Not the Full Monty - But a House Full of Monty's

The first Monty this week - From California, Monty, Desiree, and Nita (Monty's Mom)












The second Monte this week - From Colorado - Cousin Monte and Mona enjoying morning coffee on the front balcony











Remember the Alamo!















The San Antonio River - a "must see" on OSHA Babe's official tour












Does this pedestal sink look like a bird bath to you?


















FOR THE WEEK ENDING October 7, 2007

HIGHLIGHTS:

1. This past week we had a Monty and a Monte visit us in San Antonio.

.....In the first picture above, Monty, Desiree, Monty's Mom, Nita, and I are posed on the front porch. Monty, Desiree, and I worked together in San Jose, CA. They were in Texas on a well deserved vacation and thought that a side trip from Anita's home near Longview, TX to San Antonio was how they would like to spend part of their time. (Hey, I did mention to them that it's nearly 400 miles from Longview to San Antonio and they came anyway.) We thoroughly enjoyed the visit. They loved the old house. I was, however, disappointed that neither Monty nor Desiree brought their work clothes but we did enjoy several walks down Covadland memory lane.
.....OSHA Babe donned her tour guide hat and the four of them enjoyed the Alamo, Riverwalk, Mercado, and rest of downtown SAT on Wednesday. Come see us and you also can have your picture taken in front of the Alamo and on the San Antonio River. OSHA Babe has a long and storied history as a tour guide. She's good at it. But be prepared to go. She has no low gear when it comes to showing people around.
.....Covad is fortunate to have Monty and Desiree, along with their boss, Jess, working there. They sure made my job more enjoyable while I was there. Guys, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

- Thursday night, cousin Monte and Mona came in from Denver. They were on their way to Monte's 40th year High School Reunion in Del Rio. (I would make some cute remark about his age if I hadn't graduated from HS the same year.) After a good night's rest, we enjoyed a good cup of OSHA Babe's coffee on the front balcony. Does the second picture above look like they were enjoying it? Monte remembers with great fondness coming to SAT as a child to shop at Joske's, get eye examinations at TSO, and eat at Luby's Cafeteria.
.....I have enjoyed my cousin since our childhood days when we would play catch in the back yard and spend a week at each other's house during Vacation Bible School. Over the decades, we have stayed in touch, skied together, laughed and cried together. Cuz, I hope that we're blessed with more years of these and more memories yet to be made.

2. I was concerned that some of you more proper readers might raise your eyebrows about the use of the term "Full Monty." (I knew that others of you would genuinely appreciate it. Why don't you post a comment on the blog and let me know which category you fall into.)
To address your concerns, I did my journalistic background research on the term prior to publication.
.....Did you know that until the 1980's, "Full Monty" was an obscure British English slang expression meaning "the whole thing." For y'all who don't speak British, you may have used the phrases "the whole kit and kaboddle" or "the whole sheebang." Well, if you did speak British, you might as easily have said, the "Full Monty."
.....The origin of the expression, in all likelihood, comes from the tailoring business of Sir Montague Burton. A suit purchased from Sir Burton's shop was commonly known as a "Monty." A complete three-piece suit, i.e. one with a waistcoat, for a wedding etc, would be the "Full Monty." There is plausible hearsay evidence from staff who worked in Burton's shops who confirm that customers were familiar with the term and often asked for 'the full monty' by name. Burton opened his first shop in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, in 1904. The business flourished and he began opening a chain of shops in 1906. This included premises in Sheffield. Burton's name was certainly well known. The business went on to become world's largest wholesale tailoring service.
.....So there you have it folks. Those of you who had your minds in the gutter, consider yourselves exposed to a piece of fashion history. Consider yourself more educated and cultured than you were before reading this. The Tobin Hill website delivers again.

3. Oh yeah, we did do work on the house this past week. The claw foot tubs are set in place. HOORAY!!! In the downstairs bathroom, there is a toilet (and it actually works) and a pedestal sink in addition to the claw foot tub. I don't know if the picture above gives you a good perspective but the sink is small. We did that on purpose because the room is only about 7' x 7'. When we were putting the pedestal sink in, the plumber said that it looked more like a bird bath than a lavatory. On your next visit, if you need to wash anything bigger than a bird, you will have to use the claw foot tub.

NEXT STEPS:

1. The cabinet guy who is doing some finish work that includes a vanity stand for the sink in the upstairs bathroom says that he will be here on Monday, October 8, to install it. He's been having some health problems but seems to be doing better now. We'll see if he gets this done.

2. We're going to put a brick sidewalk in the front between the porch and the street. Currently, there is a concrete sidewalk that has settled and actually slopes back toward the house. In addition to the brick sidewalk sloping away from the house, it will look a whole lot better that the cracked concrete one.

3. In advance of floor refinishing in the Entry, Parlor, Dining Room, and Butler's Pantry, I need to finish sanding the door, window, and stair trim, paint that trim, and paint the walls. If this goes well, I may try to hang the new light fixtures in those rooms. You're going to love the chandelier in the Entry Way.