More recessed lighting, ‘The Holiday’, ‘Letters from Iwo Jima’, ‘Marie Antoinette’

(posted from home)
(this post covers 23-27 May)

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Sunday, 27 May –

This afternoon I once again ended up at Rocky Ridge with my iced Americano and a nice, thick Sunday Times. Today was extra-hot and sticky so I had a long, leisurely read. I was deciding whether I wanted to also take a walk when I noticed storm clouds gathering in the skies toward home so I headed out. I made it home (and got the top up) before the rain started. I’m happy to report that the rain-gutter fix I did last week has fixed the problem of water dripping from the fascia behind the gutter.
That evening we watched ‘Marie Antoinette’, a Sofia Coppola film with Kirsten Dunst. I don’t know that it will become a classic but we both liked Sofia’s decision to make a period film using modern language and music. We liked it a LOT better than RT’s 50-rating and one reviewer’s snippish comment: “Off with its head!”. Who dubbed YOU king, dude?

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Saturday, 26 May –

Today Labashi gave me my summer buzz-cut (and then some!) before I hit the Starbucks for an Americano and bought a Times to read at Rocky Ridge. I spent a leisurely hour reading under the shade trees at Rocky Ridge then jogged my favorite route while listening to podcast episodes of NPR’s Tell Me More. Today was extra hot but the jog went well.
That evening we watched ‘Letters from Iwo Jima’, the Clint Eastwood award-winner. Well worthwhile.

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Friday, 25 May –

This morning I ran down to Starbucks and Eastern Market (for the great OJ) in the Miata and spent the afternoon on the web.

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Thursday, 24 May –

This morning I installed the remaining two recessed lighting fixtures and made the circuit splice in the basement. Everything worked first time. I guess I was expecting to have a bad bulb or something that would require attention but it’s all good.
That afternoon I drove the Miata down to Rocky Ridge and jogged the end-to-end route in a little over an hour and a half. That one went pretty well—not much struggle.

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Wednesday, 23 May –

This morning I installed four more of our seven new recessed ceiling lights in the living/dining room. The installations are a bit of a pain given that our attic doesn’t have stand-up room and doesn’t have a center walkway. After wriggling my way up through the access hatch above the closet, I have to crouch over and step from truss to truss to move about. It took us some time to figure out exactly where we could drill through the ceiling in a place with room for the above-ceiling 8 x 8 aluminum housing. Thank goodness for the stud-finder. Labashi spent a lot of time using it to figure out exactly where the trusses lie and therefore where the housings could go. Since we don’t have very good reference points to move the measurements from the room to the attic, we first drill a small hole in the ceiling and push a metal rod up through the loose fiberglass insulation. In the attic, I find the rod sticking up through the insulation and I rake the fiberglass away to determine if there are any wires or unexpected cross-members in the way. I also lay down two or three boards across the trusses which allow me to kneel or lay down while working around the housing. Labashi then drills a four-inch hole up through the ceiling drywall. At that point I run the wiring and connect in the segment leading to the fixture and the one leading away, then place the housing and nail the support brackets to the trusses. In two cases today, I could just barely reach back under the roofline to place the housings and had no room to swing the hammer to nail the braces so I used screws. By late morning the attic was heating up so I gave it up for today.
Labashi and I had a late lunch in town at Al Dente and spent an hour or so at a nearby electrical supplier looking for track lighting for the hallway. We were very disappointed to find that the only lighting we found acceptable was very expensive-- $700 for the components for a nine-foot track with seven lighting fixtures. They’ve got to be kidding! Looks like we’ll go with recessed lighting in the hallway instead.
That evening we watched ‘The Holiday’ with Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz. Chick flick. You gotta be in the mood for something silly and not mind watching otherwise good actors struggle to make something out of nothing.