Daveocracy

Last Minute Projects

2012-01-16T08:39:00.000-08:00

There are a handful of projects that have been waiting a bit for me to get to them. I just got to some of them in the last couple days....

For the last four and three quarter years Nancy and I have had a slightly leaky sink. The hot water has been drip-drip-dripping away for way too long. It has been so long that we are simply used to turning the hot water off and then back a quarter turn to get it to stop that we both still do it and then realize that the new faucet does not leak. The only problem is that the hot and cold water both turn inboard to get them to turn off. The old one was a righty-tighty for both.

Another long awaited project is the french door screens in the front of the house. Sometime over the summer Axel pushed a corner of the screen out and Brillo helped him out by pushing his head through to bark at passers-by and the mailman. The biggest problem with a hole in the screen is that the mailman will not deliver mail if the dog can poke his head through the screen... I know.. very DADT.... The other big problem is that Axel found that he can climb out of the hole in the screen and run around in the front yard. I will have to find a way to stop the two of them from making a new hole in the screen.

This project has not been neglected for as long as the other two... The baby changing table that Nancy put found needed a lot of work. Nancy did most of it but I had to figure out how to get the powder-coated top and the upper section on. I used some of those Ikea-like pins that lock into a locking lug. Not as hard as I thought it would be. Then I had to make a frame on the back of the lower section to which I could mount the top section. I think it turned out alright and now I don't have to worry about it falling off with the baby on it.

Another less neglected project was the ventilation windows on the gables of the garage. There are screens in them that up that have kept the rain out but now that the garage is finished I don't trust them to keep the rain out and keep my new wood floor dry.... So... I cut some glass (easier and cheaper than paying for it to be cut) and caulked it and put some 1/4 round moulding on it.... then painted it. I think it looks good... I hope to one day get Nancy to put some stain glass design on them... but that is another project.

Now the last item is not a project but a really special gift that Nancy got me for my birthday. Nancy got me a bottle of the Shackleton Antarctic Expedition Scotch that was recreated by the distillery that made the original batch. A few years ago they found some of this old scotch that was left behind by the expedition crew. They brought some of it back to the distillery to try to recreate the same flavor. It is a blended scotch but it is really amazing. Thanks baby!

Christmas Pics From Pajama Valley

2012-01-10T06:37:00.000-08:00

That Was The Day.....

2011-12-27T06:45:00.000-08:00

The garage/office is, for all in tents and porpoises, DONE! There is still a little detail work to get done but all the big ticket items are done. All the baby furniture is in the baby room and all office furniture is in the office. I still have to get the electrician out, hopefully today, to fix one lighting issue and wire it in to the house alarm system and then it is really done!

I spent a little time the other day trying to tune my bass drums (following some online tutorial) and it seems to have worked. The drums do sound a lot better in the newly insulated and walled room. I am not sure if it is any less loud when heard from outside the G/O but I don't really care much... haha....

As I said, there is still some detail work to get done, like the hidden compartments that I can't tell you about... and a real window treatment instead of a towel nailed to the wall. I thought about asking the electrician to put a box on the ceiling to hook up a small ceiling fan like in Ax's room but then I thought, "It's a garage... I'll nail a floor fan into the rafters!" .... I am a genius....

Another project that will have to wait is the TV. I would like a nice flat screen for the wall but I will have to settle for the TV in the living room and put the new flat screen where the old TV is now... I do have a TV in the G/O but it is a 200lbs CRT (square picture) that requires a plug adapter because I bought it in Italy.... It is almost good for the old XBOX.... almost....

I still have a lot of "I-love-me" stuff to hang on the walls but I may hold off on a lot of that because I really like the clean look the room has now. I may have to sift through the boxes of stuff and just pull out the good plaques and pictures.....

The last thing I have planned is the four stained glass windows for the G/O ceiling vent windows. There are four tiny vents at the top of the gables (two on each end) and the plan is to put the stained glass pieces in them to stop any potential rain water from getting in... it has never happened since we have been here but now that I have stuff in there I have to be sure... I will take pics....

Today is the the day

2011-12-21T06:42:00.000-08:00

Today I hope to finish the garage/office.

I finally moved all of the baby furniture into the new nursery and all of the office stuff into the office. I put together the new crib and changing table (not quite done with that) and put the rocker-lounger in there as well.

I had to take apart the desk to move it and take the doors off of their hinges to get it to fit through but I got the thing out to the garage/office. I also moved the filing cabinet and the bookshelves... now I just have to put it all together. The desk is still in two pieces with the drawers out and stuff all over the place.

Today I hope to get it all together and in place. I have an electrician coming by to make a couple changes to some lighting that will improve the feel of the room.... then it will be done.... well if you don't count all the stuff I want to put on the walls.

I will post some pics when it is done....

Another Milestone

2011-12-06T06:19:00.001-08:00

Axel and Friends Chillin' on the Big Chair

Last weekend Nancy and I went somewhere north of here for a business retreat with my work. Families were invited.. We had a really good time but Ax did not like the activities that were scheduled for his age group. He really wanted to play with his older friends but the staff told us that they thought he would get hurt playing with them.... like all the other times he plays with them and doesn't get hurt??? What do they know?

The outdoors inside..

There was a really big event tent outside that Ax really loved to play in every chance he got. Every time I let him out of my site for a second he would make a dash for the tent. I can see why it was so much fun to play on the plastic grass.

They're BACK!!!

But none of that is milestone of which I speak... the real event of the weekend was the completion of the ceiling tile installation in the new office. I finished painting them and got them installed in just a couple hours. I also removed all of the painter's tape from the studs. The next step is to put in the baseboard. I am going to go with my dad's advice and use plain square stock (stained of course). That should keep with the look of the rest of the office... notice I did not say garage...

Left Drum Inspection Good!

Right Drum Inspection Good!

The biggest milestone however was the return of the drums.... I have been waiting too long to beat on them and make my neighbors remember why they love me.... I have a lot of tweaking to do on them. I tend to change the configuration of the kit almost every time I set it up... I would like to think it keeps getting better.

My Vacation .... not so much....

2011-11-29T06:16:00.001-08:00

Woman in kitchen... very fitting...

My folks came out for a few days to celebrate Thanksgiving with us and see the kids. I would like to say that it was a relaxing fun time and we lounged around eating leftover turkey when we were not out seeing the sites of San Diego...... While some of that is true we did not do any lounging, we did not see any of San Diego (other than my garage) and it was not really relaxing (mainly my fault...)

Barely fit it all

That is not entirely true though, we did do a little relaxing and it was fun preparing for and eating Thanksgiving dinner. This year I decided to cook the turkey on the Big Green Egg. I looked up a few recipes online and found one that I liked and modified it to what time I had. It started with 'brining' the turkey in a solution of salt water and a lot of other stuff (lemons, onions, garlic...yadda yadda) The brining took about 4 hours (should have been 12)

The Brine...

After the brining we stuffed it with a bunch of other stuff and rubbed it down with salt and pepper and some other stuff. Then it was out to the BGE for about 3 hours. I set up the egg for indirect heat and put the turkey on a v-rack over a drip pan... I learned a few things there....

Pulling a Herman Cain move...

After about 2 hours I had to put some tin foil (hard to find these days) on the bird to keep it from browning too much. One really cool thing about the egg is the even heat under the dome. The bird had a perfectly even color over the whole thing..... very nice...

A couple of turkeys...

The other nice thing about the egg is that it keeps a lot of the moisture in the cooking area so the turkey did not dry out. It was a perfect bird....

So nice...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Now to the non-relaxing part and the real reason I wanted my parents to some out and visit... The Garage. I have been working on this project since June and this is the one part I needed someone's help with (other than professionals). I had to get the ceiling panels cut and painted. It is really hard to cut ceiling panels out of the 4x8 sheets by myself. Dad made the perfect assistant... (Ax is just too short still)

Putting in the panel supports

A couple trips to the Home Despot and a million table saw cuts and we had our ceiling panels all ready... well, there was a lot of measuring and nailing and a whole lot of cussing somewhere in there too but that is not the important part. We got the first ten ceiling panels cut and laid them out, painted them and cut the rest of the panels.

Teamwork...

After two coats of Kilz they were ready to put up. I put the first ten up while dad painted the second batch but we ran out of time and did not get to put a second coat on the second batch so I have to do that this coming weekend.... but I am really, really close to getting this office finished!!!

The first ten out

The first ten in

Makin Pizza!

2011-11-21T07:51:00.001-08:00

Ax has a new career opportunity... He discovered that he is really good at making pizzas. He has a hard time reaching the counter but once he does there is no stopping him.

Nothing like a pizza that you make yourself.

Lots Going On...

2011-11-13T07:09:00.001-08:00

Lots going on around the house... for the last day and a half it has been raining and the boys have been stuck inside. Brillo is totally depressed and Axel has managed to sneak out and play in the rain a couple times. We did teach Ax to clean up after Brillo when he comes in from using the backyard. He has a hard time reaching the sink though.

On Friday I had a guy come out and install some window bars on the garage... don't want anyone taking my drums.... not that the shotgun wouldn't stop them anyway but you can never be too safe. I am glad I kept the drywall off from the inside because I had him run lag bolts all the way to the inside through the studs. I don't think this will come off easily.

I did not get as far as I wanted to on the inside of the garage because I had to do some exterior repair. A couple years ago when we moved in I had a water leakage problem in the garage. It was mostly due to a large gap between the garage and the slab in the back. At the time I filled it with some insulation and put some heavy duty concrete caulk on it. The floor guy mentioned that there was some moisture in the back corner so I checked the repair job and found that it was cracked and not holding up.

I removed the old repair job and refilled it with some hydraulic cement. I am pretty sure that will hold for years...

I finally got to the inside and got pretty far with the joint compound. I hope to finish up to the third wall today.... wish me luck.

Floor is Done!

2011-11-10T06:28:00.001-08:00

I have to give it to the guy that did the floor. It really looks like a brand new floor in there. I never would have imagined that the boards I put in hoping to have a half decent floor would turn out to be this AWESOME floor that I have now. With the third coat on it really looks good. Whooda Thunk It?

2011-11-08T20:45:00.000-08:00

this is just great....

Not what I expected...

2011-11-08T06:42:00.000-08:00

The Floor as I did it

When I started this project I was looking for a half decent wood floor that had some character and cool looking walls for the office. As I ran out of time to get it all done myself I decided to use a professional floor guy. The guy I used is a friend of a friend. I figured he could finish the floor and it would look more or less like it did when I put it in. A little rough with mostly the same gaps and misaligned floor boards here and there.

Stripped!

He started by bringing in a 200 lbs German Sanding Monster and proceeded to strip the old finish a a lot of the wood off of the thing. He did say that I should have called him before I started the project... but I didn't know him then... He assured me he could have found similar wood for a better price and would have installed it a little differently. Experience is what you get just after you need it.

Stained

He did say I did a good job of getting the floor level and that it was laid down solidly... so I have that! After he sanded the crap out of it he let us pick a stain, a very dark one. He water washed it to make it even darker and then started the polyurethane finish. He has to put on a total of 3 coats. So far only two are on and it looks awesome. He should do the third coat today.

Two Coats

I will let you know how it turns out!

2011-11-03T06:48:00.000-07:00

Today I have a floor guy coming to sand, stain and finish the garage floor. I am just too busy to get to that part myself and the owner of the company is a friend of a friend so I think I am getting a good deal. I am not sure how long it will take but I will ensure to post some pics as soon as it is done. I hope to have it done by the time my parents get here for thanksgiving!

Three Walls and a Little Monkey...

2011-10-29T07:59:00.000-07:00

I hit a milestone yesterday... no I did not turn 50.... I finished drywalling three of the four walls on the garage office. I have to go to the Home Despot today and get a little more drywall and a couple other things. The biggest thing though is that I will finish drywalling today!

I don't have much left to do on the fourth wall because I have done some of it already and the window and door are on that wall. Today I have a guy coming to look at the window to put some security bars on it. I want bars on the outside so they are a visible deterrent so I have to leave the drywall off until after he shows up. If it is not feasible to put the bars on the outside then I can put them on the inside... which will be much easier but not really what I am looking for.

I did a couple test sections of joint compound on the panels and I think it will turn out just fine. I really like the look it gives. I figured out very quickly that the best way to attack that problem is to put the stuff on with a large putty knife over the whole surface then use the pool trowel to quickly add the texture look I am going for. So far it seems to be much easier than any other part of this project.... so far....

I have to admit that this project is a lot bigger than I thought it would be and it is taking way more time than I expected. Because of that I have to make sure to take time off from it and hang out with the family. I like to take my breaks at the coffee shop with Tilda. She is still on decaf for now but I hope that by the time she is Axel's age she will be on board with the regular dark roast.

Update to the Update

2011-10-23T22:11:00.000-07:00


Measure

Twice

Axel and I did a lot of work today on the garage. He was very helpful measuring and cutting the drywall. I had to help him after the cut because it was usually too heavy for him to carry into the garage. He did a very good job of making nice straight lines and his angels were very precise. I knew I cold count on him to make the right cuts.


Cut Once

It has taken me a lot longer than I expected to get the garage to this point but with Axel's help it has been much easier. He is a very good helper. He has a knack for measuring and cutting and making sure that I always have a piece of drywall to hang.

I think I have about two more days of hanging drywall before I can start texturing the walls. I was really hoping to have it done earlier but Nancy decided to have a baby last weekend. I will have to make sure to pre-coordinate things like that when I have a project.

I am really excited to see the end result of our efforts. I think the overall look I am going for is going to work out nicely. The original 1931 timbers will still be visible with the drywall in place. I will texture the walls to match the inside of the house. I am not sure how long the texturing will take but I think it can be done in a day.....with Axel's help of course.

Axel did help me with one more thing.... the weed whacker trim line.... Good Job Ax!

Just some pics

2011-10-22T21:37:00.000-07:00

It Breaks Down Like This.....

2011-10-20T08:07:00.000-07:00

Ready.... sort of...

So about 5:30 on Saturday morning Nancy told me we would probably go to the hospital soon. She was pretty sure the baby was coming. So with no real sense of urgency we got ready, made sure the bag we packed had all that we needed and prepared to go. I called the local coffee shop and asked them to prepare a couple drinks and a couple bagels and let them know we would swing by on the way to the hospital.

Really Ready

6:40..... We got to the coffee shop and Ari and Alli were there. Because of our lack of urgency Ari was under the impression that Nancy was going to be induced. Nancy said, "No, I am not going to be induced, I am actually having a contraction now." .... This of course just confirmed that Nancy was, in fact, from planet Krypton. 6:50

Loadin' the D

7:20 ......So we made our way to the hospital found a good parking spot and headed up to Labor and Delivery. We filled out the little pink paper and talked to the admissions lady (a very nice but unsympathetic German woman). She took us to a triage room and put a contraction monitor on Nancy. She told us they would monitor her for a while and let us know if they were going to admit her that day, to which Nancy replied, "Oh, I am having this baby today!"

The Twins

7:40.... As we were waiting for the nice German lady to come back Nancy's contractions started to get stronger, to the point where Nancy said things like, "That was a good one!" ... After way too long the German lady came back and gave us some great news!... she said the the monitor was not on right and they were not getting the readings that they needed so we would have to start the monitoring period over again. Nancy wanted to kill her I think... "So all that was for nothing! and we are starting over!!" She was not happy.

8:10.... By now the contractions were starting to hurt a lot, enough to kill a mortal woman... Nancy said "That one kind of hurt.... and was longer." .... But they started getting further apart... Nancy was worried for a couple minutes that they WOULD send us home.

8:35.....Eventually a nurse like lady came in to check the dilation and proclaimed that Nancy was right at 5cm and then the German lady confirmed but said that the baby was a little 'high'... I nodded my head in agreement but I had no idea what that meant.... Harumph.... They said that they would talk to the doctor and the staff and arrange a room for Nancy in a few minutes.

6lbs 2ozs

8:50......Not long after they left Nancy could not stay on the table and had to get up and move around a bit. Then she started to get the big contractions and had to lean on the exam table. This is when she told me to go get the Nurse or the doctor or anyone that I could. I poked my head outside and no one was around and I had to go find them and tell them that Nance was really, really starting to get uncomfortable. They came back in the room and Nancy told them that she felt like she had to push.....

9:00...... This is when things got fun....

They started to look as concerned as I had felt they should have from the start and asked Nancy to hop back on the table for another check...... holy schnikies! 7cm! "We have to get you to a delivery now!" I am sure that Nancy was thinking 'no $#!7 Sherlock!' ... and then things started to happen really quickly....

Starting Life on the Outside

9:05.... They got a wheel chair and wheeled her into a room across the hall and more and more people started to show up... Right about the time they got Nancy into the bed she mentioned in a loud and thunderous (okay, maybe more like a train whistle than thunder) that she could not do this without drugs!

9: 10.... the doctor arrived and everyone was moving about frantically getting ready with beeping machines and rough towels and another nurse like lady was using her whole arm to check the baby's progress.

9: 14.....The doctor was getting his hands clean and his gloves on and leaned back to look at Nancy and said something to the effect of "I think I see a head..." Nancy yells that she has to push..

9:15.... the doctor gets in place and tells Nancy that if she pushes the pain will go away.... Nancy says.."I can push?"

9:16... Doc says "Yes!", Nancy pushes and Matilda popped out, Nancy says, "Oh, thank God!" .... and the rest.... is yet to be written....

Happy Burrito

2011-10-16T20:12:00.000-07:00

Axel Aug 2009

Matilda Oct 2011

unproductive... but fun

2011-10-11T07:02:00.000-07:00

So yesterday.... instead of diligently working in the garage, Axel talked me into going to seaworld and goofing off for a few hours... I had been wanting to go there and run around on the giant rope and bridge course they have.

Before we got to the bridge thing though, we checked out Turtle Reef. Really cool! There are a bazillion fish and sea turtles of every kind. Ax really liked watching the turtles. I did finally talk him into leaving and going to the big bridge area!

The first obstacle on the course is an ascending cargo net bridge. It was really hard for Ax to negotiate that because his little feet kept slipping through the holes! I had to pick him up and carry him up the whole thing.... and there was some pregnant chic following me the entire time!

He also did not like the little tunnels very much and wanted a piggy back ride through most of them. All in all though he had a very fun time...

After the Bridges we rode a couple rides but he was getting tired and we left... it is really nice to have a season pass and to have the option to go for a couple hours at a time!

A little more every day

2011-10-10T07:18:00.000-07:00

Little Helper

Ax and I continue to make progress in the garage/office. We got about half of the garage fitted with the drywall retainers. I took 14 foot sections of 1x1 and cut them down into 6 inch pieces. I made a jig that fits on the stud to set the depth of the retainer so the drywall is flush with the stud.... or mostly flush...

"More nails Daddy"

It is slow going with only Ax and I working on it. Nancy is still busy doing her own projects..(the new baby's changing table) Ax has a hard time holding the nail gun AND the jig at the same time and I have to do the high ones that he can't reach. I also have to put more nails in the gun when it is empty. He is doing a good job though.

That's better

Future Contractor.... I hope not...

I have a long way to go and I am not sure I am going to get it all done before the baby girl gets here. I have asked Nancy to hold her in as long as possible to allow me to finish the garage but I think baby girl has her mother's patience.....

Retainers in place...

I got a few pieces of drywall cut and hung and I am very happy with the 'look' that I have. I can't wait to get it textured so I can see the result that I had in mind when I started this project. The hard part so far is getting the drywall cut just right. The old garage walls are not perfectly straight and I have to do a little edge cutting to get it to fit perfectly. I am pretty sure the texturing will cover any mistakes / gaps that I make.... we'll see...

Almost there....

The 'Oh %#*&, not yet' Martini

2011-10-07T06:58:00.000-07:00

The 'Oh %#*!, not yet' Martini

So yesterday as Nancy and I were walking around our little town, she tells me that she is having contractions... So, she started counting them. She had way more than she was supposed to in the hour that we were out and about.

I told her to hold that little girl in until I get more work done on the garage! I don't have time for her to show up this weekend! I have WAY too much to do! If she can hold off until a workday then I won't feel as if I am not getting things done!

2011-10-07T06:42:00.000-07:00

Last night Ax wanted me to go play drums with him... I am so glad that he's got the rhythm...... even if it does affect his balance...

The Office.... again

2011-10-05T06:50:00.000-07:00

Nothing to do with this post but just too cute not to include

So a lot has happened in the new Drum Room / Office. I have the wiring mostly done and just this weekend I finished putting in the insulation on the walls. I still have to get a hold of an iron works guy to make custom window bars but that will be easy once they are made. I also wired the room for speakers and prepared it for Cat-5 wiring (which I will do this weekend). I have to run two lines from the house's main router out to my computer and my XBOX.... I will not suffer the agony of wireless on the XBOX.

Axman running the guide wire

As usual, Axel was a big help. He helped me run the guide wire from the house to the garage that will hold the Cat-5 (don't want to risk the Cat-5 breaking from accidental contact with a ladder or some other tall thing. Ax was pretty good at getting the holes drilled through the garage wall and measuring and setting the wire clamps around the anchor bolts.

A whole lot of Mouse Action

Ax and I weren't the only two working though, Nancy did a great job of prepping the new baby's changing table. She is going to paint it this weekend. She always has great ideas for the baby furniture.... and I am pretty sure she talked me in to painting the back room to match her ideas for the bedding and furniture.

Insulation Complete

This weekend I will finish the Cat-5, start the drywall placement, mud the walls and make sure the wiring is hooked up and ready to go. I hope I get it all done! I am sure I will if Axel can help me out a little. I will probably get him to use the nail gun to make sure the insulation is all secured in place.

A little ear padding for the neighbors...

The Latest From the Office...

2011-09-17T07:28:00.000-07:00

The floor is in but it is not done.

Proper Safety Equipment

It has taken a lot longer than I expected but it is really... really, almost done. Well, not really. I still have to sand it down and stain it, but I will wait until I have the rest of the room mostly done before I get to that. I will have to run some more cable and other things through the walls before finishing them.

Watch and Learn

I would not be as far along as I am without Axel's help. He really did a great job. I asked him not to do too much work on the floor when I was not there but he couldn't help it. When I was at work and Mom wasn't looking he would throw a couple strips if flooring in and make sure the cuts were good.

And then DO!

Because the floor was a used one, it had a lot of defects and some damage that I had to work around. The damage was easy enough to work around because I could just cut that part out and make a new tongue or groove (as seen in the 'How To' post) but the defects, such as warping, were really hard to deal with. I had to put straps and weight and shoring on the boards to keep them straight. It all worked out though and I had the great fortune of completing the last strip as a whole strip. I did not have to "rip" the last board to make it fit. Very lucky!

The Good Apprentice

As I said, I still have to run some speaker cable in the studs and get an AC unit put in but that is not that hard... just time consuming. I will probably get the insulation in this weekend and then start on the wall panels... I will let you in on that secret later.... should be fun.

Learning All About the Miter

Once the wall panels are started I will do the sanding and staining and finishing on the floor... then it will be time to move the furniture in and have a real office / drum room / lounge... I don't like the term "man-cave" so I will have to come up with a new term for that....

The Almost Finished Product

The How...

2011-08-02T06:19:00.000-07:00

Floor Update

2011-08-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

About One Third Done

The Latest Project....

2011-07-21T06:33:00.000-07:00

Vintage Lumber

Recently I have started a new project....

With our new baby due in a few months, we have to find a place to put her.... the obvious choice is the Guest Room / Office. That means that I have to move the office..... to the garage. We have started to call the office the "Man Cave" which I guess is the term of the day for a place with a computer and a big TV where the man of the house can hang out....and in my case a very large drum set.

Awesome!

Awesomely Sad....

I took a couple days off from work to try to get the garage ready for the floor that I want to put in. I have decided to go with a hardwood floor, but not just any old hardwood floor..... oh wait, I guess I did go with any old hardwood floor.... a used old hardwood floor to be exact! I found a place about an hour north of here that sells old lumber and old hardwood floors. I loaded up a couple hundred square feet and brought it home.

Destruction is the easy part...

I wanted the floor to look like the floor in the main house and not like a new floor in an old garage. I managed to find an old oak floor that fit the bill. I have quite a bit of overage because I expect that a lot of the old floor will be unusable. Hope I have enough! I had to spend a lot of time prepping the wood and the floor. I started with the floor.... well I started by pulling everything out of the garage and putting it....in other places...

All Smooth and Ready to Go...

I had to break up a lot of the floor that had hollow spots and flaking going on under it. I had to tap around over the whole floor to find all the bad spots. Once I had the bad spots bashed up and cleaned up I used a couple different products to fill in the holes and depressions. All is good though.

All Smooth and Ready to Go...except for that

When the floor was all smooth and level I used some hydraulic paint (just a fancy name for waterproof) I put down two coats of that and let it dry overnight. The next step was to lay down the underlayment. I got this stuff called Quietwalk. I had planned on using cork but this stuff was about half the price and the guy at the store said it was better than cork... so I bought it...literally and figuratively.

Underlayment... I can't even hear it!

Once the underlayment was down I started to organize the wood and look for the bad strips. I should have done a lot more prep work with the wood before I even started but I was a little impatient. I laid down about 8 strips so far and it doesn't look bad but there are some gaps and a couple parts that stick up. I will have to figure out how to fix that. BUT I did look into a way to stop it from happening to the rest of the floor.

The Prep Work

I looked online for a bunch of strap clamps. They use to use them a lot for laying down pergo floors before they had the "snap-in" floating floors. I could not find a store that had them so I ordered about 6 of them from Amazon. They just came in yesterday and I am looking forward to using them today. I will have to do a lot more wood prep today before I even lay down the first strip. I have to use my table saw to cut out the bad sections and then set up the router to make either a new tongue or a new grove on the good parts of what I cut out. I hope to be done with that by 1300.... wish me luck.

The first 8 strips

2011-06-24T10:23:00.000-07:00

Laying out the materials...

It has been a long time coming.... But Axel finally built a fence in the front yard to keep himself and Brillo from running all over the neighborhood.

Organizing the tools...

I had to go to a lumberyard and pick up the materials and then I helped the Axman build it. So far this has been his biggest job. He decided to go with a split rail fence that was in keeping with the style of the house. Nancy and I agreed with him that it would match our house best.
I think he did pretty well.

Digging the holes....

Daddy Helping with the Grass

The hardest part for him was digging all the holes for the posts. I had to help with getting through all the rocks.... he had a really hard time lifting the breaker bar to smash the bigger rocks. He stayed with the gardening trowel and the post-hole digger.

Setting the posts....

Axel thought it would be ok to just use tightly packed gravel to keep the posts upright and solid. I thought it was a good idea too.... at first. Then we did some stability testing and determined that with Axel climbing on the fence there was a potential for the poles to shift.

Stability testing... climbing model.

Stability Testing...straddling model

Ax didn't like how much the poles were moving so he decided to go with Quickcrete to set the poles. He had to dig all of the gravel out of the holes and prep them for the slurry... That was a pain in the butt for him. He also had to dig out the holes a little bit to make more room for the Quickcrete.

Adjusting the gate-post

Once he had all holes re-dug I helped him put the Quickcrete in and start placing the rails. It didn't take long with the two of us working together. It was a little difficult to tell what he wanted sometimes because he does not use many words at this age, but we worked through all that.

Water Break!

Back to work with some last minute digging....

Ax had to do some last minute hole digging to get the poles to line up all the way around, I think he did a great job though. He was really concerned with making the fence look just right... attention to detail kind of thing...

Just a little more digging....

Jelly Bean Break....

Putting in the Quickcrete...

Ax also had a hard time lifting the heavy bags of Quickcrete so I had to help him a little. Once they were about half-way empty he could lift them himself. He did a good job calculating the exact amount of Quickcrete to buy, he asked for three bags and the last bit in the last bag was used on the last pole...

The last bit of the last bag on the last pole!

Screws for stability...

Once we finished the last pole we started the clean-up. That was not too hard but I am sure we will be picking up rocks in the grass for a long time to come. I think we got all the screws that he used to screw in some of the poles to provide stability to the gate pole but I might find one of those with the lawnmower one day...

Clean-Up time

Looking good!

2011-06-17T06:44:00.000-07:00

The other day here in town we had a flag day parade. A lot of local schools, associations and city figures came out to be a part of the procession. Axel really enjoyed the fire trucks and a few other things but for the most part he was interested in running around like a madman.

We hung out in front of Sherry's shop and watched the hour and a half event roll by. Overall a pleasant morning here in town.

More Learning

2011-06-08T07:01:00.000-07:00

And he keeps learning

The other day I opened up the breakfast nook... meaning, I removed the anti-Axel gate that stopped him from completely destroying every thing in there. He has a habit of removing all the straws from the straw holder and pulling all of the napkins out of the napkin dispenser....

Since we do not have any napkins left in the dispenser and the straw holder is now on top of the fridge there is not much he can do. There is however one thing in there that still holds his fascination.... the Jelly Belly dispenser.

He was sitting on the bench seat and pointing at the candy behind the glass and saying his tagline "This...this!" Thinking quickly and completely outside his understanding I said, "I don't have any money! You need money to get the Jelly Bellies." I was very satisfied with my disappointing message and hoped that would be that.

He looked at me and crawled down from the bench and took off like he was on a mission... and he was... He ran into the living room and went to the end table and tried to open the door.... ??? I had no idea but... Nancy was in the process of rolling a metric butt-load of coins to take to the bank and they were all in bags under the end table.... I was shocked when I realized that he knew what money was...

He grabbed a bag of dimes and ran back to the nook, threw them on the seat, climbed up, put them on the table and looked at me and beat on the bag of dimes.... well.... I did say he needed money! So I showed him how to put money in the thing and turn the dial. Learning accomplished and monster created.

Learning things from the dog

2011-05-27T06:17:00.000-07:00

Learning is occurring... not sure if it is good learning but it is funny

Memphis on my mind...

2011-05-26T06:27:00.001-07:00

Not Running Shoes...

A couple days ago I made some Memphis style baby back ribs.... It actually took a couple of days to do it though. I had planned on making them on Sunday but we were running around most of the day and having fun. By the time we got home there was no time to do the 3-2-1 that I have posted about here.

Straight Outa Memphis

SO.... I broke the 3-2-1 into two days, doing the 3 on Monday and the 2-1 on Tuesday. It does not seem to have negatively affected the outcome.... they were awesome! One big change from the last time we did ribs though was the BBQ sauce. Last time we used a store bought something or other sauce. This time I went online and found a good recipe for Memphis style sauce.

Preparing for the last step

I have never made BBQ sauce before so it was kind of an adventure. It was not hard to make but Nance had to pick up a few things from the store. We did not have Molasses or a couple other things. BUT she got them all and after we built the sauce and cooked the ribs in their apple juice I cooked them for one more hour. I smothered them in the sauce, which, through expert-chef like recipe following, tasted just like the sauce that I remember from Memphis.....go figure.

Wish you could smell this blog..

I re-basted them every few minutes and when then came out they were a picture perfect picture of super awesome ribs. I meant to take some to work the next day to showcase my grilling prowess but that didn't really pan out.... Nancy and I did not leave any rib uneaten they were so good.... really good. I will have to do that again....

The last known picture of the Memphis-Style ribs

BBQ at the house

2011-05-14T07:07:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago we had a BBQ at the house and I invited some friends from work and their families over. I was worried that there would not be enough to keep a dozen kids occupied and they would all be bored out of their skulls....

We need a bigger table...

Of course I underestimated their ability to take almost any reasonably entertaining activity, add a little mayhem and destruction, sugary drinks and group think and turn it into a chaotically good time. They had what looked to be a lot of fun and only a few boo-boos and issues. I didn't get any pictures of it but they all did seem to enjoy the heck out of the drums....

Girl Talk...

Not only did the kids have fun but I am pretty sure the adults had a good time as well. I was pretty busy fiddling about getting things ready for the grill.... and then grilling... I made asparagus wrapped in bacon (one of my favorites) and some baseball cuts from Iowa Meats (best butcher shop in SD).. I had some bacon left over so Nancy had the best idea of the day.... wrap the steaks in bacon... she is a genius! I think I will keep her....

Batter up..

I did try to highlight the benefits of owning a Big Green Egg for the guys who are trying to convince their wives that the BGE is the only way to grill... not sure I had any success but I hope the seed is planted.... I am sure that with a few more of those over the summer I will not be the only Egg owner.

One more....

Brillo also had a good time... lots of kids to chase and try to snatch food from... I think he had a pretty good day... he was worn out after all that excitement. I think he likes having older kids around to torture him. Right now Axel is still a little young to play fetch and other dog related games with Brillo. They do play a lot when Ax has cheese in his hand though.... maybe we should try the pork chop thing...

Dog Hurdling... a famous Scottish kid's game

We did have a lot of fun and we even got to try out our Bocci ball set and play a little Bocci in the front yard... we only hit a couple of kids with the heavy stone balls but they are ok..... good thing those stone balls are tough

Worn out doggy

The First ascent of Mt. Pepper Tree.... or maybe second ascent...

Texting while driving..... very dangerous

All that and even some time to beat the other team in bocci ..... 11-0

Think He's Got It....

2011-05-11T06:17:00.000-07:00

The music gene that is...

Although it is more likely that he just likes things that make noise

The Inconsistent Gardener

2011-05-10T06:10:00.000-07:00

Some updates for you....

Helping with the cilantro....or is it coriander.....

Axel is getting better at doing more stuff every day. He understands almost everything we say to him but he does not respond with a whole lot of words. He is just getting used to using no (as a response to a yes or no question where no is acceptable) but he doesn't say no, he says Oh and shakes his head; really cute. He is also getting better at helping me in the garden. He is good at digging holes, just like his brother. He is also good at sweeping with the big broom.... of course you realize that good is applied to the action of sweeping and not the necessarily the strategic goal of sweeping stuff in a certain direction.

Got the Music Gene?

He is getting better at playing the Ukulele and not just pulling the strings as hard as he can. He is getting the hang of strumming and I think that by the end of the year we will be able to play a tune.... with me doing the hard part and Axman strumming.... long way to go still.

One other thing that he is still really good at is being a daredevil. He has done so many things that amaze and frighten us.... from standing on top of a low brick wall and jumping up and down without falling to the stuff in the video above. He still runs for the ocean when he is near it. The other day he was shivering like mad and cried when we would not let him go back in the water...he is a fish. Hope the next one is exactly the same.

Bubble Boy

2011-04-23T06:49:00.000-07:00

Ready for football!

Nancy bought a bubble gun the other day... too much fun... I spent a long time in the front yard shooting bubbles all over the place and watching the boys chase them and try to eat them. They both caught a bunch. Brillo is really good at catching them in the air but Ax has a different technique....

Mmmmm.... bubbles...

Ax likes to wait until they are on the ground and then chomp them. The big problem with this is they usually pop before he can get down to them. He did get a couple big ones and he made an awesome " I caught a bubble face" more from the taste than the achievement.

Sharing a Bubble...

I am pretty sure that we are out of bubble juice.... I think we have a big bottle of it somewhere around the house though. I will have to find it and keep up the fun this weekend.

Axel at Fiesta

2011-04-19T06:49:00.000-07:00

Mow the World...

Free Ride

Wind Blown

Those Aren't Tulips...

Too Cute

There he Goes!

This Week's Ribs....

2011-04-19T06:23:00.000-07:00

Step One... BBQ Sauce Slathering

Step Two... Grill for Two Hours

Step Three... Wrap in Foil and Soak in Apple Sauce

Step Three.Five... Cook for Two Hours in Foil

Step Four... Remove from Foil and Cover in BBQ Sauce

The Containment Vessels..

The Second Slathering

Step Five.... Cook for One More Hour Uncovered

I think I may have created perfection....

Nancy agrees with me... these were the best ribs I have ever made and quite possible the best I have ever eaten. They were done just right. Even before they were done with the last step the bones were falling off of the rack. Unbelievably tasty. If you happen to be coming to town and would like some ribs... let me know....

Last Week's Ribs and This Week's Ribs

2011-04-16T07:33:00.000-07:00

Step 1 of the 2-2-1 method

Last weekend I made some beef ribs and they were really really really good. They were also quite fatty. This week I am going to make some baby back ribs. I looked on a bunch of BBQ sites and blogs and decided to use the 2-2-1 method. That is... 2 hours at 250° with the indirect heat (plate setter) then 2 hours at 230° wrapped in aluminum foil (tin if you got it) and soaking in apple juice... then the final step is 1 hour at 230° direct or indirect heat.

Just starting

I had a hard time controlling the heat at first, it was too hot then too cool then I got it just right. It took a little longer than I thought but they came out just right. I need to put more foil on the bottom (meat side down while in the foil to keep the bones from poking through and draining all the apple juice). The meat pulls back from the bone and just falls right off when you pull it.

Yum.... yum...yum

I will take pictures of every step today with the baby back ribs and I think I have the temperature control problem solved. I will keep you posted....

Axel Drumming.... Really

2011-04-16T07:10:00.000-07:00

Not bad for a little guy

Axel has the music gene and he loves to play the drums. I will have to get him his own set eventually. He learned how to use the base drum a few weeks ago, now we just have to tie it all together.

Danger Boy

2011-04-16T06:45:00.000-07:00

Axel is all boy

Last weekend Axel and I got up early and ran around in the back yard. We had a fun time. I think we got yelled at for running around in the footy pajamas! We need to keep those things intact for a long time! They are going to make good hand-me-downs.

2011-04-12T06:24:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that Axel is quite the little helper. last weekend he helped me do some yardwork. He is really good at helping. I think he has to learn the process a little better though. This coming weekend I am sure he will volunteer his services to help me plant some tomatoes and other things.

I had to put up a chicken wire fence around the area that I planted grass seed in so Brillo and Axel would not help too much there.

Lots to do this weekend.... I will keep you posted.

Axeman....

2011-04-02T07:34:00.000-07:00

Some Axeman for ya...

Meatatarians.....

2011-04-02T06:55:00.000-07:00

Since getting the BGE, Nancy and I have really taken advantage of the Awesome Grilling Power that it provides. I have tried to use it at least three times a week. It is nice to give Nancy a break from using the oven and I am trying to hone my grilling skills.

Pork Loin

I am really getting a feel for how much charcoal, and this is real wood charcoal, not the briquettes. I only have to put add a little charcoal each time I use it because the stuff left over from the previous session is usually still good for another burn...that saves me a lot of new charcoal.

Shrimp, and bacon wrapped asparagus

I have a good idea of how much wood to add, what kind of temps I will get depending on how long it has been since the last cleaning. Every time I want to do steak it is good to clean the grill because I get really good temps. If I am doing ribs it can be three or four uses from cleaning and still be good. At about 3 uses from cleaning I an get 350° to 400° but not much more... 4 uses from cleaning I can get 275°-300°. Right after a cleaning and by using larger pieces I can get close to 750°. That is the best for really searing the steak and getting the maximum yum out of it.

Hmmmmmburgers

I have blogged about it before but, Nancy got me a really cool electric starter for the grill. The biggest benefit from that is there are no ashes from starter paper to clog the air holes. It takes about 5-7 minutes to get some good coals going and about 10-15 minutes after that to be fully ready for grilling.

Pet-tit-fil-ets

I haven't really done any multi-hour projects yet but I might do that today. If we can get a rack of ribs like in the picture below and grill them at 250° for a few hours I think it would just fall off the bone! I am really making myself hungry with this post....

The yummy pig ribs...

Very Tasty

Close to cooking time

Next time you are in town let me know what kind of animal you want to eat and I will make sure that we do it right. Half the fun is in the grilling.....

Last night's New York Strips... yum

Gee your hair smells....rocky?

2011-03-31T06:29:00.000-07:00

Axel Has Straw Colored Hair....

Oh wait.... that is just straw IN his hair....

Not sure why he does it, but, our boy likes to put things on his head. He has been known to grab handfuls of pebbles from the neighbor's yard and put them on his head...just last night he turned his soup-bowl upside-down on his head, and the other day when we were walking through the alley he stopped to take a couple handfuls of straw from someone's backyard and put them on his head.

Riding On The Fire Truck at The Park

Even at the park he has taken handfuls of the playground bedding and put it on his head. Sometimes when you change one of his diapers you find the remnants of things that slid off of his head and landed in his pants.... rocks, mulch, food.... really fun.... The first time I found rocks I thought that he had eaten them and then pooped them. Then I remembered that he does that dump-rocks-on-his-head thing.

Slight Meltdown.... I guess he didn't want to go inside...

September 11th

2011-03-29T21:15:00.000-07:00

Nancy and I are watching a show about the Muslim Terror Attacks on September 11th, 2001. I can't help but think that the arab world needs its shit pushed in again......

Axel... the good helper...

2011-03-26T07:11:00.000-07:00

The Axman really likes to help me do stuff...

Little Helper

Yesterday he helped me clean out the grill and do some other things in the back yard. He is very good at helping me with the really dirty chores that I have to take care of. He must have known that I really wanted the ash trap cleaned out because he just jumped right in, without me asking, and started to pull handfuls of ash out of the grill; such a good little helper.

Another Gift Put to Good Use

Easier Than Gasoline!

After we got the grill all cleaned out we loaded it with new charcoal and fired it up. Before cooking steak I usually try to clean the grill out because it gets much hotter when there is less ash clogging up the air vents. It got up to almost 600 unassisted..... a little later I had to assist it with a strategically placed leaf blower. Last night was the first time I have tried that. I burned the steaks a little bit (Nancy didn't mind at all). Next time I will have to keep a closer eye on them.

Almost There

Tasty Tasty Murder

I am still learning the ins and outs of my grill, I will just have to keep grilling all the time until I get it perfect.

Just Right for a Texan....

Finally Unclassed

2011-03-25T21:14:00.001-07:00

http://www.daveocracy.net

Let There Be Light!

2011-03-24T06:16:00.000-07:00

Almost Blinding!

The dart board..... and the grill.... two things that are in my back yard for which I always need supplemental lighting. Usually for the dart board I have a shop light that I clip to the roof support beams and plug it in with an extension cord, very ghetto... For the Grill I have to wear a headlamp to see how the cooking animal is doing or I have to use the motion sensor lights.

The Target....

The obvious problem with motion sensor lights is that when there is no motion, the light goes away... Right in the middle of turning burgers I have to jump up and down and wave my arms until I can see what I am doing, not very fun....and also very ghetto.

Now I can see what I am missing....

Well Last weekend I had enough of that. I finally installed the appropriate level of exterior lighting. For the dart board I could have gotten away with exterior rated romex or something but given that there will be darts and beer involved I thought it best to encase the electrical cable in PVC. Probably a good call. I can now enjoy a night time game of darts without dodging the shoplight extension cord.... very unghetto....

Ready to Grill any time of day

Another addition is the two 100 watt halogen flood lights that I mounted on the porch overhang. Now I can see what I am doing without looking dorky with a headlamp on my head...now I will look dorky for reasons completely unrelated to headlamps.

Almost professional...

Both of the wonderful light providing devices are wired through a completely waterproof system of PVC with a dual switch that is also, conveniently waterproof. I am really pleased with this project and I cannot wait to really put them to good use.

Throw the FIRST switch!

BGITW

2011-03-22T06:28:00.001-07:00

The Best Girl in the World Changes a Tire

On Sunday the fambly too a little walk around the block and to the coffee shop. Usually this event is ....uneventful. This time though, right after we left the coffee shop, Nancy realized that we had a flat on the high speed stroller!

Less then a minute

Whereas I would have just pushed the thing, with its flat tire, all the way home and not paid much attention to it; Nancy saw an opportunity to shine. She reached into the depths of the little storage area under the stroller and pulled out a new tube and a bicycle pump... who knew.

Hurry up Mom!

As she was changing the tire she told me that she kept that stuff in there for just such an occasion. "What if I were really far away and had a flat"? .... I guess that suck it up and push a flat tire home was not a good answer to that rhetorical question... Good thing she was there because I never knew that stuff was in there.... nor did I know that the tires came off so easily. Axel and I would have taken a very lopsided ride home if it were just the two of us. Or I would have carried the thing on my back.... strong like bull.... smart like dump truck.

Back up and rolling....

I knew that there was a reason I married her.... ok maybe a lot of reasons, this being one of them. You're the best, baby!

The Culprit....

The Boys

2011-03-17T06:23:00.000-07:00

Prepare to attack!

As the Axman grows he is a lot more interactive with our older son.... you know.. the furry one. They seem to do a lot more together these days, especially when they share toys. Axel plays with Brillo's toys and Brillo chews up Axel's. Sometimes Axel thinks that Brillo IS the toy. Other times he thinks that Brillo is a horse and tries to ride him.... I wonder where he got that idea?

ATTACK!!!

He doesn't normally get very far when he does that. I am glad that Brillo doesn't seem to mind too much. He growls and complains a lot, but his tail is wagging and he usually just licks Axel to death after the attempt.

Good Boy!...... Both of you...

I hope that soon they will be able to play some of the same games that I play with Brillo, not sure that the boy will be as good at tug-o-war as I am but it will be fun to watch him try.

bear crawl!

Some Other Projects...

2011-03-16T06:15:00.001-07:00

Along with the yard project I did a few others over this weekend.... yes it was productive now that you mention it.

I put up new lighting in the big garage so now it is more of a garage then a tool and equipment cave. I figure that with how warm it is already it will be unbearable with the doors open this summer. I may have to work on an AC unit for the little garage and big garage.... we will see.

Project Backyard

2011-03-15T06:19:00.000-07:00

Whacked!

It has been way too long since I really worked on the backyard and given it the attention that it requires. This weekend I spent a lot of time catching up on yard work. For about a year I haven't raked out or swept out the pepper tree leaves from the very back section so I ended up filling 4 very large trashcans with yard waste. I also weed whacked the crap out of the edge runs of the yard.... that was fun... especially because Brillo left me some surprises hidden in the grass.

The Boy's Favorite Spot...

I also repaired a sprinkler head that has been leaking since we bought the place. It only leaked the water that was left in the line after the sprinklers turn off but it was enough to make that part of the yard slightly muddy. Not a big problem and the orange tree really likes the water but.... the boy also really likes the mud and he likes to track it into the house and get it all over himself. Hopefully that problem is solved.

Soon to be grassy area

Soon to be grassy area with chickenwire fence!

One longer term fix is the lack of green grass in the back yard. I went to the Home Despot and got the required stuff to fix that.... 50 feet of chicken wire and grass seed. If I can keep Brillo and Axel out of that area for a while I think I can get some grass to grow there. The three step process involves Weedkilling, fertilizing and then seeding.... I think 6 weeks before I see some good growth.

Chasm gone...

One project that I did has been a long time coming... I had these two big cracks in the concrete around the tree. The roots of the tree pushed the walkway up and there were two chasms that Axel might have stepped in and hurt himself. SO... with the help of a bag of quickcrete and some water they are gone now.

Say no to crack...

One project that I have to save for next weekend is the wall repair. Along with the cracks, the tree growth pushed over some of the low brick wall that runs around the yard. I have the mortar I need I just didn't have the time. If it is not raining this weekend I will do that.

The wall project will have to wait!

I did some other things but I will post about them some other day. I had a really good, and productive, weekend.

The Bulge

2011-03-10T06:08:00.000-08:00

If you have followed daveocracy for a while you will know that I have had some problems with my computer. Not computer problems but things happening to my computer. The most recent, which could be a computer problem because nothing happened to it, it just started doing some thing bad. I thought at first that I had bumped my computer on something and bent the case but then I realized that I could not close the lid properly. I also could not get it to sit flat on a table and it always seamed like something was under it making one side stick up.

Then I looked at it straight on.... it had a significant bulge right in the middle of the keyboard! I tried pinching it a little but that didn't work.... then I looked it up online and discovered that this was a reasonably common problem with these computers as the battery aged and reached its maximum cycles. The battery actually expands and bulges, which pushes on the case and deforms it. Soooooo

I took it to the local computer hospital at the mall and they fixed it for free. I dropped it off last Thursday and it arrived from UPS (I think) yesterday. That was an amazingly fast turnaround. When I opened the package this morning it looked like a new computer, case cleaned and nice and flat..... no sign of a bulge.

Hats off to Apple again. That Apple Care has been well worth the money.

The Grill and the Boy

2011-03-01T06:22:00.000-08:00

Pork Roasteses

Ever since Nancy got me that Big Green Egg I have been a grilling mad-man. Every chance I get, which in Northern Mexico is quite often, I am out there grilling away every kind of animal we can get our hands on and it is tasty. I have a habit of taking a picture of whatever is on the grill at the moment and texting it to my brother or to my good buddy Wes. They have been reciprocating which is nice....it is the closest I will ever get to tweeting.

Shrimp and Bacon Wrapped Asparagus... yum

We just had our anniversary and among other things, Nancy got me an electric charcoal starter. I used it last night on the grill to get some bison burgers going. It lit up in no time! Thanks babe!

And now for some pictures of the boy....

This is a classic that will show up when his first girlfriend visits....

Loves to go everywhere with his mower....

Well, almost everywhere....

Looking for some solitude

Found it!

A Very 80's Brithday

2011-02-20T07:11:00.001-08:00

Wow...Happy Birthday Rob!

Last Friday night my buddy Rob, whom I have known for over 20 years now, celebrated his 40th birthday..... in true 80's style. Almost as soon as we got the invitation, Nancy started looking for just the right outfits...I guess I can say costume because no one in their right mind would dress like this now.

Nice Job Nance!

It took a while to figure out the "look" we wanted. There were so many ways to go on this one and I think that Nancy went the right direction. She searched far and wide on eBay and found some parachute pants for me.... score! She also did a lot of shopping in some strange parts of town and found the perfect shirt for me. I think she found the multi-colored Nike High-Tops there as well. As you can tell from the pics.... she did very well.

Right out of the trailer park...

Her outfit was a little more difficult... and courageous.... she searched all over the place online for just the right 80's work-out gear. Nothing was perfect enough and finally it took a friend from out of town, who happened to be in town, to help us out. As it turns out, Marcia just happened to have the "perfect" outfit. I am not sure where she got it and I will not venture to say that she actually used it when it was in style but....... nothing is better than an original Jazzercise outfit..... with jacket... Nancy rocked it with the belt and earrings and blue eyeshadow.... Perfect. There were quite a few Madonnas there but only one Jazzercise girl....

Too Much Fun! and too much hair...

I thought Magnum PI was taller..or is that Freddy M?

Another really cool thing is that my very good friend Wes from Virginia happened to be in town that day....and it really was HIS birthday. I haven't seen Wes in years so it was good to see him and hang out.... and dress up like the 80's and go to a party. Wes was here on a business trip so he did not have his 80's clothes with him. SO... we had to go to the super gay part of town and do some shopping. I am not sure why, but that is the only place around to find 80's clothes.... oh wait, I do know why.... because 80's clothes are so gay.

That is a RAD haircut

It didn't take us too long to find a suitable outfit that wasn't too expensive. Wes went with the turned up collar and corduroy Op shorts, very 80's. There was a pair of shoes his size that would have really topped off the outfit.... CLEAR nike high tops.... but they were too pricey.... so we had to make up for it by getting a couple of very 80's mullet wigs... they really did put us over the top.

Who is that rock star? Motley Judas Poison?

The party was a blast, everyone was very decked out in their best approximation of what the 80's people looked like... a handful of us actually looked like that a long time ago... Rob and Deb did a great job, they had a huge screen up with 80's music videos playing and a bunch of posters from the era around the clubhouse. They even had a trivia game with a million questions about the 80's.... 1.21 Gigawatts! .... Great Scott! Good Job Rob and Deb, we had a great time!

I think I used to have a shirt like that.....

Good to see you Wes!

A couple pics

2011-02-18T07:21:00.000-08:00

Tickle Tickle...

Trademark..

Weekend in Burbank

2011-02-08T06:36:00.000-08:00

Swingers

We spent the weekend, or the majority of it, in Burbank with our friends Sean and Jen. We haven't been up to see them in a while. Nancy went while I was away but I haven't been there in a while. It was good to see them and hang out...and let our kids play....and as usual....drink too much and feel like crap the next morning.

Best Pals

Axel had a great time playing with Declan, and Elliot pretty much just laid there....not really she did more than that but at her age it is not expected. She is a very sweet, happy baby....and super cute. Ax and Declan ran around with the Dogs and went to the park and played in the back yard. The adults (which is a subjective term) went to a charity auction event thing ..... a themed charity auction event thing... I think the theme for this year was Jockeys and Julips. The intent being that everyone dresses up as if they were going to the races in Kentucky. Lots of fun....unless you hate seersucker.

The Ladies looked great.....as usual....

The event was in Pasadena I think, and we had to take a hired car to get there because they had an open bar..... who wants to drive when they have an open bar? Anyway, The guy behind the wheel mentioned that he used to be in my line of work but when I asked him a few questions he did not know the right answers..... I don't feel like getting into it. Poser.....

Making fun of something or someone I am sure.....

Nancy and I bid on a couple things but we were pretty sure we would not get them, Sean and Jen did the same thing and they, unlike us, actually won one of their items! Yay for Sean and Jen. Anyway, we had a great time, enjoyed some good food and good friends.....and we saw a guy with a horse head and a guy in drag. The horse head was more unusual......
I would have more pics to share but the ones we had done there are still there..... a little too happy by the time we left to remember that we had them taken....

Some Old Pics

2011-02-05T06:51:00.001-08:00

Pop-Pop

My dad has several hundred old slides that I am very interested in digitizing. While we were in Baltimore we scanned a few of them and I look forward to scanning more of them. There are a lot of pictures of the family from the 60's and 70's.

Me and Steve on the infamous swing set

Steve and I bought our dad a slide scanner a long time ago in the hopes that he would scan all the photos in but that thing is a pain in the ass to use. It is very slow and tedious. I might try to find a faster one and see if dad would ship the photos out here. I would like to spend some time with him doing that.

Me and Uncle Mike

There are so many cool pics that I really need to get on digits before they get any worse. The slide above is showing some signs of damage. I am not sure how to clean them either.

Me and Steve hangin out in the pool (notice Steve's Orioles shirt)

Uncle Mike

Mom Behind the Wheel

For my East Coast Friends and Family

2011-02-01T06:09:00.000-08:00

The last half hour of sunshine....

On Saturday afternoon I realized that I was getting a cold. I haven't had a cold in a long, long time. I am not very good with colds, I don't like them much. So I tried to drink lots of fluids, and Nancy got me some Chicken Soup and a C monster.... she knows I am not good with colds....
I did go to work yesterday but I left early because: 1 I don't want to infect all the people at work and I tell them to go home when they are sick and 2, it is hard to do paperwork when you have a cold like mine.... would have hospitalized a mere mortal.
So I spent an hour or so on the front porch in the warm sunlight with something to stay hydrated... tough out here in California. It made me think of all those poor people with blisters on their hands from shoveling snow.... don't put them down yet, there is more on the way I hear.

Nancy's Hobby, taking pics of the boy....

I will go to work today too and probably stay there all day. I do feel a little better.... I hope it lasts or I will have to come home early again and sit in the afternoon sun again.... It would suck to have to scrape the ice off of my windshield with a cold like this.

Brillo.... wondering why we aren't trying to take the toy from him....

Good luck all you East Coasters.... yer gonna need it.....

Just a few Pics

2011-01-29T07:38:00.000-08:00

Power Lifter
Axel demonstrating perfect form, back straight, weight touching the shins, feet shoulder width apart.... now....LIFT!!!

How did he get in there

UP!

The Georgetown Wing Crawl

2011-01-26T06:17:00.001-08:00

Brrrr it's DC

As you know, or maybe you don't, shortly after we returned from our vacation to Boise, Baltimore and Boise, I had to go to a conference on the east coast..... Washington DC to be exactish. Nancy and I have a few good friends that live there and one of them, Melissa, and I went on a wing crawl around Georgetown.

Tandoori Wings!

It all started when I had the idea to find the best wings in DC. I knew that M, being a DC-ite, would know some good places to eat so I asked her to look into the best wings in DC. She came back with the great idea to do a wing crawl! A foot trek around Georgetown to sample a few wings here and there. Brilliant!

Tandoori Bones

The first place we went was not the kind of place you think of when you think wings.... we went to a small Indian restaurant, Adoti, I think. The wings were probably the best that I have had from a culinary perspective but not at all "wing-like". They were not Buffalo but Tandoori. They were out of this world..... but not Buffalo...

Tasty Wing Place....

The next place we went was the Georgetown Wing Company. Right on the money as far as Buffalo go. They were very very good, flavor, preparation and meatiness all thumbs up. We talked to the girl behind the bar and she told us of a place that was not on the target list of wing places. This was another place that you would not think of for wings...

Where was this place? Chinese Kitchen No. 1..... A very small place across the street from a place that WAS on the list. We actually went to the place on the list first but they have no seating and it was WAY too cold out to judge wings from curbside...SO, we went to Kitchen No. 1.

Super Secret Chinese Kitchen No. 1

The place was a hole in the wall but the wings were surprisingly good. They were a mix of flavors ranging from General Tsao's to Tabasco and Pete's hot sauce.... with the expected excess oil of a Chinese place. They did not get the highest praise but they were not bad.

General Tsao's Tabasco Wings.... Yum....

The last place we went was also not on the target list. Melissa happened to see it on the way to the Chinese place and suggested we go there.... we did.... and those wings were really, really good..... but again they were not Buffalo. These were very meaty and prepared just right but had much more of a BBQ flavor.

I am glad we stopped in there because those wings were worth it. The one thing that were not worth was the drunk military guys that came in just as we got the wings. They were using some rather foul language and I could tell that they were going to get into a fight before the night was over. I hope they didn't get in too much trouble....

Southern Style Buffalo Wings

Another cool thing that we saw and I think in retrospect that I should have done something, was a shoplifting in progress. As we were walking towards one of the stops on our crawl we came across a group of young expensively dressed (not to be confused with well dressed) Washington DC kids. it was obvious that there parents were the kind of people that had money and did not want to be associated with the typical DC outer city dweller..... well you can take the turd out of the city but their kids will find their way back into it and steal things from high end retailers....n they certainly didn't do their parents proud. One little ass-clown monkey came bursting out of the store, and at first I thought he had taken his friend's jacket because she came out after him yelling. It turns out that she was an employee and he was, in fact, just another inner-city-one-step-away-from-the-cheese-line shit boy..... you can dress them up and almost teach them English.....but....

A Pile of Dessert

I said earlier that the wing place was the last place but it wasn't.... we hit one more place for desert.... Old Glory. I hear that it was a place of great repute when Melissa used to cause trouble in the Greater Metropolitan Washington area. The dessert was really, really good. I can't remember what it was but it was good....

Pizza Night!

2011-01-23T07:19:00.000-08:00

Time to make the pizza

So the other night we decided to have a pizza night. Not the store bought or delivery pizza though, the real deal, make it yourself pizza. Nancy looked up a recipe for the dough and we got some fixins from the store... the best part though? The Big Green Egg Pizza Oven™!

I need to learn that spin-in-the-air technique

We made three pizzas but we only have one pizza stone. The pizza stone is the key to making pizza on the grill. After we made the first one we tried to transfer the other ones to the stone but it did not work out and we ended up just putting them in the oven. Oh well, next time we will have more stones ready.

Step 2.... the sauce...

Getting Closer

I am currently using mesquite wood charcoal in the grill and it is really good for just the right amount of smokiness for just about everything. I did not taste it on the pizza that I did on the grill much. It burned one section of the pizza but not bad enough to make it inedible. It was really really good.

The Glove, the Headlamp and the Grill

Looking good..... really, really good!

About 15 minutes at 450° and that pizza was good to go! It was way better than any pizza we have had delivered and way better than any frozen pizza. It was almost as good as the pizza I used to get in Lerici... I think with some practice Nancy's dough and ingredients and my BGE skills can even beat La Luna.

Yum...

Oh, and one other really cool thing about pizza night is that it is in Sal's Pizza Nook. That just makes it even better!

Boise!

2011-01-15T07:56:00.001-08:00

Last Minute Hugs

Because I had to get back to work on the following Monday we didn't have a whole lot of time in Baltimore and even less in Boise. I really like Boise and every time I go there I like it more. It is completely polluted with normal people and lots to do. We said our good-byes and jumped back on a plane to Boise.

Checking out the country

We got stuck in Salt Lake for a few hours because of weather. That really sucked but we had some weapons at our disposal... the DVD player and the iPad; two very good tools in the fight against Crazy Baby Syndrome. I will say that they did help but that boy was sooooo tired and there was too much going on at the airport to allow him to sleep. He stayed up the whole time. He did fall asleep in the car on the way back to the house though. Poor little guy.

Enjoying the snow with Mom and Bentley

Southwest Airlines lost our car seat. Nancy bought a roll around attachment for the car seat allows you to carry it like a piece of luggage and that made it really easy to transport the boy through the airport. Anyway, they lost that due to the plane delays and other things. They did find it and we got it the day we were supposed to drive back to SD. I will say that even though they lost it, everyone at Southwest was very polite and helpful.

As usual we had a great time in Boise, saw a bunch of friends and spent time with Vaughn and Katie and Bentley (miss you Bentley!). We didn't get any snowboarding in this year because it was just way too cold to be enjoyable. Maybe later this season.... maybe....

Axel and Chopped Liver

The drive back was easy.... for me and Axel, not so much for Nance and Brillo. We made it from Boise to Barstow that night, not sure how far that is but it is far. We had planned on stopping in Vegas but there were no hotels on the south side that were not attached to a casino. Then we stopped in some other place and actually got a room but it was nasty and Nancy looked up some reviews on her iPhone that said as much. We got to Barstow about 2 am. It did make the rest of the trip really fast though and we were home before noon that day and enjoying the shorts-and-t-shirt weather on the front lawn.....

Christmas in Baltimore 2.... or 3

2011-01-15T07:19:00.000-08:00

Christmas at Steve's

I haven't finished posting about Christmas... better late then never though. After a wonderful morning of floats and Christmas mayhem we relaxed for a while and then went back to Steve's house for Christmas with the big family. Almost everyone was there...it is hard to get the whole group together. Lisa had to skype in, Mark and Rena were in Cali with their brand new baby Noa. Not sure what Gina and John, were doing, would have been nice to see them and Jeremy and Sarah... but again... very hard to get the whole group together!

Uncle Ray....Former Coastie!

It was really good to see everyone, I wish we could get back more often, I only seem to see everyone once every couple years or so and it is hard to catch up on current events that way. One other really cool thing for me was I got to show off my brand new person, our boy Axel. Most of my family had never met him, including my sister-in-law, so that was fun to see him meet everyone.

Cousin Dawn

I seem to be a little behind the power curve in the kid making department, Uncle Kenny's kids are drinking age and Dawn's oldest is college bound soon! Holy cow I am getting old!.... not really though, all the Aunts and Uncles are still older..... haha....

Round 2...

To all the family that read this... and even if you don't, we love all of you and it was really good to see you, hope that we see each other soon....sooner that two years anyway. And if you weren't there you were very much missed. God Bless the farm.

Bentley

2011-01-08T07:22:00.000-08:00

Big Kiss for Bentley

It is with great sadness that I post this here. Bentley, one of the best dogs in the world, passed away this week. Bentley has been a great companion and member of the Olson family for years.

Big Kiss on the Wrong End

Vaughn and Katie, our hearts go out to you, we are very sad to see him go, Bentley was a wonderful friend. We will miss him.

Brillo with Uncle Bentley

We will miss you very much Bentley.......

Christmas Day!

2010-12-30T07:50:00.000-08:00

Let the Carnage Begin!

Christmas morning started off just right! Nancy, Mom, Axel and I went over to Steve and Evanthe's to let the kids all open Christmas presents together. We were a little late getting over there so I am sure that DJ and Elektra were getting agitated.

Am I Missing One?

Axel was not sure what was going on but DJ and Elektra were keenly aware that it was present time. They tore through all the wrapping paper like it was paper. All three of them had on red footie jammies and were very uniform. I am not sure if I think it was cute... but it was uniform...

Come on Down.....You're the Proud Owner of a Brand New Bike!!!

The Axman did not really get too in to it but he did have a lot of fun pulling the paper off of things. He did get some really fun things; too bad that we will have to send them home by mail because we couldn't carry all that stuff home on the plane.

mmmmm paper.....

Not only did we get presents for Christmas morning, we got a famous Hargest/Salisbury favorite, floats! If you have never had one you are missing out. A float is a hunk of fried bread with butter on it. My mom has told me how to make it and I think she has even given me the recipe for the dough, but basically it is a bread made a little short and fried in a pan then smothered in butter. Really, really good but really, really bad for you.

Floats!

Last year we did Christmas at Nancy's parent's house. This year we did it in Baltimore, next year we will have Christmas at our house. We haven't really spent any holiday at our house but we plan on doing it a lot more for Axel; he needs to have some solid holiday foundations at his own house.

Nice Hat

Nicer Hat!

The Great-Uncle Mike

Later that morning Uncle Mike made an appearance and gave Axel a really, really cool gift, a big wheel! Axel is not big enough to ride it yet but that did not stop him from sitting on it and playing with all the buttons and knobs. Good gift Great-Uncle Mike! Thanks.

Can't Reach the Pedals

Christmas in Baltimore

2010-12-29T05:04:00.000-08:00

Rockin' Out

This year Nancy, Axel, and I spent Christmas in Baltimore. Axel got to meet a lot of his family including his Aunt Evanthe and his first cousins David James and Elektra. We stayed at my mom's house and drove over to Steve and Evanthe's most days so the kids could play together.

Christmas Tree Still Too Low

Axel had a good time at Mom's house going up and down the stairs; he is a very good climber. He also loves pulling out all of Mom's CDs from her CD trays and mixing them all up. The weather there was pretty crappy for most of the time we were there or we would have played on the awesome playground near her house.

Tickling the Ivories

One of the funnest things that we did there was play the keyboard that Mom got herself for Christmas, Axel really loved playing that. I will have to break out the one we have in the garage and put it in the living room. We really want him to be into playing a lot of instruments but we don't want to force anything.... you could say he will be musically reclined.

Shy little girl

Axel really liked playing with his cousins, they have lots of toys that make noise and are super fun to play with. Not only do the cousins have toys but Uncle Steve has a lot of toys to play with, like the drum set! Axel really likes drums and other things that make noise. Good thing that DJ and Elektra like the drums too because if one of them didn't like it they would not survive in Steve's Basement.

Goodnight Cleveland!!!....... pssssst... we're in Baltimore......

I really wish the weather had been better because Steve has a huge backyard to run around in. We could have had a lot of fun in nicer weather. Not sure when we will get back there but hopefully the weather will be a lot better.

And I'm spent......

The Long Haul

2010-12-21T10:47:00.000-08:00

Ready to Travel

Our holiday plans involve some travel. That travel requires that we drive for two million hours in the car. I am not sure that the boy and the dog were very happy with that. As a matter of fact, I KNOW the boy and the dog were not very happy with that because they both told us so many many times in the two day trip.... each in their own way.

Poor Dog

The boy would cry a lot when he was completely over it. The dog would lean his head on my shoulder and paw at Nancy's arm. When the crying and pawing got too much for us we would pull over and get something to drink or fuel up and let the boys play. We tried to pick spots that would allow Brillo explore and have some fun.

Out for a Walk

We weren't sure where we were going to stop for the night but Nancy did some online searching and found a good spot in Utah... Beaver, Utah. We stayed at the Best Western Butch Cassidy Inn. I found out during check in that Butch Cassidy was born there, and probably lived there for the first 10 years of his life.

Butch's Place

We did not ask for or expect them to have a crib for the boy so Nancy and I made an improvised pen on the side of the bed to keep the boy corralled. He didn't like it at first but as he got tired he didn't mind. He slept like a rock....or at least I did because I didn't hear a thing.

The Bed-Side Prison

One of the other cool things about the Butch Cassidy Inn of Beaver is that they offered a really intriguing book for me to read! A great piece of literature by none other that L. Ron Hubbard! Can you believe it! I would have paid twice as much just to stay there had I known that I would get such a gem of a book! AYFKM!!! haha, hoo ya skcientologee!

Cowboys and Thetans!

After we left the beaver in the morning we had mostly a good day of driving but the late afternoon was pretty rough. It was snowing and the temperature dropped to around 30. Good thing that it was in the mountains! After we got through the mountains the weather got much better and the temps rose a little bit. We got to Boise about 1930 on Sunday night.

Nice Roads

Tomorrow we fly to Baltimore to see my side of the family and to show off my man-cub. I am really excited to introduce him to everyone.

2010-12-20T19:37:00.000-08:00

Walking on the beach with the boy.... that is one of the things that I have really been waiting for. Last week I finally got to do it. It was so much fun to see the boy enjoy the sand and water but we had to really stop him from jumping in the water with Brillo.

Later that week we went Christmas light viewing with Colin and Gillian. I had no idea that there were sections of SD that had that kind of light show. We found a small section of Point Loma that really went all out to display their Christmas cheer. They had the coolest lights all up and down the block.

Some of the houses really went crazy but others were just kind of putting half effort and only had 20,000 lights or so. The really good ones were completely polluted with lights. Axel had a really really good time.

After we checked out the lights we went back to Colin and Gillian's house to enjoy some mulled wine and whiskey. Axel tried to undecorate the Christmas tree and jumped around on the couch just like a good 16-month old.

The Fambly at Christmas...

Colin and I had a whiskey or two after finishing the mulled wine. It was the Power's Whiskey. Really good stuff, but we did not drink so much that I felt bad the next day.

Un-decorating the tree....

Almost on Vacation

2010-12-19T19:42:00.000-08:00

Beard on the feet tickle trick

Not long ago.... a couple weeks, I had a change of jobs and it was pretty important so some of my family came out to celebrate. It was a good chance to see them and have a good dinner or two. We sat around a drank a lot and I cooked a bunch of stuff on my brand new Big-Green-Egg grill... that thing kicks ass.

Me and Steve

My brother came out to my house for the second time ever, the first time being at my wedding to Nancy. It was good to see him in California in the super nice weather. I usually only see him in the miserable cold of Baltimore. Not that I don't like the home of the NAACP and a culture of liberal victimism and rampant crime, but the only thing that can get me back there is Christmas. That is why every time I see my brother it is miserable weather.

Axel on Ascent

One of the fun things we did was jam! I was on the drums and Steve was on the bass guitar. I wish I had a bigger bass amp because I can't really hear the bass over the really, really, ridiculously loud drums.

I'm Not Begging...

I could not have asked for better weather while they were out here... and not only weather here (which was perfect) but the weather back east was horribly cold and snowy....perfect. At my work they had some things to check out while they celebrated the change of leadership. Nancy and Axel really liked the inflatable boats.... especially Axel.

Sexy Mama

Axel really liked the big guns, like the .50 cal. I think it might be a while before he can actually shoot it though. Maybe next year.

Adjusting the Optics

The Family

2010-12-11T05:45:00.000-08:00

Mom

B12.......Miss........

Hottie Hoterson

Grandmom and the Axeman

Vaughn with The Boy

Working the Camera....

It is really nice to be able to squeeze your sweetie, tickle your son, and scritch your dog when you want to. My Fambly

Woof...

Beefy Beef Ribs..... What a treat....with proper supervision

More Pics From Traveling

2010-12-10T07:27:00.001-08:00

30,000 feet over my old job...

Traveling made easy in the shape of a martini....

Keep 'em coming.... I have been dry for 8 months....

I am not a big fan of the middle east but one thing they have going for them is their pandering to important people.... Not that I am important but I was sitting in an important guy's seat and I was taking full advantage.

The Duck...

I thought I was looking at a menu for a nice restaurant instead of the in-flight snack box list I am used to. I didn't have high hopes but that just shows my ignorance of fine flying. These guys really know how to travel in style...

The Beef....

I probably could have eaten half of what I did and been completely happy but I was not going to let any luxury escape my scrutiny....

The Fish

The day I left for my 8-month long business trip, my boy (Nancy) put a little red fish in my carry-on. That fish and I have gotten along swimmingly ever since. I try to take our picture together whenever I can... below is a shot of me and fish in the business lounge in Abu-Dhabi.

Coffee and Water.... no martinis...

About that flight

2010-12-09T06:10:00.000-08:00

So now that I have a little more time I can tell you about my wonderful flight back.

Appetizers....

I flew back from where I was on business class. I can't tell you how nice it was to fly in business class. I have never traveled like that before and I am not sure I will for a long time to come. I had my very own "cubicle" so to speak. There was more than enough leg room to lay out flat and the seat was wide enough to fit two fat guys.

Cheese and Bread

Not only were the accommodations very nice, the food was awesome. I had some crazy appetizers and an excellent lunch/dinner. I think the app was roast duck with three kinds of cheese spreads and bread and the dinner was braised beef tips or something. I am pretty sure that I had about 6 vodka martinis during the whole flight.

Welcome Back to the Blog

2010-12-06T06:08:00.000-08:00

Three Days Ago

It has been a long time since I have posted here, but now it is time to start posting again. I have a lot to post and a million pics to share. I had a total of 24 hours of flying and 32 hours total travel time to get home. Some of the trip was really good, some of the trip was really bad. I will tell you all about it in the next few posts.

Right Off the Plane

For now suffice to say that I am glad to be home and really happy to be able to squeeze my girl and play with my son. I am also really glad to be able to have dinner with Colin and Gillian (like we did last night) and to drink way more whisky than I should (like Colin and I did last night)

Me and Nance and Brillo

I am looking forward to the rest of this week and to getting back into this time zone. Wish me luck. Talk to you all soon.

Using My BGE!

It's about time....

2010-10-11T10:30:00.001-07:00

Boy and his dog (furry Brother)

It is about time to start blogging again. It have not been blogging here for a while. I have been posting most of my updates on the Super Secret Squirrel site that I will eventually put on this site. So just to get back in the swing of things let me leave you with a couple pics!

After a long day of being toted around

My mom says, my mom says, my mom says that I shouldn't eat chocolate......actually my mom says he looks like me in this one.

Sand Crab

2010-06-28T11:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Nancy sent me a video of a cute little Sand-Crab she saw at the dog beach....

hmmmmm

2010-06-13T11:02:00.001-07:00

Well that didn't work... you have to have a google account to get in. I will think of something different!

Mostly secure blog?

2010-06-13T10:58:00.000-07:00

I am trying out a new thing. I do not want to post to just any ol' people so I am setting up this protected site in the hope that I can limit the amount of exposure to the postings I hope to post here. I will let you all know if this works.... and maybe you can let me know if it doesn't...

I will get back to you soon!

Getting Bigger and Better

2010-05-27T19:56:00.000-07:00

Now that Axel has his own blog (www.axelberry.blogspot.com) it is easy to pop over there and read all about his latest exploits and celebrity friends, but I still have a thing or two to post about him.

As you know he is developing nicely and is right about, or slightly ahead of (parental prerogative) , the average baby of his age. He has acquired a few new skills.

No shoes.... go figure...

He now says Dada quite frequently and with only a little coaxing. He has been known to say Mama on occasion. He has a new walker toy thing that he loves to push around, he will always take an opportunity to stand so we got it for him. I am sure that I mentioned it but he has a couple little teeth now! Not long before he is enjoying some cow with his meatatarian family.

There are a few things he does that we did not expect, like:

Bicycle Repair!

Helping Nancy fix her mountain bike,

Brake Adjustments are Tricky...

Helping locate hidden items in the fridge....

I know there is another Pacifico in here somewhere....

Checking Brillo for cavities and gingivitis.....

Repairing toys for other kids.....

He has also expanded his diet a little bit... He recently started eating more kinds of food like broccoli, pureed beef, Sushi rice, lots and lots of Watermelon.... and of course there are a few things that we didn't expect him to eat at such a young age but he seems to enjoy.... like:

Mountain Bikes..... and he just fixed that one....

Dogs.....
And bake-ware..... at least he is getting his iron...

Almost Forgot....

2010-05-15T22:27:00.001-07:00

I almost forgot to blog about a recent project I completed not long ago....

Last year as part of the new office / guest room I ripped out the old built-in space heater that probably hadn't worked for years. It left a big hole that went all the way through the wall. I posted last year about fixing that thing up but I never really said anything about the fix job on the outside.

I used the same hydraulic cement that I used on the little garage. I hope that it proves to be a long term solution and does not crack over time... I am sure I will let you know. Anyway it took about 5 coats of this stuff. Working with a bucket of quick-set hydraulic cement and a pool trowel (not pull trowel) I tried to make a pattern that blended with the existing exterior surface.
I think I did ok!
In the pic above you can see the slight discoloration. I only used one coat of paint and the darker cement shows below..... I will put another one coat on later...

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

2010-05-08T22:53:00.000-07:00

To all the moms out there, have a very happy Mother's day and thanks for raising us right!

Without you we would have very dirty faces and unkissed boo boos. Thanks Moms!

The Competition has started

2010-04-20T07:08:00.000-07:00

It would seem that the competition for food has started. Somehow Axel got a hold of Brillo's treat and poor Brillo wanted it back..... enjoy

Track Star!

2010-04-13T10:37:00.001-07:00

Axel hasn't been in his swing in a long time because he is very interested in pulling himself up on the coffee table and grabbing things. Well just for something different, and because I had to do something and needed to keep him semi-restrained, I put him in his bouncy swing.... who knew that with his new found skills he would be so entertaining?

Dinner with C&G

2010-04-13T10:34:00.000-07:00

The other night we had a good dinner with C&G. We had some steaks from Iowa Meat, a great butcher shop off of some road that I forget until I see the exit sign. I decided, because of the timing of the occasion to open one of the '97 Brunellos. It was really really really good. I hope the rest turn out as good as that one. It went really well with the steaks and taters.

Brunello di Montalcino '97, soooo tasty

As soon as C&G got here Colin and I had to take care of a little project. We finally hung the dart board that they gave us for Christmas! We were about to eyeball it and put it up but Colin mentioned that he wasn't sure what the regulation was. At that point we knew that we couldn't have this board be out of regs!

Regulation Darts

We ran inside and looked up the regulations on Wikipedia and went to town. It took a little instruction deciphering but after a few pencil lines and wall fasteners.....and a couple beers..... we had the board up at the regulation height of 5 feet, 8 inches. (center of the bull.....okay, maybe we were a 1/4 inch off, sue me) Then we had to measure the distance to the throw line....7 feet, 9 and 1/4 inches, who the hell came up with that one? Anyway we put the tape line down, congratulated ourselves on an outstanding project well done.... and chucked a few darts while the steaks were burning.

Nice Grouping Colin...

We played a game of Cricket and I wizzed through to the bull while Colin was still on 19. I knew it would not end well. While I was busy not hitting the bull, Colin trudged through the rest of the numbers and was shooting the bull with me..... After about two rounds of that he landed on right in the frickin' middle..... so much for being ahead. Good shootin' Colin, Thanks again for the awesome dart board.

A couple of pics...

2010-04-09T07:44:00.000-07:00

So I had to take a couple pics with the big camera... here they are.....

Paby Broofing

2010-04-07T08:23:00.000-07:00

One of the most recent and development driven projects is the household baby proofing project... Axel's development not mine, although one could argue it is a combination.

Last week the Axman couldn't even crawl and this week he is crawling all over the place and pulling himself up on anything he can grip! Now that he is mobile we have had to hasten our babyproofing. We have plugged all the outlets and tried our best to put all the cables out of reach.

Euro hinges are a pain in the pane and they cramp my stile

One of the most vulnerable areas is the TV cabinet. This is where the stereo and other electronics live and work. Axel has definitely targeted this area for investigation and research. So much so that I had to build a small lift up Plexiglas door in front of the stereo.

Nice Joinery...almost

I should have planned a little better on the hinges and made the top part a little bigger but it looks ok and serves its purpose. As with most woodworking things, if I had to build it again I would do it differently....and better.

Dangerous area....for the stereo and DVD player

Along with blocking access to the electronics we had to put some skull friendly padding around the edge of the marble table. I can't tell you how many times he has crawled right into the pointy corners of that thing.

The padding is very nice and has helped a lot but one thing that is does is serve as a handle for him to pull himself up with. Now we have to keep almost everything off of the coffee table. He is quick too.... put your beer or glass of water down and turn for a second and Axel will have it in his little paws and shortly thereafter try to bite it.

I am really proud of the little guy for being able to pull himself up like that but I feel bad for him every time he loses his grip and falls over.... if you are not right there to catch him his Olson head hits with a big thud and he starts to cry. Fortunately he also has a thick Salisbury skull and he is back to playing in a few seconds. I think it is mostly just scary for him...

Going through the mail...

One other really cool development is that he is now pulling himself up in his crib and doing laps around the inside while holding the edge....again, every now and then he loses his grip and totally eats it.... it's going to be a tough life kid...get used to it!

Today the Crib....tomorrow the Eiger...

It ain't Christmas yet

2010-04-06T07:09:00.000-07:00

you can almost see them....

It is nowhere near Christmas yet but our boy is getting his two front teeth already! They are hard to get a picture of because he is a squippy little guy and won't hold still. When they get a little bigger I am sure we will get a better picture!

Funky Moves

2010-04-06T06:56:00.000-07:00

Earthquake Party!

Living in Mexifornia is usually pretty good. The weather is nice and...... the weather is nice....
One small price we have to pay though is every now and then the ground under you moves...
Just the other day we were at our friend's house and a big one hit in Mexico... I thought the border patrol guys would at least be able to stop that thing from coming north but they didn't.
The ground started moving back and forth pretty good. It is the biggest one I have ever felt and the longest.

From the USGS website

I had already had a few beers when it hit but I think I was the first to notice it. I was standing next to the pool and looked at a friend of mine and he and I knew instantly! I thought it was really cool. The area that we live in and the area that our friend lives in sits on top of a large mass of granite. I think that may have dampened the effects. Some of our friends that live in Coronado said that it was way worse there.... you get what you pay for I guess.... higher price, better ride...

Earthquake indicator pool

We had no damage at our house or anyone here in town. Last night we felt an aftershock, or may have been a whole new one.... just a little bump or two..... did I mention the weather here?

The Full Story....mostly....

2010-04-01T06:23:00.000-07:00

After numerous reader requests I have decided to blog about that thing in that picture....
I am of course talking about the boot I have on in the last blog with Me and Axel.

Not my actual foot....just a pic from the net

Last week I was running (a four mile run) and on the way back I was really moving out... at least I was moving out for an old man... and I felt a slight twinge in my left foot. After a few steps that twinge made a "pop" like cracking your knuckle and it started to hurt pretty badly.

I slowed down to a walk and thought I had just tweeked it. I tried to stretch it for a couple minutes. That didn't work and I could not put any weight on it. I hobbled down to the water (I was running near the ocean) and tried to keep it in the cool water. Didn't really help....

So I made it the last mile back to work and went to the doc that afternoon. They looked at it and told me to get an x-ray first thing in the morning. So I did and then went back to see the doc. I talked with a physical therapist and she said that the x-ray didn't show anything. SOOOO she began to do some diagnosing.....

I was hoping it was a neuritis kind of thing where the nerves are agitated by the inflammation of the muscles or some crap like that.... but it didn't act like neuritis. So she tried ultra sound and found a very sharp hot-spot.... which happens when two pieces of bone, that should be one bone, rub together with the sound waves hitting them. Classic indication of a stress fracture...

Sooooooo, yesterday I went to get a bone scan...

They inject you with technetium-99m and wait 3 hours then do imagery that looks for "leaks" in your bones....like stress fractures that don't show up on x-rays. Well mine was very conclusive. I have a stress fracture of the 2nd metatarsal in my left foot..... It would seem that playing racquetball, running around the obstacle course, and yes...barefoot running all contribute to this kind of injury.... an over use injury.... The bone scan technician was also kind enough to point out that I am not getting any younger either and I should look into calcium supplements...I would have kicked him if my foot didn't hurt so much...

I will post the actual imagery from my scans soon..... today it is back to the PT to see what she says...

Almost Mobile and a New Development....

2010-03-30T06:29:00.000-07:00

Loves to walk!

We are really close now to a new level of mobility. He is starting to move his hands a little bit and he as almost made the cognitive connection between hands and feet! we are at the point where we have to keep a camera around at all times to try and catch this momentous occasion. Nancy's Mom mentioned that Eric was walking before he crawled.... I wonder if that is what Axel will do. He is pretty good at balancing with only one hand for assistance and he loves to walk..... we shall see.

One other development that Nancy and Katie discovered last night was Axel's first tooth! It is a tiny little nub on his gums (bottom). Nancy mentioned that he has been droolier than normal! So now we have that fussiness to look forward to..... sweeeeet!