BunkBlog

I know I said I’d have tile photos up “as soon as” the family returned from Holland, and it’s been weeks since then. Better late than never, here are some pictures of the new tile, in bathroom and kitchen. Unfortunately for contrast, we don’t have any good pictures of the yellow kitchen before we started working on it. It was hideous, though.

We had a good weekend, following the Texas Wine Trail. Wow, did we try a lot of wines. Of course, we’ve now outgrown the wine rack. And, what are we gonna do with 20 wine-and-cheese party trays?

Next, we must plan a pretentious wine and cheese party, obviously. Gotta have an excuse to break open the Raisin wine. Or Holiday Rouge…

Oh, and the B&B in Fredericksburg was amazing. We spent many hours relaxing in the hot tub, even while it was raining. We biked around F-burg and its environs (over an hour this morning – ow), and we ate good food. Fantastic romantic weekend.

Today we got the first shipment in the WineMaster membership I started. Is it really really pretentious to belong to a “wine of the month” club, or just an admission that we live in the most cretinous part of the country?

When we were first dating, we went to a local restaurant, where we were offered any beer we wanted. “Pyramid Pale Ale?” Uh, no. “Pete’s Wicked?” I don’t think so. “Newcastle?” Sorry. Then we proceeded to tell him maybe he should just give us the list of what they actually did have, to humor us. “Bud, Bud Light, Miller, Miller Lite, Coors…” Yeah, so the same crap as anywhere else. Not exactly “any beer we wanted” was it?

Oh, the wines this month? South African white blends. Should be decent sippin’ wine. 🙂

How many of the “100 Science Fiction Books You Just Have to Read” has Gary read?

1 Childhood’s End Arthur C. Clarke
2 Foundation Isaac Asimov
3 Dune Frank Herbert
4 The Man in the High Castle Philip K. Dick
5 Starship Troopers Robert A. Heinlein
6 Valis Philip K. Dick
7 Frankenstein Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
8 Gateway Frederik Pohl
9 Space Merchants Frederik Pohl
10 Earth Abides George R. Stewart
11 Cuckoo’s Egg C.J. Cherryh
12 Star Surgeon James White
13 The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch Philip K. Dick
14 Radix A. A. Attanasio
15 2001: A Space Odyssey Arthur C. Clarke
16 Ringworld Larry Niven
17 A Case of Conscience James Blish
18 Last and First Man Olaf Stapledon
19 The Day of the Triffids John Wyndham
20 Way Station Clifford D. Simak
21 More Than Human Theodore Sturgeon
22 Gray Lensman E.E. “Doc” Smith
23 The Gods Themselves Isaac Asimov
24 The Left Hand of Darkness Ursula K. Le Guin
25 Behold the Man Michael Moorcock
26 Star Maker Olaf Stapledon
27 The War of the Worlds H. G. Wells
28 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Jules Verne
29 Heritage of Hastur Marion Zimmer Bradley
30 The Time Machine H. G. Wells
31 The Stars My Destination Alfred Bester
32 Slan A. E. Van Vogt
33 Neuromancer William Gibson
34 Ender’s Game Orson Scott Card
35 In Conquest Born C. S. Friedman
36 Lord of Light Roger Zelazny
37 Eon Greg Bear
38 Dragonflight Anne McCaffrey
39 Journey to the Center of the Earth Jules Verne
40 Stranger in a Strange Land Robert A. Heinlein
41 Cosm Gregory Benford
42 The Voyage of the Space Beagle A. E. Van Vogt
43 Blood Music Greg Bear
44 Beggars in Spain Nancy Kress
45 Omnivore Piers Anthony
46 I, Robot Isaac Asimov
47 Mission of Gravity Hal Clement
48 To Your Scattered Bodies Go Philip Jose Farmer
49 Brave New World Aldous Huxley
50 The Man Who Folded Himself David Gerrold
51 1984 George Orwell
52 The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyl And Mr. Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson
53 Snow Crash Neal Stephenson
54 Flesh Philip Jose Farmer
55 Cities in Flight James Blish
56 Shadow of the Torturer Gene Wolfe
57 Startide Rising David Brin
58 Triton Samuel R. Delany
59 Stand on Zanzibar John Brunner
60 A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess
61 Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury
62 A Canticle for Leibowitz Walter M. Miller Jr.
63 Flowers for Algernon Daniel Keyes
64 No Blade of Grass John Christopher
65 The Postman David Brin
66 Dhalgren Samuel R. Delany
67 Berserker Fred Saberhagen
68 Flatland Edwin Abbott Abbott
69 Planiverse A. K. Dewdney
70 Dragon’s Egg Robert L. Forward
71 Downbelow Station C. J. Cherryh
72 Dawn Octavia E. Butler
73 The Puppet Masters Robert A. Heinlein
74 The Doomsday Book Connie Willis
75 Forever War Joe Haldeman
76 Deathbird Stories Harlan Ellison
77 Roadside Picnic Arkady Strugatsky
78 The Snow Queen Joan D. Vinge
79 The Martian Chronicles Ray Bradbury
80 Drowned World J.G. Ballard
81 Cat’s Cradle Kurt Vonnegut
82 Red Mars Kim Stanley Robinson
83 Upanishads Various
84 Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll
85 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams
86 The Lathe of Heaven Ursula K. Le Guin
87 The Midwich Cuckoos John Wyndham
88 Mutant Henry Kuttner
89 Solaris Stanislaw Lem
90 Ralph 124C41+ Hugo Gernsback
91 I Am Legend Richard Matheson
92 Timescape Gregory Benford
93 The Demolished Man Alfred Bester
94 War with the Newts Karl Kapek
95 Mars Ben Bova
96 Brain Wave Poul Anderson
97 Hyperion Dan Simmons
98 The Andromeda Strain Michael Crichton
99 Camp Concentration Thomas M. Disch
100 A Princess of Mars Edgar Rice Burroughs

I’ve actually tried to read Startide Rising several times – it’s a snoozefest to me. And, I dispute the inclusion of fantasy drek on a list that claims to be Science Fiction. Science Fiction doesn’t resort to “here be magick” to explain things.

Jack Valenti and his ilk can go roast in the deepest bowels of heck. I was inspired by a recent article about getting TV episodes from BitTorrent, so I followed the links to a site that hosts the pointers (torrents) that allow people to share the files. I wanted to watch an episode of Andromeda I missed. Well, I can’t connect to most torrents, because my IP is blocked. Why is my IP blocked? Am I a narc? Am I a mole for the RIAA? No, my IP is blocked because I use Cox for myISP (the only choice for broadband above 400kbps here). Cox, for their part, rolls over with such speed when the letters D M C and A are thrown at them that other P2P users have begun ignoring us entirely. Great. Cox has 8% of the internet market in the U.S., and we’re now effectively cut off from the newest avant garde pieces of the internet.

The DMCA sucks ass.

I’ve done my homework, the laundry, and there’s nothing compelling on television (Well, the Talented Mr. Ripley is on and I’ve not seen that)… I’ll knock out some floor finishing tonight. Woohoo!

Since my company has been bought by a publicly-traded corporation, I’m getting a stock payout from the savings plan. As it stands right now, I’ll get about 2700 bucks in March, and then some other amount (probably around 1900) a few months later.

That takes care of our vacations next year^[1], and at least a month acceleration in debt repayment. Woohoo!

[1] – We’re planning to go to SoCal in the summer, hit Disneyland and San Diego Wild Animal Park, Mexico, maybe Solvang. Then, we’re going on a Carribean cruise late in the year.

Well, last tile post until I get some photos online, anyway.

The tile dudes finished up this morning, the kitchen sink is in place, and all is right with the world. Except, of course, that the two women I talk to at work have left me. One to Georgia and the other to the next building over. The one who’s going to Georgia is the one I’ll miss most. Why can’t this company keep any interesting non-retired people? Almost every one of my coworkers is 50 years old and annoying as shit.

I’m supposed to be at work. I should have been there 90 minutes ago. Instead, I’m waiting for the tile guys to come back and do about 30 minutes of work they should have done yesterday. I hate home improvement projects.

Although the job was slated to be “two and a half” days and it has now been three full days, they’ll be back in the morning for a few more things. Polishing the bathroom floor, gluing the rubber strip down on the doorsill, and driving me insane.

One of the guys did put the toilet back on for me, for 30 bucks. What a great scam. And, I have to hit the hardware store for some silicone to put the new kitchen sink in. The old kitchen sink remains on my porch, so I guess my request that they dispose of it was a waste of breath. Into the trash can it goes. I think it’ll fit.

In good news, it looks nice. The tile is not nearly as dark as I had feared, and now I’m trying to figure out when we should get the backsplash done in the kitchen. At least that won’t require gutting two rooms of the house for a week. Time to pull the fridge stuff out of the coolers and pretend I’m a grownup again. Joy.

Something you don’t want to hear just after someone removes your toilet from the bathroom: Who’s going to put that back on for you, Mr. B____?

Well, hell, here I figured the guys that took it off would be the obvious choice. One more thing that the chuckleheads at Lowe’s need to perhaps discuss with people before the job starts?

I’m sure everyone is just anxious with concern over the tiledudes progress today. I’m happy to say that it went well. They repaired the floor after the plumber left it full of holes, got the tile done for the countertop and the kitchen floor, and are ready to hit the bathroom floor tomorrow. Still no grout to finish the tile with, which makes me a bit nervous. And, I hope they don’t find a pipe hiding under the floor in the bathroom. There’s no access under the house. We wouldn’t even know if they hit something unless it was a huge gusher, until weeks from now. I don’t relish the idea of ripping up a brand-new floor to fix 50 year-old plumbing.

I know, I could be doing my homework. Sue me.

It’s been raining all afternoon. I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t wash the cars this past weekend like I had briefly considered. Hope it’s enough to make the pecan tree produce good. We’ll see what we see.

If I ever get another cat, it won’t be black. Holly disappears into the shadow when she wants to, and then reappears when I step or sit on her. Dopey thing just stares at me when a boot starts to crush her little empty head, too. No self-preservation instinct apparently.

Is it really bad that every time I see a police car trying to hide and catch people (most recently the 25 mph speed trap at the local college), I immediately think of the lyrics to the 1987 Dragnet movie?

bq. Hey there copper, Mr. Crime Stopper, what is wrong with what we’re doing? We just like to dance in our goatskin pants around this ancient ruin.

In the process of laying the subfloor, just about to start putting the tile down, the tile guys punctured a pipe where no pipe should have been. You know where this is going, don’t you? Pieces of cement backboard have been ripped up, a plumber called, and another multi-hundred dollar charge is added to my floor. Oh, and since the water has to be turned off to get it fixed, no bathroom or kitchen a day earlier than expected.

I sure hope this shit gets done by Wednesday, or I’ll have a really long day at work on Friday. FMITGA.

Edit: The plumber only cost 75 bucks, plus I had to buy a drywall repair kit for another five dollars to fix the wall he had to cut in order to get to the breach. It’s never easy.

The tile guys are done removing the kitchen sink, there is like NO food left in the fridge and the microwave and oven are out of the question until the place is reassembled. It’s not my fault that I’m eating at San Angelo Burger Company – I have no choice. 😆

Now, I’m not a handyman, but I assume when someone sets up a date for an installation it’s because all the materials are on hand and they are ready to work. Turns out, the grout is not in. And the nice fellas ask me about this, as if I knew. Nope. I didn’t know there was anything amiss, but thanks for making me worry. They tell me the grout I ordered was not in stock and it should be in by Wednesday. Listen, fellas, I didn’t order grout. I picked out tile. All the other stuff (backing boards and adhesives and grouts) are left up to the people who know this stuff. I’m just paying for it, don’t expect me to know anything at all about bisquit colored grout versus white grout. How the hell do I know this shit? I want tile.

Damn, I hope the grout shows up by Wednesday. That would be the day that I can expect them to have everything done, I’m told. We’ll see.

I really wish I had a camera. The fridge, stove and new sink are in the den; the microwave is on the kitchen table; and the old sink is on the front porch. Tomorrow, I’m told to expect no toilet all day. Fun.

The tile guys have arrived, right on time (even a few minutes early). This is a week that I wish we had two digital cameras, since it’s in the Netherlands right now. I hope this process is quick, but I’ve been told it will be two days or maybe three. Not that I want to go to work this week, but there are things I need to do there. Fortunately, I don’t have to do them until Thursday. Lucky that.

OK, got a few more clips, a little better-looking since I spent some time playing with gamma corrections on them.

I just love that line from the movie.