Spare room complete

We finished the flooring yesterday. Looks pretty good but there were some minor issues. The hallway flooring was slightly offline and when we continued it into the spare room the offline pieces became apparent when the final pieces on the outside wall were laid down. It all came out ok because the baseboard trim hides the edges.








I got the baseboard down today and started moving the furniture back in. It's hard to tell the wall color in this picture, but it is a light blue. We also decided on the window shade and will replace some outlets and covers tomorrow. The rest of the furniture will also go back in tomorrow as well, even if I don't put up the shelves for a bit.

A little insight cartoon

I found this cartoon on one of the blogs I read daily.

Back when I was about 12-13 I was really into the mythology stuff, Norse, Roman and Greek gods mostly. I was also finishing up my Lutheran catechism training for communion and I started to question the validity of all religious thought. So this little cartoon pretty much sums up my thoughts and conclusions from those days. I stopped the church stuff as soon as my first communion was done and everything I've read, seen, experienced and thought about has justified my original conclusion.


It's copyrighted so don't copy and claim it's yours.

MTTS 2010 SF

Made it to the MTTS event and had a pretty good time. MINI provided the cars for the autocross (they called it a MINIcross) so my tires were spared the wear and tear. The autocross was fun but since they only allowed two laps, it wasn't long enough.









The new Countryman was there for a short time. The color wouldn't be my choice, but the car looks pretty sweet. It's growing on me to the point where I'm encouraged by the direction of MINI.











The party for the Countryman preview was on Treasure Island. A great place to hold the event for MINI. Great view of the city and with all the food and drinks it was worth it to go. The same Countryman was there so nothing new, but did see the Mayfair MINI so did see something new. Also got to see the MINIUSA president and he signed a card for me. Maybe I'm too much of a fanboy.

Spare room continues

I've completed the prep work for the spare room and will paint today. We've picked a very light blue color and I should finish the painting today and start the floor tomorrow.


The floor had lots of glue for the tile still left and I tried to strip it off. Mostly my effort seemed to just spread it around a bit but it's less sticky now than before so at least I did that. I also put down some cement sealant to help with the flooring.

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.

Good aim

Reading the note on the picture brought back some great memories.

I was there (at the airport) quite awhile ago and saw this. It's true, I aimed at the fly and finished before I realized it wasn't real. And while the floors are indeed very clean, I still wouldn't want surgery in there.

Hallway Improvements

Almost finished with the replacement of the hall carpet with pergo flooring. The old carpet was badly worn with many holes to the pad and the nail strip showing along the entry way. We went with August Oak laminate. Still not convinced that it's super easy or long lasting. I did learn a lot and that should help me when I do the spare room with the same pergo. I'm not quite done and will be doing the baseboard and transition pieces sometime within a week. Pictures when complete.

The MTTS event will be only one day in SF. Instead I'll be going to Europe through my company and on the way home I hope to arrange a tour of the MINI plant in Oxford. Won't know about the tour until sometime next month but the trip is in September around my B-day.

Too bad about USA soccer, still not too shabby.

I'm in a AC/DC mode right now. I'm trying to complete the CD collection but funds are as always not easy to free up.

MTTS 2010

I'm still trying to get the spouse to agree to let me go to at least one of the MTTS events this year. I think the single day in SF is going to happen, but everything else is unlikely.

I'll be tearing out the carpeting in the hall next week and installing wood flooring. I'll also paint the hall and have the space heater changed out to something newer with a thermostat.

The grandson is walking all the time now, he's just over a year old and still very cute. He's looking more like his dad everytime we see him although the genetic influence of my daughter is still strong in the hair and eye color. Should turn out to be a good looking kid.

I'm enjoying the world cup so far, USA drew a draw with England, great relief there. Also getting excited about the Raiders upcoming season now that Russell is gone and their draft seemed good for a change.

Welcome back

It's been almost a year since I posted or even visited this site, so I'm long overdue for an update.

I'm the proud grandpa of Michael Robert. He's a great little kid and seems to be very happy with life.


















This picture is one of my favorites of him.

Came across another picture on a great website yesterday.


















I've been a bit under the weather lately with a persistent dry cough. Most likely the hangover of the last cold I had. I got the codine syrup for the cough and it's been getting better, but I'm still not fully recovered. I guess that's why I have the time now to revisit this site.

Later.

More life changes

Found out a couple of months ago that my middle daughter is pregnant. She's 26 now so age was not a factor for shock. She had a live-in boyfriend of about a year and I had no idea they were that serious. He's a great guy and all but at the time they weren't married or even engaged. I guess I'm just old school that way, but I think people should be married before starting a family. But I harbor no ill will to either of them (or anybody else) for living the way they see fit. Anyway, I'll be a grandpa for the first time. Woohoo.
And then yesterday my daughter and her boyfriend made it legal. I think they did it for healthcare reasons and not because her parents wanted her to. Fun day and I met the groom's father for the first time. Very nice guy, smart and funny too. He's in IT at the company he works for and loves his job based on his leisure reading material. He's married to a very cool woman who's also smart, funny and a teacher (just like my daughter). And like me, she loves her hard science fiction.
Hard to believe it's been over 6 months since the last post, but there it is. I finished the living room and will be giving a blow by blow account sometime soon (with pictures).

Still working on Living Room

I'm still mired in the living room / home improvement project. This thing seems like it will never end. Of course, I am a lazy sod. I have finished the painting of the walls and still have the trim around the doors to do. I spent the Labor day weekend cutting tile and managed to cement a few to the floor. Only time will tell whether I did on okay job.

I recently bought the book Infected by Scott Sigler. He's a podcaster that reads his novels in chapters and gives them away free. Earthcore has been my favorite of his, but I've enjoyed everything I've heard so far. Highly recommended.

Just went over 20,000 miles in my MINI. That was in about 16 1/2 months. I think I may cut down on the driving a little and take public transport more. I would like the warranty for time and milage to be over very close together. Another body modification is on the way. I'm going to replace the chrome trim around the grill with black trim. I'm slowly getting rid of the major chrome trim.

Meet 'n' Greet MTTS 2008

My wife and I made it to the Meet 'n Greet at Universal City. We were a bit late but we still managed to eat and drink a little. We also played a couple of games, air hockey is our favorite. I also managed to introduce myself to DB and Todd from WhiteRoofRadio. DB was in fine form and helped grease the wheels to interrupt Todd. Todd was talking with Robert from Robert's Random Ramblings blog.

Kudos to MINIUSA for putting on a very fine shindig. I enjoyed my somewhat short stay there.

Tomorrow is the rally and the Saturday events and I'm very tired right now. So off the bed I go.

MTTS 2008

I've been real busy with the living room project this past month. Actually the project has been going on four months now. As promised I will go into details sometime in the near future, most likely when the living room is back in use. This last weekend I painted the walls and am now ready to paint the trim around the doors and to install tile in the entry. After that's done I may do some treatment on one of the walls as as sort of relief since the color is so bland (latte).

Tomorrow I start vacation for a week. This time I won't take the time for the house, instead the time will be for my wife and I (mostly me I think). We'll leave tomorrow and drive down the coast to spend the night in Morro Bay. Then Tuesday we'll drive to Santa Barbara for a late lunch/dinner and finish by driving into Anaheim. We plan on spending three nights and two days there visiting Disneyland and California Adventure. We haven't been down there for quite awhile and California Adventure wasn't finished the last time we were there. Then Friday we do the short drive to Pasadena for the three day MINI Takes the States event. I've been looking forward to this for over six months now and am very excited to be going. I'll be posting pictures of the trip as we go to ensure we have plenty of room on the camera's card for everything.

The trip is tempered somewhat be the loss of our cat Oreo. She was well over 18 years old and the last six months she showed a steady decline in weight and energy. She's had bad hips for a couple of years and the last month or so the pain of walking was very apparent. She finally had stopped eating and we had to put her down to stop the suffering. Very sad.

Saying goodbye

Yesterday I attended the annual family picnic. My mom's side of the family has been getting together once a year for a picnic at a campground in John Muir Woods for many years. They've occasionally held it at other places, but not since I've moved back to the Bay Area in 1993. This year it took place earlier than usual in order to coincide with my late fathers birthday. He passed away in January and we agreed to scatter his ashes whenever we could all get together.
I initially thought it would be a very small gathering for the scattering, but it turned out to be much larger, with folks coming in from out of state. I haven't seen some of these people in so long I no longer knew who they were. I'm still not sure how I feel about all the people showing up for an event I would have preferred to be smaller. I don't usually mind large groups, but I was a little uncomfortable and I apologize to all I may have offended by not meeting and talking with everyone. I'm fairly certain some there took my "stand-offishness" a little personally. Almost all of the people were family from my mothers side and all were very nice and I appreciate their show of support and love for my mother as well as honoring my father.
It was nice to spread some of the ashes in the local creek. It was a campground that my father used to take us to when I was around 10-12. I have many good memories of those years during our vacations. Like most people, my relationship with my father was complicated. We had our ups and downs and being the first of his children, I'm sure he had to learn as he went along. Actually, I don't think any of us know what we're doing as we raise kids, they're all so different from each other. A technique that works for one may not work with one or more of the others.

From June 29, 2008

Going through extinction leftovers

Today my sisters and I went over to my mom's apartment to go through some of the items my father left behind after he passed away. Turns out you really can't take anything with you when you go. He left a boatload of junk behind. My mother had already gone through some of the stuff and got rid of most of that, but she wanted to give us a chance to decide on any keepsakes. Turns out he collected key-fobs and belt buckles, I did not know he was such a pack rat. In any case, it turned out to be kind of fun, with my sisters and I sort of bonding and reminiscing about the old days. Next week we are going to a favorite spot of his to scatter his ashes and maybe say a few things. My sisters are all believers in the invisible guy in the sky so there may be prayers. If it helps them, it's OK by me.

Fireworks in June

My wife and I went to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk last night to watch their fireworks show. I think it was to celebrate the start of the summer season of their 100th year. We met my youngest daughter there who was visiting a friend. I had my camera with me and tried to take some pictures, but I was taking too long for setups and stuff and my daughter took over. The camera doesn't do well for night shots but she did do a couple of movies. The resolution is small but better quality than the pictures.



We drove there in my MINI through the Santa Cruz Mountains. That was fun although I was driving very conservatively because I'm trying some of the techniques of "hypermiling".

Photo crazy

A couple of days ago at my job, one of the new young engineers was asking me for some fittings for a project he's involved in. He had me order the parts and rather than wait for the local company to deliver the parts, he decided he would go pick them up himself. I showed him the business card with the address so he could write it down, but instead he took out a small digital camera and took a photo of the card. I was amazed. It took far less time than writing it down and he didn't have to worry about losing the note. I would have never thought of that. I'm convinced it's a generational thing. I'm 56 right now and he's maybe 25. His generation embraces these technologies in a way I never did. I loved that moment. I have been carrying a camera around in my pack for about a year now, but very rarely do I use it. I just don't document things that way. I am starting to rethink the way I do keep track of day to day things. I think I may start using the camera more.