slacking

hello out there to all you readers!

sorry ive been slacking a little lately in the updates, but we've been super busy.

so heres a quick update from last week but i might need to do a few installments to get everything from this weekend and this week in. theres just so much to talk about! lol!

tuesday[11.11.08]

so tuesday was one of the last times i blogged and i mentioned that we were going to dinner for one of karen's friend's [caye] birthday. well we ended up meeting a couple of people at this local korean place [well, sort of local - its accross the river in that other state we dont talk about, heh]. well at first it was just 5 of us, and we decided to sit down at the table that was already prepared for the party and wait for other people to arrive. challenge 1 - sitting down. this was an authentic asian experience, let me tell you, we had to remove our shoes and sit on the floor indian-style on little pink pillows, and wow was this an interesting task, lol! i dont know about you guys, but im not quite as flexible as i was in say... 3rd grade, anymore, lol! not to mention im only slightly taller now. [hardy-har-har...] anyway, the sitting ended up being quite an experience the whole night as a group of 8-10, twenty-somethings all curled up under this table, lol! my legs were numb after like 20 minutes and i just ignored it most of the night. 

anyway, so before long people started straggling in and we made introductions one by one, and eventually even the birthday girl showed up, lol! [second to last, heh] and we all had some conversation, presents, and then got down to the business of ordering. being that this was my first time ever having korean food, i had no clue what to get so karen and i read the menu a multitude of times. the group ended up ordering a couple of different appetizer dishes for everyone to share and they were all delicious! at that point i was feeling much better about my entre choice and i ended up getting a grilled pork dish. karen got a giant stone bowl concoction that had chicken, rice, veggies, and a myriad of other goodies in it. i gotta say, we loved it! everything was just so amazingly flavorful! im a lot more adventurous in my eating these days and will try most everything [which is a good thing! because a couple of years ago i wouldnt have touched anything on that table except the rice, lol!] and it really pays off. there are just so many wonderful foods out there that i havent gotten to experience yet and slowly i hope to get around to most of them, lol! the only thing i didnt love that night was this steamed korean cabbage thing that i dont know how to spell but its something like kim-chi i think.

well when it was all over we had a great time mingling with new people and eating delicious food. we had some really interesting conversation and met some really nice people, ond obviously there was the food! overall an a+ for the night. =] 

thursday[11.13.08]

yeah nothing special really happened wednesday so im skipping to the juicy bits. 

thursday, a roofer finally called me back!! yesss! so he went out to the house and had a look at everything. he said he needed to replace all the box gutters [nothing new to us there] redo some flashing and facia, and we discussed ripping all the slate off and replacing it with shingles. he was of the same opinion that the slate would end up costing us a lot more money if we left it there, ultimately damaging the new gutters again at some point - not mention a maintenance nightmare. for the whole job, we discussed our options, and his initial estimate was waaay lower than that first guy [25k!] we talked to over the summer. so i was definitely satisfied with his thoughts on the whole thing and looked forward to getting his quote in writing to see where we would go from there. 

also on thursday morning we had an interesting little experience at the house. our neighbor from across the street [the ones weve gotten to be pretty friendly with, theyre great!] called me up in the morning to ask if i was having anyone out at the house today. well, no, not exactly... why? turns out theres a few hours shes home most days and she happened to notice this guy kind of lurking around our front porch. a bit odd to say the least. he didnt seem to be doing much really, just hanging out on the porch and then eventually talking to a guy who lives a few houses down for a little bit. anyway she called me to let me know he was there and that shed let me know if she saw him getting into any trouble while she was home. well not long after she called the first time he apparently moved on about his business and found some other place down the street to lurk i guess - but he didnt do much of anything other than trespass. either way, it got karen and i thinking about our security issue again - given that we sometimes keep tools out at the house that we know we're going to use everytime we're there, and we certainly dont want anyone breaking in and stealing tools - or appliances that we've recently acquired!

well when we bought the house it had a security system pre-installed that came with it. the thing looked in fairly good shape to me [but what do i know about secuirty systems, lol], and it was clearly labeled with the security company who had originally installed it, so karen and i had already discussed a few times if we wanted to try and get it up and running again. the guy at work whos been helping me find contractors had mentioned a few times that he recommends having an active security system in the house when rehabing [as he does] to prevent theft, and to definitely have it clearly marked that you do. so anyway, i did a little research on the top security people in the area [the system's company being one of which] and found that the company that had installed this thing originally actually had the best deal in town and the most options. so i ended up calling them up that day and was able to set up an appointment for the very next day to inspect the system we had and see where to go from there. cool! so now friday has a plumber getting started and a security system guy coming out, its starting to look busy!

friday[11.14.08]

friday was an active day indeed!

at 8am we were supposed to meet the plumber to let him and get started replacing all the plumbing in the basement and basically getting the house functioning. well karen and i were there and waiting at 7:55 but by 8:15 he hadnt shown up yet and karen was getting anxious about being late to work, so i drove her to work and the plumber would just have to wait if he got there soon. well as soon as i dropped her off the phone buzzed and it was the plumber wondering where i was. haha, of course. so i told him to sit-tight id be there asap, and headed that way. i got there around 8:45 and let them [he and his associate] in and we discussed what all he was planning to do that day and the money exchange, etc. a little after 9 i was getting back in the car and heading back to work. 

on the way to work i decided to drop my paycheck off at the bank [always a good idea, lol!] and no sooner had i pulled up to the drive-thru than my phone was buzzing again. well, the security guy had called at 8am to say that they werent going to be there at the original time[10am - 12pm], the reason for which being that the guy that was supposed to do it had to go to the emergency room the night before[although they didnt say why], and that theyd try to reschedule for later that day or monday. at first it was a touch of a bummer, but no big deal - monday is still better than later alternatives[this whole house thing has definitely taught me some patience when it comes to contractors & etc, lol!]. so when my phone buzzes, oh yes, its the security people. theyd had a cancellation and they were en route - be there in 15 minutes... okey-dokey... so i did my bank thing, turned around and headed back to the house, lol! i got there the same time he did so we got out, shook hands and went inside. 

the plumbers were a little confused to see me back so soon, but just did their thing and ignored me while the security guy and i did a little sweep of the house and he looked at all the contact points, sensors, the keypad, etc. well when we finished he let me know that the system installed was in pretty great shape from what he could tell and the only thing he recommended doing was adding two smoke alarms that were wired into their system [that way if we werent home when they went off, theyd call the fire dept. for us and then call us - sounds good to me.] and i wanted an extra key-pad installed in the master bedroom. well the end result of that meeting was amazing! basically by having the system pre-installed we got to wave all the installation and equipment costs and saved ourselves over $800! awesome! the only catch was that we needed a phone line through their company to use with the system, but thats really no big deal considering. so i left there and was finally to work by 10am and had accomplished quite a bit that day already!

however, not long after id been at work, the phone started buzzing again, lol! who could it be this time? well i answer and its none other than another roofer! score! id contacted this guys last week but to no avail. turns out he was on vacation last week, but now he was back and ready to work. now this guy is a contractor that pretty much my entire office recommended to me in chorus. hes done a lot of work for at least half the office. roofs, floors, additions, you name it. so he calls me up, and hes a real nice guy, southern accent to boot. [well obviously i feel comfortable talking to that, lol!]

so anyway, hes on the phone with me and heads over to the house. he looks around, asks me some questions here and there, we discuss things, and he throws out a few general numbers but then stops himself short and asks if we could just do a walk around later that evening and he can really show me what he wants to do and explain the cost. not only that, but hes really willing to work with us on the cost of things. he says he does this to help people more than to make money, so hes willing to try and get in our budget the best he can. so i told him sure, we could meet him after work to talk it over and go from there. 

-cut to 5pm-

so after work i picked up karen and we met this contractor/roofer out at the house. he walked around with us pointing out things here and there, explaining how he was going to repair different parts and how he was going to try to salvage everything existing that he could to keep the cost down and not replace things he could repair, etc. well a half hour - 45 minutes later wed discussed at length the situation with him, and karen and i were both getting a good vibe. then he gave us his initial estimate....

now we were engulfed in good vibe! haha! he was well under the other roofer i talked to that week and was ready to start in 4 days! amazing! so we shook hands and he promised to get a contract together with the scope of work and email it to me as soon as he could and we'd go from there. awesome! well i gotta say, we were feeling really good when we left him. it was going to cost a lot less than the initial 25k we were quoted to fix the roof, and we really liked this contractor in general. hes just one of those friendl,y cut and dry kind of guys. no bs, tells you how it is, a firm handshake, and a big smile. so needless to say we're happy with those circumstances. =]

additionally, the plumber called me a little before 5 to let me know the progress of the days work. hed gotten a lot of the fixtures hooked up, some things needed to be replaced and repaired, but we had working water in some parts of the house, and working toilets even! amazing! he even got the hot water heater installed and working! so we were definitely in business for our plans to clean over the weekend, lol! karen was happy about that one anyway ;]

friday.night

so when we left the contractor my phone was buzzing again. this time it was a friend of mine from work at bhdp - amanda. she had been wanting to hang out for a while now, and had invited us to go to a wine tasting thing at one of the local whole-foods in cincy and was checking to make sure we were going to make it. we told her we were on our way and that we'd see her soon. amanda is a sweetheart and she loves karen [i completely understand!] and weve had fun when weve hung out with her before. so eventually [after a LOT of friday night traffic - ugh!] we arrived and amanda was there to meet us with a huge smile and a hug. i love nice people! well i wont be long and drawn out on this little story, but we had a lot of fun. we tried a few wines at these little stations and some tiny portions of food "pairings" and just had a nice time in general. we met a bunch of amanda's friends and had some nice conversations, and eventually we all shared some whole-foods pizza [delicious!] and capped the night off with a movie and a little more wine over at amanda's. it was a fantastic evening! and pretty relaxing considering all the events of the day/week/our lives in general as of late, lol! thanks amanda!!

well gang, ive gotten you updated up to the weekend and this is where im going to stop. theres sooo much more to tell, but my lunch break is over now - so its back to work for me! hope youve enjoyed this installment, hang on tight and the next one will come your way soon!

post.script: yeah, im going to stop saying quick update, lol, they never are! ;]