Finally, some pictures

So after a two hour clean session yesterday....or as my wife calls it, the weekly cleaning, I got some pictures.

Notice the superbowl squares on the fridge?  Yeah, I didn't win anything.  But my wife did with her's.

If you are like us and go buy two stools, buy three.  We sit around the island most nights needing three.  AND, they make great "end tables" in the family room in a pinch.

The morning room, still just a couple of Paong chairs.  Still my favorite Sunday morning spot....when my wife doesn't have me cleaning.

Just need some crap on the walls and an ottoman and it'll be good to go....for a while.

Living room needs an endtable, a comfy reading chair and it will be perfect.

my family room fan.  Awesome huh?

The morning room fan.  more awesomeness.

So Friday we have scheduled our 30 day punch.  We have mostly minor issues like: two doors not latching when closed, few little paint repair concerns, longer drawer screws needed, some caulking needed.  BUT the three issues I consider large are: the leaking sliding door.  Somebody came out and installed some flashing under the morning room door.  Even though I have almond trim, somebody shoved a piece of white trim under the door and called it fixed.  The PM is supposed to be coming out to check it out, I emailed him my displeasure.  Also, I have a "problem" in both tubs.  The general bath has a small hole on the exterior part of the tub.  That looks like an easy fix with a little bondo or fiberglass repair kit.  Then yesterday while giving the MB tub a good scrubbing I found a crack/chip on the interior part of the tub.  I have no idea how that gets fixed. 
So I asked my PM to check the tubs out when he is out today looking at the flashing job so he can get a game plan together for Friday's punch. 
All in all, I am still very happy with my house.  There are issues, but so far my PM has been stellar at handling them.  AND I have learned to "relax" a bit and have patience. 

Is that dog piss or a leak?

In the first two weeks of ownership, Ohio has thrown a wind storm, an ice storm, then a rain storm.  I guess we are lucky in a way, it's showing any issue early while getting the PM out is easy.
It was last Wednesday night and it has been storming for over 24 hours.  I go down stairs and found a huge puddle of water coming from under the sliding glass door.  I should note that the door sits about 3 inches above ground level outside.  It has to be coming down from above, somewhere.  I took a couple pics with plans to send to PM Thursday.  As I was typing the email, I wondered if it could have been dog piss (as my big whiny boxer has marked the basement two times at this point).  So my wife checked that night and figured out it was in fact water leaking in. 

The sheet is there to catch dirty paws coming through the door.

Remember, that was Wednesday night.  So Sunday morning I am standing in the kitchen looking into the morning room.  The light hit the hard wood floor that ends at the sliding door just right and allowed me to notice that about 7ish boards are cupping severely.  Anybody want to bet if the two (leaking and cupped wood) are related?
My PM made an appointment to meet my wife yesterday.  First walking in and before my wife could point anything out, he saw the wood.  My wife said he is "on it".  Something about ordering more wood and getting siding guys to pull some siding and check for seals.
This should all bother me, but it doesn't.  I believe it's all part of the process.  In fact, I should thank the crappy Ohio weather for pointing out a flaw early enough to make a fix without too much damage.   

What works

So I have read my Sunday paper while drinking two cups of coffee while sitting in my Morning room.  The house is quiet, albeit I have a diverse collection of music playing on my Pandora.
I plan to take some pics today and get them posted....Today.  Promise.

What works?
Well I bought a Clearstream 2 antenna and placed it in the attic.  I ran 50 ft of coax to the basement and back up to the family room.  Turn the tv on and found I had 100% signal strength.  Hello free TV!  With Netflix and Hulu, why pay 50-60-70 dollars to cable.  If I can't find something to watch on the 20 free channels, I need to turn it off and find something else to do.

My daughter and her new BF are home from college for the weekend.  After I make pancakes this morning, I plan to enslave them to haul crap to the basement.

again, I will get some pics up today.
have a great day

Moved In....but not unpacked!

Yes, there is a difference.  Most ask me "so, you all moved in".  Yup, I gots boxes all over the place!

My wife just found the hanger box, so we can start hanging clothes up.  We need to get closet organizer quick!  I am getting tired of looking for undershirts and skivvies in various boxes and clothes basket.  We plan to get the Elfa system from container store.  For the cost of a dresser with hard to use, shallow drawers we can get a system with slide out baskets, pant hangers, shoe racks, etc....

My family room is about squared away.  I put my Bose system in Tuesday night.  I ran the rear speaker wires through the low voltage boxes I installed.  So easy. 
Kitchen is good to go as well.  We just need to buy things here and there to supplement or replace old crap we got.  We are already cooking more and want the tools to do it.
Pantry, I put in sheets of thin, clear plastic on the wire racks.  I don't even notice them, but they keep everything upright and not falling through the wires. 
I put the table together.  Placed in the dining room, the table looks so dinky!  It fit the old house just fine, but in the bigger Dining room, it's comically small.  I plan to build one like WodyJ who is building a beautiful table right now. 
Morning room.  What to do with that space!  currently there are two Ikea Paong chairs in there.  One of those with a coffee and Sunday paper and I'm good to go for a couple hours.  We were originally thinking about a small high top table, but the wife is reconsidering.  Maybe a love seat and coffee table will give us what we want.  We will see.

For those that pay attention, I got the fireplace squared away.  I have instruction to do a complete shut down and restart.  That made all the difference.  Now I can stand in the kitchen and still see fire flickering.  I think it could still be higher but won't know for sure until I compare to a neighbor's.
We haven't had the family room breaker pop since I restarted the fireplace.  Not sure what one has to do with another but will wait and see. 
I am still very happy.  So many things I want to do but will have to focus on one thing at a time. 
sgtrich

It's easy to be unhappy

Good morning all,
So I had hit a point where my frustration on my fireplace was huge.  I finally realized I needed to relax a bit, have some patience, and figure out a plan.
The flame height is so low you can't see it from 5 feet away.  I have been asking for the flame height to be adjusted since closing.  The communication between my PM and I was lacking.  I am also having an issue with the family room breaker tripping with the fireplace blower turning. 
Here is what I have learned in two weeks of ownership.  If it's not a major issue, wait for the thirty day....don't blow up your PM's cell with text like a neurotic, needy girlfriend (guilty, haha).  If it's an issue that you don't/can't wait for (i.e. flame or breaker) then get the required numbers from your PM and call yourself.  Can your PM handle it? maybe, but he doesn't know my schedule and all he's going to do is have THEM call YOU.  So just do it yourself and cut out the middle man. 
I have also figured out that it's very easy to concentrate on what's "not right".  I can walk around and find little issues here and there.  Some I will have taken care of, some I won't bother messing with.  But the point is, don't concentrate on the "what's wrong" crap.  I got my family room in order with couch, chairs, tv, etc... and it's so large still!  So much room to lay on the floor with my dogs!  I have fallen asleep on the floor with my head on one of my boxers 4 times now.  I still get that stupid grin on my face when I pause to look at where I am, what I have.  So as you close, as you move in, as the weeks go on, remember to maintain that excitement.  It's yours.

I promise to get some pics in.  I really am waiting for some good light and get some solid shots.
 

hi, I'm your new neighbor and I just ran over your mailbox.

So first impressions can be a bitch! haha.  Good thing I already met them and have yapped here and there.
So the short story is, we woke up to a thick layer of ice on everything.  My neighbor (Joe), who was trying to back out of his driveway (rather steep) and give access to his friend, got his SUV stuck.  I decided to go out and help.  I offered to drop my trailer and hook up and try pulling him out.  Well, instead of a controlled reverse, I just started sliding....truck and trailer.  My truck finally came to rest with my (dad's) trailer jack knifed on my truck and my truck on top of my other neighbor's mail box.  What a mess! haha.

So let me follow that by saying... Dad, there is no damage to your trailer!  My truck mirror housing is cracked with some scrapes on the paint.

I surprisingly found all kinds of humor in the scenario we found ourselves in.  I only wish I had a picture of his and my trucks jacked up in the street.

On another note, we hope to empty the storage container tomorrow at 10.  We have some great friends lined up and should be done in time for the AFC game.

More later,
carry on
sgtrich

Showing my arse.

So today makes 1 full week since we moved in to our new house.  Here's what I know:

1 - my wife seems to think our neighbors have nothing better to do at 0530 in the morning than to watch me get dressed through our non-blinded bedroom window.  No one is standing in their bedroom window looking for my pasty white ass to put on a show, and if they are....it's not like it's going to come up in a conversation.  haha.  Anybody want to guess what room is first on my wife's list for curtains/blinds?

2 - We are finding we have some kind of electrical issue.  My PM has scheduled tomorrow to come with the electrician to install missing hallway light and garage outlet.  Well we found running a vacuum kept tripping the Master Bedroom breaker.  Then tonight, the family room breaker kept tripping.  So my PM was immediately texted and he said he will take care of it tomorrow.

3 - We REALLY need to empty the storage container!  Still sitting locked in front of the house.  Looks like we are going to move it all in Sunday.....before the AFC Championship game.

4 - I got my Family and Master ceiling fan installed and all the lights!  So nice to walk in, flip the switch and have light.  AND it beats the crap out of the standing lamps we had at the last house.

5 - I cut pieces of plastic and put on the wire rack pantry shelves.  A must if you plan to put anything smaller then a cereal box in there.

6 - I highly recommend the Rubbermaid Reveal Spray Mop, works GREAT on the hardwood.  All I do is put hot water in the bottle and roll.  If you don't have one, get one!

Anybody have experience with hot water recirculation kits?  These bigger houses have a fair amount of pipe from the hot water heater to the various sinks.  Well, that's a lot of no-longer heated cold water you have to get through before you get to the hot water.  I am contemplating putting one in.

If I haven't raved about it yet, that extra two feet on both sides of the drive way rocks!  Also, we are parking both cars in the garage and it's awesome!

That's all I got for now.
Carry on