Friday, May 30, 2008

Critters and the Kitchen

As they say, a tired lab = a happy lab. As I say, a tired lab = a happy Susan.


Can you find the cat in the picture below?
Hint:
This is the usual interaction between dog and either cat. Cat sits up high, out of reach. Dog moves around, up, down, up, down, occasional bark, begging the cat to play. Cat growls, hisses and swipes to communicate refusal. Which is really too bad. The cats' play time has been considerably reduced since the kitchen project started and even further reduced due to the fact that all of their toys are the right size for a mouthy canine to ingest.
Someone has given up on the cats for the night.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Red Sox in Oakland

While Smith friend Brooke was in town, we took the opportunity Sunday to see the Sox play (and sadly lose to) the A's with Matt, fellow Sox fan Brian, and Canadian Chris. It was a perfect day to sit in a ballpark and enjoy an overpriced beer & a hot dog.



Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Minor Detail

This is the door to Wunder Brewing Company on 9th Ave, as of Monday. I like the big OPEN sign.

Sunapee

Some words about the puppy. He loves people, all people. He approaches life teeth first (working on that with puppy kindergarten). He likes to eat sand. He is enthusiastic and uncoordinated (for example, he'll chase the ball then slide into a wall or other unmovable object). If we tire him out enough, he'll happily doze in a lap. He may even remain oblivious to BBQ ribs being consumed 6 inches from his nose if he's that tired.

Here are some pics from the last 2 weeks.








Cats and the Kitchen

The kitchen has really turned into a feline jungle gym. The uncovered dishwasher was a big favorite for a while. It is wrapped in a thick felt blanket, making it a warm, soft haven with the key bonus of being unreachable by puppy.

At this point, you can see I was unpacking all the storage boxes. Any cozy space will do for this cat.

Kitchen Project: Counter top installation

The counter top installation happened last Tuesday as planned. I worked from home in the morning to get them started and Matt took over around noon. It was a slow day and I was surprised to see their truck out front when I arrived home again at 6:45pm. They stayed until about 10pm! Apparently some pieces weren't cut right and they had to do more on-site trimming than planned.

It was all worth it because the counter is in and it looks fantastic.



The other pieces waiting to be carried upstairs.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Kitchen Project: Counter top

Getting ever closer to gaining a usable kitchen, the counter top fabricator sent their man to create a template. We have two slabs of black honed granite on hold at the stone yard and just need the fabricator to pick it up, cut it and install it. Granted, it could take two weeks, but what's another fortnight, really? It should give us time for the electrical and plumbing to get finished. Hopefully by the time the counter top is installed, the kitchen will be reasonably functional and we can stop washing dishes in the bathroom, stop bleeding money to neighborhood take out joints and get our living room back.



Thanks to Dad for snapping these pictures!

Cats and the home upheaval

How are the cats feeling about all the change in the house, you ask? Well, now that the plastic walls are down and they can resume full reign of all 1048 square feet, they are thrilled. They are a fan of the cabinets
They are a little less enthusiastic about the 20 pounds of curious canine.
Marin chooses fight and will hold her ground and even growl and hiss at Sunapee when he comes to check her out. Franklin, however, prefers flight. Unfortunately, that makes for a fun game of chase for Sunapee and an extremely poofy orange tail.

Kitchen Project: Cabinets!

Saturday was the big day. The room started to resemble an actual kitchen. All of the cabinets crept their way upstairs.


Starting in the corner made sense, until they realized that due to the curve in this particular cabinet, setting it at the correct angle was a challenge.



Saturday, May 10, 2008

Kitchen Project: Expanding the Mess, Real Walls

The drywall guys returned (after the nail pattern passed inspection) to conceal and smooth all the seams. This caused quite a mess, including plaster all over the place, on the bathroom sink, doorknobs, cats.
If this weren't messy enough, they returned again Thursday to sand and smooth the mud. Again, plaster dust covered everything - the living room (in its entirety), hallway, cats. As soon as the sanding was finished, the flooring guy arrived to repair the foyer floor and install the flooring in the dining room and kitchen. At the same time, the appliances arrived and the fridge and stove were heaved upstairs.

After wiping down the walls to remove the plaster dust Thursday night, Friday was the day to prime the walls and ceiling. Although painting walls that do not have any trim should be easier and faster, getting the ceiling and angled section was not so much. Friday night was devoted to painting (Susan) and heaving cabinets upstairs (Matt & Dad).

Matt ended the evening with a relaxing beer and some cat love.

Monday, May 5, 2008

A Midafternoon Field Trip

I've been walking by this construction site for over a year now on my way to work. In August, our friend Greg started working on the project when he moved back to the Bay Area from Oregon. We had dinner with Greg and Katie last week and he mentioned his plan to take Katie up to the top. I inquired if that ability extended beyond spouses. It does. So Friday afternoon, I took a field trip away from my cube to 60 stories up.
Greg tells us this will be (is now?) the tallest concrete building in SF; the fourth tallest overall in the city.

The $12M view (the 4 penthouses sold for $12M each - this includes 4 external walls only - the buyers then bring in their own architect to design the condo as they want it).

This is the ride from floor 25 to 57:
Here I should have waved down to my colleagues in the BGI headquarters.


I was decked out. Yes, it was extremely windy up there.