The Tiger's Eye: January 2008

27 January 2008

Promised earlier and HERE THEY ARE...

THE PICTURES OF OUR COMPLETED FLOORS!

Here is what was underneath - (as I stated before, quite possibly the ugliest vinyl tile EVER paid for and installed in an architect's house)








In case you don't believe me, here it is close up:

Go ahead and click on the image. Feast your eyes on the ugliness of Armstrong's finest cheap sheet goods.





Actually we have been done for a week or so, but work, family issues and general laziness have prevented me from posting till now.

Lest you think me entirely devoid of taste, please understand that for the past 9 years or so we have had Pergo snap-lock floors in the Entry, Kitchen, Living Room, Hall closet and Pantry. This was put down over the vinyl but was never truly satisfactory.
It looked like this:

Pergo never really LOOKS like the wood it is supposed to be mimicking unless you are squinting and looking at it in dim light.





Originally we were supposed to have all of this done over the Christmas Holiday but family illness on the part of my contractor put that off for a week then family illness on the part of the wife postponed again till finally we were able to start the Entry two weeks ago followed by the Kitchen last weekend.

Here are our two intrepid flooring experts; Scotty and Rick hard at work stripping up the vinyl in the kitchen. thats Rick "supervising" while Scott shows him how its done.









And so without further adieu, I give you the Completed product.

The Entry Hall.










The Kitchen








A Corner Detail

We still have a few minor touches such as new knobs for the Kitchen cabinets and hanging some new pictures in the Entry along with repainting the walls in both rooms but essentially we are about halfway done with Phase Two. Phase One was the bathrooms (documented here) and the rest of Phase Two involved carpet in the bedrooms along with rearranging two rooms into a new office and spare bedroom.

We are truly happy with all of the work. The new tiles glow in the sunshine and add a warmth to the decor that has been sadly missing for all these years.
If any reading this are from the Indianapolis area, I will heartily recommend our contractor; Scott Jones. He is a very talented, hard working fellow who gives you a true days work for his wage. If you are interested, email me and I will put you in touch with him.

25 January 2008

By The Marks

Gillian Welch - (with Ricky Skaggs)
If I could write one song I wish it were as good as this one.

Good for a Friday

20 January 2008

A word of thanks



I've managed to make it to 46 years without making too many big mistakes.
One that I made though was never serving.

I will spend the rest of my days saying thanks to those who do.

Victoria - O magnum mysterium

This is for Sarah, it was her favorite.

http://duke61.diaryland.com/040122_23.html

4 years ago Tuesday.

I have got to get one of these.


The owner says its fun on dirt roads and scares the hell out of the chickens.

16 January 2008

Welcome to a new reader

MikeD

hope the Gout gets better.

15 January 2008

Lion's Mane - Iron and Wine

I've been listening to Sam Beam much lately.

Very nice sound

13 January 2008

Can someone tell me why...

Requiring an ID to vote is discriminatory?
No scratch that, of course it is discriminatory.
It discriminates against people who are not citizens of the locality to vote.
It discriminates against those who are not eligible to vote due to their criminal record.
It discriminates against those who might attempt to vote in precincts they do not live in.

So tell me, why would someone argue against providing a valid ID to vote?

11 January 2008

I know where I am going to be on Feb. 9th...

Jason Isbell - Decoration Day

Music Mill.

Make Mine Freedom (1948)

kinda corny but still makes a lot of sense.

09 January 2008

Update on the flooring

Ohhhhhhh....this is really nice!

I will post pictures Saturday when we have the furniture back and the glaze on.

Double update!
Glaze is on in the entry hall but we are delayed by the Queen's sore throat.

Go Colts!

06 January 2008

Calling all bourbon drinkers

(UPDATE BELOW)
I'm trying to find another of these.



That's a commemorative bottle that appeared on local liquor store shelves last year shortly after our beloved Colts won the World Championship.

As you can see the colors are familiar and the bottle is fulled with Kentucky's finest (unopened of course).
Now I have come to find that they are fairly hard to find as they were not licensed by the NFL (although apparently there were no laws actually broken as there is nothing "officially" linking this fine spirit to the local professional football club but there were also a number of people who did not agree that Maker's Mark bourbon was the best representative product for the franchise).

I've checked on Ebay and as of tonight I can't find any for sale. I am interested if one comes available. Mine is numbered 4354/6000 so I know there should be another 5999 of them around SOMEWHERE.


(Update - WOW! I had no Idea how expensive this might be!
Take a look:

05 January 2008

TAP,TAP, TAP, scrape, scrape, TEEEEEARRR.

Is the sound of another floor being removed by our intrepid workmen.
Below is what I removed this morning prior to them arriving...
That's a PERGO snap-lock type faux wood floor (and I do mean FAUX wood - it really looked like fake wood, nobody was fooled.)




















Below that was this:













Quite possibly the ugliest vinyl ever produced by the American vinyl flooring industry. It was the minimum that we could buy when we built our ranch-burger 15 years ago. So crappy that you could cut it with minimal exertion ( a thumbnail would do in a pinch) yet it took cold chisels to remove it all from the slab! We never intended to go 10 years let alone 15 without replacing it. (And yet somehow we did. I guess that will fall under the heading of unexplained marital phenomena).
By the end of the weekend we should have porcelain tile to match our bathrooms.

UPDATE:
Scott and Rick are about 2/3 done with laying tile. Rick had to leave early to prep a car he is selling to a fellow from Illinois. Hmmmmm... could that be a euphemism for something? "Pardon me boys, but I have to "SEE A MAN FROM ILLINOIS ABOUT A CAR". Kinda like "Celebrating Bob's Birthday" perhaps?".

They are supposed to show up at 7am on Sunday to finish the tile, grout the Laundry and closet and reload the laundry before then finishing up the remaining grouting on Tuesday night. We then get to repeat the process for the kitchen next weekend.


Some have asked why a fine young architect as myself (OK, Middle aged architect) didn't do the work himself. After all, isn't that what architects do; start home improvement projects only to have them drag out forever because the worker is obsessed with "getting it right"?
Simple answer, I want the work finished. These guys are fast, good and thorough. I know way too many fellows in the field who have numerous unfinished "home improvement" projects at their homes. Queen Tiger has demanded that this one is done ASAP.

Next week; THE KITCHEN!