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Archive for April, 2013

week 5 & 5.5

May 1st, 2013 at 04:17 am

Week 5 on the kitchen remodel was a bit slow - just the lighting was installed and the appliances were delivered.

Lights .... I think I will call them my War of the Worlds lights due to their tripod nature.


This weekend, I did a recon mission on a couple of tile stores. Score - I love to work with vitreous glass and I finally found a place in Seattle that has a lot of colors. That, and other tile samples were what I picked up along the way. Couldn't make many final decisions until I see the countertops.


I throw out week 5.5 because yesterday (my 51st birthday!) the contractor installed the countertops, (I also showed the undercabinet lighting here) -


And today, the sink and faucet were fully installed (also a good shot at the countertop pattern)-


Dang that flooring guy!

week 4

April 21st, 2013 at 12:52 am

Cabinets are in. Because I have an undermount sink and a slide in stove, the appliances need to be here so the contractor can make sure the appliance/countertops are installed with no issues. Also the ceiling lights will show next week. And the dust curtain is gone.

I got the revised bill, and so far the extra flooring and slight shift in plumbing only added $1.2K. I know, I know, in the frugal twilight zone where $1.2K is a dodged bullet and not a disaster.

sink side -


stove side -

Found my ninth silver dime

April 21st, 2013 at 12:24 am

You might remember that I pick up change where ever I find it. Ever since I moved to Lake City from Greenwood, my change pickings have gotten slimmer - still some, but not on the $1.50 - $2/week like I used to.

However, last Wednesday I did find a silver dime in of all places, Fred Meyer, in front of the deli soup display. Now I have 9. I was a little disappointed that silver appears to have dropped and the melt worth of a silver dime is now around $1.70, but hey right now my precious metal portfolio only costs me time.

Drp portfolio

April 14th, 2013 at 01:26 am

So some actual fiscal news - with the stock market highs, my dividend reinvestment stock portfolio has gone above 50K. It's good if you like hitting that milestone, but not so great if you realize that with high stock prices, reinvested dividends buy fewer shares. The perfect pricing situation would be a low, consistent price for a long period of time.

week 3

April 14th, 2013 at 12:55 am

Monday the new floor was set up and the drywall was replaced. It was all sealed off, so that was my carryout day. I've been doing okay with the bag of salad with a vinegar/oil dressing, both ingredients that I could store in my little bedroom kitchen.

Tuesday it looked like I could paint, so I did, but it turned out the texture guy had to do his work, so I had to paint again Wednesday. Back of my living room had a wall of boxes full of cabinet:



FYI - V.I. is holding up. While work is going on, she's behind my bedroom door w/full access to bedroom w/food dish, bonus room, cat box in the master bathroom. So far, no sign of cat displeasure on a bed pillow.

Smooth painted box stage. I wanted to paint now because I figured it would be a billion times harder after the cabinets were installed. The white squiggles are where the under cabinet lighting's going to go.



Finished the week on a high note. Lower cabinets are going in. I have tried all the drawers and pull outs. All soft close. I have made a resolution to mentally take $1 worth of enjoyment watching the soft close work. I figure at 5x/day, $1600/yr. I expect the remodel is going to be 30K. I'm not going to totally recoup it, but I'm going to make a big dent.

week 2

April 14th, 2013 at 12:39 am

Of kitchen remodel.

Basically it was at the bottoming out stage - they couldn't rip out any more ... drywall covering the plumbing was ripped out, and the drywall at chest level was ripped out so the electrician could install under cabinet lighting.



The gypcrete floor above the subfloor and underneath the vinyl had to be replaced, it was worn into pebbles in the work triangle between sink, stove, and refrigerator. That, and the plumbing had to be shifted a little bit were the only 'surprises' thus far.



The stove is gone - it is going to its second career as the stove of one of the contractors. He told me later that the stove was working like a champ.

Week 3 next.