OSHA Babe calls "Dibs" on Granite slab

If I lick this slab of granite, no one else will choose it!

OSHA Babe painted herself into this corner ........................................<--Bo finishing out the ceiling in the TV room ...............................The Domestication of Grey Boy.........This is not as docile as it looks


FOR THE WEEK ENDING February 4, 2007





HIGHLIGHTS:

1. After 4 brutal days of priming, we took a break to granite shop for the kitchen cabinets. The winner is a slab of "Apollo Storm". Since each slab has unique lines, coloring, and patterns, we wanted to find that special stone. When we went through this in San Jose during the kitchen remodel there, the granite yard gave our 1st choice slab to someone else after we had selected, tagged, and paid for it. OSHA Babe, hoping to ensure that we didn't have a repeat of that unpleasant experience, thought that if she licked this slab, no one else would choose it. OB said something about using this techique to settle disputes with her sister while they were growing up. (You don't think that she would really lick the granite, do you? Hmmmm?)


2. Picking the granite was a lot more fun than the aforementioned brutal days of priming. The good news of this story is that in contrast to the previous report - 1 room down and 9 to go - we ended the week with 9 rooms completed and none to go. We used a high quality primer that covered very good. Hopefully, the interior walls, when painted, will come out smooth and professional looking.


3. We keep making progress with the cats. That's me and Grey Boy in the two cat pictures above. I'm feeding him Whisker Lickings treats. The last picture (where he is standing on my leg) shows a lot of progress. However, he's not real happy about even this much human contact and bolts away is I try to pet him or he thinks that I am looking at him. When the Whisker Lickings are gone, I may as well be chopped liver because GB looses interest fast. (No, on second thought, me being chopped liver would not be a good idea.)


4. Visitors - For some reason, watching paint dry and looking at walls that have been primed don't draw a very large crowd, i.e., we had no visitors this week. We do continue to get to know our neighbors bit by bit.



NEXT STEPS:

1. The winner of the "Name That Song" contest will be announced in the next posting. The leading entry as of press time has named well over 30 songs and is trying to negotiate an upgrade in the prize from Starbucks to a margarita on the San Antonio Riverwalk next summer during a visit with her sister.

2. Plumbing continues to make me nervous. Sam called this week and said he hadn't seen his Helper in over a week and that the 2 guys he interviewed didn't seem to be trustworthy. I appreciate him not wanting to bring people he doesn't trust into the house. Also, I offered to be his helper on this job. He is wrapping up a job in Kennedy, TX on Tuesday and is supposed to call me to make plans for Wednesday. I sure hope that this is not code for "I've changed my mind and am not going to do your job." Stay tuned.

3. Most of the rooms have 6 inch wide trim as baseboards and around the windows and doors. All this trim needs to be sanded and repainted. This may be a huge task. The current plan is to take it on one room at a time. After that is done, we'll be down to making sure the window weights work, the walls have their final coat done, and the floors are refinished. We'll see how this week goes.

4. In the kitchen, we need to rework the sink drain, put shut off valves on the water supply lines under the sink, run a hot water supply line to the dishwasher, run a water line (hard water) for the icemaker, set the sink base cabinet in its final resting place, make a template for the granite, replace a window, refinish the floors, paint the cabinets, walls, and bead board, and cook a brisket. As you can tell, we're getting close -------NOT! But we are making progress. Getting the plumbing done in there will knock of 4 of those items.