LukPac.org

1.28.2006

Lots more kitchen floor pictures. It's coming. Slowly. If all goes to plan we'll have it refinished in a few weeks.

[10:06 PM] post a comment

1.25.2006

Some visuals of the work on the kitchen floor.

[5:08 PM] post a comment

1.23.2006

As I've mentioned before, from time to time I have crazy dreams that I'm in school and suddenly realize that I forgot a final, or didn't go to class all semester, or something along those lines. I haven't had any lately, but going through some old mail we found this from the UW, hitting me up for money:

Dear Friend of Wisconsin:

Ever since I graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I have had a recurring dream in which I have forgotten to study for a final exam, I have not dropped the class and the final exam is today. Then I wake up, much to my relief.

[blah blah blah]

That's just too damned creepy.

[11:00 PM] post a comment

1.22.2006

What's new is old - settling in to the house continues. Boxes are still everywhere, but there aren't quite as many of them. All of the miscellaneous toiletries are unpacked and the closet organized. The kitchen is slowly getting cleaned up and put away.

Much to Amy's chagrin, I've started the first real project here - ripping up the kitchen floor. There was (well, still is in most places) vinyl there, which wasn't installed very well. Not only is it about an inch higher than the floor in the dining room, it's curling up around the edges.

I suspected the hardwood floor in the rest of the house continued into the kitchen, and the wood floor in the kitchen next door confirmed it (that house is essentially identical to this one). The biggest problem is getting down to that wood. So far I've pulled up an area about 3 feet by 3 feet, and from top to bottom we've got: vinyl, plywood, vinyl, plywood, linoleum, wood. Yes, it's like deja vu all over again. Luckily the vinyl and plywood come up pretty easily, but the linoleum is going to be a pain. I got a heavy duty scraper from Home Depot, along with some goop to get most of the residue off. It works, but it's slow going. If all goes to plan, we'll have the floors in the living room, dining room and kitchen refinished by March. Time for some estimates.

On another interesting note, we got a book from the library which is a reprinting of a 1923 (the year our house was built) catalog for Morgan Woodwork Organization, which made house plans, trim, cabinets, doors, etc. In it I discovered what I had thought were our doors. An interesting thing I noticed were the main portions of the doors (as opposed to the panel inlays) were covered with a thin veneer (1/8" according to the book). I was taken by surprise, but some doors similar to ours we saw at the Re-Store were certainly constructed this way - the veneer was peeling off in places. A close inspection of our doors, however, seems to indicate solid wood. Count me as impressed.

And with that, I'm out.

[9:59 PM] post a comment

1.13.2006

People waited 131 years for this?

A pizza parlor on Thursday became the first establishment in Westerville's uptown business district to legally serve a beer since 1875.

"Here's to a new tradition in Westerville," local jeweler Bill Morgan said as he raised his plastic cup of Budweiser at Michael's Pizza.
[...]
Morgan, whose family has lived in Westerville for four generations, topped five other bidders to win the beer for $150.

Umm, yeah.

We are finally the proud owners of *one* house again. Yes, Amy signed away 818 Bewick Drive today. Sigh. Some farewell photos will be up as soon as I get the motivation to open Picasa.

[8:16 PM] post a comment

1.07.2006

A few things stolen from Ryan. First, this:

When President Bush last week signed the bill outlawing the torture of detainees, he quietly reserved the right to bypass the law under his powers as commander in chief.

After approving the bill last Friday, Bush issued a ''signing statement" -- an official document in which a president lays out his interpretation of a new law -- declaring that he will view the interrogation limits in the context of his broader powers to protect national security. This means Bush believes he can waive the restrictions, the White House and legal specialists said.

Umm...what's the point of having a law if it isn't binding? "We won't torture...unless we want to."

And here's a nice little terrorist quiz everyone should read.

[9:58 PM] post a comment

And you thought Pat Robertson was an idiot:

Not everyone who came to Sgt. Andrew P. Wallace's visitation in Ripon was welcome.

Among those who stopped by were four adults and three children from the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church who hailed the soldier's death, saying it was God's revenge on a country that accepts homosexuality.

They dragged a U.S. flag on the ground while carrying signs that said "Thank God for dead soldiers" and "Thank God for IEDs," a reference to the improvised explosive device that killed Wallace.
[...]
The 75-member church, made up primarily of members of Rev. Fred Phelps' extended family, believes God is punishing America for its sinful ways. This week, the group celebrated the deaths of 12 West Virginia miners.

The story also has a related picture that includes the signs "God Hates America", "Thank God for 9/11" and "Too Late To Pray".

All I can say is that Fred Phelps is fucking insane. I could probably elaborate, but it's really just not worth it.

[2:05 PM] post a comment

1.04.2006

The story is enough to be concerned about, but this headline is just too damn funny:

Man Trapped in McFarland

Rescue crews from the Madison Fire Department are working with the McFarland Fire Department to free a man trapped in a grain elevator.

The emergency call came at 10:00 Wednesday morning. Bernadette Galvez, of the Madison Fire Department, says the man inside the grain elevator is trapped up to his upper chest in soybeans. He is communicating with rescue workers, and Galvez says it appears he's not injured.

Officials McFarland Grain Terminal, a division of Cottage Grove Cooperative, says a 21 year old man was trying to unclog a jam in the elevator, when he was drawn into the elevator.

Guess there's a happy ending:

MCFARLAND - Rescue teams pulled a 21-year-old worker from a grain storage structure this afternoon after he'd been buried in soybeans with only his head exposed for nearly five hours.

The man was working in the structure at Landmark Cooperative in McFarland this morning when an apparent malfunction left him buried. Rescue workers used a sewer truck to suck soybeans from around the man, then secured him before draining the beans from the bottom of the structure.

[3:32 PM] post a comment