When Nerds Collide

What you're seeing here is what Stephanie refers to as "Nerd Olympics". For the record, she used to say Magic Tournaments were the same thing. What you're actually seeing is a LAN Party. A bunch of truly geeky guys get together, hook up their computers, and play games all night. The game in question was Call of Duty 2. I haven't played it since the last LAN party I attended, so I was a little rusty. These guys started around noon and we finished around 1 AM. Hardcore, right? Due to my crazy sleep schedule, I was only able to get there after 6, but it was still fun. I also brought along my Xbox 360. Eric, the host, just purchased an awesome new 50' LED projection television, and wanted to see the stunning Gears of War in HD. Needless to say, everyone was blown away. It was a good time.

Time for New Shoes

Wow, what a morning. I actually painted cars today. I work at the paint shop at BAP, but until today I had never actually seen the painting process. Believe it or not, I can't get into specifics about the process. I can actually lose my job for divulging "trade secrets". Security is pretty tight there, and you're not even supposed to take cameras into the plant. Try to tell your 3500 employees not to carry cell phones. Good luck! They're really paranoid about information leaking to competitors.

The process is pretty amazing. Without getting too much into specifics, the majority of the painting is done by robots. It's pretty cool to watch them work. I was actually doing touch-up work inside the doors. The robotics system is new to the plant, and they're still trying to iron out the kinks, so they have sprayers hitting the spots the robots miss. It was difficult to get the hang of it at first, but after the first couple hours I picked it up okay. I've worked in nearly every area in the Paint Shop now. The only casualty of my new experience was my old shoes are pretty much destroyed. Oh well, it was time for new ones anyway....

Geek-O-Riffic

This is shot of my "bedside table". As you can see, my interests lie in the realm of total geek. Before I got to bed, I usually read a little or play my DS Lite. I'm playing a game called Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, and it's brilliant. It's basically an interactive novel where the player takes on the role of a fledgling attorney, fresh out of law school. You have to interview suspects, obtain evidence, and question witnesses in the courtroom scenes. Very unique, and very interesting. Anyway, this has been my idea of reading lately. Not to mention the comics.... I highly recommend Civil War to anyone. VERY good. Since I' a day sleeper, that mask comes in handy. I look like some kind of rejected super hero, but it works. I told a guy at work I used one and he said, "I thought only women used those!" Yeah.

All Things New

Okay, I know this is kinda lame, but I was at a loss of what to shoot today, the Kitchen isn't quite done yet, and I'm not feeling very well. I know, excuses, excuses, excuses. These three things are the major additions we made to the kitchen, besides the cabinets and the counter tops. I'm really happy with how the microwave and the recessed lighting looks. The lighting is really great, and the micro really fits in well. I will be posting a completed picture eventually, but I want to wait until everything is put away and all the touch-up painting is done.

Brrrr!

Holy crap it's cold. We've been hit by the tip of the big storm that just swept through the Midwest, and luckily, we only got about two inches of snow. That doesn't make me feel any better about the temperature. As I write this at 7:45 am, it's 9° with a wind chill of -2°. That's damn cold!

As I said yesterday, hopefully the kitchen will be finished today. I'll update you all tomorrow. I also wanted to say thanks to everyone leaving comments and visiting the blog. Yesterday I set a high with 23 unique users with 57 page loads! I really appreciate your interest and all the kind words.

Day Nine: Plumbing and Finishing Installation

Well, I knew this would be inevitable. Since we removed the soffit, I knew it would only be a matter of time before these two would be enjoying their new lofty perch. Punkin, internet celebrity, is on the left, and Chloe is on the right. Both usually can't stand to be in the same room as each other, but they seemed to have resolved their differences for the time being so they can explore the new cabinets.

It was a short day today for the contracers, and the finished putting in and leveling the cabinets, installed the microwave/exhaust vent over the stove, and got about 1/2 done with the plumbing for the sink and dishwasher. He thinks he may get it completely finished tomorrow, but since he has another job to do on Wednesday, it's more likely to finished on Thursday. I'm really ready to have this done. I'm kinda sick of eating out of a box!

Day Eight: Installation

We're getting there! Okay, I heard that sigh of relief. I know that you're all probably bored to DEATH seeing all these pictures of our kitchen, but this is pretty much consuming all our time right now, so photo opps are few and far between.

As you can see, they installed most of the cabinets and the counter tops today. The room is really starting to come together. The dishwasher isn't plumbed in yet, and neither is the sink, but those things should be done tomorrow. There is also a little more painting to be done, and the molding has to be put up, but it looks like it will be finished tomorrow. The hanging lights will be recessed lighting, and there are three of those along the counter. It won't be long now! Oh crap, what am I going to shoot after this is over? Have you seen my office? Just kidding... :)

Day Seven: Paint and Prep

Wow! What a difference a day makes. Steph and her Mom did a wonderful job finishing up with the painting, and we're ready to put in the cabinets. We went to Lowe's and picked up the counter tops today, and everything is a-okay. There was a little scare at the store when they couldn't find them right away, but eventually the rocket scientist looking for them realized that it was damn near impossible to not see a 10' counter top with our name all over it. Go figure. We had to unpack and bring in everything from the garage so the cabinets could expand at room temperature. It's pretty cold here right now, so if they were put in cold, after they heated to room temperature, they could potentially expand and crack. That's not so good. We should have nearly everything in tomorrow with the finishing touches being done on Monday. I can't wait!

That's my cat Punkin (Punk for short, and man is that appropriate) in the bottom of the shot. I took about 10 shots in the Kitchen, and he somehow managed to find his way into about 6 or 7 of them . He's just dying to become an internet celebrity.

Ack! I missed my deadline! Day Six: Primer

Okay, so today was obviously a busy one. I'll be posting a picture after I finish my first coat of primer and actually get one shot. This is actually my post for the12th, so there will be two for today.

*Edit*
Well, the primer is done. It took a lot longer than I had anticipated, but now it's done. Steph and Char will be putting on the main color and the trim color today, and the cabinets should be going in on Sunday. Oh, and by the way, if you can avoid it, NEVER paint your ceiling. What a (literal) pain in the neck!

Day Five: Sanding, Sanding and Sanding

This is what it looks like when your Kitchen is in a pile. Believe me, it was at one time far more organized than this. It's never been so difficult to locate a box of cereal! But I have to admit, I've grown quite fond of my Boston Market frozen dinners. Don't mind the little Christmas tree, we'll take it down eventually....

Today was all sanding. That is the hard part, and surely the messiest. It looks like right now we are on track to paint on Saturday, which is a good thing. Steph's wonderful mom (Hi Char!) is coming down Saturday to help with the painting, so hopefully we'll get it done then so they can finish Sunday and Monday.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the leaky window! When the guys tore down the soffit, they uncovered a pretty substantial leak from the upstairs window. The original window wasn't installed properly, so water would just sit on the window ledge. Eventually the wood rotted and started to leak into the house. We obviously weren't able to see it because it was behind the soffit. They're putting a new window in the "tent room" (it's in the peak of the house and shaped like a tent) so we don't ruin our newly drywalled ceiling. That should be done tomorrow.

Thanks Steph for the photo idea!

Day Four: More Mudding

This, obviously, is not a shot of my kitchen. I snapped this shot as I was leaving work this morning, and thought it was far more interesting that a picture of white walls. For those of you who don't know, I work for Daimler Chrysler Corporation at their Belvidere, IL Assembly Plant. We build the Dodge Caliber, the Jeep Compass, and the Jeep Patriot. This shot is just a very small piece of a massive facility that employs more than 4,000 people. I've been there for about 7 months now, and hopefully I'll be there for the next 30 years.

The kitchen is starting to resemble an actual room again. The drywall is all hung, and the seams and screws are all mudded. A lot of sanding will be going on tomorrow, and thankfully, I won't be taking part in that. Anyone who has ever done drywall before will know what I'm talking about. The sanding is a pain. Our counter tops came in today, so that was welcome news. We have everything we need now, so all we can do is wait for it to be finished!

Day Three: Drywall & Mudding

A little more progress today. The drywall is completely hung, and most of the electrical is ready. Steph began mudding the screws, and the guys will do the rest tomorrow. The cabinets and the dishwasher were delivered today, but for some reason the counter tops have been delayed until the 17th! Lowes has been jerking our chain since we put the order in. HOW ANNOYING! First they sold us cabinets and a diswasher without seeing if they were in stock (they weren't), then they told us the counter tops would be in on the 5th. When the order was placed, they delayed the delivery date (without calling us!) to the 10th, then on the same day it was delayed again to the 17th. We still don't know why. I guess a certain number of problems will always pop up in a project like this, but it's getting a bit ridiculous.

Day Two: Electrical & Drywall

Well, unfortunately, not much progress to report today. The contractors ran into some issues with the electrical they were running, and it looks like they had to re-run a lot of the original wiring. The previous owners used the wrong gauge of wiring, and if we were to add the new appliances and outlets, we would've been blowing fuses like there's no tomorrow. So they did wiring mostly today, and then hung about 6 panels of drywall on the ceiling. the apparatus shown here is what they use to when drywalling (is that a word?) the ceiling. It holds it up for them so they don't need more than one or two people to do it. Each sheet of drywall is 4' x 8' and weighs about 55 lbs. That would be a little tough to hold up. So it looks like our time frame for completion has moved back a little further. It's really difficult not having a kitchen!

Day One: Teardown

Well, the destruction went well. Everything is now gone from the kitchen, including the god-awful color scheme. Well, that's not quite gone yet. The trim and curtains are still there. I decided to post four pictures today. There was some really interesting things that were revealed beneath the walls that I wanted to share. Some really cool abstract stuff. It's really interesting to see the multiple layers underneath the walls we've been looking at for the last 5 years or so. It really gives you a sense of history from the house, and reminds me that although this wing of the house is a newer addition, the house is still over 100 years old. Tomorrow they start the drywall!

Before

Well, tomorrow the contractors will begin ripping out the kitchen. I haven't gotten a picture yet today, but I wanted to post before midnight just to keep the daily thing going. I'll be updating this post sometime later tonight with a "before" shot in all its horrible, horrible glory....

*Edit*
Here's what the main wall of our kitchen looks like now, and yes, I did choose those colors. Yikes. Anyway, we'll be tearing all that out, and putting up drywall, so those colors will be adios, see ya later. Not to mention the awful counter tops. As you can see, I will actually have one more dishes session to look forward to tonight. Hooray! Can't wait!

Huzzah!

Today was the last time I'll have to do that. Starting Saturday, we're having a new kitchen put in. Drywall, cabinets, counter tops, dishwasher, the whole works. We're pretty excited. As you can see, the counter tops are a truly horrid brown faux marble textured laminate, and they are falling apart. The cabinets are all in okay shape, but some of the drawers aren't working and most are actually plastic. Really cheap stuff, but the house used to be a rental, so we're not too surprised. I'll be posting pictures of the destruction starting Saturday.

Feeling Introspective Today

It amazes me sometimes how beauty in everyday things can be taken for granted. The rising sun, how Stephanie's face lights up when she smiles, the tranquility of my cat when he sleeps. All these things I see very day, but life's pressures and constant motion can just whip you right by. I was really wracking my brain the last few hours of work today, trying to think of something to shoot. I think it's these average days that will be the toughest. On the way home I happened to look into the eastern sky, and was struck by the simplicity and beauty of the rising sun. I've been on third shift for 3 months now, but never before took the time to take in the sunrise. It's amazing what you can see when you look.

Turned Turtle

First and foremost, no one was hurt in the shooting of today’s photo. It’s really amazing considering the condition the car that you can’t see in the shot. The front end looked like it was at a 45° angle to the rest of the car, and it’s quite likely most of the engine was in the front seat.

Of everything I’ve ever read or been taught when it comes to photography, the one thing I never really practiced was the “Always Have Your Camera With You” mantra. The last thing I want is to have thousands of dollars of equipment stolen while I’m getting groceries. I have a point and shoot, but frankly it’s cumbersome and bulky. I guess I’m saying that I didn’t feel it was worth it. Now I understand how wrong I was. While I’m very disappointed with this photo, what I saw this morning really hammered home why I should always have a camera with me. I wasn’t able to get a really spectacular shot of this accident, but if my camera hadn’t been with me I wouldn’t have gotten a shot at all. You never know when life is going to give you that opportunity to see something really unique and interesting. For a photographer, you never want to miss that moment, nor miss the chance to record it forever. Always have a camera with you!

Kitty Litter Pie!

Sorry the image is so small, but this was too good, and all I had on hand was my cell phone. This is what greeted us today at work. Sitting on our team table on the sand deck was what my co-worker Kelly decided to surprise us with. As an owner of four cats (yes, four!), this is pretty damn authentic looking. It was a desert dish that was kinda like a cake, but not quite. I think it may have had some pudding in it as well. The "droppings" were actually Tootsie Rolls that were shaped and formed into a very believable shape. The entire package was wrapped up in an actual cat litter box, complete with its own scoop. And yes, they were clean. It took a supreme act of will on my part to even attempt to eat this thing. I must say, it was quite good! I could not, however, bring myself to eat the Tootsie Rolls.

How I spent my New Years

Happy New Year everyone! This is a pretty good idea of not only how I spent my New Years Eve, but also most of my vacation. I was off for about 10 days, and when you work third shift (11 pm to 7 am), the nights get pretty long. Now the beer wasn't there every night, but the Xbox was. I did manage to adjust my sleep schedule for the first 1/2 to a more resonable time, but the last few nights I've been shifting back. Ugh. I don't know why I even tried. By the way, if you own an Xbox 360, and you don't have Gears of War, go buy it. Now. It's phenomenal.