Monday, March 31, 2008
Back from Boston (pic heavy)
Four days in Boston. For work. Boston has lots to do, but since I worked all day each day, I didn't get to experience any of it.
The hotel was first class. It said so right on the hair dryer.
The view from the hotel room on the 32nd floor was nice. Prudential Building, day and night.
The convention was huge, and had animals for some reason. Penguins not sold by the pound!
The hotel was first class. It said so right on the hair dryer.
The view from the hotel room on the 32nd floor was nice. Prudential Building, day and night.
The convention was huge, and had animals for some reason. Penguins not sold by the pound!
Ohhh, artsy!
(Fine, just shitty auto-focus. But it looks cool.)
Flamingo makes a break for it on the convention floor.
Work-wise, the trip was a success. My just-in-from-the-printer books were a big hit with folks, and we completely sold out of one of the titles (and we had shipped hundreds of copies)! The book signings were well attended, and the authors were all very pleased with the final product (since we had just received the books the day before the conference, the authors were seeing them for the first time at the conference).
Aside from work, the trip was kind of pathetic. Working all day, grabbing lunch at the food court on the convention floor, and figuring out where to eat dinner that's walking distance from the hotel. Eating lunch alone is one thing, but going to a restaurant and eating dinner alone is a drag. If the place is halfway decent, you're the only one dining alone, and they adjust the lighting for ambiance, so it's too dark to read the book you brought along. I'm sure people do it all the time, but going to restaurants with someone else is much more enjoyable. By day three, I was in "lonely businessman" mode. Just ready to go home. Plus, I picked up an annoying cough somewhere (probably breathing the airplane air in the cramped seats of coach class. Whine).
I'm beat, and I have to go to the dentist at 8:30 tomorrow morning for a crown. I think I'll call it a day and head home after that. I'll be in no mood to go to the office.
(Fine, just shitty auto-focus. But it looks cool.)
Flamingo makes a break for it on the convention floor.
Work-wise, the trip was a success. My just-in-from-the-printer books were a big hit with folks, and we completely sold out of one of the titles (and we had shipped hundreds of copies)! The book signings were well attended, and the authors were all very pleased with the final product (since we had just received the books the day before the conference, the authors were seeing them for the first time at the conference).
Aside from work, the trip was kind of pathetic. Working all day, grabbing lunch at the food court on the convention floor, and figuring out where to eat dinner that's walking distance from the hotel. Eating lunch alone is one thing, but going to a restaurant and eating dinner alone is a drag. If the place is halfway decent, you're the only one dining alone, and they adjust the lighting for ambiance, so it's too dark to read the book you brought along. I'm sure people do it all the time, but going to restaurants with someone else is much more enjoyable. By day three, I was in "lonely businessman" mode. Just ready to go home. Plus, I picked up an annoying cough somewhere (probably breathing the airplane air in the cramped seats of coach class. Whine).
I'm beat, and I have to go to the dentist at 8:30 tomorrow morning for a crown. I think I'll call it a day and head home after that. I'll be in no mood to go to the office.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
In dreams, I (don't) talk with you...
Blog post title from Roy Orbison's "In Dreams." Appropriate today.
I usually only remember my dreams when I'm ill, so it's odd that I recall last night's dream so vividly (hope it doesn't mean I'm getting sick. I made it through winter without getting a cold even once, so it would suck to be ill while on a business trip!).
In the dream Skynet took over the internet, only instead of eradicating the human race, it simply started recording everything we said. Everything. If you said something out loud, Skynet recorded it onto the screen. The only option the human race had was to stop talking. Forever. (Hey, it's a dream. I didn't control the logic of the thing!) As a result, an entire generation of children were never taught to speak.
Then I woke up when one of the cats meowed super-loud, demanding breakfast.
Added at 1:30pm: All three of my spring books arrived today. This means that I made deadline on all of them. That means they'll all be making their debut at the conference in Boston. This means I kick ass! (humbly kick ass).
I usually only remember my dreams when I'm ill, so it's odd that I recall last night's dream so vividly (hope it doesn't mean I'm getting sick. I made it through winter without getting a cold even once, so it would suck to be ill while on a business trip!).
In the dream Skynet took over the internet, only instead of eradicating the human race, it simply started recording everything we said. Everything. If you said something out loud, Skynet recorded it onto the screen. The only option the human race had was to stop talking. Forever. (Hey, it's a dream. I didn't control the logic of the thing!) As a result, an entire generation of children were never taught to speak.
Then I woke up when one of the cats meowed super-loud, demanding breakfast.
Added at 1:30pm: All three of my spring books arrived today. This means that I made deadline on all of them. That means they'll all be making their debut at the conference in Boston. This means I kick ass! (humbly kick ass).
Monday, March 24, 2008
Instant friendship
We took Friday off and had a long weekend at the river with various family members. Our new pup immediately made friends with the German shepherd, which was rather surprising, but also says a lot about what a positive effect two weeks of someone giving him positive attention has had. He's a different dog now.
I'm off to Boston on Wednesday through Saturday for work. Going to check online for things in the vicinity of the hotel.
I'm off to Boston on Wednesday through Saturday for work. Going to check online for things in the vicinity of the hotel.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
By request: Wall 'O Fame!
I'm cheating a little bit, since they're not all on one wall, but they're all in my windowless office! Pictures are:
BONUS PICTURES:
- Sam Jones and Melody Anderson from 1980 Flash Gordon movie
- Yvonne Craig (Batgirl) from the 1960s Batman show.
- John Hart was the replacement Lone Ranger for one season of the 1950s TV show when the original Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore) was fired for asking for a raise. Moore returned the following season and Hart was shown the door, just like Coy and Vance (the one-season replacement Duke boys on the Dukes of Hazard.)
- Elvis and his karate instructor Fang Rhee. Interestingly, rather than sign the big pic, in included a wallet-sized photo for free and signed that instead, so I included the inset photo in the frame.
- Kyra Schon, the little girl who (40-year-old spoiler alert!) becomes a zombie and kills her parents in the original Night of the Living Dead.
- The team of the SciFi channel show SciFi Investigates. They traveled around the country and explored Bigfoot, Roswell, Voodoo, Ghosts, etc. The team included reality television mainstay "Boston Rob" and my father-in-law's brother (which is why we have this signed picture).
- Clive Barker. Met him at Book Expo working at my last job. Nice guy. I've read a lot of his books, though not the last few. His newest is supposed to be a return to horror after a decade of other subjects, so I'll have to check it out.
- Couldn't resist getting Elvis doing one of his signature Vegas stage moves in his karate uniform.
- My Peace Corps group with Danny Glover at the American Embassy in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Mr. Glover was in town for FESPACO, the West African Film Festival, and we were all invited to stop by the embassy for a photo-op. Then we we ushered out because we didn't mingle with the State Department crowd. We were dirty volunteers.
BONUS PICTURES:
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Irish dogs and Irish beer
A quiet but enjoyable St. Patrick's Day. We took the dogs on a long walk, then found the NYC St. Patrick's Day parade on TV and had it on as background for 2.5 hours. I had a Guinness, then a Smithwick's (pronounced "Smitticks"). Yes, I linked to a beer. It's that good. I first had it on tap at one of our million area Irish pubs. (This particular pub is about the most authentic, as it actually brings folks over from Ireland and gives them jobs. No, it's not slavery! That's something else entirely.) Guinness only started importing Smithwick's to the United States in 2004, and now it's available at grocery stores across the region (here at least. Harris Teeter, Giant, and Safeway all have it). YUM. To quote Benjamin Franklin: Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.Monday, March 17, 2008
Punch-drunk and testy
Wow, I discovered I can be a little bitch when I don't get enough sleep. Friday night, between the cats climbing on me and the new dog's excitement each time one of the cats did that, I was awoken about every hour from midnight to 7am, when I finally got up for good. Sleep like that doesn't help your body. There's no time to enter the deep sleep mode your mind needs to process the events of the day and go into "sleep" mode. Saturday morning I felt as if I'd spent the night trying to sleep on a cross-country bus. A bus full of skittish animals. Plus Kirby, being a puppy, hasn't learned that you don't bite everything around you, including the cats and me.
So even though we had a perfectly nice day together, I snapped at my wife when we got lost going to a deli we had heard of (an authentic NY deli run by a NYC transplant). The pastrami sandwich I got was amazing, by the way. I'll try to recall the name of the place.
Sunday morning Laura demanded I sleep in, got all the animals out of the room, and woke me up two hours later to a big breakfast. What a difference a day makes. I was in a much better mood all day. On the home improvement front, all I did was install new blinds in the guest bedroom where the cats have taken refuge. We (the two humans in the house) spent the afternoon hanging out, reading and relaxing. In the late afternoon I attempted to watch the documentary on disc 2 of the Blade Runner box set... and promptly fell asleep. The gentle tones of Ridley Scott were like a bedtime story being read to me.
I'm optimistic about this week, and I know I'm lucky to have someone who can remember the good in me, even when I'm showing my worst.
So even though we had a perfectly nice day together, I snapped at my wife when we got lost going to a deli we had heard of (an authentic NY deli run by a NYC transplant). The pastrami sandwich I got was amazing, by the way. I'll try to recall the name of the place.
Sunday morning Laura demanded I sleep in, got all the animals out of the room, and woke me up two hours later to a big breakfast. What a difference a day makes. I was in a much better mood all day. On the home improvement front, all I did was install new blinds in the guest bedroom where the cats have taken refuge. We (the two humans in the house) spent the afternoon hanging out, reading and relaxing. In the late afternoon I attempted to watch the documentary on disc 2 of the Blade Runner box set... and promptly fell asleep. The gentle tones of Ridley Scott were like a bedtime story being read to me.
I'm optimistic about this week, and I know I'm lucky to have someone who can remember the good in me, even when I'm showing my worst.
Friday, March 14, 2008
What a week!
I got all three books to the printer over a period of six business days. I'm beat! We also had a drama with a server failing. This server holds all our work emails, which in today's "paperless" society often act as binding contracts ("Can you get me an index by 'x' date? Sure, no problem."). Definitely had a few days this week when I was sweating that. But they installed a new server and were able to import the archive from the last back-up date, so in all I only lost from March 6 to the 13th. I can live with missing last week, as long as the past six years are still there!
Kirby is definitely settling in to our home. He and Lexi play in the backyard together now.
Last night Kirby and I had a boy's night and watched Lost together. He fell asleep halfway through, which is understandable since he was born three seasons in and couldn't keep up with the plot.
As you can imagine, I've been a bit busy at home this week as well, so not a lot of time to read (Granted, I'm probably not as busy as De, as I always have the option of getting a little peace by sending the dogs into the backyard... an action that's frowned upon when it comes to babies!). I'm currently reading 2061: Odyssey Three. Love those weird monoliths and the mystery over who put them there and what they do. It shouldn't take me weeks to finish a 250-page book, but I'm lucky to get a chapter in here and there.
Looking forward to a somewhat relaxing weekend, with no big home improvement chores scheduled.
PS: Holy shit, here's something great for Friday: Kate pointed me to the awesome website of Kang H. Rhee, Karate instructor to one Elvis Aaron Presley. Check it out here: elviskarate.com. The picture of Elvis and Rhee on the wall of fame at Corky's Bar-B-Q in Memphis? I ordered a copy for myself from Mr. Rhee. It's going on my wall of fame here at work!
Kirby is definitely settling in to our home. He and Lexi play in the backyard together now.
Last night Kirby and I had a boy's night and watched Lost together. He fell asleep halfway through, which is understandable since he was born three seasons in and couldn't keep up with the plot.
As you can imagine, I've been a bit busy at home this week as well, so not a lot of time to read (Granted, I'm probably not as busy as De, as I always have the option of getting a little peace by sending the dogs into the backyard... an action that's frowned upon when it comes to babies!). I'm currently reading 2061: Odyssey Three. Love those weird monoliths and the mystery over who put them there and what they do. It shouldn't take me weeks to finish a 250-page book, but I'm lucky to get a chapter in here and there.Looking forward to a somewhat relaxing weekend, with no big home improvement chores scheduled.
PS: Holy shit, here's something great for Friday: Kate pointed me to the awesome website of Kang H. Rhee, Karate instructor to one Elvis Aaron Presley. Check it out here: elviskarate.com. The picture of Elvis and Rhee on the wall of fame at Corky's Bar-B-Q in Memphis? I ordered a copy for myself from Mr. Rhee. It's going on my wall of fame here at work!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Things are always better with a jetpack!
I just read that Dave Stevens, creator of the comic book and movie hero The Rocketeer died of leukemia on March 10. He created a world that celebrated the old serials of the golden age, fighting nazis and saving the girl. There's a nice remembrance of him HERE. It says that one of the people who encouraged Stevens early in his career was Jack Kirby. How about that? This week's posts have a theme.
+=+=+=+=+=+
Here's why comics are such a hoot. I stumbled across a description of Power Man and Iron Fist #125:
Final Issue. Guest-starring the Falcon, Misty Knight, the Avengers, and Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four. Spider-Man and Daredevil cameos. Story by Mike Esposito. Art by Janice Chiang. It's the end of the road for the Heroes for Hire and crazy John Lumas wants to make sure they go out with a bang. And can it be... Luke Cage is accused of the murder of Danny Rand? Plus, Twelve year old Bobby Wright's (Captain Hero) condition gets steadily worse. Can the chi of Iron Fist save the boy? In this issue witness the tragic death of two heroes. All this plus Power Man and Iron Fist take on the 1985 Super Bowl Champions the Chicago Bears in a football game.
That last sentence is gold. Oh, two heroes (the white martial arts master and the indestructible blaxsplotation bad-ass) play football against the guys who recorded the Super Bowl Shuffle. And it's not even the main story!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Damn Daylight Saving Time
Both dogs slept on the bed last night, but Lexi is still not into the idea of cuddling up to the newcomer, so it took some shifting around before everyone was cool. I had to sleep in the middle, with a dog on either side. Great, I'm the human buffer. More astounding was the fact that our little girl cat jumped on the bed and snuggled up to me, her desire for (affection? warmth? pets?) easily overcoming her wariness of the new dog. Buzz will now walk through the room, eying the new dog, but won't stay in the same room yet.
Every hour, Kirby is a little more bold. He discovered the kitchen, which he had previously avoided, and Lexi's food bowl, which is licked, since it was empty. He's still scared to walk down the three steps to the back door, but he has no fear at all going up them into the house, usually leading the way with Lexi behind.
Each morning when I leave for work, Lexi stands at one of the vertical windows on either side of the front door and watches me leave. This morning I looked up after starting the car to back out of the driveway and saw Lexi at one window and Kirby at the other. So he's venturing away from the sanctuary of the sofa now. I'm going to pop home for a minute at lunch to let the dogs out and make sure everything is cool.
Oh, and the title of this post comes from the fact that I awoke this morning, with a dog on either side, pinning me under the blankets, to see it was 6:45. I usually leave for work at that time. I was behind schedule this morning only because we jumped forward an hour. Hopefully my body used the extra hour of sleep to adjust and I'll be back on schedule now.
Laura comes back tonight. Yay!
Every hour, Kirby is a little more bold. He discovered the kitchen, which he had previously avoided, and Lexi's food bowl, which is licked, since it was empty. He's still scared to walk down the three steps to the back door, but he has no fear at all going up them into the house, usually leading the way with Lexi behind.
Each morning when I leave for work, Lexi stands at one of the vertical windows on either side of the front door and watches me leave. This morning I looked up after starting the car to back out of the driveway and saw Lexi at one window and Kirby at the other. So he's venturing away from the sanctuary of the sofa now. I'm going to pop home for a minute at lunch to let the dogs out and make sure everything is cool.
Oh, and the title of this post comes from the fact that I awoke this morning, with a dog on either side, pinning me under the blankets, to see it was 6:45. I usually leave for work at that time. I was behind schedule this morning only because we jumped forward an hour. Hopefully my body used the extra hour of sleep to adjust and I'll be back on schedule now.
Laura comes back tonight. Yay!
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Ladies and Gentlemen, please meet...
It rained a freaking ton yesterday, all the way up to Philadelphia and 90% of the way back, so we had about seven hours driving with the wipers on high.
Why did we go to Philadelphia?
Allow me to introduce to you:
KIRBY
The amazing thing is Laura suggested the name, not knowing that's the name of my all-time favorite comic artist, Jack "King" Kirby. Jack Kirby is the master behind covers like these:
The sad news is that Kirby (the dog) had been in a puppy mill, meaning he spent most of the first six months of his life living in a crate, laying in filth and hardly getting out. The Kerry Blue Rescue Foundation saved him and spent a few weeks with a foster family, getting checked out by the vet. If there is indeed a vengeful God out there that deals out punishments for scumbag assholes, this puppy mill guy will spend the afterlife in a small pen of his own filth, between long sessions of beatings. Kirby is skittish, hyper-aware of noises, scared to go down the few stairs to our fenced backyard, etc. But we took him and our other dog to the dog park this morning so they could run around, and I took both of them for a walk this afternoon, and now the new boy is sleeping on the sofa with his head resting on my arm. We've had him just over 24 hours and he's already feeling comfortable. I told him he just won the lottery, because he going to be spoiled for the rest of his life.
Why did we go to Philadelphia?
Allow me to introduce to you:
KIRBYThe amazing thing is Laura suggested the name, not knowing that's the name of my all-time favorite comic artist, Jack "King" Kirby. Jack Kirby is the master behind covers like these:
The sad news is that Kirby (the dog) had been in a puppy mill, meaning he spent most of the first six months of his life living in a crate, laying in filth and hardly getting out. The Kerry Blue Rescue Foundation saved him and spent a few weeks with a foster family, getting checked out by the vet. If there is indeed a vengeful God out there that deals out punishments for scumbag assholes, this puppy mill guy will spend the afterlife in a small pen of his own filth, between long sessions of beatings. Kirby is skittish, hyper-aware of noises, scared to go down the few stairs to our fenced backyard, etc. But we took him and our other dog to the dog park this morning so they could run around, and I took both of them for a walk this afternoon, and now the new boy is sleeping on the sofa with his head resting on my arm. We've had him just over 24 hours and he's already feeling comfortable. I told him he just won the lottery, because he going to be spoiled for the rest of his life.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Something cool for Friday
I never really understood the fascination with "urban vinyl" toys. Overpriced plastic from Japan in highly stylized, cartoony sculpts? To whom do these appeal? Hipsters who put them in their offices as an ironic accessory?
Well, lemme say I see the point now. I just needed a frame of reference that a dumb western-world boy could grasp. Take a gander:
Star Wars characters done in the "urban vinyl" style. Isn't Chewbacca adorable? And check out the hipster package design:
The best part is that they're available in regular stores, including Target(!) and cost just under $10. I haven't bought much of anything recently (y'know, besides a sink, faucets, light fixtures, pipes, etc. from Home Depot), but when I saw Toys R Us was having a "buy 2, get 1 free" sale, I had to pick them up. I now have Chewie, Boba Fett, and Darth Vader in chunky cartoon style, all for $20.
May have news and pictures on Monday of a new addition to our family... a furry addition, and no, we're not having a werewolf baby!
Well, lemme say I see the point now. I just needed a frame of reference that a dumb western-world boy could grasp. Take a gander:
Star Wars characters done in the "urban vinyl" style. Isn't Chewbacca adorable? And check out the hipster package design:
The best part is that they're available in regular stores, including Target(!) and cost just under $10. I haven't bought much of anything recently (y'know, besides a sink, faucets, light fixtures, pipes, etc. from Home Depot), but when I saw Toys R Us was having a "buy 2, get 1 free" sale, I had to pick them up. I now have Chewie, Boba Fett, and Darth Vader in chunky cartoon style, all for $20.
May have news and pictures on Monday of a new addition to our family... a furry addition, and no, we're not having a werewolf baby!
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Still here
Haven't abandoned the blog. Just been smacked (pun) at work. I'm trying to get three books to the printer all in the same week, and there's a metric ton of stuff to juggle.
Oh, I got a call from Library of Congress asking for an extra copy of one of our books. There was a Congressional request for it!
(I know, some poor intern was probably given the assignment of explaining ________ in a 2-page report by Friday for Senator Douchebag and the request is from him. Still, that assignment beats having a member of Congress attempt to seduce you, or pick you up in the bathroom, right? Congress is full of repressed, closeted, self-loathing, married Republicans who make speeches about how we need a constitutional amendment to "protect marriage" while secretly wanting to just move to Miami Beach and cuddle with a waiter named Ramon.)
Whew, that's a long aside!
I have to go across the street for a dentist appointment, so let's just close with the iPod game. Been a while since I've reported the first five in "shuffle" mode, so here we go:
(1) Are You Ready for War? by The Clash
(2) Sunday in the Park by Puffy AmiYumi
(3) One Slip by Pink Floyd
(4) Transmission by Joy Division
(5) Ghostdancing by Simple Minds
Bonus track:
Girl From the North Country by Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan
Lost tonight!
Oh, I got a call from Library of Congress asking for an extra copy of one of our books. There was a Congressional request for it!
(I know, some poor intern was probably given the assignment of explaining ________ in a 2-page report by Friday for Senator Douchebag and the request is from him. Still, that assignment beats having a member of Congress attempt to seduce you, or pick you up in the bathroom, right? Congress is full of repressed, closeted, self-loathing, married Republicans who make speeches about how we need a constitutional amendment to "protect marriage" while secretly wanting to just move to Miami Beach and cuddle with a waiter named Ramon.)
Whew, that's a long aside!
I have to go across the street for a dentist appointment, so let's just close with the iPod game. Been a while since I've reported the first five in "shuffle" mode, so here we go:
(1) Are You Ready for War? by The Clash
(2) Sunday in the Park by Puffy AmiYumi
(3) One Slip by Pink Floyd
(4) Transmission by Joy Division
(5) Ghostdancing by Simple Minds
Bonus track:
Girl From the North Country by Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan
Lost tonight!
Monday, March 03, 2008
Old/New
OLD
NEWThe woman put me to work this weekend. Big time. She took Friday off and when I got home from work she showed me all the items she'd purchased at the home improvement store. The old sink was too shallow so she purchased a deeper one. One problem: The pipes under the sink had to be shortened to accommodate this new sink. Second problem: The pipes had been cemented together and they were not coming apart. Solution: Use a hacksaw to cut loose the pipe assembly and take the entire assembly to Home Depot to pick matching pieces. I'm sure I looked funny to the more experienced folks, as I laid the new pieces on the floor of the store, matching the old assembled pipes.
But... who gives a shit? Because it worked! I lowered the pipes five inches and the new sink dropped in. By 11:30pm Friday night, I had finished installing the new sink and new kitchen faucet!
Now I could just relax the rest of the weekend... right? Well, no. The wife was going to paint the bathroom, and since she was painting, didn't it make sense to install a new light? Sure, except that when I removed the old standard chrome bar of globe lights, I discovered that the hole where the wire entered the wall was about 3 inches down and 4 inches to the right of being centered above the vanity. Tugging on the wire confirmed there was no slack in the wire. If we were going to move it, we'd need to replace it with a longer wire.
The wife said to call an electrician. I went downstairs and tried to figure out which wire led to the bathroom. I found it, and said, "I'll bet I can do this myself."
I went back to Home Depot and bought wire, wire strippers, and a line tester (looks like a pencil; touch it to the wire and it beeps if it's "live").
I traced the line to a junction box and found this:
The line to the bathroom is on the left. I was smart and took pictures each step of the way (hey, after the kitchen light debacle of a few weeks ago, I wasn't taking chances!).
I removed the old wire, like so:
Guess how I got the new wire in? I taped it to the old wire with a lot of duct tape and pulled it down from the basement as the wife fed the new wire into the wall in the bathroom. Luckily it worked like a charm!
(Oh, by the way, I turned off ALL the power to the house before I did anything. Safety first, kids!)
Upstairs in the bathroom I cut the new hole where the wire will go. So how did I get the wire from the old hole in the wall up to the new one (four inches over and 3 inches up)? To quote part of a classic line from Mommie Dearest: WIRE COAT HANGER! (Look up the reference; It's worth it.) I straightened the coat hanger, ran it into the new hole down to the old hole, twisted it around the new wire, then pulled the hanger out, bringing the new wire with it.
After that it was routine: black to black, white to white, ground to ground. Done.
I was beat on Sunday, and watched Terminator 2 and took a long nap. This morning I woke up with a sore throat and a headache and decided to call in sick. I slept, relaxed, and finished up the bathroom by installing towel hooks into the back of the bathroom door.
Productive weekend, but I was either working or asleep most of the time.
Sarah Connor Chronicles 2-hour season finale on now. Fingers crossed we get a second season. It is Fox, after all...
But... who gives a shit? Because it worked! I lowered the pipes five inches and the new sink dropped in. By 11:30pm Friday night, I had finished installing the new sink and new kitchen faucet!
Now I could just relax the rest of the weekend... right? Well, no. The wife was going to paint the bathroom, and since she was painting, didn't it make sense to install a new light? Sure, except that when I removed the old standard chrome bar of globe lights, I discovered that the hole where the wire entered the wall was about 3 inches down and 4 inches to the right of being centered above the vanity. Tugging on the wire confirmed there was no slack in the wire. If we were going to move it, we'd need to replace it with a longer wire.
The wife said to call an electrician. I went downstairs and tried to figure out which wire led to the bathroom. I found it, and said, "I'll bet I can do this myself."
I went back to Home Depot and bought wire, wire strippers, and a line tester (looks like a pencil; touch it to the wire and it beeps if it's "live").
I traced the line to a junction box and found this:
The line to the bathroom is on the left. I was smart and took pictures each step of the way (hey, after the kitchen light debacle of a few weeks ago, I wasn't taking chances!).
I removed the old wire, like so:
Guess how I got the new wire in? I taped it to the old wire with a lot of duct tape and pulled it down from the basement as the wife fed the new wire into the wall in the bathroom. Luckily it worked like a charm!
(Oh, by the way, I turned off ALL the power to the house before I did anything. Safety first, kids!)
Upstairs in the bathroom I cut the new hole where the wire will go. So how did I get the wire from the old hole in the wall up to the new one (four inches over and 3 inches up)? To quote part of a classic line from Mommie Dearest: WIRE COAT HANGER! (Look up the reference; It's worth it.) I straightened the coat hanger, ran it into the new hole down to the old hole, twisted it around the new wire, then pulled the hanger out, bringing the new wire with it.
After that it was routine: black to black, white to white, ground to ground. Done.
I was beat on Sunday, and watched Terminator 2 and took a long nap. This morning I woke up with a sore throat and a headache and decided to call in sick. I slept, relaxed, and finished up the bathroom by installing towel hooks into the back of the bathroom door.
Productive weekend, but I was either working or asleep most of the time.
Sarah Connor Chronicles 2-hour season finale on now. Fingers crossed we get a second season. It is Fox, after all...
