Sigh. There never seems to be enough time to update the ole’ blog.
Here’s a too-brief-to-do-it-justice recap of the last month happenings:
My lovely parents were here in lovely Nor Cal (see Dad – I used it!) for a little over a week. The vacation, urr, I mean “holiday,” started out smashingly: they picked up their rental car, drove to our house, and then whisked us away to Bodega Bay, where we stayed for 3 days/2 nights at an adorable seaside cabin. Beautiful weather, exciting whale watching (in October!!!), delicious seafood, much needed sleep, Texas Hold ‘Em, etc. Wonderful all the way around.
We returned home, did some other fun things like bowling with Dad & Mom (BTW they both got turkeys – AKA 3 strikes in a row – and kicked the pants off us younglings), and then had the roofers come midweek to reroof our house. This is where “vacation” came to an abrupt halt, and “ABORT! ABORT!” was all we could muster to mutter out of our mouths. Long story short: the roofers ripped off our roof and discovered some major problems, like that the our evil nemesis, the original builders of our house, decided to have 36" between rafters instead of the normal 24". They also did some funky things with the original 1x4's, yadda, yadda, yadda (no, I’m not “yadda yadda yadding over the best part… just wait). Because of all this, the roof would not pass inspection, so we tore off more stuff, added rafters, repaired a lot of junk, etc. My dad and Cody agreed to help the roof crew since the roofer was open to extra help (at $60/hour for labor, it adds up quickly, so it's nice that the guys could help).
So, Dad and Cody woke up on the day that all this roof repair stuff was supposed to go down and they were as sick as dogs. Flu sick. Sick. Sick. Sick.
Somehow, the guys managed to work on the roof despite this sickness – Cody fell through the rafters; my dad almost vomited off the roof (but he made it down the ladder just in time). Poor guys. The next day, they were feeling better, but still very ill, and continued to work on the roof. Fast forward: Continued roof drama, plus continued sickness. We finally got away again from The Money Pit on Saturday the 18th…. we spent all day at lovely Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, and even rode a double surrey (a 4-person bike that looks like an old model T Ford). On the way home, I got sick. On Monday, Mom got sick. Then Dad and Mom flew home.
Great vacation for Dad and Mom, huh! It was sure nice to have them here, though!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
IT PASSED!!!!
Riddled with Panic

Jovi and Buddy gave us a house key when they went on their honeymoon since we house-sat for them. We knew their home security code and their secret password.
Or perhaps I should say we thought we knew their home security code and their secret password.
On Tuesday after work, Jovi and Buddy kindly gave us permission to go to their house to pick up some potent termite killer since Buddy has insider pesticide connections. Kinda like the termite mafia, but I digress.
So, we swung by their house, and ChickenWing entered the house while I gathered stuff from the car.
Next thing I knew, I heard a blaring alarm coming from inside the house, and ChickenWing strolls out the front door calmly saying, “I set off the alarm.” Very matter-of-fact. Extremely composed.
Trying not to panic, knowing that the police would soon follow, and knowing that Jovi works with the police and would catch grief for our mistake for years, I called Jovi on her cell phone to tell her what was happening and to ensure I knew the password to tell the customer service person when the alarm company called.
She told me the password, I hung up, and went into the blaring house to tell ChickenWing what word to tell the alarm people.
He looked at me, and said, “Oh. Well, they already called and I told them “Death Tortoise” (the name of our blow-up boat), and they immediately hung up,” in a very relaxed, matter of fact tone.
“AHHHHHH!”
I called Jovi back, completely riddled with panic, and told her the bad news. She told me to pretend I was her and call the number posted on the alarm sign in their front yard. “Perfect!” I thought, “I’ll get arrested for breaking and entering, AND impersonation.”
So, I did it. I called. I lied. And thankfully the police were called off.
Later I found out that poor Buddy (Jovi’s husband) had gotten a call from the alarm company and said that a guy name “Tony” had broken into their home and that the police were on their way. FYI: “Tony,” “Cory,” “Toby,” etc. are all very close to ChickenWing’s real first name, which he gave to the alarm company when they called (?!?). Buddy didn’t think of this association, poor guy. It’s a husband's worst nightmare – his wife is about to enter their home, alone, with guy named Tony waiting for her – and he couldn’t do anything about it. He couldn’t get a hold of his wife because I was on the phone with her.
I feel sooooo horrible. And all this happened because of those nasty little boogers we call subterranean termites. And because we forgot the secret code. :)
Or perhaps I should say we thought we knew their home security code and their secret password.
On Tuesday after work, Jovi and Buddy kindly gave us permission to go to their house to pick up some potent termite killer since Buddy has insider pesticide connections. Kinda like the termite mafia, but I digress.
So, we swung by their house, and ChickenWing entered the house while I gathered stuff from the car.
Next thing I knew, I heard a blaring alarm coming from inside the house, and ChickenWing strolls out the front door calmly saying, “I set off the alarm.” Very matter-of-fact. Extremely composed.
Trying not to panic, knowing that the police would soon follow, and knowing that Jovi works with the police and would catch grief for our mistake for years, I called Jovi on her cell phone to tell her what was happening and to ensure I knew the password to tell the customer service person when the alarm company called.
She told me the password, I hung up, and went into the blaring house to tell ChickenWing what word to tell the alarm people.
He looked at me, and said, “Oh. Well, they already called and I told them “Death Tortoise” (the name of our blow-up boat), and they immediately hung up,” in a very relaxed, matter of fact tone.
“AHHHHHH!”
I called Jovi back, completely riddled with panic, and told her the bad news. She told me to pretend I was her and call the number posted on the alarm sign in their front yard. “Perfect!” I thought, “I’ll get arrested for breaking and entering, AND impersonation.”
So, I did it. I called. I lied. And thankfully the police were called off.
Later I found out that poor Buddy (Jovi’s husband) had gotten a call from the alarm company and said that a guy name “Tony” had broken into their home and that the police were on their way. FYI: “Tony,” “Cory,” “Toby,” etc. are all very close to ChickenWing’s real first name, which he gave to the alarm company when they called (?!?). Buddy didn’t think of this association, poor guy. It’s a husband's worst nightmare – his wife is about to enter their home, alone, with guy named Tony waiting for her – and he couldn’t do anything about it. He couldn’t get a hold of his wife because I was on the phone with her.
I feel sooooo horrible. And all this happened because of those nasty little boogers we call subterranean termites. And because we forgot the secret code. :)
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Final Inspection

Three years have passed since we purchased our first house and began restoring it from a dilapidated 1930’s fixer, to a cozy, safer home. No electrical fires here from rusty knob & tube wiring -- thank you very much! I plan on posting before and after pictures of the transformation at some point in my life.
This afternoon's final inspection for our master bedroom addition was cancelled after ChickenWing waited all day at home for them to show up. Alas, this could have been a blessing in disguise... perhaps Mister Inspector Gadget was in a really cruddy mood and we were just saved from an inspector's wrath. :)
This afternoon's final inspection for our master bedroom addition was cancelled after ChickenWing waited all day at home for them to show up. Alas, this could have been a blessing in disguise... perhaps Mister Inspector Gadget was in a really cruddy mood and we were just saved from an inspector's wrath. :)
Well, whenever we can finally get this place inspected, please pray that she passes! It's been a ton of work for us, our family, and our friends. Once she passes, we can paint, put in the flooring, and move in – all before my dad and mom arrive on October 11th. YAHOO!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
