The Doors

Sometimes doors stick. Often, planing is recommended. I thought, "Sure, we could plane those doors. Or we could take advantage of the fact that we have no trim and see what our other options are."

The other options ended up being to remove shims. I'll have to replace them, I'm sure, but these doors totally open and close without sticking now that the shims are out. An added plus is that the door jambs look straighter. In the end, I believe it was the right decision.

You might be able to perceive a slight bowing in the jamb as the gap gets narrower near the corners:




In other news, we recently purchased some door trim. I'll let you know what we do with that.

I Kings 7:5 - And all the doors and posts [were] square, with the windows: and light [was] against light [in] three ranks.

Webulon's Revenge

Ah, Webulon, we meet again.



Check out that web. (Photography by Annie.) So, I'm mowing, minding my own business, when I almost run into this. Naturally, my first response is to show it to my wife. She runs and gets the camera, and you see the results here.

No, that's not interesting enough. Suppose it really happened this way:

The Webulon Hive Mind dispatched a Vengeance Agent to our location in the hopes of dispensing arachnid justice on the slayer of the last Webulon. This new Webulon lurked in the backyard, waiting for the perfect time to spring its venomy vengeance. When faced with yours truly, however, it just acted like an ordinary giant spider, until I knocked down its web and ran over it with the lawnmower. Its Octoid powers were no match for my high-speed spinning blade!

And now you know the truth.

Proverbs 26:18 - As a mad [man] who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death, So [is] the man [that] deceiveth his neighbour, and saith, Am not I in sport?

In Which an Air Conditioner Explodes

Our lawn has been in great need of mowing, since it has been raining for three weeks, it seems. My mother was invited to our home Saturday, intensifying my desire to cut the grass on Friday night. Work kept me late Friday, and I had to decline an invitation to get together with friends, but I was determined to get that yard done.

I mowed the back lawn first. This was so I would not be tempted to only partially complete the job. It was all or nothing.

Until I blew up the air conditioner. I was just starting on the side yard when I heard a loud hissing, felt a cold spray, and a large number flashed before my eyes: the cost of fixing what I just did. The lawnmower blade had cut into the line dryer on the condenser unit, and all the refrigerant had leaked out.

Our air conditioner guy is great, the actual number was smaller than what I had expected, and he even relocated the new line dryer so it wouldn't be in the lawnmower's path. Premium Air Services, if you would like the name of an extremely nice HVAC servicer who works Saturday mornings as a matter of course.

Also, Webulon returned!



More on Webulon tomorrow.

We Fell in Love with a House

When Annie and I first started looking at houses in the west part of town, we found a little gem that really got our attention:



Sorry for the scan resolution; perhaps the future will hold crisper images.

Continuing on, this tiny little place was in a quiet little corner of Tulsa, very little crime, quaint neighborhood, the works. The house had two outbuildings for storage, which it needed, because it was only 528 square feet. It had a carport. And the price was just about right. We really liked this house from the curb, too; it was a pretty place.

Then we went inside and really looked around. The back bedroom was just added on, probably without a permit, because it certainly didn't meet code. The walls bore cracks galore from a foundation poor. And the central air conditioner? Its outside unit was no longer resident. And the carport was in need of repair and/or replacement.

We realized that the house had real issues, considering the back bedroom and the foundation, so we had to cut the ties of our heart.

Pro 4:23 - Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it [are] the issues of life.

The Fire House Plan

Back before we knew anything about anything, we seriously considered fixing up a house that had been in a fire. We walked through, noted items that would need fixing, then went to the home improvement store. We found a contractor's pricing guide and got to work, using the following image as a guide:



I hope you find it entertaining. And no, the fluffy things with eighteens in their midst are not flowers, they are trees. Viewed from above. Not flowers. My coworker thought they were flowers. I'm still proud of my drawing. It was freehand.

Gen 1:11-12 - And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, [and] the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed [is] in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, [and] herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed [was] in itself, after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good.

More About the Fire House

I was hoping to have a picture up today instead of an excuse, but the scanner here at work is not operating properly. Perhaps tomorrow.

I mentioned the "Fire House" a while back, and I wanted to show you the diagram we drew of the place, with several notes about necessary improvements. It is a detailed thing, a cluttered thing, to some, a beautiful thing. Maybe I can find a scanner tonight and get it to you.

Anniversary!

Last week was our wedding anniversary, so we took a little trip out of town. It was fun, but no progress was made on the house last weekend. This week will be a little more backstory, with pictures! I'm pressed for time today, though; thanks for sticking with us!

The Hiatus Continues

Sorry, Everyone!

First, I should probably let everyone know that I'm all right; the fender-bender was not an injury accident. The other guy's insurance company is taking liability, and my claim is being processed.

Second, today's the fourth anniversary of our wedding. I hope you understand that we're preoccupied.

Third, the rainyness continues, precluding further work on the utility room wall.

There is information to pass on, but it'll have to wait. Thanks for your patience!

Sorry for the Hiatus

Hi, Everyone,

I got into a fender bender yesterday, and I've been consumed with the necessary paperwork with that. I hope you will all be patient as the news is postponed another day.

Indebted,
Justin

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Update on the utility room! Moisture totally seeps through the walls, but we can't seal it up until it's dry! The paint we got has a warranty with it, but that warranty is violated if we apply it on a wet surface. "When it's raining, it's too wet to fix it, and when it's dry, it's just as good as any man's house." This weekend might just be perfect for accomplishing all the little tasks inside.

Gen 7:18 - And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.

A New Record!

I felt I should solemnize the setting of a new record from this weekend. Previously, our longest-term visitor was Mark, with a time of approximately 12 hours. We are thinking of honoring him with a small plaque embedded in the floor where the furnace used to be.

His time has been smashed, however, as Annie's parents stayed nearly 28 hours. Congratulations, guys!

I Killed a Bush

Monday was Labor Day, meaning that it was a day where I was free to labor. I decided to attack the roots of the plants on the south side of the house, which we cut down the first day we owned it.

I thought the work would go quickly, as the ground is sandy. I set to work carving a bush's root system out of the ground, and it took me forty-five minutes of continuous hacking. A bush seems to have a really extensive root system. Astonishing, really. Good thing the shovel I was using had a sharp edge, and could cut through most of the roots with repeated strikes. The bush finally came free, and I gloated by carrying this ball of roots around like the severed head of Medusa.

Then it was dinnertime, and I was done hacking at roots. I'll continue working on those plants as time progresses, because they're starting to grow back.

Ecc 3:2 - A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up [that which is] planted.

A Fine Weekend

I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend! We worked on the utility room quite a bit. The walls are strange in there. Before I describe them, I'll show them to you.


As you see, there is a short concrete wall, which then politely steps out of the way and allows drywall to finish the space up to the ceiling. This concrete wall had some cracks in it, so we patched them up this weekend. Before we could do that, we had to clean the blocks, which was half a day for my father-in-law and me. We had a degreaser that required us first to wet down the wall, then apply the degreaser, then wait 30 minutes, then scrub off the degreaser while wetting down the wall. We did that twice, and it looks much nicer in there now. After that, we had to wait for the whole place to dry before we could apply the mortar fix to actually fill in the cracks. Scrubbing was Saturday, Patching was Monday.

The next step will be to paint the concrete blocks with some sealant. We can't do that for another couple of days, because the mortar fix can't be painted for 72 hours. We may do some more cleaning before then, too. Seems like a lot of waiting for such a simple project. :-)

Ecc 3:1 - To every [thing there is] a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

Labor Dabor

This weekend ought to be exciting. Big thanks to Jon for helping with the roof; it still keeps our interiors teh dryz. The utility room still has some openings to the outside world, so we're going clean it up and seal it up and Annie's parents are going to help us!

Of course, the biggest challenge of the weekend is getting the place ready for family to stay in the guest room. Not only have we had to move all of our junk out of that room, we've rearranged things to make it more hospitable. Also, i installed a light fixture above the sink in the bathroom, so there's no longer a gaping hole there.

There was a problem with an electrical socket this morning; I might prevail upon Annie to tell that story a little later on. Happy Labor Day!

Rain, Rain, Rain

It's been raining quite a bit here as of late. But not inside my house. And that makes me happy. The storms came through about 4am yesterday morning, and I arose after their passing to inspect the leaky area. There was no sign of a leak. Yay!

However, there is still an opening in the utility room above the concrete blocks that lets water in (though I don't believe the water has gotten that high lately). I ought to be able to dig in there a little bit tonight and seal it up with insulating foam.

Gen 6:14 - Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

Garage Rearranged!

Once again, time was invested over the weekend to rearrange the items in the garage room. This time, the purpose was twofold.

First, we had to gain access to the closets. We realized that one of them would probably be the best place to hide out if storms got tornadic. The water heater is in the other one, and it might be good not to cover that up perpetually.

Second, we intend to get the utility room nice this coming weekend. We have family coming up to help us in our housing quest, and the project is painting the blocks with sealing primer that will keep moisture out of the room. A lot of our stuff was in there, though; so we moved it into the garage room. Now only the mower, trash can, bicycles, and ladder live in the utility room (and a few tools on shelves).

Cramming everything into the one room required more efficiency than ever before. Behold!

The Bathroom is Coming Together

This past weekend, we did get some work done on the bathroom. I helped prime the walls, but Annie did pretty much all of the painting. Next will be some final towel racks and light fixtures. Behold!


I really like the color, maybe because of the name: SHARK LOOP!


Annie likes it, too!



We did some other work, also; more pics tomorrow, if the Lord wills!