Before and After

When nature gives you broken trees you make firewood...

We had quite a bit of snow over winter break.  It was the heavy, sticky kind that bends over tree tops, in my case until some of them snapped off.

Rental chainsaws have been added to my list of Hallmarks of Civilization, along with paved roads, bottled beer, sliced bread, safe drinking water, and antibiotics.

Son Erik is learning that my offer of "free room and board" may not mean precisely the same thing he was thinking.

He piled the wood and then he left on a work assignment for three days.

But I had some spare time Friday so I chopped and piled my new firewood.  I expect it will be dry enough to burn later this year.  My father gave me a splitting maul as a housewarming gift.  How cool is that?!!

Life is good here high in the Prescott National Forest.

Home Improvement Projects For 2016

A log home is a non-stop labor of love, I guess...

2016

• Put some particle board under the expansion to protect insulation - DONE 1/1/2016
• Insulate the sub-floor in the crawl space - DONE 1/3/2016
• Insulate the plumbing in the crawl space - DONE 1/3/2016
• Never spend two days in the crawl space again... - DONE 1/3/2016
• Replace the dryer, if only so it matches the new washer - DONE 1/4/2016
• Reinstall my home's street number - DONE 2/6/2015
• Plug the holes at the peak of the roof the bats use in the summer time - DONE 2/6/2015 [A bat still got in though...]
• Refurbish the irrigation system DONE May 2016
• Replace the scary heater in the bathroom
• Rebuild the steps from the drive to the lower part of the yard
• Finish sanding, caulking, and painting the exterior
• Replace the deck rails DONE July 2016
• Replace planks as needed and refinish the deck DONE July 2016
• Rebuild the steps from the back of the deck to the back yard DONE July 2016
• Have installed a metal roof DONE October 2016

2017 

• Get some pieces of furniture from the house after it sells NO LONGER NEEDED
• Buy a garage
• Remodel bathroom
• New carpet
• Expand the flagstone treatment in front of the fireplace

It Takes A Village

Or at least an iPhone full of contacts...

Many of the improvements to my sturdy little homestead in the Ponderosa pines south of Prescott were performed by some excellent local contractors, each of whom I am pleased to highly recommend.

Certified Lock

Peter at Certified Lock rekeyed the place shortly after I moved in. Peter knows his stuff.

Prescott In-Floor Heating and Plumbing, LLC

Vincent Bruno identified a rather expensive water leak that was earning me frantic calls from the water company, removed a strange spare sink from the second bedroom, and installed a new hose bib in a few short hours. Vince is personable and professional.

Lowe's - Prescott

John Bruce coordinated the replacement of my single pane, aluminum frame, summer place windows with double pane, insulated vinyl frame, year round home windows. He has also given me some good ideas for the roof I plan to have replaced Summer 2016.

Zink Door & Trim Inc

Dave Zink installed the new windows he could and showed me how to install those I had to do myself. It took less than a day. Dave is fun to speak with while he works.

Mile High Tree Service 

Justin Kaoni safely removed a lightning struck Ponderosa from my yard for much less than others offered to. Justin's customer service is second to none. I hope no more of my Ponderosas die but if they do Mile High Tree Service will remove them.

Rocky's Landscaping

Rocky Annecchini and his crew prepped, delivered, and spread mixed river rock to match the front and installed decomposed granite in back. He also selected and delivered a couple strategically placed boulders to increase the safety of my driveway. Good guy, fair prices.

I Didn't Know You Could Cry Over A Liquor Ad

A heartfelt short film masquerading as a commercial...



German film students Dorian Lebherz and Daniel Titz created, on spec, a commercial for Johnnie Walker that tells the story of two brothers (played by Mathew Lewis Carter and Robin Guiver) visiting their childhood home in rural Scotland. It may be the sweetest and saddest 90 seconds I've ever seen on film. The voiceover is read by poet, Johnny “B.A.N.G.” Reilly:

"Walking the roads of our youth

Through the land of our childhood, our home, and our truth

Be near me, guide me, always stay beside me

So I can be free

Free

Let’s roam this place, familiar and vast

Our playground of green frames our past

We were wanderers

Never lost

Always home

When every place was fence-less

And time was endless

Our ways were always the same

Cool my demons and walk with me, my brother

Until our roads lead us away from each other

And if your heart’s full of sorrow, keep walking

Don’t rest

And promise me from heart to chest to never let your memories die

Never

I will always be alive and by your side

In your mind

I’m free.”

When you cry, don't blame me, thank die Herren Lebherz and Titz.

SpaceX Sticks The Landing!!!

Launching 11 Satellites Into Low Earth Orbit Is Nice, But...

Then the first stage of the SpaceX Dragon 9 reversed course and came back to land tail first, just like in all those 1950s science fiction movies.  

I'm sure Orbcomm, the client who paid to have a constellation of its "Machine-to-Machine" communications satellites put in orbit, is pleased, but that sort of thing happens without incident almost all of the time. 

This was SpaceX's third attempt to land the first stage in a controlled manner, so that these multi-million dollar vehicles can be reused, eventually cutting the cost of spaceflight to a fraction of its current level.  The first two "close but no cigar" attempts - in January and April of 2015 - to land on a barge at sea resulted in some spectacular fireballs.  

Tonight, it all looked just like a Chesley Bonestell painting...

Godspeed, SpaceX!