This is about a generation off of my feelings about the choices being offered (missed “Skeletor” by a few years). We really need to be able to vote much more granularly than along so-called “party lines”. Everything comes as a package deal with a little bit that you agree with and then a whole lot … Continue reading New way of doing politics needed – or Skeletor for president
Arriving home after 5 days down South we were greeted with a VERY strong smell. I was thinking “Geez, what did the cat eat this time?”. But the answer came to us when we peeked out into the back and could see a couple of small barrels of sealant that still sitting on the patio. … Continue reading 2012 Home Renovations – Part 19 – Sealing the Deck, Start of Modular Retaining Wall
Things continue to proceed rapidly. So fast, in fact, that my contractor is slowing things down a bit to allow time for us to make decisions about colors and patterns now that we’ve got some of the reality of our project in front of us. I was not at all sure, with the weather forecasting … Continue reading 2012 Home Renovations – Part 18 – Finally, the deck pour
This article in Rolling Stone’s online magazine does not at all surprise me and only confirms my own experiences and opinion of Bank of America. This little snippet pretty aptly sums up the character of this corporate behemoth. Take your eyes off them for 10 seconds and guaranteed, they’ll be into some shit again: This … Continue reading Bank of America: Too Crooked to Fail
They say the devil is in the details and there are a whole lot of little details that are being dealt with both by the contractors and by Michelle and me. Final decisions have to be made for the color of the concrete and the way we want it cut – we’re doing a stamped … Continue reading 2012 Home Renovations – Part 17 – More Deck Pour Prep
Continuing to take advantage of the good weather, the guys worked on Saturday and got a whole lot more accomplished that both brings us closer to the deck pour next week and prepares us for the inspections that will be happening Monday. The remaining patio walls were all removed, here is an expanded 4 shot … Continue reading 2012 Home Renovations – Part 16 – Pool deck area ready for pouring, All patio walls removed
No shots from the existing patio today since you can’t see much change from there. But here we have a shot showing one of the trenches that were dug on either side of patio in preparation for the monolithic pour. Lanai supports will be bolted to this footing. and on the East side and the … Continue reading 2012 Home Renovations – Part 15 – Rest of driveway by house removed, Electrical, Gas and Water Returns in place
Continuing along at our rapid-fire pace, back fill and leveling around the pool has been completed. The French drain was installed behind the lanai retaining wall and the gap there was back filled and tamped The back yard has been recontoured into pretty much its final configuration. There will be a bit more done once … Continue reading 2012 Home Renovations – Part 14 -Backfill of pool retaining wall complete
The French Drain has been installed around the pool base and has been tied in (as far as I know) to that of the driveway retaining wall. It’s at this point that you realize exactly how much trust you have to have in your contractor and in the subcontractors. There is not a lot you … Continue reading 2012 Home Renovations – Part 13 – Backfill has begun Electrics have begun
Today the forms were removed revealing the new retaining walls. Michelle has some reservations about the height of the wall at the back of the lanai. In the original plan it was supposed to step down as you go from left to right finishing off maybe 2 feet off the ground When we revisited this … Continue reading 2012 Home Renovations – Part 12 – Retaining walls revealed
