Nov 15 - our new puppy

I've been remiss in not mentioning our new puppy.

Abby has reverted to puppy-dum.  The thyroid medicine has stripped years off.

She looks trimmer, runs around squeaking her toys, rolls over for tummy rubs, jumps into the car, follows us around constantly -- it's great to see. 

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Grrr.  I spent so much time on the phone with the various fireplace people and the security people that I missed the opportunity to ride.  I now have those darn sheets of firebrick on order though (the refractory) -- delivery early December ! -- and I see that the new security system has shipped (this is a self-install).  I've got to fax the cancellation into the old company.

I started chatting with a rep at the new security company and he asked what I was ordering, gave him the list, then he came back with a price that was $350 less than I was about to pay them on the online ordering system !  It actually made their up-front price less, with a one-year contract, than the old company with a three year contract, along with cheaper ongoing costs - how can I go wrong ? 

You have to realize that this is mostly about managing the cost of insurance.  The cost of home security is more than paid for by the cost reduction in my insurance bill - both in FL and ON.  What a game we play.

So ... what do I do now ?  I cannot "waste" the rest of the afternoon.  Basically at a standstill with the main project, I decided to go back into the attic.

Backtracking -- oh yes -- talked to Sam -- they needed to give the stain another day to dry before starting the clear coat process so treads go in on Monday.  They're still aiming for Friday for the railings; he's already started some work on those.

In the attic, entering from the upstairs bedroom (different attic space), I was trying to see if I could find the hallway light.  That's difficult under a couple of feet of blown insulation !  So, I got some heavy duty wire and poked upwards from the electrical box, went back up and yup, I can see that wire ... way, way over where the roof slants down.  Oh damn. 

Well, not deterred, I went to where I want the new light, in the hallway in front of the elevator, drilled a hole and poked some 14/2 up there, lots of 14/2.  Back in the attic, I could see that way, way over and down, managed to work my way along the trusses without descending into the insulation, hooked it with a hoe-like-rake and pulled it over to me.  I then did the same with that wire from the existing light, used electrical tape to tie the two together and then from the hallway, pulled the new wire into the existing box.

I then had to go to Home Depot to pick up an "old work" round box.  I cut the hole big enough, re-installed the existing fixture, installed a new fixture ... voila !  We have a second light in that hallway.  Of course now with the middle and far end of that hallway being well-lit, it kind of begs for another light at the near end of the hallway !  Yikes !  I guess that could be managed.

Getting up into that part of that attic isn't easy.  There's a small trap door in the bathroom and it's heavy, heavy to lift.  I found out why -- it's fairly robust to start with and then has a very thick piece of fiberglass insulation attached.  Lying over top of that is a 4' piece of insulation that's probably 18" thick.  You have to push up the panel, move it forward and then move that other piece of insulation out of the way.  If I had to go up there very much I would make this easier.

Up and down into this small hole with a stepladder, I naturally was bringing down pieces of blown insulation at the same time.  They were scattered all over the floor in the bathroom, hallway and middle bedroom.

From my vantage point at the attic entrance I could see way over where different trusses are joined -- back of the house, loft etc.  It's in that area that I have to go to deal with re-wiring those bedroom switches.  I'm hoping that where those wires go down into the walls isn't right at the cramped end of a truss !

That's not going to be fun.  I'll need coils of wire, tools, drill, junction boxes etc. etc. and then fish the new wires down into new boxes in new places.  This should have been done as part of the original remodeling when those rooms were re-arranged.   I'll have to haul all that stuff as I clamber over the trusses not stepping down into the sea of insulation. 

Sandy was out shopping again.  She brought home a sample stool for the kitchen.  It's ok and reasonably priced.  It's the wrong color but she will order four of them.  They go up and down and they swivel, like the existing ones that Riley left.  They don't squeak.  Poor Emma !

Jeff came over and gave us the quote on the backsplash with either white tiles or glass.  We're going to go with clear glass on a white background.  He has to order the tiles, which come from Dow in Dallas, and will tell us next week when to expect installation.  He's going to do it himself, so this should be fun.  He figured two days and I said that he should figure three with all the back-and-forth banter.  He's going to bring his significant other one day and we'll have a snack and drink.  This should be fun, except for writing the check :).

The tiles are 3x6.  We also talked about how to arrange the tiles on the backsplash.  They can be arranged subway (1/2 stacked like we did at Saxon), like we did at the cottage (1/3 stacked) or, the latest thing seems to be just straight stacked.  We can make that decision once the tiles are here and we line up a few and take a look at it.

Today ?  Don't know.  Wait, I do know.  I just checked the weather and I'm riding my bike.  I'll probably get wet at some point because there are showers in the area.

Onward !