Spare Room Project Start

Now that the hallway's done we're going to start on the spare room. We'll be trying for a nautical theme which I hope will include lighthouses. We've got the room empty and we'll pull up the carpet, padding and the tile. I'll probably have to seal the floor before I start on the pergo laminate. It will be the same as the hall and should continue seamlessly.

Here's the room empty, except for the cable modem that feeds the house. This room was the logical choice for that because that's where the computer and game systems will be when we're done. We'll have to work around the stuff while we finish this project. Hopefully this will go faster than the hallway because there will be fewer doors and angles to worry about. We do have some wall damage due to earth and foundation settling and hopefully there will be few cracks in the concrete subfloor. If there is I'll have to buy more of the liquid cement like I did in the living room. Work will continue tomorrow.

















On another note, MTTS starts on Friday, the only day I'll be going. I'm looking forward to the event in SF, I think it's a motocross course. That will be a first to me. My front tires need to be replaced as the tread is pretty worn but that will have to wait until after the event. Should make it more interesting, front tires sliding around and all. My week long vacation starts that day and I'm considering doing the drive at least part way down to LA, maybe all the way just to say hello to DB from WhiteRoofRadio. Sure wish I could go all the way to Denver, but the MINI plant tour will make up for that. I'm confirmed for September 13, woohoo!

Hallway done today

We finished the hallway upgrade today with the last piece of baseboard. Thanks to my youngest offspring I can post a few pictures of the work.

Here's the rug and padding in the process of removal. The carpet was OK many years ago, but with time and changing tastes, it was past time for it to go.

Here's the hallway after removing the carpet, padding and the tile under that. The concrete under all that wasn't in too bad of shape (no big cracks like in the living room) so I decided to lay the laminate over a layer of plastic sheeting right on the sub-floor.

Here's the hallway with the painted walls (almost a pale mint green) and the laminate laid down. The plastic under-layer can be seen at the edge and was trimmed off or laid behind the baseboard. In this picture I haven't put down the transition piece between the rug and flooring. It looks good for the master room but the rug for the other bedroom buckled a bit and I couldn't get it just right.













And finally the finished project. Actually there are just a few tiny gaps in the floor and floorboard areas that need to be filled with the wood putty stuff, but for the most part everything is done. Wall hangings or pictures will come latter; the spouse is deciding what to keep and what to replace.

Leadership material?

The engineer in our group at work has been on vacation for about a week now. When he left, he tasked me with overseeing the work of one of our contract workers and taking care of a couple of others who came in for maintenance and calibration of some equipment. He's been off on vacation before, but I never had to oversee the work on another. Which leads me to an understanding of myself that I've felt but never articulated before. I hate been a supervisor of anyone. In my own work I prefer a sort of training period with a clear understanding of the expectations. After that I prefer to be given my tasks with a hands-off supervisor who will trust my work and time management, and be patient with me when I ask for help. I've trained people here before and don't mind doing that as long as I can see the person is learning and trying to improve. Once the training period is over I expect them to preform somewhat like me, with minimal direction. Having to oversee someone who needs direction more than once a day frustrates me. Looking this over I am aware that this can seem somewhat unforgiving and rigid on my part and I acknowledge that. Still, I like work environments where we are a loose group on independent workers who come together as a team only when needed. Well there it is, I'm and Indian and not a Chief, and I like it that way.

Quiet on the home front

My youngest offspring is off in Ireland for six weeks. She's been gone just a week now and life at home is very quiet. Almost zero drama. We'll see how long before my spouse and I kill ourselves due to the oppressive silence. My daughter is by all accounts enjoying herself and is staying with her boyfriend at his folks home in a very small village somewhere between Limerick and Cork (I think). She'll get a great feel for small town, nothing to do except go to the pub lifestyle. Should be interesting. The small town life seems at first glance to us suburbanites to be ideal and serene, but I imagine for me it would get old fast. I know after living on Oahu for three years I couldn't wait to move back to CA.