Thursday

Just a short update. The electricians said they ran into some problems getting the new wires installed in the kitchen and spent most of the day putzing around in that room. They are going to try and wrap things up sometime Friday but may have to come back Monday. All I know is that this house is a total wreak and everything is covered in 80 year old dust. I woke up Tuesday night with a bloody nose and my sinuses are killing me. I don't blame the guys, I think it is just the combination of the insulation blown in, the change in weather, and the dust being kicked up from shaking everything loose. Combine with the house being closed up tight because of the cold weather and my overly efficient furnace recycling all the particles around.
Really, don't get me wrong I am not bitching. Just trying to rationalize it in my brain. I know smoking has NOTHING to do with my sinuses being in a state of aggravation.
I did get the windows open for most of the day today and I am hoping that some of that crap gets blown out.

Made in the USA?

This is one of the old switches that the Mike (the electrician) replaced today. Pretty crazy. Scott, Mikes helper said he looked in one of his books and from what he can tell it is from the 1930's. If you double-click the picture you can see it is spring loaded and two arms (one on each side). the arms flip down or up depending on which way the switch is moved. I can just visualize a spark being created everytime the lever is flipped. Glad I don't have a meth lab in the basement with all the highly explosive chemicals needed to make that stuff. One word (and it is my favorite after the dryer incident) BOOM!

In the first image, again if you expand the picture you can make out something that you don't see very often in this day. A stamp that says "Made in the USA" also above it is stamped H&H or H&K. I did a quick search and found this: http://www.h-hgroup.com/ I am not sure if it is the same company, but their website says they have been around since 1901.
One can look at it as a testimony to good ol' solid american engineering and craftsmanship. I mean if this was stuck in a wall 70+ years ago and still works today that has to say something. I wonder if one of todays switches would last that long?


This is a keeper. Maybe I will make a shadow box with all the old stuff I find from the house along the way.
Mike said that they should be done Friday sometime and that most everything is going pretty good, some places were and are hard to get the new wire into and they have found a few outlets installed without being in a electrical box at all. Amazing. I guess that is why they have electrical codes now. For the good.

Shocking, I am an alien and that the way I roll.

Again, I want to thank Beth and Rob. Especially Rob, he did the grunt work by helping me with picking up the washer and dryer today, then lifting the damn things downstairs into the basement. I am so out of shape my biceps are hurting today.

Below are a few pics of the laundry room taking shape

I made a box of 3/4" ply to set the dryer on. It really worked out well. Came out to be the right height for when you take the clothes out of the washer and into the dryer. Quite proud of myself actually.

The center pic is a temporary setup for the dryer vent. I have a trunk full of glass blocks that I bought and when the weather gets a bit warmer I will replace the old windows for the blocks. There is a dryer vent block that I bought also and will fit nicely. and make some of the unsightliness disappear.

When I bought the power cord for the dryer I purchased a 4 prong connector vice a 3 prong. I took it (the cord) out of the package, I thought "lets see if this thing plugs in to the outlet" and make certain that I have the correct cord.

Normally a sane person of my age would not only make sure that the circuit breaker is off but also double-check to make sure the circuit is off. I have to interject here that none of the breakers are labeled and I only guessing as to which was the correct breaker to be turned off. But not "checking" at all makes the last sentence moot.

So there I am standing looking at a large 30 amp circuit, a large plug in my right hand, and 3 bear copper terminals hanging at the other end of the cord. Lets plug this sucker in......hard going; Somewhere along the way my common sense checked out and went to Mexico for the moment, why the hell Mr. Common Sense left me at that very second I have pondered for most of the day; I think I might give it a little bit a harder push and BANG! WHOOSH! and blast of warm air hit my face, the strange smell of ozone enveloped my head. I kind of stood there and thought, what the fuck are you doing!? you crazy bastard. I could still be down there in the basement sizzling and smelling like beef jerky (the good stuff, not some generic brand) when the ozone cleared, all 3 copper ends of the cord were fused together and I was looking around for my buddy Mr. Common Sense and I am sure I had a look like a little kid that just took candy from the Brachs display at the grocery store and ate a whole handful without mom seeing.

Needless to say, I found the proper breaker for the dryer after that little expirence. Funny how a tripped breaker will click over to the right when it expirences a surge and let you know which is the proper one.

I was in such a hurry to get things hooked up that I didn't take that extra second to stop and think. I am such a dork, and the only reason I am still here to type this today is that there must be an alien inside my body that took control of my mind for that split second. What a freaking dummy I am.

Saftey is not an accident!

On Wednesday I had Sears come over and measure the kitchen and give me a quote for new cabinets. No frills, $14,000. I declined the nice mans sales pitch. Today I went and sat over at Menards for an hour and a half and went through the design process again. Just the cabinets, me installing and with the counter tops. $4600. Pretty much the same style and counters. Sears offers Wilsonart brand formica and wanted $2000, Menards offers Formica brand formica for $200. Makes you think a bit about the mark-up involved, and the labor. My next pricing will be the RTA cabinets.