I need to get a new tire for our Chevy Astro, a van that we don't care about too much, but is useful to keep running. Short of getting all four tires replaced on the Matrix once, I've never done tire-shopping, and I certainly don't know how to install one.

Should I just go to Sears?

So, for the first time, I heard a certain small someone wake up during the night, go to the bathroom, and go back to bed without asking for help at all.

Incidentally, I spend more time on Google+ now that LJ, it seems. If you're on Google+, too, and I haven't added you, it's probably because I couldn't find you.

Party is cancelled, sorry.

I'm NOT having a 30th birthday party on the Saturday following this one (Feb 20).

Sorry, my trousers are still solvent. I haven't looked at LJ since August.

Tomorrow, Saturday, party from 11-4. Anarchic Reason has her first birfday party. Come, eat this chicken curry I made, and partake of cake. Also, see our new house!

Hey, silmaril!

(And anyone interested in circuitry diagrams and/or interesting games)

Сонструктор!

I've not gotten to the point of reading LJ yet, so I have no idea what anyone's posted. But events of this morning require me to post.

Anarchic Reason has given us her first (reproducible) word.

"Cat!"

(Heck, there's only five of them in the house, it's not like she can see one at all times.)

I'm not really back on LJ yet, but I needed to inflict this timewaster on people:

Clockwords.

You type in words, and it shoots monsters (think tower defense meets mario teaches typing). And it has a nicely wide vocabulary.

We've got bedbugs.

So, we moved yesterday. It took four professional movers a total of six hours to get every box and piece of furniture out of our 600 square foot house. But now we have a new home with 2060 square feet! All the more room to fill up with kipple! (contact info already updated).

I'm filling up a whiteboard with various home improvement tasks, like low-voltage wiring, replacing the aluminum with copper, fixing a small part of the deck, new shingles on the roof, and the like. I'm hoping to find the motivation to find time every weekend to work on these.

But, of course, we first have to unpack six rooms that are filled floor to ceiling with stuff.

I have just spent three days installing solid hardwood cherry floors. Thank you to everyone that came to help (lj-less Dan, katydidagain, garnet_rattler, jmax315, and lj-less Jacob). We're hopefully around halfway done, with the master and about ¾ of the nursery left to do, plus the big bedroom's closets. I'm doing something special to the floor that red_lynx doesn't know about and will be a surprise. I'm sneaky, don't tell her!

There will be additional hardwood installation next weekend. Please consider coming, I can always put a pair of hands to work.

Speaking thereof, the Mother-in-Law is in town, after a delay that resulted in a missed transfer. Did you know that Air Canada will give you a voucher for a hotel room if you end up missing a transfer due to a late arrival? It's bad enough Canada embarrasses us in the health care department, now they're also going for the service industry.

Moving day to the new place is targeted for the 29th of this month.

I am so glad I made it to rislyn and aleph_sub_aleph's wedding party. I needed the break. Thanks, you two!

So, I went to Home Depot this morning to rent a hardwood flooring nailer:

And they said "Sure! Do you have the nails for this device?"

"No," I replied, "I was hoping to buy them here."

"Well, there's a problem. No store within about 60 miles has the nails for this machine. We haven't been able to rent these machines for about a week due to the shortage. Although… yeah, there's hearsay that there's a Lowe's in Glen Burnie that has some nails. But Home Depot, Lowe's, even local hardware stores are out. Manufacturer's defect, we guess. Either that or 35 store managers simultaneously forgot to order them."

So, I call all the Lowe's in Glen Burnie. I finally find one that has nails!

"Yeah, I got some nails for a flooring nailer, about 200."

"Oh. I'm gonna need about 4000."

"Sorry man. Oh yeah, and this is a manual flooring nailer."

So, no hardwood floor installation this weekend. It'll just be painting, and maybe some wiring if we feel ambitious. We could still use help painting, but if you can help us out next weekend (as we just ordered the necessary nails online, and they'll be here by Tuesday), that would be the preferred weekend of help.

We're using professional movers this time. I'm not sure we'd be able to get by on friend-help, given red_lynx's proclivities of owning things like too many books, and rocks. Target date for the move is the 29th or 30th. This means that we won't be renting out the old place until probably October.

OK, I've been working on our new house this week. All the new hardwood floorboards have been carted upstairs, and the carpet and baseboards have all been ripped out. We lost too much time on closing to put in overhead lighting or housewide ethernet cabling, so I'm skipping that for now, and we'll add it in later.

If you can help me out anytime between Friday and Sunday this weekend, I could really, really use your help. We're going to be painting walls and ceilings and installing hardwood floors, probably concurrently (as in, painting one room whilst installing floors in another, then switching).

stormking: Can we still borrow that air compressor and nailer from you? I can stop by whenever it is convenient for you.

Does anyone have a tablesaw capable of ripping up to 5 feet of hardwood? I've already got a power mitre saw for cutting ends, but I'll need something for lengthwise cuts. I do have a circular saw, so I guess in theory I could build something to make it a kind of table saw, but I'd rather have something that was more accurate than I could build out of scrap lumber.

On Friday, I'll be at the new place (directions, flocked) starting at 9:00am, and probably mostly painting until 6:00pm or 7:00pm (we might do a little bit of floor work, but probably just cutting and last-minute prepping).

On Saturday, I'll probably be there at much the same time frame, from 9:00am to 6:00pm, at which point I'll probably head over to werewulf's place for a party. This will probably be concentrating on laying floors, so it's REALLY helpful to have one person on the mitre, one person on the tablesaw, one person measuring, one person nailing, and one person to stand around and look pretty.

Sunday schedule is TBD, but will probably be more like 11:00am to 4:00pm.

Please, help!

cchan8, yes, we do have Ico, which I thought I pulled out, but looks like I packed up, instead. I'll get it back to you, I swear!

We finally settled on the house this morning (after planning on scheduling it for yesterday morning, wait make that yesterday afternoon, wait why don't you come back tomorrow). So we have a house.

A house that is getting a very large delivery of hardwood floors this Friday between 9AM and 1PM. Anyone want to help me carry my massive wood upstairs? And possibly help with ripping carpets and running wiring then, too?

I did not know that there was a Dictator of Turkey.

Yeah, still no house, because our underwriter decided to start getting their act together around 11:15, and then went on lunch. So I called our loan officer hourly, trying to get status updates, but neither he nor us were successful in finding her or getting her to return messages.

She started off the day by telling our broker at 10:20, "Oh, yeah, I need Verification of Employment for heptadecagram, too." So I tried to cajole my generally unresponsive HR department into calling this underwriter (Ha! Like she'd answer her phone!) and getting the handoff. I called up all six people in my HR department, on up the scale to the CPO (Chief Personnel). And not a single one answered the phone. About an hour later, one of them called back: "Oh, yeah, that underwriter called here at 9:00 and got the information she needed." Blaaaarg!

red_lynx had the rougher time. Her HR is very responsive, and was trying to figure out why this underwriter said "I'll fax it in 15 minutes", at 11:15, and then was unreachable for two and a half hours, with no sign of the fax.

It turned out that part of this verification involves getting the fax number, contacting some third-party fax-number looker-upper, and confirming that that number belongs to that business. Which is understandable to do. But not cool to do it a day after the supposed closing, get it wrong the first time (JHU Applied Physics Lab, not JHU), and for each verification to take 90 minutes.

Once she finally got the VoE for red_lynx at 2:30, all that was left for her was "closing the loan" (not us "closing the purchase", mind). When I called our loan officer at the close of day (5:10) to confirm that the settlement wasn't happening until Monday at this pace, he said the last thing he heard was "she was looking at it as of 3:30". Dammit.

This means we're out the day of work, cost of daycare (and daycare food), cost of modified delivery (and possible storage) for the flooring, 4 days of renovations, and a lot of sanity. Neither red_lynx nor I are dealing well with this, as we are very irritable and snappy. Both of us being not physically well doesn't help, especially when I went and made myself sick by eating a lot of cookie dough.

This loan was through Bank of America. That is where we currently keep our bank accounts, and have for 10 years. I told our loan officer that if our house wasn't settled today, we would look at taking our accounts elsewhere, and would refinance down the road with another lender. APL has a credit union, so maybe I can talk red_lynx into that.

So, we were supposed to settle on the new house today.

And we would have, were it not for that meddling underwriter (and their dog, too!).

You see, our original underwriter went on vacation. But they seem to have terrible handwriting, as the replacement underwriter couldn't read most of it. As a result, when we came to closing, it turned out that there were three major forms that had not gotten finished yet. Two we were able to fax in, but the third is a form for employment verification for red_lynx, which the underwriter has to fax to her HR department. Apparently, the underwriter is incapable of faxing anything, as red_lynx's HR department has not received anything, despite a number of requests from our loan officer to fax them the damn form, like, now.

Which means both of us are out a day of work (if not more), and a day of renovation (if not more), and a car.

Yeah, a car. We bought a Chevy Astro from red_lynx's motor pool. The driver's side door doesn't lock, and there's only one row of seats, but it was cheap and it's a good hauling car. The problem is that we had them make out the title in the new address, and since we don't have proof of address there now, we can't get a title or tags from the MVA. So we're out that.

red_lynx still has a broken leg. I went and got a case of tonsillitis, so I can barely stay awake or carry myself around (let alone Anarchic Reason).

Grump!

Giraffe Attack!

(Don't ask me where the СССР got a giraffe)

So, red_lynx broke her fibula at SCA fighting practice. She's in a boot for a minimum of three months. That means no Pennsic for us. She's not to do really anything for the next 10 days, and then she's allowed to walk for a month before she goes back for a checkup.

We still have house-closing in 9 days. We're planning on ripping out the upstairs carpet and putting down Patagonian Cherry hardwood. And we've got a baby who's determined to figure out how to become mobile. This will be interesting.

So, flooring! This is what solid Patagonian Cherry looks like:

Yeah, it's pretty. And I'll be putting down somewhere between 600 and 725 square feet of the stuff over the course of a week. If you've ever wanted to learn how to do this, or you want to help me out, please come! It involves a specialized tool (a floor nailer) and lots of cutting. (By the way, if any of you have an air compressor in the 70-90 output range, I'd like to borrow it to save on rentals. Ditto if you have an air-powered floor nailer for some reason.) This is prefinished wood, so no staining needs to be done after it's put down.

Since we're going to have the subflooring exposed, that's the perfect time to paint, as well as run additional wiring (like, say, ethernet and overhead lights). If you want to learn more about how to do these things (or, even better, if you know how to do these things and have time to help us), please let us know!

Here's a rough schedule of how our next four weeks look:

July 13-19	Break red_lynx's leg	Today	Walk-through of house, check colors for paint, measure for floors	Order floors	Pack	victoriana in town!	Pack
July 20-26	Pack	Pack	Pack	Settlement on the new house	Take off molding, Rip up carpet	Rip up carpet	Rip up carpet
July 27-August 2	Probable flooring delivery date (must acclimate 48 hours minimum)	Run ethernet cables to upstairs rooms	Install overhead lights in bedrooms	Patch all cut holes with drywall, initial mudding.	Second mudding, third mudding, sanding	Paint	Paint
August 3-9 (I'm off work, so these are all-day events)	Paint	Install floor	Install floor	Install floor	Install floor	Install floor, werewulf's birthday party!	Install molding
August 10-16	Buffer (pack, catch up)	red_lynx doctor's appointment follow-up	Buffer (pack, catch up)	Buffer (pack, catch up)	Buffer (pack, catch up)	red_lynx's mother arrives for a month	Possible moving day?

The packing for the move has begun. Good think that we're a block away from a place that sells a lot of wine (free boxes).

Renovations of the current house and yard continue apace. Our carpenter-guy is replacing the busted asbestos shingles, and is ripping down the old ugly fencing. We have an electrician coming next Friday to replace our breaker box with one that comes with an off switch (the current one is fine, just has no master switch).

We also need to make the house attractive enough to renters for the price we would need to charge to cover the mortgage + fees/licensing/insurance. That's a bit trickier, since the goal of renting (as opposed to selling) is supposed to help us make money. Need to check how much insurance will be, and contact someone (maybe the local Landlord's Association?) and get someone to appraise the house for how much rent we could get. In theory, we could rent at a loss, as long as that loss is less than the amount of principal we're paying in each mortgage payment. But why do that if you don't have to?

Anarchic Reason is doing quite well on the potty. Every morning, right after she wakes up, I put her on it, and she gives me a poop and a pee. Now that red_lynx and I are out of the Crazy Times (although her work looks like she's about to have more), I've been able to get into more of a schedule, which is definitely helping Anarchic Reason. I know it's brought me more sanity.

As heard on NPR, Sears and K-Mart are starting Christmas shopping in July.

After the Bush administration's suppression of scientific research and results, only 6% of scientists self-identify as Republican.

In mid-May, we adopted two more cats (bringing the total to three). We have Sabrina:

and Sufi:

Pyewacket is adjusting. They seem to care more than he does that there's another cat in the house. The new two are four-year-old siblings. Sufi still mostly hides under the bed and shies away from people, but will come running when the laser light keychain jingles.

(Yes, yes, we have cats named Sabrina and Pyewacket. I'm not sure if it's a trend.)

Anarchic Reason is progressing cutely. Lots of sitting, and starting to enjoy solids. I seem to have let my LJ account expire, so no pictures to be uploaded right now.

We're buying a house in Oakland Mills. They accepted our offer, and are fixing things that came up during the home inspection (as well as Columbia Association compliance inspection). The one major bit of construction that we need to do before moving in is rip out the upstairs carpet (sadly, brand-new), and put down hardwood floors. We settle on July 23rd.

The old house that we're currently living in would need to be sold at something like a 20-50k loss. So, we're going to stretch ourselves a little thin and convert it to a rental house, at least until the market improves enough. We've got a friend replacing the broken shingle siding and fixing up some other parts. Then we'll put up an interior wall to have three bedrooms and start shopping for tenants. Our goal would be to have it rented by September.

Once we buy the new house, the current house only costs us money. So, the goal is to rent it quickly, which means fixing it up quickly. That's why we have our carpenter friend fixing and replacing things. Our new house is something that we'll probably do more of the home-fixing ourselves (except regrading in the front and digging a swain, perhaps).

House paperwork is the main reason I didn't make it to Origins. This would have been my tenth year going, and the 20th IIT. Alas.

Work sent me on a junket two weeks ago, to Pittsburgh. After having seen what they can do, I'm now thinking about getting a little notebook or subnotebook computer. But not until well after our finances settle, given the houses.

I need to start packing.

Dang. Now I really want a Hang drum.

Absolutely beautiful tone. I've checked out the sound on the imitator (called a Hapi drum), and it's nowhere near this gorgeous. (Plus, it don't look as pretty.)

But, these things are impossible to get. The company that makes them is based in Sweden, and only makes and sells a very limited number per year.

House-buying is a bit too complex for us to do that far away.

I'm considering skipping Origins. We're in the middle of buying a house, and red_lynx is slammed at work. I'm in Pittsburg right now for work, and won't be back until late Wednesday. I mean, I'd like to play in the IIT, and I've been to every Big Experiment, but our family has been running in fumes for months. A non-evented block of time could really help. I'm just not sure which I would regret more.

Apparently, Pixar's new movie Up is so bad, that a girl died 7 hours after watching it.

(Do not follow that link unless you want to cry.)

Oh yeah, since we'll be gone to Origins next week, we need a cat-sitter. We should just need you to stop in once (Saturday), but if you're willing to stop by Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, we'd call you awesome and bake you something.

Because, well, we now have three cats.

victoriana in town, and we'll see her Friday afternoon/evening.

Out to Culpepper Saturday afternoon/evening for a wedding.

Sunday is packing and cleaning and cooking.

On Monday morning, I leave for YAPC (through work), and will return Wednesday evening.

Also on Monday, red_lynx meets with the home inspector at 2:30 for the house we're buying. werewulf has graciously agreed to videotape the inspection, but can only be there until 3:30 before she needs to run off. Is there anyone that can work our video camera that is not on such a time constraint? (Having one person listen to what the inspector is saying, and one person taping it, is a most excellent idea courtesy leiacat).

On Wednesday, I return from the conference, and Shnoogie and I meet up with a contractor to price fixing up some parts of our old house (which we're hoping to rent).

Thursday morning, the family is off to Ohio for Origins, to return Monday.

Oh, and all of us had the sniffles or various sorts of stuffiness this week, meaning that the house is in worse shape than normal due to inability to get up.

So, we put in an offer to buy a house in Columbia, and the sellers accepted our offer.

Anyone know of any good home inspectors?

So, we're looking at moving to a new house. We currently live here (address linked from flocked entry). Our goal is to move closer to both our works, near Columbia/Laurel. So, it's very likely that we'll move to somewhere along 29, or near it, between Randolph and 32. So, we're looking at Montgomery and Howard counties (maybe PG) Questions:

People who have sent kids to school in these counties: What has been your experience? We know that Montgomery county has better average schools, but does it make that big a difference between the Howard and Montgomery schools?

HOAs: Has anyone ran afoul of the HOAs in Howard county? Has anyone found them beneficial?

Time

Measles is among the top five killers in the world of children under 5 years old.

McCarthy

If you ask a parent of an autistic child if they want the measles or the autism, we will stand in line for the f_ing measles.

Measles was killing about 750,000 children per year back in 2003 (WHO started a major vaccination initiative then with the goal of lowering measles mortality). That's half of all autism cases in the US, per year, dying.

I'm a big believer in vaccines, because the people in my family suffered from their lack. My namesake was in a wheelchair his whole life due to polio. Twelve various siblings of my grandparents died from simple, preventable diseases that we now have vaccines for. Nothing has been responsible for saving and improving more lives in the modern world than the vaccine (OK, antibiotics are close, but they have their own resistance/mutation problems).

I somehow got a copy of her book Belly Laughs when we were expecting (from number_12, maybe?). It was kinda funny, but there were parts that indicated that she and I were on different pages in terms of childrearing (she chose not to breastfeed, to both her and her child's tears; she went to the hair salon when she went into labor because she wanted to look good after giving birth; etc.). I think that this, coupled with her crazy vitamin diet, shows me that she's really not clued into the same reality I am.

I'm finally disabling/deleting one of my chat accounts, due to excessive spam (and no way of saying "disallow people from contacting me if they are not in my contact list"). This won't affect you unless you're out there and the only way you have of contacting me is MSN Messenger. In which case, get a better chat account! (That means you, speedlime!)

High school forces student to change out of kilt on suspicion of cross-dressing.

So, the three of us are planning on going to Pennsic. We knew that the group that we camped with last year is an 18+ only camp, but we were hoping they would make an exception based on how cute Anarchic Reason is. They didn't, so we're looking for a place to camp. Anyone have any suggestions for places to camp? Two adults, one infant, and one of the adults is a heavy fighter. (Ideally a camp with a kitchen and a shower.) We're Kingdom Atlantia - Barony Storvik - House Blackspear.

So, I got a weird little envelope in the mail from some church that contained a sealed list of prophecies ("Do not open these prophecies until you have sent back the list of prayers!"), and a SASE with a checklist of prayers, wherein members of the church will utter these prayers for you when they get it back. Things like "Pray for my finances", and "Pray for my blood pressure". The last item is a fill-in-the-blank one, where you can ask them to pray for whatever.

Being an awful, horrible person, what should I ask them to pray for, so I can then open the prophecies? Keep in mind that I don't want them to have to consider Poe's Law (which is isomorphic to "Any sufficiently advanced stupidity is indistinguishable from satire").

I think everyone should experience this:

Today I Die

Click and drag on stuff to make things happen. There are at least two endings.