Updates Updates and more Updates

Whew, it's been so long since I updated that I almost forgot my password.
At long last, here's some of the things we've got going on around the house....
Backyard fires in the cool outdoor firepit thingy, I am slowly but surely making my way through the overflowing shopping cart of wood plus the ivy, grapevines and other branches and sticks in the backyard. It's really pretty, although some neighbors seem to think I'm burning leaves (I can hear them "mumble" as they walk two doors down through their yard) but whatever, if they're curious, they should come over and introduce themselves and see what I'm up to. Speaking of coming over--anyone with a craving for that campsite fire feeling, feel free to come by and visit anytime! I'm always up for a backyard bonfire.

There's also been some weather stripping happening as you can see...

My very handy, weather stripping expert friend Dan came over to give me some tips, and generally walk me through my first attempt at cutting down the drafts. Here you can see us yanking nails and tacks and staples and everything else that the previous owners had in the door frame--there was a lot! Dan also showed me proper placement for insulating our windows. I thought we had single hung windows meaning that the top stays in place and only the bottom moves, so after Dan left, I went through the house with some handy DAP window filler stuff that you can shape and work with a putting knife and I filled the extra gaps at the tops of many windows since it's drafty up there and I assumed they had just settled. Now there's no more drafts and we're toasty warm but come to find out, we in fact do have double hung windows...so now I've successfully sealed up some top windows that I guess could have otherwise been moved at some point, but really, who ever moves their top windows anyways? Maybe I should have trusted Dan's hesitancy with that expanding filler stuff...it's okay though and we'll be warm.

Speaking of warmth! The boiler guy came back out again (a while ago now) because we were still having problems with the heat coming on, and I was getting tired of having to jiggle plugs to get the gas to release (doesn't sound too safe does it?) plus it seemed the relief valve kept releasing water meaning that the expansion tank wasn't doing it's job. So they came back out, determined we needed a new control box and later he decided he'd replace the damper too (all covered under the house warranty) and he said we needed a new expansion tank cause ours was super old and not doing it's job. He couldn't find the valve to release the water in the tank because at some point apparently someone had plugged up what would have been the valve--this is really annoying because since he relayed that information to the home warranty people, they said they won't cover it. Now here's what's frustrating about this, what is supposed to be covered is something that was installed properly when it was installed. One could surmise that when this tank was installed, it had a valve, no argument there. BUT because at some point someone had the bright idea to plug up the valve, now it's rendered altered and not covered. I'm all for honesty but this info was extraneous and really unnecessary for the warranty people, they would have covered it, they don't require the contractors to send in the extra parts or anything. So now we're not covered and it's sorta expensive and I was pretty frustrated. But here's the thing--I don't think we need to replace it anymore because the "boiler" hasn't expelled excess water since he rigged up the control box to keep working while he waited on the parts. So what I'm thinking is that maybe all the on and off business with the boiler was forcing it to work too hard, thus driving up the pressure and creating the need to release excess water out of the safety valve and now that that's not happening anymore, the floor around the safety valve has been dry for weeks. I think we're cool now, but it's something to monitor. They're coming on Saturday to replace the control box and the damper...I'll see if I can get an "in action" shot...

In other news, the roofers came back to adjust the gutters because they were leaking and that's not supposed to happen with new gutters, plus the water wasn't flowing the way it should. They seem to have alleviated the initial leaking spots, only now there are others so I need to make another phone call and see if they can fix that before we have another cold snap. Perhaps constant adjustments are normal for a custom sort of job like roofing and gutters? Hopefully they'll work the rest of the kinks out soon.

Homowners 1 : Toilet 0

Another small victory around the house was in the third floor bathroom. We still had on this old puffy blue toilet seat from the last owners that had to go, but the bolt had rusted on it COMPLETELY. whew, nothing would get this thing off, I used liquid wrench to loosen it up, sprayed and twisted, sprayed and let it soak, sprayed some more, nothing. We tried a two woman approach with HJ on the screwdriver and me on the wrench, then we switched places, still nothing. I called over to my favorite homeowning gurus for any additional ideas and after taking an on the spot poll, Tonya said the resounding suggestion was the hacksaw approach and lent me theirs, but I couldn't get it between the bolt and the toilet, there just wasn't any room. So the next great idea was to just drill the damn bolt and after the success HJ and I had drilling the hell out of that stubborn stump (see "THE STUMP" post) I was sorta excited, and a little nervous that we'd miss and crack the toilet...so of course, I waited for Dad and he had a brilliant idea. It we sawed off the seat and got rid of the plastic on top between the bolt and the toilet, now we could get a hacksaw in there (as opposed to working from the bottom). This was BRILLIANT, we sawed that nasty seat off and after maybe 20 minutes of sawing (it was a thick bolt) and some twisting, we had it off and declared VICTORY of the toilet.

Other exciting news from the bathroom (only this time from the second floor) is that we got the toilet reseated (by a very cranky rude disrespectful and incompetent plumber named Murray Resnick--STAY AWAY FROM THIS JACKASS) he did it crookedly and we had to call him back and it's still crooked, only not as much. Total jerk, there just aren't enough words to express how awful this man is, he must be really really really unhappy and in my more compassionate moments I can wonder about just what's troubling him and wish him healing in whatever way he needs it. But those moments are rare because this guy gets my blood boiling and I really just want to kick him in the ass. He was supposed to fix our interesting little shower situation. When you turned on the water for a shower, not only did you get a shower, but you got a foot wash since water poured out the tub spout too AND lucky you, you got a little excitement from the diverter button if you were the right height for it since it sprayed out of there too. This guy made us wait at least two weeks and when he finally did come to "fix" it, he didn't fix it at all, it stopped spraying out of the diverter button but still came pouring out of the tub and he tried to sell us on the fact that this was normal. Tell me, in what world is POURING out the tub normal unless you are indeed taking a bath? So HJ and I tag teamed (she stayed home for him because he and I would have had it out) but I was on phone duty with the warranty people and after relaying to them again how he was incompetent and disrespectful and rude, we requested a second opinion. So Beck Plumbing came out and the guy was quirky but nice and thorough--totally thorough and the whole time he's commenting, "this is just silly, why did they need a second opinion on this? It's obvious you've got a bad diverter." And guess what, he fixed it right then, no waiting for parts, he just went around the corner to the plumbing store, got what he needed and fixed it for us. And on top of that, he took the time through the whole process to explain to me what he was doing, why this was happening and that we should expect a little trickle of water out of the tub spout because it's not a positive shut off, so the water is just being diverted (hence the name) and since we've got such good water pressure, the little plastic diverter can't hold it all back, but it'll hold 99% back, which NOW it does. Take that Murray you big jerk.

Last but definitely not least, we're now fully furnished! In our prep for Christmas and having both families come to stay, we collected enough beds and furniture to take care of our dining room and the rest of the bedrooms. A special huge thanks goes out to all the family who donated great stuff and helped us pack (Maggie, Mom and Dad, Bob, Dave and Tina) and our great pals who must love us very very very much to keep coming out to help, particularly with moving. Kimberly, Tyron, and Azu where returning movers and Erin joined us for the first time--and she's still friends with us! (at least I think so...). In any move, I think there's generally one piece of furniture that makes you cuss and question why you're friends with this person who has such a ridiculously heavy and awkward piece and rethinking how they roped you into helping in the first place. In the past, this had been my big blue couch. Well, this time it was a captain's bed that was heavy as hell and of course, you know, it had to go to the third floor.... Yes, there was some scraping and some ankle bruising, some yelping and general exhaustion, some pleading and rationalizing for why this would look great on the front porch, and lots and lots of teamwork. These guys are great and just as a side note, I feel the need to point out that Kimberly is the strongest woman I have ever encountered. It's sorta superhuman the things she can lift and carry....sometimes I have to wonder just what does she put in her Wheaties?

Just to wrap it up, this is an open invitation for folks to stop on by and visit us between Christmas and New Years, we've both taken the week off and while HJ might still have school, once all our wonderful visitors are back in their own homes, we'll be doing a lot of relaxing and chilling out. So if you know where we live and we're friends--then you're invited :) hee hee

Come on by for a fire and some holiday spirits--the house looks awesome all dressed up for Christmas! Pictures to follow I'm sure.