Since I have been talking about home improvement so much, I am now starting to get refers off those kind of searches. Boy, I bet those folks are disappointed.
Home Improvements
Decision Made!
The color for the living room has been officially picked out. Yeah, I know that color swatch says Ralph Lauren on the back, but I won’t be paying RL prices. I am sure Sherwin Williams can match that swatch just fine. Heh, heh.
Das Wochenende
Oh yeah. Did you want to know what happened over the weekend? No? Well, you’re gonna hear about it anyway.
1) Friday Night: I dry walled with dad … again. All that is left to do is the archway into the dining area and all the dry wall will be up. Then we mud it (about six times from what I am told) and then it’s time for painting. Yeah!
2) Saturday: Went and helped my cousin, Lynnette, finally join the 21st century. Yep. She finally got a dvd player … plus we did some other running around. I had a birthday gift that I needed to get for my niece’s 2nd birthday party for that night. Geez. Hard to believe that she is two years old already. I went to the party that night and drooled over the cute, married, ultra-die hard Baptist redneck (he goes to my sister’s church). Plus I annoyed my sister’s in-laws just for the fact that I three earrings in. Heh, heh. Came back to the house and proceeded to drink way too much way too quickly. Eeep. Then to bed!
3) Sunday: Spent most of the day recovering from said drinking binge on Saturday evening. Ugh. Two naps didn’t seem to help me recover any better. Oh well. I got the house all spankingly clean for the combo Lynnette/Jack birthday dinner that we had last evening at my place. We all had a nice time and hung out and ate and talked and stuff. Then it was off to bed for some much needed rest.
And here I am back at work plugging away at my design work and wishing I could take a nap. I am hoping that Dad doesn’t make it by for dry walling tonight as I want to eat dinner and rest some. God, I feel old.
Still Improving
Now, don’t get the wrong idea. I wasn’t trying to imply that I have been down in the dumps this week. I finally seem to have kicked that cold and have spent the last two nights with my father ripping down that final wall and putting up new dry wall in the house. We will finish it up tonight because we only lack three pieces being done. Yes!!! I can’t even begin to tell you how happy this makes me. All that need to be done after that is taping, mudding and then, finally, painting. It’s gonna look so sweet when its finished.
The weekend should be pretty busy with three birthdays to celebrate … my niece (now two years old), Lynnette (the kidney stone queen) and Jack. Plus, I have a “care package” to start thinking about.
Updates
I hate this. I am still battling the remnants of the cold that I picked up in Missouri last week. I’m feeling ok, but I can’t seem to get any strength going. My arms and hands feel especially weak. I wish that I could take another day off work and just sleep all day long. We all know that ain’t gonna happen … right?
In other news …
I appears that “G” is coming back here instead of staying down in Florida where he belongs. I am not quite sure how to feel about this. On one hand, I pretty excited because I have missed having him around to hang out with. On the other hand, I wonder if I can keep my emotions in check and not get all stupid over him again. I guess time will tell on this one.
My father is coming over this evening and we start tearing out the old dry wall on the interior wall of the house. Whoo. Here we go with more mess. I hate mess. The story is that dad has someone who can come in and put up the new dry wall way faster than we can, so may the living room won’t be too wreck-ish for too long this time around.
Busy and Stressed
Well, another day of quickly getting work done before my 2:00 p.m. leave time is in store. Ah, the joy of going on vacation … lots of stress before you hit the door. The weekend was fairly busy as well. The exterior wall of the living room has been dry-walled. When I get back it will be time to start on the interior wall that needs to come down. Whoo.
Progess!
Happiness is new drywall.
Insulated!
Happiness is a newly insulated wall.
Happiness Is …
Happiness is a new door.
Updates
Weekend Update:
Well, it was a full weekend of doing home owner type of stuff. Pretty sad when you have to come back to work to get some rest.
1) Dry wall purchased and delivered.
2) New door purchased and hung.
3) New insulation installed in exterior living room wall.
4) Weather proofing finally completed.
Movie Update:
Yep. Saw the remake of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” this weekend as well. There is so much that I could say about this movie, so I will save you all the rambling of a horror film lover’s opinion on the death of the horror film ’cause it would just bore you. “Chainsaw” is a good example of what is wrong with horror films. Now don’t get me wrong … it has its moment and when they happen they are really, really good. But on the whole the film is sacrificed to “atmosphere” and “mood” to try and scare. The art direction is a little overdone. Every single location is done up to be menacing and creepy. What makes the first film work so well is that all the locations have the appearance of normalcy until all the mayhem starts happening. The family’s house looks very average from the outside … but then you enter and find the killing room. The music for the remake is also overdone as well. Silence is a far more effective tool at unsettling viewers than constant ominous music. The original “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” used very little music and when it was used it is a “noise” that is very effective (see also “The Exorcist” for great usage of the silence to set up scares). The casting of R. Lee Ermey in a major role is also a problem for the film. He does his typical “Full Metal Jacket” schtick which comes off more as parody instead of being truly unhinged and unsettling. When I saw the movie his character got more laughs than anything. I know, I know. I shouldn’t be comparing the original to the remake … but to see what works about older horror films and doesn’t work about new ones, the comparison of the old “Chainsaw” and the new one is a good place to start. Before the film started we were treated to a trailer for the new “director’s cut” of “Alien.” Even with a few minutes of crappy new footage this film will be far more terrifying than the new “Chainsaw” could ever hope to be.
Travel Update:
In one week I leave for the wilds of Missouri. Whee!
Here We Gooooooooo!
When you start ripping down the walls in your house you make it look like a horror movie is being made there … especially when the original wall turn out to be a minty green color. Damn. Why did I start remodeling? I’ll give you three guesses what I am going to be doing this evening.
1-2) The outer living room wall minus paneling.
3-4) Aftermath of rewiring.
Feelin’ Butch
Argh! My living room is now a total disaster. The reworking of some of the wiring got done last night. Tonight, I have to finish tearing out the one wall and put some new insulation in. Whoo. I am starting to feel all butch and handy-manish. In the meantime, amuse yourself with pictures from “Wit,” a show I was in this past August. I got to play a “clinical fellow working in the Medical Oncology branch” of a research hospital. Quite fun. As always, you can get there from the About page as well.
And I Opened the Can
Yeesh. Started pulling down the paneling in the living room (I hate paneling) and have now opened the proverbial “can of worms.” Photos of the mess will probably appear at some point. New dry wall here we come!