Trying to pull things together

So I've been wanting to replace the living room rug. It's a big rug, 8x10 and I'm not even sure I know what to look for in a rug. The point is, I found a rug that I like, I think I like? A rug that I'm second guessing myself on, but is a nice rug. It isn't girly and it's a nice neutral color. The urgency is that there are fewer than 48 left in the US (I know because the nice people at Pottery Barn can't order it for me and I have to pay the extra shipping to have it delivered to the house). But the price is right, and I can deal with the shipping cost (plus it will come right to the house and I don't have to figure out how to get an 8x10 rug in the daewoo). Do I just get the rug, do I wait for something "better"?

Rug: Braid Rug from Pottery Barn
Fabric (for drapes): Harmony (Spa) by Waverly
Sofa: Corona from Macys
Sconce: existing
Morris Chair: came with the house (needs to be recovered)
Paint: proposed color Glass Bottom Boat by Martha Stewart for Valspar

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The Kitchen (as is)

Although we've lived in the house a year now, the kitchen hasn't changed since we moved in. The new flooring went in a year ago and since then we've lived with the kitchen as is. Which means the cupboard doors are off since the doors had so much paint on them they didn't operate, the microwave sits on some old melamine shelves, the slide in range we bought to have a more built-in look just sits there with its unfinished sides exposed. The only functional prep space in the kitchen is actually the "custom" cupboard we built to fit first in our apartment and then retrofitted for the previous house and now it sits in front of the superfluous door that will soon be eliminated from the kitchen floor plan. There are just so many things that need to be done in the kitchen it was hard to get started. I bought a new sink and faucet last year, but can't install them until the counter tops are replaces, which can't happen until the existing lower cabinets are adjusted to accommodate a dishwasher (yea!) and of course there is always plumbing and electrical adjustments necessary for all this.

The new cabinets in the sketch above will go on the stove wall opposite the sink. There are no cabinets and no counter tops existing on that side of the room. When we moved in the stove and refrigerator were side by side in the space between two doors and the outlet for the refrigerator is located directly above the stove top (handy right?). The refrigerator was relocated to the basement and a new built-in undercounter fridge goes in the former breakfast area. I know some people couldn't live with the fridge in the basement, but it isn't very far, it doesn't hurt to have to go up and down a few stairs every day and it took up so much space (physically and visually).

The push for the kitchen right now is that my dad volunteered to make the new cabinets this week. This doesn't mean they will be done this week, but soon, and a lot sooner than they would be at the rate I was previously going. I took new measurements and designed the new cabinets to exactly match the existing ones. However the new base cabinets will have drawers instead of doors with full extension 100 lb drawer slides - so much more functional. I'm also matching the hardware to the existing but I'm a little torn over getting the really nice cast brass latches or the inexpensive pressed plated steel latches. The original latches are plated steel (and as such may need to be replaced also) so it's not like the originals were the top o' the line quality either. It's just the cost. The nice ones cost almost 5 times as much bringing the hardware cost for the upper cabinet to about $180. Uh, that's a lot right? It's all that brass that costs so much but brass doesn't rust which is nice for a kitchen.

The wood above is the countertops - american cherry butcher block. Due to cost and time they'll be coming from Lumber Liquidators and finished with Waterlox. Around the sink it will take six coats to properly protect the wood (six coats!) and four on on the other surfaces. Waterlox is a strong but renewable finish that offers more protection than mineral oil, but can be touched up, unlike polyurethanes.

So that's the plan anyway. I still have to figure out paint for the cabinets and walls, scrape and prep the cabinets (new and old), and figure out that plumbing/electrical stuff for the dishwasher (yea!). Can you tell I'm excited? I almost can't believe that we're on the way to having one room in the house "done." It's a start.

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The house gets a little action

The new furnace was installed yesterday but I haven't gotten a look at it yet. I know that a large part of the cost of the furnace was the installation, but do you know how nice it is to come home and it's just done? Old one hauled away new one installed, hooked up to gas, electric and thermostat and they warranty their work so I don't have to worry too much about something being done wrong. I think I could like this whole "paying other people to do work for me" thing. Next up a plumber for the laundry!

I created a table to calculate the return on our investment of a new furnace. It's a little tricky to read because oil is purchased in batches and gas is paid per month so the percentage will shrink until the next hypothetical oil delivery then shoot back up. The most accurate numbers will be at the end of each heating season. Since we have and electric hot water tank it will be easy to see exactly how much fuel the furnace is consuming. I'll update it once a month after I pay the utility bill. Even though gas/oil prices have dropped since this summer, I still believe that we will make back our money on this thing. And bonus: no more stinky petroleum smell in the basement. Actually right now it's pretty bad because they had to cut open the tank to remove it but it will dissipate and we'll have an big new storage room downstairs. Don't tell Paul, but it would be the perfect room to make beer in (dark, cool). I want to finish the floor with some self-leveling cement and add insulation (especially around the coal door since it gets pretty cold in there, maybe put in a "real" light fixture.

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I did not even make this up...

My horoscope today is:

Your life is a train wreck, except the train is made of cake and ice cream.

I couldn't have said it better. Except now I want cake and ice cream.

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Burning oil like it's 1927!

We've been having some surprising spurts of warm weather lately, today the high is supposed to reach 82, but it is definitely fall. Last week I heard the furnace kick on when I came home from work in the morning one day too. We're still operating the oil furnace and working on the last 80 gallons from the last delivery at the end of last winter. We should have more than enough oil to last us until the new furnace is installed but I'm still worried about running out. I accepted an estimate for installation of the 92% AFEU furnace and filled out my gas agreement with the utility last Friday (the 19th). The agreement with the utility company promises that they will install gas service to my house for free and I will install a gas burning furnace/water heater/insert within six months. I also had to sign that they weren't liable for any damage caused to my landscaping (don't have much), sprinkler system (don't have one), or sidewalk (I'm a little worried about this one because although the sidewalk is in poor shape, I refuse to pay some city contractor thousands to replace it). Since it's been a week + since I started the process in motion and haven't heard anything yet, I called the utility company right now and found that they, just today, logged my request for new service. Add 3-5 weeks for the service installation, 1 more week for the furnace installation and we could be into November before the new heater is in.

Once I find out when the actual installation date is, if it looks like we have plenty of oil left, I might just crank that thermostat up to 71F while I'm at home! (which, btw, is never so I guess I'll turn up the heat for Paul and Yoshi.)

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Human wrongs

I used to work for The City. It was my first "real" job with a salary and everything. Well, not everything 'cause it was only a 1/2 position and I didn't get any benefits. Anyway, I was the Human Rights Specialist for the city and my job was to manage the Human Rights Commission, and complaints against our Human Rights ordinance, and any internal education for other employees to promote human rights - in a nutshell. I only lasted 2 years in the job because in a budget crisis the city laid off a lot of people and I was one of them. In fact the entire Human Rights office was closed (all three of us) and folded into Human Resources. One of the big projects I worked on before I left was the proposal to extend benefits (medical and leave) to domestic partners of city employees. The mayor never had time for the proposal before his term ended, and the new mayor had no interest in promoting the issue*.

After I moved on to other jobs, the city council finally took action and passed a resolution to extend benefits to all employees but without cooperation from the unions (all city employees except the city council and 9-12 other people below to one of the 5 unions) only a few people could even take advantage of the option. Last year the Police guild voted to include the benefits extension in its new contract and finally this month the largest union (local 270) included extended benefits in their contract renegotiation. There are still city employees not included but I think after this the remaining smaller unions will follow. Below is the editorial from the paper (which I would link to, but you can only access articles if you're a subscriber) this morning. I think it sums everything up very well. It isn't very often that I can be proud of the city I live in. But I know I'm not alone.

*He was a closeted gay Republican who was eventually forced out of office by scandal.

Human wrongs
Our View: Benefits shouldn't be based on sexual orientation

September 26, 2008

Let's imagine that from the beginning governmental bodies granted partnership benefits for gay and lesbian workers. What would happen in tough budget years? Would employers target certain workers and rescind the medical coverage for family members? Of course not. Such discrimination would be so outrageous that it wouldn't even be proposed. Instead, if benefits had to be cut, it would be done across the board.

So why is it so difficult for government leaders to understand that it is wrong to balance budgets by blocking benefits based on sexual orientation?

The city of Spokane just agreed to partner benefits for the largest employee union at City Hall. We think the compensation package of salary and benefits is too generous, but the solution would be to pare it for all workers, not to discriminate. The city made the right choice in treating all workers equitably.

That isn't the decision the county made when negotiating with its largest union, Local 1553 of the Washington Council of County and City Employees. The county conceded bereavement and sick leave benefits for workers with same-sex partners but held the line on medical benefits. The county's position is to wait and see how much the new benefits cost before considering medical coverage. Presumably if they cost too much, then gay and lesbian workers will continue to be singled out as budget balancing tools.

This is plainly wrong. Equity and fairness should not be held back until tax receipts are calculated. As is, gay and lesbian workers are a bargain. If the county wanted to base these decisions solely on the bottom line, it would be smarter to discriminate against workers with children or those who are older and sicker. Basic decency would head off such budgeting myopia, but when it comes to gay and lesbian workers, it's somehow OK to penalize them.

In addition, the cost to extend the benefits isn't that great. A grand total of three people signed up when the Spokane Police Guild got partner benefits. Extending such benefits is lost in the churn of other workers getting married, divorced and having children.

County Commissioner Mark Richard opposes medical benefits for gay and lesbian workers but says the new bereavement benefits for gay and lesbian workers were "the right thing to do." Equal medical benefits are also the right thing to do and for the same reason.

He notes that marriage has value. It sure does. You can get better benefits. But that option isn't available to gay and lesbian workers. But that's not what he meant by "value." He was moralizing. Just as City Councilwoman Nancy McLaughlin did when she said partner benefits are against her core values.

The message to gay and lesbian workers is clear: Turn straight, get married and then – and only then – will you be eligible for the same compensation. Oh, and it would be helpful if you did that in a good budget year.

Such a position is embarrassing, but fortunately it is on the run.

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Floors: Bath

The one thing we did inside the house before we moved in last year was replace the floors in the bathroom and the kitchen. I knew that it was something that would never get done once we were living there. Both rooms had old vinyl flooring over the original linoleum and in the bathroom both were in super bad shape, discolored, rotting, generally yucky. The kitchen had some 50+ year old vinyl that was super heavy duty, but split and peeling up at the seams.

Paul started the task of pulling up the old flooring, which in the bathroom turned out to be rather difficult. The linoleum was rotted and crumbling so it came up in tiny pieces and the tar paper backing was glued on there tight. Like most bathrooms I've seen the floor under the toilet was in the worst shape. I knew there would be issues since there was substantial water damage, missing plaster and rotten lathe, in the basement under the bathroom. So it shouldn't have been a surprise that the sub-floor and the sub-sub-floor were both completely disintegrating as well as part of the wall in the corner. It's kind of a miracle the toilet didn't fall through the floor actually since there wasn't much support. See the drain pipe for the toilet? This picture is from before we removed most of the rotted sub-floor and wall. There just wasn't anything there. My dad helped us out with fixing the floor with bondo, a 2x8 and some chip board.

After the sub-floor was structurally sound, a layer of cement board and ceramic tile went down. We went with the octagon and dot Dal tile instead of hex tile because Paul liked it better--I think that's a good enough reason. We also used a grey grout instead of white and I like the contrast with the white field tiles and will probably do the same with the wall tiles, and it avoids the future issues of dirty looking white grout everyone complains about. It took over a week (two weeks?) to do this since we could only work Sunday-Tuesday nights or Saturday day.



We ordered the tile from a local tile shop and had excellent customer service. I know the same tile is also available at HD or Lowes but after ordering the kitchen tiles from there I'm loathe to special order anything there again.

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