Meet Mr. Clean.

This is the contractor in charge of the windows. We'll call him Mr. Clean.

This is the last picture I will take through this window before it is replaced.
Tell me this man doesn't look all business.
It's like he is trying to remove the window with his mind.

The windows are in!

Now we are getting somewhere.

Two delivery men stuffed all but two of the new windows in the back of the garage. They all looked light and manageable - except for the ridiculously-sized sun room sliders. They are . . . ridiculous.






The remaining two windows are the odd-shaped round windows for the third floor. The should be delivered in another day or two.

All packaged with love by the American Window Company (TM).

Sneaky Rascals.

A few woodland critters escaped the chopping block when the trash men were here last January, and i am only finding them now that the garden is coming to life. Can you Spot the Duck?

Bambi should be easier to find in this mess.

This one totally creeped me out while I was looking at our fence line.
At least I haven't found any bodies yet.

Lead is good for toddlers, right?

This is where the city water supply enters the house. The bix box in the middle is the water meter. the pipe to the left of it is made completely out of lead.

We really should have that replaced.

Another reason to have it replaced is that the water shut-off valve to the right of the meter is the same one the inspector suggested I not touch because it would break in my hand like a dry cookie.

Once this is done we can start on the plumbing. We need more projects.

Speaking of Beer Cans!

I've had the chance to excavate a small square of crawlspace beneath the living room. Perhaps I missed my calling as an archaeologist.

Pabst, Red Stipe, Winnemans, and Strohs. Pull tabs and can-opened. And a Coke can.

I haven't even started, and this was only what I could reach while standing in the basement.

Windows

We got our new windows! Actually, our windows are being delivered Friday and will be installed next week. This is the craftsman finish I decided on for the sun room window that had been previously broken into. Did I tell you that story?

It appears that sometime in the past decade someone broke a side window on the sun porch and crawled through. I'm awfully sure it wasn't just one of the cats trying to escape. this place was kitten paradise. Besides, the French door to the main house from the sun room had a window broken just below the handle and lock suggesting someone tried to get in.

Here's a picture of the door. Carrie's fix was to cover the hole and jagged glass with painter's tape. We'll replace that cell when we get to remodeling the living room.

Tell me what is creepier - that someone in the past broke into what is now our house, or that Cat Lady never had the window and door fixed? Did she even know that someone had broken in?

And what do you think the intruder's reaction was when they got into the main house? I would have thought the smell of the sun porch would have driven them away before they crawled all the way through the window.

My thought is that they immediately realized their mistake and tried to escape. But, the cats. The cats wouldn't let them leave . . . They dragged the hapless intruder into the basement, where the remains rest among the beer cans.

Let's Put Some Holes in the Walls.

When I haven't been reading arcane articles on negotiation strategy and political theory, I have been finding creative ways to make art out of building tools and left-over Cat Lady trinkets.

To the left, my latest creation. That is a Cat Lady yard stick with a small level and an outlet box taped at the 12 in mark.












Not only does it look sweet, it also marks the place for a new receptacle box when you trace around the outside of it. Awfully convenient in a house that doesn't have any electricity.










Ta-da! An instant and very level receptacle box outline. All I need to do is cut out the delicate, 2 inch deep plaster without completely destroying the wood lath behind.












Angle grinder, do your business.














Apply conservative helpings of crowbar.


















Finally, cut throught the remaining wood lath with the wicked Dremel Multimax (TM) Mom and Dad got me for Christmas. Thanks again for that one, Baba and Dyeda!













Behold: The finished project.

Now I only have to do this 43 more times.

And cut through dozens of wall studs to connect the outlets together. That shouldn't take too long.

Where have I been?

Sorry for the hiatus.

I had another project I needed to take care of: My PhD dissertation proposal was ripe for completion. So I completioned it.

When I have the final first draft ready this week maybe I'll post it here.

Now, I'm not saying I worked only on drafts these last two months. Whenever I got frustrated with the proposal I would work on the electric at the house. And whenever I got frustrated with the electric I would return to the paper.

And there have been awesome developments other than me teaching myself how to be an electrician from a book I bought at Home Depot.

(1) Carrie found a smell worse than the dining room.
(2) We found the well from Silence of the Lambs that I knew must have been in the house.
(3) I went ape**** and tore the walls out of an entire room just to feel a sense of progress.

Pictures and stories to come. Thanks for your patience.