The framing is still going on, but the major internal walls are all there now and things are really starting to take shape. The plumber and electrician have also started doing their thing, and the next major step is to get the windows in.
As for the plans, they're still not completely nailed down yet. We'd gone back to the city with an updated set of plans, but they want further revisions. *sigh*
I've been hemming and hawing about the candidates for a while now, but in the end, my choice hasn't really changed. I remember my mom asking me who I'd vote for about a year ago, and I'd said that if I had to choose, I'd opt for Hillary on the Democratic side and McCain on the Republican side. The New York Times recently recommended these two candidates as well, and they've vocalized better than I could why Hillary and McCain are our best options.
The choice on the Republican side is extremely simple for me: McCain is the only one who seems willing to bridge the chasm between the Republicans and the Democrats, with a proven track record for building consensus, and lord knows we need that now more than ever. I've been tempted by Huckabee because he's been running such an amicable and friendly campaign, but I really don't think someone who references his religion every chance he gets will be able to keep the church and state separate.
As for the Democrats, it's a tough call, but in the end I buy into Hillary's experience shpiel. After all, when you're looking for a doctor or a lawyer, do you go for the young guy just out of school? Or do you go for the most experienced one you can find? A few random observations:
Came across this bit of trivia while surfing: While sitting down, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles. Continue doing this and try to draw the number six in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction and there's nothing you can do about it.
End of day six, and pretty much the end of the demolition phase. The front half of the house is completely opened up, and you can see clear to the ceiling. The framing phase starts tomorrow.
Unfortunately I still don't have the final plans yet, so things may slow down if I can't get it asap. We've been making some last minute tweaks and getting it all into an official AutoCAD drawing is taking a bit longer than anticipated. In principal, this is the kind of thing that should have been completed before we started construction, but our designer gave us such amazing ideas that we had to incorporate them.
Woo-hoo! The remodel is now officially under way! Stopped by the house early this morning and watched them take a sledgehammer and pickaxe to the kitchen.
Went to Pacifica to get a quote on some cabinets today and stopped to admire the immense waves that were coming in. Made me wish I'd brought my camera with me. Mother nature can be totally awe inspiring when she wants to be. I was mesmerized by the chaos and power of the waves until the cold drove me back to the warmth of the car.
Best of luck to everyone, and may you hold true to all your resolutions!
Personally, I can't wait for the year to get started. I still need to finalize a bunch of things for the house remodel, but can't since many of the stores and people I'm working with have been on vacation for the past week or so.
圣诞快乐
Joyeux Noël!
C Pождеством
Frohe Weihnachten!
Maligayang Pasko!
Selamat Hari Natal!
Went to Sugar Bowl today for my first day of snowboarding this season. I have fond memories of Sugar Bowl as this was where I first really learned how to snowboard oh so long ago.
Unlike the powder of memory though, the snow cover was pretty sparse. The storm that blew through last week must have melted away or missed Sugar Bowl completely.
Nevertheless, it was a beautiful day, there were no crowds, and the runs off Lincoln were good enough to occupy me for much of the day.
I've been a big fan of Barefoot Coffee Roasters ever since the wife discovered the place. It's not too much of an exaggeration to say that they've changed my life -- how I've thought of coffee specifically -- and I've been recommending it to friends at every opportunity.
You can surely imagine my sadness and disappointment then when I say that I can no longer recommend Barefoot. They've recently redone their menu, increased their prices, and changed their source for milk. I can handle the first two, but that third is a killer.
Now I'm paying more for less (smaller cups) for lattes that taste worst (mainly due to the milk).
Woe!
Their claim is their new specially-formulated-for-Barefoot milk by the Strauss Family Farms is superior, but my tongue begs to differ. I can only dream of the days when they served Clover's Extra Rich Milk.
I guess I should point out that Barefoot still makes good coffee. It's probably still the best in the area, but they no longer make great coffee.
I've been to two white elephant gift exchanges so far this Christmas season and have friends that seem to be going to one at least once a week. The rise in popularity of white elephants has also coincided with the decline in popularity of secret santas, at least in this neck of the woods.
I have to say I prefer secret santa gift exchanges more, because you can then put some thought into what the recipient might like. White elephants, on the other hand, seem to be an exercise in finding the most generic gift that would appeal to the biggest audience.
More often than not, white elephant gifts are just kitschy items that you play with for a while before it gets retired to the junk pile, and I think this just contributes to the feeding frenzy of Christmas-time consumerism.
I'm going to avoid going off on a tangent on waste and consumerism here, but if you're interested, just google it. Celebrate Discardia!
I think from now on, if I'm participating in a white elephant, I'm going to follow a couple simple rules:
... begins with a single step. And for our remodel project, that step was taken a long, long time ago. We have been thinking about it for what seems like forever and started working with an architect in July 2006.
And now, it looks like we're actually going to begin construction! It took two tries, but we finally got our permit to begin the job from the Los Altos building department yesterday.
Camera bag, that is. I'd been looking for one before leaving on our honeymoon because the one I had at that time could not hold a guide book in addition to my Nikon D40. As I hunted around, I realized I also really wanted it to be big enough to fit my flash, Gorillapod, a ball head for the Gorillapod, and a bottle of water, yet still be small and light.
After a few false starts, I finally discovered the Tamrac Messenger 4, which met all my criterias. After traveling with it for the past two months, I've been more than happy with the way it's performed. It's even survived a soaking when I got caught outdoors in a flash thunderstorm.
We're finally back home after our month-long honeymoon, and I have to say it feels good to sleep in our own bed again. Not that I would have said no to traveling for another month or two, mind you, but it's good to be home.
The biggest surprise for me was how comfortable I felt in France. I've always known that I liked France after my last trip there in 2001, but after having traveled so much, to Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia and Greece recently, I've come to realize just how "right" France (and Paris in particular) feels to me.
The wife had planned our time in France, and she'd originally thought to spend the whole week in Paris, but changed things around when I said that was just too much time since we'd both been in Paris before. I was wrong. Nevertheless, I couldn't have been happier with her final itinerary, since that would mean we would never have gone to Troisgois.
After 2 days of gray, overcast skies, the clouds have finally parted and allowed the sun to come out and play, and it's been glorious.
We drove down from Paris to Roanne, and we're staying at Troisgros tonight; a boutique hotel and restaurant with a Michelin three star rating. As you would expect, dinner was amazing, and the main course, a beef dish, was nothing short of mind-blowing. Normally, I'd reserve that for meat that's so tender that it just melts in your mouth like butter. And while this dish had a little of that, what made it so amazing was the texture and how it was just a joy to chew. It had the perfect resistance for chewing, and every bite just delicious. I don't know how else to describe it.
I'd mention how well appointed the room is, but I'm honestly just too satiated to write any more.
Just finished Judas Unchained, the sequel (and finale) to Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton, and I can't recommend them highly enough. It's space opera at its best. The first book starts with dozens of major characters, each with their own thread that slowly but surely links up with one another until they all meet in book two in a tremendous climax that doesn't disappoint.
