Sunday, June 18, 2006

and then there was light

Well the paint lighted up some but it is much to red/pink for my taste.

Went to town and found that Home Depot finally restocked the medicine cabinets I wanted. I looked into getting a replacement top for the vanity - however I forgot to measure it. Got my cabinet and something else I needed and headed to Lowe's - I bought a 31 by 22 plain white vanity top, a vent register and a few other things.

I hit target for a nice cloth shower liner - forgot the rings...

Had a good Italian beef at the "Windy City Cafe" - a place in a renovated old hardees - very good - plenty of beef.

Stopped at wallyword and got shower curtain rings and some milk.

Got back home - checked the vanity - wrong size - mine is 31 by 19 - Lowes had some open stock or floor models for $30 & $50 each. I had intended on measuring but I just for got. I also measured the top of where the medicine cabinet will end up - about 1/2 through the vanity light rough in.

So before I start on the major plumbing I decided to set the toilet - while the floor isn't perfectly level due to the way some of the tiles set it was rather easy - except for the caulk around the base - now how will I know if I have a leak at the wax ring? I measure and clean up the vanity - it is in good condition except for all the dust from the basement - I hit it with a light fresh coat of minwax "natural oak" and cover over the old drain holes from the floor mounted drain.

Back to town - this time I take the truck - Grizzy wants some attention and a ride. I decide against the floor model vanity tops at $30 they are not 1/2 price and they have some wear and chips. I get some surface mount materials for the vanity and change the vent register to a 4 by 10 since the 2/10 won't cover the hole in the drywall.

I get back home and since it is now dark I decide to climb into the attic to mark the spot for the fan and light fixture - once I cut that hole, connect and mount the fan (took much longer than one would think it should have) I get the shower light up and then rather than start on the vanity light I decide to connect to the breaker box and see if my light works - Walla they do. Take some pictures and head to bed - no first flush tonight. Posted by Picasa

posted by Jon at Homer @ 2:29 AM 0 comments

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Details, details


I finished up the drywall this week - extending the curve to meet the edge of the shower was took some time but it turned out fairly nicely.

I got it primed last night and I noticed the white primer was not all that white that if I painted the bathroom white it would be whiter than the white tile. So I decided to go for a slightly tinted white with a little red to match the shower grout. It should have been a rose beige but I got a lite rose - PINK.

Oh well I guess I will have to live with it as I have very little time to finish up the plumbing, hook up the light fixtures and hook up to the panel, remove the excess grout from the shower tile and rehang trim & the door. (I am going to wait on the trim and take my time - so Page and Holly won't see the finished bathroom). You might note in the curve drywall detail image - I am going to run tile upto the ceiling out of the shower - one more little detail.

I don't know how well the pink color shows up in images but wet the paint is a light pink - a light blue might have been better - correspond with the blue border - something more beige definitely would have been better. Oh well - at least it's painted - semi gloss easy to clean.

One more painting note - if you use the Sunday paper to mask hang the pages on their sides or upside down - I had to read the travel and entertainment sections - now I need to goto Devils Tower this year and Ebert had a good review of Al Gores powerpoint presentation/lecture. Also the joys of air stream living...

I am off for more tile sealer, medicine cabinet, shower curtain and duct register. I might get a new vanity top too. I just hope Homedepot has the medicine cabinet in stock - they haven't had it since before Memorial Day weekend.

posted by Jon at Homer @ 11:54 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Miscellania

Over the weekend flipping through channels I came upon The Day the Earth Stood Still as I flipped back and forth I caught the seen where Klaatu tells Patricia Neal's character Helen to says to Gort (the giant robot) "Klaatu barada nikto". Then later when Helen tells Gort "Klaatu barada nikto" it hit me that was Ash's (Bruce Campbell) line that he couldn't remember in Army of Darkness when he picked up the Necronomicon. So I googled it and bingo - I am not the first, far from it to make this connection. It even is referenced in Wikipedia.

For example from Blather.net Shitegeist " In the movie Army of Darkness (Evil Dead III), '"Klaatu Barada Nikto" is the shibboleth needed to negate the demonic forces of evil, or something'. Lead actor Bruce Campbell (Ash) can't quite remember it; "Klaatu Barada. . . necktie!" " Link to Shitegeist plus the comments about the subliminal story of Christ embedded in the 1951 scifi movie. Also, I remember some movie commentary regarding the doctors at Walter Reed talking about Klaatu's remarkable recovery while smoking... (this was 1951 tobacco lobby). Plenty of good reasons to see "The Day the Earth Stood Still" again or for the first time, it should be part of any pop cultural literacy.

I figure Sam Raimi payed homage to one of the classics of science fiction and "B" movies by using Klaatu barada nikto as the incantation required to pick up the "Book of the Dead" in Army of Darkness (the third Evil Dead movie). In a way this is sort of like what directors or more likely sound editors have been doing for years with "The William"(link to the scream - brings Grizzy to the computer with his head cocked over like Victor the RCA dog) See Bob Garfield report on On the media for an interesting tidbit regarding a sound effect that you have all heard in such movies as Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Wild Bunch, the John Wayne film The Green Berets going way back to the same year as The Day the Earth Stood Still - 1951.

I really should take time to discuss Eli Roth's film Cabin Fever as a continuation in the line of good "B" horror movies that pay either conscious or unconscious homage to Sam Raimi's Evil Dead among other good independent horror scifi movies. I have yet to see his more recent movie Hostel I only heard his interview with Elvis Mitchell on The Treatment. That interview was enough to get me to pay $5.50 at Walmart for a copy of Cabin Fever - interesting movie - another twist on the old college kids in a cabin in the woods movie premise.

On to more important news Jack the Cat made the Colbert Report tonight. If you have not heard of Jack the bear treeing cat see this AOL News report or the New Jersey rag The Star-Ledger or of course see the video when it is posted at Motherload. One of these days I need to report the Franklin Co Medical Center Bear to Colbert.

And finally - my work platform performs great - once I got some supports that hold up table leaf or folding sheaves. The thing is very solid but I should have built it so the legs were wider - I thought wrong, measured twice and cut once. Making an accurate cut is one thing but not thinking what I was measuring is what forced me to have legs that aren't as wide as the platform. I might make a set of extension if it really start to worry me. I am nearly finished with the drywall in the bathroom - I just need to piece in around the shower stall and the curved area, finish sanding, prime and paint. Hopefully first flush on Saturday...




posted by Jon at Homer @ 11:39 PM 0 comments