I tried to be unbiased in this poll I created for today’s blog entry. Once again it seems The Bush Administration was asleep at the switch while the country was heading down the tubes. If president Bush didn’t want to run the country then why did he run for office?
Even though I am sick and tired of the Bush Administration, I tried to give everyone a selection on the poll, regardless of how you feel. So please make the appropriate selection below.
Me?! Have second thoughts about the work I’ve done?!? Never. Well, almost never. Ok, damn it, all the time. Today I cut and sort of installed the marble backsplash on the two corner cabinets. The pieces of marble are cut to length, but the ends aren’t finished and they are not secured to anything. They are just sort of sitting in place for the party tomorrow. The plan is to finish them this weekend. Here is a picture of the one I’m having problems with.
There are two problems with this picture. But before I get in to that, let’s all take a minute to admire the beauty of this marble. This picture just does not do it justice at all. The veining and splotches of gray and black look like something from a 1970s acid trip….a good acid trip. It is just beautiful.
Its not like what you are seeing is a mistake or anything. This is how I planned it, but to me this is an excellent example of how things can appear in my mind in one way, and then in reality they don’t really work. The plan was to always have the casing come down and meet the counter and then have the backsplash sit in between the casing. This is not right.
The backsplash should extend to the end of the counter and then the casing come down on top of the backsplash. To be honest, even that is barely acceptable. If I had had the room I would have the casing go all the way down to the floor on either side of the cabinet and then the backsplash fill-in between the casing. Maybe this lead to my obvious design flaw. In my mind I was picturing casing and backsplash and not taking in to account that the counter was going to be filling in more room than it normally would.
The other problem is the thickness of the backsplash. This should be the twoseeem marble (that is 2 centimeter marble for the uninitiated). I had originally intended to get twoseeem marble for both the counter and backsplash. The twoseeem marble is about the same thickness of the casing. What I ended up having to get was the threeseeem marble (That would be 3 centimeters). It works for the counter but doesn’t work for the backsplash. It just looks odd.
So here are my choices. One, do nothing. Finish off the pieces as best I can and hope that I won’t notice after a while. Two, get longer pieces of threeseeem marble that will extend the full width of the counter and cut the casing back. The guys at the marble place have already told me they don’t have now, nor do they have any plans in the future, to bring in more twoseeem marble. Three, get rid of the marble altogether and make a wood backsplash and paint it the same color as the beadboard. Four, go back to the monument maker who has small pieces of twoseeem (I think) and see if he will cut me new backsplash pieces. This would only really work if it was a good match to what is there now.
I haven’t done a poll in a long time, so let’s put it too a vote. Of course, I’ll end up doing what I want any way, but just like in national politics, it will give you the feeling that you really have a say it what is going to happen.
OK, so we all do it. We all look at our blog stats or counters to see how many people read our blogs. It’s kind of like looking at yourself in the mirror just after you get out of the shower. There’s nothing the matter with it so long as you don’t stand there forever and go on and on about how stunning you look. The reality is, most of us are not completely satisfied with what we see in the mirror, nor will we every be completely satisfied with the number on the hit counter. You can never be too thin, too rich, too young, or have too many people visit your blog.
I noticed some changes just after I switched to The New Blogger (a.k.a. Blogger Beta). For some reason I was getting about 350 page views a day with the old Blogger, but a few weeks after I switched to the new Blogger I was averaging closer to 600 page views a day. I can’t help but wonder if Google did something so that the New Blogger posts - not just mine, of course, but any New Blogger post – would come up higher in a Google search result. This would increase the click-throughs to Blogger pages and maybe increase ad revenue for Blogger pages that have Ad Sense, which most do. Technically, I don’t think that constitutes “Being Evil”, but if something like that is happening it does beg the question of just how egalitarian the Google search results are. The only other explanation I can think of is that the quality of my writing improved 40% over a few weeks time, and we all know that didn’t happen.
Another intersting thing I noticed recently is that the number of daily hits dropped a bit in the days following my “Driving Traffic” post where I conspicuously and repeatedly dropped the names of several of the worlds current batch of one-hit-wonders. I’m not sure if that was just a coincidence, but I can tell you one thing, I’m never mentioning P*ris H*lton on my blog ever again.
So the question is: How Popular Are You? It’s just like high school all over again, isn't it? I decided to do page views because I don’t think every site distinguishes between unique visitors and over all page views. Here’s a brief explanation for those who don’t get the distinction. If one person comes to your site and views 5 different pages than that would equate to one unique visitor and five page views. You can also look at how long people stay at your site to give an indication of how much people enjoy your site. Five unique visitors who stay 20 minutes each would probably be better than 10 unique visitors who stay only 5 seconds each. Those 10 people must not be finding what they are looking for and they move on quickly and never get a chance to see your pretty and colorful ads that are just begging to be clicked on.
So go ahead and mark your vote and then see how you compare to your peers. Of course, in some ways this is all pointless because someone like me who writes incessantly on their blog has a good chance of having a higher count then someone who only posts occasionally. It's all in good fun, though.....unless I fare poorly in the poll. Then it really will be just like high school all over again {sniff}.
That’s not too subtle of a question, is it? Well, regardless of what you’re thinking right now, this a Poll Question about the size of your bathroom. In this instance, I’m willing to bet the answer is “No”, yours is not smaller than mine.
I pushed the claw foot tub in to the room over a year ago and it occupied most of the floor space ever since. On paper, the bathroom appeared to have enough space, but with the center of the room being taken up by 300 pounds of cast iron, it has been difficult to judge whether that is true or not. Yesterday, I finally pulled up the rest of the flooring and was able to shove the tub up against the back wall and in to the space it will eventually occupy. Suddenly, the space doesn’t seem so cramped. Still, by any measurement, this can not be considered a large bathroom.
So, I’m wondering how this measures up against other bathrooms out there in the Blogosphere. For the sake of this discussion, only full bathrooms will count. Powder rooms need not apply. Also, if you have more than one full bathroom use your smallest bathroom when answering this question. For instance, my upstairs bathroom measures in at a luxurious 106 sq ft, while the new downstairs bath will have a finished floor space of only a paltry 63 sq ft.
So the question is….
Yes, it has been a long time. What the heck happened, you ask. Well, as I’ve said time and time again, I’m basically a very lazy person. Oh, and there was the whole mad dash to finish the house painting before the weather changed.
Regardless of the reason, the weekly poll is back…..for now. The last poll - Remember, way back when? - asked about how we all pay for our obsessive house renovating. By far, the majority of us are on the go broke slowly approach and pay as we go. A daring few are using credit cards. Man, I hope those interest rates are low. Others are mortgaging their futures by spending savings and taking out home equity loans.
We have a few criminals among us. You guys totally rock! There are a few that live in fantasy land with a money tree in the backyard. No doubt fairies are doing most of the work while the home owners dream of finished projects snug in their beds.
As for the 2 people whose families are footing the bill, I just wanted to let you know that I am available for adoption. I’m quite, house trained – for the most part – and I won’t even show up for holidays if you don’t want me to. You say the word, and I’ll start the paper work.
This weeks poll deals with kids. Yesterday I was stripping some paint in the dining room, and I got to thinking how much more difficult this process would be if I had a rug-rat or 2 scurrying about. I have no doubt children are a great blessing, but when your house is ripped a apart it must be a bit of a blessing in disguise. How do you do it? On second thought, I don’t want to know. Let’s just get to the question.
So, the last Poll Question was either difficult to answer or it was a poorly written question. Most likely it was a little of both. With 54 votes it was the lowest turn-out by far of any of the questions. Of those who responded, the majority of us are planning a very busy and stressful year, with 12 of us planning on being maxed out.
Lots of things can cause stress, but I think most of us can agree that worrying about money is way up on the list. When working on projects around the house everything seems to cost more than you think it will. So this weeks questions is about Where The Money Comes From. Most of use probably use more than one source, so the question is really about the main source for the big projects?
That is a question many of us may ask ourselves at times. Why am I doing this? I could have bought that new condo and not have to deal with all this house renovation stuff. But that’s not what this is about. Really what I want to know is – What are you doing? Or more specifically - What are you planning on doing? To what extent are you going to be working on your house over the next 12 months.
I don’t read every entry from every blog, so it’s difficult for me to tell the extent to which people are working on their homes. Some HouseBlogs may be just about a kitchen renovation, while others may be about a long term, whole house renovation. That’s what this weeks poll question is about.....sort of.
I tried to come up with a way to express this in a poll question and I got the feeling I would never be able to describe all the different types of blogs with simple sentences like, “Renovating my kitchen” or “Complete rehab of crack house”. There would always be people left out.
There’s also the issue of the level of stress and disruption to one’s life that a particular job can make. Building a new garage and a gut remodel of a kitchen can cost the same money and take the same amount of time, but we both know which one is going to disrupt your life more.
Then there’s also the issue of time. Some people bought a home that maybe needed a few major jobs done, while others have places that can take years before they can be considered habitable. On top of that, we are all at different stages of completion.
So here’s the deal with this one. You decided what level of work you are planning over the next 12 months. Since we are kind of at the end of fiscal year for major house projects you need to think ahead. Thank about what sorts of projects you would like to tackle next year and then think about how they will impact your life. From there, rate it on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being little impact and 10 being the possibility of a nervous breakdown.
Some people think mine’s too big, but I like it, and I get a lot of compliments on it, so who cares. It can be tough to clean, but other than that it suits me just fine. Everybody’s different, right? Some like them big whether they need it or not, while others don’t. So the question is, Is Your House The Right Size For You?
Let’s make this another 2 part poll. First, What Size Is Your House, and then, Is This a Good Size For you? First though, lets look at last weeks question. The answers formed the classic Bell Curve.
It seems that the nesting instinct hits most people in their late 20s. It would be interesting to see if this is the same nation wide, or if HouseBloggers are a different breed. It would also be interesting to compare today’s statistics to those of 100 years ago. Did most people buy homes in their late 20s at the turn of the century, or did they start earlier or later?
Those are all good questions that I don’t have time to research and answer, so let’s move on. This week you are asked what the square footage of your current house is, and then you are asked if this size fits you well.
Just a quick note to bring attention to the results so far in this weeks poll question. If you haven’t voted, then vote. If you have voted, then click on the View button to see the results so far.
Ok, so it was no surprise that Paint Stripping was the number one Least Favorite house chore. I was surprised, however, that Plumbing was only out of the running by One Vote. Plumbing beat out Drywall/Plaster for being the least favorite thing to do! That was a little surprising. Drywall/Plaster didn’t even come in third, and it was close to being fifth! I’m blown away. I thought for sure it would come in a strong second after Paint Stripping. Either a lot of people have never tried to tackle this job themselves, or you’re all drywall/plaster savants and getting a smooth wall is as easy for you as breathing in and out.
Not me {*sigh*}.
Least Favorite House Project
This weeks question deals with when it was that you lost your mind and decided to become a homeowner. When was it that you decided to give up the blissful existence of being a carefree renter and take on the crushing responsibility of homeownership?
Or maybe you didn’t become a homeowner. Maybe you are a renter right now with a great place to live and a wonderful landlord who must take on the responsibility of fixing the leaky toilet and worrying about when the roof is going to go sailing off down the street. Even better, perhaps you’re still living in your parents basement getting stoned right this very minute. There are times when that sort of lifestyle doesn’t seem too bad, holed up in the basement, just waiting for The Rents to kick the bucket so you can cash in on your slovenly lifestyle. Ahhhh, it’s the stuff dreams are made of.
Just like any spineless politician during an election year, I was swayed by the latest poll results. I studied the data and listened to informed opinion, but in the end I caved after the latest poll was released and I did what most people wanted. Regardless of whether it was the right thing to do, the tree came down.
Overwhelming Support
Honestly, it was the right thing to do. It just so happens that this time The People were right. I think the front of the house will be much better for it’s demise. I was able to scrape the rest of the shingles today, and tomorrow I’ll putty and maybe start to sand the first story horizontal siding. If all goes will I may start to primer on Saturday, which in reality means Sunday or Monday.
All Gone
Back From Whence It Came
Tomorrow: The Gutter People
I’m seriously thinking about getting rid of the tree. I’m finding that I’m having to remove so many of it’s limbs in order to safely work on this corner that it’s either going to die any way, or it’s going to be ugly when I’m done with it.
Now that I’ve been working around it for the past few days, I’m not even sure if I like it that much anymore. Frankly, I think I’d rather look at the house. There is also the issue of it rubbing against the house in the wind (I’m trying to convince myself here). I’ve notice a lot of wear on the paint where some branches have rubbed on the house in the wind. Also, it’s getting to the point where, if it gets any higher, it may be able to start dropping stuff in the gutters.
And then there’s the spiders. Spider webs every where. I know spiders do a lot of good, but maybe this is too much of a good thing. Here is what the tree looks like right now. I’ve really had to cut it back on the two sides that face the two walls of the house. I cut the front back today, and tomorrow I’m going to have to cut it back on the left side to get the ladder up there. The tree is just getting mangled.
Am I killing it? Should I just cut it down? I'll ask the musical question, Should it stay or should it go, now? If it stays there will be trouble. If it goes there will be double. So come on and let me know…….
If you own 1 cat you are hopelessly average. Six people chose “Other” as the type of pet they own. I’m dying to know what those are. After giving it a lot of thought, I realize I didn’t put chicken on the list. Maybe that’s the ‘other’. To be honest, I don’t consider livestock as pets, and after I made the poll I regretted putting donkeys and horses on the list. It’s not that they don’t make fine pets, it’s just that you really don’t share your home with them.
I guess the results aren't too surprising. Dogs and cats were the strong leaders. There was a brief time around Wednesday or Thursday when I thought Dogs were going to overtake Cats. I didn’t check all the time, but I don't think cats ever fell out of first place throughout the entire week. I was happy to see a turtle owner out there. I’ve always had a soft spot for turtles.
With this weeks poll we get back to the basics – Home Improvement Projects. Specifically, Which Projects Do You Like The Least. At first I was going to make it a single selection poll. That is to say, you would have only gotten one choice to choose your least favorite type of project. After I created the poll, though, I had trouble picking my own least favorite. There are too many to choose from, and too many of them could easily be my least favorite at any given time.
So with that in mind, I decided to make this a multiple choice poll. There is nothing to stop you from choosing every item on the list as your least favorite, but that would defeat the purpose of the poll. This is all very scientific and it’s imperative that the results be accurate {cough}. So please limit your selection to your top three…..or, I guess that should be bottom three. Choose your 3 least favorite types of projects to do.
The new poll is in the sidebar and below are the results from last weeks poll questions. Below that is a gratuitous cat shot in honor of the winner from last weeks poll question.
How Many Pets Do You Share Your Home With
Select The Type of Pets You Live With
This week is a two part poll.
Judging from the comments I received from the series of posts about replacing the carpet in the apartments it seems that many of us share our homes with furry little friends. I have no doubt there are some fine feathered friends out there as well, along with some scaly ones. There are probably pets with more than 4 legs, and ones with no legs at all. It seems many of us live with a pet of some kind, so this weeks poll questions are devoted to them.
The first question asks How Many Pets You Share Your Home With. Note that termites, powder post beetles, and carpenter ants don’t count as pets. The second question is multiple choice and you are asked to Select The Type of Pets You Live With. Chose as many types as apply.
First, here are the results of last weeks poll.
How Many Pets Do You Share Your Home With
Select The Type of Pets You Live With
I kind of screwed up last weeks poll by leaving off some important house styles. That makes this weeks question a little odd for those of you who were left off the list, so to speak.
This week the question is, is your favorite house style the style of house you live in. Are you living the dream? Maybe it doesn’t matter, I guess, because the question can still apply to you whether your house style was on the list last week or not. So forget all that, and just answer the question.
Below this weeks poll question are the results from last weeks poll. Eventually I want to get the poll to show up in my sidebar but I haven’t had time to screw with it.
Yesterday I stumbled on to this site that hosts polls. I remembered that Nick over at Pigeon Point Project used to a do a weekly poll and it was a lot of fun, so I thought I resurrect the idea. Nick, if you feel I’m usurping your Polling Authority, say the word and I will gladly bow-out. Josh mentioned in a comment that those were in the early days of HouseBlogs and so a lot of current house bloggers may not be familiar with it. The poll questions were usually house related in some fashion. Very simple. You just make a selection and vote. You’re only allowed to vote once in a 7 day period.
My first thought was to just do a single poll for fun and not do a weekly poll. As Nick mentioned, it’s hard to come up with a new question week after week after week. After thinking about it over-night though, I started to think it might be fun. It may not happen every week, so we’ll see how it goes. What I’ll do is post a poll on my site on Saturday. You will have 1 week to vote, and then I’ll post the results the following Sunday for everyone to see.
If you missed yesterday’s poll question, click here to vote. You have until Friday the 18th. I now realize I made yesterday’s question in haste. My apologies to any Four-Square, Greek Revival, Prairie Style, Brownstone, or Row House fans out there for leaving your house style off the list. I’m sure there are other styles I forgot as well, but the converted missile silo is on there for all you people living in converted missile silos.
In other news….
I’ve actually set a goal and achieved it. This sort of thing rarely happens, so it’s kind of hard to believe. The goal was to paint the attic gable and the trim around the front stained glass window by Sunday and I actually did it! Wonders never cease.
The attic gable was no fun at all. For those not familiar with it, the attic gable has fish-scale shingles on it and it is waaaaaay up at the top of the house. There are three of them on the house, one on each side and a front gable. I think the technical term for them is “pent roof enclosed gable”. Each gable has a small window on it. I was able to do the side gable by hanging out the window.
I had thought that the front gable was wider than the side gables, but now I’m not so sure. I think it may taller but the width seems to be the same. The universe bestowed me with a 6’ 4” arm span so I’m able to reach about 90% of the shingles by hanging out the window. For those last few on the outside corners I use a clamping device that screws on to a broom stick handle. I bought the device at Sherwin Williams. It’s pretty simple. One end has threads that will screw on to a broom stick, or paint roller extension handle. The other end has a clamp on it. I clamp on the scraper to first scrap the shingles and a paint brush to paint them. It works surprisingly well.
I still have the tiny little gable up at the top of the house to do. I want to get that next week. It is a white-knuckle experience to climb up on the roof. I was up there once before to remove the asbestos shingles. I get up there by putting a ladder on the porch roof. Climbing the ladder isn’t a problem. Making the step from the ladder to the roof is. My palms are sweating just thinking about it.
The face of little gable has more fish-scale shingles on it. They will all need to be scraped, primed, and painted. I’m thinking of making a day of it so I only have to go up there once. I’ll put all the supplies in a backpack and pack a lunch. I can go up, scrape and prime, then eat lunch and let the primer dry. After lunch I’ll take in the sites from the high vantage point of the roof. Snap some pictures, of course. Maybe I’ll scrap a little mold off the roof shingles if I see any. After a while I’ll paint and then climb back down. Should be fun.
Almost!
This is what I started with
The whole gable was spider central
Gratuitous Attic Shot
Homer Simpson on achieving goals: All my life I've had one dream: to achieve my many goals.
Yes, it's the first - and maybe the last - Petch House Poll. I think it was The Pigeon Point Project that used to do a weekly poll. I can't blame them for stopping. Coming up with a new and clever question each week would be difficult. I stumbled across a site that supplies free polls so I figured, eh, what the hell.
Have fun kids!
Voting has closed and here's the results.
