Generous Benefactor

Hey gang!  I just wanted to give everyone a quick update on what's been going on around here.

As usual, I'm spending my free time working on the house.  No surprise there, right?  In other news, due to some government idiocy, along with other union hate, the trust that handles teachers' health benefits will sunset.  Teachers will be forced back into the EUTF, which handles the benefits for state workers.  The EUTF is insolvent.  They have come on record in the past saying that they cannot handle taking in all the teachers.  Even Gov. Lingle, who hates teachers, have said the EUTF is insolvent.  So what's going on?  The high ranking idiots based their decisions on incomplete reports (but take it as gospel), and believe by adding the premiums from teachers to the EUTF, it will magically become solvent.

It gets better.  Teacher have until Nov. 24 to make any changes in their health coverage.  The EUTF provided a memo with some old premiums listed, along with a note saying it will change in January.  But if you ask them what the new premiums will be, they will tell you they won't know until January... but you have to make your decision in November.  Oh, and good luck getting in touch with the EUTF.  They have a memo that says don't email or call since they don't have the staff to answer questions.

On the bright side, we finished our path.

Still have to add more plants.

Jess sent us a big gift card for Home Depot.  We tried to refuse her money since she moved to the insanely expensive MN where it's so cold you have to have a furnace fired by the flames of Hell.  However, she persisted, and to keep refusing would be rude.  So we went ahead with some more home improvements.  (We also had a 10% off coupon for 1 receipt for up to $2000)

We bought the $10 ceiling fan electrical box to mount the craigslist fan in the Elspeth Suite.  I had to get a cordless drill to do the work too.

I figured out what the previous owners had done in the room.  There used to be a fluorescent light fixture on the ceiling.  There was a box in the ceiling for fixtures, and it was mounted really well to the joist.  I'm sure it could support the weight of a ceiling fan if... if the threaded holes for mounting stuff weren't broken off.  Looked like they broke the box when they changed the fixture, and instead of replacing the box, they shoved some drywall anchors into the broken holes and used drywall screws to mount the fan.  Yikes!

Now we have a prettier and better quality fan in the Elspeth Suite.  The only problem is that it is a 2 bulb light rather than the 3 bulb of the old fan. 

Next thing we tackled was the dining room door.  It was big and sturdy, being a solid wood slab, but it looked dirty and the old threshold broke off so I had a temporary one that stuck up real high.  Plus, the little lady wanted a white door.  We decided on w steel 9 lite door.

The old door didn't come out easily.  Instead of shimming the door evenly, it was flush to one side of the framing.  I couldn't get my reciprocating saw into the gap, so I had to pull the nails.  Glad the previous teacher that had my classroom left a nail puller in the closet.  Oh, and the slab was heavy, thanks for asking.

Here's Wendy cleaning the rough opening.  The tile grout used to be flush to the old, non-existent threshold.  It didn't match up flush with the new door.  We had to chisel it out.

After dealing with crappy screws that stripped faster than a horny teenager on prom night, we got the door in.  I finally got to use the brad nailer I got with my air compressor.  Notice how my choice of orange for the vestibule works well with the red of the dining room.

Much more inviting than a big, brown slab.  Now we realize we'll need a curtain hahahaha.  K-Mart had some magnetic mount curtains... guess we'll go there.  Also notice that the vestibule has carpet... sort of.  We installed carpet tile to soften things out.  We used it to help connect the Elspeth Suite to the main house.  Like a carpeted mini-hallway outside.

Now for the main attraction.  When Jess came over to see the house, one of the first things she pointed out was the ugly, faux-marble ceiling fan.  She actually said that her house warming gift to us would be a new fan.

It's not that ugly, right?

Well Jess, you'll be glad to know that you got us a new fan.

And you know what the best part of this story is?  Right after we got the new fan and door, we got another Home Depot gift card.  This time it's from Wendy's mom and dad.  Wonder what we'll do next?  Floor moulding?  Fix all the screens on the house?  New window treatment to replace the miniblinds in the living room?  Hmmmmm.

Path to Glory

I'm supposed to be working on my Curriculum Studies homework right now...

Here's what happened since we hung the chandelier:

Wendy found a $160 ceiling fan on Craigslist for $45.  We bought it to replace the ugly faux marble fan we have in the living room.  However, although the fan can be mounted as a flush mount or angled ceiling mount, it's missing one part that we need.  So that fan will go into the Elspeth Suite since that fan's blades we sagging more than my waistline.

The Cassels lent us their chainsaws, so we took out the last African Tulip tree in our yard.  We also cut out most of the stumps in the yard.  We also hired a professional tree trimmer to take down the palm trees that were growing in the power lines.  It cost us $50, but we really didn't want to try to take down the trees ourselves since they could have dropped on the power lines or the neighbor's house.

This week we cleared the area between our front door and the garage.  We put down some edging and dumped a bunch of gravel.  We're not done, but here is where we're at so far:

Hoosier Daddy?

Say that title slowly.  I was doing that on the drive to the store today.  Got Wendy pretty annoyed too.

My Hoosier Mom and Hoosier Dad send me a card for my birthday.  Although it was one day early, I opened the envelope, just in case it was Ding-dongs.  Inside the card was some money!

"That's the same amount of money they gave me for my birthday, and I'm related to them," cried Elspeth.

Guess we know the pecking order for kids in the McDowell family now.  I'm right up there with blood.

Thanks mom and dad.  We used the money to get lunch at Garden Island Barbecue.  That's a restaurant I've been asking to go to for the last month, but always get vetoed.  With the remaining money, we're going to try and pick up a nightstand we saw on craigslist.

Swagging Swag

The old dining room had a ceiling fan.  Problems with the ceiling fan include:

• it was a cheapo piece of doodoo
• we never used the fan while dining
• it wasn't centered properly
• the lighting was harsh

We decided to get rid of it.  At first, we were planning on moving the dining room fan over to the living room.  The living room fan is a bit ugly.  However, it turns out the living room fan is a higher quality fan.

One day we were in the middle of our weekly Home Depot tour when we passed a clearance shelf.  On the shelf there were 2 chandelier priced at $39.  One was a large pendant-style light in black.  The other was a 3 light set up in brushed nickel.  Wendy wanted a pendant light.  I wanted something with multiple bulbs.  I won and we got the brushed nickel chandelier because I'm bigger and more menacing than Wendy.  (Actually, the pendant light, though a good size, lacked girth.  It looked too scrawny, and the black was too dark.)

It took us about 3 hours to take down the fan and install the light.  The fan took 10 minutes.  The chandelier took forever.  The directions were sparse.  There was just one sheet of paper.  The directions would mention parts by their names, but no reference sheet or diagram was given.  We had to guess which part was which.  There were 4 diagrams on the paper.  One showed how the light bulbs should be spaced.  Another showed how the chandelier mounted to the ceiling (this was helpful).  A third showed wiring... black wire goes to black, white goes to white.  The last diagram was just a side view of the light.  What would have been helpful would be a diagram showing how the top, middle, and bottom sections of the chandelier go together.

The best part of the instructions was something Wendy couldn't stop talking about.  The instructions kept mentioning balls and nipples.  Twist the balls on the ends of the nipples.  Wendy amused herself for 15 minutes straight giggling and saying, "balls and nipples."



We think it's a big improvement over the fan.

We got the swag hook in the garden area of Home Depot.  It's the exact same hook that is found in the lighting area, but in a different package.  It was also $2 cheaper.  Also, the original list price of the chandelier was $170.

Other improvements since last time:

• guest bathroom is now ice dance (light blue)
• we have a fridge.  an LG top freezer
• master bathroom painted violetta
• roses dug up out of the yard and potted
• my-side garage door opener died :(  new one on order
• Elspeth has a drafting table and is now painting flowers
• vestibule in the garage painted vintage orange (the women thought it was ugly, but all our visitors love it when they enter.  Ryan knows his colors)
• removed a dead rat, dead chick, and a nest from the attic
• installed soffit vent covers to keep rats and bird from building nests in the attic and dying
• motorcycle now parked in the garage

 Next step:

• landscape area in front of bedrooms with native Hawaiian plants
• get fake rocks to cover cesspool access covers
• landscape area between garage and front door.  We're planning on a rock garden/potted plant garden
• build a walkway from the driveway to the front door.  Either pavers or concrete.

House pictures

I spent the whole day digging out the ginger and heliconia in our yard (minus lunch time).  I had Elspeth take some pictures of the house so we could share.


Dining room to living room.


Living room.  Hard to tell, but the walls are safari.


Mid-century modern dining room table with McDonald's taro pie.


Kitchen.


Kitchen again.


Living room from hallway.


Foyer.  The kitchen cart will be removed some day.  Probably before we have kids.


Clearstory.


Guest bath.  Just recently painted.  Waiting until the paint cures before the shower curtain and mirror go back up.


Guest bath.


Bedroom #2 is currently our office.


Bedroom #1.  The brightest room.  Currently occupied by Elspeth.


Master Bedroom.  The purple really helps when trying to sleep.


Master.


En suite.


The mini-mart is very close.


The backyard hibiscus.  We'll have to trim it soon.


Backyard.


China.

Elspeth forgot to take pictures of the laundry room.  It's a really bright yellow.  Makes you feel all cheery doing laundry.  It does have a shower, toilet, and laundry tub.  I guess that makes it a .75 bath.  So our house must be a 2.75 bath.  However, we also have another shower outside of the laundry room, in the backyard.  We don't have any fences up, so it might not be a good place to be naked.  Hmmm... maybe our house has 2.85 baths?

What can you do with $50?

Wendy is out in Kalalau Valley for a week, and Elspeth is working at a night event at the NTBG.  Ryan is home bored, listening to the dishwasher.

So what did we do with the $50 Nick and Emily sent us?

1.  Changed all the locks on the house.
2.  Added deadbolts to all entry doors.  The entry from the garage has a keypad system.
3.  Added missing knobs to closets.
4.  Sprayed the entire house with Home Defense Max.
5.  Used Spectracide all around the yard.
6.  Replaced broken jalousie glass and straightened out screens.
7.  Changed all incandescent bulbs to CFLs.
8.  Replaced bathroom dimmer switches with illuminated switches.
9.  Added door stops to some of the doors.
10.  Waxed window rails.
11.  Cleaned windows.
12.  Steam cleaned the carpets.
13.  Patched drywall in the bathrooms, laundry room, living room.
14.  Painted the master bedroom purple, the tardis and dining room red, the living room safari, the laundry room buttery, and the guest bath blue.
15.  Moved all our stuff over.
16.  fixed the 3-way switches in the hallway.
17.  Replaced the vertical binds on the sliding glass door with sheer curtains.
18.  Fixed the speaker connector in the living room.
19.  Removed shelves from the entertainment center and patched the holes... including the one Wendy made with a prybar.
20.  Removed mini-blinds from the laundry room and added etched glass contact paper.
21.  Got a new washer and dryer combo.
22.  Put shelf paper in all the cabinets and pantry.
23.  Poisoned all the Guinea Grass.
24.  Caulked the laundry room shower.
25.  Got various tools and a roll-away tool chest.
26.  Replaced one of the garage door openers, fixed the non-working one.
27.  Installed a new threshold on the dining room entry, repaired the garage-side door one.
28.  Replaced the door sweep on the laundry room door.
29.  Fixed all three toilets. 
30.  Felled 2 out of 3 African Tulip trees.
31.  Took down a bunch of palm trees.
32.  trimmed the Heliconia and ginger out front.
33.  Got new hoses.
34.  Got new trash cans.
35.  Got a midcentury modern 7 piece dining room set, hutch, and side table.
36.  Got a heavy coffee table.
37.  Got 3 bar stools for the counter overhang.
38.  Patched some roof shingles.
39.  killed a bunch of ant living in fire detector.  Darn thing went off randomly and it was mounted all the way up the clearstory.
40.  Hung a mirror.
41.  Got a fire extinguisher for the kitchen.
42.  Replaced the motion sensor light for the driveway.
43.  Repaired the laundry room exterior light.
44.  Got a mini-fridge.

Fifty dollars goes a long way, eh?

I was going to post some pics, but Wendy didn't take any with her good camera.

I'm a Homo...

...wner.  The title has been recorded in our names and now we own the TARDIS house.