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September 2, 2008 - 7:01 AM  The week in bullet form:
     September 6, 2008 - 11:17 PM No end in sight to the work ahead of me, though I think the light at the end of this tunnel may be getting a little bit brighter as we plough through it... This weekend we finished painting the basement at Kristi's sister's place, got all the plugs, switches, and light fixtures put on in the living room, girls' room and closets & utility rooms. I even got most of the baseboards put on except where the doors have to be hung. We still need to find a couple more doors as the Home Depot down here didn't have enough. It's coming together nicely and starting to look like a finished basement. The lights made a big difference. Actually, so did the baseboard for that matter. I couldn't help but think of a time when I was much younger and used to check out a Do-It-Yourself book from the library on home wiring. I think I was about 7 or 8 at the time. As I wired up the three way living room switch, I could remember very clearly the diagram showing which colors of wires to connect to which terminals on the switches... Funny how little things like that trigger memories long forgotten. I felt really grown up as I was cutting the baseboards and nailing them in place with the air nailer. Even though I'd never actually done it by myself before, I'd watched my dad do it many times in the past that it was almost second nature. And no, it wasn't perfect, but unless you get down on your hands and knees I doubt the average person would even notice some of the blemishes. What a difference it made though, and how good does it feel to see this project finally drawing near it's completion! If only my own basement were as close...  September 9, 2008 - 5:45 PM FAIL  This scene pictured above is just south of the Calgary International Airport, where two traffic control signs come into direct conflict with each other, creating an absurdity that is the basis for an emerging genre of imagry: FAIL pictures. One of my new favorite time-kill web sites is www.failblog.org - a daily-expanding collection of FAIL pictures that both amuse and make one wonder, "How on earth could somebody walk away from that?" As in the scene above, surely whoever posted the stop sign and "Stop Sign Ahead" sign RIGHT in front of a "No Stopping" sign had to realize the irony... Taken to an entirely higher level, I'd love to see a person run the stop sign and fight that ticket in court. I'd give them a pretty good chance of winning (which is essentially the opposite of failing) their case. "The sign said "No stopping for the next 3 kilometers. So I didn't stop." Sigh. Dare to dream...  Kristi's girls came over on Sunday and got to meet Maddy's bunny. The three girls themselves have never met, even though they've talked on the phone (and now even met Maddy's pet!) One of these days I really hope they can get together. It will happen.    Construction continues in Kristi's sister's basement where I found myself the recipient of abuse delivered squarely to the top of my noggin by a workplace hazzard: A three year old with a scraper. She thought it was hilarious, and all the while I was having my hair flattened down, the other one gleefully took pictures of the event - with my own camera! I'm so hard done by, I know. ,br>  The place is making great progress though, even without quite fitting into our tighly crammed schedule. Still, it's looking fantastic as the rooms and living spaces begin to take form.  I must say, working with Kristi on this basement has been as rewarding as it has been fun. She is helpful and intuitive, and oh such wonderful company. I can see in Kristi what the good Lord intended when he made man and woman as partners for each other. We seem to compliment each other nicely, enough opposites to keep the edge sharp, enough in common to keep us sane. Milt and Shannon have been very accomodating too, and I don't think I've eaten as well as I have at their place in much of memorable history... I think it's going to seem a little strange to go over there once the basement is finished and [not] be working. Something I'll have to get used to though...
Actually we didn't do much in the basement last night at all, but instead had a very relaxing evening once the girls had gone to bed
watching the new Terminator TV series and the second (?) episode of Prison Break. It was a nice change of pace from the go-go-go that has
been the past couple of weeks. I think as we nearer completion it will get harder and harder to finish. All the little finishing things
that take much time and effort with seemingly little reward. I hung my first door the other night though, and am pleased to say that it
turned out very well. With Kristi's help I installed the moulding around the edges and it looks fantastic! I even took some pictures...
   I took this picture atop a pole light at the airport this morning after relocating one of the cameras thereupon, and I think it says very clearly how I feel about my job: I love what I do. September 19, 2008 - 7:52 PM  Here is my latest fail picture, shot at the Airport again. This time it's a storm drain that has been both ashphalt'd and cemented over. What do you think the chances are of water draining here? My first FAIL picture finally made it to Failblog's voting pages. (www.failblog.com/vote) If enough people give it a thumb's up, it may even appear on the main page! (Woo Hoo!) I submitted the Drain Fail tonight also, so we'll have to see if and when it makes it on there. Rest asured, I will let you know if it does!  This weekend is more construction, or probably more specifically — finishing in the basement at Kristi's sister's place. There are a few more doors to hang, some baseboards and trim to finish, and the bathroom fixtures to install. The plan is to sprint towards the goal of having the basement finished by the end of this weekend, and I think we should be able to achieve this. Kristi and I were smirks all around the last time as paint became less of a decorative tool and more of an offensive weapon. All in good fun...  Kristi, the girls and I went to Heritage Park last weekend where they FINALLY got to meet Maddy, and vice versa. It seemed like every time there was an opportunity to get the three of them together, something would come up at the last minute or we'd miss each other by a day - there was always something. But at long last the reunion was complete and everyone had a great time. The weather couldn't have been nicer, and it's been decades I'm sure since I've been down to the park that time seems to have forgotten. Actually, a couple of the buildings reminded me of the old Pine Lake when I walked through them; the smells in particular brought back some deep-seated memories of the old cabins. Such a simpler time, no electricity, no computers, no cell phones. Just hard work and good old fashioned fun.                 BACK to Journal Index |