a tow strap and we got the front wheels onto the concrete. Then we used the floor jack from M* to get each front wheel under a dolly. That made it possible to actually push the car toward the back.
Once we got it ready to push into the alley by positioning it as close to the alley as possible, I called Team Towing and they came right out.
M*a pulled the Falcon straight into the alley way and not too long after the tow truck came. The driver said he couldn't have done what M*a and his little Toyota did.
So, I am deeply appreciative of friends like M* and M*a...and co-operative companies such as Team Towing. Couldn't have done this without any of them!
Now, let's see how Hal Jones Automotive does, but I am full of hope!
One more step ahead and no steps back (so far).
Next--get landscaping going (bid accepted, waiting for communication as to schedule) and get the Falcon fixed.
Later-- start looking for a good contractor to totally redo our roof with a 50+ year product (rubber, metal?), including our back room. We may need to pull in a contractor to do carpentry repair for wood rot as that room has leaked like a sieve for the past decade now!
I had hoped to avoid doing anything on the back room because my preference is to tear it down and redo it down to the basement level, but such a project will be quite involved and we have many more things to do before that is possible.
 |  |
The earlier black and white (I would say late 1940's or early 1950's) is an original post card. The color post card is not from a real post card but assembled to look similar to the earlier card using elements from a 2008 (or so) Google Maps streetview.
The more current motel suffers from the lack of the large trees but there is also something else that makes it less bucolic than the earlier motel.
Once I get the Melies collection that should fill those gaps!
The first feature length movie I have is from 1912. Others until then were shorts (2-reelers or even 1-reelers). We are really, this year, able to celebrate 100 years of feature films!
Have I seen all of them? No.
Have I seen most of them? Yes, although not necessarily off the DVD or Laserdisc. Many times I get DVDs or Laserdiscs to see again a movie once viewed in the theater, on television or off video tape.
During my sabbatical this year I have 56 days: maybe I will pick one movie from each year and watch two features every day starting in 1912...and report my impressions!
Interesting because I have thought of this myself: the minimal sized structure needed to keep safe and warm...and have some privacy...and still be legal. Apparently this is legal!
* I ran into a website which helps do the work for us of contacting contractors to get estimates. This is only good for small jobs but it may actually be the way to go for a lot of things. When you try to do a big project you can get bamboozled with estimates which are not well explained and way too high. So I asked for estimates to just tear down our chainlink fence.
* Deconstructing a chain link fence is not that difficult, at least with respect to the chain link fabric. So I *could* do that: get a bunch of rolls and then haul them to the waste transfer station. However the removal of the posts (with the concrete bases) and the disposal of those along with the top pipes adds up.
* I may also do a little clean-up of the yard debris we do have if the weather is good this weekend.
* Got the bill for the carpentry work. It came in just as the estimate said, which I think is too bad because I find for materials and time spent...plus even equipment rental, gasoline, etc., it seems about $700 too much. Still, I am happy to pay it: the work is hazardous duty pay mixed in with expertise, experience and thoughtful work.
* Told my plumber about the delay in cleaning up the basement. He is interested in the job once I am finished and is not upset about my slow progress.
* Tonight we hope to see the movie Marty with the oscar winning actor, Ernest Borgnine, in attendence (sponsored by Turner Classic Movies). I say hope because it is first come, first seated.
To get the slope correct on the north side of the house the installer duo hooked up the gutter so it is not perpendicular to the ground and not at the same angle as the fascia board (which is perpendicular.
In my opinion, this will mean that water shedding off the roof will just fly over the gutter and not hit it, at least in a powerful rain storm.
What if the "Drainage Duo" had anchored it correctly to the fascia board? It would hit the gutter but there would be a puddle of sorts always on that side of the gutter because it didn't slope correctly.
I guess I would rather have the slope issue. Anyway, I am going to ask for someone else in the company to come over and reason with me or arrange for someone to come over and fix it. The only sure way to know if it is working is to do a very aggressive water test on that side of the roof.
Besides that the gutter system looks very nice and certainly should be much better than what we had. Ironically it is the problem corner of the house which mignt still not be adequately covered and that is the part I care about the most.
The weather for the install: absolutely great! Mostly sunny and mild. Still sweater weather, but when you are working that is the best kind.
Feel much better now with the sun out and having driven to work at 6 a.m. to get my laptop. When I got back I got coffee and went about my business.
Helped also that all the aches I got from lifting and shoveling yesterday are mostly gone now.
Also, I contacted 3 landscaping firms to help us deal with our formidable yard.
The gutter people should be here by 9 a.m. I will get my diverters ready for them and have breakfast and also set up my laptop computer to work from home.
Trudging through the mud I struggled to get the rain barrels ready for the gutters to be installed tomorrow.
I realized before I began that I forgot to bring my laptop home on Friday. I worked late Friday and was tired then...too tired to remember to haul my computer home so I could work a few hours from home.
Need that time to prepare for a meeting that M. wants us to be ready to attend, so it is crucial I use the time I am waiting for the gutters to be finished to do my "homework."
So, on top of everything else, have to wake up early and drive to work at 7 a.m., get my computer, then drive back. I can only hope that because I am getting there early that I can park near the entrance. One thing I am tired of doing is trudging around to make things happen.
I hope everything will be up hill from then, so to speak: meet with the gutter people promptly at 9, show them what needs to be done, at 11 a.m. or so review the work and pay them, have lunch and drive to work, attend the meeting, have a good year-end review, do a little more work and go home.
I did one thing right today: I put the stickers on my license plate. One right to avoid a wrong: last thing I need is a police car to stop me for driving an unlicensed car!
Well, I did something nice, too. I had to go to Freddies to buy a 3/4 inch drill bit. Had to buy the whole set of larger drill bits, but that is okay. The person in front of me needed 3 cents to get even change back. I had some cents prepared already for mine, so I volunteered mine. The woman was thankful and the clerk also thought it nice.
The clerk would have given me the 10% off tools sale anyway, but she especially wanted to make sure I got that discount.
This wet weather pretty much has pulled me down. It didn't rain a lot, but it was windy and cloudy at times. Worse, there was mud everywhere and decaying plants. I had to walk past our Ford Falcon and the hood was visibly rusting.
I could not get the rainbarrels level and did not have another set of concrete blocks for south rainbarrel. I did have a base of "bricks" to work from, but they were uneven.
There were all sorts of vines and plants growing in between. I had to clean out all the plants from the area and remove the mud. Then I had to find a way to get the rain barrel off the ground by laying a bunch or additional bricks. The bricks I obtained from a pile that were derived from the deconstruction of our steps about two years ago.
The hose bib was leaking and has been for some time, resulting in softening of the ground where the water left the hose and creating a depression there.
Everywhere I looked I saw algae and weeds and wood rot. The window wells were filled with debris. I saw a decade of me not taking care of the house.
I did my best, but it was not good enough. I drilled the holes for the diverter, marked where the diverter should go. Will have to deal with getting the rain barrel set up properly later...when it is warm and dry and I have a good plan to do it the right way.
I shouldn't let it get me down. After typing this out I feel a little better.
We are not beyond hope, at least if I can find a landscape firm willing to help us.
1. landscape plan...followed by front work, side work, back work... including removing debris from window wells.
2. Falcon
3. re-plumb including new hose bibs which don't leak!
4. re-roof.
- Mood:
depressed
Creative development is not easy: it is much easier to make a quick buck in real estate. Tear down and build higher is also rarely resisted through municipal approval systems.
This details two cases of disappearing studios. It was bad enough that many of the original film studios were destroyed by nitrate film fires and then failing fortunes and simply neglect.
What is left is demolished and destroyed mostly because the price of land underneath is considered more valuable than the historic value.
That means we are in store for more damage, especially if the new gutters fill up with material, but maybe even if not.
I have been holding off on roof work, but this is a red flag.
We simply need all of our roof stripped and a new roof put on.
I want to move to a roof with a 50 year lifespan and done correctly. Metal and rubber come to mind: not composite shingle (which we have now).
More research needed!
With the fascia ready we can now install gutters and rainbarrels.
This weekend I will position and test the rainbarrels so they are ready for the gutter people.
On Monday I will do the work-home dance...which should work as long as the gutter people are on time. I will then have a half-hour to show them where to put the rain barrel diverters. After that, drive to work to attend an important meeting, then drive back home to check out the work before paying them. Supposedly they will be finished by 11 a.m., so I will be late even if I hustle (my meeting is at 10:30 and is likely to last a half hour and I need a half hour to get home).
So, for back-up I will get Marisa to help me.
I am concerned that with just two hours they will not get a good slope for the gutter, use the wrong materials or do something else that would make me reject the job and the payment.
It is just the paranoid part of me. I picked these gutter people because they are highly rated and provided the best service and communication. There should be no reason they should mess it up, but I like to make sure.
Anyway, besides cleaning the basement some more this weekend (in preparation for repiping) and setting up the rain-barrels, I need to pick three landscape contractors for phase one of our landscape work. After talking with Marisa decided to start off with landscaping only the front yard: planning, bush and tree removal, excavating to the front and part of the side foundation (including removal of the walk way), then resculpting the area to slope the land up to the house (rather than down to the house). Part of this may involve some foundation protection.
I would like to retain some of the rocks in some way, but not wed to that. We are keeping one tree so the landsculpting needs to take that and the house position as givens and work around them.
A new postal delivery person this week tripped and fell when delivering the mail. We want to prevent that in the future!
* Today as I am opening two cans of kidney beans, listening to NPR's Fresh Air Terry Gross introduces a sound clip from the television series Mad Men. The topic: a proposed advert about dancing kidney beans!
* On NPR's Car Talk Saturday, March 17th, I hear the car guys asked a question by Ashley Judd, just while I am thinking of her performance in the debut episode of the series Missing on ABC-TV.
Okay, so just two specific examples. I can't remember the other extremely unlikely coincidences that are similar, but they were of a similar nature.
The point is that this kind of thing is very rare for me. Most of the time my life is 180 degrees from reality.
I have to say that things are starting to fall in place for us in general. There are many things to do, but I think we are doing the right things right and making progress.
* The carpentry work on the fascia boards at our roof line started today. The weather was perfect for it (no rain, no wind, not too cold).
* We are line to receive the rain barrels this week which we can put in place this weekend and ready for the gutter install on Monday.
* Settled a tax error with the feds within the last month when they sent the bill after months of waiting. Hey, I made a mistake, I'll pay for it!
* Marisa is moving ahead on her book work...and it continues to be positive.
* The basement clean-out is slowly happening. I do have to notify the plumber it is taking some time, but it is in both our interests that I have a good path for his crew to do the work easily, quickly and safely.
* Work is going well. I spent some hours today trying to do some new things with two different computer languages (Perl and csh) and I completed the first of several steps toward an overall goal by the end of the first day.
I also count 20 individual shapes (as opposed to serving or utility pieces).
My goal is to have all 20 individual shapes in all 15 colors (although it is possible some shapes never were issued in all colors).
So, of 300 possible individual pieces for all colors I have 163 of them, leaving 137 individual pieces to find and buy.
I am complete for 5 of the 20 individual shapes: tea cup, tea saucer, fruit bowl (5.25 inch diameter), dessert plate (6.25 inch diameter) and dinner plate (10 inch diameter).
Began collecting these in 1989. My boss and friend in Kansas City, Mary Jo Draper, said this was just faux Fiesta ware. She said that because that is what she collected, so it was sort of a joke.
In retrospect, Fiesta ware was a better choice amongst solid color American popular pottery, mainly because of its durability. It is quite easy to nick or break Ballerina. Also, as I am finding out today (Ballerina now more than a half-century of age) that its glazes are very susceptible to "crazing" and the lighter colors are especially obvious (jade green, jonquil yellow and chartreuse).
I also have in daily use Fiesta's cousin, Harlequin. Harlequin glazes are the same as Fiesta's but the shapes are thinner, leading to more breakage. However, they make a better daily set of dishes and that is the purpose they serve today for us.
Nevertheless, I have attached myself to Ballerina for collection and reserved it for special occasions.
Would love to plan and execute a multi-course meal for 15 people some day with each person eating and drinking from Ballerina...one color per person.
I could do a limited version of that today, however: with dinner, a side of vegetables or fruit for each, tea and dessert.
Finishing out the collection today is terribly difficult. There are not that many people out there who really know Ballerina. The sellers I find rarely know the color list (the most difficult to discern is between periwinkle and turquoise, but I have even had sellers confuse Sierra Rust with Burgundy!).
I have plenty of spare pieces I would just love to trade, but where is the on-line trading post where only barter is accepted (perhaps Craig's List?). These days the pieces I want come up rarely on Ebay or any other site (I check Replacements, Etsy and do regular Google checks for other sources)...and when they do come up they are amongst other pieces that just add to my list of spares. Even worse, sometimes the piece I really want out of a bunch is delivered in pieces while the others which I didn't need arrive in perfect shape (this happened this year when I wanted to get a lunch plate (9.25 inch diameter) in Sierra Rust and had to buy it with a bunch of other pieces, but when I got the box only the lunch plate was broken!
Part of me never wants to see the individual part of the collection complete, because it may be an omen that I am "finished" as well.
A friend, Jack Cody of "Creatures of Habit" in Paducah Kentucky said he would find playing cards on occasion and keep them. He figures that once he gets a full deck that will be the end!
True to the forecast the sun was out and the temperature was just warm enough to not have to wear a jacket but cool enough to still need a sweater.
But you couldn't argue with blue skies and the big round thing in the sky.
The lead carpenter for Arciform was here this morning checking out the logistics for his work beginning Monday. The weather then is forecast to be cloudy and rainy once again, but he shrugged it off: "We work in rain."
So it is finally going to happen.
Also got confirmation today that our rainbarrel kits have been shipped so we should get them next week.
Then the gutters and downspouts should be installed on April 2.
So, things are happening and we can finally get our roof drainage under control!
I worked from home today until I had to leave at 11:20 or so to catch a bus and then the MAX to downtown Portland. I was the first one at Henry's in the upstairs billiard room for a quarterly sponsored by my company. I had two Hefeweisen beers and a veggie burger (more of a veggie sloppy joe). Also heard of the interesting ideas of Mr. R.G. What a visionary! It is sad that the powers-that-be are not interested in his concepts to streamline our work flows across the company. Of course, I could say the same thing but Mr. G has a much grander vision and also better articulated...but has apparently still fell on deaf ears. Oh well.
The billiards room at Henry's (so called because the tavern is at the location of the Henry Weinhardt brewing plant from the late 19th century and 20th century in Portland), is very nice with both modern and antique touches. The pool tables were modern but built in Portland with a style that could easily be confused with tables from the early 20th century.
After the quarterly met Marisa a little after 4 p.m. to go to Powell's (a block away). I purchased the Dec. 2011 published book A Pictorial History of St. Johns after Marisa found it, and a collection from Wil Eisner's P.S. Magazine . Marisa got the 5th edition of the Zinester's guide to Portland.
Unfortunately we were not allowed to park in the spot next to Henry's for more than 90 minutes (or, actually, any parking spot on that side of the street), so we found a spot many blocks down 12th at Overton, then hiked back to Trader Vic's where we had a nice dinner with 2 No Tie Mye Tyes (non-alcoholic versions) each, a nutty cracker with peanut butter/cocoanut/soy spread, and entrees. I had the tofu, Marisa a steak burger. The waiter was very attentive and even brought a second cracker set.
Altogether a very satisfying day and one day where I felt lucky all around!
However, Spring is not bustin' out all over.
One of our front bushes is starting to show its white blossoms, we have some daffodils blooming and the ants are out.
Other than that, it still feels like Winter.
This Friday and Saturday sounds like better weather, though. The words rain and clouds are still in the forecast, though. Difficult not to include those words when describing Portland weather.
Woke up late today. I could have rose around 6 a.m. but had some very unsettling dreams so slept until 8. It helped and I feel better for it, but I would rather wake early, arrive at work early and go home early.
Hope to get word today or tomorrow about when we can get our home's fascia/eaves fixed...then will schedule that and the gutter install.
Tonight need to get busy and order the rain barrels and diverters so that the gutter people can hook those up during the install.
No progress on basement clean-up. This weekend looks promising for that.
I grew suspicious about this after the sender of the package told me that he would check the tracking of the package on Monday. "Why," I asked myself, "didn't he just go online and check it today?"
So I did and the tracking indicated it was still at the store. "Who, then is right, the two store employees or the online tracking?"
There was a FedEx Ground help line and it was open for questions, so I called. The operator was nice enough to contact the store and the person at the store confirmed the package was still there.
While I was not happy about going to the store for the 3rd time to pick up a package, I am glad it didn't get shipped back and that my 3rd trip was the "charm."
I am not sure what the moral of this whole thing is. I shouldn't be too angry at FedEx or the seller for using the service, although I will try to avoid using it as much as possible. I am certainly happy with the seller for emailing me, with the online operator who helped me resolve the situation and the person at the store today, Amy, who gave me some idea what happened: the two employees were "new" to that store.
When President Reagan talked about our dealings with the USSR over nuclear dis-armament, he said that U.S. would "trust, but verify." I guess that is what I must do: trust the process and the people, but verify just to make sure that honest mistakes or inexperience did not cause a problem.
Last week, March 8 or 9, FedEx attempted to deliver the package at our house and could not leave it here because it required a signature. All they left was a slip of paper which provided a web address for more information.
I went there and learned you could wait for another delivery...when again they might arrive, not ring our doorbell or not wait for someone to tromp down the stairs... or have the package sent to one of their convenient stations.
Decided the best way was to have it sent to one of their stations. I would pick it up soon after the web site said it was available.
Saturday morning we went out to see a remodeled house, but before we went checked the website and it *seemed* to indicate it was now at the requested address.
We went to the station and the person at the counter claimed the package was not there and that it might not arrive until Monday.
Right after 1 p.m. at home the phone rang. The package was there. We could pick it up. No word about any time limit.
Well, we already made one special trip there. I would just go back the following weekend to get it.
Today was the day. We went there. No package. The person said it was sent back on Friday: They only let it sit there for five days and then send it back. No communication about this before it was sent back.
So I sent an email to the seller, telling him that FedEx was sending the package back and that I would like it sent back again to me, but this time, if possible, by U.S. Mail. I am not happy with FedEx. If he insists on using FedEx again I won't make the same mistake of using one of their stations.
Certainly I will not use FedEx for anything I send in the future.
This is step 1 in our effort to fix the roof drainage issues.
Tonight, begin on step 2/3: send acceptance to one of the gutter people and get their availability and also let the carpenter know. Step 2 is the carpenter, but would like to try and coordinate his schedule with the gutter people so when he expects to be done we can immediately follow-up with the gutter.
It was difficult enough to get in the tree people, so getting in two crews has me somewhat nervous.
Actually, I need to mix step 4 in there, which is to see my neighbor's rainbarrel and then get some rainbarrel kits at Home Depot and install them... so they are there when the gutters are installed.
Step 5 would be to redefine our back yard completely and that will include installing an underground drainage area for the excess water from the roof.
* The rotund financier was walking around briskly talking about the company plans and started getting short of breath. "And, finally, we are going to move your headquarters to New York..." and then he paused and then hovered over a chair..."and I am going to move my hind quarters into a chair!"
+ Saw a great remodel job on Saturday by a firm we are interested in working with to redo our house. Very inspiring.
- While on the road went to pick up a FedEx package I had diverted to their Kinko's store in Hollywood. Even though the website *seemed* to indicate it was already there, the gal there said it wasn't. We went home and about 1 1/2 hours after I heard that she called me at home to say it was there. I decided I would just wait a week to pick it up.
+ Sunday spent a couple of hours opening up one corner of the basement.
- Did not complete that corner. Still have a cooridoor to create and another corner to open up.
+ Sunday night viewed the first two hours of Alcatraz, another very interesting J.J. Abrams production.
- Watched this until round midnight even though I was supposed to wake around 5 that morning to go to work.
+ Got a call from the guy who is supposed to do some tree and branch removal for us (step 1 of us fixing our roof drainage issues) who said he could do the work today. I made arrangements with our neighbor. Finally we could complete step 1 and move to step 2!
- He called after I made the arrangements with my neighbor that he couldn't do it today after all...because of emergency tree work from the winter weather (wind + water = trees uprooted)
+ I got fairly decent parking yesterday and today at work.
- My work was disjointed and stumbling so far this week.
Time to take a shower now and start early Wednesday!
