Category: Uncategorized

Go home

DC Feds go home. Government is closed according to WJLA and Fox 5. I would have checked OPM but it wouldn’t load.
I’m going home to a nice warm, warm house. I got the boiler yesterday from Contractor #1 installed and it churns out heat like a big heating thing…. Contractor #1 has now received many many brownie points.

Busted pipes and busted glass

Argh! This weekend I had a mini flood in the basement. It started on Friday with the sump pump going off. I did bother to notice it really until the sump pump kept going off a lot. That is Sunday morning. Anyway long story short, the house next to mine has been unoccupied for weeks and their pipes broke, sending water into my basement. WASA was really great in all this. They came by in two trips. The first came to see if it was stinky water. Nope, clear non-stinky stuff. The second crew came, listened to me about how this happened last time with the house 3 doors down having busted pipes. So they checked my meter, the houses next door and 3 hours after I made my first call, the water for the vacant house was turned off. Yay, WASA!
Also I noticed on the street and on the listservs there was a slew of car break ins. I saw one gal chatting with the cops over her busted window. Then a SUV with a shiny pile of blue green glass near it, and a duct taped driver’s side. I don’t have a car but still, a little reminder, don’t leave crap in your car. Thieves will bust in if they “think” you have something. Besides the crap, stuff, you constantly drive around with and don’t use, unnecessarily uses up gas. Lighten your load and improve your gas mileage.

Waaay off topic: State Universities

I heard something that annoyed the crap out of me a few days ago and occasionally the memory of it, and how I felt afterwards comes to the surface of the present and raises my blood pressure. Before I go into rant mode let me throw in the disclaimer. I mean no ill will to those who went to small- midsized private schools, or large ivies. Some of my dearest friends are Harvard alumni.
–Start Rant—
I was listening to a NPR report on class in America the focus was Amherst College and the class divisions at the school. Amherst is trying to provide itself and the opportunities it provides to non-wealthy students. That’s an admirable thing. However there was a part that came that I took to insinuate that schools like Amherst had a monopoly on those opportunities like foreign trips, mentoring and honors programs. Huh? I went to the Univ of Florida and one summer spent a semester in Cambridge Univ (UK), with the help of a scholarship and some loan money. My cousin goes to some flat state university in the middle of the country and went to South Africa for a semester. My college at Univ Maryland offers mentoring, however few students ever seem to take us up on our offers.
Many state universities are great value for money, provide a solid education and offer excellent opportunities. Yeah, there are some state schools that are crappy, but I’m not talking about those. There are state schools that are beyond excellent, like UVa & UNC, and sometimes it is not the school but particular programs. More importantly, the student has to take advantage of what’s there. You don’t do the internships, you don’t get involved in certain groups, you don’t sign up for that extra circular program, it can pretty much be a waste no matter how much you or your parents spend.
Also 5 years after graduating, most people don’t give a rat’s rear where you went to school. Of course, Univ of Wisconsin- Madison people seem to be all over the damned place. I have no idea where my supervisor went, or my boss, or many of my co-workers (a small percentage did attend UMCP). You typically find these things out when their team makes it to some bowl or is heading towards the final four, or they keep showing up wearing UGA sweatshirts and hats.
So three cheers for those publicly funded schools whose mission is to provide a post secondary education to its qualified citizens.

I’m at the starting line and I want to quit

Okay I’ve talked to DCRA about permits and two contractors. I’m tired.
First contractors. I’ve talked to contractor #1 who did my kitchen. He’s offered a free used boiler he pulled out from his last job (but labor will cost me) and I’m taking him up on it. The reason being is I called the eco-guy and he said if I could keep something out of the landfill and get 5-10 more years out of it, it would be a good thing. So contractor #1 will have scored brownie points. Those points will be awarded when I get some actual heat. Contractor #2 was unavailable. So contractor #3 became contractor #2. I had him over, he seemed to have really wanted architect designed plans. What I had was okay, but…. ya know. He did had a really can do, let’s get on this attitude. I got the number for a contractor #3 from Blagden Alley (thanks) but right now, I don’t wanna talk to anyone else.
It’s moments like this where I see being single has its negatives. It would be great to have another person with just as strong as an interest in the project. Or at least someone else to take on the contractor talking to bit.
Next, DCRA. I talked to someone at their Homeowner’s Center. The person at the other end was helpful and pointed out some things that would have to go through the regular permit process. The fence and front stoop are on “public space”, so that will have to go through the regular process. Getting rid of my unused chimney and flue, needs a structural engineer to sign off on it. They can handle the moving of the two bathrooms. Unfortunately I haven’t settled on what kind of air conditioning to get. They want plans for that. But I can’t get plans for that because I don’t know what the eco-guy is going to recommend, as it really doesn’t take that much to cool the house. Three window units did the trick last summer. Who knows, maybe a big honking through the wall unit in the back of the house will go there. And the gas fireplace will need a diagram. I may just throw that into a phase II project.
The major work on the house is Phase I. The basement and all the other little stuff that can get done on its own, Phase II. There is a Phase III, but I’m not even thinking that far ahead.
I’ve drawn up plans, with my little hands and talking with several people there are things I have left out. DCRA wants to know where the lines are going. I have no idea where the lines are now. I need to show where the doors swing. I need to show closets and electrical outlets and lights. Feh! I may need to hire IT to draw up plans after all.
I’m tired and I want my mommy.

Renovation 2007: Resale repeated

I’ve heard ‘resale value’ so many times now that I want to make a drinking game out of it, if it weren’t so disrespectful of those speaking, who I know mean well. I have gotten so good pointers and have been challenged, in a good way. But still there is that value that I keeps getting repeated that just seems to undermine my status as a homeowner. Every time someone says something about resale I take it as “hey you are just a renter with a mortgage.”
One of the joys I looked forward to as a homeowner is the possibility of customizing the house to me(without violating any major laws or codes). That drywall, I can tear that out. You know why? ‘Cause I own it. So now I’m all prepped to customize a good portion of the house based on my wants and desires and (most important) budget and I’m supposed to think about some future buyer. The house was designed by crackheads, they didn’t give a rat’s ass about me, why extend the same? What I will do for future owners is do my best to make sure the house is structurally sound. That’s it.
I don’t care about the money. I have too much equity. Because of my income I can only tap into part of the equity. I’d have to sell the house to get the rest. And that is as the house exists now, with no air conditioning, a busted boiler, crappy carpeting, warped floors, and crackadelic design.
One sin against the creed of resale I’m planning is getting rid of the closet in one of the bedrooms. I’ve heard that a bedroom needs to have a closet to legally be called a bedroom. Ok. Stick an armoire in it.
There were a couple anti-resale moves I considered, but decided that the generic solution could be worked around or was more economical. At some point I did play with the idea of not having a single tub in the house and just have a really cool shower. Then I also looked at ductless AC. Decided that if the ducts are on one side the house they can get camouflaged with a certain decorative idea I might do if I can afford it.

I’m probably the last person you want around

…when there is a hit and run.
We JUST had a hit and run on the block. When relaying what kind of car it was the best I could say was dark blue (remember it is night) or black car, covered in salt. I couldn’t say what the tag number was because, according to one of the neighbors the bastard ripped off his temporary tags. A car, is a car, is a car to me. I can make out Volvos, beamers, Minis, Priuses and bugs. I guess since I don’t own a car, and haven’t for 10 years, most sedans look alike.
Here’s how it went down. I’m websurfing and then I hear a crash. I look out the window a dark colored sedan has plowed into a parked car. I run downstairs and call 911. I figure an ambulance is needed and I barely hear what the dispatcher is saying. I see the driver moving around and figure then maybe it isn’t that bad and maybe just the police. Then the car takes off and heads east.
Luckily I wasn’t the only witness. A car loving neighbor identified the type of car, make, and model(and year?) and also some other little details my car-hating self would have never noticed. There were several witnesses and at least three people who called the police. Another witness noticed that one of the passengers was a young woman with a head wound, who with a male passenger jumped out the car and headed north. Howard U Hospital? Another neighbor hopped in his vehicle and chased after the hit and run car and lost him when the driver got on NY Avenue. Yeah, we are a crazy bunch of mofos ’cause it ain’t the first time one of us has run after a suspect.

The best laid plans are probably in a pile somewhere

Today I mailed off a list of what I wanted done for the house and a rough drawing of the desired layout to Contractor #1. I was going to show the plans or the simple layout I had drawn up to IT and also drop off a copy at Contractor #2’s house. But dang it, can’t find them. I remember writing them up and photocopying them but I’m clueless as to their current location. I looked in the usual piles of paper, where graph paper and penciled writing lay, but not the final draft. Early drafts showing the house as it is laid out now, I can find copies of those. Drawings pondering slight adjustments, radical, kooky, and odd adjustments, yup I can find those too.
Worse comes to worse I’ll redraw them. Start with a rectangle-ish shape representing 14’x26’x15′ (house is widens). Throw in some stairs. A bathroom here, a half bath there, remove a wall and done.
I’ll probably have something for Contractor #2 in a few days and will call Contractor #3 tomorrow.

Stayin warm and BACA meeting

First. My personal BACA meeting notes are over at the super secret site. User: thismeeting PSW: neverhappened.
Second. It is 16F outside and I’m ok. Not happy but OK. My electric meter is spinning like a CD. It is spinning so fast I don’t even want to think about it. The heated floor for the kitchen and 4 heater fans are keeping the house above freezing. Somewhere, there is a polar bear drowning because of me.
The two heater fans, are keeping the 1st floor at 63F. It did get up to 66F, but I was cooking with the gas oven and had the fans at full blast. I also tried to stop up any leaks I found. In recent days I have bought heavy curtains to block leakage around the windows. IKEA has some very ugly plaid curtains for sale at 19.99. Ugly but thick and warm. Maybe when it warms up and I develop a crush on a Austrian widower, I’ll make clothes out of them.* I also made a wind break between the front door and the hallway. It helps a little.
I have currently retired to the second floor where I am keeping one room warm with one little heater fan. It feels like 68F. When I do go to bed I’ll keep the heater on and heat up my little bags of rice to keep the bed warm. I took some short grained rice, sewed it up in a old sleeve of a shirt I had torn apart, and made a little rice pillow. I heat up the pillow, about 1 minute per each cup of rice in it, in the microwave. Then I throw them (I made two) under the covers at the foot of the bed. They keep my feet toasty warm all night, and is still moderately warm in the morning when I wake up.
This is not an ideal situation, and I am going to hate to see my electric bill when it comes. I typically don’t use a lot of electricity. Usually when I see my meter spinning fast I rush in the house trying to figure out what is hogging up the juice and turn it off. I hope Spring comes soon.

* Please tell me you did get the Sound of Music reference.

Furnace saga continues

Well Lem did check out my chimney and there really wasn’t anything blocking it. Then he looked at the furnace. Now here is the part were I accept all responsibility for my heating woes. He noticed that it was gunked up with black stuff. Apparently I failed to clean it for the past 5 years. The last guy I had come in to cleaned offended me so badly I refused to bother with anyone else. So I’ve learned my lesson. And for a short while the broiler worked. The radiators got all warm and I got happy and then the Carbon Monoxide alarm went off. And I turned the heat off. Then the radiators got cold and I got sad.
Now I am keeping the place warm with a bunch of heater fans and I’m planning to go out and find other heating sources because I give up. I planned to get rid of that broiler anyway and I really don’t want to throw anymore money at it. Also talking about my heating woes to any poor slump who’d listen, I was told to look into a gas fireplace by a few people. They swear those things put out a lot of heat and can work during a power failure.
So in 2 weeks I’ll have my list. Well now I do have a list of the major things it’s just the thousand little things, like doorbells, that I need to write up.