You can’t go!!! All of the plants are going to die…

Wait, I don’t have any plants… Ok, as I’m sitting here writing, I have the movie Stripes (1981) starring Bill Murray and Harold Ramis (Movie link)  playing in the background. The opening scene has Bill Murray’s girlfriends walking out on him. The scene is pretty funny especially when he says, “You can’t go!!! All of the plants are going to die...” I guess in a way I feel the same way with the tenant upstairs… After about two years of occupying the apartment upstairs, she officially gave her 30 day notice (It's Official). I do have to say the experience thus far has been pretty good. I certainly have no complaints. In reality, I should never expect anyone to stay in that apartment forever.

I will be attempting to have the apartment ready by April 1. I have a couple of things that I want to accomplish upstairs before I rent it out. But that won’t happen for a couple more weeks from now. So until then, lets focus on the first floor.

Yes, I’m still working on the hallway floor. I began my work on removing the corkboard flooring. Yes, the wonderful Search and Rescue crowbar was once again my weapon of choice. As I was chiseling the corkboard flooring away, I discovered a black paper that I think was a poor attempt to level the floor.

As you can see from the photo above, the door was wide open. After so many days of being below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, it was finally above 40 degrees… It was really nice outside, but I was working inside…of course….

However, later in the day after experiencing a beautiful sunny day, the snow decided to give us a visit, once again…

I guess I should focus… So after removing the rubbish, I started to install the 3/4 inch plywood. I had to shim plywood between the back door and bathroom. It would appear at one time there was a cast iron radiator and the weight of it had sunk part of the floor.

I had to cut the plywood to fit around the baseboard radiator.

As I was crawling around the floor, I had felt a cold blast of air coming from the floor by the door. So, I decided to fill the crack with an expandable sealing weather foam.

After filling in the cracks with the expandable seal weather foam, I was then able to install the new flooring. The plan was to install the same peal and stick flooring that was used in the kitchen and bathroom. However,I decided to wait until the following morning. It was pretty late and I was pretty tired from all of the work thus far…

So the following morning, I awoke to find that the expanding weather seal foam had preformed as designed… However, I think I over did it… 

Prior to installing the new floor, I had to cut the excess foam back. But I was even more shocked when I found the expandable weather seal foam can. Apparently the can shutoff had malfunctioned, thus, here was the results.. OOPS!!!

Once my foaming issue was taken care of, I was able to finally install the peal and stick flooring.

Here is the result… I’m so excited that this project is finally complete. It’s now time to move onto another project. But, I won’t worry about that now. Until next time, happy building…

The crowbar that rescued me…

The 2011 winter season thus far has certainly been an interesting one. Recently mother nature poured enough snow on our wonderful Massachusetts state that I think it will be well after May before it’s gone… On one day, mother nature poured about 2 feet of snow. Since that day, the snow has continued to fall. The snow has been piling up and I really don’t know where it’s all going to go… Well that is a silly statement, we all know it’s going to eventually melt… But if it snows again, it’s going to be extremely difficult to enjoy summer…

I have to admit, beside having to snow blow the driveway every other day, I can finally have time to finish the apartment. I’ve been working on this house for a long time and I still have a lot that needs to be done. I have one final major renovation that needs to be completed. A lot of the things that still need to be done to the apartment are small. But this one project could not hold out any longer. The lovely hallway floor… I started this little project back in December 2009 (So much to do...). Yes it has been awhile… But it’s time to push this bad boy to the top of the list..

For the last year I’ve been living with the floor looking like this. I had started to remove this portion of the floor, but it was extremely difficult at the time, so I decided to change projects… Well later is now…

This pictures shows a good reason for my problem. The floor has two layers of Linoleum floor and a concrete backing…Actually, the concrete backing is a floor level that cures like concrete… The entire floor was covered with this stuff. The flooring level was more of a headache then doing any good.

I had to peel the top layer of the linoleum like an orange. I have to admit, removing the floor layer was extremely exhausting. It took me about 2 days to remove the rind like surface. Two days later, here I am…The first layer of the floor completed.

The next step was a little more difficult to complete then removing the linoleum flooring. Once I removed the top layer linoleum flooring, I discovered two layers of Luan plywood that were .25 inch thick. This could explain why the floor had an excessive amount of drywall screws and floor level compound…

Initially, I was going to use an adhesive remover to get access to the drywall screws. Basically, I was going to remove the rind like surface and then unscrew the Luan Plywood off… But I realized that it would take me even longer… So enter the Search and Rescue Crowbar…

The search and rescue crowbar was my tool of choice when removing the Luan Flooring… As you can see, underneath the Luan flooring was the wonderful corkboard plywood…

As you can see from the picture above, the corkboard absorbs any liquids that falls on it. You can also note the drywall screws used to secure the Luan Plywood in the top picture

I finally removed the crappy flooring… Next on the list is to remove the corkboard flooring and replace it with 1/2 –3/4 inch plywood. After that, I’m going with the peel and stick flooring… Anyway, until next time happy building…

‘Twas the night after Christmas..

One night after all of the Christmas celebrations were completed, I awoke to hear a dreadful noise from the basement. The furnace/boiler had started to act up that night. After fixing the issue I thought of this poem. Below you will find a modified version of Clement Clarke Moore’s, “ ’Twas the night before Christmas” Poem.  I just happen to change it around to include the recent furnace/boiler frustration that I had encountered that night. Please enjoy.

‘Twas the night after Christmas, when all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse… The stocking were empty by the radiator, the dishes filled in the sink In hopes that the Cleaning Fairy would soon appear.

I was nicely snug in my bed, so warm and sweet, with visions of warm beaches danced in my head. I had just settled my brain for a long winter’s nap.

When out of the basement arose such a clatter, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter… Away to the thermostat, I flew like a flash, Pressed on the button with no response

The thermostat light gave way to brightness of mid-day objects. When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, But icicles from the radiator vent.

With a little old puff, so small and quick, I knew in a moment it must be sick. It didn’t whistle or clang, and or called no names… And then, in a twinkling, I heard from the basement The prancing and banging of each pipe.

 As I walked down to the basement, and through the door Down the pipes came the pressure with a bounce. The pipes were covered with rust and dust, from top to bottom.

The furnace/boiler all blue with ashes and soot. A bundle of pipes that were hung from the back It looked like a B1 Bomber, but hummed like an engine with a cough. The flame how it twinkled! The fire was merry. The warmth was welcoming, the color was red and orange

The furnace/boiler was small and square, It shook when it stopped, like a freight train racing through the air.

It was loud and old, a sad little elf, And I cried when I saw it, in spite of myself! A bang of the pipe and a thump from the water, Soon gave me to know, I was in trouble.

It spoke not a word, but went straight to a cough and filled all of the pipes with heat, and then banged with a jerk

And giving a puff and poof, up the chimney the heat rose!

I sprang to my feet, to a whistle from the vent, And away I flew to the radiator vent for repair, But I heard the furnace/boiler exclaim, ‘ere the noise died down, “I’ll keep you up all night, and to all a night of no sleep”

With that said, my furnace/boiler was recently repaired to remove the locomotive noise that had been haunting me for sometime (All Engines are a go). But recently, the noise has returned. This time I believe I may have found the smoking gun. The icicle air vent…

George D Hoffman invented the first thermostatic steam air vent in 1912. Hoffman design incorporated a float that sat in a alcohol/water mixture. When the alcohol/water mixture reached temperature, the float would claps and shut the vent to create a seal that would prohibit steam from escaping. Today’s designs are similar to the original Hoffman’s concept but I’m told with a diaphragm.

The maximum operating pressure for a shut off valve is 10 psi, which is the highest pressure that can be utilized without it breaking. Furnace/Boilers are equipped with a high pressure limit switch that turns off the burner when pressure exceeds a preset level usually 5 – 7 psi. A residential steam heating systems are always designed to operate at a very low pressure, about .5 psi. My system has been operation at a level higher than required (of course). If the system is too high in pressure, the air vents might stay closed.

The differential was set at 4. So if the cut-out pressure was at 5 psi, the system could possibly see about 9 psi. This is pretty close to the maximum operational pressure for the vent.  As you can see from the photo above, I adjusted the differential to about 1.5.

The demand of heat to fill the room may have caused the furnace/boiler to work overtime. Thus causing the valve to stay closed due to the large amounts of pressure that had continued to build up within the piping system.

Thus with the vent shut at 2 in the morning, I guess I should not be surprised to find the radiator and vent to be ice cold. The closed valve is located in the same room as the thermostat, the living room. The thermostat had never reaching its required temperature thus calling for a demand of heat to fill the room.

The new vent is now in place with the pressure limiter adjusted to the appropriate settings. I guess we’ll have to see what happens next. Well until next time, happy building… 

Landlord…You have to start somewhere…

I have been getting a lot of questions about being a landlord. Several people have expressed interest in pursuing the landlord world. Some of the question that have been asked are like:

“How do I respond to someone that doesn’t pay rent?”

“What is the law on heating?”

“Where do I place my advertisements for my rental property?”

“How do I get background checks?”

“What is considered a repair and/or improvement expense?”

“Will I get rich?”

I had the same questions when I started this little adventure back in July 2008 (In the Beginning). With a lot of hard work and upfront planning, I’m happy to say that I’m successfully on my second tenant for my second floor apartment. This coming Spring, I’ll be accepting applications for the first floor apartment (my current residents). By Fall 2011, I hope to have a second property that will be accepting additional tenants.

To be honest, I really don’t know how I’ll  initially respond to a tenant that doesn’t pay their rent. However, if I conduct my pre-application credit and background checks appropriately, I don’t expect to experience this… Although I do know that if a tenant did do this, then I’ll need to send a “Pay or Quit notice”… What is a “Pay or Quit Notice”…. Well it just that, pay the rent or Quit the lease, thus move out. However, evicting someone in Massachusetts isn’t that easy… There are many more rules that need to be followed when evicting a tenant. But, let me stop you here… We could do this all day, you ask me a question, then I answer. Then you ask another question and so on… But the real question that you should be asking is, … ”how do you know all these answers?” My answer to you is, I certainly don’t know all of the answers, but I do know where to get it. That is the key… So let me help you get started….

I was once told that you can give a person a fish and they will eat for a day.. Teach a person how to fish and they will eat for a lifetime or until the pond dries up… However, I’ve always wondered, does the person already know how to cook a fish? But I guess that is another lesson…

Anyway, back in 2008 when I started this little adventure, I quickly realized that getting the “correct” information was a little more difficult than I originally thought. I began my research by utilizing the internet and by visiting the local book stores. All of the information that I encountered were extremely general. Because the books were too general, I could not find the appropriate information that I needed.

Here is one piece of information that you should certainly know… Every State has their own laws and requirements with regards to renting to tenants. So you need to find out what they are. I say this, because I remember someone telling me, “Because you live in a duplex, you can tell people that you don’t have to accept them because they have children.” Let me tell you this, in Massachusetts, that is against the law, so good luck with that battle in court…

To be honest, it wasn’t until I took a Landlord Tenant Law class that I had realize that statement to be false. When the apartment upstairs was ready for its first occupant. (April 2009) I happened to be reading the newspaper and found that a local college was actually offering a class on being a landlord in Massachusetts. In the class, I was taught the “ideal” practices of being a landlord in Massachusetts… The class covered how to: generate a lease, get credit history, understand sanitary codes, communicating with tenants, generate eviction notices and procedures, manage security deposits, advertise within the law and so on…

The biggest thing that I took away from the class was the horror stories. The repeat offenders that understand the law and use it to their advantage… Basically they take advantage of a landlord that doesn’t require the background checks. The class was taught by an experience landlord that saw all aspect of being a landlord. The one thing that was stressed within the class was to conduct the credit and background checks on ALL applicants. I feel that by doing the background checks on all potential tenants, 95% of the would be bad apples, would not apply. The other 4% would get caught… And the 1% will be the new beginners… I highly recommend this class and/or a class like this…

Second advice, you have to realize that your rental property is now a small business. You have to treat your property like a business… You need to be able to manage the property, the tenant and finance, like a business. I’ve experience cost overruns and mental breakdowns. Those issue may have been caused by weather (Where's the tarp), injuries (Thank you) and/or life in general (I give you cabinet doors)… But, I’ve overcome the stated stresses because I’ve created a plan and was able to fall back to working the plan… (Finally some motivation) Most importantly you need to be patient. 

Managing the three items can be a daunting task. But everything comes in stages… The one thing that is certainly a constant is finance. As a small business owner, we don’t start a business wanting to be in the red all of our life… So create a budget… Do the required research on your property: i.e. local rental cost, compare benefits, compare amenities, insurance, taxes, current utility expenses, improvement cost estimate and repair cost estimate. I would recommend basically do a cost analysis on your property. Your goal within that cost analysis is to have your expenses less than your income. Basically you want to generate a profit… However don’t shoot for the stars when it comes to profit. I have to admit, you are not going to be rich overnight… But the extra income certainly helps around Christmas time…

By having a rental property, the government recognizes your property as a small business. Thus you are permitted the same tax benefits that a small business would have, with limitations of course. Also remember, your tax season is really all year long… Everything you purchase that is required for the rental property can possibly qualify for some type of tax break… Be it a repair, improvement, overhead expense, and so on… I highly recommend the book below if you are going to be become a landlord. The book gives excellent recommendation on financial bookkeeping for landlords. If you don’t feel comfortable in doing your taxes, you can always hire an accountant to do your financial books and taxes… But remember, that will cost you money as well… When doing your tax returns, Turbo Tax, the Premier version is extremely helpful for people with rental properties.

Paperback: 547 pages

Publisher: NOLO; 7 edition (December 1, 2010)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1413312772

ISBN-13: 978-1413312775

Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7 x 1.2 inches

Paperback: 336 pages

Publisher: NOLO; 1st edition (February 27, 2009)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1413309119

ISBN-13: 978-1413309119

Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches

I’ve been fortune enough to have some excellent tenants. I think partly because I’ve been honest and upfront with them. (Its Official) The relationship of a tenant and landlord should be just that, tenant and landlord. Being a friend to a tenant is possible, but it become difficult if issues arise. However, getting to this point requires you to be diligent in doing the required background and credit checks up front.

I personally have an outside company that conducts the required background checks. The information is all stored with this company, thus if they fail your criteria, the company denies the tenant. Basically the company only gives you a Yes or No recommendation. Thus if the applicant feels that they were denied incorrectly, they must contact the company. Additionally, one item that I’ve told my tenants, “if you know you’re not going to be able to pay the rent on time, please give me advance notice of the issue.” For example, if the first of the month is on a Monday and you don’t get paid until Thursday, I can wait… But don’t wait until Monday to tell me… This has certainly helps both the tenants and me.

I also recommend that you read a lot about how to fixing things around the home. Visit the hardware store, ask for advice, go online… It’s ok to purchase the Big Box Hardware store self-help books, they are filled with so much useful information. If you are not comfortable with tools, it might be helpful to take a woodworking class. Many schools still offer after school programs for adults. The cost of doing things yourself is both rewarding and less expensive.

All of this becomes especially helpful when you have to hire a license contractor. Basically when they are trying to explain things to you, you have an idea of what they need to do. Or better yet, realize they maybe over-charging you… For example, I had a contractor tell me that to replace my windows it would cost me $1000 per window. That would include the window and installation… I have over 32 windows or $32,000… I read a couple of books and realized that I only needed to remove 4 screws and install a replacement window… At my local big box hardware store, I found some replacement energy efficient windows for about $150 per window… If I replaced all 32 windows, I would have saved over $27200 by doing it myself…(How much again...)

For my final advice, I can’t guarantee that you will be rich. I can’t guarantee that you are going to find the model tenant. I can’t guarantee that you will find the perfect multi-family house that doesn’t need repairs…But when you are fixing your place, remember it’s just a rental property… What I mean by this statement is, when you are debating on 2 different colors of paint that are extremely similar, however, one is just a smidge lighter… Does it really matter? It’s just a rental property…

I hope you enjoyed this segment. I know it’s a departure from my normal postings, but it’s the New Year and I’m not in the fixing mood… If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask within the comment section… Until next time, Happy Building and Happy New Year…

What beautiful snow…

2010 Christmas has come and gone. However, this year, it wasn’t the traditional white Christmas until the day after. It was actually a blizzard that hit the northeast. The weather was so strong that a Sunday Night football game in Pennsylvania was postponed to the following Tuesday. In some areas of Massachusetts, snow thickness reached well over a foot.

With a fresh layer of powder on the ground, I awoke to clean the driveway. I walked down to the basement to get the proper equipment to complete the job. My lovely snow blower has been comfortably sitting in the basement next to the B-1 bomber furnace all year. The snow blower has been enjoying a wonderful vacation in the cool basement during the hot summer nights. But now it’s time to get to work.

I went through the pre-start checklist: gas level, oil level and key. Ok, everything is a go… I pulled on the start cord.. But nothing… I repeated to pull on the start cord… but nothing again…I repeated to pull on the start cord for several minutes… But still nothing…Then the first curse word was mentioned…

I realized that I didn’t do my pre-season snow blower preventative maintenance checks. A couple of weeks ago as I was sitting outside enjoying the fall weather, I happened to notice a neighbor doing his preventative maintenance checks to his snow blower. At that time I thought, “Yea, I have to check my snow blower out as well.”

Yea, that is correct, I didn’t do it… So there I was standing there in the cold basement wondering what could be the issue. While I stood there, I happen to realize that my snow blower has an electric starter…Basically I get to press a button and it should start. So I plug in the required cord into their respective outlets. I then pressed the electric start button… The starter whined… But, yet nothing… The second curse word was mentioned…

So there I was standing there in the cold basement wondering what cold be the issue… The next thought was the possibility that the spark plug may be old. I had removed the spark plug to find some carbon build up. With snow still in the driveway, it would be difficult to get another spark plug. Then I had a thought, “Maybe the lawn mower might have the same spark plug”

Bingo… It worked. The spark plugs were the same. But the snow blower was still not starting…I realized that the gas maybe stale. If gas is stored in a snow blower for a long period of time, the potency of the gas will degrade. It’s a good idea to put gas stabilizer into the snow blower at the end of the season if the gas tank is not empty. The stabilizer would refresh the gas for at least two years. The third curse word was mentioned.

I had already installed fresh gas into the snow blower, thus the issue maybe the gas within the fuel lines. So I pressed on the gas primer and the electric starter for several seconds, in hopes that the bad gas would flush out. The snow blower finally cranked over. I was finally able to finish cleaning the driveway.

The lesson here… Do your preventative maintenance checks prior to the season. Anyway, I want to wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year. Until next time… Happy Building…

All engines are a go…

Winter is right around the corner… You know what that means… Snow, Christmas, winter coats and the wonderful B-1 Bomber of a boiler starting it’s engines…Yes this year the boiler began its’ wonderful thunderous banging that sounds like a locomotive racing through my basement… This was an issue last February (Empty Shelves) that was not completely fixed. But prior to addressing this issue, my hip/back injury decided to resurface once again. So I decide to take a break throughout the month of November. So doing things around the house was a little limiting.

Also part of my limitation of doing things around the house was due to a wonderful holiday that just passed… Thanksgiving… I love having a gathering of food, family and friends in once place. This year, I had family and friends came over for a wonderful dinner. Basically I was able to show off the new kitchen. I’m happy to report that there were no issues with the new dishwasher, sink and/or counter. I got positive feed back from family and friends with the accomplishments of the kitchen. Here are a couple of pictures showing the family in the kitchen.

Nieces Audia and Nylevea

  Mom, Nylevea and Fredy

I was certainly grateful that the dishwasher was installed. After eating dinner, the dishwasher had efficiently cleaned all of the dishes prior to me going to sleep.Thus my cleaning time was reduced by 4 days…

The following morning the B-1 boiler had started it’s engines. At 5 in the morning, the pipes began to violently bang. The banging had carried on for about 5 minutes. I was unable to fall back to sleep.  I was extremely exhausted and frustrated that I decided to contact Ken.

    The wonderful cause of all of my problems

Ken evaluated the piping and realized that the vents that I had installed were incorrect. The vents that were installed are for high pressure water systems. My issue  is that I have a high pressure steam system. The furnace/boiler would produced steam within the pipes when kicked on. Well once the room within the house reaches the required temperature the furnace/boiler would shut off. The pressure within the pipes would be trapped within the returned water. This would cause water that is generated from condensation to bounce back and forth. Basically the high pressure steam had no place to go… The new vents would allow the pressured steam to escape and minimize the hammering within the pipes.

        The new vent

Since installing the new vents, I have not heard any noise since. I am finally able to sleep through the night… So it is certainly a good start… Well believe December will be a slow remodeling months. Thus I hope everyone will have a safe and joyful Christmas. Well until next time, happy building…

Time to install the floor…

For me, returning home from any trip is always pretty dreadful. It’s not that I hate travelling I actually like it… It’s really just the feeling of having to return and deal with things around the house.. The enjoyment of going on any trips is the excitement of not doing any house work… Although in reality, I’m only delaying my responsibilities for another day… or actually….another week…

The month of October has been pretty exciting in the travelling department. The lower back pain that haunted me during the summer has made me a travelling fool for the month of October… I have to admit, the cold weather has helped with my travelling decisions. I was fortune enough to travel to San Francisco, California and San Juan, Puerto Rico… With the relaxing view below, you can see how the trip was worth it… Ok, I have to admit, the view of my foot and crusty toes may not help in your decision.. But, the warm water, 95 degree weather and cloudless sky might influence you…

My girlfriend and I, sitting by the beach in San Juan taking in some rays…. Boy did I need some sun 

Here I am at Fort San Felipe del Morro “El Morro” in San Juan

Sentry Box at the “El Morro”

A couple of house in Old San Juan

While walking around in Old San Juan, we came across some property that looked pretty interesting and decent (Picture below)…Then of course the gears in my head started to crank… The smoke started to flow from my ears…What if I purchased a vacation home in Puerto Rico? What if I purchase a little house that I could rent year round? What if I purchase a 2 family home in Puerto Rico? One permanent resident and vacation home… HOLD ON!!! Pump the brakes… Pump the brakes… I need to slow things down… I need to finish my original project before I jump onto another one… Ok let’s move on… But the idea is certainly in the back of my mind…

The house on the right is the property we came across…

Anyway, now that I have fulfilled my vacation quota for the year, I guess it is time to really get back to working on the house. I can now say that I have a new motivation in getting thing done. Like the vacation home idea, but also the news that I will be hosting both Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve at my house this year… You know what that mean, set a bunch of goals to finish certain projects before the holidays and actually do one project out of 25… 

However this year, I feel pretty confident that my project list will be much least than last years. This year, the biggest project was the kitchen and that is almost completed… After this weekend I’m certainly one step closer in finishing… This weekend I decided to finish the floor.

  The green monster

I first had to clean the room and remove all of the stuff from the floor… After doing so, I realized I had missed painting the base boards…

 

Once the trim was completed, I began to remove the excess shims from the cabinets…

It is certainly not an Angel moment unless I get injured somehow… So here we go… I was using a utility knife to cut a line across the wood shims… After doing making the cut, I would take a flat head screwdriver and lift on the shim and snap, the shim is cut perfectly in line with the kitchen cabinet.. Easy, right? Ok so, I’m on my hands and knees cutting and lifting, tooling along… I’m on the 4th one, when  I’m lifting on the screw driver, my hand slips off… I slip forward towards the floor, my hand instantly tries to brace for the impact against the cabinet and floor… But instead of feeling a solid thud, I feel a sharp pain in my left hand ring finger… As I quickly remove my hand from the sharp object that stabbed my finger, blood trickles down my finger…A shard of glass was momentarily stuck to my finger and fell to the ground…

  Good cut… Bleeding through the bandage..

After cleaning and placing a bandage on my finger, I started to clean the floor. I swept and mopped up all of the dirt prior to placing the peal and stick tiles down.

 So it all started here…

 

Well the kitchen is almost there… About 95% complete thus far… I still need to fix a couple of electrical outlets.. I also need to install the window trim… But until next time, happy building and Happy Halloween… 

I give you cabinet doors...

A couple of weeks ago, I was flying home from San Francisco and had a brief stop in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. As I sat by my departing gate, I began to think about my life of travels. At that moment, I happen to notice three young men walking together towards the exit of the airport. The three men were dressed extremely different from each other. However, their stride was together, as if they are going to the same destination. Each person was carrying a vanilla envelope with their military orders taped to the outside.

Seeing these three young men, reminded me of my walk with my vanilla envelope. I remember the bus ride to Sand Hill, Fort Benning, Georgia back in 1993. The moment the bus entered the base, I remember a big knot formed in my throat. I also remember my gut turning when the bus stopped... I remember the Drill sergeant walking onto the bus. The bus was extremely quiet while he stood there… You could have heard a pin drop if it did. The Drill Sergeant inhaled for a second and began to yell. All I remember him saying was, “Get off my bus!!!”

But that was many years ago, as I sat there at the airport, I had looked at their young faces and was reminded of my baby face when I reported for duty. I had such a young face, that I was able to shave every other day. Today, that is a different story... Looking at these young men now, I’m proud to see that young men and women are still answering the call of duty. But, I certainly pray for them. I pray for these young men to come home quickly and safely… These days, the demands on the military forces are extremely high.

I mention this observation because, I’m proud of these young men. But most importantly, when you happen to see a young man and/or woman with a vanilla envelope, you’ll have an understanding what they are about to do. That they have joined a brotherhood of men and women that volunteered their lives to protect us and our way of life…


The layover was really because I took a mini vacation trip to San Francisco. I was able to see the Golden Gate Bridge, a Giants Game and Alcatraz. Here are a couple of pictures from my trip.

Golden Gate Bridge from Fort Point

Here I am standing in front of the Golden Gate Bridge

If you ever happen to be in San Francisco and plan on taking an Alcatraz tour… I recommend the night tour. The tour was a lot of fun and extremely informational. Also a little spookie...

But my first free weekend since returning, I was able to install the cabinet doors… Here is a picture of my kitchen with the cabinet doors and hardware installed..

The only thing that is left in the kitchen is the floor and window trim… After that, I can move onto another project within the house.. Until next time, happy building…