Feb
20
I’ve been trying to do at least one home improvement project every weekend. This past
weekend I added “run cat5 cabling” to the list of completed projects. After plenty of preparation and consulting with the usual folks (mostly my younger brother, this time around), I could procrastinate no longer.
I’ve had the good fortune of doing this same project in our previous houses, so the wiring portion was nothing new (I remembered, Skip!). However, this is the first time I’ve needed to cut holes in drywall to put in new electrical boxes, and drill through floor boards.
It took longer than I had hoped (surprise), but I’m pleased with the end result. Our computer and phone are now happily using their newly installed jacks. And speaking of surprises, I’m now afraid of what lies within all our other walls:
Stupid house builders. Unfortunately, it was too large to remove, so in the wall it remains.
Feb
19
full house
Filed under family at 5:38 pm | 3 Comments
My entire family (both brothers with their 2 and 3 kids respectively, and my parents) was in town for a week. We shared hosting duties with Brad and Lori, so there was plenty of room for everyone. We really enjoyed having everyone around.
The biggest accomplishment for the week was packing up everyone and heading to Baltimore for a day (well, it was either that or getting everyone to sit still for a family picture). We went to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Downtown Baltimore looked like a pretty cool place. I’d like to head back and check out more once it’s a bit warmer. After the aquarium, we thought we’d hit The Cheesecake
Factory for dinner. Arriving there at 4:00pm we figured the wait shouldn’t be too bad. Well, the 3 hour wait was deemed “too bad” so we bought some cheesecake to go and ate dinner elsewhere.
Way too many pictures were taken, no kids were lost, and we all survived the Peanut Butter recall. It was a great week.
Feb
14
winter weather advisory
Filed under traffic, weather, government at 7:48 am | 2 Comments
Starting last week, the National Weather Service began issuing winter weather advisories for our area, with storms expected to hit yesterday and today. The storms actually came this time, and I’m sufficiently impressed. Depending on the area, there are multiple inches of snow topped off by a thick layer of ice, with freezing rain and sleet still coming down. Having said that, I’m still amazed at the hysteria of many people here:
* A guy in the cube next to me parked his car over a mile away yesterday because there’s a hill on the street leading to our building. Apparently it froze during a storm several years ago and caused a traffic backup. Hearing the weather forecast, he wasn’t going to risk it this time around.
* The schools closed all day yesterday in anticipation of the storms, before it even started snowing or raining. The rain didn’t start until early evening.
* The traffic reports on the radio today are spending more time telling you how to drive than they are giving updates on the accidents. (E.g., “Speed is your enemy.” “Because the roads are covered in ice, you need to allow more time to brake.”)
Well, the status of the Federal Government is apparently the thing to watch around here. They let out early yesterday, and have a 2 hour delay today, except for “essential” employees, I believe. It’s still unclear as to how that impacts my work schedule, so I braved the elements and drove in to work this morning. Knowing the commute would be a bit longer than usual, I figured I’d stop off at Starbuck’s and get something dark, bold, and black to drink to make the trip more enjoyable. I pulled into the parking lot, and the store was completely dark. They were closed. They can close because of weather?! Surely, if anyone is considered “essential,” it should be Starbuck’s employees.