8/17/08 Captain Jack's Repossession Repo Cruise to PC thru TPC Part 12

[Joel110]

I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but we found a great house in Woodbridge, VA.

Very nice. One of my best friends from OU and his wife (also OU) lived in Woodbridge (her family's from that area), then moved a little further south to Stafford. The husband lived on my floor in James Hall and the wife was in the 110 w/me. They credit me for hooking them up . She's a teacher in one of the school districts, so if you need some additional input, let me know. Also, the husband grew up in Mentor and is a diehard (insert any Cleveland Pro team here) fan.

 

[Esteri]

Ok - in case anyone is interested - went back to Circuit City - after waiting in line for 20 minutes (2 return clerks for a line stretching around the corner - ) I was totally prepared to explain my situation to the clerk come my turn and she told me - 1/2 way into my story - oh yeah - ipods are bad! We get about 1/2 of them back! Wish someone had told me that! I might have gotten a good nights sleep otherwise -anyways - plugged my new one in and right away the menu came on - so looks good from here.

See? It really was DOA. It's not you at all.

Enjoy your tunes!

 

[captaincrash]

How wonderful that you have the talent and the desire to create such a masterpiece for your daughter! It will become a very cherished part of her childhood memories.

I just got back from picking up the bunk bed + buying raw lummber to expand the size of the bunk bed to take a full sized bed + build a set of safer stairs for the bunk. Plus I picked up some computer stuff... it took the guy at the furniture store a long time to disassemble the bunk bed - and one of the employees was joking it was gonna take 2 hours for me to reassemble it. Whereupon I told him I was gonna expand it + add stairs + a house facade up front. He smiled big and said "I believe you'll do it!". That was encouraging! Overall... I am happy with the makings of a little construction project for the next 2 or 3 days. I figure I'll measure everything TWICE, cut, drill and stain everything tomorrow. I'll wait a day to let the stain set throughly and further the prep work in Js' bedroom then put it in late tuesday or wednesday. As for the facade... that will come a little later this week or next. I'm still mulling precisely how I'll design the facade.

Thanks for your encouraging words. I am beat though. All the running around and off loadin' has me slightly tired... probably more on account of my not takin' a proper lunch or breakfast.

 

[wheelerkidz3]

good evening everyone! i should be going to bed, but i had dis withdrawals tonite!

 

[wheelerkidz3]

ugh! here i sit alone again!!

 

[wheelerkidz3]

well, i guess i'll head to bed...goodnite self! and any others who come by

 

[captaincrash]

Will you adopt me and make ME an award winning bed?? At the very least, will you teach my DH some woodworking skills (oh I guess that means he needs to buy the tools, too . . .). These are just amazing. You are one talented pirate!

The photo below comes closest to what I hope to achieve. I'll build the top gabled roof portion close to what it appears as here... and the lower portion will have a conventional house appearance scaled for the kids. I'll add a powered light at the peak on both the exterior and interior - and add a switch upstairs for the kids to control the lights. This photo below shows a bed on the lower portion which will be up on top for our bunk bed ... and it is made of particle board. I dislike that stuff plus it has no ladder or stairs - just holes for the kids to climb up. I want stairs - and there will be no storage shelves - just regular cabinets inside on account of my being lazy to build working drawers ... plus ours will have the desk and possibly a computer work station.... if I can figure out how to comfortably squeeze everything inside. Remember, I am enlarging this by 15" along the shallow axis... so the total floor area under the bed will be about 56"x80".... unless I bow out the front into a sort of 3 sided "bay" design.

Please bear in mind that I didn't MAKE these exotic beds... I just found them on the web OR I saw them on display. And the dark wood bunk bed with work station is what I just brought home today. I am going to build a nice stairway and gabled roof facade on top... and a lower panal of some sort to make the bunk look like a play house from the front. The appearance is going to be INFLUENCED by the designs I've pictured in the prior posting... and I am just trying to have a little fun on a penny wise budget. Some of those exotic beds were upwards of $8000 to buy!

And as for getting your husband to build something... I'll post photos to show how easy it is to make! I don't plan on getting too wild here. HOWEVER, I was planning on building a cabana in the backyard. It was gonna just be 16x12 (165 square foot interior area) with an 11x7 loft. This I thought I could build entirely by myself... and it was also going to have a fantasy potential for my daughters to use. And after they grew up a bit I'd repaint it to be a bit more in the "middle of the road" in style. I figure this project might take me several weeks to complete working on it part time. I've already got about $1000 in windows for it which I bartered professional services for. And I'm shopping ebay for a nice velux skylight to install in the girls' cabana. Well... the cabana may actually turn out to be a spare office for me if I can keep the kids out of it. So we'll see who ends up using it at the end of summer... assuming I complete it (and the other summer "honey do" projects my spouse is laying on my shoulders.

Below is a close conceptual image of what I plan on building - except the main building is gonna be a CUBE where the loft occupies to comply with city codes, and the gabled roof is not gonna have an enclosed area. Rather it will be a convertible room expansion OR patio as I am gonna have the wall slide out or in as needed. It has to be in most of the time to comply with zoning and especially IF I go forward with the potential remodeling of our home - which will necessitate frequent city inspections. And when they inspect they will be able to look at everything on our property. So the cabana has to be collapsible to the mandated minimum size.... 100 square feet and 12 (or 11?) feet in height. Hence the CUBE structure with a huge gabled patio sheltering the slide out section.

Here's a couple photos that are similar to what I plan on building... IF you can image the these two designs merged together in some fashion!

 

[arlenesp]

Brack!

:

Another friend who lives in TN has Verizion and on Saturday his phone dialed everyone on his phone list at 6 pm. Thank God he didn't have any overseas #'s in his phone! Anyone else experience this also? Weird - just thought I'd ask!

My T-mobile phone has gone wacko yesterday. drops calls, keeps looping in the voice command etc. I think it may be the hands free but did have a few dropped while on speaker. Need a newe phone anyway. Good excuse .

 

[jonesing]

Great now some districts have the kids paranoid....

They don't do stuff like that here....

They do have code "names" to lock down the school though...

One morning when I was heading to work (back in ABQ) I was driving past the nearby middle school when a police car went screaming past me. Turns out there was a report of a man with a gun at the school. That evening a news copter showed pictures of the scene. I swear that was the perfect time to rob a bank! Just about every police car--marked & unmarked--was parked at the school or on the adjacent streets! There was at least 150 of them! A coworker whose fiance is on the SWAT team said all the teams--even the guys off duty--responded to the school.

Not only did they lockdown that school, they also locked down every school and daycare within 5 miles! Some poor schmo out in the fields behind the school walking his dog was set upon by one of the SWAT units! Turns out he wasn't the guy. Yeah, his dog was running loose in the fields for days... After all was said and done, it turned out to be a complete false alarm! Some girl who was new to the area was feeling picked on and didn't want to be there so she made up a story. Nobody was hurt but considering the number of panicy parents calling in and rushing to the school, not to mention the rather impressive--almost overboard--response by the police and fire units, a LOT of people were out for a piece of her hide and her parents' money to pay the $100,000+ tab for the police and fire response!

 

[arlenesp]

I just got back from picking up the bunk bed + buying raw lummber to expand the size of the bunk bed to take a full sized bed + build a set of safer stairs for the bunk. Plus I picked up some computer stuff... it took the guy at the furniture store a long time to disassemble the bunk bed - and one of the employees was joking it was gonna take 2 hours for me to reassemble it. Whereupon I told him I was gonna expand it + add stairs + a house facade up front. He smiled big and said "I believe you'll do it!". That was encouraging! Overall... I am happy with the makings of a little construction project for the next 2 or 3 days. I figure I'll measure everything TWICE, cut, drill and stain everything tomorrow. I'll wait a day to let the stain set throughly and further the prep work in Js' bedroom then put it in late tuesday or wednesday. As for the facade... that will come a little later this week or next. I'm still mulling precisely how I'll design the facade.

Thanks for your encouraging words. I am beat though. All the running around and off loadin' has me slightly tired... probably more on account of my not takin' a proper lunch or breakfast.

We built from scratch, no prefab, a loft bed for DD when she was around 6 as she wanted a bunk bed but we wanted something she could have a desk under. It was so well built that in the last few days we were living there, my DH and I slept up there as the furniture had been packed and gone.We had a built in ladder on the end but it was very hard on the feet, so we took an old wooden ladder and angle cut the legs so it stuck out a bit from the bed and made the trip up and down safer than the up and down.We also put carpet squares on the treads to give a more secure footing as well.If i come across a pic I'll try to send it.
The only downside of the loft was the heat. It was great in the winter as the heat rose but in the summertime we had trouble keeping it cool.However, back then we had a window a/c and no ceiling fan. It prob would've been more comfortable if we had.

 

[arlenesp]

Crash, we also built a playhouse for the kids using the throwaway materials from the homes going up around us. Not as elaborate but fun.

 

[micmse2003]

Ok - Apparently I am not just the Kiss of Death for my son's girlfriends but also the kiss of death for anything electronic..

Ok - I ranted - thanks for listening!

Since I will be on the cruise with you Laura, please stay away from the ship's bridge!!!! We just don't want to take any chances with your kiss of death on the electronics!!!

Oh yeah - finally figured out what happened to our internet - Verizion had problems in the Los Angeles area on Friday and they went off for a bit - they have this huge post on their website - to unplug everything and leave off for 1 minuted and then reconnect everything back up. Seems to be working ok now - we'll see! See - I told DH - NOW THAT ONE WASN'T MY FAULT!

Another friend who lives in TN has Verizion and on Saturday his phone dialed everyone on his phone list at 6 pm. Thank God he didn't have any overseas #'s in his phone! Anyone else experience this also? Weird - just thought I'd ask!

Did you do that to my phone on Friday night too??? I have T-Mobile family plan. All five phones would not work for two hours.

My T-mobile phone has gone wacko yesterday. drops calls, keeps looping in the voice command etc. I think it may be the hands free but did have a few dropped while on speaker. Need a newe phone anyway. Good excuse .

Yes, you do need a new phone. Of course I need a new tower in my village!!! I have to go upstairs or talk from the front side of my house in order to get a signal.

 

[micmse2003]

Hope its okay to post a blonde joke. It can apply to any color of hair too!! Since this was a rough week, I thought we could use a good laugh!!!

FINALLY, THE BLONDE JOKE TO END ALL BLONDE JOKES!!​

A blonde calls her boyfriend and says, "Please come over here and help me. I have a killer jigsaw puzzle, and I can't figure out how to get it started."

Her boyfriend asks, "What is it supposed to be when it's finished?"

The blonde says, "According to the picture on the box, it's a tiger."

Her boyfriend decides to go over and help with the puzzle. She lets him in and shows him where she has the puzzle spread all over the table.

He studies the pieces for a moment, then looks at the box, then turns to her and says, "First of all, no matter what we do, we're not going to be able to assemble these pieces into anything resembling a tiger."

He takes her hand and says, "Second, I want you to relax. Let's have a nice cup of tea, and then...."

He sighed.............."Let's put all the Frosted Flakes back in the box.."

 

[captaincrash]

We built from scratch, no prefab, a loft bed for DD when she was around 6 as she wanted a bunk bed but we wanted something she could have a desk under. It was so well built that in the last few days we were living there, my DH and I slept up there as the furniture had been packed and gone.We had a built in ladder on the end but it was very hard on the feet, so we took an old wooden ladder and angle cut the legs so it stuck out a bit from the bed and made the trip up and down safer than the up and down.We also put carpet squares on the treads to give a more secure footing as well.If i come across a pic I'll try to send it.
The only downside of the loft was the heat. It was great in the winter as the heat rose but in the summertime we had trouble keeping it cool.However, back then we had a window a/c and no ceiling fan. It prob would've been more comfortable if we had.

NOW I don't feel as if what I wanna do is all that strange... rather it is a realistic and practical undertaking! I had not thought about heat as being an issue - buit I was gonna add an electrical access and possibly a way to mount a computer LCD monitor with the same kepboard and mouse as on the lower level stretched to the upper level. We are actually thinking of getting the TV out of our daughters' bedroom as its' not supposed to be a good thing ... right? As for the leaned ladder idea... I am thinking of actually building a stair way out of 3 premium cut pine 1x4s. The steps will be every 6 or 7 inches and the bottom will be a simple panel of 1/4" or 3/8" plywood. The same as I'll use to build dimensional details on the playhouse facade. And I think I might provide or plan on having a little fan on the upper level to address potential heat issues. Our home has NO central air - and we have a portable A/C unit that rolls around with a hot air duct that vents out any window as needed. We bought the thing on deep discount and use it maybe one or two dozen days a year. We never felt a huge need for central A/C... but on those few days when we need A/C ... we sure think we should have got it. We went to a home improvement show yesterday and some A/c and heating salesman sugested to us that the average furnace lasts only 20 years. Our home has the original furnace and is approximately 31 years old... so should we expect a failure someday soon? And the guy suggested that when we replace the furnace we change all the duct-work and maybe install central A/C. Money - money - money... is all I see in this guys' eyes... I guess I should not blame him for planting ideas that might feed his kids... but I'm not about to think about changing anything until the thing fails in an unrepairable manner!

 

[jonesing]

Brack!

Funny thing - my camera is my life too. Don't do as much as I should but in the last few months have really been increasing posting and showing my pix so I know what you mean - the best part about my...ummm.. 'curse' is that I usually get things fixed or replaced at minimal cost - (last Sept when I lost my 500 pictures in Barbados - had a friend retrieve them for me. )

Ok - in case anyone is interested - went back to Circuit City - after waiting in line for 20 minutes (2 return clerks for a line stretching around the corner - ) I was totally prepared to explain my situation to the clerk come my turn and she told me - 1/2 way into my story - oh yeah - ipods are bad! We get about 1/2 of them back! Wish someone had told me that! I might have gotten a good nights sleep otherwise -anyways - plugged my new one in and right away the menu came on - so looks good from here.

Oh yeah - finally figured out what happened to our internet - Verizion had problems in the Los Angeles area on Friday and they went off for a bit - they have this huge post on their website - to unplug everything and leave off for 1 minuted and then reconnect everything back up. Seems to be working ok now - we'll see! See - I told DH - NOW THAT ONE WASN'T MY FAULT!

Another friend who lives in TN has Verizion and on Saturday his phone dialed everyone on his phone list at 6 pm. Thank God he didn't have any overseas #'s in his phone! Anyone else experience this also? Weird - just thought I'd ask!

DW and I were up in Denver and stopped by Mike's Camera shop. And there she saw it....the Leica M8 digital. Now mind you, she has a Leica. AN old III-G her father brought back from Germany during the war. So it turns out that Mike's is one of the verrrrrry few authorized Leica dealers in all of Colorado. Yeah, the M8 digital was very nice and I pretty much had to pry it from her hands

We went to Best Buy today and got her a SanDisk Sansa c250 MP3 player. It's pretty sweet! Less than half the cost of the iPod Nano with the same memory PLUS it comes with a built-in FM tuner so she can listen to the TVs at the Y (they have several TVs on mute with a sign underneath telling you which FM channel to tune to for the audio feed). It's nice too that you don't need anything special, just Windows Media Player. Plays MP3 or WMA formats, photos etc. It's pretty sweet!

 

[captaincrash]

Hope its okay to post a blonde joke. It can apply to any color of hair too!! Since this was a rough week, I thought we could use a good laugh!!!

FINALLY, THE BLONDE JOKE TO END ALL BLONDE JOKES!!​

A blonde calls her boyfriend and says, "Please come over here and help me. I have a killer jigsaw puzzle, and I can't figure out how to get it started."

Her boyfriend asks, "What is it supposed to be when it's finished?"

The blonde says, "According to the picture on the box, it's a tiger."

Her boyfriend decides to go over and help with the puzzle. She lets him in and shows him where she has the puzzle spread all over the table.

He studies the pieces for a moment, then looks at the box, then turns to her and says, "First of all, no matter what we do, we're not going to be able to assemble these pieces into anything resembling a tiger."

He takes her hand and says, "Second, I want you to relax. Let's have a nice cup of tea, and then...."

He sighed.............."Let's put all the Frosted Flakes back in the box.."

Chuckles....​

 

[jonesing]

Hope its okay to post a blonde joke. It can apply to any color of hair too!! Since this was a rough week, I thought we could use a good laugh!!!

must......wipe.......Pepsi......from......screen.....

 

[captaincrash]

DW and I were up in Denver and stopped by Mike's Camera shop. And there she saw it....the Leica M8 digital. Now mind you, she has a Leica. AN old III-G her father brought back from Germany during the war. So it turns out that Mike's is one of the verrrrrry few authorized Leica dealers in all of Colorado. Yeah, the M8 digital was very nice and I pretty much had to pry it from her hands

We went to Best Buy today and got her a SanDisk Sansa c250 MP3 player. It's pretty sweet! Less than half the cost of the iPod Nano with the same memory PLUS it comes with a built-in FM tuner so she can listen to the TVs at the Y (they have several TVs on mute with a sign underneath telling you which FM channel to tune to for the audio feed). It's nice too that you don't need anything special, just Windows Media Player. Plays MP3 or WMA formats, photos etc. It's pretty sweet!

Everytime I hear of someone messing around with thier I-pod this or that I feel a bit like the proverbial caveman. I don't do music on the computer or download off the web,. Just CDs and books on Cd for me. One day though I'll rejoin the 21st century and probably try one of these things out and become a ipod hackin' MPEG totin', tattooed toe tappin music monster!

 

[Grandma x3]

Yes, you do need a new phone. Of course I need a new tower in my village!!! I have to go upstairs or talk from the front side of my house in order to get a signal.

Oh LOL!!! In our town in No. Cal. the town fathers decreed that cell towers cause cancer & nixed them - okay fine - so, I have only 2 spots in my home where I get signal. One time we had a disturbance - the plain clothes cops were walking up & down the street w/their cell phones trying to get a signal - thankfully it was a false alarm - however, we still have nil coverage & no DSl!!!

 

[captaincrash]

must......wipe.......Pepsi......from......screen.....

chuckles...​