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| 2-14 Rebekah on opening night....a tired, but happy girl. |
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| 2-14 Garry and Rebekah....Hanging firmly together through it all. |
2-14 Nothing makes a mother happier than seeing one of her kids succeed at
something they are pursuing, especially when it's something they have put their heart, soul, and sweat into. I am a
very happy mother right now.
2-3 Now that the new carpet is in, employees will no longer be
able to smoke while they work, but not to worry, we have a new Employee Smoking Lounge. It's in the heart of the building,
with one of the most historical views of all. Click here to see it.
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| It says DEAD. |
2-1 It's DEAD! I couldn't believe my eyes when I went
to put my quarter in the parking meter. It was blinking "dead" at me. No, not "expired"....DEAD. I didn't
know a parking meter could die. The best part is that you can still park there....as long as you want. How could
anyone get a ticket when the meter refuses to take your money?
After careful anaylization, I have decided that meter got greedy, ate too many coins and died of indigestion.
And now...I have a plan. Instead of using quarters, I'm thinking nickels will be better....five of them at a time, (which
will fill their little tummies faster than one quarter). I plan to overfeed as many meters as I can, one at a time.
1-24 There is more to the painting process than meets the eye.
Here's how it goes:
First, you have to locate everything you will need, but often you don't know you need it until you get going. Possible
things to consider are painter's tape for taping off glass or other edges, the flat thing that you can put against edges of
other colored paint to (hopefully) make a nice straight edge, possibly a ladder, a rag, a beer, and of course the right paint,
and a clean brush or roller and pan. You have to figure out how to open the paint can. An old screw works well
to pry it off if you can't locate a screwdriver or paint can opener. (And most likely, you can't, so just go with the
screw.)
After all that you can start.
Hopefully, your project is already caulked in it's cracks and has dried.
find spackle and spackling impliment
spackle, (let it dry)
find sanding block (or old scrap of sandpaper)
sand, (wipe off all the dust)
locate primer and brush or roller
prime, (let it dry)
find spackle and spackling impliment
spackle the holes that were missed, (let it dry)
find sanding block (or old scrap of sandpaper)
sand, (wipe off all the dust)
locate right color and type of paint and brush or roller
paint first coat of paint, (let it dry)
find spackle and spackling impliment
spackle some more, (let it dry)
get someone to caulk another crack that was missed, (let it dry)
find sanding block (or old scrap of sandpaper)
sand, (wipe off all the dust)
locate right color and type of paint and brush or roller
paint second coat of paint,
ignore another missed inperfection, (let it dry)
locate contrasting adjacent color of paint and clean brush
touch up contrasting adjacent color that you accidently got paint on, (let it dry)
locate original paint and brush that you were using
touch up the original color that you accidently got touch up paint on,
Done at last!
Then, later, go back and notice where someone bumped your perfect paint job....touch it up again.
Oh, and don't forget, between each coat of paint, to wash the brushes or stash them safely in a baggie...or go to
another location and continue using them on something else.
1-20 It's a whirlwind of activity these days, which is one
reason I haven't updated the site recently....I'm too tired! Everything is happening at once, it's going too fast and
too slow all at the same time. Entryway tile is in and looks wonderful. The "stained glass" is in above the entry
doors-- both an address on the outside one and an exit sign on the inside one. Cabinets are going in behind the bar.
New floor tile is in the back area by the kitchen, carpet is in on the mezzanine, the office now has a desk and computers,
but the baseboards are still being painted and installed. Various window frames are being finished. Floors are
being sanded and readied for finish. Food is ordered and being delivered soon. Downstairs walls above and around
the main brick area are being patched, primed and painted. The front entryway is being caulked, sanded and painted.
Speakers are in and music is playing. Fans are twirling. Sanders are sanding, saws are sawing, beer is cooling.
All is well.
~*~*~*~*~
1-8 Lesson Learned: When wearing overalls, it's important
to take inventory of both straps before sitting down on a toilet.
~*~*~*~*~
1-8 So....I go in to the shop to work yesterday. No one is there except
Nathan. Rebekah, Garry, and friends had a late night work party the night before so they will be late. I mosey
on upstairs to admire "my" chairs....and what do I see:
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| The evidence. |
uhoh.....I always thought this could happen but convinced myself it never would...that no one would be having a good
time while painting spindles while dangling in the hole. I assured myself that it was NOT my daughter....nope...that
it probably wasn't Garry (I can't imagine him in the hole)....it MUST have been one of their slightly crazy friends......I
was wrong.....It was Rebekah!
~*~*~*~*~
1-7 I have noticed that in a lot of the photos, the "Stonehedge" (brown) paint
looks SILVER. At first I thought it was because the surfaces were primed but not painted, but now I realize that this
is just the way the paint shows up in certain light in photos. It is NOT silver. It's a deep brown with a grayish
tinge that sometimes gives it a gun-metal type effect. It's frustrating to me though in the photos. It's much
nicer in real life.You can notice it especially in pictures of the first floor tin ceiling and most of the spindles.
You can see what I mean in the pictures below.
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| These spindles and the ceiling is NOT silver, it's dark brown. It just looks silver sometimes. |
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| This is the same staircase and ceiling, taken the same day, different angle, different lighting. |
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12-26 Radiators...They seem to be everywhere. Yesterday I
counted NINE of them. I think only two of them were working. One or two of them have parts on order....and there
might be some sort of problem with the water pressure getting the ones on the top floor to work.- but whatever the problem,
it WILL be solved.)
At any rate, I was plenty warm, and it's a very comfortable type of heat....it sort of...well....radiates.
It's amazing to me that such old equipment and technology still works very well today. And not only are they functional,
they are attractive~~ all ornate in their intricately embossed surfaces. The ones that aren't hooked up yet make great
coffee tables, tool benches or coat racks.
I think of them as aristocratic dinosaurs
standing guard over the building's past but willing to serve its future.
~*~*~*~*~
12-24 Jay and I went in to the shop to help paint. He was planning on
working on the upstairs windows. He noticed all the "patching" and painting that needed to be done on the upstairs walls,
and was more than a little surprised (and appalled) to hear Rebekah say that the walls are DONE. The way they look (old
and dirty and in need of repair) is the look they are after....it's the "in" look and there is a name for it which Rebekah
told me but I can't remember.
She pointed out the exposed A/C ducting, the exposed electrical boxes, and noted that they don't plan to "finish" the
floor, just sort of clean it up a bit......She said that they won't have to worry about people bumping tables into the walls
and messing up the paint....because no one will be able to tell a new "scar" from the old ones. She assured him it's
a very "in" look and that one of the best restaurants in Columbia looks the very same way. Jokingly she said we
can call it Industrial Elegance. Jay went back to his meticulous window spackling, still shaking his head.
I'm betting he was wondering how his "perfect" window-job was going to fit into this scheme.
~*~*~*~*~
12-23 I HATE watching people standing on boards (or even sitting on them)
over "the hole". It's WAY too scary. They prop the board between two ladders and then walk out on it with paint
brush or roller in hand....They even bend over to get more paint on their chosen implement. Remember, I am talking about OVER
the hole...not just the floor. It's VERY scary.
The first few times I had to go hide in the bathroom and plug my ears in case whoever it was fell...I didn't want to
hear "the splat". Amon was with me on that. He accompanied me to the bathroom, even suggested maybe we should
go downstairs to "catch". I said no, I didn't want to hear the splat or see it from any angle, not above and not below.
At least I don't have to worry about him, a kid after my own heart on this issue.
Heck, I'm not even good on ladders, myself...although I am learning.
I got a little better at enduring it though and even was able to take some pictures of Nathan as he bounced around the
board while painting the inside of ceiling beams over the hole. I figured I should take pictures in case he fell and
died so that I'd have some "last" pictures of him. Morbid? Yeah, I guess.
12-22 Those darned spindles! They just never quit demanding attention.
Just when you think you have some of them finally almost perfect, you move the light and see missed spots or old drips that
need to be scraped off and re-touched with a couple more coats of paint. The inside surfaces of the ones around "the
hole" are the most tricky. It's hard to find someone who wants to paint spindles, much less, to find someone who wants
to perch on a board in the middle of "the hole" and paint them! I figured out that the inside surfaces can be painted
about half way down by leaning over the rail with my feet still firmly planted on the floor. Then, there is the dust
problem. Before you paint them or touch them up, you have to wipe all the plaster dust off of them.....each time.....because
it magically reappears within minutes.
Those who have painted spindles have been known to even DREAM about spindle painting.....Some call it spindle hell.
~*~*~*~*~
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