Tuesday, January 25, 2005

snowy in ypsilanti

well, there's still about a foot of snow on the ground around my house... it's not really a problem though, because i was able to borrow my neighbor's snow-blower to clear our shared driveway and sidewalks. it's a little 2-stroke engine, so it wasn't the easiest to use, but worked fine. my father-in-law just gave me his old snowblower, which is a much more substantial machine... should make it an easier job. i even thought about making a few extra bucks clearing driveways and sidewalks in our neighborhood... but julie reminded me that there's already a guy who does it, and he probably needs the money more than i do.

i remember growing up in california... snow was pretty exciting. when we'd drive to the mountains (the sierra-nevada range) to go skiing, it would always be a big deal to see the first snow. i even remember the first time i acutally saw snow falling... i was probably 10 or so. i was really surprised at how grey the sky was... for some reason i was expecting everything to be really white and bright, like snow is on the ground.

one thing i really like about this crappy weather is how much it makes me look forward to spring and summer. and, it sort of separates one year off from the next... when the weather is always the same you lose track of that sense of time passing. i can also see why the holidays originated around the changing of seasons... without the changing seasons, what's there to celebrate?

having said, that, i'm really looking forward to flordia in march! :)

Monday, January 17, 2005

i said 'no' to crack!

The crack is gone! Long live PVC! Now if my hands will heal up...


Sunday, January 16, 2005

color photo of my crack

here's what I've been working on this past week... see the vertical crack running down the pipe? every time we used the upstairs bathroom, water (and other stuff I'm sure) leaked out of the crack, ran down the pipe, and dripped all over the basement floor. had to tear out a section of the kitchen wall and ceiling to access the pipe, tear it out (a big job... cast iron is incredibly hard and heavy... much harder than normal steel, but more brittle) then i replaced everything with PVC, all the way from the basement to the roof.


pictures!

Here are some pictures you might be intereted in checking out (click on 'slideshow' to see my comments):

Trip with Dad to England/Ireland, November, 2004
http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=dec5uxx.by5n1kul&x=0&y=-af090k

Bromley Family Reunion, August, 2004
http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=dec5uxx.bqh899pp&x=0&y=-wykwe5

Chilimigras Christmas, 2004
http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=dec5uxx.4hooaeb1&x=0&y=-h6l92e