Snap Ollie

Although the room doesn’t look substantially changed, I have made some updates.

I had to have some help when I opened this up.  But my objective was to add a light over the tub; I had to do some wiring, drilling and cutting as well as climbing into the dusty attic.  This is what I had when I finished.

And it works!

Next up was the toilet.  More specifically, there was no way I could change out the floors and still leave the same flange. I talked to my friend Matt; my best bet was to cut the pipe in the garage below and add pipe which would extend above the floor level.  I can then cut it to the correct height when my floor is installed.

You can also see in the above picture the added layer of plywood.

I took out that new piece near the door and replaced it with plywood running in the same direction for added strength.

I also replaced the insulation; obviously I need more practice at this.

Although to be fair, the walls on the left have a ton of obstacles!

Next up, I will be installing the CBU, although we do not yet have the tile picked out. Alex wants some sort of blue tile, we will see…

When Madison told me she wanted to paint her closet red, I thought what the heck!  It’s only a closet, no biggie.  (Actually she wanted coca-cola red, including the white stripes.)

Let me back up a bit.  Madison and Alex used to share a room.  This was perfect for me; I could use the other room as an office.  But as Alex grew older, her pleas for her own room became more frequent and harder to ignore.  Madison wanted to stay with her sister; she did not want to be all by herself!

I moved Madison’s bed and Susan’s old dresser into the office.  I was going to move my office items downstairs, but Madison insisted I leave the office where it was.  She didn’t want to be there alone and as I was often on the PC, she wouldn’t have to fall asleep alone. And of course the filing cabinet was awesome for her magnetic Bakugan toys.  That was fine (for now), but I still needed to clean out the closet; it was stuffed full of old technology, gift bags, unworn baby clothes, and assorted other detritus. Years ago I had added basic shelving to handle this accumulation; there was no need for a rod from which to hang clothes.

Two days and three large garbage bags later, the closet was pleasantly empty.  Some of the closet orphans still need a home, but for the most part it wasn’t to bad.  I did have to patch and sand a bit.  Susan brought home a gallon of red paint and Madison and I got crackin’. (As a side note, why do some areas look much darker then others when you go from an off-white base to red?) It took about four layers to cover the back wall of the closet properly, and all the time I was worried I might be creating some sort of doorway to hell (a la Amityville.)

Madison wanted to paint the entire closet red, but that would just have been to dark; I ended up painting the rest of the closet white. The shelving we bought was the inexpensive but oh-so-adjustable track system, very white.  This stuff is perfect for a closet, unless you feel the need to parade guests through your closet just to show your awesome taste in more expensive shelving.

Well after the shelves were in place and the closet began to fill with clothes and some storage boxes, I discovered something.  Instead of making the closet look weird, it actually looks good!  Damn good!  It’s not a solid wall of red, but a nice background color behind the white shelving and hanging clothes.  I am most pleased with the way it turned out!

Awesomeness.

The two girls and I took a brief jaunt on Grapevine lake this weekend.  Jet skis rule!  The only problem: it was very choppy making for a rough and very wet ride.  We stopped often to wipe the water from our face.  At one point, I executed a sharp turn from a dead stop; not a good idea.  It’s a little freaky the first time you flip a jet ski; Madison was not a happy camper and thought she lost a shoe.  BTW, Crocks float.  Alex kept her head and nabbed the bobbing shoe.

But I have to admit; the jet ski did exactly what it was designed to do.  The cord on my wrist instantly cut the engine when we departed the vessel. It was very easy to flip the vehicle back over.  I boosted Madison back on, and Alex climbed on herself.  I remembered somebody telling me to make sure to mount from the back only; it was very stable as I clambered back on. After I wedged the wrist attachment back under the kill switch (thought I might need a screwdriver or something for a minute!) it started right up and we were on our way, drenched and exhilarated!

Occasionally, my daughters’ Tai Kwon Do teacher shows the students how to break the grip of an opponent. But more importantly, she teaches them what to say when someone they don’t know grabs them. “Don’t just scream. Have you ever heard a kid scream in the mall? Those are just tantrums; no one pays much attention to those. Instead shout, I don’t know you! or You are not my mother! while breaking free of the assailants grip.”

One student wanted to demonstrate how loud he could scream. The kids around him hunched over and put their fingers in their ears in anticipation. Yeah, it was pretty loud, but the teacher made him do it again. Instead of a wordless scream, she asked him to shout as he was instructed.

Well he did, and again it was very loud. The kids around him were all angled away, as if to escape that awful noise. Well, after his last shout, the kid looked pretty nonplussed. “That was too loud!” he said, rubbing his ears. All the adults in the room burst into laughter, a kid cowed by his own shout.

Thanks for the laugh kid, I needed that!