The Golden State

I've traveled southward again.

I left last Saturday morning, and wound down highway 5 for ten hours. I arrived in San Jose, staying at my uncle Dieter's, to pick up my remaining items from storage.

I had planned to leave and head back up to Oregon the next day, or perhaps Monday. Instead, Sunday afternoon I helped Dieter landscape his front yard. It's a small condo yard, but it ended up very well. A rough and scrappy piece of rocky dirt, was transformed into a nearly tropical, very Japananese garden, complete with pagoda, pebble river bed, and mini-bridge. I'll try to get some pics.

Then, Monday morning I grabbed my stuff from my storage, and hit the highway. Just before pulling into Lodi for a quick Mutti visit, I decided to call Sage and appologize for not finding the time to meet up. He was ok with it, and instead offered a few days of work, in exchange for nominal payment and a free Santa Cruz Blues Festival ticket. Deal. Count me there.

So, I call the guys in the San Jose pcb design office, and let them know I'll be in San Jose for up to another week. Turns out Dieter will be able to let me borrow a computer to do that work as well, in the evenings, or when Sage's wraps up. So, I finally pull into Mutti's, and was able to keep my storage stuff in her garage while I pull a u-turn back to SJ. As it were, she needs her backyard landscaped. I agreed to do it, when I am finally, for real, heading back up to Oregon. It should take no more than 2-3 days.

Then, Dieter and I worked out a deal to landscape his backyard now, as well.

One small errand I had to do, instead has turned into four new projects.

Wish me luck with the landscape gods.

(I hope the gods of Oregon will not be angry at me for patronizing the good gods of landscape)

More Visuals

One At a Time

Another.

A Little Snapshot

Here you go.



I did take more.
Detailed close-ups too.

However, the dear, old, funky Uncle Stanley only emailed me one of nine from his camera. I am still unclear what the other strange attachments I found in my inbox, from him were. Maybe he is secretly a techno-superhero and has invented a new file format which includes the remaining eight images. I hope they are in 3-d. Either way, I hope to make contact with techno-superhero today so I can decipher his new way.

as per requested

For all you whining, sniveling cry babies, here you go. Please be sure to wipe your post nasal drip, before it gets crusty.










Oh, shoot, my bad. This is actually another stock photo.


I'll get a real pic soon.

It's a Modern Society

It's a modern society nowadays. Except way up Kentuck Inlet.

Here, it is an untamed wilderness. Not much unlike the depths of the Amazon or Congo. There, they have tarantulas, flesh eating wildebeest, snakes and crocodiles with big teeth. Not to mention something about quicksand, I've heard.
In these parts however, we have the relentless, mind-killing drone of incessant rain, and any of the above can kill you, eventually I believe.

However, I have temporarily at least, staved off death with steadfast pursuit of a finished bathroom. And without further delay, here is the latest update.

All shower tile is in. All sink tile is in. All floor tile is in. It is 95% grouted. The toilet, sink, and faucet is installed. And the walls have been painted a semi-gloss white.
Left to do, is sealing of the grout, finish wood trim, towel and tp racks, and put the door back up. Oh ya, ever so minor texture and paint touch will then cap the project.

Added on however, is a mini-kitchen, just on the other side of the bath wall. U. Dan insisted I t-bone the hot and cold water supplies, and sink drain way back when. All on the hope that one day a kitchenette would be added. And son of a gun, if that day did not arrive sooner than I thought.

There, U.D. (as he shall forward be deemed) (it works for Michigan's U.P. right?) has already installed one base cabinet and is tiling a countertop this very afternoon. A mini-fridge has already been placed, plugged in, and immediately began to serve it's intended purpose well, in the chilling of some nice, ice cold beverages. And, I believe it is worthy of mention, I do like ice cold beverages.

In other news, I have had my first full week of work through my new pcb design venture. It seems to be going well. I hope the prospect for more work continues.

And finally, for all of those who have been crying for a new post, I say to you resoundly, "go screw off." Listen, like I said, it's a modern society, but not on the ouskirts of Coos County. Here, there is no hi-speed cable, there is no coffee shop around the corner, no. Instead, it is a nearly inhospitable environment, fraught with potential dangers lurking behind every overgrown shrub and tree. Bottom line, I'm basically marooned on a deserted planet, with no hi-speed internet. Honestly, I have no idea how we all survived the 56k era.

In any event, thank God for wireless internet thievery from the neighbors. I think they have satellite internet or something. However, it should be said now, and forevermore, I will post only when something is worth mentioning. Here, at Las Vegas and Other N. American Points dot com, we strive for only the freshest ingredients. No salt, no additives, and no msg. And best of all, I will never, hear me, NEVER simply post random jokes from random comedians, just to fill space. Our motto is, if it's not juicy fresh, it won't get posted.

So, if you want to go to those "recycled" so-called blogs, go right ahead.

But if you want quality, here is where you find it. Residing up Kentuck Inlet.

Moving Forward...

... in space, time, and the bathroom remodel.



Where I last left off, I was California bound, but only for a short time. I have since returned with enough computing power to launch a small, privately financed, space shuttle. Perhaps this is a marketable side business... I do not know... maybe in Russia. But what I do know is that I now have all of my construction tools on hand as well. This is an overwhelming convenience. My life is much happier, and healthy now.

Since returning, I have framed in the shower walls, and installed the mixer. The mixer, is the device which mixes both the hot and cold water together, to an individually perfect blend of hot and cold water. Hence the name, mixer.
The shower head plumbing has also been decided upon, and installed. The big news though, is the water test that we performed yesterday. Turns out, there was one PVC pipe fitting located on the outside wall, for fresh water supply that was not glued. This burst, and the test failed.

Today, the fitting is now glued, and the hot water heater must be electrically connected to truly test the hot and cold function of the aforementioned mixer.

Once all the "inside the wall" stuff can pass inspection, the shower pan can be placed permanently, drain installed, insulation put up, and backerboard screwed in. Backerboard being, that which the tile will adhere to. Then, drywall will go up all around. After that, you may well imagine, we are tangibly close to a real bathroom.

As far as the picture from above, it is just a stock photo of Cape Arago, just a few miles south of town. I included this for the exclusive benefit of you, the occasional observer. Enjoy.

What Month Is it??

I can't believe it's been a month since I posted. I guess it's not too bad, if compared to my brother's blogs. I think I'm still way ahead on an average post per month basis... assuming the last 8 months are included in the calculation.

Where was I... the loft bathroom. Well, at this point, all the heaviest of heavy duty labor is done. 146 feet of trench dug, all at 1/4" per foot of slope to accommodate the necessary plumbing exit (sewer line, that is, in layman's terms). Since then, all 146 feet of 4" ABS pipe has been placed, glued, and buried, along with all code appropriate cleanout intervals. In short, the loft is now plumbed to the septic. Hypothetically, if you carried your own bucket of water with you, you could take a duke, if you so desired. But I wouldn't recommend the sitting position as comfortable, since the toilet is not actually installed. However, in Japan they do it that way. If we have any Japanese visitors soon, we are ready for business.

So, as for the very now, the honorable Uncle Dan and I have been negotiating shower wall plans. He opinioned that plastic walls would be fine. I have advocated for tile. I think I am winning this debate. We are also divided on the floor material. He believes linoleum is ok. And, yes, the cost savings is significant (whereas costs are comparable with tile shower walls vs. plastic) and installation would also be much quicker and easier with his preferred choice. I may relent, but only if the shower walls can be done the right way, with tile. However... work is about to go on another break. This should only last a week.

This is the deal. I am starting up KB Design, with worldwide headquarters located here in lovely North Bend, Oregon. The KB stands for Kirk and Bryan. Bryan Coleman that is. The week delay is for me to travel back to California to pick up a computer, and some light training with my Uncle Dieter. Then I return to Oregon as soon as possible, and we embark.

This does put the loft bathroom, somewhat on a back burner. NOT off the stove, not chilled and in the freezer, just lowered to a simmer, and set nearer the wall. I will then pick it up on weekends, and when there is time between the new startup work. It does look like I will be busy immediately, so weekends just may be the only time.

IN other news, I sold the Supra. It was burning more oil than I thought was healthy. That, and I really do need a truck. Sports cars are fun, but not practical. Even for a single guy. So, with a favorable tax return, I picked up a Nissan Frontier.

I'm liking it so far.




I think that's it. No poker news. I'm just too burnt on it all. Perhaps when I'm an old rich dude, with nothing to do in my retirement but burn hundred dollar bills. For now, I got a bidniss to run.