Monthly Archives: September 2012
Stuff
I don’t have a very high opinion of stuff. In general, I think the vast majority of stuff is stuff we don’t need. O, sure, we acquire a lot of versatile solutions to modern living. But, for the most part, it’s all a bunch of crap we don’t need.
For months now, most of our stuff has been in a storage unit. This is because we didn’t have the floors done in the house, and I didn’t think there was much point moving our stuff into a house that just had subfloor. Let’s get the flooring done, then put stuff on top of it. It’s kind of a cart-horse dynamic. Okay, floor’s done. So now, we get stuff.
That’s me, waving hello. I’m at our storage unit, getting some of our stuff. I’m amazed, and kind of disgusted, at all the stuff we paid money to move across state lines. If I had it all to do over, I’d just leave all our stuff on the side of the road in a ditch somewhere and start over with nothing.
We’ve been spoiled all this time, living in this big empty house. The living room had no furniture. I could practice Iaido, play floor hockey, chase Inky, slide around in my underwear like tom cruise in risky business. But now we’re bringing our stuff into the house, and all that space is going to get swallowed up. Possessed by our furniture and decor and wall hangings. Basically, our stuff.
Listen. I implore you. Stop collecting stuff. Just get the stuff that you need. Spend your money on fun things, like trips to Maui, or an exhibit about south american bats at the natural history museum. Those are the fun things. Stuff isn’t fun. Stuff sucks. Stuff is an anchor, and it just weighs you down.
This is our storage unit. We’re amazed at how much stuff we’ve taken out of it, and a bit depressed by how much stuff remains. We’re responsible for that stuff. We pay money for that stuff to occupy space. At some point, I have to put the rest of that stuff into a truck and cart it all here, via ferry, which costs money by the way. And then I have to find a place for all that stuff once it gets here on the island.
You might be a redneck if…
…you mount your bookshelf on the wall with 2×4’s.
Part of the challenge in this house is that most of the walls have these baseboard heat registers on them and you can’t really put furniture in front of them if you want heat. Solution? Prop up your furniture on stilts, of course! Just use 2x4s. They’ll hold that bookshelf when it’s all full of books, no problem. It may not look fancy, but it sure looks sturdy.
I pinned the sides of the bookshelves to 2×4 studs using these super jumbo 2d10 galvanized nails that Jamie bought. Those nails could tow a small barge. They should be good enough to keep the bookshelf from falling on our houseguests sitting on the couch. But no promises.
Of course, putting the bookshelf over the heat register gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “cook the books.” Ha ha, get it? Cook the books? Hee hee.
Crazy
It’s been crazy here but I’ll be posting some more pics soon.
Island Life
Gallery
Hardwood Floor, Part 1
Got most of the flooring installed this weekend. It’s really nice. It’s a lot better than living on particle board subfloor stained with the remains of squashed ants, dog pee and whatever else spilled on it in the past.
The install went well. I’m in good physical shape but after three solid days of crouching, kneeling, installing, hammering, sawing, lifting and pressing, I am beat. Everything hurts. And it’s not done yet but I won’t get to the rest of it until this weekend.
We put a good vapor barrier down underneath the flooring to help with the expansion and humidity. The pneumatic nailer was an expensive rental but well worth it as it saved so much time. I’ve installed flooring by hand, just small jobs, and it’s completely do-able but it takes a lot longer. This is 500 square feet of floor and I’d hate to have to pin every plank into place with a hammer and tenpenny nails. Ugh.
Those logs in the corner made for some interesting cuts. I’d like to take this time to thank Festool for making such nice precision tools to get jobs like this done. Couldn’t have gotten the job done without them.
I initially wanted to put a solid band around the tile at the entry and at the back patio but the planks didn’t come in very long lengths. I think 32″ was the longest one. So they split up a bit around the perimeter of the tile. Still, I’m happy with the way it turned out. The color is fantastic; though again, like the tile, it makes the wood paneling look even crappier in contrast.
Inky was completely and thoroughly terrified throughout the entire experience. Spent most of the time under the bed. She did NOT like the pneumatic (traumatic?) nailer at all and could not be consoled when I was hammering away with it.
In the end, it’s one of those things that makes our house look like a home. We’re very happy with it. I have just a bit of finish work to do in the living room, need to finish the bedroom and put a bit of flooring in the closet, and install some trim pieces. The trim will come much later, as I want to wait for the garage to be finished entirely and have all my tools available to custom make it.
It’s getting there. It’s finally starting to feel like a place where people live.