Mid-year Accomplishments for 2011

It's good to stop what you're doing periodically and review the positive accomplishments in your life.

A couple of months ago I posted on how I was finally feeling back to my old self after a period of months of unforeseen setbacks and troubles.  Well, as it turns out, it wasn't as easy as just 'snapping out of it' and going back to my previously robust self.  There have continued to be good days and bad days.  But, overall, I've managed to gain and/or keep the upper hand for the most part, and the stock chart of my life has, in fact, continued in a generally bullish trend.

Now that the year is slightly over half over, and lest anyone (I'm mainly talking about myself here) think the first 6 months of 2011 were a wash, I want to stop, take a timeout, and acknowledge some of my actual positive accomplishments from the first half of the year.

(This is the part where I get all fidgety in my seat and want to go to the kitchen for a snack or bottle of water or something.  Maybe I should go let the dogs out to run around in the front yard.  In fact, maybe the plants on the front porch need watering while I'm out there.  And while I'm at it, the tomato plants on along the driveway need some attention too.  See?  I could just go on all day like this.)

Where was I?  Oh, that's right.  My actual positive accomplishments from the first half of the year.

Let's see.

Tennessee House Fireplace

Like the rest of the Tennessee House, the fireplace is simultaneously a bit traditional and a bit contemporary.

The stone is local sandstone, from the nearby Cumberland Plateau.  It is the same stone that we used on the exterior of the house.

For the wooden mantle, we used a beam that was installed as part of the exposed mezzanine structure before I arrived on site, but which I then rejected for quality purposes.  I made the framing crew build temporary supports, cut the beam out, and install its replacement.  You can read that story here.

Here is the replacement beam as it looks today:

Another thing I am particularly fond of is the wooden box that supports the TV.  I had them make it out of surplus planks from the mezzanine floor.  It nicely solves the problem of 'what to do with the TV' while tying back into the material palette of the rest of the house.

Tennessee House: Punch List

Last week I went to Tennessee for a punch list visit to my project there, and to photograph it for posterity.  The punch list is the list of final things to be completed by the contractor, in order for the project to be considered finally complete, and the contract closed out.  We ended up making 2 lists, one of things for Bob the Builder to complete, and one of items for Mr. and Ms. Client to attend to themselves.

The lists of final things were relatively mild.  There were only two things still not complete that I would call 'major', meaning they were things that materially prevented Mr. and Ms. Client from fully enjoying the new house. One was an issue with the cooktop, which prevented the propane from being turned on, and the other was the lack of a shower door.

The kitchen was otherwise usable, and we enjoyed roast chickens and broiled shrimp kabobs from the electric oven.  The bathroom was likewise usable, with the addition of a temporary shower curtain.

There were a few other inconveniences here and there, like a couple of (relatively minor) plumbing issues which came up and were resolved during my stay.  On the whole, the house is functioning very well, and looks great, if I do say so myself!

I took tons of photos but for now I'm just going to leave you with a few teasers.

Everything in its Place: TV Edition

Last fall I posted some pictures of the completed stone fireplace surround, which was installed after I left Tennessee.  You can read that post here.

The last image I had of the fireplace, from that post, was this one:

The final design, which had been chosen from a few different variations I had sketched, and discussed with Mr. and Ms. Client, was the sketch below.  If you look carefully, there are a few differences between the sketch and the completed fireplace, but they are minor, and I am pleased, overall, with the result.

The boxy assemblage to the right of the fireplace, in the sketch above, is a wooden cabinet with open compartments for the TV/DVD/satellite components, atop which sits the TV itself.  The idea was to make the little TV cabinet out of leftover mezzanine flooring planks.

Early in December I produced the following sketch, which I sent off to Tennessee, while crossing my fingers and hoping for the best:

Then, lo and behold, in one of the photos from last week's railing update, there it was, sitting quietly in the background:

There it was, my little TV cabinet!  I nearly fell off my chair in excitement!  I think Ms. Client must be getting used to my frantic texts demanding that she immediately drop everything and go photograph this-or-that.

I have to go now - I have to order a bunch of new camera equipment and book a flight to Tennessee!  

Tennessee House Update: Railings Installed!

Last week the railings were delivered back to the site, having finally been powder coated.  The powder coating was an ordeal unto itself.

The powder coating shop I took them to, back in October, was 25 miles away in another town.  The proprietor of that establishment (if you can call it that) left them sitting in his shop untouched, shut the door, disconnected the phone, and ceased operations one day, without warning.  There they sat, languishing, for several weeks.  Finally, Bob the Builder (our contractor) realized what had happened, interviewed the neighboring business owners, tracked him down, and got the unfinished railings back.  Three cheers for Bob the Builder!

A couple weeks ago, we found a reputable shop further away, in Maryville, Tennessee, and they seem to have done a good job, at least from what I can tell by these pictures:

This morning, I got a teaser photo from Ms. Client of the railings installed:

Makes me very excited to go see them in person!

Tennessee House Update: Kitchen

Here we are, well into the New Year, and it's been far too long since I've updated anything on the status of the Tennessee House.  My last update was back in November.   In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, there wasn't a huge amount of activity on the project - and things progressed slowly over the holidays.  It has mainly been finishing up painting and trim on the inside, and also painting the outside.

One major component that got installed just before Thanksgiving was the kitchen cabinets.

I haven't shared many of my design drawings for this house on the blog, but I'll show you what I drew up for the kitchen, and then some pictures, courtesy of Ms. Client.

Tennessee House: Fireplace & Stone Wall

Finally, I have a great excitement to report from the construction site in Tennessee!

Since I left, they have laid flooring, and worked on the painting, which is all important work and nice and all, but there hasn't been anything as exciting as the massive beam framing and steel welding and all that was happening before.  Until this week, that is.  Over the past few days as they have been working on the fireplace.   

You may recognize the mantle from that day a couple months ago when I rejected one of the beams.  Well, the ugly duckling beam has transformed into one beautiful swan of a fireplace mantle.  

Here it is, before they installed the stone:

 

Home Sweet Home

Today was another long day, and I'm beat, and this is going to be a relatively short post.  Sorry, but we'll have to save the major introspective recap for later.

Things started off relatively flat.

At one point I was going about 80 when this guy passed me at a good clip.  That was super sweet.

Later in the day, I passed this power plant, which I had seen on my way East.  Turns out, it is the Escalante Station, a power plant that provides electricity to 250,000 people.

When I got to Gallup, I got off the highway and drove through town.  I stayed at the Road Runner once. That was probably about 15 years ago.

 As I was driving through town, a freight train went roaring past, bound for points west.

Earl's Family Restaurant was welcoming the stuffed bell pepper.  How 1950's of them.

 Next door to Earl's was another groovy restaurant, and I had to get a pic.

Later on, I passed the Cholla Power Plant that I had also passed on Day 2, shortly after leaving Winslow, AZ.

Eventually, we made it to California.  When we got to Barstow, I found a Starbuck's that had free WiFi and wrote this post, on my upcoming lecture in Denver.  Then we made our way to the nearest In n Out Burger, and then on home.

When we pulled into the driveway, Todd howled.  They seemed really glad to be home.  I am glad to be home.  It feels a little weird.  The road trip has come to an end, yet the house isn't finished.  The next time I see it, it will be done.

I'm embarking on a new big adventure, with my lecture in Denver coming up, and all the ideas that has brought to the fore.  I feel like I'm finally ready to seriously take up the problem of architectural theory.  Where will all this lead me?  Impossible to say, at this point.

It feels like I'm at the beginning of a new adventure.

Heading for Home

Today I packed up my little car, and P + T and I headed for home.

It was pretty emotional for me.  The last few days had been a bit of a flurry of activity.  I was welding like mad, and got some nice little 'extras' made that will give a little extra bit of a custom edge to the house.

Ms. Client, aka Farmer Jo, has a collection of horse shoes that she has found on the property over the several years they have lived there.  I cut one in half and made her a pair of coat hooks out of it.

Tennessee House Railings

First, I apologize for not blogging in a while.

The last few weeks have been frustrating in a lot of ways.  

I haven't been able to devote all the time to the project that I have wanted to, partially for exciting reasons that nonetheless took me away from my work here.  And, partially because I've had to put out various fires and deal with things that just come up that required my attention, as happens in life.

The main thing house-related that has been occupying me has been the steel railings for the mezzanine.  All the interior railings have been fabricated and were delivered to the powder coating shop today.

Here's how they all came together:

You may recall that I had built a prototype and reviewed it with the owners.

Day 56: Birthday in Tennessee! Hooray for Me!

Today is my birthday.  In the spirit of everyone on the Book Face encouraging me to 'make it a great day' and 'do whatever you want to, it's your day' and all, I am starting off with a blog post.

Actually, I already kicked off the day with letting the drywall finishing crew in, and getting them going, and reviewing some things with Bob the Builder and his sidekick Jeremy (yes Bob the Builder has a sidekick.  I don't think I've mentioned him yet.)

I never really expected to still be here in Tennessee for my birthday this year.  I thought I would be here for a few weeks, from late August into mid or late-September.  But, the whole experience with the house has been so much better than I ever expected, that it has been well worth it.

In a little while, Bob and I are going to go pick up some of the steel parts for the mezzanine railings, and I will spend most of the day working on them.  What better way to spend one's birthday than welding?!

Here is the railing mockup.  Those pieces of 2x4 are under it to raise the height up to the point where Mr. and Ms. Client are comfortable with it.  That will be the height of the final railings:

Day 50: Drywall Goodness

Today the drywall guys rocked.

And they rolled.

Here's the evidence to support my claim:

Day 49: Groovin' With the Drywall Crew

The guys hanging the drywall (aka sheet rock, gypsum board, gyp board, wall board, etc.) are like a breath of fresh air around here. Yesterday there were 4 in their crew, and today there were 5.

They show up early, work hard, and get an amazing amount of work done in a day's time.  They split up into teams of 2 or 3, with one (or two) measuring and fitting the cut pieces into place (often up on a ladder or scaffold), while the other one is down on the floor, cutting the pieces to fit.

They are constantly (very loudly) calling dimensions out to one other, often with the recipient way across the room or across the house.  To ensure accuracy, the cutting guy calls the dimension back to the measurer (also very loudly.)  So there is this constant shouting of numbers going on (but you really have to think of it as calling or hollering, and it almost has a musical quality to it.  It really isn't shouting.)

Add to that the (attempted) gospel stylings of one of them, intermittently breaking out in between the dimension calling.  Today it was predominantly "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" intermixed with "I'll Fly Away".

Day 48: Finally! Drywall!

Things are rolling along.  After what seems like a couple of really slow weeks on the project, (although I have managed to say pretty busy,) it's getting really fun now.

Before I get to the good stuff, here's some general catching-up stuff:

The other day I woke up to a very heavy fog...

Day 42: What Time is it? Tile Time!

It's the end of Day 42.  That makes it the end of our 6th week since we left L.A.  I feel like saying, "I can't believe it has been 6 weeks since Paul, Todd and I started out on our big adventure" except that, I actually can believe it.

And, at this point, I think I can begin to see the end point.  I think we have about 2 more weeks, maybe 2 1/2 left here.  Then it will be back to L.A., via a slightly more circuitous route than brought us here.

These past few days have seen a few minor, but fun, adventures.

Day 37: Update with a Zillion Photos

Things are still moving along somewhat more slowly, and probably will be for the coming week.  Later in the week they should be starting to hang drywall, which will be tremendously exciting.

This week's big achievements were the insulation of the exterior walls, and a second thing that I'll fill you in on in a minute, after a few pictures:

Day 34: Photo Updates

Today, Ms. Client uploaded some new pics to her photo album over on PhotoBucket.  Here are a few highlights:

You can see the whole image gallery here.

There is also a little bit more to report, so maybe you'll get 2 posts today!  I know that's rare, and I'm not promising.  I'm just sayin.

Day 30: A Successful Tour!

I'm writing this on Day 31, being Sunday, September 12th.  I am going to make a greater effort, moving forward, to get these updates out earlier in the day.  Today we're going to look at wood flooring up in Knoxville, and I may get some welding in later in the afternoon.

Today's post, however, is about yesterday's fun day of showing the house to some special guests, who drove from Atlanta and Nashville.

Day 29: A Meeting of the Minds

Well, people, I really have to apologize for not posting all week.

It seemed like little got done this week, although there were some important things that did get done.  But, there were also things that I felt should have gotten done, but didn't, and not for any apparent (and meaningful) reason.

And, I have to be honest and say that I'm feeling a little burnt out.  I've been away from my 'normal' life for about a month, and working nonstop on the house for over 3 weeks, without any real break, and it's beginning to wear on me, just a little bit.

There is some relief in sight, because we are getting to a point where we are close to drywall going on, and some other more mundane things, that will give me a break from the constant attention the project has demanded.   I might even take the dogs and go away for a few days, just for a little change of scene.

What got done this week?  Let's see.

Monday was a holiday, but the framing crew worked anyway.  They worked on exterior siding and miscellaneous things inside.  I believe the electricians were here also.

Tuesday should have been the day the roofer came to start on the 2 roof decks, but he decided to extend his camping trip a day.  *SIGH*  This was also the last day for the full-time framing crew, and since the roof wasn't on those roof deck areas, because the roofer was still camping, the framer peopleguys couldn't install the doors there.

Because the doors weren't on, I had to scramble when it rained to put some plastic sheeting up, for some protection on the openings.  By myself.  In the rain.  But everything was ok in the end.  Mostly.

Wednesday the roofers started.  The tapered foam they use to build up the slope on the plywood surface, so the water drains away correctly, turned out to not slope at the pitch they told me, but is twice as steep.  Thus, all the work I had done over the weekend, to calculate the height of the sloping roof surface at the door threshold, and figure out all the corresponding details, was meaningless. *HEAVY SIGH*

I don't have a huge reservoir of confidence in these guys at this point.  The product they are installing is a great roofing system, when installed correctly.  I just hope they can get get the job done.  I guarantee you that I will be blasting it with a garden hose the day after they finish.  If this thing is going to leak, I want to know about it now, not next spring or summer.

The framers are peopleguys, and the roofers are clearly not.

Wednesday was also the day the electrical inspector showed up.  I left when he got here.  I don't do well with government inspectors.  (That's really an understatement.  For more information, read Atlas Shrugged.)

Yesterday, the roofers came back and worked on the roof over the front door.  They stayed late, and yet, somehow, still didn't finish it.

Also, the steel brackets for the timber beams showed up, having been powder coated.

You could scratch the finish off them with your finger nail.  The worst powder coating job I have ever seen.  But, since they are installed up high, and not where they can be reached and touched, we decided to install them anyway.

I can touch up the paint manually.  If they were going to be installed outside in the weather, or inside where they would be handled (like the mezzanine railings) they would be rejected.

Ms. Client chimed in on those, and affirmed that in all her years at her old job, in automotive parts quality control, where she dealt with a lot of powder coating, she had never encountered powder coating that flaked off like that, and that that would have definitely been rejected.

We plan on putting the powder coating company on notice that if this happens again with the upcoming railings (which will be subject to handling and touching, as well as have some outdoor components) they will be rejected.

This morning, the electricians were back, finishing up a few things they needed to finish up.  They left early, and Dave, the genius framing crew boss peopleguy, came over and installed the steel brackets.  I helped, and it was a great way to end the week.

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The real excitement this week is in what went on last night and will be happening here tomorrow.

Last night I went down to Atlanta and gave a talk on the house and my design work for the Atlanta Objectivist Society (aka ATLOS).

It was really fun, the audience was very attentive, and they asked great questions.  It was also really fun that Jenn, aka Rational Jenn, one of the group's organizers, brought her son Ryan.  To get the complete picture of how clever and brilliant this little guy is, you should just read her blog.  Suffice it to say that if Jenn should ever fall short in her stated quest to take over the world, I have absolutely no doubt but that Ryan will carry on and finish the job for her.  So it was a treat to have him at the lecture.

Tomorrow, the group is converging here, right here at the house construction site, for a picnic, tour, and pony rides.  How great is that!?

And, there's even a bit of a special event on top of the special event.  I get to host the first in-real-life meeting of two of my Objectivist blogging friends, Trey and Jenn.  So, it will be a meeting of the minds, and I'm going to open a bottle of wine or two for the occasion!

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Farmer Jo has been working on cleaning up her barn, and getting things ready for pony rides.  It's actually a horse (named Lacy) that the kids will be riding, not a pony per se.  I may even go for a ride myself!

Todd was trying to help out in the barn but kept getting distracted by Bonjo the Donkey in the next stall. That dog is utterly obsessed with the donkeys.  Lucky for him, he keeps getting shocked by the electric fence, or he would end up getting kicked into the next county.

In other news, if you click to embiggen this pic, you can see a gang of wild turkeys about to rumble with a bunch of cows:

The herd and flock actually formed into rows all by themselves as the two groups of animals approached each other.  It was pretty interesting to watch.  I don't believe there was any bloodshead.

And now, for my grand finale, I present Paul and Todd, performing feats of cuteness, high upon the grand mezzanine:

I can't wait until I don't have to look at that awful green foam ceiling any more!

Day 24: Sunday Evening, Weekend Update

Last time I checked in with y'all (actually, that's what they say in Atlanta.  Around here they say y'uns.  Sometimes I have no idea what people are even saying) was last Thursday evening.  A lot got done Friday too, and the crew is coming back to work tomorrow also.  They will be laboring on Labor Day.  That's their choice.  I'm happy about it.  We have rain in the forecast and doors that still need installation.

Almost all of the windows are in, except for 3 that were special order items (just because they were slightly odd-sized) and won't be here for about 2 more weeks. 

Friday night we had a particularly fiery sunset: