Archive for the 'house' Category

First Monday

Published
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John T Davis
on December 3, 2007
in computers, electronics, house and rant
. 0 Comments

First Monday in the new house, that is. All in all, a pretty good day. Some highlights and updates:

Unpacking and Renovation

Wallpaper started in the dining room today. It’s looking beautiful. I also went by the Circuit City and picked up some component video cable (orange, green, and blue plugs) for the DVD player hooked up to my TV, something I’ve been meaning to do for a year. I’ll finally be getting the absolute best video quality. Not that I’m likely to be able to tell the difference, given my less than stellar eyesight, but someone probably will, and it seemed like a fine time for an equipment upgrade. Aside from wondering just how the electronics industry gets away with so drastically overpricing audio/visual cables, I’m pretty happy with my purchase. Especially since I found an unopened Monster audio RCA cable in a box. Since I didn’t buy it, I don’t even have to feel guilty about using such an over-hyped, overpriced brand. Instead, I have the opportunity to bask unencumbered in the glory of audio cable so thick that it would pass for Indiana Jones’ whip.

Phones! Internets! TVs!

The AT&T tech came early for the jack repair, which unfortunately took a few hours. We have working jacks again. Turns out the phone wiring in the attic was accidentally cut by someone when they were removing excess and antiquated wires from previous, very old cable television and phone installs. Oops.

(We actually have some old four prong telephone jacks around. They’re absolutely useless, but kind of fun to look at.)

And now for the ceremonial rant. I checked with the DSL people again today. Lo and behold, our order for DSL service had been somehow cancelled. For the second time–the first time they cancelled it two weeks before we moved in. Bizarre. At any rate, I was told that things were straightened out (again) and that we would be activated for service by Wednesday at 8p, this week. I even got an order confirmation number, which I’ve not had before.

The Billing Department representative also tried to sell me a 99 dollar router/modem and installation (even though I’ve already got a wireless router), and more long distance. She did this while I was waiting to find out when our DSL would be provisioned, and was incredibly pushy. I actually felt like I was being pressured into buying more services after being thoroughly confused. I eventually just agreed to “think about the offer” so I could get her to shut up about it, finish filling my order and get off the phone.

I suppose a bad experience with a customer service representative was inevitable, as much as I’ve been calling them. And I’ve been talking to the Billing Department, which means there was bound to be some sort of tomfoolery eventually. Still, grar.

I’m beyond any sort of frothing rage at this point. Actually, I’m not even angry or as frustrated as I could be. It’s getting just a bit too bizarre. I wouldn’t be suprised if our order is somehow cancelled again or squirrels eat through the phone lines. I keep waiting for Ashton Kutcher to pop out and announce I’ve been punk’d. At which point I’d probably stab him, because I just found my knife and internet withdrawal is starting to make me a bit twitchy.

Our very friendly satellite TV installer is also going to stop by tomorrow to switch out the ViP 211 HD receiver in my office with the ViP 722 HD receiver/DVR in the master bedroom. I called him today and asked if this was something I could do myself, but quickly realized that was not the case when I was told I would have to go up into the attic and retone the line. I don’t even know what that means.

Once we have the internet, I’m going to research what it will take to connect our receivers to the home network, and if it’s even worth it. Seems like a fun project.

Father of the Bride II is over in fifteen minutes, then I’m going to bed. Peace out.

[tags]renovation, audio/visual cable, audio cable, monster cable, video cable, component cable, component video cable, component video, AT&T, at&t, phones, phone, phone company, phone repair, dsl, AT&T Yahoo! DSL, at&t yahoo! dsl, Dish, dish, dish satellite, Dish satellite, Dish Satellite, vip 211, ViP 211, VIP 211, vip 722, ViP 722, VIP 722[/tags]

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The Wallpaper, Part Deux. Also, AT&T is Gnarly.

Published
by
John T Davis
on December 2, 2007
in house and rant
. 0 Comments

For completeness’ sake, I note that after another day’s work by Mario the Wallpaper Installer, the paper in the master bedroom is pretty much done, except for some that will need to be redone because of faulty material (which we have already reordered). He’s going to start the dining room tomorrow. Cool.

Baseboards Wednesday. Probably.

Got the phone message confirmation for our jack repair appointment today. I don’t think I mentioned before, but I scheduled this appointment for the 2-6p window. I thought the 8-11a option too dangerous, because we’re still going at odd hours here and I doubt anyone would be very happy on the odd chance they showed up that early. There was a later window as well, but I didn’t want to give anyone reason to show up at 9p if I didn’t have to.

My thoughtful scheduling was for naught. According to the phone message, the tech will appear sometime between 8a and 6p. ¿Que? That’s not so much a window as the entire day. What was the point of scheduling a window, then?

Yes, I am aware this isn’t a major gripe, as I plan to be awake and getting together by 8 tomorrow morning anyway. Yet after the aforementioned, continuing madness with the DSL line and the revelation that we will need to pay exorbitant fees to get the jacks built into our walls to actually work, I find myself somewhat less magnanimous than usual. We’re not quite to the straw-camel point, though. I know I personally don’t plan to raze any buildings to the ground with a BIC lighter and a straight razor unless the DSL isn’t working by Wednesday night.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll now go back to being distracted by the Food Network in high definition. Mmm. Designer Wedding Cakes.

[tags]renovation, moving, wallpaper, AT&T, at&t, customer service, phone, phones, phone company, phone service[/tags]

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Wrap My Wood (or: the Wallpaper Cometh)

Published
by
John T Davis
on December 1, 2007
in books and house
. 0 Comments

(Originally written on Sat 1 December 2007. Still no internet.)

Yes, I’m scraping the bottom of the double entendre barrel. Not a whole lot going on today. More boxes continue to be unpacked. Board games, clothing,
master bedroom stuffs, and other goodies continue to show up. Giving a full, exact detailing of everything that’s been unpacked would, as stated previously, be just about as enthralling as listening to Ben Stein read the phonebook, so allow me to state simply that we’ve been busy.

I started reading Breakup Babe, a Novel, and aside from being slightly annoyed at the pretentiousness of those who think appending “a novel” to the title of a book is a good idea, am generally finding it an enjoyable, well-written work, even if I don’t just adore the main character. Let’s be honest: even if I don’t particularly like the main character half the time. Which, I think, is a sign of just how well-written she is. More on this later, perhaps. I don’t want to attempt even a ten-second book review until I’ve actually finished it. It could go either way at this point.

The wallpaper installer from the painting crew is here, which is news. It’s also, just to be clear, the source of this entry’s questionably tasteful title. He’s currently fitting out the master bedroom, and will then move onto the dining room. Then baseboards just as soon as my cousin is available. All that remains after that, to my knowledge, are a number of electrical outlet faceplates, a few vent covers, and some paint that needs to be fixed, and renovation/construction will be complete. Just a few more days, and I’ll be able to unload the rest of my books and equipment, and actually feel like I can touch my office furniture without fear of knocking it over and being crushed under its tremendous, well lacquered weight.

If I sound like I’m fixating selfishly on my suite while ignoring the accomplishments in unpacking and decorating going on in the rest of the house, I probably am let me assure that this is not the case. I simply don’t feel the urge to comment on the rest because it’s going so well and already looks so amazing, especially considering we really only started in earnest on Thursday. Also, I don’t feel like I might possibly be killed or maimed by falling ten-foot-plus solid wood bookcases in any other part of the house. And let’s be clear, fan of luxurious office furniture I may be, but if I’m to be smashed into oblivion, I demand at the very least a more exciting instrument of my undoing.

Get me some rampaging giraffes or Steve Jobs in an Aston Martin fleeing from paparazi, and then we’ll talk. Because seriously, giraffes.

Edit (Sat 1 December 2007, 7:42 PM US Central): Wallpaper in master bedroom is done, except for a bit of faulty paper we couldn’t use. Replacement roll will be installed later. One of the flooring company staff is here removing the baseboards from the dining room in preparation for the painter/wallpaper guy to come back tomorrow and do that room.

[tags]renovation, moving, wallpaper, breakup babe[/tags]

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Trip the Thursday Fantastico: Moving, Medication, and Other Stories

Published
by
John T Davis
on November 30, 2007
in computers, house, internet, medical and rant
. 0 Comments

I’m typing this entry on Friday, 30 November. For reasons I shall explain below, no idea when it will actually be posted.

Moving, Continued…

Unpacking of boxes continues apace. What follows is not a complete progress report, but rather some highlights, as I (a) don’t have the stamina to write it all down (b) haven’t even bothered going into a couple of the bedrooms, so I can’t say what’s going on in there, and (c) don’t won’t to bore everyone to tears, which I’ve probably done already, if we’re being completely honest. The kitchen is virtually completely unpacked and set up, save for later rearranging and the retrieval of more pottery and implements from the storage on the coast, and the dining room is well on the way. My bedroom is now mostly free of cardboard containers, save one I’m holding off on until my office is ready to be stuffed full of my assorted electro-mechanical stuff. Clothing and other assorted goodies, like a very fashionable set of leather bound encyclopedias and history and law books, have resurfaced, as well. Like most other rooms in the house, save for one, it’s also free of baseboards (the trim around the bottom of walls), which means we can’t slide any furniture into place until my cousin comes up, probably this weekend or early next week, to install said baseboards, which won’t happen until the painting crew installs the wall paper in the dining room tomorrow morning. If we put my furniture in place now, we’d just have to move it again, which is a nonstarter, as it’s the Heaviest Solid Wood Furniture in the Universe. Our other pieces might not have quite the mass, but would be similarly cumbersome to prematurely move, and no one wants to risk accidental damage to the walls that were just repainted, at any rate. The downside to this being that we are currently camped out in the guest bedrooms, as ours are either filled with furniture stuck in the middle of the floor waiting to be put against the wall, filled with boxes, or otherwise not quite ready to be lived in. It doesn’t help that we don’t have beds for those rooms yet, either. The perils of moving from a place with two bedrooms to four and deciding the beds you already have look better in the guest suites.

There’s other little random stuff, like a floor needing to be fixed where a doorway was widened, some fans needing to be hung, the fact that none of our windows has any dressing except for some giant sheets of plastic hung in the bedrooms for modesty’s sake, but that’s really transient stuff. After all, we have satellite TV and surround sound speakers built in to the walls, so we’re easily distracted.

Painting has turned into a nightmare, but the less said about that the better.

Come and Swim in My Pool…Or Not

I’ve made much over the last few weeks of the pool we’re having installed, going so far as to pimp questionably exciting pictures of said water hole’s construction cycle in this space. Construction ground to a halt after the safety fence mandated by city ordinance apparently didn’t pass inspection, but that was apparently an error or has been otherwise taken care of (and if I sound vague it’s because I really don’t know what’s going on; the pool people didn’t really tell us much, as taking care of inspections and stuff behind the scenes is supposed to be part of the package. Today the plumber came out and turned the gas back on for the water heater in preparation for the final inspection, after which the plaster will be poured and the construction will be complete. So when I post a vague entry in a week or two proclaiming nothing more and nothing less than “IT’S ALIVE!” you’ll know what happened.

Infusion of Comfort and Joy and AT&T/Yahoo DSL (Or: The Time of Ranting is Upon You)

What follows is a brief description of my infusion that devolves into a lengthy rant about the not-quite-fun I’ve had trying to get our internet and phone jacks up and working. Let me preface my griping by noting that while I’m more than a little annoyed with ATT as a corporate service entity at this point, the support technicians I dealt with on the phone were friendly and did their best to help me. I’m ranting at the system, not them. I am also putting the rest of this entry under a cut, because it’s really just an evolved form of whining, and I am aware of that.

[tags]moving, pool, AT&T, at&t, dsl, yahoo dsl, yahoo DSL, yahoo, AT&T dsl, DSL, AT&T DSL, at&t dsl, at&t DSL[/tags]

Continue reading ‘Trip the Thursday Fantastico: Moving, Medication, and Other Stories’

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Moving Day. And also, the pool.

Published
by
John T Davis
on November 26, 2007
in house, internet, mac and my photos
. 0 Comments

I’ve really fallen off with the blogging, haven’t I? I’d like to say I have a good excuse, and while I have been pretty busy, there’s really nothing that stopped me from posting a few sentences here and there. In my defense, I’ve been feeling a bit boring lately. I shall endeavor to be less so. As an act of penance, I will entertain you with pictures that may in fact be boring.

We’re moving into our new house today. For obvious reasons, I’m not going to say much about it or where it is, but I will say I’m pretty excited, especially since I’ll actually have my own home office now (and not just a corner of the bedroom dedicated to my vast swaths of technology), and a swimming pool. Really, really looking forward to the latter–it’ll be great to exercise and work on my mobility in a way I just can’t do on dry land. We’re doing hardwoods (done) and painting/wallpapering (not done), so the usual stories of the trivails of home renovation apply. Not going to go into it save to say it’s not nearly as much fun as Home and Garden Television would have you believe. Perky, crazy people with sledgehammers don’t show up in vans and trucks and cavort merrily around, for one thing.

Pool MosaicThe house we got didn’t actually have a pool, so we’re putting one in. I’ve been sure to take pictures of every stage of construction, because I’m a geek and and a photographic record of the birth of our magnificent water hole. I was going to do a series of posts for each stage, but then I realized that was kind of redundant, as I’ve already got them neatly organized into a collection of photosets over at Flickr, complete with color commentary, so I figure I’ll just link to that. Behold! (Obviously, it’s not finished yet. We’re waiting on the inspection of the fence, not shown in these photos, before the final plastering (laying of the visible surface of the pool). In the meantime, to help you visualize, it’ll be a color called Black Sand. The pool itself is eight-by-thirty-six feet. The whole thing should have a pond-like ambiance.

New Couch 2 And while I’m at it, take a gander at this awesome couch we got. Cool, eh? I suggest clicking through to get a full idea of its hugeness. And just to be clear (even though I already mentioned this on Flickr) that’s the furniture store, not our living room. In fact, if I’m not mistaken, for the moment the giant couch of burnished orange doom is probably the only item of furniture in our living room.

My apologies in advance if these image links break. For the moment, my Flickr Fu is weak and neophyte, so I may be doing it wrong. If so, let me know and I’ll fix it posthaste.

And while I’m on the subject of Flickr, let me take a moment to note that my preferred blogging software, MarsEdit 2, has built in Flickr integration. Whenever I want to put a picture from my Flickr account, all I have to do is press the Media button in my menubar, click the Flickr tab, and then browse (or use the built-in search) to find the picture I want. Size and alignment may then be specified. Most convenient. In case your curious, I use Flickr Uploadr to get my images up onto the site. It serves my purposes quite nicely.

Peace out. Will report in again, hopefully sooner rather than later.

[tags]house, construction, pool, photos, photographs, flickr, marsedit, flickr uploadr[/tags]

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