Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Free State Race Report
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Roe Circle in Another Book
Sam works above the AIA office in downtown Kansas City and a couple weeks ago came across this book. A 2000 edition of the AIA Guide to Kansas City. It is good for answering the random, what is the deal with that house/building questions.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Random Updates
Well, the last few weeks have been busy to say the least. We've been tying up some odds'n'ends before we can purchase the new carpeting, and we both ran 40 miles on Saturday (race reports and pictures coming soon). The new tankless water heater and air handler will be installed on Friday. It will be nice to see how much room in the furnace room that frees up. Eventually, we want to make it a true half bath instead of just a toilet behind some vertical blinds. The truck is limping along. John's back up plan is to have his bicycle in the back, just in case he breaks down somewhere.
The flowers are almost done for the year, but here's what the yard looked like a few weeks ago. I just recently realized they sent me one of the wrong colors. I ordered a red/gold mix and instead I had small fuchsia tulips pop up with feathered edges. Oh well, at least everything grew.
I couldn't believe how long the daffodils hung on. We'll probably move the bulbs around some this fall, but I was glad to see everything came up just fine.
The mural in the bedroom is finished. With the flash, it's hard to see the silver tree. I'm debating putting another smaller one on the left side of the wall...
John took apart the headboard for me to paint. The bed will be painted the same, as will a bookshelf from the living room. Most of the furniture in the living room and our bedroom will be a black/brown finish. It was actually really easy to do. I watch WAY too much Color Splash.
Here's the first coat of chocolate brown paint, put on thin enough to still see the wood grain through. That was followed by a thin coat of black using a dry chip brush. It turned out nice, but we didn't take a close up. Maybe when the entire bed is finished.
We're hoping to go carpet shopping sometime this week, John wants to finish the fireplace this week and then pull trim and paint this weekend. That means realistically, we could have new carpeting in the next month. I don't know what I'll do when there's no exposed sub floor!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Never Buy a GMC Vehicle!
Here is the latest in the on-going saga of my truck. Thursday night everything is running fine. Friday morning it starts very hard, the check engine light comes on, and it sputters on the way to work. Saturday, same as Friday. I take it in to the dealership again this morning. Keep in mind it has been in for new brakes, alternator, radiator, knock sensor, and transmission over the past two months. That on top of leaving us stranded out of town twice in the past couple months. Late in the afternoon they call back and tell me it had 7 engine codes come up in the computer. Seven! I am pretty sure there are only 7 parts on that truck I haven't replaced. So I ask how much to fix it this time? The response, "well we have to replace your catalytic converters to a tune of $900 BEFORE we can figure out what is wrong with the engine." Needless to say this is the last I am dealing with GM. Anybody in the market for a very clean 2000 GMC Sonoma lawn ornament with 70,000 miles. It doesn't run but has lots of shiny new parts.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Placing the Concrete Fireplace Surround
It has been a very productive weekend so far. We are getting ready to go for a run so I figured a post just for yesterday's big project was appropriate. We got the concrete fireplace surround placed yesterday. I have spent the last couple weeks after work tweaking a concrete fireplace mixture based off of quikcrete.
The before picture with the reinforcement set aside and cardboard down to protect everything.
Now this is a setup. Due to the small size of the mixer, or the large size of the fireplace, I had to do two separate mixtures which makes the logistics interesting. The concrete is based off of quikcrete but I made it stronger and lower shrinkage using various chemical admixtures. It is handy to know the right people. The concrete is black so I had to buy some pigment. The smallest amount of pigment I could buy was for 1 cubic yard of concrete. Since the fireplace is 3 cubic feet, I have lots left. If you need any black concrete objects let me know and I will make you a deal.
Look at those rippling bi-ceps. Our neighbor Mark knows where I can get a 5 cubic foot (this one can only mix about 1.5 cf) gas powered mixer for cheap. Hopefully for the rest of the summer projects we will have more mixing capacity. I can't wait to be placing concrete outside or into more normal shapes.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Happy Easter from Roe Circle
I finished prepping the fireplace surround. Hopefully we can get that placed next weekend. After work I have been tweaking my concrete mixture recipe and getting close. Once this is done I have a few other concrete projects on the books. We need a firepit, table, and some benches for the patio. As you can see I had all the help I could handle. Although a few extra thumbs would be nice.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
The Smell of Spring is in the Air
The pear trees are beginning to show some color.
Friday, April 3, 2009
A much needed vacation (Part 2)
Many of the metro stops have original art deco entrances.
The Moulin Rouge. This area is a little seedy in the day so no we did not see a show.
Sam on the steps.
Sam at the Sear's tower.
Very climbable.
The view of Paris from our hotel. It was pretty grey.
The rose window at Notre Dame.
Carnaby Street in London. This was the hippie center during the 60's. It has been turned into a high end shopping area.
Meeting a new friend. Hey look, another Krispy Kreme.
Enjoying a beverage with the locals.
Time for another.Sam at the airport enjoying a British past time, queuing. This is 30 minutes before we boarded the plane, they were already lining up.
Coming home to springtime.
I don't speak much french, just enough to spend money.