Another Crazy Night at the Curtis House (Also called, “Sleepover”)

June 7, 2013 ~ Chuck ~ Leave a comment

The rain is tapping on the roof and gutters.
Ben is hiding in his room playing on his computer.
I have shut the door on my bedroom to keep the noise down.
Susanna is out of the house, keeping her sanity at work
Targa is hiding on the sun porch.
Tucker… Well Tucker is an idiot. I’m not sure where he is, probably in the middle of the insanity.

What is the ruckus down the hall? It must be Will’s sleepover party. He has two of his friends over (Tyler and Shane). The remnants of Tropical Storm Andrea help keep the chaos inside for the evening. But not to worry, the fun started outside in the pouring rain in the afternoon. Will and friends were soaked. Ben wisely stayed inside with me. Again, Targa stayed on the sun porch and Tucker, well let’s just say Tucker was as wet as any of the boys.

By now dinner has had a chance to settle. Everyone (except the sleepover group) has calmed down. Even Tucker is sleeping on the bed. Hanging with the fourth graders is just too much for a little beagle. The house is suddenly surprisingly calm. Which means that they probably went outside (or getting into trouble). Time to go check on them.

Shane, Will and Tyler at a moment of calm

Bats

June 3, 2013 ~ Chuck ~ Leave a comment

This morning found a bat on the roof of the Volvo. The morning’s first problem: What to do with the body. I could leave it for Susanna and take the Jeep into work. That would make tonight a little more strained at home than needed. I could leave it on the roof of the car. It would then either be left alongside the road somewhere or I would get to enjoy the look on the security guard when I drove through the gate. While potentially amusing, that didn’t seem the best plan.

The humane thing seemed to be to toss the carcass in the field next door, and allow the bat to return to dust in peace. Or relative peace as food for the small scavengers that reside in the tall grass. So, off to the workshop for gloves.

The only problem. She wasn’t actually a dead bat. Maybe almost-dead, but certainly breathing. The second problem for the morning: What to do with an almost-dead bat on the roof of the car. Again, some of the choices were clearly better than others (and I’m sure Susanna would agree that leaving her on the roof of the car was neither a smart nor nice choice).

So I slowly backed the car out of the garage; hoping that she would fly off on her own. But the nearly dead don’t fly well. At least they don’t during daylight if they are bats. So I slowly nudged her off her perch with a broom. I pushed her over the precipice, and she glided down to the driveway. Gloves back on. I gently picked her up and tossed her over the wall, where she fluttered to safety under the big thorn-bush.

Let’s hope that she was just disoriented from the sudden thunderstorm last night. Other bat carried concerns have frightening names like rabies. At least the dogs can’t get her on the other side of the wall.

Cool June Evenings

June 2, 2013 ~ Chuck ~ 1 Comment

“Yesterday was as glorious a day as any of us in New England has any right to expect: nearly fifty, partly sunny, an eight-knot breeze, and the waters of Fishers Island Sound a soft, rippled carpet of blue” – From “Moon Wind at Large, Sailing Hither and Yon by Matthew Goldman aka Constant Waterman (Breakaway Books, Halcotssvile, New York, 2012)

I was going to take some time this evening to write about my weekend. Instead, I decided to open the doors and windows and let the cool New England breeze push the heat out of the house, take a seat outside with a glass of wine and read a bit. I am halfway through Matthew Goldman’s book; the book is a wonderful collection of local sailing stories. If you are down to reading this blog, then clearly you are out of anything half-interesting or even coherent to read – go take a peak at “Moon Wind at Large.”

Making progress on the house

June 2, 2013June 2, 2013 ~ Chuck ~ 2 Comments

The wedding is only a month away. With the reception being hosted at our house, the ever shortening timeline to have everything ready has been causing lots of stress. The biggest outstanding project is getting the house painted. Or at least enough painted for the reception.

Yesterday morning we decided to both work on painting. Until yesterday, Susanna had been doing the vast majority of painting. I got out the spray gun, and we painted most of the walls. Of course, this still leaves a lot of trim and detail work around the windows to do. But those projects are more easily worked on before or after work in small chunks. The house feels (at least to us) much closer, and the painting doesn’t seem so stressful today. The only real remaining challenge is to find a 32-foot ladder (or taller) to borrow so we can paint the trim on the peaks.

We picked the house colors over a two years ago. I wrote about the color choice in April 2011. The colors are Concord Buff for the walls , with Rookwood Dark Green for the trim and Rookwood dark brown for accents. I picked these from the Sherwin-Williams historic Victorian Exterior color palate. I am very happy with how the house is turning out. And I am very thankful that Susanna has the time (and desire, and skill) to do the vast majority of the painting.

After we get done with the house, it will be time to get the barns to match. But not until after the wedding. And after the summer. I think we are going to take off from doing major projects this summer.

The porch color scheme (Sherwin-William's Concord Buff, Rookwood Dark Green, and Rookwood Brown). The painting scheme was planned by Susanna. — The porch color scheme (Sherwin-William’s Concord Buff, Rookwood Dark Green, and Rookwood Brown). The painting scheme was planned by Susanna. Now we need a new storm door to match.

Boom Vang

May 28, 2013 ~ Chuck ~ 2 Comments

Tonight the parts arrived from Nautos – USA for the boom vang. I took a few minutes to install the hardware tonight after work. The mast looks like it has a connection for the vang from before. The only part that doesn’t fit quite right is the curved key to fit in the boom. It is a little too large for the existing setup. I’ll keep looking for a slightly smaller key to replace it with (they are cheap). I got the rope as a remnant at Defender Marine over the weekend.

Boom vang installed on the O'day 22. The blocks are from Nautos and are laser replacement parts. — Boom vang installed on the O’day 22. The blocks are from Nautos and are laser replacement parts.

Where the vang connects to the boom. The key is a little large for the slot - I'll keep looking for a slightly smaller key — Where the vang connects to the boom. The key is a little large for the slot – I’ll keep looking for a slightly smaller key

The vang attaches to the mast with a line looped around the mast (and run though an eye strap on the forward edge of the mast)

Foggy Memories

May 27, 2013 ~ Chuck ~ Leave a comment

I think having ADHD impacts how one remembers things. I tend to have a fuzzy recollection of childhood events. I certainly can’t go back though the past years and picture my life as a continual timeline. Memories are more of a set of snapshots, but with only a week sense of order. It is like a stack of pictures that someone dropped. The pictures aren’t all in order. Some of them may be adjacent to the proper pictures, but for the most part the order of the pictures must be deduced by the content in them. I’m not sure if this is how it is for everyone, and maybe it is this way to some extent for most people.

I periodically talk about memories with the boys (e.g. what do they remember from last year, or two years). I think Will’s memories are more like mine. Ben seems to have a much better memory for things that happened. Will has to be reminded a bit, and then the pictures come back. He told me that his memories are a little foggy. Maybe this is where a journal or blog will help. It gives us a book to go back to keep the pictures in order. I’ve suggested to Will that he think of his blog as a way to remember what happened, and he seems to be happier writing in his blog with that perspective.

Updates

May 27, 2013 ~ Chuck ~ Leave a comment

I haven’t posted in a while. It isn’t that life is slow, and I don’t have much to write about. Just the opposite; things have been very busy this month. And I haven’t set aside time to write. I should be more consistent with my writing, I think a journal helps me focus. But of course, I think it is okay to take a break from writing as well.

My last post did get some attention. I got a comment was very angry about what I wrote about the photography company. And then a comment about 30 minutes later telling me how much I must hate this country if I don’t support the freedom of speech and post her comments. I love how the Internet can allow people to think that they have the right to be confrontational in a way that one would (hopefully) not be in person. Anyway, this is my blog. I pay for the website hosting and domain name. I am free to accept or reject any comments that I want to. I will continue to delete comments that are a waste of time.

Anyway, as I said earlier, this has been a very busy month. I had to go on travel for 10 days in the middle of the month for work. A trip to the Bahamas. Yeah, work can be tough. Of course the trip didn’t quite work out as planned. Submarines were delayed; my ride plan changed. I wound up being stuck on the base for 5 days with little to do most of the days.

The boys have been here for (what seems) is the majority of the time I haven’t been away this month. The house is much more alive when the boys are here; they days go by fast, and I am tired at night.

I have made some progress on my projects. I am in the process of building a floor in the garage for the wedding reception this summer. Ben helped me install the port lifelines on the sailboat. I’ll get to the starboard ones before we put the boat in the water later this month. Susanna started working again at Michael’s Dairy in New London and has had to work most evenings this week. I have also started the garden and had to mow the lawn several times this month.

I think tonight will be a night to go to bed early and catch up on sleep.

Seeing red about Lifetouch School Portraits

May 6, 2013 ~ Chuck ~ Leave a comment

Today the boys brought home school portraits. The only problem is that we didn’t ask or pay for spring school pictures. Nor did we get notification of a second picture day for the boys. Their school photographs are taken in the fall, and we ordered (and paid for) pictures in the fall.

This time a pack of pictures came from the school (or rather, Lifetouch School Portraits) telling us to send a check for the pictures we want and return the rest. According to Connecticut state statute, Chapter 739, section 42-126b:

Unsolicited sending of goods. Cancellation of trial offers and introductory rate offers. Automatic renewals. Unfair trade practices. (a) No person, firm, partnership, association or corporation, or agent or employee thereof, shall, in any manner, or by any means, offer for sale goods, wares or merchandise, where the offer includes the voluntary and unsolicited sending of goods, wares or merchandise not actually ordered or requested by the recipient, either orally or in writing. The receipt of any such unsolicited goods, wares or merchandise shall for all purposes be deemed an unconditional gift to the recipient who may use or dispose of the same in any manner such recipient sees fit without any obligation on such recipient’s part to the sender.

I read that as meaning that the pictures are a gift to me. The thing that really gets me spun up is the thought that a bunch of parents will feel obligated to send money. So, I am keeping the pictures. If they send me a bill I will send a copy of the bill and the notification to the Attorney General’s office.

In addition I sent an email to the principle of the boy’s school complaining about Lifetouch. Hopefully we can get some other photographer to do school portraits. Maybe a bunch of other parents around here will keep the portraits and complain to their schools about the deceptive business practices made by Lifetouch Portrait Studios.

I’m happy to pay someone for services or a product that I want. But I cannot stand when someone sends me something unsolicited and expects me to either pay for it or take the time to send it back. I received a woodworking DVD that way several years ago. Needless to say, I didn’t return it or pay for it, and I will never do business with that company.

Now, time to stop being pissed off and try to appreciate the unsolicited gift I received today.

Update on 2013 Plans

April 22, 2013April 22, 2013 ~ Chuck ~ Leave a comment

In early January I posted my list of goals for 2013. I figured I would look back at them and see how I am doing this year. So here is how I am doing:

Get the sailboat in the water and go sailing: Done… we got the boat in the water last week.
Build an island for the kitchen: Nearly finished. I glued up the top this weekend, and am in the process of sanding it.
Build two larger woodworking projects: I’m going wait until after the island is done.
Get garage ready for the wedding this summer: Not yet complete.
Ride bike into work more often than last year: Too early to tell.
Finish painting the outside of the house: We are making progress, but too early to tell.
Continue organizing the workshop: Making progress, but it is a continoous process.
Build a wooden hand plane: Not done.
Go camping with the boys: Not done.
(added very recently) – finish repairs to Will’s room: Nearly done – he is back in his room, but I need to finish the wiring and window frame.
and of course… get married to Susanna: Still planned.

Trivets

April 20, 2013 ~ Chuck ~ Leave a comment

I decided to do a quick project in the workshop with the boys today (and Will’s friend who was over for the afternoon). I had worked with Will yesterday to mill some (what I think is) maple to make trivets. And today, after I figured how easy they were to make, I pulled a scrap piece of walnut out of the wood pile for an additional three trivets.

I get the idea from one of the many woodworking books I have. The plans called for stopped groves made on a router table. I had a 1/2″ straight bit for the router and I tried to make one following the plans yesterday. The router bit is terrible, and it left the wood in terrible shape (so that one will go to the fire pit).

That of course made me head inside and look for a better router bit online. For $70 I could get a nice solid carbide spiral bit. But then I would have to wait to finish the project. And I would have to spend $70 on a bit to make a handful of simple trivets. Which would change the cost per trivet from nearly free (scrap lumber) to something more than nearly free. Though a nice spiral bit would be good to have in the shop… but I sat on my hands and didn’t get the bit.

I thought about it for a while, and realized, that if I changed the design, that I could easily cut 1/2-inch dadoes using the table saw (they would be through dadoes vice stopped). It took longer to switch blades than to cut all the trivets. The boys and I then sanded them. A 3/8″ piece of wood with adhesive sandpaper clamped in the face vice made quick work of cleaning up the inside of the dadoes. After sanding, the trivets were finished with butcher block finish (wax/oil mixture), and are all set for use. We made a total of six trivets in all. I think the entire project took less than 2 hours (including the first screw-up with the router bit). Susanna even used one with dinner tonight.

Overall, I am pretty happy with the project. Next time, I will have to be careful measuring the spacing between the dadoes – on a couple it is obvious that the spacing isn’t even. But for very little effort, and a chance to get the boys in the workshop – it was perfect. Maybe we will make some more sometime – anyone want to buy trivets?

Not a bad quick project for a Saturday afternoon. Of course I had to spend some more time in the shop making wood guns for the boys. Luckily, a couple of months ago I milled up a dozen boards that are the perfect thickness/width for making play swords/guns.