House 1- nearly finished ; house 2 – working in the basement and painting bedrooms and closets

(posted from home)
(This post covers 23 – 31 December, 2010)

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Friday, 31 December-

Home today. I worked on a blog update, reviewed insurance continuation quotes for our car and my motorcycles (and began looking for an alternative motorcycle insurance provider), and vacuumed the house and van (while Labashi went grocery shopping).
I spent much of the rest of the day researching building codes for our projects and starting to total up the work hours and trip expenses for our work on the houses.
That evening we watched 'The Hurt Locker' on DVD.


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Thursday, 30 December-

Home today.
I surfed the web this morning and then wanted a motorcycle ride since we were having a warmer day. Forty degrees feels GREAT when each day of the last two weeks topped out around thirty and was windy. But I would need heat and the new battery harness for my electric jacket liner still hadn't arrived. Where was it anyway?
I looked up the UPS tracking number for my package coming from the west coast and saw it wasn't due for delivery until Monday. But at that moment I saw (out the living room window) a UPS truck slow down and turn in on our side street. I thought I heard it stop but couldn't tell for sure. Normally the UPS truck stops out front, the driver brings the package to the door and rings the doorbell so it didn't seem likely.
I didn't hear a thing but when I checked the front door, a package was there and I could hear the UPS truck driving off. That must be a sign!
I immediately went out and installed the new battery harness, donned my riding gear, and took off. Fortunately, I was comfortable enough to continue riding.
As I rode down to Starbucks I considered my options. I had replaced the temp controller, I had cleaned the connections with electrical contact cleaner, I had changed the fuse. I had tested without the temp controller. I thought I must have a bad connection in the jacket itself and began ruminating on how to find it.
But as I mounted the bike after my Starbucks break, I noticed a tiny strand of copper wire sticking out of the jacket's cord very near the main connector. And when I looked closer, I knew I had found the problem. The wire was broken internally and for whatever reason the break had been covered over. Perhaps the cord had been stretched and pulled back. In any case, it was clear I hadn't examined the cord closely enough.
Back home I dug out the soldering gear, cut off the connector, stripped and tinned the wires, soldered the wires together, then wrapped them neatly with electrical tape. A short test on the bike confirmed success. Finally! Lesson learned: look closer at the component parts and look at ALL of ALL of them. I should have found that problem the first time around.
That evening we watched the end of 'Damages', Season One. Loved it!

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Wednesday, 29 December-

Chambersburg. Today Maypo finished up the hardwood floor repairs in house 1. He then worked on the basement stairway in house 2, leveling it and scabbing in two new 4 x 4 posts. I pulled out the old dryer vent which had been mounted in a piece of masonite in the basement window and replaced the masonite with a piece of 1/4-inch plastic material left over from the tub surround project in house 1. Maypo then got me started on cutting glass from some of the leftover storm windows and I replaced a 10 x 12 inch pane in a basement window, a project which had me cussing the old, dried-up caulking on the broken window until I figured out how to beat it.
We left for home at 1700, stopped for supper at Wendy's and arrived home after 1900. We have our arrival routine worked out well and were watching tv by 2000.

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Tuesday, 28 December-

Chambersburg. Today Maypo worked on repairing a section of termite-damaged hardwood flooring in house 1. I did some electrical work in the basement of house 2, cleaned up the debris from our joist repairs of yesterday and took down the drywall along the basement stairs we need to level and upgrade. I also installed new ceiling lights in two of the bedrooms.

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Monday, 27 December-

Maypo joined us today. We put in a long day removing the termite damage and then replacing the removed materials. We sistered in two 2 x 8 x 14' joists and replaced a foot-square section of subfloor. The work actually went better than we had anticipated as we stared at the damage last night.
That evening Labashi and I watched more 'Damages'. We are indeed hooked.

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Sunday, 26 December-

Back to work!
It didn't make sense to go home now that we're in Chambersburg for Christmas so we went back to work on the houses today. Labashi has a few small finishing-up projects left in house 1 and is switching those off with painting the bedrooms and closets in house 2. I'm trying to keep going on the basement of house 2. I spent most of the day sweeping cobwebs from the joists and subfloor forming the basement ceiling. Dirty work, indeed.
That afternoon Maypo came over and we began looking at the termite damage I found in two of the joists and a very small area of the subfloor just above them.
That evening we began watching the TV series 'Damages' with Glenn Close. I think we're hooked.

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Saturday, 25 December-

Christmas Day.
I spent the morning on the web and then we went to Chambersburg late in the day. We had a very nice family Christmas dinner at Maypo's and relaxed.

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Friday, 24 December-

Home today.
I still like to browse through dealnews.com to look for bargains but I've not found anything noteworthy for quite a while now. I did get my $5 subscriptions to Outside and Backpacker from specials on there so I shouldn't complain.
I spent much of the morning converting my iTunes library from my old Windows laptop to the Mac. After reading of problems others had doing this, I had been afraid this would be a problem. But I found an article on CNET which gave a step-by-step process and that worked quite well.
I spent the rest of the day looking for new music for the iPod and came up with some very nice stuff.

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Thursday, 23 December-

Home today.
I took my now-weekly motorcycle ride down to Starbucks to re-supply my Double-Shot Lights stock. I'm still having problems with the jacket liner not working and today was around thirty so I was glad to get there and get my hands wrapped around a mocha.
Back home I worked most of the afternoon transferring raw video footage up to YouTube so Labashi can use the online editor for one of her projects.
I also tested the replacement BearExtender and wrote up a report for the tech support guys who sent it to me.

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Cburg house 2 -- painting and basement prep

(posted from Apple Collision Center, York (while waiting on Labashi's car))

(This post covers 14 – 22 December, 2010)

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Wednesday, 22 December -

Home. This morning I rode the Concours in to Starbucks. My jacket liner still isn't working but today was a bit warmer (around 40) so the ride wasn't bad. I sprayed the jacket's connectors with electrical contact spray, changed the in-line fuse, and double-checked the battery connections but it didn't help. I think this is a corrosion issue on the connectors.

I spent the afternoon researching radios. Labashi likes to listen to radio as we work and the old GE Superradio we have on site isn't cutting it anymore. The antenna's broken and the FM stations drift off so quickly that the AFC circuit must not be working. The search soon led me to consider internet radios as an alternative. The win-win would be a portable internet radio with a standard am/fm tuner included. An internet radio alone would just be a brick if you're not within wi-fi range, after all.

That evening we worked on the web while some old John Wayne movies were playing and then 'Blood Simple' came on the Independent Film Channel.

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Tuesday, 21 December -

Cburg today. Labashi is still painting in the bedrooms and closets and I'm working in the basement. I began working on scraping the floor and poking at the bad spots on the walls. It appears we have some efflorescence (white salts leaching out of the concrete block) which I'll have to treat with muriatic acid before I put on the Drylok. The floor paint is also lifted in some areas so I'll have to scrape that thoroughly. I also used Tilex and a brush to wash down several areas of mold on some of the block joints and the floor-wall juncture.

We left for home at 1600, very tired from the day's work.

At home we watched a Netflix DVD on travels in Mexico called 'Mexico to the Max'. That was a disappointment.

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Monday, 20 December-

Cburg. Today I finished de-nailing all the 2 x 4s used in the walls of the basement room I demolished last week. I used Maypo's utility trailer to haul them to a storage outbuilding we have for storing such extras. The Excedrin I took this morning quieted the elbow pain so it went much better today.

I also spent an hour or so breaking up the glass from the storm windows and doors. It seems a shame to have to do that but there's no other viable option.

I also worked on cleaning the basement. This is going to be a very tedious process. After sweeping all the debris from the demolished room, I began the process of sweeping down the concrete block walls, battling an accumulation of cobwebs of fifty years. We have a big job ahead of us--- waterproofing the basement.

We had supper at Tito's tonight after picking up a bottle of Kijafa from the state store. We then shopped at Lowe's for an hour or so, mostly looking for solutions to some problems we have encountered. We need down-facing ceiling lights to de-emphasize the uneven plaster ceiling and I need to figure out how best to replace / supplement a joist which has about two feet of termite damage. Fortunately, that appears to be the only damage they did.

I spent the evening on the web and blogging. Labashi didn't want to sit around in the van so put in a few hours painting.

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Sunday, 19 December-

Cburg. We finished up the aluminum salvage project this morning. I borrowed Maypo's truck to move the utility trailer so we could take a good picture of house 1. Maypo volunteered to take the salvage to the recycler so we transferred it all to his pickup so I can use the trailer tomorrow for something else.

I spent the afternoon de-nailing about half of the 2 x 4's in the basement. That didn't go well since my elbow gives me a sharp jab for each hammer-stroke. I've tried ibuprofen but that doesn't seem to make much difference. Apparently I overworked the elbow in demolishing the walls of the basement room. The pain had subsided during our off-days but came right back when I started using the hammer again.

We had supper at Quiznos then came back and watched two episodes of 'Entourage' and two extra features.

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Saturday, 18 December-

Cburg. We spent a cold day working outside. I spent the entire day breaking down aluminum storm windows and storm doors for salvage. We felt we needed to get a good picture of the house before snow falls and we had a large pile of discarded storms from both houses (because of the replacement windows we installed). If you just take the storms as is to the re-cycler, he defines them as 'mixed metals' and gives a lower price. We took the time to separate the good stuff so we'll see if that does indeed pay. Given that it took all day for me to do it, I'm not sure we'll get an adequate payback for the extra work.

Labashi and I also readied the carport for its picture but installing the dangling electric feed wire and the cable feed.

We had supper at Ryan's (WAY too much food!), then came back to Maypo's house where we watched (of all things) 'Miracle on 34th Street'.

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Friday, 17 December -

Home. I worked most of the day figuring out how to post videos on YouTube and how to use the YouTube video editor. I posted seven videos and Labashi wrote up a Christmas email with links to this seven videos for our friends to see. That was a lot of fun!

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Thursday, 16 December-

Home. I took Mocha Joe in for an oil change this morning at Walmart, then did some research on tires for Labashi's car. Her tires could last a few thousand more miles but I had better replace them before I go to Florida this winter. Her car is a front-wheel drive model but I've not been impressed by it in snow and I think new tires would make a great difference.

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Wednesday, 15 December-

Home. Today I rode the Concours in to the east York Starbucks just to go for a ride on this 30-degree day. Unfortunately, my electric jacket liner and gloves weren't working so it was a cold ride. I did a bit of troubleshooting but didn't find a definite problem. The Gerbing site says this type of problem is often a result of a poor battery connection (which shouldn't be the case since I just replaced the battery two weeks ago) or bad connections in the wiring plugs. I swapped out the temp controller but didn't have time to give it a good test so I'm not sure if that helped.

I also finally put away the F650GS for the season. I was glad to run it a bit and put an ounce or two of gasoline preservative in it. See you in the Spring, buddy!

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Tuesday, 14 December-

I spent most of the day carrying sheetrock and old carpet out to the utility trailer. I'm not sure I didn't overload the trailer but by day's end things were looking much better in the basement.

That evening we had supper at Tito's with Labashi's girlhood buddy then we headed home.

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Concours ride , back to the burg...

(posted from the driveway of Cburg house 2)
(This post covers 9 – 13 December)

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Monday, 13 December-

In Cburg. Labashi installed vinyl cove under the kitchen cabinets today using Loctite Power Grab All-Purpose adhesive. We had used this same adhesive for installing ceramic tile on the Formica backsplash of house 1.
Labashi then fitted and installed shoe around the kitchen baseboard, using the brad nailer for the first time. She loved it. The brad nailer is much easier to use than pounding in finishing nails and occasionally hitting the shoe (or a finger!) and the little brad is so small and recessed slightly so just a dab of paint is needed to finish up.
She also touched up the paint in the kitchen cabinet interiors. We had used them for storing tools while we worked on house 1 and had made a few smudges here and there.
I spent the whole day demolishing a basement room in house 2 (and still have several days work to go). The tenant had built a room with a bar between it and the other side of the basement. We decided we should remove the shabby-looking, partially-completed partitions and clean and paint the entire basement and its floor. Opening up the room will also look much better and give the sense of more space. Today I managed to dismantle the bar and take down all the sheetrock and studding.
That evening we had supper in the van. The weather has suddenly turned colder and very windy (it was 19 degrees just after supper) so our electric heater is barely keeping up even though it's turned up as high as it will go. We started up the Buddy heater to supplement until bedtime.


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Sunday, 12 December -

We're back in Chambersburg today. We stopped at Lowe's in Shippensburg on the way in to shop for parts for the bathroom fan in house 2 and quarter-round for the kitchen of house 1.
Labashi worked on paint-prep of the bedrooms of house 2 and I spent the entire afternoon working on the bathroom fan. I had hoped for a simple swap-in of parts but the parts weren't the same so I had to made some mods. As I was working I realized the fan unit had been installed upside down, probably to position the outlet conveniently. But this meant the flapper had never worked. It's a very simple valve which is balanced but normally closed until the fan blows it open. But installed upside down it was ALWAYS open. I drilled a hole in the back of the valve and hung a wire with a weight on it through the hole to balance the valve closed normally. When the fan starts there's sufficient force to blow it open and when the fan stops the weight pulls the back of the valve down, closing it until next time.
That evening we had supper at Quiznos (LOVE their Baja Chicken sandwich on rosemary bread and their raspberry vinegrette salad dressing on their small salad).
Back at the house I went online and noticed Orat was up on Skype. We had a nice long video chat, then I got to work updating the blog.

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Saturday, 11 December-

Home today. I worked on the web until 1100, then we buzzed up to Mechanicsburg to visit Mom and Dad and Labashi's brother and his wife. After chatting awhile we went to lunch at Theo's and returned home by 1630.
That evening we watched five (!!!!) episodes of 'Dexter, Season 2'. Neither of us was sleepy by bed time and we wanted to see how Season Two ends so we stayed up until 0100 (!!).

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Friday, 10 December-

Still home today. I was hoping to go for another motorcycle ride today. I wanted to ride up to Velocity Cycles to pick up a battery harness so I can use my electric jacket on the F650GS. But as I checked the weather forecast I saw the radar showed rain or snow approaching. My regular weather service said there was only a 20 per cent chance of snow and it wasn't supposed to happen until afternoon. But to be thorough I also checked weather.com and it predicted a half inch of snow on the ground between 1100 and 1500. I didn't have time to make it up to Mechanicsburg and back.
And at 1120 snow furries began and lasted through 1430-- right on time. And the accumulation was a half-inch.
Since I couldn't go, I spent the time thoroughly testing the BearExtender's wakeup capability. I had had some problems getting the BearExtender back online after closing the laptop and later opening it. Sometimes I couldn't get it to come back up without rebooting the laptop.
In my testing I found a big difference if I used the amplifier cable and the re-connection times varied quite a bit. I wrote several emails to the company to notify them of the problem.
I also spent some time on Expedition Portal today. I found an interesting article on overlanding platforms, i.e. recommendations on what base platforms are best for travel in remote areas. In the lightweight category, the best is the Toyota Tacoma 4 x 4 pickup, also known as the Hi-Ace internationally. I then viewed dozens of videos of the Tacoma in challenging conditions and looked at some slide-in camper options. I'm still not convinced, though, that a pop-up slide-in camper is the way to go. It would be fine much of the time in the backcountry but I wouldn't like it in a Wal-mart parking lot. It would be too obvious and the soft sides would be like camping in a tent--- way too noisy.
That evening we watched three 'Dexter, Season Two' episodes.

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Thursday, 9 December-

I took a glorious ride on the Concours today. The outside temperature is only 31 but I was fine and the Concours ran great. My electric jacket liner and gloves kept me warm enough and I was even comfortable wearing my open-face helmet. Today was a bit windy so I'd get a cold blast coming from the side once in a while but they didn't last long. The jacket liner was on high most of the time so there's not a lot of reserve capacity and I wouldn't want to ride for hours at a time.
I rode over to Lititz to Trans Am Cycles to look at the BMW R1200GS. I'm thinking I might want to trade in either the F650GS or the old Concours war-horse. The one comfort issue, though, is seat height. Fortunately, Dan had one of the optional low seats available and he swapped that in for me to try. It's just okay. My heels are off the ground, just about the same as with my Concours. This works out fine most of the time but I do have to be careful I don't pull into a downhill parking spot. With a bike as heavy as the Concours or the R1200GS I wouldn't be able to back it out of the spot while astride the bike. I'd have to dismount and pull from the side-- something I've had to do two or three times with the Concours before I started being much more careful about my parking spot.
I'm not too serious about buying one, though. I'd have to get a much better deal. Dan says I'd need $9K plus my F650GS to step up and that's just too much to even contemplate.
Afterwards I stopped at the Starbucks just south of the cycle shop and had a nice, hot mocha and read today's Times before heading home.
Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention I came close to being hit by a car today on the motorcycle. I was passing a car on Route 30 when it decided to pull into my lane. Fortunately I saw it coming and laid on the horn while I moved over to the edge of my lane along the guard rail. I think I would have been able to get over far enough to keep from being hit if she had continued coming but it would have been a very close call. Fortunately as soon as she heard the horn she swerved back into her lane. As I passed she had an astonished look on her face and was clearly rattled. I just waved. Next time she may actually check her mirrors before passing.


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House 1 kitchen floor ; house 2 replacement windows and tub surround

(posted from home)

(This post covers 26 November to 8 December, 2010)

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Wednesday, 8 December -

We had planned to go home yesterday but since Orat's sticking around today we decided to move our 'weekend' back a day. While Orat and I installed the new tub surround (in house 2), Labashi continued her painting project in the bedrooms. She painted two of the ceilings yesterday and they look great. One odd thing, though... the ceiling in the middle bedroom shows an odd square-shaped pattern when the ceiling light is on. This apparently comes from the oblique lighting from the light fixture washing across the less-than-perfect plaster surface. We will have to change the light fixture to minimize that effect since it makes the ceiling look like it hadn't been painted properly.
Orat and I again used the 'Tuff and EZ Sturdifit' tub surround from Home Depot. This five-part surround is much thicker than other surrounds. The material is a quarter-inch thick while that of most other surrounds is less than an eighth of an inch, making the molded-in components fragile and prone to damage. The el-cheapo versions are less than a $100 while the Sturdifit costs $187.
We did have a problem with the installation. The walls are not even so we had some lifting of the corner panels off the adhesive. Orat made up braces to the opposite wall of the bathroom to ensure these two spots are pressed into the adhesive well until it has fully set.
We also had a problem with the tops of the panels not matching well enough due to the less-than-perfect walls. I'll have to make up some trim from vinyl stock to hide the mismatches. But that's not a bad thing. The top of the unit is a bit plain anyway so adding a bit of trim along the top edge will make it look better (if I do it right!).
We worked until 1300, then Orat departed for his five-hour drive home and we headed for York Haven. That evening we watched all five episodes of the latest 'Entourage' DVD from Netflix.

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Tuesday, 7 December-

Today Orat and I worked all day preparing the bath area for the new tub surround. The old shower assembly was a surface-mount unit which featured an incredibly-ugly look with flimsy construction and leaky connections. So that not only had to go, but Orat demonstrated his master-plumber skills installing the new plumbing for the tub controls and new shower and the gate-valves for the supply lines.
That afternoon we installed the new drywall and used plaster-patch to patch up the defects in the plaster wall and cover the seam lines.
Labashi finished up the patching in two of the three bedrooms and painted their ceilings.
That evening Maypo joined the three of us at Tito's for supper. LOVE the horchata and the flan!

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Monday, 6 December-

More Cburg. I finished up the cladding of the picture window and front door this morning while Orat installed the new fir six-light back door and its threshold. Labashi has been patching the many, many holes in the plaster walls of the three bedrooms for the last couple of days.
That afternoon we ripped out the old tub surround and I began the not-fun task of removing the old adhesive from the wall. We used the sawzall to cut into the wall to remove the crumbling plaster so we can install new drywall for an 18-inch height up the wide wall and 26-inch height up the fixture wall.
That evening we met Maypo for supper at the Norland Pub, then went to Lowe's for drywall and plumbing fixtures. We also bought tile to finish out the trim on the house 1 tub surround and quarter-round to trim the sides of the replacement windows in house 2. Oh, yeah...and a tub drain assembly and threshold.

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Sunday, 5 December-

Another work day. I sanded the flooring leveller first thing this morning and cleaned the floor in preparation for gluing down the vinyl. The actual gluing wasn't bad at all and we had our new floor in place by mid-morning.
We then turned our attention to house #2. Maypo and Orat installed the new replacement windows while I worked outside (in 38 degree temps and wind) on the aluminum cladding around the front door and the picture window. Maypo helped me fit the intricate sill cover for the picture window.
By day's end all the replacement windows were in place. We still have some trim work and caulking to do but all in all it was a very productive day.
We again had supper at Maypo's. Fantastic ribs!

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Saturday, 4 December-

This morning we drove to Chambersburg yet again for a weekend work session. Orat is coming down and Maypo is working with us.
I first made a run out to Sam's Flooring in St. Thomas for flooring supplies-- adhesive, threshold, and five sheets of lauan plywood. Part of our quandry was deciding how best to re-cover the kitchen floor and Sam's once again provided good how-to advice. I also like their adhesive much better since we can put it down wet rather than have to wait for it to tack up before putting down the vinyl.
We spent the afternoon putting down the lauan and then covering the joints with leveller.
That even we had dinner at Maypo's.


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Friday, 3 December -

Today I finally had a chance to get out on the motorcycle. I took the Concours into town to the Tollgate Starbucks, hoping to read the paper and relax, then ride a bit more. Unfortunately, I forgot my wallet. I was just walking into the Starbucks when I realized I had no money. I ended up just suiting up again and heading home. Rats!
I spent the rest of the afternoon on the Web, looking up info for our work session this weekend and helping Labashi get started as an Ebay seller. By day's end she had posted her first item for sale.

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Thursday, 2 December-

Today was supposed to be a day off from work for us but we spent much of it rounding up supplies for this weekend's work session in Chambersburg. We bought the 10 x 14 roll of vinyl flooring for house #1 and while we were there (at Home Depot), we bought the tub and shower surround for house #2.
I also looked for embossing leveller and vinyl floor adhesive but again didn't like the available options.
That evening we had supper at the Hillside and then watched four episodes of 'Entourage- Season Two'.

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Wednesday, 1 December-


Today we installed the one-row tile backsplash behind the kitchen counter. We used a construction adhesive rather than a thinset mortar because we were attaching the tile to a Formica surface.
Last night was a very rainy night so we checked the basements of both houses. The first house was fine but the second had some water intrusion along the walls and into the sump pump. I also noticed a drip from the bathroom vent pipe and followed that to the attic. It appears we have a small roof leak around the vent pipe.
That afternoon we went to Lowe's and bought interior paint for the second house. I also wanted to buy adhesive for the vinyl sheet flooring for the kitchen but didn't like the options. We had been planning to just pick up the paint and continue on home but decided we'd better drop off the paint at the heated house rather than leave it in the van to freeze overnight.
That evening at home we watched 'The Cove', an excellent documentary about the slaughter of dolphins in Japan.

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Tuesday, 30 November-

Still in Chambersburg today. This morning Labashi continued cleaning the basement kitchen as I worked to attach the new countertop to its base cabinets in the main-floor kitchen. I had some problems with the countertop not sitting completely level and we had to pull it out so I could make some minor adjustments with the block plane.
That afternoon we laid out the tile for the backsplash and were ready to start when I decided I had better call the manufacturer of the adhesive I was planning to use. I learned it's not the best choice so dashed off to pick up two tubes of the other stuff.
In reading the directions to the new adhesive, I saw I needed to sand the glossy surface of the Formica we're going on the old backsplash before proceeding. I wasn't careful enough in my sanding and strayed too high, forcing a re-painting of the surface. Installing the tile will have to wait until tomorrow.
We turned our attention to the bathroom. We brought in the toilet from its storage place outside, cleaned it up, and installed it using a new wax ring. Labashi then went back to cleaning downstairs and I re-hung the bathroom door and the towel and TP holder.
We had supper at Quiznos (LOVE the Baja Chicken sandwich!), then went on to Lowe's. We bought a few supplies and a 9-light exterior door for the back of the second house. Hopefully Orat can install that door this weekend if the weather cooperates.

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Monday, 29 November-

Today we drove Mocha Joe back to Chambersburg to get back to work on the houses. I spent an inordinate amount of time trimming pieces of wooden paint-stir sticks to fit precisely under a section of the kitchen counter. We had had to cut the countertop quite dramatically to fit, leaving the section behind the sink vulnerable. It is only an inch wide and of course is made of pressed-wood covered with laminate so it doesn't have much stiffness. The wood pieces I cut today will provide proper support to this section.
Once I had that done and Labashi gave the backsplash wall another coat of pigmented shellac we were ready for tile. But we don't have it yet. After lunch we drove to the Hagerstown Home Depot for the backsplash tile and to look for a few more items. We need a new exterior door slab for the back door on house #2 and we need a storm window for the picture window on house #1. We struck out on both.
We didn't get back to the house until nearly 1700. I finished a small job of installing the shower flange (it required cutting a custom spacer) while Labashi made supper. Afterwards I walked up to Maypo's house to talk about fastening down the countertop while Labashi turned her attention to cleaning up the kitchen-unit in the basement bar.
Maypo and I worked on a network speed problem he has been having since moving into the new house until well past 2100 and Labashi worked even later on the house, cleaning up the kitchen area in the basement.

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Sunday, 28 November-

I was up very early this morning-- around 0430--- and couldn't get back to sleep for a couple of hours. But that just led me to sleep in till 0830.
We had breakfast with our guests (Labashi's sister, her husband, and their son) and then said a fond goodbye mid-morning.
Labashi went shopping for a range to replace our damaged one. I wanted a motorcycle ride today so thought I'd join her. I found her at Sears and we checked out several models without coming to a conclusion.
We then split and I rode the Concours down to the Tollgate Starbucks for a coffee and the papers while she went on to Home Depot. I was convinced Home Depot didn't have anything because of my searches on the web yesterday but sure enough she found one. And it was on a Black-Friday-weekend sale. We ordered it that evening.
That evening we started watching 'The Botany of Desire' on Netflix Instant but both of us started falling asleep part-way through so we abandoned until later.

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Saturday, 27 November -

I spent the morning on the web, researching high-definition videos made by the latest versions of digital single-lens reflex cameras. I'm amazed at some of the results, particularly from the Canon 5D Mark 2.
That afternoon we had visitors. Labashi's sister and family from the Northern Virginia area had visited Mom and Dad today in Mechanicsburg, and then came to stay with us overnight. We shared good pizza from Two Brothers and spent the evening chatting, mostly about the 13-year-old's school. He's enrolled in a program which, with the parents permission, segragates the boys and the girls for all 'core' classes. We were very interested to learn how this program is working and it appears to be doing quite well.

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Friday, 26 November-

I spent much of today researching electric ranges. I bought a one-month subscription to Consumer Reports and began reading everything I could find about ranges and which of them are available from local sources. The top brands from a reliability standpoint are Hotpoint, GE, and Westinghouse so I was matching up features and colors to the Consumer Reports reviews. Naturally, the reviews are crippled by the manufacturer's rapid model-number changes. You can find a CR recommendation for the model with the features you want but chances are that model won't be available from the local stores you'd like to buy from. I was also frustrated with CR's poor search engine. I'd search for a model number and get a no-find only to later find that same model on the Consumer Reports web site via a Google search. No wonder Google rules.
That evening we watched a Netflix Instant documentary about Jean-Baptiste Basquiat.

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