Construction Photos

So this is the South end of the attic. The second photo shows the project after two days of work has been completed by the crew.

This is the view out the new window opening

Raising the Roof

When we were looking at houses almost nine years ago we looked at two in the neighborhood. I liked the Victorian behind us and my wife liked the bungalow in which we live. I was convinced to accept the bungalow by the walk up attic which I envisioned containing a Master bedroom suite and a spare room/storage.

My wife and I both liked the three dormers on the house and felt an additional one coming off the back of the house would open up, lighten and, provide ventilation to the area. Unfortunately, the three existing dormers had rafters running through the middle of the dormered area.

So after almost eight years and a couple false starts we have started work on my dream. We have hired contractor to raise the rafter cross ties , correct structural flaws, and add the fourth dormer.

The new dormer is now built and roofed. The window goes in tomorrow and siding will start to go up. We went with cedar beveled on the corners to match the other dormers although vinyl might have been lower maintenance.

At this point it looks like I will be using a contractor to get to the point where I can take over doing the work. This project beget a number of other projects when I began laying out the action plan working backwards and reads a bit like the fortunately unfortunately book.

Fortunately I can undertake this project but unfortunately I need structural changes. Fortunately these are doable but unfortunately the chimney is falling apart and must be dealt with, fortunately this means additional space and a conduit for utilities. Unfortunately this means rerouting and replacing the gas water heater. Fortunately my wife wants one of those new fangled on demand hot water heaters which unfortunately are expensive and require rerouting gas and water. Fortunately there is a perfect place for these which will give me more room in the workshop, unfortunately this means removing a concrete cistern with a solid six inch concrete wall and two inch thick concrete roof. Fortunately this will give me access to the basement bathroom supply lines should I need it and the plumbing route for a future master bathroom.

Hey! Aren't we supposed to be working on the attic?

With some luck we can get this work done in time to have foam insulation sprayed in before the winter. I'd like to be in a position to begin erecting walls and drywalling some areas this winter if my money holds out.

I will try and post pictures tomorrow.

Why Ford's sales are down

My sister has chided me for not blogging enough and says blog readers everywhere want a new entry. So today I write about her least favorite consumer item—car shopping. She has worked harder than most to avoid utilizing one. An admirable trait as they make up the largest chunk of our environmental carbon footprints.

Now I on the other hand live 40 miles from my office before I even begin making the rounds to see my staff throughout the city. My wife and I own three vehicles all of them getting fairly long in the tooth. Gas prices have been going up and I now carry two large bills with me each week to pay for gas because cash is ten cents cheaper. So I have begun to think about my next move. Although she is a very green tree hugger, my wife doesn’t want to move to the city. I can see her thinking so the next move appears to be fuel efficiency.

My wife loves the hybrids on principle. I think many of them are over priced. I often think from the pocketbook perspective rather than from the environmentalist’s principled perspective.

Car shopping has always been an unpleasant experience in which the dealer wants to know how much can you pay and does not want to give a bottom line price. As a pocketbook consumer I want to know how much is this thing going to cost and to be left to figure out whether I am willing to break the piggy bank to pay for it.

I am a big guy and Ford’s Escape Hybrid appealed. They cost difference between the hybrid and non hybrid versions did not seem to be as great as with some other brands and I began looking into them.

The first thing I learned is that there are not many of them out there. An internet search showed very few of them in the Midwest and when I expressed interest Ford’s web site offered an “internet price.” Turns out an internet price means they will call and set a “VIP” appointment to discuss price and evaluate your potential trade in. I allowed myself to be set up with a 6:00 appointment and made arrangements for my wife to come.

CNNMoney.com reports that Ford’s sales are down 28% from a year ago and I can see why (http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/01/news/companies/auto_sales/index.htm?cnn=yes).
I showed up for the appointment learning, as we got out of the car, that my daughter had spilled an entire bottle of water on the back seat and my digital camera. I was now officially grumpy.

We go into the dealer, I announce who I am, and they don’t know who I was to see. I am now grumpy and put out. Things do not look good and I am ready to leave. I go out to look at the lot while my wife waits to speak to someone. Eventually my wife comes out reporting they are trying to find the vehicle. As we look around we are struck by what poor mileage the cars Ford sells have compared to Toyota and Hondas etc. Eventually we learn that they have sold the one used hybrid that started this contact but of course we could talk about what I want to pay and initiate a search


I have owned three Fords and I am about to buy something different. I’ll be looking at one of those foreign made gas sippers that don’t require hybrid technology to get high mileage. My wife will again tell me about her sister’s car as she sells the Toyota Prius.

When I was a child kids whose parents owned something else would say FORD stood for, “Fix Or Repair Daily.” I now believe it stands for “Focused On Reducing Deliveries.” I understand why Ford’s sales are down. They don’t know their customers and have lost them.

Snow Days

Before I became an administrator I used to love snow days. We seldom had them in my district and I would do a little dance to celebrate when we had one. Now as an administrator i do not get snow days. I am expected to show up rain or shine unless I want to burn a vacation day.

This year the District has had at least three which is more than anyone can remember. I joke with staff that i will be seeing them on the 4th of July. Tuesday night temperatures plummeted and there were wind chills of up to minus fourty. Wednesday morning a significant number of the district busses did not start and so school was again cancelled.

I had had a full agenda scheduled for Wednesday and on Tuesday felt like I might drown because Monday I had been summoned to the Superintendent's office to discuss a very political work initiative that left me scrambling to gather data, prepare a response, inform staff etc. All of this on a day I was scheduled to be at a workshop.

Wednesday I felt overwhelmed, I was awake at 5:00 AM and the weather was on. To hear the weathermen tell it the world was ending and we should all stay home. I was tempted but did not want to give up a vacation day. I anticipated the drive would be terrible. I decided to go in and I used the remote statr to warm the car. As I went to work I felt such a feeling of elation. The car was warmer then most mornings as I usually conserve fuel by not preheating. The road was drier then most winter days because of the cold and wind speeds. The two inches of snow that was supposed to have come was not there to be whipped around. The agenda was cleared by the cancelation of school and I was able to focus on just the things that had been dumped on top of a full plate without worrying about the plate!

It actually felt really good to be at work and it helped get the workload back in balance so maybe a snow day dance is still in order.

I am lucky

I am lucky. Adversity is a funny thing. It can make or break you and when others experience it it I find my self counting my blessings. Yesterday a tornado wiped out homes and a favorite local apple orchard's buildings and many trees other than the fruit trees. The news focused on the Hall's tremendous loss when their buildings were destroyed. The Hall's were interviewed, noted everyone had survived and vowed to rebuild and noted that they hope/believe people would continue their tradition of visiting the orchard in the fall even though it may not be as quaint or picturesque. But what impressed me the most was that the Hall's felt and stated that media attention and public support should go to neighbors whose property was flattened noting that they still have their trees.

I have always loved the cider and donuts from Edward's Apple Orchard but I am savoring it a little more tonight even though they have been closed for the season since late November. I drove home along the tornado's route tonight. The destruction was incredible. Trees, houses, stuff all looking like it was put through a shredder and or bombed.

Amelia says she enjoys tornado warnings because it means her mother will cuddle with her in the basement. She lamented the loss of Edward' solely because she loves the donuts.

My problems seem small today, but like Amelia I hope the doughnuts are back this fall.

2008 Arrives before I am Done

Time flies by and so much is unsaid and undone. We have essentially gutted the basement and had the recreation room and bathroom rebuilt. Claire and I painted the floors in all but the furnace room and I sealed the walls in what we now call the pantry. Today between the two family Christmas parties we cleaned out the last of the furnace room junk. Now we need to paint the walls and floors in there and then my daughter and I can set up the 4*8 train table that she is eager to get to work on. At least that is envisioned as an ongoing project.

Amelia is eager to build things and use her inate creativity to make it uniquely ours. One of the little joys in my life is her Saturday morning request to go down and see if the train store is open. She gathers favorite animals puts on an outfit that she deems to be a train outfit and tops it off with a pink train hat.

I also need to get everything put away so that my workshop can be established. Claire is getting me a table saw so we shall have to get to work on the armoires that I was working on in my mother's basement before I met Claire eight years ago. And so a New Year begins.
So much more to say but it is almost 11PM and i have to work tomorro.