CMR Update: Color Quandry

There was little more action at the CMR since I updated with the atrium photos late last week.  Yes, there's more stone laid, but when we when visited on Saturday it was covered up with some heavy cardboard and I couldn't get a good photo. 

They were also still working on sanding all the walls and ceilings, so the I'm-walking-around-inhaling-millions-of-dry-wall-particles feeling was prevalent.  I'm hoping that years from now dry-wall particles will not be the asbestos of the 21st century!

This week, George the Elder and I are at a critical junction.  We have selected interior paint colors together without the need for police intervention or bodily harm.  My ego was a little bruised when my choice of "ladybug" was vetoed in favor of his choice of "caliente" - but I will get over it.  Eventually.  But now - we must choose exterior colors.  This could be the hue that skews our double-rainbow.

We originally wanted to keep the house it's "original color."  This is kind of a laughable objective, since the house hasn't been painted / stained in about 15 years.  The "original" color is going to take a little research, as in, find the least weathered plane on the house and use that 1" sample.  I think we're still leaning towards the reddish color - - but I thought I would send it out to y'all and see what you think.

If this was your little mid-century gem - - what color would you paint it?  Would you still use two colors (red with the white trim on the windows) or would you do something with a third color?  WWYD? 

Oooh - and using the new photo loader I can make the photos EXTRA-large.  Maybe that will help with inspiration???

Smuts it all about??

Once upon a time, not so many years past, young teen boys were known to rifle through their father's stash of girlie mags to do a little "research" on all things birds-and-bees.  Sure, their Dad's sat them down for "the talk" - but realistically when it came to finding the needed inspiration in trying out their new found play things, they headed to the Playboy centerfold to check out the finer attributes of Miss May.  The information contained in Heather's  "bio" that stated her favorite pastime was taking moonlit walks on the beach or enjoying a sloe gin fizz was a far distant second to checking out her bodacious breasts.

Fast forward a couple of decades and I speculate that the preponderance of Dads no longer have the stash of well-thumbed Playboys.  Those tomes full of "interesting articles" cannot be found squirreled away in the bottom nightstand drawer or in a brown cardboard box in the garage.  Nope.  The new king of porn is the internet.  And therein lies a BIG problem.

Dad's magazines were pure innocence compared to what is available with just a few quick clicks and some interesting search words.  Grievously, my boys will not be introduced to "playtime" by using their imagination to conjure up what the aforementioned Miss May may or may not be willing to do in their world of let's-believe.  No-sir-ee.  They simply type in "hand job" and wait breathlessly for the search engine to work its magic.  Instead of being presented with Betty Page in some deliriously fetching fishnets designed to invoke some creative motivation, they get what amounts to Marilyn Chamber's one v many escapades in Behind the Green Door.  Talk about getting more than they can handle.  And I said that both figuratively and literally.

From the earliest french girlie postcards - to print contributions from Flint and Hefner - - men have historically sought out visual inspiration..  Live action porn films were something you didn't get a chance to see until you went away to college and someone showed a grainy 8mm in the frat house for fun.  One might argue that even at 17-18 that that's a little much, but all would agree that at 13-14 it's over the top.

It's a strange phenomenon to be a parent who is yearning for a little "A Ticket" soft-porn that would be ideal for this young teen age-group - you know - softly air-brushed photos of woman laying repose on velvet throws possessing that come-hither look.  What I don't need is my boys too easy access to that "E Ticket" hardcore stuff that makes me tilt my head to the side and say "Wahuhhhh?  You can do THAT with a jacuzzi full of marshmallow fluff, a muscular dwarf and a silk scarf ???"  (Note:  not that I have ever seen any of this stuff.... you know - - just for the record and all.)

So, I'm thinking of encouraging George the Elder to get a subscription to Playboy for about a year or so.  You know - - just so there's a full 12 months medley so as not to incur boredom and the need to go elsewhere in the short run.  We're going to have to make sure they know they're here, but not in such an obvious way that it doesn't take the fun out of sneaking them out of the hidey-place and replacing them before Dad knows they've been pilfered.  It's likely that part of the fun is the knowledge that you pulled one over on the old man.  Cause that's the problem with internet porn (at least from my teens' perspective)  - - everything leaves an electronic trail.  Why do you think we're having this conversation in the first place?

Hello, Playboy???

CMR Mid-Week: On the Porch and in the Water

The new- new front steps got a new look on Wednesday when they laid down the lava rock on top of them.  Were we excited?  You betcha!



View from bottom of stairs



View from inside the front door out to the new landing!



They ran a plumb line from the front stoop in through the front door and across the atrium so that all the planets are aligned.  Lucky the professionals are in charge.  Me thinks I wouldn't have thought that far ahead! 



Starting to lay the big tiles on the pedestal system



An up close and personal view of the sophisticated pedestal system.



The stone sits up on these ingenious little plastic whatchamajiggies that create a space between the bottom waterproofing and decking and drains.  Once they're all installed you won't see an ugly drain at all.  Just nice level, very square pieces of stone/rock.



Day 2 of the atrium stone installation.  They're making progress!



This little eye-popping gem is the liner to my shower.  I was perplexed for two reasons when I spied it.  First - why was it SO RED?  Did some-one some-where misread some-thing??  And second, why was my fire-engine red shower floor filled with water?  The answers?  It's red because that's the liner and it will be covered in pretty tile, so they use the heaviest and best liner they can.  It's also red so that if you have to do tile repair later it will be OBVIOUS to the folks pulling up your tile that they're reached the promised land.  It's filled up with water to prove to the inspectors (yes indeedee there ARE city inspectors for this too!!) that the thing can hold a certain volume of water for a particular span of time.  I noticed this water filed basin on Thursday.  I took this photo today.  Clearly it can hold water for more than 24 hours.  This is good news.  That inspector must be a one smart cookie to have this job!  Does it have water?  Check!

   

And in the bad news department - when they opened our super-duper water heater it had a GRAND BIG GOUGE in the side of it.  This one goes back and a pretty new one will come in.  Scotty (the grand pubah of all things radiant heat) was crushed that this wasn't perfect.  I thought the poor man was going to burst in to tears when he showed me the dent.  I patted him on the shoulder and told him no worries.  It's just a water heater.  Children weren't bleeding from the head.  (At least none are bleeding from the head right at this moment.  If I discover that the delivery of a new water heater will delay our completion date, well - mothers protect those precious orbs, cause there could be real trouble.)
  

My DING!



And, as a post script to this update:  Dear Blogger, The new picture uploading thing just may not work as well as you thought.  Yes, I do not have to load my photos up in reverse order which is a "good thing."  The "bad thing" is that now they do not load up in any logical order forwards to backwards. Could be "user error" - but, then again.  Maybe not.  On another note.  Captions for photos??  BRILLIANT!  Just BRILLIANT!

Just somethin' funny

I've been reading this guy's blog for a while and more often than not, he just cracks me up.  So, I am linking you to his newest blog entry Called 10 Most Obvious Findings.  Thank you Captain Obvious!!

http://www.johncaveosborne.com/2011/02/04/10-obvious-findings/

Congrats to the H-Man!!

While we've been mostly focused on the process of getting George the Younger accepted in to High School - - we spent a bit of time trying to find the right summer program for Henry.  After his last summer at Winaukee, we finally threw in the towel and realized that forcing him to go to a sports camp for 5 weeks - - when he is only there half-heartedly - - was wrong.  He needed something else.  Something academic. Something where other like-nerdy-kids spend great amounts of time indoors performing diabolical experiments with chemicals and beakers and safety glasses.  You know, something where Henry could stop dissecting plasterboard in my kitchen and leave the mess for someone else (meaning me).

Well,  I did I little research to see what was out there for our lad.  Lo and behold, turns out that we have a pretty well known university right down the street from us called Stanford.  Better yet, they have several very academically focused summer programs for maths and sciences concocted specifically for brainy middle schoolers.  Yup!  Just the ticket for our budding scientist.

Downside is that you had to apply to get in - - you know - - transcripts, standardized test scores, recommendations from teachers -  you'd think he was going to Stanford or something :)   How I longed for the writing of the check to Camp Winaukee - - they let anyone in.  It's easier.   But - - -

 A big shout-out of congrats to the H-Man who was accepted to attend the EPGY (educated program for gifted youth) at Standford this summer for two weeks fully immersed in all things Physics.  There was no gigantic celebration when he heard the news.  Weirdly, just a sly little smile disguising his jubilation.  Way to go Henry!

And way to go me!  Nearly 4 weeks of summer plans down for Henry.  10 days in Salzburg + 2 weeks at Stanford still leaves many weeks of no plans.  And, with Henry - - idle hands ARE the devil's workshop.  Any one got any other suggestions???

All things new again

I have no idea why, but I decided it was time for a face-lift.  Idle hands are the devil's workshop I guess.  'Cept right now my hands aren't idle.  Might could be that I can't leave well enough alone.  (See boys nodding vigorously in agreement).

I also switched over to some new updated swank posting system that is supposed to make posting oh-so-much easier and creative.  Hmmm.  Right now it all looks pretty much the same to me.  Rumor has it that it makes loading up photos easier.  Guess we'll wait and see about that.  There's much afoot at the CMR so there'll be some photos on their way.

The one thing  main thing I have been looking for is this strike-out feature.  Don't know when I'll use it - - but it's cool knowing it's there.

So here's to my new blog face.  And remember, if you aren't inclined to do anything worthwhile - - just fool around with your fonts.  Words to live by.

CMR Update 01/29 : Plaster, Stone and Heat

There was a whole lot of plaster sanding happening over at the CMR this week. Our visit on Saturday was a little like stepping in Charlie Sheen's living room. White powder spread on every surface (heh heh heh). To big George's disappointment, we didn't see any hookers.

Fans a 'blowing all around to get these walls dried - -



Henry realized that if he runs around the pool room he could see all his foot prints. He also later climbed up on the scaffolding to check out the view (and leave his mark).

Hallway view from in front of Henry's bedroom down to George the Younger's bedroom. Nice visual of all the powder... amazing. I'm wondering how they clean all this up? Humongous vacuum?

The drywall along the stairs was trimmed down to it's final height. I'm pretty sure it's now ready for the railing installation. We finally got the "ruling" from the "code inspector Gods" - - and it doesn't look like we will need to extend the railing at the bottom of the steps. This decision took 2 whole weeks. 2 inspectors, 2 people reviewing code books and 1 angry home owner. My hatred for the city inspectors continues to grow with each passing week. They make everything from installing railings to electrical panels to type of light bulbs not only frustrating, but illogical.

Case in point? In the laundry room there is a big closet, only we can't call it a closet because the electrical panel is in there, as well as access to the back of the rack that will hold the stereo/TV equipment (lots of wires) - so we need to call it a "room." As I mentioned the electrical panel is in the "room." The "room" will have doors that close it off from the laundry area. You know - - just like closet doors, but not closet doors cause this is a "room." The electrical inspector came out several weeks ago and said he thought we should move the entire electrical panel out of the "room." Why? Because there was a possibility that some one could stack boxes or put shelves in front of the electrical panel. When GC Paul asked him why this was different than placing the electrical panel in the garage where people could obviously stack things in front of it - he stumped the inspector. We don't know whether the final electrical inspector will be as dense, but suffice to say, we're not moving the electrical panel. I'm going to make a little warning sign that just says, "Don't Stack Shit Here."

Our lava stone/rock has been delivered. This belongs in the atrium and on the front stairs. There are stacks and stacks of it. Seems excessive - but I'm no stone installer. We'll keep any extra to use as pavers in the back yard some where.

The complex and completely un-intuitive (is that a word?) radiant heating system in nearly all connected up. It's crazy. Just plain crazy. Plus the box to the sophisticated water heater that will provide hot water for both the floors and our sinks and showers has been delivered and the box is enormous. Hopefully it's just a lot of packing materials. If not, I think it is "boiler sized."

Remember when the concrete front steps were poured in December? These are not those. These are new-new concrete front steps that replaced the previously poured front steps. GC Paul said that the old-new concrete front steps had bowed a little in the center of each step. Somewhere about 1/2 inch out from the edges. Since we're putting that nice lava rock (earlier photo) on top of the concrete steps and it will overhang about a 1/2 on each step - it's got to be even. I feel bad for the concrete guys - - but I am sure this isn't the first time for them.

Wood stain / color continues to dog us. Upstairs the wood is Oak (or something like that - - could be ash, could be oak, could be ? It mostly looks like Oak). Our initial objective was to make the downstairs match the upstairs. But this is problematic since we really aren't sure what the wood upstairs is and it's been stained/painted to some really obscure and tragically-impossible-to-match finish. We have tried to get the cabinetry guy to match it - - but it's been illusive to date. Some nonsense about the EPA banning certain kinds of carcinogenic chemicals that were previously used to make the stains. Why the nerve of those guys trying to keep kids safe. I'm trying to match wood here for Pete's Sake. What do I care about a little brain damage down the road?

To add further complication we now have: new birch closet doors, new fir interior doors, new fir windows (with some pine), and we have intended to use pine as trim. We are also going to have these pretty dang big "walls 'o wood" in both the rumpus room and the pool room and large cabinets in the open area. What to do? What to do?

I asked GC Paul if he would be able to get me a "sample" of the birch (since the windows and some doors are already installed). My thought was that this would help me visualize the different woods together. I burst out laughing when I saw the birch sample....

Yup, that's a double birch closet door in a pine frame. Obviously the merits of birch are illuminated - but you have to admit it's kinda hard to move that bad boy sample around to compare it to the fir and oak.

Right now, we are leaning toward doing the cabinetry in Yellow Birch (very heywood-esque for those in the mid-century know). Jury is still out. But, we got a BIG sample of white birch. Yes, we do.

And finally, this past visit to the CMR brought our first family guests to the CMR construction site. My mom and her husband Gerry came to visit. They are on a 5 week "tour of CA and AZ" and stopped by to see us. Mom had seen the house before we actually bought it. She was amazed at the downstairs space. Much bigger than she could have imagined. It was great to see them - - although I suspect Grandpa Gerry wasn't exactly thrilled when we all piled back in his car covered in plaster dust :) He took it pretty well for a man who loves cars.

We're down to the details - and the house is really shaping up. The next weeks are going to be a whole lot of fun while we install the design-y stuff. Stuff we've painstakenly selected, ordered and had shipped over these last many months. Paints, lights, tile, cabinetry (once we figure out the color??), railings, wine cabinet and my nifty marmoleum floor in the laundry room. 6 weeks and counting to completion and then 2 weeks to get the inspectors out and convince them that we did everything right. Oh, yeah, and I've got to make the sign.