Thanksgiving break offered a welcomed relaxation. My Dad and Mom (Lynn) and Grandma (My Dad's mom) - I call her Dot Dot, all came up from Florida and visited for a few days. Then all of us went to Western Tennessee to see Aunt Kathleen & Uncle Andy's new log cabin home that they're building near the TN river. It was a nice trip. As you can see, we even found time to drive down to Shiloh battlegrounds and take some pictures at the McDowell monument.
So this year, what do I have to give thanks to?
First and foremost,.. I have to give thanks that I had many years of closeness with mother. She was an amazing woman and she will always continue to be in my thoughts and memories. Believe me, she is a portion of my conscience and when I need her, she is still in my mind, offering me advice and guiding me.
Next, I have to be thankful I have the rest of my family and friends, as they too guide me and shape me. Having my health is also a thing for which to be thankful. I know I'm not in the greatest shape in the world, but I am somewhat healthy with no major problems (not that I know of anyway).
What's on the horizon for me? A new house perhaps,.. as I signed a contract to buy the ranch style house you see on this page below. Closing is supposed to be December 19th. We shall see. There was a plumbing issue that now may or may not need to be resolved and they're adding a few items such as a tile backsplash in the kitchen, etc. I'll take interior pictures sometime soon and post them. Other than a house,.. what's on the horizon?
I'm teaching two new classes next semester; Play & Technology,.. and Public Speaking for Health Occupation Majors. I also am tossing around the idea of writing a textbook / companion guide,... as if I didn't have enough to do, right? We shall see. I guess it all depends on how addicted I stay to World of Warcraft or some other game. ;)
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Saturday, November 19, 2005
A New House - Part Duex,... and a Speech Contest too!
First, for the house info:
As you can see from the new picture below, I put in an offer on a totally different house. It only has a few (four) drawbacks as I see it (or things that conflict with items on my "dream-house" list), but I guess I can compromise on those or fix them. Here they are;
1) The subdivision is a lot tighter, meaning the lots are skinnier (but deeper) and therefore the houses are closer together. I've met one neighbor already and they seem really nice, plus this house is on a court (one house from the end of a cul-de-sac). That's great because cul-de-sacs tend to cut down on traffic and loud thumping music driving past your house all the time. If you know me you know I'll get into fights with assholes who drive past my house thumping bass. So far it seems that I'm cool with this subdivision. It has class. :)
Result: Not really a problem - if loud noise eventually becomes a problem, I'll complain to the neighborhood association and make them earn their $400 a year dues.
2) The house is on a slab instead of floor joists. This has always worried me as repair costs are higher for plumbing problems. I guess I'll deal with it. This also means it has no basement. This is disappointing seeing as now I won't have room for a pool table. But if I get to the point where I'm ready to buy one I can always build a bigass "storage building" out back to "store" my pool table. ;) The covenant says I can't build one over 20'x20'. Mine would be 25'x25' - Oops! Sorry, apparently I can't measure well.
Result: Not really a problem, but high added cost later - I am dealing with it.
3) There is no screened porch (I love screened porches). Maybe I'll figure out how to design and build one eventually. It will be tough considering the gable of the roof, but I know it can be done. There is no shelter under which I can put my grill. I'm going to keep my grill in the garage for now since it is CLOSE to impossible to drive my truck inside without turning in the side mirrors. No biggie, I park outside all the time as it is now anyway.
Result: A bit irked by small frikkin garages - not happy with this item entirely, but I'll deal with it.
4) The drainage on the lot seems "okay" - the only place that concerns me is in the backyard. But then again I have NOT yet seen this lot under a heavy rain. There is a slight hill that comes down toward the back patio prior to a small drainage trough taking it around the house to the front. It will be no problem for me to fix that given my civil engineering design years. :) But I think a simple solution would be to ditch-witch a trough to the front, lay in a pvc pipe, making sure it gravity feeds to the front ditch, and putting in a grated box in the back close to the patio, to take off excess standing water.
Result: fixable IF it is actually a problem - I guess I'll find out when it rains hard - and from the sound of it the builder would probably even ditch-witch it for me and give me the pvc
Secondly, the Speech Contest:
I started an annual speech competition last year. This year I had 2 former department chairs and the President of the University as judges. Each Public Speaking instructor (8 of us) had one student and his/her persuasion speech entered into the contest.
I raised the money and hosted it. $400 for 1st place, $300 for 2nd, $200 for 3rd, and $50 for each other place,.. plaques for each person, and certificates for each contestant ... not bad, eh? I think I did fairly well. :) Also, the contest speeches were recorded and McGraw-Hill publishers will transfer it to a DVD for me, which we will sell with next year's textbooks at cost + $1. These will make great sample speeches for our students. Those $1's will add up and be put into a fund for our department for eventually building a new speech lab. Groovy eh? :) It is even more groovy that MY student won 2nd place! Yay me! :)
As you can see from the new picture below, I put in an offer on a totally different house. It only has a few (four) drawbacks as I see it (or things that conflict with items on my "dream-house" list), but I guess I can compromise on those or fix them. Here they are;
1) The subdivision is a lot tighter, meaning the lots are skinnier (but deeper) and therefore the houses are closer together. I've met one neighbor already and they seem really nice, plus this house is on a court (one house from the end of a cul-de-sac). That's great because cul-de-sacs tend to cut down on traffic and loud thumping music driving past your house all the time. If you know me you know I'll get into fights with assholes who drive past my house thumping bass. So far it seems that I'm cool with this subdivision. It has class. :)
Result: Not really a problem - if loud noise eventually becomes a problem, I'll complain to the neighborhood association and make them earn their $400 a year dues.
2) The house is on a slab instead of floor joists. This has always worried me as repair costs are higher for plumbing problems. I guess I'll deal with it. This also means it has no basement. This is disappointing seeing as now I won't have room for a pool table. But if I get to the point where I'm ready to buy one I can always build a bigass "storage building" out back to "store" my pool table. ;) The covenant says I can't build one over 20'x20'. Mine would be 25'x25' - Oops! Sorry, apparently I can't measure well.
Result: Not really a problem, but high added cost later - I am dealing with it.
3) There is no screened porch (I love screened porches). Maybe I'll figure out how to design and build one eventually. It will be tough considering the gable of the roof, but I know it can be done. There is no shelter under which I can put my grill. I'm going to keep my grill in the garage for now since it is CLOSE to impossible to drive my truck inside without turning in the side mirrors. No biggie, I park outside all the time as it is now anyway.
Result: A bit irked by small frikkin garages - not happy with this item entirely, but I'll deal with it.
4) The drainage on the lot seems "okay" - the only place that concerns me is in the backyard. But then again I have NOT yet seen this lot under a heavy rain. There is a slight hill that comes down toward the back patio prior to a small drainage trough taking it around the house to the front. It will be no problem for me to fix that given my civil engineering design years. :) But I think a simple solution would be to ditch-witch a trough to the front, lay in a pvc pipe, making sure it gravity feeds to the front ditch, and putting in a grated box in the back close to the patio, to take off excess standing water.
Result: fixable IF it is actually a problem - I guess I'll find out when it rains hard - and from the sound of it the builder would probably even ditch-witch it for me and give me the pvc
Secondly, the Speech Contest:
I started an annual speech competition last year. This year I had 2 former department chairs and the President of the University as judges. Each Public Speaking instructor (8 of us) had one student and his/her persuasion speech entered into the contest.
I raised the money and hosted it. $400 for 1st place, $300 for 2nd, $200 for 3rd, and $50 for each other place,.. plaques for each person, and certificates for each contestant ... not bad, eh? I think I did fairly well. :) Also, the contest speeches were recorded and McGraw-Hill publishers will transfer it to a DVD for me, which we will sell with next year's textbooks at cost + $1. These will make great sample speeches for our students. Those $1's will add up and be put into a fund for our department for eventually building a new speech lab. Groovy eh? :) It is even more groovy that MY student won 2nd place! Yay me! :)
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Incompetence, Apathy, or at least a Lack of Pride
I really hate it when people are incompetent then don't admit it. The builder I was working with knew from the VERY FIRST day I'd walked into that house that the floor was a major issue. If it had been built right in the first place things wouldn't have been an issue. If the builder had admitted the flaw and properly corrected it this wouldn't have been an issue. Now, due to pure stupidity or stubborness on the part of the builder (I'm not quite sure which), I am not going to buy the house that I loved so much. Thanks a lot for ruining that, you dillweed. Let me give you a quick time travel recap.....
Day ONE of finding the house: I noted the floor and pointed it out.
Day TWO: signed a contract and made sure to note the floor as a MAJOR item.
Week One: nothing at all was done to the house.
Week Two: not much at all was done (maybe 5 hours work for 1 man total)
Week Three: Carpet was laid down on top of the UNFIXED floor !!!!!!!!! (What the fuck was this idiot thinking?) Isn't it a bit insulting he did that, as if trying to cover it up so I wouldn't notice?!? "Oh yeah, they did some bracing to fix it." I was told ... lies,... no change in the deflection of the floor whatsoever. Because of the builder I had to postpone closing. I tell them to fix the floor again.
Week Four: Honestly, a lot of items got addressed here,.. guess what,... still the floor is not fixed. I tell them again to fix the floor.
Week Five: Due to unfinished items had to postpone closing again. Home inspectors finally came. That's $300 out of my pocket. A lot of items fixed again,... still the floor is not fixed. Inspectors recommend having a structural engineer analyze the floor, joists, and foundation wall.
Week Six: Closing postponed indefinitely due to builder not taking care of things he ought to have in the first place - the floor (big surprise?). I spoke with 10 structural engineers and showed them pictures and described the deflections / beam layout / joisting. 5 told me I should walk away from it considering this house is only 1 year old and brand new. The other 5 told me they charge $500 minimum for "a letter of recommendations" and they'd suggest making sketches for $1,000 - $1,500 since the builder has not fixed this item to date. They said "since his contractors probably have no more than an 8th grade education (looking at the way this joisting was done) it is obvious they need sketches to follow." Notice that is in quotation marks? That's for a reason - two engineers told me almost the exact same thing.
Week Seven: The builder calls me and tells me he found an engineer for $500 and suggests we go with him since he can come out right away and he's cheap. I tell them great, hire him, pay for it, go for it. Builder says he won't pay for it.
Okay, let's take a moment here. WHAT THE FUCK?!?!? This moron says he won't PAY for it when I don't even own the house yet? HELLO? Isn't this supposed to be a NEW house?!? You know,.. one that is completely safe and structurally sound, with all the major items from the initial contract already addressed and FIXED ?!?!? BEFORE the buyer ever does a walk through?
Look, asshole.... learn to do the type of work that you can take pride in. Sure the house looks really nice, and I'd have loved to move into it, but YOU broke this deal when you didn't meet the contract by fixing the major items listed on it. A new home should be built to where it is structurally sound and a buyer should NOT,... absolutely NOT have to worry about a beam popping up in the kitchen floor in front of the dishwasher,... or the floor deflecting half an inch down along a wall in the living room where a tv or a couch is going to be. This is especially true in a house that is less than ONE YEAR OLD !!! Get a fucking clue. Grow up. Take responsibility for your work and fixed the God Damned Floor like you should have in WEEK ONE, instead of covering it up and feeding me bullshit every week about how you did something to better it when you obviously didn't!
Yes, I already packed a lot of my stuff in order to move. Yes, my landlady found someone to rent my current apartment on December 1st. Yes, I wanted to move into that new house, but ya know what? I gave him PLENTY of chances and time to fix it and make it right. Ever played baseball? He had more than 3 strikes on that floor issue, and he still fucked it up by being a dorkstick.
So yes, I'm out a lot of time and effort and money due to him. Home inspectors, tons of gasoline driving out there and back every other day, and two frikkin months that I feel are wasted due to his incompetence. Not to mention the wonderful Dana (my Realtor), who drove back and forth out there trying to resolve issues, and the mortgage people who dealt with this case.... what a shame that he wasted their time too.
Day ONE of finding the house: I noted the floor and pointed it out.
Day TWO: signed a contract and made sure to note the floor as a MAJOR item.
Week One: nothing at all was done to the house.
Week Two: not much at all was done (maybe 5 hours work for 1 man total)
Week Three: Carpet was laid down on top of the UNFIXED floor !!!!!!!!! (What the fuck was this idiot thinking?) Isn't it a bit insulting he did that, as if trying to cover it up so I wouldn't notice?!? "Oh yeah, they did some bracing to fix it." I was told ... lies,... no change in the deflection of the floor whatsoever. Because of the builder I had to postpone closing. I tell them to fix the floor again.
Week Four: Honestly, a lot of items got addressed here,.. guess what,... still the floor is not fixed. I tell them again to fix the floor.
Week Five: Due to unfinished items had to postpone closing again. Home inspectors finally came. That's $300 out of my pocket. A lot of items fixed again,... still the floor is not fixed. Inspectors recommend having a structural engineer analyze the floor, joists, and foundation wall.
Week Six: Closing postponed indefinitely due to builder not taking care of things he ought to have in the first place - the floor (big surprise?). I spoke with 10 structural engineers and showed them pictures and described the deflections / beam layout / joisting. 5 told me I should walk away from it considering this house is only 1 year old and brand new. The other 5 told me they charge $500 minimum for "a letter of recommendations" and they'd suggest making sketches for $1,000 - $1,500 since the builder has not fixed this item to date. They said "since his contractors probably have no more than an 8th grade education (looking at the way this joisting was done) it is obvious they need sketches to follow." Notice that is in quotation marks? That's for a reason - two engineers told me almost the exact same thing.
Week Seven: The builder calls me and tells me he found an engineer for $500 and suggests we go with him since he can come out right away and he's cheap. I tell them great, hire him, pay for it, go for it. Builder says he won't pay for it.
Okay, let's take a moment here. WHAT THE FUCK?!?!? This moron says he won't PAY for it when I don't even own the house yet? HELLO? Isn't this supposed to be a NEW house?!? You know,.. one that is completely safe and structurally sound, with all the major items from the initial contract already addressed and FIXED ?!?!? BEFORE the buyer ever does a walk through?
Look, asshole.... learn to do the type of work that you can take pride in. Sure the house looks really nice, and I'd have loved to move into it, but YOU broke this deal when you didn't meet the contract by fixing the major items listed on it. A new home should be built to where it is structurally sound and a buyer should NOT,... absolutely NOT have to worry about a beam popping up in the kitchen floor in front of the dishwasher,... or the floor deflecting half an inch down along a wall in the living room where a tv or a couch is going to be. This is especially true in a house that is less than ONE YEAR OLD !!! Get a fucking clue. Grow up. Take responsibility for your work and fixed the God Damned Floor like you should have in WEEK ONE, instead of covering it up and feeding me bullshit every week about how you did something to better it when you obviously didn't!
Yes, I already packed a lot of my stuff in order to move. Yes, my landlady found someone to rent my current apartment on December 1st. Yes, I wanted to move into that new house, but ya know what? I gave him PLENTY of chances and time to fix it and make it right. Ever played baseball? He had more than 3 strikes on that floor issue, and he still fucked it up by being a dorkstick.
So yes, I'm out a lot of time and effort and money due to him. Home inspectors, tons of gasoline driving out there and back every other day, and two frikkin months that I feel are wasted due to his incompetence. Not to mention the wonderful Dana (my Realtor), who drove back and forth out there trying to resolve issues, and the mortgage people who dealt with this case.... what a shame that he wasted their time too.
Monday, November 07, 2005
Some time ago...
Remember when I told you Elvis et al. came to visit? Well,... I forgot these pictures were on my cell phone. And now that I figured out how to send them directly to my blog from my phone, I'll send them over. :)
Enjoy,.. and Elvis,.. sorry in advance palso that you're in them. I know how you hate that. But hey, I have you in them so I can remember you - AS IF I could forget your wacky self, eh? =p ;)
Look! He's peeing in the middle of the road!
Nobody ever drives backwards anymore.
It's a test!
Black Capped Chickadee day? Why yes, it IS on the calendar.
Of course we can go on a field trip. All we need is keys to a state vehicle.
Chris,... I thought you were my friend.
Dude, you could be a better host than this you know.
Bubba, give me my damn briefcase.
Freddy Wisham - OB-Gyn
Butch would do it for a case of beer.
You did SO fart on the wall.
It's only a shark wound to the head.
Umm... basket #2.
Why the hell would you raise 60,000,000 artisans, Troy?!?
Antidisestablishmentarianism.
Yessir,.. 365 Miami.
Hair Helmet!
Hey Larry, Let me drive your car.
Can I hold your pen? No, I won't break it.
Boone's Farm.
Soft Batch!
What? Cisco and 7? Isn't that the same as a hurricane?
90 shrimp for the bar please.
signed,..... James Douglas Morrisson
Enjoy,.. and Elvis,.. sorry in advance palso that you're in them. I know how you hate that. But hey, I have you in them so I can remember you - AS IF I could forget your wacky self, eh? =p ;)
Look! He's peeing in the middle of the road!
Nobody ever drives backwards anymore.
It's a test!
Black Capped Chickadee day? Why yes, it IS on the calendar.
Of course we can go on a field trip. All we need is keys to a state vehicle.
Chris,... I thought you were my friend.
Dude, you could be a better host than this you know.
Bubba, give me my damn briefcase.
Freddy Wisham - OB-Gyn
Butch would do it for a case of beer.
You did SO fart on the wall.
It's only a shark wound to the head.
Umm... basket #2.
Why the hell would you raise 60,000,000 artisans, Troy?!?
Antidisestablishmentarianism.
Yessir,.. 365 Miami.
Hair Helmet!
Hey Larry, Let me drive your car.
Can I hold your pen? No, I won't break it.
Boone's Farm.
Soft Batch!
What? Cisco and 7? Isn't that the same as a hurricane?
90 shrimp for the bar please.
signed,..... James Douglas Morrisson
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
The wall above is about where you see the text - 3' 6" to this side of the existing laminated beam, parallel with it. In the distance on the right you can even see the hairline fracture in the front foundation wall if you look closely (it is at a 45 degree angle almost, indicating the load has stressed to that one side. The wall above the text is the divider wall between the living room and the kitchen where a stove rests, and an entertainment center will be. This house is one year old and I'm trying to buy it, but I want to be sure the framing / foundation is strong and will last. Thanks!
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