Bogieblog

New BSG on the Horizon

We were Battle Star Gallactica fans (I loved both the original show and the new show). When Caprica came on air as a prequel to BSG we gave it a whirl. We tried mightily to like it, but it seemed to drag on and it was way too dark (both visually and story-wise) and deep for us. After missing parts of episodes because of VCR (aka VCR programmer) troubles, I finally just quit recording it.

Now there is news of the demise of Caprica, and the rise of a new BSG show - Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome. Don't see that it has actually been filmed yet, so it will be a while before it comes out, but I will certainly be checking it out when it makes it to SyFy.

H/T to Scott over at AMCGLTD.

On the 10th Working Day It was Done

Friday they packed it in and headed home for the final time. The siding on the house is now complete. It took 2 weeks (they took a very rainy Wednesday off), but they got everything done to our satisfaction; siding, new windows framed in and installed, and new electric boxes for the lights. WS spent today installing the new lights and returning the oil tank to its position next to the house. We will call PSNH on Monday to have them reinstall the electric meter (it is now standing off the house).

 
It doesn't look much different than before. Only the truly observant (and probably obsessed) will notice that the trim around the windows is no longer blue. However, there are still blue accents at the corners of the house. All the windows at the front of the house were replaced 3-4 years ago, so they were not replaced. The window at the side of the house, and its mate further back were replaced. The door was replaced last year, so no work was done to it.

 
You can see four of the new windows in this pic - the two side windows, the window to the left of the slider and the far left window. The small bathroom window was replaced last year and the slider was replaced less than 4 years ago. Additionally, the door at the side of the house (under the roofing to the right of the deck) was replaced last year.

You can't see the lights, but there are two lights at the back of the house and one at the side door, They were all replaced. The back lights were replaced with energy saving motion detectors that will also turn themselves off at dawn if over-riden then accidently left on (which is why I got them - we have a terrible habit of forgetting to turn those off). The side door light is still a regular light as it is rarely used and can only be used when the basement lights are on - a not so subtle reminder so it can't be forgotten.

 

Here are the new front lights which are also energy saving motion detectors that turn themselves off when it is light out. This is great because during winter we go out and start the vehicles, turn on the headlights so we can almost see the stone steps leading down to the driveway, then go back to the house to turn off the lights. There have been days where I decided it was better footing-wise to leave the lights on all day than to go back and turn them off.

The entire outside of the house is now new, to within 4 years. We should get a lot of years out of it before having to do any work to it (although there is a small job to be finished for the shelter for the oil tank - but technically that isn't part of the house).

Of course that is not to say that our work on the house is done; the main bathroom tub needs to be replaced as the drain is rusted out and now slowly leaks, the kitchen counters need replaced and the cabinets need refinished at the very least. Then there is the linoleum, which needs to be replaced in the foyer, kitchen and main bathroom. Eventually the hardwood floors will need sanded and refinished, but that is a minor thing.

Keeping us out of trouble and the the home improvement stores in business, our house is!

MonoTracer

For those really cold mornings or really rainy days, the wimpy biker (like me) needs the MonoTracer.  Hey, it even holds itself up at stops and stabalizes at lean angles above what one would normally be comfortable at. Unfortunatly, I would need another 2 jobs to afford it too.

Hat tip to CityBiker.

Progress Report on Siding

Here is proof that ther is headway being made on the outside of the house:

  The front was the last to be stripped of siding. WS was surprised to find plywood at the bottom, but that just means that there was no insulation there (except what we put up on the inside).
 

The contractor showed up on Monday, and I managed to get home early enough Tuesday to get a couple of pictures.

  All Plywooded up.
  Two new windows on the side of the house.

The rest of the week I haven't gotten home until well after sundown, so I haven't seen any of the siding that has gone up. It is not complete yet (the electric company decided not to do the standoff until Friday - they were scheduled for Tuesday), but should be done sometime next week.

Naturally they ran into a couple of problems. We had to get a plumbing guy in to repair the pipe that they nailed into (FHW pipe for the upstairs was run thru the overhang in front). Then yesterday they nicked an electric line (fortunately we shut off a lot of the breakers while they are working). 

There was also a casualty amongst my plates - the Indian Maiden with wolf fell and broke. My fault - I should have taken the plates off the wall. I'll be removing the plates from the front wall this weekend so that we won't have that problem when they do the front of the house!

All in all, the project has gone rather smoothly (knock on wood). Hopefully it continues on that path!

Ancient Burying Ground of Hartford

During our walking tour of Hartford, we stumbled upon the Acient Burying Ground. The Association was thoughtful and provided pamphlets that described different headstones, their styles and some of the poeple that were buried beneath them. We spent a lot of time ther looking at old headstones and monuments. What we found especially interesting was that there seemed to be a lot of people that made it into their 80's, in the 17th and 18th centuries.

  Early style of tombstone
  This person was 86 years old. There wer plenty of others that made it to be octagenarians.
  This guy died by "bloing up"
 
  This poor woman died in her 40's and is buried with 10 of her 12 children. Those 10 children all died shortly after being born.

  The oldest tombstone - from 1648

We could have spent a lot more time there, a small, ancient cementary surrounded by downtown Hartford, but we had to get back and check out of the hotel.

We saw plenty of other interesting htings, the different architectural styles were what drew us in the directions we walked. We had a great time on our self-guided tour and will have to make it back some time to see more of what Hartford has to offer.

Connecticut Tour

While in Connecticut for the concer, we took the opportunity to see a few of the sites. One of the first things we had to see was the building that had twin spires that we could see from our hotel room. We could only see the spires themselves, and just had to find out what they wer to. Much to our surprise, it was not a building, but an archway dedicated to the Soldiers and Sailors of the Civil War:

 
 

 

 

Next up was a closer look of the State Capitol Building.

 
 

Of course we had to get a closer view of the fountain that we could see from our room. We never did find a plaque for it. We thought it must look awesome at night with the lights on and water flowing, but it look rather spectacular even without those additional features.

 


 

That is enough picture goodness for one post. Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Mini Vacation

Friday we went to Connecticut to see Rodger Waters in concert. We stayed at a Holiday Indd in the middle of Hartford. Since we are a Priority Club Member (meaning we redeem points for the room), we got upgraded to the 9th floor (the top floor). That might seem a downgrade to some, but only a couple of the floors got a decent view of the park across the street. Most lower floors only got to see trees and the roadway (and construction).

This is the view from our room:

 

Zoom in on the State Capitol

 

Zoom in on a fountain:

 

Zoom in on what we later found out to be a memorial to Soldiers and Sailors from the Civil War:

 

We only had to walk about 1 1/2 blocks to get to the concert venu and about 5 blocks to get to where BIL and SIL were staying (they had points for another hotel chain). Once we got into town, we walked everywhere.

Doings at the Bogie Estates

I'm feeling pretty smart (OK, WS should feel pretty smart for his idea) about putting the greenhouse over the peppers. Here is what I harvested early last week:

 

The can opener is there for size reference. Those were the large peppers - some of the plants were loaded with smaller peppers. I'll have to check today to see if there are more for the picking.

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WS started stripping the siding from the house on Sunday. The neighbor got his deer early (bow hunting), so he was bored and decided to join in:

 

I'l have to get pics of the rest of the house before the siding guys come in this week. They dropped off the plywood on Thursday. WS covered it up with a tarp as we were supposed to get torrential rains and wind (we did). WS started on the front of the house yesterday afternoon. He will finish it today and take all the trim off the inside of the window. Just in time for the siding guys to come in Monday.

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I start my new job tomorrow. The first test is to see if I remember to take the left directly after turning right onto Rt 77. Since February of 1989 I have taken a right at 77, and kept going on to Milford. From there, I have had 3 different destinations, but the first 28 miles have always been the same. The challenge is to overcome 21 years of conditioning!

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Fall has really gotten here with relentless winds of 20-30 MPH, which we have had for the last 10 days or so. The mornings have all been down in the 30's and the afternoons maybe up to 50 (most aren't that high). Overcast seems to be the most common sky phenomenon even when it isn't raining. We got another 2.5" on Friday, so we've gotten 8-10" in the last couple of weeks. Good for the rivers, streams and swamps that were suffering anyway.

*      *      *      *      *      *      *      *

Those are the short takes from the Bogie estates where change is not only in the air, but seems to permeate several other aspects of our lives.

Cooling Down

The fall temps have been here the last 5 days or so, and the house is surely feeling it. In the morning it has been down to 62 degrees upstairs (downstairs is still a warmish 66 degrees). The sun has shone plentifully, but there has also been a lot of wind, so the upstairs has only gotten up to 65 degrees - even with the dehydrator and crock pot going most of the day.

WS stripped off most of the siding on either end of the house yesterday (getting ready for the contractor), so I am holding off on starting the heater. Somehow I just can't justify heating the house when a lot of it will go out the walls (there is insulation, but no plywood - a thing that will be remidied by the contractor). Plus, we don't have much oil, and can't fill the tank until the contractor is done with the wall behind it, so would rather make sure we have warm water than heat up the house. The woodstove would get too warm, so that is out too.

Sweatshirts are the dress of the day.

Short Reading Assignment

Double Trouble features an essay .

That's the offer America gives its entrepreneurs. And the idiots in Washington wonder why there are no new jobs...

Seriously good read (and fairly short - will take you all of 2 minutes to read).