We're In

We are now sleeping at NewOldHouse, so this post will effectively serve as a mile-marker, if you will. From the pictures, you can see boxes in the backgrounds and the walls do not have decorations yet. That will come.

Push Becomes Pull

living/den

In my last post, I described our effort to move as working from the edges in towards the center. For us, life in our home has 2 centers: the main living space (kitchen / eating nook / den) and the master bedroom suite (bed and bath). So, we were focused on solving for all the other spaces: the ShedRoom, my work-from-home office, the extra bedroom, the garage, etc. That was working, but we didn't feel like we were making sufficient progress towards actually living at NewOldHouse. We are paying to heat and illuminate 2 houses on top of 2 mortgages. In the Pacific NorthWest, there is a great deal of dark to offset and this winter has been relatively typical but with more cold stretches mixed with wet ones than usual. We felt that if we could significantly reduce the more expensive (read: larger) house quickly, we could save some pennies while we get moved faster. We decided that continuing to push things from our existing home to NewOldHouse had reached its useful end and we needed to change it up.

We started by relocating my daily work-from-home into the NewOldHouse. Most of my things were already there, I just had been working with a laptop on my lap at the existing house, but that had been contributing to the inertia problem. So, I started a morning walking-commute to NewOldHouse to work.

office evolving

Rather than continue with the edges, we encircled our second center (master bedroom), moved it and all of our clothes over to NewOldHouse. Just like that, we are sleeping there... or here. This shift now allows us to spend those small hours before bedtime doing tweaks around NewOldHouse rather than at the existing house, and the shift is showing dividends. After work, we can collect a bunch of things and haul them to NewOldHouse to be distributed before we turn in or the following morning while shuffling around with coffee. While the overall acts really are not that different, changing from pushing things out of existing house to pulling things into NewOldHouse has kick-started our efforts. There is just something about doing the push in the cold, wet and dark that made it much more difficult than the pull. I just can't explain it, but I am seeing the difference play out.

Bathroom Improves

Yeay bathroom!

The bathroom had taken major steps forward (toilet and sink functional) only to sit in a partially completed state (shower not functional) for a couple of weeks. That time wasn't wasted, of course. It was just spent on boxing things or sorting belongings (both ours and my folks) at the existing house. With the push-pull shift, the bathroom game is back on. Boo deep-cleaned that old tub and the walls, as well as fixed a bunch of the plaster. Once the plaster was set, I caulked everything (tub to surround, tub to floor, fixtures, etc). To get us operational, Boo installed one of those spring-loaded shower curtain-rods that hold to the walls by outward force rather than with screws. We know we have more plaster finishing, painting and maybe some tile-work before the bathroom is complete, but in our Agile way, this gets us to a minimum viable space. So, until we temporarily suspend bathing for tile or paint, we moved bathing to NewOldHouse. My current thinking is to wait until it's warm out before we restart. When I consider how far this bathroom has already evolved, this image is a major milestone.

Camp Kitchen

To support daily living at NewOldHouse, or anyplace for that matter, you need a way to store and prepare food. Even the smallest economy apartments have something. NewOldHouse has nothing. When we bought this place the kitchen was in mid-demo, and it was so horrible there was no way anyone could reuse any of it without jeopardizing their health. So, we continued the demo and cleaned as much as we could of what remained. Once the upper cabinets were down, the remaining appliances removed and the surfaces cleaned, we stopped the demo. Other priorities had arisen, so the "kitchen" was left in a semi-demolished state. Fast forward a few months, and we want to shift our daily lives into NewOldHouse... so we need a temporary kitchen.

temporary kitchen

We started with the most basic of the basic: a means to make hot water, a pour-over coffee contraption and instant oatmeal. With this, we had morning meal addressed. To this, we added granola bars and other individually wrapped foods to bridge the middle of the day. For dinners, we got go-food for the first couple of days, but that is expensive when done regularly. So, we quickly added more storage capacity by reusing one bookcase for dry-goods and another for dishes. Within a kitchen cart, we are storing a variety of pans, a hot plate, a slow cooker, a rice cooker and an electric skillet. A slow cooker and a rice cooker can support many meals for super cheap.

TheWell

With food storage and preparation mostly solved, we are left with one last challenge: a sink. The old kitchen sink was disconnected during the demo. It had a rather unpleasant garbage disposal so it had to go with the rest of the unusables. The sink itself is fine and we may find a purpose for it in the future, but for today, there is no sink. Our solution for sourcing water is to fill and store pitchers of water from the sink in the connected garage. We call it "TheWell". The other need for a sink is to clean dishes. We could wash them in TheWell, but the garage is unheated, and this winter has been particularly cold and unpleasant. So, leaning over a concrete sink in a 35*F garage doing dishes sounded a bit to much. So, until the weather warms up into the 40's (mid single -digit *C), we will be doing the dishes in the tub with plastic washtubs.

Schmidty and Tuukka

Tuukka watches the new street

At some point in your move, you have to consider the timing of moving your pets. In our case it's our cat, Schmidty, named after a Vet who we love dearly and our dog, Tuukka, named after the Boston Bruins goalie. Like all animals, they did not understand what was going on, and they grew nervous as they watched belongings moving around, and disappearing from home. We brought Tuukka with us over to NewOldHouse starting very early in the process, like, once it was clean enough that we would not be concerned about him stepping on something that he would then lick off his paws. He did not like it for the first few weeks, and it wasn't until we started bringing soft things for him to sit on that we realized it was sitting/lying on the hard floors that bothered him. He adjusted fairly quickly once some of the softer chairs and a couch we added.

Schmidty hides

Schmidty was a completely different matter. He would follow us as we walked to NewOldHouse, and would walk the perimeter, but would absolutely NOT accept being brought inside. This persisted for months. Finally, after we had moved pretty much all of the furniture that was going to NewOldHouse, we put him into a carrier, collected his belongings and hauled him (howling) to NewOldHouse. He hid under our bed and then under my nightstand (picture on the right) for a couple of days. Boo and I had both read that it is best to keep your indoor/outdoor cats inside for at least a few days for them to acclimate to the new space. They need to have their home/center redefined before they go back outside or they will become disoriented and could get lost. After a couple of weeks, Schmidty still had not gone outside. I think part of that is the cold wet weather, which he doesn't like. This past weekend he finally explored outside for the first time. After a couple of short trips out and back in, he is settling into a pattern of going outside. Of course, yesterday, we found him howling to get let in... at "existing house". So, some learning remains. Once inside, it seems both of the animals like NewOldHouse at least as much as the old one, based on their behaviors.

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The funny thing about living Agile is that you do not often get the satisfaction of a big bang or finish line. Things evolve and evolve and eventually you are in a better space, closer to your goal. Every once in a while, there are moments when a significant threshold is crossed. The first night we slept at NewOldHouse with our pets was one of them. I clearly remember the feeling of turning the thermostat at existing house down to 60*F (to protect your house, don't let the temperature fall below the dewpoint) as we exited to live at NewOldHouse. We have passed an important line, but there remains significant work to do.

As I said at the top, this post serves as a milepost of sorts for us. Of course, the kitchen is still in mid-demo. We still have many belongings at the other house, including Hapy, Oliver and a garage full of stuff. There are lots of things which still need to be done on both ends, but we will be doing those things from NewOldHouse from here-on, and that is a significant difference.

That's it for now. Thanks, as always, for following along- 

Zed in a Shed

Well... sort of. Today's post is a mish-mosh of things that need an update which includes Zed parts. Consider, our over-arching goal is to get out of our existing house and into NewOldHouse in as predictable a way as we can. Sometimes, that means repairs and other times that means moving non-critical things.

Tool Shed not just for Tools

As the post title implies, I got all of Zed's parts which are not fastened to the car moved into the ToolShed. Recall all those years ago when I re-purposed an otherwise unused bedroom for "temporarily" storing car parts? It was the Shed Room, and held all kinds of things. Of course, the first significant resident was Zed, or rather all of his interior and glass. Once the line was crossed, though, it was not long before K2's things were in there, and then some of T's and, of course, some of C's. An extra television, some broken electronics... a box-spring... next thing you know, it's full of random stuff and you can't really get in or out of the store room anymore, and it doesn't really have "shed" stuff in it much either.

So, I spent the last weekend digging through the Shed Room, and moving everything car-related not just out of the room, but into the ToolShed. No, things are not organized there, but they are inside. I hope to fit most of the Zed bits onto the upper deck/shelf since I have to sand and shoot Zed again before any of those parts go on. The picture on the right, here, will serve as a great "before" image, assuming I can get it into an "after" state that's actually useful.

Folks Belongings Sorted

I had thought about a post just about this stuff, but I decided it really was not that interesting to anyone other than me. In my last post, and in another post last year, I mentioned that Boo and I had started moving things out of our old house into NewOldHouse... and then my father passed away. His passing prompted an accelerated effort to find a safe place for my mom to live because she really needs to be on someone's radar all the time. Dad had provided that eyes-on. She could no longer live independently, and the facility we were able to get her into was close to us and among the best in the area. This alone was no small miracle. Unfortunately she would go from a 1 bedroom apartment to basically a hospital bed with a couple of dressers. Setting aside all the emotional difficulty, there was the logistical issue of a 1 bedroom apartment that needed to be vacated in less than 10 days. For a typical move, belongings follow the person. Not this time. Everything still needed to be treated with care, but with an opportunity for family to carefully go through at them since those things which did not go to family and friends were going to donations. Of course, this was all while we were relocating Mom and planning for Dad's funeral service/reception.

A small subset of Mom's clothes and treasures belongings went with her on move-Mom day. Boo lead that spike, transporting Mom while my brother I loaded and delivered the stuff to the new place. Boo organized on that end while E and I made separate run, loading a truck and a van and bringing it to my house. The following day, we emptied the rest of the apartment.... into my dining and living rooms. I mentioned that in earlier posts. Over the course of the next few weeks, Boo and I would host family members to take things that meant something to them, or because they simply liked them. By the time of the service late last month, we were down to about 25% of their things remaining. All family members had gone through, leaving us with boxes of photographs, papers, some donations and a final small collection of things. The photos and papers were hauled over to NewOldHouse this past weekend, and the donations went to Goodwill as well. All that remains now are things earmarked for remote family or the hospice team (like the walkers and stuff like that).

Home Repair Update: Heat

seriously: crawlspace

Well, this post ended up longer, so I'll drop a quick update on what we have fixed since the last time. Boo got under the house again to address some furnace issues. When the crawlspace was done, the guys did a C+job. The main rectangular duct running down the center of the house (off which the individual vents connect) had a huge gap in it. The gap was so big that we could feel warm air wafting through a hole in the bathroom floor where a heat register had been removed. With lots of high-end silver duct tape (not that sticky grey crap), she sealed up the main duct sufficiently to contain the heat leak.

Corresponding to that improvement, I put all of the outlet and switch covers back on. Yes, this actually made a big difference. This is a 1948 farmhouse with it's original siding, so wind can make it through the siding into the outer walls. Yes, new siding would help, as would blown-in insulation, but both of those cost money and we're pretty low on that these days. Outlet covers help hold that cold out, and by keeping the ones we removed, this cost nothing. After the covers were on, I applied clear caulk between the 1/4 round and the hardwood floor, eliminating all drafts from the outside. When these 3 improvements are put together, the newOldHouse is much warmer and waaaay less drafty than it was. This difference is especially noticeable in "the addition" (2 bedrooms added in the mid-1960's).

Camp Kitchen

Boo and I were loaned a 2 cubic foot mini-fridge by our niece so we can "camp" at NewOldHouse while the kitchen is demolished / rebuilt. We will be effectively camping in our house, using camp equipment and whatever else we can put together for a make-shift kitchen while we build the real one. This picture on the right fairly captures the humble beginnings of our temporary kitchen. Similar to the image of the shed in it's great disarray, this will serve as a viable before image for a working camp-kitchen as well as help me remember this period after the real kitchen (thru that doorway) is completed. Other than the kitchen, we are down to smaller things like hanging closet doors and, of course, moving. The bathroom needs a shower curtain rod, and some small wall repairs before it is fully functional, but we are starting to feel close.

There are so many different balls in the air these days, it's kind of hard to keep it all straight, and remember what the next step is. For moving things, we are working our way towards the center from the edges, resolving the outermost ring of our belongings first (like the outside, the ShedRoom, etc). Having a trajectory like that helps when you finish something and need to decide what's next. There is no written list and it would change fairly often if it were. Instead, we look at what is in greatest need and do that first. In a way, it is extreme Agile as applied to moving, reconstructing a house and solving for your aging parents while holding down a job, sending your kids to college and trying to retain a little sanity. Whee!!

Thanks, as always, for following along-

Where were we?

Hapy New Year. It has been a busy holiday season for pretty much everyone I know, and Boo and I are no exception. Today's post will touch on some of the things we have been getting after since my last post. 

CoViD Hangover

Cooper Spur snow

During one of my holiday social engagements, I had a conversation with my niece where we were both remarking on how could we have been able to do all the things we're doing now plus have to commute to work every day. I recall, back before the whole CoViD shutdown / work-remote thing started, I would take a train into the city, work in an office all day, train to the gym to work out for an hour or so and then walk a couple miles home. Around that work-week schedule, I went out to play or listen to music, attended ball games, visited friends etc like most people. And, of course, fiddled on cars a little bit. Now that we are more consistently mingling with others, I am having a hard time rationalizing how I was able to do it while maintaining that daily cycle. I know many people are returning to offices, and I wonder if there are more people out there trying to figure out how to make it all work again. Frankly, I think many people are failing at it and that's why there is such a growing discontent. Maybe it's the holidaze, but I swear I am encountering more surly people than ever lately.

Cooper Spur

Tuukka at rest

Of course, my holidaze had much more going on and much more positive interactions than just my realization about the world's increasing surly. Boo and I spent XmasEve and XmasDay with Boo's family. This was emotionally and spiritually taxing for a couple of introverts, but we were warmly welcomed and had a really nice time. The weekend before, my younger siblings and their families joined Boo, Tuukka and I at Cooper Spur, on the east side of Mount Hood. Boo and I took Tuukka for long walks along the groomed cross-country skiing paths, and shared meals, crafts, music and games with my siblings' families. It was a great kick-off to a holiday season.

NewOldHouse - 1/4 round

Anyway, back to what I was originally going to post on: NewOldHouse projects. Among the things left incomplete, preventing us from moving in-earnest into NewOldHouse was the 1/4 round along the baseboards. I touched on this last time, but simply identifying which pieces were to go where was only part of the battle. Once identified, cleaned and primed, I needed to install them. For this, I got a finish-nailer powered by an air compressor, and then moved my air compressor down to NewOldHouse. Working with the nailer was fun: point, press and shoot. I had the 1/4 round installed in a couple hours. Next, I spackled the nail holes, sanded them flush and then caulked the top of the 1/4 round to the base board. Last, I slid around with a paint bucket and brush, brushing in the 1/4-round with the same paint that I shot the walls and trim last summer. Start-to-finish, it took me a few days, working a few hours a day (let's say 15 hours). I need to caulk the bottom of the 1/4-round to the floor with clear silicone caulk (at least along the outer walls), and then the 1/4 round is complete.

NewOldHouse - bathroom

bathroom floor done

The bathroom was in mediocre shape when we bought the house, even after all the rubbish was removed and it was cleaned. There are meaningful divots in the plaster, the sink cabinet was nasty and the floor under the toilet was failing. First, the sink and cabinet were removed. The cabinet went to the dump; I don't remember what we did with the sink. Then, the toilet was removed, and set into the tub while the floor was cleared. Once the linoleum was pulled, we could see the original hardwood floor was in pretty bad shape. We removed the pieces around the waste pipe and could see that the sub-floor had been compromised at one point. We were around this point when I posted last.

Since then, the damaged pieces of sub floor have been removed and replaced. New flooring has been installed on top of that, a full floor sheet of thin veneer was installed on top of that and peel-n-stick tiles applied on top of that. The peel-n-stick took a full day, which seemed like a really long time for a room not much more than 8 square meters (5 foot by 5 foot). Details take time, though, and tiles will not fit exactly without trimming. So, for aesthetics, you want the trimming to be behind the toilet or under a cabinet with the uncut tiles along the main walls that you can easily see. This means, though, that you need to lay everything out to figure out where the cuts need to be for the heat and the waste. Also, orienting the tiles one direction of another takes some laying out, thinking, and laying out again. Quality takes time; slapping things together is fast, but it will always look... well.. slapped together.

Our last hiccup was with the toilet waste flange in the floor. The studs to which the toilet should mount were stripped and rusted to the flange. They needed to be cut off, drilled out, tapped and then new studs threaded before we could install the toilet. Once ready, though, it was a fairly simple process to set the wax ring and install the toilet.

Bathroom Next

cleaning hardware

The sink and cabinet remain ready for install. We purchased a new cabinet / sink / mirror combination at Lowes and the low price is definitely reflected in the workmanship (or lack thereof). Still, it will work, and after some fiddling with the hinges, the doors close without rubbing. The holes for the pulls were not put in the right spots, so the handles are wonky, but again, it will work. We have all the bits and pieces, just with all the holiday events and family in town, we have not installed the sink and cabinet.

Once the sink is in, we will hang a shower rod, and re-hang the door. The hardware for the door has been cleaned up, though. Prior owners had painted without taping things off nor removing hardware so every door handle, strike plate and hinge was covered in multiple coats of paint. I have spent many otherwise-idle hours picking off paint and then rubbing down with steel wool door hardware, yet more remains.

Moving

With the 1/4-round complete, I have started moving things over to NewOldHouse. It is difficult living in one house, wanting to be in another. So, the items selected to move is not easy. I am finding things that we 100% want/need there but can live without for the time being in the current place. Obviously, this makes the move harder, and slower, but until the bathroom is fully functional, we can hang out there, and even sleep there, but it is not quite ready for full time living.

Around this work, Boo and I have been combing through all of the belongings moved here from my parent's old apartment. It has been a considerable undertaking. We have found homes for over half of the items, and while in some ways we are picking up steam, we also realize that the easy things are running out, and we will soon be left with things which only represent value to their original owners. By this, I mean things like personal correspondence, notebooks, etc that are very personal. It feels wrong to simply discard these things, but I think we will just have to work through that.

Canopy Calamity Again

example wrath of Jerry

It seems that no matter what tricks I try, the canopy known as "Jerry" just will not stand. After more windstorms, that canopy lifted and flipped onto it's side, scratching Zed again. Fortunately, the chrome around the rear window and windscreen has not been further dented, nor have either sheets of glass broken. Still, I have had enough risk of that for one winter. So, Boo and I deconstructed Jerry, leaving the poles in a heap. We used the canopy like a tarp, covering Zed for the winter. To prevent water from pooling in the hole where a sunroof will one day be, we placed a large rectangular sheet of stiff foam under the tarp. After a couple gusty days, the tarp has held firm, so Zed is hopefully protected until Spring. I think, between all of the scratches, the disappointment in both the final finish and the olive-green shade within the 9mm color, I will be sanding and re-shooting Zed before I install the interior. Since every time around is a learning opportunity, I expect this next round will be much better than the last, which was better than the one before that. Of course that means Zed will not be driving around next Summer unless we get a freak warm dry spell in April/May.

With the holidays behind us, our next significant event is the memorial for my father, planned for 21-January. For that, Boo and I will be providing our current home to my sister and her family while they visit from the Bay Area. Boo and I are marking that as the drop-date for when we can live in NewOldHouse without having to run here for various things. Please wish us luck. Thanks, as always, for following along. I hope you have a happy, healthy, and emotionally stable NewYear-

Cha Cha Cha Changes

Just a quick note to share today. Lots of changes around here causing car work to be set aside for a bit. Fair warning: no car content today.

Dog Daze

puppy needs a name

With the departure of our last child from the nest, Boo and I thought we now have time for a dog. While true, a new puppy takes up a considerable amount of focus, and that pulls time from other optional (and sometimes not optional) things. On 23-October, we went to a rescue adoption event at the Tanasborne PetSmart, where dogs and cats rescued in Texas were made available for adoption here locally. Why they need to come here from there, I didn't quite catch, but there were lots of people and many animals. In fact, the woman in front of us in the queue had driven from Eugene that morning, explaining that there simply are no shelter adoption animals in the valley, and she either had to get a dog from a breeder or drive up to Hillsboro. Who knew? Clearly, she did; she indicated that the store hosts an event like that about once a month and they are always that busy. She arrived mid-afternoon to the last one and the depleted selection did not include her new family member.

The scene was pretty crazy for the uninitiated: on either side of this 5 meter wide area, there were crates lining both sides. In the 15 meter long aisle in between, were maybe 40 humans, some potential adopters looking as a family for a new member, as well as volunteers helping people handle the animals and learn about them. One dog barked most of the time, and the dogs we interacted with were all a little traumatized, quiet, reserved, trembling. They had arrived that morning in a trailer from Texas, so it was to be expected. Boo and I took a couple (one at a time) outside of the venue to a grassy area behind the store to see if that helped them settle a little bit. We hoped to get a sense of the underlying personality, but with that much recent and arguably still-ongoing trauma, how could it? We visited with a few dogs, and this one black with white splotches puppy attached himself to us. And we to him. He trembled pretty much the entire time we were getting processed, but once we were in the main store looking for dog owner products, he started to settle down. He even fell asleep for a short time while one of us was carrying him. I guess removing the animal from the trauma for 30 minutes or so, if the animal is young enough, is enough for him/her to settle.

A few hours later, we're home, with a crate, a bunch of puppy stuff and a 3 month old puppy (name has not presented itself yet). So, there will be potty-training, and other training happening. He has been very responsive already. The day before, I had thought that my Sunday was going to be spent installing seats into Hapy while Boo worked a 12-hour shift at her new hospital job. Instead, after a night of sleep interrupted by scared-dog whimpers, it was spent going in and out my backdoor with a little puppy, followed by light playing or resting. Crazy how that consumes all your time. Even something as simple as eating a snack or taking a leak are perilous as puppy-bladder accidents happen quickly.

Boo Job Change

I just alluded to a change in Boo's employment. After years of working in specialized clinics (Pulmonary and then Cardiology), she took a new role at the hospital. If there is a "hood" in Portland, that's the hospital she is at, working a floor gig. This new role will be fewer hours per week, but they bunch all together. I mean... before, she worked 8 hour shifts monday-to-Friday, like an office worker. Now, she works 12.5 hour shifts (with a lunch break, its 12 hours paid with overlaps for shift changes) on any day of the week, but at least its daytime. Even with more time available in a week, any life schedule change has an impact as lives re-settle into a new pattern. 

Construction Junction

Before we got the puppy, we had started a plan to remodel some sections of our upstairs. The master bathroom was originally designed for one person, for example, and the laundry is in the far corner of the garage, about as far away from laundry generation as possible and still be in the house. We would like to resolve both of those issues, but that's a big scope. So, this work will be done in phases, and will mostly be completed by Boo (and specialized subs) with a little help from me but, nothing happens in a vacuum, and if one of us is swinging hammer, the other must be minding pup.

Getting Out

Bruxton Trestle

Last, Boo and I have discovered a shared enjoyment of hiking. This intersects well with life with a dog, as well as aligns well with a lifestyle change we have been making where we get up earlier, go to bed earlier and consume very little, if any, alcohol. Still, this means that time I would have spent during a weekend day wrenching on one of the projects may be consumed by a hike. We experienced the same slow down on projects where we were hitting the snow a lot, and that was a positive family-health tradeoff. Also, now that we're all vax'd, we have returned to hanging out with our musician friends more. I don't think that will have a meaningful impact, but time is fixed and consumption is cumulative. Before you know it, there isn't any left.

I guess, I needed to think this through so I don't become discouraged when projects are not moving forward. I know that Zed is effectively stopped due to cold/wet weather preventing painting anyway. I could probably do a thing or 2 on Oliver, but I really would like to get him through DEQ/smog before I invest any more time or money into him and the smogging won't happen until the nicer weather returns (there is a failed seal/leak where water can creep in under the windscreen). I expect I will be helping G on Nemo when he drops by, but my only real open project is Hapy's seats. Those seats and the related noise abatement might not be installed for a while. Time will tell. Perhaps the pup will like hanging out in Hapy as much as Boo, Schmidty (the kitty) and I do.

That's it for now. Over the years, I have forecasted a significant reduction in my car and posting activity only to re-appear in the next week or 2. So, I am sure you are taking this statement with a few grains of salt. I would if I were you too. Still, if I don't get back for a while, have a nice holiday season. If you can, give the gift of time and experiences, especially to yourself. While memories fade, material gifts fade faster.

Thanks, as always, for following along-