As you can see, I found my camera. The lawn looks a bit patchy at the moment of course, but anything is better than the dirt yard we had before. I don't know if the sod layers were still half asleep when they did our lawn but some areas have at least a 2 inch gap between the pieces. So I have been praying for rain now every day, but alas the FSM isn't listening to me and just sends dark clouds overhead to taunt me, the bastard. So it is a waterin I go. The backyard is easy, but down the sides of the house I have to manually do it with the hose and gun. I have been developing a system where I set up the sprinkler in the back, and do the sides and front manually. I just have to work on my technique a little I think. I have no freakin clue how long or how much to water. The instructions they left us are of course vague as all hell "use a sprinkler" gee thanks. O well, we shall see if the lawn goes green or yellow :)
Sunday, August 31, 2008
We Have Grass!!
Well I guess I should say, "We have a Lawn", or every pothead in the neighborhood will be in for a visit.
As you can see, I found my camera. The lawn looks a bit patchy at the moment of course, but anything is better than the dirt yard we had before. I don't know if the sod layers were still half asleep when they did our lawn but some areas have at least a 2 inch gap between the pieces. So I have been praying for rain now every day, but alas the FSM isn't listening to me and just sends dark clouds overhead to taunt me, the bastard. So it is a waterin I go. The backyard is easy, but down the sides of the house I have to manually do it with the hose and gun. I have been developing a system where I set up the sprinkler in the back, and do the sides and front manually. I just have to work on my technique a little I think. I have no freakin clue how long or how much to water. The instructions they left us are of course vague as all hell "use a sprinkler" gee thanks. O well, we shall see if the lawn goes green or yellow :)
As you can see, I found my camera. The lawn looks a bit patchy at the moment of course, but anything is better than the dirt yard we had before. I don't know if the sod layers were still half asleep when they did our lawn but some areas have at least a 2 inch gap between the pieces. So I have been praying for rain now every day, but alas the FSM isn't listening to me and just sends dark clouds overhead to taunt me, the bastard. So it is a waterin I go. The backyard is easy, but down the sides of the house I have to manually do it with the hose and gun. I have been developing a system where I set up the sprinkler in the back, and do the sides and front manually. I just have to work on my technique a little I think. I have no freakin clue how long or how much to water. The instructions they left us are of course vague as all hell "use a sprinkler" gee thanks. O well, we shall see if the lawn goes green or yellow :)
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Well that wasn't fun.
I Hate moving, I really really do. I think that is why we lived in our apartment for so long, we just didn't want to move. Well that is all over, now it is time to unpack and Uglify our new house with our old furniture. Yes I now have the home network hooked up and working, the Cable guy was in Saturday and hooked up all the externals, cable and Phone and I worked on the Ethernet wall jacks in, and hooking up the router in the basement. I just have to put up a shelf to hold everything.
One of the "issues" we had last week was with the appliances. They were delivered, and out of 6 appliances 1 didn't show up (microwave), 2 were damaged (Stove and Dryer), and 3 weren't hooked up (Dishwasher, Fridge, and Dryer). I guess due to some miscommunication somewhere along the road, someone decided we didn't need the plumbing for the dishwasher at all. Apparently they thought we were going to get some new fandangled pipless washer that only needed electricity run to it. The drain and waterline were split from under the sink but no lines were run. Why would you need lines for the dishwasher anyways? It is much more fun to have it sitting in the middle of the Kitchen. They did replace the stove and dryer, but when they replaced the dryer, they also replaced the washing machine. I guess they come as a set and don't like to be split up. Maybe when they are given a home, they have to be together for behavioral problems, so they don't become crazed maniac appliances later on in life because they were split from their sibling when they were so young. I dunno, just a guess. The Microwave did show up eventually, I think they beamed it in or something. Well last night we had a plumber show up and install everything, so all is out of the way and working now. We even have ice! The miracles of modern technology!
So right now we are still moving stuff round to see where it all fits, and what we need where. It is amazing how we are able to fill up this house with stuff from a 2 bedroom apartment. Well we did take a couple of donations, but we got RID of stuff as well, weird. I think the furniture is breeding or something.
Hopefully I can find my camera and take some photos of the mess and post them. I was going to make a video walkthough, but right now it would be a video of dodging boxes and piles of "stuff". Once we get everything set up I think I will give it a try.
One of the "issues" we had last week was with the appliances. They were delivered, and out of 6 appliances 1 didn't show up (microwave), 2 were damaged (Stove and Dryer), and 3 weren't hooked up (Dishwasher, Fridge, and Dryer). I guess due to some miscommunication somewhere along the road, someone decided we didn't need the plumbing for the dishwasher at all. Apparently they thought we were going to get some new fandangled pipless washer that only needed electricity run to it. The drain and waterline were split from under the sink but no lines were run. Why would you need lines for the dishwasher anyways? It is much more fun to have it sitting in the middle of the Kitchen. They did replace the stove and dryer, but when they replaced the dryer, they also replaced the washing machine. I guess they come as a set and don't like to be split up. Maybe when they are given a home, they have to be together for behavioral problems, so they don't become crazed maniac appliances later on in life because they were split from their sibling when they were so young. I dunno, just a guess. The Microwave did show up eventually, I think they beamed it in or something. Well last night we had a plumber show up and install everything, so all is out of the way and working now. We even have ice! The miracles of modern technology!
So right now we are still moving stuff round to see where it all fits, and what we need where. It is amazing how we are able to fill up this house with stuff from a 2 bedroom apartment. Well we did take a couple of donations, but we got RID of stuff as well, weird. I think the furniture is breeding or something.
Hopefully I can find my camera and take some photos of the mess and post them. I was going to make a video walkthough, but right now it would be a video of dodging boxes and piles of "stuff". Once we get everything set up I think I will give it a try.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
It's Ours!!
YAY, the day finally came, the house is ours. I don't have any photos to post since I left the camera at the house, hopefully tomorrow. They finished the exterior paint, and small repairs. The Deck is going to be finished tomorrow I believe. We have a driveway, sort of. They put down a big layer of asphalt, and next year finish it with a second layer after the first has settled.
Wow, what a day of ups and downs, elation and despair. First we woke up, and find out we have MORE paperwork to sign, yay everyone's favorite thing to do. We also found out that the banking kiosk had Gabbi's drivers license still from yesterday, OOPS?
We showed up for the inspection at 1pm , and saw the appliances were there, yay! O wait a tic, the Dishwasher isn't installed, and there is no microwave, hmmm. When we went to do the final walkthrough we were told that they damaged the dryer delivering it, so it needs to be replaced, and someone screwed up on running the lines for the dishwasher. When we purchased the units, we were told Joe would take care of it all because he works with Reid's all the time on this stuff, and deals with Simon (the site supervisor) constantly. Well the plumbing isn't there, and it isn't apparently on the Re ids work sheet. So the dishwasher is sitting in the middle of the kitchen while someone figures out who screwed up where. The microwave is just a no show, no idea where it is or why it isn't there. They said they would take care of it for us, so hopefully not next year. I don't know if they dropped the dryer, but the top panel is bent and dented. The Deck posts were put in yesterday, so we figured they would be working on it this week, yay. They got the structure in today, and the framework done, now just the decking and the railings to do. At about 1:30 we got a call that we could come pick up the keys at the lawyers office, of course we also had so sign said paperwork as well. We decided to eat in a pub in the same building as the Lawyers and plan out where to go what to do. First off to the banking kiosk to get Gabbi's drivers license, which they couldn't find and looked like they lost. Gladly they found it after a lengthy search so all was well there. After that we decided to head to Home Depot and pick up a couple of things like a Recycle bin, a garbage can and look around at pricing on ceiling fans etc. Our next stop was the Liquor store for some wine. We wanted to have some family over to have a glass of wine in the new house while they looked it over.
Here is where the Despair sets in, and I feel like a complete fool about this but I am not going to hide the fact. As we walked out the the Liquor store, all elated at the new house , thinking about getting new stuff for it etc, a white truck pulls up with 2 guys in it. They ask if we know anyone that would like to buy a home theatre system on the cheap. Oh MY GOD, our receiver JUST died, we JUST got a new house and were looking at new systems, and along comes these guys with a system in the truck. Well , it turns out that there was a mix up at the shipping place, and they have an extra system in their truck. Now last time this happened their Boss took the system and sold it himself for full profit. They would take anything we could get , anything would be money in their pocket. So he says it is a Genesis speaker system, and I think WOW, this guy is selling a Genesis speaker system out of the back of his truck, this IS our lucky day. Well he grabs the big box out of the truck, puts it in the car, says a thank you and tears off. Hmm now alarm bells start going off in our heads. To make a Long story short, they are a major scam that is going around here. I have to say it is very well done as a scam. They have everything down pat, fake magazines to show you advertisements in them about the product, fake shipping bills, a story that is so damn crazy it MUST be true, and people with completely no conscience to pull it off. All of the names they use are made so close to, or spelled slightly different than real high quality audio equipment so even if you somewhat know about audio stuff it sounds good. Once you look at the box, and open it up you know immediately you got ripped off. I am going to thank the FSM (Flying Spaghetti Monster for those that don't know) that PC Banking has a limit on our daily withdrawals and we had spent a bunch of money already today on House stuff. Even though we just got taken for a couple hundred bucks, it still feels like complete shit when you get taken.
This must be what crack addicts feel like. Super high at one point, just getting better and better, nothing can go wrong and CRASH, reality hits you in the face with a 5 lb sledge hammer. Is there a term called insta-migraine? If not I just invented it, and had one. O well , another of lifes lessons from the shitter. Quote me on this one, "It is bad enough when you trust the kids in Future Shop or Best Buy when it comes to electronics, if you EVER trust someone selling stuff out of the back of a truck, punch yourself hard in the face." I like it, I think I will have bumper stickers made. .........................................................................................................................................
Wow, what a day of ups and downs, elation and despair. First we woke up, and find out we have MORE paperwork to sign, yay everyone's favorite thing to do. We also found out that the banking kiosk had Gabbi's drivers license still from yesterday, OOPS?
We showed up for the inspection at 1pm , and saw the appliances were there, yay! O wait a tic, the Dishwasher isn't installed, and there is no microwave, hmmm. When we went to do the final walkthrough we were told that they damaged the dryer delivering it, so it needs to be replaced, and someone screwed up on running the lines for the dishwasher. When we purchased the units, we were told Joe would take care of it all because he works with Reid's all the time on this stuff, and deals with Simon (the site supervisor) constantly. Well the plumbing isn't there, and it isn't apparently on the Re ids work sheet. So the dishwasher is sitting in the middle of the kitchen while someone figures out who screwed up where. The microwave is just a no show, no idea where it is or why it isn't there. They said they would take care of it for us, so hopefully not next year. I don't know if they dropped the dryer, but the top panel is bent and dented. The Deck posts were put in yesterday, so we figured they would be working on it this week, yay. They got the structure in today, and the framework done, now just the decking and the railings to do. At about 1:30 we got a call that we could come pick up the keys at the lawyers office, of course we also had so sign said paperwork as well. We decided to eat in a pub in the same building as the Lawyers and plan out where to go what to do. First off to the banking kiosk to get Gabbi's drivers license, which they couldn't find and looked like they lost. Gladly they found it after a lengthy search so all was well there. After that we decided to head to Home Depot and pick up a couple of things like a Recycle bin, a garbage can and look around at pricing on ceiling fans etc. Our next stop was the Liquor store for some wine. We wanted to have some family over to have a glass of wine in the new house while they looked it over.
Here is where the Despair sets in, and I feel like a complete fool about this but I am not going to hide the fact. As we walked out the the Liquor store, all elated at the new house , thinking about getting new stuff for it etc, a white truck pulls up with 2 guys in it. They ask if we know anyone that would like to buy a home theatre system on the cheap. Oh MY GOD, our receiver JUST died, we JUST got a new house and were looking at new systems, and along comes these guys with a system in the truck. Well , it turns out that there was a mix up at the shipping place, and they have an extra system in their truck. Now last time this happened their Boss took the system and sold it himself for full profit. They would take anything we could get , anything would be money in their pocket. So he says it is a Genesis speaker system, and I think WOW, this guy is selling a Genesis speaker system out of the back of his truck, this IS our lucky day. Well he grabs the big box out of the truck, puts it in the car, says a thank you and tears off. Hmm now alarm bells start going off in our heads. To make a Long story short, they are a major scam that is going around here. I have to say it is very well done as a scam. They have everything down pat, fake magazines to show you advertisements in them about the product, fake shipping bills, a story that is so damn crazy it MUST be true, and people with completely no conscience to pull it off. All of the names they use are made so close to, or spelled slightly different than real high quality audio equipment so even if you somewhat know about audio stuff it sounds good. Once you look at the box, and open it up you know immediately you got ripped off. I am going to thank the FSM (Flying Spaghetti Monster for those that don't know) that PC Banking has a limit on our daily withdrawals and we had spent a bunch of money already today on House stuff. Even though we just got taken for a couple hundred bucks, it still feels like complete shit when you get taken.
This must be what crack addicts feel like. Super high at one point, just getting better and better, nothing can go wrong and CRASH, reality hits you in the face with a 5 lb sledge hammer. Is there a term called insta-migraine? If not I just invented it, and had one. O well , another of lifes lessons from the shitter. Quote me on this one, "It is bad enough when you trust the kids in Future Shop or Best Buy when it comes to electronics, if you EVER trust someone selling stuff out of the back of a truck, punch yourself hard in the face." I like it, I think I will have bumper stickers made. .........................................................................................................................................
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Finally an update
First up, lets get the pic out of the way:
We have our pillars and railings on the front, the pillars need paint, aside from that they are done.
So yesterday was a big day for us, we had our second to final inspection, and got to do all our Lawyerin'.
The inspection was pretty in depth, I kind of knew what to expect from others telling us, but wow. Gary knows his stuff, and does it very well and is very thorough. Every little nail not filled in got marked for repair, every little smudge in the paint got marked, every scratch no matter how small or hidden from view was marked. As we went through for the inspection, he went over the maintenance for all the hardware, and how to use it all. Where they leave the instructions etc. There were a lot of minor things, mostly a lot of repainting to be done because of people coming in after the paint was initially put on to do their work. I guess the carpet guys bump into walls and trim a bunch while laying the carpet. Basically it looks like they are coming in to repaint pretty much all the walls and trim, but I am sure it will be touch ups. One biggie that was overlooked, and had Gary perplexed was they forgot to add a dryer vent for some reason. Time to get out a rather big hole saw I guess. There are enough vents on that side of the house between the Heat Exchanger, Furnace and Hot Water Heater, who will notice another one anyways?
A couple of cool things we found out that we didn't know before. All the leftover paint is left in the house. This is great when we need touch ups etc. I guess we just have to remember what paint goes where, or we may end up with striped walls. All the extra flooring is left, this includes carpet and vinyl flooring. There are a bunch of rolls of carpet and vinyl floor under the stairs, it looks like a bunch. I guess just in case we have one hell of a major spill of Hot Chocolate and Bailey's and left it for a couple years, we could just repair it ourselves! Another net thing, and something I have never actually seen is 2 stage toilets. Basically if going #1, you flush normally and it uses about half the water (or less) in the tank to flush. If you have a big job on your hands, you hold the lever down a couple seconds, and it uses the full tank. I was pretty happy seeing these, damn neat idea. I am sure they have been around for years, but this is the first time I have seen one, well 3 of them, and I was pretty amazed for some reason. Although when we have company over we will probably have to leave instructions or something. Another thing is they left a dehumidifier in the basement for us to keep. It drains directly into the sump pump tank, so we don't have to empty it all the time. He informed us that in new houses, because there is a ton of concrete and wood that are going to give off moisture, especially within the first year as everything "dries out" , they left it to keep the humidity down. Double bonus is because it drains into the sump well, it will make sure there is moisture down there to keep the seals wet on the pump in case of a long dry spell.
Aside from still waiting on the Deck, and not being able to get a concrete date on when it will be complete that was about it for the inspection. Our final is on ethe day we take possession. We go through the house again looking at stuff that needs to be done if there is anything left, and fill out a warranty form to send to the warranty company. This lets Tarion (the warranty company) know if Reid's (oops I guess CachetReid's now) is staying on top of things. After 30 days there is another form to send to Tarion that you list issues ret resolved if there are any.
Of course we still need Grass, but that will come once they have enough houses done and ready to sod all at once.
Next up, Lawyerin' time. Sue is awesome to us, and I cannot IMAGINE going through the amount of paperwork that she does as a job. I know people knock Lawyers (so do I lol), but DAMN , after seeing the stack of papers, all of course worded in legalese so mortals can't understand a word, I have new respect for Lawyers that do Real Estate Of course bizarre things crop up while doing paperwork, like being told by one person (the mortgage broker) that we could use the online print out for account information with the mortgage company, and the mortgage company saying no. Now after all this , we may not GET the damn house because we believe one guy without checking into it ourselves.
We have our pillars and railings on the front, the pillars need paint, aside from that they are done.So yesterday was a big day for us, we had our second to final inspection, and got to do all our Lawyerin'.
The inspection was pretty in depth, I kind of knew what to expect from others telling us, but wow. Gary knows his stuff, and does it very well and is very thorough. Every little nail not filled in got marked for repair, every little smudge in the paint got marked, every scratch no matter how small or hidden from view was marked. As we went through for the inspection, he went over the maintenance for all the hardware, and how to use it all. Where they leave the instructions etc. There were a lot of minor things, mostly a lot of repainting to be done because of people coming in after the paint was initially put on to do their work. I guess the carpet guys bump into walls and trim a bunch while laying the carpet. Basically it looks like they are coming in to repaint pretty much all the walls and trim, but I am sure it will be touch ups. One biggie that was overlooked, and had Gary perplexed was they forgot to add a dryer vent for some reason. Time to get out a rather big hole saw I guess. There are enough vents on that side of the house between the Heat Exchanger, Furnace and Hot Water Heater, who will notice another one anyways?
A couple of cool things we found out that we didn't know before. All the leftover paint is left in the house. This is great when we need touch ups etc. I guess we just have to remember what paint goes where, or we may end up with striped walls. All the extra flooring is left, this includes carpet and vinyl flooring. There are a bunch of rolls of carpet and vinyl floor under the stairs, it looks like a bunch. I guess just in case we have one hell of a major spill of Hot Chocolate and Bailey's and left it for a couple years, we could just repair it ourselves! Another net thing, and something I have never actually seen is 2 stage toilets. Basically if going #1, you flush normally and it uses about half the water (or less) in the tank to flush. If you have a big job on your hands, you hold the lever down a couple seconds, and it uses the full tank. I was pretty happy seeing these, damn neat idea. I am sure they have been around for years, but this is the first time I have seen one, well 3 of them, and I was pretty amazed for some reason. Although when we have company over we will probably have to leave instructions or something. Another thing is they left a dehumidifier in the basement for us to keep. It drains directly into the sump pump tank, so we don't have to empty it all the time. He informed us that in new houses, because there is a ton of concrete and wood that are going to give off moisture, especially within the first year as everything "dries out" , they left it to keep the humidity down. Double bonus is because it drains into the sump well, it will make sure there is moisture down there to keep the seals wet on the pump in case of a long dry spell.
Aside from still waiting on the Deck, and not being able to get a concrete date on when it will be complete that was about it for the inspection. Our final is on ethe day we take possession. We go through the house again looking at stuff that needs to be done if there is anything left, and fill out a warranty form to send to the warranty company. This lets Tarion (the warranty company) know if Reid's (oops I guess CachetReid's now) is staying on top of things. After 30 days there is another form to send to Tarion that you list issues ret resolved if there are any.
Of course we still need Grass, but that will come once they have enough houses done and ready to sod all at once.
Next up, Lawyerin' time. Sue is awesome to us, and I cannot IMAGINE going through the amount of paperwork that she does as a job. I know people knock Lawyers (so do I lol), but DAMN , after seeing the stack of papers, all of course worded in legalese so mortals can't understand a word, I have new respect for Lawyers that do Real Estate Of course bizarre things crop up while doing paperwork, like being told by one person (the mortgage broker) that we could use the online print out for account information with the mortgage company, and the mortgage company saying no. Now after all this , we may not GET the damn house because we believe one guy without checking into it ourselves.
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