27 January 2010

Remodeling Hiatus

No, it's not another home-improvement post (although I do have plenty of those projects on my to-do list).

Rather, it's a post about my blog software pretty much being at end of life (even though the development community would say that's wrong, technically) in terms of being useful to me.

I'm planning on moving this site to Expression Engine in the near future. Then more regular blogging will resume, I think.

So I guess this isn't a remodeling hiatus so much as a re-plumbing/re-wiring hiatus.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/27/10 08:08 | Announcements | Technorati |

24 December 2009

White Christmas!

We're in the midst of quite a winter storm at the moment in NE Oklahoma (screenshot courtesy WeatherChannel.com):

Xmas2009-Pawhuska, Courtesy WeatherChannel.com

There has been a pretty heavy downfall of sleet pellets for the last few hours. Actually, that's not quite right. The wind is roughly 20-25 mph gusting to 40+ mph, so it's more of a blast of sleet pellets than a gentle downfall. I had to step outside to bring in presents that stayed in the Rogue overnight due to our late arrival, and let's just say that was... invigorating.

The Rogue isn't used to this weather. I think TR is shivering:

Brrr. The forecasts suggest this stuff will turn to snow later, so I think a White Christmas is definitely on tap here in NE Oklahoma. Here's wishing you a great one, whatever the weather!

UPDATE: A few hours later, the sleet pellets are starting to turn to snow:

UPDATE 2: Last photo before sunset.

We're definitely in for a White Christmas!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/24/09 13:12 | Other | Technorati |

19 December 2009

How To Care For Your Mid-Century Modern (12-19-2009 edition)

So, at the end of November we bought a cozy mid-century modern home in Tanglewilde, and moved on 4 December (during the snowstorm--HUH!?).

We really like a lot of what the previous owners did with the place, but as with any old house, there's just lots of stuff that could use a little care. And that's what is occupying a lot of our time right now, and will be occupying a lot of time in the near future. My to-do list is full of small projects and some bigger projects we'll probably call in some help for.

One bigger project that's probably going to require some help is the A/C air return plenum. It's just a mess, which is probably why the AC guys who put in the fairly new AC and furnace units decided it would be easier just to filter the air at the blower unit and not rebuild the air-supply plenum. That's fine, except the filter coverage in the unit really isn't adequate for the size of the home. So the plenum needs a rebuild at some point, which will include a build-out of filtered air-return grilles on two different walls. But for now, the short-term workaround is a filter for inside the furnace that I fabricated earlier that should work a little better than what was in their before. But I really want to rebuild that plenum in the coming weeks. It annoys me that the AC guys who installed the new equipment for the last owners didn't do it then, when it would have been much easier.

Today's other project involved replacing a tired, leaky Delta kitchen faucet with a nice Moen pull-out sprayer model. When we initially bought the house, we thought we'd probably replace the sink and faucet at the same time, but I think this may be the original 50s sink. And it is one hell of a deep, heavy-duty, retro sink. I kind of like that, so we decided it should stay. Of course, nothing in an old place goes according to plan -- the water supply fittings under the sink didn't mate to the new faucet properly, so Callie was dispatched to the neighborhood Ace Hardware, which had the flare fittings we needed. I love that store, and have spent enough time there so far that one manager knows me by name. It's nice to have a really good hardware store you can walk to. :)

Tomorrow's project involves Ace rekeying some locks for me, but no more tonight. Time to do some more unpacking and decluttering.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/19/09 20:22 | Home Improvement | Technorati |

13 December 2009

Yes, we are still here

Closing the Borders at Westheimer and Gessner (Swamplot, 7 December 2009)

Oh sure. I got to the new neighborhood three days too late to save the bookstore within walking distance.

Blar.

A little over a week after the move, though, we are almost unpacked. Look for new substantive posts from the new homeowner soon.... (and about missing that last 2009 regular season Big 12 Wrap... who cares, ya know? The conference this year overall wasn't as good as the Mountain West. Good riddance to this mediocre football season -- although I'm not sure that next year will be any better since Colorado retained their loser and Kansas chased their winner).

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/13/09 19:51 | Other | Technorati |

22 November 2009

Big 12 Wrap: Week 12

Packing is taking precedence over football watching right now, which may not be a bad thing this season. Here's this week's action:

Texas 51, Kansas 20 The Longhorns are on cruise control to the big BCS game. Too bad the competition in the conference this year probably won't have them ready for the SEC buzzsaw.
Oklahoma State 31, Colorado 28 Too bad the second best team in the conference can't have another crack at Texas in the title game.
Nebraska 17, Kansas State 3 They don't resemble Tom Osborne's better teams, but the Huskers ARE the champs of the North, and their defense may even give the Longhorns trouble (for a while).
Texas Tech 41, Oklahoma 13 Coach Leach had to enjoy this beatdown. It's crisis time in Norman (no matter what the media cheerleaders may say), because this team appears to have quit Coach Stoops. With a bedlam matchup against a better team awaiting, the most expensive coaching staff in college football is set to produce the worst season of the Stoops tenure.
Missouri 34, Iowa State 24 Mizzou breaks their three-game home losing streak. Sorry, that's all I have.
Texas A/M 38, Baylor 3 No bowl game for Baylor fan. Maybe next near, Coach Briles!