Wednesday, September 28, 2011

SUN-UP TO SUNSET, ALL WORK & NO PLAY

All work and no play is the kind of week that's been happening.  Monday morning it started with the rising of the sun.

pumped up and ready to go
We finally got a shipment of material we have been waiting for so we were able to pour the vanity top to go on the cabinets I built.  The client has been more than patient.  The good news is that we can pour and demold in one day and process the next.

hardly spilled a drop

several hours later

I think he likes it

Ready to process

After a long days work I can't wait to go do more work.  But I promised my sister Debbie I would get her floor in before her new furniture arrived and I'm a man of my word.  The area she wanted done is about 200 square feet.

the easy part
As I got going I realized that the last time I put in one of these floors I was a much younger man.  My back started hurting after the third board.  Getting up off my knees became increasingly more difficult with each board that needed to be cut.  When I got to the closets I remembered why I didn't like doing laminate wood floors.

the pace was slowing down here
But after all the flooring was in it sure did look pretty.  My only regret is that I have my own floor to do and it is more than twice this size, maybe more than three times.  Ugh!

thats not her new furniture
The next day after work I helped Robyn get our flowers planted.  It wasn't easy.  My whole body hurt from crawling around on my sister's floor, even my butt cheeks were sore and I am having trouble understanding that.

the chef makes mud pies
I dug holes where ever I was told and threw the clay like dirt in the back of my truck.  As we took the plants out of their pots to plant them we realized why we got them half price.  I think they were last years plants because the were seriously root bound.
where spagetti comes from
After a couple hours of hard labor the flower garden was done.  We still need to move all the pea gravel around from in front but that is for another day.

my back hurts
Now I had a load of dirt in my truck to get rid of.  I thought about the other day when Canyon and I had to get rid of my sod.  The place in the country that said "fill dirt wanted" so I headed over there.

that sign could mean so many things
The next day I hobbled into work.  The insides of my thighs felt as though I had been doing squat thrusts for the past three weeks.  But work must go on.  We got the tops processed with the broadcast pea gravel and sent them in for sealing.  Here's a pic of Chris applying a coat.  These are scheduled for install this week.  I will post pics of the finished project later.

the finishing touch
Then I was sent to Panora. It's a small road trip.  A client was having trouble with her fiber optics not working.  After a little detective work I deduced it was a bad plug on her fire pit and a missing cord on her bar.

colorful patio

concrete bar and bar stools left center
After work it was time for homework (for any kids reading this, yes, homework continues after you're out of school)  We wanted to get the guest room painted for our company arriving this week-end.  Robyn's dad and step-mom will be visiting for a couple of days.  Should be fun..,  I need some fun.

The artist at work

I'm the cutter, she's the roller.  My work is done here.

at least somebody is getting some R & R

I did get a little rest too.  Canyon and Hai had a soccer game so we relaxed for an hour or so.  I used to think the game went on too long, now I'm wishing it was longer.

KICK THE BALL!  KICK IT! (that's how I used to coach)
Waukee won again.  They got a pretty dang good team.


I thought this sky was cool
The next day at work we installed this bathroom countertop.  The client is having small white tile as a border.  We incorperated some in the top.  It looks somewhat like soap bubbles.  It runs through the left sink and up the back splash.  I will get some photos of the completed bathroom and post at a later date.

needs more lights
A rep from a supply company stopped in and talked with me briefly.  He said he had never seen a concrete countershop like ours, and he has seen quite a few. (so have I and I agree with him)  He was impressed enough to send me this free sample (sample?) of a rubber mold for a table top.  He only asked that we give him some feed back on his product.

mold valued at $600

we may mass produce these.

we will stain the compass
It was poured and popped out in a matter of hours.  It is way cool.  The rep will get some very positive feed back.

When I went home I found out that Canyon had to go to the doctor that day.  His foot had been hurting and it was becoming unbearable.  It took three doctors to figure out the problem.  A human hair had embedded itself in the side of his foot.  The doctors had never seen it before and were confused even more because it was asian hair.

ancient chinese secret
The boys had gotten haircuts a few days earlier.  Canyon must have gotten Hai's hair in his sock.  It turns out that asian hair is courser.  Like a sliver it worked it's way under his skin.  Could only happen to a Griswald.

We have a TON more work to do on our house, but we have time on our side.  Now if I could only get Robyn to give me a massage.

even the sun rests once in a while 



Peace

Dan


















Sunday, September 18, 2011

MORE PICTURES THAN WORDS

 I have been very busy.  So busy in fact that I have been neglecting my blogging duties.  That being said, I have been keeping a photo journal of all the exciting activities that have been happening.  Well, I guess you can be the judge of how exciting they are.
Last Saturday Robyn and I had a end of the summer bash to go to.  We stopped at a pre-party party first to get primed.  We must be getting old.  Judging by all the grey on our friends heads you would think we were at a retirement party.


holding a can of primer

We headed over to the summer bash and had a couple cocktails and more food that we needed.  Now comes the part of the story that proves we are old.  We went home before 10. (We had to work at church in the morning)


we may be old but dang we're still cute

Canyon and Hai worked till close at McDonalds so I had to stay up till 1 in the morning to go pick them up.  Sunday morning arrived earlier than I would have liked.  I'm just glad we left the party early.  When we arrived at church this was the scene out front..


10th anniv of  9/11

A local landscape company donated two huge boulders and even set them up on the corner of the lot.  Then, somehow the church got Ray 'Bubba" Sorenson to come and paint some tribute scenes on the rocks commerating 9/11.  Ya, the same 'Bubba" that paints the freedom rock each year.  The mayor of Waukee and mayor of Urbandale were there.  A congressman and high ranking military representive were in atendence also along with fire personnel, police and highway patrolmen and first responders of all types from all around central Iowa.  They held a memorial service in the atrium and went outside to dedicate the 9/11 rocks.  I thought it was pretty cool when a jumbo jet flew by really low just as we came out to do the dedication.




How did the church arrange for that jet?

The boulders are really awesome  check them out..



rescueing a wounded statue of liberty

this one brings back memories for me

After the dedication was over all the first responders headed back to work.  Robyn and I consider ourselves lucky that it was our Sunday to work or we would have missed all that.  They had the whole service just for the emergency personel.  They did all that before the first regular service even started.  Our service was nothing short of wonderful either.  The congressman shared his memories of 9/11 and told of how we need God back in our country.  It was all very inspiring.

After service it was back home to do more yard work.  Luckily for me, Robyn recruited help at the party the night before.  Our friend Richard showed up with a tow strap that we used to pull bushes.



You can tell by Richards smile that he loves to work
In this next series of pics you can watch the transformation happen..


Keep your eye on the bushes

Going...

going...

Gone!
Monday it was back to work.  We have several projects going on and I put in quite a few hours this week.  After work Tuesday Robyn called me on my way home to ask me to stop by the soccer store.  Canyon and Hai are playing on a rec league and needed jerseys.


pick a ball, any ball


When I got home I had to take pictures of the boys for their game IDs.  They wouldn't let me send these.


thats a lot of teeth

thats exactly how I look when Robyn asks me to do yard work
Wednesday at work we poured a kitchen.  Here is a series of pics showing the process.  The client wants a ground agregate look.



pea gravel broadcast into the mold and ready to pour

poured and vibrated

 set up and demolded

flipped and ready for grinding
Another client wants an intragel sink in her bathroom.  It's actually the very same client that I built the bathroom cabinets for back in August.  Here is a series of photos of that project so far...



A template of the cabinet top

forming around the template

securing down the sink mould

building a cap
I will post more on that project as it continues.

Saturday I had to go into work for an install.  The bad news is that the install was down by the Missouri border so we had to be at the shop by 5:30 am.  By noon the install was done.  It is the 100 square foot kitchen I blogged about earlier.  It turned out beautifully.


Gilligan could get lost on that island

The glass veins look very natural
I got home in time to see Canyon and Hai's soccer game.  It was pretty cold but the boys ran around enough to not really notice it.  Robyn and I however weren't running around so much.


Look!  A Robyn peeking out of her nest.
The Waukee team went on to win 5 - 0.  They have a really good team.

Sunday morning my nephew-in-law Joe came over to paint all the upstairs ceilings.  He arrived around eight but we found out that the paint store didn't open till ten.  We laid out a few tarps and set up ladders and then enjoyed a cup of coffee.  At ten I took Joe to the paint store and then he painted while we went to church.



waiting for the paint store to open
We got to church to find something most unusual.  A DJ was hanging from the ceiling of the atrium scratching out tunes only a teen could love.  It was a promo for the new student ministries that was set to open at 5pm.  They had the student area closed down for the past month to remodel.  Canyon and Hai were excited to go.


You don't see that in church everyday
After donuts and coffee and some hard to hear conversation we headed into the service.
The service was excellent, as usual.  They talked about how we have a choice of what our attitude will be each day.  They taught that we are supposed to have the same attitude Jesus has.  By choosing to not be negative, but instead being thankful for the blessings we are given each day, we can have that same positive attitude as Christ.  You say but I am just a man and Jesus is God, how can I have his attitude?  The answer lies in a relationship with Him.  Here is a phrase I read that may help you understand, 'We are not human beings trying to have a spiritual experience but spiritual beings trying to have a human experience.'  We come from God so therefore we can have the attitude of Jesus.   After all, we are all created in His image.
You can always check out the services at Pointofgrace.com.

When we got home Joe was just finishing up.  Now I can get our master bath remodeled.  I will keep you posted on the progress.




Peace

Dan