Picture Rails
We hung picture rails in the main area of the house on 9/16. Now it’s time to start hanging artwork!
Solar Panels
Got our 10 solar panels on 8/29. It was exciting because quite a number of companies had told us they wouldn’t install on our metal Cal-Pac roof. These guys did it with no problems at all. Final inspection is Monday, after which they’ll actually turn on the panels.
Comcast
First we had Comcast over on 8/26 to repair a bunch of channels not working, then on 9/1 we got the “triple play”, switching my phone service over to Comcast. So far so good. While they may not be the best in everything, their customer service has been great. Service calls on Saturdays and Sundays, arriving within their 2-hour window, and super courteous repair people.
Updated A/V
We decided to get a new remote because the olod one didn’t have intuitive programming, and with our new setup we really needed something different. Additionally, we needed a bit of help with the setup. So Val got someone to come in and take care of it all, so it works better now. We’re still getting used to the new remote.
Media Cabinet Part III
Irene came back on Thursday and she and Val got everything all in the cabinet and the doors on. It looks great!
Media Cabinet, Part II
So as much as Val tried hard to make it work, the sheer volume of cables made it so the slide-out shelf couldn’t slide all the way in. So last night Irene came over and spent several hours working with Val, taking out all of the shelves and carving additional holes, and assisting in Advanced Cable Management. Still not enough room! So she’ll be back in a few days to do more Shelf Surgery.
Media Cabinet!
Our new media cabinet, the last of the cabinetry and the last of the major home improvements, got installed on Saturday the 21st. Irene Pepping, the fabulously talented cabinet maker, supervised Cutberto and Mario doing the installation, and Val was in charge of taking apart the A/V components. I returned from my concert at around 2:30, just as the installation was finished, and Val was starting to reconnect everything.
Fast forward to 11:30pm. After 9 additional hours, 1 trip to Orchard Supply, a couple of arguments, and a slot of sweat and aggravation, we were able to watch TV. Val has been amazingly diligent in getting everything configured (changed some components, added our new blu-ray player and organized (horrible mess of cables). It’s still not all done, but excellent progress has been made. The most fun thing is the blu-ray player’s access to the internet.
No More Storage Unit!
With a LOT of help from Cutberto and Mario, Val and I emptied our storage unit on the 7th. With me coordinating downstairs and Val organizing upstairs, we were able to get almsot everything into the attic in an organized fashion so we’ll be able to find everything. Still lots of room up there! There are a dozen boxes in the house (DVDs, records, and books) and another 5-10, plus some furniture, in the garage (stuff to be gone through), but it’s looking great! And no more monthly expense. We were exhausted afterwards, but we did an awesome job!
Solar
We signed up to get solar panels to help with our electric bill. We’re going with a company called Synergy because they’re roofing contractors who say they won’t have a problem with our metal Cal-Pac roof. They have to do drawing and get permits. The work should be completed in July.
Ten Days: Adventures and Life and Stuff
St. Patrick’s Day was busy! First I judged the parade in San Francisco. Then I went to the LLW Kickoff. Then Val and I went to Liza and Jody’s for a fun night of friends and games.
The rest of the week was relatively mundane: my band practice, kids in school and band and after school activities. I had lunch with Freda on Friday, which I always enjoy. We usually go to Hobees in Redwood Shores; they’re starting to know us there!
On Saturday there was a lot of coming and going. Haley had a Feldenkreis lesson at Michelle’s, then went to Glynis & Susan’s. Katelyn went to her friend Jackie’s birthday party, where apparently she had a blast playing Guitar Hero. Then she went to Glynis & Susan’s.
I trekked down to Sunnyvale in the rain for a West Bay Community Band concert to celebrate the grand opening of Faith in Action’s Silicon Valley Rotating Homeless Shelter.
On Sunday Haley had a “Model Seder” in her religious school class. After that we went down to Michelle’s again for another lesson. Apparently we’d gotten our wires crossed because she thought she was coming to us, and we thought we were going there. Thank goodness we were a little early and she was a little late, so we caught her just as she was driving down her street!
On Sunday Val and I went shopping for sofa beds (again!), but didn’t find anything we wanted. We also went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and were only marginally successful at getting a few things. We came home and shopped online.
On Monday I took Val out to dinner at Alfiere at the Westin. I got a certificate for dinner from a silent auction benefitting the JCC in Foster City. It was nice to have someone else cook for a change!
Now we’re starting another week with the added stress of getting ready to leave on vacation on Friday. And of course, the kids have a *lot* of homework. Sigh.
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