Reno 97805-1280

The day I got him, I was buying cat food for Pip, the (then) family cat, in the Burien (WA) days. In one of the pet store bins was a splitting image of the puppy version of the Thorndike-Barnhart Junior Dictionary entry illustration -- that I recalled from second grade -- for "Spaniel". I then remembered that I always wanted a Spaniel. He had no papers, but his markings were good enough to argue that he was far from the Heinz 57 variety (a point groomers over the years had galvanized). So I was curious as to the behind-the-scenes story. The shop owner said that little guy had been the pick of the litter to carry on the legacy for the previous owner, who initially chose to keep him along with the mother. But when the previous owner's new landlord allowed only one dog, s/he had to make a concession. The puppy drew the short straw. So with the benefit of a dog with no papers and good markings, and knowing what a pedigreed dog can fetch, I figured I wouldn't pay a cen...

[Note: you may want to go ahead and defrost that Thanksgiving turkey, as it's been a wile since my last post.] OK, it was my good intention to live up to the list I shared "way back when". Specifically, the kitchen back splash job , aka the inspiration for starting this site. OK, so some things got in the way, starting with the landscape light project, which BTW was initially slated for summer '06 until the in-laws had delivered the jungle gym, unassembled, in eight boxes in my driveway. (There was also the whole thing about needing an electrical feed to the outside of the house, as featured in the 7.30.2007 post.) And the fine-tuning therein, adding lights (see 7.31.2007 ). For those of you visiting this site frequently, you saw the progression of the light arrangement in the sidebar, as I posted shots after each addition. It's pretty much stable now, so you can register the current shot to memory. What you can't see are the adjoining wires that still need ...

And the only prescription...well, you know the rest. And in case you don't: Click here if you need to see/hear the whole story. I see the light(s) . And it seems the current 10-light configuration for the walkways, as recommended, isn't enough. I gotta have more path lights! Specifically, 2 more along the walkway to balance things out, and 2 spotlights to project onto the house and water feature. More to come, so stay tuned. (This latest obsession is still pretty fresh.)

And nicely executed, despite much scrambling (and that it's not football season). "WTF?" You might ask. Let me elaborate. The 7.12.07 post put forth a list upon completion of the kitchen backsplash. After spending about 3-1/2 hours on Sunday (7/22) scraping thin-set between about one-third of the job with dental technician-like precision -- and that backsplash is one dirty mouth (credits to the Orbit gum pitch-gal) -- I'm choosing plenty of breathers between scrape strokes. Plus (future DIY glass tile-setters take note), I've learned there are some issues as to the type of grout to use to prevent scratching the surface of glass tile. Epoxy? Unsanded? A combination? Regardless, there's some research to do in addition to the breathers. Moreover, at a reasonable distance or in a photo , you really don't notice that there's no grout in between the tiles. So I got that going for me. So what did I do this past weekend? Something in between watching grass gr...

I did a little light blog-keeping. "A little to the left..." as the nameplate didn't quite fit, despite the multiple connotations that reflect what I see, hear or live. Plus, it was pretty much forcing me to make regular political commentary or something of the "L"-word flavor (which for me, in between presidential races, is more of a pleasure-filled reactionary thing to polar extremists who throw down the gauntlet at parties or related forums). But ever since Sept. '02, when me and the wife (to be) closed escrow on the primary residence at 1280, evenings and weekends prompted -- mostly during the commute home -- a checklist of: Which home improvement project -- kitchen, bath, basement, landscape, general interior/exterior, yackety-schmackety -- am I working on (or need to research/get up to speed on); Which rental property (mine more-so than the wife's) needs attention; What upgrade/restoration task can I provide "Jul-e-us di Arancia" (my oran...

OK; I am officially tuned into the '00s. About time, I figure. Now people can see where I am on mostly home improvement projects, and all the related F-bombs. Marketers, steer clear. I'm not buying -- unless you have cool, rare parts for my '74 Westy . Namely the hard-to-find orange plaid fabric (not the oft-confused chrome yellow), preferably from the upper bunk. Also wish for a dashboard clock, stamped'73, '74 or '75. Can/will trade for mine, stamped '76. (It's black face is darker than the charcoal face on the speedo and fuel,etc gauge, and it sticks out like a sore thumb.) And you now know this, because your Web crawling app picked up on the Westy keyword. We'll talk. Back to home improvement. Here's my latest headache, a backsplash in my kitchen. Here's a part of it. That's 3,168 1-inch tiles for those of you counting. (OK; they're on 12-inch sheets, but still.) And the photo only shows half the job. The vertical/horizontal cu...