Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Last One Out, Turn Out The Lights

As most of you are aware, I work in television. And as I have mentioned in past posts, the TV station that I work for is moving from the suburbs to a location in the downtown core. Last night was our last day of broadcasting from our old location, and my last shift there as well. I have to say, it was a bit of a sad day for me.
I grew up in this area, and as a kid I remember wishing I could work in a place like that every time we would drive by. Who knew that one day I actually would. I got a job at another TV station which broadcasts at this same location ten and half years ago. A year later, the TV station that I currently work at launched, and I have been with them ever since.
So yesterday when I handed in my card to security and drove out that gate for the last time, it was sad to know that this was the last time I would doing this drive. Ten and a half years is a record for me. Wow! Thanks for the memories Agincourt.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Kitchen Reno: Phase One Complete

It took 11 straight days of blood, sweat, arguments and hard work. It started with this...... ripped it all out and started from the bare walls ...... and ended up with this. And a new floor to boot!Thanks to my wife's mom and dad for all their hard work and guidance. We couldn't of done it without you. And thanks also to my wife's cousin who wired us up. Phase two will be the installation of the granite counters in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned...

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Kitchen Reno Day 9 and 10

With an hour and a half to spare before I have to go to work, the mighty kitchen reno is finally done, for now....
Yesterday started off great.
Finished hanging all the doors, and installed all the handles.The granite guy showed up right on time to measure for the counter tops.He used this cool computer thingy-ma-bob to take exact measurements of our counter top and the curves in the walls.And then floor hell happened. Turns out our floor was so uneven we weren't able to install the flooring my wife bought. After much thought, my father (our building Yoda) figured out a way to make everything work.And today we finished laying the rest of the flooring after my father-in-law fixed the slope to the floor.My wife about to lay the last flooring tile.There is still alot more to do, but we now have to wait for the counter tops to be installed before we can proceed. After that it's the back splash, the new light and sink to be installed. And then, hopefully in the next 3 weeks or so, our kitchen will finally be done. Almost time for me to get out of here and go to work. Stay tuned for round 2, coming soon.

Friday, April 25, 2008

Kitchen Reno Day 8

So OK, we didn't quite get all the doors or floors installed yesterday. But we did get all the kick plates in. Pilar signs the floor and I show the world my plumbers butt!The floor has begun...... and the doors are being hung.And always ready with a distraction, Calvin....... Indy...... and Hobbes.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Kitchen Reno Day 7

We finally got all the cabinets (uppers and lowers) installed yesterday. Like my reno lingo?Peter admires his work.The new cabinets more than double our amount of shelf space.Just look at the joy in my wife's face.Today is all about doors and floors. Installing all the doors to the cabinets and installing the new floor. We have 2 days left before we return to work, the pressure is on.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Congratulations!

I'm going to be an uncle again! Congratulations to my brother Colin and his girlfriend Danelia. They are expecting their bundle of joy sometime this October. Here is a couple of shots of the latest addition to the family.

Racing Chatter

Didn't get to watch Champ Cars last hurrah on the streets of Long Beach Sunday until Monday night due to the reno.
PVRed TSN's delayed coverage. What a waste of time. Why bother airing it if your not going to do it right. Their cut down coverage was confusing and left me wondering what the hell happened more often the not .... but at least I got to see it.
Congratulations to Will Power for winning the last Champ Car race ... the IRL series is that much stronger now because of him and the drivers that came over from Champ Car.To Champ Car ... Thanks for the memories. Unification had to happen to make the sport of open wheel racing stronger in North America. Now all we have to do is find a seat for PT, who once again this weekend showed why the IRL needs a name like him around.Congratulations to Danica Patrick who won her first race this weekend in Japan. It took her long enough ...now go put your clothes back on! ...nuff said!

Danica picture courtesy of The New United IRL (facebook), the rest courtesy of me!

Kitchen Reno Day 5 and 6

Spent most of Day 5 painting and setting up the counter where the sink will go. The counter had to be built around the existing plumbing, which was no small feat. And yes, the walls are red ... bright red. What do you think?Day 6 was all about assembling the cabinets and installing them. Again, all the floor cabinets had to be customized to our sloping kitchen floor. Ask my wife's dad how much fun he had figuring that out.At least it was sunny and warm which meant the cabinets could be built outside.Hobbes and Calvin don't seem to mind hanging out in the backyard all day long.Unfortunately, the kitchen reno seems to be taking it toll on my wife.But at least our kitchen is starting to look like a kitchen again ... well sort of. A few more days to go yet.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Canadiens Win

Andrei Kostitsyn scored two goals and rookie Carey Price had 25 saves as the Canadiens advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 5-0 victory over the Bruins. The Canadiens won the best-of-seven Eastern quarter-final 4-3.
The Bruins now find themselves behind the Leafs at the line to get into the golf course...
courtesy of http://www.tsn.ca/

Monday, April 21, 2008

Kitchen Reno Day 4

The fun continues. Today we changed over our 100 amp fuse box to a more modern breaker system! Welcome to the 20th century!!
We prepped the room for painting and installed all the boxes for our future electrical outlets.The wall in its primed state ready to be painted. And yes it does look pink because it is.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Kitchen Reno Day 3

Day 3 was supposed to be the day we did the electrical and painted the kitchen. Well, so much for wishful thinking. It took all day just to run the wiring for the new outlets! And I think I know why. Notice the wife doing her best to look busy.What the hell have we gotten ourselves into?There are holes in my kitchen walls!!I'm glad someone knows what their doing!"Yep, those are holes in your walls"."Can I have fries with that!"